as in 1284,
however, that Edward I. began building the present castle, and it took
thirty-nine years to complete. The castle plan is an irregular oval,
with one side overlooking the strait. At the end nearest the sea, where
the works come to a blunt point, is the famous Eagle Tower, which has
eagles sculptured on the battlements. There are twelve towers
altogether, and these, with the light-and dark-hued stone in the walls,
give the castle a massive yet graceful aspect as it stands on the low
ground at the mouth of the Sciont. Externally, the castle is in good
preservation, but the inner buildings are partly destroyed, as is also
the Queen's Gate, where Queen Eleanor is said to have entered before the
first English Prince of Wales was born. A corridor, with loopholes
contrived in the thickness of the walls, runs entirely around the
castle, and from this archers could fight an approaching enemy. This
great fortress has been called the "boast of North Wales" from its size
and excellent position. It was last used for defence during the Civil
Wars, having been a military stronghold for nearly four centuries.
Although Charles II. issued a warrant for its demolition, this was to a
great extent disregarded. Prynne, the sturdy Puritan, was confined here
in Charles I.'s time, and the first English Prince of Wales, afterwards
the unfortunate Edward II., is said to have been born in a little dark
room, only twelve by eight feet, in the Eagle Tower: when seventeen
years of age the prince received the homage of the Welsh barons at
Chester. The town of Caernarvon, notwithstanding its famous history and
the possession of the greatest ruin in Wales, now derives its chief
satisfaction from the lucrative but prosaic occupation of trading in
slates.

[Illustration: CONWAY CASTLE, FROM THE ROAD TO LLANRWST.]

At the northern extremity of Caernarvon county, and projecting into the
Irish Sea, is the promontory known as Great Orme's Head, and near it is
the mouth of the Conway River. The railway to Holyhead crosses this
river on a tubular bridge four hundred feet long, and runs almost under
the ruins of Conway Castle, another Welsh stronghold erected by Edward
I. We are told that this despotic king, when he had completed the
conquest of Wales, came to Conway, the shape of the town being something
like a Welsh harp, and he ordered all the native bards to be put to
death. Gray founded upon this his ode, "The Bard," beginning--

"On a rock