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"The ffynnon of the Rheidol is not far off," said the guide; "it is just below the hill." We descended the western side of the hill for some way; at length, coming to a very craggy and precipitous place, my guide stopped, and pointing with his finger into the valley below, said: "There, sir, if you look down you can see the source of the Rheidol."
Until quite recently men thought that Ffynnon Gybi, and Ffynnon Elian, and Ffynnon Ddwynwen, had in them a power which could curse and bless, ruin and save. Lud of the Silver Hand was the god of flocks and ships. His caves are in Dyved still, and his was the temple on Ludgate Hill in London. Merlin was a god of knowledge; he could foretell events.
Follow me, and I will presently show you the real ffynnon of the Hafren." I followed him up a narrow and very steep dingle. Presently we came to some beautiful little pools of water in the turf, which was here remarkably green. "These are very pretty pools, an't they, master?" said my companion.
I looked down, and saw far below what appeared to be part of a small sheet of water. "And that is the source of the Rheidol?" said I. "Yes, sir," said my guide; "that is the ffynnon of the Rheidol." "Well," said I; "is there no getting to it?" "Oh yes! but the path, sir, as you see, is rather steep and dangerous." "Never mind," said I. "Let us try it."
Passing round this crag we came to a fountain surrounded with rushes, out of which the brook, now exceedingly small, came murmuring. "The crag above," said my guide, "is called Crag y Cefyl, or the Rock of the Horse, and this spring at its foot is generally called the ffynnon of the Hafren. However, drink not of it, master; for the ffynnon of the Hafren is higher up the nant.
After kneeling down and drinking freely of the lake I said: "Now, where are we to go to next?" "The nearest ffynnon to that of the Rheidol, sir, is the ffynnon of the Severn." "Very well," said I; "let us now go and see the ffynnon of the Severn!"
"Now, if I was a false guide I might bid you stoop and drink, saying that these were the sources of the Severn; but I am a true cyfarwydd, and therefore tell you not to drink, for these pools are not the sources of the Hafren, no more than the spring below. The ffynnon of the Severn is higher up the nant. Don't fret, however, but follow me, and we shall be there in a minute."
What, however, has more than anything else contributed to the celebrity of the hill is the circumstance of its giving birth to three rivers, the first of which, the Severn, is the principal stream in Britain; the second, the Wye, the most lovely river, probably, which the world can boast of; and the third, the Rheidol, entitled to high honour from its boldness and impetuosity, and the remarkable banks between which it flows in its very short course, for there are scarcely twenty miles between the ffynnon or source of the Rheidol and the aber or place where it disembogues itself into the sea.
What, however, has more than anything else contributed to the celebrity of the hill is the circumstance of its giving birth to three rivers, the first of which, the Severn, is the principal stream in Britain; the second, the Wye, the most lovely river, probably, which the world can boast of; and the third, the Rheidol, entitled to high honour from its boldness and impetuosity, and the remarkable banks between which it flows in its very short course, for there are scarcely twenty miles between the ffynnon or source of the Rheidol and the aber or place where it disembogues itself into the sea.
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