The deep-sea fisheries on the south-western coasts are of some
importance; the Mumbles, Tenby and Milford Haven being the
chief centres of this industry. Lobsters and crabs are caught in
Cardigan Bay, and oysters are found at various points of the
Pembrokeshire coast. The large rivers produce salmon, which are
usually sent to the great towns for sale. The Wye, the Usk, the Dee,
the Dovey, the Teifi, the Towy and most of the Welsh rivers and
lakes are frequented by anglers for salmon and trout.
Communications.—The two principal railways serving the Principality are the London & North-Western, which passes along the North Wales coast-line by way of Conway and Bangor, crosses the Menai Strait and has its terminus at Holyhead; and the Great Western, which traverses South Wales by way of Cardiff, Landore, Llanelly and Carmarthen, and has its principal terminal station at Fishguard Harbour. The lines of the Cambrian railway serve North and Mid-Wales, and branches of the London & North-Western and the Midland penetrate into South Wales as far as Swansea. A network of lines connects the great industrial districts of Glamorganshire with the main line of the Great Western railway. There are steamship services between Holyhead and Dublin in connexion with the trains of the London & North-Western railway, and an important traffic for dairy produce, live-stock and passengers between Fishguard and Rosslare on the Irish coast was opened in 1906 in connexion with the Great Western railway. There is also a boat service between Holyhead and Greenore on the Ulster coast. Steamboats likewise ply between Milford, Tenby, Swansea and Cardiff and Bristol; also between Swansea and Cardiff and Dublin, and there is a regular service between Swansea and Ilfracombe. The principal canals are the Swansea, the Neath, the Aberdare & Glamorgan, and the Brecon & Abergavenny, all worked in connexion with the industrial districts of north Glamorganshire.
Government.—In all acts of parliament Wales is invariably included under the term of “England and Wales,” and whenever an act, or any section of an act, is intended to apply to the Principality alone, then Wales is always coupled with Monmouthshire. The extinction of the Welsh Court of Great Sessions in 1830 served to remove the last relic of separate jurisdiction in Wales itself, but in 1881 special legislation was once more inaugurated by the Welsh Sunday Closing Act (46 Victoria), forbidding the sale of spirituous liquors by all inn-keepers on Sundays to any but bona fide travellers throughout Wales and Monmouthshire. A separate act on behalf of Welsh education was likewise passed in 18S9, when the Welsh Intermediate Education Act made special provision for intermediate and technical education throughout the Principality and Monmouthshire. Except for the administration of these two special acts, the system of government in Wales is identical in every respect with that of England (see England and United Kingdom). Royal commissions dealing with questions peculiar to Wales have been issued from time to time, notably of recent years, in the Welsh Land Tenure Commission of 1893, and the Welsh Church Commission of 1906 (see History).
Religion.—Ecclesiastically, the whole of Wales lies within the province of Canterbury. The four Welsh sees, however, extend beyond the borders of the twelve counties, for they include the whole of Monmouthshire and some portions of the English border shires; on the other hand, the sees of Hereford and Chester encroach upon the existing Welsh counties. The diocese of St Davids (Tyddewi), the largest, oldest and poorest of the four Cambrian sees, consists of the counties of Pembroke, Carmarthen and Cardigan, almost the whole of Brecon, the greater part of Radnor, and west Glamorgan with Swansea and Gower. The cathedral church of St Davids is situated near the remote headland of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, but the episcopal residence has been fixed ever since the Reformation at Abergwili near Carmarthen, the most central spot in this vast diocese. The see of Llandaff comprises Monmouthshire, all Glamorganshire as far west as the Tawe, and some parishes in Brecon and Hereford. The diocese of Bangor consists of the counties of Anglesea, Carnarvon and large portions of Merioneth and Montgomery. The diocese of St Asaph (Llanelwy) consists of the county of Denbigh, nearly the whole of Flint, with portions of Montgomery, Merioneth and Shropshire.
Since the beginning of the 19th century dissent has been strongly represented in the Principality, the combined numbers of the various Nonconformist bodies far outstripping the adherents of the Church. Universally accepted statistics as to the various religious bodies it has, been found impossible to obtain, but the Report (1910) of the Welsh Church Commission stated that, exclusive of Roman Catholics, there were 743,361 communicants or fully admitted members of some denomination, of whom 193,081 were Churchmen and 530,280 Nonconformists. The gentry and landowners are all, broadly speaking, members of the established Church, but it is impossible to name any other class of society as belonging definitely either to “Church” or “Chapel.” According to the above Report, the three most powerful dissenting bodies in Wales are the Congregationalists or Independents, whose members number 175,147 throughout Wales and Monmouthshire; the Calvinistic Methodists—a direct offshoot of the Church since the schism of 1811—with a membership of 170,617; and the Baptists, 143,835. Wesleyan and Presbyterian chapels are likewise numerous, and the Unitarian or Socinian body has long been powerful in the valley of the Teifi. Nearly every existing sect is represented in Wales, including Swedenborgians and Moravians. The Roman Catholic Church has many followers amongst the labouring population of Irish descent in the industrial districts. The diocese of Newport (known till 1896 as Newport and Menevia) consists of the counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan and Hereford; whilst the remaining eleven counties were in 1895 formed into the Vicariate of Wales, which in 1898 was erected into a diocese under a bishop with the title of Menevia. Since the expulsion of the religious orders from France in 1903 several communities of French monks and nuns have taken up their abode in the Principality.
History.—At the time of the Roman invasion of Britain, 55 B.C., four distinct dominant tribes, or families, are enumerated west of the Severn, viz. the Decangi, owning the island of Anglesea (Ynys Fôn) and the Snowdonian district; the Ordovices, inhabiting the modern counties of Denbigh, Flint and Montgomery; the Dimetae, in the counties of Cardigan, Carmarthen and Pembroke; and the Silures, occupying the counties of Glamorgan, Brecknock, Radnor and Monmouth. It is interesting to note that the existing four Welsh sees of Bangor, St Asaph, St Davids and Llandaff correspond in the main with the limits of these four tribal divisions. On the advance of Ostorius into western Britain, he met with considerable resistance from Caractacus (Caradog), king of the Silures, but after some encounters this prince was eventually captured and sent in chains to Rome. The partial conquest by Ostorius was completed under Julius Frontinus by the year 78, after which the Romans set to work in order to pacify and develop their newly annexed territory. At this period the copper mines of Mona or Anglesea, the silver mines near Plinlimmon and the gold mines in the valley of the Cothi in Carmarthenshire were exploited and worked with some success by the conquerors. In spite of the mountainous and boggy character of the country, roads were now constructed in all directions. Of these the most important are the military road leading S. from Deva (Chester) by way of Uriconium (Wroxeter) and Gobannium (Abergavenny) to Isca Silurum (Caerleon-on-Usk) and Venta Silurum (Caerwent); another from Deva to Conovium (Conway), whence a road, the Sarn Helen, extended due S. to Carmarthen (Maridunum), by way of Loventium (Pont Llanio), which was also connected with Gobannium; from Maridunum a road led E. through the modern county of Glamorgan by way of Leucarum (Loughor) and Nidum (Neath) to Venta Silurum. With the accession of Constantine, Christianity was introduced by the Romans into the parts of Wales already colonized, and the efforts of the Roman priests were later supplemented during the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries by the devoted labours of Celtic missionaries, of whom nearly five hundred names still remain on record. Foremost in the work of preaching and educating were SS. David, Teilo, Illtyd and Cadoc in Dyfed, Morganwg, Gwent and Brycheiniog, comprising South Wales; Cynllo, Afan and Padarn in Ceredigion and Maesyfed, or Mid-Wales; and Deiniol, Dunawd, Beuno, Kentigern and Asaph in North Wales. To this period succeeding the fall of the Roman power is also ascribed the foundation of the many great Celtic monasteries, of which Bangor-Iscoed on the Dee, Bardsey Island, Llancarvan and Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan, Caerleon-on-Usk
