men in evening dress, scuffling with a young woman
in dinner decolletee, and what appeared to be diamonds
in her ears. They were trying, after what seems
the convention of English seaside flirtation, to get
something out of her hand, and allowing her successfully
to resist them; and their playful contest went on
through a whole act to the distraction of the spectators,
who did not seem greatly scandalized. It suggested
the misgiving that perhaps bad people came to Llandudno
for their summer outing as well as good; but there
was no interference by the police or the management
with this robust side-show. Were the actors in
the scene, all or any of them, too high in rank to
be lightly molested in their lively event; or were
they too low? Perhaps they were merely tipsy,
but all the same their interlude was a contribution
to the evening’s entertainment which would not
have been so placidly accepted in, say, Atlantic City,
or Coney Island, or even Newport, where people are
said to be more accustomed to the caprices of society
persons, and more indulgent of their whims.
A more improving, and on the whole more pleasing,
phase of the indigenous life, and also more like a
phase of our own, showed itself the day of our visit
to Conway, a little way from Llandudno. There,
on our offering to see the ruins of the wonderful
and beautiful old castle, we were met at the entrance
with a demand for an exceptional shilling gate money,
because of the fair for the local Wesleyan Chapel
which was holding in the interior. What seemed
at first a hardship turned out a chance which we would
not have missed on any account. There was a large
tent set up in the old castle court, and a table spread
with home-made dainties of many sorts, and waited
upon by gentle maids and matrons who served one with
tea or whatever else one liked, all for that generously
inclusive shilling. They were Welsh, they told
us, and they were speaking their language to right
and left of us, while they were so courteous to us
in English. It was quite like a church fair in
some American village, where, however, it could not
have had the advantage of a ruined Norman castle for
its scene, and where it would not have provided a
range for target practice with air-guns, or grounds
for running and jumping.
The place was filled with people young and old who
were quietly amusing themselves and were more taken
up with the fair than with the castle. I must
myself comparatively slight the castle in the present
study of people rather than places, though I may note
that if there is any more interesting ruin in the world,
I am satisfied with this which it surpasses.
Besides its beauty, what strikes one most is its perfect
adaptation to the original purpose of palace and fortress
for which the Normans planned their strongholds in
Wales. The architect built not only with a constant
instinct of beauty, but with unsurpassable science
