DENBIGHSHIRE, a county of North Wales. This district, which in Welsh is called Sir Dinbech, was in the time of the Romans included in that part of Cambria occupied by the Ordovices, and formed a portion of Venedotia, one of the minor partitions of Britannia Secunda.

The figure of Denbighshire is very irregular, continually varying in length and breadth. Its length from northwest to south-east is about forty-eight miles, and its greatest breadth twenty miles, but in some parts it is not more than eight miles. It is 170 miles in circumference, and is computed to contain 731 square miles. On the north it is bounded by the Irish Sea, on the north-east it is separated from Flintshire by the river Dee, on the south-east by Shropshire, on the south by Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire, and on the west it is separated from Caernarvonshire by the river Conway.

This county is divided into six hundreds, Isdulas, Isaled, Ruthin, Yale, Bromfield, and Chirk. It includes one borough, six market-towns, viz. Denbigh, Ruthin, Wrexham, Holt, Llangollen, and Llanruost, and consists of fifty-seven parishes. It is included in the Chester circuit; and, with respect to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, it is under the Archbishop of Canterbury, partly in the diocese of Bangor, and partly in that of St Asaph, the deanery of Duffryn Chvyd being in the former see. By the reform act it returns one member to parliament for the county, and one is chosen by the four burghs of Denbigh, Ruthin, Holt, and the town of Wrexham. The borough of Denbigh affords the title of earl to the noble family of Fielding, and that of Yelverton derives the title of baron from the town of Ruthin.

The surface of the country is much diversified, affording a very great variety of scenery. The western parts are rather mountainous, abounding with hills, upon which are [7:7:717]small lakes. The northern parts have the same character, excepting that tract which stretches from Abergeley along the sea-coast, which gradually slopes into the extensive plain of Morva Rhyddlan. The celebrated Vale of Clwyd is a fine scene. The land spreads on each side of a river of the same name from its source to the sea, a distance of more than twenty miles, and from about five to seven in breadth. The mountains, which rise on each side, with their brown and barren summits, form a fine contrast with the verdant meads and luxuriant fields, which gratify the sight as far as the eye can reach! Towns, villages, and seats, thickly studded over its surface, tend still more to enliven the scene, and to beautify this charming vale. The land included between the Alun and the Dee is fertile, pleasant, and highly productive. The central parts of the hundred of Isaled consist of bleak and barren hills, and the southern comprise a large tract of land, devoid of wood, and productive of peat only, which principally affords the fuel of the inhabitants. Yale is a mountainous region, chiefly covered with heath, forming an excellent cover for grouse. Bromfield, the most important part of this county in population and wealth, though sharing in the mountainous character of the rest, furnishes a great proportion of rich land.

The irregularities of the surface, and the variety of the soils, produce a considerable difference in the climate of Denbighshire. On the hills the air is sharp, being deprived of its softness in its passage over Snowden and the neighbouring hills. Still it is reckoned salubrious. The atmosphere in the vales is milder. Duffryn Clwyd, being open towards the sea,and defended by its mountain barriers, is proverbially celebrated for its salubrity. The inhabitants of this district are remarkable for their bright complexion, cheerful countenances, and sound constitutions; a display of vivacity in youth, and a vigour in age, not possessed in less favoured situations; longevity, therefore, ceases to be remarkable, because it is here a common occurrence.

The principal rivers of this county are the Clwyd, the Conway, and the Dee, neither of which are navigable in those portions which pass through Denbighshire. The lesser are Ceriog, rising on the western side, and forming a junction with the Dee near Chirk Castle; the Alun, commencing from Llandegla, and, after a most circuitous route, tailing into the Dee a little below the town of Holt. The Ellesmere Canal passes through the southern part of the county; but there is great difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of water to keep it navigable.

Rich veins of iron and lead ore and coal have been found in various places; and mines of these substances have been opened in several districts. Slate of a durable quality is worked in the southern parts, and meets with a great demand. Limestone is abundant; and freestone and other siliceous substances are obtained in various parts.

In agricultural improvements few counties surpass Denbighshire. The encouragement given for the amelioration of the soil, by the establishment of two agricultural societies, one in the Vale of Clwyd, and another in the neighbourhood of Wrexham, together with the co-operating effects produced by Sir Watkin Williams Wynne’s show of cattlc and sheep, annually held at his seat, Wynnstay, with a distribution of prizes on the occasion, is very visible in the county. It is stated to contain 410,000 acres, of which 150,000 is arable land and 250,000 is pasturage. The roads also, which used to be very bad, have been much improved during the last few years.

The native horses are of a small size, but exceedingly hardy. The cows are generally of the black kind, low-in stature, and yield milk of an excellent quality. The sheep are the light horned sort, producing wool well adapted for the manufactures of the country. The goat, superior in size, and in the length and fineness of its hair, to that of most other countries, is found here in its ferine and domesticated state. In an agricultural point of view, the chief products are cattle, corn, and cheese. The latter is in some parts not inferior to the best Cheshire.

Its manufactures chiefly consist of coarse cloth made in the parish of Glynn, of flannels wrought from the country wool, of cotton twist and Angola hose in the town of Denbigh, of a small quantity of iron, and of a few harps at Llanrwst.

Among the customs peculiar to this-county, in common with other parts of Wales, are those pertaining to marriages and burials. Their weddings are thus conducted: When the marriage is agreed to be celebrated, a bidder, that is, one whose charge is to bid or invite the guests, is appointed. He must be a person of respectable character, and as well gifted with eloquence and address as can be procured, as on his abilities the number of guests chiefly depends. He is to be sufficiently skilled in pedigrees and family anecdotes, in order to be able to introduce compliments derived from these sources. The purport of his bidding is to request the attendance of the friends of the young couple, and their benevolent presents, in order to enable the new-married pair to begin life with comfort and prosperity. These contributions are some article of furniture or money, and are regularly repaid, by gifts of a similar kind, on a like occasion. By this custom, a deserving young couple of the lower class are sometimes set up in a state of comparative wealth.

Previously to a funeral, it is customary, when the corpse is brought out of the house and laid upon a bier, for the next of kin to distribute bread, cheese, and beer over the coffin, to some poor persons of the same sex, and nearly of the same age, as the deceased. This being done, all kneel down, and the minister repeats the Lord’s prayer. At every cross way they stop, and the same ceremony is repeated, till they arrive at the place of interment. The funerals are generally attended by immense crowds of people of both sexes. All the graves are planted with the choicest evergreens and flowers; so that a church-yard has all the appearance of a beautiful well-managed flower-garden.

The peasantry of this county are firm believers in fairies, a diminutive race, clad in green, who hold their merry dances invisibly by moonlight, footing it to lyric measures on the verdant turf of their mountains, and leaving their marks, in darkened circles, to the admiration of the beholders. Allied to this race are the hnochers, a species of aerial beings, who, the miners say, are heard under ground, and by their noises pointing out to the workman the place where a rich vein of ore lies hid. The corpse candle is a light proceeding from the dwelling of a person who is shortly to die, to the churchyard where he is to be buried. Witchcraft and the second-sight are also articles of firm belief among the lower class.

Denbighshire contains several remains of ancient castles; that near the county town has been compared, with respect to its situation, to Stirling. It is placed on the summit of a lofty hill, and assumes at a distance a most imposing appearance. From its present remains it appears to have been a superb structure, and, from the strength of its position, invulnerable except by heavy artillery, and irreducible, except in cases of treachery or famine. It is supposed to be of British foundation. The castle of Ruthin was built of red stone, and erected in the time of Edward I. It stood on the side of a hill fronting the vale to the west. The remains of this once proud pile consist of a few fragments of towers and fallen walls, reduced nearly to the foundations; and the area at present comprises a meadow, fives-court, and bowling-green. There are also the remains of a castle at Chirk, on the line of Offa’s Dike; [7:7:718] and another at Holt, built by Earl Warren in the reign of Edward I. whose remains are now little attractive.

Its ecclesiastical antiquities consist of the remains of St Hiliary’s Chapel, founded in 1579, by Dudley, earl of Leicester, and a priory of Carmelites, or White Friars, in the town of Denbigh. Llan Eqwert Abbey, a fine picturesque object, was a house of Cistertians founded in 1200, and generally known by the name of Valle Crucis. Wrexham Church, formerly collegiate, and not only the glory of the county, but ranked among the wonders of Wales, was erected about the year 1472; but the tower doe3 not appear to have been finished till 1506. It exhibits a specimen of the chaste proportions and moderate decorations of Henry VlI.’s time.

Among the modern buildings, Wynnstay Hall, the hospitable mansion of Sir W. W. Wynne, and Chirk Castle, the seat of the Honourable Mr West, deserve particular notice.

The amount of population, from returns not of very certain accuracy, in 1700 appears to have been 39,700, and 46,900 in 1750; but by the more correct returns of late years it has been as follows, viz. 60,352 in 1801, 64,240 in 1811, 76,311 in 1821, and 82,800 in 1831. The annual value of the real property, as assessed for the property-tax of 1815, appears to have been L.22l,763.