2016-08-10
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The History of the Parish of Llangurig

Tudalennau 1-25, 104-144 wedi eu cywiro, ac ambell un arall
Tudalennau 26-103, 145-370 heb eu cywiro

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■ i

THE HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF LLANGURIG.
BY EDWARD HAMER, Esq., and H. W. LLOYD, Esq.

LONDON: PRINTED BY T. RICHARDS, GREAT QUEEN STREET. 1875.

■ ii
 
T. RICHARDS, GREAT QUEEN STREET.

■ iii

INTRODUCTION.

The following Collection of Papers is taken partly from the
Montgomeryshire Collections, printed by the Powysland Club,
and partly from the Archaeologia Cambrensis. Having
appeared in those publications in the form of scattered notices,
they are here, for the sake of convenience, gathered into a
single volume. They all bear a more or less direct relation to
the History of the Parish of Llangurig, with the exception of
the descent during the three last centuries of the family of
Lloyd of Berth and of Rhagatt, through Cuhelyn of Pentre
Cuhelyn, from Tudor Trevor. This having been given in a
cursory and imperfect shape in one of the notes elucidating the
pedigree of families descended from Tudor Trevor, it has been
deemed desirable to complete it to the present time from the
date to which it had

■ iv INTRODUCTION.

been brought by the "Pennant Pedigrees". The "Legend of St.
Curig" has been added towards the close of the volume, the
previous historical papers having left the origin and history of
the Devotion of the Parish to its Patron Saint in a more or less
mythical state of uncertainty.

■ v

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND DESCRIPTION.

Name — Position and Boundaries — Extent — Divisions —
Surface — Geology: Mines — Drainage — Productions —
Inhabitants: Industrial pursuits 3

CHAPTER II.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL.

Ancient Roadways — Carneddau — Earthwork — Names
implying Military occupation — Coins — Hirlas horn — Y
Clochfaen 18

CHAPTER III.
ECCLESIASTICAL.

Patron Saint — "Mother Church” — The Church, Living and
Tithes — Registers — List of Vicars — Benefaction 25

CHAPTER IV.
LORDS OF LLANGURIG AND THE CLOCHFAEN FAMILY.

Glodrudd family — Cyfeiliog family — Cherletons and House of
Wynnstay — Descent of the Clochfaen family from Vortigern:
Tudor Trevor, Madog Danwr and his Descendants — Claim of the
Lloyds to the Abbey Cwm Hir Estates — Alliance with the family
of Plâs Madog — Rev. Thomas Yonde— The late Mr. Hinde's
family 37

■ vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE PLAS MADOG FAMILY.

Descent of the Trevors — Descent of the heiress of Plâs Madog
from the Princes of Upper Powys — The Lloyds of Plâs Madog 64

Verbal blazon of the Arms of the Chevalier Lloyd, K.S.G. 79

CHAPTER VI.
GENEALOGICAL.

Cefn yr Hafodau, Owens of Glansevern, and Upper Glandulas —
Cefn yr Hafodau — Cwm yr Onn, in the township of Cefn yr
Hafodau — Llangurig families — Esgairgraig — Crugnant
Llangurig — Llwyn yr Hyddod — Pont Rhyd Galed — Pedigree
of the Fowlers of Abbey Cwm Hir 80

CHAPTER VII.
BIOGRAPHICAL.

Rev. David Davies — Owen Davies — William Howel — Owens
of Cefn yr Hafodau; Owen Owen; Richard Owen; Edward Owen,
M.A.; Capt. William Owen; Sir E. W. C. R. Owen, G.C.B., G.C.H.;
Vice-Admiral W. F. Owen; Sir Arthur Davies Owen; David Owen,
M.A.; William Owen, K.C. 95

CHAPTER VIII.
FOLK LORE.

Old Superstitions — Conjurors — Sir David Llwyd — "Old
Savage" — R... J... — William Pryse — Charm for Cattle — Pal y
Geiniog — The Wakes — Arian y rhaw 110

CHAPTER IX.
MISCELLANEOUS.

Nonconformity — Education — Roads — Fairs 121

CHAPTER X.
Topographical Glossary of Names in the Parish 126

CONTENTS.

■ vii

Bedd Gwrtheyrn — Pillar of Eliseg 145
Jenkyn Goch — Owen ab Maurice of Clochfaen — Colonel Hinde 146
Note on Whittington 147
Note on Edward Lloyd of Pen y lan — Corrections 148

WELSH POETRY ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG.

MS. Welsh poetry in British Museum — Ieuan Tew — Huw Cae
Llwyd — Huw Arwystli — Sion Ceri — Ieuan Deulwyn's Elegy
on Davydd Vychan and Ieuan of Curig's Land — Llyfr Ceniarth —
Poem addressed to Ieuan — Elegy on Elen, wife of Llewelyn ab
Morys Goch — Ode to the Four Brothers of Llangurig — Ode to
Llewelyn, the husband of Elen, by Cadwaladr ab Rhys Trefnant —
Sketch of Huw Arwystli — His Poem to Rhys ab Morys of
Aberbechan — His Poetical Correspondence with Sir Ieuan of
Carno — His Sonnets — Odes to Ieuan and Gwenllian and Ieuan
ab Morys of Clochfaen — Ode to the Bridge over the Wye — Ode
to Jenkyn ab Morys of Clochfaen — Its Tenor and Object —
Another to the Same — Elegy on Owain ab Morys — Ode to Rhys
ab Morys ab Llewelyn of Llangurig — Encomiastic Lines on
Llangurig — Conclusion 149

HISTORY OF LLANGURIG.— PART II.

The Clochfaen Pedigree 231
Cefn yr Hafodau 232
Glandulas, Clochfaen, and Crugnant 233
Llangurig and Creuddyn 234
Pedigree of Mallt, wife of Jenkyn Lloyd of Clochfaen 235
Llanlloddian, Creuddyn 237
Hughes of Pennant y Belan 239
Rhuddallt 250
Rhiwfabon 256
The Pedigree of Madog yr Athraw and the Bershams of Bersham 265
Lloyd of Bryn 266
Rhiwabon Registers 269
Extracts from Miscellanea Historica, relating to Llangurig 270

■ viii CONTENTS.

The Descendants of John Brereton of Esclusham 273
Llanerchrugog 274
Cae Cyriog 280
Plâs yn y Delf and Stansti 284
Pentre Cuhelyn in Nanheudwy and y Berth in Llanbedr 285
Coed y Llai in Gresford 286
Arms of Edward Lloyd of Plâs Madog and Owain Brereton 287
Lloyd of the Bryn in the Parish of Hanmer 290
Y Berth 294
Llangurig 303
Glyn Hafren in Llangurig 304
Elegy on Mr Morgan Lloyd of the Clochfaen 305
The Legend of St Curig 311
Ode to John ab Rhys ab Maurice of Llangurig 331
Descent of John ab Rhys ab Maurice 336
The Lords of Maelienydd and Kerry 340
Elegies on Cadwallawn and Howel, sons of Madoc ab Idnerth ab Cadwgan ab Elystan Glodrydd 346
Ipstone of Ipstone, in the County Palatine of Chester 359
Elegy on Ellen, wife of Llewelyn of Llangurig 361
The Four Brothers of Llangurig 363
Ode addressed to Sion ab Rhys, the son of Maurice 364
Stanzas to Howel ab Ieuaf 367
Additions and Corrections to the Parochial Account 368

■ 001

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. BY EDWARD HAMER.

■ 002

■ 003

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.
BY EDWARD HAMER.

CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND DESCRIPTION.

1. Name. The name Llan-gurig is a compound word, formed of the
common Welsh prefix Llan, an inclosure, a church, and Curig, the
name of its founder and patron; so that the name may be rendered
into its English equivalent — the Church of St. Curig.

2. Position and Boundaries. The greater portion of this extensive
parish formed a portion of the ancient Cwmmwd (commot) of
Uwch-Coed (above the wood) in the Cantref of Arwystli, which
formerly belonged to the lords of the district stretching between the
Rivers Wye and Severn, was subsequently conquered by the
Princes of the house of Cyfeiliog, and now constitutes the south-
western portion of the County of Montgomery.

It is bounded on the south by the parishes of St. Harmon, and
Cwm-dau-ddwr (ravine of the two waters), both in Radnorshire; on
the south-west and west, by the parishes of Gwnws and
Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, (St. Michael’s Church in Creuddyn),
both in Cardiganshire; on the north and north-east, by the parish of
Llanidloes, and on the east by the parish of Llandinam, both in
Montgomeryshire.

The boundary line which separates it from the two parishes of
Radnorshire forms part of the line of separation between that
county and Montgomeryshire, while the line which divides it from
the two Cardiganshire

■ 004 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

parishes constitutes part of the line of demarcation between the
counties of Montgomery and Cardigan. The Severn from its source
to the point at which it receives the waters of the Dulas (a distance
of some ten miles) forms the most considerable portion of the line
which separates it from the parish of Llanidloes, while the rest of
the line which limits its bounds on the east is for the most part
artificial, and not defined by any well-marked natural features.

3. Extent. The parish stretches from Eisteddfa Curig (1) (Curig's
seat) on the west, to its most easterly point on the confines of
Llandinam parish, for a distance of eleven miles; the length of a
line drawn nearly at right angles to this from Cwm-Ricket on the
north to the banks of the River Elan on the south measures about
eight miles. The whole extent within the above indicated limits
amounts, according to the Tithe Commutation Survey, in round
numbers to 50,000 acres, thus divided:

Arable land 3,125 acres.
Meadow or pasture 9,375 acres.
Common land 37,000 acres.
Wood land 100 acres.
Glebe land 4 acres.
Total 49,604 acress.
 
These figures plainly indicate the nature of the land in this
extensive parish — one of the largest in Wales — only about a
fifteenth of it being under cultivation, while only 100 acres of it are
covered with timber.

(1) According to an old Welsh englyn which is still preserved
(Camb. Quart., iii, 403,) Eisteddfa Curig formerly marked the
south-western limit of Powys-land.

“O Gevn yr Ais, dur-ais a drig, O Gaer
I Eisteddva Gurig
O Gam Gynnull ar Conwy
Hyd y Rhyd Helig ar Wy."

"From Cefn-yr-Ais and from Chester to Eisteddfa-Curig And from
Cam Cynnull on the R. Conway to Rhyd Helig on the R. Wye."

■ 005 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 5

Since the time of the survey, however, large quantities of the
common land have been enclosed and cultivated, especially at two
periods when Waen Twrch and Bryn Postig were shared by a
mutual arrangement agreed upon by the surrounding freeholders.
Some of the hills nave also been planted within late years.

4. Divisions. In the Tithe Commutation Survey of this parish, the
farms are not arranged under the respective townships in which
they are situated, nor is the total acreage of each township given.
The following particulars respecting its six townships are gleaned
from the Rate Book: —

Townships. / Estimated Gross Rental. £ s. d. / Rateable Value. £ s. d.

Glyn-Hafren / 484-15-0 / 449-0-8
Glyn-Brochan 902-5-4 / 816-9-3
Glyn-Gynwydd 453-7-3 / 403-2-8
Cefn-yn-hafodau 711-19-9 / 742-8-9
Llan-y-fynu 1058-10-0 / 951-5-2
Llan-y-wared 971-15-0 / 855-16-7
4,582-12-4 / 4,218-3-1

The townships of Llan-y-fynu and Llan-y-warred form a portion of
the manor of Clas (1}, the remaining part of which is situated in
the adioining parish of St. Harmon, which was formerly included
in the old commot of Gwrthrynion. This commot, which comprised
the parishes of Nant-mel, Llaiifihangel-fach, Llanfair-yn-Rhos,
Rhaiadr, and St. Harmon, in the time of its early lords

(1) Clas as a tract of land became appropriated chiefly to church or
abbey land; clas-dir, glebe land. The English generally used the
derivative glas, instead of clas; hence so many names of places in
England: Glassie, Glasson, Glansworth, etc. A bard in the
thirteenth centnry has these words: "Woe be to him that infringes
upon the clas,” the cloistered or enclosed land of the church. In
Wales we have Clas ar Wy, or Glasbury in Radnorshire, Clas
Garmon, the patrimony of St. Germanus, [the St. Harmon Clas] a
lordship belonging to the Bishop of St. David's. — Gwaith
Gwallter Mechain, iii, 474. This derivation of the term supports the
old tradition which asserts that a considerable portion of the parish
once belonged to Strata Florida.

■ 0066 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT ON LLANGURIG.

constituted a moiety of the lordship of Arwystli. In the list of
manors in the county of Radnor the manor is styled Clas Garmon,
proprietor the Bishop of St. David's, and the lessee Percival Lewis,
Esq. (1) The Arwystli Clas is distinct from that of St. Harmon, and
is the property of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bart., and its court
leet is held at Llangurig. The other four townships form part of the
manor of Arwystli Uwchcoed, the court leet of which is held at
Llanidloes. This manor is also the property of Sir W. W. Wynn,
whose ancestor is said to have purchased it from the Crown in the
reign of George III.

5. Surface. With the exception of the level tracts along the banks of
the Wye and the Severn, and the narrow picturesque valleys
through which their tributaries flow, the whole parish is either
mountainous or hilly. It may indeed be fairly termed mountainous,
being almost covered by some of the numerous offshoots of the
mountain mass of Plinlimmon, the skirts of which extend within its
north-western limit. These spurs form a number of high moorland
tracts, which are intersected by numerous nants, or narrow ravines,
down which flow the mountain torrents. The slopes, and in some
instances the summits, of these elevated tracts, are dotted with
numbers of small farms, whose occupants maintain a laborious but
cheerful struggle to extort a subsistence from Dame Nature, by the
cultivation of the soil, or more commonly by attending to extensive
sheep walks. The most important of the mountain spurs is that
which occupies the country between the Severn and the Wye, and
which only terminates at the junction of the Dulas with the Severn.
Its crest forms the line of watershed between the two principal
Welsh streams, and is known locally by various names, the most
important being Esgair-y-Maesnant, Bryn-garreg-wen, Gias, Drim-
Maen, Allt-y-derw, and Pen-Cin-Coed.

Another similar, but higher and more barren, tract of elevated
ground stretches from the banks of the Wye on the north-east to the
banks of the Ystwith and its tributaries

(1) Williams's Hist. of Radnorshire in Arch. Cam. for 1857, 242.

■ 007 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG.

on the west. It is known in its northern part by the name Esgair
Ychion iy and by that of Esgair Clochfaen in its southern part.

Among the other hills of the parish may be mentioned the
following:— Foel goch, a short distance to the east of the village.
Bryn Mawr, in the township of Cefn-fodau, about two and a half
miles to south-west of Llanidloes, from which place it is plainly
seen. The view from its summit is very fine and extensive. On its
southern slope, near the small farm of Nant-y-gwernog, is a small
square enclosure, known as the "Quaker’s Garden," or burial
ground. The site was granted to the Friends by an indenture
bearing the date of 25th March, 1708, for the term of 2000 years,
for the annual rent of a peppercorn. The sect formerly flourished at
Llanidloes.

Creigiau Tylwch (Rocks of Tylwch), in the eastern part of the
parish, rise abruptly from the banks of the river of the same name,
 and present a bare, rugged, and precipitous front. They are a
favourite haunt of hawks. There are two legends attached to the
name Tylwch, which should perhaps be noticed here. The first
states that it received its name from one of the victorious leaders in
one of the numerous skirmishes which occurred between the
followers of the last Llewelyn and Edward I, crying out Attaliwch
(hold), or Tawelwch (peace) — the name being a corruption of one
of these words; the second tradition makes Oliver Cromwell its
hero, who, after a victory gained in the vicinity, performed the feat
of riding his horse over the rocks, his charger leaving the impress
of his hoofs upon the hard rock. These old traditions and legends
should not be looked upon as inventions; they generally turn out
upon examination to be founded upon facts. The wonder is, that
when we take into consideration the length of time during which
they have filtered orally through the rude society of the past
centuries, we are at all able to discover any clue to the
circumstances in which they originated. The germ of the first may
be discovered in the

■ 008 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

fact that an engagement between the English and Welsh took place
in the vicinity, the attaliwch or tawelwch, was a subsequent
addition of the story teller, by way of ornament, and obviously
suggested by the name iteelf which must have been in existence for
centuries previously. The historian of Radnorshire, in his account
of the parish of St. Harmon,(1) has the following statement:

“On the moor which divides the parishes of St. Harmon and
Llangurig, or that separates the county of Montgomery from that of
Radnor, was slain in one of those bloody and violent commotions
which too often agitated the ancient inhabitants of Wales, and
contributed to ruin the country and destroy its independence,
Gwynne, the brave son of Llewelyn ab Iorwerth Prince of North
Wales."

The writer does not give his authority for the above statement, and
I have failed to discover an allusion to the action in any other work,
but, as if to confirm the truthfulness of the account which doubtless
gave rise to the legend, there is a small farm near the spot indicated,
about two miles from the hamlet Tylwch, called to this day Lluest
Llewelyn (Llewelyn's Camp), where the followers of that prince
are supposed to have encamped, and at a short distance from it one
of the ravines on the eastern side of the same moor goes by the
name of Cwm Saeson (the Englishmen's Glen).

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1899814 Cwm y Saeson SN9377

The second, and later tradition, connects the locality with a victory
obtained by Cromwell and his followers over the Royalists. We
may at once discard the account of the wonderful feats performed
by his charger as the innocent romancing of the story teller, which
doubtless originated in the strong anti-Cromwellian spirit which
existed in the vicinity of Llanidloes during the period of the Civil
War, and try to discover the incident upon which the tradition was
founded. The foundation very probably exists in the facts recorded
in the following extmct from the Penhedw MSS. printed in the first
vol. of the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, p. 72: —

“About the middle of August, Harry Lingen, Knight, of

(1) Arch. Camb,, for 1858, p. 547.

■ 009 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Herefordshire, came with horse and foot, and advanced towards
North Wales, intending to join with the Anglesey men, but being
narrowly watched by the troops of the counties adjacent, who gave
General Horton (Parliamentarian) intelligence of Lingen's design.
Whilst they followed him, Horton came from Pembrokeshire
crosswise, and met Lingen's men near Llanidloes, took Sir Harry,
sore hurt, and — — prisoners. The rest fled, whereof about thirty
horse and some foot came to Malloyd.”

The tradition assists in identifying the site of this action as being in
the neighbourhood of Tylwch; (1) and the victory gained by one of
the Parliamentary generals was, without greatly transgressing the
license of oral tradition, easily transferred to Cromwell himself.
Should these conjectures prove correct, they furnish an instance of
the valuable hints to be obtained from these old stories which have
been handed down from parent to child for so many generations.

6. Geology. The general character of the soil in the hilly and
mountainous portions of the parish is that of a light turbary varied
by one of a ferny nature. This soil accumidates very rapidly on the
substratum of slate rock which is frequently crossed by dykes of
trap and grau wacke. Some of the hilly knolls are covered by a
gravelly soil known locally as roche. Peat was formerly
extensively raised, and formed not only the principal article of fuel,
but was carted off for sale to Llanidloes in large quantities. The
construction of the canal to Newtown struck the first blow to this
traffic, and the introduction of railways into Mid-Wales has caused
a Llangurig peat cart to become a rarity in the streets of Llanidloes.
Some of the upper nants are studded with boulders of trap and
conglomerate.

The valleys are covered with an alluvial deposit, the farmers of the
low grounds being in general prosperous and the land well
cultivated.

Several mineral veins cross the parish, and yield abundant supplies
of lead, together with copper in smaller quantities. It is supposed
that lead ore was first extracted

(1) For the derivation of the word, consult the glossary.

■ 010 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

from the Llangurig hills shortly after the enterprising Sir Hugh
Middleton infused fresh energy into the mining operations of the
adjoining Cardiganshire parishes in the earlier half of the
seventeenth century. "Miners" are among the earUest trades
mentioned in the parish registers. The principal mines are —

1. Nant Iago — on the stream of that name, a tributary of the Wye
—yields lead and blend.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2977663 Nant Iago SN8286

2. Nant-yr-eira, or Snow Brook, which has been abandoned lately.

3. Siglen-las, near the source of the Bidno, yields lead.

4. Cwm Ricket, on the right bank of the Severn, about six miles
west by north from Llanidloes, is a very promising mine which has
been lately discovered, yields lead and copper.

5. Pant Mawr, on the left bank of the Wye, four miles north-west
of the village of Llangurig, was till within late years a very
productive mine.

6. Gias, at the foot of the mountain of the same name, on the right
bank of the Severn.

7. Brynpostig lead mine is situated two miles to the south of
Llanidloes. This mine was worked several years ago and
abandoned, then re-started, and afterwards thrown into Chancery.
In 1865 a fresh lease for twenty-one years was obtained by the
present company, whose prospects of success are very good; yields
at present about fifty tons of ore per month.

8. Cwmfron mine is one mile to the south-west of the latter. It
yields lead, and though it has not been long worked it promises to
be productive.

It is the opinion of competent mineralogists that this parish is rich
in lead ore, and only needs capital and proper working to prove
highly remunerative. Mining operations have, within the last few
years, received a fresh impetus which promises to develope [sic]
rapidly the mineral wealth of the locahty.

The parish contains several good stone quarries, among which may
be mentioned the one formerly worked at

■ 011 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Coed-cae, and that on the grounds of Tyn-y-fron, which furnished
large quantities of stone for the erection of the Public Rooms,
National School, and Short Bridge at Llanidloes; those on the
grounds of Ystradolwyn Fach, Delfarch, and Crugnant, all of
which yield excellent stone for building purposes.

A celebrated chalybeate spring exists on the grounds of a small
tenement called Rhos-y-wrach, half a mile to the north of the
village. The small brook which discharges its waters into the Wye,
flows by the vicarage, and is known by the name of Nant Shân
(Jane's Brook).

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/294044 Cwm Nant Shân SN9180

In former times this spring was much frequented by invalids, who
came to enjoy the benefits to be derived from what in those days
was regarded as the almost miraculous properties of its waters.
Tradition asserts that numbers imable to visit it without the
assistance of crutches, were healed, and could dispense with them
in returning home. The spring is a very valuable one, and if the
people who reside in its vicinity had half as much faith in its merits
as their ancestors, it would perhaps save them something in the
shape of doctor's bills. On the grounds of Bryn Mawr are situated
in close proximity to each other two springs totally differing in the
nature of their waters; me one is an ordinary spring of clear fresh
water, the other a saline, bearing a strong resemblance to the
celebrated one at Llandrindod. Another chalybeate spring exists
between the road and the brook, near the third mile stone from
Llanidloes.

7. Drainage. With the exception of a very limited area on its
western borders, the rivers Severn and Wye receive the drainage of
the whole parish. It will be necessary to notice here only the right
hand affluents of the former, reserving a fuller description for the
parochial account of Llanidloes.

The Severn. The first considerable streamlet which joins the infant
Severn on its right bank, within the limits of the parish is —

a. Afon Hore, which rises near the boundary line between the
counties of Montgomery and Cardigan, and

■ 012 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

flowing at first south, then in an easterly direction passes the Hore
Farm, joins the Hafren (Severn) after a course of three miles.

6. The Colwyn flows from Ffosydd-Llwydion in an easterly
direction, and after a course of about two miles discharges its
waters into the Hafren, a short distance above Glyn-Hafren.

c. Nant-Bron-felen has its source within a quarter of a mile of that
of the Bidno (a tributary of the Wye,) and runs in a north-easterly
direction, joining the main stream opposite the Old Hall. Length,
two and a half miles.

d. The Dulas, which drains the eastern portion of the parish, is
formed by the junction of Afon Tylwch and Nant Cwm-Belan.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2135396 Afon Dulas SN9779

The former, which is the longer and principal branch, rises in the
neighbourhood of Lluest Llewelyn, and flows in an easterly
direction through the parish of St. Harmon to Rhyd-Myherin,
where its watera are augmented on its right bank by a small stream
which, through its course of about two miles, forms a portion of
the boundary line between the counties of Montgomery and
Radnorshire. From this junction it flows in a direction north-west
by north, and for two miles of its course forms the line of
separation between the counties mentioned above. Near the small
hamlet of Tylwch its waters are further increased by several small
streams. From this place it flows through a deep narrow
picturesque glen, round the base of Creigiau-Tylwch to Pen-bont-
pren, a little below which it is joined by

Nant Cwm-Belan, This stream rises in the same turbary as the
Tylwch, but flows in a less circuitous route by Bwlch-y-garreg and
the hamlet of Cwm-Belan, and after a course of about four miles
mingles its waters with those of the longer branch. The united
stream, now called the Dulas, flows due north for a distance of
rather more than a mile through a pleasant and fertile valley, and is
joined on its left bank by the Brochan, which rises about a mile to
the north of the

■ 013 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG.

village of Llangurig, and flows in a northerly direction for a mile
and a half, when it is joined by the small stream which drains
'Marsh's Pool.’ Near Rhyd-yr-onen it is joined by the waters of
Nant-yr-Oerfa, and thence flowing in an easterly direction through
the delightful little vale to which it imparts its name, after a course
of about four miles joins the Dulas. The latter then flows north for
a few himdred yards and becomes lost in the Severn. Its length by
the Tylwch branch is rather more than nine miles.

The Wye —

"Plinlimmon's fairest child The peerless Wye!"

has its source within the limits of the parish, in a marshy slope on
the eastern side of Plinlimmon Fawr, half a mile to the west of
Cam Tarenig, and rather more than two miles south-west by south
from the source of the Severn. At first it flows in a south-easterly direction through a wild and desolate mountain tract for a distance
of five miles before it is joined on its right bank at Pont-y-rhyd-
galed by the

Afon Tarenig, a stream which is rather more than a mile longer
than the Wye. It rises at the foot of the highest summit of
Plinlimmon, within the limits of Cardiganshire, three quarters of a
mile to the west of the source of the Wye, and flows first to the
south, then to the south-east past Eisteddfa-Gurig into the Wye. It
forms the boundary line between Montgomeryshire and
Cardiganshire for more than two miles of its course.

From Pont-y-rhyd-galed the Wye runs in a south-easterly direction
by Pant Mawr, its valley expandmg as it advances. On its right
bank it receives in succession several small streams, such as Nant-
du-bach, Nant Aber-Trinant, and Nant Troed-yr-Esgair, all of
which flow down the slopes of Esgair-Ychion. At Aber-Bidno it is
joined on the left bank by the Bidno, which flows from Waun-goch
by Lluest-Bidno and Mynachlog (1) (the history of both these
places is lost),

(1)Probably a cell attached to Strata Florida once existed here.

■ 014 PAROCHIAL ACCX)UNT OF LLANGURIG.

in a south-easterly course till it is absorbed in the Wye. Its length is
about six miles.

From Aber-Bidno the Wye meanders gently through a wide and
open valley to the village of Llangurig, which is situated on its left
bank. Here it changes its direction to the south, and receives
successively on its right bank Nant Clochfaen and the Dernol. The
latter rises near Carn-y-groes and flows south-east through a
narrow valley for a distance of two and a half miles. For the greater
part of its course it separates Montgomeryshire from Radnorshire.
This sream is mentioned as a boundary line as early as 1184 in the
grants to the Abbey of Strata Florida. (1)

Below the efflux of the Dernol the Wye enters Radnorshire. Its
length from its source to this point, including its principal windings,
is about fourteen miles; the village of Llangurig is situated about
ten miles from the source along the course of the stream.

The western boundary line of the parish is for a distance of four
and a half miles formed by the

Afon Dilliw, a tributary of the Ystwith, which rises on the northern
end of Esgair-Ychion, and runs in a south-easterly course,
receiving the waters of the numerous nants which drain the western
slope of the Esgairs. Near Craig-y-Lluest it is joined on its left
bank by the Ystwith-faes.

The Elan, for about a mile of its course, separates the parish on the
south-west from Cardiganshire, and receives on its left bank the
waters of Nant Mytalog.

Lakes. The pools of the parish are hardly large enough to be
dignified with the name of lakes. The most important is a beautiful
artificial sheet of water covering about seventeen acres, situated a
mile and a quarter to the north-east of the village, and three miles
to the south-west of Llanidloes. It was constructed and stocked
with fish by the late T. E. Marsh, Esq., in the year 1852, and has
been called by his name, ‘Marsh's Pool.’

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2962496 Marsh’s Pool SN9281

Since that gentleman's death the pool has been

Arch[aeologia]. Cam[brensis]., 1848, p. 196.

■ 015 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGXYRIG.

greatly neglected. Formerly it was a favourite resort of numerous
pleasure parties in the summer time. About midway between the
Pool and the town is Cefn-bwlch Hill, from which may be enjoyed
a most pleasing view of the Vale of Llanidloes.

There are two other large pools situated on the hills about a mile
and a half to the north-east of 'Steddfa, marked on the Ordnance
map, and called Trippau Steddfa.

Productions. The (a) minerals have been already noticed supra.

(b) Vegetables. The principal cereals raised are wheat (in the low
grounds), barley, oats, and rye; the latter being the more common.
The rye is mixed with wheat and forms what is locally known
muncorn, from which a pleasant, healthy bread is made. Of roots
the principal raised are potatoes, turnips, and on some farms
mangel wmrzeL

The parish is not well wooded, though of late years plantations of
fir are becoming more common on the hill sides. The principal
trees are oak, ash, alder, birch, black willow, mountain ash,
sycamore, and the holly. Very large sycamores and holly are to be
found round some of the farm houses. Near the Clochfaen there is
a holly-tree of immense size; the trunk having become very much
decayed, was earthed round about forty years ago, which earned
fresh branches of great size to shoot forth, giving it the appearance
of a cluster of trunks. It has a girth of 28ft. 6in., and is supposed to
be more than five hundred years old. (1)

On the hills various species of peat and club mosses are common
— corn-carw, or stag's horn, being plentifut Of ferns the principal
varieties are the common brake or bracken, which covers
considerable portions of the lulls,

(1) Though the spurs of Plinlimmon are now wholly destitute of
trees, there exists some slight evidence to indicate that their sides
were formerly covered with timber. Near the janction of the Horé
and the Severn, at a place called Nant-y-tanlliw (fire coloured
ravine) the remains of several large fir trees have been discovered.

■ 016 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the male fern, various species of maiden hair, and the hart's tongue.
Golden furze, three or four varieties of heath, and the cotton grass
{sidan-y-waun) are also abundant. Rushes, which are also plentiful,
are largely used for various purposes, chiefly as litter for cattle, for
thatching hay and corn-ricks, outhouses, etc., and the best of them
are peeled and dipped into grease and used as rush-lights. Formerly
large quantities of these peeled rushes (pabwyr) were carried to the
town of Llanidloes, and sold to the inhabitants.

(c) Animals. The mountainous and hilly districts afford pasture to
an immense number of sheep of a small hardy kind, which, during
the winter months, are removed from the higher and more exposed
hills to the farms in the valleys and low grounds. Hill ponies are
also reared.

The only wild animals are the hare, rabbit, polecat, hedgehog,
weasel, and an occasional fox. The principal birds are the red
grouse, partridge, woodcock, snipe, wild duck; buzzard, kestrel,
sparrow hawk, owl, kite; the crane is a frequent visitor of the Wye,
curlew, lapwing or pee-wit, the grey and golden plover; the
mountain or missel thrush, fieldfare, ring ousel, thrush, black-bird,
starling, cuckoo; sandpiper, kingfisher, and the 'white-breast
dowker' or water ousel, wheatear and whin-chat, goat sucker
(deryn-y-corff), etc., etc.

The Wye is one of the most celebrated salmon streams in the
kingdom; this fish has been killed even in the small river Tarenig.
The other fish found in the streams are trout, samlet, minnows, and
the silver eel.

Inhabitants. Industrial pursuits. The census returns give the
population in the various decades as follows: —

Year / Pop[ulation].
1801. 1426.
1811. 1559.
1821. 1784.
1831. 1847.
1841. 1957.
1851. 1802.
1861. 1641.

Showing a trifling but steady increase in the forty years between
1801 and 1841 of 531, followed by a

■ 017 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.
 
decline during the next twenty years of 316. Taking the area of the
parish in round numbers at 50,000 acres, we find that in 1801 there
was one individual to every 35 acres, in 1840 one to every 25 acres,
and in 1861 one to every 30 acres, or a percentage of ·03 persons
per acre. Additional particulars may be gleaned from the subjoined
table: —

Number of Houses.
Year. / Inhabited. / Uninhabited. / Building. / Males. / Females.
1841 / 332 / 20 / 3 / - / -
1851 / 300 / 10 / 1 / 917 / 885
1861 / 285 / 8 / 1 / 824 / 817
 
The decrease in the population is attributable to various causes, the
principal of which are, the depression which formerly existed in
the mining operations, emigration, and in some degree to the fact
that several of the small tenements have been incorporated into
small farms. The returns of the next census, however, are likely to
exhibit a considerable increase in the population, now that the
mines are once more in full vigour. A further increase would
probably be the result of the opening of the line of railway
connecting the village with Llanidloes, which has been constructed
by the Manchester and Milford Railway Company.

Nearly the whole population is devoted to agricultural and pastoral
pursuits. The mines give employment to a considerable number,
and there exist three flannel factories with their accompanying
fulling mills within the limits of the parish — viz., at Cwmbelan,
on the Nant Belan; in Glyn Brochan, on the banks of the Brochan;
and at Cae-yn-y-coed, on the banks of the Hafren. Factories also
existed formerly on the banks of the Bidno and Tylwch.
 
CHAPTER II.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL.

Ancient Roadways. A writer in the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine
attempted to trace the route of an ancient British roadway — in his
opinion existing anterior to the invasion of the country by the
Romans — leading from the Isle of Wight to Anglesey. The writer
supposes it to have followed the upper valley of the Wye — "from
Rhaiadr Gwy, the Wye-fords in Radnorshire, to its source at the hill
of Plinlimmon in Montgomeryshire, probably a place of worship of
the Môn Druids. This being a great mining county, the road seems
to be divided here into several branches, as over Sarn Halen, or the
Salt-causeway, at Llanbadarn Odyn, in Cardiganshire." The
evidence brought forward by the author of this paper in support of
his theory is the frequent use of the term ford, which he interprets
to be the Anglicised form of the ancient Celtic and modern Welsh
ffordd, so that Hereford becomes Hir or Hênffordd, the long or old
road, and Rhaiadr Gwy, supposed to mean the waterfall or cataract
of Wye, is manipulated into Wye-fords. (1)

The learned and careful author of Salopia Antiqua has examined
this theory, but the mass of evidence he has accumulated goes to
prove that the term ford indicates traces of a (2) Roman
thoroughfare. "From finding this word so continually on Roman
roads, there is no doubt that it is allusive to the position of the
places where it occurs, and that the modern acceptation of the term
is only employed in its secondary and lowest sense." On the
Watling Street he enumerates eighteen places into the construction
of which the term ford

(1) Vol. iv, 373.
(2) Salopia Antiqua, p. 238.

■ 019 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

enters; on the line of Ermine Street he has discovered eleven such
places; on Icknield Street nineteen; on Akeman Street eleven; on
Hay den Way five, (1) etc.

No vestiges, either monumental or traditional, of this supposed
roadway have been found within the limits of the parish, but the
remains of an ancient paved roadway running in another direction,
were discovered by the late Rev. D. Davis on the summit of
Esgair-Ychion, near the Cistfaen. Local tradition ascribes its
construction to the monks of Strata Florida, who served the church
of Llangurig until the time of the dissolution of the monastery.
That they used it in their journeys between Llangurig and the
Abbey is more than probable, but there is no evidence to show that
they were its constructors.

Carneddau, or Carns. Rather more than three miles to the west of
the village, on the summit of Esgair-Ychion, are the remains of a
carnedd, denominated on the Ordnance map Caerau. Subsequent
to the appearance of the paper on Ancient Arwystli, (2) the writer
was informed that this carn was not wholly demolished. Upon
visiting the spot in the summer of 1868, he found that three-fourths
of the stones, which constituted the upper portion of the carnedd,
were removed for the purpose of building a rude shed — with a
view to afford shelter — only a few yards distant from the
venerable relic, which supplied the materials for its walls. Probably
the farmers who undertook this partial work of destruction never
for a moment thought that they were desecrating a grave, and
would shudder at the very thought of entering a churchyard for a
supply of stones for a similar purpose. The inhabitants, to all
appearances, did not proceed far enough with the work of
demolition to reveal the remains concealed for so many centuries.
The base of the carn is forty yards in circumference.

(1) Ibid., 262, 2G5, and Words and Places, p. 254 (ed. 1865.) (2) Montgomeryshire Collections, i, 229,

■ 020 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Another carnedd, known as Carn-Bwlch-y-Cloddiau, lies half a
mile to the south by west from the first. It is a circular heap of
stones about thirty-five yards in circumference, tie stones in the
centre of the mass being piled up to the height of about six feet,
while those which form ite base are partially overgrown with grass.
It is situated upon one of the summits of the Esgair, and commands
a magnificent, extensive, and varied prospect.

Cist faen. A mile and a quarter to the south-east of the second carn,
and about three miles and a half to the south-west of the village
occupying the crest of one of the most western elevations of the
Esgair, is a high ridge several hundred yards long and between
thirty and forty broad, lying in the direction of north and south.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1211330 Cistfaen SN8677

It appears to be the outcropping of a vein of the mountain stone,
which, through exposure to the eflfects of the atmosphere, has
become disintegrated, and covers the ridge with thousands of
blocks of various sizes. These blocks are in part overgrown with
grass; some of them projecting out at the edges of the ridge look
very much like an artificial barrier of stones placed edgewise, but
which, no doubt, owe their position to natural causes. Upon the
crest of this ridge are two carns, the larger one, not far from its
southern extremity, is about eighteen feet high, and about fifty-
seven yards in circumference at its base. Some of its stones have
lately been displaced, but not in sufficient quantities to bring any
remains to view. This displacement is evidently the doings of
individuals who did not understand their work, and fortunately
were tired with a couple of hours' labour. Eighteen yards to the
north of this is the smaller carn, which is about five feet high and
thirty-seven yards in circumference at its base. Some of its stones
have also been displaced. A little further north are a great number
of loose stones of various sizes, which to all appearances are the
remains of a third carn. Perhaps its removal led to the discovery of
the Cist-faen, which gave its name to these remains. From the

■ 021 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

ridge are seen the Cardiganshire hills to the south-west,
Plinlimmon to the north-west, Llandinam hills and the vale of the
Severn to the east. Rather more than a mile to the south-east like a
landmark appears Carn-y-groes, situated on an eminence
overlooking the ravine of the Dernol. The greater part of the carn is
low and covered with grass, but the stones in the centre form a
heap seven feet high, and about six yards in circumference. All the
before-mentioned earns, as well as Plinlimmon, Cader Idris, and
the Llandinam hills, are visible from the spot. A probable
derivation of the name is suggested in the following extract: —

"That the early Christians did actually perform divine worship in
the bardic circles is pretty evident from the fact that some of these
still retain in their names and other circumstances, clear marks of
their having been used for evangelical purposes. Such is Carn-
Moesen or the Carnedd of Moses in Glamorganshire. Carn-y-
Groes in the same county, where a very ancient cross stands; and
Ty-Illtud in Breconshire and many others." (1)

If a cross was ever raised upon this carn, the raised stone work,
which still remains, is at once explained.

Domen-y-Giw. Rather more than a mile to the north of the village,
on the crest of a high tract of moorland, which here forms the line
of watershed between the tributaries of the Wye and Severn, is a
tumulus known locally as Domen-y-Giw. It is a low flat mound,
about sixty yards in circumference and about three yards in
elevation. From the vast extent of country which it commands it
was most probably used as a beacon station. The view from it
embraces the Plinlimmon Carneddau, with Cader Idris in the dim
distance on the north-west; to the north may be seen the Arran; the
horizon on the east being bounded by a belt of mountain masses
stretching from the Arran to the Breidden Hill and Long Mynd;
while the Kerry hills and Rhydd-Howell limit

(1) Eccleslastical Antiquities of the Cymry, p. 71.

■ 022 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the view on the south-east. In front the town of Llanidloes, nestling
at the foot of Pen-rhiw, with the sinuous Severn winding through
the valley, forms a pleasant picture. To the south-west are the
Esgairs with their carns, and the beautiful Wye meandering
pleasantly through the cultivated valley at their feet.

The Earthwork on Rhyd-yr-onen. This interesting and well
preserved earthwork is situated on the grounds of a small farm
called Rhyd-yr-onen, about two miles to the north-east of the
village, and three miles to the south-west of the town of Llanidloes,
in the upper part of "Cwm-glyn-Brochan." It occupies a small
triangular plateau elevated some sixty feet above two deep rapid
brooks, which flank it upon either side, and which unite their
waters at its apex. These brooks form a natural moat on two of its
sides, and if dammed up near their junction would materially aid in
the defence of the position. The third is defended by a deep, broad
outer ditch and a very strong rampart of earth, which stretches
from one edge of the plateau, in the direction of the opposite brook,
for a distance of about 240 feet. The rampart a short time ago was
covered with oak trees, which however, were marked for sale. At a
distance of 150 feet from the outer ditch is another deep, broad
fosse which surrounds a large circular mound, which measures 520
feet in circumference at its base, and is between forty and fifty feet
higher than the ditch. On its top is a flat space which covers about
200 square yards. The space situated between the mound and the
junction of the brooks is occupied by two platforms separated from
each other by a deep, broad fosse; the platform nearest the mound
being some three or four feet higher than the other. That portion of
the work lying between the outer agger and the mound, and
marked D on the accompanying plan, is cultivated. An entrance (A)
— ^to all appearance modern — broad enough for carts to pass
through, has been made at this end of the work.

Local tradition states that the mound is a great barrow, but the
conductors of the Ordnance survey held

■ 023 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

another opinion, and in all probability the correct one, when they
pronounced it to be a moat. It appears to be the site of one of those
wooden castles, which were erected on mounds of this description,
and which figure so prominently in the early history of the
Principality. There is much in its form and position similar to the
remains of Owen Cyfeiliog’s Castle at Tafolwern, in the parish of
Llanbrynmair.

The farm was purchased a short time ago by Mr. Edwards, of
Brecknockshire, from the North and South Wales Bank.

Names implying military occupation. The situation of the parish on
the south-western confines of the principality of Powys, with
Cardiganshire on one hand, and Radnorshire, in possession of the
South Wales princes — who erected a stronghold at Rhayader —
on the other, caused it in some degree to be a high way between
North and South Wales. Yet few well-marked traces of its being a
fighting or camping grotmd have been preserved to add to those
described in the preceding pages. The following names probably
indicate traces of a period "when every man’s house was in a
literal sense his own castle also." The term Castell is perhaps of
greater an-tiquity than that of lluest, the former originating
probably during or immediately after the Roman occupation being
derived from the Latin Castellum.

1. Castell, the name of a small farm on the right bank of the Severn,
two and a half mUes west by south from Llanidloes.

2. Castell Greido (Greido’s Castle), a farm two and a half miles
north-west of the village of Llangurig, and four and a half miles
south-west by south from Llanidloes.

3. Rhos-y-Castell (Castle-moor), a small tenement situated a mile
and a half north-west by north from the village.

---

1. Lluest-y-Bidno (encampment on the Bidno), a small farm on the
left bank of that stream, a mile and three-quarters to the north-west
of the village.

■ 024 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

2. Lluest-dôl-gwial (encampment on the Mead of Twigs), on the
left bank of Afon Dilliw, four and a half miles to the south-west of
the village.

3. Graig-y-lluest (rock of the encampment), in the valley of the
same stream, a mile to the south-east of the latter.

4. Lluest Llewelyn (Llewelyn's encampment); for the probable
history connected with this name, see supra.

Coins. Numbers of coins have been discovered at various times in
the fields in the neighbourhood of the village, but none of them
have been preserved. Lewis Morris, the celebrated antiquary,
writing about the year 1755, states that "thirty-eight silver coins or
shillings of Henry I [1099-1135] were found in a grave in this
churchyard (Llangurig) two years ago." (1) In 1826 a rose noble of
Edward III was dug up. (2) Numbers of the same coins have been
discovered in the neighbouring town of Llanidloes.

Two other antiquarian relics are preserved at the Clochfaen. The
first is the family Hirlas or drinking horn, which has been handed
down as an heirloom from "time immemorial" It is made of a
beautifully-polished white horn, richly mounted with chased silver.
It is represented in the following cut, engraved from a photograph
taken by Mr. Owen, of Newtown: —

The length of the horn 15½ inches, diameter of the opening at the
mouth 2 5/8 inches. The Hirlas (long, blue) is thus described in the
spirited poem which very appropriately bears its name, and which
was written to commemorate the deeds of the chieftains who took
part in the action of Crogen: —

(1) Camb[rian]. Reg[ister]. vol. ii, p. 491.
(2) Lewis Top[ographical]. Dic[tionary]., art. Llangurig.

■ 025 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

" This hour we dedicate to joy,
Then fill the Hirlas horn, my boy,
That shineth like the sea;

Whose azure handle, tipped with gold.
Invites the grasp of Britons bold.
The sons of liberty."

Mrs. Hemans has also written a beautiful song to the
Hirlas, which is too long to quote at length; we must
content ourselves with the last stanza, which contains
an allusion to the poem of the Prince of Cyfeiliog: —

"Fill higher the Hirlas! forgetting not those
Who shared its bright draught in the days which are fled;
Tho’ cold on the mountains the valiant repose,
Their lot shall be lovely, renown to the dead!
While harps in the hall of the feast shall be strung.
While regal Eryri with snow shall be crowned.
So long by the bards shall their battles be sung.
And the heart of the hero shall burn at the sound;
The freee winds of Cambria shall swell with their name.
And Owain's rich Hirlas be fill'd to their fame!"

The second is a dressed stone in the form of an inverted
coffee cup with its top hollowed out. It is nine and a
quarter inches high, eleven and a half inches in diameter
at its base, and seven and a half inches across its top.
It has a hole through it, and appears to be a rude imitation of an ancient bell. This old relic is called “Y
Cloch-faen" the stone bell, and the old people of the
neighbourhood confidently assert that from it the farm
derives its name.

CHAPTER III.

ECCLESIASTICAL.

1. Saint. The church was founded by St Curig, or as
he is styled by the mediaeval bards, Curig Lwyd, or the
blessed, an appellation given him either on account of
his peculiar holiness or for the purpose of distinguish-
ing him from another saint of the same name, with

^ Lit of the Kymry, p. 40.

26 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

whom he is sometimes confused. Professor Rees ranks
him among the Welsh saints who flourished between
A.D. 664 and 700, and one of the lolo MSS. (p. 550)

E fives his parentage as "St. Curig, the son of Urien
Rheged] the son of Cynfarch. (In another copy, the
son of Arawn, the son of Cynfarch)." We are told by
Lewis Morris that he was a foreigner who landed at
Aberystwith, and that it was on the summit of the hill
called after him Eisteddfa Curig (Ciu-ig's Seat, or rest-
ing place), that he rested on his first journey inland, and
beheld the fine vale of the Wye before him, in which he
determined to build a church in a sheltered spot.* Llan-
gurig was the site selected for rearing the humble struc-
ture covered with reeds and straw, which we are told
was the kind of building adopted by the primitive
Welsh Christians.'

His missionary labours were ultimately rewarded
with a bishop s see, probably the adjacent one of Llan-
badarn^ — founded by St. Padam in the previous cen-
tury, — ^which is supposed to have included within its
limits a considerable portion of Montgomeryshire.* Lewis
Morris, in his compilation of Bonedd y Saint, has the
following notice of nim: —

'' Kurig St., Eglwys yn Arwystli a elwir Llangurig. Un a
ddwg-Gurig Iwyd dan gwrr ei glog. Llangurig Arwystli.
Eglwys Hid a Churig, Morganwg. Eglwys Forth Gurig, Morg.
Capel Curig a'i fam Julita yn Arvon.''^

The compiler draws no distinction between the two
saints, but Professor Rees states that "Llanilid a Churig,
Glamorganshire, and Capel Curig a'i fam Julita, Car-
narvonshire" are dedicated to Juliet and Cyrique, but
that it is imcertain to which of the persons named Curig
the churches of Perth Curig, Glamorganshire, and
Eglwys Fair a Curig, Carmarthenshire, are dedicated. °
As regards " Perth Cirig," it is stated in the list of those
who founded churches and choirs in Glamorganshiie,

1 Welsh Sainis, p. 307.

^ Camb. Beg,, ii, 491, Enwogion Cymrlly art. Curig.

» Welsh Saints, p. 69. * Ibid. p. 216.

* Myf. Arch., p. 522 (Gee's Reprint.) • Wellh Saints, 307.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 27

that " St. Cirig founded Porth Cirig for the benefit of
the sailors' souls, and a port for them."* But Taliessin
Williams argues that neither of these saints founded the
port, but that it was the residence of a Silurian prince
of the name of Ceiri, its true name being Porth-Ceri?
Thus we find that the bishop can only lay undisputed
claim to be patron of one church — that of Llangurig.'
He has always been held in the highest estimation by
his countrymen. Giraldus tells us that —

" In this same province of Warthrenion, and in the church
of St. Germanas (St. Harmon) there is a staff of Saint Curig,
covered on all sides with gold and silver, and resembling in its
upper part the form of a cross. Its efficacy has been proved
in many cases, but particularly in the removal of glandular and
strumous swellings, insomuch that all persons afflicted with
these complaints, on a devout application to the staff, with the
oblation of one penny, are restored to health. But it happened
in these our days that a strumous patient, on presenting one
halfpenny, the humour subsided only in the middle; but when
the oblation was completed by the other hal^enny, an entire
cure was accomplished. Another person also coming to the
staff with the promise of a penny, was cured; but not ful-
filling his engagement on the day appointed, he relapsed into
his former disorder. In order, however, to obtain pardon for
his offence, he tripled the offering by presenting threepence,
and thus obtained a complete cure.'^^

The historian of Radnorshire informs us that this vene-
rable staff was committed to the flames at the time of
the Reformation.*

Two centuries later than the time of Giraldus we find,
from the works of Lewis Glyn Cothi, that he was still
a popular saint, for the poet, in ridiculing the custom
then prevalent among the mendicant friars of vending
the images of favourite saints as charms, etc., receiving
in exchange cheese, bacon, wool, com, etc. —

1 lolo MSS., 636. « Ibid., 345.

* The Hymns ^ven in the Cambro-Briiish Saints, pp. 609-611, are
those ascribed to the martyr Cyriqne.

* Hoare^s Qiraldus, i, 5.

* Arch. Camh., 1858, p. 548.

28 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

" Un a arw^in, yn oriog,
Gnrig Iwyd dan gwr ei glog;
Gwas arall a ddwg Seiriol
A naw o caws yn ei g61;"^

" One bore by turns the blessed Curig under the skirts

of his cloak, another youth carried Seiriol, and nine

cheeses in his bosom." Traditions respecting Curig's

miraculous powers of healing are still prevalent among

several of the old people of the parish. His festival is

observed on the 1 7th of June.

2. Mother Church, There is one subject connected

with the establishment of the parish churches of Arwystli

that requires a few words, and this is perhaps the pro-

per place to make the observations. A belief has long

been prevalent in the neighboiu-hoodthatLlangurig is the

"mother church" of the other six churches of the deanery.

When and whence this notion originated cannot now be

determined. The earliest notice of it appears to be in

a letter of Lewis Morris, preserved in the Cambrian

Register, and, as the work is rather scarce, we take the

liberty of quoting the humorous description of his visit

to Llangurig rather more than a century ago: —

'^ I also crossed on my road, near Llan-Gurig, the river Gwy
(Wye) which takes its rise in Pumlymmon Hill, or as pro-
nounced in that country, Plymhummon. Query whether it be
derived from Pen Luman, or Lummon, the hill of the banner ?
In this mountain are the sources of the Severn, Wye, and
Eheidiol. The small rivers Bidno and Blain fall into the Gwy
(Wye), and their junction is called Aber, as Aber Bidno, Aber
Elain; so that word signifies not only the fall of a river into
the sea, but also that of a small river into a larger. The vicar
of the parish (Llan Gurig) who is a tolerably ingenious man,
(as he excels most mountain clergymen) could not inform me
what the word Curig meant; he said some derived it from the
Scotch kirk, a^ Llan^Ghcri^ was a mother church, and might
have been so called by way of eminence. But I told him there
was a Welsh poem. (Mr. Morris here quotes the extract from
Lewis Glyn Cothi, given above.) The vicar was extremely
pleased to find that he had a saint to his church, as well as
his neighbours, and a grey one.^ (Lwyd) too; he, therefore

^ Owaith Lewis Glyn Cotki, 280.

^ Mr. Morris gives grey as the equivalent of Lioyd; but the old
bards woald not use the epithet in that sense when applied to the
Almighty, as they frequently do.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 29

spent his threepence for ale^ and after some discourse about
tithes we went to rest. We lodged at the sexton's, a fat, jolly
fellow, more like a parson than his master; he is a relation of
Bennetts of Bangor, and like him. This Llan-Gurig is in Mont-
gomeryshire. I could find here a remarkable distinction for
the better between their Welsh and the inhabitants of Aberteivi
(Cardiganshire) . . I forgot to tell you that there is a good
proverb at Llan-Gurig. ' Pan fwrio gwr ei gywilydd, nid gor-
chest iddo i fyw '; i.e.. When a man is past shame, or has bid
adieu to modesty, what difficulty can he have to live, or do
well.'^i

To return to the subject. Malkin next helps to perpetu-
ate the dogma that has become one of the articles of the
creed of the inhabitants, for which they are prepai-ed to
do battle manfully. Apparently the only grounds
brought forward by them in its support are the facts,
that Curiff Lwyd was a bishop, and that the vicar still
continues to revive the tithes of one of the townships
of Llanidloes parish, and about j61 8 per annum from the
parish of Trefeglwys. If tested by the criterion of the
payment of tithes we shall find that Llandinam has far
tetter claims than Llangurig for appropriating to itself
the title of mother church, for it was formerly endowed
with the tithes of a district embracing the modern
parishes of Camo, Llanwnog, Llandinam, and consider-
ble portions of the parishes of Llanidloes and Trefeglwys.
The tithes of this district were retained up to the year
1685, when by an Act of Parliament they were divided
between the Dean and Chapter of Bangor and the seve-
ral vicars of the different parishes. This sufiiciently
proves the claim of Llandinam to be the first or oldest
foundation within the limits of the district defined
above. Again, if we appeal to chronology, and taking
Professor Kees as our guide, we find —

(a) That Llonioy the founder of Llandinam, and
GvrrJuiiy the founder of Penstrywed, flourished between
the years 500 and 542 A.D.*

(6) Gxiyynno or Gwynnog, the founder of Llanvniog,

» Camh, Ti^eg,, ii, 491. ^ ^y^j^j^^ Saints, pp. 221, 231.

30 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

himself a bishop hke Curig, flourished about a hundred
years before the latter;* and

(c) Idloes, the founder of Llanidloes, belonged to the
generation preceding that in which the founder of Llan-
sniris flourished.^ If it be granted that the Professor
£ correct in his dates, then no other conclusion can be
arrived at than that Llangurig could not have been the
mother church of those four, which were evidently
founded before it.

3. The Church consists of a nave, chancel, and a small
narrow, north aisle. The nave measures internally 62 feet
by 24 feet, and is separated from the chancel (which mea-
sures 27 feet by 24) by a high chamfered pointed arch;
the aisle is separated from the nave by three low, plain,
stone pillars supporting pointed arches, all of which are
bmlt of ordinary rubble stone. On the north side of the
chancel are to be seen traces of a narrow winding stone
staircase which formerly led to the rood loft, which ex-
isted in the church previous to the year 1836. Re-
mains of " an elaborately-carved screen and rood loft are
still preserved," is the statement made in Lewis's Topo-
gi^aphiixil Dictioriary y^ published in 1833. Three years
later, when the chm-ch was repaired, the screen and loft
were taken down, and the churchwardens, who must
have been ignorant of its value, allowed anyone who
expressed a desire to become possessed of samples of the
tracery, to carry away specimens, so that literally bit by
bit it disappeared, and not a vestige of it was left when
Mr. Evans, the present vicar, was appointed to the living
in 1852. It was undoubtedly the principal object of
interest in the church, and its fate is a sad example of
the shameful neglect and utter indifference through
which so many similar relics have disappeared from the
churches of the neighbourhood. Fortunately the late
Rev. John Parker, of Llanyblodwel, visited the church
in the summer of 1828, and his artistic and accuiute

1 Wellh Samts, 257. « Bid., 233.

' Top, Diet., art. Llangurig. * Sub voce Llangurig.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 31

pencil has preserved for us admirable drawings of the
screen, which, through the kindness of Sir Baldwin
Leighton, one of our members, we are able to reproduce.

The present contracted north aisle, which only disfigures
the building, was formerly several feet broader, so that
the church in its original form was similar iq its plan to
that of Llanidloes, but the old north wall having fallen
down about the year 1780, the present narrow aisle was
built. The vestry, situated to the north of the chancel,
appears to have formed part of the old aisle.

Only two of the windows — that at the east end and
the one which lights the vestry (see illustration) — have
any architectural pretensions. The former is divided
into three cinque-foliated lights with its head filled in
with tracery, the second is divided into three trefoliated
lights, and both are constructed of red sandstone. This
material must have been transported thither from a
considerable distance, or which perhaps is quite as pro-
bable, the windows may have formerly belonged to one
of the adjacent abbeys of Strata Florida, or that of
Cwmhir. The church had direct claims upon the former.

The font consists of an octagonal basin, measuring
1 foot 1 1 inches in diameter inside the bowl, and about
a foot in depth, resting upon a short shaft which con-
nects it with its base. Its total height is 3 feet 9
inches. The head of each compartment is filled with
tracery (see Mr. Parker s sketch in the view ot the in-
terior). Some ambitious Vandal has scratched his in-
itials and the date 1661 upon it.

The most ancient part of the building seems to be the
massy square tower at the west end, with strong angu-
lar buttresses at its comers. It is surmounted by a
small octagonal spire 16 feet high, including the vaL.
The height of the tower is 48 feet; its summit, together
with the spire, is constructed of wood work covered with
sheet lead; a fact which explains a passage in the works
of Lewys Glyni Cothi, to whom the structure must have
been famihar. He has hit off its appearance in the
following Une: —

32 PABOCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

" Gloew sgwar val Eglwys Gurig."'
[Bright and sqiiare like the church of Carig.]

The epithet "bright" is apt to puzzle a stranger; but
anyone who has viewed the chiu*ch (as the old bard most
probably did in the course of hia wanderings in Ar-
wystli) from one of the many heights surrounding the
village, with the siui shining upon the spire, cannot fail
to perceive the accuracy of the old poet's description.

The ascent to the belfiy is by a narrow spiral stone
staircase; it contains three bells, the second of which
has the date 1700, with the names of John Owen and
Adam Hatfield, the chiu-chwardens for that year.

The church is built of common rubble stone of the
neighbourhood, and is a rude specimen of early English
architectiu'e. The belfry doorway is surmounted by an
elliptical arch, the ellipse being formed by two large
stones (see illustration.) Tradition points out the spot
whence the buUding materials were obtained upon the
summit of the adjacent esgair, at a spot which still
bears the name, Cerrig waun-y-llan.

At the principal entrance to the chiu*chyard stands a
lich-gate, upon the wood-work of which may be seen
the following initials and date: — CD., S.H., 1740.
D.C., I.O. Formerly there existed a remarkably large
yew-tree, which was greatly admired, but latterly it had
become so decayed that it was necessary to have it re-
moved. The following two epitaphs are copied from
monuments in the churchyard: —

" O earth, O earth, observe this well —
That earth to earth shall come to dwell;
Then earth to earth shall close remain
Till earth from earth shall rise again."

" From earth my body first arose;
But here to earth again it goes.
I never desire to have it more,
To plague me as it did before."

4. Living and Tithes. The living is a vicarage, and
was up to the year 1861 in the patronage of the Bishop

' Qwaith Leivis Qlyn Cothi, 21.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG. 33

of Bangor, but by an Order in Council, bearing the date
of the 25th of Jiily that year, it was transferred to the
Bishop of Llandaff, from whom it subsequently passed to
the patronage of the Crown.

Aa Llangurig was the only part of Arwystli which
belonged to the Abbey of Strata Florida, the following
entry in the Taxation of 1291, under the head, "In
DecanaL ArostlyJ' refers to the value of the rectory at
that date: —

" Beneficia Abb'is de Strata Florida . . . £16 0"

While the abbey existed the church of Llangurig was
served by its members. Shortly after its dissolution we
find that the rectorial tithes were in possession of Lady
Dorothy Devereux, daughter (by Anne his wife, daugh-
ter of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham) of George
Hastings, Eisirl of Huntingdon, and relict of Sir Richard
Devereux, Knt., eldest son of Walter, Lord Viscoimt
Hereford, K.G., who died in 1558. Sir Richard died in
the lifetime of his father, leaving issue a son and heir,
Walter, Lord Viscoimt Hereford, who was created Earl
of Essex and Ewe. Subsequently the great tithes

Eassed into the hands of the family of Steadman (who
ad likewise possession of the Abbey of Strata Florida),
and thence to the Powells of Nanteos, who held them
as late as the year 1722. But before the year 1762
they were sold by the late Dr. Powell, of Nanteos, to
Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., and are now held by the
Baronet of Wynnstay.

From the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII, we
learn that the vicarage was then rated at £9 9s. lOd.,
the soiurces of revenue, etc., being as follows: —

Tithes of corn and hay, per ann.

„ wool and lambs

Oblations (four in the year)
Value of glebe land, per ann.

Thence in reprisals: —
Yearly Procuration to the Bishop

at visitation

34 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Clear yearly value 9 9 10

Thence a tenth 19

At present the vicarial tithes are —

From Llangurig £177 £177

Llanidloes 106

Trefeglwys 18

301
Rectorial tithes 420 420

Total 597

5. Registers and List of Vicars. At present only two
volumes of registers are in existence. A third volume,
which existed thirty years ago, was accidentally destroyed
through the wilful carelessness of the parish clerk. The
entries in the older volume begin with the year 1 742 and
close with the year 1813, when the entries in the second
commence. The entries in these volumes call for no
special remark.

A complete Ust of the vicars can now only be com-
piled from documents preserved in the diocesan registry
at Bangor, no list of incumbents of the different livings
similar to those given in Edwards' edition of Browne
Willis' St. Asaph naving been printed. It is greatly to
be regretted that no one has undertaken for the diocese
of Bangor that which Mr. Edwards carried out in his
edition of the older antiquary's account of the diocese,
and which the Rev. D. R. Thomas is about to bring
down to the present time.

In the absence of a full and correct list the following
names may prove acceptable: —

From a return made by Bishop Meyrick we learn that
in 1561 " Thomas Lloyd Priest" was vicar, that he was
resident, kept house, and was licensed to preach.^ His
successor probably was

David Lewis, who is mentioned in the Add. MSS.
9865.* He was the son of Lewis of Llangurig (ab
Thomas ab Gwilym,a descendant of Cadivor ab Gwaeth-
fod), and Tangwystl, daughter of Jenkyn ab David. He

' Browne Willis' Bangor, 2G7, 2(10. 2 j^^f^^.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 35

married Margaret, daughter of Howell ab Philip, and
had a son, Jenkin, who was aUve in 1599.

It is very probable that the living was sequestered during
the domination of the Puritan party, for we find that the
adjacent living of St. Harmon, in possession of the Par-
liamentary commissioners in 1649,^ and in the neigh-
bouring parish of Llanidloes, there are no entries in the
registers from the years 1649 to 1660, a proof that the
mfniBters' duties 4ere suspended durmj those vea™.
That Llangurig was not exempted may be gathered
from the following extract from a pamphlet entitled,
" The Parhament explained to Wales," quoted in Rees'
History of Nonconformity ^ p. 8 1: —

" In some places in Wales, the gospel doth already kindle j
and that — ^which our coanties can never too gratefully acknow-
ledge — ^by the worthy and godly endeavour of Mr. Gradock;
and especially which is worth our notice, it begins to shine in
a place heretofore noted for untowardness, called Llangyrug in
Montgomeryshire, a place formerly of very sorry fame, but
now pointed at as the Puritans and Roundheads of Wales;
and all this through the godly pains of some persecuted
ministers resorting thither through manifold discouragements
and dangers/^

At the close of the seventeenth century Thomas In-
gram, LL.B., was vicar. He was educated at Jesus
College, Oxford, and in 1703 he was made a Canon of
Bangor. He died about the year 1711.*

William Jones, B.A., was collated to the vicarage,
April 29th, 1698.

Thomas Pritchard, B.A., was collated to the vicar-
age, July 26th, 1712.

Edmimd Price was collated to the vicarage, April
27th, 1765.

Thomas Lewis, B.A., was collated to the vicarage,
October 23rd, 1788.

Maurice Anwyl, B.A., was collated to the vicarage.
May 27th, 1805.'

» Hist, of Badnorshire, in Arch[aeologia]. Camb[rensis]., 1858, p. 548.

2 Browne Willis' Bangor, p. 172.

* The names of these five vicars, with the dates of their appoint-
ments, were supplied by the Ven. Archdeacon Evans, M.A., of
Llanllechid.

36 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGUBIG.

The first signature which occurs in the older of the
two volumes of the Registers is that of

John Jones, curate, who appears to have been curate
in charge for the year 1742 to 1780, as his name ap-
pears last in that year. Thomas Lewis' signatiu-e occurs
from 1788 to 1805, and that of Maurice Anwyl from
1807 to 1832. Mr. Anwyl was aUve after that date,
but the duties of the parish were discharged by the
curate, Evan James.

James James succeeded Mr. Anwyl as vicar. This
gentleman, who also held the curacy of Llanwnog, died
in 1841, when

Evan James, who was curate from 1831, became
vicar. He died on 17th June, 1852, and was succeeded
by the present vicar,

John Evans, who is in the commission of the peace
for the county, and chairman of the Board of Guardians
for the Llanidloes and Newtown Unions. To this gen-
tleman the writer is greatly indebted for much valua-
ble information, and for free access to the Registers and
other documents in his possession.

6. Benefaction. The Parhamentary returns of 1786
state that David Vaughan (date unknown) gave £10,
the interest thereof to be given to the poor.

This Sinn is now in the hands of a private individual
resident in the parish, who pays 10s. annually for the
interest, and it is distributed by the churchwardens in
small sums of money to the poor.

It was recommended that application should be made
for the principal, and that when received it should be
deposited in the savings' bank.^

The above suggestion does not appear to have been
carried into effect, and the principal nas been lost.

The church at present is in a dilapidated condition,
and the worthy vicar is actively engaged in raising a
fund for its reparation.

1 Charity Commissioners' Report.

CHAPTER IV.

THE LORDS OF LLANOUHIG AND THE CLOCHFAEN FAMILY.

Llasgueig appears from the most ancient times to
have been an integral portion of the lordship of Arwystli,
and to have passed tlu"ough the same vicissitudes which
the rest of die Cantref suffered. When the coxmtry was
portioned out into the five different principalities of
Gwynedd, Powys, Morgan wg, Fferllys, and Deheubartfa,
Arwystli was reckoned among the lordships of Elystan
Glodrudd, prince of the country between the Severn
and the Wye, It continued in the possession of the
descendants of Elystan for several generations, the last
of the family who appears to have been in actual pos-
session of the territory was Howel (ab Ieuaf ah Cad-
wgan ab Elystan), who is described as lord of Arwystli'
in 1157, who fought in its defence against Owen
Cyfeiliogin 1161, and was buried in the abbey of Strata
Florida in the year 1186. He bore yru/es, a lionram-
pant argent, crowned or.

Shortly after his death Arwystli passed into the pos-
session of the princes of the house of Cyfeiliog. This
' Montgomeryshire Collecliotie, i, p. 251.

38 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT ON LLANGURIG.

transfer of the Cantref from its original lords, is gener-
ally asserted by the Welsh heralds and chroniclers to
have been the result of the marriage of Gruflfydd (ab
Meredydd ab Bleddyn) with Gwerfyl/ daughter of Gwr-

feneu ab Howel ab Ieuaf, the issue of the marriage
eing Owen Cyfeiliog. It requires but a slight ex-
amination to prove this tmion to have been a fiction
created by the genealogists. Is it at all probable that
Gruffydd, who died in 1125 leaving two sons (who were
then minors), could have married the grandaughter of
a prince who died sixty years later (1186)? If this
usually received pedigree of the mother of Owen Cy-
feiliog be correct, then would history present the singu-
lar spectacle of a great-grandfather (Howel ab Ieuaf)
invading the territory and burning the castle of his
great-grandchild (Owen Cyfeiliog), and of that great-
grandchild retaliating and defeating his great-grand-
father in open battle at Llandinam in 1161, and of
those two relatives dying within a few years of each
other, both apparently in full years! Rejecting this
theory, the true one will be found in the weakness of
the descendants of Elystan, and in the restless and am-
bitious spirit of Gwenwynwyn, the young lord of Cy-
feiliog, who appears to have assumed the reins of power
during the declining years of his father s life. Gwrgeneu,
the son of Howel, being tmable to resist him, the Can-
tref was seized and kept merely by the right of the
strongest.

" . . Gwenwynwyn, sangninis hsDres
Ante obitum patris, totam subjecit Arustli.'*^

Shortly after his defeat at the battle of Crogen, King
Henry II, while passing through South Wales on his
way to Ireland in 1171,^ granted Arwystli to Prince
Rhys, overlooking the rights of its true lord Howel ab
leuaf, then alive. Henry was doubtless prompted to

^ Wynne*8 ed. of Powell, p. 182. Burke's Landed Oentry, article,
Morris of Hurst.

* Pentarchia^ qnoted in Boyal Ihihes, p. 71.
5 Wynne's ed. of Powell, p. 198.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 39

this step by the consideration that he was retahating
upon Owen Cyfeiliog for the important services which
he rendered the Confederates at Crogen, by placing such
a powerful prince as Rhys in possession of a lordship to
wnich Owen himself had some claim as its conqueror.
On the death of Rhys in 1197, Gwenwynwyn readily
accepted the overtures of Maelgwyn to assist him
against his brother Gruffydd (the successor of the de-
ceased Rhys), who was surprised and slain by the Con-
federates at Aberystwith. On his return from this ex-
pedition the Powysian prince " having got together an
army entered into Arwystli and brought it into his sub-
jection."^ It was probably at this time that Gwenwyn-
wyn rewarded the services of his faithful follower,
Madog Danwr,^ by granting him the Lordships of
Llangurig, which formed the south-western part of the
newly conquered territory, reserving for himself the
seignorial rights of the same. The greater part of this
parish is still in possession of Madog's descendant J. Y.
W. Lloyd, Esq., of dochfaen.

From the various documents illustrating the papers
on the Princes of Upper Powys and the Barons of
Powys' it appears that the manorial rights or suzerainty
of the parish of Llangurig were always possessed by
the lords of Arwystli, though the descendants of Madog
had possession of the land.

Arwystli was conquered by Llewelyn the last Prince
of North Wales, and therefore does not appear among
the lands of which Prince Gruffydd, son of Gwenwyn-
wyn, died seized of in 1286. But on the death of Owen,
son of the preceding Gruffydd, in 1293, " Langerik" is
mentioned among the lands which he held in capiie
from the English king, the profits received therefrom
amounting to £3 13s. 4d. per annum.

In 1310 B.post mortem inquisition enumerates Llan-
gurig among the lordships held by Gruffydd ab Owen,

1 Wyiine, p. 198.

^ Bnrke*s Landed Gentry, article, Owens of Glanscvem.

' Montgomeryshire Colleciions, vol. i.

40 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the last prince of the house of Cyfeiliog, who died a
minor in 1309.^

On the death of John de Cherleton — who had ac-
quired Powys-land by his marriage with Hawys, sister
and heiress to the preceding Prince Grufiydd — in 1353
he was seized of Arwystli.* His son John in 1360,
died seized of the same cantref, and in 1374 we find
John de Cherleton, third baron, dying in possession of
it.' Among the lands which John, the son of the pre-
ceding baron, and fourth of the name, died seized of, is
the "lordship of Llangarick," and Edward his brother
and successor died in 1421 possessed of the same lord-
ship/

From the Cherletons the manorial rights of Arwystli
passed by the marriage of Joyce, second daughter and
co-heiress of Edward de Cherleton to Sir John Tiptoft,
whose son and successor, John, was created Earl of Wor-
cester in 1449, and for his firm adherence to the cause
of Edward IV was beheaded in 1470. He died seized
of the "manors and advowsons of the churches of
Llanydlos, Arustile," &c.* Afterwards the Manor of
Arwystli passed into the possession of the Crown, and
it remained a Royal manor for a century, and sub-
sequently, after several devolutions, it became and still
remains part of the possessions of the House of Wynnstay.

THE CLOCHFAEN FAMILY. °

This family traces its descent from Gwrtheyrn Gtir-
theneu or Vortigem, lord of Erging, Ewias, and Glou-
cester, who, upon the assassination of Constans, was

1 MoftigonierysJdre Collections^ vol. i, p, 148. * Ihid,^ p. 277.

» Ihid., pp. 279, 280. 4 jft.^ pp. 283, 301.

^ Ibid,, 358.

• The pedigree of the Clochfaen family was drawn up in the first
instance by the late Mr. Joseph Morris of Shrewsbury. It was sub-
sequently collated by J. Y. W. Lloyd, Esq., with the Heraldic
Visitations preserved in the British Museum, more especially the
HarlMSS,, 4181, 1973, 2288, and Add. M8S., 9864, 9866. To
the information thus brought together, and to family papers, the
writer has been greatly indebted iu the compilation of this chapter.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 41

elected King of Britain, a.d. 425.^ In the yeax 448 he
was compelled by Aurelius Ambrosius to taJce refuge in
his fortress of Caer Gwartheym, whither he was accom-
panied by St. Germanus, who is said to have remained
with him to the last, imploring him to repent and make
his peace with God, Seeing that remonstrance was in
vain the Saint left the king and retired to Italy, where
he died at Ravenna, 25th July, in the same year.
Other accounts state that Vortigem did not perish in
this citadel, but that he escaped and died in obscurity
at Llanhaiarn in Carnarvonshire, where a tomb, in
which the bones of a man of large stature were found,
and which has always been designated as '* Bedd Gwr-
theym," the grave of Vortigem.

He was the son of Gwydodol, son of Gwydolin, son
of Glouiw Gwladlydan, the founder of the city of Caer-
louiw or Gloucester. From the inscription on the
monumental cross erected by King Cyngen II to the
memory of his great-grandfather. King Eliseg, who died
A.D. 773, aud was contemporary with Offa, King of
Mercia, we find that Vortigem married Seveira,*
daughter of Maximus Magnus, Emperor of Rome, who
slew the Emperor Gratian. Maximus, who was put to
death by Theodosius near Aquileia, A.D. 388, married

! This is the date adopted in Haigh's Conquest of Britain by the
Saxons,

' The following is that part of the inscription which bears on the
text. It differs from that given by Llwyd — the additions are from
Mr. Haigh's Conquest of Britain by the Saxons^ p. 230.

. IL . E MONABCHUM

AIL MAXIMUS BRITANNU:

NN . PASCEN . . MAYI . ANNAN

BBi [g]ua[b]t[imee] filius guarthi[qbrni]*

QUE BEKED germanus QUE

. PEPERIT El SE[£]iRA FILIA MAXIMI
[re] GIS qui OCGIDIT REGEM ROMANO
RUM + CONMARCH PINXIT BOG

* Gwartheyrn Gwarthenen = Seveira, dan. of Maximns
or V ortigem j

I \ I

Gwartimer Fendigaid, Cyndeyrn Fendigaid Pasquen or Pascens
or Vor timer the blessed.

a

42 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Helen Lluyddawg, only child of Eudaf or Octavius,
Duke of Cornwall, who was made governor of Venedotia
(Gwynedd) by the Emperor Constantine the Great.
Eudaf kept his Court at Segontium, where he died a.d.
385. At this place his daughter Helen Lluyddawg was
bom; and there is still in the neighbourhood of Car-
narvon a place called Coed Helen, now the residence of
the ancient family of Thomas, also the possessors of
Trevor Hall.

Cyndeyrn Fendigaid, or Catigerlly the second son of
Vortigern, was the father of Rhvddfedel Frych, the
father of Rhydwf, the father of Pasgen, the father of

Cadell Deymllwg. He was Prince of Teymllwg, a ter-
ritory consisting of the Vale Royal and partof Powys-land.
By his wife Gwawrddyd, daughter of Brychan, he was
the father of a numerous family.^ He was succeeded
by his son Cyngan, the father of Brochwel Ysgythrog
(slain in the battle of Chester, 6 1 3), whose descendants
continued to be princes of Powys for many generations.*
The third son of Cadell was Tegid Foel, lord of Penllyn,
in Edeirnion, formerly a portion of Powys-land,« the

tndfather of Gwynllw Filwr, who was the father of
it. Cadoc and grandfather of St. Beimo.*

Ninth in descent from Ghvinfiw Frych, a younger son
of Cadell's, was

Ynyr, lord of Chirk, Whittington, Oswestry, Mae-
lor Gymraeg and Maelor Saesnaeg in Powys-land,
beiDg the son of Cadfarch ab Gwrgeneu ab Gwardd-
gar ab Bywyn ab lorddwyfyn ab Gwriawn ab Gwy-
lawg ab Gwynan ab Gwinfiw Frych. In the year 870
Ynyr built the Castle of Whittington, which continued
for many generations to be the chief residence of his de-
scendants.* By his wife Rhiengar, daughter and heiress
of Lluddocaf ab Caradoc Freichfras, lord of Hereford,
Gloucester, Erging and Ewyas (who bore azurCy a lion

1 Welsh Saints, p. 161, where a table of the descendants of the
two eldest sons will be found.

2 Ewiaogion Gymru, ^ Ibid.

* Welsh Saints, p. 170, and p. 268.

* Burke's La/nded Gentry, art. Owen of Woodhouse.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 43

rampant, party per fess, or, and argent in a border of the
third charged with eight annulets sable), Ynyr had issue
two sons, — Tudor Trefor, his successor, and Ynyr
Frych, Abbot of Abbey d'Or, in the Golden Vale, in
Herefordshire.

Tudor Trefor (so called because he was born or
nursed at Trefor), Lord of Hereford, Gloucester, Erging,
Ewyas, Chirk, Whittington, Oswestry, and both Maelors,
was founder of the noble tribe of the Marches of Powys-
land. In A. D. 907^ he married Angharad, daughter of
Howel Dda, King of Wales. He bore party per bend
sinister, ermine and ermines, a lion rampant or, and
died A.D. 948, being the father of three sons: — (1)
Goronwy, who died in his father's lifetime, married
Tangwystl,* daughter of Dyfnwal ab Alan ab Alsar ab
Tudwall Gloff, son of Rhodri Mawr, King of Wales, by
whom he had issue an only daughter and heiress,
Rhiengar, who succeeded to her grandfather's lands in
Hereford, Gloucester, Erging and Ewyas. She married
Cyhelin ab Ifor ab Severus ab Cadifor ab Wenwynwyn,
lord of BuaUt, Radnor, Kerry, Maelienydd, Elfael and
Cydewain, who bore azure three open crowns in pale or.
By Cyhelin she was mother of Elystan Glodrudd, Prince
of Fferllys and founder of the fiftn Royal tribe of Wales.
He was born in the Castle of Hereford in 927, and was
named after Athelstan, King of England, who was his
godfather. He was living in 1010, but was slain in a
civil broil at Cefti Digoll, in Montgomeryshire. (2)
Lluddocaf was Lord of Chirk, Whittington, Oswestry
and Maelor Saesnaeg, died in 1037, leaving by his wife
Angharad (daughter of lago ab Idwal, Prince of North
Wales) a son, Llywarch, wno by Lucy his wife, daughter
of Gwrstan ab Gwaethvod, lord of Cibwyr in Gwent (who
bore vert a lion rampant argent, head, paws, and tail
imbrued gules), had a son and heir, Ednyfed, who mar-
ried Janet, daughter and co-heiress of Rhiwallon ab

^ For a history of Whittington Castle in connexion with this
family, the reader is referred to an interestin^jp paper by the late
Joseph Morris, Esq., in the Arch, Carnh,, for 1852, p. 282, etc.

* Eyton Pedigree.

44 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGOBIO.

Cynfyn, Prince of Powys (who bore or a lion rampant
guhs on a canton azure a dexter hand couped ar<jent),
and was the father of Rhys Sais, lord of Chirt, Whitting-
ton, Oswestryand Maelor, Lluddocaf was also the ances-
tor of the families of the Mostyns, of Mostyn, Talacre,
and Segroid; the Trefors of Biyncynallt, Plas-Teg and
Trefalyn; theWynnsof Eyarth; Lloyds of Leaton Knolls;
the Youngs of Bryn-Yorkyn; the Edwards of Sansaw
Hall; the Trefors of Trefor Hall, now represented by
Trefor Lloyd, late of Plas Llanasaph, Esq., and the
family of Thomas of Coed-helen, the possessors of Trefor
Hall and Valle Crucis Abbey; the Lloyds of Plâs Madog,
and of Berth, now of Rhagatt; the Eytons of Park
Eyton; the Vaughans of Burlton Hall; the Pennants
of Downing and Penrhyn Castle and the Dymoks of
Penley Hafl.

The third son of Tudor Trefor was Dingad, lord of
Maelor Gymraeg or Blomfield. He married Cecilia,
daughter of Severus ab Cadifor ab Wenwynwyn, lord
of Buallt, and had issue —

Wiiwallon, lord of Maelor Gymraeg, who died in
1040, and left by his wife Letitia, daughter of Cadwal-
ladr ab Peredr Goch of Mon, a son

Cynmrig ah Rhiwallon, who succeeded his father as

^ * T T

lord of Maelor Gymraeg. He was slain in 1074 during
an incursion of the Danes into Maelor, and was buried

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 45

in Wrexham Church. The stone lid of the coffin, on
which he was represented in armour, recumbent, with a
lion rampant sculptured on his shield, and with the
inscription Hic lACET cynvrig ab rhiwallon round
the verge of the stone, was seen by John Erddig,
of Erddig, Esq., affixed to the wall of the chinrchyard,
in 1660. He bore erminey a lion rampant sable, armed
and lanffued gules. From him the township of Chris-
tionydd Cynwrig takes ite name. By his first wife
Judith, daughter of Ifor H6n lord of Rhos (who bore
argent, a rose gules), he had five sons: — (1) Niniaf, the
eldest, was ancestor of the Jones-Parrys of Madryn Park,
and Llwyn-Onn; the present head of this family,
Thomas Love Dimcombe Jones-Parry, of Madryn, Esq.,
is Chief of the descendants of Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon.
When the old church at Wrexham was destroyed by
fire in 1457 and the Pope gave instructions to have it
rebuilt as it now stands, the Llwyn-Onn family were
the first to respond to the injunctions of the Holy
Father; their teams carried the first loads of stone for
the restoration of the present beautiful edifice, and it is
a very curious fact that this family alone, of all the
once numerous descendants of Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon
possess their lands by an unbroken male descent from
Cadell Deymllwg, — "They who honour me I will
honour," saith the Lord. The other families who descend
from Niniaf are the Lloyds of Llwyn-y-Cnotiau; the
Robertses of Hafod-y-Bwch; the Joneses of Croes-Foel,
Edward Jones of Plas-Cadwgan, who was attainted and
executed in 1586; Edwards of Sealyham, and Lord
Kensington; Erddig of Erddig; Traffords of Esclus-
ham; Goronwy ab Hwfa of Hafod-y-Wem, now repre-
sented by Philip Davies Cooke of Hafod-y-Wem and
Owston, Esq.; Madog yr Athraw ab Hwfa,of Plâs Madog
and Erbistog; the Bershams of Bersham; the Wynns
of Gerwynfawr; the Eytons of Eyton-Uchaf, and the
Sontleys, of Sontley. Anne, daughter and heiress of
Robert Sontley, of Sontley Hall, Burton Hall in Gres-
ford, and Plas Uchaf in Rhiwabon, was the second

46 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

wife of John Hill, of Rowley's Mansion in Shrewsbiiiy,
Esq., by whom she had a son and heir, Thomas Hill, of
Sontley, Esq., who by Matilda his wife, daughter of
Charles Elstob, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, had issue
two sons, John and Charles. John died unmarried in
1 755, and Charles died unmarried in 1 780. The estates
of Sontley, Burton, and Plas-Uchaf, then reverted to
their mother, at whose death the Sontley estates were
all sold. The Badies of Rhiwabon, now extinct, likewise
descended from Niniaf Awr ab Ieuaf ab Niniaf was the
ancestor of the J efferies of Acton, and also of the Lloyds
of Plâs Madog, who are now represented by J. Youde
William Lloyd, Esq., of Clochfaen. Some heralds, how-
ever, say that this Awr was the son of Ieuaf ab Cyhelyn
of Trefor, which is also affirmed by Mr. Joseph Morris.

Ednyfed, the second son of Cynwrig, who bore ermine
a lion statant guardant gules , was ancestor of the
Broughtons of Broughton and March wiail; the Powells
of Alrhey and the Ellises of Alrhey and Wyddial Hall,
in Hertfordshire. Cynwrig's third son was Gruffydd,
the fourth Bleddyn, and the fifth Hoedliw of Chris-
tionydd.

Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon married secondly, Agnes, or
Annesta, daughter of Idnerth Benfras, lord of Maesbrug
or Maesbrook (who bore argent a cross flory engrailed
sahle, inter four Cornish choughs, ppr., on a chief azt^/Y',,
a boar's head, couped argent)^ by whom he had issue a
sixth son, David of Maelor, of whose descendants we
shall speak presently; (7th) Hwfa; (8th) Llewelyn, who
was ancestor of David Burd Hen, Esq., who married
Efa, daughter and heiress of Gruifydd ab Llewelyn
Fychan ab Llewelyn ab Goronwy, of Pentre Madog, in
Duddlestone, Esq., fom^h son of Sir Roger de Powys,
Knight, Lord of Whittington (who bore vert, a boar,
07'), by whom he had issue Philip Bride or Burd of
Pentre Madog, Esq., who by Alice, his wife (daughter
of John ab Richard ab Madog of Halchdyn in the parish
of Hanmer) had an elder daughter and heir, Margaret,
who married James Eyton ab John Eyton (youngest son

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGDRTG. 47

of William Eyton, of Eyton, in the parish of Bangor-
Iscoed) ancestor of the Eytons of Pentre Madog.' (9th)
Eioion, (10th) Iorwerth,(llth) Ieuaf and (12th) Bledrws
together with a daughter Jane, third wife of Madog ab
Cadwgan, lord of Nannau, by whom she had issue Rhi-
wallon, ancestor of the Gwynns of Llanidloes; the
Joneses of Trewythen in the parish of Llandinam, and
several other Montgomeryshire families now extinct.

David the sixth son of Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon was
the father of Meredydd, the father of Madog, whose son
Ieuan was the father of

Madog Danwr (" Ignifer"), or, as he is called in some
MSS., Madog Danwy Trefor, lord of Llangurig. He
was a brave soldier and a faithful servant of Gwen-
wynwyn. In a pedigree drawn up by the late Rev,
Walter Davies,^ who was assisted by the late Joseph
Morris, Esq., of Shrewsbury, we are told respecting
Madog that "the Prince of Powys knew his value in
that age of perpetual warfare, and accordingly stationed
him as a guardian of his frontier, on the border of South
Wales, by granting him the parish of Llangurig on the
skirts of Phnlimmon, Here he settled and became the

progenitor of many families in the hundred of Arwystli
and its vicinity. The same prince, as an honorary

' For a farther acconnt of this family, see Lewie Dwnn, i, 324.
' Ex. inf. A. J. Johnes, Esq., of Garthmyl.

48 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

reward for his faithful services, gave Madog the privi-
lege of bearing a new shield of arms in augmentation of
his paternal coat."^ These new arms were a border gules
charged wit

h eight mullets argent'^ He married a
daughter of Idnerth ab Meredydd Hen, lord of Buallt
(who bore gules, a lion rampant regardant, or), by whom
he had three sons, Meredydd, his successor, Idnerth,
and Gruffydd, of Cefh-yr-Hafodau. Madog was the
first member of the family who settled at the Clochfaen,
and in allusion to his being the founder of so many fami-
lies in the district, an old bard of the neighbouring
parish of Trefeglwys has the following lines: —

" Danwr hael yn dwyn rheolaetli
Hen ben haeddol boneddig
Ai brig ar Gurig i gyd/'

[Danwr the generons, the bearer of rule

The noble, meritorions, ancient stock

Whose branches are spread over the whole of Llan gurig.]

Meredydd, of Llangurig, lord of Aberhafesp and
Dolfachwen, married Arddun, daughter of Einion ab
Llewelyn ab Meilir Grug, lord of Tregynon and Westbury, descended from Brochwel Ysgythrog, King of
Powys (quarterly, first and fourth sahU, three horses'
heads, erased argent, Brochwel Ysgythrog; second and
third, party per pale, or and gules, two lions rampant,
addorsed countercharged for Brochwel ab Aeddan of
Llanerchbrochwel, lord of Cegidfa (Guilsfield), Broniarth
and Deuddwr); by whom he had issue four sons: — (1)
Iorwerth, (2) Llewelyn of Clochfaen; (3) Gruffydd and
(4) Philip. Iorwerth was ancestor of David Lloyd, of
BerthLloyd, in the parish of Llanidloes (who bore ermine,
a lion rampant, sable in a border gules, charged with
eight bezants), whose only daughter and heir, Gwenhwyfar, married to Philip ab Ieuan Bwl ab Ieuan ab
Meredydd ab Madog ab Ieuan ab Gwyon ab Trahaiarn
ab Iorwerth, lord of Garthmul (who bore argent, three
lions passant in jxile gules), by whom she had a son,

' Burke's Landed Gentry, article Owen of Glansevern. Supra.
» Eer. Vis., by Holmes and Chaloner, EaH. M88., 1973.

PAEOCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 49

Ieuan, ancestor of the Lloyde, of Berthlloyd. Iorwerth
was likewise the ancestor of GwenlLlan, daughter and
and heir of Ieuan ab Gruffydd Goch, and wife of Ieuan
ab GmSydd, of Clochfaen.

Llewelyn, the second son of Meredydd, was of Cloch-
faen in this parish, and was the father of

Ifowel Lloyd, of Clochfaen, whose son

Gruffydd of Clochfaen; married Ahce, daughter of
Rhys ab Meredydd ab Owain, lord of Towyn in Cardi-
ganshire (who bore gules a chev. inter two fleurs-de-lys
in chief, and a Hon rampant in base, or). He left issue
two sons, Ieuan and Rhys Ddfl, of Pon1>y-rhydgaled,
ancestor of the Richardses of Llangurig,

Ieuan ab Gruffydd succeeded his father at Clochfaen,
and married first, Gwenllian, daughter and co-heir of
Ieuan ab Grufiydd Goch ab PhUip ab Iorwerth ab
Mere<^dd ab Madog Danwr, by whom he had issue two
sons, Jenkyn Goch, his successor, and Llewelyn, of Llan-
guiTg, Ieuan married, secondly, Gwenllian, daughter of
Rhys ab David ab Ieuan ab Rhys ab Llewelyn, by whom
he had one daughter, Goleubryd, wife of David ab Rhys
ab Adda ab Howel, of Henfaes, in Kerry, descended
from Einion ab Cynfelyn {azure, a lion passant argent.)

Jenkyn Goch, of Clochfaen, bore ermine, a hon rampant sable, in a border gules charged with eight annulets or. He married Catherine, daughter and heir of

50 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Maurice Fychan ab Maurice ab Madog ab Einion, of
Kerry and Mochdref, second son of Tudor ab Einion^
Fychan, lord of Cefiillys, descended from Ifor, eldest
son of Idnertb ab Cadwgan' ab Elystan Glodrudd. By
this lady he had issue a son, Maurice, who succeeded
him, and four daughters: — (l) Catherine, the wife of
Ieuan Wynn ab JenKyn, of Cefii-yr-Hafodau, descended
from Cadifor' ab Dyfnwal, lord of Castle Howell and
Gilfachwen, Cardiganshire; (2) Angharad, wife of
Llewelyn Lloyd, of Llanidloes, Esq., descended from
Eiaion ab Cynfelyn, lord of Manafon, ancestor of the
Gwynns of LJanidloes; (3) Deilu, who married Ieuan
Goch ab Maurice ab Rhys ab Cadwgan ab Llewelyn ab
y-Moelwyn Mawr, lord of Buallt, by whom she had an
only daughter and heiress, Deilu, who became the wife
of Thomas, of Aber-Magwr, in the parish of Llanfihangel-
y-Creuddyn, younger son of Maurice Vaughan, of Traws-
coed, county of Cardigan, Esq.; (4) Annie, the wife of
Morgan ab Ieuan ab Dio ab David, of Creuddyn, de-

^ This Einion ab Howel of Mochdref married Agnes or Annesta,
daughter and heir of Adda ab Mearig ab Adda ab Madog, Lord of
Kerry, who was one of the hostages for Llewelyn ab Iorwerth put
to death by King John, 1213. This unfortunate chief was the son
of Maelgwyn, lord of Maelienydd and Kerry, son of Cadwallon, the
second founder of Abbey Cwm Hir, in the year 1143, which he in-
tended for the accommodation of sixty monks. He was slain in
1179, and was buried in the church of the abbey. Cadwallon was
the son of Madog, lord of Malienydd and Kerry (who died 1139)
second son of Idnerth ab Cadwgan. — Lewis Dwnn,

* Prince Cadwgan was the first founder of the Cistercian monas-
tery of Abbey Cwm Hir, and also the founder of three churches
which he dedicated to St. Michael; one in Kerry, one at Cefnllys,
and the other on Bryn Ty Ieuan, near Newbridge on Wye, which
was restored and re-opened in 1868.

* " The arms of Cadivor ab Dyfnwal are: sdbls, a spearhead
argent embrued between three scaling ladders of the second, two
and one; on a chief gules a tower triple- towered, ppr. These are
the true arms not the absurd ones given in Clarke. The legend is,
Cadivor was deprived of his castle by Fitz Stephen, a Norman.
Collecting his retainers he divided them into three pai*ties, and
having surprised the castle by night, stormed it and retook it with
great slaughter, killing Fitz-Stephen himself with his spear." Notes
and Queries^ 4th series, ii, 54 L.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 5 1

scended from Llowddyn, lord of Uwch-Aeron, who bore
gules, a griffin segreant, or.

Maurice, of Clochfaen, married Margaret, daughter
of Llewelyn ab Rhys Lloyd, of Creuddyn, ab Gruffydd
ab Ieuan ab Llewelyn ab Rhys ab GrujBydd ab Rhys ab
Iorwerth ab Cadifor ab Gwaethfod, lord of Cardigan,
who bore or, a Llon rampant regardant sable. Mau-
rice left issue, (1) Evan, of Crugnant, of whom pre-
sently; (2) Owain, who married Tangwystl, daughter of
Morgan (ab Maurice ab Thomas) by Catherine his wife,
daughter of David ab Ieuan ab Maurice, of Llwyn
Newidion, in the parish of Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn,
county of Cardigan; (3) Jenkyn, who succeeded at Cloch-
faen; and (4)^ William, who died unmarried; and four
daughters: — ( 1 ) Elen, wife of Llewelyn ab Maiuice ab
Rhys, of Llangurig, descended from Einion ab Cynfelyn;
(2) Goleubryd; (3) Margaret, second wife of Thomas ab
David D^g, of Camo, descended from Einion ab Seisyllt,
lord of Mathafam; and (4) TangwystL

Jenhyn, of Clochfaen, who succeeded his father Mau-
rice, married Catherine, daughter of Morgan (ab Rhys
ab Howel, of Llangurig, ab David ab Howel Fychan,
of Gilfachwen, county of Cardigan, Esq., descended from
Cadifor ab Dyfiiwal, lord of Castle Howel, Gilfachwen
and Pant Streimon), by whom he had issue two sons,
David Lloyd, his successor, and Evan, of Clochfaen
Issaf, who married and had one son, Edward ab Ieuan,
of Clochfaen Issaf, together with a daughter, Catherine,
the wife of Owain Gwymn ab Morgan Gwynn, of Llan-
idloes, Esq.

David Lloyd JenTcyn, of Clochfiien, married Catherine,
daughter of Evan ab David ab Ieuan ab Gutto ab
Gruffydd, of Creuddyn, ab Meredydd ab Rhys ab Ieuan

1 Huw Cae Llwyd, an old bard, who flourished from 1450 to 1480,
has lefl behind in MS. an ode to these four brothers, the sons of
Manrice, which will be given in extenao in the appendix to this
paper. The poet speaks highly of them as warriors, and describes
them as^

" Four comrades are they who one and all
Have been found mighty to oppose deeds of wrong."

52 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

ab Rhys ab Llowddyn, lord of Uwch-Aeron, who bore
gtiles, a griflBn segreant, or. Her mother was Tangwystl,
daughter of Evan Wynn, of Dolbachog, Esq., descended
from Cadifor ab Dyfhwal. By this marriage David
Lloyd had issue, Evan, his successor, and Jenkyn, who
married Elizabeth, daughter of Owain Blaeney, of
Ystymgwen, Esq., descended from Ieuan Blaeney, of
Gregynog, and one daughter, Elen, wife of Jenkyn ab
Maiuice ab Rhys, of Llangurig, descended from Madog
DanwT.

Evan ah David, of Clochfaen, whose name is on the
list of jurymen summoned for the Assize held at Llan-
idloes in 1606, married Elizabeth (or according to other
authorities Mallt), daughter of David Lloyd Blaeney, of
Gregynog, in the lordsnip of Cydewain, Esq., and Mary
his second wife, daughter of Richard ab Maurice, of
Rhiwsaeson, in Llanbrynmair, Esquire. The Blaeney
family is now represented by Cadwaladr Davies, twelfth
baron of Castle Blaeney, descended from Edward, second
son of David Lloyd Blaeney, who accompanied the Earl
of Essex to Ireland in 1598, and was elevated to the
peerage of Ireland, 29th July, 1621. The arras of the
Blaeney family were quarterly, first and fourth sable,
three horses' heads erased argent; second and third
per pale two lions rampant addorsed countercharged.
By his marriage Evan had issue: — (1) Rhys, his
successor; (2) David Lloyd, together with a daughter,
Gwenhwyfar, the wife of John, second son of Morgan
Glynn, of Glyndywedog, in the parish of Llanidloes,
Esq., descended from Aleth, King of Dyfed, who bore
azure three cocks argent crested and wattled, or.

Rhys Lloyd, of Clochfaen, the successor of Evan ab
David, was a staunch royalist, and was obliged to com-
pound for his estate with the Parliament by a payment
of "£011 000s. lOd." as appears from a book^ in the

^ See also Montgomeryshire Collections^ i, 474. Some idea of the un-
settled state of the county at this time may be gathered from a
perusal of two papers — the one printed in the Camh, Quart., i, pp.
60, 74, the other in the Arch, Camh., i, pp. 33, 42.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 53

library of the College of St. Beuno at Tremeircliion, *
which contains a list of the nobility and gentry who
had to compound with the rebels for their estates. He
married (1626) Margaret, daughter of Jenkyn Lloyd, of
Berthlloyd, Esq., high sheriff of Montgomeryshire, in
1588 and 1606, and seneschal or steward imder James I
and Charles I, of the lordship of Arwystli, and Dorothy,
his first wife, daughter of Edmund Walter, of Ludlow,
Esq., Chief Justice of South Wales. In Ludlow Church
there is a handsome altar tomb of white marble, display-
ing the recumbent effigies of the chief justice and his
lady; on the front are figures representing their issue.
The following is the inscription: —

" Heere lye the bodies of Bdmond Walter, Esqvier, chieffe
justice of three shiers in Sovth Wales, and one of His Majes-
tie's Councill in the Marches of Wales; and of Mary, his wife,
davghter of Thomas Hacklvit, of Eyton, Esqvier, who had
issve three sons named James, John, and Edward, and two
davghters named Mary and Dorothy. He was bvried the 29th
day of January, anno domini 1592."^

Arms, sable a fesse indented inter three eagles displayed
argent membered gules; impaling argent on a bend
collised gules three fleurs-de-lys or; of the children
mentioned in the inscription the second son was Sir
John Walter, of Sarsden, county Oxon, Knight, Lord
Chief Baron of the Exchequer; Mary, me eldest
daughter, married Sir Edward Littleton, of Henley,
county of Salop, Knight (chief justice of North Wales,
who died 1621 and was buried at Llanfair, in Denbigh-
shire), by whom she had issue seven sons, two of whom
were Fellows of AH Souls College, Oxford; but all died
without issue, with the exception of the eldest. Sir
Edward Littleton, Knight, Lord Keeper of the Great
Seal of England, who was created Lord Littleton of
Mounslow, by Charles I, 1635, and was married to
Sydney, daughter of Sir William Jones, of Castell
March, in Lleyn, Knight. Dorothy, the second daughter
of the chief justice, married Jenkyn Lloyd, of Berth-
lloyd, Esq., who died 1627, and was the mother of Mar-

* Wright's History of Ludlow^ p. 468.

54 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

'garet, the wife of Rhys Lloyd, of Clochfaen, whose
eldest son Edward died without issue. The second son
was

Jenhyn Lloyd y who succeeded his father at the Cloch-
faen, and married Mallt, daughter of Morgan ab David,
of Llanbrynmair (ab Ieuan ab David Gethyn ab Gruf-
fydd ab David ab Madog, second son of Llewelyn, ab
Iorwerth, of Abergwidol, in the parish of Darowen, ab
David ab Howel, of Darowen, ab PhUip ab Uchdryd ab
Edwyn Goronwy, Prince of Tegaingl who bore argent
a cross flory engrailed sable inter four Cornish choughs,
ppr., chief of one of the sixteen noble tribes of North
Wales and Powys) by whom he had issue eight sons: —
(1) Rhys, his successor; (2) Morgan, who married
Bridget, daughter of Richard Morgan, of Caelan, in
Llanbrynmair, descended from Ednowain ab Peredur
lord of Dolgellau {gules three snakes ennowed in triangle
argent), by whom he had issue one son, Littelton Lloyd,
of Caelan, a clergyman of the Established Church, who
died without issue; and one daughter, Sarah, the wife
of Edward Pritchard, of Ceniarth, Esq. , descended from
Y Llyr Craff, of Meifod. Morgan Lloyd s will bears the
date of the 13th November, 1702; by it he bequeathed
a " tenement in the parish of Trefeglwys, called Cefn-y
Cloddiau ^ to the poor of the parish of Llanbrynmair,
the rents, issues and profit thereof to be distributed at
the discretion of the vicar and overseers of the poor of
the said parish."^ Part of the rent is applied to the
maintenance of the parish school. An old local bard
named David Manuel, whose residence was in the neigh-
boiu-hood of Cefn-y-Cloddiau, wrote an elegy on the
death of Mr. Lloyd, which is given in the appendix.
His wife Sarah seems to have died before him, for the
same poet composed some lines upon her death, which
bear the date of 1696; (3) John, of the parish of St.
Harmon; (4) David, of Darowen; (5) Jenkyn; (6)
Evan; (7) KyflSin; and (8) Richard. Of the daughters,

^ Montgomeryshire Collections^ i, p. 222.

* Charity Comiuissioners Report for Montgomeryshire, p. 279

PAKOCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 55

Mabel was the wife of Humphery Williams, of Pentre
Cynddelw, in the parish of Llanbrynmair, descended
from Elystan Glodrudd.

Rhys Lloyd succeeded his father at the Clochfaen.
He married Mair, daughter of John Thomas, of Belan
Deg, in the parish of Manafon, and of Llanllodian in the
parish of Llanfair Caereinion, high sheriff of Mont-
gomeryshire in 1681. Mr. Thomas became possessed of
the estate in Llanfair in right of his wife Margaret,
daughter and heir of John Owen, of Llanllodian, Esq.
Arms, first and fourth sahle^ three horses' heads, erased
argent; second and third Brochwell ab Aeddan. Rhys
Lloyd was buried at Llangurig, 11th December, 1699,
and wafi succeeded by his eldest son,

Jenhyn Lloyd, of Clochfaen, who was born in 1681,
married at Llangurig, 21st February, 1698, was mayor
of Llanidloes, 1 705, and high sheriff for Montgomery-
shire in 1713. His wife was Rachel, sister and co-heir
of Edward Fowler, of Abbey Cwmhir, in the county of
Radnor, high sheriff for that county in 1 715, and daugh-
ter of John Fowler, of Abbey Cwmhir and Brondrefawr,
Esq., high sheriff for Radnorshire in 1690. He was
yoimger son by Margaret his wife (daughter of Richard,
Lord Newport, of High Ercall, and Rachel his wife,
daughter of John Levison, of Haling, in Kent), of
Richard Fowler, of Harnage Grange, in the coimty of
Salop, Esq., high sheriff for R^adnorshire in 1655,
eldest son of William Fowler, eldest son of Richard
Fowler, of Harnage Grange, in the county of Salop, Esq.,
high sheriff of Radnorshire in 1600^ by Mary, eldest
daughter of Sir Edward Littleton, of PUlaton Hall,
county of Stafford, Knight, and Margaret his wife,
daughter and co-heir of Sir William Devereux, Knight,
youngest son of Walter, Lord Viscount Hereford, K.G.,
who died 1558. John Fowler, who inherited Abbey
Cwmhir from his father, made an immense fortune as a
merchant, and purchased several other large estates.

1 The dates of the Bheriffs are taken from Williams' History of
Radnorahire,

56 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

He died in 1697, and was buried at Llanbister. By
his will, which was proved the following year at Doctor s
Commons, he left all his lordships, manors, estates, and
hereditaments in the several counties of Radnor, Here-
ford, Salop and Montgomery, to his three children,
Edward, Rachel, and Jane. Edward died unmarried
in 1 722, and was buried at Llanbister. He entailed
the Abbey Cwmhir estate upon his sisters and their
heirs, appointing his cousin. Sir Richard Fowler, of
Hamage Grange, Bart., to be trustee. In the Llan-
bister parish registers the names of John Fowler and
Edward Fowler nave been nearly erased and those of
Sir Richard Fowler and Sir William Fowler written
over them upon the erasure. Jane, the second daughter
of John Fowler, married George Robinson, of Brithdir,
in the county of Montgomery, Esq., of the family of
Nicholas Robinson, Bishop of Bangor, and died without
issue. The arms of the Fowler family are: 1. Azure, on
a chev. inter three lions passant gardant, or, three
crosses moline sable; 2, barry of six gules and argent,
on a chief or, a lion passant azure (Englefield, of Rycote
and Lanynton Gemon, county of Oxford); 3, Azure
two bars argent over all a bend compony or and gules
(Leigh, of Morpeth).^

^ The Fowler family was one of great antiquity before the reign
of Richard I, when the then representative of the family, Sir
Richard Fowler of Foxley co. of Backs, Knt., accompanied that
warlike monarch to the Holy Land with a body of archers raised
among his own tenantry. At the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, 1190,
an attack of the Saracens npon the Christian camp by night was
frustrated by a white owl, which, being disturbed by their approach,
flew into the tent of Sir Richard Fowler and awoke him. He soon
became acquainted with the threatened danger, and hastily arousing
his men, immediately engaged and defeated the enemy. King
Richard rewarded his fidelify by knighting him upon the scene of
the engagement, and changed his crest, which was the hawk and
lure, to the vigilant owl. Subsequently in the reign of Henry IV,
his descendant Sir William Fowler of Foxley, Kt , became possessed
of Rycote co. Oxon, by his marriage with Cecilia daughter and heiress
of Nicholas Englefield of Rycote and Lanynton Gernon co. of Ox-
ford, Esq., who died 1414, as we learn from his epitaph.

" Here lieth Nicholas Englefield, Esq., some time Comptroller of

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 57

Jenkyn Lloyd died in 1 722, and was buried at Llan-
gurig, December 11th: his wife Rachel survived him,
and dying in 1749, was also buried at Llangurig, leav-
ing issue three sons and three daughters:— (1) Rhys,
of Clochfaen; (2) John, born 1 702, and who died s.p.
in 1766, leaving his estate of Llwyngwyn to his sister
Jane; (3) Edward, who died s,p.; (1) Anne, born in
1701, became the wife of Charles Richards, of Penglas,
county of Cardigan, Esq., whose family is now repre-
sented by George Griffiths Williams, of Rhoscellan,
county of Cardigan, Esq.; (2) Jane, born in 1702,
became the wife of the Rev. Richard Ingram, rector of
Cemaes in 1 74 7 {ermine, on a fesse gules three escallops
or), by whom she had an only daughter, Mary Ingram,
heiress of Llwyngwyn, who married David Owen, of
Glyngynwydd, who persuaded his son, Evan Owen,
when he came of age to cut the deed of entail, and the
estate passed by mortgage to their relative Sir Arthur
Owen, of Glansevern, county of Montgomery, Knight.
The third daughter Mary, was born in 1707, and mar-
ried first to Lingaine Owen, of Bettws HaU, in the
county of Montgomery, Esq. {argent a lion rampant
and canton sable); secondly to John Gethyn, of Vaynor,
Esq. (or, a cross moline pierced inter four lozenges
azure), which family is now represented by Robert
Devereux Harrison, Esq., coroner of Montgomeryshire,
eldest son of Sarah, who was only surviving daughter
of Robert Griffiths, of Welshpool, Esq^ and rchct of
the late George Devereux Harrison, Esq., brother of
Major Harrison, of Caer Howel and Llandysillo Hall.
Mrs. Gethyn died in 1797, leaving issue by her first

the Honse to King Richard II, who died 1st of April in the year of
grace m.ccc.xiy., whose soul iesu pardon Amen, Amen, Amen."

He was the third son of Sir Philip de Englefield, Lord of Englefield,
the head of an ancient family, which, according to Camden, takes
its name from the town of Engle6old in Berkshire, of which place
they were stated to have been the proprietors in the second year of
Egbert's reign, 803. (For a full account of the Fowler and Engle-
field families, see Wotton and Kimber's Baronetage, and Burke's ^.r-
tinct Peerage.)

I

58 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

husband one son, Pryce Owen, of Bettws, Esq., and four
daughters; Elizabeth, married to William Jones, Esq.,
of Newtown; Mary, who became the wife of the Rev.
Mr. Morgan; Rachel, married to Roger Pryse, of Cae
Howel, Esq., and Jane.

Rhys Lloyd, of Clochfaen, was baptized at Llangurig,
March 10th, 1699, and was married the 20th December,
1723, to Sarah, daughter and heir of William Piatt, of
Rhydyronen, in Llanynys, county of Denbigh, by Mary
his wife, eldest daughter and co-heir of Thomas Hughes,
of Pen-y-nant, in the parish of Rhiwabon, descended
from Robyn ab Gruffydd Goch, lord of Rhos {azure on a
chevron inter three escallops argenty three leopards
faces gules, Piatt; 2nd or, a gnflSn segreant guUs,
Hughes). The Abbey Cwmhir estates were the pro-
perty of Mr. Lloyd's mother, who in her old age became
imbecile, affording an excuse for the trustee, Sir Richard
Fowler's, retaining the management of the property, and
he at his death, in 1 737, transmitted it to his son Sir Wil-
liam Fowler. Rhys Lloyd was high sheriff of Mont-
fomeryshire in 1743, and dying in 1748, was buried at
llangurig the 1 5th of July, in that year. His wife, who
was born in 1696, survived him and was buried at
Llangiu-ig, 10th of January, 1781; the issue of the
marriage was three daughters: — Mary, who died s.p,;
Rachel, appointed Maid of Honour to Caroline, wife of
Frederick, Prince of Wales (mother of George III), and
afterwards housekeeper of Kensington Palace, who died
in 1793, and was buried at Llangurig; Sarah, born in
1728, wife of John Jones, of D61-y-Myneich, county of
Radnor; and one son,

Jenkyn Lloyd, who succeeded his father at the Cloch-
faen in 1748. He was born in 1724, and married
April 30th, 1743, at Erbistog, to Elizabeth, daughter
and heir of Edward Lloyd, of Pl^ Madog, in the county
of Denbigh, Esq., lineally descended from Tudor Trefor,
and by heirs female from Margaret, eldest daughter
and co-heir of David, fifth son of Gruffydd ab Gwen-
wynwyn. Mr. Lloyd was appointed high sheriff of

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 59

Montgomeryshire in 1 755, and shortly after the death
of his grandmother, Rachel Fowler, which took place at
Llangnrig in 1749, he commenced a law-suit for recover-
ing the Abbey Cwmhir estates, which were then re-
tained by Sir William Fowler. To meet the expenses
Mr. Lloyd had to sell a considerable portion of the Clochfaen estates. The suit was progressing favourably
up to the Christmas of 1765, at which time, Mr. Lloyd
not feeling very well, proceeded to Shrewsbury to con-
sult his medical adviser. At Shrewsbury he had an
interview with Sir William Fowler, and in a few days
afterwards (January 6th, 1766) he died suddenly from
the eflfects of poison which is supposed to have been
administered to him in his medicine. He was buried
at Rhiwabon, February 5th, 1 766.

Acting upon the advice of his friends, Sir William
very shortly afterwards left England in a ship bound
for Calcutta, which foundered at sea, and all on board
perished. His son and successor. Sir William Fowler,
made a summary attempt to bring the litigation respect-
ing the Cwmhir estates to an end, by trying to carry
off the young heiress of Plas-Madog and Clochfaen from
a boarding school at Chester. But, owing to the vigi-
lance of her friends, he failed in carrying out his design,
and for this and some other misdeeds he was compelled
to quit the country, never to return. He died unmar-
ried at the Hague, leaving three married sisters, who
had children then living, none of whom, however,
claimed the abbey, which was allowed to remain with-
out an owner until Sir Hans Fowler, uncle of the pre-
ceding Sir William, who had been serving in the army
of Frederick the Great, returned to England and suc-
ceeded to the title and estates. To pay the expenses
of the heavy lawsuits in which he was engaged before
obtaining possession, he sold large portions of the estate,
and reduced it to the comparatively small property now
belonging to the abbey. He died without issue in 1 771,
and, although he left three married nieces, daughters
of his elder brother. Sir William, he was succeeded at

60 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT ON LLANGURIG.

Abbey Cwmhir by his sister Sarah, who had married
Thomas Hodges, a colonel of the guards, by whom she
had issue a son, and a daughter, Sarah. Sarah, in 1769,
became the wife of Lieut. -Col. George Hastings, of
Lutterworth, in the county of Leicester, by whom she
had issue four sons, the youngest of whom, Hans
Francis, eventually became eleventh Earl of Hunting-
don, in 1819. His son, the present Earl, lays claim to
Abbey Cwmhir. The son, Thomas Hodges Fowler,
succeeded his mother at the Abbey, and dying in 1820,
left issue by Lucy, his wife, daughter and co-heiress of
Thomas Hill, of Court-Hill in the county of Salop,
Esq., an only daughter and heiress, Sarah Georgina,
wife of the Rev. Durant Baker, of Christ's College,
Cambridge, son of Thomas Baker, Esq., of Ashurst
Lodge in Kent. On Mr. Fowler s death, however, the
Abbey became the property of the late Mr. Fauntleroy,
who was hung for forgery. His agent, Mr. WUson, was
the next possessor. He went to Botany Bay, where he
died, and his creditors, in 1837, sold the estate to Mr. Phillips of Manchester, whose son is the present pos-
sessor. Leaving this digression, giving the details of
the sad history of the Fowler family, we return to

Sarah, the heiress of Clochfaen and Pl&s-Madog, who
was born February 19th, 1746. In her person the line
of Gwenwynwyn again came into possession of the
greater part of the parish of Llangurig. In 1768, she
married her first husband, John Edwards of Crogen
Iddon (in Glyn Ceiriog), Gallt-y-Celyn and Plas lolyn
(in Yspytty-Ieuan,) Esquire, lord of the manor of
Yspytty-Ieuan, and descended from Edwyn Prince of
Tegeingl. By this gentleman, who died in 1771, she
had no issue. She married secondly, in 1773, the Rev.
Thomas Youde, B.C.L., of Brasenose College, Oxford,
eldest son of Thomas Youde, of Ruthin, son of Francis
Heude (or Youde) a French gentleman, who was sent
by the court at St. Germains on a polltical errand to
Sir Gruffydd Jefferies, of Acton, near Wrexham, in 1711.
Here he became acquainted with Mary, eldest daughter
and co-heiress of John Hill, Esq., of Rowley's Mansion

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 61

in Shrewsbury, by his first wife, Priscilla, daughter and
heiress of Seth Rowley, of Rowleys Mansion {argent
on a bend sa. inter two Cornish choughs, ppr, three
escallops of the field.) John Hill was on the 1 7th
March, 1684-5, appointed to be an alderman of Shrews-
bury by James II, but on account of his favouring the
cause of the Prince of Orange, was deposed 1st Jan.,
1687-8. In 1689, he was elected Mayor of Shrewsbury,
was Justice of the Peace for the county, and High
Sheriff of Denbighshire, in 1697. He refused to give
his consent to his daughter's marriage vdth Mr. Youde,
on account of the latter s political opinions, and hoping
to prevent the union, removed her from Acton, the re-
sidence of Sir Gruffyd Jefferies, to his own house in
Shrewsbury. Miss Hill, however, contrived to escape
her father s vigilance, and was married to Mr. Youde.
Her father, who never forgave her, died on March 29th,
1731, and was bimed with his second wife, the heiress
of Sontley, (who died in 1693) in the chiurchyard of
old St. Chad s, Shrewsbury. Mr. and Mrs. Youde,
hoping to avert the effect of his anger, did open penance
in white sheets in that church.^

The mother of the Rev. Thomas Youde (who was
buried at Rhiwabon in 1806, at the age of 78) was
Dorothy, daughter of John Jones, of Llalchog, near
Ruthin (who had considerable property in the parishes
of Evenechtyd, Cyfelliog, Clocaenog, Llanrhudd, Llan-
fwrog, and Llanfair-dyflGtyn-Clwyd) and Mary, his wife,
sister of Eubule Thelwall, of Jesus College, Oxford, and
daughter and heiress of Edward Thelwall, of Ruthin,
son of Thomas Thelwall, son of Edward Thelwall,
second son of John Wynn Thelwall, of Bathafarn Park,
Esq. The arms of the Youde family are (1) argent, a
lion rampant az,, charged on the shoulder with a fleur-
de-lys or; (2) ermine on a fess sa., a castle arg. Hill;
(3) Vert a stag trippant arg. attired or. Jones of Cal-
chog; (4) gules on a fess or between three boars' heads
couped arg. three trefoils sable ThelwaU. The pro-

' Owen and Blakeway's Histoi-y of Shreivshury.

r»2 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

perty acquired from his mother was sold by Mr. Youde's
trustees.^

Mrs. Sarah Youde died December 20th, 1837, and
was buried at Rhiwabon. By her second husband
she had issue: 1, Thomas Watkin, born 1775, who suc-
ceeded to the Clochfaen and P14s Madog estates, on
the death of his father in 1806. He served the office
of high sheriff of Montgomeryshii'e in 1816, died un-
married, at Cheltenham, and was buried at Ehiwabon
in 1821. 2, Edward Youde, born in 1781, who suc-
ceeded to the property at the death of his mother,
sold Rowleys Mansion, and dying at Ostend, was
buried at the village of Ghistalles, near that town, in
1846. He married Mary, sister and heiress of Charles
Greenaway of Barrington, co. of Oxon., Esq., and late
M.P. for Leominster, by whom he had one daughter,
Mary Jane Youde, now of Burford Priory. 3. Charles
Madog, who died unmarried in 1797.

Mrs. Youde had also three daughters; 1 , Sarah,
who died unmarried in her eighteenth year, and was
buried at Rhiwabon, 1798; 2. Juha Elizabeth, who
was born 29th May, 1793, succeeded to the Clochfaen
and Plsls-Madog estates, on the death of her brother
Edward, and dying tmmarried 19th September, 1857,
was biuied at Llangurig; 3. Harnet, who was born
30th March, 1787, in 1815 became the wife of the late
Jacob William Hinde, Esq., formerly of the 15th
Hussars, deputy-lieutenant for Middlesex, and son of
Charles Hinde, Esq., of Langham Hall, county of Essex,
and Deputy-Lieutenant for the counties of Essex
and Middlesex. Mr. Hinde died at Heffleton House
in the county of Dorset, 24th October, 1856, and was
buried at Llangurig. Her husband died July 1st, 1 868,
and was the father of three sons:

1. Jacob Youde William, who was born in 1816, on
the 12th December, 1868, received Her Majesty's license
and authority to assume the name of Lloyd of Cloch-

^ Judge Lloyd, of Berth, and Mr. Wynne of PlAs Newydd, now
P14s Heaton in Hcnllan parish.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 63

faen, in lieu of that of Hinde, and also to bear the
arms of Lloyd. By this act, the name and memory
of the oldest family in the parish will enter upon a new
lease of existence. The Plâs Madog estates, with the
tithes of the townships of Christionydd-Cynwrig, and
Bodylltyn in the parish of Rhiwabon, which once be-
longed to the Cistercian monastery of Valle Crucis,
passed in 1857 into the hands of G. H. Whalley, Esq.,
M.P. for Peterborough, who had a mortgage upon the
property. Mr. Lloyd is a private in the Pontifical Zouaves.
The second son, Charles Thomas Edward, born at Plas-
Madog in 1 820, entered theserviceof the East India Com-
pany in 1840. In 1 853, he volunteered his services to Omar
Pasna, commanding the Turkish army on the Danube,
and was appointed a lieutenant-colonel under the name
of Beyzad Bey. Shortly afterwards he acted as adju-
tant-general to the force under General Cannon (Bairam
Pasha) which was dispatched from Shumla for the re-
lief of Silistria. He took part in the defence of the
latter town, and was lying side by side in an embrasure
at Redoubt Kale with the late Captain O. Butler, at
the time he received his death- wound. In July of
1854, he took an active part in the passage of the
Danube and the battle of Guirgevo. He accompanied
the army of the Danube to Bucnarest, thence to Eupa-
toria, and was present at various skirmishes before
Sebastopol in the years 1855-56. From the Crimea he
accompanied the force of Omar Pasha to Mingrelia, and
was present at the passage and battle of the Ingur.
For these various services he received the English
Crimean medal, the Turkish medals for Silistria, Danube,
and the Order of Medijee, together with his brevet
majority, and honorary lieutenant-colonelcy. He re-
turned to India in 1857, and was at once appointed to
a command in the state of Rewah, where he raised and
organised a force of 80Q men, and at their head in
January 1858, opened the grand Deccan road by cap-
turing six forts with forty guns and two mortars from
the mutineers, for which service he received the thanks

G4 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

of the Governor-General in Council. Twice more during
the mutiny he received the thanks of the Governor-
General of India in Council. He was promoted to the
rank of colonel in 1867. By his wife Harriette
Georgina, only daughter, of the late Captain Souter,
he has issue an only daughter Harriet Julia Morforwyn,
married in 1866 to George Hope Verney, Esq., of the
Rifle Brigade, second son of Sir Harry Verney, Bart., of
Claydon, in the county of Bucks.

Note to pp. 63-4. — Colonel Hinde died at Brussels on the 15th of May, 1870, and was buried at Ucle, near that city. The following is the inscription upon his tomb: —

CAROLUS THOMAS EDWARDUS HINDB
LEGIONIS BENGALIENSIS TRIBUNUS
OBLIT IDIBUS MAII MDCCCLXX AETATIS SUAE AN LO
REQUIESCAT IN PACE

The third son Edward died in his infancy. Of the
three daughters, the eldest, Harriet Esther Julia, mar-
ried Daniel Todd, Esq., of Buncrana Castle, county of
Donegal, J. P., and deputy-heutenant for that county;
she died without issue, 16th December, and was buried
at Torquay, where her husband had been previously buried.
2. Juha Sarah, died at Aberystwith, 11th August, 1843,
and was buried at Llangurig. 3. Mary Cliarlotte.

CHAPTER V.

THE PLAS-MADOG FAMILY.

Having in the previous chapter given an account of
the Clochfaen branch of the family, we will now pro-
ceed to give a sketch of the descent and history of
that branch of the house of Tudor Trefor, which set-
tled at Plas-Madog in the parish of Bhiwabon. The
Plas-Madog family claims for its ancestor

Rhys ab Ednyfed ab IJywarch ab Lluddoccaf ab
Tudor Trefor, more commonly known as Rhys Sais,^ be-
cause he had acquired a knowledge of the English lan-
guage. He succeeded his father in possession of Chirk,
Whittington, Oswestry, and Maelor Saesnaeg, and by
his wife Efa, daughter and heiress of Gruffydd Hir, a
descendant of Tudor Mawr, Prince of South Wales, he
had issue three sons and one daughter; 1, Tudor, his
successor; 2, Elidir, lord of Eyton, Erlisham, and

^ Supra,

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 65

Borasham, (bore ermine a lion rampant az.) married Agnes
or Annesta, daughter of Lies ab Idnerth Benfras, and
was the father of Meilyr Eyton, ancestor of the once
distinguished family of the Eytons of Eyton; 3, Iddon,
lord of Duddleston, in the lordship of Chirk (bore arg.
a chev. inter three boar's heads, couped gu,\ ancestor
of the Vaughans of Burlton Hall, and the Heylins of
Pentre-Heylin; Generys married Ednowain ab Ithel,
lord of Bryn in Powys-land, who bore arg. three grey-
hounds courant in pale sa. Rhys Sais apparently came to
a fiiendly arrangement with the Norman conquerors of
the Marches, for in 1170 he divided his possessions
among his sons.^

Tudyr or Tudor ^ the eldest son of Rhys, succeeded to
his fathers lands in Whittington and Maelor, which he
appears to have held rnider Roger de Montgomery, to
whom he paid a chief-rent of four pounds, five shil-
lings, according to the entry in the Domesday Book,
under " Wilitone." He married Janet, daughter of
Rhys Fychan ab Gruflfydd ab Rhys ab Tudor Mawr, by
whom he had issue four sons; 1, Bleddyn, who, at his
father s death, became lord of Chirk and Maelor Saes-
naeg, was by his wife, Agnes or Annesta, daughter of
Llewelyn ab Idnerth ab Meredith H^n, lord of Buallt,
descended from Elystan Glodrudd, ancestor of the
Joneses of Brynkynallt; Wynns of Eyarth; Lloyds of
Leaton Knolls and Domgay; Lloyds of Talome and
Halchdyn; Lloyds of the Bryn, now represented by
Lord Kenyon and J. Y. W. Lloyd, Esq., of Clochfaen; the
Youngs of Brynyorkyn, in the parish of Hope,^ the

^ Tbe late Joseph Morris, Esq., Arch. Camh., 1852, p. 284.

' A younger branch of the Yonngs, of Brynyorkyn, eventaally
settled at West Kam, in the c5ounty of Lincoln, shortly after the
Reformation. On the death of John Yonng, Esq., in the year 1707,
the parish register of West Ram cnrioasly records that the incum-
bent testified to his death and burial upon oath before a magistrate.
His successor, John Young, of West Ram, died in 1719, and shortly
after his burial a flight of bees descended and settled upon his
grave. The simple villagers regarded this as a good omen, prog-
nosticating the future prosperity and exaltation of the family of the
deceased gentleman. By his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of — Thom-

K

66 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

eldest branch of which is now represented by William
Shipley Conway of Bodrhyddan and Brynyorkyn, Esq.;
the Mostyns of Talacre and Segrwyd; the Edwardses of
Chirk; Trefors of Brynkynallt, Plas-teg and Trefalyn;
Pennants of Downing, and of Penrhyn Castle, and the
Dymokes of Penley Hall. 2. Goronwy, or as he is some-
times called Goronwy Pefr (i.e., Ranulphus the Smart,
or handsome) married Maud, daughter of Ingelric, a
noble Saxon (who had previously borne a son, William,
of whom the Conqueror was the father) and by her was
the father of three sons, Hamon, William, and Payne. ^
By another wife, Goronwy had Roger, known after-
wards as Sir Roger de Powys, (so-called from his estate
being in Powys-land) Sir William de Powys and Jonas
of Llanerch Banna. 3. Cyhelin, of whom presently.
4. Meurig, ancestor of David, abbot of Valle Crucis,
bishop of St. Asaph from 1500 to 1503.

Cyhelin, the third son of Tudor, had lands in the
parishes of Llangollen and Chirk. Pentre Cyhelin
takes its name from him. He was the father of

lenaf, who married Mallt, daughter of Llywarch ab
Trahaiarn, lord of Cydewain, and was the father of

Aior of Trefor {i.e., Tref-awr) in the parish of Llan-
gollen. He had two sons; 1 , Adda of Trefor, who
married Tangwystyl, daughter of Iorwerth (ab Ednyfed
ab Mellyr Eyton, lord of Eyton) by whom he had a
son Ieuaf, who, by his wife, Myfanwy (descended from
HoedHw, fifth son of Cynwrig ab RhiwaQon) was an-
cestor of Robert Trefor,^ of Trefor Hall, and Valle

bnrgb, Esq., of Kendal, he left issue two sons, 1, John, who mar-
ried Jane, daughter of J)t. Vavasour, brother of one of the baronets
of Hazlewood Castle, county of York; 2, David Young, Esq., of
Nomanby-le-wold, county Lincoln, who had issue one son and five
daughters, one of whom, Elizabeth, became the wife of John Wil-
liams, Esq., father of the He v. Edward Williams, of St. Beuno's
College, Tremeirchion, Flintshire.

^ Miletta, sister and heiress to this Payne Tefr, or Peverell, be-
came the wife of Fulk Fitz-Warine, by which marriage the Warines
claimed Whittington, etc. — Arch. Camh., 1852, p. 284.

2 Mary, only daughter and heiress of Robert Trefor, married
Thomas Lloyd, of Glanhafon, in the county of Montgomery, high

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 67

Crucis Abbey, which was purchased by his ancestor,
John Trevor, Esq. Ieuaf and his wife were buried in

sheriff for that county in 1716, and was the mother of two daughters,
co-heiresses, Mary and Margaret. Margaret, the younger, married

(1) Edward Lloyd, of PlS.8-Madog, Esq., who died s. p. 1734, and

(2) Arthur Meares, of Plas Benion. The eldest daughter, Mary,
became the wife of Edward Lloyd of Pentrchobyn, county of Flint,
Esq., descended from Goronwy, Prince of Tegeingl, and was the
mother of five sons, Robert, Thomas, John, Edward, and Trevor
Lloyd, (all of whom died without issue) and two daughters, Mary
and Margaret, co-heirs of their brother Trevor, who was high-sheriff
of Montgomeryshire in 1787. Mary, the eldest, married Thomas
Mather, of Ancoats, Esq., by whom she had issue an elder son,
Samuel Lloyd Mather, who was the father of an only son, Thomas,
(who died a midshipman) and one daughter, Mary Palmer, the wife
of Robert Baldwin Lloyd, of Plis-Llanassa, by whom she had issue
one son, Trefor Lloyd, Esq., and two daughters, Margaret Baldwin
and Mary. Margaret, the second sister, and co-heiress of Trefor
Lloyd, Esq., married Rice Thomas, Esq., of Goedhelen, in the
county of Caernarvon, and left issue five daughters; 1, Margaret,
the wife of Thomas Trevor Mather, Esq., of Pentrchobin; 2, Jane;

3, Anne, who married John Browning Edwards, Esq., of Nanhoran;

4, Trevor; 5, Pennant, who in 1808 married William Ironmonger,
Esq., of Wherwell Priory, county of Hants, who became owner of
Trefor Hall, Valle Crucis Abbey, and the other estates (Burke's
Landed Gentry, art. Ironmonger; Arch[aeologia]. Camb[rensis]., vol. i, p. 21.) The
Lloyds of Rhagatt likewise descended from Adda ab Awr. David
Lloyd, the first of the family who assumed the surname of Lloyd,
settled at Berth, near Ruthin, about the year 1600. He was the
son of Thomas ab Tudor ab Robert ab Meredydd ab Gruffydd ab
Adda ab Llewelyn ab Ieuaf ab Adda ab Awr, of Trefor. His de-
scendant, the late Edward Lloyd, Esq., of Rhagatt, in the county of
Meirionydd, who died October 1859, had issue by his wife Frances
Lloyd, daughter of John Madocks, of Fron Iw, county of Denbigh, Esq.
1, John Lloyd, married, 1847, Gertrude, daughter of the late Philip
Lake Godsal, Esq., of Iscoed, in the county of Flint; 2, Edward,
married, 1855, Mary Eliza, daughter of the late John Madocks, Esq.,
of Glanywem, county of Denbigh; 3, Howel William, married in
1850 to Eliza Anne, daughter of the late George Wilson, Esq., of
Nutley, county of Sussex; 4. Charles Owen, Ensign in 8th n[orth].I.,
E.I.C.S., who was killed at the age of nineteen in the battle before
Moultan, 12th September, 1848, by a Sikh, whose life he had saved
a few moments before; of the daughters, Frances, the eldest,
married, in 1835, the late Sir Robert Williames-Vaughan, of Nannau,
who succeeded his father. Sir Robert, the second baronet, in 1843,
died 28th April, 1859; Charlotte became the wife of the late
Richard John Price, Esq., son and heir of the late Richard Watkin
Price, Esq., of Rhiwlas, co. of Meirionydd; Jane Margaret, wife of

68 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the nave of the church of the Abbey of Valle Crucis.
The lids of the stone coffins m which their bodies are
deposited, with the inscriptions upon them, are still to
be seen. Adda bore party per bend sinister ermine
and ermines in a border gules. 2. The second son was

Iorwerth ah Awr. He married Margaret, daughter
of Ednyfed ab Iorwerth ab Meilyr Eyton, by whom he
had issue,

Iorwerth Fychan (junior) of Trefor, who was living
in 1332, and married first Agnes or Annesta, daughter
of Hwfa ab Iorwerth ab Gruffyd ab Ieuaf ab Niniaf
ab Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon {gules two lions passant arg.)
by whom he had issue, Howel of Trefor, whose only
daughter and heiress, Gwenllian, married Llewelyn ab
leuaf ab Adda, of Trefor. Iorwerth married secondly,
Margaret, daughter of Madog^ ab Llewelyn ab Gruffyd,
lord of Eyton, Erlisham, and Borasham) by whom he
had issue one daughter, Lucy, third wife of Madog
Llwyd, lord of Iscoed, descended from Tudor Trefor,
and one son,

Ednyfed Lhvyd, Esq., who married the sister and
heiress of Ednyfed ab Iorwerth ab Madog, of Horslli in
the parish of Gresford, Esq.,^ descended from Sanddef
Hardd, who bore 1st, vert, seme of Bromoslips, a lion
rampant or; 2nd, or, a lion rampant az.; 3rd, vert, three
eagles displayed in fess or. By this lady, Ednyfed had
issue, Llewelyni (his successor) GruflFyrd, and a daughter,
Elen, who became the wife of Llewelyn Fychan, of
Pentre-Madog in Duddleston, Esq., son of Llewelyn ab
Goronwy ab Sir Roger de Powys {supra.)

Lleivelyn ah Ednyfed married Angharad, daughter
of Adda, second son of Llewelyn ab Ieuaf ab Adda ab

the Yen. Archdeacon Ffonlkes, of Llandjssul; Eliza Blackburne
married Meredith Vibart, Esq., late captain in E.I.C.S., and adju-
tant of the Edinburgh Artillery Volunteers; Mary Charlotte,
of Hengwrt, Harriet Frances Julia Ann, died at the age of twelve
years; besides seven other children, who died in infancy.

1 Madog died 1331, and was buried upon the Feast of St. Mat-
thias, in the north aisle of G^resford Church, with his wife's family.
His tomb still remains in the church.

■ Ab David Hen ab Goronwy Hen of Burton ab Iorwerth ab
Howel ab Moreiddig ab Sanddef Hardd.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 69

Awr of Trefor, and niece of John Trefor, bishop of St.
Asaph, by whom he had issue, 1. David, his successor.
2. Gruffyd. 3. Madog. 4. Iorwerth Goch of Chris-
tionydd-Cynwrig, who was killed in the year 1490.

David ah Llewelyn, who was living in 1497, became,
jure uQcoris^ of Plas-Madog, having married Margaret,
daughter and sole heiress of David ab Hwfa, of Plas-
Madog. But before proceeding further with the account
of the issue by this marriage, it will be necessary here
to deduce the descent of the heiress of Plas-Madog
from the Princes of Upper Powys.

Owen Cyfeiliog, on ms death in 1197, was succeeded
by his son Gwenwynwyn, after whom Upper Powys was
thenceforward known as Powys-Gwenwynwyn. Allu-
sion has already been made to his conquit of the can-
tref of Arwystli, a considerable portion of which he
bestowed on his follower, Madog Danwr,^ another moiety,
with his accustomed liberahty to the religious houses in
his territories, was wanted to the neighbouring Cister-
cian monastery of Abbey Cwmhir;* he also confirmed the
grant of lands to the church of St. Michael at Tref-
eglwys and the Abbey of Haghmon in Shropshire.'*
Dying about the year 1218, he left by his wife Mar-

faret, a son Gruffydd (who ultimately succeeded to all
is father's lands), together with a natural son, Madog.
The latter received the lordships of Mowddy and Caer-
einion, which at his death reverted to his brother
Gruffydd, Madog having left no male issue. His
daughter Efa, married first Iorwerth ab Owen Brogyn-
tyn, and secondly Owen ab Bleddyn, lord of Chirk.
Gruffyd, the son of Gwenwynwyn, who was a minor at
his father's death, in 1242, married Hawys, daughter of
Sir John le Strange of Ness, and by her had issue
six sons and one daughter, Mabel, who became the
wife of Fulke Fitz-Warine, lord of Whittington. The
sons were, 1. Owen, who, by the t/Crms of his father's
will, received for his share of the territories, Arwystli,
Cyfeiliog, Ystrad Marchell (with the exception of the

^ Supra. ^ Rees' Account of Abheij'Cxvmhir, p. 30.

8 Arch. Camh., 1860, p. 331.

70 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

township of Hirgyngrog, which was settled upon his
mother for the term of her life.) 2, Llewelyn, who re-
ceived Tal-y-bont, Olerton-de-Hope, and Dau-ddwr. 3,
John, who was a secular priest, received for the term of
his natural life the township of Blaen-y-coed-talog, llys-
wenan, and Llangadfan. 4, William, had Mowddy
(with the exception of Llandybo, which was settled
upon his mother). 5, David, from whom the heiress of
Plas-Madog traces her descent, received Pentyrch, Celli-
caswallon, Penarth, and Rhiwhirarth. 6, Gruffyd Fy-
chan, the youngest son, had Mochnant.

In his valuable paper on the Princes of Upper Powys,
{Montgomeryshire Collections, i, 59, 75) and in the
pedigree prefixed to the same article, Mr. Bridgeman
has asserted that David was a priest. He admits it is
true that he was not in holy orders at the time of his
father s death, for the terms of the latter's will do not
support him in his inference. Prince Gruflfyd in that
document grants a portion of his estate to his son John,
(the Rector of Pool) " to have and to hold for the whole
time of his life"^ A plain indication that he had no
lawful male issue, but in speaking of the lands be-
queathed to his son David, the father plainly declares
" which we have assigned to our son David and the heirs
of his body lawfully begotten,'' in precisely the same
terms as are employed in the bequest to his sons
Llewelyn and William, who are admitted to have had
lawful male issue. Had David been trained for the
priesthood, the father could never have spoken of him
in these terms, but, on the contrary, from the phraseo-
logy of the will it can fairly be inferred that if no
heirs had been born to David at the time it was
drawn up, there was then in existence no lawful im-
pediment to his being the father of such. Llewelyn,
William, and Gruffyd nad sons, yet the father wills in
their case, as in that of David, that their portions in
the event of their dying " without issue lawfully be-
gotten," should revert to their elder brother, Owen. So

' Montgomeryshire Collectivns, i, 41.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGTYRTG. 71

that in the will itself there is no distinction in the con-
ditions upon which these four brothers were to enjoy
the lands which they inherited at the death of their
father.

Neither is there aught in the terms of the documents^
which record the family compact between David and
his elder brother, Prince Owen, which justifies the in-
ference that the former was an ordained priest at the
time of the final concord in 1290. But these docu-
ments are in accordance with the statements of all the
manuscripts which assert that David wa^ married, but
left no male issue. And as his two daughters could
not inherit by gavel kind, but would have a claim ac-
cording to the English law, which was beginning at
this time to gain ground in Powys, the elder and
stronger brother, to secure the reversion of the lands to
the head of the family, induced the younger to relin-
quish all claims to it on the part of his children. As
David had no son to succeed him, he would the more
readily agree to the conditions imposed upon him, which
limited him to a Kfe interest in the lands. Here we
see enacted over again what occurred at the death of
Madog, the natural son of Gwenwynwyn, who was not
a priest. The strained inference of Mr. Bridgeman is
thus proved to be weak in itself, and can have no
weight at all, as it is contrary to the direct evidence
afibrded by the oldest and most authentic pedigrees,^
which expressly state that David was married, and left
two daughters. An unsupported inference of this de-
scription. particularly wfien the circumstances from
which it arises can be explained quite satisfactorily on
other grounds, should not be drawn, more especially in
this case, as it has a tendency to cast dishonour upon
the priestly character, and to discredit pedigrees which
have every appearance of authenticity.

Whatever value the " old tradition" relating to the
contention between Hawys, the niece of David, and

^ Montgomeryshire Collections, i, 132-4.

« Earl M8S,, 4181, 2299, 173. Add, MSS., 9864, 9865.

72 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

her uncles, and the imprisonment of the latter in Har-
lech Castle, may possess, and, whoever its author may
have been. Dr. Powel was not its originator,^ for it is
to be found in an old MS. in the British Museum, (a
transcript of which appeared in the Brython, iii, 124-127)
which was compiled, or copied, in the year 1498,^ eighty-
six years before the appearance of the first edition of
the History of Wales.

Prince David married Elina, daughter and heiress of
Howel, third son of Madog ab Grufiydd Maelor, lord
of Castell Dinas-Bran, and Prince of Powys Fadog,
founder of the Abbey of Valle Crucis, by whom he had
issue two daughters, co-heiresses: 1, Margaret, who was
married to Howel Grach, of Bodylltyn, in the parish of
Rhiwabon, third son by Gwenllian, his second wife,
(daughter of Owen ab Trahaiarn ab Rotpert, lord of
Cydewain) of Llewelyn ab Gruflfyd ab Cadwgan, lord of
Eyton, descended from Tudor Trefor. By this marriage
she had issue an only daughter, Angharad, who mar-
ried Madog yr Athraw, of Erbistock, and, in right of his
wife, possessor of landt* in Bodylltjm, where he built
the house which was called in honour of him Plas-
Madog. 2, Mary, the second daughter, married Cara-
dog ab Collwyn ab y Llyr Crach, of Meifod, ab Mere-
dydd ab Cynan, a yoimger son of Owen Gwynedd,
Prince of North Wales. This Meredydd was driven
from his territories by his uncle David ab Owen, Prince
of North Wales in 1173, and took refuge with Owen
Cyfeiliog, who gave him the lordships of Rhiwhiraeth,
Neuadd Wen, Llyssin, and Coed-Talog. He bore gii.
and arg. four lions passant guardant counterchanged.
The last heir male of this line, Ieuan ab Owen ab
Meredydd, of Neuadd Wen, had an only daughter and
heiress, Margaret, who married, first Howel ab Gruffydd
ab Jenkyn, of Llwydiarth, descended from Celynyn, (of
Llwydiarth, who killed the Mayor of Carmarthen) who

^ Montgomeryshire Collections, i, 58.

^ This date seems too late for Gutyn Owen. The number and
class of MSS., from which the transcript is made, are not given in the
Brython,

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 73

bore scuy a he-goat arg., armed, etc., or, and was de-
scended from Aleth, King of Dyfed. Mary married,
secondly, Rhys ab David Lloyd of Newtown Hall,
Ksquire of the body to Edward IV, who fell at Ban-
bury, 1469, and was descended from Elys tan Glodrudd,
By Rhys she had issue an eldest son and heir, Thomas
Pryse, of Newtown Hall, ancestor of the baronet family
of that place. The representative of Mary is the right
heir of the late Sir Edward Manley Pryse, the seventh
baronet, who died without legitimate issue in 1791.
Margaret married, thirdly, Gnifl^dd ab Howel ab David.

Madog yr Athraw was the youngest son by Efa, his
second wife (daughter of Llewelyn ab Ynyr of Isll) of
Hwfa ab Iorwerth, of Hafod-y-Wem (who bore sa.
three lions pass, in pale arg.) ab Ieuaf ab Niniaf ab
Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon. By Angharad, his wife, Madog
was the father of a son and heir,

HwfoLy who succeeded him at Plas-Madog. He mar-
ried Agnes, daughter of Madoch Goch, of Lloran
Uchaf (descended from Einion Efell, Lord of Cynllaith,
who bore paxtv per fess m. and arg., a lion rampant
counterchanged),and was the father of

leiiaf, of P14s-Madog, who by his wife Agnes,
daughter of Gruffydd ab Cynwrig (ab Ieuaf ab Cas-
wallon ab Hwfa ab Ithel Felyn, Lord of 141, who bore
sa, on a chev. inter three goat s heads erased, or, three
trefoils of the field), was the father of

Hwfa, of P14s-Madog. This gentleman married
Gwenllian, daughter of Ieuan Llwyd, and was the
father of

David, the father of Margaret, the heiress of Plas-
Madog, who became the wife of David ab Llewellyn,
who was living in 1497 {swpra). The issue of this mar-
riage was four sons, John, Gniflfydd, David Fychan, and
Iorwerth, together with one daughter, Gwenllian.

John ab David married Margaret, (daughter by Phi-
lippa, his first wife daughter of Sir Randle Brereton,
of Malpas, Knight), of Howel ab Ieuan ab Gruffydd, of
Bersham, descended in the male line from Ednyfed,

74 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

second son of Cynwrig ab Rhiwallon, and by heirs
female from Llewelyn, the second son of Gruflydd ab
Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Upper Powys. Arms — 1,
ermine, a lion statant guardant gu. Ednyfed ab Cyn-
wrig — 2, arg. on a chief gu.^ three fleurs-de-lys, or.
Madog of Hendwr — 3, or, a lion rampant, gules. By
his wife, John had issue one daughter, Angharad, wife
of Madog ab David, descended from Cynwrig ab Rhi-
wallon, and one son,

Randle ah John, of Plas-Madog, who by Angharad,
his wife, daughter of John ab Ieuan ab David ab Dio,
of Llanerchrugog, had a son,

John Lloyd, of Pl&s-Madog, who was living July
5th, 1563. He married Janet, daughter of Geoffrey
Bromfield, of Bryn-y-Wiwair, in the parish of Rhiw-
abon, descended through Iorwerth Benfras, Lord of
Maesbrook {armQ, supra), from Edwin ab Goronwy,Lord
of Tegeingl, founder of one of the sixteen noble tribes
of North Wales and Powys. ^ John was succeeded at
Plas-Madog by his son,

William Lloyd, who married Catherine, daughter of
Owen Brereton,* of Borasham, Esq. (high sheriff of

^ The Bromfields of Bryn-y-Wiwair became extinct in the male
line at the death of Edward Bromfield, Esq., whose only daughter
and heiress, Elizabeth, was married to Sir Gerard Eyton, of Eyton,
in the parish of Bangor-is-y-Coed, Knight.

^ The Breretons of Borasham deduced their descent from Wil-
liam, second son of Sir Handle Brereton, of Malpas, Knight, by his
wife, Alicia, lady of Ipstans, only daughter and heiress of William
Ipstans, lord of Ipstans, son and heir of Sir John Ipstans, Knight,
lord of Ipstans, in the county palatine of Chester, who died a.d.
1394, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter and sole heiress of Thomas
Corbet, of More ton Corbet and Wattlesborough (Harl, M8., 1396.)
Sir Randle Brereton was fifth in descent from Sir Randolphus de
Brereton, Knight, lord of Brereton, in Cheshire, and the lady Ada,
his wife, relict of Henry de Hastings (who in her right was one of
the claimants of the crown of Scotland), and fourth daughter and
co-heiress by Maud, his wife, daughter of Hugh Cyfeiliog, Count
Palatine of Chester, of David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of
Malcolm, and William the Lion, kings of Scotland, and third son
of Henry, crown prince of Scotland, who died in the lifetime of his
father King David I. Margaret, the eldest daughter and co-heiress
of David, Earl of Huntingdon, was grandmother of John Baliol,

PAROCHIAL^ ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 75

Denbighshire in the years 1581 and 1588), and Eliza-
beth, his wife, only sister of the unfortunate Thomas
Salusbury, of Llyweny, who was executed in 1586 for
his connection with Babington's conspiracy. By his wife
Catherine, Mr. Lloyd had issue five sons and two
daughters — 1, Edward (his successor). 2, Owen, who
married Jane, relict of John FfachmaUt, of Ffachmallt,
in the county of Flint, Esq., second daughter and co-
heiress (by Margaret, relict of Robert Empson, of Lon-
don, and daughter of Hugh Wynn, of Wigfair, in
Meiriadog, Esq.) of John Brereton,^ of Esclusham, Esq.,
who died 24th of January, 1622, and was buried at
Wrexham; (arms — 1 arg.^ two bars sa, — Brereton, 2
arg., a chev. inter three crescents, gules. — Ipstans, 3
or, two ravens, ppr. — Corbet of Wattlesborough, 4, an
escarbimcle of eight rays, or. Tirret.) By this lady,
Owen Lloyd had issue one son, Thomas, a merchant,
who died without issue at Hamburg, and one daughter,
Elizabeth, wife of Edward Lloyd, of Plas-Madog.) 3,
Richard. 4, John. 5, Roger. Catherine, the eldest
daughter, married Hugh (ab John Wynn ab John ab
Robert of Rhiwabon,) and Mary, the second daughter,
became the wife of Humphrey Lloyd, of Llwyn Ynn,
Esq., descended from Edwyn ab Goronwy, Prince of
Tegeingl.^

Edward Lloyd, of Plas-Madog, who was living in
1620, married Anne, daughter of John Eyton, of Lees-
wood, in the county of Flint, and Jane, his wife,
daughter of John Lloyd, of Bodidris, in I&l, Esq., and
had issue — 1, Edward, who succeeded his father; 2,
Piers, of London; 3, Thomas; 4, John; 5, Owen;

King of Scotland, and John tbe Bed Comyn, lord of Badenoch,
who was killed in the convent of the Minor Friars, 1806, by Bobert
Bmce, grandson of Isabel, the second daughter and co-heiress
of Earl David. (For an acconnt of the Brereton family, who were
lords of Brereton in Cheshire, consult Ormerod's History of Cheshire^
and Lewie Dwnn's Vvdiatioris,)

^ John Brereton, of Esclusham, was the second son of Owen
Brereton, Esq., and Elizabeth, his first wife.

« Earl M8S,, 1969.

76 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

6, Matthew; together with two daughters, the eldest
of whom, Jane, married Owen Bady, the son of Roger
Bady, Esq., of Rhiwabon, descended from Cynwrig ab
Rhiwallon, while Elizabeth, the second daughter, be-
came the wife of John Lloyd, the son of John Lloyd of
Coed Christionydd (who was living in 1620) ab Richard
Lloyd ab Ellis Lloyd of Llwyn Ynn.

Edward Lloyd, of Eglwysegl, M.A., died, in his
father's life-time, in Cambridgeshire, leaving by Re-
becca, hia wife, daughter of the Rev. Mostyn Piers, of
Cambridge, two yoimg children — Catherine, who was
subsequently married to John Powell, of Rhuddallt,
eldest son of Daniel Powell, son of David Powell, D.D.,
Vicar of Rhiwabon, the celebrated Welsh historian, a
lineal descendant of Llewelyn Aiu:dorchog, and one
son,

Edward Lloydy who succeeded his grandfather at
P14s-Madog. He married Elizabeth, only daughter
and heiress of Owen Lloyd ab William Lloyd,^ by
whom he had issue — 1, John, of Plas-Madog, a captain
in the royal army, who in 1660 was one of the seven
Denbighshire gentlemen deemed fit and quahfied to be
made a Knight of the Royal Oak. At that date his
estate was valued at £800.* He was living in 1667, but
was killed in London with Sir Evan Lloyd, of Bodi-
dris. 2, William, who died without issue. 3, Samuel,
who succeeded at P14s-Madog; and one daughter,
Anne, married to William Lloyd, of Pl&s-Benion and
Tref-y-Nant, in the parish of Rhiwabon, descended
from Edwin ab Goronwy.

Samuel Lloyd, of Pl&s-Madog, married Sarah, second
daughter and co-heiress of Luke Lloyd, Esq., of the
Bryn, in the parish of Hanmer, descended from Tudor
Trefor, by whom he had issue, beside a yoimger son
Luke who died without issue, an elder son,

Edtvard Lloyd, of Pl&s-Madog, who died August,
8th, 1760, having married Anne, second daughter and

^ See preceding page.

^ Gicaith Givalter Mecham, ii, 192.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG. 77

oo-heireBS of William Lloyd, of Pl&s-Benion and Tref-
y-Nant, second son of Joseph Lloyd, of Castle Lyons,
in Ireland, second son of Jolm Llovd, of Coed Chris-
tionydd, descended from Edwin ab Goronwy. Mrs. Lloyd died September 23rd, 1745, leaving issue one
son and five daughters —

Edward Lloyd, who married Margaret, second
daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Lloyd,' of Trevor
Hall, and Glanhafon, high-sheriff for Montgomeryshire
in 1716, and Mary, his wife, but died without issue
in 1734, aged eighteen.

1, Ehzabeth was the first daughter. The eldest
daughter, Elizaheihy who was born April 31st, 1718,
was married at Erbistog, April 30th, 1743, to Jenhyn^
Lloydy Esq., of Clochfaen, in the parish of Llangurig
{supra).

2, Mary married Edward Williams, who assumed
the name of Lloyd upon his succeeding to the estate
of Pen-y-lan,' in the parish of Rhiwabon, and had
issue an only dau^ter, Mary Lloyd, heiress of Pen-
y-lan, who married Koger Kenyon, Esq., of Cefii, brother
of Lloyd, first Lord Kenyon, and son of Lloyd Kenyon,
Esq., by whom she had issue Edward Lloyd, who suc-
ceeded at Pen-y-lan, George, Thomas, Jane, and Anna
Maria.

3, Anne, who received for her share of the property
Plas-Benion and Tref-y-Nant, married John Rowland,
Esq.

4, Margaret became the wife of Robert LiCTam, Esq.,
of Neuadd Glyn-Hafren, in the parish of Llanidloes,

* Thomas Lloyd, the high sheriff in 17L6, was the eldest son of
Oliver Llojd, Esq., by Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Robert
Lloyd, Esq., of Glanhafon, high sheriff for Montgomeryshire in
1685 (see note, supra^ p. 289.)

« Supra, p. 280.

' The Lloyds of Pen-y-lan, in the parish of Rhiwabon, were a
yonnger branch of the Lloyds of Ceiswyn, in the parish of Tal-y-
Llyn, in the connty of Merionydd, who were descended from
Gwaethfoed, lord of Cardigan, who bore or, a lion rampant regardant

78 PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

(grandson of Kichard Ingram, Esq., of the same place,
high-sheriif for Montgomeryshire, 1680) and had issue
Edward, the father of the late Robert Ingram, a dis-
tinguished captain in the Royal Navy, who sold the
old fanuly residence; Robert and Mary: arms,
ei^mine on a fess gules ^ three escallops or.

5, Bennette, married to Lewis Lewis, of Rhud-
dalt.

79

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

CorUinucd from voL ii, p. 300.

The following verbal blazon of the arms of J. Y. W. Lloyd,
Esq. (see Engraving opposite p. 62^ etc.)^ was unintentionally
omitted from chap[ter]. v.

1. Qaarterly: Ist and 4th, party per pale, erminois and ermine, a lion
ramp, sa., between two flanches gu., charged with three annulets or; 2nd
and 3rd party per bend sinister ermine and ermines, a lion ramp. or. Lloyd
of Clochfaen.

2. As., a lion ramp, party per fess or and arg., in a border of the third
charged with eight annolets <a. Lladdocaf ab Garadoc, Earl of Hereford.

3. Qaarterly: 1st and 4th gu., a lion ramp, regard, or; 2nd and Srd a/rg.,
three boars' heads conped sa., tasked or. Maarice Yychan, of Kerry and
Mochdref.

4. Sa., three g^yhounds conrant in pale a/rg., in a border indented or.
Angharad, wife of Howel, second son of Tudor ab Einion Fychan (lord of
Cefo-y-llys), and d. and h. of Llewelyn ab Madog ab Banulph of Mochdref.

5. As 3. For Annesta, wife of Einion ab Howel ab Tudor of Mochdref, and
d. and h. of Adda ab Meirig ab Adda of Kerry.

6. Az., on a chevron arg., between three lions passant guardant or, three
crosses moline sa. Fowler, of Abbey Cwmhir.

7. Barry of six pieces gu. and arg., on a chief or, a lion passant as. Engle-
field, of Bycote, Oxfordshire.

8. Az., two bars arg., over all a bend compony or and gu. Lee, of Morpeth.

9. Per bend sinister ermine and ermines, a lion rampant or.. Lloyd, of
Plis Madog.

10. Lluddocaf ab Garadoc. (See 2.)

11. Veri, sem6 of broomslips, a lion rampant or. Sandde Hardd, lord of
Morton.

12. Or, a lion rampant eu. Gadwgan, lord of Nannau.

13. Vert, three eagles displayed in fess or» David ab Owen, Prince of
North Wales.

14. 8a., three lions passant in pale arg. Madoo yr Athraw, of PUs Madog.

15. Ermine, a lion rampant as. Howel Orach ab Llewelyn of BodyUtyn.

16. Or, a lion rampant gu. David ab Oruffydd ab Qwenwynwyn, loid of
Gaereinion.

17. Lloyd, of Plds Madog. (See 9.)

18. Arg., two bars sa. Brereton, of Borasham.

19. Arg., a chevron inter three crescents gu. Ipstans, of Ipstans.

20. Or, two ravens proper. Gorbet, of Wattlesborough.

Crests.

1. On a wreath or and sa. a lion ramp, sa., a fleur-de-lys issuing out of his
mouth, and supporting an antique shield gu., charged with three annulets
interlaced or. Lloyd, of Glocbfaen.

2. On a wreath or and gu. a lion ramp, regardant or. Maurice Fychan.

3. On a wreath or and az. an owl arg. crowned or. Fowler.

4. On a wreath arg. and sa. a demi lion rampant sa. holding a wreath of
laurel proper. Lloyd, of Pl&s Madog.

M

A PABOCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANOURIQ.

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

81

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

 

PAEOCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGUBIG. 85

86

A PABOCHIAL A(X!OUNT OP LLANGURIG.

A PABOCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGUEIG.

87

A PAEOCHTAL ACCOUNT OF LLANQDBIG.

A PAROCHIAL ACCWUNT OF LLANGURIG.

A PABOCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGITRIO.

A PAEOCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANODRIO.

III

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 95

CHAP[TER]. VII. — BIOGRAPHICAL.

Davies, Rev. David was the son of Mr. Davies of
Clochfaen Issa in this parish, where he was born in the
year 1823. He received the elements of his education
in the village school of Llangurig, then conducted by
Mr. Edward Kees, the parish clerk, and was subse-
quently placed in the office of the late Mr. t[enement]. E. Marsh,
solicitor at Llanidloes. His strict integrity, industry,
and careful business habits commended him to the notice
of his employer, who in a short time made him his head
clerk. His parents were anxious that he should adopt
the law as his future profession, but a more intimate ac-
quaintance with his employment, however, only created
in him a distaste for it, and he felt a strong inclination
to enter the church. The late Rev. Evan Pugh, B.A.,
then Vicar of Llanidloes, encouraged him in his predi-
lection, and gave him some excellent advice regarding
his studies and preparation for his future calling. His
parents reluctantly consented to his entering St. David's
College, Lampeter, through which he passed with credit,
having gained Hannah Moore's scholarship.

In 1848 he was ordained deacon, and appointed to the
curacy of Llan wnog by the Bishop of Bangor. The vicar,
Mr. James, who was previously connected with Llan-
gurig, was advanced in years, so that the burden of the
parochial work fell upon the young curate, who found
plenty of employment to call forth the whole of his ener-
gies. He laboured zealously to improve his parishioners
both morally and intellectually; was the means of es-
tablishing the present excellent National school, having
previous to its opening maintained a night school. The
neighbouring hamlet of Caersws seems to have inspired
him with a strong love for archaeology, and having turned
his attention to the study, he employed his leisure in
investigating the antiquities of the district. His name

96 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

first appears on the list of the members of the Cambrian
Archaeological Association in 1853, when he was ap-
pointed one of the local secretaries for Montgomeryshire.
At the general meeting of the society held at Ruthin in
September 1854, Mr. Davies read a paper on "the Roman
remains discovered at Caersws," and also exhibited some
fragments of pottery discovered there, which were de-
posited in the temporary museum. He subsequentlv
rendered further valuable service to the cause of Welsn
archaeology by conducting to their completion the exca-
vations at Caersws: a aetailed account of them has
already been submitted to the members of the club.
While at Llanwnog he was appointed diocesan inspector
of schools for the deanery of Arwystli, was a contributor
to the English Journal of JEducation, and was also a fre-
quent writer to the Welsh newspapers and periodicals.

Mr. Davies in 1856 was collated by the Bishop of St.
Asaph to the incumbency of the newly-formed ecclesiasti-
cal district of Dylife, worth about £200 a year. A hand-
some commodious church had been erected in this flou-
rishing mountain mining village, at the cost principally of
the lord of the manor, and the proprietors of the mines.
No sooner was Mr. Davies appointed than he turned
his attention to providing means for educating the chil-
dren of Dylife. He was enabled in a short time to have
a substantial National school erected. A comfortable
parsonage was the next desideratum which claimed his
energies, and this also he managed to get built. But he
very imprudently took up his residence in his new house
before it was thoroughly dried and well aired. The
natural consequence was that he caught a severe cold,
which brought a painful lingering illness which termi-
nated fatally. He died at the Trewythan Arms Hotel,
Llanidloes, on his way to the Clochfaen, February 12th,
1865. His remains were interred in Llangurig church-
yard.

Davies, Owen, a well known character in this and
the neighbouring parish of Llanidloes, affords a striking
example of perseverance and industry triumphing over

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 97

difficulties in realising an ample fortune. His parents
were in very humble circumstances; he was born in
1777, and passed his youth as a farm servant at the
Belli, before he entered service at Llanidloes in the
capacity of a labourer, at the New Inn. Here he
manifested a very strong inclination for mechanics, es-
pecially clock and watch work, which seemed to possess
a peculiar fascination for him. After some practice, he
procured an old watch, which, after his day's work
was done, he was in the habit of taking with him to the
hay-loft, and there take it to pieces and rebuild it. By
these means he thoroughly familiarised himself with the
mechanism of a watch, and obtained a good insight into
clock-work. Like most self-taught mechanics, he evinced
more than ordinary skill in constructing tools out of the
most unpromising materials; for he was not in a position
at first to buy even the simplest appliances needed.
When Ids skUl became known to his neighbours, he was
allowed to clean their clocks, the money thus gained
being carefully expended upon the most useful tools.
He was soon enabled to quit his calling of labourer for
the more congenial one of clock-cleaner, eking out his
time by glazing. By means of the most rigid economy
he raised himself to the position of an employer of
labour, and opened a fresh business as an ironmonger,
and soon became known far and wide by his superior
goods, especially in the cutlery department. Unfortu-
nately the love of money proved stronger than the love
for mechanics, and the latter part of his life was devoted
wholly and solely to its acquisition. Even when he was
a large landed proprietor, and the possessor of thousands,
he lived in the same simple unpretending style, never
indulging in the slightest luxury of food or dress, would
not even pay for the services of servant or housekeeper
to keep his house clean and cook his food, so that nis
eccentric manners passed into a proverb among those
that knew him. He died October 17th 1862, in the
eighty-sixth year of his age, and was buried in Llan-

N 2

98 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

gurig churchyard. The bulk of his property he left
among his poorer relatives; he was never married.

HowEL, William (Gwilym Hywel), was a native of
this parish, but spent the greater portion of his life at
Llanidloes. He was born in the year 1705. We have
no record of his early life or of his education, but we
have ample proof that the latter was not neglected, and
that it was supplemented by extensive reading and
careful study up to the very last year of Mr. Howels
life. He held the post of steward upon the Berthlloyd
estate in the neighbourhood of Llanidloes, and was
chosen by his fellow-townsmen to be mayor of the
borough.

He was not only a poet himself (several of his pro-
ductions being published in his almanacks) but was a
loving and industrious collector of the works of the old
bards, and of those of his contemporary poets. One of
his especial favourites was Eos Ceiroig (Huw Morris),
lolo Morganwg states that Mr. Howel had collected
about three hundred of the productions of that prolific
writer, doubtlessly with a view to publication. The late
Rev. Walter Davies (Gwallter Mechain) made a more
extensive collection, and published it in two volumes
in 1828, and there is reason to believe that he availed
himself of Mr. Howel's labours.

His fame, however, rests chiefly upon his astronomical
abilities, and as the publisher of a series of Welsh alma-
nacks, which in their day enjoyed great popularity. The
old Welsh almanacks of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries may be regiirded as the precursors of the
monthly magazines and other periodicals now so plenti-
ful in the Welsh language, and were a kind of medium
for the literary intercommunication of those days, being
conducted ana compiled by men of considerable literary
pretensions. The series of annuals were kept up by a
succession of different editors from the appearance of
the first in 1680 up to the year 1 780. But in the year
1 770 the first Welsh magazine, the Eurgrawn Cymraeg,
appeared, and deprived the old almanacks of some of

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 99

their prominent characteristics. The first almanack
compiled and published by Mr. Howel was issued in
the year 1 766 from the press of Eddowes of Shrewsbury ,
where the whole series — ^ten in number — were printed.
Some notion of their contents may be formed from the
following translation of the title page of that for the
year 1770:

" The Intelligencer of the Heavens or the Seasons,
or a New Almanack for the Year of the World 5719,
Year of Our Lord 1 770, the 1 8th year of the New Style,
the 10th year of the reign of George III, the 5th year
of publication, and the 2nd year after leap year. Con-
taining a correct calender for the twelve months of the
year, showing the time of sunrise and sunset, phases
of the moon, appointed feasts, aspects of the planets,

etc Chronicles, lists of the M.Ps. and Sherifis,

fairs and markets of Wales, an^ excellent elegy composed
in the twenty-four metres, carols, new stanzas, etc.
Collected by Gwilim Howel." Then follows an extract
from the Bible, Eccles. xviii, 7, 8, and a list of the towns

^ Among the principal poems published in the series may be
mentioned — In No. 2. A pastoral poem, {Bugeilgerdd,) by Edward
Richards of Ystrad-meirig, written in 1766; a Christmas carol by
Sion Powel of Llansannan. In No. 3. An elegy on the death of the
celebrated antiquary, Lewis Morris, written by Evan Evans in 1765,
with valuable explanatory notes appended in English. In No. 4.
An elegy written by Evan Evans on the death of another Welsh
antiquary, Robert Davies of Llanerch; a carol by Sion Powel;
stanzas on the new bridge at Pont-y-pridd, written by Lewis Hop-
cyn. In No. 5. Qoronwy Owen's celebrated elegy on the death of
Lewis Morris, written in the 24 metres, 1 767; a carol by David
Jones of Trefriw. In No. 6. Another elegy on Lewis Morris from
the pen of Huw Hughes (Bardd Coch), and a carol by John Edwards
clerk of Manafon. In No. 7. The Bard's Confession, by William
Cynwal, 1580, and various poems by Dafydd Evan, Huw Hughes,
and Rice Jones. No. 8 contains poems by Ieuan Brydydd Hir (the
elder), Huw Hughes, John Rhys, loan Siencin, etc., and an account of
the £^steddfod at Llanidloes. No. 9. An ode in praise of Richard ab
Sion (Bhisiart Sion Greulon), by Sion Tudor, 1580, with English ex-
planatory notes by Mr. Howel. It was this poem that suggested to
the Dean of St. Asaph the idea which he worked out in his Legend
of Captain Jozies, In No. 10. An elegy on the death of William
Morris, by Evan Evans, 1764; carol by David Jones of Trefriw.

100 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

(embracing the most important in the principaUty) where
the work might be obtained. " Printed and sold by
J. Eddowes near the market-house, Shrewsbury, price

The instruments necessary for carrying on the study
of astronomy were very costly, and in those days difficult
to be procured in the centre of the principality. This
difficulty Mr. Howel overcame to a considerable extent
by turning his mechanical ingenuity (which was of no
mean order) to the best accoimt m constructing the
more simple of the instruments which he needed in
taking his observations. Some of these were for several
years preserved at the Green, Llanidloes. In 1772 he
succeeded in establishing annual local Eisteddfods, the
first being held at the Red Lion Inn, Llanidloes. He
died iQ 1775, and lies buried under the branches of the
yew-tree at the entrance of the Llanidloes churchyard.
An englyn (stanza) of his composition, which appeared
in the last of his almanacks, has been engraved upon
his tombstone.

Owens of Cefn-yr-hafodau. In a parochial accotmt
of Llangurig it would not be just to the distinguished
members of this family to pass them over without a
fuller notice (however brief and imperfect) than that
which is conveyed in the pedigree of the family, given

Previously. To the last, the representatives of the elder
ranch of the family asserted their connexion with the
parish by styling themselves '* of Glyngynwydd."

I. David Owen, who died in 1777, by his wife,
Frances, was the father of a remarkable family of four
sons. The eldest,

Owen Oiven, who was born in the year 1723, in 1745
married Anne Davies, daughter, and eventually heiress,
of Charles Davies, Esq., of Llivior, in the parish of
Berriew (Aber-rhiw). Mrs. Owen's mother was Sarah
Evans, daughter and heir of Edward Evans, Esq., the
last male representative of the family of Evans of
Rhyd-y-Carw, in the parish of Trefeglwys, who were
descended from Llewelyn Aurdorchog. By his mairiage

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 101

Mr. Owen acquired the estates of Rhyd-y-carw, Glaii-
rhiw, and Ty n-y-coed. He removed to the last about
the year 1760. In the year 1766 he served the oflSce
of high sheriff of Montgomeryshire, and died in 1789,
leaving a family of three sons and two daughters.

2. Richard Owen, the second son, upon his marriage
in 1 757 to Elizabeth, the yoimgest daughter of Maurice
Stephen, Esq., of Neuadd-Llwyd, in the parish of
Llandinam, and grand-daughter of Athelustan Hughes,
Esq., took up his residence at Upper Glandulas, which
was settled upon him by his father, and became the
founder of the family settled there for the last himdred
years. Glandulas was formerly part of the Clochfaen
estate, but early in the last century was in possession
of the Rev. Richard Owen of Iford, who had sold it
in or before 1740 to his cousin, David Owen, for in
that year the latter gentleman received a grant of a
pew in Llanidloes Church from the Bishop of Bangor,
as owner of Glandulas. Richard Owen left a numerous
family, whose names appear in the pedigree. The
present representative of the family is J. B. Owen, of
Upper Glandulas.

3. Edward Owen, M.A. The following notice of this
gentleman is taken from Mr. Marsh's sketch of the
History of Warrington in the Eighteenth Century:
" In connexion with the literary history of Warrington,
it is impossible to omit the name of the Rev. Edward
Owen, who became master of the school (Botchers
Free Grammar School) in 1757, and subsequently
rector of the parish, each of which offices he retained
till his death in the year 1807. His principal claim to
a niche in our temple is as the translator into English
verse of the Satires of Juvenal and Persius. The work
has had a fair share of reputation, and was published in
two vols., 12mo., 1785. This, and a Latin Grammar, pub-
lished in 1770, and the sermon I shall notice presently,
and a controversial tract, which I alluded to in my
notice of Samuel Fothergill, are the only productions

102 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGUEIG.

of Mr. Owen's pen with the existence of which I am
now ax5quaintea. On the personal character of Mr. Owen I need not dwell. As a schoolmaster, he secured
the respect of his pupils, who in after life were accus-
tomed to speak with almost enthusiasm of his classical
taste, and the delight with which he regarded any in-
dication of a similar taste having been communicated
to his scholars. As an author I need only quote the
character given to him by so competent a judge as Mr. Wakefield, who says that "for propriety, perspicuity and
elegance of expression, Mr. Owen had not many equals
at a time when good writing had become so general."
As a townsman he was not regardless of the literary
interests of the community among which he was placed,
and in promoting objects of this nature he was forget-
ful of those religious and political prejudices which too
often obstruct the progress of useful institutions. He
was the president of the Warrington Library, in the
management of which he was associated with so many
of the eminent men whom we have already had occa-
sion to mention. Indeed, he seems to have Uved on
terms of agreeable intercourse with the circle to which
I allude, and is noticed with much respect by Mr. Gilbert Wakefield, who speaks of him as his "respected
friend Mr. Owen, a man of most elegant learning, un-
speakable suavity, and peculiar benevolence of heart."
He spent a large srun of money in improving the
school house and premises, and by his will, dated the
8th February, 1806, he left £600 for the use of the
organist of Warrington parish church. He died in the
year 1807, and was buried in Warrington church,
where a white diamond shaped marble dab formerly
marked his grave. This unfortunately was destroyed
during one of the many alterations which the church
has undergone since the time of his interment. For-
timately the inscription had been previously copied,
and through the kindness of Mr. Beaumont, of War-
rington, a copy is here given.

A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 103

Qais

Hie sepaltus est

Fortasse

Cito obliviseentur superstites

Flocci facient posteri;

Qaantam yero omnibus

Quibuscunqae poterat

Studuerat vivns inservire

Jndicet Christus.

Interea (postquam hujus eeclesiaa ann' XL Rector

ct L scholad magister commoratus fuerat)

lit sua placide quiescant ossa^

Locum quo obtecta jacent.

Hoc marmore parvnlo designari

Voluit, moriens

Anno aetatis suaa lxxix
Annoque Christi mdcccvii.

Edwakdus Owen, A.M.,

Cambro.

Britannus.^

4. William Owen. He entered the Royal Navy when very young,
and in the year 1760, when he was a midshipman, greatly
distinguished himself at the taking of Pondicherry from the French,
losing his right

(1) (Translation hy Mr. Beamont.)

Who
Here lies buried
mayhap
the survivors will soon forget
and posterity count at nought.
But how, to the extent of his utmost power,
he had in life tried to serve all,
let Christ be the Judge.
Meanwhile (after he had been rector of this church XL years,
and master of the school L years),
that his bones might rest in peace,
he wished this place where they lie
to be covered with this marble.
Dying
in the LXXIXth year of his age,
and in the year of Christ, MDCCCVII.
EDWARD OWEN, A.M.,
A Cambro-
Briton.

■ 104 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

arm in the action. He was a lieutenant in 1769, and was shortly
afterwards promoted to the command of H.M.S. Cormorant, in
which he again distinguished himself. Captain Owen was bringing
home dispatches when he lost his life by an accident at Madras in
1778. He was the father of two distinguished sons, Admiral W. F.
Owen, and

Sir Edward William Campbell Richard Owen, G.C.B., G.C.H. The
latter gentleman died October 8th, 1849, at his residence,
Windlesham House, Surrey, at the advanced age of 78. We are
indebted to the Gentleman’s Magazine for the following summary
of the principal incidents in the life of this gallant sailor. He
entered the Royal Navy August 11, 1775, became a lieutenant
November 6th, 1793, and post captain November 30th, 1798. After
the peace of Amiens he was stationed, with several sloops and
smaller vessels under his orders, on the coast of France, and by his
activity and zeal kept the enemy in a constant state of alarm, at one
time driving their ships on shore, and at another bombarding the
towns of Dieppe and St. Valery. Subsequently, in 1806,
Commodore Owen (having then hoisted a broad pendant)
superintended a very successful attack on Boulogne, and in 1809
accompanied the expedition to Walcheren, where he gained warm
commendation for the ability and energy he displayed in the
arduous duties imposed upon him. In 1815 he was honoured with
the insignia of a Knight Commander of the Bath; in 1821
appointed a colonel of Marines; and in 1825 advanced to flag rank.
From 1828 to 1832 he held the chief command on the East India
station, and from 1841 to 1845 that in the Mediterranean. He was
made a Grand Cross of the Hanoverian Guelphic Order in 1832,
and of the Bath in 1845. Sir Edward was member of Parliament for
Sandwich from 1826 to 1829; became Surveyor-General of
Ordnance in 1827; was a member of the Council of H.R.H. the
Duke of Clarence when Lord High Admiral, and held office again
in 1834-5, as Clerk of the

■ 105 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Ordinance. He married in 1829 Selina, daughter of the late Captain
J. B. Hay, R.N.

Vice-Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen, born in 1773 at
Manchester, was the younger brother of Sir Edward Owen, and
was educated with him at the celebrated Hanway School, Chelsea.
The following notice of him is taken from the nineteenth volume
of the Monthly Articles of the Royal Astronomical Society. After
attaining the first rank at that seminary, he entered the Royal Navy
in the summer of 1788, on board the Culloden, of 74 guns,
commanded by his relation. Sir Thomas Rich. By this officer he
was from time to time placed in several ships, of different rates, for
the purpose of acquiring knowledge in his profession; but he
rejoined the Culloden so as to be present at the great battle fought
on the 1st June, 1794. Shortly after that glorious conflict Mr. Owen
sailed in the Ruby, 64, for the Cape of Good Hope, where he
witnessed the capture of a Dutch squadron of three sail of the line
and six frigates and sloops in Saldana Bay, in August 1796.
Returning to England after this exploit he joined the London, 98,
bearing the flag of Admiral Colpays, with whom he quitted that
ship during the alarming mutiny at Spithead in May, 1797; for his
firm conduct on that trying occasion he was promoted in the
following month to the rank of lieutenant, and at the same time
placed in command of the Flamer gunbrig. In this and other
vessels he experienced much active and harassing channel service
till the close of the first French revolutionary war. At the
commencement of hostilities Owen was among the foremost to
tender his services, in consequence of which, in July, 1803, he was
appointed to command the Sea Flower, a brig of 14 guns, and very
shortly afterwards sailed for the East Indies, on which station he
was employed upon various missions by the Commander-in-chief.
In 1806 he captured Le Charle, a mischievous French ketch, and
explored several of the channels between the eastern islands, to the
great improvement of the charts. Towards

■ 106 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the close of that year he piloted Sir Edward Pellew's squadron
through an intricate navigation into Batavia Roads. Here his
bravery and skill were conspicuous in the command of a division
of armed boats at a successful attack on a Dutch frigate, seven
men-of-war brigs and about twenty armed vessels, for which he
obtained a very honourable mention in the Gazette. In the
following year he contributed to the capture and destruction of the
dockyard and stores of Griessik in Java, together with all the men-
of-war remaining to Holland in India, consisting of the Revolution,
Pluto, and Kortenaar, of 70 guns each, with the Rustoff frigate,
and a flotilla of gunboats. In 1808 Lieutenant Owen had the
misfortune of being forced to surrender the useful little Sea Flower
to a couple of French frigates in the Bay of Bengal. The brig was
soon retaken, and commissioned by Lieutenant George Stewart;
but Owen was carried prisoner to the Isle of France, where he was
detained till June, 1810, when he was exchanged. While preparing
to depart, he playfully told the French Governor that perhaps they
might soon meet again; at which General de Caen laughed —
albeit not often in that mood — and hoped that he would be
brought to Port Louis in a vessel more worthy of capture than his
last was. The badinage proved to be rather predictive of coming
events.

Meanwhile Owen had been made a commander, by a commission
dated in May, 1809, and on his return to India was occupied in
assisting the authorities at Madras with his opinions, and in
superintending the transports for the expedition against the Isle of
France, which fell in December, 1810. Our officers next
appointment was to the Barracouta, an eighteen-gun ship-of-war,
which he joined in time for aiding at the blockade of Batavia,
previous to the invasion of Java. On the arrival of the forces under
General Sir Samuel Auchmuty and Commodore Broughton, he
assisted in the debarkation of the troops at Chillingching, and
continued attached to the army until after the surrender

■ 107 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

of Batavia, in August, 1811. He had been advanced to post-rank in
May of the same year, and after acting in command of the
Piedmontaise a short time, he was appointed a captain of the
Cornelia, of thirty-two guns. In this frigate he sailed from Batavia
Roads in March, 1812, with a small squadron, consisting of the
Phoenix, Bucephalus, and other vessels under his orders, to take
possession of the commissariat depot at the mouth of the
Palembang river, at the eastern end of Sumatra. Having achieved
this object he returned to England, in charge of a valuable convoy
from China, in June, 1813.

After paying unceasing attention to the hydrography of the East
during his cruises, Captain Owen had rendered very material
assistance to his friend, the late Captain Horsburgh, in the
compilation of his well-known Oriental Navigator; and he
moreover employed his half-pay leisure in correcting charts, and in
making a translation of Franzini's Sailing Directions from the
Portuguese. At length, in March 1815, he was appointed to the
surveying service on the Lakes of Canada, where he opened the
line of operations which has since been so ably completed by his
élève, the present Rear-Admiral Bayfield. In August, 1821, he was
appointed to the Leven, twenty-four, in which corvette, with the
Barracouta, he was for upwards of four years employed in an
examination of the west and east coasts of Africa - an arduous duty
carried on in the face of malignant fever and deadly casualties. In
the Ashantee war he was able to render an effective co-operation to
General Turner, as was acknowledged by the latter in the London
Gazette.

On his return from this mission. Captain Owen's representations
were so strong that the Island of Ferdinando Po, in the Bight of
Benin, would not only prove more healthy than Sierra Leone, but
would also afford greater facilities for the suppression of the slave
trade, that he was commissioned in February 1827 to the Eden, of
twenty-six guns, for the purpose of forming a settlement there and
to complete his surveys. On this

■ 108 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

duty he was occupied till the close of 1831, when he retired to half-
pay, but not to idleness, for his charts, remark books, and attention
to improving the means of maritime surveying, fully occupied his
time. In this society he worked on our council; and he presented us
with two specimens of his professional ingenuity in a double
reflecting circle, and quadruple reflecting sextant.

The island of Campo Bello, in Passamaquoddy Bay, New
Brunswick, belongs to the Owen family, and had descended to the
subject of our notice and his brother: and as William evinced a
desire to settle there. Sir Edward surrendered his portion to him.
Here he had full occupation for a time in getting it in order, and in
establishing his family, consisting of a wife and two daughters.
Soon after his arrival he was elected member for that locality in the
House of Assembly at Fredericton, where he brought to light
various abuses, and involved himself in the cares of a staunch
reformer. As he was still zealous in the cause of hydrography. Sir
Francis Beaufort procured an appointment for him in a fine steam-
vessel, the Columbia, of 100-horse power, to survey the Bay of
Fundy, and the coast of Nova Scotia. Being superseded on his
promotion to flag rank in December 1847, he continued the rest of
his life on half-pay.

In conduct and bearing our excellent admiral was at once firm and
kind, shrewdly sensible and unostentatious, with a manner
bordering on the eccentric; on service he was authoritative without
being at all tyrannical, a man of steady resources and imremitting
zeal. In speech he was fluent and blunt. When a ministerial peer
made him a proposal which he considered as not quite proper, he
replied: "My lord, I may be poor, but still I am proud." On the
Admiralty forwarding him a complaint which they had received
from the Marquis Palmella, relative to some differences at
Mozambique, he closed his explanations with, he "trusted that the
word of a captain in the British navy was as good as

■ 109 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

that of a Portuguese marquis." He built a church at Campo Bello,
which he endowed, and after considerable trouble prevailed on the
provincial bishop to appoint a clergyman of the Church of England
to it. This gentleman regularly officiated until one Sunday the
admiral gave him notice that he wished to occupy the pulpit
himself that day! So singular and abrupt a hint led to an altercation,
and as Owen declared that he would take possession, if necessary,
by force, the clergyman resigned the living, and the Admiral for a
time regularly performed the clerical duties — the congregation
attending even more regularly than before.

Vice-Admiral Owen, whose faculties had been declining for some
time, died at St. John's, New Brunswick, on the 3rd of November,
1857, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He had been very
long a Fellow of the Society, which he regularly attended while in
town.

The three sons of Owen Owen, the high sheriff of 1766, were

1. Sir Arthur Davies Owen, knight, of Glyngynwydd (in the parish
of Llangurig) and Glansevern. Was a lawyer by profession, one of
the deputy-lieutenants for the county, an active magistrate, and for
many years chairman of the Quarter Sessions. In 1814 he was
appointed high sheriff of the county, and, from the formation of the
troop to the time of his death in 1816, was second in command of
the Montgomeryshire Yeo-manry Cavalry. He was buried in
Berriew Church.

2. David Owen, M.A. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, and
was senior wrangler of that university in the year 1777. He became
feflow of his college, and subsequently was ordained priest. He
died unmarried in 1829, at Campo Bello, in New Brunswick, and,
in accordance with his own request, his remains were conveyed
across the Atlantic, and deposited in the family vault in the church
of Berriew.

3. William Owen, K.C., was born in the year 1758, educated at the
Free Grammar School at Warrington under his uncle, and thence
proceeded to Cambridge.

■ 110 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

In the year 1782 he took h

is degree of B.A. at Trinity College, and
was fifth wrangler. Among the members of his own college who
graduated at the same time were Professors Porson and Hailstone,
Drs. Raine and Wingfield. Mr. Owen and these four gentlemen
were afterwards chosen fellows of Trinity College. He
subsequently became a member of Lincoln's Inn, and eventually a
bencher of that society. After attending the Oxford and Cheshire
circuits for several years, he confined his practice chiefly to the
Courts of Chancery and Exchequer. He was a Commissioner of
Bankrupts until he was advanced to the rank of King's Counsel.
About the year 1821 he quitted his profession, and retired into the
country, where he acted as magistrate and deputy-lieutenant, taking
an active part in all the public business of the county, and generally
presiding as chairman of the Quarter Sessions. Mr. Owen was
instrumental in abolishing the system of Welsh judicature, and
took a leading part in the parliamentary reform agitation previous
to the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832, the county of
Montgomery being the first to petition in support of it. In 1823 he
married Anne Warburton, only child of Captain Sloughter, and
relict of the Rev. Thomas Coupland, of the Priory, Chester, and
died without issue 10th of November, 1837, aged 79. He was
buried in Berriw Church, where a hnandsome marble monument
was erected in his memory by his widow, who still survives.

CHAP[TER]. VIII. — FOLK LORE.

As many of the old customs, superstitious beliefs, legendary lore,
etc., which fall imder the title placed at the head of this chapter are
common to most of the Arwystli parishes, a fuller notice of them is
reserved for the parochial account of Llanidloes. Llangurig has,
however,

■ 111 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

from time immemorial been locally famed for its conjurors" (gwyr-
hysbys), its manner of keeping the wakes, and for retaining the old
custom of Arian-y-rhaw and therefore deserves a passing notice
here.

The parish, from its very situation, in the centre of the mountain
fastnesses of the principality, far distant from the great centres of
civilisation and progress, with a sparse scattered agricultural
population, few of whom, until of late years, enjoyed any
advantages of a good education, or intercourse with the outer
world, seems to have been admirably adapted by its physical and
social Lsolation for keeping alive the smouldering fire of the old
superstitions which in times past prevailed in every valley of
Wales. Sufficient vestiges of this widespread and firmly-rooted
species of mythology still exist to enable the curious to trace its
characteristic features, and to form a conception of the influence it
obtained over the minds of the majority, and the important part it
played in almost every action of their daily lives. It recognised the
existence of a number of noxious spirits, who were the
supernatural authors of the greater part of the "ills which human
flesh is heir to," whose earthly devotees and agents were pre-
eminently the witches. Some of these were supposed to have sold
themselves body and soul, like Sion-y-Cent (the Welsh Faust), to
the devil, to obtain his aid the more effectually to carry out their
purposes. There were, however, various grades of guilt and power
of working mischief among them. To counterbalance this principle
of evil, and, as it were, to make their mythological creed dually
perfect, the existence of beneficent spirits, who had the well being
of humanity at heart, was acknowledged. The fairies, or, as they
are called among the Welsh hills, Tylwydd Teg (fair family), were
generally classed among the good spirits; but this principle in
human form manifested itself in those very important personages
whose calling was hardly dignified enough to entitle them to be
styled astrologers, but who were well known as Conjurors. Low
and sordid as their motives

■ 112 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

were, their special province was to do battle with the spirit of evil
in its most common form — that of witchcraft — or by granting
spells, charms, and foretelling the future, to avert the ill which
would otherwise have befallen those who placed implicit reliance
upon them. Some of the lower class of these "cunning-men" were,
it is true, believed to have been the familiars of the spirits of
darkness, but the better sort were known to be men who, in
addition to a "gift" for their special calling, qualified themselves by
a study more or less thorough of the works of Michael Scott, Lily,
and other expounders of the mysterious craft, and professed to be
able to hold the devil himself in subjection. Add a profound belief
in ghosts, corpse-candles, deryn-y-corph (the corpse bird), jack o'
the lanterns, etc., and some notion may be formed of the secular
creed prevalent in the parish in the “good old days" which are past.

The key-stone of the whole undoubtedly was the belief in
witchcraft, which held its ground till within a late period, and
cannot even yet be said to be wholly eradicated. Formerly its
existence was regarded as a necessary deduction of the truthfulness
of Holy Writ.

"Had his Majesty King George II read the History of Witchcraft,
and known as much as we do in some parts of Wales, he would not
have called upon his Parliament to determine that there are no such
things as witches, and his Parliament would hardly have
complimented him therein. If they say there never was (sic) such
things as witches in the world, the Scripture is against them, both
the Old and the New Testament, for there were witches in the days
of Saul and in the days of Paul.” (1)

This is the quaint language of a nonconformist minister of the last
century, and it may fairly be taken as the typical stock argument
used upon all occasions by the believers in witchcraft when a
doubt was expressed as to the power of witches. The following
extract from the same author of "ghostly memory" illustrates
another phase of superstition prevalent in the parish in the last
century:

(1) Apparitions, etc, in Wales, by the Rev. Edmund Jones, p. 25.

■ 113 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

“Edward Lloyd, in the parish of Llangurig, being very ill, those
that were with him heard the voice of some person very near them;
they looked aboat the house, but could see no person; the voice
seemed to be in the room where they were. Soon after they heard
these words, by some thing {sic) unseen, ‘Y mae nenbren y ty yn
craccio* {'the uppermost beam of the house cracketh^); soon after,
'Fe dorr yn y man' ('there it breaks'); he died that moment, which
much affected the company.” (1)

To the same industrious writer in this peculiar branch of literature
we are indebted for a short notice of the first recorded conjuror
who resided in the vicinity. One Sir David Llwyd, who lived not
far from Yspytty Ystwith, in the adjoining Cardiganshire parish,
appears to have been a "curate likely of that church, and a
physician, but being known to deal in the magic art, he was turned
out of the curacy, and obliged to live by practising physic. It is
thought that he learnt the magic art privately in Oxford in the
profane time of Charles the Second, when many vices greatly
prevailed." "Sir” David was in the habit of regularly visiting the
neighbouring market towns of Llanidloes and Rhayader, passing
through Llangurig on his way to and from the former. Our author
relates several instances of his extraordinary skill. On one occasion
his Satanic majesty was in the habit of visiting a drunken tailor,
wishing to have a suit of clothes made. The terrified tailor appealed
to Sir David, who soon sent the unwelcome visitor about his
business.

“Another time, being at Llanidloes town, in Montgomeryshire,
twelve miles from home, and as he was going home very late in the
evening, seeing a boy there of his neighbourhood, offered him to
ride behind him if he was for going home, which the boy accepted,
and they came home in about two hours. The boy had lost one of
his garters in the journey, but, seeing something hang on an ash
tree near the church, climbed up to see what it was, and, to his
great surprise, he found it was his garter which he had lost; which
shows they rode home in the air.” (2)

(1) Apparitions, etc, in Wales, p. 56. (2) Ibid., pp. 66-7,

■ 114 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Unfortunately for the history of Welsh folk lore, the mantle of old
Jones does not appear to have fallen upon anyone. To judge from
the tales related by the old people of the parish, there is every
reason to believe that the line of conjurors from Sir David’s time to
the present has been unbroken. One of the best known of his class
in the latter part of the last century, and in the early part of the
present, was Edward Savage, who was born in the year 1759. He
resided at Felin Fawr, and subsequently at Troed-y-lon. During his
long life he was consulted "far and wide" upon the mysteries of the
magic art. He was a small farmer, a herb doctor, and gun-smith,
but derived his chief source of income from his more superstitious
fellow-mortals, who made pilgrimages to Llangurig from the
neighbouring counties, that they might have the benefit of the great
man's advice.

The following incident, related by a highly respectable and
trustworthy person as a "remarkable coincidence which I cannot
explain," will show the nature of the old conjuror's method of
procedure, and the means by which he earned his money and his
fame. The father of the narrator had lost one valuable pig from
disease, and a second was purchased in his place, which was
suddenly taken ill, and for days would eat nothing. Some of the
credulous neighbours at once suggested that human agency had
something to do with the pig's illness, in fact, that it was "witched."
The young man resolved to secretly visit "Old Savage," and elicit
his opinion, with no great faith in the result. Carrying his
resolution into effect, he arrived at the conjuror’s house and stated
his errand to the wise man, who at once consulted his books, wrote
out a charm, and gave him some herbs to mingle with the pig’s
food. He also gave him particular directions regarding the charm,
and described its immediate effect upon the patient, and further
stated that the cause of his sufferings resided between the young
man's home and the north, and that she should not rest during the
night if his advice was carefully

■ 115 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

attended to. Savage's directions were duly carried out, the paper
upon whicn the charm was written was rubbed over the pig from
head to tail the prescribed number of times, and then placed for his
further protection in a crack in the wall of his cot. Some of his
bristles were then taken, placed between two flat irons, and put on
the top of the fire, where they remained all night. On the following
morning, to the utter astonishment of the operator, a neighbour
who lived only a few doors to the north came into the house as the
family were at breakfast, and complained that she had not rested
during the night, having suffered acutely from tooth-ache. The
spell was broken, the pig recovered, and knew no more suffering
till placed in the hands of the butcher.

The old man, like other great men, was no hero among his
immediate neighbours. He prided himself upon his facility for
detecting thefts and tracing stolen goods. A humorous story is
related of the means adopted by a number of young men for
destroying the old man s prestige in this respect. Watehing their
opportunity, they entered his house one Sunday morning wnen no
one was within, took down a dried ham that was hanging up, hid it
very carefully, and then spread a report that it had been stolen. Of
course the news created a sensation, and upon his return Savage at
once missed the bacon, and shortly afterwards heard of the visit
which had been paid to his house during his absence. He vowed to
punish the thieves with the most terrible visitations his art could
inflict upon them; horns should grow upon their heads, they should
be smitten with blindness in one of their eyes, etc., if they did not
immediately restore the pilfered bacon. His threats, however, were
uttered in vain, his vaunted books were powerless, the thieves met
him with taunts — "Savage, where’s your ham?" "Who stole your
bacon. Savage?" The conjuror had met with his equals in cunning,
for they completely baffled his art for days. His wife was more
successful, for in changing the straw beneath the paliasse of their
bed she found the missing ham, and in a plaintive

■ 116 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGUHIG.

voice informed her husband of the discovery. The old man, who
was consulting his books at the time, cried out exultingly, "Well
done the old books, they never failed me yet!” After serving his
generation in his own peculiar manner, he died in the year 1849,
having attained the patriarchal age of ninety years; his wife, who
lived to be eighty-five, survived him one year. Both lie buried in
Llangurig churchyard, where a head-stone marks their graves.

One R--- J--- was a contemporary of old Savage.

He resided nearer Llanidloes, was a freeholder, and considered a
well read, enlightened man. Yet he could not resist the temptation
of making a gain out of the credulity of his more superstitious
brethere. He also pretended to be a doctor, and professed to be
particuarly skilful in counteracting the influence of witches, in
laying the evil spirits who visited the earth in the form of ghosts,
and in giving spells or charms for cocks. Before the brutal sport of
cock-fighting was put down by the legislature some twenty years
ago, it was often customary for the owners of game-cocks to pay a
sum of money to a conjuror to obtain a spell, which was written
upon a small strip of paper, to be securely fastened round the bird’s
leg with the view of rendering him invincible. One of these spells,
which was preserved for a long time, was found to be taken from
Ephesians vi, 16. J--- had, for a man of his position and education,
a valuable library.

Another conjuror of extended fame was one William Pryse, of
Pen-cin-coed, whose principal visitors were residents in Shropshire,
Herefordshire, and Radnorshire, who must have had great faith in
the man s abilities before they undertook such distant pilgrimages,
for this was long before railways were introduced into Mid-Wales.
Pryse’s reputation locally was not very high, for some one had
stolen his watch, and he was never able to discover the thief, nor
regain possession of the lost property.

The mantle of old Savage, with a double portion of

■ 117 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the old man's skill, shrewdness, and intelligence, has fallen upon
his grandson, who resides at the family residence, Troed-y-lon, and
enjoys a comfortable income from his various callings of herb-
doctor, gunsmith, and conjuror. He is no niggard in his manner of
living, being what is generally styled a "free jolly fellow," and
strongly addicted to the sports of coursing and shooting. Among
his neighbours he is known as one who is ever ready to assist in
doctoring patients, whether human or farm stock, and many are the
cures with which he is justly credited, for he possesses very
considerable knowledge of herbs and their medicinal properties.
The higher pretensions of his art are reserved for more distant
admirers, who call upon him regularly at appointed places of
meeting at Llanidloes, Newtown, and Welshpool. One of the most
ordinary manifestations of witchcraft is the inability of the
"churner" to convert the cream into butter, and is the frequent
cause of a visit to the wise man. Respectable farmers from a great
distance either go or send messengers to Llangurig in order to have
the spell broken. Another subject which leads to frequent
consultations is the illness of farm stock, in which case the
conjuror’s knowledge does him good service. One example out of
many that could be given will suffice to show the general modus
operandi in these cases. The following anecdote was related to the
writer by a thoroughly original character, who had imbibed the
belief in witchcraft with his mother’s milk, and who brought it
forward with the intention of making a convert. A well-to-do and
respectable farmer in an adjoining parish, who was a deacon of his
chapel, was desirous that the Llangurig conjuror should be
consulted, as his calves were very unwell. But the farmer was
anxious not to appear in the matter, so he asked a second person to
employ the individual who related the facts, who readily imdertook
the necessary journey to visit the wise man. Arrived at his house,
his errand told, the conjuror at once retired to his sanctum to
consult his books, while someone

■ 118 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIGT

remained in the kitchen to watch the clock, and give him the
correct time when he required it. The ceremony gone through, the
charm and simples were handed to the messenger, and the
necessary directions given as to the use of the same. But they did
no good. One of the calves died, and on the following week the
same man was again sent to Llangurig, in the hope that the second
journey would prove more beneficial to the surviving calves. When
informed of the death of the calf the conjuror said that the failure
was to be attributed to a mistake in giving him the correct time on
the occasion of the first consultation. Once more the inner room
was entered, and the same ceremony repeated, more herbs and
another charm was handed to the messenger, and very careful
directions as to their use were given. Arrived at the cow-house, the
herbs were administered, and each calf was duly rubbed with the
charm (1) from head to tail nine times, and the name of the Trinity
invoked. This done the charm was placed in a hole in some of the
timber-work of the ceiling of the "bay" to avert future misfortune.
The calves, of course, recovered.

At a considerable distance in the profession — as fortune-teller —
came one of the weaker sex, an old lady whose proper name was
Mary Evans, but who from the habit of telling fortunes and making
forecasts for the small charge of one penny, was familiarly known
as Pal-y-geiniog (Penny Mary). Her mode of looking into futurity
was very simple. It consisted in pouring tea-grounds into a cup,
which were turned round rapidly and then allowed to settle in the
bottom of the cup.

(1) My informant could not say what was written upon the paper
which constituted the charm, but Mr. Baring Gould gives the
following one which was used upon a similar occasion.

"A charm for cattle — Our Lord Jesus Christ went over the land,
With His staff in His hand, The Holy Ghost in His mouth. In the
name, etc. And the sign of the cross is made nine times over the
cattle."

■ 119 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

From the disposition of the tea-leaves the old dame used to read
her prognostications. She was also frequently consulted by persons
who were about making trading ventures, purchases, or upon their
undertaking long journeys. She resided in a small cottage on Rhos-
y-wrach (Hag's Moor), and often upon a fine Sunday afternoon in
the summer numbers of ladies, some of them upon horseback from
a considerable distance, would visit the old woman to have their
fortunes told. She was in the habit of charging the "upper-class"
visitors half-a-crown. A short time before her death she abandoned
the practice of fortune-telling, and became a member of the church.

The Wakes (Gwyl-mab-sant). This holidav originated in the
religious ceremony observed upon the day commemorating the
dedication of the church by Curig Lwyd to his patron saint, St.
Cyrique. This day falls upon June 16th, and the wake generally
began on the Sunday following the saint's day, the anniversary
being regarded by the parishioners as the great feast and holiday of
the year. In the time of the Stuarts there is evidence to show that in
the neighbouring parish of Llanidloes the usual games and sports
were carried on upon Sunday, in which respect Llanguiig most
probably was not behind its neighbour, — a custom which perhaps
tended to obtain for it from the followers of Vavasour Powell the
character of being "noted for untowardness." In the early part of
the present century, Llangurig wakes possessed sufficient
attraction to collect in the village the "choicest spirits" and athletes
of the neighbouring parishes, who took an active part in the various
games that were going on, in the fun and frolic which were the
usual concomitants of the holiday, which, while it lasted, converted
the small village into a fair. Unfortunately, the feasting, drinking,
etc., were oflen prolonged for days in succession, the visitors and
parishioners gradually returning to their homes as their pockets
grew lighter, and the wakes were frequently brought to a close
when the

■ 120 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

participators in the various pastimes had spent all their money in
one of the two inns of the village. Sometimes drunkenness and
party fights disgraced the proceedings. This caused right-minded
persons to exert their influence in putting an end to such scenes.
Their efforts were successful, and latterly the athletic games and
out-door sports so prevalent in the parish in olden times gradually
became neglected, and the wakes itself to be considered among the
things of the past.

Arian-y-rhaw (Shovel-money). At all funerals which take place at
Llangurig, when the coffin has been lowered into the grave, the
parish clerk holds a shovel over the open grave, upon which he
receives the contributions from the relatives and friends of the
deceased. This custom is a rellc of the times when the Roman
Catholic religion prevailed in the principality, and it was
customary to pay money to the priest for offering masses for the
souls of the dead. The money placed upon the shovel is called
Arian-y-rhaw, and is the clerk's fee. As it is regarded as a mark of
respect and esteem towards the deceased to contribute, and as
nothing but silver (1) or

(1) In connexion with the custom of contributing only silver or
gold coins, the following incident was related to the writer. An
eccentric character, who was a confirmed lover of his beer, named
Richard James, a glazier at Llanidloes, on one occasion
accompanied a funeral to Llangurig. Arrived at the village and
examining his pockets he found himself the possessor of a solitary
silver sixpence, his mite for Arian-y-rhaw. His five miles walk had
not tended to allay his customary thirst, and the state of his funds
provoked a mental debate. Should he have his beer, or should he
practise self-denial? It was very difficult to carry out the latter
suggestion; his mouth watered at the very thought of his favourite
beverage: yet he was too proud to leave the churchyard without
contributing, and too dignified to enter the inn moneyless. A happy
thought occurred to him which he at once carried out. He entered
the church in the funeral cortège, and when it came to his turn to
place some piece of money upon the extended shovel, he gravely
deposited six copper pennies upon it, for which he had exchanged
his sixpenny-piece. Observing the act, old George Bennett who
then officiated as clerk, quietly addressed him in Welsh.

"I am greatly obliged to you, Richard James, but no copper coins
are received at this offering."

"I am very much obliged to you, my dear George," was the ready
response; "our good friend, Evan Davies" (landlord of the lower
inn) "will gladly receive them." James picked up the money, and
wended his way to Ty Curig (the inn).

The George Bennett referred to above died in the year 1817 at the
age of 69. He was landlord of the Blue Bell, or upper inn, and was
succeeded as clerk by his son, Samuel Bennett, who held the post
for a great number of years. After his death it was filled by Edward
Rees, who was also the village schoolmaster. His successor was
Evan Jones, the present clerk.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3097269 Tafarn y Blue Bell
SN9079

■ 121 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

gold is received, it frequently happens that the clerk collects a large
sum. If in addmg up the money an odd sixpence occurred, it was
formerly deemed an omen that another funeral would take place
shortly.

CHAP[TER]. IX. — MISCELLANEOUS.

1. Nonconformity. — When the parochial clergy were expelled
from their livings, by virtue of the "Act for the better propagation
and preaching of the Gospel in Wales," which was passed February
22nd, 1649, their successors appear to have made some progress in
bringing over the people to their views, for Llangurig was neld up
as an example of their influence (vide supra, chap, iii, §5). But
their authority, as far as can be ascertained, appears to have
terminated at, or very shortly after, the Restoration.

Early in the last century the influence of the great Welsh Methodist
revival penetrated into this remote district; one Richard Tibbot,
who in the year 1743 was appointed to report upon the "state of the
Church" in Montgomeryshire to an association in South Wales,
made the following statement: —

"Society in Llangurig. — The members resident here go to the
Tyddyna and join that society." (1)

The Tyddyn farm house alluded to is in the adjoining parish of
Llanidloes, seven miles distant from the village

(1) Methodistiaeth Cymru, i, 173.

122 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

of Llangurig, and was one of the earliest places in the
neighbourhood which afforded shelter to the persecuted Methodist
preachers of those days. The Rev. Peter Williams visited the
district in 1746, and others of the great revivalists — Daniel
Rowlands, of Llangeitho, and Howel Harris visited Llanidloes
more than once in the following years, and the short distance
between Llangurig and Llanidloes offered no obstacle to people
who were in the habit of walking between forty and fifty miles to
receive the communion at the hands of Daniel Rowlands.

The preachers were generally treated at first with ridicule, scorn,
and persecution. Sometimes their lives were in danger. But they
also occasionally met with gentlemen wno made efforts to get the
people to allow them to preach in peace. An example of this more
humane disposition is quoted in Methodistiaeth Cymru (iv, 357).
As the incident affords a glimpse at the state of society in the
district in those days, a translation of it is here given.

“On one occasion a number of the leading men of the town
(Llanidloes) and the neighbourhood were collected together in one
of the inns at the time that the old Reformers (the Revivalists)
began preaching in the vicinity. These strangers, who were going
about the country agitating and disturbing the peace of their
neighbours became the subject of their discussion, and the
greatest readiness was evinced, not only to treat them with ridicule
by styling them Caradocs (1) and Roundheads, but to punish them
if it could be done safely. There happened to be among them an
elderly gentleman, who was highly respected, of the name of
Jenkyn Lloyd, Esq. (of Clochfaen). This gentleman was a justice of
the peace, and to him nearly the whole town and country resorted
to seek advice upon matters relating to the law. After the other
gentlemen present had delivered themselves of their strong
opinions about the preachers, styling them unruly and hateful
wanderers, Mr. Lloyd rose and addressed them to the following
effect:- ‘Well, gentlemen, you know very well the manner in which
our clergymen discharge their duties — the vicar of Llangurig, so
and so, the vicar at Llanidloes, --- Llandinam, --- Trefeglwys,

(1) The name was given them as followers of Walter Caradoc.

■ 123 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

--- Carno, ---Llanwnog, ---Penstrowed, depicting their irregular style of living and their utter indifference
for the spiritual welfare of their parishioners. 'And what wonder,’
he continued, 'if these strangers, who are anxious to save men's
souls, should come among us and tell us the naked truth about our
behaviour.’ Having heard this address without being able to
gainsay it, they held their peace and let these men alone.”

For a long period the Nonconformists were neither numerous
enough nor in a position to erect suitable edifices in which to
conduct their services, but held them from house to house, chiefly
in some of the more commodious farm-houses in the
neighbourhood of the village, and in other centres of population,
such as Cwm-belan, Glyn-Brochan, etc., where chapels were
subsequently built. Early in the present century each of the great
sects had established themselves in the parish, and began building
chapels in the more populous districts. At present there are nine
dissenting chapels within the limits of the parish.

The Calvinistic Methodists have three, viz., 1, Dernol Chapel, built
about the year 1825;

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/250992 Capel Isaf SN9174

2, Capel Ucha (Upper Chapel); 3, a chapel in the village of
Llangurig, enlarged and re-opened in 1866.

The Wesleyans have three chapels, situated 1, in the village; 2, in
Cwm-belan; 3, on Pen-cin-coed.

The Baptists have one, called Zion, in Cwm-belan, built in 1827,
re-built 1837, and enlarged in 1860.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2435685 SN9481

The Independents have two chapels, one in Glyn-Brochan, the
other in Glyn-Hafren, in the neighbourhood of the Old Hall.

2. Education. — As far as can be ascertained no regular and well-
conducted school appears to have existed in the parish, although
for the last forty years a school has been kept for a considerable
portion of the year at the church, either in the vestry or the gallery.
It was first established by Mr. James, the vicar of the parish, in
1832, and shortly after its opening numbered some sixty scholars,
forty-three of whom were paid for by annual subscription, every
subscriber of ten shillings

■ 124 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

being allowed to send a child for one year, the rest being instructed
at the expense of their parents. (1) This school was conducted for a
number of years by the late Mr. Edward Rees, who also discharged
the duties of parish clerk. He was a well-informed and intelligent
man, and the school while under his care was above the average of
country schools conducted by untrained teachers. Since his death
the school has occasionally been carried on in the winter months
by the letter carriers from Llanidloes.

It is greatly to be regretted that the inhabitants have not long ago
bestirred themselves, and, following the example of the other
Arwystli parishes, established a well conducted day school under
the care of a compe-tent teacher. Perhaps Llangurig, of all the
Arwystli paiishes, suffers most from the evils of absentee
landowners. Taking the Rate-book of 1869 as our guide, we find
the gross estimated rental of the parish given as £5,740; four-
sevenths of this property is in the possession of half a dozen
proprietors, all of whom are absentees. The backwardness of the
parish in educational matters may to a great extent be attributed to
this cause, but it is one that is likely to be remedied by the new
educational bill.

Small private schools have at various periods been established in
different parts of the parish, more especially in the hamlets of
Cwm-belan, Glyn-Brochan, Glyn-Hafren, &c.

The number attending Sunday schools in the parish amounted to
376 in 1831, and the numbers at present attending have been
estimated at from 300 to 350.

3. Roads. — This section was unintentionally omitted from the
first chapter.

The old road formerly connecting the village with the town of
Llanidloes went by Pen-y-croesau, Rhos-y-wrach, Blaen-y-glyn
through Glyn-Brochan, and entered the town over the Short Bridge.
Another old line of roadway connecting Llanidloes with
Aberystwith led over

(1) Lewis's Top[ographical]. Dictionary, art[icle]. Llangurig.

■ 125 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the mountains to the north of the village. Both routes appear to
have fallen into disuse before the close of the last century.

The road connecting the village with Rhayader was constructed in
1830, and placed the village on the great coach route between
London and Aberystwith via Hereford. This route continued to be
used by coaches until the opening of the Cambrian system of
railways.

The late Rev. Walter Davies writing to a friend in the year 1813,
respecting a journey through the village, has the following passage
in his letter: —

“May 26. — Went to Llangurig by six o'clock; proceeded through
the desert of Pumlumon, through which Mr. Johnes had the vanity
to suppose that an iron railroad would cause plenty to smile over
the forlorn waste." (1)

The Manchester and Milford Company have constructed a line of
"iron railroad" between Llanidloes and Llangurig, but it has never
been opened for traffic.

4. Fairs. — Two fairs are held annually in the village, one in the
month of April (first held April 23rd, 1869) and the other in
October. The latter is called "Sheep Fair." From a paragraph m a
local paper it appears that upwards of two thousand sheep were
penned in the fair of 1868.

(1) Gweithiau Gwalter Mechain, iii, 383.

■ 126 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

CHAP[TER]. X. — A TOPOGRAPHICAL GLOSSARY OF
NAMES IN THE PARISH. (1)

ABBREVIATIONS.

f. farm. t. tenement. o. owner. t.p. township.

ABER, defined by Llwyd as " the fall of a lesser water into a
greater."

According to E Llwyd, Arch[aeologia]. Brit[annica]., p.50, Aber-
= “Cymmer, Lat. confiuvium, a place where two or more rivers
meet." So Isaac Taylor in Words and Places, "a confluence of
waters, either of two rivers or of a river with the sea, in which
sense it = also the Gaelic ‘Inver.' From the fact that 'Inver’ (spelt
Ynver) occurs in two poems ascribed to Taliessin, and that ‘Aber’
occurs in places in Ireland, as well as in Wales and parts of
Scotland inhabited by the Picts, as well as by the Britons, Mr.
Skene, {Four Ancient Books of Wales, i, 150-4,) concludes that
both words were at one time common to the three languages, and
that all three were formed from an old word ‘ber', signifying water.
To such a word there appears a resemblance in the Irish 'bir,’ aqua,
noted by E. Lluyd, Arch[aeologia]. Brit[annica]., Til. ii, p. 3." H.
W. LL.

Cymmer = oonflux, confluence. In a cymmer both streams ought to
lose their name. The term is never used of a river falling into the
sea. D.S.E.

ABER-BIDNO, the confluence of the Bidno (with the Wye): a
f[arm]. of 28 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llanifynu, part of the
Clochfaen estate.

ABER-GYNWYDD, the confluence of the Gynwydd (with Afon
Tylwch): the united stream is afterwards known as the Dulas. In a
deed of the year 1757, Aber-Gynwydd is the name by which the
present Pen-pont-bren mill is described. This old deed gives us the
original name of the stream now called Nant Cwm-Belan, and
shows that the farm of Glyn-Gynwydd ought more properly be
called Glan-Gynwydd; the township lying along the banks of the
stream retains its proper appellation, Glyn-Gynwydd.

ABER-TRI-NANT, the confluence of the three ravines or brooks,
name of a small t[enement]. in the t.p. [township] of Llanifynu,
o[wner]. Mr. John Morgan. C.f. Aber-tri-dwfyr in Glamorganshire
and Aber-dau-nant in the parish of Llanidloes.

ABER-UCHA, the upper Aber (so called to distinguish it from
Aber-Bidno), a f[arm]. of 35 ac[res]. in the t.p. [township] of
Llanifynu.

AFON (Avon) the Welsh for a river. It is never used in Welsh as a
proper name, but as a common name prefixed to the designations

(1) The compiler gratefully acknowledges the assistance which he
has received from the following gentlemen:— the Revs. D. S.
Evans and R. H. Jones, H.W. Lloyd, Esq., and J.C. Hughes, Esq.,
all of whom kindly perused the MS. before it was placed in the
printer's hands. Some of their notes, with their initials attached,
have been inserted.

■ 127 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

of the various streams, and is more especially used when the
distinctive proper name is also the appellation of some other object,
as Afon Horè, Afon Tylwch, etc.

ALLT-Y-DERW, slope of the oaks, name of a hill three miles to
the N.W. of the village. Its sides now are destitute of trees, but the
name preserves the memory of the time when its sides were
covered with timber.

BAILI or BEILI. Baili is defined by Dr. Pugh to be a court before a
house, and synonymous with buarth, a fold. This is the general
meaning of the term in South Wales. In Irish the term is equivalent
to an abode, synonymous with the Welsh tre {Words and Places, p.
484). It is the name of a farm of 84 ac[res]. in the t.p. [township] of
Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. C. J. Elwell. There is a cluster of three
f[arm]s. of this name in the adjoining parish of St. Harmon.

BELAN. Various conjectural meanings of this term have been
given. The late Rev. Walter Davis has the following observations
upon it:

"I once thought that the derivation was from Bel-lan (Llan-Bel),
the enclosure of Bel, Belinus, Baal, etc. We have Belan-deg (fair
Belan) in Manafon, Belan-ddu, Belan Wydd, Belan-las, Belan
Argae in the parishes adjoining, but I never witnessed any remains,
stone or earthen, which might favour the idea that they were places
consecrated to any kind of worship. A rounded hill, a frustum of a
cone might have been denominated Belan from its shape; but some
of our Belans lie on flat ground.

“That a heathen deity was once idolized in Britain is proved by the
inscription on the altar found in the country of the Brigantes, which
exhibited in Roman characters, ‘Deo Marti Bela tu Cadra.’ The
last word is evidently Welsh — Bel y Duw Cadr; Bel the Potent
God. The Romans persuaded the colonized Britons that the British
Bel was identified in their Mars, hence Deo Marti of the
inscription. In the British language bela and rhyvela is to wage war.
Belgae, warlike Gauls in Caesar, etc., emigrated to Britain and
Ireland; hence the Fir-bolg of the latter. Their fires on the eve of
the first of May, still called Beal-teine (the fire of Baal), savours of
a Phoenician origin." (1)

The author of Words and Places (2) sees in the word vestiges of an
ancient cultus, showing some original connexion between the
Syrian Baal and the Celtic Bel. Baal, according to Professor
Nilsson, (3) has given his name to many Scandinavian localities, e.
g, the Baltic, the Great and Little Belt, Belteberga, etc.

In Llwyd's Arch[aeologia]. Brit[annica]. tit. i, p. 33, is found the
following: — "A Berry or Barrow [a hillock], Beru; Twyn, bellan,
brynkyn. As the modern ‘ll’ is invariably written ‘lh’ by Llwyd, it
is evident that his ‘bellan’ = the modern ‘belan,' and that it meant a
hillock, mound, tumulus, or barrow. H. W. LL.

(1) Collected Works of Gwallter Mechain, iii, 514.

(2) P. 325 (ed. 1865). See also Arch[aeologia]. Camb[rensis].,
1848, pp. 21, etc.

(3) Quoted in Prehistoric Times, p. 71, 2nd ed.

■ 128 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Mr. Silvan Evans thinks there can be no doubt about the term
being descriptive, and most probably is a diminutive of bâl, a hill,
a peak. Both the Llangurig Belans are situated on hills, and the
ravine at the foot of one of these hills is known as Cwm-belan.

BOD TALOG, see Mytalog.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=247908 Bod-talog
SN8675

BOL-HAUL, rotundity facing the sun, the converse of Cil-haul
(where the sun does not shine), a name given to the southern slope
of Cefn-hir-brisg.

BLAEN, a generic term which enters largely into the composition
of Welsh topographical names. It signifies literally a point, end, or
extremity, and when applied to streams indicates their sources.

BLAEN-BYTHIGION, the source of the Bythigion, the name of a
small f. of 14 ac[res]. in the t.p. [township] of Glyn-Hafren,
o[wner]. John Morgan.

Bythigion, the plural of Bythig, never failing streamlets. R. H. J.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/968317 Blaenbythigion SN8882

BLAEN-Y-CWM, the end of the hollow, or dingle, the name of a
f[arm]. of 42 ac[res]. in the t.p. [township] of Llaniwared, part of
the Clochfaen estate.

BLAEN-Y-GLYN, end of the glen, a mountain f[arm]. of 126
ac[res]., t.p. [township] of Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/294050 Blaen-y-glyn SN9181

BLAEN-TWRCH, source of the Twrch. Twrch is a common name
of Welsh streams.

BLUE-BELL INN, one of the two inns of the village, has a f[arm].
of 11 ac[res]. attached, part of Clochfaen estate in 1771, now the
property of Mrs. Jane Bennett.

BRITH-DIR, variegated land, a name which it probably received
when the furze or heath was in full blossom; a small f[arm]. of 13
ac[res]., t.p. [township] of Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=247904 SN9075

BROCHAN, noisy, foaming, a trib[utary]. of the Dulas (see p. 12).

BRON-FELEN, the yellow knoll, a f[arm]. of 92 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

BRON-HAUL, the sunny knoll, a f[arm]. in the t.p. [township]
Glyn-Brochan.

BRYN, hill.

BRYN-CYLLAU, pronounced cylle, probably derived from cyllen
or cyllan, the diminutive of cyll, the plural of collen, the hazel-tree.
If this derivation be accepted it means the hill of the hazel-tree.
R.H.J.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/250909 Bryncyllau SN9080

Dr. Pugh, s. v. cyll, plural cyllau, gives as the meaning a separation,
what separates, so that it may mean the hill of separation. H.W.LL.
It is the name of a f[arm]. of 39 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llanifynn,
part of the Clochfaen estate. One of its fields is called Gwar-y-
castell.

BRYN-DAITH, the hill of flame, or the blazing hill, probably
derived from the old custom of burning the furze, heath, etc., on
the hill tops. By the laws of Howel Dda this operation was
restricted under a penalty to the month of March. (1) Llywarch
Hên alludes to the custom in his poem to Geraint Feib Erbin,
stanza 14.

(1) Myf. Arch., p 1066 (Gee’s Reprint).

■ 129 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

"Twruf goteith ar diffeith mynit." (1) A noise like that of the
consuming fire on a wild mountain]. (2) "Drwy’r aweddwr, drwy'r
oddaith." (3) [Through the rapid stream, through the blazing heath].

This hill is situated between Nant Iago and Nant-y-Cawrdy.

BRYN-DU, black hill, elevated land on the eastern confines of the
parish, also the names of several holdings on its slopes.

BRYN-DULAS, hill of the Dulas, a small f[arm]. of 17 ac[res]. on
a rising knoll on the right bank of the Dulas, t.p. [township] Cefn-
yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs. Phillips, Abeiystwith.

BRYN-MAWR, large hill, a high hill in the t.p. [township] of
Cefn-yr-hafodau, from the summit of which there is an extensive
and pleasant view.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2844783 Bryn Mawr SN9480

BRYN-Y-GARREG-WEN, hill of the white stone, situated to the
south of Maes-nant.

BWLCH, a generic term signifying a hollow, gap, defile, or pass.
There is a farm of this name in the township of Llanifynu, o[wner].
Mrs. Owen Glansevern.

BWLCH-HAFOD-Y-GOG, the hollow of the cuckoo's summer
abode, a f[arm]. of 74 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Gynwydd,
o[wner]. Mrs. Phillips

BWLCH-Y-GARREG, the pass of the stone, a f[arm]. of 118
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen;
formerly part of the Clochfaen estate.

Mr. J. C. Symons, in a paper (4) on the Permanence of Races,
quotes a letter from a correspondent, which mentions this farm as
the residence of a descendant of the notorious Gwilliaid Cochion
of Mawddwy. "I was fortunate enough to find out some
descendants of the ‘Gwilliaid’ on the maternal side, and those in
my native parish of Llangurig. When these Welsh Caffirs were
sent from Mallwyd, they wandered here and there, and some of the
females were pitied by the farmers and taken into their houses and
taught to work. One of these was married to a person not far from
this place, and their descendants live at Bwlch-y-garreg, Llangurig.
I knew the old man quite well. There certainly was something
peculiar about him; he was seventy when I was a boy of fifteen; he
had dark lank hair, a very ruddy skin, with teeth much projecting,
and a receding brow. I never heard his honesty questioned, but
mentally he was considered much below the average; the children,
also, are not considered quick in anything." Descendants of the
‘Gwilliaid’ are also to be found in Mawddwy to this day.

BWLCH-Y-PRIDD, hollow or pass of the loose earth, a f[arm]. in
t.p. [township] of Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/287326 Bwlch-y-pridd SN8782

BWLCH-Y-SIGLEN-LAS, pass or defile of the green bog or
quagmire, about 5 m. to the w[est]. of Llanidloes.

(1) Skene's Four Ancient Books of Wales, ii, 38.

(2) Ibid., i, 268; see also Owen's Llywarch Hen, p. 9, note a.

(3) Lewis Olyn Cothi's Works, p. 432, line 20.

(4) In the Arch[aeologia]. Camb[rensis]. for 1854, p. 120.

■ 130 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURTCx.

CAE-CRWN, round field, a small f[arm]. of 9 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan.

CAE-MAWR, large field, a f[arm]. of 40 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen of Glansevern.

CAN'COED, a contraction of Cae-yn-y-coed, field in the wood, a
f[arm]. of 35 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr.
Williams. Also the name of a small hamlet on the banks of the
Hafren, 1½ mile w[est]. of Llanidloes, consisting of a factory,
fulling mill and several cottages.

CAN'FEDW (Cae-yn-y-fedw), field in the birch grove, a f[arm]. of
98 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mrs. Marsh.

CARN-BWLCH-Y-CLODDIAU, carn of the defile of the ditches
(noticed p. 20).

CARN-Y-GROES, carn of the cross (p. 21).

CARREG-BWLA, Bwla’s stone (1), a f[arm]. of 18 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

CASTELL, castle, a small t[enement]. with 6 ac[res]. of land
attached, t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan.

CASTELL-GREIDO, Greido or Grido (as it is pronounced) may
be a proper name, but Mr. R. H. Jones thinks that it is
Montgomeryshire corruption of the word gwaredog, if so the name
would mean castle of refuge. Fields belonging to the Old Hall farm
are known by the names of Hafren Grido and Y-Grido. Castell
Greido is a f[arm]. of 42 ac, t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren.

CASTELL-Y-DAIL, leafy castle, a f[arm]. of 32 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

CEFN literally means back, applied to a ridge in topography. Apart
from being a generic term it is also the name given to several farms
in this and the adjoining parishes.

CEFN-BRWYN, the rushy ridge, a f[arm]. of 65 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, lately purchased by Sir W. W. Wynn. A lead
mine has lately been discovered upon this farm; it is called Dôl-
miner.

CEFN-BLWCH, a corruption of CEFN-BWLCH, ridge of the
hollow, name of a hill (see p. 15) and a f[arm]. of 52 ac[res].,
formerly the property of the late t[enement]. E. Marsh, Esq.

CEFN-BEIDIOG, the ivy-ridge, a f[arm]. of 58 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan, part of Clochfaen estate.

CEFN-COWNEN, ridge of the reed grass, a small mountain of 18
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llanifynu.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2980956 Cefncownen SN8781

CEFN-HAFOD-WEN, ridge of the fair summer abodes, the hill
situated to the north of the Beili.

CEFN-HIR-BRISG, ridge of the long copse, the hill situated to the
n[orth]. of the village.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2507773 Cefn Hirbrysg
SN8981

(1) Bwla may be a proper same, but Mr. D. S. Evans points out that
it also is applied in South Wales to a gelt bull, and that "Gwellt-y-
bwla" is a coarse mountain grass.

■ 131 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG. 

CEFN-FODE (CEFN-YR-HAFODAU), ridge of the summer
abodes, the name of one of the townships, and of a f[arm]. of 121
ac[res]., formerly part of the Clochfaen estate, and long the
residence of one of the old Llangurig families, see pp. 80-82.

CERRIG-WAEN-Y-LLAN, stones of the church Moorland, the
name of a large level tract on the summit of Esgair, Clochfaen; for
the tradition connected with it see ii. p. 32.

CILGWRGAN, Gwrgan's retreat or hiding place, the names of two
f[arm]s. in the t.p. [township] of Llaniwared, the lesser has an area
of 20 ac[res].; part of Clochfaen estate; the greater (fawr) 58
ac[res].; o[wner]. Mr. Pryse, Pant-drain.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=250603 Cilgwrgan SN9178

CILGWYN, the white or fair nook or retreat, a f[arm]. of 50
ac[res]., in the t.p. [township] of Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mr.
Williams.

CIN-COED, cin may be a corruption of Cefn, ce'n; in which case
the word would mean the ridge of the wood. It is the name of a hill
in the t.p. [township] of Glyn-Brochan, and also of several small
f[arm]s. and tenements on its slopes.

CLOCH-FAEN. This is the orthography of the word for the last
three centuries, and it means literally a stone bell. As if to confirm
this interpretation of the term, a stone relic called Y cloch-faen (the
stone bell) is still preserved at the present farm which has been
erected on the site of the old mansion. This old stone {see p. 25),
which is here figured in two positions, appears to have been
intended when finished for the upper stone of a quern, though it
now presents no traces of its having been used for the purpose of
grinding corn.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2609245 Clochfaen SN9078

The author of the Eccles[iastical]. Antiq[uities]. of the Cymry

(p. 188) states "That the word Cloch would seem to imply that a hard slate or flat stone was originally used by the Cymry to answer

 the purpose of a bell." (1) Is this name a relic of the times when

such stone bells were used? Maen-clochog, a parish in

Pembrokeshire, according to Fenton (p. 348), obtained its name

from "Maen-clochog, the

(1) "From the authors of those times it however appears that the
signum was not a bell, and clocca was a wooden board having
knockers affixed to it, as still used in the Eastern churches, where
the use of bells was unknown till A.D. 865, when a belfry was first
attached to St. Sophia according to Bona.

In fact clocca is a Celtic name for the instrument with which the
ancient Druids called the Irish to congregate together (O'Conor's
Bibl[iotheca]. Stowensis, App., pp. 31-2). Thus, in process of time,
according to the practice of the early Christians, the name of a
Pagan instrument was transferred to its representative in the
ceremonies of the Christian Church." Arch[aeologia].
Camb[rensis]. for 1848, p. 307.

On the above Mr. Harries Jones remarks "Cloch — clock, Russian
kolokol, is undoubtedly a Teutonic word and not Celtic. The Welsh
verb clochi, to bubble, is formed from cloch-dwfr, a bubble or
water-bell, and therefore proves nothing."

■ 132 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGUKIG.

Welsh for ringing stone, from two large stones that lay near the
road side about a bowshot from the church to the south-west,
possessing that property, now broken and removed."

Another theory as to the origin of the word is that it is derived from
Clochi, to bubble, and fan, a place, the place of bubbling water.
There are numerous springs of excellent water in immediate
proximity to the farm. An old well formerly in the kitchen of the
old mansion still exists, and its water is used by the present
residents.

CNUWCH, a bush, or according to another explanation it is a
corruption of Cefn-ych (ridge of the ox): its pronunciation (as if
written cnuch) favours the latter theory. It is the name of a f[arm].
53 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llaniwared.

COED-CAE, brushwood or wood for fencing, a detached portion
of Lower Glan-Dulas farm, lately reclaimed; formerly a favourite
haunt of the lads of Llanidloes in the nutting season.

COED-COCHION, red wood (the name probably given in the
autumn), a f. of 46 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Gynwydd,
o[wner]. Dr. Davies.

COED-YR-EIRESS may be either the wood of the heiress, or it
may be a corruption of eirias, burning cinders, in which case it
would mean the wood that was cut down to be converted into
charcoal. A small holding of 7 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-hafren,
o[wner]. C. J. Elwell.

COLWYN, a bantling, a whelp, a trib[utary]. of the Severn (see p.
12). Two other Montgomeryshire streams are known by this name,
one flows into the Taranon in Llanwnog parish, the other in the
Virnwy near Ystym-Colwyn.

CRAIG-LAS, blue rock, a f[arm]. of 22 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mrs. Matthews.

CROES-TY, cross house, a f[arm]. of 23 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llaniwared now joined to Tan-yr-allt; part of Clochfaen estate.

CRUG-NANT, heathery ravine, a f[arm]. of 18 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Pryse, Pant-drain.

CWM, Dr. Pugh (Dict. sub voce) defines it to be " a piece of
ground between two hills when the sides come together in a
concave form, whereas the sides of a glyn approach in a convex
form." (1) Another

(1) A glyn has sides or slopes running parallel or nearly so, while a
cwm has more of the resemblance of a milk-pan. When there is no
outlet a lake will be found at its bottom. D.S.E.

A glyn, generally speakings is a long narrow defile, a cwm a more
expansive hollow, but short. R.H.J.

■ 133 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGUKIG.

authority defines it as a hollow between two hills open at one end
only. It is frequently used as the name of a farm, but it is more
commonly employed as a generic term, and it enters largely into
the composition of names throughout the principality. Sometimes
it is used in conjunction with the term glyn, as Cwm Glyn-Brochan
and Cwm Glyn-Hafren, etc., and in some instances we find it
repeated, in the same appellation as in Cwm-byr-gwm, affording
what the author of Words and Places (p. 211) calls the
reduplication of synonyms.

It is the name of a f[arm]. of 76 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Cefn-yr-
hafodau, o[wner]. Hugh Davies.

CWM-BELAN, the hollow of the Belan, the name of a hamlet on
the road side which leads from Llanidloes to Llangurig, two miles
from the former. It is situated at the foot of the hill on the summit
of which is Belan farm, and contains a factory for the manufacture
of flannel, two chapels, two inns, a smithy, and several cottages;
t.p. [township] Glyn-Gynwydd.

CWM-COCH, the red hollow, a small holding of 5 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan.

CWM-DULAS, hollow of the Dulas, a f[arm]. of 102 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cyfn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Rev. Mr. Jacob.

CWM-FRON, a corruption of CWM-YR-ONN (ash hollow),
which is the orthography of the old Herald's visitations (p. 83). A
f[arm]. of 160 ac, t.p. [township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs.
Mears.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=253298 Cwm-fron SN9681

CWM-RICCET, Riccett’s hollow, a f[arm]. of 36 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-hafren, o[wner]. Mrs. Marsh. Two mines, the one
yielding copper, the other lead, have been discovered lately upon
this property.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/675316 Cwmricet SN8586

CWM-PEN-LLYDAN, the hollow with the open end, a mountain
f[arm]. of 37 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner].
Edward Powel.

CWM-YR-HENGRE. Hengre is either a corruption of hendre, the
old habitation, or derived from hen and gre, a flock or herd, most
probably the former. It is the name of a small f[arm]. of 7 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

DEL-FARCH. March seems to signify a deep dingle or glen, and
Delfarch may possibly mean the leafy dingle (D.S.K.), or it may be
a corruption of Dôl-fach, the little mead. The name of two f[arm]s.,
the lower 150 ac[res]., o[wner]. James Hamer; the upper 79 ac[res].
o[wner]. Mr. Williams, both in t.p. [township] of Llaniwared.

DERNOL, oaklands (?), a f[arm]. of 87 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1263036 Dernol SN9174

DEILDREF, the leafy homestead, the name of two f[arm]s. in the
t.p. [township] of Llanifynu, formerly part of the Clochfaen estate.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/954748 Deildref SN9080

DILIW, AFON, the colourless river (see p. 14).

DOL-GORS, mead of the bog, a small t[enement]., t.p. [township]
Cefn-yr-hafodau.

■ 134 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

DRAIN-BYRRION, short thorns, a f[arm]. in the t.p. [township] of
Glyn Hafren, o[wner]. Rev. H. Herbert.

DRIM-MAEN, stony ridge. Drum (Anglicised Drim) is a mutation
of Trum, a ridge, — trum-y-ty, ridge of the house; the name of a
high hill between the Bidno and the Colwyn. Drim is also the name
of another hill above Cefn Brwyn.

DULAS, dark blue, a tributary of the Severn (see p. 12).

ESGAIR, literally a shank, a leg, but applied in topographical
designations to a long ridge, a steep or precipitous slope,
corresponding to the Cumberland Scaw, and the Lancashire Scar.
As a generic term it enters largely into the names of Welsh hills.
Among those of Llangurig may be mentioned Esgair-Clochfaen
(the long ridge of the Clochfaen), Esgair-llys (berry bearing ridge),

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1848957 Esgair Llys SN8682

Esgair-maes-nant (ridge of the field of the ravine), Esgair-rhugog
(the heathery ridge), Esgair-wen (the fair ridge),

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/566958 Esgair Wen SN8874

Esgair-ychion (ychion, probably a corruption of ychain, oxen),

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=251509 Esgair ychion
SN8579

 

Esgair-hir (the long esgair), a f[arm]. of 22 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

FARM, THE, a f[arm]. of 154 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-
Brochan, part of the late t[enement]. E. Marsh's property.

FEDW-DDU, the dark birch grove, a f[arm]. of 40 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o. Mrs. Owen.

FELIN-DRE, the generic term tref (mutated into dre), in this word
and in Pen-tre is often interpreted to mean a town. According to
the laws of Howel Dda, the term tref was a portion of land equivalent to four gavels or holdings, i. e. containing 26Q Welsh
acres; the size of a Welsh acre, according to Aneurin Owen being
4,320 English square yards. The same authority gives vill as
synonymous with tref when used in the sense of a territorial
division {Myf. Arch. 1042, 1040, 1070, Gee's reprint).
Subsequently tref signified an abode or dwelling place, and when
used in this sense it enters into the composition of the words car-
tref (the abode that is dear to us — home), hen-dre (the old abode
or permanent residence), and perhaps in the term pen-tre; and
latterly tref was applied to a collection uf abodes as in tref-lan (a
village with a church in it), and tref a town. The tref or tre in the
name Felindre appears to refer to the territorial division, and the
name to signify the "mill of the vill." Attached to the mill, whose
motive power is supplied by the Severn, is a f[arm]. of 123 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Hunter. (1)

FOEL (2), bald hill, calvary, the name of a high hill on the left
bank of the Wye, half a mile to the n.e. [north-east] of Cefn-brwyn.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1171682 Y Foel SN8384

FOEL-GOCH (2), the red bald hill (chap, i, sec[tion]. 5). On the
western slope of this hill is a f[arm]. of 81 ac[res]. called Y-Foel,
part of the Clochfaen estate.

(1) There are melindres where no mill ever existed. The term is
derived from milein-dref = the dwelling of the milain or villein of
feudal times. — D. S. E.

(2) Foel is a mutation of Moel, Fron of Bron, and Fuches and
Buches, and ought therefore to be preceded by Y (the), which has
been omitted in the Glossary.

■ 135 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

FRANKWELL. Part of the village goes by this name, which,
according to Mr. Wright {Arch, Cam., 1864, p. 171) is a corruption
of Frankville. He says, “the feudal princes and the great barons of
the Middle Ages soon learnt to appreciate the value to their
treasuries of encouraging commerce on their domains. . . . Hence
they tried to draw merchants to their lands by establishing little
towns with freedom and privileges, either commercial or municipal,
by which they might be attracted, and such places were usually
denominated in France by the name of francheville or free town. In
England where the Anglo-Norman dialect and the English were
oddly intermixed, the form which the name took was Frankville or
Frankton." The name is common in Montgomeryshire, portions of
Llanidloes, Llawr-y-glyn, and Newtown being so designated.

FRON-GOCH, the red slope, a f[arm]. of 61 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan.

FUCHES-MORGAN, Morgan's cattle-walk, the land where his
cows grazed; the name of a small t[enement]. in Llanifynu.

GELLI-AUR, the golden grove, a f[arm]. of 41 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Hugh Davies.

GELLI-FAWR, the large grove, two f[arm]s. in t.p. [township] of
Glyn-Glynwydd, the one of 45 ac[res]., o[wner]. J. B. Owen, and
the other of 78 ac[res]., part of the Clochfaen estate.

GEU-FRON, the enclosed hill, a portion of this f[arm]. (67 ac[res].)
situated on the right bank of the Hafren, is within the limits of the
parish; t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. David Davies.

GLAN-BIDNO, banks of the Bidno, the name of two f[arm]s. in
the t.p. [township] of Llanifynu; the upper has an area of 24
ac[res]., the lower 23 ac[res].

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=253306 SN8881

GLAN-DULAS, banks of the Dulas, name of two f[arm]s.; the
upper is 85 ac[res]., partly situate in Glyn-Brochan and partly in
Cefn-yr-hafodau, and formerly part of the Clochfaen estate, now
the property of J. B. Owen. Some of the fields are known by the
names of Rhos-y-cwrw (moor of the ale), Sugar field, Pickerin field,
and Dôl-ganu (mead of song). Of the Lower Glandulas 175 ac[res].
is in the t.p, of Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Col. Hunter.

GLAN-GWY, banks of the Wye, a f[arm]. of 65 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1403313 Glangwy SN8980

GLAN-RHYD, banks of the ford, a small f[arm]., t.p. [township]
Glyn-glynwydd.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2962496 Glan-rhyd SN9281

GLAS-CWM, the verdant cwm, a f[arm]. of 75 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Lani wared. Glyn-Brochan, glen of the Brochan (chap, i,
sec[tion]. 6). This glen gives its name to one of the townships of
the parish, and to two farms.

1. Upper Glyn-Brochan, 97 ac[res].

2. Lower Glyn-Brochan, 123 ac[res].

One of the fields on the former farm is known by the name of Cae
oddiar Cwm Gwyddel (the field above the Gael's ravine). The
readers of the Vestiges of the Gael in Gwynedd are acquainted
with the theory first propounded by Llwyd relating to the early
occupation of Wales by the Gael. Archdeacon Jones' chief
argument in support of the theory is founded upon the frequent
occurrence of

■ 136 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

the name Gwydell [sic]. Dol Gwyddell [sic] in the parish of
Trefeglwys appears in the Archdeacon's book and the remains in
its neighbourhood have been already noticed, but this Cwm
Gwyddel and another Dol Gwyddel in the immediate vicinity of
Llanidloes were unknown to him. It is only just to mention that
those who oppose the above theory give another interpretation to
the term Gwyddel, viz., that it means "of, or belonging to woods,
woody, and like the corresponding Silvester or Silvaticus, in a
figurative sense, wild or savage." If this explanation be accepted
then Cwm Gwyddel simply means the woody ravine.

GLYN-GYNWYDD, glen of the Gynwydd, which gives its name
to a township and a f[arm]. of 173 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Cefn-yr-
hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen, Glansevern. (See Aber-Gynwydd.)

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=253300 Glyngynwydd
SN9481

GLYN-HAFREN, glen of the Hafren (Severn), name of a township
in this parish and that of another in Llanidloes, also the name of a
f., 179 ac[res]. of which are in Llangurig, o[wner]. C. J. Elwell.

GOOD-GROUND, a small f[arm]. of 15 ac[res]., o[wner]. Mrs.
Owen.

GWERN, defined by the Rev. Walter Davies (Works, iii, 513) as
"the aldery, or rough meadow or pasture, natural to the springing
up of aiders;" name of a small holding, t.p. [township] Glyn-
Gynwydd.

GWERN-TYFIN, the aldery of the tenement, a f[arm]. of 67
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs. Phillips.

GWY (Wye), water (described chap[ter]. i, sec[tion]. 7). This
generic term occurs frequently in the names of Welsh streams, e.g,
Virn-wy, Ban-wy (Banw), Colun-wy (now Clun), Cyn-wy
(Conway), Myn-wy (Munnow), Eb-wy, El-wy, Ol-wy, Trog-wy,
Clwyd, etc., etc. Under its Latin name Vaga (1} it is frequently
alluded to by the poets.

“Meander, who ia said so intricate to be.
Has not so many turns and crankling nooks as she.”
DRAYTON'S Polyolbion.

"Pleased Vaga echoes through her winding bounds,
And rapid Severn hoarse applause resounds." — Pope.

HAFOD is thus explained by Llwyd, "Hafod is doubtless so
call’d quasi Bod-haf, which word is at present used, and I
suppose was anciently appropriated to signify a summer hut up
in ye mountains, made use of onely that time of the year, for
makeing butter and cheese, as they doe at present not only
about Snowdon and Cader-Idris, and elsewhere in Wales, but
likewise in Switzerland and many other places amongst ye
Alps." (Arch[aeologia]. Camb[rensis].y 1848, p. 244).

(1) Gwy has been Latinised etymologically into " Vaga,” the
Latin meaning of which subsequently drew attention to the
meanderings from which it was erroneously supposed by
persons ignorant of Welsh to have derived its name. C.f. the
somewhat similar transmutation of the names (1) Glastonbury
 (originally Ynys Wydryn, the Watery Isle, from Gwy: — Iolo
MS., p. 344); (2) Abbey D’Or, in the original Welsh written Dwr,
water, thence by the English Dore, explained by a confusion of
meaning as D'Or, hence by translation of the latter the valley in
which the Abbey was situated became the Golden Vale, which
again, by retranslation into Welsh, became the Dyffryn Aur.
Lib[er]. Landav[ensis]., 319. H. W. LL.

■ 137 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

HAFOD-FEDDGAR, the Hafod favourable to the production of
mead, as if the Hafod liked it or loved it; a common figure of
speech (D.S.E.). A f[arm]. of 132 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-
Hafren, o[wner]. Mrs. Marsh.

HAFOD-FRAITH, the variegated Hafod, a mountain f[arm]. of 92
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyngynwydd, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

HAFOD-WEN, the fair Hafod, a mountain f[arm]. of 92 ac[res].
t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. J. C. Elwell, Esq.

HEN-DRE, old or permanent habitation, as opposed to Hafod, the
summer or temporary residence. A f[arm]. of 138 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

HENDRE-AUR, the golden Hendre, a f[arm]. of 89 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, part of the Green estate.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2435586 Hendre-aur SN9579

HEN-DY, old house, a f[arm]. of 14 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llanifynu, part of the Clochfaen estate.

HEN-FAES, old field, a f[arm]. of 100 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. J. Hughes

HIR-BRISG, the long copse or brushwood, a small f[arm]. of 17
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, part of Clochfaen estate.

HIR-GOED, long wood, a small f[arm]. of 15 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Sir W. W. Wynn.

HORE, the name of one of the minor elevations which form part of
the mountain mass of Plinlimmon, the small river which flows
round its base (chap, i, sec[tion]. 7), and of the mountain on its left
bank. The farm has 38 ac[res]. of enclosed land attached to it,
which however only produces coarse hay, its value depending
entirely upon its extensive sheep walk; o[wner]. Sir W. W. Wynn.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1121720 Hore SN8386

On the summit of the mountain there is a large erect stone, called
by the people of the neighbourhood Maen-gwyn (white stone). Its
position is given on the Ordnance Map, where it is styled Carreg
Wen. Its dimensions are 7ft. 2in. high (above ground), 4ft. 3in.
broad, and 2ft. 2in. thick.

Down one of the ravines of the mountain flows Nant-yr-eira
(Snow-brook), a tributary of the Horè. Ou the banks of the former,
quarter a mile above Horè house, are to be seen traces of Roman
mining operations. The action of the mountain torrent appears to
have revealed the lode, the course of which for a short distance is
nearly identical with that of the stream. This the Roman miners
followed for several hundred yards, carrying their operations to a
great depth by means of a series of narrow parallel platforms. The
old work was cleared out some years ago by Mr. Reynolds, a
mining agent, when two or three small picks and wedges were
discovered in a good state of preservation. They were sent to Sir
Hugh Williams of Bodelwyddan, who presented them to the Duke
of Northumberland. The modern mine has for some time past been
abandoned.

Horé appears to be derived from Hor-au; all the plural
terminations

(1) ? Aer, a battle, the Hendre of the battle-field. R.H.J.

■ 138 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

in u are in the Powysian dialect corrupted into e. Hor is a rotundity,
a round hill; hor-au corrupted into hore as above are the round hills,
moel-ydd.” R.H.J.

If the Horé is a roaring or noisy stream, I would derive it from
rhawr, a roar. The disappearance of the initial r may be accounted
for Y Rhorwy (rhawrwy), then by corruption Yr Howry¸ Horwy,
Hore.”

(1) LLAN-I-FYNU, the upland enclosure, name of one of the
townships. It includes the highest and most sterile land in the
parish.

(1) LLAN-I-WARED, the enclosed or cultivated lowland, name of
another township; these appear to have been named in contrast to
each other. The church and village are situated in Llan-i-wared.

LLANERTH, a corruption of Llanerch, a glade or open piece of
level ground.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/294050 Llannerch SN9181

LLANERCH-BROCHAN, glade of the Brochan, a f[arm]. of 99
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Matthews.

LLECHWEDD-HIR-GOED, slope or declivity of the long wood. ?
Ir-goed, the greenwood slope (R.H.J.). An elevation between the
Wye and Tarenig.

LLUEST, encampment, a small t[enement]. in Llaniwared t.p.
[township]

LLUEST-BIDNO, encampment on the Biduo, a mountain farm of
203 ac[res]. (chiefly pasture land), t.p. [township] Lanifynu,
formerly the property of Lord Mostyn, now of Mr. Morris, of Oxon,
Shrewsbury.

LLUEST-DOL-GWIAIL, encampment of the mead of twigs, a
f[arm]. 45 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llanifynu, part of Clochfaen
estate.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/402331 Lluest-dôl-gwiail
SN8476

LLUEST-LAS, green or verdant encampment, a f[arm]. of 15
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mrs. Marsh.

LLUEST-LLEWELYN, Llewelyn's encampment (chap[ter]. i,
sec[tion]. 5, and chap[ter]. ii, p. 24.)

LLWYN-GWYN, the white grove or copse, a f[arm]. of 1 85
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/70880 Llwyn-gwyn SN9079

LLWYN-IAR, hen's grove, or ?aur, golden, a f[arm]. of 26 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Lanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Whalley, M.P.

LLWYN-YR-HYDDOD, stag's grove, a f[arm]. of 153 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Lanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Hugh Lloyd (chap[ter]. vi).

MAES-HOCYN, Hokyn's field, a f[arm]. of 32 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Mr. Hugh Davies.

MAES-Y-BRYNAR, field of the fallow, a f[arm]. of 48 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren,

(1) "It is a phonetic law between Latin and Celtic, that words
beginning in the former with pl are in the latter ll. The word
planum in Latin signifying any cultivated spot, in contradistinction
from a desert spot, becomes in Celtic Llan" (Four Ancient Books of
Wales, i, 159). Later it came to mean an inclosure only, without
reference to the nature of the thing enclosed, until compounded
with another word, as cor-lan, ber-llan, corff-lan, which latter gave
rise, by the omission of the first syllable, to the use of the word in
its tertiary sense of church. H.W.LL.

■ 139 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

o[wner]. Mr. Charles. The remains of an old hostelry, which was
known as Tavarn yr Hwch (Sow Inn), still exists on the grounds of
this farm. When the old road connecting Llanidloes with Llangurig
which passed over this mountain was used, the inn was greatly
frequented.

MAES-Y-FFIN, field of the boundary, 8 ac of this f[arm]. are in
the t.p. [township] of Cefn-yr-hafodau. The f[arm]. is situated on
the boundary between the parishes of Langurig and St. Harmon.

MALGWYN, probably so called in honour of the man who built
the f[arm]. house; a f[arm]. of 117 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-
Hafren, o[wner]. Mr. t[enement]. F. Roberts.

MYNACHLOG, monastery (chap[ter]. i. sec[tion]. 7), a f[arm]. of
40 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. R. H.
Morgan.

MYTALOG, a corruption of Bod Talog, Talog's abode, a mountain
f[arm]. of 44 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llaniwared, formerly part of
the Clochfaen estate, now in the possession of Mr. H. Williams.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=247908 Bod-talog
SN8675

NANT, a generic term which enters very largely into the
composition of Welsh names, denotes primarily the (1) ravine or
hollow through which the stream flows; secondarily, and more
commonly, the stream itself.

NANT-ABER-TRI-NANT, a ravine or hollow which receives the
waters of three other ravines (chap[ter]. i, sec[tion]. 7).

NANT-BESSY, Bessy's ravine or brook, gives its name to a small
f[arm]. of 9 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan.

NANT-BRYN-GWANNON, ? from gwynnon, dry sticks, or from
gwaen-onn, ash meadow.

NANT-CRUG, the heathery hollow or ravine.

NANT-DU, the dark ravine, or NANT-TY, the house in the ravine,
a large mountain farm (chiefly pasture) of 323 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Lannifynu, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

NANT-GWERNOG, the hollow abounding in alders, a f[arm]. of
79 ac[res]., in the t.p. [township] of Cefn-yr-hafodau, part of
Clochfaen estate.

NANT-GWYLLT, wild brook.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/294050 Nant Gwyllt SN9181

NANT IAGO, James's brook (chap[ter]. i, sec[tion]. 6).

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2977663 Nant Iago SN8286

NANT-LLED-CWM, ravine or brook of the wide hollow.

NANT MYTALOG, or Bod-Talog (see Mytalog).

NANT RHYS, Rhys' ravine, 401 ac[res]. of this extensive sheep
f[arm]. is in the t.p. [township] of Llanifynu, formerly the property
of the Duke of Newcastle, now of Mr. Chambers.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1107443 Nant-rhys SN8379

NANT TIDNERTH, Tidnerth's ravine or hollow, a f[arm]. of 31
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Miss Lloyd.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=254207 Nantidnerth SN8782

NANT-YR-EIRA (see Horé).

NANT-Y-GEIFR, goat's ravine, a f[arm]. of 34 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Daniel Rowland.

(1) Nant is more extensive in its meaning than ravine. Every ravine
may be called a Nant; but every Nant is not a ravine. D.S.E.

■ 140 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

NANT-YR-GORLAN [sic], ravine of the sheep fold. Its waters
flow into Afon Dilliw.

NANT-YR-HEBOG, hawk's ravine, a f[arm]. of 87 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Tiece.

NANT-YR-HENDY, ravine of the old house, a f[arm]. of 79
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Thomas Lewis.

NANT-YR-OERFA,?from oer-fan, cold-place, or from aer-fa,
battle field. Its waters flow into the Brochan.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/605090 Nant yr Oerfa SN9802

OLE-DDU, dark ravine, name of two small f[arm]s. in Cefn-yr-
hafodau, called Upper and Lower Ole-ddu.

PANT-CLYD, the sheltered hollow, a small t[enement]., 5 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Llanifynu.

PANT-DRAIN, the thorny hollow, a f[arm]. of 127 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Laniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Pryse.

PANT-MAWR, great hollow, a f[arm]. of 84 ac[res]. t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen Glansevern (chap[ter]. i,
sec[tion]. 6).

PANT-Y-BENT (ord. sur.), PANT-Y-BENI, pronounced Pant-y-
benny by the people of the neighbourhood. "This word appears to
be a corruption of Pant-dibyni or dibeni, the hollow at the end or
termination of a ridge" (J.C.H.), which is descriptive of the
situation of the house. It is a small mountain of 31 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Lewis Owen.

PANT-Y-LLIDIARDAU, hollow of the gates, a small f[arm]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Snead.

PANT-Y-RHEDYN, ferny hollow, a small f[arm]. of 21 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Llanifynu.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2507752 Pantyrhedyn SN8881

PANT-YR-ESGYR (esgair), hollow of the esgair, small
t[enement]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren.

PEN-HYLE, corruption of Pen-tyle, top of the acclivity or ascent,
name of two f[arm]s. in the t.p. [township] of Glyn-Gynwydd, the
larger is 61 ac[res]., the smaller 31 ac[res]. in extent.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2962526 Penhyle Mawr
SN9180

PEN-ISSA'R-LLAN, lower end of the enclosure, a f[arm]. of 48
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llaniwared, part of Clochfaen estate.

PEN-TRE, head or end of the vill, or the chief tref or abode (see
Felindre), a f[arm]. of 25 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Cefn-yr-hafodau.
It is also the name of a small hamlet on the side of the road leading
from Llanidloes to Llangurig, a mile and a quarter from the former.
Its name was probably taken from the farm.

PEN-BONT-PREN, end of the wooden bridge, or foot bridge,
name of two f[arm]s., the larger in the t.p. [township] Cefii-yr-
hafodau, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen; the other of 81 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Bull.

PEN-PLANWYDD, top of the plantation, a f[arm]. of 45 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Cefn-yr- hafodaii, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

PEN-Y-BANK, top of the hill, a f[arm]. of 105 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau, o[wner]. Rev. Mr. Jacob.

PEN-Y-CINCOED, top of the branching wood (]), name of a hill
and of

■ 141 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

several holdings on its slope and summit, situate in the t.p.
[township] of Glyn-Brochan.

PEN-Y-CLAP, top of the hill, a small t[enement]. in the t.p.
[township] of Glyn-Hafren.

PEN-Y-CRUGYN, top of the mound, a f[arm]. of 39 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, part of Cochfaen estate.

PEN-Y-CROESAU (probably derived from cross roads), name of
a small t[enement]. in the t.p. [township] of Llaniwared.

PEN-Y-GEULAN, top of the shelving bank, a f[arm]. of 91
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Lanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Whalley, M.P.

PEN-Y-RHOS, end of the moor or plain, small t[enement]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu.

PONT-BREN-LWYD, grey foot bridge, a f[arm]. of 34 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/287285 Pontbren-llwyd
SN8782

PONT-DULAS, Dulas bridge, a small f[arm]. of 13 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau.

PONT-RHYD-GALED, bridge of the ford with a hard or firm bed,
name of two f[arm]s. in the t.p. [township] of Lanifynu, one of 66
ac[res]., o[wner]. Sir W. W. Wynn, the other of 103 ac[res].,
o[wner]. Mr. D. Hamer.

PRYS-SYLWIDD, from Prys, a covert of sylwidd of the watchman,
the watchman's ambush, c.f. Llanfihangel-din-sylwidd {din,
fortification of the watchman), close to Beaumaris. R. H. J.

Another suggestion is that it is a corruption of PRESWYLYDD,
the abodes. It is the name of a farm of 80 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Glyn-Gynwydd, part of the Clochfaen estate.

PWLL-GWINE, ?the wine coloured pool, a small t[enement]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan.

RALLT, Yr Allt, the cliff or ascent, name of two small f[arm]s., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Hafren.

RHIW-FRON-GELLI, the slope or ascent of the grove hill, a
f[arm]. of 134 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. J. C.
Rowley, formerly part of the Clochfaen estate.

RHIW-LAS, green ascent, a small f[arm]., t.p. [township]
Llanniwared [sic], part of the Clochfaen estate.

RHYD-YR-ONEN, ashford, sometimes called Rhyd-ar-Darwen
(the ford on the Darwen), a f[arm]. of 59 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Mr. Edwards.

One of its fields is known as Caer Castell, probably that adjoining,
or the one within the limits of the earthwork described on p. 22.

RHŌS, Welsh for a moor, or waste coarse upland, name of a small
f[arm]. in the t.p. [township] of Cefn-yr-hafodau, part of the Green
estate.

RHŌS-GOCH, the red rhōs, a f[arm]. of 28 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llanifynu.

RHŌS-WEN, the fair rhōs, a f[arm]. of 12 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Lanifynu.

RHŌS-Y-CASTELL, rhōs of the castle, a f[arm]. of 19 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu.

RHŌS-Y-WRACH, the hag's rhōs, a small t[enement]., t.p.
[township] of Glyn-Brochan.

TAN-Y-BERTH, below the bush, a f[arm]. of 99 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Williams, formerly part of
Clochfaen estate.

TAN-Y-LLWYN, below the grove, a f[arm]. of 98 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llaniwared, o[wner]. Mr. Hughes, formerly part of
Clochfaen estate.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1933735 Tan-y-llwyn SN9179

TARENIG, ?diminutive of Taranon. Mr. Silvan Evans suggests
that

■ 142 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

Trĕnig is the proper name, derived from tren, impetuous, furious. It
is the name of a tributary of the Wye (chap, i, sec[tion]. 7).

TAN-YR-ALLT, below the allt, a f[arm]. of 41 ac[res]., part of the
Clochfaen estate, t.p. [township] Llaniwared.

TROED-YR-ESGAIR, foot of the esgair, a f[arm]. of 37 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Lanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Whalley, M.P., part of the
Clochfaen estate up to 1857.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1233447 Troedyresgair
SN8879

TY-CERRIG, stone house, a f[arm]. of 56 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llaniwared, part of the Clochfaen estate.

TY-GWYN, white house, a f[arm]. of 42 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Glyn-Gywydd, part of the Clochfaen estate.

TY-LUCAS, Lucas' house, a f[arm]. of 13 ac[res]., part of the
Clochfaen estate.

TYLWCH. Since the appearance of the first portion of this paper,
the writer has paid Cwm-Saeson (chap, i, sec[tion]. 5) and the
vicinity a visit with the view of searching for evidence to confirm
the tradition mentioned in connexion with the word Tylwch. It may,
perhaps, be of interest to state very briefly the result. In the bottom
of the vale, on the left bank of the little stream, which is known a
little lower down as Afon Tylwch is a low circular tumulus, about
25 yards in diameter, and about 6 feet high in its centre. The field
on which it is situated was enclosed within the memory of living
persons and was cultivated for years by the farmer who now lives
on the adjacent farm, which rejoices in the name of Babylon. On
one occasion when he was ploughing the field the ploughshare
brought several small pieces of bones to sight, which so excited the
farmer’s curiosity that it caused him to dig deeper into the barrow,
which he found to be "made soil," very stiff and difficult to remove.
Having dug to the depth of a few feet without finding anything but
an occasional small piece of bone, he desisted, and the mound has
not been disturbed since, except by the ploughshare, which lowers
it year after year.

In the next field, about 100 yards due north from the centre of the
tumulus is a large erect stone, similar to the one on the Ffin- nant
field, near the Roman trackway, in the parish of Trefeglwys, but of
larger dimensions and softer material. Its height above the ground
is 7ft. 6in., its breadth 3ft. 6in., and its thickness 2ft. 3in. Letters
are said, by the farmers of the neighbourhood, to have formerly
existed upon the stone, but there are no traces of them at present.
Its base was formerly surrounded by a circle of smaller stones
placed in the ground edgewise, but as they interfered with the
cultivation of the field they were, as a matter of course, removed.
In past times the remains in this valley were regarded with a
superstitious dread, to which no doubt we owe their preservation;
wonderful stories are related of fearful storms, accompanied by
thunder and lightning, which caused various persons to abandon
their search for treasures supposed to be hid under the stone and
concealed in the mound. But the days of credulity of this
description are passed away, and it needs the constraining hand of
the landlord to preserve them for future generations.

■ 143 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG. Ninety
yards n.w. [north-west] by w[est]. from the erect stone, in the
adjacent field, are to be found remains, which look like a short
alignment in the direction of e. and w., measuring thirty yards, and
consisting of seven erect stones, some of which have been partially
destroyed. The largest and best preserved is 6ft. 9in. above the
ground, and 3ft. 8in. broad. In a field upon the opposite side of the
brook the present tenant of the farm, while constructing a fence,
discovered an old sword, which he presented to a neighbouring
blacksmith. If not destroyed, the weapon would materially assist in
determining the date of the skirmish or battle which appears to
have been fought in the valley. Higher up the stream, about 40
yards from its left bank, is another erect stone, 6ft 3in. high, 7ft.
broad, with an average thickness of about 1ft. 8in.

All these remains are just within the limits of the parish of St.
Harmon, which in the eleventh and twelfth centuries formed part
of the cantref of Arwystli. None of them are marked on the
Ordnance map.

Lewis Morris gives it as his opinion that Tylwch originally was
Du-llwch, llwch or lough being the Irish word for lake
(Cam[brian]. Reg[ister]. ii, 493). The word is pure but very old
Welsh. Llwch, now obsolete, in the time of Taliessin, and even
later, was synonymous with lake, and in this sense occurs in the
Four Ancient Books of Wales, ii, p. 154, and again in the same
book, p. 204, we have

"Kein gyfedwch Y am deulwch Llwch am pleit." [A bright festivity,
About the two lakes. The lake on my side.]

A striking instance of how entirely obsolete this old word has
become is given by Mr. Wynn in the Cam[brian]. Reg[ister]., ii,
154. "There is," he states, "a parish in Caermarthenshire called
Llan-llwch. Llwch is a very old word for lake, which being now
unintelligible, the very lake or llwch itself, from which the
consecrated ground originally took its name, is now called from
the church or village Llyn Llan-llwch." Again we have a similar
reduplication in the name of a lake in Brecknockshire, Llyn Cwm-
y-llwch, In Tal-llychau (the name of an abbey and parish in
Caermarthenshire) is another instance of the old word llychau
being the plural of llwch, and Tal (which suggests the original form
of the Tyl in Tylwch) meaning the end or head (of the lakes) which
is exactly descriptive of the situation of the old abbey. We may,
therefore, pretty safely conclude that the modern Tylwch is a
corruption of Tal-llwch, (1) being synonymous with Pen-y-llyn and
Tal-y-llyn, head of the lake. But no lake exists at Tylwch now; yet
the word affords undoubted evidence that a lake once existed in the
immediate vicinity, perhaps

1 C.f. Talachddu, in Brecknockshire; tal (the head), llwch (lake),
Ddu (black); Amlwch, in Anglesea; Maeslwch, in Badnorshire;
Ynys-pen-lwch, in Glamorganshire. See also Words and Places, pp.
219, 227.

■ 144 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.

in the neighboorhood of the present factory, which is once more in
full work. The prospects of the little hamlet look very encouraging
at present, owing to the mines being in active operation.

TY-MAWR, large house, a f[arm]. of 68 ac[res]. t.p. [township]
Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Williams.

TY-NEWYDD, new house, a small f[arm]. of 9 a[cres]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Brochan, o[wner]. Col. Hunter.

TY'N-Y-COED, house in the wood, two f[arms]., one of 58
ac[res]., t.p. [township]Glyn-Brochan, another 65 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Cefn-yr-hafodau.

TY'N-Y-CWM, house in the hollow, a f[arm]. of 40 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu.

TY'N-Y-DDOL, house in the mead, a f[arm]. of 171 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Llanifynu, part of the Clochfaen estate.

TY'N-Y-FRON, house on the slope, a f[arm]. of 77 ac[res]., t.p.
[township] Glyn-Glynwydd, o[wner]. Dr. Davies.

TY'N-Y-MAES, house in the plain or field, a f[arm]. of 172
ac[res]., t.p. [township] Llaniwared, part of Clochfaen estate.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/70880 Tyn-y-maes SN9079

TY'N-Y-RHŌS, house in the rhōs, (see Rhōs), a f[arm]. of 88
a[cres]., t.p. [township] Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mr. Hugh Lloyd.

TY'N-YR-HENDRE, house in the old ville, a f[arm]. of 25 ac[res].,
t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan, formerly belonged to Lord Mostyn.

TYN-YR-WTRA, house in the lane. Formerly there existed two
small f[arm]s. of this name, but they are now united, and form a
farm of 90 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Hafren, o[wner]. C. J.
Elwell, Esq.

YSTRAD-OLWYN, various explanations of this name suggest
themselves. If derived from Strata, we should have Olwyn’s Street,
but there are no traces of a street or paved roadway in the
neighbourhood; neither are the farms situated in a valley, so that
we have to fall back upon (1) Ystrad-olwyn, the circular plat, in the
form of a wheel, or (2) Ystrad-y-dôl-wen, the plat of the fair mead,
both of them descriptive of the situation. The latter is the
suggestion of Mr. J. C. Hughes, and I am inclined to think it to be
the true meaning. The two f[arm]s. which bear this name are in the
t.p. [township] of Glyn-Gynwydd — the larger (fawr) is 89 ac[res].,
o[wner]. Mrs. Owen; the smaller (fach) is 89 ac[res]. in extent, and
forms part of the Clochfaen estate.

WARREN-HOUSE, a f[arm]. of 20 ac[res]., t.p. [township]
Llanifynu, o[wner]. Mrs. Owen.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=251505 Warren House SN8979

WAEN (a mutation of Gwaen) is defined as "a flat marshy tract"
by the late Rev. W. Davies (Works iii, 537), and as "a meadow, a
down, a plain,” in the latest edition of Dr. Pugh’s Dictionary. It is
the name of a f[arm]. of 20 ac[res]., t.p. [township] Glyn-Brochan,
o[wner]. Mrs. Owen. A large marshy tract in the t.p. [township] of
Cefn-yr-hafodau is known as Waen-Cilgwym, deriving its name
probably from the farms so called. Waen goch (the red down)
forms part of Esgair Maesnant.

■ 145 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OF LLANGURIG.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.

Bedd Gwrtheyrn (p. 41). One of the names of the
traditional burial places of Vortigern is thus preserved
in stanza xl of the collection entitled the " Verses of
the Graves," or the "Verses of the Warriors," in the
Black Book of Caermarthen: —

“Ebet yn ystyuacheu,
Y mae paup yny amheu, (1)
Bet gurtheyrn gurtheneu."
Four Ancient Books of Wales, ii, 32.

“The grave of Ystyvachau.
Which everybody doubts. (1)
The grave of Gwrtheyrn Gwrthenau."
Ibid., i, 314.

Pillar of Eliseg (p. 41). Below is a specimen of
the inscription on this important monument — so valuable

to the future investigator of the early history of
the Principality of Powys — as given by Edward Llwyd
in his Arch[aeologia]. Brit[annica]. tit. vi, p. 229. This pillar, or monumental cross, was erected at a place formerly called
Maes-yr-ychen, but subsequently Pant-y-groes, about a
quarter of a mile distant from the abbey of Valle Crucis,
by Cyngen, or Concenn, Prince of Powys, in or before
the year 850 (for he was slain at Rome that year), in
memory of his great grandfather, Eliseg. Cyngen was
the son of Cadell (who died in the year 804), the son of
Brochwel, the son of Prince Eliseg, sixth in descent
from Brochwel Ysgythrog,

- BEND - GERMANUS QUE

- PEPERIT EI SE.. IRA FILIA MAXIMI

REGIS QUI OCCIDIT REGEM ROMANO

RUM CONMARCH PINXIT HOC

CHIROGRAFU REGE SUO

POSCENTE
CONCENN ETC:

(1) or, The grave in Ystafachau,
Which everybody suspects to be,
The grave of Gwrtheyrn Gwrthenau.

■ 146 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG.

Mr. Haigh {Conquest of Britain by the Saxons, p.
230) reads the first part of it thus: "Guarthimer whom
Germanus blessed, the son of Guarthigern whom Severa
bare to him, the daughter of King Maximus, who killed
the king of the Romans." Nothing is known of the Cynfarch, or Conmarch, who carried out the design of
King Cyngen.

Jenkn Goch (see pp. 49-50) is stated to have
married Catherine, daughter and heir of Maurice Fychan

of Kerry. Some doubt has been cast upon the
accuracy of this statement. The authorities for it are:

1. Add. MS. 9865, one of the vols, of that celebrated
genealogist John Davies, of Rhiwlas, to whose labours
the editor of Dwnn's Visitations is indebted (i Intro.,
pp. xxix,-xxx, Llyfryddiaeth, 311). This MS., which
contains a fully drawn out tabular pedigree of the
descendants of Elystan Glodrudd, asserts that Catherine
was heiress to Maurice Fychan.

2. Harl MS., 1973, p. 96 (Heraldic Visitations, by
Randle Holme) also states that Catherine was daughter
and heir of Maurice Fychan.

Owen, son of Maurice of Clochfaen (p. 51), married
Tangwystl, daughter of Morgan (ab Maurice, younger
son of Thomas ab Maurice Fychan, of Aber-Magwr, in
the parish of Llanfihangel-y-creuddyn, descended from
Einion ab Collwyn ab Tangno, lord of Eifionydd and
Ardudwy), by whom he had one daughter, Mallt. He
died on the evening of January 7th, 1500, and his Marwnod (or elegy) has the name of Huw Arwystl attached
to it. In it the writer describes him as a "soldier of
the sea," and laments that the festival should have been
saddened by his death.

Note to pp. 63-4. — Colonel Hinde died at Brussels on the 15th of May, 1870, and was buried at Ucle, near that city. The following is the inscription upon his tomb: —

 ■ 147 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG. 147

CAROLUS THOMAS EDWARDUS HINDB
LEGIONIS BENGALIENSIS TRIBUNUS
OBLIT IDIBUS MAII MDCCCLXX AETATIS SUAE AN LO
REQUIESCAT IN PACE.

Note to p. 66. In addition to the information pre-
viously given respecting the castle and lordship of
Whittington, we take the following aJlusion to the
matter from the Add. MS. 9865: —

'* The township of Trefor was divided between Cuhelyn and
Menrig, the third and fourth sons of Tudor ab Rhys Sais. The
second son of Tudor was Goronwy, surnamed Pefr, who was
the Wrennoc of the early romances, and had the lordship of
Whittington for his portion. By his first wife he had (1) Sir
Roger, of whom presently; (2) Sir William de Powys, Knt.
{Llywth Gwydd y Derwen); he had an only daughter, named
Miletta, who became the wife of Sir Fulke Fitz-Warren, son
and heir to Sir Warren de Weaux, a nobleman of Lorraine;
(3) Jonas of Penley {Llywth Llanerch Banna), who bore az.
three boars passant in pale or. The Penley estate passed by
marriage into the family of Dymoke, who still possess it (p.
66).

”The eldest son. Sir Roger de Powys, lord of Whittington
(Blancheville) was a knight of Rhodes, and bore vert a boar or.
In a note at p. 13, vol. ii of Dwnn's Heraldic Visitations there
is the following notice of him: ‘In an Anglo-Norman life of
Fulk Fitz-Warren Iorwerth (Drwyndwn) it is said 'dona a
Rogier de Powys Blancheville e Maylour,' and, after his death,
' Morys le Fitz Rogier de Powys' became ' Seigneur de
Blancheville e Maylour,' and when he died we are told that
Llewelyn ab Iorwerth regretted his death, ' par ce que Morys
fat son Cousyn.' Sir Roger married Cecilia, daughter of Hwfa
ab Iorwerth ab Gruffydd ab Ieuaf ab Niniaf {gules two hons
passant arg, for Iorwerth ab Gruffydd) by whom he had issue:
1. Sir Maurice or Meurig Llwyd, lord of Whittington, who was
slain by Sir Fulk Fitz Warren, who took possession of the
castle and lordship of Whittington, and had it confirmed to
him by Henry III. 2. Sir Roger de Estwick, heir to Sir
Meurig Llwyd, by an estate of settlement made by Llewelyn

ab Iorworth. Prince of Wales, and confirmed by Henry
IIII of England. He had issue a son Meredydd. 3. Roger
Fychan, whose only daughter and heiress Gwerfyl, married to
Sir Philip Kynaston, ancestor of the Kynastons of Hardwicke
(Dwnn, i, 326). 4. Owain: he had an only daughter and heiress,
Gwerfyl, married to Einion ab Gwilym, which Gwilym was an
illegitimate son of Gruffydd ab Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Powys.

148 A PAROCHIAL ACCOUNT OP LLANGURIG.

5. Goronwy, ancestor of the families of Pentre Madog in Dnd-
dleston and the Estwicks of Estwick."

Note to Edward Lloyd of Pen-y-lan (p. 77).

MARY LLOYD, heiress of Pen-y-lan, married Roger
Kenyon, Esq., of Cefti, brother of Lloyd, first Lord
Kenyon, and was mother of

EDWARD, born 1771, who assumed the name of Lloyd
and subsequently that of Williams. He married Anna-
bella (bom 5th April, 1777), eldest daughter and co-
heiress of the Rev. Philip Puleston, D.D., and heiress to
her uncle, Watkin Williams, Esq., of Penbedw (son of
Richard Williams, Esq., youngest brother of the first
Sir Watkin), M.P. for Montgomeryshire, and afterwards
for the Flint Boroughs; the youngest daughter and co-
heiress, Elizabeth, married William Wynn, Esq., of
Peniarth, and was mother of the present W. W. E.
Wynne, Esq, of Peniarth. Mr. Edward Lloyd Williams
died without issue, and his widow married secondly
Major General Molyneaux, who assumed the additional
name of Williams and is now living (1870).

Corrections:
On illustration facing p. 22 for "Rhyd-yn-onen," read "Rhyd-yr-onen."

On p. 42, line 15 from top, for " Gwawrddyd," read "Gwawrddydd."

On p. 43, line 4 from bottom, for "Gwrstan ab Gwaethhvod,'' read
"Gwrystan ab Gwaethfoed.”

On p. 50, note 1, instead of  "son of Maelgwyn, lord, etc.," read “son of Meredydd ab Maelgwyn, lord, etc."

On p. 50, line 1 from top, for “Einion of Kerry," read “Einion ab
Howel of Kerry."

On p. 51, line 6 from top, for " Gwaethfod," read " Gwaethfoed."

On p. 52, line 7 from bottom, for "Glandywedog," read '”Glanclywedog."

On p. 53, line 17 from bottom, for "collised," read "cottised."

On p. 54, line 10 from top, for “Edwyn Goronwy," read " Edwyn ab Goronwy."

On p. 59, line 15 from top, after 1766, insert, leaving an only daughter and heiress, Sarah.

On p. 61, line 12 from bottom, for "Cyfeiliog," read  “Cyffylliog.”

On p. 68, line 9 from bottom, for "bromoslipe," read "broomslips."

On p. 74, line 7 from bottom for "Iowerth,” read "Idnerth:”

On p. 74, note 2, line 11 from bottom, for "Corbet of Moreton Corbet," read "Corbet of Wattlesborough, son of Sir Robert Corbet of Moreton Corbet and Wattlesborough."

On p. 75, line 15 from top, after 4, insert "sable."

In the Glossary, for ''Nant Tidnerth,”' read “Nant Idnerth,” and was probably so called from Idnerth ap Madog Danwr.

149

WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE
HISTORY OF LLANGURIG.

By HOWEL W. LLOYD.

It was to be expected that the district of Arwystli,
abounding no less in picturesque scenery, than in historical associations, lying in and about the majestic
Plinlimmon, the cradle of Severn, Wye, and other
illustrious streams, should have given birth to poets,
whose genius, fired no less by the grandeur of the
native scenery than by the love of country, always conspicuous in the breasts of mountaineers, should have
left to posterity memorials worthy of such sources of
inspiration. Accordingly we find several whose works,
few of which have hitherto been committed to the press,
are scattered among the manuscript collections in the
principality, in the British Museum, and elsewhere.
Research has brought to light some poems among them
which are not a little interesting in connexion with the
local history of Llangurig, whether regarded from a
social, religious, or historical point of view. These it
is now proposed to introduce to our readers, together
with translations, accompanied by such preliminary
matter as may be requisite for the purpose of elucidating the sense, which is not unfrequently obscure, and also their relation to the special subject of our
history.

The first in chronological order, with the exception,
perhaps, of the author of a poem or two of uncertain
date, which will be referred to presently more fully, is
Ieuan Tew, called Ieuan Tew H{en, or Hynaf, who was
born at Llanidloes, and is known to have presided at a
"Gorsedd," or session of bards, held at Glamorgan in

R

150 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

1420.^ Twenty-four of his compositions are enumerated
in the catalogue of the Britisn Museum as extant in
that collection, none of which, however, appear to
relate to the subject of this paper. The next is Huw
Cae Llwyd, said to have flourisned from 1450 to 1480,
and known to have presided at the Glamorgan Gorsedd
in 1470,^ eight at least of whose poems are preserved
in the British Museum. The third is Huw Arwystli,
whose poems are exceedingly numerous, and whose
period, though not yet precisely settled, would appear
to have extended from the latter part of the reign of
Henry VIII to nearly the close of that of Elizabeth.
And lastly, we have his contemporaries, Sion Ceri, and
Sir Ieuan of Camo, who, though not apparently natives
of Arwystli, were denizens of its neighbourhood, and
maintained intimate relations with its inhabitants. Of
these we have one poem by Sion Ceri, another by Huw
Cae Llwyd, and several by Huw Arwystli, most of which
however have unfortunately reached us in a mutilated
state, in which is presented a life-like picture of some
of the principal features of the social and religious life
of Llangurig in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Prior to any of these in order of time is the following
by Ieuan Deulwyn, a poet who flourished from about
1460 to 1490, and is known to have presided at the
Gorsedd of Glamorgan in 1480.^ It is entitled "an
Elegy on Dafydd Fychan of Curig's Land,'* and relates
apparently to an incident of warfare, which, if the period
ascribed to the author be correct, must have occurred
considerably later than the battle of Mortimer's Cross,
fought in February, 1461, when Sir Owen Tudor, grand-
father of Henry VII, was slain, and his half-brother,
Henry VI, lost his crown. Perhaps it is to be referred
to the revolt of Clarence and Warwick, 1465-70, which
ended in the battle of Bamet, and in the course of

^ Williams's Dictionary of E win en t Welsh-fnen, p. 241.
* If the poem of The Four Brothers is correctly ascribed to him,
he must have been living as late as the rei^ of Henrj VIII.
s Williams's Dictionary of Eminent Welshmeiiy p. 120.

OP THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 151

wluch was fought the battle of Danesmore, near Ban-
bury, at which the Sir Richard Herbert, whose elegy
by our bard is also extant,^ was taken prisoner, and
beheaded by the Lancastrians, together with his brother,
Sir William, who, after the surrender of Harlech Castle,
had been created Earl of Pembroke by Edward IV.
As the poem has already been printed in Welsh,^ it is
imnecessary to reproduce the original here. Davydd,
with his brother Ieuan, are referred to as having fallen
victims to an ambuscade on the Wye, and one of them
is stated to have been biuied in the churchyard of
Llangurig.

Elegy on Davydd Vychan and Ieuan of Gurig's Land»

In tears for whom is Powys found.
And all the south, the country round?
I mourn, when I would rouse the chase.
On bank of Wye, in glen of Euas;
Woe's me! a host is come and gone,
Where two youths came, now come not one.
From Maelor one, too well I wist;
From Curig's Land another missed!
Mine office brings me nought but pain.
On moor and glen I call in vain.
For two — our best — ^we stay forlorn;
They come not — ^we may wait and mourn.
As Mary moum'd, so I their loss.
Her Son's fell wounds beneath the cross.
She from her eyes wept tears of blood.
May mine weep, too, a kindred flood I
I can no more than turn my gaze.
Wistful, on yonder upland haze;
Long tho' I wait, there comes not one.
From moor to dell — both, both are gone!
Sole remnant from the slaughter, I,
Since when Siac TJwyd doth yonder lie;
I call — nought boots me to complain —
For gen'rous Davydd Vychan's slain!
For both drear sorrow chills my bones,
Llewelyn also heaves my groans.

^ Printed in Bice Jones's GorchesHon y Beirddy p. 185, Edition
1773.
' Ibid,y p. 189. See also Montgomeryshire Gollections, vol. i, p. 890.

r2

152 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

For Davydd and for lenan vent
Two thousand hearts their one lament.
For these two tribes are sunk in grief.
For these two lands find no relief;
In Llinwent's^ mansion sorrow reigns.
And all Saint Idloes' town complains.
I, too — whom Llinwent led — complain
For Llinwent*s chief, by ambnsh slain.
Deep laid the plan — thro' foul deceit —
He gave his hand — his fate to meet.
So was he slain — O shameful deed!
As tho' 'twere Arthur's self to bleed.
His wont was never to appear,
When raged the combat, in the rear;
In battle he the first to meet
The foe, the hindmost in retreat.
The rear that he should cover, I
Lamented, on the bank of Wye.
To quit their post, to break their troth.
Were false of him and Ieuan both.
Twain brethren of devoted mind —
It stirred them sore to stay behind.
Two lands diverse are reft of joy.
For Ieuan's land hath sprung from Troy-
Fair Curig's church is wrapped in gloom.
There lies the lion in the tomb.
FalFn is that ancient line full low.
Glides HowePs stream with weakened flow.
Like land of court and church bereft
Is Powys without Ieuan left.
Vengeance in flood burst forth of yore.
For greater now the need is sore;
My heart would never broken be.
Such deluge for such men to see.

We now revert to the poems already glanced at as of
uncertain date, and so far as onr present knowledge will
carry us, also of nameless authorship. In the MS.
volume, indeed, from which they have been extracted,
the name of Huw Arwystli is subscribed to them, pro-
bably by a conjecture of the transcriber. The first poem
is an eulogium upon a person named Ieuan, the son of
Gruifydd, of Clochfaen, together with his wife Gwenllian,

^ This is a mansion in the parish of Llanbister in Radnorshire.

OF THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 153

and Jenkyn Goch, their son.^ Huw Arwystli, whose
life extended late into the sixteenth century, was a con-
temporary of the grandsons of this Jenkyn Goch, who
is known to have been living in 1470. It cannot there-
fore be supposed that he could have been living early
enough to celebrate the virtues of Jenkyn's parents
during their lifetime, as this would imply that his own
life was protracted for as much as fifty years beyond
the ordinary span. It may be as well to premise that
this, and most of the following poems, are taken from
a MS. collection, called the " Llyfr Ceniarth," from the
fact of its preservation at a place of that name in Mont-
gomeryshire, to the kindness of whose owner, Mr. D.
Gilbertson, we are indebted for the liberty to copy them.
The original compiler of the collection has not been
ascertained with certainty; but there is reason to be-
lieve that the poems in it relating to Clochfaen may
have been transcribed from the original (which were
preserved at that place until its destruction by fire in
1 760) by Mr. Morgan Lloyd, son of Mr. Jenkyn Lloyd,
of the Clochfaen, who settled at Llanbrynmair towards
the close of the seventeenth century. The MS. may
have come into the possession of the Ceniarth family
through his daughter Sarah, who was married to
E. Pritchard, Esq., of that place. ^ The style and
orthography of the MS. are the same as were in vogue
at the commencement of the eighteenth centiur. Several
of the leaves have been lost, and the volume has others
wise suffered from exposure to damp; many of the
compositions, therefore, have come down to us in a
deplorably fragmentary state. From the violation of
the rules of consonancy in several instances, incon-
ceivable in the composition of bards of such high repu-
tation among their contemporaries, it is to be inferred
that the text has undergone additional mutilation from
the carelessness of the transcriber, or his ignorance of
the rules of " cynghaneddJ'^ As none of these have

^ Montgomeryshire Collections, vol. ii, p. 271. * Ibid., p. 276.

^ i. e. Alliterative consonancy. The Cijwydd deuair, in which

154 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

been hitherto printed, so far as is known, it has been
thought proper to insert them here in the original text,
as well as in the necessarily imperfect form of a prose
translation.

COWYDD I HENAFIAID Y CLOCHFAN.

Duw a'i roi gynt, nid ar gam,
Drwy Ebrwy Dir [i] Abram,
Dyfawd iddo'r blaid [uf] ydd
O'i gordd, cyn amled a 'r gwydd.
Bhoed [ganj Dduw i rwyd dwyrain,
I'w rhwysg deuddegUwyth y rhain.
I ddawn Abram ddoen' Ebryw,
A'i rodd a ddiolchodd ei Dduw.
Py rodd innau, 'nghefn^ yr haf,
I Ddaw eilwaith a ddiolchaf:
Mae Duw 'n rhoi i ni dy'n rhydd,
Rhwng gwar min Grwy a'r mynydd;
Mab Gwilym Gam, ddinam, ddoetb,
A gae Ieuan iV gyfoeth.
Myfi'r haf, mwy yw fy rhan,
Yw gwr y ty ar Gwrt Ieuan:
Mwyn, brud yr wyf mown bord rydd,
Mawl a^i hyder mal hedydd,
Cywydd a wna ef, hedydd haf,
Yn fwrw' n ochr y fron uchaf;
Cerais, ar hynt cwrs yr hydd.
Felly i fwrw fy lleferydd.^
Gwych, tiym, oedd iach iV tramwy,
Clochfan &wrt cylch afon Gwy
. . gynnes gwar mynydd
. . . d iach frig dy dydd
Ba le bynag y bai 'r nod,
By w yno y mae'n benod.
. . a geiff enwog wedd
Morys [ar] ol a mawredd.
Mab y w, ni bydd i'm dydd dig,
Mur ceraint? ymro Curig,

most of tbese poems is composed, consists of rhyming couplets,
each verse of which contains seven syllables, and is divided into
two clauses, in the last of which must be repeated consecutively
three of the consonants contained in the first.

1 Cefn, pars superior, Dr. Davies's Pic^., 8. v. ' "E. lly ei" in MS.

' In MS. 2W Coraint The metre requires a word beginning
with m.

OP THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 155

Corflf Bolant Siancyn ffriwlwyd

Goch hil Uin gwych Howel Llwyd.

C&r Rhys Llwyd accw rboes Ian

Cr»ig ruddaur Ceri Crenddyn.

Llawn ei bord Wenllian bydd,

Hwynte rywl [iant] mewn trefydd.

Tstyried Is y Daren

A wna hi wrth wan a hfin.

6ras a rboes gwir lesu i'w rhan,

Syn i ran synwyr lenan.

Araf yw'r gwycha' o'r gwyr,

Araf yw hedfa'r eryr.

At genedl pan fo'r gynhen^

Oni bydd Pont, ni bydd Pen.

Bhain geidw gweilch hengoed gynt

Heb wanh&n neb o honynt:

Cad[ar]na'r corner coed allt,

I'w ennyn ar war wen'r allt.

Ond da yw yntan lenan,^
Gy] da' i' droed gadw 'i ran.*
]Tra fydd ei r] hwysg, llew'r trefydd

Arwystli fawr ar ei ol fydd.

[Nid] dyn fn* mwy yno

[Yn ei fam] Ieuan tra fo,

[Ni bydd] gwaed heb unben gwyr.

•«> « # * #

Translation.

God, of old time, granted not nnjustly

To Abraham, thro' the Hebrew land.

The coming to him of the obedient people.

By his impulsion, numerous as the forest.

God gave the east to be taken as in a net.

By the onslaught of their twelve tribes.

To the endowment of Abraham came the Hebrews,

And for his gifl he gave thanks to God.

For my gift, too, in the height of summer.

To God in my turn will I give thanks.

It is God who freely gives us a house.

Between the slope of Wye's bank and the mountain.

The son of Gwilym (Jam, blameless and wise,

^ The MS has " d da in gnlan Icnan.*' The reading, as amended,
is conjectural only.

* The original has " waed," and " a'i ran" in the next line.

* Dynm in MS.

^

156 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

Possesses Ieuan for his weal.

I, myself, in the summer — the greater is my portion —
Am goodman of the house over Ieuan's court:
Courteous and free am I at the generous board.
In praise whose boldness is like the lark's.
A strain he utters —he, the lark of summer.
Throwing his breast askant in its ascent.
I have loved, in following the chase of the hart.
In like manner to pour forth my voice.
Gay, trim, and pleasant to frequent,
Is Clochfaen Court on the winding of the Wye.
. . Warm is the slope of the hill.
And wheresoever my lot be cast.
To live there is best of ail.
Morys^ shall gain distinguished rank
And greatness in the future.
A youth who will never be angry with me,
A wall of strength to his kindred in Curig's land
IsJenkynGoch,of pale complexion — a Roland' in stature-
Scion of the noble line of Howel Lloyd,
Kinsman of Rhys Lloyd* yonder, who gave him
The rock of Ceri, Creuddyn,* red as gold.
Pull will the table of Gwenllian be,^
They also shall rule in towns.
Consideration beneath the oak
Will she entertain for the weak and old,
Grace verily hath Jesus given for her portion,
Marvel at the understanding allotted to Ieuan.
Deliberate is the noblest of men —
Deliberate is the flight of the eagle.
In the Tribe when strife hath arisen.
No Head will there be, except there be a Bridge.
These shall preserve the hawks of the ancient forest.
Not one of them shall be made weak.
In the strongest comer of the wooded upland
To incite them* on the crown of the smiling hill.
But Ieuan also is well able

^ Perhaps the son and successor of Jenkyn Goch, and grandson
of Ieuan, is the person alluded to. Moiit. Coll., vol. ii, p. 273.

2 The hero of romance, and nephew of Charlemagne.

3 Probably his uncle, Rhys Lloyd, of Pont y Rhyd Galed, ancestor
of the Richardses of Llangurig.

* One of the three comots of Cantref Penwedig in Cardiganshire.

^ An allusiou to the words of the Psalm, " Thy children like the

olive branches round about thy table." * The MS. text has swyr.

e H7

OF THE HISTOKY OF LLANGUKIG. 157

With his foot to hold his ground.

So long as his lion's career shall last^

Shall the towns of Arwystli be great at his back.

There no man has been greater than he.

. . . . so long as Ieuan shall live.

Its men shall not want a chieftain of their blood.

The next poem, although in the MS. subscribed with
the words and date, ** Huw Arwystli ai kant, 1503/' has
been, but perhaps with less reason, referred to the
same category of doubtful date and authorship as the
last. The title runs thus; Coivyddy neu Englynion
Marwmid Men, gwraig Howel oh Morys Goch o Lan-
gurig yn Uwchgoed, i. e. " A Poem, or Elegiac Stanzas
on EUen, wife of Howel, son of Morys Goch of Llan-
gurig, in Uwchgoed." No such connexion as " Howel"
is, however, to be found in any of the Llangurig fami-
lies. The statement probably has arisen from a mis-
take of the transcriber, who, in his ignorance of the
descent of the dochfaen family from an ancestor of
that name, concluded hastily that the " Howel" re-
ferred to in the third and fifth stanzas, could have
been no other than her husband. It is strange that he
should have overlooked the fact that the latter is more
fitly represented by "Llewelyn," who, in the sixth
stanza, is designated by the title of "Llyw Ael-
wyd," the " Lord of the Hearth," an expression appa-
rently equivalent to the prosaic one of " Head of the
Family." It is in Llewelyn, therefore, that the hus-
band of EUen must be sought. Accordingly, we find
that a lady of that name, a daughter of Maurice ap
Jenkjm Goch, and great granddaughter of Ieuan, the
subj^ of the last poem, was married to Llewelyn ab
Morys ab Rhys of Llangurig.^ She was a sister of the
" Four Brothers of Llangurig," whose fame has been
preserved in the curious poem by Huw Cae Llwyd,
which will be presented the next in succession to our
readers; both poems, therefore, must be assigned to
the same period. The name of one of this lady's bro-
thers, Evan of Crugnant, appears as sixth on the grand

1 X'ontgomery shire Collections, vol. ii, p. 273.

158 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

jury, A.D. 1546. We shall not be far wronff in as-
iding to them, therefore, a somewhat eaxlier^date,-
not too early, however, to have been actually composed
by the poet indicated in the MS. as its author.

ENOLTNION^ SEP IfABWNAD ELEN^ GWSAIO LLEWELYN^ AB HOBTS

OOCH O LANOURIQ YN UWCHQOED.

1.

Mair! pond du ein arddelydd — ^bla

Blin yw gwaith eIorwydd:
Mair I Mair! ni chawn ddial lawnddydd;
Mwy lie i minaa maen mynydd.

2.

Oer fydd blaen mynydd, blin i *m yw — mlila

Am Elan dda ei wyth ry w:
Nid braendod ond b&r un Daw^
Ni henwyd fath bono 'n fyw 1

3.

Difyw* brig bro Cirig o'r cerydd — hil^ Hon

Howel Lloyd nis gorfydd:
Dodau'r dull dyn o^r dydd.
Da rew'n glwyd ar ein gwledydd.

4.

I'r gwledydd trist troes Duw faith — bla

Pn blino nosulgwaith:
Hwyr fydd i 'n byw, Duw, o'r daith;
I wan esgor y nosgwaith.

5.

N8s glaf a fu'n anaf i fonedd — ^Howel

Tynnu'n holl ymgeledd:
Nid k, a ni *n byw dan nenn bedd
Wraig rywogach o^r gwragedd I

6.

Cai bedd pen gwragedd Creuddyn* pan gadd

Pen gwaed Curig breuddyn;
Alaeth oedd ar dylwyth hyn,
A Llyw aelwyd Llewelyn.

1 The MS. has " Howel." « The MS. has "Dewrw."

8 " Bill" in MS.

* " Ai gryn" in MS. I have ventured to restore "Creuddyn,"
which satisfies both context and metre.

OF THE HISTORY OF LLANGUfilG. 159

7.

[Aelwyjd bywyd torri bon — y pren

Adfyd prudd ei dylodion;
A rhoi anaf ar weinion^
Le ymlaen fa'r glan blant bon.

8.

Glan feibion gwychion'n rhoi gawr — *n dost

Yn dwyn derwenllawr;
Ni chwardd na thylawd na chrythawr,
Weled roi lied gwlad i'r llawr!

9.

Aetb wlad i ddwyn cwyr iwch canol — ^llo

Lie 'r k 'r byd olynol;
Ond rhoi gair da rhagorol,
Ei cho' yw hwn — serch i'w hoi.

10.

Elen yn ol pen He 'i poenwyd^ — ni than

Ac ni thyrr yr anwyd;
Llwyr o'r cwyn yn ei^difwynwyd.
Lie bu ar ben llwybr roi bwyd.

11.

A m o 'i bwyd a gladdwyd Llysgelyddon^ — ^braf

Lie bn briflTordd tylodion;
Mawr y w 'r anap ar weinion,
Mair! bydd hwyr marw bath hon 1

ELEGY ON ELEK^ WIFE OF LLEWELTN^ SON OF MOBBIS
GOCH OF LIANOUBIO IN UWCHOOED.

1.

Mary I how black is onr gloom; a grievous

Affliction is the work of the bier:

Mary I Mary I a day of full vengeance may I not have;

For me were a stone on the mountain a fitter abiding-place.

^ This line seems cormpt, nor can I do more than guess at its
meaning.

' Llys Gelyddon. 1 know not if this place is named in other
Welsh writings, or whether it is here referred to as Elen's burial-
place; or, with greater probability perhaps, as connected in some
way with her beneficence to the poor.

160 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

2.

Cold is the mountain-peak, painful to me is my sorrow.
For Elen, noble thro' her eight descents:
God alone is the cause of dissolution!
Her living like hath ne'er received a name.

3.

Lifeless is the Upland of Curig because of the chastisement.
The gentle race of Howel Lloyd will not endure it:
Like the outspread of a black forest over our lands
Is the closing of the day to her mortal form.

4.

God on our sorrowing lands hath laid a lasting grief,
To afflict us with vigils:

Wearisome, God I will be the travel of our life.
Unto the faint outbreak of the dawn from the night.

5.

A night of sickness and of pain to the noble stock of Howel,
Calling for all our care:

While we live shall not one more amiable among women
Go under the roof of the grave.

6.

The grave hath gained possession of the first of Creuddyn's

women; when it was found
That the best blood of Curig could perish,
Then upon the family came mourning.
And upon Llewelyn, the Lord of the Hearth.

7.

The Hearth whose life — the trunk of the tree — has been cut

off;—
A sore calamity to its poor,
A wound also to the sick.
In the land where the foremost were her fair children.

8.

Her fair and gallant sons uttering a bitter cry.
As they bear the oaken bier;
Neither poor nor crowder make merry.
To see half the land laid low.

OF THE HISTORY OF LLANGTYRIG. 161

9.

Gone is the land to make mourning^ in your midst.

Where all that is human shall follow;

But the best of naroes^ and the love

That she leaves behind her — that is her Memorial!

10.

To Elen's suflFerings there is an end, — ^now

Nor heat nor cold shall hurt her;

The spot only mourns its bereavement of her.

Where she was wont to distribute food at the end of the path.

11.

She who gave of her food is buried; a brave sight

Hath Llys Qelyddon been, with its highway thronged by poor;

Great is the calamity to the sick!

Maiy I far off is the day ere her like shall die I

By the aid of the little glimmering of light shed
upon it by the grand Jury list of 1546, we see no
reason to doubt that this little poem was actually in-
dited by the bard of Arwystli If so, it is not impro-
bably the earhest of his eitant compositions; notvdth-
standing that the supposition may appear somewhat
ra^h, wLn it is coni^aered how many of these have
still to be disinterred from the volumes of decayinj
MSS., in which they he mouldering away. To our mine
there is evidence of youthful poetic aspiration in the
simple, but genuine, pathos that peeps out in some of
the lines through the difficulties and imperfections of
the text. Some of these may be attributable to the
practical inexperience of the bard in the art of weaving
the metric lay, of which he since became recognised as
a master. And it must be admitted that the life-like
picture presented to us, in a few gentle touches, of the
Lady of Creuddyn, borne to her grave by her own
sobbing children, followed with the tears and lamenta-
tions of the whole coimtry-side, to whom she had en-
deared herself by her humble and tmostentatious
charity to the sick and poor, carries with it a certain
foreshadowing of his future pre-eminence.

^ *' Dwyn cwyr," to bear wax tapers in the faneral procession.

162 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

From this elegy on Eleo, their sister, we are led on
by a natural tiunsition to the poem addressed to her
brothers by Huw Cae Llwyd, a bard who, though
partly his contemporary, belonged to the foregoing
generation. It were to be wished that some more pro-
saic record would reveal to us fuller particulars re-
specting these gentlemen, for which our appetite is
decidedly whetted by those derived from the poem.
But unfortunately we have none, save their names,
Ieuan, Owen, Jenkyn, and WiQiam, connected with
the few facts recorded in their pedigrees, and enu-
merated in the second volume of this work;^ also that
already adverted to respecting Ieuan, viz., that he sat
sixth on a grand jury in the last year but one of Henry
VIII; and last, not least, the one which, but for their
" vates sdcer" would have been consigned to oblivion,
that they were known and regarded with more than
ordinary respect in their day, as having earned by their
character and conduct, exhibited in distinctive traits,
the title par excellence of " The Four Brothers of Llan-
gurig."

CYWYDD T PEDWAS BEODYE O LANOUBIG.*

Pwy a rydd peunydd aur pwys ?
Piau holl iachau Powys ?
A'r soldau gorau a gaid ?
Pond wyrion penawduriaid ?
Piau 'r glod pwy ar gwledydd.
Pa frodyr yn filwyr fydd ?
Pedwar cymar, rhag camwedd,
Cedym iawn y caid yr un wedd.
Ieuan, tarian anturwyr,
Torri y'mlaen tair mil o wyr,
Owain ddewr, yn y ddwy ran,
Awdr yw ni edy ei ran:

1 P. 273. See also Arch. Camh. for 1867, p. 26.
^ From the MS. in the British Museum called " Y Melynhir,"
and numbered Additional MSS. UllL^s. The last twenty lines are

1 fl 7 •

found also in the " Llyfr-Ceniarth," tacked on to the fragment of
another poem, ascribed to Huw Cae Llwyd, containing park of the
Legend of S. Cnng.

OF THE mSTORY OP LLANGURIG. 163

Siancyn, roddwin wreiddwych,

A Hew dinam^ Wiliara wych:

Meibion Morys, fur awchys frig,

Llyna geirw Llangurig,

Ag wyrion enwog eryr;

Siancin, a roe win i wyr,^

Gwych a gadam y 'th famwyd,

A hael y w llin Hywel Llwyd.

Gwaed Padog, enwog o wr,

Gwaed Einion, ag o Danwr,^

Coed Rhys, yn cadw 'r oesoedd,

Cawr o wr, Llwyd, car larll oedd.

Caid o hil coed wchelyth,

Caterw fydd coetir fyth.

Caid anian yn cadw ynys,

Cawn roddion gorwyrion Rys.

Ond haelion, gwychion, y w^r gwyr ?

Ond tewrion, ac antarwyr ?

Ond tyfeilch yn eu tyfiad,

I rannu 'r tir, o 'r un tad ?

O dderwen fawr, o 'r ddar flfon,

Y cadeiriodd coed irion:

Ceingiau yn golofnau gwlad;

Ceirw a 'u hofn a 'u cariad;

Cyd tyfu y caid hefyd,

Cyd fiynnu a'u earn i gyd;

Curig, o, fewn y cnras,

A'u cryfed, cadwed rhag cas!

Cyd treulio y caid rheolwyr,

Cyd gildio, cyd gostio gwyr:

Cyd henaint y caid^ en heinioes,

Cyd rhannn hwnt,* cyd rhoi 'n en hoes;

Cyd gam* 'r Cymm y caid;

^ This wine mnst have been imported direct from France to the
neighbouring port of Aberystwyth. This passage, and one in an-
other poem, in which Llaognrig is described as noted for the ex-
cellence of its wine, furnishes a curious proof of the existence of a
trade with France in wine on the Welsh coast at that early period.

^ Madoc Danwr, the immediate founder of the Clochfaen family.
See his History, Mofit. Coll., vol. ii, p. 269.

* Y caid. The LI. Oeniarth has " cadwo."

* Cyd rhannn hwnt. The LI. Cen. has " Cydran himp."

^ Cyd gam. This is the reading of LI. Cen. The British Mu-
seum MS. has '' ffynnn," probably repeated by mistake from the
seventh line above.

164 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

Cyd gynnal^ cadw gweiniaid;

Cadw meirch ar frasgeirch fry^

Cadw gwyr, a 'a cyd garu,

Cadw eu gwlad mal eu tadau,

Cadwasant naw cant yniaa.^

Os gwyr yn garwyr a gaid^

Oes gerddiant yn esgweiriaid.*

Tyfasant at twf asen,

Mal ar hyd y milwyr hen.

Tri wyr o 'r nn bortreiad,

Tri maen, gwn, tryma 'n y gaad;

Tri ag un a fydd unair.

Tri chapten, tri phen y ffair.

Teiroes oil i 'r tri sydd,

Tedeiroes i 'r pedwerydd.

Huw Cae Llwyd a 'i c&nt.

THE FOUB BBOTHEBS OF LLANOUBIG.

Who gives daily gold by weight ?

Who possesses all the descents of Powys ?

And the best soldiers that are found ?

Is it not the grandsons of chieftains ?

Who possess renown over all lands ?

What brothers are they who are warriors f

Four comrades^ who, against wrong.

Alike have been found mighty.

Ieuan, the shield of daring men.

Would rout three thousand men before him;

Stout Owen, in the two divisions.

Will suffer none to quit his post.*

Jenkin, the noble wine-giver.

And gallant William, the spotless lion.

These are the sons of Morys, a bristling rampart.

These are the Stags of Llangurig,

And the grandsons of an Eagle of renown.*

Thou, Jenkin, who givest wine to thy men,

Art deemed to be a man noble and powerful;

^ Yniall. LI, Cen, The British Museum MS. has "nosan," which
is noD sense.

2 The British Museum MS. has "gerddiant ysgweireriaid."

* I doubt the soundness of the text in this line. The meaning,
anyhow, is far from clear.

* See the pedigree of Jcakyn Goch and of Catherine his wife.
Vol. ii, p. 272.

OF THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 165

And generoas is the Line of Howel Lloyd^

Of the blood of Madoc;^ a hero of renown.

From Einion^ and from the Fire-bearer,

Comes a perpetual forest of scions of Rhys Lloyd,

A gigantic hero, and kinsman to an Earl.

From that line hath proceeded a forest of descendants:

Wide-spreswiing for ever will that forest-land be;

In defending the Island hath its spirit been proved.

From the great grandsons of Rhys* shall we receive gifts;

Are they not men generous and gallant ?

Are they not men resolute and daring ?

In their increase are they not proud,

As sons of one father, to share the land between them ?

From a vast oak, from the stock of a female oak.

Hath spread forth a flourishing wood.

Whose branches are pillars in the land.

Stags are they alike feared and beloved.

They have been found both to grow together.

And all to prosper together in love.

May Curig, beneath their cuirass.

Strengthen them, and keep them from hate I

As rulers have they been proved to spend together.

Together to raise, and to pay their men,

Together hath their life attained its prime.

Together do they share in their life, together bestow.

Together have they been found to love the Cymry,

Together to maintain and support the sick.

To keep their tall steeds on finest oats:

Together to maintain, and love their men.

And preserve their country, as their fathers

Preserved it, with nine hundred energies.*

As their men have been found to love them.

So have they led the Ufe of esouires.

They have grown to the growth of a rib,*

Like the warriors of old in stature.

Three of the heroes are framed on one pattern, —

^ The great-grandson of Madoc Danwr. Though no special ex-
ploits or characteristics are connected vrith his name, yet, from
the frequency of reference to it, it would seem to have been asso-
ciated in the minds of the bards with somewhat more noteworthy
than the single quality of birth.

* Rhys Lloyd of Greuddyn was the great grandfather of these
brothers.

* J. 6., With courage and spirit inexhaustible.

* I. e., to a nicety.

S

106 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE

Three rocks, the heaviest I know to be found.
The three and one will hold one language.
Three captains, three presidents at the fair.
The three will have three lives;
The fourth will have a fourth life.^

The extract, of which the following is a translation,
is from a poem by Cadwaladr ab Rhys Trefnant, who
is stated in Enwogion to have flourished about the
middle of the sixteenth century. In it are celebrated
the virtues of Llewelyn, the husband of Elen, the sub-
ject of the above elegy; and her own praises are sounded
in the closing lines, although she is not actually named
in them. The poem is entitled, " An Ode to solicit
the loan of a Bull for the Lady of Peutyn,^ from Lle-
welyn, son of Morris, son of Rhys, son of Adam, of
Llaiigurig."

Who is the man of renown, of pure virtue.

Resolute and gallant, of a bearing free from vanity ?

It is the Lion of Battle called Llewelyn,

The falcon of the hill-country of fair Curig,

Of bright aspect, sign of a pure heart.

In steel mail, quick as Dervel with his staff.^

A gallant wine-giver is Jenkin,*

Morris* is noble for his humility of speech;

A man to draw the yoke of Rhys

Lloyd, like to a tawny lion.

Thou art the angel of the blood of Howel

Lloyd, the soul of all goodness;

A man the best offspring of Griffith,

The pure progeny of highest descents.

With noble increase from the blood of David

Tabam, mayst thou grow to be an Earl;

If thine eight sires be reckoned.

Thy pedigrees become numerous;

1 J. e., The life of each brother will be quadrupled, as it were, by
its perfect unison with that of each of the other three.

^ A place in Radnorshire.

3 The patron Saint of Llandderfel, in Edeyrnon. See his History
in Enwogion.

* The third of the "Four Brothers," and Llewelyn's brother-in-law.

^ The name of the fathers of both Elen and Llewelyn.

OF THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 167

Uncorrupt are thy four lines of descent,

Of no vile or base extraction is thine ancestor.

If thine ancient blood be stirred up.

No better blood exists in distant lands.

Than that which a sweet significance

Bespeaks in thy delicate features.

The blood of Rhys is a rampart, with his vast forest' yonder.

To prosper together with the Blood of Llawdden.

A wide-spread forest is the Blood of Trevor.^

Pure are thy degrees of afimity wherever the language is

spoken.*
Mighty Mathavam, with its men.
Is a portion of the fruit of the ancient warriors.

******
From Urien came a privileged line of descent,
Degengl, a scion of branches many and illustrious;
Gwaithvoed, a stag whose work is of excellent fashion.
Came— together with thy kindred that loved thee —
Came from Rhys. Good are thy roots:
The veins of Gethin's roots are one with theirs.
This does not touch
The sixth part there of what is yours;
On you, as on Ivor,* hath God bestowed
The greatest store of wealth;
How true is it that, with a brave hearty
By wealth is gained the world 1

Who doth not love thee, thou Chief over the multitude,
Thou Falcon yonder, circling round the cultivated land ?
Thy Spouse — worthy of praise is she^
Llewelin^s Lily, bright as the moon,
A Gwenhwyvar, a second Avarwedd.
In manj virtues is she perfected.
Savoury messes are in her pantries.
Rampart of thy Tribe! may Mary uphold it!
Thou art one to distribute — thy fame shall endure.
Like that of the hero Bran, in the Upland of Curig.

With this poem we do not yet lose sight of the Fotir
Brothers. The Llyfr Ceniarth contains others addressed

^ A forest, in Welsh poetry, often means a host of kindred or
clansmen.

* Tudor Trevor.

* Literally, " throughout the language."

* Ivor Hael.

168 WELSH POETEY OF LLANGURIG.

respectively to three of their number, as far as may be
gathered from internal evidence, for their titles in the
MS. speak only of their being written in honour of " the Clochfaen Family;" a circumstance which, together with
the numerous gaps and corruptions or mutUations of the
text which occur in them, tends greatly to obscure their
meaning. In the MS. they are all (one by Sion Keri
excepted) subscribed with the name of Huw Arwystli,
with the addition of dates, which, however, are either
too early or too late to be calculated to do otherwise
than mislead; one being fixed at 1570, and the others
so far back as at, or about, 1500. As many of these
poems have, with more or less appearance of proba-
bility, been ascribed to Huw ArwystU, who is thus,
pernaps, more than any other, entitled to the appella-
tion of " Bard of Llangurig," it may be fitting to intro-
duce them with an epitome of the few scattered notices
which we have been able to collect of his career.

169

WELSH POETEY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE
HISTORY OF LLANGURIG.

By HOWEL W. LLOYD.

Part II.*

Sketch op Huw Arwystli.

The latest oral tradition relative to Hugh Arwystli,
still, perhaps, current in some districts of Wales, is
that he was remembered as a very old man and a
cripple, who had no fixed abode, but was to be seen
now at one place, now at another, chiefly at the man-
sions of the gentry, with whom he was wont to ingra-
tiate himself, and to requite their hospitality, after the
manner of the ancient bards of his country, by the com-
position of poems addressed to some member of the
family, generally its head, in which its praises were
sounded in a somewhat high-flown strain of panegyric.
Such poems were usually commenced by a reference to
the antiquity of the family-stock, traced up to the ninth
degree. This was followed by details connected with
the pedigree, deduced in the male, and, if possible, also
in the female line, from some British hero, the founder
of a royal or noble tribe, or failing that, of one of its
collateral branches; concluding with a special encomium
on the character of its existing representative, in which
bravery, generosity, noble bearing, and last, not least,
hospitality, were ever the conspicuous features. To
this were generally added allusions to the profusion of
his banquets and the excellence of his cellar; the former
presidea over by the lady of the house, whose beauty,

1 70 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

grace and birth were surpassed only by the inexhaustible
resources and economy of her mSnage, as well as bounty
to the poor. Occasion for such effusions was furnished
by any current event of domestic importance, as a birth,
a wedding, or a funeral — especially the latter — so far as
may be inferred at least from the predominance among
their extant compositions of poems bearing the title of
Marwnad, or " Elegy on the Dead."

Respecting the birthplace of Huw Arwystli we pos-
sess, liifortunately, but little or no infomation. His
surname, however, may be itself accepted as evidence
that it was somewhere' in the hundred of Arwystli;
and this is confirmed by the circumstance that, in the
heading of a poem assigned to him in the British Mu-
seum, he is called Huw Arwystli of Tref Eglwys, in
that district, as well as by the familiar allusions to this
village which occur in his poems.\ Some evidence,
moreover, is afforded by the compositions, now for the
first time printed, that part of his early life was passed
in the village, or at least within the parish of Llan-
gurig. It would lie beyond the scope of this paper to
examine the question minutely; but, as tending to
such an inference, may be instanced his perfect acquaint-
ance with, and affection for, the locality — ^its ancient
church, its bright and lovely Wye, its sacred and war-
like traditions; together with his intimate acquaintance
with all its principal households, and the most intimate
details of their several connexions and relationships;
the heartfelt interest which he displays in even their
most trivial concerns, particularly of Clochfaen, which
he sets forth to us as the fountain-head of the rest of
the same descent from Madoc Danwr, or the " Fire-
bearer," and more remotely from Einion, and Tudor
Trevor. His devotion to Curig, its patron saint, springs
manifestly from some pecuHar tie, which he feels to be
binding on him personally. There is a passage in which
he alludes mysteriously to his own residence within the
parish at some prior, and seemingly very early period
of his existence; and, in another, the strain rises sud-

1 " Cywydd y Benglog,'' in Add. M88., 14,875, British Museum.

THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 1 7l

denly from its commonplace alliterative style to one
simply and unaflfectedly poetical, when adverting epi-
sodically on the one hand to the picturesque features,
and on the other to the well-remembered faith and de-
votion of his own beloved " Bro Gurig/'^

A traditional story, in which is depicted the manner
in which the peasantry loved to believe that their coun-
tryman came by his " Awen/' or poetical genius, is pre-
cious for the characteristic morsel embodied in it of the
old Welsh folk-lore, the spirit of which is now to all
appearance extinct. It tells how a poor despised cripple,
Hugh Arwystli by name, was Wont upon occasion when
a wayfarer through Montgomeryshire, and in want of a
night's lodging, to turn aside into the church of Llan-
ddinam and there compose himself to sleep. It chanced
one May eve that, in this sacred refuge, he fell into a
deep slumber, when he beheld a vision as of one who
approached him, and made a sign as it were of causing
somewhat to enter into his brain. On the morrow he
was awoke by the merry voices of a bevy of maidens
who came tripping by with their laps full of fresh-gath-
ered may. One of these tossed to mm a branch through
the windQw^under which he had reposed, remarking
playfully tocher companions, "I wUl bestow on this
poor cripple some may, as none of you wUl give him
any.'' Thereupon Huw, who had heretofore never com-
posed, or learnt to compose, a single stanza, improvised
a sonnet of thanksgiving to the maiden for her gift.
From that day forward he was able to compose poetry,
and attained to such excellence in the art, that he
maintained himself in high favour with the Welsh
gentry by means of it throughout the rest of his life.
The last fact is abundantly certified by the number and
diversity of the compositions ascribed to his pen, many
of them addressed to persons of rank in almost every
part of the Principahty. The tale ends simply with
the explanation that what he had seen entering his
brain was the " Awen,'' in which, it is added, in proof

1 Gang's Land.

T 2

1 72 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

of the estimation formed of him by his countrymen, not
one of his contemporaries surpassed him. Of this no
slight corroboration is found in the Visitations of Lewis
Dwnn, the Welsh herald,^ who places the names of
" Huw Arwystli and Morgan Elvael, chief musicians",
among those " of the generation which I saw aged and
grey-headed, who were perfect poets, duly authorised,
and all graduated," And it is confirmed by the testi-
mony of William Lleyn, the " Poet Laurel," as John
Rhydderch terms him, in Elizabeth's reign, who, reply-
ing to some stanzas sent by Hugh to felicitate him on
his escape from drowning at the hands of a man who
had thrown him into the Dovey at Penal, writes

" Arwystli! to thy poet Huw
Both Lore and Art belong;
And Nature liath inspired him too.
To weave the sprightly song/^^

It would scarcely, however, be fair, with our present
limited knowledge, to attempt a critical survey of his
poetical merits. The remarkable fecundity of his muse
is testified by the number of his extant compositions.
Sixty-six of his poems are enumerated in the " Cymm-
rodorion Catalogue" in the British Museum, and fifty-
five more which appear to be in his handwriting (be-
sides some in other MS. volumes), are bound up with
others in a single quarto volume of the Hengwrt
Library, now at Peniarth. If to these be added thirty-
three, the first lines of which are given in the famous
** Repertorium" of Moses WUliams,^ omitting to reckon
three poems, which are found also in one of the above
lists, and one ascribed, in " Gorchestion y Beirdd," to
Howel ab Rheinallt, together with one in the collec-
tion of the late Rev. Walter Davies: the sum total of

1 Vol. i, p. 8.

* Djsg ag addysg go weddol — o gy wydd

Ag awen ysbrydol;

Odid tm nad ydyw 'n ol

Huw Arwystl ntLtuviol— Add, M8S,f 14,892.
' British Musuum Catalogue, No. 872, 1. 4.

THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 1 73

his compositions will amount to no less than one
hundred and fifty-five. Of these, perhaps from twenty
to thirty may be dispersed in different collections, and
thus are more or less known to the poetical public of
the Principality. Into them a considerable number of
errors have crept in the process of frequent transcrip-
tion, increased doubtless also, in many instances, by
the fact that his handwriting is extremely difficult to
decipher. It would be necessary, therefore, that his
works should be carefully collected, and edited in a
scholarlike manner, to enable the public to form a
sound judgment on the question of their average merit.
Still the remark may be hazarded, in arguing from the
known to the imknown, that it is unlikely that many
of these would be classed in the highest rank of classical
Welsh compositions — at least in the condition in which
they have reached us. Not a few of the poems best
known to us bear the appearance of having been in-
dited with facility, indeed, and with a considerable
admixture of humour, but hastily, on the spur of
the occasion, and (with certain exceptions) with no
great regard to the rules of metrical symmetry, or
even of grammatical construction. In regard to the
former, indeed, so frequent are the instances of laxity
as to suffffest the idea that the author must have
declined, on some preconceived principle, to suffer him-
self to be trammelled by the more stringent require-
ments of his art; unless it is rather to be supposed
that they were loosely put together in the first in-
stance with a view to revision and amendment at some
future opportunity, which in fact never arrived. Be
the explanation what it may, it is a fact that, in the
quarto volume at Peniarth already mentioned, the
compositions, which are in Huw's handwriting, but
unattested by his signature, are for the mopt part
penned in so cramped and attenuated a character as
to puzzle even a practised eye to decipher; and, in
one of them, a copy of which has been kindly furnished
to the writer by the owner, who was unwilling, how-

1 74 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

ever, tx) certify fully to the correctness of the transcript,
these seemingly characteristic defects of composition
appear largely to prevail. They cannot, therefore, be
wholly accounted for on the hypothesis of carelessness
or ignorance on the part of transcribers, or even by
the seeming impracticability of determining, in every
passage, the words which the author actually wrote.
It is strange that the text of the copies of some of his
works in the British Museum which, from the fre-
quency of their transcription, would seem to have been
most popular, should be in so defective a state as to
lead naturally to the inference that their very tran-
scribers must have failed to understand them, or at
least to appreciate their beauties; whence it may, per-
haps, further be inferred that we owe their preserva-
tion rather to the inherent passion in our nature for
heaping together a collection, rather because it is a
fashion, than because its contents will improve or
bfenefit ourselves.

In a few, however, as, for instance, the " Cowyddau
Mab y Ffalsder a Chywirdeb," there is a certain appear-
ance of finish and elaboration which is lacking to many
of his compositions; whence it is natural to conclude
that they were the favourite offspring of his fancy, upon
which he bestowed an amount of labour and thought
which he scarcely cared to expend upon lines that ori-
ginated merely with some jovial occasion, or were jotted
down at once in the very shape which they first assumed
in his teeming imagination, excited after a merry-
making with the desire to glorify some hospitable host,
or glowing with the frankness and abandon of a satirical
correspondence in verse, with an appreciative and kin-
dred spirit, like Sir Ieuan, the jovial and rollicking
minister of the village of Carno in Arwystli, who would
be slow to mark trifling inaccuracies of composition
while enjoying and reciprocating his humour, even when
too freely lavished at his own expense.^ This sense of

^ There is a passage in one of Sir lenan's poems which tells in
act the other way, in which, while deferring to his antagonist's

THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 1 75

humour in his character was largely intermingled with
practical g5od sense and knowledge of the world, such
as peep out in the following lines, translated, or perhaps
more correctly speaking paraphrased, from the remark-
able poem addressed to Rhys ap Morys of Aberbechan.*
These qualities would probably be far more often appa-
rent in the works of Huw, and of other Welsh poets,
if not lost in the obscurity of tacit allusions to social
habits and modes of thought now become almost unin-
telligible because obsolete. It may be added that the
poem in question would seem to nave been composed
on the occasion of the young man s attainment of his
majority, or entry into public life, an event which must
have occiured in the reign of Henry VIII. It is re-
markable for a certain tacit assumption of the old bardic
authority to inculcate instruction and instil counsels
of wisdom into the minds of young men of rank and
position. In the palmy days of the bards, such counsel
was far from being resented by its recipients; an|i,
even at this later period, the language of the poem in
question is a sign that the old social landmarks had not
as yet become wholly effaced. * There are, however,
expressions in it which go far to show that 1-he privi-
lege, though still to a certain extent claimed and ac-
corded, had need to be cautiously exercised; and any
offence which might naturally have been taken at sucn
freedom in the person of one who, albeit a graduated
bard, was, in point of social position, but a poor wan-
dering minstrel, is ingeniously obviated by the delicate
way in which words of warning are rather insinuated
than outspoken by the poet, who contents himself,
moreover, with glancing indirectly at certain defects of
character in their object, the mischievous tendency of
which to mar an otherwise promising career he plainly

marked superiority to himself as a poet, he complains that Hnw is
unmercifnlly hjpercntical in his judgment of his own petty faults
of composition.

* For the original, and a prose translation of the former part of
the poem, see Moill, Coll.f vol. iii, pp. 395, 397.

1 76 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

foresees, unless subjected to the timely counteraction
of a powerful self-control.

" Thou dealest justice, lovest truth.
Sewer ^ and Squire,^ a gallant youth I
As grows thy favour, be discreet.
So shalt thou rise, yet keep thy seat.
The shoot that springs from deep ploughed land.
With earliest wheat shall fill thine hand;
From rays that warm the spring-time shower.
Will sprout in tufts the primrose flower;
And of the noon-day heat is born
The fructifying ear of com.
So, with thine auburn locks, at length,
Thou'lt ripen to thy prime in strength.
Well shall it be with thee, if wise.
Thou suffer not thy wrath to rise.
Of men uncouth thou canst but deign
To slacken, as thy steed^s, the rein.
Rhys! be not proud. Man's haughty ways
6od will not speed to length of days.
Thou needst it not; yet I bestow
On thee the Seer's full mind to know.
Thus also. Heir and Lord I twofold.
Thy counsel shall to fools be told.
No double tongue should e'er presage
An office from thy patronage.
The double-faced will overreach;
Unjust is he of double speech.
No ill-considered judgment give.
Confirmed by learning's page, 'twill live.
Nor rail — thine ignorance to hide —
Ere judgment given on either side.

* By an error of the press the word " sener" in the Welsh poem
has been translated " receiver," on page 394 of vol. iii, for " sewer,"
an office, the qature of which has been described in note 2 to the
Welsh original, page 398. The name is derived from the old French
esculier, or the scutellarius, i, e., the person who had to arrange the
dishes, in the same way as the acutellery (scnllery) was properly the
place where the dishes were kept. Domestic Architecture, v. 3, p. 80,
n., quoted in a note to John BusselVs Boke of Nurture, p. 162, of
Manners and Meals in Olden Time, published for the Early English
Text Society, Triibner, 1868.

^ Possibly an esquire of the body to the reigning sovereign. See
the notice of Edward Herbert, vol. iii, p. 356.

THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 177

Temper thy too impetuoas fire.

Nor lose thyself thro' treacherouR ire.

By sound discretion wind thy ball.

Discretion will nnravel all.

Whatever may hap, gaze npward still;

When yokes of oxen climb the hill.

The sober, even-temper'd beast.

Will longest last, and saffer least.

In framing honest oath be nice.

Nor ever frown for prejudice.

Tho' folly thwart thee, do not strike,

And sleep upon no man's mislike.

Of kith and kin uphold the brood,

'Tis thine — why weaken, then, thy blood ?

If

The poetical correspondence, if it may be so termed,
between Huw Arwystli and Sir Ieuan of Camo, above
alluded to, is suffffestive of another quality inherent in
the muse if our^led bard, » Jy. a ^un^nt vein
of satire, which is readily discernible under its outer
integument of a rich, but not always delicate, humour.
The actual circimistances which occasioned it are pro-
bably lost to history; they are partly traceable, how-
ever, through the medium of the somewhat obscmre
allusions to them in the course of the poems. The first
of the series is a " cywydd'' or ode,^ in which a young
lady is urged to exert upon the too susceptible Sir
Ieuan the influence of her charms, yet not to the extent
of incurring risk to herself, for the purpose of restrain-
ing him from following the bard into Pembrokeshire to
" Castell Gv^rys,"* or Wiston Castle, the mansion of Sir

1 Commencing thus:—'

" Y ddyn sad, wych, ddawnos, deg,
Ag ael fain, a gloyw &Tieg.''

In a copy taken from a MS. by the Rev. D. Ellis of Gricaeth, in
CaernarvoDshire, it is entitled " Cy wydd i Ferch i ddymnno ami i
ddenn Syr lenan rhag canlyn y Bardd i dy Mr. Wg^on o Grastell
Gwys vn Sir Benfro." There is another copy in the British Mu-
seum (Add. M88., 14,874).

* " Rhyfig praff sy'm iV gafiael,

Ym mnriau cwrt marchog had,
CofiV da lie 'r ceifT Huw V dewis
Cistiau He 'r gwn Castell Gwys."

1 78 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OP

John Wogan, the then representative of the Wogan
family.^ To Huw the consequences of her failure would
be serious; the wine and the gold that would form his
proper guerdon would fall, in part at least, to the share
of the rival bard; and so enamoured, in fact, would the
"reverend prelate" become of Sir John Wogan's hos-
pitable entertainment that, once enthralled by its allure-
ments, he might never thereafter be prevailed upon to
quit them.*

It is difficult to imagine how a poor wandering cripple
could be serious in attributing to the beneficed clergy-
man the intention of rivalling him in minstrelsy for the
favours of the great; and we should simply be left to
imagine that, beneath the semblance of such a charge
was veiled a real compliment to the excellence, qxialify-
ing him for success in the imaginary competition, of the
ecclesiastic s poetical powers, did not the appeal to the
power of feminine charms^ over the impressible temper-
ament of the supposed rival, lead to the suspicion that
more is intended than actually meets the eye. To this
poem, as there is no rejoinder from Sir Ieuan, so should
we be left to the merest conjecture on the subject, were
it not that Huw has twice again reverted to it, and
that in a manner which leaves us ultimately little room
to doubt of his ulterior meaning. To the object of
attack, in fact, was conceded, in the first instance, no
interval for reply; for this was at once followed up by
another of a similar character,* though somewhat vary-

1 " Rhwystr i 'r lieu, rhy ystor lanwych,

Flas gwln Syr Sion Wgon wych."

2 " Nad S. 'r Prelad parchadwy,

Barfog, o dai 'r marchog mwy."

3 " Addaw *n deg, e ddaw *n d' ogylch,

W ad i *th gael, nawdd Duw i *th gylch,
Dy lun, Gwen, delw neu gauwyll,
Dy liw byth a' i deil o' i bwyll."

* This appears, from the nse of the word " ddoe" (yesterday), in
the following lines of the " Ode to the Blackbird": —

" O Dduw mawr! fu ddoe 'mwriad,
I 'w rwystro i Ben fro heb wad;
Da fyddai na fedrai fo,
I dai 'r Wgon i drigo."

THE HISTORY OF LLANGURIG. 1 79

ing in form. It is entitled "An Ode,* wherein a
blackbird is sent to Rhys of Carno (Aberbechan) to in-
duce him to withdraw his protection from Sir Ieuan of
Camo, and send him away." After apostrophising the
bird with some poetical compliments to his character-
istic features, qualities, and plumage, he bids him speed
with a letter to Rhys ab Morys,^ on whose mansion,
spacious and wealthy, he skilfully introduces an enco-
'"mium, and requests him to cease entertaining this dig-
nified (urddawl) clergyman at the wine-banquet, nor
suffer him to remain at Camo, where, though of acknow-
ledged learning and eloquence, unless Rhys were at hand,
he would be fain to deprive his flock of both matins
aad even song, in his haste to seek him at Aberbechan;
nay, on one occasion, he had left for that purpose as
many as nine of his sick parishioners bereft of ex-
treme unction.^ The priest, moreover, would insist
upon following Huw throughout the Principality, divert-
ing to lus own behests the presents that were his per-
quisites as bard, and had even possessed himself of the

[0 great Gk)d! but yesterday I purposed
Undonbtedly to keep him away from Pembrokesliire;
Well woald it be that he should be nnable
To go and stay in Wogan's mansion.]
^ Beginning: —

" Yr edn a' i big is gwig gwydd,
A fflam awch, a ffla mnchydd."

* " Draw mae'n rhaid, was byrfras big,

Danfon llythyr dan fin llithrig;
Marcia di, ym mro Cydewen,
Orsedd barch wr sydd ben,
Glymais ddoe 'nghyd gwynfyd gof,
Gerdd at Rys, cerdda drosof."

3 " Ni erys yng Ngamo dirion,

Oni cheir Rhys yn ochr hon;
A' i geisio, didro, dendroed,
Plygain i Gydewain dod,
Ki cheir Gosber, nid erys,
On 'd eir i 'w ol i dai Rh3rs.
Caiff, sy 'n dal clwyf o' i blwyfwyr
Gam, na ch&n' gymmnn, och! wyr:
A meirw fydd, mwy rhyfeddir,
Heb Clew, naw o' i blwy 'n wir."

180 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

parlour appropriated to his use in Rhys's house. For
such enormities the poem ends with a suggestion that
the only remedy was to send him wandering for the
remainder of his days, as an incorrigible vagrant, from
Camo, it might be, to Cornwall.

To these effusions a reply from Sir Ieuan is extant,^
in which he seems partly to affect to regard them in
the light of ironical compUments, parrying, at the same
time, in a sort of mock-serious tone, the seeming attacks
upon his conduct. Calling the blackbird again into re-
quisition, in a strain in which Huw's previous descrip-
tion of him is elegantly paraphrased and amplified, he
desires him to return to Rhys ab Morys, and, with
encomiastic speech,^ outvying even that of Huw, to
plead his cause before hun. Adroitly ignoring the
young lady, to whom Huw s first poem was addressed,
the priest limits his defence to the justification of his
visits to Wiston and Aberbechan, enlarging upon " the
Nightingale of Arwystli's" proneness to exaggerate, not
these faults only, but those of his poetical compositions.^
If a service or two had been missing in his church on a
Sunday, this had been simply owing to a necessity
for the administration of extreme imction to some of
his sick parishioners, an office, he significantly adds,
which he would never fail to perform for any one of
Rhyss fine. As for Huw's complaints, "chief bard"
{hrifardd) as he is, they arise from an excessive appe-
tite, which he would do well to restrain, for the good
things of this world; and adds that, while himself en-
titled to share the liberality of the great, his advanced

1 Commencing: —

" Yr edn sy 'n dwyn, gwych, mwyngall,
T&n o'r llwyn tew iawn, i *r Hall."
s See the translated extract from this poem in Mont, Coll., vol. iii,

pp. 396, 396.

8 «* Mae bai ar fardd gloywfardd glyd,

(Awydd yw 'r bai ar dda V byd,)
Ac ni chair nn gair angerdd
Fan, yn y gwaith o fewn y gerdd;
Na cbai *r ddwyran, mab anfodd,
Eos Arwystl a sorodd."

THE HISTORY OP LLANGURIG. 181

age might have sufficed to secure him from the envy of
one so young.

From the tenor of Arwystli's rejoinder, we may gather
either that the poet felt himself piqued into acrimony,
or that, agreeably to his original plan, he was now to
immask his battery, and commence in earnest a fire
more calculated to produce a serious eflfect than volleys
of mere playful irony on his opponent. Be that as it
may, the style of this, his last attack, seems bitter, even
to virulence; still, however, there is an overflow of
exaggeration and hyperbole about it, which seems to
prove that he by no means intends the charges intro-
duced into it to be taken as hterally true. The poem
is addressed to a certain " Philip Goch,* an appellation
to which that of " the Fowler" is added by Sir Ieuan in
his rejoinder. This Philip is clearly reierred to as a
person of considerable wealth and influence, but in so
vague a manner as to furnish a very slight basis for
identification. His physical courage is compared to
that of " Svr Ffwg" (Fulk Fitzwarine,); the hero of
Welsh Border romance, and the constant theme of the
Welsh bards. He is compUmented, also, for the cou-
rage and pertinacity evinced by him in the extermina-
tion of vagrants,' and it is in this special capacity that
his aid is invoked by the poet.* Sir Ieuan, a reverend

^ The opening lines are: —

" Y dyn ay 'n dwyn, er *8 enyd,
Draw 'n i balf draian byd,
Ffarf Syr Ffwg, flTerf surian ffon,

Ffilip, gyflymwip fflowmon;
Cur Biolan beilcfa Llaer Sialed,

Y gwreng rhydd, gorau ynghred;
Dean, Arfon, Meirionydd,

Dwy Went, a' n sel, danat sydd."

' Vide Lewis's Olyn Cothi^ p. 216, note to line 55; also Arch,
Camb,, iii, new series, p. 282.

* " Byrh& 'r hwaran, briw 'r herwyr,

Brinara gig bronnau gwyr."

* " I'm rhan, fy Nghymro hoynwyf,

Bnost erioed, bostio 'r wyf;

182 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

dignitaiy. a man of learning, whose praise is in pedi-
grees, follows Huw everywhere throughout the Princi-
pality, from Mona to Aeron, from Aeron to the two
Gwents, playing (the harp ?) as he goes, gaining fame
as a second Ieuan Deulwyn, or lolo Goch, and this
partly by plagiarising the verve of Huw's own verses,*
so that, like the celebrated eagle, though

Keen were his pangs, 'twere keener far to feel.
His own the pinion that impelled the steel/'

Hence results a popular distaste for the poor crippled
bard's poetry. He finds himself completely* ' cut out," as
it were, by an imauthorised intruder, and, as a natural
consequence, his bardic guerdons of hound, hawk, and
gold,^ — nay, more, the smiles of the fair, henceforward
are lost to him. " Thomas^" would maintain him; but
there again at his side, " like his shadow," is the rev-
erend greyheaded gentleman. He concludes, therefore,
with a humorous appeal to Philip to come to his rescue.
The prelate must be brought to reason, or he will leave
him no room in the land. He must be driven forth by
threats, and (if these suffice not) by the actual applica-
tion of staff and spear. Let his hair be torn out oy the

Y mae nrddawl, a mawrddjsg,

Yn iachau inawl, yn eich mysg,
Mae i 'm cerdd csskd i 'th wlad Ian,
Oes, o ryfig Syr lenan.
• • . ■

Lie 'i bo, cerdd ni ehaf dafod,

Lie *i bwyf, er hyn, e fyn fod;
Ni tbroediais, ni fedrais fan,
Bowys, na bai lenan."
^ Upper and Lower, called also Nether and Blaenan Gwent. — E.H.
2 " Dwyn fenrnerth, barcb, Dnw 'n famwr,

Am enro' i gerdd, y mae'r gwr."

^ *' Ni ehaf, ni cheisiaf na chi,

Yn Nehenbarth, na hobi,
Na marcho gaetb meircb hirwen,
Nag anr, er llwnc y gwrllen.
* Perhaps Thomas Mce, son of Rhys of Aberbechan, whose
mother, Gwenllian, was danghter of " Tudor Rhydderch." Vol. iii,
p. 393, n[orth]. 5.

THE HISTORY OP LLANGURia. 183

roots, and his body belaboured with buffets, till nought
be left of the old " crane" {sic) but his crown.^

In all these attacks there would seem to be too much
of an assumed appeai^ce of levity and of hyperbole to
admit of the hypothesis that they were meant to be taken
literally. Sir Ieuan, indeed, in his reply, consisting of
a hundred and twenty verses, so affects to deal with
them; but he must inwardly have felt that a some-
thing was implied by the author, the expression of
wS in wori he cieftilly studied to avoid. Their
positions were essentially different. The poet, a poor
wandering cripple, albeit a graduated bard, depended
upon his talents for his bread. The ecclesiastic was
comfortably established in the world, and basked in the
simshine of its favours. Putting a bold front on the
matter, he begins by demanding, "Who is this that
projects alliance with a gallant gentleman ? Let him
not meddle with powder and fire. A tall man, the very
prince of fencers, with his long lance, ready to disperse
whole cart-loads of vagrants, is the noble Philip Goch
the Fowler. Woe to the vagabonds if they await his
eagle's swoop!"* Then launching into the midst of his

It

Dithan, Ffilip, doeth, glan, goch,
Tris dwys, chwym, trustiais amoch,
Par reoli y Prelad,

Ni &d le i 'm yn dy wlad.
Bwriwch ef hynt o 'ch bro cbwi,

Bygythiwch bigo ei wythi,
Ag, oni ffy gan y flTon,

Trwy'r Hen tro 'r gwaew Uinon.
Yng Ngwynedd ni gai awen,

Ymlyn k V palf ymlew *r pen,
Yngbyd & 'r gnawd, dygnawd ddyn,
Na ad garan ond ei goryn."

" Pwy 'n bwrw alvums paan brenlan ?

Peidier k thi powdwr a thin!
Gwr hir, k *r ben gwara 'r byd,

A gwaew anian hir genyd,
Gyrr williaid, fenaid, ar ffer,

Gwych Ffylip Goch y Ffowler.
Gwae 'nhwy i 'th arcs, gnith eryr,

Genyd k gwaew i gwnidio gwyr;
Gwnewch olwg, (gwae ni chiliai!)

Gwiber gpvyllt, ffoi gwibwyr rai.

184 WELSH POETRY, ILLUSTRATIVE OF

subject, lie complains that his poetical powers ha