They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That phrase, by the way, is not as old as you probably think; it was first written by the novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford in her 1878 book, Molly Bawn.
However, the concept — that beauty is subjective rather than an objective truth — has been floating around for a very long time. Whilst Hungerford must take credit for the specific wording, she was standing on the shoulders of some very famous thinkers:
Theocritus, in Ancient Greece in the 3rd century BC, wrote: “To the lover, what is not beautiful often seems beautiful”, and Shakespeare, in Love’s Labour’s Lost, wrote: “Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye, Not utter’d by base sale of chapmen’s tongues”. David Hume, the 18th-century philosopher, famously argued that beauty is not a quality in things themselves, but exists merely in the mind which contemplates them.
Of these various comments, Hungerford’s version became the “definitive” one, I guess because of its conciseness. It turned a complex philosophical argument into a catchy, short proverb that perfectly captures the idea that what one person finds stunning, another might find average.
I personally think that Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) is beautiful, and I’m clearly not alone in that. Some call it the perfect mountain. Both visually and aesthetically, with its striking profile and the variety of paths it offers — it can be ascended from almost every side — it ticks pretty much every box.
Its attractiveness and dramatic scenery has not been lost on writers over the centuries, and George Borrow, in his Wild Wales (1868) wrote: “Snowdon is interesting on various accounts. It is interesting for its picturesque beauty. Perhaps in the whole world there is no region more picturesquely beautiful than Snowdon, a region of mountains, lakes, cataracts and groves, in which Nature shows herself in her most grand and beautiful forms.”
Long before this, Simond (1815) had written of “Snowdon, and a good-looking mountain it is.”
Francis Bedford, who took early photographs at the summit in c1880, wrote of “the attributes that made Snowdon attractive to romantics.”
Kilner, in 1891, wrote of “Snowdonia, with its beautiful mountains”, referring to “the graceful and majestic king of hills, Y Wyddfa”, and Hutchinson, writing in the same year, wrote, “Should the reader some day climb this beautiful mountain …”. Dent, the following year, wrote of Wales’ “many beautiful mountains … If Ben Nevis is the king of our mountains, surely Snowdon is the queen.”
Travel writer Sabine Baring-Gould, perhaps best known for writing the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers”, wrote in 1903: “Hugeness is not of the essence of beauty. No one looking on Snowdon can deny that it is a mountain in its majesty, and that in form it is absolutely perfect.”
More recently, geologist Paul Gannon wrote in 2008: “Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa – is not only the highest peak in Wales, but fittingly it’s also the visually most magnificent.”
Certainly, the mountain is beautifully proportioned, visually exciting, and looks great from almost every angle – even on a flat map! And even for those who have been up dozens of times, or even hundreds, they never tire of its beauty, for no ascent is ever the same twice, visually or otherwise; the mountain changes with both the seasons, the weather and the people.
The spring 2023 issue of Country Walking magazine featured a 16-page article on Yr Wyddfa, which was called “the perfect mountain”. It described the mountain as “massive, varied, spectacular; challenging, charming, unique …. Yr Wyddfa, we salute you. You’re the perfect mountain.”
A couple of years later, the September 2025 issue of Country Walking magazine featured an article called ‘Britain’s Best Hills’. In the 1000m+ category, Yr Wyddfa was chosen. They wrote:
“If there’s one mountain in the entire world that can claim to be all things to all people, then Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) is the one. …. even on the busiest days, it is still magnificent. … It’s a mountain that lures you back again and again, whoever you are.”
Some might say that Yr Wyddfa’s beauty is imagined. Or maybe, just maybe, it actually is beautiful.
To read more on why Yr Wyddfa is such a popular mountain, see our page here.