, 1889-07-24
HOW HUGH MORRIS ESCAPED.
The Story of a Welsh Bard Who Aroese<
the Ire of the Royalisfs.

the Iro of the Royalists.
There was an influential Round
head" called Hugh Morris, a Welsh
bard, who sang the praises of Crom-
well and the new born common
wealth, whose chair-a stone one fix
ed in a wallis still preserved near a
place called Y Pandy, in the Valley
of the Ceiriog, North Wales. The
name of the farmhouse is Errw Ger
rig. Morris bardic talent got so hot
sometimes hat he would go into the
river, close by, to cool off. His poetry,
of which they r two volumes x
tant, reused the men and women of
Wales to a high pitch of enthusiasm
in favor Of Oliver Cromwell. The
Royalists were anxious to discover
Hugh Morris. a company of military
detectives were commissioned to APP
prehend him. 1t was no easy task to
find the farmhouse, Errw Gerrig, at
that time. On the Great Western
railway, the original branch of the
system, from Shrewsbury to Chester,
there is a station at Ruabon, from
which a railway branches off through
the Valley of LlangoRen.
From the same place to the left, or
southwest, the Ceiriog valley begins,
along which there is a tramway. The
tramway starts at a point some dis
lance from the railway, and pas
sengers have to walk from Ruabon
or else Chirk station, a good
way, TO get to the tram cars.
The tramway. ends at Glyn Ceir-
log, where there are several ra-
vines leading to various hamlets. By
following the river Ceiriog, three
miles higher up, Pandy is reached,
where two deep ravines converge, and
Nanthir JONES the Ceiriog. By cross
ing the Nanthir rivulet and following
the course of the Ceiriog a little dis
lance Errw Gerrig, the home of Hugh
Morris, is reached, the road is on the
left bank of the Geiriog.
Errw Gerrig is surrounded by high
mountains. The high nose of the
Martyr branch of the Berwyn noun
tains, at the foot of which Errw Ger
rig lies, is covered with farms on the
Ceiriog side; the other slope towards
the Nanthir rivulet being still a will
derness. 1t is difficult to find the place
even now. 1t was a hundredfold more
difficult before there were tram cars or
railways, and especially SO more than
two centuries ago. And what added
TO all the Typographical difficulties
was the fact that the inhabitants in
that part of the country at the time
could not speak English, and when
the soldiers managed to make known
that they wanted Hugh Morris of
Errw Gerrig the Welsh folk did not
want TO understand.
Ultimately, however, the military
detectives came to Errw Gerrig, and
they asked Hugh Morris himself (who
was at the time attending to the cows
where Hugh Morris was. Morris
pointed to a field on the mountain side,
signifyingt that Hugh Morris was there.
Thither the detectives proceeded in all
haste, greatly elated that they had
caught their man at last. But he was
not caught. While they were looking
for him Hugh Morris made his a
The "unlucky" detectives had to re-
turn to those who SEM them without
Hugh Morris.
a o company, reputed wiser
than the first, with one of the former
to guide them to the place, made a
second attempt. They found the Cow
man" in a field adjoining the house
and demanded of him where Hugh
Morris was. 1t had not dawned on the
first company nor on the second that
Tue apparently Ignorant cOWman was
the eloquent Hugh Morris. And,
again, the man made signs to show
that Hugh Morris was on the noun
tain top. Thither a portion of the
company of detectives proceeded. But
their superior wisdom over the first
lot consisted in their taking the cow
man with them to show where Hugh
Morris was. He led them to the noun
tain top and called out for Hugh
Morris" at the top of his voice. While
the soldiers were looking round for
him to respond to the cowman's call,
and make himself visible, the cowman
jumped into a ravine covered with
briers and crept into a safe hiding
place. They then understood that that
was Hugh Morris. Several shots we're
fired into thicket, but Morris was not
hurt, and his pursuers were obliged to
give up the chase.
Hugh Morris was never captured,
but from that time forward he was
obliged to keep away from home and
live in various hiding places.-Chi-
cago Tribune.