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AN ESSAY
WELSH SAINTS PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS USUALLY CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN TUB
FOUNDERS OF CHURCHES
WALES THE REV. RICE REES,
M. A.
<^^A*^-n,
FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND PROFESSOR OF WELSH AT ST.
DAVID'S COLLEGE, LAMPETER.
LONDON: LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN; REES, LLANDOVERY; AND BIRD, CARDIFF. MDCCCXXXyi.
e
WILLIAM RKES, PRI.VTEn, LOWER STREET,
LI.
ANDOVE RY.
TO THE MOST HONOURABLE
THE MARQUESS OF BUTE, PRESIDENT,
AND OTHERS, THE COMMITTEE,
GWENT AND DYPED ROYAL EISTEDDFOD, HELD AT CARDIFF AUG.
20, 21,
&
22, 1834;
THE FOLLOWING ESSAY, HONOURED WITH THEIR PATRONAGE UPON THAT OCCASION.
IS
MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THEIR HUMBLE SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
776701
'^The existence of a British Church before the arrival of AUGUSTIN IN the YEAR 597 IS A FACT CLEARLY ESTABLISHED. ItS INDEPENDENT ORIGIN IS SUFFICIENTLY ATTESTED BY THE SUBJECTS OF CONTROVERSY BETWEEN THE! AnGLO-RoMAN AND BRITISH CHRISTIANS. —The Britons had churches of their own, built after a fashion of their ownj their own saints; their own hierarchy." Blunt's Reformation in England, Chap, I.
PREFACE, As an is
apology for presenting these pages to the public,
perhaps necessary to inform the reader that they were
ginally written with a view to competition for a offered
by
subject
for
the
best
dissertation
on
the
''The Notices of the Primitive Christians, by
Out of
whom
to
whom
the
dedicated."
several compositions transmitted for the approbation
of the Society, the Essay,
was adjudged
to
mendation that
it
now
printed in an enlarged form,
be successful, accompanied with a recomshould be published
;
and though some time
has elapsed since the occasion which called is
following
:—
Welsh Churches were founded, and
it
premium,
Gwent and Dyfed Royal
the Committee of the
Eisteddfod,
it
ori-
hoped that the
will ensure
it
it
into existence,
interest naturally attached to its subject
a favourable reception.
Historians have laboured to trace the origin of the Britons, a profusion of learning has been to unravel the mysteries of
who
finds
Romans,
expended in the endeavour
Druidism, and the antiquarian,
any vestiges of the occupation of carefully
records the discovery
;
this island
—so
by the
long as the
inhabitants of Britain feel an interest in the history of their forefathers, disquisitions attention,
scanty.
upon those
subjects
must demand
though the materials of information are exceedingly
Every author,
therefore,
who
treats of the affairs of
this country, prior to the departure of the Romans, has been
PREFACE.
vi
and
diligently consulted,
variety of
meaning
points of enquiry.
his expressions construed into every
so as to obtain a
The
new
illustration of the
present researches, however, relate to
a period comparatively neglected
their object being to trace
;
the ecclesiastical history of the Britons, from the introduction
of Christianity, or more especially from the termination of the
Roman power in Britain, to the end of the seventh century. From the close of this period, the annals of Wales have been minutely detailed by several chroniclers whose labours are extant
before
;
commencement, the history of Britain may
its
be collected from the scattered notices to be found in writers
;
and
if those notices are not so
many
wished, they are authentic, and are as
pected
when is
as
classical
as can
may be
be ex-
the distance of the island from the capital of the
Roman empire points
numerous
is
The
considered.
a historical blank
;
for
it
interval
between these
must be confessed that the
Welsh, though possessed of a variety of records relating to that time, have not preserved a regular
of their ancestors
who
rose into
and connected history
power upon the departure of
the Romans, and who, notwithstanding their dissentions, maintained a longer
and more arduous struggle against the Saxons,
than the continental parts of the empire did upon the irruption of the Goths and Vandals. to
In the middle ages, those records,
which was added a large
attention
of the
store of tradition, attracted the
romance-writers,
them with a cloud of
fable,
which
who
at last,
gradually
invested
when arranged and
regularly digested, was suffered to usurp the place of history.
This remark
is
applied particularly to the Armorican chronicle
usually attributed to Geoffrey of ever,
Monmouth.
It should,
how-
be allowed in justice to that person, that he was not
inventor, for a
Welsh
version of the original
which shows that he merely made a
is
its
preserved,
free translation, inserting
occasionally interpolations of his own.
When
the chronicle
f
PREFACE.
vli
alluded to was brought from Brittany to Wales
Mapes
in the twelfth century, its contents
flattering to national vanity, that
it
by Walter de
were found
be so
to
was soon received
as
an
authentic record of facts, to the disadvantage of other records
For a long time implicit
of a less pretending nature.
was given
human
to the story of Trojan-British kings,
actions of
faith
and the super-
Arthur and his valorous knights commanded
the admiration of Europe, few caring to question the truth of tales
which suited the
The
with delight.
taste of the
age and
mined the race of Trojan-British kings tion,
filled their
criticism of later years has
and most writers are contented
to
to
readers
however deter-
be a pure fabrica-
commence the
history
of Britain with the invasion of Julius Caesar, following the Latin authorities until the termination of the
Roman power
in
the island, when, for want of more satisfactory information,
they are obliged to have recourse to records which they
know
not where to trust, or leaving the affairs of the Britons in that
darkness which they could not dispel, they have confined their researches to the Saxons. It is
but right to
fables in the
state, that
the substance of several of the
Armorican chronicle was known in Wales before
the time of Walter de Mapes, a fair specimen of which
be seen in the
works of Nennius ; but the Welsh were
may also
possessed of records of another and a different kind; these
were a
collection of
poems,
by the bards and written
triads,
and genealogies, preserved
y formation to be derived respecting the Britons of the two following centuries may, bardic and the legendary.
served Latin, several
by the monks and
therefore,
The
latter
or clergy,
saints.
fifth
in-
and
be divided into the
kind, which was pre-
was written principally in
consists of the History of
Welsh
The
in the national tongue.
Nennius and the
The genuineness and
lives of
authenticity of
the works attributed to Gildas are questionable, and yet as
b
PREFACE.
viii
deserving of some
they are undoubtedly ancient they are
But
attention.
Britons, both in historical
is
it
remarkable that in
Welsh and
allusions
vagant
in
tales
are related
;
the records of the
Latin, before the twelfth century,
abound, which are at variance with the
narrative of the Armorican chronicle
later fabulist
all
even the most extra-
;
Nennius are more limited than those of the
and the various ways
by the former, prove
in
which the same
that in his time they
reached the consistency of history, whereas in the is
no
hesitation,
but every story
is
tales
had not
latter there
told as positively as if the
writer were an eye-witness.
The amount of information, the
Welsh
or rather tradition, preserved
and during the sojourn of the Romans, is
by
relative to the Britons before the invasion of Caesar is
small,
asked, whether
it is
can chronicle and
its
and that
But
intimately blended with bardic mythology.
possible, discarding entirely the
little
may be
it
Armori-
followers, to construct, out of the before-
mentioned older materials, a history, which hiatus between the departure of the
shall
Romans and
supply the
the beginning
of the eighth century, where the authentic chronicles com-
mence.
—The present
to supply partial
the
one
Welsh
is
the
the deficiency. ;
first
attempt, upon such a system,
The attempt, however,
for as the purpose of this
is
but a
Essay was to treat of
saints or founders of churches, national affairs are
only noticed
incidentally.
Whatever success therefore may
attend the present undertaking,
it is
hoped that
if the
idea be
approved, a more extended research
may employ some maturer
judgment and an abler pen.
result of
The
an accumulation
of the most authentic notices that can be collected, would be the production
of
a history,
displaying indeed
those moral features which distinguished the
Welsh
time, but bearing a very slight resemblance to tion.in the pages of Geoffrey.
its
many
of
at a later
representa-
PREFACE.
IX
In groping through this period of darkness, some glimmer-
may be borrowed from Bede,
ings of light
the contemporary
writers of Gaul, and perhaps from the Irish historians
;
and
compiling such a history, where authorities of the legendary
in
kind must be consulted, a simple rule may be observed, which,
does not always
if
nearest approximation to
which
oldest writer,
The
limited.
which
namely
was
to take the story of the
generally found to be the most
is
character of fable
originally
is
true, is in
progressive, and a story,
most cases repeated with
This rule has been established with great clearness
additions.
by
it,
also
the truth, will produce the
elicit
"Europe
the author of
Cyclopaedia, vol.
iv. p.
in the
Middle Ages,"
(in Lardner's
67:) observing the manner in which
Nennius has been amplified by Geoffrey, he adds is
:
—" There
no greater difference between Geoffrey of Monmouth and
Nennius, than between Nennius and Gildas. very instructive;
it
may
This fact
is
enable the judicious investigator into
the antiquities of ancient Britain, and of Britain even in the
Anglo-Saxon period,
to
steer his
way through
the darkest
path ever traversed by historian."
The learned had not access
writer,
whose words are quoted,
regrets that he
to the ancient relics subsisting in the
Welsh
lan-
guage, which he supposed must contain stores of information
but
little
known
to the public.
Those
relics,
so far as they
have been printed, form the principal materials of the following dissertation
;
and meagre
as they
may
seem, they strongly
confirm the presumption of their antiquity by the circumstance, that they are frequently at variance with the legendary
authorities
ments
are
senting as
and wherever they appear
;
to agree, their state-
more circumscribed than those of the it
have sprung.
latter,
pre-
were the germs out of which subsequent fables
An
examination of the bardic records, there-
fore, if it will not discover authentic materials of history, will
PREFACE.
X at least
be of service in tracing the origin of romance, and in
this respect
may
literature of
Europe.
tend to elucidate a large portion of the
Leaving the task of demonstrating the progress of fable
to
the general writer, the business of the antiquary, whose object is
the history of his country,
authorities that can
to search after the oldest
is
be procured, and afterwards to consider
them by themselves, divested of the misconceptions and ex-
By
aggerations of later ages.
this
mode of
proceeding,
many
statements which receive current belief, will be found to rest
on a
slight foundation
placed in a
new
;
and much of the remainder, being
light, will
operation of this rule
is
assume a
the cause
The
different character.
why many
assertions,
which
have hitherto been credited, are rejected in the following pages
;
but wherever such cases occur, the particular reason
added, and the reader must decide according to his
judgment upon
its validity.
Welsh records are not allowed
is
own
It will
be observed that even the
to pass
without a scrutiny ;
many
of their positions, which are shown to be untenable, are sur-
rendered
;
and that mistakes should have been committed, can
by no means be to
which they
surprising,
when
refer is considered, as well as the neglect
which they have been suffered
The documents, its
to
which of
genealogies.
under
to remain.
for the possession of
been celebrated, and
been paid, are
the remoteness of the times
which Wales has long
late years little attention
Of
these a large store
is
has
pre-
served in manuscript, and though from their minuteness of detail
they must necessarily contain inaccuracies, yet, as the
may be rectified upon compariAn attempt is now made to render them
pedigrees are numerous, they
son with each other.
available for the purpose of history, to
construct an
connect the
artificial
Roman
by arranging them
chronology.
In
so as
endeavouring to
period with the eighth century, such a
PREFACE.
Xi
plan was absolutely necessary, for in the lapse of three hun-
may
dred years very few dates occur upon which any reliance
attention to this arrangement, the
be placed; and without
events reported present only a mass of confusion.
It is
how-
ever satisfactory to learn, that the few dates that have been ascertained, agree undesignedly with the arrangement of the
and so far confirm their correctness. The dates, by Archbishop Usher in his " Britannicarum Ecclesarum Primordia," and which he perpetually shows to be confused and contradictory, belong to chroniclers of the Armorican
pedigrees, collected
school,
and are of
however
little
value
contains, amidst
:
much
the
work of the Archbishop
irrelevant matter, a fund of
valuable information, for which the present writer
The reason why
indebted. is
their
intricacy,
and
is
greatly
the pedigrees have been neglected
at first sight they
are certainly un-
promising, but as they are interspersed with historical notices
they are deserving of attention ; and that for
many
it
should not be forgotten
ages the only historians
whom
the
Welsh pos-
sessed were their genealogists.
y Localities are a very powerful auxiliary in forming a constructive history.
In
exceedingly deficient are
certain
;
this respect the
for the
few
Armorican chronicle
is
mentioned in
it
localities
towns and places which were well known and
flourishing at a late period, proving, not only that the record
was recent, but
also that it
The scene of the
was compiled in a
fable is laid
down
distant coimtry.
in Britain, but the places
known
introduced are such as were of sufficient celebrity to be abroad.
The events of history do not always occur at dis-
tinguished towns, and
it
might be expected that
places,
which
were celebrated in past ages, had afterwards become obscure. National traditions often refer to a spot, of a
hill
traditions,
it
may be
the
summit
or a pass between mountains, which, but for those
might have possessed nothing remarkable.
The
PREFACE.
Xii
Welsh
\^
traditions
and records abound
of which are generally precise
;
in localities, the notices
among
these the situations of
A
churches are not the least distinguished.
churches are called after the names of native fore
may be and
further
much
number of and there-
many undoubted monuments
considered as so
of
but Welsh tradition proceeds
existence of those persons; f
vast saints,
churches were so called, not so
asserts, that the
because they were dedicated to the
saints, as
because
they were founded by them. If the assertion be true,
follows that
it
in the Principality, the origin of fifth
and sixth centuries, flourished.
alluded to
many churches most of the
for in those ages
will not
from such high antiquity, it
saints
That churches, though frequently same
rebuilt, should continue uninterruptedly in the
when
exist
which must be dated from the
situations
be deemed extraordinary,
can be proved by authentic testimony that the ground,
on which the church of has been the
site
Martin at Canterbury stands,
St.
of a church, bearing the same name, from
The
a date prior to the departure of the Romans. in that city
cathedral
another instance of equal antiquity, which also
is
shows that wherever, from war or other causes, a sacred edifice
had been demolished or had been
ruins, such
was th€ veneration attached
crated, that a
and
it
new
edifice
for
some time in
to a spot once conse-
was erected in the same
situation
;
should be remembered that the Christianity of Wales
did not, like that of Kent, suffer an eclipse from the intervention of paganism.
In the
first
three sections of this Essay
ciples of induction that the churches,
founded by the
saints
whose names
it is
shown by
presumed
to
prin-
have been
they bear, are more
ancient than those which are dedicated to the Apostles and the saints of the
Romish Calendar
opinion of their foundation
;
is
and therefore that the current confirmed by existing circum-
•
PREFACE.
They were founded
stances.
not in
at a
xiii
time
when
the Britons were
communion with the Church of Rome, and before the
practice of dedicating to saints according to the usual
had become customary. appears that the Christians
tive
mode
From
Bede,
testimony of
the
mode it
of consecration, practised by the Primi-
of this
was
island,
peculiar.
—Wherever
a
church was intended to be erected, a person of reputed sanctity was chosen to reside on the spot,
where he continued forty
days in the performance of prayer, fasting, and other religious exercises
sacred,
;
at the expiration of the time, the
ground was held
and a church was erected accordingly.
turally follow that the
of the person by
—
church should be called
whom
It
would na-
after the
name
the ground was consecrated, and in
this sense the
word "founder,"
consideration,
must be understood.
as applied to the subject It
under
remained for subsequent
generations to regard the founder in the character of patron saint.
Popiilar opinion seems to maintain that are
named
after
or
made with
may be proved
to
respect to such as
have been, chapels, which,
with respect to parent churches the proposition
indeed be true in every instance, but
is
being no criterion by which
distinguished.
Edifices as they
now
assumed its
for
;
and
may
not
reasons that shall appear, cannot claim so early an origin
fact, there
An
Welshmen, were founded by them.
exception, however, should be are,
churches, which
all
as a general
exceptions
may be
being purely an
exist,
The of wood
architectural question, constitute no part of the enquiry. original churches of the Britons
and covered with thatch, and stance
were it is
all
of them built
singular that this circum-
was made a ground of objection
to
them by the
Catholics.
So numerous are the Welsh
manner the
saints, that their history is in
ecclesiastical history of their
time
;
but
it
a
must be
V
PREFACE.
XiV
confessed that nothing further
and
their genealogy
is
known of many of them than The question of the cele-
their churches.
bration of Easter, and other points, on which the Primitive Christians of Britain differed from the Romanists, have been
ably discussed in other publications is,
if possible, to
add
which have been but cessors,
;
the object of this treatise
to the stock of information
partially investigated.
whose works have
whom may be named
from materials
To
his prede-
facilitated these researches,
among
the authors of " Horse Britannicae" and
" Hanes Crefydd yn Nghymru," the writer acknowledges his obligations
;
and though he has sometimes
conclusions, he has done so with
diffidence,
differed
and
is
from their aware that
the same fate will in turn befal the present undertaking.
Knowledge
is
the accumulation of past experience, and
that the best informed writer can expect to accomplish,
contribute but a to
trifle to
the general heap, leaving
be estimated by his successor.
St.
David*s College,
Nov. 24, 1836.
its
is
all
to
amount
AN ESSAY,
ETC.
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. SECTION I. The comparative Antiquity of the Foundation Chapels Churches at
in
of Churches and Wales, ascertained from the nature of their Endow»ients.
first
few, and their parishes extensive
11
Subdivision of ancient parishes; Chapelries
12
Origin of vicarages
13
Instances of Churches of the earliest Foundation
15
Foundation
15
Churches of
later
,
.
Vested rights of Churches respected by the Welsh Princes
16
Parochial Chapels, and Chapels of Ease
18
Cells, Oratories, and Hermitages Use of the words " Llan, Capel, and Bettws"
20
The
21
19
establishment of parishes gradual
Effects of the
Law of Gavelkind
21
Parent Churches not converted into Chapels
23
Subordination of Churches and Chapels proved from the
24
Charters of Monasteries
SECTION
II.
The Subordination of Churches and Chapels considered with reference to the Saints to whom they are dedicated. Churches dedicated to
St.
Mary
.
.
.27
Their late origin proved from their situations historically considered
.
.
And from Domesday Book Churches dedicated to
St.
Michael
.
.
.
.
,
More ancient than those dedicated to St. Mary} but Not so ancient as those ascribed to Welsh Saints Churches ascribed or dedicated to Their antiquity
.
St.
David .
.
.
.32 .35 .36 .
40
.
42
.
43
.45
AN ESSAY,
4
&c.
Testimony of Gwynfardd Brycheiniog about A. D. 1200
48
Amended
.
52
Parent Churches were probably founded by him, but the
54
list
of Churches of St. David, of which the
Chapels and Subordinate Churches were erected after his decease
.
.
.
SECTION
,55
.
Their situations not arbitrarily chosen
.
.
56
III.
General Observations on the Welsh Saints as distinguished from THOSE OF the Roman Catholic Church. Dedication to Saints, not the practice of the ancient Britons Separation of the Britons from the Church of Rome Architecture of the British Churches
Mode
of Consecration practised
.
Wales j
Christians of
its
Invocation of Angels
effects
,
the
Christ-
Primitive
.
.
.
.
.61 .61
The homage paid to St. Mary, of late introduction The Welsh Saints, the Founders of most Churches which .
bear their names
,
Second Class of Foundations
The Welsh brought
Rome
into
in the Eighth
.
.
communion with
Century
59
.60
.
The same mode used apparently by
58 .
by the Primitive
ians of Scotland
57
62
.64 .64
Church of
the
.
,
.65
Romish Computation of Easter introduced by Elbodius, Archbishop of Bangor .66 .
First notice of
a Church dedicated to
Third Class of Foundations Chapels named after Welsh Saints
Catholic Saints of Britain
Prydain" Triads
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Bonedd neu Achau .
.
SECTION The Welsh
Michael, A. D. 717
.
Churches consecrated a second time
Welsh Authorities;
.
St.
.
Saint ,
.
67
.69 .69 .70 .71 Ynys
.73 .75
IV.
Saints from the Introduction of Christianity to the end of the second century.
Account of the Introduction of Christianity into Britain by Bran ab Llyr . .77 .
Its
authenticity questioned
Account of Bran
in the
Mabinogion
.
.
.
.
.
.78
.80
CONTENTS.
5
Companions and Descendants of Bran Lleurwg or Lucius
.
81
.
.
.82 .83 .84
.
His History uncertain
.
.
Dyfan, Ffagan, Medwy, and Elfan
.
.
Lucius possibly the founder of a Church at LlandafF, said to
have been the
first in
Britain .
SECTION
85
.
.
Memorials of his Contemporaries
.86
.
V.
An Examination of the early Welsh Pedigrees, with a view to ascertain the period about which the commencement of their authenticity may be dated.
Maximus
Deficiency of Welsh tradition from Lucius to A. D. 383
.
.
.
Descendants of Bran ab Llyr
.
.
Inconsistencies in the Pedigree
.
Descendants of Bel
.
i
Mawr
*
.
.
Fabrication of Pedigrees which relate British Period
in
the
.
to
the
.
.
.
.
.
Cadfrawd, a Saint and Bishop Mistakes,
.
Roman-
.92 .92
presumed Lineage of Bran ab Llyr,
explained
.93
.
.
.
Age of Cadfrawd, Coel Godebog, and CynanMeiriadog The Authenticity of Welsh Pedigrees commences in the .
fourth century
•
.
SECTION The Welsh
88
.89 .90 .91
94
.94
.
VI.
Saints from a.
d. 300
to
a. d. 400.
Alban, Amphibalus, Aaron, and Julius
.
.
96
Constantine the Great, not a native of Britain
.
.
97
Helen, not a British Saint
British Bishops at the Council of Aries A.
D. 314
Councils of Sardica and Ariminum
.
Descendants of Coel Godebog
.
Ursula and the eleven thousand Virgins
Pelagius
.
.
•
.....
Settlement of Cynan Meiriadog in Armorica St.
.98
.
.
.
.
.
.
SECTION VII. The Welsh Saints from a. d. 400 to
100 101
103 104 105 105
a. d. 433.
Emancipation of Britain from the Romans A.D. 408 or 409
106
the Britons
107
Owain ab Macsen Wledig, Chief Sovereign of
AN ESSAY,
Q
,
Maximus
Descendants of Macsen Wledig or
Cunedda Wledig, a Chieftain of
&c.
.
Wales
in
.109
.
Ancestry of Brychan, regulus of Brecknockshire
Descendants of Cunedda
Brychan
of
Other British Chieftains
Lands given
to the Saints
Peblig, a saint
MorabCeneu Visit of
;
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
by Cunedda .
.
.
.
.
Germanus and Lupus
.
to Britain
.
« Victoria Alleluiatica"
.
.
Welsh Account of Garmon or
St.
Germanus
Locality of the AUeluiatic Victory St.
Lupus
Hen
.
.
117
120
122 125
.
.
113
.121
.
.
Ill
.119
.
Examination of the testimony of Prosper .
110
.113 .114 .115
Notice of his Churches by Llywarch
Churches ascribed to
108
.
....
Cunedda
Settlement of the Sons of
Age
108
.
the Northern Britons
.126
.
SECTION VIIL The Welsh
Saints from
a. d. 433
to
a. d. 464.
Cystennyn Fendigaid or Constantine the Ble^ed
127
Welsh
128
tradition of St. Patrick
His supposed residence at Menevia or
Second
He
is
Visit of St.
David's
Germanus
hospitably received
Insulted
St.
129
by Cadell Deyrnllug, and
by Vortigern
....
Gwrtheyrn or Vortigern
.
.
Gwrthefyr or Vor timer Rencounter between
St.
;
St.
131
132
132
134 Patrick and Ceredig ab Cunedda
Family of Brychan Sonsof Brychan
130 130
Churches ascribed to him
Cynllo
129
135 136
Cynog, &c.
Daughters of Brychan
.
138 .
.
146
Legend of St. Keyna
153
Brynach Wyddel
156
Distribution of Churches ascribed
Brychan
The Welsh Female
Saints,
Saints
to
the
Family of
....
.
.
an order of primitive monks
Cornish List of the Children of Brychan
157 158 159 160
CONTENTS. SECTION
IX.
Saints from the Accession of Vortimer THE Death of Ambrosius a. d. 600.
The Welsh
a. o.
161
Descendants of Cadell Deyrnllu|
Gynyr
of Caer
Gawch
Gistlianus, bishop of
Tewdrig ab
162
Menevia
;
Uncle of
Teithfallt, prince of
Descendants of
464 to
St.
David
Glamorgan
162
164
.
Emyr Llydaw
165
Expulsion of the Gwyddyl Fficbti from North Wales by 166
Caswallon Lawhir Retreat of several of the Northern Britons to Wales
167
Pabo Post Prydain
168
Geraint ab Erbin, a chieftain of Devon
169
Gwynllyw Dyfrig or
Filwr, chieftain of Gwynllwg, Monmouthshire
....
173
Archbishoprick of Caerleon
The
removed
dignity
LlandafF Its
power
lost
to Menevia,
and afterwards
to
174
174
between contending parties Caerworgorn,
Colleges of Llancarfan,
founded by
St.
170 170
Dubricius
St.
and
Caerleon,
176
Dubricius
CattwgDdoeth
176
Churches ascribed to him
177
lUtyd or
178
St. Iltutus
Churches of
179
St. Iltutus
British Monastic Institutions
181
Use of the terms « Cor and Bangor"
181
The Members
of the British Monasteries or Colleges
181
very nnmerous
184
Death of Tewdrig ab Teithfallt
....
Meurig ab Tewdrig
Not the same person of Arthur
as Uther
Arthur, a Native of Cornwall
Paulinus or Pawl Ffraid or
St.
184
Pendragon the Father
H6n
185
185 187 189
Bride
SECTION
X.
The Welsh Saints from the Accession of Uther Pendragon TO the Death of Arthur a. d. 542, Synod
at
....
Llanddewi Brefi respecting the Pelagian Heresy
The Heresy
refuted
by
bishop of Caerleon
St.
David, who
is
a. d.
191
elected Arch-
192
500
AN ESSAY,
Q Death of
Dubricius
St.
Relics not worshipped
Dewi
or
Brought up under
,
and Paulinus
.
his
.
.
.
Extent of his Diocese Traces of
.
.
193 193
194
in the Valley of Rosina, afterwards
He removes the Archbishoprick from
Memory
His Death
.
^
.192 .
....
Sts. lltutus
Menevia
His Character
.
the Primitive Christians .
Founds a Monastery called
.
.
by
David
St.
&c.
.
in
.
.
Caerleon to Menevia
197
.
198
.
199
.
.
Devon and Cornwall .
.
Canonization by Pope Calistus
195
.196
.
.
.
.200 .
201
Expulsion of the Gwyddyl Ffichti from South Wales by
UrienRheged North Britain
.
.
.
.
.
.202 .203
Account of the Britons of Cumberland Dunawd, Founder of the Monastery of Bangor Iscoed .
Brochwel Ysgythrog, defeated by Ethelfrith Saints of the Line of
AfanBuallt
Carannog or
Cunedda
.
.
Einion Frenhin
;
His Legend
.
Aneurin
5
208 208
.208
.
209
212 213
.....
215
Padarn, the First Bishop of Llanbadarn Fawr
Amwn
Family of Caw
.
206
company of Saints from Armorica
Arrival of Cadfan with a
Tydecho^
.
.... .
.
Carantocus
St.
.
204
Ddu, and other Armorican
.
Saints
Question of his identity with Gild as
AeddanFoeddog, Bishop of Ferns
.
.
.
.
.
.... .... ....
Samson, Archbishop of York
218
224 225
227
.
228
Archiepiscopal Pall claimed by the Bishops of St. David's
229
Maelog ab Caw
230
.
Family of Geraint ab Erbin Families of
Gwynllyw
.
232
Ynyr Gwent
.
233
.
.
.
Filwr, and
Inundation of Cantrefy Gwaelod
Romance
of Taliesin
Legend of St. Justinian
Festivals of Saints represented
.
.
by modern Fairs and Wakes
SECTION
234 236 238 240
XI.
Saints from the Accession of Cystennyn Goronog 542 to the Death of Maelgwn Gwynedd a. d. 566.
The Welsh A. D.
Cynog, Bishop of Llanbadarn and Archbishop of Menevia
242
CONTENTS.
..... .... ....
Teilo, Bishop of Llandaff
He retires to Armorica He returns and is appointed Archbishop of Menevia The Archbishoprick removed to LlandafF List of his
Teilo
St.
.
Churches
.
.
Ismael, Tyfei, and Oudocens
Samson, Bishop of Dole
in
.
Armorica
Gwynno
or
in
Armorica
Gwynnog ab
Cyndeyrn
St.
.250
.
.
251
.
.
252
.
.
David
.
or St. Kcntigern, the First Bishop of
He retires to Wales, and
246
.
Daniel or Deiniol, the First Bishop of Bangor Consecrated probably by
245
lestin
.
Gildas
244
.244
Disputes between the Bishops of Dole and Tours
Welsh Saints
243 244
.
.
Grant to the Church of LlandaflF by Rhydderch ab
Death of St. Teilo
242
.
,
Diocese of
9
.
255
.
256
.
257
.
258
•
259 261
Glasgow
262
founds the Bishoprick of St.Asaph
His alleged Correspondence with the Pope
.
262
.
..... ....
Consecration of British Bishops not deemed valid by the
Romanists
Cybi
Beuno
.
.
*
•
.
•
.
.
.
•
Ancient Welsh Bards
Did
the Primitive Christians of lation of the Scriptures
Wales
?
SECTION The Welsh Saints from the Death
264 266
268 271
possess a Trans-
272
.
XII.
of
Maelgwn Gwynedd a.
d. 5C6
TO THE CLOSE OV THE SiXTH CeNTURY.
Advance of the Saxons St,
.
Not
•
.
Asaph
the Author of the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain
His Churches
Columba, Founder of the Monastery of lona
Landing of St. Augustin
SECTION
The Welsh Saints from
273
274
.
..... ....
Tyssilio, Bishop of St.
St.
.
Oudoceus, Bishop of LlandafF
277
277 278 281 281
XIII.
a. d. 600 to the Death a. d. 634.
of
Cadwallon ab
Cadfan View of National
Affairs
Bede's Account of the Conference between
and the Monks of Bangor Iscoed Observations upon Bede's Account
.
.
St.
283
Augustin
.
.
284
.
.
288
AN ESSAY,
10
&c.
Refusal of the Britons to submit to the Pope
Alleged Reply of Silence of
Dunawd
Bede respecting an Archbishoprick
Commissions received by
.
.
288
.
,
289
to St. Augustin
St.
Wales
.
291
Augustin from Pope Gregory
291
Seven Bishops of the British Church at
this
in
time
.
Massacre of the Monks of Bangor by Ethelfrith
Legend of Gwenfrewi or
St.
Winefred
.
292 293 295
.
SECTION XIV. The Welsh
Saints from the Death of Cadwallon THE Death of Cadwaladr a. d. 664.
....
Reign of Cadwaladr
a. d. 634
..... .....
Confounded with Ceadwalla, King of Wessex
Cadwaladr esteemed a Saint Peris
Edwen
.
.
.
.
to
299 300 301
302 303
SECTION XV. The Welsh Saints FROM THE Death OF Cadwaladr
a.d, 664toth}3 End OF the Seventh Century, including those of uncertain date.
known of the history of Degeman or St. Decumanus
Little
this
Rome
Welsh
Saints of uncertain date
Curig
Lwyd
Aldhelm
Welsh
to the
.
.
.
.
.
....
Appendix, No.
II.
been dedicated
306
307 309
.
312 313
...... ......
Appendix, No. I.—Saints of Britain from of Brittany"
305
.311
Britons at this time not under Papal Jurisdiction
Concluding Observations
305
Ton-
.
.
304
Church
to Geruntius respecting the
sure and Paschal Cycle
The
.
.
Objection respecting the number of Saints Epistle of St.
.
..... ..... ,
Saints after the Conformity of the
of
Generation
—Anglo-Saxon
in
Wales
Appendix, No. HI.—A
Cressy's «
Church History
whom
Churches have
Saints to
.
.
.
.
315
322
and Chapels in Wales, ineluding the County of Monmouth and part of the County of Hereford
Index
.
List of Churches
.
.
.
323
.353
SECTION The comparative in
I.
Antiquity of the Foundation of Churches and Chapels
Wales ascertained from the nature of
According
to popular opinion,
Wales were founded by
names they
retain,
their
many
Endowments.
of the churches in
certain holy persons or Saints
as if
whose
Llangadog and Llandeilo,* or the
Churches of Cadog and Teilo, were not so called in consequence of any formal dedication, but named after their founders,
who
are alleged to have lived in the fifth
Lest however
centuries.
it
Records and Traditions, which support high antiquity, are of
and
sixth
should be urged that the Welsh this opinion of their
insufficient authority,
it
may be proved
that churches of the class alluded to are necessarily, from the
nature of their endowments, the most ancientt in the Principality, if
indeed they were not founded in the early age to
which they are
attributed.
In the absence of positive evidence to the readily be granted that the
and that they were afterwards multiplied casions that required them.
fact,
Welsh churches were
How
it
will
at first few,
to serve the oc-
soon certain districts were
apportioned for their maintenance, cannot well be determined. It
is,
however, probable that the
districts first
appropriated
Usually written " Llangadock" and "Llandilo," but the Welsh spelling
is
mode of
here preferred, in order to render the meaning of the names
more obvious. t These observations apply
to
churches as regards their original establish-
ment, the antiquity of the edifices which
now
exist,
being
more of an
architectural question, docs not belong to the purpose of this Essay.
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
12 were extensive
;
but when once they were attached to par-
ticular churcheSj the sacred nature of ecclesiastical property
would tend
to preserve
their
limits
If therefore
inviolate.
any such extensive appropriations can be discovered^
may
it
be presumed that the churches to which they belong are those
An
of the earliest date.
example may be taken from the
northern part of Radnorshire, where the churches of Nantmel,
and Llanbister are
Llangynllo, Cynllo.
ministry, or
it
will
be
sufficient if it
some influence over
sessed
ascribed
dedicated
or
to
This tract of country was probably the scene of his
be allowed that he pos-
Whenever
it.
would be
tithes
assigned for the support of the clergy, this tract would be
divided
three
into
districts,
which
should
ministers of the three churches mentioned.
wards be found that these churches were accommodation of
were therefore
so
districts
built in the
maintain It
would
insufficient for the
Chapels of Ease
extensive.
more remote parts
the minister of the mother church found
it
and whenever
;
inconvenient to
whom
attend in person, he would appoint Curates, to
allowed a certain stipend out of his
the after-
own income
;
for
he
he still
maintained his right to the tithes of the whole district as before.
and
In process of time the
district
would be subdivided,
certain parts assigned to the Curacies,
which would thus
become Parochial Chapelries ; and though the Curacy might
become Perpetual, the minister nomination. little
He
also
more than nominal,
At
retained the right of
several parts
to the tithes of the
which would together constitute to their
still
maintained his right, though perhaps
so
many
parishes according
modern arrangement.
this
day the
district
of
Nantmel, in the county of
Radnor, includes the several parishes of Nantmel, Llanfihangel-Helygen,
Llanyre,
and
Rhayader.
Nantmel
Vicarage in the patronage of the Bishop of
St.
is
a
David's;
Llanfihangel and Rhayader are Perpetual Curacies in the gift
of the Vicar of Nantmel, and the Curacy or Chapelry of
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. Llanyre
vested in the Vicar himself,
is
directly or indirectly, provides
of the whole
for
The Vicar,
district.
a share of the tithes of
all
it
Uj
who
thus,
either
the religious instruction is true,
does not possess
the four parishes, but this right
is
by the Impropriator, who, as founder, must be considered as one and regards the original for it is agreed by ecclesthe same person with the Vicar claimed and
still
exercised
:
iastical historians, that the subdivision
and
vicarial
and
first
was an arrangement
made
to
suit
of tithes into rectorial
posterior to the foundation,
the convenience of
the minister.
Originally the Incumbent of every parish was a Rector, and
under him the Vicar held a that of Assistant
situation precisely analogous to
When
Curate in modern times.
it
was
found that the Vicar could perform the whole of the duty for a part of the emolument, so
much was
given him by
endowment, and the remainder was applied
to the
way of
maintenance
of a Monastery or the Cathedral of the Diocese.
The Vicar
would
as,
instead of
having a precarious stipend and being removable
at pleasure,
readily
and
his place
the
befel
chapels
consent to this arrangement,
salary
clergy
who performed
separate ministry, out of
in
service
certain portions of the parish
;
for their
The same
were made permanent.
the
fate
remote
were assigned them
which they received a
certain small allowance as a fixed stipend, but, as an equi-
were made Perpetual
valent, their Curacies
;
while the far
greater portion of the tithes of the entire district maintained
some
distant religious establishment,
represent the original Rector.
without
its evils.
which had been attached Those
transition,
tithes,
to
Jealousies broke out between the monastic
and parochial clergy; and,
by an easy
which thus continued
This arrangement was not
at
the Reformation, the tithes,
to Monasteries, passed
into the
from them,
hands of Lay-impropriators.
however, which had been assigned for the sup-
port of Cathedrals and Collegiate Chapters were suffered to re-
main, and are
still
an
illustration of the
system here described.
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
14
There are
also
of parishes appropriated
instances
monastic institution, where the
be performed by a Perpetual Curate without the
to
to
were
parochial duties
a
left
inter-
vention of a Vicar ; but such parishes are generally smaller
than those
The
now under
consideration.
expression " mother church" can only
edifice so designated is of older foundation
chapels dependent upon
But
admitted.
if the
it,
and
view of
mean
that the
than the several
this rule is
very generally
ecclesiastical foundations, just
described, be correct, the chapels mentioned as subordinate to
Nantmel, must not only have been built
church, but at a time
nized and established.
its
after the
endowment was
If the chapels were of older date,
endowed
church with the
his
to the prejudice of places of
tithes of
an extensive
would remain
of^
no provision
for the support of additional churches, except
dependent upon the Rector of the
The
district,
worship already existing in the
country; but, the tithes being once disposed
as
mother
fully recog-
not likely that the founder of Nantmel would have
is
it
when
first
establishment*
of Llanbister, also in the county of Radnor,
district
comprises the parishes of Llanbister, Llananno, Llanbadarn-
Fynydd, Llanddewi Ystrad Enni, and Llanfihangel Rhydeithon;
subject to the former;
the last four are chapelries
they are also Perpetual Curacies in the patronage of the Chancellor of Brecon, or his
Lessee,
who
* " The Constitutions of Egbert, Archbishop of York,
represents
in the
the
year 750, do
take care that churches of ancient institution should not be deprived of tithes,
or any other rights, by giving or allotting any part to
{Fide Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, Vol.
is
not too
same period manently
have
much in
to expect that they
oratories."
in
England as early
as A. D. 750,
were equally well defined about the
Wales, where Christianity had been longer and more per-
settled.
In the Principality the integrity of benefices appears
b'jen first disturbed
by foreigners, though
new arrangement introduced by them was native princes.
new
sub voce Chapel.)
were so well defined
If existing rights it
I,
it
to
must be regretted that the
not adopted generally by the
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.
who
Rector, and
]5
claims and receives the whole tithes of
still
The
the five parishes, except the vicarial tithes of Llanbister. district
and
of Llangynllo extends over the parishes of Llangynllo
and
Pilleth,
probably included originally one or two
it
which are now separate
small parishes adjoining,
As
these districts are very extensive
it
may
benefices.
be con-
safely
cluded, that the places of worship to which they are appro-
were
priated
built
first
when churches were
Leaving
few.
therefore the question of chapclries for a future consideration, it
may be assumed,
that
Niintmel,
Llangynllo,
Llanbister,
and other churches of a similar endowment, are churches of the
first
As
or oldest foundation.
Christianity
became more general, the want of places come next to
of worship in districts unappropriated would
be considered.
now be
felt,
The
necessity of multiplying churches
and the
tithes
to
necessarily extend over tracts of country
extent according to the nature of
occupied.
the
in
ground before un-
These parishes cannot be formed into a separate
determine the order of their foundation; largest
much
varying
from the preceding, for their extent
class
would
be attached to them Would
endowments
alone will
are necessarily ancient, there
not
though the
and,
is
nothing to
prevent a small endowment from being of equal antiquity.
But when parishes of very unequal limits are intermingled must be attributed to the natural
together, their arrangement
obligation of circumstances.
So
far the
endowments of churches proceed
without any prejudice to existing rights. districts of the Principality
and the country
is
systematically,
There
where the system
are, is
however,
broken up,
studded with numerous churches,
them small rectories, had been converted
as if the chapelries
into
all
of
which before existed
separate benefices.
A
slight
ac-
quaintance with the history of these localities will show that this
new arrangement
is
the result of foreign conquest.
churches are principally found in the southern part of
These
Pem-
—
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
IQ
brokeshire,* in the Vale of Glamorgan,t and on the borders
of England;
while the system of subordinate chapelries
most perfect
country where the inde-
in those parts of the
pendence of the natives was of longest continuance.
Welsh
Princes,
respected the
notwithstanding
their
of
their
vested
rights
Normans and Flemings,
is
asserting the
endless
The
dissensions,
churches; J claims of
but the conquest,
Occupied by a colony of Flemings about A. D. 1100.
t Conquered by Norman adventurers about A. D. 1090. J This is not only proved from the existing state of churches in Wales, but Giraldus Cambrensis, who wrote his " Cambriae Descriptio" in the reign
of King John, mentions
The
this particular as if
passage
following
is
it
were a national
characteristic.
from that work as translated by Sir
extracted
Richard Colt Hoare. " We observe that they show a greater respect than other nations to churches and ecclesiastical persons, to the
and the
cross,
relics
of
saints, bells,
which they devoutly revere; and hence
more than common animals feeding
in
tranquillity.
For peace
is
holy books,
their churches enjoy
not only preserved towards all
churchyards, but at a great distance beyond them, where
certain boundaries and ditches have been appointed by the Bishops in order to maintain the security of tlie
sanctuary.
But the principal churches, to
which antiquity has annexed the greater reverence, extend
their protection to
the herds as far as they can go to feed in the morning and return at night."
(Book
I.
Chap.
18.)
This passage
is
further remarkable as
it
shows
that there existed in the
time of the writer a class of churches distinguished for their antiquity; and if
such churches were the most extensively endowed,
why
it will readily appear So tenacious were the Welsh of the
they are called "the principal."
integrity
of their benefices, that, even when they were inconvenient from their
great extent, rather than subdivide them, they appointed several clergymen to the
same
living.
Giraldus says,
""Their churches have almost as principal families in the parish;
many
parsons and parties as there are
the sons, after the death of their fathers,
succeed to the ecclesiastical benefices, not by election, but by hereditary right possessing and polluting the sanctuary of God.
chance presume
to
certainly revenge the injury
of Wales, Book
II.
And
if
a prelate should by
appoint or institute any other person, the people would
Chap.
upon the
institutor
and
instituted."
(Description
6.)
Giraldus Cambrensis was Archdeacon of Brecknock, and in one of his Visitations,
he speaks of a church
in
Radnorshire as having
six
or seven
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS would
establish
churches
where they
last foundation,
expedient.
considered as of the
leaving those which are intermediate in un-
the present.
certainty for It
thought
may be
All churches of this description
17
may be
objected
by some,
that the extent of benefices
depends not so much upon their subjection to Welsh Princes, or
Norman
Lords, as upon the barrenness, or
A
country in which they are situate.
Wales
will
be
sufficient to
fertility
glance at the
show, that though parishes
of the
map of may be
large or small for the reason specified, the objection does not
apply to endowments. The of Carmarthen,
filled
is
which are subdivided
fertile vale
places of worship are sometimes
The
first
class,
in
districts
the
recesses of the mountains appear to have
Wales chose
Carnarvon contains
for the
present,
at
to live in such situations as
most secure from foreign aggression
fertile
in the county
and on the other hand,
numerous
been more populous formerly than habitants of
Towy,
into parishes, of greater or less extent,
to suit the nature of the country;
most barren.
of
with endowments of the
;
in-
were
and thus the county of
more churches than the larger and more
county of Montgomery,
Though
churches, strictly so called, were few,
it
was not on
account of the scantiness of population, for chapels of every description were scattered over the Principality,
clergymen. illius.")
without compromising
of
St.
found
Asaph in
more Walensium,
C'Clerici sex vel septem,
The custom of its
dividing
extract, relating to the
participes Ecclesiae
a benefice between several portionists,
integrity, continued in
until after the subjugation
the Taxation of
which would
some of
parts of the Diocese
of Wales; several instances
Pope Nicholas, A. D.
church of Corwen, Merionethshire, will
Ecclia de Corvaen.
suffice.
Porcio Gynon ap Ednefed....
8 13
Porcio Kenewyrc'
5
Porcio
Gwyn ap Twdyr
Porcio
G re go r
Porcio Vicar'
C
....
•
4
5
3
p'bri
may
be
1291, but the following
6
6
8
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
|§
not have been requisite unless the country were well peopled. will appear that the
From what
has been already written^
definition of
"church" has been considered
worship endowed with is
A
tithes.
'^
it
be a place of
to
chapel," on the contraiy,
considered to be a place of worship without any such en-
dowment.
It
has been already stated that chapels are of
which they are
later erection than the churches to
Some
of them are ancient; and an attempt will be
form such
a classification
subject.
made
to
of them as will assist in determining
generally the eras in which they were built.
Parochial Chapels are considered to be the most ancient,
being a necessary consequence of the great extent of the district assigned to the
mother church, which was soon found
insufficient for the instruction of
There
a territory.
is
this description are coeval
They were
foundation.
people spread over so wide
reason for supposing that chapels of
with churches of the intermediate
erected before the division of the
country into parishes as at present constituted,, for such a subdivision of utility unless
the older districts could have been of no
chapels were already built;
of these places of worship, which at
first
and the existence
were only chapels of
ease, suggested the division for the sake of convenience.
Between Parochial Chapels and Chapels of Ease there was at first
no
distinction,
but the
latter are
now known from
the
circumstance that they have no separate districts assigned
them, being always situate in the same parish as the mother
As
church.
a general rule, these chapels are of later erection
than the former, being the result of a demand for an increased
They belong
supply of places of worship.
to a time
when
the boundaries of parishes were so far permanently settled that
it
was not expedient
There
is
to disturb them.
reason, however, to believe that the
Normans and
Flemings, wherever they made their settlements, converted
such chapels as they found benefices.
But they
in the
also built
country into separate
many churches
in addition.
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. making
a
new
Thus the Rectories
distribution of parishes.
in the Deaneries of in
19
Rhos and Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire;
the peninsula of Gower, and the Vale of
Glamorgan,
average at about half the extent of parochial chapelries in
most
of the other
districts
This distribution,
Wales.
of
however, belongs to a period in which so
may be
the older churches from their more
There are worship;
information
to distinguish
modern neighbours.
other Chapels, which do not appear to
also
have been used
much
from history, as will serve
collected
for the purposes of public, or congregational
such as
Cells,
Oratories,
made
prayers and offerings were
and Hermitages, where
in private.
They
are some-
times distinguished from public churches by their situation, either in the solitude of an island, or promontory, over the
well of a favourite
so
or adjoining to a church
Saint,
provision was already
made
where
worship; and were
for public
They
small that they could contain but few persons.
may
be distinguished by their present
also
state,
being
all
of them in ruin, and the situations of most of them are
known
only by tradition.
and the to
offerings to
Being of no use
them
ceasing, they
decay soon after the Reformation.
chapels,
inasmuch
as public churches,
were suffered Nearly
all
to fall
parochial
as they are repaired at the cost of their
respective parishes, have been preserved entire to the present time.
Several chapels of ease, however, for want of a similar
provision,
have become ruinated, and In some cases their
situation is almost forgotten
may be
;
yet the names of most of
them
recovered from various ecclesiastical documents and
editions of the
*^
Liber Regis."
In treating of the Saints, notices of cells,
and
it
oratories, as
is
intended to give
may be
vague information which remains respecting them.
were any small chapels of
such
supplied from the If there
this description in ancient times,
the veneration attached to them
would suggest
their
en-
largement into churches or parochial chapels, whenever a
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
20
demand might be made
an increased number of public
for
places of worship;
unless their situations were such as
render the change
useless
presumed that the
impracticable.*
or
earliest oratories,
founded
It
to
may be
after the final
settlement of parishes, were frequently converted into chapels
of ease
and while
;
it is
the tendency of ecclesiastical estab-
lishments gradually to rise in importance,t
it
may be
con-
cluded that those, which as a class have remained in the
/
lowest rank, were the
Chapels erected over wells owe
latest.
their origin to the superstition of the
which are contiguous their
middle ages, and those
to a larger church, or cathedral,
antiquity limited
by the date of the
have
which
fabric to
they are adjoined.
At
this stage
of proceeding,
Welsh word
that the
and chapels indiscriminately of chapels,
it
may be
it
be proper to observe
at first
applied to churches
in determining the antiquity
;
this
word are of the older kind.
be of subsequent introduction,
to
seldom attached to the names of parochial chapels,
is
but applied principally tories.
will
considered that such as have their
names compounded with The word " Capel" appears as
it
was
'*^Llan"
to chapels of ease
Another designation applied
" Bettws
;"
and decayed ora-
to chapels in
and though several places
Wales
is
named have been
so
formed into independent benefices, there are proofs remaining sufficient to show that they were originally subject to other churches in their neighbourhood. latter appellations are
* The exception applies principally the primitive Christians of
Sometimes the two
used together, as Capel Bettws Lleicu,
Wales
to cells said to
have been founded by
which they
in certain snaall islands, to
retired for the sake of security.
t This observation, though intended Abbeys, remained unequal
to
to
apply to churches and chapels,
is
Priories, being of later foundation than
also true of monastic institutions;
them
in
revenues and importance
:
it
may
also
be noticed that the relationship subsisting between a superior convent and its cells is
in
some degree analogous
to that
betweeo a church and
its
chapels.
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.
21
Cardiganshire, and Capel Bettws, subject to Trelech, Car-
marthenshire.*
Great stress has been laid upon parochial divisions, for the reason that they determine the comparative antiquity of the
The
churches to which they belong.
idea that parishes
in^
Wales were established by a general Act of the Legislature can never be maintained. question,
of Welsh independency,
ment could
Without entering further
sufficient to say that
it is
into the
they existed in the times of
when no Acts
of the English Parlia-
them ; and the Welsh annals record no ordiarrangement, which in the state of the country,
affect
nance for their
divided between contending Princes, was almost impossible.
Their
was
establishment
and
gradual,
their
limits
were
who endowed each way to account for
determined by the territory of the person
church with
This
tithes.
is
the only
unequal extent, and the inconvenience of their
their
A
bution. his sons,
might divide
chieftain
and
tithes,
his
arrangement might form some criterion
this
for the division of an
rochial
distri-
lands between
his
endowment of
the
class into
first
pa-
chapelries;
but he could make no partition of the
for as they
had been already given away, they were and it rested with the ministert
no longer in
his
power;
of the mother church to
make
own arrangements with
his
the curates of the chapelries.
Property in Wales descended by the law of Gavelkind,
* Llan appears to be indigenous in the
Welsh language, meaning not
only the church, but the sacred spot which surrounds sense
it
corresponds with the Greek word "T6/t6vos\"
closure^^ is also observable in
ydlan, &c. invention.
Saxon
Capel
The
is
its
it,
The
and
in
this
idea of "en-
compounds, gwinllan, perllan, corlan,
derived from " Capella," a Latin
derivation of Bettws is uncertain.
—" Bead-house."
f Giraldus Cambrensis does not inform
us
word of modern
Qu. from the Anglo-
by what
scale the tithes
were divided between a plurality of Rectors, but he loudly declaims against the whole system as an abuse.
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
22
which ordained that sons should
inherit their father's terri-
Such was the theory of the in but practice it was very defective. Feuds institution, always arose about the distribution. Might would overcome equal
tory in
right,
proportions.
and as a necessary consequence the
divisions
were very
unequal, and sometimes intermixed with each other.
of country
may
therefore be found,
have been endowed when
to
Tracts
where the church appears were in the
affairs
state des-
In the Rural Deanery of Maelienydd in the county
cribed.
of Radnor, which contained the districts of Nantmel, Llan-
and Llangynllo, the division was regular ; but
bister,
it
was
otherwise in the Deanery of Builth in the county of Brecon.
In the
latter,
the district of Llanafan includes the continuous
parishes of Llanafan Fawr,
Llanfechan, Llanfihangel
Pabuan, and Llanfihangel Abergwesin; and of AUtmawr, which
vening parishes district of
is
Bryn
also the parish
separated from the others by the inter-
Cwm
of Llanddewi'r
Llangaramarch includes the
and
The
Builth.
pai'ishes of
Llangam-
Llanwrtyd, and Llanddewi Abergwesin, and there
raarch,
reason to suspect that Llanddulas ought to be added to
is
the number.
But what
is
more
surprising,
mentary evidence* to prove that extensive parish of LlansanfFraid
*
The
authority alluded to is the
is
also proved
is
docu-
formerly included the
it
Cwmmwd Deuddwrf
though
"Valor Ecclesiasticus" of Henry
under the heads of " Llangammarch" and
nexion
there
<'
The
LlanseyntfiFrede."
by another authority more ancient;
in
VIII.
con-
a Deed of
Agreement with the Abbey of Strata Florida, to which the Chapter of Abergwilly was a party, dated March 21, 1339, mention is made of the Prebendary of " Llangammarch Readr" alluding to the town of Rhayader, in a
suburb of which the church of Llansanffraid
t The name
"Cwmmwd
Deuddwr"
Valor Ecclesiasticus, where Strata Florida.
of the
is situated.
restored from a passage in the
said to be a part of the possessions of
(See also the enumeration of parishes
My vyrian
y Toyddwr."
it is
is
Archaiology.)
It is
now
in the
second Vol.
generally written "
Cwm
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.
Fawr. The Bryn Pabuan and Llanafan Fawr of Llanfihangel
divided from parishes
it
by the
interposition of Llanafan
intervene between Llanwrthwl and Llanlleonfel
;
and Llanganten
When
Llangynog.
church
it is
all
and the
subordinate parish of
Cwm
manner separated
from
Cwm*
Maesmynyst
and
the parishes
last
chapelry of
its
added that Llanddewi'r
of Builth,
church of Llanynys, enumerated,
its
in a similar
is
by Maesmynys and Llanddewi'r mother
23
two
the
Deanery are
the
in
districts
is
mother
the
alone are entirely
continuous.
If
it
be objected that chapelries may have been originally
separate benefices
which were afterwards consolidated,
be replied that the extinction of a benefice and into a chapelry polity.
So
form one
far
is
its
it
may
conversion
contrary to the progress of ecclesiastical
from the
fact of
churches uniting together to
benefice, the tendency is the reverse
;
chapels are
frequently detached from the older church and become in-
Even when
dependent benefices.
were appropriated
to
a
the benefice did not lose
some neighbouring
the whole tithes of a living
Monastery or Collegiate Chapter, its
existence and
parish, but
it
become subject
continued
under the name of prebend or curacy.
its
to
independence
Whenever, from the
smallness of their value, two rectories or vicarages are consolidated, neither of
a chapel;
them merges
becomes
into the other, or
but they preserve their original designation as
separate benefices, and are only said to be annexed. points do not depend
upon
of every clergyman upon his institution to a living.
which are described
as
Nicholas in the reign of for the
most
These
accident, as they affect the interests
benefices in the
Edward
Churches,
survey of Pope
the First, continued to be,
part, so described in the surveys of
Henry the
Eighth, and Queen Anne, and are found to be similar with
* Taxation of Pope Nicholas, and Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
t Taxation of Pope Nicholas.
II. p.
293.
COMPARATIVE ANTIQUITY
24 few
a
from
Sometimes,
exceptions at this present time.*
being a larger edifice or more favourably situated, the chapel
may
take precedence of the parent church
but
;
this accident
does not compromise the integrity of the benefice.
been the
interest
were not infringed upon by
rights
It
has
every incumbent to observe that his
of
his neighbour;
and
if
he
held a plurality of livings, they were generally separated
upon
decease.
his
Should ever such a consolidation, or rather extinction of benefices have taken place that ies,
was formed
it
it
;
may
But the system of
or the dignitaries of collegiate bodies.
subordination
Abbeys
in
is
be supposed
naturally
purpose of aggrandizing Monaster-
for the
of older date
Wales describe
for the foundation Charters of
;
as already
it
existing.
Chapels
are enumerated under their respective churches as at present,
with the exception, as
may be
a
proceeding the
Monasticon
of
reverse
consolidation.
Edw.
a Chartert of
is
them
expected, that some of
have since been converted into separate benefices, but
this
i*s
In Dugdale's
confirming a prior
III.
Grant made by certain Princes of South Wales in the time of
Henry
III.
the
to
Abbey of
Talley in Carmarthenshire.
* In examining ecclesiastical documents, care must be taken to ascertain whether the
word "ecclesia" be used generically
and irregularities must be
or specifically,
by a comparison with other author-
rectified
ities.
tThe nature, in the
information, to be derived from a perusal of documents of this
may be demonstrated by another example from the Monasticon, words of the original. "A. D. 1141, Mauritius de London, fiUus
—
Willielmi de London, dedit ecclesiae Sancti Petri Glouc. ecclesiam S. Michaeiis de
Lanfey. conventus
Ewenny, ecclesiam
S. Brigidae,
cum
capella de
Ecclesiam S. Michaelis de Colveston cum
Monachorum
Monastery of
St.
fiat."
—The
Peter's Gloucester
The church
of
Bride's Major in the same county.
St.
Ugemor de
—
&c.
Grant of these churches
was made with a view
tablishment of a Priory, subject to that society, at
of Glamorgan.
terris,
Ewenny
ut
to the es-
in the
Bridget, mentioned therein,
Tlie capella de
ita
to the
county is
St.
Ugemor was probably
;
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.
25
These Welsh Princes "were the founders of the Abbey, and Grant the churches of Llansadwrn, Llanwrda, Llan-
in their
and Pumsant are mentioned
sawel,
Of
Gaio.
these,
having Llanwrda annexed to still
subject to
under Cynwyl
as chapels
Llansadwrn now forms a separate vicarage,
Cynwyl
it
as a chapelry
Pumsant
Gaio, and
is
;
Llansawel
is
name of a
the
place in the parish of Caio, where tradition states there was
formerly a chapel, of which no vestiges
The
an extent in Wales,
so great it
is
however no theory,
day, and for
all
may
remain.
for
it
at first appear surprising
actually exists at this very
that has been done
the causes which produced
will be
now
subordination of churches, described as prevailing to
is
to
endeavour to account
The arrangement made
it.
found intimately connected with the Saints to
whom
Welsh churches are dedicated ; for if any of them were founded by the persons whose names they bear, they must
the
be those which retain the greatest evidences of antiquity.
in the castle of
Ogmore, on the bank of a
curacy of Wick,
now
river of the
subject to St. Bride's,
is
same name, as the
too far from the river to
merit the appellation, and most large castles had formerly their precincts.
hamlet so called
The
d.
chapel within
chapel of Llamphey must have been situate in the
in the parish of St, Bride's,
affords a presumption that
it
was founded
and the omission of Wick
after the date of the Grant.
In those documents, however, where chapels are altogether omitted, follow, that if they existed in the time of the record, the
mother church was considered
it
must
name of the
suflBcient to include its dependencies.
SECTION The
II.
Subordination of Churciies and Chapels considered in reference to the Saints to
In an enquiry
whom
they are dedicated.
into the question,
by whom and
at
what
Wales were founded, great assistance may be derived from the names of the Saints to whom they are dedicated. In forming a classification, two time the several churches of
grand divisions immediately present themselves ;
which have been admitted those
who
with
its
are natives of the country, or otherwise connected
history.
different, that
The
characteristics
of both kinds are so
they can hardly be conceived to belong to the
same people, or indeed to the same St.
—the Saints
Romish Calendar, and
into the
Augustin the Monk,* there
religion.
In the time of
was already in Wales
a
Christian Church, furnished with Bishops, Monasteries, stated places of worship,
tablishment.t
and other appendages of a
It refused to
Pope, and proofs are not wanting to show that its
independence for some time afterwards,
intercourse of foreigners,
religious es-
submit to the authority of the it
until,
continued
from the
and the gradual subjugation of the
Welsh people, it merged into Catholicism. It might naturally be concluded that the native Saints belonged to the primitive Church of the country, and that the places of worship called after their
names were of older foundation than those dedi-
cated to Saints of
the Catholic
Calendar.
It
will not
be
amiss, therefore, to give the result of an examination of all
* A. D. 600.
t Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Book H. Chap.
9,
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES,
&c.
27
the dedications in Wales, according to Ecton's Thesaurus, edited
by Browne Willis;*
appealing to that book, as
and
is
in
felt
of generally received authority,
Editor was utterly unconscious of the conclusions
its
that are here sought to
The
and greater pleasure
it is
whom
Saints, to
dedicated, are
be maintained.
St.
the greatest
Mary
Those dedicated
David.
number of churches
the Virgin, to St.
should be observed that care
Mary
St.
are
Michael, and St.
are as follow,
and
it
taken to distinguish chapelries
is
from benefices.t
DIOCESE OF
ST. DAVID'S.
PEMBROKESHIRE.
—
V. 1 Chapel, Forde. Fishguard, V. chapel to Letterstone Llanfair, Hayscastle,
—
Tenby, R.
& V.
Mary's, Pembroke, V.—-I Chapel, St. Anne's, in ruins.
(St. Giles.)
St.
Maenor Nawen, C. Ambleston, V. Maenclochog, V. Spittle,
Nangle, R. & V. PwUcrochan, R.
Warren, V.
—
Coedcanlas, chapel to Martletwy (St. Marcellus.)
C.
Newport, R.
Walton-East, C. Wiston, C. Herbranston, R. St. Mary's, Haverford West, V.
Puncheston, R. Cilgwyn, chapel Brynach.)
Roch, V.
Llanfair
—
to
Nevern
—
(St.
Nantgwyn, chapel Whitchurch (St. Michael.)
Talbenny, R.
to
Bacon, in his "Liber Regis," appears to follow the authority of Browne Willis, with a few corrections. t The letters R. V. P. and C. aflBxed to benefices, denote Rectory, Vicarage, Prebend, and Curacy cies only are so designated
•,
and
it
must be noticed that those Cura-
which do not acknowledge a dependence upon
any other church.
The
printed in Italics;
and their Saints, as well as those of parent churches,
chapels,
connected with the names in the
by Browne
Willis.
subject to churches of St. Mary, are
list,
are added, except where omitted
—
/
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
28
BRECKNOCKSHIRE. Aberyscyr, V. Mary's, Brecon,
St.
St. John's. Ystrad Fellte,
og
—chapel
—chapel
Hay, V. to
Dyfyn-
—
Chapel, St. John's,
1
,
\^ Pipton, ruinated,
Aberllyfni, to
Cynog.) Cantref, R. 1 Chapel, Nant Du. Llanywern, C. Lrwynllys, V. Talachddu, R. (St.
—
in ruins.
—chapel
to ^
Peter.)
Crugcadarn,
Glasebury,
—
chapel to dyfalle (St, Matthew.) Llanfair in Builth, C.
(St.
Llan-
HEREFORDSHIRE. Clodock,
Creswell,^^hapel to (St.Clydog.)
Walterstone, C.
MONTGOMERYSHIRE. Kerry,
V;*
RADNORSHIRE. Bleddfa,
Abbey
R, Cwm-Hir,
—chapel
Newchurch, R. to
Llanbister (St. Cynllo.) Pilleth,
—chapel
Llangynllo
to
Cynllo.) Gladestry, R.
—chapel to Diserth Llanfaredd, —chapel to Aberedw Bettws,
(St.
(St.
(St.
Cewydd.)
Cewydd.)
CARMARTHENSHIRE. Eglwys Fair a Churig, to Henllan
—chapel
David.) Eglwys Fair Lant^f, chapel to Llanboidy (St. Brynach.) Kidwelly, V. 5 ruinated Chapels.—Capel Teilo (St. Teilo;) hlanfihangel (St. Michael;)
* Kerry Willis the
is
is
CoJcer
Amgoed (St.
—
and
Cadog
;
St.
Thomas.
(St.
Cadog
;)
— —
y Bryn,^ chapel to Llandingad (St. Dingad.) Capel Mair, in ruins, chapel to Llanfair ar
dedicated to St. Michael
Talley
;
(St.
Michael.)
but the authority of Browne
followed, in order to preserve the proportion which this and
two succeeding
lists
bear to each other, including
all inaccuracies.
^^
/
1
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
29
GLAMORGANSHIRE. Rhosili,
R.
Mary's, Swansea, V.
St.
Penard, or Penarth, V.
—
1
Chap-
St. John's.
ely
Penrice, C.
CARDIGANSHIRE.
St.
—
Mary's, Cardigan, V.
Llanfair Orllwyn,
—
chapel to Penbryn Michael.)
Bryngwyn, (St.
R.
SUMMARY OF Pembrokeshire Brecknockshire Herefordshire Montgomeryshire Radnorshire
23 1
2 -
Llanfair Trefhelygen, chapel to Llandyfriog (St, Tyfriog.) Llanfair Clydogau, C. Strata Florida, or Ystrad Flur, C.
ST.
DAVID'S.
Carmarthenshire Glamorganshire Cardiganshire
5 4 6
In the Diocese
59
1
7
DIOCESE OP
ST.
ASAPH.
FLINTSHIRE Ysgeifiog,
R. & V.
St.
Halkin, or Helygen, R. Kilken, R. & V.
Rhuddlan. V. Whitford, R. & V. Gwaunesgor, R. Nannerch, R. & V.
Mary's,
Northop
Flint,
—chapel
Mary's, Mold, V.— 2 Chapels, Nerquis and Treuddin. Nerquis, chapel to Mold. Treuddin, chapel to Mold. Overton, chapel to Bangor in Maelor (St. Dunawd.) St.
—
— —
MONTGOMERYSHIRE. Llanfair Caereinion, R. Welsh Pool, 1 Chapel,Buttington (All Saints) Salop.
v.—
to
(St. Peter.)
Newtown, R. Llanllugan, C.
Llanbrynmair, R.
& V.
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
30
MERIONETHSHIRE. Gloddaeth,*
—a
free chapel.
Bettws Gwerfyl Goch, R.
DENBIGHSHIRE. Penrhyn,*
—a
Rhiwfabon, V. Chirk, or Eglwys y Waun, V.
free chapel.
Llannefydd, V. Llanfair Talhaiarn, C.
SHROPSHIRE. Syllatyn,
R.
Knocking, R.
Kinnersley, V.
Total in St. Asaph
27.
DIOCESE OF BANGOR. CARNARVONSHIRE.
—
V. 1 Chapel^ Bettws Garmon (St. German-
Llanfair Isgaer, us.) St.
Mary's, Carnarvon,
—chapel
to Llanbeblig (St. Peblig.)
Caer-rhun, V.
chael.)
Penllech,— chapel
to
Llaniestin
(St. lestin.)
Conway, V. Llanfair Fechan,
—
R. 2 Chapels^ Llan. rhychwyn, (St. Hhychwyn ;) and Bettws y Coed (St. Mi-
Trefriw,
Beddgelert, C.
R.
MERIONETHSHIRE. Dolgellen, R. Llaiiegryn, V.
Maentwrog,— chapel (St.
Llanfair juxta Harlech, R. chapel to Towyn (All Saints.)
Tal y Llyn, to Festiniog
—
Michael.)
* Properly speaking, Gloddaeth and Penrhyn are chapels in the parish of
Eglwys Rhos, Carnarvonshire.
—
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
31
DENBIGHSHIRE. Derwen yn
1^1,
R.
CyiFylliog,—chapel to Llanynys
Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, V.
Saeran.)
(St.
ANGLESEY. Gwaredog,
—
chapel to Llantrisant (St. Sanan, Afran, and lefan.) Llanfair Ynghornwy, chapel to
—
Llanddeusant (St. Marcellus and Marcellinus.) Llannerch y Medd, chapel to Llanbeulan (St. Peulan.) Tal y Llyn. chapel to Llanbeu-
—
—
lan (St. Peulan.) Llanfair is Cwmmwd,
Llannidan
—
chapel to Aidan.)
(St.
Llanfair Pwll Gwyngyll, Chapel, hlandyssilio 1
R. (St.
Tyssilio.)
Beaumaris,—chapel
to
Llandeg-
fan (St. Tydecho.)
—chapel Llanelian Pentraeth, — chapel to Llanddyfnan Dyfnan.) Llanfair Mathafarn, — chapel to Bodewrid,
to
(St. Elian.) (St.
Llanddyfnan
(St.
Dyfnan.)
Total in Bangor
DIOCESE OF LLANDAFF. GLAMORGANSHIRE. Nolton
Bonvilleston, C.
Penmark, V. Wenvo, R. Mary's, Cardiff, the parish church,)
St.
(originally
—
Chapely
1
St. John's.
Caerau, C.
Whitchurch,
Bridgend,—chapel
Coetty.
—chapel
to
Llan-
—
—
Aberafon, V. 1 Chapel, Baglan (St. Baglan.) Cowbridge,— chapel to Llanbleddian (St.
daff (St. Teilo & St. Peter.) Coetty, R. 1 Chapel, Nolton.
to
John
the Baptist.)
Hill,
R.
St.
Mary
St.
Mary-church, R.
Margam, C. Monknash, C.
MONMOUTHSHIRE. Llanfair Cilgedin,
Abergavenny, V. John's.
R.
—
1
Dynstow, V. Chapel, St.
—
1 Chapel, Tregaer, Tregaer, chapel to Dynstow.
Chepstow, V.
;
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
32 Llanwern, R.
Llanfair Discoed, C.
Mai pas, C. Pautedge, R.
V.
^or,
Nash,—chapel to Goldcliff Mary Magdalen.) Parsenet, alias Porthskewit,
(St.
(Qu. Pant-teg.)
Usk, V.
R.
Total in LlandaflF
27.
OUTLYING PARISHES OF WALES. DIOCESE OP HEBEPORD.
Newton
Wallica, C.
New
Monmouth-
Mary's, Monmouth, V.
St.
Radnor, V. Radnorshire. alias Keynarth, chap-
—
Kenarton,
shire.
el to
Old Radnor
(St.
Stephen.)
SUMMARY. St.
Asaph Bangor
Churches* Chapels
59 27 26 27 4
David's
St.
_.---.
Llandaff
Other parishes
143
The
list,
notwithstanding
98 45
-.--..
143
its
apparently large amount, bears
but a small proportion to the churches dedicated to
this
Saint over the same extent of territory in England; and
must not be forgotten in such parts of Wales
* If
it
that the great majority as
became
were allowable to amend the
first
is
to
subject to the English
given from Ecton,
list
it
be found
it
might be
shown, from the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, that Llanbrynraair was once a chapel under Darowain, though Builth
was formerly subject
it
now forms
to Llanddewi'r
Cwmj
a separate benefice Strata Florida
is
in
the parish of Caron, and therefore subordinate to the church of Tregaron.
Other corrections might be adduced
;
and
if
decayed chapels and oratories
not mentioned by Ecton were included, the number of chapels dedicated to the Virgin
would be considerably augmented.
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED. Forty
or Flemings.
five
number
out of the
therefore of later date than the churches to
The remainder
are, nearly all of
foundation; and their
are chapels,
and
which they belong.
them, churches of the
those parts of Wales
in
33
independence longest, the proportion
last
which preserved very small.
is
This would almost induce a suspicion that the homage paid to the Virgin was not of native growth, but was forced upon the inhabitants of the Principality
But with the
aid of a
by
their English neighbours.
map, and some knowledge of the history
may be examined more
of the country, the subject
narrowly.
The number in Pembrokeshire alone is twenty three, but many of these parishes do not even possess a Welsh name, and in the greatest part of the county the system of Welsh endowments
is
This tract was colonized
entirely subverted.
about A. D. 1100 by English and Flemings, whose descendants
remain;
still
and the churches enumerated probably
date their origin from that period.
of Carmarthen
and
six,
In the adjoining counties
and Cardigan, the numbers are
shire, the
this
Norman
number
is
I.
In Glamorgan-
eighteen, but the same reasons apply
county as to Pembrokeshire,
it
being conquered by
who divided the county The proportions in Breck-
adventurers from England,
between them about A. D. 1090. nockshire
and
Monmouthshire must be referred
conquest of both of them by Bernard
Out of
five
but these counties preserved their
the former are chapels;
independence down to the time of Edw.
to
only
being the smallest proportions of any, and four of
eight, the
In Carnarvonshire are chapels
;
and
number also,
to
the
others.
in Radnorshire,* five are chapels.
the
if these
Newmarch and
number
is
eight,
two of which
churches were not founded after
the death of the last Llewelyn, they at least present a fair
specimen of the number
to
be looked for under the supremacy
* Including that portion of
the county which forms a part of the
Diocese of Hereford.
E
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
34 Welsh
of the
Montgomery,
In
Princes.
Denbigh the proportion
Out of
small.
is
Anglesey, there are nine chapels;
and
Merioneth,
ten, the
number
-while in Flint,
for
being a
border county, and at one time an appendage of the Earldom of Chester, the proportion
y Most
large,*
is
of the towns in Wales are of late origin, being built
to suit the convenience of castles in their vicinity,
known
would present the
referring to the
list,
Haverford
port,
which are
have been erected by Norman and other advenbe expected that the churches of
It might, therefore,
turers.
these
to
Upon New-
features of a late foundation.
churches are found at Fishguard,t
Tenby, Pembroke,
West,
Hay,
Brecon,
Builth, Kidwelly, Swansea, Cardigan, Rhuddlan, Flint, Mold,
Llanfair Caereinion,
Welsh
Newtown, Carnarvon, Con-
Pool,
way, Dolgelleu, Beaumaris,
Cardiff,
Bridgend, Cowbridge,
Abergavenny, Chepstow, Usk, Monmouth, and dedicated to St.
the Principality.
Norman
no towns have been built; and a few more, Hir, Strata Florida,
on
Radnor,
Several others, as Roch, Brwynllys, and
Coetty, are in the neighbourhood of
their
New
Mary, comprising nearly half the towns in
Margam, Beddgelert, and
dedications to the Monasteries
where
castles,
as
Abbey
Cwm
Creswell,
owe
which formerly existed
their sites.
The
late introduction of the
homage of
proved by another mode of computation. places of
worship are
churches are of
chapels, while
sufficient
chapels under them.
St.
Mary may be
Forty
five
of her
only sixteen of her
antiquity or importance to have
Again, twenty four J chapels, dedicated
* Three churches in the
list
are in the county of Salop, and four more,
including one chapelry, are in the Diocese of Hereford.
t In Carlisle's Topographical Dictionary of Wales, reasons are given for the
supposition that the parish of Fishguard
dissolution of % 13y an
two others more
amendment of
names, this number
may
tl\e
was formed upon the
ancient. list,
without the Introduction of any new
be increased
to
thirty
three.
The
five
ex-
OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. Mary, are found subordinate
to St.
Welsh Saints;
Welsh
is,
to churches ascribed to
while only five chapels
named
Welsh The in.,
after
subordinate to churches of St. Mary.
Saints are
ference
35
that the custom of ascribing churches or chapels to
Saints
had nearly ceased before that of dedicating to
Mary had commenced; and perhaps the exceptions to the rule may be referred to an accident, where the chapel had St.
taken precedence of the mother church.
The
justness of these conclusions, as regards one county,
can be verified from a document of unquestionable authority.
In the preceding
list,
the county of Flint has a proportion
about three times greater than any of the rest ; as the entire
number of
churches and chapels
its
is
twelve of which are dedicated to St. twelve,
only twenty eight,
Mary; and of
these
eight are in the ancient Lordship of Tegeingl, or
Englefield.
It
happens that
the Palatinate of Chester,
is
this Lordship, as
being part of
included in the Survey of Domes-
day Book, made by order of William the Conqueror ; and in the enumeration of to St.
Mary
its
churches, two* only of those dedicated
are mentioned as then existing.
It
be concluded that the remainder were built
and
as the
calls the
same document describes
Hundred
of Atiscros, as if
must therefore
at a later period;
this Lordship, it
which
in the occupation of the Saxons, the dedication of the
churches mentioned
may be
ceptions are the chapels of
wyn
subject
two
attributed to their influence.
Cadog and Teilo under Kidwelly, Llanrhych-
Trefriw, Llandyssilio
to
it
had been some time
Gwyngyll, and Baglan subject
subject
to Aberafon.
As
to
Llanfihangel
Pwll
the church of Kidwelly
presumed to be of a date subsequent to the erection of a castle there by William de Londres, a Norman adventurer, A. D. 1094, the parish church
is
before that time was probably the chapel of Cadog, or, as
it
is
called,
Llangadog, to which the chapel of Teilo might have been subordinate.
A
similar reason
may perhaps
be found to account for the three remain-
ing irregularities.
*
'*
Widford" (Whitford,) and « Roeland" (Rhuddlan.)
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
36
is
The next
Saint, to
dedicated,
is
St.
whom
the largest
number of churches
Michael, the Archangel.
DIOCESE OF
ST. DAVID'S.
PEMBROKESHIRE.
Rudbacston, R. Stackpoole Boscher, sheston, R. Castle Martin,
V.
alias
—
1
Bo-
Chapel,
Flimston.
St. Michael's, Pembroke, V. Whitchurch, R. 1 Chapel ^ Llanfair Nantgwyn, ( St. Mary.)
—
Castle Beith, R. Llanfihangel Penbedw,
R.
Cosheston, R.
BRECKNOCKSHIRE.
Llanfihangel Nant Bran, C. Llanfihangel Fechan, chapel to Llandyfaelog (St. Maelog.) Llanfihangel Du, R. & V.— 1 ChapeU Tretwr. Cathedin, R.
—
Cwm
Llanfihangel Tal y Llyn, R. Llanfihangel Abergwesin, chapel to Llanafan Fawr, (St. Afan.) Llanfihangel BrynPabuan,— chapel to Llanafan Fawr, (St. Afan.)
—
HEREFORDSHIRE.
Dulas, C. Ewyas Harold, C.
Michael-church, Eskley, C.
RADNORSHIRE.
Cefn Llys, R.
—
Bryngwyn, R. Clyro, P. & tws Clyro.
v.— 1
Llanfihangel Nant Melan, V. Llanfihangel Rhydeithon, chapel to Llanbister, (St Cynllo.) Llanfihangel Helygen, chapel to Nantmel, (St. Cynllo.)
—
Bugeildy, V. Cascob, R. Chapel, Bet-
—
2
)
—
.
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
37
CARMARTHENSHIRE. Egermond, C. Llanfihangel Abercywyn, chapel to Meidrym (St. David.) Llanfihangel, in ruins, chapel to St. Mary's, Kidwelly. Cil y Cwm, V. Llanfihangel Fach Cilfargen, R; Llangathen, V. Llanfihangel Ararth, V. 1 Chapel, Pencadair. Llanfihangel Uwch Gwyli, chapel to Abergwyli, (St. Da-
—
—
—
Llanfihaiigel
Rhos
y
chapel to Llanllwni,
Corn, (St.
Llw-
ni.)
Llanfihangel Aberbythych, C. Talley, C. 5 Chapels, all in ruins, Capel Crist (Holy Trin-
—
ity ;)
Capel Mair, (St. Mary;) (St. Michael;)
Llanfihangel,
Cynhwm and Teilo, (St. Teilo.J Llanfihangel, in ruins, chapel to Talley, (St. Michael.)
—
Myddfai, V.
vid.)
GLAMORGANSHIRE. Llwchwr, or Loughor, R.
CARDIGANSHIRE. Llanfihangel Ystrad, P. & V. Penbryn, V. Llanfihangel Chapels, Bettws Ifan, (St. John,) and Bryngwyn, (St.
—
Mary
Tremain, C. Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn, V. Llanfihangel y Creuddin. Chapel, Eglwys Newydd. Lied roed P ,
.
Rhosdeiau, R.
Troedyraur, R. Total in St. David's
DIOCESE OF
48.
ST.
ASAPH.
FLINTSHIRE. Caerwys, R.
&
V.
Rhelofnoid, C.
M0NTG03IERYSHIRE. Llanfihangel y Gwynt,
R.
Manafon, R.
1
I
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
38
DENBIGHSHIRE. Abergele, V. Bettws, v.*
Llanfihangel,
R.
SHROPSHIRE.
Llanyblodwel,
R.— 1
Chapel^ Morton.
Total in St. Asaph
8.
DIOCESE OF BANGOR. CARNARVONSHIRE. Llanrug, R. Bettws y Coed, chapel riw (St. Mary.)
—
to
Llanbedrog
(St.
—
Llanfihangel y Pennant, C. Treflys, chapel to Cricciaeth
—
(St. Catherine.)
chapPedrog.)
Llanfihangel Bachellaeth, el to
Tref-
MERIONETHSHIRE.
—
Ffestiniog, R. 1 Chapel, twrog (St. Mary.)
Maen-
—chapel
Llanfihangel to
—
y Traeth, chapel Llandecwyn (St. Tecwyn.)
Llanfihangel y Pennant, to Tywyn (All Saints.)
MONTGOMERYSHIRE. Trefeglwys, R.
DENBIGHSHIRE. Efenechtyd, R.
* Bettws was formerly a chapel to Abergele.— See Edwards's "Cathedral of St.
Asaph."
—
1
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
39
ANGLESEY. Llanfihangel yn el
to
Nhywyn,
Rhoscolyn,
—chap-
(St.
Gwen-
—
faen.)
Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, C. Chapel.. Llanffinan ( St.FJinan.) chapel Llanfihangel Tinsilwy,
—
.
Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd,— chap-
Llandyfrydog
to
el
(St.
Dyf-
rydog.)
Llugwy, (St.
—
chapel to Eigrad.)
Llaneigrad
Penrhos, C.
to Llaniestin (St. lestin.)
Total in Bangor
16.
DIOCESE OP LLANDAFF. GLAMORGANSHIRE. Michaelston le Pit, R. upon Ely, R. Colwinston, V. Fleminston, R.
St, Michael's
Michaelston, alias Llanfihangel, near Cowbridge, R. Ewenny, C. Michaelston, super Afon, C.
MONMOUTHSHIRE. Llanfihangel Istern Llewem, R. Llanfihangel juxta Usk, R. Llanfihangel Crug cornea, V. Llanfihangel, R. (in Deanery of
Nether Went.)
T intern
Parva, R, Machan, or Maghen, R. St. Michael's near Rumney, or Michaelston Vedo, R.
Troy, or Mitchel Troy, Chapel, Cwmcarfan. Kemmys, (Cemmaes,) R. Gwernesey, R.
R.—l
Llanfihangel Tormynydd, R. Llanfihangel Pontymoel, C. Llanfihangel juxta Llantarnam, C.
Total in Llandaff
20.
OUTLYING PARISHES OF WALES. DIOCESE OP HEREFORD. Discoed, (St.
—chapel
to
Prest^ign
Andrew,) Radnorshire.
Michaelchurch upon Arrow, chapel to Kington (St. Mary.)
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
40
SUMMARY. David's
St.
Asaph Bangor
St.
LlandafF
----------
Other parishes
Churches Chapels
48 8
73 -
-
-
-
-
-
iq
20 2
94
94
These churches, unlike those dedicated not crowd the English
21
districts,
to
St.
Mary, do
but are dispersed over the
country with greater regularity.
They
terior as well as in the outskirts,
and are
are found in the inso far characteristic
of the Principality, that the proportion they bear to other
churches
is
twice as great as that of those dedicated to St.
This national distinction would show
Michael in England.* that they
were mostly founded by the native princes, and
more general dispersion would indicate that they belonged to an era prior to the permanent occupation of parts of their
Wales by the
list
Another mark of
foreigners.
of higher antiquity,
is
nationality, as well as
number of Welsh names in that of St. Mary.f But the
the greater
of St. Michael than in
best criterion, in the absence of historical records,
rangement of parishes.
and Norman
settlers
may have made
a
new
much
extent than those dedicated to St. Mary, some of
and even ten miles
the ar-
distribution, the
parishes dedicated to St. Michael are generally of
eight,
is
Except in those parts where English
in length.
larger
them being
While only nine out of
* According to Ecton, or Browne Willis, there are in the Diocese of Lincoln about 1520 churches, including extinct chapelries, sixty of which are dedicated to St. Michael.
According to the same authority, there are in
the Dioceses of St. David's and Bangor 720 churches, or less than half the
number
in Lincoln, sixty
four of which are dedicated
t Only two churches situate in towns,
Caerwys, occur
in the list.
f
St.
to St. Michael.
Michael's Pembroke, and
;
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
41
eighty five places of worship, in the Dioceses of St. David's
and Bangor, named in the
first list,
were of
or importance to have chapelries under in the
sufficient antiquity
them ; the proportion
of St. Michael, for the same Dioceses,
list
sixty four.
Four chapels of
of St. Michael, and two* dedicated to St.
Mary
St.
is
ten out of
are subject to churches
Out of nineteen chapels
vice versa.
Michael, fourteen are parochial,t which for
reasons already stated are
more ancient than chapels of ease St. Mary, the proportion is less,
while of those consecrated to
From
being twenty out of thirty three.
these calculations the
Dioceses of St. Asaph and LlandafF are excluded, owing to the
circumstance
singular
that,
the
according to
Ecton, there are no chapels dedicated to
St.
authority of
Michael in either
of them.
These Dioceses therefore require a separate consideration,
and the circumstance alluded of
Welsh
history.
to is
The Diocese
an
illustration of the truth
of St.
Asaph extends more
along the English frontier than the rest ; and long before the
Norman
conquest, according to the
Welsh Annals,
it
appears
have suffered severely from the ravages of the Anglo-
to
Saxons,
who
are even recorded to have taken possession of
the territories comprised in
*
Namely, Llanfihangel,
it
;X
and though they could not
in ruins, subject to St.
Mary's Kidwelly, and
Bettws y Coed subject to Trefriwj but the irregular situations of both the superior churches has been already noticed, in note page 35. irregularity is Michael-church
these churches
t This
however are
particular
is
upon Arrow subordinate
in the
to
Another
Kington
;
both
Diocese of Hereford.
ascertained from Carlisle's Topographical Dic-
tionary.
X Between A. D. 810 and 820, as stated in two Chronicles printed in the Myvyrian Archaiology, the Saxons took possession of Rhufoniog, or the
western part of Denbighshire. to three Chronicles in the
"kingdom" or
In about ten years afterwards, according
same
principality of
collection, they took possession of the
Powys, comprising the county of Mont-
gomery, with the remainder of Denbigh, and parts of Flint, Merioneth,
F
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
42
maintain their footing, their continual inroads must have desolated the country. fact that
all
To
cause
this
may be
attributed the
the churches dedicated to St. Michael in this
Diocese are only eight; and
also, that
though
it is,
perhaps,
the second of the Welsh Dioceses in point of extent, tains
three.*
not one of which
is
a chapel
;
to St. Michael
that,
chapels
is
twenty,
but the Normans formed their
settlements in this district at a later period,
presumed such
con-
In Llandaff, the least extensive Diocese in Wales,
number of churches dedicated
the
it
fewer churches considerably than either of the other
and
it
may be
according to their usual rule, they converted
country into independent
existed in the
as
benefices.
On
the other hand, the churches of St. Michael, though
more ancient than those of in the Principality.
them
is
dedicated
St.
Mary, are not the most ancient
Onet only of the chapels subordinate to to a Welsh Saint; while fourteen of the
chapels dedicated to St. Michael are subordinate to churches ascribed to
Welsh
Saints
;
and
want of
this
reciprocity can be
accounted for on no other principle than that the commemoration of the native Saints
is
The
of older date.
parishes de-
dicated to St. Michael vary considerably in extent, according
by previous endowments; but even the most extensive of them do not possess the characteristics of endowments of the first class. That which approaches nearest is Llanfihangel Penbryn in
to the nature
of the ground unoccupied
Cardiganshire, which contains
and Salop.
The
occupation of the remaining part of Flintshire by the
Saxons has been already noticed, and tories described
The number
will be observed that the terri-
II. pp. 392, 475,
&
Diocese of St. Asaph.
476.)
of churches in St. David's, including extinct chapelries,
as far as can be collected from
Bangor 194 j and
it
are situated principally in the
(Myvyrian Archaiology, Vol. *
the subordinate parishes of
St.
Asaph
Browne
Willis,
is
626;
in
LlandafiF276;
145.
t Capel Teilo, a decayed chapel under Talley, Carmarthenshire.
— —
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED. But
Bettws Ifan and Bryngwyn. in the
list
which possesses a
shows the marks of a
43
this district, the only
one
plurality of parochial chapelries,
later origin so far that its chapels
have
not been formed into Perpetual Curacies, and continue to be served by the Vicar of Penbryn, or his stipendiary Curate.
The next St.
Saint,
David, and the
whose churches were
DIOCESE OF
be considered, was
to
according to Ecton
list
as follows.
is
ST. DAVID'S.
PEMBROKESHIRE.
The
Cathedral (St. David and St. Andrew. )~5 Chapels, Gwrhyd; Non, (St.Non;) Padrig,(St. Patrick ;) Pistyll ; and Stinan, (St. Justinian.)
Hubberston, R. Bridell,
R.
Llanuchllwydog, R. Llanllawen. Llanychaer, R.
Llanddewi
Brawdy, V. Whitchurch, V. Prendergast, R.
Maenor
FelfFre,
Deifi,
—
1
Chapel,
R. & V.
R.
CARDIGANSHIRE. Llanddewi
—
4 Chapels, Blaenpennal, (St. David',) Gartheli; GivenBrefi, C.
Bettws Lleicu
;
fyl, (St. Gwenfyl.)
Blaenporth, P. Bangor, R. 1 Chapel, Henllan,
—
(St.
Henfynyw, C, Llanddewi Aberarth, P. Henllan,—chapel to Bangor David.) Blaenpennal,
—
ddewi Brefi
(St.
chapel to LlanDavid.)
(St.
David.)
CARMARTHENSHIRE.
—
Henllan Amgoed, R. 1 Chapel, Eglwys Fair a Churig. Meidrym, V. 1 Chapel, Llan' hangelAhercywyn( St. Michael.
— CapelDewi, —chapel Ellyw.) Llanarthneu, P. (St.
Llanlleian.
to Llanelly
& V. — 1
Abergwilly, or Abergwyli, V. 3 Chapels, Llanfihangel Uwch Gwyli, (St. Michael;) Llanpumsant ; and Llanllawddog, (St.
Llawddog.)
Bettws, C.
Chapel,
Llanycrwys, C. Llandyfeisant, C.
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
44
BRECKNOCKSHIRE.
Llanddewi Abergwesin,
Gartlibrengi, P.
Trallwng, P. Llywel, V.
—
to 1
Chapel, Rhydy-
briw. Llanfaes,
Llangammarch
march.) Llanwrtyd,
march
V. Maesmynys, R.
—chapel
(St.
Llauddewi'r
to
—chapel
(St.
Cam-
Llangam-
Cam march.) Cwm, C.
RADNORSHIRE.
Hey op, R.
—chapel
to Llanbister (St. Cynllo.)
— —
1 Chapel, LlanCregruna, R. badarny Garreg, (St.Padarn.) Glascwm, V. 2 Chapels, Coifa, CSt. David ;J and Mhiwlen, (St. David,)
—
chapel to Glascwm (St. David.) Llanddewi Fach, chapel to LlyColfa,
Whitton, R. lilanddewi Ystrad Enni,
—
wes (St. Meilig.) Rhiwlen, chapel to Glascwm
—
(St.
David.)
GLAMORGANSHIRE. Llanddewi in Gower.
DIOCESE OF LLANDAFF. GLAMORGANSHIRE.
Bettws,
—chapel
to
Newcastle
llltyd.)
(St.
—
Laleston, chapel (St lUtyd.)
to
Newcastle
MONMOUTHSHIRE. Llanddewi Sgyryd, R. Llanddewi Rhydderch, V. Llanddewi Fach, C.
Bettws,
—chapel
to
Newport
(St.
Gwynllyw.) Trostrey, alias Trawsdre, C. Llangyniow, C. Qu. Llangyfyw?
;
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
45
DIOCESE OF HEREFORD. HEREFORDSHIRE. Mary &
Kili3eck, C. (St. vid.)
Da-
St.
Dewchurch, chapel Lugwardine (St. Peter.)
Littte
to
Dewchurch Magna, V.
SUMMARY. Pembrokeshire
-
Cardiganshire Carmarthenshire
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Brecknock
------------
Radnor Glamorgan
Diocese of St. David's
-
-
10 7
8 8 8
Glamorganshire
Monmouthshire
-
-
-
...
Diocese of Llandaff Diocese of Hereford
2 6
-
-
—
8 3
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
Total
42
53
Churches 40, Chapels 13.— 53.
It
is
remarkable that there
is
not one church or chapel,
dedicated to St. David, in the w^hole of North Wales.
The
nationality of these churches will not be questioned, as the
person, to
whom
the country.
they are dedicated, was the tutelar Saint of
Their antiquity appears from the fact that they
are dispersed without reference to the petty conquests, or to
the towns of later ages certain quarter,
;
and
as they are to
beyond the borders of the
belong to an era
when
its limits
be found, in a
Principality, they
were more extensive than
at
popularly ascribed to St. David
present.
Their foundation
himself;
but in order to shew whether any of them can
is
advance a plausible claim to so early a date, they must be submitted to the same kind of examination as the preceding
and the
test is the
more necessary, because, from the circum-
stance of his being canonized
century, he was adopted into the
churches
may have been
by the Pope in the twelfth Romish Calendar, and several
dedicated to his
memory
in later
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
46 times.
Four endowments, in the
list,
are of the
first
class,
having a plurality of chapels dependent on them ; seven more
have one chapel each
and most of these subordinate chapels
;
are dedicated to St. David himself, or to
The
contemporaries.
Welsh
that reason, allowed a place in the front of the ject to churches attributed to the
Welsh
list,
same person, or
Saints of contemporary or older date.
situation
Saints, his
chapels dedicated to St. David, and, for are subto other
Their relative
would therefore show that both churches and chapels
where founded
in an age,
not become customary
;
when
for,
indiscriminate dedications
had
according to Ecton, only one* of
the chapels, dedicated to St. David,
is
subordinate to a church
dedicated to one of the Apostles, and this exception does not
occur within the present limits of Wales.
Out of the
thirteen
chapelries assigned to St. David, eleven are parochial,t being
a larger proportion than appears in the St.
Mary, or
St.
But
Michael.
it
of those of
lists
may be urged
against the
antiquity of the beneficed churches, that only four out of forty
have endowments of the list,
first
however, compared with a
knowledge of
its
localities,
foundation.
map of
will
A
review of the
the country, and some
show that the majority of
these benefices do not stand singly in their situations, but are
joined
by
two,
Whitchurch
is
and
sometimes
by
three together.
Thus
contiguous to St. David's, Llanuchllwydog and
may be said Henfynyw and Llanddewi
Llanychaer are adjoining parishes, and the same of Maenor Deifi and Bridell.
Aberarth are contiguous; so are Trallwng and Llywel; Maes-
mynys and Llanddewi'r Cwm; as well as Glascwm and Cregruna. The number of benefices, which stand alone and without chapels, is therefore reduced to twenty. To proceed.
* Little Dewchurch, subject to Lugwardine, (St. Peter,) in the Diocese
and county of Hereford.
t Ascertained from the Population Returns House of Commons.
the
for 1831, printed
by order of
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
47
Brawdy and Whitchurch, though not contiguous, are nearer many detached chapelries. The same may
to each other than
be said of Henllan
Amgoed and Llanddewi
ofLlanddewi
and Llanycrwys; Garthbrengi and Llan-
Brefi
FelfFre,
and
also
faes are so situate with respect to each other,* that is probable
separated by the arrangements of the followers Newmarch.t In Monmouthshire, Llanddewi Sgyryd and Llanddewi Rhydderch are near each other; as
they were
of
first
Bernard
are also Trostre and Llangyniow
and the same rule
;
The
apply to the three churches in Herefordshire.
will
single
of which number,
churches which remain, are only nine;
Prendergast, Hubberston, and Llanddewi in Gower, are situate
avowedly Flemish; so that
in districts
was the
it
cannot be said what
endowments, and what
extent of their
original
Hey op and
churches might have been detached from them.
WhittonJ are so situated, that there
reason to suppose they
is
were once subordinate to the neighbouring church of Llangynllo
:
and belong
their churches are very small,
which was one of the
first
to
become subject
to a district
to the
Lords
Blaenporth, Cardiganshire, and Llanddewi Fach,
Marchers.
Monmouthshire, may perhaps be ancient, but they afford no criterion to
prove their antiquity.
The author
of the
'*
History of Brecknockshire" (Vol. IT. p. 147.) gives
was
his reasons for the supposition that Llanfaes
Llanddew, a parish which intervenes between further supposes
Llanddew
originally a chapel under it
to be an abbreviation
the connexion between the several parishes
is
objections to his etymology, into which
is at
enter.
f
it
and Garthbrengi.
He
ofLlanddewi; but while
admitted, there are certain present unnecessary to
(See Appendix.)
A Norman
adventurer,
who
took forcible possession of the county of
Brecknock about A. D. 1090. X
The
district
around Whitton
is
included in the Survey of
Domesday
Book, and while the names of the surrounding churches are mentioned, that of
Whitton
was founded
is
omitted; from which
after the Conquest,
and the
it
may be
tract,
inferred that the latter
assigned for
must have been taken from one of the adjoining parishes.
its
endowment,
;
;
;
;
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
48
The is
—
—
;
almost uniform disposition of these churches in clusters
From
too remarkable to be the effect of accident.
analogy of other cases, there
the
reason to suppose that the
is
parishes of each cluster formed originally a single endowment,
two churches,
in support of one, or perhaps rest served as so
many
chapels
;
to
which the
and the supposition
is
con-
firmed from the analogy of Glascwm, and other districts,
where the chapels are dedicated
the same Saint as the
to
But great light may be borrowed from the testimony of Gwynfardd Brycheiniog, a Bard, who is stated In a poem to have lived between the years 1160 and 1230. composed by him in honour of Dewi, or St. David, and inmother church.
serted in the
passage, tation
Welsh Archaiology, Vol. I. page 270, occurs a is thus translated by Williams in his " Disser-
which
upon the Pelagian Heresy."
"
Dewi* the great of Menevia, the wise sage And Dewi of Brefi near the plains And Dewi is the owner of the superb church of Cyfelach, Where there is joy and great piety. And Dewi owns the choir that is At Meidrym,
a place affording sepulture to multitudes
;
And Bangor Esgor and the choir of Henllan. Which is a place of fame for sheltering yews; And Maenor Deifi, void of steep declivities And Abergwilly, containing mildness and modesty And fair Henfynyw, by the side of the Glens of Aeron, ;
;
Fields prolific in
trefoil,
* The following is the original, now current in the principality. •
" Dewi mawr Mynyw,
syvv
Sywedydd,
A Dewi
Brefi, get ei
A Dewi
bieu balch Ian Gyfelach,
Lie
le a'i
mynwent
luossydd
sydd
i'r
;
a Bangeibyr Henllan,
clod-fan y clyd
Ywydd j
Deifi di-orfynydd
Abergwyli bieu gwyl-wlydd
grefydd.
i
A Bangor Esgor Maenawr
Henfynyw deg
bieu Bangeibyr y sydd
Meidrym,
adapted by Williams to the orthography
Y
broydd
mae morach, a mawr
A Dewi
and oaks productive of acorns.
;
Hyfaes
ei
o
j
da glennydd Aeron,
meillion, hyfes goedydd
;
;
; ;; :
;
;;
;
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
;
49
Llanarth, Llanadneu, churches of the Patron Saint;
Llangadog, a privileged place, enriched by chiefs Llanfaes, a lofty place, shall not suffer
Nor the
by war
;
church in Llywel from any hostile band
Garthbrengi, the hill of Dewi, void of disgrace
;
And Trallwng Cynfyn by the dales And Llanddewi of the Cross, with a new chancel And Glascwm, and its church by Glas Fynydd, ;
(the
green mountain,)
A lofty sylvan retreat, where The
rock of Vuruna pects
And
sanctuary
fair is here,
and
not
;
Ystrad-fynydd, and
its
uncontrouled liberty."
In these verses, the Bard considers
owner" of twenty churches,
him
fails
fair its hilly pros-
in the foregoing
fifteen
But
list.
happens to be a chapelry,
as not
it is
St.
David
to
be " the
of which are ascribed to
one of those enumerated
probable the Bard mentions
such out of every cluster as were endowed at the time the
poem was written, and the rest, being chapels, are omitted. Thus the Cathedral church of St. David's, then called Mynyw or Menevia, is mentioned without Whitchurch and Brawdy Llanddewi Brefi without Bridell; •without
chapels;
its
Abergwyli without Llanddewi Aberarth.
churches are more numerous of Radnorshire.
But what
Deifi without
Henfynyw
In the Brecknock
cluster, the
chapels;
and there are two
;
is
Maenor
and
its
most remarkable
with the exception of Brecknock, his native
is
in the cluster
the fact, that
district,
the Bard
mentions nothing of the churches of those parts which, in that
had been occupied by the En-
or the preceding generation,
Llanarth, Llan-adneu, llannau llywydd
Llangadawg,
hydd
lie
breiniawg rannawg
;
Nls arfeidd rhyfel Llanfaes,
lie
uchel
j
ri-
A Thrallumg Cynfyn ger y dolydd A Llanddewi y Crwys, Llogawd newydd A Glascwm a'i eglwys ger glas fynydd, Gwydd-elfod aruchel, nawdd ni achwydd
Na'r Han yn Llywel, gan neb lluydd
Craig Furuna deg yma, teg
Garthbrengi, bryn Dewi, digywilydd j
Ac
G
Ystrad-fynydd,
a'i
ym mynydd
ryddid rydd."
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
50 glish,
Normans^ and Flemings;
he omit them from
—were
they destroyed^ or did
Dewi was The multiplied number near Bernard Newmarch, who, according to
patriotic indignation, because
not then the owner of them?
Brecon may be due the usual mode,
to
may have
subdivided the endowment, and
and even the Bard
converted the chapels into churches;
alludes to certain circumstances of hostility, from
which he
either hopes, or predicts, that the churches of Llanfaes
Gwynfardd
Llywel should be spared.
ascribes
and
also to St.
David the churches of Llangyfelach, Glamorganshire, Llanarth, Cardiganshire, if
churches, the tion.
there is
and Llangadog, Carmarthenshire;
but
any dependence can be placed on the names of these
With is
first
and
must have had a double dedica-
last
respect to Llangadog this
is
highly probable, as
Llwyndewi; but there " the Greefes of Rees Vachan of
a place in the parish called
evidence to the fact in
Stratywy,"* printed in Latin and English at the end of rington's
" In the church of
made
War-
History of Wales, in which occurs the following
stables,
S. Dauid, which they call Lhangadoc, they
* * * *
and took awaie
all
the goods of the
wounded
the preest
of the said church before the high altar, and left
him there
said church,
and burning
all
the houses,
as dead."
Cyfelacht was the name of the twenty second Bishop of Llandaff, but whether Llangyfelach
* Rees Vachan, or rather
Towy, who,
is
so called
from him, or
Rhys Fychan, was a chieftain of the Vale of Edward the First, presented to the Arch-
in the reign of
bishop of Canterbury a statement of grievances, or acts of oppression
committed
in his territories
t See Godwin,
De
by the English.
Praesulibus Anglise,
and states that he died A. D. 927.
A
(Vol. II. page 473,) states that he
was
754; but this assertion
is
who
calls
chronicle in the
him " Cimeliauc,"
Welsh Archaiology
killed in battle at Hereford A. D.
probably a mistake, as
it is
unsupported by the
testimony of three other chronicles in the same collection.
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED. from another person,
doubtful^
is
possible,
it is
;
church, or enlarged
David with
its
that place
all
more
was the founder of the
that he
Browne
ach in Gower."
Vystygy, which
^'
St,
recorded by
it is
older author-
still
Monastery of Llangyfel-
Willis attributes Llanarth to
St.
name does not "Llanadneu" of Gwynfardd may
perhaps, an error, as the
is,
For the
occur elsewhere.t
Saints
but the connexion of
:
certain, for
Giraldus Cambrensis, and Ricemarchus,* a ity,
Welsh
the
however, that he either rebuilt the
privileges is
he lived about three
which nearly
centuries after the era in flourished
as
51
be read Llanarthneu from Ecton's
list,
as
it
harmonizes ad-
mirably with the preceding word in the original, according to the laws of the cipality
metre ; and there
Gwynfardd may be understood
in
not the chapel of that
y Crwys
is
name
Llanycrwys
the Charter of the crus."
is
no place
Abbey
Carmarthenshire,
of Talley,
The rock of Vuruna,
or
Henllan
Henllan Amgoed, and
subject to Bangor.
in
in the Prin-
By
which bears the name of Llanadneu.
is
Craig
called
Llanddewi which,
in
"Landewi-
Furuna,
is
Creg-
runa in Radnorshire; and the order of succession would lead
by Ystrad Fynydd is meant the clusThe cluster of LlanuchUwydog, being in the territory of the Lords of Cemmaes, is The clusters of Hereford and AbergavennyJ were omitted. to the supposition, that
ter in the
neighbourhood of Builth.
at that time subject to the Lacies,
cluster of TrostreyJ
was probably
Lords of Ewyas, and the
in a similar situation.
* Ricemarchus, or Rhyddmarch, was Bishop of St. David's from A. D.
1088 to 1098.
A
Life of St.
David by Giraldus, and fragments of
another by Ricemarchus, are printed in the second volume of Wharton's
Anglia Sacra.
t
It
has been remarked that modern fairs have, in
succeeded to wakes or festivals 5
Gwynfardd,
it
may be
many
instances,
and, in support of the testimony of
stated that a fair is held at Llanarth on the twelfth
of March, or St. David's Day, Old Style. X Qu.
Was
not the circumstance of their being included in the Diocese
of Llandaff, the reason of their omission
?
—
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
52
The
list
compiled from Ecton
has been made
of
it
in order to
very imperfect, and use
is
shew that the inferences of
this
Essay are drawn from premises generally acknowledged.
The
list,
The
Cathedral of St. David's.
as
proposed to be amended,
is
as follows.
Whitchurch, V. (St. David.) Brawdy, V. (St. David.) Capel Gwrhyd;* Capel Non (St. Non.) Capel Padrig (St. Patrick.) Capel y Pistyll; Capel Stinan (St. Justinian.)
Llanuchlwydog, R.
Maenor
Llanychaer, R.
(St.
R. Bridell, R.
David.
David.)
Llanllawen chapel.
Deifi,
(St.
Cilfywyr chapel.
Llanddewi Brefi, C. Llanycrwys, C. (St David.) Blaenpennal chapel (St. David.) Capel Bettws Lleicu (St. Lucia.) Capel Gartheli (St. Gartheli.) Capel Gwenfyl (St. Gwenfyl.)
Bangor Esgor, R. Henllan chapel
(St.
David.)
Henfynyw, C. Llanddewi Aberarth, P. Llanarth,
(St.
David.)
V. Llanina chapel
(St. Ina.)
Henllan Amgoed, R. Eglwys Fair a Churig
Llanddewi
FeliFre,
R.
Capel Crist (Holy Cross.)
(St.
&
Mary &
V.
(St.
St. Curig, or Cyrique.) David.) Henllan, in the
parish of Llanddewi.
Meidrym, V. Llanfihangel Abercywyn, C.
Llanarthneu, P. & V. Llanlleian chapel
;
(St.
Capel Dewi
Michael.)
(St.
David.)
Abergwyli, V.
Llanpumsant (Sts. Celynin, Ceitho, Gwyn, Gwynno, and Gwynnoro.) Llanllawddog (St. Llawddog.) Llanfihangel Uwch Gwyli (St. Michael.) Bettws Ystum Gwyli ; Capel Bach. Llangadog, V. Llanddeusant, Capel Tydyst.
(St.
Simon &
St.
Jude.)
Capel Gwynfai;
Llangyfelach, V. Llansamled, C.
*
The
chapels printed in Italics arc decayed or extinct.
;
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
53
Garthbrengi, P. Llanfaes V. (St. David.)
Llanddew, C. (Holy Trinity.) St. Nicholas's church.
Llywel, V. Trallwng, P. (St. David.)
(St.
David.)
Capel Rhydybriw
(St.
David.)
Llanddewi'r (St. Mary.)
Dolhywel*
;
Maesmynys, R. Llanynys, R.
Cwm,
C.
(St.
Da-
Llanfair in Builth, C.
vid.)
Glascwm, V. Colfa chapel
(St.
Rhiwlen chapel
David.)
Cregruna, R. Llanbadarn y Garreg chapel
(St.
(St.
Padarn.)
David.)
Llannon
(St.
Non.) Llanddewi Sgyryd, R, Llanddewi Rhydderch, R.
(St.
David.)
Rhaglan, or Ragland, V.+ Monmouthshire. Trostrey, or Trawsdre, C. (St. David.)
Llangyfyw. Qu. Dewchurch Magna, V. Herefordshire. Kilpeck, C. (St. David.) Little Dewchurch (St. David.) Dewshall, V. (St. David.) Callow, (St. Michael,) chapel to Dewshall.
Prendergast, R. in the country of the Flemings, chapels unknown.
Hubberston, R.
ditto
Llanddewi in Gower
ditto
Blaenporth, P. Llanddewi Fach, C. Monmouthshire. Llanthony, or Llanddewi Nant Honddu, C. Monmouthshire.
*
The hamlet
of Dolhywel
is
now
included in the parish of Myddfai;
but in the foundation Charter of Talley, the church sancti It
was
David de Dolhowel," as
is called,
"Ecclesia
was formerly an independent
if it
:|:
situated on the confines of the parish of Llywel.
benefice.
(See Dugdale's
Monasticon.)
f According but
it is
to
Browne
Willis, Ragland
is
dedicated to St. Cadocus
here assigned to St. David on the authority of Ricemarchus and
Giraldus Cambrensis.
% Llandyfeisant, C. Carmarthenshire,
grounds for the supposition that of St. Teilo.
it
is
was
omitted in this
There was formerly a chapel, dedicated
castle of Dinefwr, in the
list,
as there are
so called from Tyfei, the
same parish j which,
nephew
to St. David, in the
in the Charter of Talley, is
called " Ecclesia sancti David de Dinewr," and is mentioned separately
from "Ecclesia de Lantevassan."
The
former, from the circumstance of
—
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES
54
The
;
chapels of St. David, subject to churches of other
Saints, are also occasionally grouped.
Llanddewi Abergwesin, Llanwrtyd, and another Llanddewi in ruins are subject to Llangammarch, (St. Cammarch,) Brecknockshire. Bettws, and Laleston, subject to Newcastle, ganshire.
Heyop, and Whitton,
(St.
lUtyd,) Glamor-
subject to Llangynllo, (St. Cynllo,)
Radnor-
shire.
Llanddewi Ystrad Enni, to Llanbister, (St, Cynllo,) Radnorshire. Capel Dewi, to Llanelly, (St Ellyw,) Carmarthenshire. Bettws, C. Carmarthenshire. The original parish church destroyed dedication uncertain. David's chapel, in the castle of Dinefwr, subject to Llandyfeisant, (St. Tyfei,) Carmarthenshire. Capel Dewi, subject to Llandyssul, (St. Tyssul,) Cardiganshire. Llanddewi Fach, chapel to Llywes, (St. Maelog,) Radnorshire. Bettws, chapel to Newport, (St. Gwynllyw Filwr,) Monmouthshire. St.
This
list,
extensive
arrangements be correct, presents a series of
if its
endowments ; and
it
will readily
be allowed that the
churches, which, in the several groups, are considered as the parents of the rest, belong to a class of foundations the most
y ancient in
the Principality.
In what age, or by whom, these
parent churches were endowed with the tithes of the sur-
rounding extant,
event.
districts
which
is
unknown;
for
relate to the history of
But the
precise
period
is
question, for the original church
none of the documents
Wales, have recorded the
immaterial to the present
might have been supported
by the offerings of the people long before a perpetual endowment was granted. The way is, therefore, clear for the belief, that the most ancient churches of Wales were founded by the persons to
whom
they are usually attributed ; and the word
" foundation" may be taken
its
to
mean
the
first
erection of a
being called " ecclesia," must have been a free chapel, or exempt from
ordinary jurisdiction.
Law.)
(See the word "Chapel" in Burn's Ecclesiastical
ARRANGED AND EXAMINED.
55
building devoted to the purposes of religion, though some
may
time
elapse before a revenue
is
appropriated for
' "
main-
its
Chapels, on the contrary, were erected after the
tenance.
endowment became a vested
upon
rights for
this principle, as
already shown, depends the circumstance of their subordinaIt will, therefore, follow that the chapels
tion.
nate churches, which are
preceding
memory
assigned to
and subordi-
David,
St.
in
were not founded by him, but dedicated
list,
after his decease
and though the
;
carefully observed in popular opinion,
it
distinction
may be
the
to his is
not
stated in con-
firmation of the view here given, that, in the writings of the
middle ages,
mention occurs of only one of these
specific
chapels as founded instance alluded to
by the Saint is
to
whom
Ricemarchus and Giraldus* describe founded by
David ;
St.
it is
that of Colfa, subject to as
one of the Monasteries
but, as the passages in
are very corrupt, the statement
The
ascribed.
Glascwm, which
may be
which
it
a mistake.
occurs
It is in-
with analogy, as well as with the testimony of
consistent
Gwynfarddj but allowing
its
correctness, the solitary exception
will not invalidate the general rule. St.
tus,
David
stated to
is
have been canonized by Pope Calix-
between A. D. 1119 and 1124;
it
might, therefore, be
expected that churches were dedicated to his that event
and
;
Saints of the
name
Romish Calendar, churches were which had no connexion with
in places
selection
memory
also that, according to the practice
of the patron Saint being
founder of the building.
left
after
with other
called after his his history, the
arbitrarily
to the
His canonization appears, however,
to have resulted from, rather than^have caused the celebrity in In I
which he was held by of Wales
to increase the
may
be,
it
his
countrymen; and upon the churches
appears to have had no further effect than perhaps
it
will
number of
his chapels
;
but numerous as these
be inferred, from the following considerations,
* Life of St. David, in Wharton's Anglia Sacra.
DEDICATIONS OF CHURCHES, &c.
56
them are more
that the great majority of to a time
Many
when
ancient,
and belong
was not the usual
arbitrary dedication
practice.
of them are dedicated to the same Saint as the mother
church ; but
this, it will
be observed,
is
an extension of the
formly subordinate to
The remainder are almost unichurches of Welsh Saints of contem-
porary or older date.
If
principle of subordination.
and dedicate them
to St.
it
were the custom to build chapels
David
found occasionally subordinate or to those of the
If
it
Romish Calendar
were the custom
St. Peter, St.
in later ages, they
;
but such
not the case.
is
to dedicate churches to St.
John, and others,
would be
to Saints of a later generation,
David
as to
would be expected that they
it
were dispersed over the country indiscriminately; but, on the contrary, they are certain
districts,
extended.
strictly local,
In the
six counties of
church that bears his name. dafF
being grouped together in
over which his personal influence must have
North Wales there
is
not one
In the original Diocese of Llan-
he has but two chapels, and only three
in
what
is
sup-
posed to have been the original Diocese of Llanbadarn;
all
the rest, including every one of the endowments, are in the district of
which, as Archbishop of Caerleon, or Menevia, he
was himself the Diocesan.
The Cathedral
of St. David's
is
in the territory of his maternal grandfather, the neighbour-
hood of Henfynyw appears father,
and Llanddewi Brefi
refuted the Pelagian Heresy.
to have is
been the property of
situated on the spot
his
where he
SECTION
III.
General Observations on the Welsh Saints, as distinguished from those
Roman
of the
The
whose churches have been examined,
three Saints,*
happen
to
Catholic Church.
be the best specimens that could have been selected
to represent so
many
classes of foundations
and
;
it is
hoped
the arrangement will not prove inconsistent with the testi-
mony
of
Wales are
ecclesiastical
historians.
called after the
names of
The
oldest churches in
certain holy persons^
are reputed to have been their founders;
—
presents itself in the question
to
whom
but a
who
difficulty
were they dedicated
?
unknown, and it cannot be supfounders would raise churches in honour of
for their patron Saints are
posed that their
The objection, that they must have been erected memory of these persons after their decease, would perhaps be admitted as insuperable, if it could not be shown themselves. to the
from authentic documents, that the belief current in the Principality since the eleventh century has
been to the contrary.
The
were called
popular explanation
names of
*
their founders,
The pre-eminence
fardd
;
that they
is,
upon the
principle that a house
of these Saints did not escape the notice of
the concluding lines of his
eirioledd Mair, mam radlonedd, A Mihangel, mawr ym mhob arfedd.
" Cyfodwn, archwn arch ddiommedd,
Drwy
Dychyfarfyddwn
ni lu
am
Dychyfarfyddwn ninnau
H
ei lariedd;
am
is
Gwyn-
poem are,—
Drwy eirioledd Dewi, a Duw a fedd. Gwae a n4d gwen-wlad gwedi masvredd.
after the
drugaredd."
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
58 frequently
named
and
after its builder;
if
they never had any
other patron Saints, the inference naturally follows, that they
must have been founded before formal dedications were customary. It must have remained for the superstition of succeeding generations to dignify these founders with the of Saints; but, as they flourished in the ries, it
may be urged
usually
practised
Britain, however,
fifth
title
and sixth centu-
that formal dedications were at that time
on the
The
continent.
superstitions of
were those prevalent in the Catholic or
Universal Church in the fourth century
commencement of the
;
for shortly after the
the communication between the
fifth,
Britons and their continental neighbours was interrupted ; so that while the Catholic
Church was inventing new ceremonies, ; and in the seventh century
the Britons continued stationary
the discrepancy was so great, that the Christians of Wales
would hold no communion with the Saxons, who had adopted Roman ritual.* In Italy and the Eastern Empire, in-
the
stances occur of churches formally as the time of Constantine;
have spread westwards
named
how
uncertain
is
after Saints as early
rapidly this practice ;
churches so dedicated in Britain in the beginning of the century.
The
which however
first is
is
may
but Bede mentions two fifth
the church of St. Martin at Canterbury,
intimated to have been built by the
rather than the Britons.t
The second
is
Romans
the church of Can-
dida Casa, or Whithern, in Galloway, North Britain, dedicated also to St.
Martin; but
it
is
stated that Ninia, its founder,
Rome, and it is added that church was built of stone contrary to the usual custom of
received his religious education at this
About A. D. 710, Naiton, king of the Picts, upon conforming to the Romish ritual, desired that architects
the Britons, t
should be sent him, to build a church of stone in his country according to the fashion of the Romans, which he promised to
* Bede\s Eccl. Hist,
f Ibid. Book
I.
Chap. 26.
t
Book
III.
Chap.
4.
ON THE WELSH
SAINTS.
59
dedicate to the prince of the Apostles, adding that thencefor-
ward he and
Roman and
would adopt the customs of the holy
his people
Apostolic Church, so far as they could be learnt
by persons so distant from the language and nation of Rome.* Though the Britons of Wales were not so remote from Rome as their brethren of Scotland, they persisted
in their non-conformity,
own
more obstinately
and are described by Bede, in
his
time, as celebrating the Passover without fellowship with
the church of Christ.t stated,
but
it is
The
full
amount of
difference
not
is
a satisfaction to remark that the historian does
not charge them with errors of doctrine.
That
their religious
ceremonies were conducted with a degree of primitive sim-
might be expected from
plicity
and
their poverty
seclusion.
It is evident,
however, that the churches of the Britons were
built of wood,
and covered with reeds, or straw
and from the
;
situation of their representatives in Wales, it
would further
The
appear that they were not formally dedicated to Saints.
grounds upon which
which from ancient, to
their
this opinion rests are, that the churches,
endowments are
shown
to
be the most
have no other patron Saints than the persons alleged
have been their founders
;
the next in point of antiquity are
called after St. Michael,^he Archangel, being the first advance
in the
way
of superstition
to the Apostles
and other
of distinction.
But not
afterwards follow those dedicated
;
Saints,
to
still
depend
retaining certain
upon
entirely
marks
speculation,
however well supported by existing circumstances, two passages in the writings of Bede will perhaps decide the question.
The ^'
first is
to the following effect.
Aidan, the Bishop, having departed this
had been ordained and
by the Scots
life,J
Finan,
who
him
in
his Bishoprick, built, in the island of Lindisfarne, a church
fit
for
sent
to succeed
an Episcopal See ; which however, after the manner of the
Bede, V. 21.
t Eccl. Hist. V. 21. X A. D. 652.
—
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
60 Scots,
he did not erect of stone, but of sawn
At a
with reeds.
it
later time,
timber,, covering
was dedicated by the
it
most reverend Archbishop Theodore in honour of the blessed
But Eadbert, Bishop of
Apostle, Peter.
with sheets of lead."
From
that place, stripping
covered the entire building, both roof and sides,
off the reeds,
(Eccl. Hist. III. 25.)
this passage it is clear that Finan,
who was
a Christian
of the British school, founded a church of cathedral rank
without appointing a patron Saint ; and though he presided over the See of Lindisfarne ten years, and was succeeded by
Colman, one of his countrymen,
may be
it
collected that
four years intervened between the resignation of the latter
and the
Archbishop Theodore in Britain.*
arrival of
The next passage
is
consecration practised
the
historian
Saxons,t to
important, as
by the
speaking
is
whom
Oidivald,
it
describes the
mode of
It
must be premised that
of Cedd,
Bishop of the East
Scots.
King of Deira, had given a
spot
of ground for the purpose of founding a Monastery.
" The man of God, wishing by prayer and fasting the place of
its
to
purge
former pollution of wickedness, and so to lay
the foundations of the Monastery, entreated the king that he
would grant him the means and permission for that purpose, during the
then at hand.
In
all
the days of this time, except on the
Sabbath, he always prolonged his until the evening
;
He
fast,
according to custom,
and even then he took only a small piece
of bread, and one egg, with a said that this
to dwell there,
whole time of Lent, which was
little
milk mixed with water.
was the custom of those from
whom
he had
learned a rule of regular discipline, that they should
first
consecrate with prayer and fasting those places which had
been newly obtained
for
founding a Monastery, or church.
* Bede's Eccl. Hist. HI. 25, 26, and IV. translated
t
by Dr. Ingram, A. D.
From A. D. 653
to 664.
064.
and 688.
2.
The Saxon Chronicle
ON THE WELSH
When
SAINTS.
Ql
ten of the forty days were remaining, a person came,
and summoned him
to the
king; but that the sacred work
might not be discontinued on account of the king's business, he desired his presbyter, Cynibill, who was also his own brother, to complete the pious beginning;
plied,
who having readily com-
and the exercise of fasting and prayer being completed,
he (Cedd)
built
which
there a Monastery,
Laestingaeu, and established
it
is
now
called
with religious customs, accord-
ing to the practice of Lindisfarne, where he had been eduAfter he had held his Bishoprick for
cated.
the aforesaid province, and
had conducted
by appointing
management of
also the
happened that he arrived
at the
this
many
years in
superintendents
Monastery;
his mortality, and, being taken with infirmity of body,
He
died.
when
was
it
Monastery about the time of
at first buried without;
he
but in process of time,
a church was built of stone in the Monastery, in honour
of the blessed Mother of God, his body was laid within, at the right side of the altar."
(Eccl. Hist. III. 23.)
This mode of consecration was so different from that practised in the
describe it
it
Romish Church,
at length
;
may be presumed
was
similar.
No
Bede thought proper
that
and from the analogy of
to
their situation,
that the practice of the southern Britons
patron Saint
is
mentioned, and the church
of stone, in honour of the Virgin, was not built until after the
death of the original founder of the Monastery. secration of a place
of presumed sanctity,
who
certain religious exercises
how ers,
If the con-
depended upon the residence of a person for a given time should
upon the
spot,
it
perform
will at once appear
the Primitive Christians of Wales were, at
first,
the found-
and afterwards, in default of the usual mode of dedication,
were considered
to
be the Saints of the churches which bear
their names.
In the Eastern Empire, the invocation of angels commenced so early that the Council of Laodicea it
in
A. D. 366.
It
was a more easy
had occasion
deflection
to
condemn
from the purity
—
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
(52
of Christianity than the invocation of Saints ever, soon followed
them
;
the
;
arose from purely local circumstances.
of the fourth century,
memory
it
was a practice
of a martyr over his grave.
A. D. 430,
says,
''
latter,
how-
but the custom of dedicating churches to
We
as if they
were Gods
spirits live
with God."
St.
About the end
to erect a
Augustine,
do not erect temples
;
church in
who
died
to our martyrs,
but memories as to dead men, whose This extract
is
given on the authority
of Bishop Burnet in his Exposition of the twenty second Article,
who
in a preceding part of the
same Exposition
says,— " It was a remnant both of Judaism and Gentilism, that the souls of the martyrs hovered about their tombs, called their
memories ; and that therefore they might be spoke to there.
St. Basil,
called
upon and
and the other Fathers, that do so
often mention the going to their memories, do very plainly
insinuate their being present at them,
and hearing themselves
may be the reason, why among all the much magnified in that age,* we never find Virgin so much as once mentioned. They knew This
called upon.
Saints that are so
the blessed
not where her body was laid, they had no tomb for her, no,
nor any of her relicks or
But upon the occasion of and by carfar, a superstition to her was
utensils.
Nestorius's denying her to be the Mother of God,
rying the opposition to that too set
on
foot, it
ness of
its
made a progress
beginning ;
sufficient to
balance the slow-
the whole world was then
filled
with
very extravagant devotions for her." If this view of the learned Prelate be correct, the churches
generally founded in the fourth century were those called ecclesiastical historians "martyria," or '^memoriae
They were
necessarily confined to the spot
was buried,
in
by
martyrum."t
where the Saint
honour of whom, therefore, only one church of
*
The
fourth century,
t Bingham'b Antiquities of the Christian Church, VIII. Chap.
1.
Section 8.
;
ON THE WELSH this description could
SAINTS.
63
The custom would^ howmemory of Saints
be erected.
ever^ lead to the erection of churches to the
in other indifferent places
;
and the
martyrs could
belief, that
hear themselves called upon over their graves, would lead to
But the concurrence of
the practice of invocation generally.
the view, here taken, with the preceding arrangement of
Welsh the
foundations,
homage of
most obvious in the
is
late introduction of
The heresy of Nestorius occupied
Mary.
St.
the attention of the Church, in the East, from the third
General Council at Ephesus A. D. 431 to the fourth General Council at Chalcedon A. D. 451.
lowed
Sufficient time
for the spread of these superstitions,
hardly reach
must be
al-
and they would
Britain before most churches of the earliest
The
foundation were built.
secluded state of the Britons, and
their refusal to submit to the authority of the Pope, inter-
posed a further delay, until long after the conversion of the Saxons.*
To
the class of St. David belong
all
the foundations of
churches erected by the Primitive Christians of Wales, from
The
the earliest period to the middle of the seventh century.
mean peirod of their
* In the
which would
it
mab Mair,"
or the son of
would have taken
had reached them.
But
in the
Mary
in the
Nes-
poems, which,
reason to suppose from their style, were written before the year
900, the intercession of the Virgin
of which
is
Her name
is
not known.
is
mentioned only
(My vyrian
in
an ode the author
Archaiology, Vol.
I.
pp. 187, 188.)
spoken of in terms expressive of superstition in three other
poems which have been attributed in
*'
often called
is
indicate the side the Britons
torian controversy if is
from the year 500 to 550.
is
works of the " Cynfeirdd," or Primitive Bards, the second
person in the Trinity
there
establishment
which they are composed
(Myv. Archaiol. Vol.
I.
is
to the earlier Bards, but the language
too modern to allow them to be genuine.
pp. 16, 26, 552.)
In the Ecclesiastical History
of Bede, the Virgin does not occupy the pre-eminent situation to which she afterwards attained ; the favourite Saint of the Anglo-Saxons, in the
infancy of their Church, being St. Peter.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
(^4
may
Their general antiquity
be shown by the methods of
proof already employed, and accords well with the notion that
they were founded by the persons to
whom
they are ascribed,
who
are also ascertained to have lived principally in the fifth
and
sixth centuries.
Very few of
these persons have been
admitted into the Romish Calendar ; and, the authority of the
They
canonized.*
Welsh
also
if credit
Triads, only six of
differ
be given to
them were
from Roman Catholic Saints in
one important particular, that few of them have been dignified with the ity
title
of martyr.
was the common
individuals of their
They
lived at a time
when
religion of their country
number met with a
Christian-
and
;
some
if
violent death,
it
ap-
pears to have been at the hands of the enemies of their nation rather than their faith.
recorded in
them
and
all
That they were men of holy
lives is
the scanty accounts which remain respecting
many
them made a formal Monachism prevalent in the early ages of Christianity. But the character, in which, more especially, their names have been handed ;
it
is
evident that
of
profession of religion according to the system of
down
to posterity, is that of founders of churches.
Many
of
them had more than ordinary opportunities of conferring this blessing upon their country; for they were related to its chieftains,
and the churches they founded were often
within the territories of the head of their tribe. so fortunate as to birth,
churches in
are
ascertained to have founded
places connected with
probably they depended
neighbouring chieftain.
upon
situate
Others, not
ther
own
history,
their influence
In nearly
all cases,
with
and
some
the assumption
of their names, so far from depending upon chance,
is attri-
butable to local causes.
The second class of foundations, or those dedicated Michael, commenced when the Britons were beginning
St.
* Cambrian Biography, vocibus Gwrthefyr,
&
Teilo.
to to
ON THE WELSH
SAINTS.
(55
conform to the religious observances of their neighbours, and the
mean period of
reasons,
may,
establishment
their
for
various
be assigned to the time from A. D. 800
to 850.
Shortly before this period, the Church
made unusual
it
is
recorded that the
affairs
of
Charlemagne had es-
progress.
tablished the civil obligation of tithes over his dominions in
France, Germany, and Italy; and a similar ordinance had
been passed by Offa in England.
ample of these might so
far
It is probable that the ex-
have had
effect
upon the people of
Wales, as to cause generally the erection of churches in places not yet supplied with them, and to assign for their mainte-
nance the
by previous endow-
tithes of lands not appropriated
This notion, though highly probable,
ments. position
but
;
it
is
is
only a sup-
recorded, that in the latter part of the
Welsh were brought gradually into communion with the Church of Rome, for during the time the primitive founders flourished the British Church was independent. The first public act, which acknowledged a submission to the eighth century the
I
j
Papal See, has been thought to have been the resignation of his
kingdom by Cadwaladr,
to the eternal city,
where
make
that he might
a pilgrimage
But great
said he died in 688.
it is
obscurity seems to hang over the accounts of this performance;
and
as this,
and other actions in the
related in almost the walla.
same words of
life
King of the West Saxons, who died
year, there
is
that the
Welsh did not conform
celebration of Easter
till
accustomed to calculate it
served at
at
Rome
Ceadin that
reason to believe that the monkish historians*
have confounded the one with the other.
which
of that Prince, are
his contemporary,
to the
the year 755.
this festival
from a
was generally held a week
Rome; and
It is clear,
however,
Romish time of the The Britons had been cycle, according to
earlier
than
the subject, though trifling in
considered to be of such importance that
it
it
was ob-
itself,
was
was made the
test
* Walter de Mapes, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and their followers. I
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
C6
who refused to adopt the Romish comdeemed without the pale of the Catholic Church.* In 755, Elfodj or Elbodius, became Archbishop of Bangor. A modern writert states that he was appointed by the Pope and though the assertion is not supported by a reference to authority, the circumstance is by no means improbable. Upon his accession, he induced the people of North Wales to adopt the Romish cycle. The Bishops of South Wales, however, of difference, and those
putation were
;
which the Saxons inwas fought at a place called Coed Marchan, in which the Welsh gained an honourable victory.^ What further measures were taken is not recorded, but in 777 the time of Easter was altered in South Wales.§ refused to comply
vaded
In
in consequence of
;
their country,
and a
this state it appears to
battle
have continued until the death of
Elbodius in 809, when the South-Welsh Bishops refused
acknowledge the authority of
to
his
successor.
||
The
con-
troversy of the celebration of Easter was again renewed,
and though
it
not stated
is
how
soon
it
Romish computation, the Welsh were still slow
pliance with the
suppose that
subsided into comthere
is
reason to
to surrender their
ancient custom.*
Those Welsh Chronicles, which are generally deemed authentic,
commence about A. D. 700 ; and
it is
to
be regretted.
* Bede*s Eccl. Hist, passim,
t Warrington
in his account of the
;
Church
at the
end of the "History
of Wales." + Brut y Ty wysogion, or Chronicle of the Princes, the second copy, Archaiology of Wales, Vol. II. page 473.
§ Archaiology of Wales, Vol. II. p. 474. II
Ibid.Vol.
II.
pp. 474, 476.
* The following find in
dwelt
the
Greek
in the isles
is
extracted from Hughes's Horse Britannicae.— "
We
of St. Chrysostora, that certain clergymen,
who
life
of the ocean, repaired from the utmost borders of the
habitable world to Constantinople, in the days of Methodius, (who was
ON THE WELSH
SAINTS.
that, for the first century after their
so brief that they afford but
few
67
commencement^ they are
data for tracing the progress
But the introduction of the custom of dedicating churches to Saints, after the Catholic method, would of superstition.
have been so remarkable an innovation that the following curious notices occur. or the Chronicle
it
could hardly
Accordingly, in two of these Chronicles,
pass unobserved.
of the Princes,
it
In Brut y Tywysogion, is
between
stated that
A. D. 710 and 720 "a church of Llanfihangel was consecrated;" and in Brut y Saeson, or the Chronicle of the Saxons, it Neiis said "in 717 was consecrated a church of Michael."* ther of the Chronicles offers any further explanation, but as
there
no church of
is
pretation of the record first,
Michael in Wales of eminence suf-
St.
deserve this special notice, the most rational inter-
ficient to
is,
that the church alluded to
was the
and the a time when such a circumstance might
in the Principality, dedicated to the Archangel,
date alleged occurs at
reasonably be expected. It
must
not,
who
Bards
however, be denied that in the works
flourished before
found of the corruptions of Christianity; for to
Welsh Church was assertion
which
these traces
it
to the
entirely free
memory of
it
state, that
the
from them, would be an
would be impossible
to
maintain.
But
Allusions to religious subjects are
are slight.
very frequent, and
of
A. D. 700, some traces may be
would appear that some respect was paid
Saints
;
but on the supposition that
all
the
patriarch there, from the year 842 to 847,) to enquire of certain eccks-
and the perfect and exact computation of Easter. It is be inferred from hence, that as there can be no doubt that the British
tical traditions^
to
isles arc referred to, that the disputes respecting
Easter were not yet laid
and that our Britons, not being
with the determination of
to rest
J
the Pope of
nople."
Rome,
satisfied
resorted to the decision of the bishop of Constanti-
(Vol. II. p. 317.)
* Archaiology of Wales, Vol. XL p. 300.
t Ibid. Vol.
II. p.
471>
—
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
68
poems ascribed to that age more than questionable, the only three times
;
are genuine,* a point which
is
intercession of Saints is noticed
namely, once respectively in two compo-
which an ancient MS.
sitions
of doubt, to Taliesin
attributes, with an expression and the third instance occurs in a poem,
;
ascribed in the Archaiology of Wales to the same author, but
acknowledged
since
be modern. t
to
The
oldest composition,
which the Welsh Saints are spoken of
in
superstitiously, is
attributed to Golyddan, a contemporary of Cadwaladr, near
the close of the period in question.
The dedication of churches to St. Michael, way to the erection of others in honour of
the
doubtless, led St.
Peter and
the rest of the Apostles, which were founded as occasions
required them until modern times.
In arranging the
latter,
those, which from the nature of their endowments show that they have some claim for consideration on the score of antiquity, may be ranked in the same class with the former ; and
the
list
may
and
older churches of St.
*
The number
in the
style in
St.
Mary
Mary Magdalene, the Virgin.J
Archaiology of Wales
and those which are spurious
modern
dedicated to St. John the
also include those
Baptist, St. Stephen,
which they are
may be
is
as well as the
But the churches
upwards of a hundred,
distinguished from the rest by the
written.
fThe acknowledgment is made by one of the editors of the logy, who thus explains the rule observed during its publication.
Archaio-
'
world
all the pieces,
whatever their origin, which were ascribed
poets whose works were comprised in that collection, leaving critic to elucidate the
of the productions
undertaking."
Vol. V. in
p.
109
—
it
to the
to the to the
various styles, and pronounce upon the authenticity this
department was not within the scope of their
Owen Pughe, in the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, & 204.) The first two poems, alluded to above, are inserted (Dr.
the Archaiology, Vol.
I.
pp. 76
—77 and 169— 170, and the
last in p.
83
of the same Voluma. the dedication of churches to the Virgin first comX The time whe.n be ascertained j but the earliest instance upon cannot Wales in jnenced
t
ON THE WELSH
SAINTS.
Qg
many; and of by Ecton, nearly one half can be shown
dedicated to the Apostles, in Wales, are not those enumerated to
have had Welsh Saints for The mean period of the
foundation sides the
is
their original founders.
erection of churches of the last
the twelfth century.
dedicated to inferior Saints of the
such as
To
this class belong, be-
remainder of the Apostolic churches,
St. Nicholas,
by
principally
ponderance
St.
Roman
Lawrence, &c. which were erected adventurers.
foreign
such as are
all
Catholic Calendar,
at this period of
But the great preSt. Mary,*
churches dedicated to
may
in some degree be attributed to the Cistercian monks, whose order was the most prevalent in Wales ; and it was a
rule of the fraternity that their religious houses should be
dedicated to the Virgin.
As .ginal
formal dedication in honour of Saints was not the ori-
custom of the Welsh, the question which remains
era of those chapels
of Wales
;
which have been
them
is,
the
honour of natives
may be shown from
that they are ancient
that the great majority of
built in
the fact
and few o f them the Apostles and other
are parochial,
are subject to churches dedicated to
whose homage was introduced at a later period. When Welsh began to honour Saints after the Catholic method, they would naturally direct their attention to those who deserved that respect among their own countrymen. But it Saints
the
appears to have been under certain limitations
and compared
;
with the Apostles, and other celebrated names, the holy
record
is
that of a church, near the
men
Cathedral of Bangor, which was
founded, in honour of St. Mary, in A. D. 973, by Edgar, King of England.
(Wynne's History of Wales, *
An
—Beauties of North Wales,
p. 443.)
examination of the poems of the Welsh Bards,
which they stand
in
the Myvyrian Archaiology, will
in the order in
show
that St.
Mary
began to receive distinguished attention about A. D. 1200, which preeminence appears to have continued until the Reformation. Vol. I. pp. 315, 324.
+ Tanner's Notitia Monastica.
#
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
70
of Wales could only rank as saints of an inferior
To
class.
regard the founders in the character of tutelar Saints of their
mode of proceeding
respective churches was an obvious in the establishment of
new
;
but
foundations preference would be
given to Saints of more extensive reputation
; and the only honour of Welshmen, would be chapels in places where they had lived, or subject to churches connected
edifices, erected in
In other countries where the Romish Church has prevailed, many persons who never were canonized
with their history.
have been allowed the honours of sanctity in their immediate neighbourhood, and in this local character the saints of Wales
must be considered. after
Welshmen
mother church,
Accordingly many of the chapels called
are found to be dedicated to the Saint of the to his relatives, or to persons
whom
tradition
has connected with the place ; and the prevalence of cases of the last
inference being forgotten.
kind
is
known
sufficiently great to justify a similar
drawn where the
tradition has been entirely
Chapels of this description must generally have
been erected while the memory of their Saints was comparatively recent,
and may therefore be
deemed coeval with The perishable nature of
churches of the second foundation. tradition,
and the occupation of several parts of Wales by why no material increase
foreigners will sufficiently explain
was afterwards made to their number. Z' That the Roman Catholics, or, at least, the various conquerors of Wales, all of
whom
professed that religion, hardly con-
sidered the primitive founders in the light of Saints, will
many instances To show how far
further appear from the circumstance that in
they gave their churches a
new
dedication.
the practice prevailed the following St.
list is
David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire,
St.
Stainton, Pembrokeshire, (St. Kewill in
tlie
adduced. David and
Stackpool Elider, Pembrokeshire, St. Elider, Llantoni, Monmouthshire, St. David, St.
Llanvcuno, Herefordshire, St. Beuno,
St.
Monasticon,) St.
James.
John the
St, Peter.
Andrew.
St. Peter.
Baptist.
ON THE WELSH SAINTS
7|
Llansilloe, Herefordshire, St. Tyssilio, St. Peter.
Cathen, St. Michael and All
Llangathen, Carmarthenshire, St. Saints. St.
Thomas,
alias St.
Dogmael's, Pembrokeshire.
Northop, (Llaneurgain,) Flintshire,
Llangynyw, Montgomeryshire,
St.
Eugain,
Cynyw, All
St.
St. Peter.
Saints.
Llanegryn, Meri(methshirc, St. Egryn, St. Mary. LlandafF Cathedral, Glamorganshire, St. Teilo and St. Peter. Llanbleddian, Glamorganshire, St. Bleiddian, St. John the Baptist.
Llanfabon, Glamorganshire, St. Mabon, St. Constantine.
Dynstow, or Dyngestow, Monmouthshire,
St.
Dingad,
Cynyw,
St.
David.
Llangyniow, Monmouthshire,
St.
St,
Mary.
Kilpeck, Herefordshire, St. David and St. Mary.
extend the list further, but the hypomust depend upon the supposition that Ecton is correct in assigning those dedications which differ from the Welsh names of the churches, or from the known history of their It is not necessary to
thesis
founders.
It can,
however, be verified in certain cases.
For
y^ instance, the church of Llantoni, which was originally found-
ed by
St.
David and
called after his
name,
is
now
stated to
John the Baptist. But in A. D. 1108, a Priory of Black Canons was built on the spot, by Hugh Lacy, to the honour of St. John the Baptist, which accounts for its be dedicated
to
St.
present dedication. edrals
is
The second
well attested.
And
of
dedication of the two Cath-
all
the religious houses found-
ed in Wales since the tenth century, not one, except perhaps the Collegiate church of Llanddewi Brefi, was dedicated to a
Welshman. The Romish Church was however determined martyrology of Britain; historian of this
to
have
its
and out of "Cressy," the Catholic
kingdom, may be enlisted about a hundred
British Saints and Martyrs, from the
first
dawn of Christianity
A few only
of their names Welsh accounts, and as for the rest, persons acquainted merely with the history of Wales might well wonder from whence they came. Their legends, however.
to the close of the sixth centry.
are to be found in the
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
72 were
one time regularly read, and their martyrdoms duly
at
commemorated
much
in
Church.
the Catholic
They
are
not so
distinguished for the churches they founded, as for their
miracles and the sufferings they underwent for the spread of
They
the Gospel.
claim for their names a most remote anti-
quity, prior to the age of the
no part of
this
Essay
to
Welsh founders
substantiate
sufficient to
to these pages a list of
append
but
It will therefore
indeed to maintain their existence.
ed
;
it
will
be
their pretensions, or
be deem-
them, chrono-
logically disposed, according to Cressy.
The
is less
pretending, and has refer-
ence generally to a later period;
and though the persons
catalogue of founders
contained in the
it
have been dignified from an early time with
of Saints
title
by
their grateful countrymen,
there are
but few notices in the Welsh language of miracles performed
by them.* Such marvellous relations as exist were nearly all of them written in Latin, and from the silence of the Welsh Bards upon the subject it may be presumed they were better known abroad than at home. It will be allowed that these legends were the productions of the monks, if they were not of foreign manufacture. current
in
The accounts of renowned
Britons,
Cornwall and Arraorica, and in England
and
France generally, have been more extravagant than in Wales. In the
The poem
* is
it
it
Lucius, Merlin, Arthur, and St. David
ascribed to Golyddan
intimated that a
genuine, St.
latter country,
would
Welsh
is
the oldest composition in
Saint wrought miracles; and,
if it
which
were
prove, that in about a century after the death of
David, a belief was current that he was possessed of miraculous
powers.
There
is,
however,
sufficient evidence to
prove that the poem,
though ancient, was written after the time of Golyddan, (A. D. 660,) but is
it
not necessary to enter into the question, as, at the period alluded to, the
era of the
Welsh
Mr. Sharon Turner, p. 269,
Saints
was passing
by, and had nearly terminated.
in his "Vindication of the Ancient British
Poems,"
supposes the composition of Golyddan to have been written in the
eighth century.
ON THE WELSH
SAINTS.
The grand parent of Monmouth,
are reduced to reasonable dimensions.
these absurdities, the Chronicle
with
of Geoffrey of
long line of British Trojan kings,
its
have been borrowed from Armorica.
few
stories current in the
fact that
73
acknowledged
is
There
mouths of the peasantry, but the
they never have been written,
a proof that the
is
Bards of the middle ages did not think them worthy of It
is,
to
are, it is true, a
however, not an unlikely supposition that these
were derived from such accounts
credit. stories
monks would take
as the
care to publish.
In a subject so tory of Saints,
it is
likely to
be mixed up with fable as the his-
of the greatest importance to ascertain what
accounts relative to the Saints of Wales
upon
The Welsh
as true.
authorities,
may be depended
upon which the great-
been placed, are the catalogues or genealogies, usually called " Bonedd," or " Achau y Saint." The fondness
est reliance has
Welsh
of the
always been acknowledged,
for pedigrees has
and genealogies are a species of record in which, owing to the complicated nature of the
Owing
tected.
details,
to intermarriages
forgery
is
most
easily de-
and descents from a common
ancestor, family connexions are so interwoven, that a variety of
pedigrees, derived from different sources, dictory unless their statements were true.
would be contra-
To
record these
affinities, while they were well known, was the office of an order of Bards called " Arwyddfeirdd" or Heralds ; a great
part of whose multifarious productions have survived the
ravages of time, and a
fair
specimen of them may be seen in
Jones's History of Brecknockshire.
It is not likely that
such
would neglect the genealogy of the founders of churches, related as so many of them were to the chieftains
persons
of the
country.
Saints, with their
lected from parts
Accordingly
a variety
more immediate
different
sources
of the Principality.
have been published.
The
catalogues
have been
and apparently in
Two first,
of
ancestors,
only of these
called "
Bonedd
of col-
different
catalogues
Saint
Ynys
GENEKAf. OBSERVATIONS
74 Prydain/'*
is
Welsh Archaiology, where it is Hafod Ychancient, and from the names it
inserted in the
professed to have been taken from the book of
dryd.
Its
contains
it
orthography
is
would appear
to
have been formed in Cardigan-
The second is also published in the same Archaiolounder the name of "Bonedd, neu Achau Saint Ynys
shire.t
gy,
Prydain/'t being a collection by Lewis Morris from various
MSS.
old
North
in
There
existence.§
been printed
is
Wales, also a
some
of
which are
still
an entire form^ but a great part of
in
in
which has not
third catalogue
its
made known to the world in detached styled "Achau Saint Ynys Prydain,"|| and
contents have been notices.
It
gives
more
a
is
where
luria,
full
account of such Saints as lived in Si-
Each of these
seems to have been collected.
it
catalogues contains a variety of detail not to be found in the others
but they also contain a great many names in common,
;
and, in treating of them, their statements are seldom so conflicting
but that they
may be
reconciled.
With
the exception
of some interesting historical notices in the Silurian record, the information they supply
The
*
<'
+
A
but meagre
is
but
;
so far
it is
Gentility of the Saints of the Isle of Britain."
short
list
of Saints, without reference to their genealogy, has been
published in the Cambrian Register, Vol. III. p. 219. originated in Cardiganshire, but
it is
It
appears to have
perfectly distinct from the above, and
contains a few curious notices not to be found elsewhere.
J"
Gentility, or Pedigrees of the Saints of the Isle of Britain."
§The MSS.
II
late
The
by Lewis Morris, amounting Welsh Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 26.
consulted
are specified in the
attention of the public
was
first
to nine in
number,
directed to this catalogue
by the
Mr. Edw. Williams, the distinguished antiquary of Glamorganshire,
by whom it was Thomas ab levan
transcribed from a
MS.
written, about A, D. 1670,
of Tre-bryn in the same county.
one of the most interesting of the Welsh records,
As its
this appears to
same part of the Principality,
hoped will not long be
left
unsupplied.
is
be
publication, accom-
panied with various readings and additions from other exist in the
by
MSS. known
a desideratum which
to
it is
—
ON THE WELSH valuable that
SAINTS.
75
capable of chronological arrangement.
it is
If
the period,
when any one mentioned
flourished,
be known, the usual computation of thirty three
in the list is said to
have
years to a generation, or a century to three generations, will assign within reasonable limits the era of his kindred both
And
ascending and descending.*
if
any one of another
line
be found contemporary with either of these, the same computation will avail with sufficient accuracy to determine the
The circumstances of
order of succession.
their history
may
next be collected together, and embodied forth from other
y sources of information.
The
principal of these are the Triads,
a species of record not to be relied upon implicitly, but deserving of consideration as they give a fair representation of
such traditions, relating to the history of the Welsh nation, as
Some
existed prior to the inventions of the monks.
testimony
may
also
collateral
be derived from the poetry of the Welsh
Bards, though, as already observed, there are few allusions to Saints in will
poems which
The Romish
are of early date.
legends
be used but sparingly, and only when their statements are
within the verge of probability.
*ln forming an
much more
chronology, computation by generations
artificial
satisfactory than
by a succession of
Sir Isaac
various reasons are of uncertain duration. the chronology of the kings of
Rome, and
kings,
whose reigns
Newton
is
for
objects to
other ancient nations, upon the
plea that the reigns, averaging at about thirty five years each, are too
long J and the following
is
the result of his observations after a careful
examination of different authorities.
y "Generations from
father to son
may be reckoned one with
another at
about thirty three or thirty four years apiece, or about three generations to a hundred years
5
but
if
the reckoning proceed
shorter, so that three of
eighty years
j
by the
them may be reckoned
and the reigns of kings are
still
at
eldest sons, they are
about seventy
five or
shorter, because kings are
succeeded not only by their eldest sons, but sometimes by their brethren,
and sometimes they are
slain or
deposed
5
and succeeded by others of an
equal or greater age, especially in elective or turbulent kingdoms."
marks prefixed to Hooka's History of Rome.)
(Re-
;
GENERAF^ OBSERVATIONS,
76
Where may,
&c.
the materials of history are scanty, the deficiency
in part,
be supplied by existing monuments, provided
they are sufficiently numerous to allow of inferences being
drawn upon
of induction; and in support of
fair principles
the genealogies
it
may be
deduced from them
is,
stated, that the order of succession
to a certain extent, observable in the
arrangement of churches.
As
Saints have been dedicated to
found that they are named
the chapels called after
them
Welsh
for local reasons, so
it is
after relatives, or contemporaries,
possibly companions, of the founder of the mother church
and where a
later
this is not the case,
generation,
they are dedicated to persons of
who perhaps
were distinguished ministers
at
enlarged the foundation, or
The
the place.
recurrence of the same names together
is also
occasional
a circumstance
which could not have happened, unless some connexion, of the nature alluded
On
to,
originally
subsisted
between them.
the other hand, chapels are but seldom dedicated to per-
sons of a generation earlier than the founder, for the
Saint
who
first
resided in the district was the most likely to es-
tablish its place of worship
;
ation immediately preceding for a great part of their lives
few chapels, named
persons, however, of the gener-
may be deemed contemporary, may have been concurrent. The
after native Saints,
which are subject to
churches dedicated to the Apostles, are of a date comparatively
modern ; and, with others founded
known by
at a similar period,
may be
the technical appellatives of "Capel" and "Bettws,"
in contradistinction to
" Llan," which in an
earlier
applied to churches and chapels indiscriminately.
age was
SECTION The Welsh
IV.
Saints from the Introduction of Christianity to the end of the
second century.
To
proceed chronologically with the notices of such Saints
be found in the Welsh accounts, the commencement
as are to
made with
should be
the introduction of the Gospel into
Britain.
The
credit of this glorious
Apostles
—
St. Peter, St.
as well as for
work has been claimed for the Simon Zelotes,
Paul, St. James, and
but without entering
Joseph of Arimathea;
further into the subject,
it
will
be
sufficient to
observe that the
Welsh records and traditions are silent as to their pretensions, and their claims must rest upon the support they receive from According
testimonies in other languages.
to
the Triads,*
and more especially the Silurian copies of Achau y Saint, the blessed instrument was " Bran ab Llyr," the father of Caradog or Caractacus.
the
It is said that
Romans through
he and
his son
the treachery of
generally understood to be Cartismandua. at
Rome
as a hostage for his son
were betrayed
to
Aregwedd Foeddog,
He
was detained
seven years, and by this
means obtained an opportunity of embracing the Christian Upon his return, he brought with him three, or acfaith. cording to others, four teachers of the names of Hid, Cyndaf,
Arwystli Hen, and the Gospel was
Mawan and
first
;
through their instrumentality
preached in
collective statement of the
Welsh
this
country.
authorities,
plausible, that Stillingfleet, without being
* Triads 18 and 35, Third Series,
Myv.
Such
and
it is
aware of
Archaiol. Vol.
is
the
so far
this testi-
II.
'
T'HE
78
WELSH
mony, conjectured that a
SAINTS circumstance was
similar
likely
If the account were correct, the return
to have taken place.*
of Bran must have happened in A. D. 58, allowing seven years to elapse
from the capture of Caractacus, which occurred in
A. D. 51. t to
It
is,
however, beset with
who
difficulties
In the
be feared are insurmountable.
which
it
is
place, Tacitus,
first
p •
mentions the capture or surrender of the several members
of the family of Caractacus, and describes the appearance of the same persons seriatim before the
nothing of Bran. wife,
When
Emperor
Claudius.^: says
the historian particularizes twice the
daughter, and brothers of the captive chieftain, the
omission of so important a personage as his father affords a
Rome, and had not been taken prisoner. If an attempt were made to account for the omission, it would be met by another difficulty. Dion strong presumption that he was not at
Cassius states that the father of Caractacus§ was Cunobelinus,
who
Caractacus was one,
The
Romans had commenced, kingdom by two sons, of whom the name of the other being Togodumnus.
died before the war with the
and was succeeded latter
in his
testimony precludes the possibility of Bran being p
Cunobelinus under another name Caractacus was not
;
and would imply that
originally a chieftain of Siluria, but of the
Trinobantes in the neighbourhood of London, where he said to
have fought a battle with the Romans in the
of their invasion.
In the ninth year following
||
is
year
first
he was taken
* Origines Britannicae.
t Tacitus's Annals, XII.
17.
+ Ibid. Annals, XII. 35 and 36. § Dio, or Dion Cassius
composed
his History of
Rome
in
Greek
;
and,
according to the usual practice, altered the name of Caractacus to Kataratakos, to
accommodate
it
to the sound of the language in
which he wrote.
(Lib LX.) " II
Nono
post anno,
quam bellum
Annales, Lib. XII. cap. 36.)
in
Urilannia coeptum."
(Taciti
FROM
A. D. 58
in
A. D. 200.
79
Roman arms
the whole of the
the latter part of which the
war had reached
prisoner, having opposed the interval,
TO
the Silures.
In a conflict with classical historians the Welsh traditions
must give way, and
if
the foregoing prove a correct interpre-
meaning of Tacitus and Dion Cassius, the claims of Bran ab Llyr to be considered the founder of Christianity tation of the
in Britain
That
must be surrendered.
which
traditions
relate f
and second century should
to so early a period as the first
prove inaccurate might be expected ; but as they
may have
originated in an obscure notion of facts, they are deserving of respect,
and should not be relinquished without a careful exThat the story of Bran is not a modern forgery is
amination.
clear, as the
inventor would have taken care to avoid the
culties presented
by
classical writers,
which,
if
diffi-
he were unac-
quainted with the original languages, he could have learnt
The Triads which support Book of Cara-
from various histories of England. it,
are professed to be taken originally from the
dog of Llancarfan,* who died opinion
may have been
A. D. 1156; so that the
in
current in Wales before the pubhcation
When
of the romance of Geoffrey of Monmouth. other Triads were
relate principally to
sixth century,
time.
written does not appear
first
most of them must have been formed
They, however, belong
different
to
curred to the mind of the inventor
;
and
it
being a
them does not neIf Bran were the
might be expected that the Bards of
the sixth century would celebrate
poem
after that
as they are insulated
cessarily affect the authenticity of the rest.
British Christian,
dates,
traditions together, as they oc-
compositions, the incorrectness of some of
only
but as they
circumstances which took place in the
method of arranging ancient
first
;
these and
him in that character. The name occurs, is attributed
of that era in which his
to Taliesin, in
which he
is
alluded to as the hero of a raytho-
* Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
II. p.
75.
;
THE WELSH SAINTS
^0 logical story or
romance now extant.*
After this there
is
no
mention of his name in an authenticated composition until the twelfth century,
when he is described by Cynddelw as a disThe weight of evidence would show
tinguished warrior.t that if the Triads,
were
which
relate to his character as a Saint,
as ancient as the twelfth century, they
were then com-
paratively recent and not generally received.
Bran, on account of the supposed introduction of Christianhas had the epithet of " Bendigaid" or Blessed attached to
ity,
name ; and
his
he
in the Triads
classed with Prydain
is
and
Dyfnwal, as one who consolidated the form of elective sovereignty in Britain.J
Nothing further is related of him, except In the " Mabinogion," or Juvenile
as the subject of romance.
Tales,
is
described an expedition of Bran to Ireland to re-
venge an insult offered to his the Irishman. after
From
sister,
Bronwen, by Matholwch,
this expedition,
having destroyed nearly
all
only seven returned,
the people of the country
and Bran, being mortally wounded, ordered his companions
who in
survived to carry his head to be interred in the White Hill
London, as a protection against
*"Bura
i
gan Vran yn Iwerddon."
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
wel.
all
I.
future invasions, so long
(Kerdd
p. 66.
am Veib Llyr ab Brych-
See also Turner's Vindication,
p. 284.)
f'Rhudd ongyr Bran fab Llyr Llediaith, Rhwydd ei glod o gludaw anrhaith." The bloody spears of Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith, Of unrestrained fame as the bearer of the spoil. Myv. Archaiol. Vol. " Rhybu Fran fab Llyr,
llu
I. p.
212.
rwymadur mad,
Ynghamp, ynghywlad, ynghSd,
ynghCir."
— the excellent commander of the host,
Bran the son of Llyr has been,
In the games, in the assembly of
i\ni
country, in battle, in anxious care. Ibid. Vol.
and Cambrian Biography voce Bran. J No. 36, Third Series,
I.
p. 248.
;
FROM as
it
A. D. 58
remained there.*
who would not have own prowess.t
It
TO
A. D. iOO.
81
was afterwards removed by Arthur,
this island
defended by other means than
his
Hid and Cyndaf, the reputed companions of Bran from Rome, are said to have been " men of Israel," which would imply that they were converted Jews; while Arwystli is In the Silurian catastyled " a man of Italy," or a Roman. logue he instructor
is
said to have
to the
is
spiritual
mentioned in the
identified with Aristobulus,
Romans,
that according to the
xvi. 10.
It
is,
however, remarkable
Greek Martyrology,
as cited
bishop Usher, J Aristobulus was ordained by
Bishop
or
confessor
the
(periglor) of Bran; and by some modern com-
mentators he
> Epistle
been
for the Britons.
by Arch-
Paul as a
St.
Cressy also says that St. Aristobulus,
a disciple of St. Peter, or St. Paul at
Rome, was
Apostle to the Britons, and was the
first
sent as an
Bishop in Britain
that he died at Glastonbury A. D. 99, and that his
Comme-
moration or Saint's day was kept in the Church, March 15.
Two
of Lewis Morris's authorities§ state that Meigent or
Meugant, was the son of Cyndaf, "a man of Israel;" but
this
probably a mistake, as the catalogues of North Wales make
is
no other
allusion to
Bran or
his companions.
tended appears to be Mawan,
who
copies of the Silurian catalogue
is
||
The
Saint in-
according to one of the said to
have been a son
of Cyndaf, and to have accompanied Bran from
Rome
to
Britain.
The descendants of Bran
are styled in the Triads, one of
the three holy families of Britain.
It is not stated that Carac-
tacus himself embraced Christianity; but Eigen, a daughter of
Caradog ab Bran, or Caractacus,
is
recorded as the
first
female
* Dr. O. Pughe, in Preface to Gunn's Nennius.
+ Triads. X
De
§
My V.
Archaiology, Vol.
Qu.
Is there
II
Brltannicarum Ecclesiarum Primordiis, page 9. II. 47.
any notice of Bran
in the
L
Regestum Landavense?
THK WELSH SAINTS
82
V
Saint
among
" She lived in the close of the
the Britons.
century, and was married to Sarllog, Sarllog, or the present
radog,
is
who
Old Sarum."*
also called a Saint,
primitive Christians of the
Ca-
Cyllin, the son of
and with him first
first
was lord of Caer
century
;
is
closed the
list
of
none of whom, ex-
cept Arwystli, have been noticed by the monkish writers,
and no churches in the Principality are known
to bear their
names.t
That
Christianity,
however introduced, had taken deep root
in Britain in the second century Tertullian, a
j-
clear
from the testimony of
who
contemporary writer,
parts inaccessible to the
The
is
that
certain
Romans were subdued by
Christ.^
states
Saint of this period, mentioned in the
first
Welsh
ac-
Lleurwg, or Lleufer Mawr, the grandson of Cyllin. One Triad states that he was the person " who erected the
counts,
is
church at LlandafF, which was the
first
Britain
;
first
in the Isle of
and he bestowed the freedom of country and nation,
who
with the privilege of judgment and surety upon those
might be of the
Another Triad, speaking
faith in Christ."§
of the three Archbishopricks of the Isle of the Britons, says, *'
the earliest was LlandafF, of the foundation of
Coel ab Cyllin,
who gave
embraced the
first
Lleurwg ab
lands and civil privileges to such as
And
faith in Christ." ||
the Silurian cata-
logues of Saints further relate that he applied to spiritual instruction
* Cambrian
Biography.
daughter of Caractacus,
+ Hid,
is
— Claudia,
the wife of
not noticed in the
Llanilid, Glamorganshire, supposed is
Rome
for
upon which, four persons, named Dyfan,
;
dedicated to Julitta and Cyrique.
Welsh
Pudens and reputed records.
by some to have been called See the List of Parishes,
after
at the
end of the Myvyrian Archaiology, Vol. IL with lolo Morganwg's note. \ " Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita." § Triad 35, Third Series. ligible,
contracts
/
II
No.
—The
privileges,
which are scarcely
intel-
appear to mean redress in courts of justice, and the obligation of
made by a
62,
Cliristian.
Third Series— The
after the council of Nice,
title
A. D. 325.
of Archbishop was not
known
until
FROM Medwy, and
Ffagan,
Bishop of that See.
10
A. D. 58
A. D. 200.
him by Eleutherius, the account the Welsh author-
Elfan, were sent
This
is all
give respecting a person about
ities
written under the
name of Lucius,
whom
so
much
has been
Not
or Lies ab Coel.
con-
Mapes, and Geoffrey of
tent with these statements, Walter de
Monmouth, whose
gg
authority, as observed,
not
is
Armorican, must make him the king of
Welsh but
Britain
all
and
;
by a decree of his sovereign power he conthe heathen temples in the kingdom into churches,
gravely relate, that verted
all
that he transformed the Sees of twenty eight
three Archiflamens into so
many
ricks,
and in
in
provisions than that
its
writers
Bishopricks and Archbishop-
fact established a national religion
But
this day.
this
was not
Flamens and
which
is
more complete
the pride of England at
sufficient to satisfy
some Catholic
they must needs add, that after he had Christianized
;
the whole of his dominions, he laid aside his crown
company with
as a missionary,
and, in
;
he toiled his weary way,
his sister, St. Emerita,
through Bavaria, Rhaetia, and Vindelicia,
he suffered martyrdom near Curia in Germany.*
until at last
After this extravagance of
can be no wonder that
fiction, it
some modern writers have denied altogether the existence of Lucius
and
;
it
must be admitted that
better attested than that of Bran,
most
limitations,
confined
/Welsh
involved
in
though
his history,
upon the whole
is,
with
uncertainty.
its
The
accounts authorize no further supposition than that he
was the
chieftain of that part of Siluria,
known by
the joint names of
which was afterwards
Gwent and Morganwg.
even these accounts must be received with caution. second Triad, just quoted, as
mainder of century
;t.
rate that
its
contents,
is
it
would appear from the
But The re-
of no higher date than the seventh
and some of its statements are so manifestly inaccu-
it
must be rejected
entirely.
The
statement of the
* Cressy's Church History of Brittany. t as a
It
speaks of the Archbishopricks of Canterbury and York
Saxon church, was not founded till A. D.62d.
:
the latter,
THE WELSH
S4 first
Triad
is
SAINTS
not incredible, only that the privileges, which
could have been granted by a chieftain retaining his patri-
mony under the Roman jurisdiction, must have been limited. As for the mission to Rome, the Welsh authorities make no mention of an alleged
epistle of Eleutherius,
still
extant
and
;
may be observed that the four names Dyfan, Ffagan, Medwy, and Elfan are not Roman, but British. Some ac-
it
Medwy and Rome with the
counts* state that
Elfan were Britons, and that
being sent to
message, they brought Dyfant
and Ffagan with them on their return. Amid these doubts and contradictions, the reader must exercise his own judg-
Rome
ment, and perhaps he will reject the idea of a mission to as a
monkish
tions in the
fabrication.
There
however, local indica-
are,
neighbourhood of Llandaff which support the
Four churches have
belief of the existence of these persons.
y
been called after the names of Lleurwg, Dyfan, Ffagan, and
Medwy
;
and
their locality not only determines the situation
of the patrimony of Lucius, but, in some respects, the confined sphere to
were limited;
which the labours of these Christian teachers no other part of Wales has a tradition of
for in
their presence remained, a fact inconsistent with the notion
that they evangelized the whole of Britain.
Lleur wg was also called
'^
Lleufer
Mawr,"
or the Great
Lu-
minary, which probably was an epithet bestowed upon him at at a later age in consideration of his
cause of Christianity. epithet
haying promoted the
The Latin name corresponding
was Lucius from Lux.
Lies,
to this
on the other hand,
occurs in the fabulous chronicles, and
is
who formed a Welsh imitation of Lucius. Monmouth also gives him a different pedigree
later authors ffrey
of
* The Latin Book of Llandaff, and the Life of St. Dubricius Teignraouth and Capgrave.
first
perhaps due to those
in
Geoto that
John of
(See Usher de Primordiis, pp. 49, 50.)
+ If any dependence could be placed upon the genealogies of this period, it
would appear
that
Dyfan was a Briton by descent j
given under his name in the "Cambrian Biography."
his pedigree is
FROM in
to
As
Trojans.
A. D. 200.
carries
he
fifty
Archbishop
Latin authorities with a view to
few only of whom agree
and even the name of the Bishop of said to
is
some saying maintain
his grand-
genealogy to Brute and the
his
ascertain the year of his conversion, a
whom
makes
the time in which he lived.
for
Usher* has cited above
together;
85
be Mcirig, King of Britain, instead of Cyllin, the
and thus
Saint;
TO
Saint and the Triads; for he
Achau y
father
A. D. 58
it
have corresponded
is
Rome
with
differently mentioned,
was Euaristus, while a more numerous party was Eleutherius. But most of them agree in it
saying that Lucius flourished in the latter part of the second century, which
is
rather later than the order of generations in
Welsh account from the known date of Caractacus. If the Welsh computation be correct, he must have flourished
the
about the middle of the second century, in the reign of either of the two Antonines, whose edicts in favour of the Christians
would give him the opportunity of promoting the new reThat a native chieftain was allowed to exercise some
hgion.
degree of power,
Romans
is
Britain
in
probable from the
and elsewhere.
known
And
policy of the
Tacitust indeed
such was their conduct in this country in the time
relates that
of Ostorius, the captor of Caractacus.
Under these circumstances
it is
certainly possible, if
not probable, that, according to the last
first
it
be
of the two Triads
quoted, some place might have been set apart for the
purposes of religious worship by Lucius at Llandaff.
But
the declaration of the second Triad, that he gave lands to the faithful,
*
De
cannot be admitted.
Brit. Eccl. Primordiis,
\ His words
are
According
Cap. IIL
—" Consularium
primus Aulus Plautius praepositus, ac
subinde Ostorius Scapula, uterque bello egregius
formam
provinciae proxima pars Britanniae,
colonia; qucedam civitates Cogiduno
recepta populi et reges.''
Romani
to the general testi-
rec/i
:
redactaque paulatiin in
addita insuper veteranorum
donatoB, vetere ac
jam pridem
consuetudine, ut haberet instrumenta servituti$
Life of Agricola, Cap.
XIV.
—
t
THE WELSH
S6
mony
SAINTS
of ecclesiastical historians, endowments for the main-
tenance of religion did not commence until several generations afterwards ; and from another Triad* in the same collection seen that they did not
commence
end of the fourth century.
Welsh
traditions
sufficient
which
to acquiesce
is
in Britain until about the
If any reliance can be placed upon
relate to so early a period,
in the testimony of the
it
will
first
be
Triad,
which implies no more than that he
built a church, said to
have been the
That LlandafF was one
first
erected in Britain.
of the oldest churches in this country
is
not improbable, as the
circumstance would afterwards be a reason for the selection of the place to be the seat of a Bishoprick false, in
the
;
but, whether true or
the simple statement of the Triad
germ of
that story
may be
which afterwards grew
to
recognised
be the won-
der of Christendom.
As
for the other four churches
which have passed under the
names of Lleurwg, Dyfan, Ffagan, and Medwy, there is nothing in the present state of their endowments from which
may be judged
>^they
might be
to belong to the
most ancient
said that in this age places of worship
ported by the voluntary contributions of the people;
though there still
is
every reason to believe that such was the
had these churches existed
some way or
have distinguished them from their neighbours
built long after the time of the persons
Archaiology of Wales, Vol.
other,
but there are
;
not any traces of pre-eminence to be observed.
* Triad 18, Third Series.
and fact,
at so early a period, the vener-
ation attached to their antiquity would, in
were
It
class.
were sup-
That they
whose names
11.
t In the Catholic Church, the anniversary of the Baptism of Lucius was celebrated May 26, and that of his martyrdom Dec. 3. The festival of Dyfan was held April memorated together 26; that of
8,
and of Ffagan August 85 they were also com-
May
24.
Medwy is unknown,
Medwyn, which according
to
The
Saint's
except
it
day of Elfan was held Sept.
be identified with the festival of
some Calendars occurred Jan.
Sir Harris Nicolas's Chronology of History.)
1.
(Cressy.
FROM they bear
is
TO
A. D. 58
A. D. 200.
87
evident in the instance of Merthyr Dyfan, the
designation of which implies that
it
was a martyrium, and the
erection of places of worship of this description did not
mence before the fourth century.
Willis, asserts that the patron Saint of
Teilo;
it
is
name, but
if
known upon what
not
he were correct,
was founded
Merthyr Dyfan was
authority he gives the
might be said that the church
memoriam martyris Duviani by Teilo in the
in
The most
sixth century.
it
safe
conclusion
churches were built at a later age to the
names they
sons whose
com-
Browne
Ecton, or rather
bear,
and
that these four
is
memory
in situations
of the per-
which
tradition
reported to have been the scene of their labours.
The monkish
mention that Elfan was the second
historians
Bishop of London
;
and, according to the authors of the Latin
account of the origin of the church of LlandafF,
it
would ap-
pear that he was ordained a Bishop at the time of his
Rome, while
his
Upon
these points the
Welsh
that
related of Elfan
is
is
visit to
companion Medwy, was created a Doctor. authorities are silent
;
and
all
that he presided over a congregation
of Christians at Glastonbury
;
but this allusion to the church
founded by Joseph of Arimathea savours of a monkish origin.
The monks
are also prolix in their detail of the acts of
and Ffagan in various parts of Britain legends aside,
it
will
be
sufficient
;
Dyfan
but setting the
to add, to the little in-
formation to be gleaned from the Welsh historical remains,
martyrdom
the supposition that the former suffered place
now
called
" Merthyr Dyfan
the rest, the conjecture
;"
and
may be hazarded
as for
at the
Ffagan and
that they lived
and
died in Glamorganshire, as in this county alone they seem to retain traces of
"
A
local habitation
and a name."
SECTION An Examination
Welsh
of the early
the period about which the
V.
Pedigrees, with a view to ascertain
commencement
of their authenticity
may
be dated.
With
the foregoing Saints
From
second century.
is
concluded the
list
for the
the age of Lleurwg, the Triads and
Poems of the Bards present a perfect blank until the time of Macsen Wledig, generally supposed to be Maximus, Emperor of Rome^ who began to reign A. D. 383. But not so the
for they carry the ancestry of the
the Genealogists, Chieftains
and
period
Roman
of
Bran Fendigaid it
without
Saints,
are, therefore,
is
side.
arranged according to the " Cambrian Bi-
may be found upon
reference to most of the names included, but
under the names Caradog ab
Saints,
The names
and the
its
betraying
itself
trafael, the
of Coel
* is
especially
Cadfrawd, Tudvval Befr,
printed in Italics are those of reputed
details
be
It
has been already stated that gene-
at all complicated, can hardly fail of
whenever
it is
not founded in
daughter of Cadfan,
Godebog ; and she
It is to
lestin,
more
rest are introduced for the sake of preserving
the lineage unbroken. alogy, if
the
The alleged descendants of drawn up in a tabular form, as
ography,"* where each connecting link
and Eldad.
British
through
ascendancy.
appears on the opposite
This pedigree
interruption,
be regretted that Dr.
is
is
fact.
Thus Ys-
said to have been the wife
placed in the pedigree in the
Owen Pughe,
to
whom Welsh
literature
already under greater obligations than to any other individual, does not
favour the public with a
new and enlarged edition of this
useful work.
,
EARLY WELSH PEDIGREES.
89
•^
ri-
CO
_
b,
»>
>»
p^
!C
ft (5
•tr-^
o
—
5
x i
>^
3
.S
-c
"H
c
5
— li—
,£3
-^
S'_.t:_.i:. ffl
W P
EXAMINATION OF THE
90
The name in
seventh generation from Llyr Llediaith inclusive.
an-
cestry of Coel Godebog
the
is also
given under
his
Cambrian Biography, and the number of generations there
The
enumerated agrees with the statements usually given. ancestor of Coel, according to that Llediaith
list
contemporary with Llyr
was Afallach ; but from Afallach
fourteen generations, precisely double the
to Coel there are
number of
from Llyr Llediaith to Ystrafael, the wife of Coel large discrepancy
250 years, ation is
must have happened
for Afallach
those
and
this
in the short space of
and Llyr Llediaith were of a gener-
commencing with the Christian
stated to
;
while Coel Godebog
era,
have lived about the middle of the third century.
There are reasons
few generations later than him; but Ystrafael must also be
for placing Coel a
the date usually assigned
brought down to the same period, and, early or lineages cannot be true together.
pens that a son
is
born
It is possible
late,
both
and often hap-
after his father is fifty years of age,
but the accident must be repeated twice before a century can pass with only two generations
render
it
in regular succession. is
born when his father
but
this
;
the line of Ystrafael would
necessary for the accident to happen five or six times It is
happens equally twenty
as often that a son
five years of
age or under,
accident must be repeated four times successively
before a century can pass with four generations; in the line of
Coel the accident must have happened about fourteen times in about three centuries
and a
half.
But
in every examination
of well authenticated genealogies the accidents generally correct each other,
and the average in a long pedigree
generations to a century.*
*
From
is
three
In this respect, whenever the]
the birth of William the Conqueror A. D. 1027 to the birth of
William the Fourth A. D. 1765, twenty four generations may be reckoned, the average duration of each of
and the proportion in
is
which
is thirty
years and nine months 5
maintained under the disadvantage of a succession,
every possible case, of elder children.
EARLY WELSH PEDIGREES.
91
Welsh pedigrees attempt to penetrate the Roman-British all of them faulty.* With the exception of the line of Eudaf ab Caradog ab Bran, already given, they are period they are
during this period a mere string of names, without a single marriage, plurality of issue, or reference to historical events,
by which
their correctness
may be
Those Avhich
determined.
pass through the period in question are five in number, two of
which have been given already, and the remainder may be added by way of illustration.
[Table
II,]
BELI MAWR. 1
Lljidd
Caswallon, or Cassibelaunua
Aflech I
Casfar VVledlg
Ovvain
Llary
Rhun Rhudd
Baladr
Afallach
Brychwyn
Enddolen
Diwg
Enddos
I
Bywdeg
.
.
.
.
Gwyrlleu
Gwineu Daufreuddwyd
Teon
Enyd
Onweredd
Endeyrn
Gorddyfyn
Endigant
Dyfyn
Rhydderch
Gwrddoli
Rhyfedel
-
Tegonwy
Onwedd
I
lorwerth Hirflawdd, A. D. 430
Doli
Gradd
Gwrgan
Urban
I
Tudbwyll
Cain I
Genedawg
-
Tegfau
lago
Tegyd
Deheufraint
Coel Godebog, A. D.
Padarn Beisrudd
Edeyrn Ciinedda Wledig, A. D. 400
* In the first table
it
may be
noticed, that the date of Teithfallt, the
seventeenth descendant from Llyr Llediaith in one line that of
Cystennyn Goronog, the ninth descendant
A. D. 542.
is
A. D. 430 j while
in another
line,
is
EXAMINATION OF THE
92
These pedigrees are generally given without any variation
;
but to say nothing of the improbability that such memorials should be preserved during the three centuries and upwards
Roman
of
ascendancy, they receive
other authorities until the
lower
no confirmation from
dates
being
affixed,
the
that could be ascertained with any tolerable degree of
first
From
accuracy.
dates
those
downwards, however,
pedigrees divide into several branches;
these
relationships
their
multiply, and are so complex and interwoven that they could
not have been traced with any degree of correctness unless they were recorded soon after the times in which they occurred, and
it
should not be forgotten that they are almost
always reconcilable with chronology. the dates in question, to which
430, and Ystrafael A. D. 330 from the
it
all
A. D.
occur shortly
Romans from
be supposed that
not, therefore,
Teithfallt
first table,
before or soon after the departure of the
May
be observed that
It will
may be added
Britain.
the generations
from thence upwards were invented to support the pretensions of those chieftains,
Roman
the
time
who
interest;
rose into
power upon the decline of
for that they
were forged
at
an early
probable from the fact that they are at variance with
is
the monkish stories respecting the British parentage of Constantine the Great.
These worthies were
likely to
influence to the system of clanship prevalent nations,
and they would
find
it
politic to
among
show
owe
their
the Celtic
their descent
from the families of Cassibelaunus and Caractacus, of whose existence and prowess they could be informed by their Roman masters, even if there
had been no native
traditions remain-
ing.
The more as
it
line of
Eudaf ab Caradog,
in the first table, demands a upon the present occasion, inasmuch contains the names of several Saints ; and as its details especial attention
are
more complicated,
the
rest.
it presents features very different from Cadfrawd, the son of Cadfan, appears in a genera-
tion immediately succeeding that of
Lleurwg
;
and upon
re-
—
EARLY WELSH PEDIGREES. ference to the Cambrian Biography,
was
''a.
who
Saint and Bishop
the third century."
work employed
seen that this person
it is
lived about the beginning of
would appear
It
93
that the editor of that
as his authority the
Silurian catalogue
Saints, and that he calculated the dates accordingly
of
but in a
;
lower part of the line the dates of other members of the
may be
family
ascertained from the
These
temporaries in history.
known
era of their con-
however, are so
dates,
much
variance with the former that the whole chronology
There
fused. arisen
is
at
con-
reason to think that the inconsistency has
from a very simple mistake on the part of some compilers
of genealogies in the middle ages
may be produced on
table
is
and
to explain
it
a third
the authority of George
Owen
;
Harry. [Tablb
III.]
BRAN FENDIGAID. 1
Caradog.
2 Eudaf, or Euddaf 3
Cynan I
I
4 Cadfan
1
Caradog '
I
I
Stradweu, wife of Coel
2
Gwavvl, wife of Edeyrn
Ceneu
Elen, wife of
(Caradog)
3 Cynan Meiriadog, A. D. 380
Maximus
'
I
I
Gwrwst
1
Eudaf
|
Cunedda Wledig
4 Cadfan
I
I
Morfawr
Meirchion
Tudwal
Cynfarch Oer Llew, married Anna, daughter of Uther, A. D. 500 to 550
-
(Cynfor)
-
Constantine, A. D, 433 -,
,
Coustans
Emrys
Ambrosius
In this table Triads,
it is
necessary
first
Cynan Meiriadog
is
I
Uther
Arthur
the
Androenus
1
,
or
Emyr Llydaw
Anna, wife of Llew ab Cynfarch
to point out
an
error.
brother of Elen; and if she was the daughter of Eudaf,
must
also
may have
Cynan The name of Caradog Eudaf from the generation
have been the son of Eudaf. slipt into the place
of
In
invariably said to be the
EXAMINATION OF THE
94
If this arrangement be the
preceding.
correct one,
immediately be observed that the names marked 4,
are repeated twice
simply this father of
:
—Cadfan
over,
will
it
and
1, 2, 3,
and the mistake alluded
to is
the father of Stradwen, and Cadfan the
Morfawr have been thought
and the ancestry of the
latter
to
be the same person,
has been given to the former.
Cadfan, the father of Stradwen^* which for Ystrafael, must be considered the
name
only another
is first
person or founder
of his family, and the time in which he lived will depend
upon the known date of his descendant Llew ab Cynfarch, who was contemporary with Arthur. Cadfrawd and Ystrafael will thus be placed in the first part of the fourth century ; and Coel Godebog will be coeval with Constantine the Great, instead of being his grandfather, as reported in the legends.
The pedigree of Cynan Meiriadog must commence with
his
grandfather Caradog,t and the notion that he was a descend-
The
ant of the great Caractacus must be set aside.
period in which he lived
may be known from
general
his connexion
with the emperor Maximus, the date of whose usurpation
A. D. 383. it
is
But
if
Cynan Meiriadog was
living in
impossible that his descendant in the fourth or
degree should be king of the Britons in A. D. 433. pears,
however, that George
Owen Harry
fifth
It ap-
has confounded
Constantine, the father of Ambrosius, with Cystennyn
ronog, a descendant of Cynan, and
is
A. D. 380,
who succeeded
to
Gothe
sovereignty of Britain on the death of Arthur A. D. 542.
So much may be
said for the sake of establishing the order
of succession from the beginning of the fourth century, so as
* George Owen Harry, to fill up the chronology, has heaped the sumed ancestors of Stradwen and Morfawr, one upon the other; but withstanding this accumulation, the pedigree
falls short
prenot-
of the era of
Caractacus by a whole century.
t According
to the first table, Caractacus
and Caradog the grandfather
of Cynan were the same person, which cannot be admitted without committing an anachronism of two centuries.
EARLY WELSH PEDIGREES. to include the
95
immediate ancestors of those chieftains
power upon the departure of the Romans.
rose into
who
It
has
been already observed that the Triads and the poems of the Bards allude century
and
;
no
to
affairs
which were transacted
in the third
made be
correct, the
the arrangements just
if
genealogies afford no information as to the Saints
This chasm in Welsh tradition
the same period.
quiet submission of the people under a foreign
who is
lived in
due
power
;
to the
and
if
those accounts which relate to the age preceding prove uncertain,
and occasionally
incorrect, the remoteness of the time,
as well as the interruption,
must
in fairness
account for their inaccuracy and uncertainty.
be
sufficient to
The
third
and
early part of the fourth centuries include the usurpation of
Carausius and the accession of Constantine, both of which
happened
in Britain, but these events
cerned the Romans. as
a nation, this
The Christian make progress; but as for the work of promoting it, no
continued to
who were engaged
friendly
in
Bard has preserved
Omnes
especially con-
the history of the Britons
was an eventful period.
religion, doubtless,
those
As regarded
more
their names.
illachrymabiles
Urgentur, ignotique longa Nocte, carent quia vate sacro.
SECTION The Welsh
VI.
Saints from A. D. 300 to A. D. 400.
In the year 303 occurred the persecution under Dioclesian, in
which
St.
Alban, the Proto-martyr of England, and his
contemporaries, Amphibalus, Aaron, and Julius, are said to
have suffered martyrdom
;
and though
their history
ed with fable, the credit of their existence
obscur-
is
may be maintained
upon the testimony of writers of great antiquity;* but their it
names are not noticed
will not
as
any catalogue of Welsh Saints,
in
be necessary to say
much
respecting them.
They
appear to have been Romans rather than Britons, which
may
account for the circumstance of their having passed almost
unregarded by the Welsh people.
Wales dedicated
to Alban, or
There
Amphibalus.
are said to have been inhabitants of the
is
no church in
Julius and
Roman
city of
Aaron Caer-
leon upon Usk, where, according to Walter de Mapes, Geoffrey
of Monmouth, as well as Giraldus Cambrensis, two illustrious
churches were dedicated to their memory, and adorned with a
convent of nuns and a society of regular canons. authors,
who
flourished
these establishments
among
from A. D. 1150
may be
had passed away, the
regarded as a monkish
inconsistent with the history of the age to
Soon
after
church
at
the
as those
admit that
did not exist in their time, but were
the glories of Caerleon which
whole account
But
to 1200,
Norman Conquest
which
there
fable, it it
is
being
referred.
was an ordinary Aaron jointly.
Caerleon, dedicated to Julius and
* Constantius of Lyons, who wrote the A. D. 500, Venantius Fortunatus, and Bede.
life
of St. Germanus about
THE WELSH
SAINTS, &c.
97
which was about the same time granted by Robert de Candos According to Bishop Godwin,
to the priory of GoldclifF.*
there existed, in the recollection of the generation preceding
which he wrote,+ two chapels
that in
called after Julius
and
Aaron, on the east and west side of the town, and about two miles distant from each other; but so
have been paid
respect appears to
little
to these edifices that antiquaries are not quite
Llanharan in Glamorganshire,
agreed as to their situations.
considered to be dedicated to Julius and Aaron,
chapel ; and
its
cation, being
mother church, Llanilid,
consecrated
whose homage
Saints J
to Julitta
is
but a
also of late dedi-
is
and Cyrique, French
by the
was introduced probably
Normans. In A. D. 306 Constantine was proclaimed Emperor of
upon the death of place in Britain.
his father Constantius, an event
From
this
chronicle has taken occasion to that he
was a native of this
circumstance the Armorican fill
island,
the world with the story,
and that
his mother, Helen,
This
was the daughter of Coel, a British king.
much
Rome
which took
tale
has been
controverted, and since the time of Gibbon the decision
of most historical writers thorities
in
support of
is
it
all
countries,
The
best au-
the following passage from
— " O fortunate
Britain,
which hast
seen Constantine
Eumenius, the Rhetorician, happier than
in the negative.
are,
first
and now
—
and the following from another panegyrist; "He (thy father Constantius) delivered Britain from bondage, but Ccesar:"
thou by arising from thence hast made these passages can surely
it
illustrious." J
mean no more than
But
his accession, as
* Dugdale's Monasticon.
t Sometimes called Julietta and Cyr, Curig.
their
Welsh names
are
Hid and
—
X These passages are originally thus: "O fortunata, et nunc omnibus beatior terris Britannia, quae Constantinum C^Bsarew prima vidisti."
" Liberavit
ille (pater videlicet
nobiles
oriendo fecisti."—With respect to the meaning of " oriendo,"
illic
Constantius) Britannias servitute, tu etiam
N
THE WELSH SAINTS
98
Ccesar, to a share of the Imperial
of Archbishop Usher
is
The
government.
but
to the contrary,*
that the learned Primate should not have
it is
opinion
surprising
examined the subject
with his usual chronological
skill. Constantine was of full age A. D. 306, when he was proclaimed Emperor upon the death
of his father
;
indeed Usher produces authorities to show that
Now
he was created Caesar before that time. visited Britain, for the first time, in
Constantius
296 ; and allowing that
Constantine was born that year, he could only have been ten years old at the time of his accession to the empire ; he was, therefore, not
born in Britain,
was the wife
Besides, Helen
of Constantius*s younger years, and, as she was divorced by
him
as early as A.
D. 286, ten years before his arrival in
this
But chrono-
country, she was not likely to have been a Briton.
logy and the monkish historians are always at variance, and
them would be a fruitless undermodern writert asks, how has it happened that
the attempt to reconcile
A
taking.
such a tradition, as that of the British parentage of Constantine,
To
should become perfectly national?
replied, that in all the
works of the
earlier
logues of Saints, the older pedigrees, and
except one, there
the national pride of the Welsh,
that they were not acquainted with
communicated received is
No.
it
6,
to
it is sufficient
them by the monks
with avidity.
second
series, in
to say that
may be
all
the Triads,
not the slightest allusion to the circum-
is
stance; J and the omission of a fact, which tified
this it
Bards, the cata-
The the
is
it.
When
in the
solitary
would have gra-
a presumptive proof the story was
middle ages, they
Triad to the contrary
Myvyrian Archaiology
;
but a
Eumenius describes the accession of Constantius,
the father of Constantine, in similar terms.
* De Brit. Eccl. Priraordiis, Cap. VHI. t Roberts, in his Chronicle of the Kings of Britain. X It appears to have been unknown to Bede, to the author position ascribed to Gildas, and to the compilers of the translated
by Dr. Ingram.
of the com-
Saxon Chronicle
;
FROM single reading of
A. D. 300
TO
A. D. 400.
will discover its
it
only Triad besides, in which even the
mentioned,
may
99
monkish origin. The name of Constantine is
the Triad respecting Archbishopricks,* which
is
be referred to the same manufactory.
also
Helen and Constantine were canonized by the Romanists but the name of the existing catalogues. t called
does not occur in any Welsh
latter
and that of the former
Saints,
Eglwys
Ilan,
There
which
is
is
is
omitted in almost
list
all
of
the
a church in Glamorganshire,
supposed by Browne Willis to
be dedicated to Helen; and to render the dedication more complete, the subordinate church of Llanfabon, despite the
name
it
bears,
is
in Cardiganshire^
with Helen
is,
Another church,
attributed to Constantine.J called
is
Tref Ilan ; but the identity of Ilan
at least, questionable,
church in Monmouthshire
is
as in all the current
never corrupted.
A
called distinctly Llanelen;
but
stories respecting the latter the
name
is
not to lay too great a stress upon names,
it
may be
allowed
that these churches, as well as a chapel of St. Helen§
once existed at Carnarvon, were
middle ages ; and it
if the story
which
dedicated to her in the
of her British origin were true,
would be surprising that such dedications were not more
A
numerous. nyn,|| this
is
church in Carnarvonshire, called Llangysten-
perhaps dedicated to Constantine the Great; but
must be uncertain,
Romans
as
soon after the departure of the
there was a sainted king in Britain, called Cystennyn
Fendigaid, or Constantine the Blessed.
* No. 62, Third Series, Myv. Archaiology.
t
It is
mentioned in only two of the
MSS.
cited in the
Myvyrian Ar-
chaiology.
X Llanfabon LlandafT j and
whom
all
is
Ilan
Mabon, the brother of Teilo, Bishop of derive its name from a Welsh Saint, of
may
other memorials have perished.
§ Rowlands' s H
called after
Eglwys
Mona
Antiqua, Section
XL
This church does not appear to be ancient, as
was a chapel under Abergele
(St. Michael.)
in the
time of
Edw. L
it
—
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
100 During
this vacuity of
Welsh
learn,
which
tradition,
have endeavoured to occupy with
fable, it
later legends
gratifying to
is
from testimonies of another kind, that Christianity must
Of
have made considerable progress.
most
this the
irrefra-
gable proofs remain in the fact on record, that there were British Bishops present at the Councils
A. D. 314, of Sardica
in Illyria
The Council
in Italy A. D. 359.
—of
Aries in Gaul
A. D. 347, and of Ariminum of Aries was convened by
Constantine for the sake of suppressing the heresy of the Donatistsj and
it
is
satisfactory to
know
that at that time,
seventeen years before the general edict in favour of Christianity,
there were at least three Bishops in Britain.
of those
who
The names
attended upon that occasion, as given by Usher,
and Spelman, were:
"Eborius
Episcopus, de
civitate
Eboracensi,
civitate
Londinensi, provincia
provincia
Britannia.
Restitutus
Episcopus, de
suprascripta.
Adelfius Episcopus, de civitate Colonia Londinensium
:
exinde Sacerdos Presbyter, Arminius Diaconus."
None Welsh
of these Bishops are mentioned in any catalogue of
Saints, unless
it
be admitted that Adelfius
is
identical
with Cadfrawdy for the names are almost a translation of each
The
other.*
British rendering of Eborius
and Restitutus
would be Efrog and Rhystyd, both which names were in Wales a few generations later.
Colonia Londinensium
evidently an error, as there was no place place that
name
in Britain,
mentioned.
and the Bishop of London
Stillingfleet proposes, therefore, to
ensium" for Caerleon upon Usk
name by which
that
;
;
is
already
read "Legion-
to Latin writers in the
word 'A^e\0os^
and the Welsh Scholar will recognise Brawd
position of Cadfrawd.
is
known by
Urbs Legionis being the
town was known
* Adelfius appears to be formed from the Greek
a brother
in use
in the
com-
FROM
The same
middle ages.
TO
A. D. 300
A. D. 400.
101
Roman
place was also in the
division
of the country* the capital of the province of Britannia Secunda, as London was of
Maxima
Britannia Prima, and
Welsh
Caesariensis.
have been a Bishop's see from the
to
earliest
importance of these three places enabled in a subsequent age to
further
assume the
can
information
York of
tradition has always reported
title
gleaned
be
Diocesans
their
No
of Archbishop. respecting
and Arminius, but they attended probably
it
times; and the
Sacerdos
as representatives
of the different orders of priesthood.
The
of the Bishops,
list
Council of Sardica,
is
who
subscribed the articles of the
not preserved; but
it
is
asserted
by
Athanasius that Bishops from Britain were present, and that they joined in the condemnation of Arius and vindication of
In a few years afterwards, Hilary, Bishop of Poic-
himself. tiers,
an
in
amongst
epistle
others,
The Council
from Phrygia, congratulates the Britons,
on their freedom from heresy.f of
Ariminum was convened by
Constantius,
upon Emperor himself was favour-
the son of Constantine, to decide, like the preceding, the Arian heresy, to which the
Sulpitius Severus relates that
able.
more than four hundred
Bishops of the Western Church were assembled together
upon the
occasion,
and adds
—
^'^unto all
of
whom
the
Em-
peror had ordered provisions and apartments to be given.
But
that
Britons
;
was deemed unbecoming by the Aquitans, Gauls, and
and refusing the imperial
offer,
they preferred to live
own expense. Three only from Britain, on account of poverty, made use of the public gift, after they had rejected at their
the contribution offered by the others ; considering
*
'*It plainly
Provinces
much
I.)
more pro-
appears that the Church was divided into Dioceses and after the
same manner as the Empire, having a Metro-
— (Bingham's Antiquities, Book IX. —Under each of these provincial Bishops were several Chorepis-
politan or Primate in every Province."
Chap.
it
copi or Suffragans.
+ Usher de
Brit.
Eccl Primordiis, Cap. VIII,
''HE
102
WELSH
SAINTS
per to burden the exchequer than individuals.*"
—This passage
has been, by a mistake, adduced to show the poverty of the
Bishops of Britain in general, when
it states, that such was had rather defray their own upon the Emperor's bounty.
their sense of propriety that they
and charges than subsist
costs
The
who
three,
did partake of
it,
are mentioned only as an
exception, as if the independent Bishops were the
merous party.
Out of
four hundred, which
Western Church, a proportion of ten or
only those of the
upwards may well be allowed
for Britain,
Italy
must have added greatly
The
prelates assembled at this Council
whose distance from
to the expense of their journey.
to the doctrines of Arius through the
Emperor; but
more nunumber included
in the year 353,
were forced
to
submit
undue influence of the
Athanasius describes the
churches of Britain, and other churches in the west, as adhering to the faith of the council of Nice.t Besides Cadfrawd,
passed over includes
mentioned,
already
Gwerydd and
gyfarch and Gwrmael, sons, of Cadfrawd said to have been
all
;
of
Saints, but their feast-days are
and no churches have been dedicated Coel Godebog was a chieftain part of this century. sister
period
the
of Cadfrawd,
who
just
and Cad-
lestyn, brothers,
whom
are
unknown,
to them.
flourished in the former
He married Ystrafael or by whom he had a son,
Stradwen, the
Ceneu, whose
name appears in the catalogues of Saints, and a daughter, Gwawl, who married Edeyrn, the father of Cunedda Wledig. According
The
to the fabulous chroniclers
original
he had only one
words are these,—"Qui bus omnibus annonas
dare Imperator prseceperat.
Sed
child, a
et cellaria
id Aquitanis, Gallis, ac Britannis in-
decens visum; repudiatis fiscalibus, propriis sumptibus vivere maluerunt.
Tres tantum ex BritanniS, inopi^ proprii, publico usi
sunt,
cum oblatam
caeteris coUationera respuissent; sanctius putantes fiscum gravare,
singulos."
—
Sulpitii Severi Sacree Historiee, Lib.
t Usher, de
Brit. Eccl. Primordiis,
Cap.
VIIL
IL Cap. LV.
a
quam
=
FROM
A. D. SOO
TO
103
A. D. 400.
s
1^
L2
5.
"^
3
e
a
to
1
bo j=
,c
JA_
*3
a
»
O
.a
P
llJ.-1
^
c
%n
o
L2-J
th
I
t
w
s
^
bo
a
——^~~ P
G I—a
-T3
-
__ >, ^
— C
a s*
;
THE WELSH SAINTS
104 daughter,*
who was
But
Great.
afterwards the mother of Constantine the
setting
fable
aside,
no transactions of
his life
have been recorded, and to the Welsh genealogists he
known
is
only as the founder of a large family of descendants.
He was probably regarded as the head of a tribe in the system of clanship, which, as it is found flourishing in full vigour upon the departure of the Romans, must have been maintained in some degree under their supremacy. Ceneu, the son of Coel,t probably spent his vice of religion, for
which reason he has been
the ser-
life in
called a Saint
but no churches have been consecrated to his memory
geneu
;
Llan-
Brecknockshire being assigned to Ceneu, a daughter
in
or grand-daughter of Brychan.
With Cynan Meiriadog and Macsen Wledig, who
flourished
about A. D. 380, the history of Britain according to the
may be
Triads
Maximus, sister
of Cynan,
Wales ; and
said to
Macsen Wledig,
recommence.
or
reported to have married Elen Luyddog, the
is
who was
in this story
the chieftain of Meiriadog in North
may be
recognised the prototype of
the fable that Helen, the daughter of Coel, was married to Constantius.
It is further said, that
of 60,000
men
and that
this
into
army afterwards
some modern French writers whole of the story,t
Cynan
led over an
it
settled in
Armorica.
should not, upon that account, be dis-
but as
forms no part of the present enquiry,
its
truth or falsehood
it is
only necessary in
this place to establish the date of the expedition, it
may
affect
Though
find reasons for discrediting the
missed without examination;
so far as
army
Gaul to support the claims of Maximus,
A. D. 383,
subsequent events.
* " Ny t oed o plant oy that namyn hy ehunan."—Brut Gr. ab Arthur, Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 207.
+
who
He
is
not to be confounded with another Ceneu ab Coel, a warrior
flourished in the time of Arthur.
I Turner's Anglo Saxons, Appendix to
Book VI. Chap.
II.
FROM The monkish
A. D. 300
TO
A. D. 400.
chronologists thought that these 60,000
wouldj of course, be in want of wives
appended the
105
tale of St.
men
and therefore they
;
Ursula and the eleven thousand, nay
seventy thousand virgins, who, on their voyage from Britain to Armorica,
were captured by pagan
for their faith.
But
pirates,
this grave narration
is
and
all
suffered
so improbable
throughout, that the whole may, without scruple, be pro-
nounced a There
fiction.*
a church in Cardiganshire called Llanygwyryfon,
is
or Llanygweryddon, St.
which
Ursula and the virgins
;
is
supposed to be dedicated to
and
if so, it is
obviously of late
foundation.
Before the end of this century the celebrated Pelagius,
was a Briton, commenced
his career;
person has not been enrolled in any catalogue of Saints,
be enough Italy,
to observe that his heresy
who
but as the name of this
was
first
it
will
promulgated in
and was soon afterwards brought to Britain by his
disciple, Agricola.
*
The
story
Brittany."
may be
seen at length in Cressy's " Church History of
—
SECTION The Welsh
The of the
list
VII.
Saints from A. D. 400 to A. D. 433.
of primitive Christians has reached the beginning
fifth
century, and
hitherto mentioned,
none,
it
may be
stated that of all those
with the exception
perhaps
of
Lleurwg, were founders of churches in the usual sense of the
But the reader
term.
is
now about
when, in consequence of the
to enter
distresses of the
Britons threw off their yoke, and the
From
underwent a complete revolution. gies
it
would seem
as if the country
possession of several chieftains,
affairs
who
the
came
upon a time, Romans, the of the island
Welsh genealo-
at
once into the
rose into power, either as
elders of tribes according to a system of clanship, or
from
their activity in resisting the northern invaders.
This event took place, according to Zosimus, in A. D. 408 or 409; and he says
it
happened in consequence of an
ir-
ruption of barbarians into Gaul, which cut off the communication
between Britain and the
His words may thus be rendered
rest of the :
Roman
empire.
>
*'The barbarians above the Rhine, invading
all
parts with
unrestrained freedom, forced, of necessity, the inhabitants of
the island of Britain, and some of the Celtic tribes, to revolt
from the dominion of the Romans, and to live independent, no longer obeying the Roman laws. The Britons, therefore,
armed themselves, and, facing the danger on their own account, delivered their cities from the barbarians that infested them.
And
tating the
all
Armorica and other provinces of Gaul, imi-
example of the Britons,
set
themselves free in like
THE WELSH
SAINTS,
&c.
JQT
manner; expelling the Roman governors, and
own
native form of government at their
up a
setting
This revolt
liberty.
of Britain and the Celtic tribes happened during the time of the usurpation
made an
of
Constantine,
when
the
barbarians liad
incursion through his neglect of the affairs of the
empire."*
This
mus
is
the statement of a contemporary historian, for Zosi-
died A. D. 420
ticulars as
much
greater value than
;
and though
all
it
does not enter into par-
be wished,
as could
it is
of incomparably
the dreaming of Gildas and the monkish
writers about the '^groans of the Britons,"
whom
they re-
present as the most imbecile of the nations of antiquity. pleasing,
It is
however, to find historians of such eminence as
Gibbon, Mr. Sharon Turner, and Dr. Lingard, giving to the testimony of Zosimus the respect to which
it is
entitled
they proceed to describe the state of Britain after
its
;
and
emanci-
pation, in terms perfectly consistent with the information to
Welsh
Gibbon
indeed
quotest a passage from Procopius to show that the
Romans
be
gleaned
from
the
authorities.
could never recover possesssion of the island, which continued
from that time under the government of tyrants latter term, in the
original vtto TvpavvoL
used in a bad sense,
it is
which
;
and by the
is
not always
obvious the writer intended to de-
signate the native chieftains.
From the Triads it would appear that the emperor Maximus left a son in Britain, called Owain ab Macsen Wledig, who was by national convention elected to the chief sovereignty of the Britons.
It is said that
to a state of independence,
under him Britain was restored
and the annual tribute which had
been paid to the Romans from the time of Julius Caesar was discontinued.
It is
added that the Romans, under pretence of
consenting to these proceedings, withdrew their troops,
*
Zosimi Historiarum Lib.
t Decline and Fall, Chap.
VL
XXXL
Cap.
5, 6,
Notes 177 and 186.
and
THE WELSH
108
SAINTS
brought away at the same time the best of the Britons who were able to bear arms, that
count
by which means the country was
became a prey
it
may be
to its enemies.*
writers
make no mention
Owain
weakened
the son of Maximus^
Owain was
Roman and Greek
the
if
of so distinguished a person as it
was because
with Britain had been intercepted.
One
communication
all
of the Triadst states
Pendragon or chief
raised to the dignity of
vereign of the Britons, though he was not an it
so
this traditional ac-
perceived a confused notion of the events which
took place as related by Zosimus; and
that
—In
elder,
so-
from which
may be concluded that he was a young man at the time of his The editor of the Cambrian Biography says that he
election.
was
also called
Owain Finddu, and
that he has been considered
a Saint by his countrymen; but there are no churches existing
which bear [Table
his
name.
V.]
MACSEN WLEDIG
married
ELEN, daughter of
Eiiddaf.
' I
1
1
1
Owain
Ednyfed
Peblig
Madog
Cystenuyn
Dyfnwal Hen '
1
I
1
1
Gafran
Gortynion
Cerli? 1
I
1
Aeddan
Tiidwal Tiidglyd
Fradog
Rhydderch Hael
Gafran
Gvvrwst Briodor
'
Senyllt I
Melungell
Gwenfron
Nudd
I
I
Gvvyddno Garanhir
Elidyr
Mwyrifawr
Elffin
Hael '
I
1
Dingad m. Tonwy
Llidnerth
Lleuddad
Baglan
Gwytherin
Tygwy
dr. of
Llewddyn Luyddog
Tijp'iog
Eleri, dr.
According to the Welsh accounts, one of the most
distin-
guished chieftains of this time was Cunedda Wledig. territory is
His
have been in the north, an expression
said to
used indefinitely for any part of the tract reaching from the
* Triads 21 and 84.
fNo.
17.
Third Series, Myv. Archaiology.
Third Series.
Qu.
Was
not his disqualification owing to
the foreign origin of his father, which prevented him from being the
elder of a clan of native Britons ?
;
FROM Humber
A. D. 400
TO
A. D. 433.
109
to the Clyde; the particular district is not mentioned,
but owing to the remoteness of the country from Wales not be expected that the tradition should be precise.
it
can-
In right
of his mother, Gwawl, Cunedda was also entitled to the head-
Godebog
ship of the clan of Coel
in the south
Mor, the proper representatives of that
Soon
iastics.*
after the departure of
Gwyddyl
a people, called
nent,
distinguish
them the
coasts of Britain,t
Maximus
Ffichti,
Ceneu and
;
being eccles-
tribe,
to the conti-
or Irish Picts, to
Picts of the north, landed on the western
and occupied the whole of North Wales, as
At
well as the Dimetian countiesj of South Wales. time, the northern Picts
made one of
country of their more civilized neighbours
being unable to
resist
the southward.
The
a later
their irruptions into the ;
and Cunedda,
them, was forced to seek an asylum to probability
is
that he retired to his
maternal kindred.
He was
and
reduced to the condition of adventurers,
his sons, being
the father of a numerous family
undertook the enterprise of delivering Wales from the Irish marauders.
In
this
rightful inhabitants
;
is
it
presumed they were
and they were
assisted
by the
so far successful that they
recovered a great part of South Wales, and the whole of
North Wales, except Anglesey and some portions of Denbighshire. The country recovered was divided between them, and they became the founders of
names
to the
names
are retained to this day.
ion,
districts
so
many
clans
that they occupied,
which gave
some of which
Thus Ceredig had Ceredig-
comprising the present county of Cardigan with a great
part of Carmarthenshire
;
the word, Ceredigion, being the
* Saints.
t In
this statement the
historians,
who
Welsh
relate that
authorities are confirmed
by the
Irish
an invasion of Britain, on an extensive and
formidable scale, took place towards the close of the fourth century under the auspices of a king of Ireland, called Nial of the Nine Hostages.—
Moore's History of Ireland, Chap. VII. X
The
present counties of Cardigan, Pembroke, and Carmarthen.
]
THE WELSH
10
plural of Ceredig, and
meaning
SAINTS Arwystl had
his followers.
Dunod
Arwystli, or the western part of Montgomeryshire.
had Dunodig, or the northern part of Merioneth with part of Carnarvonshire. Edeyrn had Edeyrnion, and Mael had Dinmaelj both in the eastern part of Merioneth.
Coel had Coeland Dogfael had Dogfeilin^ both in Denbighshire. Rhufon had Rhufoniog, in Denbigh and Carnarvon shires.
eion,
Einion had Caereinion in Montgomery, and Oswal had Osweilin on the borders of Shropshire.
Cunedda, died in the Isle of
Man
;
Tibion_, the eldest son of
but his son, Meirion, was
one of these adventurers, and had Cantref Meirion.
which may be assigned to this expulsion of the period between A. D. 420 and 430.* ^-^
Another
chieftain,
The
date
Irish is the
contemporary with Owain ab Macsen
and Cunedda, was Brychan, the regulus of Brecknock. It is said that his mother was Marchell, the daughter of Tudur or Tewdrig, who
is
styled the king of Garthmadryn,
by which
is
conceived to be meant the present county of Brecknock south-
ward of the Eppynt carried
up
hills.t
The genealogy
of Tewdrig
Gwraldeg, king of Garthmadryn,
to
who
is
is
com-
But here the same work which has been demonstrated in the case of Cadfrawd ab Cadfan and Cynan Meiriadog.J Two, if not three pedigrees show that the ancestry of Meirig
puted to have lived about A. D. 230. process
may be
ab Tewdrig,
detected at
who
lived about A. D. 500, has been given to
Tewdrig of Garthmadryn, who must have
The majority of
A. D. 370. older
names
differently,
but they
father of both the persons Teithffaltim.
authorities, all
it
flourished about is
true, give the
agree in saying that the
named Tewdrig was
* The Silurian Achau y Saint, and Nennius. t According to Nennius, the hundred of Builth,
or the northern part
of the county was included in the possessions of Vortigern. % Page
94*
Teithfallt or
Notwithstanding the opinion of the historian of
of this Essay.
r
FROM
A. D. 400
TO
A. D. 483.
Ill
^s ^
ts
o § M -a O
i-i
*3 1-
Ic
hn
« 43 4^
IJ
JS bo
a r-s
Cfi
o
^
,£3
t: o >« bo
*»
a 0)
o
o
s
< Q
bO
g -a a p OS
—
P u 5
»
'oil
a •a •S
3
-^^
5
w
1 -o
s _ O
o
4«
» -
3-^
1
S.i
M
1^
a
•a
IS 1o u
r|
43 •fd
•a
a
-iJ n o
L'2_!2_
H U
-l-l-lE^ 2 c5
(B
.1
§
.^j
§
^O
.2 la
H n
^
;
THE WELSH
112
Brecknockshire,* there minority, that one
would render
is
and
disjointed within
it
necessary to explain
should be noticed that the pedigree
Romans, about the very period
which the authority of other
at
The
claims of clanship were,
acknowledged by the Britons,
doubtless,
nations in a rude state of society state
how
two generations of the departure of the
genealogies seems to commence.
were in a
it
for the other
Tewdrig could have been preserved
the ancestry of the elder ;
shown by the
reason to conclude, as
is
Tewdrig has been mistaken
since the alternative
at so early a time
SAINTS
as they are
by most
but as the heads of families
;
of dependency, there could have been no great
inducement to preserve the memory of their
From
affinities.
the departure of the Romans, downwards, the celebrity and
independence of the chieftains, together with the claims of their descendants' to the inheritance of their territories, are a sufficient reason to
account for the preservation of the record.
is said to have been married to Anllech Goronog, " Brenhin Ewerddon," or, ac-
Marchell, the daughter of Tewdrig,
mac
cording to others, to Aulach, the son of Cormac
He
one of the kings of Ireland. a band of Irish rovers
who
Cairbre,
was, probably, the captain of
infested the coast of
Wales
after
the departure of Maximus, and might have penetrated into
the interior.
The
union was Brychan.
fruit of this
In the
"History of Brecknockshire" may be found a long legend respecting the visit of Marchell to Ireland, and her marriage there, attended with the parade
which a writer of romance
might deem necessary upon such an occasion story,
but as the
;
which has been recorded in Latin and English, has
never appeared in the Welsh language, the silence of the earlier
Welsh
it
may be
said that
writers, as to everits
which
concerned the honour of their country, affords a presumption that such events were either * Mr. Theophilus Jones,
in
unknown
Vol.
I.
Chap.
that country,
t Vol.
1.
or discredited.
Chap, n, and Appendix No. VI.
II.
of his
*'
History'* of
—
FROM Brychan A. D. 400
D
A.
is
computed
to
A. D. 450.*
be altered so
to
TO
400
have
A. D. 433.
113
such
reigned^
is
the term, from
The computation may, however, bring down the commencement of his
far as to
reign to about A. D. 410, in order to allow a sufficient interval, after the departure of
Maximus
in 383, for the marriage of his
mother with an Irish adventurer, as well
growth
to
A. D. 410
That he commenced
manhood. is
for
as
not likely from the chronology which
cessary to give to
his
descendants.
his
dependence,
tained to
if
grandfather and
His
not of obscurity;
power not possessed by
ne-
it is
mother must have lived in the Roman time, and therefore state of
own
his reign later than
for, that
in a
Brychan
at-
his ancestors is probable
from his having given his name to the
district
where he
exercised his authority ;t and the date here assigned to his accession agrees well with the time in which, according to
Zosimus, the Britons threw
A
Cystennyn
No
off the
Roman
yoke.
fourth chieftain, contemporary with the preceding, was
Gorneu, the founder of a family in Cornwall.
further particulars are
known
respecting
him; but the
pedigree of his descendants, which includes several Saints,
is
given as follows.
[Table
VII.]
CYSTENNYN GORNEU. I
Erbin 1-"
.
I
Ysgin
Digain
Geraint I.
Garwy
Cado
Sdyf
Cyngar
lesiyn
CyH
A
fifth chieftain
of this time was Cadell,
founded with Cadell Deyrnllug.
* Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
I.
Chap.
t The names " Brecon and Brecknock" " Brychan and Brycheiniog."
P
From
who
is
often con-
the pedigree of his
III.
are but English modifications of
—
THE WELSH
114 family
it
may be concluded
SAINTS
that his territories lay in Gla-
morganshire and Monmouthshire.
[TABLE VIIL]
CADELL Tegyd Glywys of Glewyseg
——
Gwynllyw Filwr of Gwynllwg
T-
Cammarch
Cattwg Ddoeth
:
Glywys Cerniw
Cadrod Calchfynydd His
—
I
I
Beuno
Gwodloew
this early date.
—
r" I": T-r Hywgu Maches Cynfyw or Cyfyw Gwyddlew
I
is
Carmen
the last that
territories
may be mentioned
of
were situated about the middle
of England.
Of
these contemporary
there
chieftains
are reasons
V* adjudging the seniority in respect of age to Cunedda.*
he
is
for
But
deserving of notice more especially, as the Triads record
that he
was the
first
who gave
God and by which may be undertime the Church received temporal lands and privileges to
the Saints in the island of Britain stood that this was the possessions
first
and endowments
;
in this country.
It is not stated
what particular churches were thus endowed by Cunedda^ but they probably existed in his northern
territories, or in
England, and subsequent revolutions have swept away every trace of them.
Before this time the British chieftains were
not in a condition to give lands to the Church, and perhaps the practice did not
•
An
commence elsewhere
elegy on the death of Cunedda
chaiology of "Wales, Vol.
I.
p. 71,
printed in the
may be
older than the Bard usually
collected.
known by
It
it is
was composed
that name, and is
perhaps the earliest specimen of Welsh poetry extant. translation of
Myvyrian Ar-
from which his character as a warrior
and some particulars of his history
by a Taliesin,
is
before the con-
An English
given in Davies's Claims of Ossian, Section
panied by several interesting and appropriate remarks.
I,
accom-
FROM
A. D. 400
it
A. D. 483.
115
but before the end of the fourth
Tersion of Constantine;
century
TO
was not uncommon. been observed that no church in Wales bears the
It has
name of Owain ab Macsen ; the same may be said of his who is also included in the catalogue of Saints. The church of Llanbeblig near Carnarvon is called after Peblig, another brother of Owain; and this is the first instance of a church in Wales bearing the name of a Saint not admitted into the Romish Calendar. The circumstance of the name may, therefore, be attributed to the supposition that he was the founder, having previously consecrated the place by the performance of certain religious exercises, after the manner which Bede describes as customary among the Christians brother, Ednyfed,
of North Britain.* this it
It is necessary,
however, to suppose that
church was founded after the expulsion of the
Irish,
would not require that Peblig should be more than
years of age to extend his
mus
life
down
to the time
;
since
and
sixty
Maxi-
Britain in 383, and the Irish were driven from North
left
Wales before A. D. 430. The first churches would naturally be erected in towns, where the greatest population was collected;
an opinion which
maintain. it
is
Llanbeblig
is
ecclesiastical
writers
in general
the parish church of Carnarvon, but
not situate in that town, nor at the neighbouring
station of
Segontium.
The Romans had
Roman
quitted the country,
and whatever buildings were left at Segontium were likely to have been destroyed by the Irish. Carnarvon, on the other hand, is of later origin, though of very ancient date. The inference
drawn
is,
that Llanbeblig
existence of Carnarvon.
was founded before the
But another circumstance which
miffht have contributed to the foundation of this
churches in the age of Peblig, was the to Britain in 429,
and that he
visit
and other
of St. Germanus
visited Carnarvonshire
* See page 60 of this Essay.
is
pro-
THE WELSH
116
bable from the traces of his
SAINTS
name which
still
remain in that
county.*
The
chapels subject to Llanbeblig are, St. Mary's, or the
present church of Carnarvon; and St. Helen's, which formerly
The author
existed in that town.
of
Mona Antiqua
supposes
the latter to be dedicatedt to Helen, the wife of Maximus,
and the conjecture
was
also the
thought
shown
is
supported by the circumstance that she
The
mother of Peblig.
be
coincidence might
determine the question,
sufficient to
if it
could be
Maximus has ever been considered a is increased by the equally supported by similar local reasons, that
that the wife of
Saint ; angl the cause of doubt plausible conjecture,
the person intended was the elder Helen, whose saintship
is
undisputed.
A belief, though founded on insufficient grounds,
known
have existed so early as the time of Nennius, that
is
to
either Constantius, the emperor, or his
name, was buried
at
Carnarvon
grandson of the same
and_, in proof, it
;
was alleged
that a stone with a certain inscription pointed out the place of
This, however,
bis grave. J
of classical writers,
who
is
contradictory to the testimony
state that the first Constantius
was
buried at York, and the second at Mopsuestia in Cilicia; but
* Llanarraon (St. Germanus) chapel to Llangybi
j
and Bettws Garmon,
subject to Llanfair Isgaer, all in Carnarvonshire.
t The editor of the Beauties of North Wales, carrying the popular opinion too
far, states that this
chapel was
founded by Helen.
been the case, according to the principles laid down this
Essay,
it
after that time,
its
separate
no means remained for
upon the church of the parish
% Nennius,
this
would, at the time of the institution of tithes and the division
of parishes, hBve received
ent
Had
in the first Section of
who
in
endowment j
its
which
but, being founded
maintenance except as dependit
was
situated.
flourished in the ninth century, says that the person
commemorated was Constantius, the son of Constantino
j
while Matthew
of Westminster states that A. D. 1283 the body of Constantius, the father of that emperor was found by digging, and was, First,
honourably interred
in the
by order of Edward the
adjacent church.
odd ab Cynan, Myv, Avchaiology, Vol.
II,
695.
See also Hanes Gruff-
—
FROM
A. D. 400
TO
A. D. 433.
17
1
words of the words of the inscription have not been
as the
preserved, and as the
name
Constantius can be proved to have
been common in Britain for some time
after the retirement
of
the Romans, the stone probably commemorated some other
who was afterwards mistaken for the emperor. As Mor, the son of Ceneu ab Coel, was a Saint contempor-
person,
ary
may be
with Cunedda and Peblig, he
considered the
founder of the churches of Llannor or Llanfor in Carnarvonshire,
and Llanfor in Penllyn, Merionethshire,
these
may
which
is
of
first
situate at the distance of three miles in a subordinate
Had
chapelry.*
the town existed
first,
the probability
the mother church would have been built in
Merioneth
is
said
by Browne
it.
is
that
Llanfor in
Willis to be dedicated to St.
and the names of both these churches have been
Deiniol,
thought to be corruptions of Llan-fawr,
church
The
claim a higher antiquity than the town of Pwllheli,
j"
but to
anglice
"the great
set aside etymological conjectures,
both of
them were known by the name of Llanfor as early as the time of Llywarch Hen, a Bard who died about A. D. 660, and the verses in which he speaks of them may thus be translated
:t— Trust
shalt not find
The pastor There
*
Dunawd, wounded by them
not Bran, trust not
That thou
is
of the flock of Llanfor
path.
a Llanfor beyond the tide,
To whom
the sea pours forth
Whether
she be equal to ours I
The
who guides our
praises,
its
know
chapel of Pwllheli, alias Denio,
is
not.
dedicated to St. Beuno,
who
flourished A. D. 580.
tThe
following
is the original,
from the
My v.
Archaiology, Vol.
page 120.
Na chred Vran na chred Dunawd
Yssydd Lanvor dra gweilgl
Na chai ganthudd yn fosawd
Y
Bugail Hoi Llanror Uwybrawd.
Llallogan ni
gwna m6r molud withi
wn
ai hi.
I.
;
THE WELSH
1[8 There
is
SAINTSr
a Llanfor, towering
aloft,
Where the Clwyd flows into Cly wedog, And I know not whether she be her equal. The Dee winds within her borders, From Meloch to Traweryn The pastor of the flock of Llanfor is Here three churches
are mentioned together in such a
enumeration may
that their
our conductor.
by the same church" was not
stance of their being founded descriptive
term — "great
Saint^ since the
—
likely in
The Bard
days to have passed for a proper name.
latter part of his life at Llanfor in Merionethshire,
and in these stanzas he appears
died,
instructor against
way
best be attributed to the circum-
warn
to
some impending danger.
those
spent the
where he
his spiritual
Situated where
he was, unless he was a good topographer, he could easily conceive that the upper part of Cardigan
Bay
intervened
between him and Llanfor in Lleyn Carnarvonshire, the parishioners of which place are near enough to the sea to hear the music of the waves.
which
The Bard mentions
also another
name of which, criptive of
its
in English
situation
" the church of the
between the
rivers
This church has been ascribed to
edog.
church
conceived to be Llanynys* in Denbighshire, the
is
island," is des-
Clwyd and Clyw-
St.
Saeran from the
circumstance of his having been buried there ;t but as Welsh
churches are sometimes found to claim the honour of two Saints,J this will interpose
may be
difficulty, since
the oldest Saint
allowed to be the founder, and the younger
Yssydd Llanvor
ydd Ac
no
Heis Dyvyrdwy yn
tra bJlnawg
aa Clwyd yn Nghlywedawg
ni
wn
ai hi
— CyfFylliog,
St.
el
therryn
Veloch hyd Traweryn
Bugail
Uallawg.
* Chapel to Llanynys
O
may have
lloi
Llanvor llwybryn.
Mary.
t Myv. Archaiology, Vol, II. page 61, % The two Saints are rather a proof that
there
was no formal
dedication,
and that the church was called after the name of the person whose me-
mory was most
associated with
it.
;
FROM
A. D. 400
TO
A. D. 433.
119
been a distinguished minister, or one who increased the priIn the
vileges of the church.
own
his
parish;
rivers in that
neighbourhood which
About this time Church
in Britain
Bard returns
last stanza, the
still
retain those names.
(A. D. 420 to 430)
said that the
it is
was infected with the Pelagian heresy ; and
that the orthodox clergy, being unable to stem
Gaul desiring
sent to
mined
to
and the Dee, Meloch, and Traweryn, are
assistance.
Upon which
its
it
progress,
was
in a full synod of the Gallican Church, that
deter-
Oermanus,
Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, should be
The
sent to Britain to confute the heretics.
date assigned to
by Prosper, a contemporary writer, is A. D. 4^9 but he speaks of Germanus only, who, he says, was sent b^ Pope Celestine at the suit of Palladius, the Apostle of Scotthis event
Constantius of Lyons, the biographer of St. G/rmanus, Vj
land.
who wrote
while several persons Avho had been acquainted with
that Prelate were living, relates the affair differently
words may be rendered tation, direct
as follows.*
—
^^
At
;
and his
that time a depu-
from Britain, announced to the Gallican Bishops,
that the Pelagian heresy
was gaining an extensive hold upon
the people in that country
;
and that
assistance
ought
given as soon as possible to the Catholic faith.
to
be
For which
reason a large synod was convened, and with one consent, the prayers of the whole assembly were directed to those bright luminaries of religion,
who
heaven.
*
Germanus and Lupus, Apostolic
priests,
while their bodies were on earth had their minds fixed on
The
And inasmuch
original, as given
as the necessity appeared the
by Archbishop Usher,
is,
more
— '*Eodem tempore
ex Britanniis directa legatio Gallicanis Episcopis nunciavit, Pelagianam perversitatem late populos occupasse, et quaraprimum
bere succurri.
Ob quam causam Synodus
fidei catbolicae
de-
nuraerosa coUecta est: omnium-
que judicio duo praeclara religionis lumina universorum precibus arabiuntur,
Germanus
et
Lupus, Apostolici
coelum meritis, (seu mentibus) possidentes.
sacerdotes,
Et quanto
terrara
corporibus,
necessitas laboros-
THE WELSH
120 urgent, so
much
more
the
SAINTS
readily did those devoted heroes un-
dertake the task, hastening the despatch of the business, to
which they were stimulated by amounts
their faith."
—This
narrative
to a full contradiction of the other as regards the
interference of the Pope, or Palladius.
have entrusted the
Baronius endeavours
by supposing that Celestine might
to reconcile the statements affair to
the Gallican synod, and approved
But the haste with which, according to Conbusiness was transacted will allow of no such
of their choice. stantius, t^ie
Besides which, Baronius ought to have
supposition.
The
variance.
known
time the Pope and the Gallican Church were at
that at that
jjnd Celestine
latter
was not
were charged with Semi-Pelagianism, likely to trust the suppression of Pela-
gianism to those persons
whom
he himself accused of an
would appear that when Prosper the mission of Germanus and Lupus had been
approximation to
found that
it.
It
attended with unwonted success, he wished to claim a share of the credit for his friend, the Pope
;
for
he was himself also
one of the greatest opponents of the Semi-Pelagians, and per-
haps the reason
why he
omits the
name of Lupus
that person was brother to Vincentius Lirinensis,
is
because
who was
a
distinguished leader of the adverse party.* Stress
is
laid
upon these
insinuate that Britain tion;
particulars because Prosper
was brought under the Papal
but, unfortunately for his pious
fraud,
the clearest
proofs of British independence appear after his time. historian Bede,
who was
would
jurisdic-
The
a zealous Catholic, gives an account
of this transaction in nearly the same words as Constantius.
In the
latter writer
may
also
be found an inflated account of
ior apparebat, tanto earn promptius heroes devotissimi susceperunt, celeri-
tatem negotii
fidei
stimulis raaturantes."— De
Brit.
Eccl.
Primordiis,
Cap. XI. * Usher de Primordiis, Cap. XI. and XII. Vol. II. Cap. VII.
Hughes's Horse Britannicee,
FROM
A. D. 400
TO
A. D. 433.
Germanus and Lupus
the zeal, and success of the preaching of until the Pelagians
121
were triumphantly vanquished
at a general
Then
conference, supposed to have been held at Verulam. follows the discovery of the relicks of St. Alban, cription of a
Germanus
mass of earth
carried
away
still
and a des-
reeking with his blood, which
to Gaul.
The next occurrence
is
the
miraculous victory obtained by the Britons, under Germanus, over the Saxons and Picts, by suddenly shouting the word
upon which the enemy
'^Alleluia,"
nation.
It
such miracles within
but
fifty
was the age of
this
be related
in great
fled
conster-
seems strange that Constantius should describe
at
years after the death of the Saint,
religious imposture,
Lyons, with perfect
and
could
stories
safety, of events
which took
place in an obscure corner of Britain.
It does not
that any of these tales are to be found in
Welsh MSS. and
appear
was the occurrence of the name of " Maesgarmon,"*
it
in the
parish of Mold, Flintshire, that led Archbishop Usher to fix
upon
"
that spot for the
was fought
there,
improved into
Alleluiatic Victory."
a miracle, is not
battle
improbable; and there are
names of places
in that neighbourhood,
district has, for
some reason or
memory
That a
under circumstances which were afterwards
The
of the Saint.
about a score of years possibly a mistake, into
other,
which show that the
been tenacious of the
alliance of the
before
the
Saxons and Pictst
landing of Hengist,
which Constantius was led
for
is
want
of the means of accurate information.
The
mission of St. Germanus, or as he
is
called
by the
Welsh, Garmon, may have lasted about two or three years, and, according to Constantius, he visited Britain a second
upon which occasion he was accompanied by Severus, Archbishop Usher calculates that the second mission was performed A. D. 447j, and that it was of
time,
Bishop of Triers.
short continuance.
On
would imply that he * "
The
field
Welsh
authorities
visited this country but once,
which was
the other hand, the
of Germanus."
Q
t Qu.
GwyUdyl
Ffichti?
THE WELSH SAINTS
122
about the time of the last date,* when he was accompanied by Lupus, for they make no mention whatever of Severus. Partiality for national traditions
which Constantius could not sides which, there is
must give way easily
point in
in a
have been mistaken ; be-
an incongruity in the Welsh accounts
themselves which ought to be
The
rectified.
following
is
extracted from Achau y Saint, as translated in the Horae (Vol. II. page 161.) Britannicae.
''Garmon was a Saint and a bishop, the son of Ridigius from the land of Gallia ; and
it
was in the time of Constantino
of Arraorica that he came there ; time of Vortigern;
where he
died.
and
bishops
and continued here
and then he returned back
He
formed two choirs of
divines
in
saints,
to
to the
France
and placed
them, that they might teach the
Christian faith to the nation of the
Cymry, where they were
become degenerate in the faith. One choir he formed in Llan Carvan, where Dyfric (Dubricius) the Saint was the and he himself was bishop
principal,
there.
The
other was
near Caer Worgorn,t where he appointed Iltutus to be principal;
and Lupus
(called Bleiddan)
was the chief bishop
After which he placed bishops in LlandafF;
there.
he constituted
Dubricius archbishop there; and Cadoc, the Saint, the son of
Gwynlliw, took his place in the choir at Llancarvan, and the archbishop of Llandaff was bishop there also."
Now
happens that another note in Achau y Saint says that the College^ of Caerworgorn was founded by Cystennyn it
Fendigaid, and soon afterwards destroyed by the Irish. that time
its
principal
was Padrig.
It
At
might be said that
Gerraanus restored the foundation in A. D. 447, when he ap-
* " Garmon ap Redgitus o Ffrainc
Gwrthenau
i
doeth
i'r
ynys hon."
i'r
henyw, ac yn amser Gwrtlieyrn
—Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
II. p. 43.
f Llancarvan and Caerworgorn, the latter of which is now known by the name of Llanilltyd or Lantwit, are both in Glamorganshire. " word Bangor the Welsh term for the monastic J College"— 30 the
—
institutions of the fifth
and sixth centuries,
is
generally rendered.
—
FROM pointed Iltutus to be
its
TO
A. D. 483.
123
But the genealogies showtime too young for the
principal.
must have been
that Iltutus office,
A. D. 400
—
at that
about eighty years afterwards he
since
is
known
to
have flourished in the court of Arthur, and in his younger days he was not an ecclesiastic but a
which he stood
in
as will
to
appear from the following
The
soldier.
German us was
relationship
that of sister's grandson,
scale.
[Table IX.]
RHEDYW
CYNFOR -I
Constamine
Aldor married
Emyr Llydaw
Uther
\
Rhiain m. to Bicanus
,
,
I
1
, ,
Tewdwr
Arthur
Hywel
Gwyndaf
llltyd
Meugan
Canna
It
Garmon
.... dr.
Crallo
does not follow that these generations should be ne-
cessarily parallel,
but the Chronicles and Triads
state
that
Arthur, Hywel, and Iltutus or llltyd were contemporary; and if it
be said that Iltutus was appointed by
first visit,
all
Germanus
St.
the inconsistency will appear more glaring.*
other accounts agree that Iltutus
was the
first
College which afterwards bore his name, the decides the question
ment from
St.
by
in his
But while
principal of the
Book
of Llandaff
saying that he received his appoint-
Dubriciust
who
lived in an age succeeding
If the foregoing extract be compared with
that of Germanus.
the narration of Constantius,
its
incongruities increase.
Lupus
did not accompany Germanus the second time, and therefore could not have been Bishop of Caerworgorn.
*
The anachronism
The same
did not escape the acuteness of Archbishop
note
Usher
"Iltutus S. German! fuisse discipulum, et in Vincentii Speculo Historiali, et in
Landavensium Regesto legimus
patiatur.^^
t"A
;
licet
id cegre
temporum
ratio
Cap. XIII.
Dubricio Landavensi episcopo in loco, qui ab
est EcclesisE Iltuti accepit
gestum Landayense.
nomen,
est constitutus."
illo Lan-iltut, id
Usher, from the Re-
THE WELSH
124 implies that
Germanus
lived to
remove Dubricius
and place Cadog or Cattwg in Usher puts an end
SAINTS
his
by showing that Germanus
to this idea,
turned to Gaul, and died in the second year of his
That Dubricius received any appointment from except perhaps the bishoprick of Llandaff, and,
to Llandaff,
room; but Archbishop re-
last mission.
St.
Germanus,
questionable;
is
by the order of time, it would appear that the connexion Lupus with the institutions of Caerworgorn
of Germanus and
and Llancarvan was altogether apocryphal. Authorities are not wanting to show that
Germanus was the
founder of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but they are not worthy of a serious refutation, and even the cre-
dulous Constantius does not
founded
make mention of any schools That Germanus made regu-
at this time in Britain.
lations for the stability of the British
and says
Church
be given to an anonymous
if credit
was written
in
very probable;
is
treatise
which Usher
the eighth century, he introduced the
Gallic liturgy into this country.
It is certain,
however, that
was the commencement of a frequent intercourse for some time afterwards between the Camsubsisted which
his visit
and it was by no means ; Church should adopt some of the re-
brian and Armorican Churches unlikely that the one
gulations of the other.
In the Welsh accounts Garmon or
St. Germanus is called Rhedyw, Rhedygus, Ridicus, or Redgitus; and notwithstanding the variety of names in different MSS. there
the son of
can be
doubt that the same person
little
is
intended.*
It is
was a native of Armorica; and as proofs countrymen spoke the same language as the
further stated that he
remain that his Britons, he
may have
derived from that circumstance one of
him
for his mission.
have been the mother of
Emyr Llydaw,
the qualifications which fitted is
said to
can prince;
*
From
but as Usher does not quote
other authorities
it
His
sister
an Armori-
this relationship
appears that tho correct name was Rusticus.
FROM from Constantius,
it
TO
A. D. 400
A. D. 433.
125
probable the prince did not aspire to a
is
higher rank than that of an ordinary chieftain. Several churches in Wales bear the
name of Garmon
but
;
as he visited this country twice, only one of them can be distinctly referred to his first mission,
Denbighshire.
It is
it
is
have been gained
;
and
if
Archbishop Usher has cor-
rectly determined the locality of the engagement, the
in question
is
lal,
which the " Alleluiatic Victory"
adjoins that of Mold, in said to
namely Llanarmon in
singular that the parish attached to
possibly situated on the spot
church
where Germanus
is
described to have raised a sacred edifice,* formed of the
branches of trees interwoven together, in which he and his followers celebrated the services of Easter,
From the manner in which tlie story is mode of consecration used upon the
*
that the
and baptized the
related
it
may be
gathered
occasion was no other than
the performance of the religious exercises of Lentj and though
it
does
not appear that the consecration of ground for the erection of churches
was
necessarily confined to that season, yet the time
currence took place, as described
The
following
is
by Bede,
is
when
a similar oc-
a remarkable coincidence.
a close version of the words of Constantius which relate
to this particular.
—"The sacred
days of Lent were at hand, which the
presence of the divines rendered more solemn, insomuch that those instructed
by
their daily preaching flocked eagerly to the grace of Baptism.
For the great multitude of the army was desirous of the water of the laver of salvation. contexta)
is
A
church, formed of interwoven branches of trees (frondibus
prepared against the day of the resurrection of our Lord, and
though the expedition was encamped
The army, wet with
city. faith,
up
like that of
a
and neglecting the protection of arms, they await the assistance of
the Deity. is
in the field, is fitted
baptism, advances, the people are fervent in
In the
mean time
this plan of proceeding, or state of the
camp,
reported to the enemy, who, anticipating a victory over an unarmed
multitude, hasten with alacrity. scouts
;
But
their
approach
is
discovered by the
and when, after concluding the solemnities of Easter, the greater
part of the army, fresh from their baptism, were preparing to take up arms
and give
battle,
Germanus
offers
thrown
by
into consternation
the Britons.
—
An who were
himself as the leader of the war."
exaggerated description follows of the rout of the enemy,
upon hearing the word Alleluia shouted
thrice
THE WELSH SAINTS
126 greater part of the
meet
to
army of the
Lupus,
it
would appear, was the younger and
of the two legates, as nothing other does not bear a part.
Bleiddian, a
him
to
Britons, before they proceeded
their enemies.
are,
word of
is
related of
His name
similar import.
Llanfleiddian
Fawr
in
him
less
obtrusive
which the
in
rendered in Welsh by The churches ascribed
is
Glamorganshire, which
bears the same relation to the town of Cowbridge as Llan-
beblig and Llannor do to Carnarvon and Pwllheli; fleiddian Fach, or St. Lythian's, in the latter is a small parish,
—and Llan-
same county.
The
but probably some parts have been
detached from it by the Normans; and the occurrence of these names perhaps gave rise to the tradition, that Lupus was connected with the College afterwards founded at Caerworgorn.
The (St.
Fawr are, Cowbridge (Dunwyd :) and, according
chapels subject to Llanfleiddian
Mary,) and Welsh
St.
Donat's
to the Martj^rology of Bede, the
commemoration or
festival of
Lupus was held on the twenty ninth of July. The foregoing are all the churches whose foundations may
St.
be attributed
to this generation,
ending with the accession of
Constantine the Blessed, A. D. 433; most of which are situate in the territories of the sons of Cunedda, under tection
it
is
obvious they were established.
parishes annexed to
them
are of considerable extent,
their subordinate chapelries, in jt lie,
or
more modern
which they gave
Cunedda Britain
;
whose pro-
Nearly
all
the
and have
which the Saints of the Catho-
character, predominate.
For the support
to the cause of Christianity, the children of
are called, in the Triads, the second holy family of
the
first
being that of Bran ab Llyr Llediaith.
SECTION The Welsh
It
VIII.
Saints from A. D. 433 to A. D. 464.
proposed that the next generation shall commence
is
with the accession of Constantine A. D. 433, and terminate
with the deposition of Vortigern A. D. 464; not that any
upon the history or chronology of the " Kings of Britain," but, since it has been generally received,
reliance can be placed
it
give the reader a clearer idea of the succession of
will
events.
The
and Geoffrey
chronicles of Walter
this time, the Britons
were
relate that
about
so oppressed with the inroads of
barbarians, that they applied to Aldor, king of Armorica, for assistance
;
upon which he
sent
with a large body of troops
them
and
his brother Constantine
would appear that Con-
it
performed such important services after his arrival
stantine
that he
;
was elected
of the island.
to the
headship of the confederated states
The Triads confirm
this
account so far as to
say that Cystennyn Fendigaid, or Constantine the Blessed,*
was one of the three foreign princes of Britain; and the " Genealogy of the Saints" calls him Cystennyn Llydaw, or Constantine of Armorica.
In his person the
dragon of the Britons assumed, for the pearance of a monarchy, but
Upon
it
still
first
office
of Pen-
time,
the ap-
continued to be elective.
his death in 443, his son Constans
was elected
to suc-
This person was in 448 murdered by Vortigern, usurped the kingdom until 464, when he was deposed
ceed him.
who and *
his son
He
tennyn
is
Vortimer chosen in his room.
distinguished from Constantine the Great,
Amherawdwr and Cystennyn ab
Elen.
who
is
called Cys-
THE WELSH
128
SAINTS
Constantine has been surnamed *^the Blessed" in conse-
quence of being considered a Saint of the British Churchy and Llangystennyn near Conway In
mory.
"Achau y him
occurs respecting
is
perhaps dedicated to his me-
Saint" the following curious notice
:
—"
It
was the glory of the emperor
Theodosius in conjunction with Cystennyn Llydaw, surnamed the Blessed, to have
founded the College of lUtyd, which
first
man from Rome; and Padrig, was the first principal of it, before he was the son of Mawon, The College here carried away captive by the Irishmen."*
was regulated by Balerus, a
—
mentioned was that of Caerworgorn, which was Cor
Tewdws; but what
who was
emperor of Rome, or rather of the East,
at this time
could have exercised in Britain unless
it
also called
authority Theodosius the Second,
is
more than can be explained;
be supposed that the name was given to the College
him because Balerus was a Roman. The it was founded by Theodosius the Elder, or by Theodosius the Great, neither of whom was a contemporary of Cystennyn Llydaw. But the most remarkable part of the statement is a Welsh tradition in compliment to
account will not justify the supposition that
respecting the great Apostle of Ireland, who, according to the
was the son of Mawon, and a Gwyr or Gower in Glamorganshire. Padrig Maenwyn ; and as Caerworgorn
Silurian catalogue of Saints,
native of the country of
He was was
also called
situated near the sea coast, the story that he
away from thence by the would be thought by no means improbable, Irish in
by other
testimonies.
he
states that
he was made captive ; that he
was
at
if it
were supported
In a composition acknowledged
genuine production of fession,"
was carried
one of their expeditions
St.
Patrick,
and
entitled his
to ''
be
a
Con-
he was but sixteen years of age when
his youth, therefore, precludes the idea
that time the principal of a
College.
further explains that his father was Calpurnius, a deacon,
* Cambrian Biography, voce Padrig.
He who
FROM lived at
of
'^
The
"Bonavem
A. D. 433
TO
A. D. 464.
Taberniae," near to
129
which was the
village
Enon," from which he was himself taken into captivity. situation of these last places is disputed
are generally considered to have been in
;
North
and while they Britain, others
To
contend that they should be looked for in Armorica. enter into the circumstances of his
upon the present
and,
occasion,
would be needless
life
until
the evidence of his
connexion with the Principality were better supported, further investigation
would be deemed
chus, Giraldus Cambrensis, and
he
settled at
Vallis Rosina,
John of Teignmouth
all
Ricemarrelate that
one time in a small valley at Menevia, called
where he
built a
monastery and intended to pass
But an
his days in religious seclusion.
manded him
irrelevant.
to preach the
angel, appearing,
Gospel in Ireland
;
com-
and, in confirm-
him the whole of that country stood. The legend adds that Menevia should be famed for
ation of his mission, displayed to in a vision from the spot
where he
the same angel foretold that
another Saint,
The
day.
who
should be born there thirty years after that
Saint predicted was St. David
whole fable may appear, the
;
and absurd
latter part of it
as the
was embodied in
one of the collects of the Breviary of Salisbury, and devoutly repeated over a great part of England before the Reformation.
The only
known
religious edifice in Wales,
to
have been de-
dicated to St. Patrick, was a chapel, which once existed in the parish of St. David's Pembrokeshire
;
and, according to
John
of Teignmouth, was situated close to the spot where the angel
showed him the
The manus
year 447
vision of Ireland.* is
to Britain.
the date of the second mission of St. Ger-
His stay was
short, as, according to the
computation of Usher, he died in Italy the following year.
His former colleague. Lupus, survived him thirty years, but
upon
this occasion
he was accompanied by Severus, Bishop of
* Llanbadrig in Anglesey
is
Padrig, the son of Aelfryd ab
reported to have been
Goronwy.
R
named from another
— ^
^
THE WELSH SAINTS
13Q
by Nennius and
Several fables are related
Triers.
to the acts of his second mission, the
which are too absurd
One
to repeat.
others as
whole circumstances of of them
is
in brief:
Ketelus, or Cadellus, the swineherd of Benly, king of Powys, offered the Saint that hospitality
his master
;
in consequence of
which had been refused by
which Benly was deposed by
the Saint, and the swineherd was elected in his room, whose
descendants continued afterwards to possess the territory.* It so
happens that the Welsh accounts mention the name of
Benlli
Gawr, who, according
to
Mr. Owen,t was a
Denbigh about the middle
a district in the present county of
of the
By
Ketelus
but he was succeeded by his son Beli. meant Cadell Deyrnllug, J " a prince of the Vale
century
fifth
is
chieftain of
;
Royal and part of Powys," who rose into power about These
time. story,
facts
show that there
though they are no proof of
markable that there called
is
is
its
some foundation correctness.
this
for the
It is re-
a church dedicated to St. Germanus,
Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog,
in the district
which might
have been part of the possessions of either Cadell or Benlli ;
and a chapel, subject to the church of an adjoining parish, called
Llanarmon Fach.
Another story
that Vortigern
relates
endeavoured
council of the Britons, held in Gwrtheyrnion, to
the Saint the fruit of his
by
is
in
a
palm upon
own
the Saint and the whole
incest ; for which he was cursed body of the clergy assembled; and
that afterwards Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, to appease the Saint,
be his
gave him the lands upon which he suffered the insult to for ever.
Gwrtheyrnion
is
* See Usher, De Primordiis, Cap. XI, first
a district of Radnorshire,
who
attributes this tale to the
mission; but the arrangement here attempted
chronology.
The names
are
is
more consistent with
given according to Gildas, as of better
authority than Ranulphus Cestrensis.
f Cambrian Biography. % Nennius, as quoted in Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
I.
page 52, says
that Cadell Deyrnllug was conveited and baptized by St, Germanus.
FROM
TO
A. D. 433
A. D. 464.
131
forming the present hundred of Rhayader ; and there at this is
day a church, which under the name of
ascribed to St. Germanus.
Whether
St.
in
is
it
Harmon's
these stories were in-
vented to account for the origin of the churches, or whether the churches the stories,
dence
is
The
owe their dedications to the previous existence of more than can be determined ; but the coinci-
is
singular.
festival
of St. Germanus was observed July 31,
according to other authorities, August foundations of which
may be
in lal, Denbighshire,
1.
The
or,
churches, the
ascribed to him, are
—Llanarmon
Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog,
ditto, St.
Harmon's, Radnorshire, and Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire
;
—
him are Llanarmon under Llangybi, Carnarvonshire, Bettws Garmon under Llanfair Isgaer, ditto, Capel Garmon under Llanrwst, Denbighshire, and and the chapels dedicated
to
Llanarmon Fach under Llandegfan, That Germanus
condition of the Britons
generally paid to his
is
so ancient are few.
yearly
name; and
it
may be
observed that
Wales which can be traced
first visit,
to
and even those that may be
Parochial churches did not belong to the
According to the concurring
ages of Christianity,
mony
the religious
not unlikely from the respect so
there are no parish churches in
a higher date than his
ditto.
a great change in
effected
testi-
of ecclesiastical writers, the clergy lived for some time
in towns in communities
under their Bishop, from whence
they itinerated about the country, and on their return brought
with them the offerings which they had collected for the com-
mon
support of the society.
But about the beginning of
this
century the ecclesiastical system was undergoing a change,
and Germanus would regulate the British Church after the model of the Gallican. Accordingly, in the Council of Vaison in Gaul A. D. 442, a decree was made " that country parishes should have presbyters to preach in them as well as the city-churches;* *
—and
to the influence of this circumstance,
Bingham's Ecclesiastical Antiquities, Book IX. Chap.
8.
Section
1.
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
132
the origin of country churches in Wales
may perhaps be
traced.
About the commencement of this generation, Gwrtheyrn, or first appears among the chiefs of the Britons.
Vortigern,
According
Nennius
to
his territories included the northern
part of the present counties of Radnor and Brecon, and some
of the Welsh genealogists state also that he was the regulus of
Erging or Erchenfield
in
Herefordshire.
points being considered together
From
these
would appear that
it
two
his do-
minions, as the leader of a clan, extended along the vale of the
visit
But
Wye.
river
in 448, or about the time of the second
by treachery
of Germanus, he became
To
Pendragon or chief ruler of Britain.
or otherwise the
trace the various cir-
cumstances of his history would require a separate
treatise; for
they have been obscured with the extravagancies of romance,
and a careful investigation would be necessary the truth from fable.*
Suffice
to distinguish
for the present purpose to
it
say that his ancestors, as given in the mutilated orthography
of Nennius, were " Guortheneu,t
and the following
M*^ ap Glou j"
cendants according to
Achau y
M'
Saint
Guitaul,
M'
Guitolin,
the pedigree of his des-
is
;
[Table X.]
GWllTHEYRN GWRTHENEU I
,
Cyndeyrn
Gwrthefyr Fendigaid, or Vortimer
A
Fasgeii
daughter, and other sons as below,
'
1 1
Anna
dr.
Madrun
married to Cynyr of Caergawch
dr.
m. to Ynyr Gwent
'
I
1
1
Ceidio
Tegiwg
dr.
1
1
Caradog
Iddon
Cynheiddion
GWRTHEYRN GWRTHENEU
n
—
.L '
I
Aerdeyrn
Edeyrn
I 1
EUdeyrn
Gotta, son of Rhonwen or Kowena
* Instances of the confusion, with which Geoffrey of Monmouth has clouded the
life
of Vortigern, have been shown by Mr. S. Turner in his
« History of the Anglo Saxons," Vol.
t While nearly
all
T.
Book
II.
Chap. VII.
accounts agree that the father of Gwrtheyrn
Gwrthenau, some modern pedigrees
state that his grandfather
was
was Rhy-
—
FROM
TO
A. D. 433
A. D. 464.
133
In passing through the different families serving the Saints whose names
fall in
the only one that occurs in the line of
Madog, the son of Owain of
Madog have
to
be assigned
In the
and ob-
seriatim,
with this generation,
Macsen Wledig
is
but as other persons of the name
;
received the honours of sanctity, the churches
to each of
line of Coel
them
separately are uncertain.
Godebog, Cynllo, the son of Mor, pre-
sents himself to notice.
He
was the
tutelar Saint or founder
of the three churches in Radnorshire, whose extensive endow-
He was
ments have been already described.
also the founder
of Llangynllo, and Llangoedmor, in Cardiganshire; latter of
which, the neighbouring churches of
to the
Mount and
Llechryd, both dedicated to the Holy Cross, were formerly is commemorated in name of Cynllo Frenhin,*
Cynllo
subject.
under the
belonged to a powerful family ginally a chieftain,
it
is
the Calendar, July 17, or the
King
;
and
and might afterwards, according
practice of the age, have
as
he
probable that he was ori-
embraced a
life
of religion.
to the
The
Pseudo-Taliesin says of him
" The prayer of Cynllo
—a proof
shall not
be in vain."t
was considered
that in after times his intercession
efficacious.
In the line of Cynan Meiriadog occurs the name of Tudwal Befr, J
who
diocese
is
described as a Saint and Bishop
is
not mentioned,
deyrn, whose descent fifteenth degree
is
it is
possible that he
;
and
as his
was a Chorepis-
traced in the ninth, or according to others in the
from Beli Mawrj but the older and better supported au-
thority of Nennius must be preferred.
The
discrepancy coincides with the
time of the retirement of the Romans, and the names given by Nennius are no
more than might easily have been retained from the period before
that crisis.
* See the old Editions of the Welsh
t"Ni bydd
coeg gweddi Cynllo."
Archaiology, Vol.
Common
Prayer.
Dyhuddiant Elphin.
II. p. 83.
X Son of Morfawr ab Cadfan ab Cynan, in Table
I.
Myvyrian
;
THE WELSH
134 copus or
local Bishop,
An
uncommon.
an
which
office
off
-was at this time not
the coast of
Carnarvonshire
is
him, in which are the ruins of a small chapel,
after
called
island
SAINTS
dedicated to the same person,* and subject, as
it
would seem,
to the church of Llaneingion Frenhin on the main land. Another church in the neighbourhood is named Tudweiliog,
but the word
is
more
descriptive of a district or clan of follow-
ers than of a religious edifice
parish festival
is
and
;
Carlislet says that the
that of St. Cwyfen,
which
is
holden on the
Tudwal Befr was married to Nefydd, daughter of Brychan, and is reported to have had a son, Ifor ab Tudwal, who is said to have been a Saint, but no churches third of June.
are ascribed to him.|
Saints of the family of Cystennyn
The
ab Cystennyn Gorneu, and Digain
whom
of
Gorneu
are,
Erbin
his brother ;§ to the latter
the foundation of Llangerniw, or the " church of the
Cornishman," in Denbighshire,
His
attributed.
is
festival is
held Nov. 21.
The
date of some of the descendants of Vortigern renders
it
necessary to place the age of his son, Gwrthefyr or Vortimer, in this generation
;
and though
this
arrangement
the chronology which has been generally followed,
on
all
differs it is
from
agreed
hands that both these persons were engaged in active
life together,
and the inference
to
be drawn
was born when youth. It would appear, however, his father
had
is
that Vortimer
scarcely passed the time of that the
monkish chrono-
have placed the era of Vortigern several years too
logists
late
* Is there any tradition that this chapel was actually founded by St.
Tudwal J
its
peculiar situation
"wards a parish church?
t Topographical Dictionary.
would prevent
—^Browne Willis
it
from becoming
states that
a chapel, subordinate to Llangwynodl, and dedicated to
St.
after-
Tudweiliog
is
Cwyfen.
% Qu. Is not Llanstadwel, Pembrokeshire, an abbreviation of Llansant-
tudwal
?
§ In Table VII. Digain
was erroneously shown
to be a son of Erbin.
t
FROM
A. D. 433
TO
A. D. 464.
135
from A. D. 448 to 464, when he
for they extend his reign
is
superseded by his son for four years, after which he unaccountably reigns again until A. D. 481.
All this
tent with their statement that Vortimer,
who
is
inconsis-
known from
is
a
respectable authority* to have died before the battle of Cray-
ford in 457, was of age to take the chief
Britons in the field so early as 455
how
long Vortigern
may have
command
and though
;
survived his son,
that the date usually assigned to his deposition
date of his
decease.
it is
Vortimer,
who
has
it is
is
of the
uncertain
probable
in truth the
been surnaraed
"Bendigaid, or the Blessed," has been accounted a Saint; and
he was not an
as
ecclesiastic, the
honour
care in restoring those churches which
is
perhaps due to his
had been destroyed by
the Saxons, and the respect which he paid to
In the Triads he
is
men
of religion.
styled one of the three canonized kings of
Britain.
The
sons of
Cunedda were
all
of them warriors, and though
several of his grandchildren might have flourished in this
generation, the order of succession
by
referring
them
to the
next.
Cunedda, the time in which he territories,
would be better preserved
name
of Ceredig ab
and the
situation of his
Tlie
lived,
determine him to be the hero of the following
rencounter with St. Patrick; and the circumstances of the incident,
which exhibit a curious picture of the manners of by Mr. Moore in his " History of
the age, are thus related
*
Henry of Huntingdon.
t Matthseus Florilegus says
—"Vortimerus,
victoriara adeptus, coepit
possessiones amissas civibus indigenis restituere, ipsosque diligere, Ecclesias destructas restaurare, atque viros
giosos, honorare."
— (Usher
De
Ecclesiasticos, praecipue reli-
Primordiis, Cap. XII.)
"Gwedy
kafFael
o Werthyfyr e wudugolyaeth dechreu a oruc talw y pawb tref y dat ac eu kyvoeth or ar rydugassey e sayson y arnadunt. ac y gyt a henny hevyt karu y wyrda ac eu hanrydedu ac o arch Garmawn ae kynghor adnewydhau er eglwyseu."—Brut G. ab Arthur. Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 252.
THE WELSH SAINTS
136 Ireland."
—"The
event, in consequence of -which the Saint
addressed his indignant letter to Coroticus,* the only authentic
we have from
writing, besides the Confession,
his hand, is
supposed to have taken place during his stay on the Munster coast,
A
about the year 450.
who, though professing
to
British prince,
named
Coroticus,
be a Christian, was not the
less, as
appears froni his conduct, a pirate and persecutor, had landed
with a party of armed followers, while coast,
and
St.
Patrick was on the
about plundering a large district in which, on
set
the very day before, the Saint had baptized and confirmed a vast
number of
Having murdered
converts.
persons,
the pirates carried off
captives,
and then
who were
at that
A
into Britain.
number of
them as slaves to the Picts and Scots, time engaged in their last joint excursion sold
letter
rauders, requesting
a
several of these
considerable
despatched by the Saint to the ma-
them
to restore the baptized captives,
and
part of the booty, having been treated with contumely, he
found himself under the necessity of forthwith issuing the solemn
epistle
which has come down
in which, de-
to us,
nouncing Coroticus and his followers as robbers and marauders, he in his capacity of declares
/The
them
to be
'
Bishop established in Ireland'
excommunicated."
family most distinguished in the Church during the
present interval was that of Brychan,
y
to
Saint,
twenty
five
daughters, in
all
however, vary, of which statement tion
it is
is
who
is
said, in
Bonedd
have been the father of twenty four sons and forty nine children
this is
! !
twenty four for the whole number.
said that he
had three wives,t though
tioned that they were living at the same time
* In some printed accounts of St. Patrick, this name cus, and Cereticus,—the latter of
which
is
Welsh orthography. t Eurbrawst, Rhybrawst, and Peresgri.
Statements,
The
the largest.
;
is
smallest
In explanait is
and
not
men-
it
appears
spelled
— Coreti-
but a slight deviation from the
;
FROM
A. D. 433
TO
A. D. 464.
were
that four, at least, of his sons
137
illegitimate.
how-V
It is,
ever, supposed by the Historian of Brecknockshire and the
Author of the Horae Britannicae that the names of the grandchildren of Brychan have crept into the
and, in confirmation of this opinion,
it
list
of his children
may be
stated that the
Triads record that Brychan "brought up his children and
grandchildren in learning and the liberal
be able to show the
arts, that
they might
faith in Christ to the nation of the
wherever they were without the
faith :"
from which
Cymry,
it
would
be inferred that the grandchildren of Brychan were Saints,
and
their names were inserted in But as few such names appear,* the when the grandchildren would naturally be the most numer-
might be expected that
it
existing
catalogues.
ous, the supposition, that they
of children,
is
have been included in the
the most rational
way of accounting
asunder
tions are never strictly concurrent,
;
it is
and though generatoo
much
to
suppose
two daughters of the same man should be married
that
persons
who
each other.
flourished
if
two
thirds of a century apart
Those alluded to
Calchfynydd who wife of
no
list
the
Their intermarriages also show that they belong
deficiency.
to times a considerable distance
but
for
are,
to
from
Gwrgon, wife of Cadrod and Gwladus,
flourished about A. D. 410,
Gwynllyw Filwr who
flourished about A. D. 480;
the latter be considered a grand-daughter of Brychan,
difficulty will
appear in the case.
Between
the wife of
who flourished about 430, and the wife of Cyngen ab Cadell who flourished about 500, the discrepancy is equally Ceredig
as great.
This being the case, Bonedd y Saint leaves the antiquarian at liberty to acquiesce in the titled
authority
of the legend, en-
"Cognacio Brychan," in which several of the child-
ren and grandchildren are actually distinguished. treating of the family seriatim,
*
Only
five or six,
it is
But
in
proposed to follow the
and those mentioned incidentally.
;
THE WELSH
138 list
in the
My vyrian
SAINTS
Archaiology of Wales, which, allowance
being made for the intermixture of two generations, appears
names most correctly. It is supported by a number of authorities than the list to which the His-
to give the
greater
and the
torian of Brecknockshire has given a preference,
names included are more churches
now
existing.
consonant with
But
the names
in this part of the subject
of it is
impossible to proceed with the satisfaction that can be wished the
all
of this family are evidently so corrupt that the
lists
result of a comparison of
to the truth,
them can be only
a distant approach
and a great number of cases must be
left
un-
decided.
/
1.
Cynawg
or Cynog, according to
all
the
lists,
the eldest
son of Brychan, by Banhadlwedd the daughter of Banhadle of Banhadla in Powys.
" Soon
he was put
after his birth
whom
under the care of a holy man named Gastayn, by
—
he
was baptized."* Cressy says ''the fame of his sanctity was most eminent among the Silures ; his name is consigned
among our English Martyrology on ary,t where he flourished in Christ
492."—The
latter part
of the sentence
expressed, but the year mentioned
of his death,
which
is
the eleventh of Febru-
year of
virtues about the
all
may be
more agreeable
is
ambiguously
taken for the date
to the chronology of the
family than that he should have flourished in the prime of at that time.
The Truman MS. J
* Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
f
I.
states that
Chap.
III.
life
he was murdered
and Cognacio Brychan.
Sir Harris Nicolas, in his Chronology of History, gives Oct. 7 as the
Cynog which would seem to be correct, was formerly held in the month of October
festival of St.
that Saint
;
as the
wake of
in the parish of
Defynog, Brecknockshire. According to Edwards's Cathedral of
wake of Llangynog, Montgomeryshire, should be held difference between which and the authority of Sir H. Nicolas
the
St.
Asaph,
Oct. 8, the arises only
from an error of computation, where Edwards should have deducted a
day from the reckoning
at the
commencement of the present
X Cited in Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
I.
Chap.
III.
century.
FROM
A. D. 438
TO
A. D. 464.
by the Pagan Saxons, upon a mountain
called the
Van, in the
Merthyr Cynog in Brecknockshire; and
parish of
may be concluded
that the church of
a martyrium to his
memory, and
does not appear
westward
how
Merthyr was erected
as it
be supposed that in
upon the
and the MS. just quoted mentions an instance
which they joined arms with the Gwyddyl
To Cynog
But
the Saxons could have penetrated so far
excursions they occasionally landed
coast of Wales,
if so, it
built over his grave.*
at so early a date,t unless it
their piratical
in
139
Ffichti.
Defy nog,
are to be attributed the churches of
Ystrad Gynlais, and Penderin, in Brecknockshire, forming v/ith their parishes
and chapelries three extensive and con-
tinuous endowments of the
lowing chapels are subject ulid,
(St.
Julitta;)
Ystrad Fellte,
(St.
first
Capel Callwen,
Mary.)
chapel, Capel Coelbren.
To Defynog
class.
—Capel lUtyd,
(St.
Ystrad
the fol-
Llan-
(St. Iltutus;)
Callwen;f)
and
but
one
Gynlais has
The
Penderin stands alone.
of Merthyr Cynog, which, like that of Defynog,
is
parish
of sufficient
importance to give name to the Hundred in which
it
lies,
Nant Bran, (St. chapelry of DyfFryn Honddu. Battel
formerly included the church of Llanfihangel Michael, II) as well as the
now
chapel,
independent, and Llangynog subject to Llan-
ganten, (St. Cannen,) are also dedicated to
Cynog
;§
and
it
* This inference from a general custom, explained in page 62 of this Essay,
is
Cynawc
— '*Sepulchrura —The words of Bonedd y
confirmed by Cognacio Brychan, which says
in
Merthyr Cynawc
Saint are to the same purpose
Merthyr Cynawc
+ Hengist
is
ym
in
Brechenawc."
— " Kynawc ap
Brychan, Merthyr, ac
ym
Mrecheiniog y mae'n Gorwedd."
usually believed to have carried devastation into the re-
motest corners of the island, but Mr. Sharon Turner has well observed that all his battles, particularized
by the Saxon
authorities,
were fought
in Kent.
X In one
list
of Saints, Callwen
Brychan, and was therefore a
is saic
sister of
to
have been a daughter of
Cynog.
11
Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
§
There are reason for supposing that LI an gun og, a chapel
II.
page
193.
in Carraar-
THE WELSH
140
may be
observed that
all
SAINTS
these religious edifices are situated in
the territory of his father Brychan, a circumstance sufficient to
Llangynog in the
account for his influence as a founder.
Montgomery
county of 2.
is also
attributed to him.
Clydwyn^ the second^ or
as others will
have
and
son of Brychan, embraced a military
life,
conquered South Wales ;* but
assertion
with great limitation, as
it
this
would seem
it is
the third
it^
said that he
must be taken
to contradict the tra-
and Rad-
ditional accounts of Glamorganshire, Cardiganshire,
where the native princes of
norshire,
known
this
have maintained possession.
to
It
generation are
may, therefore, be
understood to mean that he established his dominion over the
Gwyddyl
Ffichti,
who
still
remained in Carmarthenshire and
Pembrokeshire ; and, to confirm the explanation,
it
may be
shown that the churches dedicated to his family are more numerous in that district than in any other, and one church, Llanglydwyn, upon the confines of the two counties included, bears the name of the warrior himself. According to Mr. Theophilus Jones, he succeeded his father in the government of the western and more mountainous parts of Brecknock-
His commemoration or
shire. 3.
festival is
Nov.
1.
Dingad, son of Brychan, the founder of a church in
Carmarthenshire called Llandingad, and of another called
Llaningad or Dingatstowet in Monmouthshire, where it is said he was buried. " He was of the congregation of Cattwg, J
but like many others he must have entered that society in his
He
old age. called
not to be confounded with another Saint,
is
Dingad ab Nudd Hael.
gad ab Brychan
is
Nov.
1
;
The commemoration
of Din-
and the chapels subject
to Llan-
i thenshire,
is
dedicated to another Cynog,
who
Archbishop of Menevia.
* Cognacio, and Bonedd y Saint. t Generally written Dingestow or Dynstow. X
Cambrian Biography.
succeeded St. David as
A. D. 433
TO
dingad are Llanfair ar y Bryn
(St.
FROM
A. D. 464.
141
Mary,) Capel Peulin
(St.
Paulinus,) Capel Cynfab (St. Cynfab,) and
Eglwys Newydd,
the last two of which have been some time in ruins.
Dingat-
stowe has one chapel^ Tregaer (St. Mary.)
Arthen, the fourth son,
4.
have been buried in the
Truman MS.
there
Bonedd y Saint to and according to the
stated in
Man ;*
was a church dedicated
to
him
Gwyn-
in
which was demolished by the Saxons.
llwg, Monmouthshire,
The Cognacio
is
Isle of
was the father of Cynon who lived near
says he
Llynsafaddan, or Llangorse Pool, Brecknockshire. Cyflefyr;
5.
—
as
the Cognacio and the
OfFeiriadt state that he
MS.
of Llewelyn
was the son of-4)ingad and grandson of
Brychan, he may, upon their authority, be considered as such,
and restored
The Cognacio
to his proper generation.
inti-
mates that he suffered martyrdom at a place since called
Merthyr
Cyflefyr,
and the Truman MS. says that he was
murdered by the Saxons in Cardiganshire appear where Merthyr Cyflefyr
known by
that
name
in the county
taken together would indicate.
;J
but
situated, as
it
does not
no place
which the two
is
authorities
||
Rhain, surnaraed Dremrudd, was the only son of Brych-
6.
ad,
is
who, besides Clydwyn, embraced a military
life.
He
succeeded to the eastern part of his father's possessions, which
he transmitted
to his descendants
* Qu. Mona, Anglesey
t In
;
and according
to the
Cog-
?
the archives of Jesus College, Oxford.
J Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol. I. p. 59. There is, or was lately, a stone in the parish of Crickhowel, BreckH
nockshire, with an inscription, part of
Magazine and
for 1768 conjectured to
reading were correct,
if this
Cyflefyr the son of Dingad
those letters
may be "any
;
which a writer
Vol.
was II. p.
Gentleman's
it
might point out the burying-place of
but the Historian of Brecknockshire says
thing the antiquary supposes or wishes them to
be," and another part of the inscription,
stone
in the
be—VERI TR FILIUS DUNOCATI,
more
erected over the grave of Turpilius. 433, and Plate VI. Fig. 4.
legible,
shows
that the
— Jones's Brecknockshire,
THE WELSH
142
SAINTS
by Mr. Theophilus Jones^* he was buried Fach near Brecon. The catalogue in the Archaiology of Wales, which says he was a saint in Lincoln-
nacio, as explained at Llandefaelog
shire, is therefore mistaken, the solitary instance of
connexion
and when by the same authority that he had a church in the Isle of Man, he appears to be confounded with one of his brothers, named Rhwfan or Rhawin. 7. Dyfnan son of Brychan, was the founder of Llanddyfnan with so distant a county being of itself improbable
it is
;
stated
in Anglesey,
Goch
where he was buried, t
Its chapels are
Peter,) Pentraeth (St. Mary,)
(St.
Mathafarn Eithaf
(St.
The
Mary.)
Llanbedr
ym
and Llanfair
festival of St.
Dyfnan
is
April 23. 8.
who
Gerwyn, or settled
was
says he
Berwyn, son of Brychan, a
as others
in Cornwall.
Mr. Owen, from Achau y
slain in the isle of
Gerwyn
but as
;
saint
Saint, also
it is
recorded that there was another Gerwyn, the son of Brynach
Wyddel, by Corth one of the daughters of Brychan,
it
may
be concluded that they were the same person, and that the latter
account
is
the true one, thus adding one more to the
said to
have had
Gwenlliw,
who
three
in one
sisters
MS.
are
—Mwynen, all
called daughters of
^
9.
which
and Llewelyn
list
of
Myvyrian Archaiology.
Cadog, the son of Brychan,
in France,
Bry^
two gene-
though their names do not appear in the
children in the
is
Gwennan, and
chan,i affording another instance of the confusion of rations,
list
Gerwyn, the son of Brynach Wyddel,
of grandchildren.
identifies
OfFeiriad.
is
said to
have been buried
him with Rheidiog
He
is
in the Cognacio
not to be confounded with
Cattwg the abbot of Llancarfan, who was a descendant of
* History of Brecknockshire, Vol.
I. p.
61, and Vol.
H.
p. 174.
t Myv. Archaiology, Vol. H. p. 39. X Compare "Mwynen" in the Myv. Archaiology, Vol. H. two names
'*
Gerwyn"
in the
Cambrian Biography,
p. 40.
with the
FROM Brychan
TO
A. D. 433
A. D. 464.
143
The
in the second, if not in the third, degree.
who
tinction did not escape Cressy,
falls into
AccommemorThe churches founded by him
the confusion, though he warns his reader against
cording to this author, he died A. D. 490, and ated in the Calendar Jan. 24. are
—Llanspyddyd,
it.
is
Brecknockshire, subject to which
chapel of Bettws or Penpont thenshire, under
dis-
a great part of
the
is
and Llangadog Fawr, Carmar-
;
which are Llanddeusant
Jude,) Capel Gwynfai, and
(St.
Simon and
Tydyst now
Capel
in
St.
ruins.
There was formerly a chapel in the parish of Kidwelly dedicated to Cadog, and perhaps one or two churches, which have
been confounded with those attributed to Cattwg, ought to be
added
to the
number.
Mathaiarn was a saint in Cardiganshire,
10.
to the Cognacio
and Llewelyn
gomeryshire, where there
In the
list
were
NefFai,
all
and they went lators
;
a place
of Llewelyn this saint
11. Pasgen,
Saint,
is
and
according
Mont-
is
called Mathafarn.
still
called Marchai.
Pabiali,
according to Bonedd y
of them sons of Brychan by a Spanish woman, to Spain,
where they became
saints
but as the distance of Spain renders
likely, those
or,
OfFeiriad, in Cyfeiliog,
authorities are
and
legis-
this story
un-
more probable which say
that
Pasgen was the son of Dingad, and therefore a grandson of Brychan.* 12. NefFai is not
MS.
mentioned in the Cognacio and Llewelyn's
unless he be the same as
Dedyn
or
Neubedd, the son
of Clydwyn.
* It has been suggested that a stone,
which formerly existed
church-yard of Tywyn, Merionethshire, having on
C3NT
it
without any further explanation, was a monument to the
of the son of Dingad
j
in the
PASmemory
the letters
and though the circumstance of other persons,
named Pasgen, occurring
in
Welsh
uncertain, the coincidence that
history,
may
so far render the fact
Gwenddydd, a daughter of Brychan,
is
re-
corded as one of the Saints of the place, seems to offer a strong confirmation of the supposition.
THE WELSH SAINTS
144
13. Pabiali is called
He
is
the Irish call 14.
Papai by the Cognacio and Llewelyn.
described as the son of Brychan, and
him
Pianno^, Pivannus,
Llecheu lived
at
it is added that and Piapponus.
Tregaian in Anglesey,
or, as others, at
Llanllecheu, in Ewyas, Herefordshire.*
Cynbryd was the founder of Llanddulas, Denbighshire, slain by the Saxons at a place called Bwlch Cynbryd. His commemoration is March 19. 15.
and Vas
founder of Llysfaen in Rhos, Denbigh-
16. Cynfran, the shire,
where, according to
called
Ffynnon Gynfran,
at
Edward Llwyd, which
offerings
upon
to the saint to procure his blessing 17.
No
Hychan,
Llanhychan
the saint of
further particulars are
known
there
cattle.
in the vale of
of him
;
it
Clwyd.
but as neither
nor the three saints preceding, are to be found in the the Cognacio and Llewelyn Offeiriad,
a well
is
used to be made
may be
18.
Hychan
Dyfrig
;
the
correctness, that
is
Aug.
of
suspected
they were grandsons of the Brecknockshire chieftain. festival of
this,
lists
The
8.
Truman MS.
says,
with the appearance of
he was Dubricius, the Archbishop of LlandafF,
and the time, in which the
latter flourished, agrees
with the
probable date of the grandchildren of Brychan; but the particulars of his life
must be reserved
for the next generation.
Another authority,t which says he was a shire,
dyfriog in
Nudd 19.
saint in
Cardigan-
appears to have mistaken him for the saint of Llanthat county,
who was
the
son of Dingad ab
Hael.
Cynin, according to the Cognacio, was the son of Tudwal
Befr by a daughter of Brychan.
Llangynin near
St. Clears,
He was
Carmarthenshire.^
the founder of
Achau y
Saint
t
* Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
fMyvyrian Archaiology, of
I. p.
59.
"Vol. II. p. 39.
the latter is X Llangynin is now a chapel subject to St. Clears, but as Norman dedication, tlie chapel and church have probably changed
their>elationship.
FROM
A. D. 433
TO
says moreover that he was a bishop
A. D. 464.
and
;
145 which
as the church,
he founded, has been called Llangynin
a'i
Weision neu
a'i
Feibion,* the additional designation of "his servants or his
may mean
sons"
upon him.
the clergy in attendance
20. Dogfan, according to the Silurian
the pagan Saxons
at
where a church was consecrated
shire,
particular situation of also the patron saint or
(St.
(St.
which
Gwddin,) and is
by
memory, the
to his
at present
unknown. He is ym Mochnant,
—Llanarmon
Mynydd
subject
are
Cedwyn,) Llanwddin His (St. Cadwaladr.)
(St.
Llangadwaladr
July 13.
Rhawin, a son of Brychan,
21. calls
is
Germanus,) Llangedwyn
commemoration
slain
founder of Llanrhaiadr
Denbighshire, to which
Mawr
MSS. was
Merthyr Dogfan in Dyfed, or Pembroke-
Rhwfan, and
states that
he
whom
Llewelyn OfFeiriad
settled in the Isle of
Man,
where there was a church dedicated to him; but the Silurian
MSS. were
named Khun,
record that he, and one of his brothers slain
on a bridge called Penrhun
while defending
it
against the Saxons;
at
Merthyr Tydfyl,
which,
if
both ac-
counts were true, would imply that he had returned from the
Man, and
Isle of
that persons,
who have
of sanctity in Wales, occasionally took
obtained the honours
up arms
in defence of
their country.
22.
Rhun, a son of Brychan, of whom the Cognacio records was a saint near Mara, or Llangorse Pool, Brecknock-
that he shire,
and the Silurian MSS.
state that
he was
slain together
with Rhawin by the Saxons at Merthyr Tydfyl. to
He
appears
have had two sons, Nefydd and Andras, both of
were
saints
sionally
;
whom
and the surname of Drerarudd has been occa-
given him, apparently
by confounding him
with
Rhain already mentioned. .
23.
Cledog or Clydog, " it
is
agreed by
all
the
MSS. was
buried at Clodock in Herefordshire,"t of which church he * See Cynin in the Myvyrian Aichaiology, Vol.
f
Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol. II. p. 59.
T
II. p. 35.
is
THE WELSH
146
SAINTS
The Cognacio and Llewelyn
supposed to be the founder.
mention that he was the son of Clydwyn and grandson of
Brychan
MSS.
;
call
he appears to have had a brother,
whom
Dedyn
Pedita. Cressy
or
Neubedd, and a
sister, St.
different
he suffered martyrdom A. D. 492, and is commemorated in the martyrology on the nineteenth of August. The
states that
chapels to Clodock are
—^Llanfeuno
and Cresswell
(St. Peter,)
24. Caian, perhaps a
(St.
(St.
Beuno,) Longtown
Mary.)
grandson of Brychan, as his name
omitted in the Cognacio and Llewelyn's chapel under Llangefni in Anglesey his festival occurs in the Calendar
tember.*
and
The
is
MS.
is
Tregaian, a
dedicated to him, and
on the twenty
fifth
of Sep-
Silurian catalogue of Saints omits this name,
inserts in its stead,
Nefydd, who was the son of Rhun
ab Brychan. It is recordedt that
Nefydd, in his younger days, collected a
party of followers, and put to flight the Saxons his father at
North
Merthyr Tydfyl.
Britain,
where he was
Andras, a son of
Rhun and
He was slain
who had
by the
Picts
brother of Nefydd,
cribed as the founder of St. Andrew's or Dinas Cardiff,
and should therefore be considered
instead of St.
The 1.
Andrew
killed
afterwards a bishop in
and Saxons. is
also des-
Powys near
as its patron saint
the Apostle.
alleged daughters of
Brychan are the following
:
Gwladus, the wife of Gwynllyw Filwr ab Glywys of
Glywyseg
or
Gwynllwg
in Monmouthshire.
From
the dates
of her husband and children, which are easily computed,
it
would appear that she was a grand-daughter, rather than a daughter, of Brychan. 2.
Arianwen, called by Llewelyn Offeiriad, Wrgren, pro-
bably another grand-daughter, married lorwerth Hirflawdd of
Powys, son of Tegonwy ab Teon.
* Sir Harris Nicolas's
She was the mother of
Chronology of History,
t Achau y
Saint.
FROM Mawr,
Caeiiog
A. D. 433
whom
to
TO
A. D. 464.
Clog-caenog
147 Denbighshire
in
is
ascribed.* 3.
Tanglwst, Tudglyd, or Gwtfil, married to Cyngen, the son
of Cadell Deyrnllug. She was mother to Brochwel Ysgythrog;
and without bringing the about which time he in the battle of
render
it
Brychan.
is
Bangor Iscoed, the era of her husband would
necessary to
grand-daughter
consider her a
She had two other
sons,
Mechell, according to some
4.
down to A. D. 600, commanded the Britons
of her son
life
alleged to have
Maig and
MSS.
of
leuaf.
the eldest daughter
of Brychan, was married to Gynyr of Caergawch near
Me-
nevia.t 5. Nefyn, probably
a grand-daughter, was married to Cynfarch
and may perhaps be
Oer, the father of Urien Rheged;
ac-
counted the founder or patron saint of Nefyn,J Carnarvonshire. 6.
Gwawr, seemingly
Elidyr Lydanwyn, by
a grand-daughter, was the wife of
whom
she was the mother of the bard
Llywarch Hen. 7.
Gwrgon, daughter of Brychan, was married
Calchfynydd, 8. Eleri,
who
to
Cadrod
flourished about A. D. 430.
daughter of Brychan, married to Ceredig ab Cun-
She was the
edda, of the same generation as the preceding. paternal grandmother of St. David. 9. Lleian,
Dyfnwal Hen, by whom Aeddan Fradog, who after his defeat in
the wife of Gafran ab
she was the mother of
the battle of Arderydd, in North Britain, was compelled to fly for
safety to the Isle of
Man.
The Cognacio
says that
Lleian herself settled in that island, and the era of her son§
*
My V.
Archaiology *m6 voce Arianwen.
t Cambrian Biography. The modern saint of this church :{:
§
*'
On
is St.
Mary
the Virgin.
the death of Conal, king of the British Scots, in the year 372-3,
Aldan, the son of Gauran, succeeded to the throne
;
and
it is
mentioned as
THE WELSH
148 which
is
SAINTS
determined by the concurrent testimony of the Irish
and Welsh
authorities,
would indicate that she was one of the
youngest of the grand-daughters of Brychan.
There
is
a
chapel subject to Llanarthne in Carmarthenshire, called Capel Llanlleian,
and probably named in honour of this person, unless mean simply " the chapel of the nun."
the words be taken to
Nefydd, daughter of Brychan, and wife of Tudwal Befr.
10.
One
of the authorities in the Myvyrian Archaiology says she
was a
saint at
ment
arose probably from confounding her with Nefydd, the
Llechgelyddon in North Britain ; but
grandson of Brychan, already mentioned, and the same mistake which led
Llwyd
this state-
it is,
perhaps,
Tudwal was " a The connexions of
to say that
prince of some territory in Scotland."*
Nefydd and her husband appear to have been confined to Wales. The churches ascribed to Tudwal have been enumerated already, and to
Nefydd may be
of Llannefydd in Denbighshire.
was the founder of Llangynin to
attributed the foundation
Besides her son, Cynin,
in Carmarthenshire, she appears
have had another, called Ifor ab Tudwal, of
more
is
who
recorded than that he was a
saint.
whom
nothing
The Cognacio
confounds Nefydd with Goleu or Goleuddydd. Rhiengar, or according to others, Cyngar,
11.
have been a saint
at
is
said to
Llech in Maelienydd, and to have been
the mother of Cynidr, a saint of Maelienydd ;t
but there
are
no means of deciding whether she ought to be placed
in
the
list
Maelienydd
of is
the
daughters,
the ancient
name
or
the
grand-daughters.
of a district in Radnorshire, a
subdivision of which, or of the adjoining district of Elfael,
was
a proof of the general veneration, in which Columba was then held, as
well by sovereigns as by the clergy and the people, that he was the person selected to perform the ceremony of inauguration on the accession of the
new
Aeddan to the
king.*' at
—Moore's History
of Ireland, Chap. XII.
The
Arderydd probably took place some years before
kingdom of the Scots.
t Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
1.
p. 53.
defeat of
his elevation
I
FROM
A.
D
once called Llech Ddyfnog .' latter is
uncertain,, the
TO
433
A. D. 464.
149
and though the
;*
situation of the
statement on recordt that Cynidr was
buried at Glasebury,
may
assist in
determining
it.
Llan-
gynidr^J and Aberyscir, two churches in Brecknockshire, of
which Cynidr may have been the founder, are dedicated to
him jointly with the Virgin Mary ; and under the former of them there was once a chapel called Eglwys Vesei. 12. Goleuddydd, a saint at Llanhesgin in Gwent, the modern designation of which place is unknown and it would ;
appear from the Cognacio and Llewelyn Offeiriad, that Goleu-
ddydd was only another name
for
Nefydd, the wife of Tud-
wal Befr. 13.
Gwenddydd, a
state that she
Tywyn
in Merionethshire ;§ but
give her the
name of Gwawrddydd,
saint at
who
other authorities,
was the wife of Cadell Deyrnllug,|| and conse-
quently the mother of Cyngen,
who
is
already described as
having married one of the grand-daughters of Brychan. 14. Tydie, a saint
"yn y
Tri gabelogwar/'* which the His-
mean that she lived at Ogmore Chapel, formerly subject to St. Bride's
torian of Brecknockshire interprets to
Capel
Ogwr
or
Major, Glamorganshire. 15. Elined, the
that she suffered
Almedha of Giraldus Cambrensis, who says martyrdom upon a hill called Penginger near
Brecknock, which the Historian of that county, so often
* Ancient Surveys of Wales in the Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
f Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
I.
p. 47,
J Called Llanfair a Chynidr, or the church of St.
the
list
of Parishes in
Wales
in the
47; where
it
may be learnt from Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol. I. may be observed that Cressy and others have confounded
Cynidr with Cenydd or St. Kenneth. § See Cadfan, infra II
Mary and Cynidr, in The double dedi-
Myv. Archaiology.
cation of Aberyscir p.
II.
& 343.
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
* Ibid. Vol. II. p. 64.
II. p. 43.
THE WELSH
150
quoted, identifies with Slwch. after the
name of Elined
SAINTS
"Crug gorseddawl,"* mentioned Myvyrian Archaiology, has Mold in Flintshire ; but it may
in the
been taken for Wyddgrug or
be no more than a descriptive appellation of Slwch, on which there were lately some remains of a British
speaking of
Almedha, says
St.
''
her ty
and espousing herself
life
is
by
a
who sought
to the eternal king,
The day
triumphant martyrdom.
celebrated every year on the
Cressy,
This devout virgin, rejecting
the proposals of an earthly prince, riage,
Camp.t
first
her in mar-
consummated
of her solemni-
day of August."
Bonedd y Saint, Ceindreg, unknown ; but the
16. Ceindrych, or according to
lived at Caergodolaur, a place at present
Cognacio the
states that
Kerdech lived
name of a church
at
Llandegwyn, which
dedicated to another saint in
is
Merion-
ethshire.
Gwen, grand-daughter of Brychan, and wife of Llyr whom she was the mother of Caradog Fraichfras. Llewelyn OfFeiriad says she was buried at Talgarth, Brecknockshire, where according to the Truman MS. she was mur17.
Merini, by
Ecton
dered by the Saxons. 18.
calls
her
St.
Gwendeline.
Cenedlon, '^a saint on the mountain of Cymorth."
does not appear where this mountain association of Cenedlon,
may be looked
for
Cymorth, and their
It
but from the
is situated,
sister Clydai, it
the neighbourhood of Newcastle in
in
Emlyn. 19.
Cymorth, from
rives its
whom
the mountain just mentioned de-
name, was a daughter of Brychan, and
is
said to
have
Emlyn,J a district divided between the present counties of Carmarthen and Pembroke. In the Cambrian
lived in
* Crug gorseddawl
—"the
hill
of
judicature."
— Dr.
Pughe's Welsh
Dictionary.
+ " Elyned in monte Gorsavael, quse pro amore castitatis martyrizata est."
X
— Cognacio,
"Cymorth
in Jones's
'ch
Archaiology, Vol.
Brychan II. p. 35.
Brecknockshire. a'i
chwaer Clydai gyda
hi
yn Emlyn."
My v.
1
FROM Biography* she
TO
A. D. 433
and stated
called Corth,
is
wife of Brynach Wyddel, by
A. D. 464.
whom
to
have been the
she was the mother of
Gerwyn, already mentioned, together with en,
15
his sisters,
Mwyn-
Gwennan, and Gwenlliw. Cymorth and Cenedlon, and the
20. Clydai, the sister of
Her
reputed founder of a church, called Clydai, in Emlyn. festival is
21.
Nov.
l.t
Dwynwen,
Llanddwynwen
the founder of a church in Anglesey called
or
By
Llanddwyn.
been considered the patron saint of ation occurs on the 22.
twenty
Ceinwen, a saint to
the
Welsh bards she has Her commemor-
lovers.
of January.
fifth
whom
the churches of Llangeinwen
and Cerrig Ceinwen in Anglesey are ascribed.
As
the preceding person are omitted in several of the children of Brychan,
may be presumed
and
of the
they were his grand-
The wake of Ceinwen was observed on the eighth
daughters.
also the feast
day of Ceneu, another
redoubtable family.
Llangeinwen has one
of October, which
member
it
this
lists
of this
is
chapel, LlangafFo (St. Caffo.)
confounded with Tanglwst already
martyrdom called
at a place,
Merthyr Tydfyl.
by some authorities mentioned. She suffered
Brychan,
23. Tydfyl, a daughter of
is
which from that circumstance has been According
to the
Cambrian Biogra-
upon the authority of the Truman MS. she met her father, when he was an old man, attended by some of her phy,:}:
brothers,
Gwyddyl
whereupon they were beset by a party of Saxons and Ffichti, and she, her father, and her brother Rhun
Dremrudd, were murdered
;
but Nefydd the son of Rhun,
then a youth, exerted himself in raising the force of the
enemy
country, and afterwards put the
* Voce
t
The
which
is
to flight.
— Such
is
the
Gerwyn. list in
Bonedd y Saint
is
corrupt in this place, and omits Clydai,
restored from a separate notice in the same record, thereby in-
creasing the
number of reputed children
X Voce Tydfyl.
to fifty.
WELSH SAINTS
J'HE
]52 brief account; but
remarkable that no memorials have
is
it
been preserved of these early inroads of the Saxons into South Wales, except a few scattered notices in the Welsh genealogies.
They appear
to
have been repeated
at various intervals
about the year 460 to 500, during which time
it is
from
generally
agreed that the Saxons and Picts were in alliance; and the former, whose piratical character
acknowledged, were not
is
unlikely to land on the western coasts of the island, where the
Gwyddyl
Ffichti, or Irish Picts,
the interior.
But
would
aid their progress into
merely a suggestion in support of
this is
accounts not inconsistent in themselves
and
;
if it
be too much
to insist at once that the notices alluded to are authentic, the
possibility of their truth
is
a subject worthy of investigation.
The day of the commemoration of
Tydfyl
St.
is
the twenty
third of August.
Merthyr
24. Enfail, a saint at
Cambro Briton
states is in
Enfail,
which a writer in the
and
Carmarthenshire ;
sertion be correct, the place in question
may be
if his as-
the church of
Merthyr near Carmarthen. 25.
—
Hawystl
^lived at
Caer Hawystl, supposed by the His-
torian of Brecknockshire to be
Awst
in the county of
Glou-
cester.
26. Tybie,
a saint, of
murdered by pagans there
is
a church
whom
it
is
recorded that she was
at a place in Carmarthenshire,
still
called Llandybie.
Her
where
festival is
Jan-
uary 30.
The
last specified
terminates the lengthy catalogue of the
Bonedd y
children of Brychan according to
Saint.
The Cog-
nacio, however, mentions two names which cannot be identi-
—
with any of the preceding ; " Keneython at Kidwelly on the mountain of Kyfor," and " Keurbreit at Caslogwr."* The fied
first
has reference to Llangynheiddon, an extinct chapel in the
"Keneython apud Kydwely logwr."
in
monte Kyfor, Keurbreit apud Cas-
Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol.
I. p.
343.
;
FROM
A. D. 438
TO
A. D. 464.
153
parish of Llandyfaelog, Carmarthenshire, near to which
Mynydd
hill called
of Lloughor,
or_,
Cyfor ; and the other
as
Glamorganshire, the church of which place stood to be dedicated to St. Michael.
they
may
is
Casllwchwr,
generally under-
Upon
this authority
both be regarded as belonging to the family of the
Brecknockshire chieftain the
a
is
perhaps the saint
vernacularly called,
is
it
is
former
''
and Llewelyn
;
who
Offeiriad,
calls
she was
Rhyneidon of Cydweli/' says
his
daughter.
To such the
all
a length has the practice been carried of ranking
members of
this tribe as the
founder, that in a short
list
brian Register,* two sons,
immediate offspring of
its
Cam-
of Saints, published in the
Gwynau and Gwynws, and two
daughters, Callwen and Gwenfyl, are added to the number.
enough
It is quite
to suppose they
were descendants without
enquiring into the degree of their descent. the
pair
first
Gwynws
is
be deemed
is
Dec.
13,
The
festival of
and that of the second Nov.
the saint of Llanwnws, Cardiganshire, and its
founder;
a chapel,
now
1.
may
extinct, subject to
Llanddewi Brefi in the same county, bore the name of Gwenfyl;
and another in the parish of Defynog, Brecknockshire,
is
dedicated to Callwen. Cressy, the Catholic writer, treats his readers with a
drous tale of "St.
Keyna
the same person as Ceneu, which appears in some of the
but her identity with Ceinwen already mentioned
He
relates that
"when
won-
the daughter of Braganus," evidently
she came to ripe years,
is
lists,
doubtful.
many
nobles
sought her in marriage, but she utterly refused that state
having consecrated her virginity to our Lord by a perpetual
which cause she was afterwards by the Britons
vow;
for
called
Keyn
wiri,t that
is
Keyna
the virgin
:
at length she
determined to forsake her country and find out some desert place,
where she might attend * Vol. III. p. 219.
to contemplation.
t Cein-wyryf.
Therefore
;
THE WELSH
154
X
directing her journey
woody
she
place,
SAINTS
beyond Severn, and there meeting a
made her
request to the prince of that
God
country, that she might be permitted to serve sohtude.
His answer was, that he was very willing
in that to grant
her request, but that the place did so swarm with serpents that neither
man
nor beast could inhabit
replied, that her firm trust
Almighty God
but she constantly
:
presently prostrating herself to
God
assistance of
brood out of that
to drive all that poisonous
Hereupon the place was granted
region.
who
it
was in the name and
to the holy virgin,
obtained of
change the serpents and vipers into stones
;
and
him
to
to this day,
the stones in that region do resemble the windings of serpents
through
all
the fields and villages, as if they had been framed
—
by the hand of the engraver." From the appearance of the Ammonites," Camden identifies fossils, called by geologists, so
''^
the place with
Keynsham
in Somersetshire,
and describes a
specimen from that neighbourhood which he had seen. related afterwards that
pilgrimage to the blessed
Aunt
St.
*'
Mount
Keyna,
—
It is
her nephew St. Cadoc, performing a
at
of St. Michael, met there with his
whose sight he being replenished
own
with joy, and being desirous to bring her back to her country, the inhabitants of that region would not permit
him
but afterwards, by the admonition of an angel, the holy maid returned to the place of her nativity hillock, seated at the foot of a little
habitation for herself,
;
where, on the top of a
high mountain, she made a
and by her prayers
to
God
tained a spring there to flow out of the earth, which
ob-
by the
merits of the holy virgin afFordeth health to divers infirmities.
She
is
said to
have departed
this life
on the eighth day of the
Ides of October, A. D. 490, and to have been buried in her
own
oratory by her
nephew
St.
Cadoc."
—The
latter part
of
the story has reference to certain places on the borders of the Principality.
The Mount of
near Abergavenny, which
St.
still
In the same neighbourhood
Michael
maintains is
is
the
its
name of
a hill
sacred character.
the parish of Llangeneu, in
FROM
TO
A. D. 433
A. D. 464.
which, according to Mr. Theophilus Jones,
155 be found the
to
is
may yet be The St. Cadoc here mentioned was Cattwg, the son of Gwynllyw Filwr and founder of Llangattock Crickhowel, well of the saint, and the situation of her oratory
traced.
of which Llangeneu
From
is
one of the subordinate chapelries.
the omission of Ceneu in several of the
Cattwg would be her
sister's
son
;
but
if
may be
lists, it
was a grand-daughter, and
inferred that she
in that case
she were a daughter
would by
of Brychan, and Cattwg were her great nephew,
it
no means
obvious that
violate the unity of the story
and
;
it is
Cadog, the son of Brychan, was not the person intended, as he
must have been
either the brother or uncle of Ceneu,
The
her nephew.
and not
oratory alluded to was situated on a hill at
some distance from the present church of Llangeneu ; and were founded by the its
subordinate condition, for
a chapelry,
the
first
would seem
its
modern
representative
to violate the principle laid
section of this Essay, namely, that
tion of tithes,
if it
legend would imply,
saint herself, as the
only
is
down
upon the
in
institu-
and consequent division of the country into
parishes, every primitive religious edifice received a separate
endowment. cation, for
It is it
clear,
however, that the legend
does not appear
why an oratory, many sacred
antiquity and honoured with so
should afterwards be neglected, and to a
church in another situation
from the
tale, in
;
its
very
is
a fabri-
of such high recollections,
name
transferred
but the following passage
the words of Cressy, will explain that
tended to discover the burying-place of the
it
was
who presaint. " Some
of late erection, and built by some foreign devotees
—
time before her death she had a prospect of her eternal happiness in a future world in a vision, being ministered to and
comforted by angels, when she thus prophesied to her nephew St.
Cadoc
;
—
my memory in spirit if
this is the place of all others
shall
it
be perpetuated,
may be
beloved by me, here
this place will I often visit
permitted me, and I
am
assured
be permitted me, because the Lord hath granted
me
it
shall
this place
THE WELSH
150
as a certain inheritance. shall
SAINTS
The time
come when
will
this place
be inhabited by a sinful people, which, notwithstanding,
My tomb shall
I will violently root out of this seat.
lie
a long
whom hy my prayers of I shall bring hither ; them will I protect and defend, and in this place shall the name of the Lord be blessed for ever." unknownJ
time
until the coming
other people,
According to Jones's Brecknockshire, Elly w or Elyw, whose
name
is
ter of
Brychan.
ment of
not mentioned in any of the
lists,
With her may have
was a grand-daugh-
originated the establish-
(St.
which are Llan-
Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, subject to
gennech and the extinct chapels of Dewi,
Dyddgen
John,) and Berwick or
Llanelieu, Brecknockshire,
is
David,) Ifan,
(St.
The church of
chapel.
called after her
and she
;
is
also
the patron of Llanelly, subject to Llangattock Crickhowel in the same county, where her before the
first
her name
is
upon whose
wake
is
held on the Sunday next
of August O. S. and renders
it
festival the
The legendst
wake depends.*
relate that the spiritual instructor of
was Drichan or Brynach, who Wyddel or the Irishman, and
called in the Triads
is
said to have married Corth or
four children already mentioned.
the founder of Penllin,
Llanfrynach,
Brychan Brynach
is
Cymorth, one of the daughters of Brychan, by
alias
probable that
only an abbreviation of Elined, already noticed,
He
is
whom
he had
considered to be
Brecknockshire,
Llanfrynach
Glamorganshire, Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire,
and Llanfernach, Din as, and Nefern, Pembrokeshire. J
may
also
be inferred, from the analogy of similar
It
cases, that
Henry's Moat, and Pontfaen, in the neighbourhood of the three latter, which Ecton ascribes to St. Bernard, should be
* History of Brecknockshire, Vol.
II. p.
+ The Cognacio, and an English legend nockshire, Vol. X
(St.
cited in the History of Breck-
I.
Eglwys Fair Lan Taf.
gwyn,
473.
(St.
Mary,) chapel to Llanboidy; and Cil-
Mary,) chapel to Nefern.
FROM
A. D. 433
attributed to Brynach,
TO
A. D. 464.
157
whose parishes would thus form a
continuous endowment which was afterwards disturbedby the
Norman Lords locahties of
of Cemmaes.
The
parish of Clydai, and the
Cymorth and Cenedlon,
are immediately adjoin-
ing, if not partly included in, the district.
"
St.
Bernach" was an abbot, and that he
Cressy states that is
commemorated
in
Church on the seventh of the Ides of April, According to the Cognacio, the spiritual instructor of Cy-
the
nog,
the
eldest
Gastayn, to
Brychan, was a holy
son of
whom
man named
the same document attributes the church of
This name
Llangasty Tal y Llyn, Brecknockshire.
may
clude the connexions of a family of saints, which for lebrity has
con-
its
ce-
been styled the third holy family of Britain.
Brychan educated his children qualify them " to show the faith in Christ
It is stated in the Triads that
and grandchildren
to
to the nation of the
and upon
show
Cymry where they were without
this statement
an argument has been grounded to
that there were parts of
braced Christianity.
had not
entirely
superstitions
faith ;"*
Wales which had not yet em-
Evident proofs remain that the Britons
emerged from heathenism, and
were rooted in the minds of the people
in the following century,
Druidical until late
which the foundation of churches
about this time must have tended mainly to eradicate;
still
Welsh race should have been converted by missionaries from a family whose origin was Irish, is so
the allegation, that the
singular as to
demand some inquiry into the correctness of the The question may be determined by con-
original assertion.
sidering the districts in which the churches and chapels dedi-
cated to the family of Brychan, including those of Brynach
and Gastayn, are
distributed.
They
are about fifty five in
number, out of which twenty two are in Brecknockshire, or
* " Brychan Brycheiniog, a ddug ei blant
wyrion ar ddysg a bonedd,
a'i
y gallent ddangos y Ffydd yng Nghrist oeddynt yn ddiffydd." Triad 18, Third Series.
fal
i
Genedl y Cyrary,
lie
ydd
THE WELSH
158 immediately upon
Those situated
borders.
its
SAINTS
Carmar-
in
thenshire and Pembrokeshire, at that time occupied
Gwyddyl
and three of the family
by the
Five more are in Anglesey,
Ffichti, are sixteen.
Man, both occuMost of the remaining churches are Denbighshire; and as parts of North settled in the Isle of
pied by the same tribe. situated together in
Wales are Irish,*
said to
have
continued in the possession of the
still
may be judged by analogy that this was one of the so retained. The conclusion presented by a consider-
it
districts
ation of these localities,
who from
is,
that the people without the faith,
their settlement in
Wales have been mistaken
the nation of the Cymry, were not
Welshmen but
had not received the truths of the Gospel,
latter race
was the age in which Christianity to their
St.
countrymen
:
in Ireland,
and in Wales the
would prevent them from
but upon the family of Brychan they
could prefer the claim of a kindred origin
;
and
gether with the territorial influence of Clydwyn,
who was member seems
for a single
to
iastics
and
who
those
were persons, who, in the character of
eccles-
of various grades, devoted their lives to the service of
religion.
many
it
may be
it
have founded the greatest
number of churches, was himself an Irishman. Saintship in Wales was already a profession, and belonged to
to this, to-
adopted into the family,
added, that Brynach,
who
for this
Patrick was employed in imparting
hostility of the native inhabitants
obtaining that blessing
for
The
Irish.
In the next generation
it
will
be discovered that
of them belonged to an order of primitive monks, such
as flourished in
Gaul in the
fifth
century,t and the foundation
of several monasteries will soon be noticed.
But
it is
reraark-
* Cambrian Biography, sub voce Meigyr, from Achau y Saint.
+ "That there were monks dict is evident It is,
in
Gaul long before the time of
St.
Bene-
from the unquestionable authority of Gregory of Tours.
however, certain that prior to the sixth century there was no com-
mon observance among them
;
and that though the men,
who
fled
the world to practise unusual austerities were held in reverence, the
from
new
—
;
FROM no nunnery
able that
to
A.
D. 464.
is^
159
have been established
in the
than the period
later
therefore, an interesting inquiry
saints hold in the
They were
Britons ?
TO
hundred years
It
what rank did female
433
known
is
Principality for several
under consideration.
D
A.
Church of the ancient
not numerous compared with those of
the other sex, and by far the largest quota seems to have been
by the progeny of Brychan.
furnished
show
will
have received the honours of
names of the remaining
memory, and they
their tains.
A
review of the
list
that only half the reputed daughters of that prince
are
No
churches bear the
festivals
have been kept to
sanctity.
no
half,
known
only as the wives of chief-
Some, even of those particularized as
saints, are des-
cribed as having married, and become the mothers of children
but
it
does not appear whether they afterwards renounced the
marriage
state, or
whether, as
is
more probable, they devoted
themselves to religion upon the death of their husbands.
A
few individuals, however, are specified in the legends
as
having made a vow of virginity in their youth
contemporary practice of Gaul
may
it
;
and from the
be learned that, before
the institution of nunneries, they were consecrated
and led fact
by bishops,
religious lives in the society of their kindred.
on record, that
was a party
mission,
St.
The
Germanus, while proceeding upon his
to a consecration of the nature described,
leaves a fair inference that he introduced the custom into Britain.*
On
the other hand,
for men, in this age, to
mode of
life
ham, Esq. Vol. *'
II.
Chap.
state of
in the
for
Middle Ages, by S. A. Dun-
In Gaul, as in other parts of the Christian world,
and they led religious lives
There
matrimony
II.
to the establishment of nunneries,
dred.
was by no means uncommon
did not rise to the dignity of an institute, nor obtain any
degree of organization."— Europe
*
it
exchange the
is
in the
were consecrated
to
women, previous God by bishops j
houses of their parents or nearest kin-
something peculiarly striking in the manner in which
Genevieve, when in her fifteenth year, assumed the irrevocable obligation.
She was among the
inhabitants of Paris
who went forth
to receive the
two
—
THE WELSH
160 that of
monachism
and
;
St.
SAINTS, &c.
Lupus,
after
he had been married
seven years, became an inmate of the monastery of Lerins
but celibacy formed no part of the discipline of the
Welsh The
;
secular
clergy as late as the thirteenth century.
Wales may be surprized
natives of
has given, out of the
of St. Nectan, a
life
Leland
to find that
of the children
list
of Brychan, twenty four in number, two only of which, or at
most three, can be identified with the names in the Welsh
They
lists.
are as follow
:
"Nectanus, Joannes, Endelient,
Menfre,
Tedda,
Dilic,
Wen sent, Merewenna, Wenna, Juliana, Yse, Morwenna, Wymp, Wenheder, Cleder, Keri, Jona, Kananc, Maben, Weneu,
Kerhender, Adwen, Helic,
Tamalanc.
All these sons and
daughters were afterwards holy martyrs and confessors in
Devon and Cornwall, where they It is
that
it
perhaps
depends
ish writers,
led an eremitical life."
sufficient to decide the fate of this list to say
solely
upon the authority of one
and the compiler has forgotten
or
two monk-
to explain
why
all
these saints should have quitted their country in a body, and settled in
Devon and Cornwall.
of the two or three disguise,
In Wales, with the exception
who may be
they have
left
recognised in spite of their
not even a
memento of
their
ex-
istence.
saints,
Germajius and Lupus, then on a mission to Britain.
Her devotion,
during the exhortation of the former, and the enthusiastic zeal which there
was
in her countenance, principally attracted his notice.
to approach him;
He
caused her
and, on enquiring into her sentiments and
feelings,
found that she was resolved to consecrate her virginity to God, a resolution
which he was not backward to strengthen.
and joined
in certain
manus would not give her in self-examination."
They
entered the church,
prayers and hymns suited to the occasion; but Gerthe veil until she had passed the night in vigils,
Europe
in the
Middle Ages, Vol.
II.
Chap.
II.
—
SECTION The Welsh
IX.
Saints from the Accession of
Vortimer A. D. 464. to the
Death of Ambrosius A. D. 500.
The
founders of
new
which appear
families
for the first
time in this generation, are Cadell Deyrnllug, Gynyr of Caer
Gawch, Ynyr Gwent, Tewdrig ab Teithfallt, Emyr Llydaw, and Ithel Hael. Cadell's descendants are as follow :
[Table XL]
CADELL DEYRNLLUG -
I
married Gwawrddydd, daughter of Brychan
'
1
Cyngen Sant m. Tanglwst, grand- daughter of Brychan
Cyuan Glodrydd
Maig
Cleddyfgar
Mawan
leuaf
Brochwel Ysgythrog m. Arddun, daughter of Pabo Post Prydain I
j
j
Caranog pj
Ystyffan
I
1
Ysteg
Gwrydr
Cynan Garwyn
P_ Selyf
1
Gwedrog
Geraint
H Eldad
Tysilio
Drwm
I
Enghenel
H Mael Mynau
Egryn
Llyr
'
1
Dona
Beli
Cynllo
Elisau
Brochwel Cadell, obiit A. D. 804. ' 1
I
Nest, mother of Merfyn Frych.
Cyngen, murdered at Borne A. D. 854,
Cadell Deyrnllug flourished partly in the preceding generation,
and the legend of his accession
related.
He
to
power has been already
married Gwawrddydd, one of the daughters of
Brychan, and his domains lay in the Vale Royal and the
upper part of Powys.
Before the close of this generation he
appears to have been succeeded by his son, Cyngen,
who
is
distinguished for the patronage which he afforded to the saints,
and
the Church.
for
the liberal
endowments which he gave
to
THE WELSH
162
The order of
Gawch
birth
would
SAINTS
also determine
Gynyr of Caer
to belong to the preceding generation,
but he is introduced in the present in order that he may be placed with his family. He appears to have been the chieftain of a district in Pembrokeshire, since called Pebidiog or Dewsland, in which
town of St. David's is situated ; and he probably rose into power upon the reduction of the Gwyddyl Ffichti by Clydwyn. His first wife was Mechell, daughter of Brychan, by whom he had issue a daughter called Danadlwen; whose the
husband, Dirdan,
included in the catalogue of saints, but no
is
The second wife of Gynyr was Anna, daughter of Gwrthefyr Fendigaid, or Vortimer, king of churches are ascribed to him.
Britain
;
and the
fruit of this
lianus,* together with
union was a son, named Gist-
two daughters, Non, the mother of
David,t and Gwen, the mother of St Cybi.
St.
founding
Anna,
the
daughter
of
Gwrthefyr
From
con-
Fendigaid,
with Anna, the daughter of Uther Pendragon, arose probably the legendary story that St. David was related to king Arthur,
but
this tale is at variance
Gynyr of Caer Gawch, life,
having given
all
with
all
the pedigrees.
said to
is
have embraced a religious
his lands to the
he has been enrolled among the from Giraldus Cambrensis that
Church, for which reason It
saints.
his
may be
and
his residence or see,
the particular establishment at
was a
Gistlianus,
son,
bishop at Menevia some time before the elevation of to that dignity,
learned
St.
David
which was perhaps
endowed by Gynyr, was situated It was after-
some distance from the present cathedral.
wards removed by him cathedral
now
to the valley of
''
Rosina," where the
stands, at the instance of St.
David
;
who, as
the legend relates, had received a warning from an angel to
* Giustilianus, according to the orthography of Riceraarchus j the Welsh
form of the name
is
not preserved.
t The succession from Vortimer to scarcely
more than twenty years
St.
David
to a generation.
is
rapid,
and allows
FROM the
effect,
A. D. 464
that the place
first
Deity, for he foresaw that
A. D. 500.
163
chosen was not accepted by the
little
would be produced
or no fruit
but there was another place, not far from thence, and the purposes of a holy congre-
from
it;
more
suitable for devotion
gation.*
TO
—This
brief narrative, the miraculous part being set
aside, is not unlikely to
and
be true ;
as the
if,
same author
monastery had been founded by
asserts elsewhere, a
St.
Patrick
in the valley of Rosina, thirty years before the birth of St.
would have furnished Gistlianus with a more obvious reason for changing his residence; but an appointment less than divine would ill become the hallowed glories of David, t
it
by the Welsh as the most sacred in Britain. would appear from the " Genealogy of the Saints" that Gynyr had a grandson, Ailfyw, the son of Dirdan by Danadl-
a spot regarded It
wen, who might have flourished about the end of tion or the beginning of the following
town of St. David's, from
St.
Llanail^w or
called
He
to be dedicated to him.
St.Elfeis,
vid, the other
and
is
recorded to have baptized
St.
who Da-
grandson of Gynyr.
Non, the daughter of Gynyr, was married of Ceredig ab Cunedda
;
to
and the following
* " Post longa tam discendi prirao,
quam
(David) repatriavit.
Sandde the son
religious edifices
postea quoque docendi tein-
pora, ad locum unde discesserat, Meneviara scilicet,
demum
vir sanctus
Erat autem eodem tempore ibidem Episcopus avun-
culus ejus, vir venerabilis, cui
jam
considered
is
name most probably
derived his
Albeus or Ailbe, bishop of Munster in Ireland;
visited this district,
quae
this genera-
and a church near the
;
nomen
Gistlianus.
susceperat, monita nepos in hunc
modum
Angelus, in quo Deo servire proponis, non est
Huic
ei acceptus.
vel nullum sibi futurum fructum inde providit.
igitur Angelica,
recitavit.
Locus, inquit
Modicum enim
Veruntamen
est alius
non
procul hinc locus, ostendens Vallem Rosinam, ubi sacrum hodie Cimiter-
ium extatjlonge Cambrensis de
t The
religioni et sanctaecongregationi corapetentior."
VitS, S. Davidis,
apud Wharton, Tom.
residence of St. Patrick at Menevia, though noticed
fardd, is at variance with chronology and the his life.
—Giraldus
II.
by Gwyn-
most approved histories of
THE WELSH
164
have been dedicated Carmarthenshire,
St.
;
—Llan Uwch Aeron, a
Llannon, a chapel under Pembre,
Nun's chapel in the parish of
and Llannon,
Pembrokeshire ;
vid's,
memory:
to her
church in Cardiganshire
SAINTS
LlansanfFraid, Cardiganshire
;
all
St.
Da-
under
formerl}- a chapel
of which are situated in the
immediate neighbourhood of churches ascribed to
St.
David.
The festival of St. Non was kept on the third of March. The next founder of a family, that may be noticed, is Ynyr Gwent, who married Madrun, another daughter of Gwrthefyr or Vortimer.
His
territories consisted
county of Monmouth, and he
is
of a part of the present
considered a saint, probably
on account of having founded a college or monastery
Caer-
at
went under the superintendence of St. Tathan. His wife, Madrun, in conjunction with Anhun her handmaid, is said to have been the foundress of the church of Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire.*
Tewdrig, the son of Teithfallt ab Nynio, was a prince, or king as he
is
called, of
was retained by
them by the Normans life
Glamorgan
the sovereignty of which
;
his descendants until
it
was wrested from The* era of his
in the eleventh century.
belongs to the past generation, but the
which are known of him, occur
first
in the present.
particulars,
According to
the most consistent authorities his pedigree commences with
whose age immediately precedes the
his grandfather, Nynio,
departure of the
others,
who
grandfather's
derive
his
Romans ; while name was My nan,
state that his
from
descent
Caractacus. Table
XII.
TEWDRIG Meirig, king of
(married
Arthwys
Anna, to
Glamorgan
Gwenonwy,
dr.
Amwn Ddu
Morgan
Samson
dr.
married to Gwyndaf
H6n
\
\
,
,
Tathan
,
,
Meigant
Eunydd, ancestor of lestyn ab Gwrgan.
* For the children of Ynyr, see Table X.
p. 132
Hywyn
FROM Emyr Llydaw was
TO
A. D. 464
A. D. 500.
165
the prince of a certain
Armorica, and nephew to
He
Germanus.
St.
the early part of this generation, and
is
territory in
flourished in
noticed here on ac-
count of his descendants, whose names appear conspicuous in the catalogue of saints.
Table
XIII.
EMYR LLYDAW Gwenteirbron,
Hywel
dr.
others as below
m. to Eneas Lydewig
Cadfan
Hywel Fychan
Derfel
Divywau
Rhystyd
Cristiolus
Sullen.
Gadarn
EMYR LLYDAW 4
Amwn Ddu Samson
Tydecho
Pedredin or Petrwn
Padarn
Tathan
''aIc
Lleuddad
Llonio
Llynab.
EMYR LLYDAW Gwyndaf Htn
Hywyn
Meigant
Tewdwr Mawr
Difvvng
Carma,
Trinio
Gwyddno Meilyr
dr.
Maelrys
Crallo.
Ithel
Hael o Lydaw was another Armorican prince, whose
children in this and the following generation accompanied Illtyd
and Cadfan
to Britain,
and became
saints of the
Welsh
Church.
To
return to the older families, the distinguished hero of
the line of Cunedda, during this period, was Caswallon Law^hir.
His history as related in Achau y Saint, under the head is as follows " Meigyr, with his brothers, Cynyr
of Meigyr,
:
—
and Meilyr, accompanied Caswallon Lawhir,
their cousin, to
drive the Ffichti out of Mona,* to which island they had retreated from the sons of Cunedda,
themselves there. ddelians out of
and had strengthened
After cruel fighting they drove the
Mona,
in
which Caswallon slew
Gwyddelian, with his own hand.
Gwy-
Serigi, the
This Serigi was the leader
Anglesey.
THE WELSH
166
SAINTS
Gwyn-
of the Gwyddelians and the Ffichti that had overrun
And
edd* from the time of Macsen Wledig.
Cymry
the strangers out of Mona, the •
after driving
took courage, and
chased them from every part of Gwynedd, so that none re-
mained in the country but such of them slaves."t —This
account
expulsion of the
important as
is
Gwyddyl
Ffichti
are reasons for supposing that
it
-records the final
from North Wales
though the precise time of the event the century.
it
were made
as
is
and
,•
not mentioned, there
took place near the close of
There was formerly a chapel near the church of
Holyhead, called Eglwys y Bedd or Llanygwyddyl, which, as by tradition, had been erected over the grave of
reported Serigi.J
Meigyr was the son of Gwron ab Cunedda though there are no churches which bear
saints,
he and his
;
Meilyr, are included in the Silurian catalogue of
brother,
their names.
The same may also be said of Sandde ab Ceredig ab Cunedda, who married Non, the daughter of Gynyr of Caer Gawch, by whom he became the father of St. David. The only remaining saint
of the family, for
daughter
Pabo
Post
this
Rhufon ab
of
Prydain
:
but
in
may be mentioned, Tegwedd, of
Penllyn,
generation,
Cunedda, who
Merionethshire.
connexion
*
;
with
the
to
tribe
the daughter of Tegid Foel
She was married,
Cedig ab Ceredig ab Cunedda, by
mother of Afan of Buallt
was Gwenaseth,
was married
whom
and secondly
first
to
she became the
to Enlleu
ab
Hydwn
North Wales.
f
Translated in the Cambrian Biography.
J
The author
ruins of
it
of a
*'
—
" The way to the Sirigi, who
History of Anglesey," London, 1775, says,
a few years ago were removed in order to render the
church more commodious. Here formerly was the shrine of was canonized by the Irish. It seem to have been held in exceeding great repute for several very wonderful qualities and cures: but according to an old Irish chronicle,
it
was
carried
oflF
by some
in the cathedral of Christ Church, in Dublin."
Irish rovers,
and deposited
FROM
Dwn
ab Ceredig, by
A church to her, at
in
A. D. 464
whom
TO
A. D. 500.
167
she had Teilo, bishop of LlandaiF.
Monmouthshire, called Llandegfyth,
which
place, according to
Achau y
is
ascribed
was
Saint, she
murdered by the Saxons. It
appears that upon the progress of the Saxon arms in the
south of Britain, the families of Coel
Godebog and many
others retreated to the north,* where, as in Wales, the Britons
endeavoured to concentrate themselves.
were obliged
to maintain
Here, however, they
an unequal contest with the Picts on
And though
one side and the Saxons on the other.
the
Britons of Cumberland, and more especially those of Strath
Clyde, maintained their independence for some two or three centuries,
the chieftains of other districts were not equally
fortunate; and
when
stripped of their territories
tinual aggressions of the invaders, their practice
by the conwas
to seek
an asylum in Wales, and, in several instances, to devote their lives to the service of religion.
Of
the latter description was
Pabo Post Prydain, the descendant of Coel in the fourth
He
degree.
first
distinguished himself as a brave warrior, but
eventually he was obliged to give in the north.
received by
He
Cyngen ab
Cadell, the prince of
he had lands given to him. and was accounted a
*
The
way and
leave his territory
sought refuge in Wales, and was hospitably
He
Powys, by
whom
afterwards lived a holy
saint of the British
cause of this migration, which
is
Church.
more probably due
To
life,
these
to internal
warfare, is here given in accordance with popular opinion, as the subject requires a more extensive investigation than could be included within the
The slow progress of the Saxons has been well own authorities, by Mr. Sharon Turner j and it is remarkable that the Welsh records of the sixth century allude to but few instances of conflict with that people. Between them and the Cymry from whom the Welsh are descended, another race of Britons, alike hostile -to both, intervened. They were called Lloegrwys, and appear to have limits of this Essay.
described, according to their
been incorporated with the Saxons upon the establishment of the kingdom of Mercia.
;
THE WELSH
168 particulars
may be
SAINTS
added^ from the Cambrian Biography, that
he married Gwenaseth, daughter of Rhufon of Rhufoniog
more
which
is
others
who assert that Gwenaseth was the wife of Sawyl^his son.*
Pabo
is
consistent with chronology than the statement of
considered to be the founder of Llanbabo in Anglesey,t
where a stone
still
remains, bearing his effigy, with the follow-
ing inscription,— HIC
TE
PORS
JACET PABO POST PRUD COR-
.PRIMA.
The author of Mona Antiqua
is
of opinion that he was the earliest saint in that island, though it is
clear
from other authorities that some of the children of
His commemoration
Brychan must have preceded him.
November
is
9.
Talhaiarn, the son of
Garthwys of the
line of Coel,
celebrated bard and saint of the congregation of Cattwg.
was a " He
composed a prayer which has always been the formula used in the Gorsedd gan. "J
Morganwg
or Session of the bards of
His residence was originally
was chaplain
Emrys Wledig
to
but when that prince was
at Caerleon,
Glamor-
where he
or Ambrosius, king of Britain;
slain,
he lived
as a
hermit at a
place in Denbighshire since called Llanfair Talhaiarn, where a
church was founded and dedicated to him in conjunction with the Virgin Marj\
In another branch of the family of Coel, occurs the name of
Cynfarch Oer, a chieftain of North Britain
wards became a
saint in Wales.
He
is
;
but
who
after-
said to have been the
* Cambrian Biography, voce Gwenaseth ; and " Asaph" in Bonedd y Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II.
Saint,
t As Llanbabo
is
now
a chapel subject to Llanddeusant,
posed that some change has taken place edifices if
Pabo was the founder of the first of them. It was built over his grave at a later
ever, that the chapel
cated to him.
The
stone
it
must be sup-
in the relative condition of these is
possible,
how-
period, and dedi-
monument alluded to was discovered, in the by the sexton while digging a grave j and an
reign of Charles the Second,
engraving of
it is
given in Rowlands*s
X Cambrian Biography.
Mona
Antiqua, Second Edition.
.
FROM
TO
A. D. 464
A. D. 500.
169
founder of Llangynfarch in Maelor, Flintshire, which was destroyed by the Saxons in the battle of Bangor Orchard
A. D. 603 ;* and he
associated with the Virgin
is
Mary
whom
was Nefyn, a grand-daughter of Brychan^ by
as the
His wife
patron of Llanfair DyfFryn Clwyd^t Denbighshire.
he was
the father of Urien Rheged. >•
Llyr Merini, of the line of Coel and father of Caradog
Fraich Fras,
is
classed
among
Llanllyr,
the saints.
Llanyre, a chapel to Nantmel in Radnorshire
;
now
called
and Llanllyr,
formerly a nunnery in Cardiganshire, are dedicated either to
him, or to another saint of the name of Llyr, a virgin, whose
commemoration
Llyr Merini married
was kept Oct. 21.
Gwen, a grand-daughter of Brychan. The last saint to be mentioned, of the line of Coel, was Madog Morfryn, whose life must have extended into the following century. He was a member of the congregation or monastery of lUtyd, where he
is
have distinguished
said to
himself as a teacher ; J but he is more generally father of the bard, Myrddin Wyllt.
known
as the
In the line of Cystennyn Gorneu occurs Geraint ab Erbin, a chieftain of Dyfnaint or
not appear
and
ecclesiastic,
of his
men
Devon, who
how he merited it is
is
It does
called a saint.
the distinction ; for he was not an
recorded that he
in the following century.
fighting at the
fell
head
It is said that there
was
him at CaerfFawydd or Hereford. An memory by Llywarch Hen is published in the
a church dedicated to elegy to his
Myvyrian Archaiology ; and the following passage, cording to " Owen's Translation," describes his death :
In Llongborth
I
ac-
—
saw hard toiling
Amidst the
stones, ravens feasting
And on the
chieftain's
on
entrails,
brow a crimson
gash.
* Cambrian Biography.
t Bonedd y
Saint,
My v.
Archaiology.— Qu.
Monmouthshire, dedicated to Cynfarch J Triad 98, Third Series.
w
?
Is
not St. Kinemark's,
THE WELSH SAINTS
170
In Llongborth
I
saw a confused
conflict,
Men striving together and blood to the From
knees,
the assault of the great son of Erbin.
At Llongborth was
Geraint slain,
A strenuous warrior from the woodland of Dyfnaint, Slaughtering his foes as he
fell.
Ysgin ab Erbin, brother of the preceding,
Bonedd y
Saint
;
and
to him, perhaps, the
is
mentioned in
name
of Llanhes-
gin, Monmouthshire, may be traced.
To
this generation
belongs Gwynllyw Filwr, the son of
Glywys ab Tegid ab Cadell, and chieftain of Gwynllwg or Gwentloog in Monmouthshire, which is supposed to take its name from him. He is called by the Latin writers of the middle ages St. Gundleus, and according to John of Teignmouth he was the
eldest of seven brothers,
who, in compliance with the
custom of gavel-kind, divided the
between them, the as the
six
He
elder.
married Gwladus, a grand-daughter of
Brychan ; and was the most of
whom
braced a
name
it
life
territories of their father
younger paying homage to Gwynllyw father of a large family of children,
resigned their temporal possessions' and em-
From
of religion.
may be judged
that he
the epithet attached to his
was
originally a warrior, but
in course of time he surrendered his dominions to his son
Cattwg, and built a church where he passed the remainder of his life in great abstinence to
is
and devotion.* The church alluded
supposed to be that of Newport, Monmouthshire, situated
in the
name
hundred of Gwentloog, and dedicated of St. Woolos.
to
him under the
His festival was held on the twenty
ninth of March.
All the family of Brychan for obvious reasons were described in the last generation, except Dyfrig or St. Dubricius, * "Regno Cadoco in
magna
filio
suo commendato, Ecclesiam construxit, ibique
abstinentia et vitse
muthensis, apud Usher.
sanctimonia vivere ccepit."— Johannes Tin-
I
FROM who
A. D. 464
for his celebrity deserved a
rather
localities
ill
TO
A. D. 500.
more
171
Two
particular notice.
defined contend for the honour of his
namely the banks of the Gwain near Fishguard, Pem-
birth,
brokeshire,* and the banks of the
the part of the former called
it
Wye
On
in Herefordshire.
has been contended that he has been
" Dyfrig of Langweyn, Gwaynianus, and Vaginensis,"
Latin translation of the Welsh name " Gwain." On behalf of the latter, the Life of Dubricius by John of Teignmouth, and another by Benedict of Gloucester,t affirm, that he was born at Miserbdil on the Wye, and that the name was afterwards changed by Dubricius to Mochros: The claims of either place would be equally consistent with the idea that he was a grandson of Brychan, but the Welsh ^-vagina being the
genealogies are silent upon the subject.
dence
is
in favour of the latter, as there
The weight of happen
to
evi-
be in a
part of Herefordshire, called Erchenfield, a church (Whit-
church) and two chapels (Ballingham and Hentland, subject to
Lugwardine,) which are dedicated to Dubricius,
which are
situated near the
Wye.J
all
of
While in Pembrokeshire
name of the saint. Gwain into Vagina, it should not be forgotten that the Latin name of the Wye was " Vaga," from which in the corrupt state of the Latin language there would be no difficulty in forming the adjective Vaginensis. John of Teignmouth says that his mother was Eurdila,§ the daughter there
As
is
not a single church which bears the
for the translation of
of Peiban, a certain regulus of Cambria, but that his father's
One
name was unknown. that his father
* Cambrian Register, Vol.
t
Benedict
was
of the
Warwick
chroniclers says
was a king of Erging or Erchenfield, by name
a
monk
written about A. D. 1120,
11. p. 202.
of Gloucester, and his Life of St. Dubricius, is
published in Wharton's Anglia Sacra.
% Qu. Is not St, Devereux, Herefordshire, a Norman rendering of Dubricius
?
§ Eurddyl,
THE WELSH
172 Pepiau
;*
SAINTS
and an old commentator upon the Book of LlandafF same statement originally appeared in that
asserts that the
document, but that a
later
hand, wishing to make a correction,
had mutilated the manuscript.t If these authorities can be depended upon, the unknown person is discovered, for Pabiali,
the son of Brychan,
is
also called
torily explained.
llan
It is said that
and the
Papai;
hypothesis that Dyfrig was a grandson of Brychan
is satisfac-
he founded a college
Hen-
at
on the Wye, where he remained seven years before he
removed
to
the assertion
Mochros on the same river ; and in support of it may be said that Hentland in Erchenfield,
where on a farm
called Lanfrother traces of former importance
were lately remaining,
is
dedicated to
St.
Dubricius.
supposed to be Moccas, in the same
place
is
many
miles distant.
John of Teignmouth gives a
most distinguished
disciples at Henllan,
to transcribe as
not chronologically correct.
Achau y
it is
The
district
which
it
list is
other
and not of his
needless
According to
Saint he was consecrated bishop of LlandafF by St.
Germanus, which can hardly be admitted, A. D. 448, and Dubricius was living
for
Germanus died must
in 520, so that he
have held his episcopal honours for the improbable period of seventy years.
The utmost
that can be granted
is
to suppose
with Archbishop Usher, that he was appointed bishop of 1). 470, which however is rather too early; and that he was raised by Ambrosius to the archbishoprick
LlandafF about A.
of Caerleon, upon the death of Tremounus or Tremorinus, in 490.t
* Usher de Primordiis, Cap. XHI.
f De Jure et Fundatione Landavensis EcclesisB a Registro Landavensi. —"Supra dictus rex Ergic, Peipiau nomine, fuit pater Sancti Dubricii j prout habetur in Chronicis apud Collegium de Warwick et supra nomen j
dicti
Regis patris Sancti Dubricii prius recte scribebatur antiquSmanu, et
quidara novellus voluit corrigere, sed scripturam antiquam corripuit et malefecit.'*
X
(Additamentum
recentius.)
Usher de Primordiis, Cap. V.
et
Wharton's Anglia Sacra.
Index Chronologicus.
I
FROM
A. D. 464
In this part of the subject,
TO
it is
A. D. 500.
necessary to pause awhile to
consider the general state of the Church. that the Principality of
generally agreed
Wales was
It does not
appear
in this age divided into
were any established bishops'
dioceses, or that there it is
I73
upon that the bishopricks of
sees
;
for
St. David's,
Llanbadarn, Bangor, and St. Asaph, were not founded
till
The archbishoprick of and its permanency deonly exception, the Caerleon was pended upon the importance which that place had maintained from the time it was occupied by the Romans. The jurissome time in the following century.*
diction of
archbishop, according to the rule observable in
its
other parts of the Empire, would be co-extensive with the
Roman
and
province of Britannia Secunda;
were so many "
Chorepiscopi" without
at
gwyn,
all
his suffragans
settled place of re-
Tudwal
sidence ;t thus the names occur of
Cynin
any
in Carnarvonshire,
Llangynin, Gistlianus at Menevia, Paulinus at Ty-
whom
and
number The influence of the latter, together with the liberality of Meurig ab Tewdrig, king of Glamorgan, was the means of making the see of Llandaff permanent ;% whence Dubricius is said to have been
may
of
are called bishops,
to their
be added Dubricius, bishop of LlandafF.
its first
bishop.
It appears,
however, that after his promotion
to the archbishoprick of Caerleon,
rick of Llandaff;
place, from which he
that the
title still
he
still
retained the bishop-
and that he mostly resided is
belonged to Caerleon,
is clear
that St. David, his successor in the primacy,
archbishop of Caerleon ;
* In
it
Chap.
% Registrum Landavense apud
Achau y
until
Saint,
from the
But fact
was appointed
is
have commenced was formed into an
said to it is
usually dated from that event.
Antiquities of the Christian Church,
lingfleet's Origines Britannicse,
§
may be
had no diocese
archbishoprick by St. David, its existence
t Bingham's
the latter
and though the bishoprick of Llan-
strictness the see of St. David's
with Gistlianus, but as
at
called archbishop of LlandafF. §
Book
II
;
and
II.
Godwin
et
Usher.
Registrum Landavense, and Godwin's Bishops.
Stil-
/
THE WELSH SAINTS
174 dafF
merged
ciusj it
into the archbishoprick in the person of Dubri-
was not extinguished
for,
;
upon
his resignation of the
primacy, Teilo was appointed bishop of Llandaff, as if the title
had been kept
moved
distinct.
St.
where he had lived before
Caerleon to
as Chorepiscopus.
was Cynog, who was translated
The
David, after his election, re-
archiepiscopal see from
the
to
Menevia,
His successor
Menevia from Llanbadarn.*
Dubricius was Teilo, who, having
third primate after
appointed a suffragan at Menevia, continued his residence at LlandafF;t and
is
therefore styled
its
archbishop; J but the
migratory nature of the primacy seems to have weakened stability,
The
and
is
it
who was
not certain
partizans of the church of LlandafF, at a later time, con-
tended that
St.
Oudoceus,
third bishop, succeeded to the
its
archiepiscopal honours of Teilo ;§ while the clergy of via,
its
the next metropolitan.
who
name of
exhibit the
Teilo in their
maintained that Ceneu,
their
the primacy to a long
of successors.
list
of a variety of testimonies, Teilo, the dignity
it
own
Mene-
catalogue,
fourth archbishop, transmitted
From a comparison
appears that upon the death of
sunk between contending
parties
;
and
at
the time of the conference between St. Augustine and the British bishops it does not seem to have retained its existence. ||
The
title
was, however, occasionally assumed by
the different prelates
who contended
for
it ;
and in the year
809 there were no less than three candidates for supremacy, a claim having been set up by the bishop of Bangor.* The bishops of Wales, as well as
its
princes,
were jealous of each
* Giraldus Cambrensis.
t Usher de
Priraordiis, Cap.
XIV.
Usher, Cap.V. J Godwin. V. p. 85. Cap. Usher, § II
Bede, Lib.
I.
Cap. 27, Lib.
11.
p, 560.
—Giraldi Retractationes, apud
Cap. 2.
Wharton. *
<'
Oed
y bu farw Elfod Archescob Gwynedd, ac y bu dilfyg bu terfysg mawr ym mhlith y Gwyr Eglwysig achaws y
Crist 809,
ar yr haul, ac y
—
FROM other's ascendancy
A.
and
;
D
464
it
is
TO
A. D. 500.
175
clear that a title so
defined
ill
could be only a dignity of assumption, but the preponderance
seems generally to have inclined in favour of Menevia or
These
St. David's.
irregularities,
though perplexing
to the
antiquary, are important as a proof of the independence of
the ancient British Church
;
for
bad
it
been subject
to the see
of Rome, an appointment from the Pope would have disputes;
all
settled
and Giraldus Cambrensis, upon referring the
(question to that tribunal in the twelfth century, was unable to
prove that any Welsh prelate had ever received the palL* The constitution of an archbishoprick, in the
first
continuation of the plan established under the
ment ; but when
its
instance,
Roman
authority was once shaken, the intermi-
nable commotions of the people would prevent restoration
and
:
bited by the
was a
govern-
its
effectual
in the register of the Catholic Church, exhi-
Pope
to Giraldus, the
names of the four Welsh
bishopricks are given simply, without explaining that any one
of them had authority over the to a foreign metropolitan.t
by the English,
obliged
rest, or that
The gradual them
to
they were subject
reduction of Wales
submit to the jurisdiction
of Canterbury.
Pasc, canys ni fynnai Escobion Llandaf a
Gwynedd
lie
Myny w
ymroddi dan Archescob
yr oeddynt eu hunain yn Archescobiou h;^n o fraint."—My v-
yrian Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 474.
*
The whole
controversy
may be
seen in Wharton's Anglia Sacra.
story of Samson, archbishop of St. David's, and the pall, which tually surrendered
by Giraldus
in his chapter of Retractions, is
overthrown by Archbishop Usher.
t The account of this
was
The vir-
completely
Primordia, Cap. V.
particular must be given in Giraldus's
own words,
as the force of the argument depends upon the construction of Latin.
" Accidit autem, ut vespera quadam, cum ad Papam in camera sua Giraldus cum semper eum benignum satis et benevolum, ut videbatur, accessisset ;
invenire
consueveritj
afFabilem ipsum invenit.
tunc forte praeter solitum
amicabilem magis
Inter primos igitur affatus,
cum de
vensis Ecclesiae Metropolitico mentio facta fuissetj praecepit
trum
afferri,
jure
et
Mene-
Papa Regis-
ubi de universo fidelium orbe singulorum regnorum, tarn
}
THE WELSH SAINTS
176 Diibricius
distinguished as the founder of colleges
is
is
more
rational to suppose that he,
and not
St.
;
and
Wye,
besides those, already mentioned, on the banks of the
it
Germanus, was
the founder of the colleges of Llancarfan, Caerworgorn, and
At any
Caerleon.
of those institutions be
rate, if the origin
which
referred to this generation,
necessary to do to avoid
it is
anachronisms, they are situated so closely under the jurisdiction of Dubricius that they could not have been founded >»
The
without his concurrence.
whom
it is
recorded that he chose a
ing rather than succeed
to his
account of his wisdom he
is
tion of his
of
principal or abbot
first
Llancarfan was Cattwg, the eldest son of life
Gwynllyw
Filwr, of
of religion and learn-
father's
principality.
On
known by
the appella-
Cattwg Ddoeth, or the Wise, and a large
collection of
maxims and moral
generally
and
sayings, both in prose
verse, is
preserved in the third volume of the Myvyrian Archaiology.
His
college, like all the rest
founded in Wales in the infancy
of monastic institutions, seems to have partaken of the characters
both of a monastery and a place of education
Metropoles per ordinem,
in
hunc modura ibidem
quam earum quoque
Et cum
Ecclesiae Pontificales.
per
ordinem.
istas,
Enumeratis
and several
Suffraganese nuraerantur
regnum Anglorum, scriptum
verteretur ad
et lectum fuit.
raganeas habet Ecclesias
;
" Cantuariensis Metropolis Suff-
Roffensem, Londoniensem" et cseteras
autem singulis
SufFraganeis
Ecclesiasticis
hunc modum. "/w Wallia Menevensis Ecdesia, Landavensis, Bangoriensis, et de Sancto Asaph.^^ Quo audito, subjecit Papa quasi insultando et subriAnglise; interposita Rubrica
dendo.
tali
TTaZZia, prosequitur in
Ecce Menevensis Ecclesia connumeratur.
Sed non eo modo connumeratur
ista vel aliae
Suffraganeae de Angli-S.
scilicet, sicut
Cui Papa.
possent subjectae.
quod
De
similiter
vestrS. facit,
nusquam apponitur,
ad regnum, vel Metropoli ad Metropolim.
Et Wallia quidem quod Papa.
si fieret,
tunc revera reputari
Bene, inquit, hoc notasti.
pro vobis et EcclesiS
quae quidem in Registro
Quod
Respondit Giraldus.
de Walli^ per accusativura
Sed
est et aliud,
de Rubrica scinterpositS;
nisi ubi transitus
Verura
est,
fit,
de regno
inquit Giraldus
Ad
portio est regni Anglicani et non per se regnum.
Unum
sciatis,
quod non
est contra vos
Registrum nostrum.
;
FROM
A. D. 464
TO
A. D. 500.
177
of the most eminent of the Welsh bards and clergy were
ranked among
its
members.
Though
it is
said to
situated at Llancarfan, the particular spot on
was
called Llanfeithin, for
indiscriminately.
it
stood
which reason the names are used
It is said that
society of Cattwg that
have been
which
Dubricius was so partial to the
he made him his companion in his travels
more constantly
and, that they might be
together, Dubricius
continued to live at a place, near Llanfeithin, called Garnllwyd, after he was appointed bishop
be received with some
;
but the statement must
qualification, as his usual residence
at LlandafF or
Caerleon.
court of Arthur
;
Cattwg was an attendant
and though
at
was the
for the sake of convenience the
particulars of his life are detailed in this generation, his history
belongs more properly to the following, as he lived to the patriarchal age of a
and the
assertion is in
is
said to
have
some measure borne out by the great
discrepancy in the ages of persons
He
is
hundred and twenty years,*
who
shared his instructions.
considered to be the founder of several churches, of
which the following
is
a
list.
Llangattock Crickhowell, R. with 2 chapels, Llangeneu (St. Ceneu) (St. Ellyw) Brecknockshire. Porteinion, R. Glamorganshire. Gelli Gaer, R. 1 chapel, Brithdir, Glamorgan. Cadoxton juxta Barry, R. Glam, Llancarfan, V. 2 chapels, Llanfeithin^ Liege Castle, Glam.
and Llanelly
— —
Pendeulwyn, V. Glam. Pentyrch, R. Glam. Llanmaes, R. Glam. Cadoxton juxta Neath, V.
—
2 chapels, Creinant, Aberpergwm, Glamorganshire. Llangattock near Usk, R. Monmouthshire. Llangattock Lenig, V. Monm. Llangattock Lingoed. V. Monm. Llangattock Feibion Afel, V. 1 chapel, St. Moughan's (Qu.
—
Meugan?) Monm. Caerleon upon Usk, V. Monm. Besides the foregoing, Penrhos, subject to Llandeilo Cresenni,
Monmouthshire, and Trefethin under Llanofer, in the * Myvyrian Aichaiology, Vol. III. p. 2.
X
:
THE WELSH
178
same county^ are dedicated any particular
notice,
SAINTS
None of
to him.
these require
except Caerleon, which, from
its situ-
might be suspected to have been the metropolitan church of Cambria. The cathedral must, however, have been
ation,
some other building,
as the archbishoprick
the time of Cattwg, and those
possessed
a church
from which
Monmouth, who,
Geoffrey of
be followed in
for
was founded before the see must have
filled
they derived their
martyr
time of that writer, and
but
;
all
title.
want of better authority, may
this instance, says* the cathedral
to St. Aaron, the
The
who
it
was dedicated
was not in existence in the
traces of
have been forgotten.
it
name of Cattwg, has confound him with St.
epithet of Doeth, attached to the
induced certain Romish writers to Sophias, bishop of
Beneventum
history of these persons
commemorated
The
seen in Cressy.
Cattwg
is
in the Calendar, Feb. 24.t
next college
which was
and the accumulated
in Italy,
may be
Caerworgorn, the
is
Illtyd or St. Iltutus,
first
from which
it
principal
was
of
called Cor
The place at which it was situated is now name of Llanilltyd Fawr, or Lantwit Major
or Bangor Illtyd.
known by
the
but with respect to the age of Iltutus some uncertainty prevails
;
for while one account says that
this college
by
he was appointed to
Germanus,J and therefore before A. D.
St.
450, another account states that he
was a
soldier in the train of
Arthur, and that he was persuaded by Cattwg Ddoeth to
renounce the world and devote himself to last
statement would bring
A, D. 520.
to
The
wrong, and the
first
last
down
religion. §
The
the date of his appointment
date has been already
shown
depends upon his legendary
life.
to
be
His
* According to the Latin copy, as quoted by Usher.
t Mr Sharon Turner
cites a Latin Life of
Cadocus, from the Cottonian X
Achau y
MSS.
Cattwg under the name of
Vesp. A. 14. and Titus D. 32.
Saint.
§ Johannes Tinmuthensis, apud Usher.
FROM position in his
have
own
A. D. 464
A. D. 500.
179
genealogy, and the age of persons said to
members of
been
TO
college,
his
would show that
appointment took place before the close of
his
He
this century.*
was by birth an Armorican, being the son of Bicanys by a of Emyr Llydaw, whom John of Teignmouth calls Rien-
sister
and was therefore the great nephew of St. Germanus.t As the Welsh authorities call him Illtyd Farchog, iguilida;
or the knight, he
was probably distinguished for his military Like Cattwg he
career before he left his native country.
attended the court of Arthur, and though both of them are said in the Triads to have been knights there, the title
have had reference to their past achievements, for ately
added that they were devoted
faith in Christ.J Iltutus,
to the law of
it is
must
immedi-
God and
the
According to the Regestum Landavense,§
having built a church, and afterwards a monastery at
Lantwit under the patronage of Meirchion, a chieftain of
Glamorgan, opened a school, which was
number of
disciples.
enumerated, are also
be inferred that
it
But
as
known
filled
have studied elsewhere,
to
was not an unusual practice
one college to another.
There appears
to
men
it
to migrate
may from
have been no ap-
pointed age at which members were admitted.
youth who resorted to these
with a large
some of those whose names are
Besides the
institutions for instruction, old
often passed the remainder of their days in them, de-
voting their time to religious exercises; and these contingencies being borne in mind, will
much
apparent contradiction
be obviated.
The name
of Illtyd
besides that of Llanilltyd
is
connected with several churches,
Fawr or Lantwit; he may be consider-
* The Regestum Landavense says he was appointed by St. Dubricius. t In another account it is said that his mother was Gweryla, daughter of
Tewdrig, king of Glamorgan. X Triads 121 §
&
122, Third Series.
Apud Usher, Cap. XIII.
THE WELSH
180
SAINTS
ed the founder of Penbre, Carmarthenshire,* castle,
Ilston,
and New-
Glamorganshire ;t and also of Llantrisaint in the
county in conjunction with
Tyfodwg and
St.
St.
latter
Gwynno,
from which circumstance the church derives its name, implying " the church of the three saints."^ Ecton records Illtyd
and Llantryddid, Glamorgan-
as the patron saint of Llanhary,
of Llanhileth, Monmouthshire, and Llantwood
shire, as well as
The
or Llantwyd, Pembrokeshire.
dicated to him,
—Llanilltyd
following chapels are de-
Faerdre under Llantrisaint, and
Lantwit subject to Neath, Glamorganshire, Capel Illtyd subject to
Dyfynog, Brecknockshire, and Llanelltyd under Llan-
fachraith,
Independently of the churches
Merionethshire.
which he founded, the memory of
Illtyd is honoured by the Welsh on account of his having introduced among them an improved method of ploughing: before his timd they were
accustomed to cultivate their grounds with the mattock and over-treading plough (aradr arsang,) implements, which, the
compiler of a Triad upon husbandry observes, were
by
it is
still
used
Mr. Owen says he died about A. D. 480, but
the Irish. §
evident his
extended through a considerable part of
life
may more
the sixth century, which
age in which he flourished. meraoration was held Feb.
* Chapels to Penbre,
T,
—Llannon
properly be said to be the
According
to Cressy his
com-
but the year in which he died
Non) and Llandurry.
(St.
pears also to have been a chapel dedicated to St.
Non
There ap-
in the parish of
Ilstou.
t Chapels to Newcastle, Tithegston (St.
Tudwg
—^Bettws
X Chapels to Llantrisaint,
Ystrad Dyfodwg
John
(St.
(St.
David,) Laleston (St. David,) and
ab Tyfodwg.)
—Llanilltyd
or Lantwit Faerdre (St. Illtyd,)
Tyfodwg,) Llanwonno
(St.
the Baptist,) and St. John's chapel (St.
dedications of the foregoing chapels, traced.
Four of them seem
the son of Non,
was a pupil of
Third Series.
Baptist.)
St. Iltutus,
.
(St.
In the
may be who was
historical allusions
to refer to the fact, that St. David,
to the founders of the mother church. § Triad 66,
some
Gwynno,) Aberd^r
John the
and three others have reference
FROM was
A. D. 464
TO
A. D. 500.
Igl
Tradition affirms that he was buried near the
uncertain.
name Bedd Gwyl
chapel that bears his
in Brecknockshire,
a place called
Illtyd, or the
eve, from
having been a custom
its
to
night previous to the saint's day.*
may be
Lantwit Major a large stone inscriptions,
Iltutus
is
St. lUtyd's
watch there during the In the church-yard of seen with three several
one of them purporting that
it
was the cross of
and Samson, another that Samson raised the
his soul,
The
where there
grave of
cross for
and the third that one Samuel was the carver.t
last college, the
to Dubricius,
was
of Geoffrey of
foundation of which
at Caerleon
Monmouth,
;
may be
attributed
and, according to some copies
contained two hundred philoso-
it
who studied astronomy and other sciences. The British monastic institutions require further notice. Little is known respecting their internal regulations, but it
phers
would appear that choral their
arrangements.
service
formed an important part of
The Welsh
terms,
which have
generally rendered " college or congregation," and writers invariably " monasterium," are Cor, choir gor,
high choir.J
of the
no
less
first class,
According
;
been
by Latin and Ban"
to the Triads, the three societies
of which Bangor Illtyd was one,§ contained
than two thousand four hundred members
;
one hun-
dred being employed every hour, in order that the praise and
God might be continued day and The number, however, in other intermission. service of
night without establishments
varied exceedingly; and the magnificent scale of those alluded
* Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol. II. p. 683.
t Gibson's Camden, Vol. Cottonian
MSS.
II.
—There
is
a Life of St.
Illtut,
abbot, in the
Vespasian A. XIV.
J Sixteen communities in
Wales, which bore these appellations, are
enumerated by the intelligent author of the Horae Britannica?, Vol.
II.
Chap. VII. §
The
other two were Cor
Emrys yng Nghaer Caradawg, probably
Old Sarumj and Bangor Wydrin and 84 Third Series.
at
Glastonbury.
at
Triad 80, First Series,
THE WELSH SAINTS
182 to
would be thought mcredible,
testimony of Bede,
who
destruction of the monastery of
whose accuracy of
were not
if it
for the authentic
flourished about a century after the
Bangor Iscoed.
That author,
number monks was two thousand one hundred, who were di-
its
vided into
is
classes,
universally admitted, says that the
of three hundred each, under their res-
pective superintendents; and, that his readers might not be
ignorant as to the manner in which so vast a society was supported, he adds that they
own
all lived by the labour of their Compared with this, the assertion that Duhad upwards of a thousand pupils at Henllan,t will
hands.*
bricius
will not appear strange
and
;
it is
who
said that Cattwg,
re-
tained a part of his father's territories for the purpose, was
wont
to maintain a
hundred
ecclesiastics, as
many
paupers,
and the same number of widows, besides strangers and guests, at his
ings
own still
expense. J The traces of extensive ranges of buildobservable at Bangor Iscoed and Lantwit Major
confirm the asseverations of ancient writers
at the latter place
had
four hundred houses. §
;
and an old manu-
of Elizabeth, affirmed that the saints
script, extant in the reign
for their habitations seven halls
The abbots of
sometimes styled bishops, and
it is
and
these institutions are
not improbable that they
exercised chorepiscopal authority in their respective societies
but
it
is
agreed that they were
bishop of the diocese ; and there St.
;
all
of them subject to the
is
an instance on record of
Dubricius interfering to correct certain abuses and jealousies
which had broken out
* Eccl. Hist. Lib.
II.
Cap.
at
Lantwit Major.
||
Some of
these
2.
t Johannes Tinmulhensis, apud Usher. J Ibid. § Horae Britannicae, Vol. II. p. 355. *' II
Vir beatse memoriae Dubricius visitavit locum
Sti. Ilduti
tempore
quadragesimali,ut quae emendanda erant corrigeret, et servanda consolidet,
ibidem enim conversabantur multi sanctissimi
cepti."— Liber Landavensis, as quoted
in the
viri,
quodam
Horse Britannicae.
livore de-
FROM
A. D. 464
TO
A. D. 500.
183
establishments were not of long continuance, and appear to
have declined upon the death of their
abbot; while
first
which were endowed with lands, remained
others,
for a longer
dwindled away, or were re-modelled
time, but even these
upon the introduction of monasteries of the regular orders
The
the middle ages.
no uniform
rule,
in
primitive British institutions followed
and may in some degree have resembled the
monasteries of Gaul before the adoption of the rule of St. Be-
but in borrowing analogies from the continent, to
nedict;
supply the lack of positive information, allowance must be
made
for the secluded situation of the Britons,
advance in
partial
civilization.
The
and
more
their
monasteries of Wales
appear to have borne a closer resemblance to those of Ireland,*
which reason the writings of
for
may be
Irish historians
con-
by the Welsh antiquary. The abbots of Llancarfan and Lantwit exercised great influence in the diocese of LlandafF; and the records of that see associate with them a third dignitary, the abbot of Docunnus, but the situation of the monastery of that name is at sulted with advantage
——
present unknown. garus, is
who
also called
is
stated that
have been bounded by Cun-
Docwinus ;t and
in
Achau y
Cyngar founded a congregation
Glamorgan which, Llangenys.
It is said to
in
Saint
it
at a place in
the time of the compiler, was called
But wherever
this place
may be
situated, there is
some uncertainty in the accounts which have been received respecting the founder of the community, as in the pedigrees
name of Cyngar ; and both of Dochdwy, who might be thought
there are two persons of the .
them to
are distinguished from
be the same person as Docwinus.
y Tewdrig ab *
Teithfallt has
The monastery
three thousand
of Beanchor in Ulster
monks under the caie of
t Capgrave in Vita
I-
been considered a
S.
Cungari.
St.
is
saint,
and
is
reported to have contained
Comgallus.
—
THE WELSH
184
y
The
canonized kings of Britain. his family is
SAINTS history of this person
One account
involved in confusion.
and
identifies
him with an ancestor of Brychan Brycheiniog, while others make him contemporary with St. Oudoceus about the close of but the only position, that can be assigned
the sixth century
;
him
with his genealogy, would show that he
consistently
flourished
between A. D. 440 and 470 ; and
arrangement
this
the one best supported by collateral testimony.
is
It is said
that in his old age he resigned the
government of Glamorgan
into the hands of his son, Meurig,
and retired
ligious life in the solitude of Tinteyrn,
was afterwards induced
to appear once
more
country against the Saxons, and, receiving a
which he expected
to
to lead a re-
Monmouthshire.
He
in defence of his
wound
in battle
be mortal, he requested that a church
should be raised upon the spot where he should expire. request was performed accordingly.
The church was
from the circumstance Merthyr Tewdrig, and
is
His called
now known
by the name of Mathern.* Meurig ab Tewdrig, by whom the church just mentioned was built, was also the prince under whose protection the bishoprick of LlandafF and the monastery of Llancarfan were
founded.
of
If reliance can be placed
Llar.daff,
from the
upon
certain
situations of
it
would appear that he held
tract
forming the principal part of
which
paramount authority over a
the present county of Glamorgan, the whole of shire,
and
so
records
he endowed that see with lands and churches,
much
Monmouth-
of the county of Hereford as
south-west of the river
Wye.
lies to
the
Citations from grants securing
these endowments, and other privileges and immunities, to
*
And
"His bones
lie
entoombed, uppon the North side of the sayde Church,
his sonne not contented therewithal!, gaue
territory adiacent unto the
same
moreouer the lands and
to the Bishoppe,
whose Successors
processe of time built a house there, to witte at Mertherne or as
tearme
it
Matherne, beeing the only mansion house
Godwin, Bp. of Llandaff
in 1615.
now
left
in
now we
unto him."
I
FROM
TO
A. D. 464
the bishop and his successors, are
may be
A. D. 500.
still
j[§5
But whatever
extant.*
the antiquity of these documents, they certainly do
not belong to the
fifth
century, and seem to describe the
diocese of Llandaff and principality of
They should
not,
Gwent
at a later era.
however, be rejected without examination,
as they supply important links of history,
wise have been wanting ; and
it
which would other-
should not be forgotten, that
such grants and charters as were fabricated in the middle ages, were, in every practicable case,
palmed upon
real per-
sonages in order to obtain credit for genuineness.
A proposition
has been advanced in the Cambrian Biogra-
phy, which has been copied into other publications, that the real
Uther Pendragon, the father of Arthur, was no other than
Meurig ab Tewdrig.f
It
logical mistake, arising
however, no more than a genea-
is,
from the supposition that Arthruis,J
or Arthwys, a son, and Anna, a daughter of Meurig, were the
same persons
The
Uther.
as
Arthur and Anna, two of the children of
history and connexions of both the families are
so different as to render
it
surprising that such an error should
have been committed, were
not for the fact that Meurig and
it
Uther were contemporaries, and that Arthur have held his court ian chieftain. ities
extant
remains,
Devon
it
at
From
upon the
may be
or Cornwall,
a comparison of the most ancient authorsubject, including the oldest of the
collected that
and that
He
Welsh
Arthur was a native of
his connexion with the
Wales and North Britain was almost kind.
reported to
is
Caerleon in the territories of the Silur-
entirely of
Cymry of
an intrusive
appears, indeed, to have obtained the chief sover-
eignty of the Britons, but
it
Wharton's Anglia Sacra, Vol.
was by usurpation, and he was
II.
and Godwin's Bishops.
+ Cambrian Biography vocibus Anna, Arthur, Meirig, and Uthyr. J Registrum Landavense, and Godwin's Bishops.
He
is
dros"in the Cambrian Biography, page 40; and « Adras" and 118, Third Series.
Y
called "
An-
in Triads 113
—
THE WELSH
Igg more
often
engaged in
SAINTS
with his
conflict
own countrymen
The documents,* which
with the Saxons.
exhibit
than
Meurig
as
the paramount ruler of Gwent, imply that there were several
He
chieftains subordinate to him.
who was
Arthruis,
was succeeded by his son, Morgan Mwynfawr ;+ but the on a
territories of the family are
and
acts
the father of
for the limited description of
scale too small,
even
Arthur which may be drawn
from Nennius and the poems of the Welsh bards. J The name of Gwrtheyrn, or Vortigern, is more implicated with the Welsh genealogies than that of Arthur corded that Edeyrn, one of his sons,
who was
;
and
it is
re-
a saint of the
congregation of Cattwg, established a religious community of
members
three hundred
was afterwards
at a place in
Glamorganshire which
Two
called Llanedeyrn.
others of his sons
have obtained the reputation of sanctity in the same county; Aerdeyrn, to whom it is said there was a church dedicated in
Glamorgan ; and Elldeyrn, who is the patron of Llanelldeyrn Nennius, who does or Llaniltern, a chapel under St. Fagan's. not mention the three preceding, relates that Faustus, one of
bank of the
his sons, built a large place on the
which remained
mark of is
till
locality is
unknown,
it
the time in which he wrote.
age it
;
is
further
has been conjectured that he was the same per-
the Renis.§
which
may be
No
added, and as the Welsh name of Faustus
son as Edeyrn, and that the
edeyrn
river Renis,
it is
Rhymni which
passes
by Llan-
Faustus was born in his father's old
presumed was the case with the other two, or
three, persons, as they are not noticed in the current
* The records of Llandaff.
t Godwin's Bishops, and Triads
113, 118.
by Mr. Sharon Turner in his "Anglo-Saxons,** and by Mr. Ritson in his « Life of King Arthur ;*'
J This question is discussed
Book but
III.
it is
Chap.
III.
to be lamented that the latter person, with all his erudition and
talent, should, in his desire to maintain
a favourite position, deform his
•work with unfair criticism and reckless abuse. § Notes to Gunn's
Nennius,—and Usher,
p. 1002.
FROM accounts of the
TO
A. D. 464
A. D. 500.
1S7
of Vortigern ; and their date
life
is
therefore
referred to this generation.
Paulinus, or
may be
it
some time in the
sided for
removal
was
at
Pawl Hen, was
originally a
inferred from one or
North Briton, and
two manuscripts that he of Man.*
Isle
The
not stated, but his next residence that
is
re-
cause of his is
known
Caerworgorn, where he became a saint of the monastery
He
of Iltutus.
Ty-gwyn
afterwards founded a similar institution at
ar Daf, or Whitland, in Carmarthenshire, of
which
he was himself the
first
bishop,t though
does not appear that he had the care of a
it
abbot, and where he
was
also styled a
His institution soon became famous as a place of
diocese.
and
religious education;
as
Paulinus was eminent for his
acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures, David, Teilo, and
Ty-gwyn
other distinguished saints removed to instruction S.J society
It
said that
is
he placed
to share his
head of
his
two persons, named Gredifael and Fflewyn, who as
they held
office jointly
were probably superintendents of
classes, similar to those described
Bangor Iscoed. gors,
at the
He
is
by Bede
in the monastery of
the patron saint of the church of Llan-
Brecknockshire, and of Capel Peulin,§ a chapel sub-
Llandingad, Carmarthenshire.
ordinate to
attend a synod held at Llanddewi
Brefi,||
is
life
able that the most lasting traces of his
neighbourhood of that place.
lived to
must have reached century ; and it is remark-
generally assigned to the year 519, his to a considerable part of the sixth
As he
the date of which
memory remain
in the
Capel Peulin, which bears his
* Cambrian Biography.
+ Life of
St.
David by Giraldus Cambrensis.
J Life of St, Teilo written about A. D. 1120 by Galfridus alias Stephanus, brother of Urban Bp. of Llandaff, and published in Wharton's Anglia Sacra. § Called « Capella Sancti Paulini" in one of the charters of the abbey of Strata Florida. I)
Life of St. DaYid by Giraldus.
:
.
THE WELSH
188 name,
is
SAINTS
on the borders of the parish of Llanddewi Brefi ; and
in the parish of Caio, adjoining the latter,
with the following inscription
:
still
exists a stone
—
SERVATVR FIDiEI PATRIEQ: SEMPER
AMATOR HIC PAVLIN VS lACIT CVLTOR PIENT— SIMVS iEQVI The localities being considered, it would appear that this commemorated the interment of Paulinus the saint, and not that of a Roman general as has been supposed.* The exstone
Servator Fidei" implies that the person interred
^'
pression
was a Christian
Hexameter cation
the
lines
;
and the whole inscription
which belong
was more corrupt than
Romans from
at the
consists of
when Latin
two
versifi-
time of the departure of
Paulinus was commemorated on
Britain.t
the twenty second of
to a period
November under
the
name of
Polin,
Esgob, or the bishop. J * Cambrian Register, Vol. HI.
\
A
thenshire in Gibson's
38 and 39.
p,
facsimile of the inscription
may be
Camden 5 and
seen in the account of Carmar-
when placed
the words
in their
proper form are Servator
fidei,
Hie Paulinus
The
patriaeque semper amator, jacet, cultor pientissimus sequi.
last syllable of patriaeque is
intended the dactyl.
v,
for a vowel,
In the second line he appears to have had for his model the poets
before the Augustan age,
who
frequently omitted the final
the vowel preceding to assume is therefore short.
The n
word
is
derived.
its
natural quantity
in pientissimus
which case the vowel before the
an error in prosody, unless the author
and so formed the end of the word into a
it
would be
This interesting
j
s,
the last
and allowed
u
in
Paulinus
must have been quiescent, in
short, as in
*'
pietas" from
place called Pant y Polion, obviously a corruption of Pant Polin
now removed
for preservation to
Dolau Cothi,the
X Cambrian Register, Vol. p. 220.
whence
relic of antiquity lay originally at ;
and
seat of J. Johnes,Esq.
a is
FROM It
some her
She
A.
D
464
TO
A. D. 500.
189
would not be proper to close this generation without notice of Ffraid, for though she was not a Welsh saint,
memory has been held in great respect in the Principality. is more generally known by the names of St. Bridget or
St. Bride, and, according to Llyfr
Bodeulwyn,* she was the
daughter of Cadwrthai, an Irishman
but other
;
MSS.
state
was of Scottisht parentage, being the daughter of Dwyppws ab Cefyth or Dwpdagws. The Latin life of this that she
saint says that her father,
that she
was born
Dubtachus, was an Irishman, and
at Fochart, in the
county of Lowth
;
and
Archbishop Usher places the date of her birth in the year 453.
The Welsh and nun, and
it is
Irish accounts agree in describing her as a
said that she received the veil
one of the disciples of celebrity appears to
St. Patrick.
from Maccaleus,
In her native country her
have been exceeded only by that of the
great Apostle of Ireland himself, and in Wales no less than
eighteen churches and chapels are dedicated to her, as
may be
seen by the following catalogue. Diserth, C. Flintshire. Llansanffraid Glyn Conwy, R. Denbighshire. Llansanffraid Glyn Ceiriog, C. Denb. LlansanlFraid in Mechain, R. Chapel, Montgomeryshire. Llansanffraid Glyndyfrdwy, R. Merionethshire.
—New
Capel Sanffraidy in ruins, a chapel to Holyhead, Anglesey. R. 1 chapel^ in ruins, Pembrokeshire. Llansanffraid, V. 1 chapel, Llannon (St. Non,) Cardiganshire. Llansanffraid Cwmmwd Deuddwr, V. 2 chapels, Llanfadog (St. Madog,) and Nantgwyllt, Radnorshire. St. Brides,
—
—
—
Llansanffraid in Elfael, V. Radn. Llansanffraid, R. Brecknockshire.
Brides Minor upon Ogmor, R. Glamorganshire, Brides Major, V. 3 chapels, Wick, (St. James,) Llamphey (St. Faith,) and ''^capella de Ugemory'' Glam. St. Brides super Elai, R. Glam. St.
—
St.
St. Brides, alias Llansanffraid,
R. Monmouthshire.
Skenfreth, or Ysgynfraith, V. Monm. St. Brides, in Netherwent, R. Monm. St. Brides Wentloog, C. Monm.
*
A
t
'*
manuscript cited
O
in the
rieni Yscotiaid,"
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
II. p. 51.
meaning of course the Scots of Ireland.
THE WELSH
190
From
SAINTS
the extent of the parishes attached,
may be
it
inferred,
that the foundations of several of these churches are of consi-
derable antiquity, and seem to belong to the class of those
dedicated to St. Michael and St. Peter. tradition that St. Bridget visited Wales,
There
is
degree account for the homage she has received;
called
diflfused so
pre-eminently
the
some
in
but ve-
unknown
neration for this holy person has, for some
/of preference, been
a vague
which may
cause
widely, that she deserves to be
saint
of the
churches have been consecrated to her
British
Isles;
for
memory throughout
in the Isle of Man, and especially in Her remembrance, however, was in no place
England and Scotland, the Hebrides.
cherished with more fond assiduity than at Kildare in Ireland,
where a sacred
fire
kindled by her
own hands was kept
per-
petually burning, and according to Giraldus Cambrensis had
Her death
not been extinguished for six hundred years.
supposed to have happened about A. D. 525, and the
is
first
of February was held as a festival in her honour.
Colman was a same time
saint
as Ffraid.
who
flourished in Ireland about the
Llangolman, subject to Maenclochog,
and Capel Colman, subject
to Llanfihangel
Pembrokeshire, are dedicated to him, but "whether he
He
is
Penbedw, both in it
had any personal connexion with
is
not
that
known county.
sometimes called Colman the elder, to distinguish him
from another Colman, the third bishop of Lindisfarn.
—
SECTION The Welsh
and
X.
Saints from the Accession of Uther Pendragon A. D. 500, to the
The
;
Death of Arthur A. D. 542.
saints of this
generation are exceedingly numerous,
the history of one or
two already noticed remains
to
be
concluded.
Dubricius
and In
it is
continued to preside over the see of Caerleon,
still
said that
he had the honour of crowning king Arthur.
his time the Pelagian heresy,
suppressed by that
it
St.
which
for a while
had been
Germanus, had increased to such a degree
required an extraordinary
and, if possible, to extinguish
effort to
check
its
progress,
Accordingly a synod of the
it.
whole clergy of Wales was convened Cardiganshire, and the following
is
at
Llanddewi
Brefi, in
the account given of
it
by
Giraldus Cambrensis in his " Life of St. David." " The detestable heresy of the Pelagians, although formerly
extinguished through the labours of Germanus of Auxerre,
and Lupus of Troyes, when they came over this pestilence,
to this island
although once suppressed, sprung up anew,
and gave occasion churches of Wales.
for
convening a general synod of
all
the
All the bishops, and abbots, and religious
of different orders, together with the princes and laymen,
were assembled
many
discourses
at Brefi in the
county of Cardigan.
had been delivered
in public,
When
and were
in-
effectual to reclaim the Pelagians from their error, at length
whom David had studied
Paulinus, a bishop, with
in his youth,
very earnestly entreated that that holy, discreet, and eloquent
man might be
sent for.
to desire his attendance "with the holy
Messengers were therefore despatched ;
but their importunity was unavailing
man, he being so
fully
and intently given up to
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
192
contemplation that urgent necessity alone could induce him to
pay any regard
At
to temporal or secular concerns.
last,
two
holy men, namely Daniel* and Dubricius, went over to him.
By them
he was persuaded to come
to the synod ; and after was the grace and eloquence with which he spoke, that he silenced the opponents, and they were utterly
his arrival, such
But Father David, by the common consent of
vanquished.t all,
whether clergy or
favour,)
This
laity,
(Dubricius having resigned in his
was elected primate of the Cambrian Church." the account generally received, and
is
down with
Dubricius, worn
withdrew
it is
said that St.
years and longing for retirement,
monastery in the island of Enlli or Bardsey,
to a
where he died A. D. 522.
He was
his remains lay undisturbed
till
buried in the island, where
A. D. 1120, when Urban,
bishop of LlandafF, through the favour of Radulphus, archbishop of Canterbury, obtained the permission of David, bishop of Ban-
and
gor,
Griffith,
They were
prince of North Wales, to remove them.t
accordingly translated to Llandaff, where they
were interred with great pomp and solemnity in the cathedral,
which had been
rebuilt a short time before
But the most remarkable
* Intended for Daniel, the
Tradition points to the
its
bishop of Bangor, whose
first
an anachronism, should be placed a
f
from
foundation.
feature in the history of the pro-
site
full
life,
to avoid
generation later.
of the cliurch of Llanddewi Brefi as the
spot where this memorable sermon was preached, and Cressy relates, with
a devout
"When
faith, that the
all
following miracles took place upon the occasion.—
the fathers assembled enjoined David to preach, he
a child which attended, and had lately been restored to spread a napkin under his feet, and standing upon the Gospel and the
Law
to the auditory
:
all
it,
commanded
life
by him, to
he began to expound
the while that this oration
continued, a snow-white dove descending from heaven sat upon his shoulders till
;
it
and moreover the earth on which he stood raised
became a
hill,
heard, and understood by hill
itself
under him
from whence his voice like a trumpet was clearly all,
a church was afterwards
X Life of St. Dubricius in
both near and far
built,
oflFj
on the top of which
and remains to this day.'*
Wharton.
FROM ceeding
is
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 542.
193
the fact that the bones of the saint were discovered
with great
Inquiry was made into the monuments
difficulty.
of the past, and the oldest writings were searched in order to ascertain
and
at
where
LlandafF,
body had been deposited ; by whom, how, The passage of the Book of
his
what time
was buried.
it
which records these
the Romish religion was at fore, in
making
though written when
particulars,
highest ascendency, has there-
its
betrayed the inference, that in
this admission,
whatever esteem the Britons of the primitive Church might
have held the memory of their holy men, they could not have worshipped their
The body of the great archbishop of
relics.
Caerleon, whose reputation for sanctity was almost equal to that
His example,
of St. David, lay unenshrined for six centuries.
however, in retiring
to close his life in
Bardsey, was so extensive-
ly followed, that according to the exaggerations of after ages, less
no
than twenty thousand saints were interred in the island,
the entire surface of which was covered with their ashes his remains
were
so little
buried over him, and
how
his
relics
tinguished from the general heap
author of the record has
is
The most eminent ;
David,
but
were afterwards
His death was
unexplained.*
left
saint of
dis-
a problem which the
commemorated on the fourth of November, and on the twenty ninth of May. to the reader
;
regarded that other bodies were
his translation
Wales must now be introduced countrymen
or, as his
call
him, Dewi,
was the son of Sandde ab Ceredig ab Cunedda, by Non, the daughter of Gynyr of Caergawch.
To
repeat
all
the fabulous
legends invented respecting him, would be to heap together a
mass of absurdity and profaneness; for the monks, in the
* " Quod vero postraodum investigatum
est, et
adquisitum monumentis
seniorum, et antiquissimis scriptis literarum, quo loco sepultus est infra
sepulturam sanctorum virorum Enlli et
;
quoque
situ firraiter huraatus est;
a quo, et qualiter, quorumque principum tempore."
—Lib. Landav. MS.
as quoted in Roberts's Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, p. 338.
z
X
THE WELSH SAINTS
194
excess of their veneration, have not scrupled to say that his birth
was foretold
thirty years before the event,
was honoured with miracles while yet
in the
and that he
womb. But to pass
by these wretched imaginations of a perverted mind, sufficient to notice
have an appearance of truth.
was
will
it
be
only those statements of his history which It is said
by Giraldus
that he
born at the place since called St. David's, and that he
was
baptized at Forth Clais in that neighbourhood by ^Iveus, or rather Albeus, bishop of Munster,
had arrived
" who by divine providence
The same author name of which,
from Ireland."
at that time
adds, that he was brought
up
at a place, the
Welsh "Hen-meneu,"* and in locality of Hen-meneu is uncertain, and a claim has been set up on behalf of Henfyny w in Cardiganshire,t which answers to the name, and its church is
meaning "the old bush," Latin " Vetus Menevia."
in
is
—The
dedicated to the saint ; but
it is
clear that Giraldus
mar chus, from whom the information
is
and Rice-
derived, intended to
designate some spot near the western promontory of brokeshire, possibly the
Roman
latter writer intimates that the
Pem-
Menapia, for the
station of
" Old Bush,"
as
he
calls
it,
was
the place where Gistlianus resided before he removed to the valley of Rosina. J St.
David
is
reported to have received his religious educa-
tion in the school of Iltutus; at
Ty-gwyn
ar Daf,
and afterwards
where he
is
said to
in the study of the Scriptures, and
in that of Paulinus
have spent ten years
where
Teilo, the second
bishop of LlandafF, was one of his fellow-students. It would appear from Giraldus that he was ordained a presbyter before he entered the school of Paulinus, and the same author states that
* His etymology of the
word
is
borrowed from two languages, hin
being the Welsh for oldy and muni, as he says,
is
the Irish term for
a hush.
t
Carlisle's
Topographical Dictionary of Wales, roce Henfyny w.
X Various readings to Giraldus, in
of this Essay.
Wharton Vol.
II.
— See also page 1C2
—
FROM
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 542.
195
David, Padarn, and Teilo, visited Jerusalem together, where they -were consecrated to the order of Bishops by the Patri-
Whether
arch.
this
pened before, or
event should be considered to have hap-
after,
the time that David became principal of
the monastery in the valley of Rosina as the story is so improbable that it
From
its
construction
it
of
is
rejected entirely.
appears to have been borrowed
Giraldus from one of the lost Triads, and
vented by some bard
consequence,
little
may be
who wished
to
it
was
show
by
probably in-
that the
Welsh
bishops traced their consecration to higher authority than that
of the Pope.
It
is,
however, admitted that
St.
David founded
or restored a monastery in the valley of Rosina,*
afterwards called Menevia ligious societies
and
;
which was
as the abbots of similar re-
were in those days considered
to
be bishops in
the neighbourhood of their respective communities, St. David
enjoyed the dignity of a Chorepiscopus before his elevation to the archbishoprick of Cambria. via,
he appears
to
In the retirement of Mene-
have lived with his
disciples, practising
those religious austerities which were sanctioned by the superstition
of the times.
He
denied himself the enjoyment of
animal food, and his only drink was water.
Except when
compelled by urgent necessity, he rigidly abstained from every interference in temporal
affairs, all his
voted to prayer and spiritual contemplation.
how
time being deIt is not stated
long he continued to practise these exercises
said to have
chieftain of the
band of
Gwyddyl
followers
Ffichti,
;
but he
named Boia,t who with
had occupied the
is
molestation from a
experienced considerable
surrounding
a
district.
Such, however, was the patience with which David and his associates
* Its
endured
Welsh name
in a pun, says there
is
this persecution, that the chieftain relin-
Rh6s, and Giraldus,
were no roses
who
in the valley,
occasionally indulges
rosina non rosea.
t Riceraarchus calls him a Scot ; Galfridus, a Pict ; and Gwynfardd inwas an Irishman (Gwyddyl ;) the name Gwyddyl Ffichti is
timates that he
adopted above, as being applicable to the three
in
common.
;
THE WELSH
196 quished his St.
hostility,
David was
and was
SAINTS
at last converted
and baptized,*
roused from his seclusion to attend the
first
synod of Brefi in the manner already
related.
It is
that he accepted the archbishoprick with reluctance
entrance into public
his
activity.
As
he was distinguished for his
life
the Pelagian heresy was not entirely suppressed,
he convened another synod, which
it
Annales Menevenses was held
Caerleon.
upon
recorded
but after
;
at
would appear from the His exertions
were so successful that the heresy was
this occasion
exterminated, and the meeting has been named, in consequence,
" the Synod of Victory." After these councils he
own hand
have drawn up with his
said to
is
a code of rules for the regulation of the British
Church, a copy of which remained in the cathedral of
St.
Under
his
David's until
it
was
lost in
an incursion of
pirates.
presidency the cause of religion attained to great prosperity, and, to use the words of Giraldus territory of
:
—" In those times
in the
Cambria the Cliurch of God flourished exceedingly,
and ripened with much every where
;
many
fruit every day. Monasteries
were built
congregations of the faithful of various or-
ders were collected to celebrate with fervent devotion the sac-
But to all of them. Father David, as if placed was a mirror and a pattern of life. He informed them by words, and he instructed them by example rifice
on a
of Christ.
lofty eminence,
as a preacher,
more
most powerful through his eloquence, but
so in his works.
guide to the religious, a
He was life
a doctrine to his hearers, a
to the poor, a support to orphans,
a protection to widows, a father to the fatherless, a rule to
* Life of Teilo by Galfridus.
Giraldus*s version of the story
is,
that
Boia, attempting to molest the saints, suffered the vengeance of heaven,
being himself
upon which he
aflBicted
with a fever, and his cattle perishing by disease;
solicited the peace of the holy
cession obtained a removal of the life
;
j
men, and through their
inter-
idgment, his cattle being restored to
but his wife, making a second attempt at molestation, was deprived
of her reason, and Boia was soon afterwards slain by an enemy.
FROM monks, and a path
might gain
charged; but
it is
—This
—" They were
character
197 all
is,
to
all,
he
that
of course, over-
recorded in the Triads that the three blessed
visitors of the Isle of Britain .
A. D. 542.
becoming
to seculars,
God."
all to
TO
A. D. 500
were Dewi, Padarn, and
so called because they
went
Teilo.
as guests to the
houses of the noble, the plebeian, the native and the stranger,
without accepting either fee or reward, or victuals or drink ; but
what they did was
to teach the faith in Christ to every
without pay or thanks.
and needy,
gifts
one
Besides which, they gave to the poor
of their gold and
raiment and
silver, their
provisions."
After his elevation,
David appears
St.
to
have resided for a
while at Caerleon, the proper seat of the primate ;* but his stay
was not of long continuance before he obtained the per-
No
mission of Arthur to remove the see to Menevia. is
alleged for this proceeding,
mere
and probably
desire of dignifying a place to
attached from early associations.t
him have been enumerated another consideration as
it
reason
arose from the
which he had become
The churches founded by
already,^ and the
list is
worthy of
serves to point out the country
it
which, though archbishop, he held under his peculiar jurisIt is generally agreed that
•diction.
into dioceses in his time,
and
Wales was
first
local indications are
divided
exceedingly
valuable wherever they are sufficiently numerous to establish
an inference upon inductive David, therefore, as
* Triad
principles.
may be judged from
The
diocese of St.
the foundations at-
7, First Series.
f The Latin copy of Geoffrey says
that
he loved Menevia above
all
other monasteries of his diocese, because St. Patrick, by -whom his birth
had been
foretold,
had founded
it
!
he misliked the frequency of people
Bp.
Godwyn
suggests
at Caerlegion, as a
:
*'
It
seemeth
meanes to with-
draw him from contemplation, whereunto that hee might be more free, hee made choice of this place for his See rather than for any fitness of the same otherwise." J
Page
52.
THE WELSH
198
SAINTS
Pem-
tributed to him, extended over the entire counties of
broke and Carmarthen ; shire
included
Llanddewi
;
northern boundary in Cardigan-
parishes of Llanddewi Aberarth,
the
Brefi
its
from whence
it
and
seems to have followed the
course of the Irfon through Brecknockshire,* and in Radnorshire
it
included the parishes of Cregruna and Glascwm.
North of
this line
was the diocese of Llanbadarn,
in
which
there are no church-foundations attributable to St. David;
and the three chapels dedicated date in
all
merged
cese
dary of
St.
Wye, and
to him, as
mentioned before,t
when this dioFrom Glascwm the boun-
probability subsequent to the time into that of
Menevia.
David's seems to have passed southwards to the to
have followed the course of that river to
its
Ewyas whole of Mon-
junction with the Severn, including the districts of
and Erehenfield in Herefordshire, and the
mouthshire with the exception of the lordship of Gwynllwg.
The southern boundary seems present, between the rivers to
have passed along the
have commenced, as
to
at
Neath and Tawe, and afterwards
hills
which naturally divide Breck-
Gwent; Gwynllwg to
nockshire from Glamorganshire, as far as Blaenau
from the
this point it followed the present limits of
mouth of the Usk.
diocese of Teilo
;
in
South of
this line
which the only
edifices,
was the
original
dedicated to St.
David, are the chapels of LalestonJ and Bettws, subject to Newcastle, Glamorganshire, and Bettws, subject to Newport,
Monmouthshire;
but they appear to be of modern origin.
The Lordship of Gwynllwg was
co-extensive with the present
deanery of Newport, and until the Union of England and
There
were formerly not
less than six churches
and chapels ascribed or
dedicated to St. David in the Hundred of Builth, Brecknockshire, and
remarkable that they were
them
still
all
on the south side of the Irfon.
it is
Five of
remain.
t Llanddewi Ystrad Enni, Heyop, and Whitton. X Built about A. D. 1110, by Lales, architect to Richard Granville, Lord
of Neath.
FROM Wales
it
TO
A. D. 500
A. D. 542.
|99
was considered a part of Glamorgan.*
It is singular
and Llanddewi Fach, though
that the parishes of Caerleon
west of the Usk, do not form part of this district; and they
remain to
this
day a confirmation of the arrangement which
would place them in the diocese of might have weakened
St. David's.
his authority, as archbishop of
had he surrendered the place from which he rived the
title
They
are at
town of Llandaff, but David
from the
no great distance
of Metropolitan
;
and he
is,
Menevia,
originally de-
by some
writers,
called archbishop of Caerleon to the time of his death.
As
was the custom
it
in the early ages of Christianity for
the bishop to receive a share of the offerings presented in
all
the churches under his superintendence, the boundaries of his diocese
would soon be determined with considerable precision;
and he could not intrude an infringement of the churches,
named
joining counties.
into the diocese of another without
The
rights.
after St.
There
are,
tract described includes all
David, in Wales and the ad-
however, three churches and a
chapel in Devon and Cornwall, of which he
is
considered the
patron saint :t and though none of his ancient biographers
have noticed that he passed any portion of his country, the circumstance that he visited early part of his
who
life, is
it,
life
in that
probably in the
intimated in the poetry of Gwynfardd, J
says that he received ill-treatment there at the hands of a
* Description of Wales, by Sir John Price. t Bacon's Liber Regis. J
"A
goddef palfawd,
dymawd
trameint,
Y gan forwyn ddifwyn, ddiwyl ei deint, Dialwys, peirglwys pergig Dyfneint, " A'r ni las Uosged
He
endured bufFetings, very hard blows,
From
He
the hands of an uncourteous
woman, devoid of modesty,
took vengeance, he endangered the sceptre of Devon,
And
those
who were
My V. Archaiol.
not slain were burned.—
Vol, I.
p. 270,
and Williams's Pelagian Heresy.
THE WELSH SAINTS
200
female, on account of which the inhabitants suffered his ven-
geance.
The
edifices alluded to are the
following.—
alias Thelbridge, R. Devon. Ashprington, R. with the chapelry of Painsford, Devon. St. David's, a chapel to Heavitree, in the city of Exeter. Dewstowe, alias Davidstow, V. Cornwall.
Tilbmge,
Some may,
of these were possibly founded by the saint; but they
be thought
at least,
sence,
which
same
quarter,
is
to confirm the tradition of his pre-
by the
further strengthened
existence, in the
of the following, dedicated to St. Non, his
mother. Bradstone, R. Devon. Plenynt, alias Pelynt, alias Plint, V. Cornwall. Alternon, V. Cornwall.
There are three
religious edifices dedicated to St.
David in
the rest of England,* so few and far between, that no historical inference can be deduced from them, except that they were
memory long after the conversion of the The county of Devon remained in the possession of
consecrated to his
/' Saxons.
the Britons so late as the year 900.
Monmouth
Geoffrey of
states
Dewi, archbishop of
that
Caerleon, died in the monastery which he had founded at
Menevia, where he was honourably buried by order of Mael-
gwn Gwynedd.
This event
is
recorded by Geoffrey as
happened soon
after the death of Arthur,
According
the computations of
to
who
if it
died A. D. 542.
Archbishop Usher,
David died A. D. 544, aged eighty two, which
is
St.
certainly
more probable than the legendary accounts of Giraldus and others,
who
assert that the saint lived to the patriarchal age
of a hundred and forty seven years, sixty sided over his diocese.
But
* Barton David, V. Somersetshire
five
of which he pre-
must be allowed that the dates
it
;
Moreton
in the
Marsh, a chapel to
Bourton on the Hill, Gloucestershire j and Armin, a chapel to Snaith, Yorkshire.
FROM
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 512.
201
quoted by Usher are very uncertain, and depend upon the
who
authority of writers
lived
of contemporaries, render
David about twenty years his life
may be
many
The order of
which they record.
it
centuries after the events
and the names
generations,
necessary to place the birth of
later
than
it is
fixed
by Usher ; and
protracted to any period short of A. D. 566, to
which year the death of Maelgwn Gwynedd
is
assigned in the
Annales Menevenses.*
He was his
canonized by Pope Calistus about A. D. 1120, and
commemoration was held on the
first
versary, according to Giraldus, of the It has
of March, the anni-
day on which he died.
been lately observed, that the reputation which he has
acquired of being the patron saint of Wales, troduction
and the observation
;
is
of modern in-
certainly true in the sense
is
of the words '• tutelar saint," as understood by those who compiled the romances of the " Seven Champions of Christen-
dom."
It
may
be said that the story of the leek, and
also
adoption as a national emblem,
But
biographers.
these remarks should not be
view to disparage his memory. highest station the
among
He
made with a
has long maintained the
the saints of his country
number of churches
its
not noticed by his early
is
;
and whether
attributed to him, or his exertions in
the overthrow of Pelagianism, be considered, he professes the fairest claim to
his
such a distinction.
Since the twelfth century
pre-eminence has been undisputed; and the poem of
Gwynfardd, written in that age, lauds him in terms as if he So famous was his shrine to the Almighty.
were second only at
Menevia, that
it
attracted votaries, not only from
* Lives of St. David have been written 1090, a copy of
Vespasian A. in
which
is
XIV; by
—
^by
all
parts
Rieeraarchus about A. D,
preserved in the British Museum, Cotton
MSS.
Giraldus Cambrensis about A. D. 1200, published
Wharton's Anglia Sacra; by John of Teignmouth, a contemporary of
Giraldus, inserted in Capgrave's collection
Henry VIII, which ancient
Welsh
is
;
and by Leland, in the reign of
published in his « Collectanea."
Life in the British
There
is
also an
Museum, Cotton MSS. Titus D. XXII.
2a
—
THE WELSH
202
SAINTS
of Wales, but also from foreign countries
and even three of
;
the kings of England* are recorded to have undertaken the
journey, which
when
twice repeated was deemed equal to one
pilgrimage to Rome.t
To take a short notice of temporal affairs ; the Gwyddyl Ffichti, who were conquered by Clydwyn, the son of Brychan, According to
are in this generation found to be independent.
an authority, J cited in Jones's History of the county of Brecon,
Dyfnwal, a Pictish or Caledonian prince, had exterminated the race of
Clydwyn and assumed
In conse-
the soveignty.
/ quence of which, Caradog Fraichfras, the son of a granddaughter of Brychan, appears to have marched westward from the Severn, and to have recovered the principal
Brecknockshire, which he transmitted
The
Irish
names of tains
were
his
and Ceing or Ceianus, two of
Liethali,
been recorded
same time, Urien Rheged, whose
father,
to leave his territories in
;§
part of
descendants.
also in possession of Carmarthenshire,
in that county, have
been obliged
to
and the
their chief-
but about the
Cynfarch
Oer,||
had
North Britain and seek
a refuge in Wales, undertook to clear the country of these
He was
foreign settlers.
successful;
and accordingly was
allowed to take possession of the district lying between the rivers
Towy and
Neath, which his descendants continued
These events took place in the early
to inherit after him.
* William the Conqueror, Henry IT, and Edward I; the latter of whom was accompanied by his queen, Eleanor, Nov. 26, 1264. t This opinion was expressed by the monks in the verse, "
Roma
and more especially
semel quantum, dat bis Menevia tantum." in the
" Meneviam
following couplet}
si bis, et
Merces sequa +
HarleianMSS. No.6832.
§ Gunn's Nennius II
Romam
Of
;
Camden's Britannia.
the line of Coel
si
semel, ibis,
tibi redditur hie et ibi."
Godebog.
FROM
A.
D
500
TO
A. D. 542.
203
part of this century, and they seem to have afforded to St.
David the opportunity of establishing a number of churches in the country thus recovered,* in which none are found of older date, except those
which were dedicated
to the children
Urien, after performing these services in Wales,
of Brychan.
appears to have proceeded to North Britain, where he re-
gained his father's dominions
the king of the Angles.
which
in this quarter,
;
and with the
assistance of his
and well contested struggle with Ida,
sons, supported a long
His exertions against the invaders
entitle
him
to
be considered one of the
illustrious
Britons of his age, would have succeeded in
their expulsion,
had he not been embarassed with the dissen-
most
sions of his slain
countrymen; and he was
at last treacherously
while besieging Deoric, the son of Ida, in the island of
Lindisfarne.t
It
has been said that he was a saint of the con-
gregation of Cattwg, but the assertion
is
inconsistent with his
character as a warrior, which he maintained to the close of his
He was
life.
Taliesin
;
the patron of the bards, Llywarch Hen, and
and
his heroic deeds
have been celebrated in some
of the best effusions of the Welsh muse.J
The name " North
Britain"
is
here used indefinitely for any
part of the country reaching from the as the writer
^This
tract
same race
is
Humber
to the Clyde,
unable to determine the location of
its
princes.
was occupied by the Cymry, or Britons of the
as those Avho
now
inhabit the Principality of Wales,
and whose name may be traced in the modern appellation of
* That
it
was not
originally under his jurisdiction is strongly implied in
an abrupt passage in his Life by Ricemarchus, which says that Boducat
and Maitrun, two saints of the province of Kidwelly, submitted themselves
—"Duo
to him.
quoque Sancti, Boducat
gueli, dederunt sibi
t Nennius, and Poems ;
Urien Rheged
adog Fraichfras
is
et Maitrun,
in
provincia Get-
manus."
is
of Taliesin and Llywarch H^n.
the Sir Urience of the romances of Arthur, and Car-
Sir Carados bris bras.
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
204
the county of Cumberland.* in obscurity, that the
Welsh
traditions,
will not long be left
extracts
The
which throw
;
and
to
be hoped
light
historian,
may be
a later period,
it is
upon the subject^ Meanwhile the following
unexamined.
from the pages t of a living
to this people at ''
Their history, though involved
capable of investigation
is
having reference
read with interest.
Britons of Cumbria occupy a tolerably large space on
the map, but a very small one in history entirely perished
;
;
have
their annals
and nothing authentic remains concerning
them except a very few
passages, wholly consisting of inci-
dental notices relating to their subjection and their misfor-
y
tunes.
the
—From
Britons,
who
agreeing in
So
the Ribble in Lancashire, or thereabouts, up to
Clyde, there existed a dense population,
composed of
preserved their national language and customs, all
Welsh of the present day.
respects with the
that even in the tenth century, the ancient Britons
still
inhabited the greater part of the western coast of the island,
however much they had been compelled cal
supremacy of the Saxon invaders.
Cumbrense' comprehended many
to yield to the politi-
* * *
districts,
The
'
Regnum
probably governed
by petty princes
or Regulij in subordination to a chief Monarch
or Pendragon.
Reged appears
the vicinity of Annandale. district or vale
have been some where in
to
Sirath-Clydei
of Clydes-dale.
situated Alcluyd, or Dunhritton,
is,
of course, the
this district, or state,
was
now Dumbarton, where
the
In
* The portion of Britain to the south of the Humber and east of the Se-
was inhabited by another race of Britons called " Lloegrwys." The name by which the Welsh have invariably called themselves in their own
vern,
language
t
is
"Cymry."
Sir Francis Palgrave's History of the
displays great research, and
is
illustrated
Anglo Saxons 5 a work which
with maps of the
territories of
the Britons and Anglo-Saxons at different eras.
X
The word
strath
is
and lowland, for valley. is
ystrad.
still
universally used over all Scotland, highland
(Palgrave.)
The corresponding word
in
Wales
—
;
FROM
A. D. 500
British kings usually resided
dom
TO
A. D. 542.
and the whole Cumbrian king-
;
was not unfrequently called
ruling or principal state.
205
—Many
^
Strath- Clyde/ from the
dependencies of the
Cum-
kingdom extended into modern Yorkshire, and Leeds was the frontier town between the Britons and the Angles ;
brian
but the former were always giving way, and their territory intersected by English settlements. Carlisle had been conquered by the Angles at a very early period and Egfrith of Northumbria bestowed that city upon the see
was broken and
y of Lindisfarne.
* * *
The
Britons of Strath-Clyde, and Re-
ged, and Cumbria, gradually melted
away
ing population;
language, ceased to be
and, losing their
discernible as a separate race.
Yet
into the surround-
most probable that
it is
was not wholly completed until a comparatively recent period. The 'Wallenses' or Welsh, are enumerated by
this process
David the Lion amongst
his subjects, (A.
D. 1124
— 1153;)
and the laws or usages of the Brets or Britons continued in
Edward
use until abolished by
by
command
his
I. at
when
the period
Scotland,
appeared, by her representatives, in the
English parliament at Westminster
;
(A. D. 1304.)
In the
bishoprick of Glasgow, comprehending the greatest portion of the ancient Cumbrian kingdom, the generally
which
barbarous' British speech
gave way to that dialect of the Saxon English, usually called lowland Scottish, about the thirteenth
is
century
'
;
but in some secluded
districts
the
language
thought to have lingered until the Reformation, when
by the
possibly destroyed clergy.
In
Westmoreland,
among
English
our
few
a
of the fabled Uther.
rise, as
away."
population
of the
British
traditions
Some
;
the sepulchral
and
yet
adjoining survive traveller
of the mountains which adorn
appellations *
is
was
Protestant
the
Pendragon Castle reminds the
the people.
the landscape retain the original
ministration
Cumberland and
it
given
Skiddaw' and
monuments of a
race
'
them by the
Helvellyn'
now
which has passed
THE WELSH
206
One
SAINTS
of the chiefs of North Britain, contemporary with
Urien Rheged,
-was
Dunawd
or
distinction as a warrior,
Dunod Fyr,*
He
Godebog.
of the line of Coel
the son of Pabo^
appears to have gained some
and in the Triads he
the three pillars of his country in battle.
whether he accompanied his has been already described
engaged
in the north,
but in
;
him
had afforded
Cyngen ab
his
he
Wales found
is
arms by fighting
and
to place himself
Cadell, the prince of
his father an asylum.
of religion
uncertain
is
retreat to
reverse of fortune, however,
to leave his territories,
the protection of
life
A
called one of
this generation
where he disgraced
against the sons of Urien.t
obliged
whose
father,
is
It
He
under
Powys, who
afterwards embraced a
and under the patronage of Cyngen, he be-
;
came the founder,
in conjunction with his sons, Deiniol,
Cyn-
wyl, and Gwarthan, of the celebrated college or monastery of
Bangor Iscoed on the banks of the Dee in Flintshire. J This which he presided as abbot, was one of the
institution, over
most eminent in the island ; and, according to Bede, such was the number of its monks, that when they were divided into seven classes under their respective superintendents, none of these classes contained less than three hundred persons,
whom
supported themselves by their
own
labour.§
nished a large proportion of the learned men, the
Welsh bishops
* Sometimes called
"Dunawd
Fawr'* and
"Dunawd Wr ;"
which of the three epithets is the right one. Dinothus ;" and in Bede, " Dinoot Abbas."
f Poems
of
all
fur-
attended
in their conference with St. Augustin, at
certain <'
who
It
The
but
Latin
it is
un-
name
is
of Llywarch Hen.
Silurian copies. The monastery has often been styled, I Achau y Saint, Bangor in Maelor, from its situation in a district of that name and Bangor ;
Dunod from §
its
"Tantus
founder.
fertur fuisse
numerus Monachorum, ut cum
in septera portio-
nes esset cum praepositis sibi Rectoribus Monasterium divisum, nulla harum portio minus
um suarum
quam
trecentos homines haberet, qui
vivere solebant."
—
Hist. Eccl. Lib.
omnes de labore manu-
IL Cap.
2.
k
FROM
which time Dunawd was been
that event
A. D. 542.
207
abbot, though he
must have
for the earliest date assigned to
The
A. D. 599.
is
Ethelfrith, king of
its
still
advanced in years,
far
TO
A. D. 500
destruction of the monastery
Northumbria, soon followed, and
never afterwards restored.
Dunawd
is
it
by
was
the patron saint of the
present church of Bangor in Flintshire,* and his festival was
His wife, Dwywe, the
held on the seventh of September.
daughter of Gwallog ab Llenog, has been classed with the but there are no churches which bear her name.
saints,
Cyngen, the son of Cadell, in whose
Bangor Iscoed was
tery of it
territories the
situated, is said to
monas-
have endowed
with lands, for which he has had the reputation of sanctity,
and there was once a church, dedicated
One
bury.
Mawan
is
known
to him, at
ab Cyngen, whose
generation, has also been
to this
further
of his sons,
deemed
belongs
respecting him.
overbearing prince
and on account of
;
party joined alliance with the Saxons, with
religion,
Shrews-
a saint, but nothing
Sawyl Benuchel, the brother of Dunawd,
one people.t
life
He
is
described as an
his oppression, his
whom
they became
afterwards devoted himself to the service of
which appears
to
have been the common practice of
the British chieftains upon the loss of their dominions, and the
growing
superstition
custom.
He
coed,
and
Cynwyl
is
of the age was favourable to such a
closed his life in the monastery of
the patron saint
Bangor
Is-
of Llansawel, a chapel under
Gaio, Carmarthenshire.
Carwyd, another brother of Dunawd, was
also a saint,
and
an inmate of Bangor Iscoed, where he likewise ended his days.
Arddun
Benasgell, the sister of
Dunawd, was married to The Cam-
Brochwel Ysgythrog, a son of Cyngen ab Cadell.
* Chapels to Bangor,
Overton or Orton Madoc
—Worthenbury (St.
t Triad 74, Third Series.
Mary.)
(St.
Deiniol ab Dunawd,) and
—
t
THE WELSH SAINTS
208
brian Biography says that some to her, but
it
Welsh churches
are dedicated
does not appear where they are situated.
Her
husband, Brochwel, succeeded his father in the principality of
Powys, and lived
commanded
till
after the time of St. Augustin,
the reserve left for the protection of the
Bangor upon the advance of
Ethelfrith.
however, instead of directing his
army of the Britons the monks,
first
when he monks of
The Northumbrian,
attack against the
main
had been expected, proceeded against
as
who were praying
some distance
at
;
and Broch-
wel, unprepared with a force sufficient for such an emergency,
was defeated.*
To proceed with the line of Coel Gwenddolau, Cof, and Nudd, were the sons of Ceidio ab Garthwys, a chieftain of North Britain. They were all instructed in the Christian ;
faith in the college of Iltutus,
why
but no other reason
among the bard, Myrddin
they should be enumerated
ddolau was the patron of the
and was
slain at the battle of
Cynwyd Cynwydion,
alleged
Gwen-
the Caledonian,
Arderydd, A. D. 577*
the son of Cynfelyn ab Garthwys, was
a saint of the congregation of Cattwg, and the founder of
is
saints.
is
presumed
to
be
Llangynwyd Fawr, Glamorganshire.
Tangwn, the son of Talhaiarn ab Garthwys, was the founder is now called Tangyn-
of a church in Somersetshire " which ton."i
The
saints of the line of
bishop of Menevia, were
Afan
Buallt,
Cunedda, besides David, arch-
:
a son of Cedig ab Ceredig,
by Tegwedd,
daughter of Tegid Foel of Penllyn; and, therefore, uterine brother to Teilo.
He was
the founder of Llanafan
Fawr
in
the county of Brecon, and Llanafan Trawsgoed in Cardiganshire;
*
and was buried
at the
former place, where his tomb
Bedffi Historia Ecclesiastica, Lib. II.
Cap. 2.
t One chapel, Bayden. X Cambrian Biography.
Qu. Taunton
?
i
—
FROM
A. D. 500
TO
D
A.
542.
209
remains, with the following inscription, from which
still
may be
learned that he was a bishop
HIC lACET SANCTVS As
AVANVS EPISCOPVS
there are reasons for extending his
generation,
it is
his churches
which may be assigned
are
into the next
situated in the district
to that diocese.
the chapels under Llanafan Fawr,
memory has been
his
life
not improbable that he was the third bishop of
and
Llanbadarn;
it
:
is
Llanfechan, one of
dedicated to him,* and
celebrated on the sixteenth of
Nov-
ember.
Doged, sometimes styled Doged Frenhin, or " the king
;"
he was the brother of Afan, and founder of a church in Denbighshire called Llanddoged. Tyssul, a son of Corun ab Ceredig
;
the founder of a church
in Cardiganshire, called Llandyssul,t
and of another of the
same name
festival is Jan. 31.
in Montgomeryshire.
His
Carannog, in Latin " Carantocus," a brother of Tyssul, and the founder of the
church of Llangrannog, Cardiganshire.
The day of his commemoration is May 16.J John of Teignmouth makes him to be a son, instead of a grandson of Ceredig,
and the following extracts from that author,
as translated
by Cressy, may be taken as a fair specimen of the manner in which the lives of saints were written in the middle as^es. After stating that St. Carantac was '' by descent and countrey a Brittain, son of Keredic, Prince of the Province of Cardigan, Cereticcs Hegionis;" the translator
named Keredic, had many called Carantac, a child
proceeds:
—A certain prince,
among which, one was of a good disposition, who began early children
,-
* For the other chapels, see page 22.
t Chapels
to
Llandyssul,
all
in
xMmSy—Llandyssulfed
(St. Sylvester,
Mary,) Faerdre, Capel Dewi (St. David,) Capel Ffraid (St. Bridget,) and Capel Borthin.
Llanfair
X
There
MSS.
Iqu.)
I
is
(St.
a Life of St. Carantoc in the British
Vesp. A. XIV.
2 B
Museum, Cottonian
THE WELSH SAINTS
210 to
do those things which he thought would be pleasing
Now
to
God.
in those days the Scotts did grievously vex Brittany,* so
that his father, unable to sustain the weight and troubles of
government, would have resigned the province to Carantac.
But
he,
who
loved the celestial King far more than an earthly
away; and having bought of a poor man a wallet and a staff, by God's conduct was brought to a certain pleasant place, where he, reposing, built an oratory, and there kingdom,
fled
From
spent his time in the praises of God.
At
embraced purity and innocence. Ireland, invited
come, by selves,
by
common
his childhood
he
he passed over into
last
Whither being
his affection to St. Patrick.
advice they determined to separate them-
and that one of them should
travel in preaching the
Gospel toward the right hand, the other toward the
left.
In
their company there were many Ecclesiastical persons attending them ; and they agreed once every year to meet together
man
Whithersoever this holy
at an appointed place.
went, an
angel of our Lord, in the likeness of a dove, accompanied him,
who changed
his
name from Carantac
into Cernach,
which was
All along his voyage he wrought great
an Irish appellation.
miracles for the confirmation of the faith preached
by him,
and healed many thousand.
—The wonderful Gests of
man, Cernach or Carantac,
are to be read in Irish historians,
and how the grace
at first
holy
given to the Apostles was plenti-
He was
fully given to him.
this
an admirable
soldier
and cham-
pion of Christ, a spiritual and devout abbot, and a patient teacher, not refusing to preach saving truth
to every one.
During many years spent by him
he brought an
incredible
number
to
wash away
at that Island,
their sins
by Penance, and
both day and night he offered innumerable prayers to God. After he had
converted
much people
wrought many miracles by him, he
to
our Lord,
at last returned to his
who own
native country in Brittany, where he retired to his former * Giessy invariably uses the tany" for Great Britain.
He
words— '^Brittain"
for Briton,
and "Brit-
styles Arinorica " Lesser Brittany."
1
FROM cave, accompanied
A. D. 500
by many
TO
A. D. 542.
There having
disciples.
church he determined to abide.
21
But not long
built a
being
after,
again admonished by a voice from heaven, he returned to Ireland,
where
good old age, and
in a
of holy works, he
full
rested in peace on the seventeenth of the Calends of June,*
and was buried in his own
city,
which from him was called
Chernach.
Pedrwn, brother of Tyssul, enrolled among the there
is
no church
saints,
but
at present called after his name.
Pedr, brother of Tyssul
;
his churches, if
he founded any,
cannot be distinguished from those which are dedicated to St. Peter,
the Apostle.
Tyrnog, or Teyrnog, brother of Tyssul, a
no churches ascribed
to him.
saint,
but there are
Llandyrnog, Denbighshire,
is
attributed to another person of the same name.
Cyndeyrn, a son of Arthog ab Ceredig Llangyndeyrn, thenshire fifth
is
formerly
subject
His
dedicated.
;
a saint to
to Llandyfaelog,
festival
whom
Carmar-
occurs on the twenty
of July.
Cyngar, the brother of Cyndeyrn ;
said that he
it is
tablished a congregation in Glamorgan, at a place
Llangenys ;"t but perhaps the statement
from confounding said to
this person
is
now
" escalled
an error, arising
with another Cyngar,
who
is
have founded the college of Cungarus in the diocese
of LlandafF. Dogfael, the son of Ithel ab Ceredig, was the founder of St.
Dogmael's in Cemmaes,
St.
Ddu, and Melinau,
in Pembrokeshire
all
Dogwel's in Pebidiog, Monachlog ;
and has been ac-
counted the patron saint of Llanddogwel under Llanrhyddlad, Anglesey,
Festival,
* Corresponding to
June
May
14.
16; eleven days after which, or on the twenty-
seventh of the same month, being the festival of St. Carantoc, Old Style, a fair is
held at Llangranuog in Cardiganshire.
t Cambrian Biography.
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
212
Einion, surnamed Frenhin, or the king, was the son of
Owain Danwyn ab Einion Yrth ab Cunedda ; and was
the
founder of a church in the district of Lleyn, Carnarvonshire, which has since been called Llanengan, or Llaneingion Fren-
He
hin.
also established the college of
Penmon
in Anglesey,
over which he placed his brother, Seiriol, as the pal
;
and
in conjunction with St. Cadfan,
first
princi-
he founded a monas-
tery in the Isle of Bardsey, of which that person
There was an
abbot.
now
inscription,
effaced,
was the first upon the tower
of the church of Llanengan, the latter part of which, as de-
cyphered by the author of
Mona
Antiqua, asserted that the
founder of the edifice was a king of Wales
:
ENEANUS REX WALLI^ FABRICAVIT. The
title,
however, must be received with some limitation,
as the presence of contemporary chieftains
would show
that
the sovereignty of Einion must have been confined to the
neighbourhood of Carnarvonshire.
The form of
the letters, as
represented in the
Mona
name " Wallia" was
not employed to describe the territories of
the
"Cymry"
royal saint
is
until the
Antiqua,
is
The
middle ages.
festival of this
February the ninth.
the brother, or according to other accounts, the
Seiriol,
nephew, of Einion Frenhin, was the college of
not ancient, and the
Penmon, which became
first
president of the
so celebrated that
" the
men
of Llychlyn," or the Scandinavian rovers, resorted there for religious cell in
instruction.
Subordinate to this institution was a
the island of Glanach, or Priestholm, off the coast ad-
jacent, of
which
Seiriol has
been deemed the patron
saint.
Meirion, another brother of Einion Frenhin, was a saint,
and
Llanfeirion, formerly a chapel of ease
adr, Anglesey,
under Llangadwal-
has been dedicated to him.
His wake has
been held on the third of February.
Cynyr Farfdrwch,* the son of Gwron ab Cunedda, lived at Cynwyl Gaio in Carmarthenshire, and was the father of six *
He
is
also called
Cynyr Farfwyn, and Cynyr
Ceinfarfog.
FROM sons, five of
whom
TO
A. D. 500
were
A. D. 542.
213
The names of the
saints.
five saints
were Gwyn, Gwynno, Gwynnoro, Celynin, and Ceitho according to the fable reported of them, they were
duced
pro-
There was formerly a chapel of ease in
one birth.
at
;* and,
all
the parish of Caio, called Pumsaint, which, as well as Llan-
pumsaint,
still
was dedicated
existing, subject to
Abergwyli, Carmarthenshire,
Their festival
to them.
held on the day of All-Saints
;
is
said to have
be obtained respecting them, except that Ceitho to be the founder of Llangeitho in Cardiganshire, tival
was kept on the
fifth
large
may be
this century
He
from Armorica.
saints
distinction,
by Gwenteirbron,
and
his fes-
and the synod
appears to have
being the son of Eneas Lydewig,
a daughter of
princes of that country. tioned,
presumed
dated the arrival of Cadfan at the head of a
company of
been a person of
is
of August.
Between the commencement of of Brefi,
been
but no further information can
Among
Emyr his
Llydaw, one of the
companions are men-
Cynon, Padarn, Tydecho, Trinio, Gwyndaf, Dochdwy,
Mael, Sulien, Tanwg, Eithras, Sadwrn, Lleuddad, Tecwyn, Maelrys, and several others.
As most
of these were
men
of
princely family and relatives of Cadfan, the analogy of other cases suggests that the reason,
which induced them
and devote themselves
their country
of their territories
:
for
to religion,
to leave
was the
loss
the Armoricans struggled hard to
maintain their independence against the Franks, who, under Clovis,
were
at this time establishing their
dominion in Gaul.f
Cadfan, after his arrival in Wales, became the founder of the
churches of Tywyn':|: Merionethshire, and Llangadfan, Mont-
*
The
which he
other son
was
Cai,
who
possibly gave
name
to the district in
lived.
t The Welsh
accounts do not mention this circumstance, but the chro-
nological coincidence
is
remarkable.
Paris
was made the
capital of the
dominions of Clovis in the year 510. J
Chapels.— Llanfihangel y Pennant
and Tal-y-llyu
(St.
Mary.)
(St. Michael,)
Pennal
(St. Peter,)
;
THE WELSH SAINTS
214 gomeryshire
but he
;
known more
is
especially as the first
abbot of a monastery, founded by him in conjunction with
Einion Frenhin, in the Isle of Bardsey,
montory of Carnarvonshire.
ment of
western pro-
off the
It was, probably, the establish-
this institution that
induced
Dubricius to
St.
make
choice of the spot, as the place where, remote from the world,
he might end his days in the uninterrupted practice of deOther holy
votion.
men
retired thither for the
same purpose
in consequence of which, the soil of the island at length ac-
quired a sacred character, and
buried there.
Its
narrow
it
was deemed meritorious
limits,
be
to
exceeding three
scarcely
miles in circumference, were said to enclose the bodies of
twenty thousand
saints.
Pilgrimages were
made
to
sake of obtaining the intercession of the departed
it
for the
and
;
as the
voyage was often attended with danger, several of the bards have employed their verse in describing
its difficulties,
faithful
owed
church of
their protection
Tywyn
Nor
amid the waves.
remained without
its
eulogy
;
not
which the
forgetting to celebrate the guardian influence to
in a
has the
poem*
written between the years 1230 and 1280, the author asserts that
it
possessed three altars,t and was furnished like the
church of David, meaning that of Llanddewi
Brefi,
where,
He
according to Gwynfardd, the number of altars was
five.
proceeds to praise "its choir, and sanctuary, and
music,
warriors,
and
its
waters of grace;" and maintains that
not right to pass over the place in silence, for
were equal
its
to the
mighty mansions of heaven. J
its
it
its
was
dwellings
—There were
* Canu
i Gaduan, Llywelyn Vart ae cant, Myv. Arch. Vol. p. 360. t The first belonged to St. Mary, the second to St. Peter; and the third, "happy was the town in its privilege of possessing it, for it was sent by a
hand from heaven," was dedicated to
St.
Cadfan.
% Cadr y ceidw Cadfan glan glas weilgi,
Cadr fab Eneas, gwanas gweddi,
Cadr fryn
yw Tywyn,
Cadr addef nef
nid iawn tewi ag
ail ei athrefi.
ef,
FROM
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 542.
215
some years ago, in the church-yard of Tywyn, two rude pillars, one of which, of the form of a wedge, about seven feet high, and having a cross and inscription
name of
upon
it,
went by the
Cadfan's stone, and was thought to have been a
St.
part of his tomb.
Engravings of the
two several periods
in the last century,* are given in
inscription, as copied at
Gough's
Camden, from w^hich it appears that the letters resembled those used by the Anglo Saxons, but the only word legible was the name of Cadfan. saint
the
As
there
is
a tradition that the
was buried in Bardsey, which an obscure passage from
poem just
that the
quoted, would seem to confirm,
was merely a rude
stone
it
may be judged which
cross of
specimens, bearing the names of sainted persons,
He
in other parts of the Principality.
similar
may be found
has been considered to
be the patron of warriors, which countenances the supposition that he led a military life in Armorica
been celebrated on the Gwenteirbron,
is
Cynon accompanied Cadfan chancellor of the monastery
and other
Christians,
it
has chosen to
own
time.
and
his festival has
His
mother,
mentioned as a saint in one of the catalogues,
but no churches have been erected
this
;
of November.
first
to her
to Bardsey,
memory. where he was made
but whatever was the nature of
;
offices occasionally attributed to
may be call
Cynon
said that the compiler of
them by names which were is
the primitive
Achau y
Saint
familiar in his
the reputed founder of the church of
Tregynon, Montgomeryshire; and Capel Cynon subject to Llandyssilio Gogo, Cardiganshire, is dedicated to him. Padarn, the son of Pedrwn, or Pedredin, ab visited
Emyr
Britain, according to Usher, in the year
though no ancient authority
Llydaw,
516; and
it may be when Cadfan and his companions arrived in this country. According to Achau y Saint, Padarn, after his arrival in Wales, became a member of the college of
presumed upon
is
given for the date,
as the time
By Lhuyd
before 1709, and
by Dr. Taylor
in 1761.
;
THE WELSH SAINTS
216
He
Illtyd.
afterwards established a religicfus society, consist-
ing of a hundred and twenty members,* at a place in Cardiganshire since
called
founded an episcopal
He
Fawr;t where he
Llanbadarn
of which he became the
see,
first
also
bishop.
was the founder of the churches of Llanbadarn Trefeglwys and Llanbadarn Odin, Cardiganshire, and
or Llanbadarn Fach,
of Llanbadarn Fawr, Radnorshire.
Fynydd under
The chapels of Llanbadarn
and Llanbadarn y Garreg under Cregruna, both in Radnorshire, are named after him ; and the Llanbister,
some of these places serve
situations of
to point out the extent
of his diocese to the southward, along the limits which have
been assigned extent
is
To
to the diocese of St. David.
uncertain, but
the north
its
probably included a considerable
it
How
part of Montgomeryshire.
long Llanbadarn continued
to be the capital of a bishoprick cannot be ascertained, as very little is
known
of
history,
its
that character, in the
when
it is
recorded that
Myny w, and
and the
many
of
last notice
Welsh Chronicles,
is
it,
under
in the year 720
of the churches of LlandafF,
Llanbadarn, meaning the three dioceses of South
Wales, were ravaged by the Saxons. J It is reported, however, to have lost its privileges through the turbulent conduct of its
inhabitants,
who
killed their bishop
;
and the diocese was
From
in consequence annexed to that of Menevia.
the Latin
Hexameters of Johannes SulgenusJI it may be learned that Padarn presided over the see twenty one years, during which time he spent his
*
life
John of Teignmouth
in the practice of such religious exercises
differs
this institution contained eight
•with St. Paternus
from the Welsh accounts,
in saying that
hundred and forty seven monks,
from Armoricaj and adds that
it
who came
was governed by an
ceconomus, a provost, and a dean.
t
Its
Latin
derived from
name
Mawr,
is
Mauritania, which Archbishop Usher observes
tinguishing this Church from others of less importance. X Brut y 11
is
great, an epithet added merely for the purpose of dis-
Ty wysogion, My v.
Archaiology, Vol.
Son of Sullen, or Sulgen, Bishop of
II. p.
472.
St. David's in 1070.
—
FROM as
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 542.
217
were approved in the age ;* and the Triads
went about the country preaching the pay or reward to
all
assert that
he
faith in Christ without
ranks of people^ for which reason he was
counted one of the three blessed visitors of the Isle of Britain. It is
mentioned by John of Teignmouth that he built monas-
and churches throughout the whole region of Ceretica
teries
and that he rebuked Maelgwn Gwynedd^ from
whom
;
he had
received certain injuries in an excursion of that prince into
South Wales
but no other incidents of the time spent at
:
Llanbadarn are recorded, upon the truth of which any reliance
may be
At
placed.
the expiration of the twenty one years he
returned to his native country, where he was made bishop of
A dissension, however, broke out
Vannes.
the other Armorican bishops
upon which a synod was con-
;
vened, and a reconciliation effected.
he continued
dread
their
Notwithstanding
and
hostility,
among whom he remained
Franks,
He
to
between him and
till
this,
retired to the
the close of his
life.
subscribed the decrees of the council of Paris,t which was
held in the year 557, and
is
commended both
as
an abbot and
a bishop in the writings of Venantius Fortunatus, a Latin poet of Gaul,
who was
biographers, quoted
sacred to his
death
;
1,
in
One of
his early
by Usher, says that three days were held
memory ; April
June 20,
and Nov.
his contemporary. J
15, being the anniversary of his
remembrance of his consecration
as bishop;
on account of his reconciliation with the prelates
of Armorica.
* They are thus summed up by Sulgenus
:
"Orans, jejunans, vigilans, lachrymansque, gemensque, Esuris alimenta simul, nexisque levamen,
Hospitibus pandens aditum, sitientibus haustum,
Mgrotis curam, nudis miseratus amictum
j
Prudens quseque gerens, perfecit cuncta potenter."
t Usher, Cap. XIV. % Cressyj
who
gives the following references,—1.
Epig. 52.
2c
7.
Epig.3. and
1.
3.
;
THE WELSH
218
Tydecho, the son of cousin to Cadfan,
left
SAINTS
Amwn Ddu
Emyr Llydaw, and
ab
Armorica, and settled
in
company with
Mawddwy, Merionethchurch of Llanymmawddwy, to
his sister, Tegfedd, in the district of shire,
where he founded the
which the neighbouring churches of Mallwyd and Garthbeibio, both this retreat
dedicated to him, were formerly subject.*
In
said to have suffered from the violence
and
he
is
oppression of
Maelgwn Gwynedd,
upon whom,
as the legend relates, he retaliated with such a
the prince of North Wales
host of miracles, that the tyrant was glad to
grant him several carried
away by another
make amends, and
Tegfedd
immunities. chief,
also
was forcibly
named Cynon, who
in like
manner was compelled to restore her unhurt, and purchase the peace of the saint by a grant of the lands of Garthbeibio-f He is
considered to be the patron of Cemmaes, Montgomeryshire,
and a chapel was consecrated to his memory in the parish of His festival is Dec. 17'
Llandegfan, Anglesey. It is uncertain
whether
Amwn
Ddu, the
father of the pre-
ceding, left Armorica at the same time with Cadfan, but
it is
recorded that he quitted that country, where he had been sovereign of a district called
Graweg
;
and
settling in
Wales,
he married Anna, a daughter of Meurig, the prince of Glamorgan, by
whom
he had two
sons,
Samson and Tathan, who were
afterwards eminent for their sanctity. J
It
is
said that
he
enjoyed the friendship of Dubricius, as well as of Iltutus of
whose
institution
he became a member ; and that he resided
in a small island near Llantwit Major, until he
desert on the shores of the Severn,
passed the remainder of his
not well defined, but
it
life.
The
removed
where he seems
to
to a
have
locality of this desert is
would appear that Anna
settled in the
* They now form separate benefices, but are described as chapels to Llanymmawddwy in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, t See a Welsh poem inserted in the Cambrian Register, Vol. II. p. 375. J Achau y Saint, Silurian copies.
FROM
A.
D
500
TO
same quarter, and built a church for her by Samson.*
A. D. 542.
there,
219
which was consecrated
Gwyndaf Hen ab Emyr Llydaw, an Armorican and brother of Arawn Ddu, married Gwenonwy, another daughter of Meurig, by
whom
he was the father of
St.
He was
Meugan.
a confessor or chaplain in the monastery of Illtyd, and after-
wards superior of the college of Dubricius
In his
at Caerleon.
He may
old age he retired to Bardsey, where he died.
be
deemed the founder of Llanwnda in Carnarvonshire, and of another church of that name in Pembrokeshire.
Hywyn,
the son of
Gwyndaf Hen,
is
said to have
panied Cadfan from Armorica, which makes
he was the issue of a former marriage.
it
accom-
probable that
He was
confessor to
the congregation of saints assembled in the Isle of Bardsey,
and the foundation of Aberdaron, on the opposite coast of Carnarvonshire, from whence pilgrims generally crossed over to the island, is ascribed to him.
According brother of
Meurig. *'
Book
He
Ddu, married
not noticed
Afrella, a third daughter of
by the
but the
genealogists,
of LlandafF" states that after having been ordained a
nephew,
St.
Trinio, the
who
is
he was appointed abbot of a monastery in Ireland, by
priest,
his
to the Life of St. Maglorius,t Umbrafel, another
Amwn
Samson. J son of Difwng ab
Emyr
Llydaw, was a
saint
emigrated with Cadfan, and afterwards settled in the Isle
of Bardsey.
He was
the founder of Llandrinio,
Montgomery-
shire. §
Dochdwy, whose genealogy
is
unknown, accompanied Cad-
fan to Bardsey, where he was ordained a bishop
:
it
does not
* Liber Landavensis, as quoted by Usher,
t Apud Surium, torn. J Usher, cap. XIV. §
6. Oct. 24.
Chapels— Llandyssilio
Cliapel
(Holy Trinity.)
(St. Tyssilio,)
Melverley
(St. Peter,)
and
New
THE WELSH
220
appear that he derived the it
SAINTS
from any particular see ; but
title
recorded that he was entrusted with the care of the
is
diocese of LlandafF during the absence of Teilo,
who was
vited to Bardsey to regulate the affairs of the monastery
He
the death of Cadfan.
in-
upon
perhaps, the founder of two
is,
churches in Glamorganshire, called Llandoch or Llandocha.*
Mael, a companion of Cadfan
he
;
is
the saint, in conjunc-
tion with Sulien, of the churches of Corwen, Merionethshire,
and Cwm,
y
Flintshire,
and
is said
to
Llansilin
May
their joint festival is
Sulien, called also Silin, a son of
13.
Hywel ab ^myr Llydaw,
He was
have settled in Bardsey.
the founder of
and Wrexham, Denbighshire, and of Eglwys Sulien,
Cardiganshire.
The
and Capel Sant
Silin
chapels of Capel Silin under
Wrexham,
in the parish of Llanfihangel Ystrad,
Cardiganshire, both in ruins, were called after him.
commemoration
is
found him with
St. Giles,
Sept.
1.
which led Browne Willis
whose
His
to con-
on the same
festival occurs
day. Cristiolus, another son of
cousin to Cadfan, iolus,
is
Hywelt ab Emyr Llydaw, and
reputed to be the founder of Llangrist-
Anglesey, and of Eglwys
Ecton
brokeshire.
Wrw, and Penrydd, Pem-
attributes also to
him the church of
Clydai,
Pembrokeshire, of which, however, he must have been the restorer, if
it
be true that the original founder was Clydai, the
daughter of Brychan.
Festival
Nov.
y^ Rhystud, a brother of Sulien and er of Llanrhystud, Cardiganshire for
;
3.
Cristiolus,
and
some time bishop of Caerleon upon Usk
city
was the found-
said that he
it is ;
in
was
which capa-
he must have served as suffragan to the prelates of Me-
may mean no
nevia or Llandaff ;
the expression, however,
more than
was abbot of the monastery established
that he
* Anglice Llandough.
t According wel, ab
to
some accounts, he was a son of Hywel Fychan ab Hy.
Emyr Llydaw.
—
FROM there
TO
A. D. 500
A. D. 542.
221
His wake was held on the Tuesday
by Dubricius.
before Christmas. Derfel,
called
also
Derfel Gadarn, a brother of the pre-
ceding, was the founder of Llandderfel, Merionethshire
;
from
whence, his image, made of wood, was taken, and burnt
His
Smithfield at the time of the Reformation.
curs on the
fifth
Dwywau, saint of
at
festival oc-
of April.
another brother of the preceding,
is
the patron
Llanddwywau, a chapel under Llanenddwyn, Merion-
ethshire.
Emyr Llydaw,
Alan, an Armorican and one of the sons of appears to have
left
college of Illtyd
sons
his country
or Iltutus.
and become a
The
saint in the
three following were his
:
Lleuddad ab Alan, a member of the college of
Illtyd
;
after
the death of Cadfan he was appointed abbot of the monastery
of Bardsey, in consideration of which dignity he was also styled a bishop.
Next
teemed the guardian
he has been
to his predecessor,
saint of the island
extant, in praise of the protection,
;
es-
and there are poems
which he afforded
to pil-
grims on their passage to the sacred cemetery.* Llonio Lawhir ab Alan was a Illtyd,
member
of the college of
and afterwards dean of the college of Padarn
badarn Fawr.
He was
Montgomeryshire; and
also it
is
the
at
Llan-
founder of Llanddinam,
said that there
dedicated to him in Cardiganshire, which, if
was a church
be identified with the modern name " Llanio," must have been a chapel to
Llanddewi
it
Brefi.
Llynab ab Alan accompanied Cadfan
to Britain, where, like
he became a member of the college of Illtyd. In his old age he retired to Bardsey. The statement, in Achau his brothers,
y
Saint, that
he was archbishop of LlandafF,
take, as
inconsistent with all other accounts of that see.
it is
* Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
I.
p. 360,
is
probably a mis-
and Cambrian Register, Vol. HI.
THE WELSH
222
SAINTS
Gwyddno who
Meilyr, and Maelerw^ or rather Maelrys, sons of
Emyr Llydaw, and
ab
settled in
Wales ; the
Bardsey, and
is
cousins to Cadfan, were saints
of
latter
whom
resided in the Isle of
the patron of Llanfaelrys, a chapel under
His commemoration
Aberdaron, Carnarvonshire.
Sadwrn, a son of Bicanys of Armorica, called Farchog, was the brother of
He
Llydaw.
and
is
Jan.
1.
Sadwrn
and nephew of
Emyr
accompanied Cadfan to Britain in his old age,
presumed
to
have been the founder of Llansadwrn in
The church
Anglesey.
St. Iltutus,
is
also
of Llansadwrn in Carmarthenshire,
Cynwyl
formerly a chapel under
Gaio,
is
called after his
name. Canna, a daughter of
Tewdwr Mawr ab Emyr Llydaw,
was the wife of Sadwrn,
to
whom
she was related before
marriage, but she appears to have been a generation younger.
She accompanied her husband from Armorica ; and
is
consi-
dered the founder of Llanganna, commonly called Llangan, Glamorganshire, and Llangan, Carmarthenshire.
After the
death of Sadwrn she married Gallgu Rieddog, by
whom
she
became the mother of Elian Geimiad.
Sadwrn and Canna, probably came over He was the the same time with his parents.
Crallo, the son of
to Britain at
founder
of Llangrallo,
Coychurch,
otherwise
Glamorgan-
shire.
Besides the tribe of
Emyr Llydaw,
the children of Ithel
Hael, another Armorican prince, are said to have joined in this migration,
in Wales.
Of
and taken upon them the profession of these,
Tanwg may
sanctity
be deemed the founder of
Llandanwg,* Merionethshire. Gredifael and Fflewyn, sons of Ithel Hael, were appointed
superintendents of the monastery of Paulinus at
Daf, Carmarthenshire.
* Llanbedr
Llandanwg.
(St. Peter,)
Gredifael,
and Harlech
whose
(St.
Tygwyn
festival is
Mary Magdalen,)
Nov.
ar 13,
chapels to
t
;
FROM may be
A. D. 500
TO
A.
considered the founder of
and Fflewyn
is
D
223
542.
Penmynydd, Ansflesey
the saint of Llanfflewyn, a chap
j1
Lubjsct to
Llanrhyddlad in the same county.
Tecwyn ab
Ithel Hael, the founder of
Llandecwyn, Merion-
Festival Sept. 14.
ethshire.*
ab Ithel Hael, the founder of Llandrillo in Rhos,
Trillo
Denbighshire^ and Llandrillo in Edeyrnion, Merionethshire. Festival
June
16.
Tegai ab Ithel Hael, the founder of Llandegai, Carnarvonshire,
which place
would appear was
it
at
one time called
Maes Llanglassawg. Twrog ab Ithel Hael, the founder of Llandwrog, Carnar-
called
vonshire.
He
is also
the patron saint of Maentwrog, a chapel
subject to Ffestiniog, Merionethshire, and his festival has been
held on the twenty sixth of June.
Baglan, a son of Ithel Hael, has obtained the credit of sanctity is
;
but as there was another saint of the same name,
it
uncertain to which of them the patronage of the two chapels
following should be ascribed;
— Llanfaglan
under Llanwnda,
Carnarvonshire, and Baglan subject to Aberafon^
Glamor-
ganshire.
Llechid, a daughter of Ithel Hael, was the foundress of Llanllechid, Carnarvonshire,
and has been commemorated on
the second of December.
Tyfodwg was one of
the associates of Cadfan, but the pedi-
gree assigned to him in the Cambrian Biography tent with chronology.
He was
is
inconsis-
the founder of Llandyfodwg,
Glamorganshire, and one of the three founders of Llantrisaint in the
same county.
saint, called
There
is
also a chapel
under Llantri-
Ystrad Tyfodwg.
* Chapel, Llanfihangel y Traethau (St. Michael.)
t Rhychwyn is said in one MS. to have been a son of Ithel Hael, appaby mistake for one of the sons of Helig ab Glanog. Myvyrian
rently
Archaiology, Vol.
II.
THE WELSH
224
sometimes styled
liarj
was the founder of other churches
liar
SAINTS
Bysgottwr, or "the Fisherman/*
Llanilar^ Cardigan shire^
now thought
to
and probably of
be dedicated to
Ust and Dyfnig accompanied Cadfan
St. Hilary.
to Britain,
and were
the joint-founders of Llanwrin, Montgomeryshire.'^
Llywan or Llywyn, and Durdan, were companions of Cadfan, of whose lives no particulars can be traced except that the last mentioned settled in Bardsey, and has been conEithras,
;
sidered one of the presiding saints of the island.
The foregoing
thought to comprise the entire numwho emigrated from Armorica in this genmay be interesting to enquire how far the list is
ber of holy persons eration,
and
situations
it
of their churches illustrate the history of their
Before the close of the present period, another
settlements.
large emigration
dren of Caw,
North
is
reported to have been
who were
Britain,
made by the
chil-
obliged to leave their dominions in
and become
saints in
Wales under
similar cir-
cumstances.
Caw was
the lord of
Cwm Cawlwyd
or Cowllwg, a district
Acis uncertain.t Achau y Saint, he was deprived of his territories Gwyddyl Ffichti, or as the general term may be inter-
in the North, but its particular situation
cording to
by the
by the Picts and Scots ; in consequence of which he and his numerous family retired to Wales. He settled at Twrcelyn in Anglesey, where lands were bestowed upon him
preted,
by Maelgwn Gwynedd ; and it is also said granted to some of his children by Arthur
that lands
were
in Siluria.
His
name
and his children
is
are, in
enrolled in the catalogue of saints
;
one record, J styled the third holy family of Britain ; to which they are fairly entitled if the accounts of
an honour, *
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
t
A Life of Gildas, from the Monastery of Fleury in France, published by
II.
Johannes a Bosco, and quoted by Usher, says that Caunus (Caw) lived in Arecluta, or Strath Clyde. X Llyfr
Bodeulwyn, Myv. Archaiology, Vol. IL
i».
29.
FROM Bran ab Llyr,
to
TO
A. D. 500
whom
the
first
A. D. 542.
225
place in the Triad
is
usually
slain in a civil
war by
assigned^ have been proved to be without foundation.
Hywel, the Arthur
;*
eldest son of
Caw, was
an event which probably took place before the emi-
gration of his brothers.
Ane ab Caw CowUwg was under Llanelian, Anglesey,
is
a saint, and
Coed Ane, a chapel
called after his
name.
Aneurin, a son of Caw, was engaged in the battle of Catthe disasters of which he deplored in a long poem,
traeth,
called
"
Y
Gododin,"
extant,
still
and deemed
position of great merit for the age in
Out of upwards of entered the
field,
caped with their
three
only four, of lives.
which
hundred British
whom
He was
to it
be a com-
was written.
chieftains
who
the bard was one, es-
afterwards taken prisoner,
loaded with chains, and thrown into a dungeon, from which
Upon
he was released by Ceneu a son of Llywarch Hen.
his
deliverance he appears to have retreated to South Wales,
where he became a
saint of the congregation of
Llancarfan, but nothing further
name of Aneurin, except
is
known
that his death
blow of an axe from the hand of an
Cattwg
at
of him under the
was occasioned by the It has,
assassin.
however,
been suggested by two eminent antiquaries,t to whose represent
searches the
writer acknowledges himself greatly
indebted, that Aneurin was no other person than the cele-
as Gildas,
is
manuscripts
;
for in those
other
is
:
*^^
but both do not occur as such in the same
where Aneurin
omitted
;
is
said to
lists
;
be the son of Caw, the
and on the contrary, where Gildas
serted, the other is left out."J is
—
The reasons alleged are Aneurin, as well reckoned among the children of Caw in our old
brated Gildas.
is
in-
—Besides which, the name Gildas
a Saxon translation of Aneurin, according to^a practice not
* Caradocus Lancarbanensis in Vita S. Gildse.
+ Mr. Edward Williams (lolo Morganwg) and Dr. % Cambrian Biography.
2d
Owen Pughe.
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
226
uncommon with
ecclesiastics in the middle ages ; and even the ways in which the names are written " Gilda, Gildas y Coed Aur, Aur y Coed Aur, and Aneurin y Coed Aur" all of similar signification, confirm their identity. Cennydd, a son, and Ufelwyn, a grandson, of Gildas, are sometimes called the son and grandson of Aneurin.* So far, therefore, the point is
various
—
clear; that the
Welsh
genealogists have always considered the
names Gildas and Aneurin
convertible.
The monkish
writers
of the Life of Gildas also state that he was a native of North
and the son of Cau,t a king of that country.
Britain,
here the agreement ends battle of Cattraeth,
originally a
;
for they
But
mention nothing of the
and instead of showing that
their saint
was
bard and a warrior, they assert that he embraced
the sacred profession at an early age, and was employed in Ireland, preaching the Gospel, until he heard that his eldest
brother had been slain by Arthur ; upon which he came over to Britain,
and was reconciled
his pardon.
He
to the king,
then removed
who had
solicited
to Armorica, where, after a
residence of ten years, he wrote his "Epistle" arraigning the
kings of Britain for their vices. for
some time
at Llancarfan,
Upon
his return,
and was requested by
St.
he abode
Cadocus
to direct the studies of the school at that place for one year
which he undertook, and performed
to the great
;
advantage of
the scholars, desiring no other reward than their prayers.
After this the two saints withdrew to two small islands, not far distant, intending to
das,
spend their days in retirement.
removed
to Glastonbury,
where he wrote
his
" History of the
Britons," and remained to the close of his life.J brief
Gil-
however, was disturbed by pirates, and in consequence
summary of their
— Such
narrative, divested of several fables
* Compare Cennydd and Ufelwyn
t Caw, Capgrave; Caw»M«,
in the
Floriacensis
is
a
and
Cambrian Biography. ;
Nau, Caradocus Lancarban-
ensis.
X
The
supposition, that there were
two persons calle4 Gildas, the one is apparently a modern dis-
surnamed Albanius,>nd the other Badonicus,
FROM
A. D, 500
TO
A. D. 542.
227
inconsistencies, for these writers differ in several particulars
with each other ; and uncertain as the authority of the gene-
may sometimes
alogists
appear,
it
better supported
is
external evidence than that of the monks,
by
who have framed
their account to suit the life of the author of the reputed
works of Gildas
which, though ancient,* are not likely to
;
7 '
have been written by Aneurin, or indeed by any one of British Their
race.
spirit is anti-national,
were intended
and
their design is obvious-
It is not
ly to depreciate the Britons.
improbable that they
pass for the productions of the bard, for
to
they contain no invective against the princes of the North;
but while Aneurin laments that the confederated chiefs should
have entered the
field
in a state of intoxication,
which he
seems to regard more as a misfortune than a crime, he dwells
upon the
of his heroes, and treats his countrymen
praises
throughout with a friendly feeling. Caffo ab
Caw, a
saint,
and the patron of Llangaffo, a chapel
imder Llangeinwen, Anglesey. Ceidio ab
Caw; Rhodwydd
Geidio, subject to
Llantri-
Anglesey, and Ceidio, Carnarvonshire, are dedicated
saint,
to him.
Aeddan Foeddog,
a son of
With
Caw.
respect to the name.
—
Archbishop Usher observes: ^danus, the bishop, is called by the Irish " Moedhog and Maedog," and by Giraldus Carabrensis " Maidocus."
person
is
his
own
St.
David, he
and
his
place.
—John
named " Aidanus" Life
called
is
is
:
—This holy
in the Life of St. David,
"Aidus;" and
festival
—All
of Teignmouth says
at
but in
Menevia, in the church of
"Moedok," which
is
an Irish name,
observed with great veneration at that
the legends agree that
Aeddan was
a disciple of
tinction, for the older biographers attribute both titles to the
same
in-
dividual.
* They were extant as early as the time of Bede, who quotes them as if
they wt^re authentic.
THE WELSH SAINTS
228 David
St.
at
Menevia, from whence he passed over into Ire-
and was appointed the
land,
bishop of Ferns.
first
It
was
doubtless a reference to this circumstance that induced the
clergy of Menevia, in a later age, to assert that the bishoprick
of Ferns was once subject to the archbishoprick of St. David's, a proposition which Usher
is
not willing to admit.
manner
a marvellous story of the
tells
carried over a
swarm of bees
were never seen
in
to Ireland
in that country before,
seen at Menevia since
!
Traces of his
!
tained in Pembrokeshire, as he
which
Giraldus
St.
Aeddan
for such creatures
;
and have never been
memory
are
re-
still
the reputed founder of
is
.
Llanhuadain or Llawhaden in that county, and the churches of Nolton and West-Haroldston are ascribed to
name
of
Madog.
His
him under the
festival is Jan. 31.
Cwyllog, a daughter of Caw, was the wife of
Mordred, the nephew of Arthur; and
is
Medrawd
or
thought to have
founded the church of Llangwyllog, Anglesey.
Caw ;
Dirynig, one of the sons of
to
whom
it is
said there
was a church dedicated at York. Cain, daughter of
Caw
a saint,
;
and the patroness of Llan-
gain, Carmarthenshire.
Caw
Eigrad, one of sons of
;
a
member
of the society of
lUtyd, and the founder of Llaneigrad, Anglesey.
Samson, a son of Caw, was a
and had a church
at Caerefrog
saint of the college of lUtyd,
or
York,
—This
person has
been magnified by certain legendary writers into an archbishop of York the city,
by
;
and they
and destroyed
flight;
its
relate that
when
the Saxons took
cathedral, the prelate saved himself
and carrying with him the ensigns of
his dignity to
Armorica, he was, by virtue of their possession, constituted archbishop of Dole in that country, a see which he continued to hold until his death,
when he was succeeded by another
Samson, who had arrived in the same country from Wales.
The
history of the
if the
two persons
is
frequently confounded
;
but
circumstances related of the archbishoprick of the elder
FROM Samson were
true,
it is
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 542.
229
remarkable that the Welsh authorities
should have omitted to mention them ; for without allusion to his station, they merely imply that
he retired from the ad-
vance of the Saxons, and that, like several of his brothers, he passed the latter part of his hfe in the college of Illtyd.
There
was, however, another Samson at that college about the same time, the son of
Amwn
Ddu, who
is
recorded in
Achau y
Saint to have passed over into Armorica, and to have been
His history, which
elected bishop of Dole.
than that of his namesake,
is
is
better attested
reserved to the next generation.
But the question of the dignity, as well as the identity, of the elder Samson derives importance from its having been the subject of an appeal to Rome, grounded on the assertion that he had carried a pall into the country of his deration of which,
was alleged,
it
to his successors at Dole, ity until
who
exile
;
in consi-
were likewise granted
exercised archi episcopal author-
their privileges ceased
the archbishop of Tours.*
palls
through the intervention of
In the twelfth century, the clergy
of St. David's maintained, that the pall, which was taken to
Armorica, belonged to their church, and that
it
was carried
by an archbishop of York, but by Samson, the the twenty-fifth archbishop of Menevia ; they, therefore, appealed to the Pope for the restoration of the dignity, and over, not
claimed to be independent of the jurisdiction of Canterbury. all
the learning and ability of
who made
three several journeys to
Their cause was advocated with Giraldus Cambrensis,
Rome
in its behalf;
'of Canterburj^
but
after a long hearing, the prerogatives
were confirmed
;
the evidence, adduced
upon
the occasion, not being sufficient to prove, that a pall had been sent from
Rome
to
Menevia, or to any bishop in Britain
before the mission of St. Augustin. " Contigit ut ob Pallii gratiara quod Samson
illuc attulerat, succe-
dentes ibi Episcopi usque ad nostra haec fere tempora (quibus prsevalente
Turonorum
Archipraesule, adventitia dlgnitas evanuit) pallia semper ob-
tinuerunt."— Giraldus
in
Dialogo de Ecclesia Menevensi.
THE WELSH
230
Eigron, the son of Caw,
SAINTS
stated to
is
have founded a church
in Cornwall.
Gwenafwy,
Peillan,
Gallgo ab Caw, a ordinate
Nov.
and Peithien ; daughters of Caw, and
but there are no churches which retain their names.
saints,
saint, to
whom
Anglesey,
Llaneigrad,
to
Llanallgo, a chapel subis
dedicated.
Festival,
27.
Caw, a member of the congregation of
Peirio ab
Illtyd,
whose death he was elected principal of that society ; but he is said to have died on the following day, and to have been succeeded by Samson ab Amwn Ddu, Rhospeirio, subafter
ject to Llanelian, Anglesey,
Cewydd ab Caw was
is
dedicated to his memory.
the founder of Aberedw, and Diserth,
Radnorshire, and of Llangewydd, an
extinct church near
Bridgend, Glamorganshire.
y Maelog The
ab Caw, a saint of the congregation of Cattwg.
following curious notice of
Gildas from the Library of Fleury Gildas,
a
man
said to
is
him occurs :*
in the Life of
—"Caunus, the father of
have had four other sons ; namely, Cuillus,t
of great prowess in arms, who, upon the death of his
who was by his father to the study of sacred literature, in which he was well instructed ; he left his father, and bidding adieu to his paternal estate, came to Lyuhes' in the district father,
succeded to his kingdom; next, Mailocus,
destined
'^
of ' Elmail,' where he built a monastery, in which, after having served
God
incessantly with
hymns and
with watch-
orations,
ings and fastings, he rested in peace, illustrious for his virtues
and miracles.
Egreas, moreover, with Allaecus, his brother,
and Peteona, their sister, a virgin consecrated to God, in like manner leaving their father's estate ; and renouncing all worldly pomp, withdrew to the farthest part of that country, where, not far from each other, they built their several monas-
*
For the
original, see Usher, Primordia,
t Hywel,
as he
is
called
by other
page 676.
authorities.
FROM placing their
teries,
'^Lyuhes in the
A. D. 500
sister
in
district of
TO
A. D. 542.
the midst."
Elmail"
is
231
— In
this
Radnorshire, which according to Ecton,
Elfael,
is
dedicated
Egreas, Allaecus, and Peteona, are Eigrad,
to St. Meilig.
Gallgo, and Peithien
;
and " the
farthest part of the country"
of Anglesey, where Llaneigrad
is the Isle
extract
obviously Llowes in
is
situated with its
chapel of Llanallgo, and another chapel called Llugwy,* which possibly
Maelog
may be is
the one intended for
Peteona or Peithien.
the reputed founder of Llandyfaelog Tref-y-Graig,
and another Llandyfaelog, Brecknockshire, and Llandyfaelog, Carmarthenshire ; the syllable dy in these names being either epenthetic, or
borrowed from the Norman
chapel imder Llanbeulan, Anglesey,
is
c?e.t
Llanfaelog, a
an instance where the
syllable is omitted.
Meilig ab Caw, a saint to
whom
no churches are ascribed,
except Llowes, Radnorshire, attributed to Maelog in the pre-
ceding notice.
It is not
improbable that the author of the
Life of Gildas supposed that
Maelog and Meilig were merely
two modes of pronouncing the name of one individual ; but it would appear that they belonged to different persons from the circumstance that Maelog is commemorated on the thirty-first of December, and Meilig on the fourteenth of November.^
The
latter
there
is
appears to have been the founder of Llowes, as
a place in the parish, called Croes Feilig, or St. Mei-
lig's cross.
Gwrddelw ab Caw, a upon Usk.
saint
who
is
said to
have had a church
at Caerleon
Gwrhai ab Caw, the founder of Penystrywad
in Arwystli,*
Montgomeryshire*
* Ecton names St. Michael as the patron of Llugwy.
t In
the Taxation of
Pope Nicholas, Llangadock, Carmarthenshire,
is
spelled " Landekadok."
—
X Sir Harris Nicolas's Chronology of History. The compiler of a "History of Anglesey" says that the festival of St. Maelog is Jan. 30.
THE WELSH
232
Caw
Huail ab
distinguished himself as a warrior in the
He
service of Arthur.
monastery of Cattwg
him
dedicated to
In this
;
passed the latter part of his
and
it
said that there
is
in the
life
was a church
in Euas, Herefordshire.
of the family of Caw, the names of nine sons,
list
who devoted
SAINTS
their lives entirely to war, are not recounted;
but the number of children assigned to him
is
too great to
received with credit, except upon the supposition that
it
were
his followers
and composed
in-
who
cludes his grand-children, and, perhaps, other relatives,
The death of Ger-
his clan.
aint ab Erbin, one of the princes of
be
Devon, who was
slain,
while fighting under Arthur at the battle of Llongborth, has
been noticed already.*
Four of
his sons,
who seem
to
have
imitated the example of the children of Caw, Avere, Selyf,
Cyngar,
lestin,
and Cado or Cataw,
all
whom
of
were
saints of
the college of Garmon.
Selyf ab Geraint was the person
who
is
called, in the le-
gendary accounts, Solomon Duke of Cornwall. churches in Wales which bear his name.
According
to Capgrave,
Cungarus, the founder of a monas-
came from Cungres-
tery or college in the diocese of LlandafF,
which suggests the opinion of Llangenyst was Cyngar ab
bury in the county of Somerset that the founder of the college
Geraint, and not
There are no
;
Cyngar ab Arthog ab Ceredig.
He
is
the
patron saint of Badgworth, and Cungresbury, Somerset ; and of Hope, Flintshire, and Llangefni, Anglesey. lestin ab Geraint
Carnarvonshire stone
was seen
;
was the founder of Llaniestin
and
in
also of Llaniestin in Anglesey,
Lleyn,
where a
in the last century with an inscription pur-
porting that he was buried there.J
Cado
Cataw ab Geraint, a
or
saint,
but there are
churches ascribed to him in Wales.
Page X
169.
Mona Antiqua; My v.
f Page 183 antca. Archaiology, Vol.
II. p. 46.
no
k
—
FROM Of
the sons of
A. D. 500
Gwynllyw
of sanctity, were
;
A. D. 542.
233 of Gwynllwg,
Filvvr, chieftain
Monmouthshire ; Cattwg, the the college of Llancarfan
TO
eldest,
the
was the
first
president of
who have had
rest,
the credit
:
Cammarch ab Gwynllyw,
the founder of Llangamraarch,
Brecknockshire.
Glywys Cerniw, the founder of a church
at
Coed Cerniw in
Gwynllwg, Monmouthshire.
Hywgi, otherwise Bugi, the father of St. Beuno. He gave all his lands for the endowment of his brother's college at Llancarfan, where he spent the latter part of his life. Cyfyw ab Gwynllyw, an officer in the college of Cattwg, and patron saint of Llangyfy w near Caerleon. Cynfyw, or Cynyw ab Gwynllyw; possibly another pronunciation of the preceding name, as Llangyfyw is written,
by Ecton, " Llangyniow." There is a church, called Llangynyw, in Montgomeryshire, of which he may have been the founder.
Gwyddlew, Cyflewyr, and Cammab; sons of Gwynllyw, and
saints,
but nothing farther
is
known
respecting them.
Maches, a daughter of Gwynllyw, suffered martyrdom place since called Merthyr Maches, or Llanfaches, in
mouthshire,
Saxon,
" She gave alms
who appeared
to all
who asked ; and
at a
Mon-
a pagan
before her as a mendicant, stabbed her
with a knife."*
The
children of Ynyr
Gwent by Madrun, daughter
of
Gwr-
thefyr Fendigaid, were another Silurian family that flourished
about this time.
Caradog, the
eldest, lived at
succeeded to his father's territories of the sisters of
;
Caerwent, and
he married Derwela, one
Amwn Ddu.t
Iddon ab Ynyr Gwent was a voted himself to religion. the see of Llandaff,
chieftain,
It is said that
of— " Llanarth
Cambrian Biography.
with
who afterwards all
the landes there.
f Usher,
2e
de-
he made a grant, to
p. 632.
§
THE WELSH SAINTS
234
and Lantelio Porth-halawg with the territory unto the same belonging, and certaine landes at Lantelio Crissenny ; all in thankfulnesse to ons."*
God
for a victory obtained against the
It is also stated that
Saxhe made a grant of " Lancoyt ;"
and the charters conferring these donations are cited from the " Book," of LlandafF jf but without attempting to
register, or
assert their genuineness, J
date of these grants
it is
right to observe that the alleged
misplaced by Godwin,
is
who
says they
were made in the time of Comegern and Argwistill, the eighth
and ninth bishops of the Iddon, was Teilo
The
see.
prelate,
the second on the
;
contemporary with
list,
and a principal
witness to the grants in question.
Ceidio and Cynheiddion, sons, and Tegiwg, a daughter, of
Ynyr Gwent, were
saints of
whose history no
particulars
have
been recorded, except that Ceidio was a member of the monastery of Llancarfan.
The
period between the years 500 and 550
believed to
is
include the date of a calamity on the coast of Wales, of which the most exaggerated and mystified accounts have reached posterity
:||
for
upon a large
in
to cover,
it is
asserted that an irruption of the sea broke
tract of country,
which
it
has since continued
forming the whole of the present Cardigan Bay.
It
not necessary to dwell upon the proofs, that such a calamity
is
could not have occurred to the extent related
mony
of Ptolemy, the geographer,
is,
;
as the testi-
so far, conclusive against
* Godwin's English Bishops.—These churches, which
retain their
still
names, are situated in Monmouthshire, and acknowledge Teilo for their patron saint.
t This is still
record, one or
two
transcripts of
which are reported
to
be extant,
unpublished.
J See pp. 184, 185 of this Essay. § In Chartis Clericis, II
Donationum Idonis
regis,
filii
Ynir Guent,
inter testes e
primo loco cernitur Teliaus Archiepiscopus.—Usher,
Triad 37, Third Series.
— See
also Davies's
page 242, and Carabro Briton, Vol.
I. p,
361.
Mythology of
p. 98.
the Druids,
FROM
A. D. 500
TO
A.
That author, who lived
the tradition.
235
D_: 542.
in the second century,
marks the promontories by which Cardigan Bay is confined, and the mouths of the rivers which it receives, in nearly the same
which they
relative situations
retain at present
giving
;
the latitude and longitude of each place according to his mode of computation. It is not unreasonable, however, to suppose that an event took place,
which
similar to that
under
laid
water the lands of Earl Godwin on the eastern coast of Eng-
A tract of low land along the coast of Cardiganshire and Merionethshire, of which some vestiges still remain,*^ was overflowed ; and as it had been called Cantref y Gwaelod, it
land.
*
"Submarine Forest
—
(From the proceedings of the At a Meeting of the Society, held on the
Cardigan Bay."
in
Geological Society in London.)
7th of November, 1832, a notice of a submarine Forest in Cardigan Bay,
by the Rev. James Yates, M.
A., F. G. S. and L. S.
was
read.
The Forest
extends along the coast of Merionethshire and Cardiganshire, being di-
vided into two parts by the estuary of the river Dovey, which separates these counties.
bounded on the land side by a sandy beach and by a
It is
wall of shingles.
Beyond
this
wall
is
a tract of bog and marsh, formed
by
streams of water, which are partially discharged by oozing through sand
and shingles. to change, it is
it
The author argues that as the position of the wall is liable may have inclosed the part which is now submarine, and that
not necessary to suppose a subsidence effected by submarine agency.
The remains
of the forest are covered
by a bed of
peat, and are distin-
Among
guished by an abundance of Pholas Candida and Teredo Nivalis. the trees of which the forest consisted,
Fir; and
it is
shown
that this tree
counties of England.
The
is
the
Pinus Sylvestris or Scotch
abounded anciently
in several
natural order of the Coniferce
northern
may
thus be
traced from the period of the independent coal formation to the middle of
the seventeenth century, although the Scotch Fir native Flora.
The amentaceous wood
is
excluded from the
presents matter for reflection in
consequence of the perfect preservation of
its
vascular structure, while the
The tract is known to the Welsh under the name of Cantref y Gwaelod, i. e. the Lowland Hundred. The author refers to the Triads of Britain, and to the ancient Welsh testis contents of
its
vessels are entirely dissipated.
monies, which prove that
it
the disaster to the folly of
the
.sea
'
was submerged about A. D. Seithenyn the Drunkard,'
over Cantref y Gnaelod.'^
520, and ascribe
who
in his drink let
THE WELSH
236
SAINTS
was probably of no greater extent than a '^Cantref," or ''Hundred," in any other part of Wales. This district had been divided between two chieftains, of the names of Seithenyn and
Gwyddno, whose inheritance,
children, in consequence of the loss of their
were induced
sons of Seithenyn,
members of the
Gloff,
were the following
embrace a religious
Dunawd
college of
The
life.
of them, except Arwystli
all
at
Bangor Iscoed,
:—
Gwynodl ab Seithenyn, narvonshire.
to
who were
the founder of Llangwynodl, Car-
Festival, Jan. 1.
Merin, or Merini ab Seithenyn
;
presumed
to
be the found-
er of Llanferin, or Llanfetherin, Monmouthshire.
Bodferin,
the signification of which implies the place of his residence,
the
name of Jan.
tival,
a chapel under Llaniestin, Carnarvonshire.
is
Fes-
6.
Senefyr, or Senewyr ab Seithenyn, a saint.
Tudglyd ab Seithenyn.
Tudno ab shire
;
his
Seithenyn, the founder of Llandudno, Carnarvon-
commemoration occurs on the
Tyneio ab Seithenyn Llanfor,
;
fifth
of June.
Deneio, or Pwllheli, a chapel under
Carnarvonshire,
is
supposed
to
named
be
after
him.* Arwystli Gloff ab Seithenyn, was an inmate of the monastery of Bardsey, and
church, but Elffin,
was a
its
is
the only son of
have been the founder of a
said to
situation is not
known.
Gwyddno whose name
saint of the college of Illtyd.
A story,
is
preserved,
which, however,
Gwyddno had a fishing wear on the sands between the Dovey and Aberystwyth, the annual profits of which were very considerable. But Elffin was the is
confessedly a fable, relates that
most unlucky of men and nothing prospered in insomuch that his father was grieved
at his
feared that he was born in an evil hour
»
Myv. Archaiology,
Vol.
II.
:
ill
his hands,
successes,
and
wishing, however, to
pp. 30,55.
;
FROM
TO
A. D. 500
A. D. 542.
give the fortunes of his son a further
him the
profits of the
we^r
for one
237
he agreed to allow
trials
On
whole year.
the mor-
^'
row, Elffin visited the weir, and found nothing, except a t He was immediate-
leathern bag fastened to one of the poles. ly upbraided for his
luck by his companions, for he had
ill
ruined the good fortune of the we^r, which before was wont il to
produce the value of a hundred pounds on
replied Elffin, there
may
May
Nay,
eve.
yet be here an equivalent for the
The bag was opened, and
value of a hundred pounds.
face of a child appearing from within,
" What a noble
" Taliesin be
head," exclaimed the opener.
his
the
fore-
name," re-
joined Elffin,* and commiserating the hard fate of the infant
exposed to the mercies of the
mounting
his steed,
sea,
conveyed
it
nursed tenderly and affectionately his wealth increased every day.
he took
it
to his wife, :
in his arms,
and
by whom
was
it
from that time forward,
— Such
is
the story of the dis-
covery of the chief bard of Wales, committed by his mother to the chances of the tide, and saved in the manner described.
In return
for the kindness of his benefactor,
adds the tale, he composed, while a child, his poem, entitled the " Consolation
of Elffin," rousing him from the contemplation of his disap-
pointments and cheering with the prospect of blessings which still
awaited him
in the castle of
and afterwards when Elffin was imprisoned Dyganwy by Maelgwn Gwynedd, Taliesin, ;
through the influence of his song, procured his release.t
The
children of
Daf, were
:
Pawl Hen,
—Peulan,
Gwyngeneu,
to
whom
or Paulinus, of
of Rhoscolyn, Anglesey.
The
who was
festival
the foundress
of St. Gwenfaen
is
5.
* Admirable phrenologists 5 '*
ar
Capel Gwyngeneu under Holyhead was
dedicated; and Gwenfaen, a daughter,
Nov.
Ty-gwyn
the founder of Llanbeulan, Anglesey
noble forehead"
is
—the
English reader must understand that
the translation of *'Tal-iesin."
t From the Mabinogion or Welsh Romances; Magazine, Vol. V. and
My v.
Archaiology, Vol.
T.
— Cambrian
Quarterly
—
THE WELSH
238 The only
SAINTS
saint of the family of
this generation, is
Brychan, who belongs to
Nefydd, a son of Nefydd Ail ab
Rhun
Dremrudd.
About
Tegfan, the son of Carcludwys of Cadrod Calchfynydd, and though the number of
this period lived
the line of
generations between
him and
his ancestor exceeds the usual
allowance for the interval of time,
bounds of probability. eddog, and
is
said to
He was
it
does not exceed the
the brother of Gallgu Rhi-
have been the founder of Llandegfan,
Anglesey.
According to Achau y Saint ; Teon, and Tegonwy ab Teon, were members of the college of Illtyd ; but the statement caijnot be admitted without incurring a great anachronism, if
be true that lorwerth Hirflawdd, a son of have arisen from confounding Teon,
Tegonwy, married
The mistake seems
one of the daughters of Brychan.
who
it
to
stands at the head of
a long pedigree of Welsh chieftains,* with Teon, who, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, was bishop of Gloucester
about A. D. 542, of London
;
when he was
translated to the archbishoprick
but, unfortunately for Geoffrey,
London was
in
the possession of the Saxons before the year 542.
Bedwini, another bishop mentioned in the Welsh accounts, said to have
is
been the primate of Cornwall in the time of
Arthur, and to have resided
at a place called Celliwig.
Stinan, or Justinian, according to his Life
mouth, was born of noble parentage
by John of Teign-
in Lesser Brittany
;
and
having spent his youth in the study of learning, he received the order of priesthood, and was,
manded he came called
to the coast of Wales,
"Lemeney," where he
by a
divine oracle, com-
After wandering for a while,
to leave his country.
and landed in a certain island
led a religious
with Honorius, the son of king Thefriaucus.
life
in
company
Cressy says:
I *
It
would appear, from the dates of
about A. D. 400.
his descendants, that he flourished
FROM " The authour of with which the mortified severall
life
239 envy and malice
Enemy
of mankind impugned the devout and
of this Holy man, seeking to interrupt
and frequent
every
A. D. 542.
his life relates at large the
lyes concerning him. self
TO
A. D. 500
But
in conclusion,
way vanquished by
by
it
and by suggesting scandalous
illusions,
when he saw him-
the Holy man, and that neither
by violent assaults nor malicious suggestions he could withdraw him from the service of God he attempted other arts and :
guilefull machinations:
For he infused the poyson of
somuch
as
his
mans servants Inthey having been reproved by him for their idlenes
malice into the hearts of three of the Holy
:
and mispending the time, they were inflamed with fury against him, insomuch as rushing upon him, they threw him to the ground, and most cruelly cutt
where the sacred head
fell
But
off his head.
in the place
to the ground, a fountain of pure
water presently flowd, by drinking of which in following times
many were
racles
greater than these immediately succeeded his death.
For the body of the Blessed Martyr presently the head between the two arms, went
and walking thence on the his
name
now
:
sea, pass'd
down
rose,
to the sea shore,
over to the port call'd
Memory,
built to his
it fell
English obtain'd a It lyes opposite St.
by
spirituall
David."
rageous legend,
is
down, and was there buried
—Cressy — hath in
Hymns and Canticles."
next proceeds to explain that the island Lemeney
of
and taking
and being arrived in the place where a Church
by Saint David with
"
But mi-
miraculously restored to health.
new name being
Ramsey
'^
and that and in sight of Menevia the Episcopall seat calld
The church, mentioned is
;"
in this most
out-
evidently the chapel of Stinan in the parish
of St. David's, Pembrokeshire ; as the church of Llanstinan, in the same county,
is
too far distant to answer the description.
Ffinian, an Irish saint, is said to
Menevia about A. D. 530, and thirty years, in which time he names are unknown.
to
have visited
St.
David
at
have remained in Britain
built three churches, but their
There was another
Irish saint,
and con-
THE WELSH
240
SAINTS
temporary, called Ffinan, whose Welsh name, according to
Usher, was Winnin. ffinan,
which of them, Llan-
It is uncertain to
subject to Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, Anglesey,
is
dedi-
cated.
Senanus, an Irish saint and bishop, acquainted with
who was
David, died A. D. 544.
St.
intimately
Llansannan,
Denbighshire, and Bedwellty, Monmouthshire, are under his tutelage; and his festival
March
is
1.*
/ In ascertaining and verifying the commemorations or saints' days, great assistance may be derived from the list of fairs now
held in the Principality
received
among
it
;
being an opinion generally
antiquaries that parochial
wakes were the
means of assembling people, who afterwards converted the occasion into an opportunity of buying and selling. Many of the village fairs in Wales are held on the saint's day Old
than the proper time accord-
Style, or rather eleven days later
ing to the Gregorian Calendar
;
Welsh peasantry have
for the
seldom taken into account, that since the year 1800 the discrepancy between the Old and twelve
days.
Thus
it
may be
New
Styles has increased to
learned from a
list
of saints
printed in the Cambrian Register,t and also from the Alphabetical Calendar of Sir Harris Nicolas,:}: that the festival of St.
Gwenog
should be held on the third of January
;
eleven
days being added to that date will point out to Jan. 14, the
day upon which, according held at Llanwenog
to the
Welsh almanacks,
in the county of Cardigan.
computation, a satisfactory method
between contradictory statements
Cambrian Register
states
;
is
a fair
By inverting
is
the
obtained of deciding
for instance the
list
in the
that the festival of St. Tyssul
was
kept on the third of February, while according to Sir H. Ni-
*'*Eoclem tempore quo David Menevensis vixit, lucis
praesul, cui conjunctissimus
banc usuram reddidisse traditur."—Usher,
t Vol. in. \ Inserted
p. 219. in his
Chronology of History.
p. 874.
FROM authorities
colas's
A. D. 500
TO
A. D. 542.
was held Jan.
it
241
A fair, however,
31.
held at Llandyssul, Cardiganshire, Feb. 11
is.^
and eleven days,
;
reckoned backwards from that time, will bring the calculation to Jan. 31, proving the last of the
correct one.
March
to
Sir
the fourth or
as to the precise time
from a
fair at
that the
fifth, as if Jiis
;
4,
was
reckoned twelve days from the
;
saint
followed the inverted
been the custom to hold the the festival
authorities
were doubtful
Tregaron on the sixteenth of March, will show
commemoration of the
who
be the
to
but eleven days, counted backwards
The other day, March
5.
person,
two statements
assigns the festival of St. Caron
H. Nicolas
which
easily
is
difference of reckoning
is
fixed apparently
mode
fair.
fair
ought to be kept March
by some
of computation, but
In some villages
on the
vigil, or eve,
it
has
before
ascertained, as in that case the
only
The saints of LlanMary ; one of its
ten days.
gynidr, Brecknockshire, are Cyriidr and St. fairs
is
twenty
kept on the fourth of April, or ten days after the fifth
of March, the feast of the Annunciation of the
In like manner
Blessed Virgin.
St.
Mary
of Nefyn, Carnarvonshire, and three of
its
is
the patron saint
fairs are held, ac-
cording to Carlisle's Topographical Dictionary, on the fourth of April, the twenty
fifth
of August, and the eighteenth of
September, being ten days respectively after the feasts of her Annunciation, Assumption, and Nativity.*
In the large families, included in the period of this generation, there
many
must be great disparity of
of the persons
age,
named may be found
and the
to extend
lives of
through
the period assigned for the next generation.
.The
festivals
in
this
Essay are given principally according
H. Nicolas, but they have not been compared with the instance.
2p
fairs in
to Sir
every
;
SECTION The Welsh
XI.
Saints from the Accession of Cystennyn to
Goronog A. D. 542
Maeigwn Gwynedd A. D.
the Death of
566.
This period includes the reigns of Cystennyn,
Cynan
Wledig, Gwrthefyr or Vortiraer the Second, and Maelgwn
who
are popularly styled kings of Britain, though
it
would
appear from the writings ascribed to Gildas, that three, at
least,
of them were contemporary princes, reigning at the same time in separate provinces,*
which
is
more
consistent with the
view
of affairs presented by the bards and genealogists.
The second bishop of Llanbadarn was Cynog, who was raised,
upon the death of
He
Menevia.
St.
David, to the archbishoprick of
appears, however, to have presided but a short
time at both places, as no particulars of his
life
have been re-
corded, and his parentage, churches, and festival, are alike
unknown.
The
short duration of his presidency at
Menevia
shown by the fact that he was in turn succeeded by Teilo, who had been the associate and fellow-student of his pre-
is
decessor.
Teilo,t the second bishop of Llandaff,
Ueu ab
Hydwn Dwn
daughter of Tegid Foel of Penllyn. Teliaus, and,
was the son of En-
ab Ceredig ab Cunedda, by Tegfedd,
by a sort of monkish
* Namely 5 Constantinus, the tyrant, as he people of Devon and Cornwall
;
His Latin name was
trifling
with the sound of
is called,
of the Damnonii, or
Vortlporius, the tyrant of the Dimetae, or
inhabitants of the western part of South
Wales j and Maglocunus,
tyrant of North Wales.
t "Nai,
fab Cefnder
i
Ddewi.'*—Myv, Archaiology, Vol.
II. p. 63.
the
—
THE WELSH
SAINTS,
&c.
243
He was
of the word, he was also called HX«o9 and Elind.*
born
once called " Eccluis Gunnian/' or " Gunniau,"
at a place
in the
neighbourhood of Tenby, Pembrokeshire.
that he studied
first
his next instructor
j
said
under Dubricius, by whose assistance he
attained to great proficiency in the tures
It is
knowledge of the Scrip-
was Paulinus, under
whom
he pur-
sued the same study, and in whose school he was the associate
Under the patronage of Dubricius, he opened a which was called Bangor Deilo ; and his
of St. David.
college at LlandafT,
settlement at that place
ment
to
fill
may
serve to account for his appoint-
the see of LlandafF upon the retirement of his
The
patron to the Isle of Bardsey.
the time Dubricius was raised
bishop of LlandafF at
archbishoprick of Caerleon
and the
assertion that
is
made
to the
irreconcilable with chronology
it
St.
David,t
is
contrary to
all
re-
be supposed that LlandafF was an
archbishoprick independent of Caerleon, a position which
vid,
is
by Teilo, by the absence of churches founded by St. Da-
The
certainly untenable. as ascertained
;
he succeeded Dubricius as archbishop,
without the intervention of ceived history, unless
idea that he was
original diocese governed
was coextensive with the ancient Lordship of Glamorgan,
containing the present rural deaneries of Groneath, LlandafF,
and Newport. limited district
Gwynedd,
How is
long he continued to preside over this
uncertain; but in the reign of
a plague, called " Flava pestis," and in
Fall felen," is recorded to
* "Post incrementura
aetatis,
Helios a sapientibus nuncupatus pretatur.
Sed
Maelgwn
Welsh "
Y
have desolated the Principality.
virtutum et sapientise, congruo nomine
est.
Elios autera Graece Latine Sol inter-
Fulget enira ut Sol ejus doctrina, fidelium illustrando corda.
illiteratis
horainibus extremum vocabuli corrupt^ proferentibus, ad-
olevit
quod non Helios sed Heliud appellatus
«Non
Elios sed Eliud."—John of Teignmouth.
est."
—Life
by Galfridus.
t The assertion was made in the Regestum Landavense, at a time when the clergy of Llandaff wished to
show
subordinate to the primacy of Menevia.
that their diocese had never been
;
THE WELSH
244
Upon wall,
this occasion, Teilo,
and afterwards
SAINTS
with several others, retired to Corn-
to Armorica,
where he was honourably
received by Samson, the bishop of Dole.
mained seven years and
After he had re-
many months
as
in Armorica,
he
returned, with several of his disciples, to his native country
and upon
his
was elected
arrival
to the archbishoprick of
Menevia, then vacant by the death of Cynog.
Like
St.
David,
however, he retained a predilection for the seat of his original bishoprick, and, appointing Ismael to the situation of bishop
of Menevia, he removed the archbishoprick to LlandafF.* order to maintain his
title
to the
In
primacy undisturbed, he
appears to have kept under his immediate government the
whole of the diocese held before by
St.
David, with the ex-
ception of the part north of the river Tivy, which was henceforth attached to the diocese of Llanbadarn.t this
view
it
exist
still
may be
In support of
explained that churches founded by Teilo
throughout the whole of the country specified, and
that one of them, Llandeloi,
is
situated within a
few miles of
the cathedral of St. David's; but north of the Tivy, no church
of this description
is
be found.
to
The
proof, however, does
not rest solely upon the analogy of existing monuments the records of LlandafF show that
its
;
for
bishops continued for
several centuries to claim the whole of the country from the
mouth of the Taradr, or extreme point of Monmouthshire, to mouth of the Tivy,J including, of course, Pembroke-
the
shire
and
river
Wye.
much
so
of Herefordshire as lay to the west of the
It does not
appear that any separate
district
was
apportioned as a diocese for Ismael,
who must have been no
more than an
his
assisting suffragan,
and
name
is
not inserted
* Regestum Landavensej Life by Galfridusj and Usher pp. 83, 617, 659, 560.
t The extension of the diocese of Llanbadarn confirms the supposition that %
its
bishop at this time was Afan, the brother of Teilo.
There
LlandafT,
is
abundant evidence of
which are inserted
this in the formulse of the Councils of
at length in
Spelman's Concilia.
—
FROM in the
list
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
245
In his time, therefore,
of prelates of St. David's.
the diocese of Menevia was united to that of LlandafF; and the circumstance
by the bishops of
may account
if
maintained, would have
involved the existence of the bishoprick of it
went
little
to deprive of
entire territory.
its
made
for the claim afterwards
which,
LlandaflT,
which
St. David's,
But
in effect
it
was
better than nominal, though attempts were not wanting
to enforce
There
it.
reason to suppose that Oudoceus, the
is
successor of Teilo at LlandafF, retained
Monmouthshire and
the adjacent part of Herefordshire under his jurisdiction
he did not succeed affairs
of which were administered
extent of
its
;
but
to the bishoprick of St. David's,* the
territories at the
two centuries afterwards,
is
by Ceneu
time of
its
;t
and though the
separation,
not determinable,
it is
and for
clear that
from the ninth century, or the establishment of the princes of
Dinefwr of the
line of
Rhodri Mawr,
it
has maintained, with
an occasional intrusion from the bishops of LlandafF, nearly the same limits as at present.
The churches founded by still exist,
are the following
Teilo, or dedicated to him,
which
:
DIOCESE OF
ST.
DAVID'S.
—
Llandeilo Fawr, V. 3 chapels, Taliaris (Holy Trinity,) Cajiel yr Ywen, and Llandyfaen^ Carmarthenshire. Brechfa, C. Carm. Llandeilo Abercywyn, C. Carm. 1 chapel, Capel Bettws, Carm. Trelech a'r Bettws, V. Llanddowror, R. Carm. Cilrhedin, R. 1 chapel, Capel Ifan (St. John,) Carin. and Pem-
—
—
brokeshire. Llandeilo, C. Annexed to Maenclochog, Pemb. Llandeloi, V. 1 chapel, Llanhywel (St. Hywel,) Pemb. Llandeilo Graban, C. Radnorshire. Llandeilo'r F^n, C. 1 chapel., in ruins, Brecknockshire.
—
—
* Usher, p. 1155.
t Giraldus, and Records of St. David's quoted by Godwin.
—
THE WELSH SAINTS
246
Llandeilo Talybont, V. Glamorganshire. Bishopston, alias Llandeilo Ferwallt, R.
—
1
chapel, Caswell
Glam.
DIOCESE OF LLANDAFF. Llandaif Cathedral, (St. Teilo and St. Peter.)—! chapel, Whit(St. Mary,) Glamorganshire. Merthyr Dyfan, R. Glam. Merthyr Mawr, C. St. Roque's Chapel, in ruins, Glam. Llandeilo Cressenny, V. 1 chapel, Penrhos (St. Cattwg,) Monmouthshire. Llanarth, V. Monm. Llandeilo Bertlioleu, or Porth-halawg, V. Monm.
church
—
The foregoing list, so far as regards the diocese of St. Damay be compared with another which is curious for its
vid's,
antiquity.
Between the years 1022 and 1031, in the reign of Rhydderch ab lestin, a prince of ;
Canute, king of England
Glamorgan, obtained the sovereignty of South Wales,* and taking advantage of the opportunity, restore the ancient diocese of Teilo.
the church of Llandaff,
all
made an endeavour
He
to
therefore granted to
such churches in the counties of
Carmarthen, Pembroke, Brecon, and Radnor, as bore the name of that saint, together with several manors, lands, and villages,
according to the following schedule ;t extracted
literatim
from
" Godwin's Bishops."
CANTREF MAURJ
IN 1
Lantelia
maur cum
suis
duob.
territories.
2 Lanteliau nant seru.
* Welsh Chronicles
+
Its heading,
in the
3 Lanteliau garth teuir. 4 Lanteliau maur brumur. 5 Lanteliau bechan in diffrinteiui.
Myv. Archaiology.
according to the
first
edition of
Godwin,
is
:— De
omnibus
subscriptis vestita fuit ecclesia Landauensis, simul et episcopus Joseph,
pace et
quiets, et tranquillS,
tempore regnantis Ritherich per totam Gualiara,
admonitione iElnod Archiepiscopi Cantuarensis simul
cum
Uteris
com-
mendatitiis Cnut regnantis Angliam.
%
The Hundreds of Caio and Catheiniog, in Carmarthenshire, between the Towy and Tivy. The names of some of the places in this docu-
rivers
FROM
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
247
IN CANTREF GUARTAN.* 16 Menechi arglann ritec iuxta penalun. 17 Pull arda iuxta mainaur pir, villa tantum. 18 Luin teliau, villa tantum. 19 Eccluis Gunniau, vbi natus est
6 Lanteliau landibr guir maiiiaur.
Lantelian treficerniu. Lantoulidauc icair. Lanteliau aper coguin. Lanteliau penn tiuinn. 11 Lanteliau luin guaidan, villa tantum, in euiltVe. 12 Lanrath. 13 Lanconguern cum trib. territorijs. Finis illarum Ofruit Gurcant Lutglanrath, 14 Tref earn, Villa tantum, sine
7 8 9 10
S. Teliaus.
20 Forth medgen, villa tantum 21 Forth manacli mainaur mamithiel.
22 Din guenhalf inlonian,
villa
tantum. 23 Lantelian litgarth in findoucledif hache mei mainaur. 24 Lantelia cil retin in emm-
ecclesia.
15 Laythty teliau, villa tantum super ripam ritec iuxta penalun.
lim.
IN ROS.t 25 Lan issan mainaur. 26 Bronu lann.
ment are disguised by lapse of time
;
their numbers.
27 Langurfrit. 28 Telich elouuan.
its
orthography, and others have been changed by
those that can be recognised, are as follow, according to 1,
Llandeilo
Fawr
the parish of Llanegwadj the =*
Abbey of Talley. The western part
brokeshire.
6,
;
2
& 3,
one of these probably repre-
4 Llandeilo Rwnnws, an extinct chapel
sents the church of Brechfa.
called " Llanteilan
it is
Brunus"
of Carmarthenshire with a large portion of
Llanddowror.
The
7,
relative position
in
in a charter of
Pem-
of this church
agrees with the locality of Trelech. 9, Llandeilo Abercywyn. 11, Llwyn-
Gwaddan
near Llanddewi
FelflFre
;
the
name
indicates that a church once
stood there, which appears to have been in ruins at the time of the grant. 14, Trefgarn,
may
"
now
the
name of a church and
be recognised in Penaly near Tenby.
vulgo MsLnorheer. of Godwin.
18,
Written
22, Lanion, near
17,
parish.
—"LwynTeilau" —
Pembroke.
23,
15
&
16,
Penalun
Mainaur pir,—Maenor in the
B5^r,
second edition
Lege Llandeilo Lwydgarth,
Daugleddyf a Chemmaes maenor ; intended for Llandeilo, near Maenclochog, on the borders of the Hundreds of Dungleddy and Cemmaes. 24, fin
tinCilrhedin
in
Emlyn.
THE WELSH SAINTS
248
IN PEMBRO.* 9 Ciltutuc.
30 Penclecir
IN PEPITIAUE.t 31 Mainaur mathru.
32 Cenarth maur.
IN BRECUA.J 33 Languruaet mainaur.
IN CANTREF SELIM.§ 34 Lancoit.
IN CANTREF TALACARN.I 35 Langors. 36 Lauraihacgel meuion gratlann.
37
Lan idoudec
seith.
'
IN CLIUAIL.* 38 Lan meilic bah gueir.
39 Lanteliau iciliou
idifFrin
mach-
agui.
* Part of the Hundred of Castle Martin, Pembrokeshire,
f Pebidiog
or Dewsland, Pembrokeshire,
31,
Mathry.
now
J Qu. Brycheiniog, Brecknockshire, as the place
included in Cantref
Mawr.
called Brechfa
was
This manor, probably has reference to
33,
Llandeilo'r Fdn, the only existing church of Teilo, in the diocese of St.
David's, which
is
not mentioned in this
§ Cantref Selyf, Brecknockshire.
list.
34i,
Llangoed, in the parish of Llys-
wen. II
The Hundred
of Talgarth, Brecknockshire.
bably Llanfihangel *
The
Cwm
rural deanery of Elfael, Radnorshire.
St. Meilig.
39, Le(/e Llandeilo
for Llandeilo Graban.
35, Llangors.
36,
Pro-
Du.
y
ciliau
38,
Llowes, dedicated to
yn nyffryn Machawy,— intended
FROM
A. D. 542
If this grant ever took
of Rhydderch ab lestin
;
TO
effect, it
A. D. 566.
was only
249
for the short reign
for the Diraetian princes, consider-
ing him to be an usurper, took up arms against him, and a
ensued in which he was
battle
to
slain,
leaving his principality
be divided between the conquerors.*
Subsequent events
prove that they did not confirm his benefactions; and his reason for bestowing these possessions upon the see of LlandafF, if
grounded upon the supposition that they once belonged
to Teilo,
prelate
must have rested upon a
was
the acknowledged archbishop of Menevia.
also
That the grant was reckoned cumstance
that,
false foundation, for that
invalid, is evident
from the
cir-
about a century after the period in question.
Urban, bishop of LlandafF and a zealous assertor of leges, claimed to his diocese only so
as lay to the south of the river
much
its
privi-
of Carmarthenshire
Towy, together with the south-
ern part of Brecknockshire, and that portion of the county of
Hereford which lay on the western side of the Wye.
He
rested
upon the right of former occupation, contendpredecessor had exercised authority and instituted
his claim, mainly,
ing that his
several persons to benefices in the disputed country. his appealing to the Pope,
Upon
an inhibition was issued to the
bishops of St. David's and Hereford,
commanding them
to
with-hold the exercise of their authority in the districts then called
Gwyr, Cydwely, Cantref Bychan, Ystrad Yw, and Er-
ging; which were committed to the care of the bishop of LlandafF, until the other bishops should prove their title.t
The remainder of
the history of this controversy
* Welsh Chronicles in the
My v.
Archaiology.
is lost;. but
Their compilers, though
agreeing generally as to facts, sometimes betray the bias of their respective provinces ; Brut leuan Brechfa, written
dderch was an usurper
;
by a Dimetian,
asserts that
Rhy-
while Brut y Tywysogion, written by Caradog,
a Silurian, contends that he was entitled to the sovereignty of South
Wales by
inheritance.
t Wharton's Anglia Sacra, Vol.
II.
and Godwin's Bishops.
2g
!
THE WELSH
250 issue
its
may be
SAINTS
inferred from the fact, that the earliest notice*
of these districts subsequently, exhibits them included in the
and Hereford,
diocese of St. David's
found
in the state they are
at present.
The grant
names of one or two
contains the
must have been erected
chapels,
But
therefore at a later period than the era of Teilo.
and
as the
David's were not likely to consecrate such
bishops of St. edifices to the
which
after the institution of parishes,
memory
of a saint whose
jection to the rival see
;
may be
it
name implied sub-
gathered that the bishops
of Llandaff had, upon some occasion, obtained a transient
ascendancy before the time of Rhydderch.
This appears to
have been the case about the end of the eighth century, when
Maredudd was king of Dyfed
or Dimetia ;t for
it is
recorded
that he gave six churches to Llandaff in the time of Guodloiu, its
eleventh bishop. J Teilo lived to an advanced age, and most of the churches
"which perpetuate his after
he succeeded
which
name must have been founded by him honours of Cynog ; but the account,
to the
asserts that
he was living
visited Britain, can hardly
at the
be admitted.§
time It is
St.
died at Llandeilo Fawr, and the following legend respecting his body.
honour
Three places put
of his interment
Llandeilo Fawr, where he died; ancestors settled,
had been buried.
The
is
he
related
in their claims for the
where he had been bishop;
Llandaff,
;
Augustin
said that
and Penalun,|| where
his
dispute was not likely to be
when, by a miracle, three bodies appeared
in the
room
of one, so like that the real one could not be distinguished It
was therefore agreed *
The Taxation
t
Obiit A. D. 796.
J
Godwin
j
who
of
bury one body
at each of the three
Pope Nicholas,
Welsh
Chronicles.
says that Maredudd was a son of Rein, king of West
Wales. § Usher, p. 1155. II
to
Penaly near Tenby.
;
FROM
A. D. 542
places, trusting to the chance
corpse of the saint!!*
tical
TO
A. D. 566.
251
which of them might be the iden-
He was commemorated
on the
ninth of February, and has been recorded in the Triads as one
of the
tliree
canonized saints of Britain
;
the two others were
Dewi and Cattwg. Mabon, the brother of
Mabon Hen, was
a saint
Teilo, called also ;
Mabon
Wyn and
and Llanfabon, a chapel subject
to
Eglwys Ilan near LlandafF, is dedicated to him. It is worthy of remark that in the parish of Llandeilo Fawr, there are two manors, the one called Maenor Deilo, and the other Maenor Fabon
;
affording an example of the
mode
in
which names of
places frequently bear reference to historical associations. It
would appear that Teilo encouraged the poetic genius of
his countrymen.
Gwrhir, one of his bards, was a saint and
the founder of Llysfaen, Glamorganshire. Ystyifan, another of the bards of Teilo,
He was
an ab Cyngen ab Cadell.t
was the son of
Maw-
the founder of LlanstyfFan,
Carmarthenshire, and LlanstyfFan, in the county of Radnor
both of which churches have others attributed to Teilo in the parishes adjoining.^
him,
is
A
composed by volume of the Myvyrian Archai-
collection of stanzas,
inserted in the third
ology.
According to the " Life of
St.
Oudoceus,"§ Budic, a native
of Cornugallia in Armorica, and related to forced to leave his country
;
and putting
* "Howbeit by diuers miracles done daffe,
it
its chieftains,
was
to sea with a fleet,
he
at the place of his buriall at Llan-
appeareth that there the true body lyeth."— Godwin, from the
Liber Landavensis.
t Page
207.
; Llandeilo
Abercywyn, Carmarthenshire, and Llandeilo Graban, Rad-
norshire j which would imply that their association is due to the friendship of their founders. § Quoted by Usher p. 561, from the Regestum Landavense. The names " Budic" and « Anaumed" are here given in their Latin orthography, as they have not been seen in any Welsh writer.
THE WELSH
252
SAINTS
landed in Dyfed, or Pembrokeshire, -which was at that time
under the government of a prince, named Aercol Lawhir,
He was
making
hospitably received, and
his
abode in Dyfed,
he married Anaumed, the daughter of Ensic or Enlleu, by
whom
he had two
sons, Israael already mentioned,
Both the children were devoted their mother,
who was
and Tyfei.
to the service of religion
the sister of St. Teilo
;
by
and in course of
time Israael received from his uncle the appointment of suffra-
He was
gan bishop of Menevia.
the founder of St. Ishmael's
near Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, and of Camros, Usmaston,
Rosemarket,
St.
Ishmael's,
and East Haroldston, Pembroke-
shire.
Tyfei, the brother of Ismael,
was accidentally
by a person named Tyrtuc,* and has
child,
a martyr, though
it is difficult
slain,
when
a
therefore been styled
to understand
how a
case of
man-
slaughter could be construed into a death in testimony of the faith of the
sufferer.
He was
buried at Penaly, Pembroke-
Llampheyt in that county. Fawr is called Llandyfeisant ; and the relationship of Teilo, who died in the adjoining parish, would justify the suggestion that the name means "the church of St. Tyfei," and not " the church of St. Dewi" as commonly supposed. shire
;
and
A church
is
the patron saint of
near Llandeilo
—
While Budic continued to reside in Dyfed, ambassadors came from Cornugallia, announcing to him the death of their king, and that the people, wishing to elect a successor of the
same family, had made choice of him, and were desirous that he should undertake the government. The proposal was accepted.
Budic, taking with him his wife and family, returned
to his native country, and
his
had the good fortune to estabHsh dominion over the whole of Armorica. Soon after his
* Godwin's Bishops.
t Written " Lantefei" by Giraldus Cambrensis, and by Browne Willis Llantilfi."
k
FROM arrival he
A. D. 542
had another
son,
TO
A.
D
253
566.
named Oadoceus, who, in commade to Teilo, was, like his
pliance with a promise previously
brothers, destined for the profession of religion.
From
his
childhood, Oudoceus excelled in learning and eloquence, as
well as in the purity and holiness of his visited Armorica, his virtues
He
life
and when Teilo
;
were shining as a burning
light.*
whom he
accom-
attracted the especial notice of his uncle,
panied on his return to Wales ; but the time when he succeeded him as bishop or archbishop of LlandafF, belongs to the next generation, t
Among
the companions of St. Teilo, after his return from
Armorica, are named Lunapeius, Gurmaet, Cynmur, Toulidauc, Luhil, and Fidelis.J corrupt,
The orthography of
their
names
is
Toulid-
and only three of them can be recognized.
auc was the saint of a church, once called Llandeulydog, in the southern part of Pembrokeshire, § which was bestowed
Rhydderch ab
lestin
by
on the bishoprick of LlandafF, probably
on account of the connexion subsisting between Teilo and founder. Gurmaet was the saint of a church called, in the grant of Rhydderch, " Languruaet," which was also given to its
the bishoprick of LlandafF, apparently for the same reason ; its
situation corresponds with that of Llandeilo'r Fan,
nockshire.
Breck-
Luhil was the saint of Llywel, a parish adjoining
and which had three
Llandello'r Fan,
saints
;
the two others
being David and Teilo.
Samson was the son of Amwn Ddu ab Emyr Llydaw by Anna, daughter of Meurig ab Tewdrig. As he was born in Glamorganshire,
1
his
birth
may be
dated after the general
1
emigration of the Armorican saints under Cadfan;
* " Ut candela supra candelabrum,"
t
is
and
the Latin illustration,
Vita S. Gudocei a Regesto Landavensi. J Regestura Laudavense.
§ Godwin's Bishops, and II
My v. Archaiology, Vol. III. p.
Regestum Landavense.
369.
as
—
THE WELSH
254
SAINTS
none of the before-mentioned children of Amwn Ddu* are described to have been children of Anna^
Anna was in
arrival
The
Britain.
it
may be concluded
Life of this saint, in the
Landavense, contains several inconsistencies learned from
Achau y
college of Illtyd,
that
Amwn Ddu, married to him after his
a second wife of
Saint that he was a
;
but
Regestum it
member
may be of the
and that upon the death of Peirio he suc-
ceeded to the presidency of that society
:
he afterwards went
over to Armorica, where he was appointed bishop of Dole.
This to
last circumstance, as already shown,t has been attributed two other persons of the same name ; and the confusion
thence arising has thrown an appearance of doubt upon the
Amwn
history of the son of
Ddu,
for
whom
some writers have
claimed the rank of archbishop. The existence, however, of Samson a bishop, whose age corresponds with the present, is maintained upon authentic testimony ; since it is shown by Usher, from the Concilia
Galliae, that
a prelate of that
name
subscribed the decrees of the Council of Paris in the year 557.
That
was the person
this
who
held the see of Dole
is
generally
acknowledged, and the traditions of that place agree with the
Welsh
authorities as to his family
and connexions. But he was
only a bishop, as appears by his signature, though
it is
pro-
bable that he was appointed without the consent of his metropolitan
;
for
the church of Tours, which claimed a superior
jurisdiction over Armorica,
was in the country of the Franks,
and the Armoricans were at this time struggling for political independence. Such was the view of the question given by the clergy of Tours to the Pope, at the time Giraldus demandrestitution of the pall to
ed the *
Menevia ;t and the explanation
Page 218.
t Page 229. J
«
The
Cum
statement
made by
the clergy of
Tours was as follows:
olim tola Britannia (Minor) fuisset Turonensi ecclssise tanquara
metropoli suse subjecta
Francorum,
et
proprium
;
Britannis tandem conspirantibus contra
sibi constituentibus regera,
regem
occasione Beati
Sam-
FROM
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
255
is
supported by the authenticated fact that a council was held
at
Tours A. D. 567, in which the archbishop of Tours was
acknowledged
to be the metropolitan,
no one should presume to the
office
and
it
was decreed that
to ordain either a Briton or a
Roman
of a bishop in Armorica, witliout the consent and
permission of the metropolitan or the other bishops of the pro-
The independence of Armorica seems to have been by Budic, who was the friend of Samson ; but there appears also to have been another chieftain, named ludual or Juthael, who was deprived of his dominions by an usurper
vince.*
asserted
named Commorus, and sent a prisoner to Childebert, king of the Franks, when the intercession of the bishop procured his The Welsh release, and he was restored to his possessions.t accounts proceed to say, though the reason that
Samson returned from Armorica
where he died two large stone
;
is
not explained,
to the college of lUtyd,
and in the church-yard of Lantwit Major,
crosses
still
several inscriptions, the
remain, one of them having three
first
purporting that
it
was the
cross
of Iltutus and Samson, the second that Samson erected the for his
cross
carver ever,
;
is
soul,
and the third that one Samuel was the
the other cross has but one inscription, which,
longer and more legible than those on
its
how-
neighbour.
sonis qiiondara Eboracensis archiepiscopi, qui dura in partibus BritatiniaB
pateretur exilium, in Dolensi ecclesiS ministrSrat,
assumpsit: Britannis volentibus
—
regem creaverant, III. A.
&
that
cum
archiepiscopalibus insignibus
Dolensis ecclesia contra Turonensem supercilium elationis
D, 1199.
suscitare."
The only
sibi
^Usher,
novum archiepiscopum,
sicut
novum
from the Register of Pope Innocent
error in this explanation seems to have been,
Samson was an archbishop of York.
* In Turonensis
II.
hisce temporibus (anno videlicet
DLXVII.)
^l Canone IX. Metropolitani nomine non alium quam Turonensem ^^Bijopum designatum
constet
;
ubi cautum est, nequis
habiti
archiepis-
Britannum aut Ro-
^^Mmanum in Armorico, sine metropolitani aut comprovincialium voluntate ^^maut
^m
I
Uteris^
episcopum ordinare pressumat.
t Usher, pp.
1013, 1141.
Usher, page 1011.
THE WELSH
256 and
state that it
SAINTS
was prepared by Samson
for his soul,
and
for
the souJs of Juthael the king, and Arthmael.*
Tathan^in Latin Tathae us, another son of Amwn Ddu and Anna,
was a member of the college of
Illtyd, after
which he
settled
a place in Glamorganshire where he founded a church,
at'
From hence he was
since called Llandathan or St. Athan's.
away to be the first president of a college or monastery at Caer-Went in Monmouthshire, under the patronage of Ynyr Gwent, to whom he became confessor. In his old age he returned to the church which he had founded, and ^vas buried there. From the '^ Life of St. Tathaeus" by John of called
Teignmouth
it
Gwent, but by Caradog, the son of Ynyr, which sistent
Ynyr
appears that he was patronized, not by is
more con-
with the chronological arrangement here adopted.
Armorica, from whence a large number of saints had emigrated in the past generation, seems
The
supply from Wales.
was
rick of Dole
a brother of
St.
Amwn
Machutus
him
Ddu, and
sister
have received a
Afrella a sister of
after
Amwn
Ddu,
Anna; he
whom
he ac-
having been brought up
in the school of Iltutus.
of
in the bishop-
to his predecessor,
or Maclovius, a son of
Derwela a
to
Samson
Maglorius, whose parents were Umbrafel
was therefore doubly related companied to that country, together with
now
successor of
In like manner,
Caradog ab Ynyr Gwent by is
recorded to have passed
and become bishop of Aletha, now St. Malo's. To the number may be added, Paulus and Leonorius, members of the over,
college of Iltutus, the former of
Leon.
whom was
appointed bishop of
Their lives have been written by the biographers of
the Gallican saints, a reference to whose works vice in authenticating
*
in
which the cross was discovered by the
may be seen in
late
Mr. Edward Williams,
Turner's Vindication of the Ancient British Poems.
fThe names orthography.
of ser-
of the last inscription, with an interesting account of the
A facsimile
manner
Welsh
may be
traditions.t
of the four saints in this paragraph are in their Latin
FROM
A. D. 512
TO
A. D. 566.
Isan, a saint of the college of Illtyd
;
257
his genealogy
is
given, but as he was a contemporary of Samson, his date
be assigned
He was
to this period.
not
may
the founder of Llanishen,
Glamorganshire, and Llanishen, Monmouthshire.
Cennydd, a son of Gildas ab Caw, was
at first a
member
of
the college of Cattwg, and afterwards the founder of a religious society, called
Cor Cennydd, at a place in Gower,
Glamorganshire, where the church of Llangennydd situated.
It is
said that
which gave name
he founded a church above
to the district of
is
now
Cardiff,
Seinghennydd,* but
it
has
not been identified with any of the churches at present existing in that neighbourhood.
Madog
ab Gildas was a saint of the college of Cennydd, and
the founder of Llanfadog, a church in the vicinity of Llan-
gennydd.
Dolgan ab Gildas, a
Nwython, Cattwg. to
or
saint of the college of Cattwg.
Noethon ab Gildas, a member of the
It is said that there
him and
his brother,
society of
were formerly chapels dedicated
Gwynnog, under Llangwm Dinmael,
Denbighshire.t
Gwynno,
or
Gwynnog ab
Gildas, a
member of the
society of
Cattwg, and the patron saint of
Y
Faenor, Brecknockshire.
Under the name of Gwynno, he
is
considered to have been
one of the three founders of Llantrisaint, Glamorganshire ; and
Llanwynno, a chapel under
Llantrisaint, is dedicated to him.
Llanwnog
Montgomery
in the county of
Gwynnog
founder under the name of
window of
this
church he
is
;
claims
him
for its
and in the chancel
delineated in painted glass in
episcopal habits, with a mitre on his head, and a crosier in his
hand
;
underneath
is
an inscription in old English characters,
"Sanctus Gwinocus, cujus animae propitietur Deus.
* Cambrian Biography.
t Myvyrian Archaiology, Vol.
II.
X Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, Vol.
2h
I.
Amen."J
THE WELSH SAINTS
258 His| festival
is
Oct. 26;
and he
is
not to be confounded with
Gwenog, a virgin, the saint of Llanwenog, Cardiganshire. Tydecho ab Gildas appears in one catalogue of saints, probably by mistake for Tydecho, the son of
Amwn
Ddu.
Dolgar, a daughter of Gildas ab Caw. Garci, the son of said there
Cewydd ab Caw
a saint to
;
Tudwg, the son of Tyfodwg, was a member Newcastle, Glamorganshire, Daniel,
it is
who
of the institu-
Llandudwg, or Tythegston, subject
of Cennydd.
tion
whom
was a church dedicated in Glamorganshire.*
is
to
dedicated to him.
has been mentioned as being present at the
was no other than Deiniol Wyn, the son of Dunawd Fyr by Dwywe, a daughter of Gwallog ab Llenog.
Synod of
He
Brefi,t
assisted his father in the establishment of the
Bangor Iscoed; and
it is
monastery of
516 he founded another
said that in
monastery in Carnarvonshire, called Bangor Deiniol and Bangor Fawr, of which he was abbot.
was see,
Soon afterwards
this place
by Maelgwn Gwynedd to the rank of a bishop's of which Deiniol was the first bishop ; and as it is stated raised
that he received episcopal consecration from Dubricius, the
event must have occurred before the end of the year 522.
According
to Geoffrey of
the chronology of his
life
Monmouth he as arranged
died in 544.
by Usher, but
on the authority of writers comparatively
rounded with
difficulties
which are
late,
—Such
it
and
is
fatal to its reception.
appears from the authentic testimony of Bede that
is
depends surIt
Dunawd,
the father of Deiniol, was living at the time of the conference
with
St.
Augustin about the year 600, a circumstance incom-
patible with the supposition that the son could have flourished so early as 516.
The poems
porary, prove that
of Llywarch
Hen, a contem-
Dunawd was engaged
in battle with the
sons of Urien Rheged, whose age
is
determined by the
* Cambrian Biography,
t Page
192.
cir-
k
—
FROM
TO
A. D. 542
A. D. 566.
259
cumstance that their father was living so
late as the year 560.*
Dunawd,
near the close of the
therefore,
was not a
saint
till
past generation, about which time he might have founded the
monastery of Bangor
The monastery of Bangor
Iscoed.
Deiniol was founded afterwards in his
own
also
acknowledged patron, was
upon
this point, as
height of his power.
at the
it
to Deiniol are few,
Stress
involves the date of the foundation
of the present bishoprick of Bangor
buted
situation of Deiniol
him to the present generation, with the time when Maelgwn Gwynedd, his
pedigree assigns
which agrees is laid
and the
;
;
but the churches
and not disposed in such a way
attri-
as to
afford a criterion for ascertaining the extent of his diocese.
He
was consecrated, probably, by
to assert that
the
he and his of that
protection
churches
still
retain their
David, as there
St.
relatives lived for saint
at
names
;
is
reason
some time under
Llanddewi Brefi,t where but the synod of Brefi and
the death of Dubricius were events which must have happen-
ed when he was a
child.
collected, for tradition
but
silent
respecting him.
though none of
*
559.
He
his
Few
particulars of his life can be
and the legendary writers have been It is
poems remain.
He was
all
he was a bard,
said that
buried in the
survived Ida, the king of the Angles, whose death
is
Isle
placed in
— Compare Nennius with the Saxon Chronicle.
t Gwynfardd, enumerating the privileges of
St.
David
at Brefi, says,
that he had the happiness
To have around him, about his plains, Men liberal and kindly disposed, and fair towns He ensured protection to a quiet people, The
j
tribe of Daniel, highly exalted, their equal
Exists not, for lineage and morality and courtesy.
A bod
o'i
gylchyn, cylch
ei faesydd,
Haelon, a thirion, a theg drefydd
A gorfod gwared Llwyth Daniel
Nid
oes,
;
lliwed llonydd,
oruchel, eu hefelydd
yn cadw
oes, a moes, a
mynudydd.
THE WELSH
260
SAINTS
memory has been celebrated on the tenth The churches founded by him were^ Llan-
of Bardsey, and his
of December.
ddeiniol in Cardiganshire, which
nexion with
David
St.
Monmouthshire
Itton,
at
are.
Worth enbury,
now
Iscoed, but
Hawarden,
;
uwchlyn, Merionethshire
perhaps due to his con-
is
Llanddewi Brefi
;
Llanddeiniol, or
Flintshire
and
;
and the chapels under
:
Flintshire, formerly subject
Llan-
his tutelage
Bangor
to
a separate benefice ;* and St. Daniel's, sub-
Monktown, Pembrokeshire.
ject to
Cynwyl, a brother of Deiniol, appears under the protection of
St.
also to
have lived
David, and has been deemed the
founder of Cynwyl Gaio, the church of a parish adjoining that of Llanddewi Brefi. Another trace of this family in the
name
may be found
of Llansawel, a chapel subordinate to
Gaio,f which
is
Cynwyl
dedicated to Sawyl,} the uncle of Deiniol.
The churches of CynwylElfed, Carmarthenshire, and Aberporth, Cardiganshire, have likewise been attributed to Cynwyl, and
according to Ecton he
is
the patron saint of Penrhos, a chapel
He
under Abererch, Carnarvonshire.
assisted at 'the estab-
lishment of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed ; and his saint's
day
is
wake
or
April 30.
Gwarthan, another brother of Deiniol, assisted
at the estab-
lishment of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed, but nothing further
is
known
respecting him.
Cynfelyn, a son of Bleiddyd ab Meirion of the line of Cunedda, was the founder of Llangynfelyn, Cardiganshire
a church
at
Welsh
;
and of
Pool, Montgomeryshire, which was pro-
bably connected with the religious society established there by his brother,
Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd.
* Separated by Act of Parliament in the second year of William and
Mary.—B. WiUJs. + The Ordnance map which
it
calls
*'
Cross, X
Page
notices an upright stone in this neighbourhood,
Crossgonwell,"
207, antea.
i.
e.
Croes Gynwyl, or
St.
Cynwyl's
FROM
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
261
Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd ab Tegonwy ab Teon, by mistake Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd ab Meirion ab Tibion, founded a religious house Pool.
He
ended
his
at
Trallwng,
is
now
said to
called
for
have
Welsh
days in the monastery of Bardsey.
Mabon, a brother of Llewelyn,
is
presumed
to
have been
the founder of Rhiwfabon, Denbighshire.
Cynudyn ab Bleiddyd ab Meirion, was
a dean of the college
Lewis Morris suggests that a stone in the churchyard of Llanwnws, Cardiganshire, with the inscription " Canotinn" was a monument to the memory of Padarn at Llanbadarn Fawr.
of this person.*
Gwynlleu, the son of Cyngar ab Arthog of the line of Cunedda, was probably the founder of Nantgwnlle,
Cardigan-
shire.
Eurgain, daughter of
Mwynfawr, was
Maelgwn Gwynedd and wife of Elidyr
the foundress of Llaneurgain, or Northop,
Flintshire.
Cyndeyrn or
St. Kentigern, according to Bonedd y Saint Owain ab Urien Rheged and Dwynwenf the daughter of Llewddyn Lueddog of Dinas EiddynJ in the north. According to John of Teignmouth he was born in
was the
North
pn
of
Britain,
where he was placed under the instruction of
Servanus, an Irish saint
;
and
it
is
said that he earned the
esteem of his instructor to such a degree that he was styled by
him Mwyngu or " amiable," which later writers have rendered into St. Mungo, a name by which he is frequently known. When he grew up he founded the bishoprick of Glasgow, or, as the Welsh writers term the place, Penryn Rhionydd ; but after a time the dissensions of his countrymen forced him to retire to Wales, where he was kindly received by St. David.
*
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
II.
—This
stone
is
not noticed in Meyrick's
Cardiganshire,
t John of Teignmouth calls her "Tanen." t Dinas Eiddyn is almost a literal translation of Edenburgh.
THE WELSH SAINTS
2C2 While he remained atLlanelwy* its
in
Wales he founded another bishoprick A. D. 550; and though in
in Flintshire about
establishment he experienced some opposition from
Gwynedd,
one of his patrons. native country
by " Rederech"
the Strath Clyde Britons
;
at
or
Rhydderch Hael, chief of
and resigning the
to Asafj one of his disciples,
Glasgow,
Maelgwn
was eventually reconciled and became After a few years he was recalled to his
that chieftain
see of
Llanelwy
he resumed the bishoprick of
which place he died
at
an advanced age.t
He
has been a great favourite with the legendary writers, who, in order to enlist his
have asserted secration,
name
that,
in behalf of the prerogatives of
being dissatisfied with the
he applied
to the
of the subject
own
Rome,
of his con-
intreating his Holiness to
following
is
Cressy's elucidation
:—
" When he was come his
Pope
The
rectify its irregularities.
mode
actions, the
to
man
an age wherein he might dispose of God, Kentigern, went from his
Master (Servanus) to a place called Glashu,t where he lived alone in great abstinence, untill the
King and Clergy of
that
Region, calld then Cumbria (now Galloway) together with other Christians,
who were but
few, chose
him
for their Pas-
tour and Bishop, notwithstanding the utmost resistance he
could make.
And
sending for one single Bishop out of Ire-
land they caused him to be consecrated after the then usuall
custome among the Brittains and Scotts. practise
had gott footing
to use
For
at that time a
no other Ceremonies
in the
Consecration of a Bishop, but onely the infusion of Sacred
Chrism on
their heads with invocation of the
benediction, and imposition of hands.
Holy
For those
Spirit,
Islanders,
* St. Asaph.
t There are several churches dedicated to
St.
Kentigern in Cumberland,
which^ remain as monuments of the occupation of that country by the Britons. X Qu.
Glasgow
?
FROM removed
as
it
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
263
were from the World, by meanes of
their conti-
by Pagans, were become ignorant in the Canons. For which reason the Law of the
nuall infestations Ecclesiasticall
Church condescended
and admitted an excuse
to them,
in this
regard, so that Ecclesiasticall censures did not touch them.
* * * But a more authentic proof of the respect and depend-
ance which the British Churches had of the
Roman
cannot be
For
imagined, then the behaviour of S. Kentigern himself.
being afterwards
afflicted in his
in his Ordination,
mind
for the foresaid defects
he did not seek for Counsel or remedy from
any Metropolitans in Brittany, Ireland, or France, but onely
Rome and
from
the
Supreme Bishop
Custody of Ecclesiasticall mitted, and
who had
whom
thereof, to
the
Canons was by the Church com-
authority to enjoyn the observation of
them, to punish the transgression, and to supply or dispence
with the defects either by negligence or necessity occurring This
in the execution of them.
is
expressly declared
by John
of Tinmouth in his prosecution of the Life of S. Kentigern
where he
tells us,
'
That the JMan of God went seaven
:
severall
times to Rome, where he simply and particularly layd open his
whole
life,
his Election, Consecration,
which had befalln him the English.
was a sincere
to S.
and
Gregory the
all
the accidents
speciall Apostle of
Upon which the Holy Pope perceiving that he man of God and full of the Grace of God's holy
Spirit, confirm'd his Consecration,
Moreover
knowing
that
it
came from
and earnest request, yet with great unwillingnes, he condescended to supply those small God.
defects
at his often
which were wanting
in his Consecration,
and having
he dismissed him to the work of the Ministry which was enjoy ned him by the Holy Ghost.' Hence appears that
done
this
—
in the Ordination of S. Kentigern nothing
was of any and
necessity, since
it
was omitted that was only upon his importunity
for satisfaction of his Scrupulosity that S.
Gregory sup-
plied the omission of certain Rites required by the Canons.
The
greatest fault that the
Holy Bishop could impute
to
him-
"THE
264 self,
was
WELSH
by one onely
his being consecrated
against the Expresse
Canon of
SAINTS Irish Bishop,
But conwant
a General Council.*
sidering the unquietnes and danger of the times, and the
of Bishops, though there was a transgression of the words of the Canon, yet there was none of the
mind of
it,
which cer-
tainly does not oblige to impossibilities."
The is
only authority for the narrative part of this dissertation
John of Teignmouth, who
that of
tury
;
lived in the twelfth cen-
but granting that his assertions, so
to St. Kentigern,
mode
were
correct, it
would
still
far as they related
remain, that the
of consecrating bishops in the British and Scottish
churches was different from that practised in the Church of
Rome, and
that the opinions of St. Kentigern as an individual
were at variance with those of his brethren.
No
change could
have been effected by his example, for in the next century the Britons are found resolutely adhering to their peculiar cus-
toms, and refusing to hold intercourse with the
But
is
it
so important a subject, affords
;
clergy.
The
a strong presumption
him and
that no communication passed between
gern
Romish
so large a concession.
Gregory and the writers of the following age,
silence of St,
upon
make
not necessary to
and evidence of this kind, though negative,
value than the
assertions
is
St.
Kenti-
of greater
of a legend written six hundred
years after the events which
it
pretends to describe.
As
for
upon which Cressy, presuming upon the truth of his author, lays so much stress, that the saint was consecrated by one bishop instead of three ; the number would not have been so much the ground of objection as the fact that the Britons and Scots were out of the pale of the Church of Rome,
the statement
that the consecrations of their bishops,
* "
The
first
and consequently the
Canon of the Apostles, confirmed by many Councils, en-
joyn'd that every Bishop should be ordained by at least two or three
Bishops
:
Whereas
S. Kentigern
was consecrated by one
and him a stranger of a forraia Nation,"— Cressy.
single Bishop,
FROM titles
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
265
of their inferior clergy, were not considered valid by the
Between the years 664 and 669, St. Chad, a bishop by a Romish, or as it
Catholics.
of the Anglo-Saxons, was consecrated
was then termed, a canonical bishop, assisted by two British and the reason for this expedient was the circum;
bishops
stance that there was at that time but one Catholic bishop in Britain.*
all
It
was afterwards determined, that in conseassisting, the ceremony was
quence of the British bishops invalid
;
and
St.
Chad was prepared
to resign his office,
when
in consideration of his humility and submission, Theodore,
who had
then been appointed archbishop of Canterbury, con-
sented to grant
him a
Gaul,
*^'
undertook a journey to
rather than be consecrated
munion with Rome
In the same inter-
fresh consecration.t
Wilfrid, archbishop of York,
val,
as the Britons
by
and
prelates not in
com-
by those who
Scots, or
agreed with schismatics.''^
Asaf was the son of Sawyl Benuchel and Gwenaseth daughRhufon Rhufoniog. He was the disciple of Cyndeyrn,
ter of
*
'*
Diverterunt ad provinciam Occidentalium Saxonura, ubi erat Vini
Episcopus
;
et
ab
(Ceadda) consecratus Antistes,
illo est vir praefatus
adsumptis in societatem ordinationis duobus de Brittonura gente Episcopis,
qui Dominicum Paschae diem, ut saepius dictum cura a quarta deciraa usque ad vicesimam
est,
Lunam
secus
morem canoriiNon enim
celebrant.
erat tunc uUus, excepto illo Vine, in totS, BritanniS. canonice ordinatus
Episcopus."—Bede, Lib.
III.
Cap. 28.
+ " Itaque Theodorus perlustrans universa, ordinabat
locis opportunis
Episcopos, et ea quae minus perfecta reperit, his quoque juvantibus corrigebat.
In quibus et Ceadda Episcopum
cum
secratum, respondens ipse voce humillima
patum non
rite suscepisse, libenter
me unquam hoc
esse
ab
:
'
argueret non fuisse rite con-
Si me, inquit, ndsti Episco-
officio
discedo
:
quippe qui neque
dignum arbitrabar; sed obedientise causS jussus
subire hoc, quamvis indignus consensi.'
ponsionis ejus, dixit, non
At
ille
eum Episcopatum
audiens humilitatem res-
dimittere debere; sed ipse
ordinationem ejus denuo Catholica ratione consummavit."
Cap.
2.
X Eddius, Vita Wilfridi, apud Gale.
2i
—Bede, Lib. IV.
THE WELSH
266
whom
SAINTS
he succeeded about A. D. 560 in the bishoprick of
Llanelwy, which from this circumstance has ever since been
known
in English
by the name of
St.
Asaph, though in Welsh
Asaf
retains its original appellation.
it
also
is
known
as the
founder of the church of Llanasa in Flintshire. Pedrog, according to Bonedd y Saint, was the son of Clement prince of Cornwall ; but Cressy insists that he was born of princely parentage in Wales. Usher makes it appear that
he was contemporary with
St.
He
Kentigern.
was the founder
of the churches of Llanbedrog, Carnarvonshire, St. Petrox,
Pembrokeshire, and of several others in Cornwall and Devon, of which counties he
was buried
at
may be
considered the tutelar saint.
Bodmin, where, according
to
some
He
authorities,
he had established a bishoprick.
Cybi was the son of Selyf ab Geraint ab Erbin, and
as his
mother was Gwen, daughter of Gynyr of Caer-gawch, he must have been a cousin and contemporary of parently some years younger. written
by Aneurin
or
St.
David, though ap-
If the verses, said to have been
Cattwg Ddoeth, upon the departure of
the saints for Bardsey, can be trusted, Cybi was present at the
Synod of Brefi presence
;*
and
it
may be
said that the
memory
in the immediate neighbourhood of Llanddewi Brefi. also the founder of Llangybi near Caerleon,
He was
which confirms
the probability that he was acquainted with St. David.
he
is
more
of his
preserved in the name of the church of Llangybi
is
But
especially distinguished as the founder of a religious
society at Caergybi or Holyhead in Anglesey, near to the spot where Caswallon Lawhir had slain Serigi, over whose grave a
chapel was afterwards erected.
he was, according
his society,
times, styled a bishop,
a diocese.
* See are too
My V.
As Cybi was to the
though he never held jurisdiction over
The anachronism which
Archaiology, Vol
modern
the president of
usual practice of the
I. p.
181,
for the authors assigned.
places
and Vol.
him
in the fourth
III. p. 3.
but the verses
;
FROM
TO
A. D. 542
A. D. 566.
century and. makes him acquainted with
may be
Poictiers,
267
St. Hilary,
Bishop of
attributed to the circumstance that one of
his contemporary saints in that island
which the Welsh give
was
also to St. Hilary.
called Elian, a
name
Besides the churches
already mentioned, Cybi was the founder of Llangybi in Carnarvonshire.
Festival,
Nov.
6.
According to tradition Cybi and Elian used to meet
at a
place called Llandyfrydog, between Llanelian and Holyhead, to confer
upon
Cybi and
subjects of religion.
Seiriol of
A
Penmon, who used
ings at Clorach near Llannerch y
Medd.
similar story
ward
Fair,
and
east-
and Cybi on the contrary always facing
the sun, they were denominated ^-Seiriol the
told of
" From the circum-
stance of Seiriol travelling westward in the morning in the evening,
is
weekly meet-
to hold
'
Seiriol
Wyn a
and Cybi the Tawny."
Chybi Felyn, These
though obviously fabulous, are chronologically
stories,
consistent, as
the three saints, according to their genealogy, were living at the same time.
Elian Geimiad was the son of Gallgu Rieddog ab Carclud-
wys
of the line of Cadrod Calchfynydd, and his mother was
Canna, a daughter of
Sadwrn.
The
Tewdwr Mawr
been changed into Cannaid (bright) Latin Hilarius
o
Lydaw and widow
epithet Ceimiad (pilgrim) has
;
of
by one writer*
to correspond
with the
but the conjecture was unnecessary, as the
sound of the name Elian, which the Welsh have thought convertible with Hilary,t
Elian
is
is sufficient
to account for the confusion.
celebrated in the superstitions of the Principality
miraculous cures were lately supposed to be performed at his shrine at Llanelian, Anglesey; J and near to the church of Llanelian,
which
is
Denbighshire,
The author of a Welsh Calendar,
*
t In
is
a
well called
Ffynnon Elian,
thought by the peasantry of the neighbourhood to
the
*'
History of Anglesey."
St. Hilary is called
X History of Anglesey, 1775.
Elian Esgob.
—
THE WELSH
268
SAINTS
be endued with miraculous powers even at present. His wake is held in the month of August, while the festival of St. Hilary occurs on the thirteenth of January.
Beuno was the son of Hywgi
or
Bugi ab Gwynllyw Filwr
and PerfFeren daughter of Llewddyn Luyddog of Dinas
Eiddyn
in the North.
He
was, therefore, nearly related to
Cattwg and Kentigern, with the temporary.
Few
latter of
particulars of his life are
must have extended
whom
into the following century, as
ed that he founded a religious society Carnarvonshire in 616.
The
monastery of Clynnog was
at
he was con-
known, though
it
record-
it is
Clynnog Fawr in
upon which the college or was granted by Cadfan, the
land,
built,
reigning prince of North Wales, to
whom
Beuno gave a
St.
small golden sceptre as an acknowledgement for the donation.
He was St.
in his old age one of the instructors of
Winefred ;
his festival
chapels dedicated to Berriew,
alias
him
is
April 21
;
Gwenfrewi or
and the churches and
are the following
:
Aber-rhiw, V. Montgomeryshire.
Bettws, V. Mont. Llanycil, R. Merionethshire. Gwyddelwern,* R. Merioneth. Clynnog Fawr, R. Carnarvonshire. Carngiwch, a chapel to Edeyrn (St. Edeyrn,) Cam. Pistyll, a chapel to Edeyrn (St. Edeyrn,) Carn. Penmorfa, R. 1 chapel, Dolbenmaen (St. Mary,) Carn. Aberffraw, 1 chapel, Capel Mair (St. Mary,) Anglesey. Trefdraeth, R. 1 chapel, Llangwyfen (St. Cwyfen,) Anglesey. Llanfeuno, a chapel to Clodock (St. Clydog,) Herefordshire.
— —
R.—
Cannen, the son of Gwyddlew ab Gwynllyw Filwr,
sumed
to
is
pre-
have been the founder of Llanganten, near Builth,
Brecknockshire.
Gwodloew, the son of Glywys Cerniw ab Gwynllyw Filwr, is
said to have
been
at first a teacher in the college of
and afterwards bishop of Llandaff; but the
Cattwg,
last assertion is
* Built by St. Beuno on land granted to him by Cynan ab Brochwel
Ysgythrog, prince of Powys.
— Cambrian Register, Vol.
I.
\
t
FROM incorrect, as
dafF*
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
269
" Guodloiu" in the catalogue of bishops of Llan-
must have lived
at
an age too
of Glywys
late for the son
Cerniw.
Meugan
Meigant, a son of
or
Gwyndaf Hen ab Emyr
Llydaw and Gwenonwy the daughter of Meurig prince of Glamorgan, was originally a member of the college of Iltutus, from whence he removed to the college of Dubricius at CaerIn his leon, of which society his father was the president. old age he retired to Bardsey, where he died. He may be
deemed the founder of Llanfeugan, Brecknockshire ; and the chapels consecrated to his memory are St. Moughan's under Llangattwg Feibion Afel, Monmouthshire ; and Capel Meu-
Two
gan, formerly subject to Llandegfan, Anglesey.
composed by Meugan, who person as the
saint,
poems,
thought to have been the same
is
are inserted in the
Myvyrian Archai-
ology.
Melangell, the daughter of Tudwal Tudglyd of the line of Macsen Wledig, was the foundress of Pennant Melangell, Montgomeryshire. She was a sister of Rhydderch Hael of Strath Clyde ; and her mother was Ethni, surnamed WyddFestival, May 27. eles or the Irish- woman.
Dingad, the son of
Wledig,
is
Nudd Hael
called a saint, but
of the line of Macsen
no churches are ascribed
to him.
His wife was Tonwy or Trefrian, a daughter of Llewddyn
Luyddog of Dinas Eiddyn.:|: Llidnerth ab Nudd, a brother
He
is
of Dingad, and a saint.
the eleventh bishop in Godwin's
list,
and
is
mentioned as con-
temporary with Maredudd, king of Dyfed, about A. D. 790.
f i. e.
*'
It is
distinguished from other
Monacella, the patron
history
is
still
(1811)
this sequestered spot.
X
The
shown cell of
— Carlisle's Topography.
Page
Pen Nants by the addition of Melangell,
whose Latin Legend
is
still
extant j her
also rudely sculptured on the gallery of the churchy and several
of her relics are
church."
saint,
261, antea.
to the credulous,
Diva Monacella
who happen is in
to visit
a rock near the
THE WELSH
270
SAINTS
Clydno Eiddyn, Cynan, Cynfelyn Drwsgl, and Cadrod, sons
Cynwyd Cynwydion
of
chieftains of
North
of the line of Coel Godebog, were
Britain,
who
are said to have
embraced a
religious life.*
>
Cawrdaf, the son of Caradog Fraichfras of the line of Coel,
succeeded his father as sovereign of Brecknockshire, and
is
distinguished in the Triads for his extensive influence, for
whenever he went
battle
to
the whole population of the
country attended at his summons.t
braced a religious
life
He
is
said to
in the college of Illtyd
a chapel subordinate to Llaniestin, Anglesey,
him
in conjunction with his brother
have em-
and Llangoed,
;
is
Tangwn.
dedicated to It has
been
suggested that the name of Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire,
is
derived from Cawrdaf,:j: though the more obvious meaning of the
word
is
to describe is
Dec. 5
;
" the church of the holy man," without intending any particular
while the
12, or All Saints'
saint.
The
festival of St.
Cawrdaf
wake of Llanwrda depends upon Nov.
Day, Old
Style.
Cadfarch, a brother of Cawrdaf, was the founder of Penegos,
Montgomeryshire, and Abererch, Carnarvonshire.
Festival,
Oct. 24.
Tangwn, brother of Cawrdaf, was one of the Llangoed, Anglesey,
is
saints to
whom
dedicated.
Maethlu or Amaethlu, brother of Cawrdaf, the founder of
and possibly of Llandyfalle, Breck-
Llanfaethlu, Anglesey,
nockshire.
The
syllable dy is introduced into the last
name
upon the same principle as Llandyfaelog is formed from Maelog ; both the names so formed occur in Brecknockshire, while the corresponding appellations in Anglesey omit Festival, Dec. 26.
Cambrian Biography, voce Cynwyd Cynwydion.
t Triad
41,
Third Series.
X Joneses Brecknockshire, Vol. §
Page
331, antea.
I.
p. 70.
it.§
FROM
A. D. 542
TO
A. D. 566.
271
Tewdwr Brycheiniog, the son of Nefydd ab Nefydd Ail ab Rhun ab Brychan, a saint of whom nothing more is known than his pedigree.
Ciwg, the son of Aron ab Cynfarch of the line of Coel, was the founder of Llangiwg, commonly called Llanguke^ in Glamorganshire. Elaeth, sometimes styled Elaeth Frenhin or " the king/'
was Meurig ab Idno of the tribe of Coel, and Onen In the former part Greg, a daughter of Gwallog ab Llenog. of his life he was a chieftain in the North, from whence he
the son of
was driven by a reverse of fortune
to
spend the remainder of
his days in the college of Seiriol in Anglesey,
and he
is
also
considered to have been the founder of the church of Amlwch
He was
in that county.
attributed to Festival,
him
Nov.
Myvyrian Archaiology,
10.
Saeran, a saint,
named
a bard, and a few religious stanzas
are preserved in the
Saer, or
''
is
said to
have been the son of Geraint, sur-
the artisan," of Ireland.
He was
buried at
Llanynys, Denbighshire, from which circumstance that church has been thought to have been dedicated to him
;
original founder, according to Llywarch Hen, was
Ceneu ab was
an
According to Usher, Kieranus
Coel.
eminent
saint
who founded
the
its
Jilius arlificis
bishoprick of
Cloyne in Ireland between the years 520 and 550 similarity of the
but
Mor ab
;
and the
names suggests the idea that he was the same
person as Geraint Saer, the father of Saeran, in which case the
Welsh y /^
appellation ought to have been written Geraint ah
Saer.
The
period just passed over includes the principal part of
the lives of Aneurin, Taliesin, Llywarch Hen, and Myrddin,
four bards, of whose compositions a very considerable portion
has remained to posterity;
and rude and obscure
poems may seem
reader, they should be received
to a
modern
as these
with the indulgence due to their antiquity, for they are per-
haps the
earliest
specimen of a vernacular literature possessed
—
THE WELSH
272 by any of the
SAINTS
existing nations of Europe.
They
are,
however,
not destitute of the spirit of poetry, and their violation of the rules of criticism torical records
and when
is
amply compensated by their value as hisabound in allusions to passing events,
for they
;
their scattered
notices are collected together
may be
embodied, an interesting dissertation history
and manners of the times. The names of
several other
bards of this date are preserved, whose works are entirely
But the question more deeply at this early
lost.
interesting to the ecclesiastical
historian, as well as to the best feelings of the Christian,
/'Did the Welsh
and
upon the
written
age possess, in their
own
a version of any part of the sacred Scriptures ?
is
language,
Without an-
swering this question absolutely in the negative,
it
may be
said that no traces of such a version have yet been discovered,
Church But the disadvantages of the former will appear much lessened when it is remembered that the Latin language must have been known in Wales to a considerable extent; for the Britons had formed a part of the Roman empire, from which they had not been separated a and
it
is
was not
full
to
be feared that in
this respect the British
so highly favoured as the
Anglo-Saxon.*
century before the establishment of the monastic institutions
so often noticed
;
and
if
the system of instruction adopted in
those communities was conducted in Latin, as was the case in similar
on the continent,
institutions
it
must have had a
powerful tendency to preserve the knowledge of a language, in
which the government of the people had so
lately
been
administered.
* About the year 706, Aldhelm, the the Psalter into
Saxon
:
first
bishop of Sherborne, translated
and at his earnest persuasion, Egbert or Eadfrid,
bishop of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, soon afterwards executed a Saxon version of the four Gospels.
erable Bede,
guage.
who
Not many years
after this, the learned and ven-
died A. D. 735, translated the entire Bible into that lan-
SECTION XII. The Welsh
Maelgwn Gwynedd A. D. 566
Saints from the Death of
to the
close of the Sixth Century.
The
princes of North Wales in this interval were suc-
Rhun
cessively
ab Maelgwn,
Beli
ab Rhun, and lago ab
Monmouth the sovereignty of the Britons was assumed by Ceredig, a man of turbulent disposition, who was perpetually engaged in feuds with other chieftains, by which the nation was so much weakened that it Beli ;* but according to Geoffrey of
could oppose but a feeble resistance to the Saxons, from whose ravages
suffered to a degree unprecedented
it
;
and though the
bards and genealogists mention nothing of Ceredig, sufficient evidence
may be
The Saxons
warfare.
own
gathered from their testimony to show that
countrymen were
their
accounts,
at this time harassed
had pushed
may be
as
also,
with intestine
learned from their
their conquests so far as the Severn, last and most extenUnder these circum-
and founded the kingdom of Mercia, the sive of the states of the Heptarchy.
stances
it
cannot be surprising that the saints of this period
are few,
and the information
though
at
scanty.
and
all
to
times meagre,
is
be gleaned respecting them, henceforward exceedingly
Tradition loves to dwell on the events of prosperity,
nations, like individuals, are not fond of recounting their
ill-successes.
*
Maelgwn Gwynedd must have
lived to a great age, for his generation
properly belongs to the commencement of the century.
Rhun,
Beli,
and
lago, (who are respectively his son, grandson, and great-grandson,) fol-
lowed
in rapid succession,
the fourth degree,
and
commenced
it
is
agreed that Cadfan, his descendant in
his reign soon after the year 600.
2k
THE WELSH
274
SAINTS
The bishop who presided over
the see of LlandafF was was asserted in the middle ages, that he made an acknowledgement of submission to St. Augustin,
Oudoceus, of
whom
it
archbishop of Canterbury, and received consecration at his
hands
;*
but the legend, for
it
deserves no better name,
is
so
contrary to authentic history and inconsistent with the state of
the Welsh Church for two centuries after the time of Oudoceus, that
it
Had
does not require a serious refutation.
the
early Catholic writers of this islandt been able to prove that a
Welsh bishop had submitted gained a iastical
political
to Canterbury, they
might have
purpose and terminated an important eccles-
controversy ; but they invariably describe the British
communion with the Anglo-Saxons, and celebrating the passover without fellowship with the Church of ChristJ The memory of Oudoceus has been held in great reverence at Llandaff, where he has had the honour of Christians as holding no
ranking with Dubricius and Teilo as one of the patron saints of the cathedral.
His commemoration
is
July
2.
Ceneu, the bishop of Menevia contemporary with Oudoceus,
was the founder of Llangeneu, a church which once existed in Pembrokeshire, but the settlement of the Flemings in that county has obliterated
all
traces of its situation. §
Lleuddad, called also Llawddog, the son of Dingad ab
Nudd
Hael and Tefrian or Tonwy a daughter of Llewddyn Luyddog ; he ended
his days in the Isle of Bardsey,
and
is
sometimes
* Liber Landavensis.
t Aldhelm, Eddius, and Bede.
^ J The cated,
first
Canterbury, that can be authenti-
instance of submission to
happened between the years 871 and 889, when Lwmbert or Hubert
Sais, bishop of St. David's, and Cimeliauc or Cyfelach, bishop of LlandafF,
were consecrated by Ethelred,
its
eighteenth
archbishop.
The
second instance of submission on the part of the bishops of St. David's did
— Compare
not occur before the eleventh century.
the
Welsh Chronicles
vith the notes to the Latin edition of Godwin's Bishops. § It is noticed in the
Laws
of
Hywel Dda. My v. Archaiology,
Vol. III.
i
FROM
TO
A. D. 566
D
A.
275
600.
confounded with Lleuddad, the companion of Cadfan, who The chapel of Llanllawddog at least half a century older.
was
under Abergwyli, Carmarthenshire^
dedicated to the son of
is
Dingad, who was also the founder of Cenarth, and Penboir, Carmarthenshire^
and
Cilgerran,
Festival
Pembrokeshire.
Jan. 15.
whom
Baglan, a son of Dingad, was the saint to
Llanfaglan
under Llanwnda, Carnarvonshire, and Baglan under Aberafon, Glamorganshire, are dedicated.
Gwytherin ab Gwytherin
Dingad, the founder of a church called
in the county of
Denbigh,
at
which place Gwen-
frewi or St. Winefred was afterwards buried.
Tygwy
ab Dingad, a saint to
dygwydd, Cardiganshire,
is
whom Llandygwy
or Llan-
ascribed.
Tyfriog, otherwise Tyfrydog, ab Dingad, the founder of
Llandyfriog in the county of Cardigan, which has also been called Llandyfrydog.
Eleri, daughter of Dingad, a saint
who
lived at Pennant in
the parish of Gwytherin, Denbighshire.
Aelhaiarn, a son of Hygarfael ab
wennan
Cyndrwyn
of Llystin-
He was
the founder
in Caereinion, Montgomeryshire.
of Llanaelhaiarn, Merionethshire, and Cegidfa or Guilsfield in the county of Montgomery. "
Festival,
Nov.
1.
Llwchaiarn, another son of Hygarfael ; the patron saint of
Llanllwchaiarn and Llanmerewig, Montgomeryshire, and of Llanychaiarn, and Llanllwchaiarn, Cardiganshire.*
Festival,
Jan. 11.
Cynhaiarn, brother of Llwchaiarn, a saint to
Cynhaiarn, a chapel
under
Cruccaith,
whom Ynys
Carnarvonshire,
is
dedicated.
* Llanmerewig was formerly a chapel to Llanllwchaiarn,
its
and Llanychaiarn, Cardiganshire, was subject to Llanbadarn
same county.
neighbour;
Fawr
in the
THE WELSH SAINTS
276
Ty fry dog, the son of Arwystli GlofF ab Seithenin and Tywynwedd daughter of Amlawdd Wledig he was the founder ;
of Llandyfrydog, Anglesea.
Twrnog
Teyrnog, brother of Tyfrydog;
or
Denbighshire,
Festival^ Jan. 1.
is
Llandyrnog,
attributed to him.
Tudur, brother of Tyfrydog, a
y Montgomeryshire, shire, is ascribed
is
by Ecton
whether the same person
is
saint to
whom
Darowain,
Mynyddyslwyn, Monmouth-
attributed.
to St.
Tudur, but
intended.
it
is
doubtful
Festival, Oct. 15.*
Dier or Diheufyr, a brother of Tyfrydog, and founder of
He
Bodfari in Flintshire. St.
is
called Deiferus in the legend of
Winefred.
Marchell^ a sister of Tyfrydog, the foundress of Ystrad
Marchell in Montgomeryshire, where an abbey was afterwards Capel Marchell under Llanrwst
built, called Strata Marcella. is
called after her
name.
Ufelwyn, or as he
is
styled in Latin, Ubilwynus, the son of
Cennydd ab Aneurin y Coed
Aiir,
was the founder of a church
in Glamorganshire called Llanufelwyn; the situation of
seems to correspond with division of the county
St.
upon the settlement of the Normans,
the lordship of St. George, which was granted
Fitzhammon
to
John Fleming,
of Llanufelwyn.t
which
George's near Cardiff, as in the
is
by Robert
sometimes called the lordship
Ufelwyn succeeded
St.
Oudoceus
as bishop
of LlandaJfF.J Ffili,
the son of
Cennydd ab
Gildas§ y
Coed Aur ; a
saint
The wake at Darowain is held eleven days afterwards. See page 240. f Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 526. \ It is not known who was the successor of Ufelwyn, as, according to *
the Chronicle of Caradog, Aidan, the next bishop in Godwin's
by
slain
wyn
;
list,
was
the Saxons in the year 720, a full century after the age of Ufel-
but the
lists
of bishops of Llandaff and St. David's are very corrupt
between the sixth and ninth centuries. §
'*
Gildas"—the same person
saint.—See page 225.
as Aneurin in the notice of the preceding
FROM
whom
to
it is
known by
said the
D
A.
566
A. D. 600.
church of Rhos
name of Rhos
the
TO
277 in
Ffili
Gower, now
dedicated.*
Sili^ is
the son of Brochwel Ysgythrog ab Cyngen ab Arddun daughter of Pabo Post Prydain, is said to have been bishop of St. Asaph and according to the situation Tyssilioj
Cadell and
;
which he occupies
in his pedigree
mediate successor of degree.
His
Asaf^, to
father^
he must have been the im-
whom
he was cousin
in the first
Brochwel, was the reigning prince of
Powys ; and Cynddelw,
a bard of the twelfth century, adverts
with pride to the circumstance that the saint was
The
cended of high ancestry."t
^'^
nobly des-
of Brochwel, which
life
extends beyond the usual period, was protracted to the next generation, but the military affairs of the province were al-
who
ready administered by Cynan Garwyn, one of his sons, shared largely in the feuds of the times, and a
poem
of Tal-
iesin:}:
describes his victorious career along the banks
Wye,
in the Isle of Anglesey,
the region of
Brychan
on the
hills
**
the
of Dimetia, and in
chieftains trembled
;
v
and
fled at his
approach, and he slaughtered his enemies with the gory blade.
On
the other hand, the pursuits of Tyssilio, independently of
his profession,
and
He was
were of a peaceable nature.
a bard,
reported to have written an ecclesiastical history of
is
Britain,
which
is
now
though
lost,
preserved in manuscript
it is
so late as the
alleged to have been
year 1600. §
It has
been said that the fabulous Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, edited
by Walter de Mapes and afterwards amplified by
Geoff-
rey of Monmouth, was originally compiled by Tyssilio; but is
now
generally agreed that the statement
it
unfounded, and
is
the Chronicle contains a heap of extravagant fables respecting
Cambrian Biography.
whom
Qu. From
does
Caerffili
derive
its
name t " Mat ganet o genedyl voned." J
—My
v.
§ Correspondence of the late in the
Archaiology, Vol.
I. p.
244.
Myv. Archaiology, Vol. I. p. 168. Rev. Evan Evans (Prydydd Hir,) published
Trawsganu Cynan Garwyn. Cambrian Quarterly, Vol.
I.
p. 396.
—
;
THE WELSH
278
;
;
;
;
-
SAINTS
Arthur which no historian would have ventured
to publish as
belonging to an age immediately preceding his own,
when
and the memory of persons living might have contradicted him. According to Browne Willis, the churches existing facts
and chapels, which own Tyssilio
for their patron saint, are:
—
Meifod, V. Montgomeryshire. Llandyssilio, a chapel to Llandrinio (St. Trinio,) Mont. Llandyssilio, C. Denbighshire.
Bryn Eglwys, C. Denb. Llandyssilio, a chapel to Llanfair
PwU
Gwyngyll
Mary,)
(St.
Anglesey. Llandyssilio yn Nyfed, V. Carmarthenshire, Llandyssilio Gogof, V. 1 chapel, Capel Cynon (St. Cynon,) Cardiganshire. Sellack, V. (in the Diocese of Hereford.) 3 chapels, King's Chapel (St. John the Baptist,) Marstow (St. Martin,) and Pencoed (St. Dennis,) Herefordshire.
—
—
To
these should be added Llansilio near
Longtown
in the
county of Hereford, as shown by the obvious signification of the name, though
Peter; but this
it
is
commonly
is
said to be dedicated to St.
one of the numerous instances in which
way to others approved of by the The bard Cynddelw, enumerating the
British saints have given
Saxons and Normans.
churches founded by Tyssilio, says
A church*
he raised with his fostering hand,
Llanllugyrn, with a chancel for the offertory
A church beyond the floods, by the glassy streams A church filled to overflowing, by the palace of Dinorben; A church in Armorica, through the influence of his liberality ;
The church
of Pengwern, the best upon the earth
A Church of Powys, the paradise of bliss The church its
Cammarch
of
(he raised) with a
hand of respect
for
owner.
* Llan a wnaeth
a'i
lawfaeth
loflen,
Llanllugyrn, llogawd offeren
Llan tra Uyr, tra
lliant
Llan drallanw, dra
llys
j
Llan Bywys, Baradwys burwen j
wydrlen
Dinorben
Llan Llydaw gan Uydwedd wohen ; Llan Bengwern, bennaf daearen
j
j
Llangammarch, llaw barch
ei
berchen.
Myv. Arcbaiology, Vol.
I.
p. 246.
k
:
FROM
TO
A. D. 566
The bard then proceeds more
A. D. 600.
to celebrate the praises of Meifod,
but equally obscure.*
about which he
is
llugyrn, literally
—the church of war-horns,
diffuse
is
known
:
Pengwern
bury, where Brochwel
is
is
Llan-
probably Llan-
of the church in Armoricaf
llugan in Montgomeryshire:
nothing
279
is
said to
the ancient
name of Shrews-
have resided, and which town
was long afterwards considered the capital of Powys: the church of Cammarch is Llangammarch in Brecknockshire, of which as
Tyssilio
it is
may have been
the second or assistant founder,
acknowledged that Cammarch was already
its
owner
and the other churches, which are vaguely described without their names,
Browne edifices
may be some
beyond the
of those included in the
from
limits of his diocese, taking advantage
probably of his brother's conquests
Powys
proportion of saints from
and there
;
is
an unusual
in this generation,
dicates the ascendancy of that province
ever,
list
seems to have founded religious
Tyssilio
Willis.
;
its
which
prosperity,
in-
how-
was reduced upon the defeat of the Britons by Ethelfrith
The memory of
at the battle of Bangor Iscoed.
St. Tyssilio
has been celebrated on the eighth of November.
Gwrnerth, the son of Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd of Trallwng or
Welsh Pool,
have been a saint; and a religious
said to
is
dialogue in verse between
which
*
is
him and
attributed to St. Tyssilio.
One of
the designations,
which he applies
of the three saints" (trefred y triseint;) and
yard once contained three churches, oldest
was named
the third, which
Mary.
—See
also
after St.
all
it
to Meifod, is
in the
is
—
singular that
*'the its
abode
church-
standing at the same time, the
Gwyddfarch, the next
was consecrated
after St. Tyssilio,
and
year 1155, was dedicated to St,
Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, Vol.
t The expression
may
his father, Llewelyn, is
Myvyrian Archaiology, the composition of
inserted in the
— " Llydaw" in the original, here
I. p.
321.
translated Armorica,
perhaps be an appellative, meaning maritime, as explained in Dr.
Pughe's Dictionary; and
Gogo
in Cardiganshire.
if so,
the description
is
applicable to Llandyssilio
THE WELSH SAINTS
280
Mygnach, the son of Mydno of Caer Seont or Carnarvon, for some time the registrar of the college of St. Cybi at Holyhead, and afterwards became the principal of that so-
was
A dialogue in verse between him and Taliesin is pub-
ciety.*
lished in the
My vyrian
Archaiology.
Cedwyn, the son of Gwgon Gwron ab Peredur of the of Coel
;
he has been accounted the patron
saint of
line
Llanged-
wyn, a chapel under Llanrhaiadr, Montgomeryshire.
Gwrfy w, the son of Pasgen ab Urien Rheged ;
whom
it
is
said there
there was also a chapel called after his
Conwy
a saint, to
was a church dedicated in Anglesey
name
at
Bangor
;
Uwch
in Carnarvonshire.t
Mor, another son of Pasgen ab Urien
;
a saint,
who was
buried in the Isle of Bardsey.
Mydan
ab Pasgen ab Urien, a member of the congregation
of Cattwg.
Lleminod Angel ab Pasgen ab Urien, a
Mechydd, a Llywarch Hen.
saint,
saint.
was the son of Sandde Bryd Angel ab
Buan, the son of Ysgwn ab Llywarch Hen, was the founder of Bodfuan, Carnarvonshire, and his festival has been held on the fourth of August.
Cathan or Cathen, the son of Cawrdaf ab**naradog Fraich-
was the founder of Llangathen, Carmarthenshire. The Hundred of Catheiniog in the same county is supposed to derive its name from him. Festival, May 17. Medrod and Iddew brothers of the preceding, have been ranked among the saints ; the resemblance of the names in-
fras,
duced the compilers of the Triads
Medrod and Iddog Corn Prydain,
to
confound them with
the leaders of the conspi-
racy which proved fatal to Arthur.
Elgud, a
saint, the
son of Cadfarch ab Caradog Fraichfras.
* Cambrian Biography,
t MyT. Archaiology, Vol. U. and Cambrian Biography.
FROM
TO
A. D. 566
A. D. 600.
Cennydd ab Gildas
Cynddilig, a son of
281 his
;
memory
has
been celebrated in the parish of Llanrhystud, Cardiganshire, on the
first
The
last
generation,
of November. holy person, whose is
may be
life
assigned to this
Deiniolen, or Deiniol ab Deiniol Ail, called also
He was
Deiniol Fab.
a son of Deiniol, the
first
bishop of
and a grandson of Dunawd, the founder of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed in Flintshire. It is recorded that he was a member of the society of Bangor Is-
Bangor
in Carnarvonshire
;
coed under the presidency of his grandfather, and after the destruction of that institution he retired to
Bangor
in Car-
narvonshire, where he became the president of a similar society
which had been established by his father, and of which his had been the first abbot;* the younger Deiniol, there-
—
father fore,
succeeded to the monastic honours of the elder, but
whether he succeeded unexplained.
It
also to his father's bishoprick is left
stated that
is
he founded the church of
Llanddeiniolen in the county of Carnarvon in the year 616.t
His
been celebrated on the twenty third of No-
festival has
vember
;
and Llanddeiniol Fab, a chapel under Llannidan,
Anglesey, has been called after his name. If the
Welsh Church,
was
in the period just concluded,
depressed by adverse circumstances,
it
is
a gratification to
learn that the Churches of the Scots were flourishing.
Columba had already founded the monastery of his disciples
were now engaged
in diffusing the blessings of
Christianity to the dark corners of the Highlands
ern
Isles.
Saxons.
The St.
St.
and
Iona,:{:
light of the Gospel
had
also
and West-
dawned upon the
Augustin had landed in Kentj§ and
laid the
foundation of a mission, one of the most successful that have
appeared since the age of the Apostles a
century after
its
* Page 258, antca, X
;
commencement, the
A.D.565.
for
in
less
t Cambrian Biography. § A.
2l
D.697.
than
whole nation
of
;
THE WELSH
282
SAINTS
the Saxons and Angles became, at least nominally. Christian.
The
instruments,
however, in effecting the principal part
of this conversion were the monks of lona,* the conflict
between
whom and
the clergy of
Rome
is
an irrefragable proof
of the independence of the primitive Churches of Britain
and
it is
not unreasonable to suppose that from this source
the Anglo-Saxons derived their notions of religious liberty, for they
never acknowledged an entire submission to the
Pope before the Norman Conquest, and even afterwards allegiance was badly sustained.t
their
* Bede, Lib. IIL 3, 4.
fSoames's Anglo-Saxon Church,
—and Southey*s Book of the Church.
;
SECTION The Welsh
XIII.
Saints from A. D. 600 to the Death of Cadwallon A. D. 634.
Iago ab
Beli, the last prince of
North Wales mentioned in
was killed in the year 603^ when he was succeeded by his son, Cadfan ab Iago, who, upon the departure or expulsion of Ethelfrith from Powys, became the Pendragon the preceding period,
or chief sovereign of the Britons, but the duration of his reign
and the year of
his death are uncertain.
His honours were
continued to his son, Cadwallon* ab Cadfan the assumption of his power,
;
who, soon
after
was defeated by Edwin, king of
Northumbria, driven from his dominions, and forced to seek
Upon
an asylum in Ireland, where he remained seven years. his return,
be formed an alliance with Penda, king of Mercia
marched
Northumbria, where
and joining
their forces, they
Edwin was
totally routed, himself slain,
destroyed.
Cadwallon continued his victorious course ; several
of the princes of the Angles to death ;t such indeed
were
fell
to
and most of
into his hands,
his successes, that
* This name has been variously
written
j
Bede
his
and were put
it
spells
was believed
it
Caedualla
"Senmusy Catgublaun ; the Saxon Chromcle, Ceadwalla ; and the writers,
son
may
army
Welsh
Cadwallon and Katwallawn: and though the identity of the perbe clearly proved,
it is
necessary to observe these particulars to
him from Cadwaladr, and from another Caedualla or Ceadwalla, a king of the West Saxons j all of whom, inasmuch as they lived distinguish
within a short time of each other, have been frequently confounded together.
t That Cadwallon
struck terror into the nation of the Angles
is
evident
from the manner in which Bede describes the havock which he committed, as if he ravaged the country, slaughtering
its
inhabitants without regard
—
THE WELSH
284 the time had arrived
and
Angles^,
when
—
SAINTS
the Britons should expel the Saxons
and be restored
to the entire possession of the
good fortune^ however, received a sudden check. Cadwallon was defeated by Oswald the Bernician, and killed island. Their
The
in battle.*
sessions never St.
return of the Britons to their ancient pos-
became probable
again.
Augustin had gained a firm footing in Kent, and was
when he
extending his mission to other parts of the island,
undertook the design of bringing the Britons to a conformity with the Church of Rome, and reducing them under his jurisdiction.
The following
extracted from the works of
is
own
the narrative of his attempt, as
Bede ;t
" In the mean time, Augustin, availing himself of the ance of king Ethelbert ( Mdilhercl,)
summoned
assist-
to a conference
the bishops or doctors of the nearest province of the Britons,
which
at a place
is
Huiccii and
West
still
called in the language of the
Angles
Oak
of Augustin, J on the confines of the Saxons and he began to advise them with
A%igustinaes ac, or the
:
brotherly admonition, that they should enter into a Catholic
peace with himself, and undertake for their Lord the
common
For they were
labour of preaching the Gospel to the heathen.
not accustomed to celebrate the feast of the Passover of our
Lord tieth
to
at its
proper time, but from the fourteenth to the twen-
day of the moon, a computation which
age or sex, putting
women and
is
comprised in a
children to a cruel death -with the feroci-
ty of a brute. Penda, that author says, had not embraced Christianity
Caedwalla, though a Christian, was a barbarian more
pagan.—Lib.
11.20, and
IIL
but
;
savage than a
1.
* Bede, Nennius, and the Triads.—-Caradog of Llancarvan, and the lowers of Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose account of Cadwallon
fol-
is
as
fabulous as any part of his history, place the death of that prince in 660,
while Bede,
who was
almost a contemporary, fixes
See also Turner's Anglo-Saxons, Book
t
III.
it
in the
year 634.
Chap. VII.
Hist. Eccl. Lib. 11. Cap. II.
X Situated apparently, within the modern county of Worcester.
—
FROM
A. D. 600
cycle of eighty four years;
many Who^
TO
A. D. 634.
and they were wont
to
perform
other things also contrary to the unity of the Church. after
holding a long dispute, were not willing to give
assent to the entreaties, the exhortations,
Augustin and
his friends,
rather than those of
all
We pray
and the rebukes of
but preferred their
own
traditions
the churches which throughout the
The
world agree in Christ. put an an end to '
285
holy father, Augustin, therefore
this laborious
and long debate, by saying
God, who hath made men
to
:
be of one mind in the
house of their father, that he vouchsafe to signify to us by
which
must be followed, by what Let some sick person be brought ; and by whosesoever's prayers he shall be healed, let the faith and service of that man be acknowledged as devoted to God and be followed by all.'— To which proposal, when the adversaries, though unwillingly, had agreed, a certain person of the nation of the Angles, designs from heaven,
way we must
traditions
hasten to the entrance of his kingdom.
prived of the sight of his eyes, was produced
;
who, when
presented to the priests of the Britons, obtained no cure or recovery
by
their
ministry,
until Augustin, forced
by the Lord
necessity of the case, bent his knees to the father of our
Jesus Christ, praying that he would restore to the blind that sight
which he had
lost,
and by the bodily illumination of one
man would kindle the grace of spiritual light in the hearts of many believers. Without delay the blind receives his sight, and Augustin is proclaimed by all to be the true herald of from heaven. Then indeed the Britons confessed that the true way of righteousness was that which Augustin
light
preached, but they could not renounce their ancient customs
without the consent and permission
Whence at
of their countrymen.
they demanded that a second Synod should be held,
which a greater number of persons should meet." " Which being appointed, there came, as they relate, seven
bishops of the Britons, and cipally
from
their
many
very learned men, prin-
most famous monastery, called in the
;
THE WELSH
286 V
SAINTS
language of the Angles Bancot^vmhiirg* over which Dinoot^t the Abbotj
is
said to have presided at that time
who, being
;
about to attend the Council just mentioned, came certain holy
and prudent man, who was wont
of an anchorite in that country, to consult
first
to a
to lead the
life
him whether they
should forsake their traditions at the preaching of Augustin.
He
answered,
said,
'
Whence
shall
my
hath said. Take
meek and lowly lowly in heart,
but
it is
he
if
is
'
yoke upon you and learn of me, to
shall
to
him
;
and
if
obediently,
he
we
first,
to
it
am
be borne by you
clear that
it is
he
us.'
discover this also
is
not of
They
said
He
said,
?'
with his friends to the place of
shall rise
knowing
for I
meek and
is
because he bears him-
that,
will offer
not to be regarded by
is
Contrive that he come
the Synod
he
meek but proud,
not
And whence
'
If therefore Augustin
be expected
Christ,
God, his speech again,
'
'
in heart.
yoke of
self the
man of God, follow him. They we prove this ?' He replied, The Lord
If he be a
^
when you approach, hearken
that he
the servant of Christ
is
;
and be not willing to rise in your presence when you are more in number, then let him be despised by you.' They did as he had said, and it was brought to pass, that when they came, Augustin continued to sit in his but
if
he
shall despise you,
—
chair.
Seeing which, they were soon moved to anger, and
charging him with pride strove to contradict every thing
which he
said.
But he
told them,
'
Since in
act contrary to our custom,
and even
Church, yet
me
if
ye will obey
celebrate the Passover at service of Baptism,
its
;
*
;
that ye
to the nation of the
which ye
Bangor Iscoed,
t Dunawd.
;
that ye perform the
Apostolic Church ; and
word of God
as for the other things
things ye
are born again to God, after
Roman and
that ye preach with us the
Angles
in these three points
proper time
by which we
the manner of the holy
many
to that of the universal
See page 206.
do, although con-
FROM
A. D. 600
TO
A. D. 634.
287
we will bear them all with patience/ But they answered that they would perform none of these, considering neither would they have him for an archbishop among themselves, that if he would not rise up to them at that time, how much more would he despise them if they became subject to him." "To whom, Augustin, the man of God, is said to have foretold in a threatening tone, that because they would not have peace with brothers, they should have war with enemies ; and
I
trary to our customs^
;
if
they were unwilling to preach to the nation of the Angles
way
the
of death.
of life, by their hands they should suffer the vengeance
Which, by the agency of divine judgment, was all respects as he had foretold."
so
performed in
" Since after this, Ethelfrith (Aedilfrid,) the most powerful
king of the Angles, having collected a large army, made a very great slaughter of that perfidious race, at the city of is called by the people of the Angles Legacaesby the Britons more properly Carlegion. And when, being about to give battle, he saw, standing by themselves in a place of greater safety, their priests who had come to pray
Legions, which
tir* but
to
God
engaged in the war, he enquired who what purpose they had come thither?
for the soldiers
were those, and
for
But most of them were from the monastery of Bancor, in which number of monks is said to have been so great, that when the monastery was divided into seven classes, with superin-
the
tendents set over them, none of those classes contained less
than three hundred men,
by the labour of
their
having performed a
fast
all
own
of
whom
hands.
of three days,
were accustomed
to live
Most of these therefore, had come together, with
others, to the before-mentioned field for the sake of prayer,
having a defender, by name Brocmailjf to protect them while intent upon their prayers from the swords of the barbarians.
*
The
present
town of Chester, which the "Welsh still call Caerlleon. tBrochwel Ysgythrog. See page 208.
—
3'HE
288
WELSH
SAINTS
Wllen king Ethelfrith understood the cause of he
said,
'
Then
if
God
they cry to their
their arrival,
against us, surely even
they, although they do not bear arms, fight against us
He
they oppose us with their hostile prayers.' his
arms to be turned against them
when
then ordered
and afterwards des-
first,
troyed the other forces of that impious war, not without great
own army.
They
relate that there were killed in hundred men of those who had come Brocmail and to pray, and that only fifty escaped by flight. his troops, upon the first approach of the enemy, turned their backs, and left those, whom he ought to have defended, unarmed and naked to men who fought with swords. And thus
loss in his
that battle about twelve
was accomplished the prediction of the holy pontiff Augustin, although he had long before been raised to a heavenly king-
dom ;
so that
fidious people
by the vengeance of a temporal death the permight perceive, that they had despised the
which had been
counsels of everlasting salvation,
offered to
them."
Such
is
Bede's description of this memorable controversy,
the several clauses of which have been variously interpreted
according to the bias of different commentators testants, in their zeal against
Britons differed from the as in discipline
Roman
and
Romish Church
ecclesiastical
Catholic writers insist,
;
some Pro-
Popery, contending that the in doctrine, as well
government ; while certain
was there no
that not only
difference in matters of faith, but that the apparent refusal of
submission to the Pope extended merely to their rejection of
Augustin
for their archbishop, as if they
Rome through him as an may however be fairly
were unwilling
subject to
intermediate prelate.*
question
balanced.t
dispute regarded only
government
;
for
discipline,
rituals,
no difference in doctrine
The
and is
to
be
The
points in
ecclesiastical
mentioned, and
Book of the Roman Catholic Church, Letter IV. t Soames's Anglo-Saxon Church and Europe in the Middle Ages, by S. A. Dunham, Vol. III. * Butler's
;
I
FROM if
A. D. 600
TO
A. D. 634.
289
any had existed to a material degree, Augustin would not
have desired them
Bede
is
to accept
how
to join
him
in preaching to the Saxons.*
why
not explicit as to the reason
Augustin
this point
the Britons refused
for their archbishop, nor does
was introduced
differences in discipline
and
to their consideration
it ;
appear
but the
proof that they did
ritual are the
No
not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Pope.
fact
is
more clearly asserted than that the Britons were not in communion with the Catholic Church, for it is repeated throughout the Ecclesiastical History of Bede, who was himself a Catholic.
The
Catholics treated the British people as schis-
matics and heretics, and maintained that the consecration of
was invalid; while the Britons on the other hand regarded the Romish clergy as unclean, and refused to eat or hold intercourse with them until they had first undergone a purification ;t and it is a singular argument in confirmation of British independence, that whenever terms of
their bishops
reconciliation
were
offered, the
Britons refused them, proving
that their separation was the effect of choice, and not an in-
voluntary exclusion. It is to
be regretted that the Welsh have not preserved any
by which the Bede has not sufficiently
authentic detailed account of these Councils,
question of the archbishoprick, which
beyond dispute. The chronicles Mapes and Geoffrey of Monmouth have en-
explained, might be placed
of Walter de
deavoured to supply the deficiency
;
and a speech, alleged to
have been taken from an ancient manuscript, has been repeatedly printed, purporting to be the reply of
Dunawd,
the
Abbot, to Augustin; in which the supremacy of the Pope
is
* Milner, in his Church History, treats the case of the Britons most unfairly
;
and in his eagerness to shew that the doctrine of Gregory and
Augustin was orthodox, he insinuates that the former retained some of the leaven of Pelagianisra.
would not have been slow
t Aldhelm's
Their
oi>i
onents, and
Bede amongst the
to advance the charge if
Letter to Geruntius.
2m
it
were
true.
rest,
THE WELSH
290
and
positively denied,
is
it
SAINTS
declared that the Britons acknow-
ledged no spiritual ruler under heaven superior to the bishop Unfortunately the language and style of this
of Caerleon.
speech,* as well as the are too
modern
during
many
manner
in
which
to allow its genuineness;
presents a difficulty not easily overcome. state that
subject
is
treated,
centuries of Catholic ascendancy, of a document,
which the claims of the Pope are
in
its
and the preservation,
Dunawd was
impugned,
Walter and Geoffrey
the leader of the opposition to
gustin, and, without alluding
ground of the
so openly
to the
Au-
Pope, assert that the
refusal of the Britons to submit to the juris-
was the circumstance that they had an
diction of Canterbury,
archbishop of their
own
whose testimony
always of little value, wrote when the papal
is
These authors, however,
at Caerleon.
power was at its height ; and the only authority, upon which any arguments relative to the subject can be founded, is that of Bede,
*
It is
who
lived while the separation alluded to
thus printed in Spelman's Concilia, from the
tyn, Gent.
—"Bid
yspys a diogel
uvydd ac ynn ostyngedig kyur grissdion dwyuol,
i
i
i
MS.
still
con-
of Peter Mos-
chwi, yn bod ni hell un ac arall yn
Eglwys Duw ac i'r Paab o Ruvain, ac i boob pawb yn i radd mewn kariad perflFaith, ac i
garu
pawb o honaunt a gair a gweithred i fod ynn blant i Dduw Ac amgenach ufudddod no hwn nid adwen i vod ir neb ir yddych chwi yn henwi yn Baab ne yn Daad o daade, yw gleiraio ac yw ovunn Aruvydddod
helpio
:
:
hwn
ir
yddyra ni yn barod
yn dragwyddol.
Hevyd
yw
ir
roddi ac
ydym
in
yw
dalu iddo
ef,
ac
i
bob Krisdion
dan lywodraeth Esgob Kaerllion ar
wysg yr hwn ysydd yn olygwr dan Dduw arnora ni y wneuthud i ni gadwyr ffordd yshrydol."— Translation. Be it known and certain to you, that
we
are, all
to the
and singular, obedient and subject to the Church of God, and
Pope of Rome, and
to every true and pious Christian, to love every degree with perfect charity, and to help every one of them by word and deed to become the sons of God and other obedience than this
one
in his
:
I
do not know that he
can claim and require
:
whom you name
bnt this obedience
to every Christian for ever.
we are ready to pay to him and Moreover we are under the government of the
bishop of Caerleon upon Usk,
make us keep
the Pope, or the father of fathers,
who
the spiritual way.
is
superintendent under
God
over us to
—
FROM tinued, effect
who
and
which
A. D. 600
TO
not
in
could
his admissions
the supremacy of
Rome
A. D. 634.
291
time
his
the
foresee
might have upon the question of
as maintained at a later age.
nothing of an archbishoprick of the Britons
;
He
says
the claims of
Augustin are rejected without noticing the rights of a
rival
by the Welsh records would show that the dignity once assumed by the prelates of Caerleon and Menevia had become extinct, if indeed and
metropolitan;
it
the inferences presented
had ever been firmly
established.*
continuance at the
Its
time of the Council must have produced a collision with the
would have been disingenuits extinction is the most Bede obvious mode of explaining the incidental manner in which the subject is introduced. The plea, upon which submission was refused, is therefore incorrectly stated by Walter and
pretensions of Augustin,
ous in
Geoffrey.
which
it
to pass unobserved,
It
and
was not a dispute respecting the
rights of
two
intermediate prelates, but the rejection of an archbishop sent
by the Pope. That St. Gregory designed
that the jurisdiction of
should extend over the bishops of Wales
is
Augustin
indisputable, for in
answer to one of the questions of his missionary he says " We commit to thee, our brother, all the bishops of the pro:
vinces of Britain, that the unlearned be instructed, the
weak
be strengthened by persuasion, the perverse be corrected by authority ."t Here is no recognition of the rights of a British
—
metropolitan.
It
was the intention of that Pontiff that there
should be two archbishopricks in the island, London and York, the archbishops of which places should take precedence of
each other by priority of consecration
Augustin, with
whom
this
;
but in reference to
ecclesiastical polity
should com-
* See page 174.
t " Britanniarum vero omnes Episcopos
tuae fraternitati
committimus, ut
iudocti doceantur, infirmi peisuasione roborentur, perversi auctoritate cor-
rigantur."—Bede, Lib.
I.
Cap. 27.
THE WELSH
292
SAINTS
says, as his words may be literally rendered ;— " And thou J our brother, shalt have in subjection, not only
mence, he
those bishops
whom
thou shalt ordain, nor those only
who
have been ordained by the archbishop of York, but
shall
also all
the clergy of Britain,
by the authority of our Lord Jesus
—These were
the commissions to which the bishops
Christ."*
and clergy of Wales refused
to submit,
and the same inde-
pendence was maintained by the Christians of Cornwall and Scotland.
Augustin had asked whether
tended to Gaul, a concession which
St.
his jurisdiction ex-
Gregory declined
to
had from ancient the archbishops of Aries, who by virtue of
grant, because the Popes, his predecessors,
times sent a pall to
possession were the metropolitans of that country ;t but as
its
there was no similar reason for abridging the authority of that prelate in Britain, the inference remains, that none of the
British Christians
had received that emblem of dignity ; the
prerogative of their Churches had never been sanctioned at
Rome; and now, when
it
was intended they should merge
into
the Church of the Angles, they maintained their separate existence in spite of a papal decree.
The names and
titles
of the seven bishops
who
attended the
second Council are not specified, and later writers, J
who
differ
considerably with each other, have endeavoured to point out the seven dioceses to which they belonged. regularly established in
Wales were
five,
The
bishopricks
Menevia or
St.
Da-
* "Tua vero fraternitas non solum eos Episcopos quos ordinaverit, Deque hos tantummodo qui per Eburacae Episcopura fuerint ordinati, sed etiam omnes Britanniae Sacerdotes habeat, Deo Domino nostro Jesu Christo
—Bede, Lib.
auctore, subjectos."
t
'*
I.
Cap. 29.
In Galliarum Episcopis nullam tibi auctoritatem tribuimus
antiquis prsedecessorum
meorum temporibus Pallium
:
quia ab
Arelalensis Epis-
copus accepit, quem nos privare auctoritate percept^ minime debemus."— I. Cap. 27.
Bede, Lib.
J Roger Hoveden, Bale, and the Archives of Menevia.— They are compared with each other in Spelman's Concilia, and Usher, Chap. V.
FROM
TO
A. D. 600
D
A.
293
634.
To these Welsh geneThe seventh alogies a British bishop resided about this time. must be left to conjecture ; but as the Cornish or Western Britons must have had several native prelates in this age, and it has been asserted that there was a British bishop in Somervid's, Llandaff,
may be added
set
Llanbadarn, Bangor, and
late as the reign
so
Asaph.
of king Ina,* the distance of their
country from the place of meeting that
St.
Gloucester, where according to the
is
not too great to suppose
The most probable
some one of them was present.
date
of the two Councils, for both are believed to have been held in the same year,
is
603.
Augustin died in 605; and the battle named it " the battle of the
of Chester, or as the Welsh have
Orchard of Bangor," appears to have been fought in 607Several modern commentators have charged Augustin with
inhuman slaughter of the monks which ensued upon the last occasion, and to minds impressed with this idea it would seem as if the assertion of Bede, that he was dead instigating the
long before,t arose from a solicitude to clear the archbishop
from a suspicion which that author knew was attached to him.
But the
text warrants
solicitude of
monks
The
no such uncharitable inferences.
Bede, who does not regard the slaughter of the
as a crime,
but rather applauds
it
as the just
judgment
of heaven, was merely to establish the credit of Augustin as a
prophet,
of his
by proving
own
that he
predictions.
was not a party
The
to the fulfilment
was
threat of the archbishop
only the ebullition of disappointment ; the invasion of Wales
* A. D. 688 to 725.—The authority Glastonbury quoted by Usher,
whp
for this statement is a Chronicle of
says
it
was written
in
1259.
—
Brit.
Eccl. Pritnordia, Cap. V.
t " Ipso jam multo ante tempore ad is
celestia regna
sublato."— As there
nothing answerable to these words in King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon trans-
lation
it
has been conjectured by some that they are an interpolation j but
Dr. Smith, the editor of Bede, observes they are to be found in Latin
MSS.
extant, and that the
other similar omissions.
work of
all the
Alfred, being a paraphrase, has
THE WELSH SAINTS
2.94
by
Ethelfrith
was one of the casual operations of war
monks was owing
the massacre of the
for
had the invasion would
their appearance
on a neighbouring
the purpose of exterminating them,
Ethelfrith have inquired ignorantly
were they doing
He
?
hill
;
who
and
the accident of
been made
for
;
to
they were, and what
then puts them to the sword, because
they were praying to their
God
for his defeat.
Ethelfrith
was
a pagan, and therefore could feel no interest in a religious con-
he was a Northumbrian, and ; came from a province of the Anglo-Saxons the most remote from the influence of Augustin ; in short, he was the chief of troversy between Christians
the only province in the nation which refused to acknowledge
the sovereignty of Ethelbert,* the patron of the archbishop.
The
destruction of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed followed
the massacre of
members, and the calamity must have
its
caused a great diminution in the number of the Welsh Saints;
but the national Church soon afterwards underwent a more general depression owing to the conquests of Edwin, a short time reduced the whole of the
who
for
Britons nnder his
sway ;t and Wales, which had so often afforded an asylum to the was in turn exposed to the ravages of
religious of other parts,
the Saxons.
From
these the
re-appearance of
Cadwallon
procured a short respite, but the interval was spent in iation,
and
attention appears to have
little
duties of religion
generation, whose
been paid
retal-
to the
and peace. The few holy persons of this names have reached posterity, must now be
noticed.
Grwst, the son of Gwaith Hengaer ab Elffin ab Urien Rheged, and
* This
Euronwy
fact,
"which
the daughter of Clydno Eiddin
Bede (Lib.
II.
was
murder the British
t Bede,
the person
ecclesiastics.
Lib. II. Cap. V.
&
IX.
who
he
is
the
Cap. V.) discloses without reference
to the disputed question, overthrows the assertions of
that Ethelbert
;
Walter and Geoffrey
influenced Ethelfrith to
invade and
FROM
A. D. 600
TO
A. D. 634.
295
reputed founder of Llanrwst, Denbighshire, and his festival has been held on the
first
Nidan, the son of officer in
of December.
Gwrfyw ab Pasgen ab
Urien, was an Penmon, Anglesey ; and the church of the same county was named after him.* Festival,
the college of
Llannidan in Sept. 30.
Foeddog ab Rhun Rhion ab Llyw-
Cadell, the son of Urien
Hen ;
arch
whom
a saint to
Llangadell, a church formerly in
Glamorganshire, was dedicated.
Dyfnog, the son of Medrod ab Cawrdaf ab Caradog, was probably
the
which was val,
second
originally
saint
of
Dyfynog,
Brecknockshire,
founded by Cynog ab Brychan.
Festi-
Feb. 13.
Cynhafal, the son of Elgud ab Cadfarch ab Caradog Frai chfras
and Tubrawst daughter of Tuthlwyniaid
;f
he was the
founder of Llangynhafal, Denbighshire, and has been com-
memorated on the Gwenfrewi, or well that
is
fifth
St.
of October.
Winefred, owes her celebrity more to the
called after her
of her in Bonedd y Saint
name than
;
for
to
any thing that
even her parentage
is
is
said
not men-
Welsh accounts, and the time in which she lived names of her contemporaries which occur in her legendary Life. The Legend says that " Theuith," a powerful man, the son of " Eluith," gave Beuno
tioned in the is
ascertained only from the
a spot of
him fred.
to
ground
for the erection of a church,
and appointed
be the religious instructor of his only daughter, WineCaradog, the son of Alan, a neighbouring chieftain,
endeavoured to force the chastity of Winefred, upon which she fled
towards the church of Beuno.
she was overtaken,
when
rage presently strook of her head place where
it
fell
to
In her
flight,
however,
—" the young man mad with lust and :J
and immediatly
in the
the earth a most pure and plentiful!
* Cambrian Biography.
f Bonedd y
% Literatim from Cressy.
Saint.
THE WELSH SAINTS
296
Spring gushed forth, which flowes to
Holy Virgins merits gives health It
sons.
being in the steep descent of a
head was cutt into the
where
by the
hill
down
where the Virgins
to the bottom, slidd
whereas the body remaind in the place
Church:
The whole congregation
fell.
it first
to Divine
rouling
of, it lightly
day, and
this
to a world of diseased per-
there attending
Mysteries were wonderfully astonished to see the
Head tumbling among
their feet, detesting the crime of the
But
murderer, and impreciating divine vengeance on him.
the parents of the Virgin broke forth into tears and sad com-
They
plaints. liveles
all
went
and found the murderer near the
out,
body, wiping his sword on the grasse."
—Beuno takes
the head of the Virgin in his hands and pronounces a curse
upon the young man, who immediately gives up the ghost and ^" But the man of God often kissing the head which he held in his hands could not refrain Afterwards ioyning it to the body, and to weep bitterly. covering it with his mantle, he returned to the Altar, where his corpse vanishes out of sight.
he celebrated Masse."
— He
—
then preaches a sermon over the
body, and intreats the congregation to unite with him in prayer for the restoration of the Virgin. ended, to which
all
the people cryed aloud.
gin presently rose up, as the dust and sweat, and
and
ioy.
Now
—" This Prayer being
if
from
filled
in the place
Amen
:
the Vir-
sleep, cleansing her face
the Congregation with
from
wonder
where the head was reioyned
to
the body there appeared a white Circle compassing the neck, small as a white thread, which continued so
all
her
life,
report in that countrey
the
is
the
that from that white circle she
had
name of Winefrid given Breuna:
called
And
White.
shew-
And
ing the place where the Section had been made.
her, whereas at
first
For in the British language
moreover the Tradition
is,
she had been
Win
signifies
that after her death
whensoever she appeared to any, that White mark was always visible.
much
The
distant
place where her blood was
first
from a Monastery in North Wales
shed was not calld Basing-
FROM werk: The name of
it
her death to this day
it
A. D. 600
TO
A. D, G34.
297
formerly was, The dry vale, but after is
The
called Saint Winefrids Well.
Stones likewise, both where the spring gushes forth, and
beneath in the Current, having been sprinkled with her blood; times: which colour neither the
retain the rednes to these
length of so
many
ages, nor the continuall sliding of the water
over them, have been able to wash away, and moreover a
Mosse which
certain
fragrant
odour, like
(Gwytherin
The
—The
stones,
renders a
Legend proceeds
became abbess of a convent the county
in
and was buried Sannan.
the said
to
with Diheufyr, Sadwrn, and Eleri
relate her interviews to say that she
sticks
Incense/'*
*'
of the
to
and
Witheriacus"
of Denbigh,) where
near the graves
eldest
at
;
died
she
Cybi and
saints
authority for this nonsensical fable
is
Robert, Prior of Shrewsbury, who says that the body of " Wenefreda" was translated from Gwytherin to the church of St. iEgidius at Shrewsbury in the reign of King Stephen.t But it is remarkable that in the survey of Domesday Book,
which includes the county of nor well of
Flint, neither church, chapel,
Winefred are mentioned, affording a pre-
St.
sumption that the story and celebrity of the saint are of a than the
later date
Norman
Conquest. J
Festival,
Enghenel, grandson of Brochwel Ysgythrog
whom
Nov.
;
a
Llanenghenel under Llanfachraith, Anglesey,
3.
saint is
to
dedi-
cated.
Usteg, the son of Geraint ab Carannog, of the line of Cadell
Deyrnllug,
is
said to
have "officiated as dean of the college of
Garmon.."§ * Cressy.
f Leland, Vol. IV.
Appendix.
% This argument, the want of ancient testimony, did not shake the faith
of Cressy,
who
says
of suspicion of the
—
^*'It
ought not to be esteemd a preiudice or ground
Truth of these Gests of Saint Winefride, that Saint
Beda and some other of our ancient Saxon Historians have not mentioned her
among
the other Saints of this age ;"
—
for
no intercourse passed be-
tween the Britons and Saxons who were continually § Cambrian Biography.
2n
at war.
;
THE WELSH
298
SAINTS,
&c.
Eldad, a brother of Usteg, was a saint of the society of lUtyd, and afterwards bishop of Gloucester, where he was
by the Saxons. Another Eldad, the son of Arth ab Arthog Frycb, and a
slain
descendant of Cynan Meiriadog, was a
member
of the college
of Illtyd about the same time.
Egwad, a son of Cynddilig ab Cennydd ab Gildas he was Llanegwad and Llanfynydd, Carmarthen;
the founder of shire.
Edeyrn, the son of Nudd ab Beli ab Rhun ab Maelgwn Gwynedd, was a bard, who embraced a life of sanctity, and the chapel of Bodedeyrn under Holyhead is dedicated to him. Some pedigrees say that the father of Edeyrn was Beli, omitting Nudd. Festival, Jan. 6. Padrig, the son of Alfryd ab Goronwy ab Gwdion ab Don a saint of the monastery of Cybi at Holyhead, and the founder
of Llanbadrig in Anglesey. Idloes, the son of
Gwyddnabi ab Llawfrodedd FarfogCoch;
the founder of Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire.
Sadwrn, who is
is
mentioned in the Legend of
St.
Winefred,
considered to be the patron saint of Henllan in the county
of Denbigh, but his genealogy
is
not known.
Helig Foel, the son of Glanog ab
Gwgan Gleddyf Rhudd
ab Caradog Fraichfras, was the chieftain of a tract of low land on the coast of Carnarvonshire, called Tyno Helig;
where a calamity tref y Gwaelod*
similar to the reported submersion of is
said
to
Can-
have happened, and the lands
overflowed form the present Lafan Sands in Beaumaris Bay. After the loss of his property Helig embraced a religious life, and has in consequence been classed among the saints, but no
churches are dedicated to him. in the in the battle of
His grandfather was engaged Bangor Iscoed, A. D. 607. *
Page 834.
SECTION XIV. The Welsh
Saints from the Death of Cadwallon A. D. 634 to the Death
of Cadwaladr A. D. 664.
-
Cadwaladb, whose reign is commensurate with this interval, was the son of Cadwallon, and was the last of the Welsh nation who assumed the title of chief sovereign of Britain.* His power, however, was narrowly circumscribed, and in the early part of his reign he must have held the situation of a dependent prince
;
for
Oswald the Bernician, upon the con-
quest and death of Cadwallon,
government over
all
said to
is
have extended his
the Britons as well as the Saxons.t After
a few years Penda the Mercian revolted, and Oswald was slain in battle;
upon which occasion
recovered their independence, as
who
it
would appear the Welsh not recorded that Oswy,
it is
succeeded Oswald as Bretwalda or chief sovereign of the
Saxons, exercised the same authority over the Britons.
It is
generally agreed that Cadwaladr was of a peaceable diposition ; his life passed without
any remarkable events
;
and the vener-
who
lived in the next
generation, does not mention his name.
In the year 664 a
able
historian of the Anglo-Saxons,
plague broke out, which spread desolation over Britain and Ireland, is
and
in the latter country,
where
it
lasted three years,
swept away two thirds of the inhabitants. J
continuance was
much
shorter,
and Cadwaladr was one of its *
its ||
victims.§
" A Phrydein dan un paladyr
Goreu mab Kymro Katwalatyr." Kyvoesi Myrdin Myv. Arch. Vol. :
t Bede
In Britain
but great numbers perished,
II. 6,
and
III. 6.
J Annals of Ulster. § Nennius apud Gale.
I.
page 140, |1
Bede, III. 27.
THE WELSH
300 The
chronicles of Walter
SAINTS
and Geoffrey terminate with the
death of this prince and the appointment of his successor, but
they terminate in a for
way worthy
of their previous character
having begun and continued a course of
fable,
;
which has
too long usurped the place of history, they end in a blunder.
According to them the plague htSted eleven years, and misplacing the age of Cadwaladr rLey assert that to avoid
its
ravages he retired to the court of Alan, the king of Armorica.
He
was hospitably received, and
to return,
was preparing commanding hira to repurpose and undertake a pilgrimage to Rome.
when an
linquish his
after a while
angel appeared,
Resigning his kingdom, therefore, in favour of
the saints
688.*
Ifor, his son,
Rome, where having been admitted among by Pope Sergius, he died on the twelfth of May,
he proceeded
to
—Persons
acquainted with the history of the Anglo-
Saxons will immediately perceive that Walter and Geoffrey
have confounded their hero with Ceadwalla the king of Wessex,
who resigned his kingdom, and making a pilgrimage to Rome was baptized there by Pope Sergius, where he died on the twelfth of the calends of May, 688. t The story is true as
—
regards Ceadwalla, for
temporary and affecting the
Saxon
who
related
it is
by Bede, who was
his con-
could not have mistaken a circumstance
government of one of the most powerful of the Walter and Geoffrey were deceived by the
states.
sound of the name
;
and three other chroniclers
in the Myvyrwake of the error, by the king of Wessex and
ian ArchaiologyJ have followed in the
assigning the true history of Ina,
successor of Ceadwalla, to Ifor, the supposed successor of Cad-
A
waladr.
*
notion prevailed In the beginning of the
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
+ So
II.
t\\ 3l^:,!i
page 388.
Saxon Chronicle. Bede is more precise, and though he admits that Ceadwalla resigned his kingdom in 688, he says he did not reach
Rome
in the
till
the year following, when, after receiving baptism, he died on the
day of the month above X Vol.
II. p.
470.
stated.
—
FROM century, and
D
A.
634
embodied
is
TO
A. D. 664.
301
in certain fictitious prophecies of
Myrddin,* that Cadwaladr should re-appear and expel the Saxons from the possessions to
island, restoring the
but nothing
;
Armorica, and
if
whom
is
ity
by
he
Cymry
to their ancient
said of his visit to
is
Rome
or even
the words of Nennius,t the oldest authornoticed, be rightly interpreted, he
He
have died of the plague in his own country.
must
has had the
honour apparently of modern growth, and the epithet of " Bendigaid" or " Blessed" is frequently credit of sanctity, an
In the Triads he
attached to his name.
is
called one of the
According
three canonized kings of Britain.
to tradition
he
church of Eglwys Ael in Anglesey, where his
rebuilt the
grandfather, Cadfan, had been buried, and which after
deemed the patron
name of Llangadwaladr.
the
obtained
restoration
saint of
Llangadwaladr
alias
its
He
is
Bishopston,
Monmouthshire, and of Llangadwaladr under Llanrhaiadr in Mochnant, Denbighshire, and his festival occurs on the ninth of October. J The inundation which formed the Lafan Sands, already alluded
to,||
Helig was
appears to have occurred in this generation, while
still
living
his sons,
;
mony, embraced a monastic
life
upon the
loss of their patri-
in the colleges of
Deiniol§ and Bangor Enlli ;* their names were
*
Myvyrian Archaiology, Vol.
t "Verba ejus regnavit talitas
haec sunt:
XXVIII
annis
145.
—
et
hominura, Catgualat
I. p.
Bangor
:—
VI mensibus
;
filius
dum
{al. Catgualiter)
Eldfrid (Ethelfrith)
ipse regnabat, venit
mor-
regnante apud Britones post
—
patrem suum, et in eft periit.' Si autem haec verba—* in eS perilt,'— ad Cadwaladrum referenda sunt, omnia plana erunt. Oswius enini vixit annius V (rectiun VI) post A. D. DCLXV (rectius DCLXIV) in quo mortalitas ilia accidit."
Mm
published at the end of
mentariolum.
Carabrobritannicae, accuranle
Humphrey Llwyd's
London, 1731.
X Alphabetical Calendar in Sir H. Nicolas's II
§
Page
Mose Gulielmo, Com-
Britannicee Descriptionis
Chronology of History.
298.
Bangor
in Carnarvonshire.
*
The Monastery
of Bardsey.
;
THE WELSH SAINTS
302
Aelgyfarch, and Boda, saints.
Brothen, the founder of Llanfrothen, Merionethshire.
Fes-
Oct. 15.
tival,
Bodfan, the patron saint of Aber, or Abergwyngregyn, Carnarvonshire.
Festival,
June
2.
Bedwas, possibly the person from whom a church so called in Monmouthshire has derived its name. Celynin, the founder of Llangelynin, Merionethshire.
Nov.
tival,
Fes-
20.
Brenda, Euryn, and Gwyar ; sons of Helig, and saints. Gwynnin, the patron saint of Llan dy gwynnin, Carnarvonshire; commemorated Dec. 31. the Peris, described as " a saint and cardinal of Rome ;"
—
description
is
probably a mistake, but
the only instance ad-
it is
mitted in Bonedd y Saint of connexion with the papal see. He was the founder of Llanberis, Carnarvonshire ; and Llangian, a chapel under Llanbedrog in the same county
is
dedicated to
him in conjunction with Cian, who was his servant. The memory of Peris has been celebrated on the twenty sixth of July, and that of Cian on the eleventh of December.*
Rhychwyn ab
Helig, the patron saint of Llanrhychwyn, a
chapel under Trefriw, Carnarvonshire.
Other
holy
persons,
who
Festival, June, 10.
about
flourished
this
time,
were :—
Dona, the son of Selyf ab Cynan Garwyn ab Brochwel the founder of Llanddona, Anglesey.
ember
Collen, the son of fras
;
His wake
is
Nov-
1.
or,
Gwynog
of the line of Caradog Fraich-
according to some, the son of Petrwn ab Coleddog ab
Rhydderch Hael. He was the founder of Llangollen, Denand has been commemorated on the twentieth of May. bighshire,
*
Cambrian Register, Vol.
III.
TROM Edwen,
A. D. 634
TO
A. D. 664.
a female saint of Saxon descent,
allowed a place
among
the saints of Wales.
303
who She
has been is
said to
have been a daughter or niece of Edwin, king of North-
umbria ; and the statement derives probability from the cumstance admitted by the English historians, that
was brought up at Caerseiont or
in the court of Cadfan, king of
Carnarvon.*
Llanedwen
in
cir-
Edwin
North Wales,
Anglesey
is
de-
dicated to her, and her festival has been kept on the sixth
of November.
Bonedd y
Saint.
Myv. Archaiology.
—
—
SECTION XV. The Welsh
Saints from the Death of Cadwaladr A. D. 664 to the
End
of
the Seventh Century, including those of uncertain date.
Little
is
known
of the history of this time, and
The nominal
ahuost a blank in Welsh tradition.
it
forms
sovereigns of
Wales were successively a son of Cadwaladr, named Idwal Hywel ab Cadwal,* the latter of whom was suc-
Iwrch, and
Molwynog in 720. who may be assigned to this generation are Egryn, the son of Gwrydr Drwm ab Gwedrog of the line
ceeded by Rhodri
The
saints
:
Cadell Deyrnllug.
He was
the founder of Llanegryn,
of
Mer-
ionethshire.
Cwyfen, the son of Brwyno
Hen
ab Dyfnog
;
a descendant
of Caradog Fraichfras, and the founder of Llangwyfen, Denbighshire. Tudweiliog, Carnarvonshire, and Llangwyfen a
chapel under Trefdraeth, Anglesey, are dedicated to him.
His mother was Camell of Bodangharad in Coleion, Denbighshire.
Festival,
"Baruck," a
June
saint
3.
who
is
not mentioned in the Welsh
accounts, but according to Cressy he
memory
was
" a Hermite, whose
celebrated in the Province of
is
region of Glamorgan.
He
the
Silures
and
lyes buried in the Isle of Barry,
—
name from him." " In our Martyrologe," adds that author, " This Holy Hermit Baruck is said to have sprung from the Noble Blood of the Brittains, and entring which took
its
into a solitary strict course of
attained to a
life
immortall."
* Kyvoesi Myrdin,
life,
he
at this time (A.
Festival,
Nov. 29.
Myv. Archaiology, Vol.
I. p.
140.
D. 700)
THE WELSH Degeman,
in
SAINTS, &c.
305
Latin Decumanus, a holy person, of
Cressy says that he was
"^
whom
born of Noble parents in the South-
western parts of Wales, and forsaking his countrey the more freely to give himself to Mortification and devotion, he passed the river Severn upon a hurdle of rodds, and retired himself into a briars,
mountainous vast solitude covered with shrubbs and his life in the repose of Contemplation,
where he spent
—
According to slain by a murderer." Camden, he was murdered at a place called St. Decombe's in Somersetshire, where a church was afterwards raised to his memory. He is the patron saint of Rosecrowther in the county of Pembroke ; and of Llandegeman, an extinct chapel till
in the
end he was
in the parish of Llanfihangel
Cwm
He
Du, Brecknockshire.
died A. D. 706, and has been commemorated on the twenty seventh of August.
The Primitive Church of Wales continued existence, but the above are
has been preserved.
In the
Welsh were forced Easter,
and thereby
Rome.
to
its last saints
of
to maintain its
whom
latter part of the
any account
next century the
adopt the Catholic computation of
to join in
communion with the church of Welshmen have obtained
Since that time, only five
the honours of sanctity, including Elfod or Elbodius, the prelate
through whose exertions the
The other
effected.*
David's,
who
four were
died A, D. 832; his
:
change alluded
— Sadyrnin,
name
of Llansadyrnin in Carmarthenshire
:
borne by the church
is
— Cyfelach,
LlandafF from about the year 880 to 927 his
name
to the
;
bishop
of
he probably gave
church of Llangyfelach, Glamorganshire, the
original founder of
which was
St.
David
:
— Caradog, a hermit
of Haroldston East, Pembrokeshire, and patron saint of
renny in that county solicitation
was
to
bishop of St.
;
he was canonized by the Pope
of Giraldus Cambrensis:t
—Gwryd,
* See page 66 of this Essay,
t Wharton's Anglia Sacra, Vol.
2o
II.
a
Lawat the
friar,
who
—
J
;•
THE WELSH
306
SAINTS
and has been commemorated on the first of November.* There are, however, several saints whose genealogy is lost or imperfect, and therefore their era cannot be determined ; but it may be presumed that
lived about the end of the twelfth century
they belonged to the Primitive rather than the Catholic Church, as the
names of only two Welshmen, who can be proved
have lived
to
after the conversion of their country to Catholicism,
have been given to religious
Lawrenny does not appear
edifices
to
on the score of saintship
have borne the name of
St.
Ca-
radog, though dedicated to him, and no churches have been
and
The following
and Gwryd.
called after Elbodius betical
is
an alpha-
of the saints of uncertain date, with their churches
list
festivals.t
Aelrhiw
Amo
or
;
Rhiw, Carnarvonshire
Anno ;
;
Sept. 9.
Llananno, Radnorshire
;
and Newborough,
anciently Llananno, Anglesey.
Bach ab Carwed, a
chieftain
;
reported to have been the
founder Eglwys Fach,§ Denbighshire. Caron, a bishop
;
Tregaron, Cardiganshire, March
Cedol; Pentir chapel, Carnarvonshire, Nov.
alias
5.
Llangedol, subject to Bangor,
1.
Celer, a martyr; Llangeler, Carmarthenshire.
Cennych; Llangennych, Carmarthenshire. * Cambrian Register, Vol. IH.
p. 221;
where
it is
said that he relieved
Einion ab Gwalchraai of some oppression, probably mental, which had afflicted
him
for seven
years.
Einion ab Gwalchmai was a bard
who
flourished between A. D. 1170 and 1220.
t Some
of the names in the Myvyrian Archaiology, which are not sup-
ported by a reference to
MSS.
but seem to be conjectured from the names
of churches, are omitted in this
list. Some of the names in the Cambrian Biography are also omitted, which appear to be various readings of MSS. through the carelessness of transcribers.
X
Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II, p. 28. The compiler of Bonedd y Saint in
the Myvyrian Archaiology adds— « if the story be true" (os gwir y chwedlj) the obvious signifiation of Eglwys Fach is <* the small church.*'
§
FROM
A. D. 664
TO
A. D. 700.
307
Ciwa; Llangiwa, Monmouthshire. Cloffan
^
Cofen
pel,
LlanglofFan, Pembrokeshire.
;
Llangofen^ Monmouthshire
;
;
and
St.
Goven's cha-
Pembrokeshire.
Curig Lwyd, a bishop, probably of Llanbadarn Fawr ; he was the founder of Llangurig, Montgomeryshire, and his crosier was preserved in the neighbouring church of St. Harmon's in the time of Giraldus Cambrensis.
Curig or Cyrique, a
saint of
Tarsus in
There was another
Cilicia,
who was mar-
tyred while an infant at the same time with his mother, Juliet Llanilid a Churig,* Glamorganshire,
or Julitta.
Curig
a'i
fam
and " Capel
Iulita,"t Carnarvonshire, are dedicated to Juliet
and Cyrique together. Juliet is under Dyfynog, Brecknockshire.
also the saint of Llanulid It is uncertain to
which of
named Curig, the churches of Porth Curig, Glamorganshire, and Eglwys Fair a Churig, Carmarthenshire, are dedicated. The festival of Juliet and Cyrique is June 16, the persons
Cwyfyn, the son of Arthalun of the vale of Achlach in Ireland.
Cwynrau. Cynfab ; Capel Cynfab formerly in the parish of Llanfair ar
y Bryn, Carmarthenshire. Cynfarwy ; the son of
Nov.
Awy
wall; Llechgynfarwy, Anglesey.
15.
ab Llenog, a prince of Corn-
Nov.
7«
Dwyfael, the son of Pryderi ab Dolor of Deira and Bernicia.
Elenog,
Enddwyn; Llanenddwyn, Eurfyl
;
Merionethshire.
Llaneurfyl, Montgomeryshire.
July
6.
Gartheli; Capel Gartheli, Cardiganshire.
Gwenllwyfo; Llanwenllwyfo, Anglesey.
Gwenog, a
virgin
;
Llanwenog, Cardiganshire.
Myv. Archaiology, Vol. t
Ibid. p. 36.
II. p.
Jan. 3.
THE WELSH
308
SAINTS
Gwrthwl; Llanwrthwl, Brecknockshire; and Maesllanwrthwl in Caio, Carmarthenshire. March 2. Gwyddelan ; Llanwyddelan, Montgomeryshire ; and Dol"wyddelan^ Carnarvonshire. August 22. Gwyddfarch; the son of Amalarus, prince of Pwyl. He was one of the
saints of Meifod,
Montgomeryshire.
Gwynen. Qu. Llanwnen^ Cardiganshire. Gwynio ; Llanwynio, Carmarthenshire. March Gwyrfarn ; Trinity Sunday. August 8. Illog ; Hirnant, Montgomeryshire.
May
or
2.*
—
Ishaw/'t a martyr; Partricio or Partrishaw, a
or
'^Issul
October 30.
chapel under Llanbedr, Brecknockshire.
Llawdden.
Lhbio ;
Llanllibioj Anglesey.
Llwni
Llanllwni, Carmarthenshire.
;
Llwydian
Heneglwys, Anglesey.
;
Llyr, a virgin
Rhos,
now
February 28.
;
August
Llanllyr, Cardiganshire
;
;
Llanfachraith, Anglesey
January
Merionethshire.
;
19.
and Llanllyr yn
October 21,
written Llanyre, Radnorshire.
Machraith
11.
November
and Llanfachraith,
1.
Mechell or Mechyll, the son of Echwydd ab
hoy w.
He was
Gwyn Go-
the founder of Llanfechell, Anglesey; and
was buried in the church-yard of Penrhos Llugwy in the same county, where there was lately a stone with the following inscription,
HIC lACIT MACCVQ ECCETI-t
Mordeyrn; in the parish of
Nantglyn, and
Mordeyrn's chapel
Nantglyn, Denbighshire.
formerly
July 25.
Morfael.
Morhaiarn; Trewalchmai, Anglesey.
Mwrog;
Llanfwrog, Anglesey,
November
Myllin; Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire.
June
17*
* Sir H. Nicolas's Chronology of History, t The correct orthography of this name is unknown. X
Rowlands's
Mona
1.
Jan. 6, or Jan. 15.
Antiqua.
FROM Rhediw; Rhian
A. D. 661
TO
A. D. 700.
November 11. March 8. of Cennydd at Llangen-
Llanllyfni, Carnarvonshire.
Llanrhian, Pembrokeshire.
;
member of the college Gower ; Llanrhidian^ Glamorganshire.
Rhiclian, a
nydd
in
309
—
Rhuddlad, a daughter of a king of Leinster in Ireland;* Llanrhuddladj Anglesey. September 4.
Rhwydrys ; naught.
Samled
The ians,
Rhwydrim
Rhodrem, king of Con-
or
November
1.
Llansamled, Glamorganshire.
;
Tudwen Ulched
a son of
Llanrhwydrys, Anglesey.
;
Llandudwen, Carnarvonshire. Llechulched, Anglesey.
;
foregoing
list
January
6.
concludes the series of Primitive Christ-
whose names have been
collected
from various authorities
but principally from the records of the Welsh genealogists;
and on a comparison of these records with each other, and with collateral testimony wherever accessible, has been founded the present attempt to bring order out of confusion by tracing the history of the saints, as nearly as possible, according to their chronological succession
y must judge
At
for himself.
:
—with what success, the reader first
sight the
Welsh pedigrees
present the appearance of an entangled maze, but
when un-
ravelled and adjusted they form a regular tissue, the figures
interwoven in which are consistent, and by their analogies clearly demonstrate
arrangement
is
where the threads are broken, and how may be repaired. The clue to the
of time
far the ravages
that the
web should commence about
parture of the Romans, and, this being attended pieces will agree together,
f
One
objection,
to, its
the deseveral
however, to the
testimony of the genealogists, as regards the
saints, must be would appear that large crowds of people, chieftains with their families and dependents, renounced together the pursuit of arms, and becoming inmates of a monastery, devoted themselves to religion.
obviated.
From
their representation
* Rowlands's
Mona
it
Antiqua.
THE WELSH
310 This
it
SAINTS
urged was a practice unusual in other and that the representations of the genealogists were
miglit be
countries,
but the objection is overthrown by Bede who declares that a similar practice prevailed in Northumbrian where it had degenerated into open abuse;* for chieftains uncontrolled by ecclesiastical discipline founded therefore improbable;
monasteries, the government of which they assumed to themselves, inviting together
their dependents,
many
sorts
all
of
whom
tinued to have children.t
of persons and especially
retained their wives and con-
In their
lives
from laymen, and Bede in his Epistle
they differed
little
to Egbert, archbishop
him to interfere and put an end to The abuse of the system is not charged
of York, earnestly intreats
such irregularities.
who
from the Northumbrians had no nunneries ; J while those in Northumbria were numerous, and in many instances their government was irregularly committed to the wives of against the Britons,
in another particular,
also differed
—they
chieftains.§
To
the churches founded according to the peculiar
mode of
by the Britons, succeeded in due second and third foundation, upon which the of those course consecration practised
it
is
not necessary to enlarge, as sufficient has been said al-
ready.
Both these
founded chiefly by
But
1|
as
it
classes
were Catholic, the second being
native princes, and the third
by
foreigners.
must be a source of gratification to Welshmen, to
reflect that
their churches of the first
and most important
* " Adridente pace ac serenitate temporura, plures brorura, tain nobiles
quam
privati,
se
in gente
Nordanhym-
suosque liberos, depositis armis
satagunt magis accepts. tonsurS, monasterialibus adscribere votis, bellicis exercere studiis.
Quae res
quem
videbit."—Bedse Hist. Eccl. A. D. 731.
t Epistola ad Ecgberctum X Page 150. § Epistola ad Ecgberctum. 11
Page
61.
Antistitem.
sit
quam
habitura finem posterior setas
I
J
FROM were established
class
A. D. 664
at a time
TO
A. D. 700.
when
acknowledge the authority of Rome, to
adduce some positive evidence as
tion
31
their ancestors did not it
may
not be improper
to the degree of separa-
which existed between the Britons and the Catholics^, and may be found at the period where these researches ter-
such
In the year 692, Aldhelm, a priest
minate.
wards bishop of Sherborne^ was deputed
who was
at a general
after-
synod of
the Saxons to write a treatise against the Paschal cycle and
form of Tonsure adhered to by the Britons.
He
accordingly
wrote an epistle to Geruntius, king of Cornwall, which extant,
and
is
important as
it
dispute were in themselves of
amounted
to
is
still
proves, that though the points in little
consequence, the division
an entire separation of communion.
lowing extracts are given according to
The
the translation
fol-
of
Cressy.—
"But
besides these enormities (the Tonsure and Paschal
cycle) there
is
another thing wherein they doe notoriously
swerve from the Cathohck Faith and Evangelical Tradition,
which
is,
that the Preists of the
Demetae, or South-west
up with a doe exceedingly abhorr commun-
Wales, inhabiting beyond the bay of Severn, puffed conceit of their
own
purity,
ion with us, insomuch as they will neither ioyn in prayers with
us in the Church, nor enter into society with us at the Table
yea moreover the fragments which
we
:
leave after refection
they will not touch, but cast them to be devoured by doggs
and unclean Swine. The Cupps
make
they will not
them with sand
use
of, till
or ashes.
also in
which we have drunk,
they have rubbed and cleansed
They
refuse
all civil
salutations or
to give us the kisse of pious fraternity, contrary to the tles precept,
'
Salute one another with a holy kisse.'
AposThey
and a towel for our hands, nor a vessell Whereas our Saviour having girt himself with a towell, washed his Disciples feet, and left us a pattern to imitate, saying ' As I have done to you, so doe you to others.' Moreover if any of us who are Catholicks doe goe will not afford us water
to
wash our
feet.
—
THE WELSH
312 amongst them
make an
to
abode, they will not vouchsafe to
admitt us to their fellowship forty
days in Pennance."
subjects,
Aldhelm says :)
SAINTS
till
we be compelled
— (Addressing ''
to
spend
Geruntius and his
Since therefore the truth of these
we doe with
earnest humble prayers and bended knees beseech and adjure you, as you hope to attain to the fellowship of Angels in Gods heavenly kingdom, that you will no longer with pride and stubbornes abhorr the
things cannot be denyed,
and Decrees of the Blessed Apostle
doctrines
.
pertinaciously and arrogantly
Roman Church,
preferring before
Rites of your Predecessours.
For
it
the Decrees and ancient
was
it
nor
S. Peter,
Tradition of the
despise the
who having
S. Peter,
devoutly confessed the Son of God, was honoured by him with these
Words,
my
build
against
it
'
Thou
art
Peter, and
Church, and the gates of
And
:
upon
Rock
this
will I
hell shall not prevayle
to thee will I give the keyes of the
kingdom
of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound shall
in
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
be loosed in heaven/
If therefore the
kingdom of heaven were given
to S. Peter,
having despised the principall Statuts
Keyes of the
who
?
he,
who,
and ordinances of
Church, can presumingly expect to enter with the gate of the heavenly Paradise
is
And
if
ioy,
his
through
he by a peculiar
Priviledge and happines received the power of binding and the
Monarchy of
loosing in heaven and earth,
who
is
he,
who,
having reiected the Rule of the Paschall Solemnity, and the Rite of the indissolubly
Than
Roman
Tonsure, will not rather apprehend to be
bound than mercifully absolved from
his sins."*
the above, no greater proof of separation can be re-
quired, the arguments for the supremacy of the Pope being precisely the
same
a Protestant;
as a
modern Catholic would employ
against
and in the following observation, Aldhelm
seems to allude to the Welsh
Cressy,
saints
:
—" What
Book XIX, Chap.
17.
proffit
can any
FROM
A. D. 664
TO
one receive from good works
313
700.
done out of the Catholick
man would be
Church, although a
D
A.
never so
strict in
Regular
Observances, or retire himself into a desart to practise an Anachoreticall
of
life
Contemplation."
Demetae, or Diocese of
St.
because they were those with
— The
priests
of the
David's, are noticed, probably
whom
the writer was best ac-
quainted,* for no other author has observed a distinction
between them and the
Wales
rest of the clergy of
;
and the
charge brought against them may, therefore, be extended to their brethren generally.
According
Bede, the exertions of
to
Aldhelra were able to reduce to conformity, only so
many
of
kingdom of Wessex;t from be presumed that they owed their con-
the Britons as were subject to the
which
it
may
fairly
version to the influence of their conquerors: those
who main-
tained their independence as a nation, continued to adhere to
the religion of their fathers.^
The manner,
in
which Catholi-
cism was afterwards introduced, has been already explained.§
The evidence
that the Britons, at this time, rejected with
Rome
indignation the spiritual authority of
the best that
is
upon the testimony of contemporary were Catholics, and who were not writers, who themselves These researches, therefore, close, Britons but Saxons. leaving the Welsh in the possession of a National Church and can be desired, for
it
rests
||
in the enjoyment of religious liberty.
mitted to lose these valuable privileges
Ruler of events, who disposes
however, cannot
To
\
they were per-
known
best
things for good.
all
to the
Posterity,
to observe a species of historical justice.
the descendants of the ancient Britons the Reformation
was not only a *
fail
Why is
The
restitution of blessings,
explanation
—
*'
which
He who gave had
inhabiting beyond the bay of Severn," added after
Demetse, applies equally to the Diocese of Llandaflfj and South
taken as a whole, was the portion of Wales nearest to
Wales Wessex where
Aldhelm resided.
t §
+ Ibid.
Hist. Eccl. V. 18.
Pages 65, 66, and 305.
\\
2p
II.
20
;
et
V. 23.
Aldhelm, Eddius, and Bede.
TflE
314
WELSH
SAINTS, &c.
every right to take away, but
it
brought an overwhelming
recompense in a translation of the Scriptures, which time the Welsh do not appear to have possessed it
may be argued on
no prescriptive claim
testants.
title,
Upon
to the
supremacy of the Church
in this
may be
asserted
yet the Bible
is
the great charter of Pro-
must they ground their reasons communion with Romanists, and so long
this record
for refusing to join in as
an unrestricted perusal of the Sacred volume
the people in their established,
own
is
permitted to
language, a safeguard against error
is
which had the Britons possessed, they might have
Popery with better
resisted the aggressions of
their descendants, therefore, appreciate the gift
as they adhere faithfully
to
doctrines
from Scripture, they are assured be taken away. tant ages
and while
the credit of history, that the Pope has
island, for the religious liberty of the Britons
upon an older
;
V
until that
may
success. ;
May
and so long
derived immediately
their privileges shall never
The word of God remaineth
for ever.
Dis-
look upon Catholicism as a short episode in the
annals of the past, but the Bible, rendered into the vernacular
tongue, unfolds to the
illiterate
a prospect far
beyond the
merits and the duration of contending Churches, displaying, as
it
does, to the weakest understandings, the sure
salvation
and the
glories of a
hope of
happy immortality.
I
J
;
APPENDIX,
SAINTS OF BRITAIN,
No.
I.
FROM CRESSY'S CHURCH HISTORY OF BRITTANY.
1.
Joseph of Arimathea; apostle of the Britons and founder of a Commemorated March 17. Died at Glasat Glastonbury.
church
tonbury July 27, A. D. 82. 2.
Mansuetus, a Caledonian Briton
and afterwards bishop of Toul
A. D. 3.
;
Comm.
Died
Sept. 3.
89.
Aristobulus, a disciple of St. Peter or St. Paul
and was the
apostle to the Britons
first
the wife of Pudens.
Umbria
in Italy
Comm. Aug.
A. D.
Died
7.
;
sent as an
Comm.
bishop in Britain.
March 15. Died at Glastonbury A. D. 99. y^ 4. Claudia, supposed to have been a daughter of
5.
Rome,
disciple of St. Peter at
in Lorrain.
at
Caractacus, and
Sabinum, a
city
of
110.
Beatus, converted in Britain, afterwards a disciple of St. Peter at
Rome.
His
Helvetians.
first
name was
Comm. May
He became
Suetonius. 9.
Died A. D.
the apostle of the
110, at
Underseven
in
Helvetia. 6.
Phagan
7.
Marcellus, a Briton
;
successor to Joseph in his Prefecture at Glastonbury. ;
bishop of Tongres and Triers
British martyr, but he suffered out of the island.
;
Comm.
the
first
Sept.
1..
Martyred A. D. 166.
/
8.
Timotheus, a son of Pudens and Claudia, and born
apostle to the Britons.
memorated March 9.
10.
Theanus, the
Martyred
at
Rome
A. D.
166,
at
Rome
and com-
24. first
bishop of London, about the year 185.
Elvanus, successor to St. Theanus.
panion Medwinus, but does not
call
him
Cressy mentions his com-
a saint.
APPENDIX,
316 11.
Lucius, king of Britain, "the
first
I.
among kings which
commemorated by the Romish Church May
is
re-
Converted in his old age A. D. 182, and
ceived the faith of Christ." his baptism
No.
After
26.
having established Christianity over the whole of his dominions he
became
the apostle of Bavaria, Rhaetia,
Germany A. D.
near Curia in
Emerita
12.
martyred 13.
at
of Lucius, and his
sister
;
and Vindelicia.
Trimas near Curia, A. D.
Fugatius or Phaganus
;
193.
He
was
slain
comm. Dec. 3. companion in Germany
His martyrdom
201.
is
;
Comm.
Dec.
4.
—and —
Damianus or Diruvianus Legates sent from Rome by Pope Eleutherius to baptize King Lucius. They both died in the year 191, and are commemorated together May 24. ;
14.
15. Mello, Mallo, Melanius, or
Rouen 16.
in France.
Comm.
Meloninus, a Briton
Died A. D.
Oct. 22.
Albanus of Verolam, the
first
;
bishop of
280.
martyr in Britain.
His memory
celebrated in the English Martyrology on the twenty second of
is
July, and in the Galilean on the twenty second of June.
A. D. 287. 17. Amphibalus, a native of Caerleon, and the Martyred
Alban.
June
at
Rudburn A. D.
287.
Martyred
instructor of St.
His translation
18. Julius; 19.
Aaron
;
—and —natives
comm.
of Caerleon, at which place they were mar-
tyred together, soon after the martyrdom of St. Amphibalus. together July 20.
Comm.
1.
Stephanus;—and
21. Socrates; St.
is
25.
— "two
noble British Christians" and disciples of
Amphibalus, martyred
in the persecution of Dioclesian.
22. Nicholas, a bishop of
North
Britain, for his piety styled Cul-
Mart. A. D. 296.
daeus.
23. Stephanus, the seventh bishop of London,
is
called a martyr,
though he died a natural death, A. D. 300. 24. Augulus, eighth bishop of
and comm. Feb.
26.
Died
in the year 305,
emperor of Rome, and the mother Died A. D. 326; comm. Aug. 18. Constantine, emperor of Rome. Died A. D. 337; comm.
25. Helena, wife of Constantius
of Constantine.
May
London,
7.
21.
CRESSY'S SAINTS. Gudwal, a bishop of
27.
In the
Britain.
317 latter part
of his hfe he
where he died June- 6, A. D. 403, on which day commemorated. The feast of the translation of his body to
lived in Flanders,
he
is
also
Ghent is celebrated on the third day before the Nones of December. 28. Kebius, a son of Solomon duke of Cornwall, and disciple of He was consecrated a bishop by St. Hilary bishop of Poictiers,
the monastery of
St. Hilary,
and he placed
his see in the Isle of Anglesey,
where he
died A. D. 370. 29. Moses, apostle of the Saracens
Comm. 30.
Feb.
Regulus, a native of Greece
August
said to have
been a Briton.
;
missionary to the Picts.
Comm.
28.
31. Melorus, son of Melianus
411.
;
7.
Festival
August a
32. Palladius,
Comm. January
Roman;
27;
duke of Cornwall.
Martyred A. D.
28.
Died
apostle to the Scots.
He had two
distinguished
in 431.
disciples,
Ser-
vanus, bishop of the Orkneys, and Tervanus, successor to St. Ninian or Ninianus. 33. Carantac or Cernac, son of Keredic prince of Cardigan
and attendant of
disciple
St. Patrick.
Died
at
Chernach in
;
a
Ire-
land on the seventeenth of the Calends of June. 34.
Luman, a
British saint
and companion of St. Patrick. Founder
of the church of Trim in Ireland. 35.
Winwaloc, a famous British saint, who settled in Armorica. is commemorated March 3, and his translation
His death A. D. 432
37.
at Ghent is celebrated August I. Cumbrian Briton; the first bishop of the Southern He died A. D. 432. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre and
38.
Lupus, bishop of Troyes
to the
Blandin monastery
36. Ninianus, a Picts.
— —deputed ;
;
reform the British Church in 429.
St.
by Pope Celestine to Germanus visited Britain a
second time A. D. 435, accompanied by Severus, bishop of Triers. 39. Briocus, a Briton of the province of Corticia
Germanus, and bishop of Brieu in Armorica. 40. Bachiarius,
Patrick
;
— "by
;
a disciple of St.
Comm.
he addicted himself to the study of litterature
Obiit A. D. 460.
April 30.
Nation a Brittain and Disciple of Saint at
Caer-leon."
APPENDIX,
3I§
No.
I.
Ursula, daughter of Dionatus prince of Cornwall.
41.
Comm.
with the eleven thousand virgins, A. D. 453.
42. Cordula, one of the eleven thousand virgins
archbishop of London
43. Voadinus,
Comm.
A. D. 457,
July
;
Martyred
Oct. 21.
Oct. 22.
martyred by the Saxons
;
3.
Born A. D. 361
44. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland.
in a valley of
the country of the Demetae, called " Rossina," where the cathedral of
David's was afterwards
St.
Died
built.
at
Glastonbury A. D. 472,
aged 111.
and disciple of
45. Brigit, an Irish saint
Died
Britain in 488.
memorated Feb.
at
Down
St.
in Ireland
Patrick
she visited
;
Com-
A. D. 502.
1.
"He
46. Sophias, the son of Guilleicus prince of the Ordovices.
was by another name called Cadocus."
ventum in
Died A. D. 490
Italy.
Consecrated bishop of Bene-
comm. January
;
24.
(Cressy
says this person ought not to be confounded with another St. Ca-
docus,
who was an
abbot.)
"daughter of Braganus prince of Brecknock."
47. Keina,
She
died on the eighth day before the Ides of October, A. D. 490.
Almedha, a martyr;
48.
August
sister to
St.
Keina.
Commemorated
1.
49. Canoe, eldest son of Braganus.
Comm. February
11.
Floruit
circa 492. 50. Clitanc or Clintanc,
Comm. August
482.
51. Richard,
Andria.
The
March
born in Britain A. D. 455.
first
Gunleus,
52.
" King of Brecknock and Martyr,
converted Saxon.
"Prince of the Southern
53. Cadoc, abbot of Llancarvan
Comm. February
54. Tathai, a British saint
tutor to St. 55.
Comm.
Consecrated bishop of
April
9.
Brittains."
Comm.
29.
A. D. 500.
took
A. D.
19.
;
;
son of St. Gunleus.
Died about
24.
president of a college at Caerwent, and
Cadoc the abbot.
Dogmaelor Tegwel. "A famous Abbey in Pembrokeshire name from him." He died about the year 500. Commem-
its
orated June 14. 56. Bernach,
Ides of April.
an abbot;
commemorated on
the seventh of the
—
CRESSY'S SAINTS.
319
He
born of princely parentage in Wales.
67. Petrock,
lived
some
time in Ireland and afterwards settled in Cornwall, where he died
A. D. 564. 58.
Meven, patron of a monastery
when he
but the time
Britain,
He
was born in
not mentioned.
"Judicael,
Armorica.
in
lived
is
Prince of the Armorici or Lesser Brittany,
who descended from our
Brittany, built the said Monastery."
Can
59. Gildas Albanius, son of
the king of Albania.
fourth day before the Calends of February A.
Not
ated January 29.
who
Bangor,
to be
confounded with
Gildas, abbot of
styled Sapiens, Historicus, and Badonicus.
is
60. Daniel, the first bishop of
commemorated December
6L
St.
Died on the
Commemor-
D. 512.
who
Justinian, a native of Armorica,
own
the hands of his
Died A. D. 544, and
Bangor.
is
10.
suffered
servants in the island of
martyrdom from
Commemor-
Ramsey.
ated August 23.
Armorica
62. Paternus, a native of
was the
May
first
bishop of Llanbadarn
;
he
Fawr
Wales
in 516,
and
Comm.
15.
born
63. Darerca,
in Britain
;
sister
of
64. Mel, a son of St. Darerca. 65.
visited
in Cardiganshire.
Rioch,
son of
a
St. Patrick.
Died A. D. 518.
—
Darerca " by Nation a Brittain, by whom he was ordained a Bishop in
St.
near kinsman to Patrick,
:
Ireland." 66.
Menni, a son of
St.
Darerca.
67. Sechnallus or Secundinns, a son of St. Darerca.
68. Auxilius, a son of St.
by
Darerca
;
consecrated bishop of Leinster
St. Patrick.
69. Dubricius
;
consecrated bishop of LlandafF by St.
Germanus Died
436, and raised to the archbishoprick of Caerleon in 492. the Isle of Bardsey A. D. 522. dafF on the
Nones of May,
His remains were translated
in in
to Llan-
1120, and buried there on the fourth day
before the Calends of June by Bp. Urban. 70. Theliau.
"and
He
if the authority
succeeded St. Dubricius as bishop of Llandaff of the English Marty rologe fayle not, he dyed
not untill the coming of S. Augustin the
died on the
fifth
ated as a martyr
Monk
into Brittany."
day before the Ides of February, but
November
26.
is
He
commemor-
;
APPENDIX,
320
No.
I.
Paulens or Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, and instructor
71.
of St. David and St. Theliau.
Nennion, a bishop of North Britain, successor
72.
Ninianus.
to St.
Floruit circa 520.
Kined, an anchorite of Western Gower; probably the same
73.
as St. Keneth.
He
by the
called
is
He
was contemporary with
David.
St.
a disciple of St. David and the
^dan,
74.
75. David,
the
Irish St.
Died March
of Menevia.
archbishop
first
bishop of Ferns.
first
Maidoc or Moedhog. 1.
A. D. 544, aged 82. 76. John, a British saint in France. Obiit 537
Mochta or Mochseus, a
77.
;
comm. June
British saint in Ireland
Died
bishop of Lowth by St. Patrick.
in
537
;
27.
consecrated
;
commemorated on
the thirteenth day before the Calends of September. 78. Iltutus, a saint in Glamorganshire,
docus.
The
year in which died
Sampson, a
79.
with
whom
contemporary with
Ca7.
and afterwards archbishop of
Obiit A. D. 599
in Brittany.
St.
Comm. November
uncertain.
disciple of St. Iltutus,
Menevia and of Dole 80. Piro,
is
an abbot of a monastery not from
;
comm. July
28.
far that of St. Iltutus,
he was contemporary.
81. Conaid, called
the same as
No.
by the French
58.)
where he died in 590
He
comm. June
;
Mein or Mevennius. (Qu. St. Samson to Bretagne,
St.
accompanied 15.
82. Malo, Maclovius, or Machutus, a native of Glamorganshire
he was a kinsman of
St.
Sampson, and went with him
where he was appointed bishop of Aleth. 564; commemorated November 83.
He
to Bretagne,
died in France A. D.
15.
Doc, "a Holy British Abbot," who flourished about the
year 540. 84. Kentigern, a
North Briton
;
bishop of
and of Glasgow in Scotland. Obiit A. D. 601,
St.
Asaph
aetatis suae
in
85
;
Wales comm,
Jan. 13. 85. Theodoric, prince of Glamorganshire.
Teudric, 86.
now
He
died at Merthyr
called Merthirn.
Oudoceus, successor of St. Theliau in the see of Llandaflf; com-
memorated on the
sixth
day before the Nones of July.
87. Gildas Badonicus; the historian,
Obiit A, D. 583
;
comm.
Jan. 28.
and second apostle of Ireland.
—
CRESSY'S SAINTS. 88.
321
Columba, a native of Ireland, and missionary
Died A. D.
to the Picts.
597.
Beuno, a monk of North Wales, and instructor of
St.
Wine-
90. Senan, another instructor of St. Winefride. Obiit 660;
comm.
89. fride.
Died A. D. 660
comm.
;
Jan. 14.
April 29.
North Wales comm. Nov. 3. Beuno in the tuition of St. WineDied A. D. 664; comm. March 7. Elerius, abbot of a monastery in the Vale of Clwyd. He
91. Winefride, a holy virgin of
;
92. Deifer, the successor of St. fride.
93.
flourished about the year 650.
Winoc, a son of Judicael king of the Britons he and three of his and Madoc, were monks of the monasof St. Sithiu under St. Bertin. Obiit 717 comm. Nov. 6. This
94.
:
brothers, Kadanoc, Ingenoc, tery
saint
;
founded the monastery of
St.
Winoc on
the confines of France
and Flanders. 95. J udoc, another brother of St. 96. shire,
97.
Baruck, a hermit.
Winoc; he
Buried in the
Isle
flourished about 650.
of Barry, Glamorgan-
about the year 700.
Decumanus, a hermit, born of noble parents in
tlie
South-
Murdered A. D. 706; comm. Aug. 27. 98. Juthwara, a devout British virgin, martyred in some part of South Wales, A. D. 740 comm. Dec. 23. westeni parts of Wales.
;
99.
100.
Eadwara,
Wilgitha,— and
101. Sidwella; sisters of St. Juthwara.
2q
APPENDIX,
No.
II.
ANGLO-SAXON SAINTS, TO WHOM CHURCHES HAVE BEEN DEDICATED IN WALES. Oswald, king of Northumbria Pembrokeshire
;
and Oswestry,
he died A. D. 642.
;
JefFreyston,
in the county of Salop but in the
diocese of St. Asaph. Ina, king of Wessex he died at Rome in the year 727, and is commemorated on the seventh of February. Llanina, Cardiganshire. Tecla, a female saint, born in England ; abbess of the monastery of Kirzengen at Ochnafort in Germany. Obiit A. D. 750; comm. ;
Oct. 15.
Llandegla, Denbighshire
Tetta, abbess of
Winburn
in
;
and Llandegle, Radnorshire.
Wessex about A. D.
750.
Llan-
ddetty, Brecknockshire.
Milburg, a virgin
;
abbess of
middle of the seventh century.
Wenlock
in Shropshire about the
Comm. February
23.
Llanfilo,
Brecknockshire.
Kenelm, king of Mercia and martyr. field,
Obiit A. D. 819.
Rock-
Monmouthshire.
Edmund, king of the East Angles, murdered by the Danes A. D. commemorated November 20. Crickhowel, Brecknockshire.
870
;
Edith or Editha
-,
Five Saxon
saints
of this name.
Llanedy, Car-
marthenshire.
Edward, king and martyr, A. D. 979. Comm. February 18, March )8, and June 20. Do. king and confessor Obiit A. D. 1066. Commemorated Jan. 5, and Oct. 13. Knighton, Radnorshire.
—
;
APPENDIX,
No.
III.
A LIST OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN WALES, Including the County of
Monmouth and
part of the County of Hereford,
arranged with reference to their subordination.
N. B.
The names
at the
head of each group are those of parent
known
churches, or such as are not
to
have been chapels
the names are printed in Italic, the church or chapel
The name
of the patron saint
is
is
;
and wherever
extinct or in ruins.
placed after that of the edifice.
ANGLESEY.* Aberffraw, Beuno. Amlwch,
Elaeth.
Eglwys y
Baili.
Capel Mair, St Mary.
Llanwenllwyfo, Gwenllwyfo.
Llangadog, Cadog.
Llanlleianau.
Heneglwys, Llwydian.
Trefwalchmai, Morhaiarn.
Holyhead alias Caergybi, Cybi.
Capel y Llochwyd.
Llanygwyddyl.
Capel Sanffraid, Ffraid. Capel GwynCapel y Gorlas. geneUf Gwyngeneu. Bodedeyrn, Edeyrn. Bod-Twrog, Twrog. Llandrygarn. Gwndy. Llanbadrig, Padrig.
Llanbeulan, Peulan.
Llechulched,
Tal-y-llyn, St. Mary.
or Bettws-y-Grog,
*
Llanfaelog, Maelog. St.
Mary. Ceirchiog
Holy Rood,
This county contains more chapels dedicated to Welsh
other J but
and
Ulched.
Llannerch-y-Medd,
fertile
it
saints than
any
was, at an early age, considered to be the most populous
part of
Wales ; and according
to Bede,
it
contained, in the
eighth century, nine hundred and sixty families, or about three times the
population of the Isle of Man.
APPENDIX,
324 Llanddeusant, Llanfair
Marcellus
Sts.
Ynghornwy,
St.
No. HI.
and Marcellinus.
Llanbabo, Pabo.
Mary.
Llanddona, Dona.
Jjlanddwyn or Llanddwynwen, Dwynwen, a parish church in ruins. Llanddyfnan, Dyfnan. Mathafarn Eithaf,
Llanbedr Goch,
Mary.
St.
Peter.
St.
Pentraeth
or
Llanfair
ym
Bettws
Llanfair
Geraint, St. Mary.
Capel Meugan, Meugan.
Llandegfan, Tegfan.
Tydecho.
Chapel
in the Castle
Machraith.
Llanfachraith,
Mary.
A
Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, St. Michael.
Llugwy^
Llanallgo, Gallgo.
Coed Ane, Ane. Rhos
Llanelian, Elian.
St.
of Beaumaris.
Llandyfrydog, Tyfrydog. Llaneigrad, Eigrad.
Capel Tydecho,
Beaumaris,
Llanfaes, St, Catherine.
St.
Michael.
Bodewryd.
Peirio, Peirio.
Llanenghenel,
Enghenel.
Llanfigel,
St. Vigilius.
Llanfwrog, Mwrog.
Llanfaethlu, Maethlu.
Llanfair Pwll Gwyngyll, St. Mary. Llanfechell, Mechell.
Llandyssilio, Tyssilio.
Llanddogfael^ Dogfael.
Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, St. Michael.
Llanffinan, Ffinan.
Llangadwaladr or Eglwys Ael, Cadwaladr. Llangefni, Cyngar.
Llanfeirion, Meirion.
Tregaian, Caian,
Llangeinwen, Ceinwen.
Llangaifo, Caffb.
Llangristiolus, Cristiolus.
Cerrig Ceinwen, Ceinwen.
Llangwyllog, Cwyllog. Llaniestin,
Llangoed, Cawrdaf and Tangwn.
lestin.
Tinsylwy,
St.
Llannidan, Nidan.
Llanddeiniol Fab, Deiniolen.
adr, Cadwaladr.
mwd,
Llanfihangel
Michael.
Llanedwen, Edwcn.
Capel Cadwal-
Llanfair yn
y Cwm-
Mary.
St.
Llanrhuddlad, Rhuddlad.
Llanfflewin,
Fflewin.
Llanrhwydrys,
Rhwydrys. Llansadwrn, Sadwrn. Llantrisaint,
Sannan, Afran, and leuan.
gynfarwy, Cynfarwy. St.
Mary.
Newborough
Bettws
Rhodwydd
Llech-
Gwaredog,
Bwchwdw.
anciently Llananno,*
*
Llanllibio, Llibio.
Geidio, Ceidio.
Amo
or Anno, and St. Peter.
Myvyriao Archaklogy, Vol.
II,
CHURCHES,
A
Peiimon, Seiriol.
Penmynydd,
BRECKNOCKSmRE.
&c. IN
Chapel
in
325
Priestholm Island.
Gredifael.
Penrhos-Llugwy,
Michael.
St.
Llanfihangel yn
Rhos Colyn, Gwenfaen. Llanfair yn Neubwll,
Nhywyn,
St. Michael.
Mary.
St.
Llangwyfen, Cwyfen.
Tref-draeth, Beuno.
BRECKNOCKSHIRE. Aberysgyr, Cynidr and
St.
Mary.
Brecon, St. John the Evangelist.
Slwch Chapel, Elined or St.
St.
A Hospitium,
Mary.
Brynllys or Brwynllys, Cantref, St. Mary.
St.
Do. St. Mary. Battle, Cynog. Almedha. Llanywcrn or Monkton,
St. Catherine.
Mary.
Capel Nant Du.
Cathedin, St. Michael.
Crickhowel,
Devynock
St.
Edmund. Llanfair Chapel, St. Mary. Cynog and Dyfnog. Llanilltyd, lUtyd, Capel
or Dyfynog,
Callwen, Callwen.
Y
Faenor,
Gwynno
Garthbrengi,
Llanulid or Crai Chapel, St.
Ystrad
Julitta.
Mary.
Fellte, St.
or
Dewi
Trinity.*
Gwynnog.
or St. David.
Llanfaes, St. David.
Llanddew or Llandduw, Holy Holy Trinity,
Christ's College,
formerly a church of St. Nicholas.
Glasbury, Cynidr and St. Peter.
Aberllyfni
^ #•*
Pipton.
Velindre
Chapel.
Gwenddwr. Hay,
St.
John.
Do.
St.
Mary, now the parish church.
A
Chapel
in the suburbs.
* Jones in his History of Brecknockshire supposes Llanddew to be an
abbreviation of Llanddew i
5
but as the parish wake
is
Sunday, the true etymology appears to be Llandduw
held upon Trinity
*' the Church of God," which was once the name of Llandrindod, or the Church of the Holy Trinity, in Radnorshire; there is also a church in Glamorganshire, dedicated to the Trinity, the name of which is generally written "Llan-
dow."
APPENDIX,
320
No.
III.
Llanafan Fawr, Afan. Llanfechan, Afan. Llanfihangel Bryn Pabuan, St.
Llanfihangel Abergwesin, St.
Michael.
AlUmawr.
Llysdinam.
Llanbedr Ystrad
Yw,
Gelli Talgarth or
Capel
Michael.
Rhos y Capel.
Partrishow, Issui or Ishow.
St. Peter.
Taf-fechan Chapel.
Llanddetty, St. Tetta.
Llanddulas or Tir yr Abad.
Capel Maes y Bwlch. Llanfihangel Fechan,
Llandeilo'r F*An, Teilo.
Llandyfaelog Fach, Maelog.
St. Michael.
Crug-cadarn, St. Mary.
Llandyfalle, Maethlu.
Llaneigion or Llaneingion, Eigion or Eingion.
Cilonw Chapel.
Capel y Ffin. Llanelyw,
EUyw. Capel Glyn CoUwyn.
Llanfeugan, Meugan.
A Free
Chapel in the
Castle ofPencelli, St. Leonard.
Llanfihangel
Cwm-du,
St.
Llandegeman, Degeman or
Michael.
Tretwr Chapel,
Decumanus.
St.
St.
John.
Llanfihangel Tal-y-llyn, St. Michael. Llanfilo, St.
Llandyfaelog Tref y Graig, Maelog.
Milburg.
Llanfrynach, Brynach
Llangammarch,
Cammarch.
Abergwesin, St.
David.
Wyddel.
St.
Llanwrtyd,
David.
St.
Llanddewi
Llanddewi at Llwyn y
David.
Fynwent,
Cwmmwd
Deuddwr, Ffraid. LlanNantgwyllt Chapel. (The last three are in the
Llansanffraid
fadog, Madog. county of Radnor.) Llanganten, Cannen.
Llangynog, Cynog.
Llangasty Tal-y-Llyn, Gastayn.
Llangattwg
Crug-hywel,
Cattwg.
Llangeneu,
Ceneu.
Llanelly,
EUyw. Oratory of St. Keyna, Ceneu. Llangors, Pawl Hen or St. Paulinus. Llangynidr, Cynidr and Mary.
Llanhamlech
or
Llanamwlch,
Eglwys Vesey. lUtyd and St. Peter.
Llechfaen
Chapel. Llansanffraid, Ffraid or St. Bride.
Llanspyddyd, Cadog. Capel y Bettws or Penpont Chapel. Llanwrthwl, Gwrthwl. LlauUeonfel. Llyswen. Llywel, David, Teilo, and Llywel.
briw Chapel.
Dolhywel,
St.
Trallwng,
David.
St.
David.
Rhydy-
CHURCHES, Maesmynys, St.
Llanynys, St. David.
David.
St.
David.
CARDIGANSHIRE.
&c. IN
Llanfair in Builth, St.
Merthyr Cynog, Cynog.
327
Llanddewi'r
Cwm,
Mary.
Llanfihangel
Nant Bran,
St.
Michael.
Capel DyfFryn Honddu. Penderin, Cynog.
Talachddu, Talgarth,
Mary.
St.
Gwen.
Ystrad Gynlais, Cynog.
Capel Coelbren.
CARDIGANSHIRE. Aberporth, Cynwyl.
Bangor,
St.
David.
Llanannerch. Henllan, St. David.
Bettws Bledrws. Blaenporth, St. David.
Tremaen,
Cardigan, St. Mary.
St.
Michael.
Ystrad Fflur or Strata Florida,
Caron or Tregaron, Caron.
St.
Mary. Cellan, All Saints.
Ciliau Aeron, St. Michael.
Dihewyd
or Llanwydalus, St. Vitalis.
Henfynyw,
Llanddewi Aberarth,
David.
St.
Llanafan, Afan. the Baptist.
Llanwnws, Gwynws. Ystrad Meurig,
Llanarth, St. David.
St.
John the Capel
Llanina, St. Ina.
Llanbadarn Fawr, Padarn.
David.
St.
St.
John
Baptist.
Holy
Crist,
Llanychaiarn, Llwchaiarn.
Yspytty Cenfaen,
waen.
St.
St.
Ysbytty Ystwyth,
John the
Baptist.
Cilcennin,
Holy
Cross.
Llanger-
Aberystwyth,
Michael.
Llanbadarn Odin, Padarn. Llanbadarn Trefeglwys, Padarn. Llanbedr
Pont Stephan or Lampeter,
Chapel.
Capel Ffynnon Fair,
St.
St.
Trinity.
Peter.
St.
Thomas's
Mary.
Llanddeiniol or Carrog, Deiniol.
Llanddewi
Brefi, St.
David.
Leuci, St. Lucia.
Blaenpennal, St. David.
Capel Gartheli, Gartheli.
Capel Bettws
Capel Gwenfyl,
Gwenfyl. Llandyfriog, St.
Mary.
Tyfriog
or
Ty fry dog.
Llanfair
Tref Helygen,
APPENDIX,
328
No.
III.
Llandygwy or Llandygwydd, Tygwy.
A
Pare y Capel.
Chapel
near Cenarth Bridge. Llandyssilio
Gogo,
Capel Cynon, Cynon.
Tyssilio.
Llandyssulfed, St. Sylvester.
Llandyssul, Tyssul.
Mary.
Faerdre.
Bride.
Capel Borthin^
Capel Dewi,
Llanfair y Clywedogau, St.
St.
David.
St.
Llanfair,
St.
Capel Ffraidy
St.
Martin.
Mary.
Llanfair Orllwyn, St. Mary.
y Creuddin,
Llanfihangel
Michael.
St.
Llantrisaint.
Eglwys
Newydd. Glyn or Llanfihangel Castell Gwallter, Eglwys Fach or Llanfihangel Capel Edwin,
Llanfihangel Genau'r
Michael.
St.
St.
Michael. Llanfihangel Lledroed, St. Michael.
Llanfihangel Ystrad, St. Michael.
Sant
Llanllyr, Llyr Forwyn.
Capel
Silin^ Silin.
Llangeitho, Ceitho.
Llechryd, Holy Cross.
Llangoedmor, Cynllo.
Mount, Holy Cross.
Llangrannog, Carannog. Llangybi, Cybi.
Llangynfelyn, Cynfelyn. Llangynllo, Cynllo. Llanilar, liar.
Llanllwchaiarn, Llwchaiarn.
Non mam
Llannerch Aeron or Llan
Uwch
Llanrhystud, Rhystud.
Capel Cynddilig, Cynddilig.
Aeron,
LlansaniFraid, Ffraid or St. Bride.
Llanwenog, Gwenog.
Capel Wh^l.
Dewi.
Llannon, Non.
Capel Santesau.
Llanfechan.
Capel Bryneglwys.
Llanygweryddon,
St.
Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins.
Nantgwnlle, Gwynlleu.
Penbryn or Llanfihangel Penbryn, St. Michael. Bettws Ifan, John. Bryngwyn, St. Mary. Capel Gwnda^ Gwyndaf. Rhosdeiau,
St, Michael.
Silian or Llansilian, Sulicn.
Llanwnen,
St. Lucia.
Trefilan, St. Hilary.
Troed yr Aur,
St.
Verwick, Pedrog.
Michael.
Capel Twr Gwyn.
St.
I
CHURCHES,
CARMARTHENSHIRE.
&c. IN
329
CARMARTHENSHIRE. Abergwyli,
Llanpumsant,
David.
St.
Gwynno, and Gwynnoro,
Uwch
fihangel
Gwyn, Llan-
Capel Llanddu.
Cynwyl
Lucia.
St.
Ceitho,
Llawddog.
Bettws Ystum Gwyli.
Michael,
St.
Capel Bach.
Henllan. Abernant,
Gwyli,
Celynin,
Llanllawddog,
Cynwyl.
Elfed,
Capel Troed y
Bhiw. Bettws, St. David.
Pentre'r Eglwys.
Brechfa, Teilo.
Carmarthen,
Do.
St. Peter.
Newchurch
St.
Mary.
or Llannewydd.
church, a Free Chapel in the
Cenarth, Llawddog.
Llangain, Cain.
Llanllwch.
The BoodCastle of Carmarthen, Holy Cross. Capel y Groesfeini.
Newcastle in
Emlyn
Cilrhedin, Teilo, in Pembrokeshire.
Chapel.
Capel Ifan,
St.
John, in Car-
marthenshire.
Cil-y-Cwm,
Michael.
St.
Cilymaenllwyd,
St.
Philip and St. James.
Cynwyl Gaio, Cynwyl. Pumsant,
Llanwrda.
Gwynnoro.
Celynin,
Maesllanwrthwl,
Cwrt y Cadno.
Iwys.
Egermond,
Castell
Dwyran.
Llansadwrn, Sadwrn.
Llansawyl, Sawyl.
Gwyn,
Ceitho,
Gwynno, and
Henllan or Bryneg-
Gwrthwl.
Aberbranddu.
Michael.
St.
Eglwys Cymmun,
St.
Margaret Marios.
Henllan Amgoed,
St.
David.
Eglwys Fair a Churig,
St.
Mary and
Curig.
Kidwelly,
Mary.
St.
Llangadog, Cadog.
Capel Teilo, Teilo.
chael.
Llanjihangel, St.
Capel Coker.^
St.
Mi-
Thomas's
Chapel.
Laugharne,
St.
Martin.
CyfFyg.
Marros, St. Laurence.
Crase-
land.
Llanarthne, St. David.
Llanlleian Chapel.
Llanboidy or Llanbeudy, St.
Brynach.
Capel Dewi,
St.
David.
Eglwys Fair Lan T^f,
Mary.
Llandawg,
St.
Llanddarog.
*
St.
Named
Margaret Marios.
An old
Pend^n.
Chapel, St. Bernard.
after Galfridus
Capel Bach.
de Coker, Prior of Kidwelly in 1301.
2r
.
APPENDIX,
330
No. IH.
Llanddowror, Teilo. Llandeilo Abercywyn, Teilo.
Llandeilo
Fawr
Taliaris Chapel,
or Llandilo, Teilo.
A
Capel yr Ywen.
Llandyfaen.
Holy
Trinity.
Chapel in Carreg Cennen
Castle.
Llandingad, Tingad or Dingad.
Capel Peulin, fah.
St.
Llanfair ar
Paulinus or Pawl Hen.
y Bryn,
St.
Mary.
Capel Cynfab, Cyn-
Eglwys Newydd. Capel yr Hendre.
Llandybie, Tybie.
Glyn yr Henllan.
Llandyfaelog, Maelog. Llangynheiddon, CynJieiddon.
Cyndeyrn.
Capel Ifan,
A
Llandyfeisant, Tyfei. Llandyssilio
yn Nyfed,
St.
John.
Llangyndeyrn,
Capel Dyddgen.
Chapel in Dinefwr Castle^
St.
Bettivs.
David.
Tyssilio.
Llanedy, St. Edith.
Llanegwad, Egwad.
Llandeilo Rwnnws, Teilo. Llanhtrnin. Capel Gwilym Foethus. Dolwyrdd Chapel. Uanelly, EUyw. Llangennych, Cennych. Capel Dewi, St. David.
Capel Ifan,
John,
St.
Berwick Chapel.
Llanfallteg.
Llanfihangel Aberbythych, St. Michael. Llanfihangel ar Arth, St. Michael.
Pencadair Chapel.
Llanfihangel Cilfargen, St. Michael.
Llanfynydd, Egwad.
Llangadog Fawr or Llangadock, Cadog and sant, St.
Simon and
St.
Jude.
St.
David.
Capel Gwynfai.
Llanddeu-
Capel Tydyst.
Llangan, Canna.
Capel Penarw.
Llangathen, Cathan.
Capel Mair,
Llangeler, Celer.
St.
Mary.
Llanglydwyn, Clydwyn. Llangynnor. Llanfihangel Rhos y Corn, Ffynnony Capel.
Ldanllwni, Llwni.
Maesnonni.
St.
Michael.
Capel
Llansadyrnin, Sadyrnin.
Llanstephan, YstyfFan.
Llangynog, Cynog.
Llanyhri, St. Mary.
Llanwynio, Gwynio. Llanybyddair,
St.
Capel Mair, Llanycrwys,
St.
Peter.- Abergorlech.
St.
Mary.
David.
Capel lago,
St.
James.
CHURCHES, Meidrym,
St.
&c. IN
CARNARVONSHIRE.
331
Llanfihangel Abercywyn, St. Michael.
David.
Merthyr, Enfail.
Myddfai or Mothvey,
St. Michael.
Penboir, Llawddog.
Trinity Chapel,
Penbre,
Llan-non, Non,
Illtyd.
Holy
Trinity.
Llandurry.
Pencarreg. St. Clare's.
Llangynin, Cynin.
St. Ishmael's or Llanishmael, Ismael.
Side, St.
Talley or Tal-y-Llychau,
Capel Mair,
Cynhwm. Trelech
a'r
Ferry
Llansaint, All Saints.
Thomas, St.
Mary.
St.
Llanfihangel, St. Michael.
Michael.
Capel
Holy
Crist,
Capel
Trinity.
Capel Teilo, Teilo.
Bettws, Teilo.
Capel Bettws.
CARNARVONSHIRE. Aber or Abergwyngregyn, Bod fan. Aberdaron,
Hywyn.
Llanfaelrys, Maelrys.
Eglwys Fair,
St.
Mary.
Penrhos or Llangynwyl, Cynwyl.
Abererch, Cawrdaf.
Bangor Fawr, Deiniol. Pentir or Llangedol, Cedol, Capel Gwrfyw, Gwrfyw. King Edgar's Chapel, St. Mary. Bardsey or Ynys Enlli, Cadfanand Lleuddad ; now Extra- parochial. Beddgelert, St. Mary.
Nant Hwynen Chapel.
Bodfuan, Buan. Caer-rhun, St. Mary. Ceidio or Llangeidio, Ceidio.
Clynnog Fawr, Beuno.
Conway
or Aberconway, St. Mary.
Cruccaith, St. St.
Catherine.
Ynys Cynhaiarn, Cynhaiarn.
Treflys,
Michael.
Cyffin, St. Benedict.
Dolwyddelan, Gwyddelan. Dwygyfylchi, Gwynnin. Carngiwch, Beuno.
Edeyrn, Edeyrn,
Eglwys Rhos,
St.
Hilary.
Pistyll,
Beuno.
Penrhyn, a Free Chapel,
St.
Mary.
Llanaelhaiarn, Aelhaiarn. Llanbeblig, Peblig.
Llanbedr y Cennin,
Carnarvon, St. Mary. St. Peter,
Do.
St.
Helen.
APPENDIX,
332 Pedrog.
Llanbedrog,
Llangian,
No.
Cian
III.
and
Cir
Peris.
Ferthyr.
Llanfihangel Bachellaeth, St. Michael. Llanberis, Peris.
Dinas Orweg Chapel.
Llanddeiniolen, Deiniolen.
Capel Curig,
Tegai.
Llandegai,
Curig,
or
Cyrique
and
Ju-
litta.
Llandudno, Tudno.
Llandwrog, Twrog.
Llanengan or Llaneingion Frenhin, Einion.
Ynys Tudwal, Tudwal.
Llanfair Fechan, St. Mary.
Bettws Garmon, St. Germanus. y Pennant, St. Michael. Mor. Pwllheli or Eglwys Dyneio, Tyneio.
Llanfair Isgaer, St. Mary.
Llanfihangel Llanfor,
Llangelynin, Celynin.
Llangwynodl, Gwynodl.
Tudweiliog, Cwyfen.
Bryn Croes, Holy
Cross.
Llangybi, Cybi. Llaniestin,
Llanarmon,
St.
Germanus.
Llandygwynnin, Gwynnin.
lestin.
Penllech, St. Mary.
or Merini.
St. Julian's
Bodferin,
Merin
Chapel.
Llanllechid, Llechid. Llanllyfni,
Rhedyw.
Llanrhug, St, Michael.
Llanwnda, Gwyndaf Hen.
John
Llanfaglan, Baglan.
Llanystyndwy,
St.
Melldeyrn,
Peter ad vincula.
St.
the Baptist.
Bod-twnog, Beuuo.
Nantgyndanyll, Deiniol.
Nefyn,
St.
Mary.
Penmachno, Tyddud. Penmorfa, Beuno. Dolbenmaen,
Rhiw, Aelrhiw.
Trefriw, St. Mary. St.
St.
Mary.
Llandudwen, Tudwen.
Llanrhychwyn, Rhychwyn,
Bcttvvs y Coed,
Michael.*
* For Llangystennyn and Llysfuen, see Abergele and Llundrillo, Denbighshire,
CHURCHES,
DENBIGHSHIRE.
&c. IN
333
DENBIGHSHIRE. A
Abergele, St. Michael.
Chapel in the Church-Yard of Ditto,
Bettws Abergele,
Michael,
St.
Michael.
St.
Llangystennyii in
the County of Carnarvon, St. Constantino. Llanwddin, Gwddin.
Bryn Eglwys,
Llandyssilio, Tyssilio.
Tyssilio.
Cegidog or Llansansior,
St.
George.
Cerrig y Drudion or Llanfair Fadlen,
Chirk or Eglwys y Waun, Clog-caenog, Caenog.
St.
Denbigh,
Do.
Marcellus.
St.
St.
Mary Magdalen.
Mary.
St.
Hilary.
A
Free Chapel
in the
Castle.
Derwen yn Ml,
St.
Efenechtyd,
Michael.
St.
Eglwys Each,
St.
Mary.
Martin.
Erbistock, St. Hilary. Gresford, All Saints.
A
Chapel at Rosset Green.
Holt, St. Chad.
Iscoed Chapel.
Gwytherin, Gwytherin. Henllan, Sadwrn. The Abbey Chapel. Llanarmon DyiFryn Ceiriog, St. Germanus. Llanarmon yn It\l, St. Germanus. Llanbedr,
St.
Peter.
Llanddoged, Doged. Llanddulas, Cynbryd. Llandegla,
Tecla.
St.
sanfFraid
Rhos* or Dinerth, Trillo. Llanelian, Elian. LlanGlyn Conwy or Diserth, Ffraid. Capel Sanffraid,
Ffraid.
Llysfaen in the County of Carnarvon, Cynfran.
Llandrillo in
Llandyrnog, Tyrnog. Llanelidan. Llanfair DyfFryn Clwyd, Cynfarch and St. Mary. Llanfair Talhaiarn, Talhaiarn and St. Mary. Llanferras.
*" Llanelian,
LlansanfFraid. and Llysfaen are supposed to have been
Chapels of Ease to of the tithes in
this paiish,
because the Rector and Vicar have a share
each."— Edwards's Cathedral of
St.
Asaph,
APPENDIX,
334
Glyn y Myfyr,
Llanfihangel
St.
No.
Ilf.
Michael.
Llanfwrog, Mwrog.
Marchaled or Capel Foelas.
Llangerniw, Digain.
Trefor Isaf Chapel.
Llangollen, Collen.
Llangwm Dinmael,
St.
Jerome.
Llangwyfen, Cwyfen. Llangynhafal, Cynhafal.
Llanhychan, Hychan. Llannefydd, Nefydd. Llanrhaiadr, Dyfnog.
Llanwddin in the County of Llanarmon Mynydd Mawr, St. Ger-
Llanrhaiadr in Mochnant, Dogfan.
Montgomery, Gwddin.
Llangedwyn, Cedwyn.
manus.
Llanrhydd, Meugan.
Llansanffraid
Capel Rhyddyn.
Glyn
Llangadwaladr, Cadwaladr.
St. Peter.
Capel Garmon,
Llanrwst, Grwst.
MarchelL
Rhuthin,
St.
Germanus.
Capel Marchell,
Gwydir Chapel.
Ceiriog, Ffraid,
Llansannan, Sannan or
St. Senaiius.
Llansilin, Silin or Sulien.
Llanynys,
Mor and
Saeran.
Nantglyn, Mordeyrn.
CyfFylliog, St. Mary.
Mordeyrn's Chapel, Mordeyrn.
Rhiw Fabon, Mabon. Wrexham,
Silin
or Sulien.
Capel
Silin, Silin.
Minera Chapel.
Berse Drelincourt Chapel.
Ysbytty Ifan,
St.
John the Baptist.*
FLINTSHIRE. Bangor Iscoed or Bangor in Maelor, Dunawd. Worthenbury, Deiniol. Overton or Orton Madoc, St. Mary. Marchwiail in the County of Denbigh, Deiniol. Bodfari,
Caerwys,
St.
Stephen.
St.
Hwlkiri's Chapel.
Michael.
St Michael's Chapel near the Well.
Cilcain or Kilken, St. Mary.
Cwra, Mael and Sulien.
* For Marchwiail, see Bangor Iscoed, Flintshire.
CHURCHES,
&c.
IN
Diserth, Ffraid or St. Bridget.
GLAMORGANSHIRE.
335
Rhywlyfnwyd.
Dymeirchion, Holy Trinity.
Estyn or Hope formerly Llangynfarch, Cynfarch.
Plds y Bivl
Chapel.
Gwaunesgor,
St.
Mary.
Halkin or Helygen, Hanoier,
St.
Mary.
Chad.
St.
Hawarden, Deiniol. Holywell, Gwenfrewi or St. Winefred. A Chapel over the Well. Iscoed, a Chapel to Malpas (St. Oswald) in the County of Chester. Capel Beuno Yngwespyr, Beuno.
Llanasa, Asaf.
Meliden.
Mold,
St.
Mary.
Nerquis,
St.
Mary.
Treuddin,
St.
Mary.
Capel
y Spon. Nannerch, St. Mary. Newmarket.
Northop or Llaneurgain, Eurgain afterwards St. Peter. Flint, St. Mary. Penley in Maelor, St. Mary, a Chapel to Ellesmere (St. Mary) in the County of Salop.
Rhuddlan, St.
St.
Mary.
A
Asaph, Cyndeyrn or
Whitford,
St.
Mary.
Chapel at Cefn Du.
St.
Kenligern and Asaf.
Capel y Gelli.
TreW Abad Chapel.
Ysgeifiog, St. Mary.
GLAMORGANSHIRE. Mary.
Aberafon,
St.
Barry,
Nicholas.
St.
Barrog.
Baglan, Baglan.
A
Another
in
Chapel in Barry Island,
St.
Baruck or
Do.
Bishopston or Llandeilo Ferwallt, Teilo.
Caswell Chaphl.
Bonvilston, St. Mary. Britton Ferry, St. Mary.
Cadoxton juxta Barry, Cattwg. Cadoxton juxta Neath or Llangattwg Glyn Nedd, Cattwg. Creinant, St.
Caerau,
Margaret. St.
Mary.
Aberpergwm.
APPENDIX
336 Cardiff,* St.
A
John the
No.
III.
Do St Mary.
Baptist.
St. Ferine' s
Chapel
Chapel near Miskin Gate.
Cheriton.
Cilybebyll, St. John the Evangelist.
Nolton Chapel,
Coetty, St. Mary.
Cogan,
Colwinston,
St.
Michael. Peterston super Montein or Llan-
Coyehurch or Llangrallo, Crallo. bedr ar Fynydd, St. Peter.
Eglwys Brewys, St. Brise. Eglwys Ilan or Eglwys Elian, ffili,
Mary.
St.
St. Peter.
Ewenny,
Llanfabon, Mabon.
Elian.
Caer-
Martin.
St.
Michael.
St.
Flemingston,
St.
Michael.
Gelligaer, Cattwg.
Capel Gwladus, Gwladus.
Brithdir Chapel.
Gileston, St. Giles.
Glyncorwg,
St.
John the
Kenfig,
Llannon, Non.
Mary Magdalen.
St.
Capel Blaengwrach.
Baptist.
Ilston or Llanilltyd, Illtyd.
Pyle, St. James.
Lantwit Major or Llanilltyd Fawr, Illtyd. St.
The Lady's Chapel,
Mary.
Lantwit juxta Neath,
Illtyd.
Neath,
St.
Thomas.t
Resolven.
Ynys Fach Chapel. Leckwith,
St.
James.
Llanbleiddian, Baptist.
Bleiddian or
St.
Lupus, afterwards
Llanddunwyd or Welsh
St. Donat's,
St.
John
the
Dunwyd. Cow-
bridge, St. Mary. Llancarfan,
Cattwg.
Llanfeithin.
Llangadell,
Cadell.
Liege
Castle.
Llandaff or Llandeif, Dyfrig, Teilo, and Oudoceus, afterwards St. Peter.
Whitchurch,
St.
Mary.
*"Ther be 2 Paroche
Chirches in the Towne, wherof the principale sumwhat by Est is one, the other of our Lady is by Southe on the Water side. There is a Chapelle beside in Shoemaker streat of S. Perine, lying
and a nother hard withio Meskin Gate side."
t Neath, now a Rectory, is called Grainville to the Abbey of Savigny.
— Leland.
a Chapel in the Grant of Richard de
— Dugdule's Monasticon.
CHURCHES, Llanddewi in Gower,
St.
GLAMORGANSHIRE.
IN
&c.
David.
337
Knelston, St. Maurice.
Llandeilo Talybont, Teilo.
Llandough or Llandocha near
Dochdwy.
Cardiff,
Llandough or Llandocha near Cowbridge, Dochdwy.
Llandow or Llandduw, Holy Trinity. Llandyfodwg, Tyfodwg. Llandymor, an extinct church in Gower. Llanedeyrn, Edeyrn.
Llanfedwy,
Fedwy
Medwy in the
Llanfihangel
or Medwinus.
Llanfihangel
County of Monmouth,
y Bont Faen,
or
Michaelston
Michael.
St.
Michael.
St.
Llanfrynach, Brynach Wyddel.
PenUin.
Llanganna or Llangan, Canna. Llangeinwyr, Ceneu or Ceinwyry'.
Llangennydd, Cennydd. Llangiwg, Ciwg. Llangyfelach, St. David afterwards Cyfelach.
An old
Chapel, St. Mary.
Llansamled, Samled.
Morriston.
Llangynwyd Fawr, Cynwyd. Llanhary, Illtyd. Llanilid,
[Sts. Julius
Hid a Churig or
Sts.
Julitta
and Cyrique.
and Aaron. Llanharan,
Uanisan, Isan.
Llanmadog, Madog. Llanmaes, Cattwg. Llanrhidian, Rhidian.
Llanrhidian Chapel.
Llanelen, St. Helen.
Brigam Chapel. Llanilltyd or Lantwit Llantrisaint, Illtyd, Tyfodwg, and Gwynno. Ystrad Dyfodwg, Tyfodwg. Llanwynno, Faerdre, Illtyd. Gwynno. Aberd-Ar, St. John the Baptist. St. John's Chapel, Talygarn, St. John the Baptist.
Llansannwr.
Llantryddid, Illtyd.
Llavernock, (Qu. Llanfyrnach?) St. Laurence. Llysfaen,
Gwrhir afterwards
Llyswerni, Tydfyl.
Loughor or Castell Llychwr, Marcross, Holy Trinity.
Margam,
St.
Mary.
St.
Dennis.
St.
Michael.
Nash.
Eglwys Nunyd,
Craig y Capel.
28
Hafod y Forth.
Trisaint,
APPENDIX
338
No.
III.
Merthyr Dyfan, Dyfan and Teilo. Merthyr Mawr, Teilo.
St.
Rogue's Chapel.
Merthyr Tydfyl. Tydfyl. Michaelston. upon Afon, St. Michael. Michaelston upon Elai, St. Michael.
Michaelston
Monk
le Pitt
Nash,
St.
or Llanfihangel
Llangewydd,
Newcastle, lUtyd.
Laleston, St. David.
Newton
yn y Gwaelod,
St.
Michael.
Mary. Cewydd.
Bettws,
St.
David.
Tudwg.
Tithegston,
Nottage, St. John the Baptist.
Nicholaston, St. Nicholas.
Oxwich,
Illtyd.
Oystermouth,
AU
Saints.
Penard or Penarth
in
Gower,
Penarth near Cardiff,
St.
St.
Mary.
Augustine.
Pendeulwyn, Cattwg.
Penmaen,
St.
John the
Penmark,
St,
Mary.
Baptist.
East Aberddaw.
Penrice or Penrhys,
St.
Rhos Chapel.
Mary.
Pentyrch, Cattwg. Peterston
upon Elai
or Llanbedr ar Fro, St. Peter.
Porthcurig, Curig. Portheinion, Cattwg.
Radyr,
St.
John
Reynoldston,
St.
the Baptist.
George.
Rhosili, St. Mary.
Roath, St. jS^^.
St.
St. Bride's St.
upon St.
St.
Elai, Ffraid, St. Bridget, or Bride.
Bride's Major, Ffraid.
Wicky St.
[Andrew the Apostle.
Margaret.
Andrew's Major or Llanandras, Andras ab Rhun, afterwards Andrew's Minor, St. Andrew the Apostle.
Ogmore Chapel,
Llamphet/, St. Faith.
James.
Bride's Minor, Ffraid.
St. Donat's,
Dunwyd.
St. Pagan's, (in ruins,) St.
*«
Mary.*
Ffagan.
St.
Pagan's, (the present Church,)
Llanelldeyrn, Elldeyrn.
Llanfair, St.
Mary.
The Paroch Chirch of S. Pagan
the Village a Chapelle of S.
is now of our Lady ; but ther is yet by Fagan sumtime the Paroch Chirch." Leland,
—
CHURCHES, St.
HEREFORDSHIRE.
IN
&c.
339
George's or Llanufelwyn, Ufelwyn or Ubilwynus, afterwards
George.
St.
Beaupre Chapel,
St. Hilary.
St.
Mary.
St.
Lythian's or Llanfleiddian Fach, Bleiddian or St. Lupus.
St.
St.
Mary Church or Eglwys Fair, St. Mary. Mary on the Hill or Eglwys Fair y Mynydd,
St.
Nicholas.
Swansea,
John the
Wenvo,
St.
Baptist.
Mary.
St.
Mary.
Tathan,
St. Tathan's,
Sully, St.
St.
Do.
St.
Thomas.
Do.
St.
John.
Mary.
Ystrad Owain.*
HEREFORDSHIRE, SOUTH-WEST OP THE RIVER WYE. Abbey-Dore, Holy Trinity and Acornbury,
John the
St.
St.
Mary.
Baptist,
Allensmore, St. Andrew. Arcop or Orcop, St. Mary. Bacton, St. Faith.
Much
Birch Magna or
Birch, St:
Birch Parva or Little Birch,
Blackmere,
St.
Bredwardine,
St.
Mary and
St.
Thomas k
Becket.
Mary.
Leonard.
St.
Andrew.
Bridstow, St. Bride or Bridget.
BuUingham, a Chapel
A
Chapel in Wilton Castle.
to All Saints in the City of Hereford.
Clehonger, All Saints. CliflPord, St.
Mary. Llanveyno or Llanfeuno, Beuno afterwards
Clodock, Clydog.
Llanwynnog, Gwynnog.
Peter. well, St.
Cusop,
St.
Longtown,
St. Peter.
St.
Cress-
Mary.
Mary.
Pen Henllan.
Dewchurch Magna or Much Dewchurch, St. David. Little Dewchurch, St. David. Kilpeck, St. David afterwards St. Mary. Dewshall, St. David.
For Rhydri, see Bed was, Monmouthshire.
APPENDIX,
340 Dindor,
Andrew.
St.
Rotherwas,
Dorston, St. Peter.
Eaton Bishop,
St.
Mary.
Sugwas Chapel.
Michael.
Foy, St. Faith. Ganerew, St. Swithin. Garway, St. Michael. Goderich or Goodrich,
Harwood
III.
Snodhill.
Michael.
St.
Ewyas Harold,
St.
No.
Dulas, St. Michael.
St, Wolstori's Chapel.
St. Giles.
or Hare wood, St. Dennis.
Horn Lacy,
Bolston.
St. Cuthbert.
Kenderchurch, Kentchurch.
St.
St.
Mary.
Mary.
Llanithog.
Kingston, St. Michael. Llandinabo. Llanfrother or Llanfrodyr, Dyfrig or St. Dubricius.
Henllan, Dyfrig. St.
Hentland or
Ballingham, Dyfrig.
Llangaran. Deiniol.
Weonard's Chapel.*
Llanrothal. Llansilio, Tyssilio.
Llanwarn or Llanywern, Madley,
Mary.
St.
Michaelchurch Eskley, Moccas,
John
St.
the Baptist.
Tibberton. St. Michael.
Michael.
St.
Peterchurch, St. Peter. Peterstow, St. Peter.
Preston on
Wye,
Rowlston,
St. Peter.
St.
King's Capel,
Sellack, Tyssilio. St. St.
Martin.
Laurence.
Pencoed,
St.
Devereux, Qu. Dyfrig or
St.
John
the Baptist.
Marstow,
Dennis.
St.
Dubricius.
St. Margaret.
Thruxton,
St.
Turnaston,
Bartholomew.
Mary.
Tretire, St.
St.
Vowchurch,
St.
Walterston, St
Michaelchurch, St. Michael.
Mary. Bartholomew.
Mary
* These four Chapels are now dependencies of Lugwardine.
CHURCHES,
&c. IN
MERIONETHSHIRE.
341
Welsh Newton, St. Mary. Whitchurch, Dyfrig or St. Dubricius. Wormbridge,
St.
Thomas.*
MERIONETHSHIRE. Bettws Gwerfyl Goch, St. Mary.
Rug
Corwen, Mael and Sulien.
Chapel.
Dolgelleu, St. Mary.
Maentwrog,
Ffestiniog, St. Michael.
St.
Mary.
Gwyddelwern, Beuno. Llanaber, St. Mary. Llanaelhaiarn, Aelhaiarn.
Llandanwg, Tanwg.
Llanbedr,
St.
Harlech,
Peter.
St.
Mary
Magdalen. Llandderfel, Derfel Gadarn.
Llanfihangel y Traeth,
Llandecwyn, Tecwyn.
St.
Michael.
LlandriUo, Trillo.
Llanegryn, Egryn.
Llanenddwyn, Enddwyn.
Llanddwywe, Dwywe.
Llanfachraith, Machraith.
Llanelltyd,
John
lUtyd.
Capel Gwanog,
St.
the Baptist.
Llanfair juxta Harlech, St. Mary.
Llanfrothen, Brothen. Llanfor,
Mor and
Deiniol.
Llangar, All Saints.
Arthog Chapel.
Llangelynin, Celynin.
Llangywair, Cywair. Llansanffraid
Glyn Dyfrdwy,
Ffraid.
Llanuwchllyn, Deiniol. Llanycil, Beuno.
Llan
ym Mawddwy,
gomery, Tydecho.
Mawddwy *
Garthbeibio
in
in the
Do.
County of MontTydecho.
Dinas
Chapel.
The compiler
suspects there were Churches formerly at Llangynog
and Llanfyrnach near Tretire, and their saints
Mallwyd
Tydecho.
at
Llan-non nearMichaelchurch Eskley
were Cynog, Brynach Wyddel, and Non,
5
APPENDIX,
342
No.
III.
Trawsfynydd, Madrun and Anhun.
Tywyn
Merioneth, Cadfan.
Pennal,
St.
Llanfihangel y Pennant,
Tal y Llyn,
Peter ad vincula.
St.
St.
Michael.
Mary.
MONMOUTHSHIRE. Abergavenny,
St.
Mary.
St.
John the
Baptist's Chapel.
Llandderfel, Derfel Gadarn.
Basaleg.
Henllys,
St.
Peter.
Ris-
ca, St. Peter.
Bedwas, Barrog or
St.
Baruck.
Rhydri
County of Glamor-
in the
gan, St. James.
Bedwellty, Sannan.
Bicknor Wallica or Welsh Bicknor,
Bryngwyn,
Margaret.
St. Julius's Chapel.
Caerleon, Cattwg.
Caerwent,
St.
St. Peter.
St.
St.
Aaron's Do.
Stephen.
Caldicot.
Chapel Hill or Tinteyrn Magna. Chepstow,
St.
Mary.
Christ- Church or
Eglwys y Drindod, Holy
Trinity.
Cilgwrwg. Coedcerniw, All Saints.
Cwm Yoy
or
Cwm
lau, St. Martin.
Dingatstow or Llaningad, Dingad afterwards St.
St.
Mary.
Tregaer,
Mary.
Dixton, St. Peter. GoldclifF* or Gallteurin,
and
St.
Mary
Goytre or Coed-tre,
Grosmond, Gwernesey,
The
the Virgin.
Blessed Saviour, St.
Nash,
St.
Mary
Mary Magdalen,
the Virgin.
St. Peter.
St. Nicholas.
Michael.
St.
Ifton.
Kemmys or Cemmaes, Kemmys Commander,
St.
Michael.
All Saints.
Langston. Llanarth, Teilo.
Bettws
Newydd.
Clitha Chapel.
Founded by Robert de Candos A. D.
1113.
I
CHURCHES,
MONMOUTHSHIRE.
&c. IN
343
Llanbadog.
Llauddewi Fach,
David.
St.
Llanddewi Ysgyryd,
St.
Llanbedr,
Llandefdd.
David,
Uanddewi Rhydderch,
St.
David.
St. Peter.
Llandegfedd or Llandegwedd, Tegwedd. Llandeilo Bertlioleu or Llandeilo Porth-halawg, Teilo.
Groes Ynyr, Teilo,
Llandeilo Cressenny or Llandeilo
Penrhos,
Cattwg.
Llandenny or Llandenfi. Llandogo, Llanelen, St. Helen. Llanfabli, Mabli.
Unnfaches, Maches. Llanfair Cilgydyn, St. Mary.
Dinam
Llanfair Disgoed, St. Mary.
Chapel.
Llanferin or Llanfetherin, Merin.
Llanfihangel Crug-corneu,
Llanfihangel in Netlier
Michael.
St.
Went,
St.
Michael.
Llanfihangel Lantarnam or Llanfihangel
Tan y
Groes,
St.
Michael.
St.
Moughan's
Llanfihangel Pont y Moel, St. Michael.
Llanfihangel
Tor y Mynydd,
Llanfihangel juxta Usk,
St.
Michael.
St,
Michael.
Llanfihangel Ystern Llewern,
St.
Michael.
Llanfoist, St. Faith.
Llanfrechfa.
Llangadwaladr or Bishopston, Cadwaladr. Llangattock or Llangattwg Feibion Afel, Cattwg.
Chapel, Meugan.
Llangattwg Lenig, Cattwg.
Llangattwg Lingoed, Cattwg. Llangattwg DyfFryn
Wysg or Llangattock juxta
Usk, Cattwg.
Llangiwa, Ciwa. Llangofen, Cofen.
Llangwm Ucha.
Penclawdd,
Llangwm
St.
Martin.
Isa.
Llangybi, Cybi.
Llangyfyw or Llangynyw, Cyfyw or Cynyw^. Llangynog, Cynog ab Brychan.*
There
is
a place near the site of this Church called " Cwrt Brychan."
APPENDIX,
344
Llanhenog or Llanhynog,
St.
No. in.
John the
Baptist.
Llanhileth or Llanhyledd, Illtyd.
Llanisan or Llanishen, Isan.
Llanllywel, Llywel. Llanmartin,
/Llanofer,
Martin.
St.
Mamhilad.
Bartholomew.
St.
Trefethin, Cattwg.
LlansanfFraid or St. Bride's near Abergavenny. Ffraid or
Llansanffraid or St. Bride's in Nether
Went,
St.
Bride.
Ffraid.
LlansanfFraid or St. Bride's Wentloog, Ffraid.
Llansoy.
/^Llantoni or Llanddewi Nant Honddu,
St.
David afterwards
St.
John.
St.
John
the Baptist. Llantrisaint, St. St.
Peter,
St.
Paul, and
Llanwenarth,
Llanwern,
St.
St.
Peter.
Aberystruth or Blaenau Gwent,
St.
Peter.
Mary.
Machen or Mechain, St. Michael. Magor or Magwyr, St. Mary. Redwick, Malpas,
Bertholeu Chapel,
Bartholomew.
Thomas.
St.
Mary.
St.
Marshfield.
Mathern or Mertheyrn, Tewdrig.
Merthyr Geryn, Geryn. Monkswood. Monmouth, St. Mary. Do.
St.
Crick.
Runston.
Thomas.
Mounton.
Mynyddyslwyn, Tudur ab Hywel. Newchurch or Eglwys Newydd ar y Cefn. Newport alias St. Woolos, Gwynllyw Filwr. Oldcastle, St. John the Baptist. Pant-teg,
Penhow,
St. St.
Bettws,
St.
David.
Mary.
John the
Baptist.
Penterry. Peterston
Wentloog or Llanbedr Gwynllwg,
Portskewet or Porthysgewydd,
Holy llagland,
St.
Mary.
St.
Peter.
Sudbrook or Southbrook,
Trinity. St.
David.
Trostrey or Trawsdre,
St.
David,
llogiet.
Rockfield,
St.
Kenelm.
^
CHURCHES, Rumney
or
Rhymni,
St.
&c.
IN
MONTGOMERYSHIRE.
345
Augustine.
Shire-Newton or Trenewydd Gellifarch, Skenfreth or Ysgynfraith, Ffraid or
St.
Thomas a
Becket.
St. Bride.
Porthcaseg.
St.
Aryan's.
St.
Kinemark's, Cynfarch.
St. Melan's. St. Pierre's, St. Peter.
Tintern Parva, St. Michael.
Tredonock or Trefrhedynog, Treleck or Try leg,
Andrew.
St.
St. Nicholas.
Treleck's Grange.
Penallt.
Troy, Michel Troy, or Llanfihangel Troddi,
Michael.
St.
Cwm-
carfan Chapel.
Undy
or Gwndi.
Usk, St. Mary. Wilcrick or y Foelgrug. Witston.
Wolves-Newton, St. Thomas a Becket. or Llanwarwg, Gwynno-
Wonstow
Ytton or Llanddeiniol, Deiniol.*
MONTGOMERYSHIRE. Aberhafesb,
Gwynno
or
Gwynnog.
Berriew or Aber-rhyw, Beuno.
Bettws, Beuno.
Carno, St, John the Baptist. Castell Caer-Einion,
Garmon
or St. Germaiius.
Cemmaes, Tydecho. Chirbury in the County of Salop, t St. Nicholas.
cholas.
Forden.
Church Stoke, Montgomery, St. Ni-
St. Michael.
Hissington.
Snead.
* For Michaelston Fedwy, see Llanfedwy, Glamorganshire. The Comfrom a list in
piler is unable to determine the situation of the following,
Myvyrian Archaiology:
the
Fach, Carn, Tredelerch,
— Llaniau,
Llanirwydd, Llanwnell,
Llanrhyddol, Meiryn,
suspects there were Churches formerly at at
Llanwyny, t
Its
and
Dewstow
Llanfair, and Llanardil near Llangofen.
Chapels are in the County of Montgomery.
2 T
Hywig He
Llanleirwg.
near Caldicot, and
APPENDIX
346
No.
III.
Crug^on, a Chapel to Alberbury (St. Michael) in the County of Salop. Darowain, Tudur. Llanbrynmair, St. Mary. Talerddig Chapel. Guilsfield or Cegidfa, Aelhaiarn.
Llanfechan.
Hirnant, Illog.
Kerry or
Ceri, St. Michael.
Llandyssilio,
Trinio.
Llandrinio,
Gwernygo Chapel.
Benhaglog Chapel.
Llanddinam, Llonio.
Melverley.
Tyssilio.
New
Chapel, Holy Trinity. Llandyssul, Tyssul. Llaneurfyl, Eurfyl. Llanfair Caer-Einion, St. Mary.
Llanfechain,
Garmon
Llanfihangel
y Gwynt,
Cilyr^ch Chapel.
or St. Germanus. St.
Michael.
Llanfyllin, Myllin.
Llangadfan, Cadfan. Llangurig, Curig.
Llangynog, Cynog.
Llangynyw, Cynyw. Llanidloes, Idloes.
Llanllwchaiarn, Llwchaiarn.
Llanymerewig, Llwchaiam.
Llanlugan or Llanllugyrn, Tyssilio afterwards
St.
Mary.
Llansanffraid in Mechain, Ffraid.
Llanwnog,
Gwynno
or
Gwynnog.
Llanwrin, Ust and Dyfnig.
Penegos or
Penegwest.
Cadfarch.
Machynllaith, St. Peter.
Llanwyddelan, Gwyddelan.
Manafon,
St.
Michael.
Meifod, Gwyddfarch.
T>olgynfelyn Chapel.
Do. Tyssilio.
Do.
St.
Mary.
Moughtre or Mochdref, All Saints. Newtown, St. Mary. Pennant Melangell, Melangell. Penystrywad, Gwrhai. Trefeglwys,
St.
Michael.
Tregynon, Cynon. Welshpool, Cynfelyn afterwards
St.
Mary.
Buttington
in
the
County of Salop, All Saints.* * For Llanwddin, see Llanrhaiadr in Mocbnant, Denbighshire} and Mallwyd and Garthbeibio, see Llan ym Mawddwy, Merionethshire.
for
CHURCHES,
PEMBROKESHIRE.
&c. IN
347
PEMBROKESHIRE. Ambleston or Tref Amlod,
Mary.
St.
Amroth, Elidyr.
Angle or Nangle, St. Mary. St. Andrew.
Bayvil,
Reynoldston.
Williamston.
Begelly or Bugeli.
Bosheston or Stackpool Boscher,
St.
Michael.
St.
GoverCs Chapel,
Gofen. Boulston.
Burton.
Camros, Ismael.
Carew,
St.
John the
CasUe Beith,
Baptist.
Redbert.
Michael.
St.
Castle Martin, St. Michael.
Cilgerran, Llawddog.
Flimston.
Capel Bach in the Castle,
Clarbeston, St. Martin.
Clydai, Clydai.
Cosheston, St. Michael.
Crinow. Cronwear, Elidyr. Dale, St. James.
Dinas, Brynach.
Eglwys Erw,
Cristiolus.
Pencelli Chapel.
Frey strop. Grandston,
St. Catherine.
Gumfreston. Haroldston East, Ismael. Haroldston West, Madog.
Hasguard,
St. Peter.
Haverford West,
Hays
St.
Mary.
Do.
St:
Thomas.
Castle or Castell yr Haidd, St. Mary.
Henry's Moat or Castell Harri, Herbrandston,
St.
Mary.
Hodgeston. Hubberston,
St.
David.
Jeffreyston, St. Oswald.
Johnston.
St.
Bernard.
Do.
St. Martin.
Forde Chapel.
APPENDIX,
348
No. IH.
Jordanston or Tref Iwerddon.
Lambston or Lammerston. Lampeter Velfrey or Llanbedr
Lamphey
FelfFre, St. Peter.
or Llandyfei, Tyfei.
Lawrenny, Caradog. Letterston or Treletert, St. Giles, Little
Llanfair
Nant y Gof,
St.
Mary.
Newcastle, St. Peter.
Llanddewi
Felffre,
St.
David.
Llandeilo
Llwyngwaddan,
Teilo.
Henllan. Llandeilo, Teilo.
Llandeloi or Llandylwyf.
Llanfihangel Penbedw, St. Michael. Llanfyrnach, Brynach,
Llangolman,
A
Capel Colman,
St.
Colman.
Chapel in ruins.
Colman.
St.
Llangwm. Llanhywel. Llanrheithion.
Llanrhian, Rhian. Llanstadwel, Tudwal. Llanstinan, Stinan or St. Justinian.
Llantwyd or Lantwood, lUtyd. Llanuchllwydog, LlanUst,
Ust.
Michael; St.
St.
David.
Llanfartin, all
Llanychaer, St. David. St.
Martin.
Llanllawern.
Capel Llanjihangel,
Sf.
included in the modern parish of Fishguard,
Mary.*
Llanwnda, Gwyndaf. Llan y Cefn. Llawhaden, Llanhuadain, or St. Mary''s
Llanaeddan, Aeddan.
Bletherston.
Chapel.
Llys y Fran, Meilyr. Loveston.
Ludchurch or Eglwys Lwyd, Elidyr. St. Mary,
Maenclochog,
Maenor B^r or Manorbeer, St. James. Maenor Deifi, St. David. Bridell, St. David. Maenor Owain or Maenor leuan, St. Mary.
Cilfywyr Chapel.
* Carlisle's Topography, voce Fishguard.
CHURCHES,
&c. IN
PEMBROKESHIRE.
349
Marloes, St. Peter.
Coed Canlas,
Martletwy, St. Marcellus.
Mathri or Merthyri,
The Holy
St.
Mary.
Martyrs.
Melinau, Dogfael.
Minwear.
Monington or Eglwys Wytliwr,
John the
Morfil, St.
St.
Nicholas.
Baptist.
Moylgrove or Trewyddel. Mynachlog Ddu, Dogfael. Narberth, St. Andrew. Robeston Wathan.
Mounton
Monkton.
or
Templeton.
Nash.
Upton.
Nefern, Brynach.
New
Cilgwyn,
Mary.
St.
Moat, St. Nicholas.
Newport,
Mary.
St.
Newton. Nolton or Knowelton, Madog.
St.
St.
Mary.
St.
Anne's Chapel.
Chapel in Caldey Island or Ynys
Pi/r.
St.
Mary
A
Penrhydd,
Do.
Deiniol.
Michael.
Penaly.
Druidston Chapel.
St. Nicholas, alias Monktoiji.
Pembroke,
Daniel's Chapel,
Do.
St.
Magdalen'' s Do.
Cristiolus.
Castellan.
Pontfaen, St. Bernard. Prendergast, St. David.
Pimcheston or Castell M^l, PwUcrochan, St. Mary.
St.
Mary.
Robeston or Robertston West. Roch, St. Mary. Two Chapels
in ruins.
Rosecrowther or Rhos Gylyddwr, Degeman or
St.
Decumanus.
Rosemarket, Ismael.
Rudbaxton,
St.
Michael.
St.
Catherine's Chapel.
St.
Leonard's
Do. Slebech, St. Spittal, St.
John
the Baptist.
Mary.
Stackpool Elidyr or Cheriton, Elidyr and Stainton, St.
Milford, St. Bride's,
Cewyll afterwards St.
St.
St.
Peter.
James.
A
Catherine.
Ffraid or St. Bride.
" The
ChapeV
Chapel near Pille,
APPENDIX,
350 St.
No. in.
David's Cathedral, St. David and St.
David.
Brawdy,
Capel Non, Non. Capel Stinan,
St.
Andrew.
Whitchurch,
Capel y Gwrhyd, St. David. Capel Padrig, St. Patrick. Capel y Pistyll. David.
St.
St. Justinian.
St.
Mary's Chapel adjoining the
Cathedral. St.
Dogmael's or Llandudoch, Dogfael afterwards
St.
Dogwel's, Dogfael.
St.
Edren's or Llanedeyrn, Edeyrn.
St.
Thomas.
Ailfyw.
St. Elveis or Llanailfyw,
St. Florence. St. Ishmael's, Ismael. St. Issel's or Llanussyllt. St.
Laurence.
St.
Nicholas.
St.
Petrox or Llanbedrog, Pedrog.
St. Twinel's.
Mary.
Talbenny,
St.
Tenby,
Mary.
St.
A
Free Chapel^
St.
John the Baptist.
Trefgarn.
Uzmaston or Osmundeston, Ismael. Walton East, St. Mary. Walton West.
Walwyn's
Castle.
St.
James.
Warren, St. Mary. Whitchurch or Eglwys Wen, St.
St.
Michael.
Llanfair Nantgwyli,
Mary.
Wiston, or Castell Gwys,
St.
Mary.
Yerbeston, St. Laurence.*
RADNORSHIRE. Aberedw, Cewydd.
Llanfaredd, St. Mary.
Bleddfa, St. Mary.
Boughrood or Bochrwd, Cynog. Bryngwyn, St. Michael. Bugeildy,
St.
Michael.
Llanbedr Painscastle,
Velindre Chapel.
* For Cilrhedin, see Carmarthenshire.
St. Peter.
I
CHURCHES, Casgob,
St.
Cefn Llys,
Michael.
Bettws Clyro.
Cregruna or Craig Furuna,
Llanbadarn y Garreg, Pa-
David.
St.
Llannon, Non.
darn.
Cewydd.
Bettws Diserth,
Gladestry or Llanfair Llethonw,
Glascwm,
351
Michael. St.
Clyro, St. Michael.
Disei-tli,
RADNORSHIRE.
IN
&c.
David.
St.
Knighton,
St.
St.
St.
Mary.
David.
Rhiwlen,
Colfa, St. David.
Edward, a Chapel
to
Stow
St.
David.
Michael) in the County
(St.
of Salop.
Llanbadarn Fawr, Padarn. Llanbadarn Fynydd, Padarn.
Llanbister, Cynllo.
or Anno.
Llanddewi Ystrad Enni,
Rhydeithon,
St.
Michael.
Llandegle,
St.
Tecla.
Llananno,
David.
Cwm Hir,
St.
Amo
Llanfihangel
Maelog.
Caerfaelog,
Abbey
Trellwydion, St. Mary.
St.
Llanfair
Mary.
Llanifan, St. John.
Llandeilo Graban, Teilo.
Llandrindod anciently Llandduw, The Holy Trinity,
hlanfaelog,
Maelog. Llanelwedd. Llanfihangel
Nant Melan,
Llangynllo, Cynllo.
bably Heyop,
St.
Michael.
St.
Pilleth,
David.
St.
Mary.
Whitton,
Llanhrynhir. St.
And
pro-
David.
Llansanifraid in Elfael, Ffraid or St. Bridget.
Llanstephan or LlaiistyfFan, YstyfFan. Llowes, Maelog or Meilig.
Llanddewi Fach,
St.
David.
Michael-church upon Arrow or Llanfihangel y DyfFryn, St. Michael, a Chapel to Kington (St. Mary) in the County of Hereford.
Nantmel, Cynllo.
Llanfihangel Helygen,
St,
Michael.
Llanyre or
yn Rhos, Llyr Forwyn. Rhayader Gwy, St. Clement. Pant yr Eglwys near Rhayader. Newchurch, St. Mary. New Radnor,* The Old Church. Do. The present Church, St. Llanllyr
Mary.
*
"There is an olde Churche stondynge now as a Chapell by the Not very farre thens is the new Paroche Churche buildyd by
Castle.
one William Bachefield and Flory his
Wyfe."— Leland.
APPENDIX,
352 Old Radnor, St.
St.
Stephen.
No.
Kinnerton,
III.
St.
Mary. Ednal. Llaniago,
James.
Presteign or Llanandreas, St. Andrew. coed,
St.
Michael. St.
Norton, St. Andrew. DisLingen in the County of Hereford, St. Kinshaai Ford in Do. By ton in Do. St. Mary. Michael.
Harmon's, Garmon or
St.
Germanus.
* For Glasebury and Llansanffraid
and Llaugammarch, Brecknockshire.
Drysgol Chapel.*
Cwramwd Deuddwr,
see Glasebury
INDEX TO THE NAMES OF SAINTS.
Aaron
.
Aeddan Foeddog
.
Bleiddian or St Lupus 119,126,160
Aelhaiarn
.
Aelrhiw
.
96 227 302 275 306
.
186
Bride, Bridget, or Ffraid
208 163 221
Buan
Aelgyfarch
Aerdeyrn Afan Buallt Ailfyw
.
.
.
.
Alan Alban Amaethlu or Maethlu .
.
.
.
.
Amo or Anno
.
.
Araphibalus
.
.
Amwn Ddu
.
Andras ab Rhun Ane ab Caw Aneurin or Gildas
.
.
306
.
Arianwen Arthen
.
Arwystli Gloff
Arwystli
H6n
St.
Asaph
Baglan ab Dingad Baglan ab Ithel Had « Baruck" Bedwas Bedwini
207 146
.
141
.
236
75, 81
.
262, 265
Bach ab Car wed
Beuno
.
.
Anno or Amo Arddun
Asafor
.
.
Anna, daughter of Meurig
218 146
225 225 164 218
.
Anhun
96 270 306 96
.
.
306
.
275
.
.
.
.
.
223 304 302 238 268
•
Boda
,
.
Bodfan.
.
Bran ab Llyr Brenda Brynach Wyddel
.
. .
.
Bugi or Hywgi
.
Cadell
.
Cad fan
.
Cadfarch
.
Cadfrawd Cadgyfarch Cado or Cataw Cadog Cad rod Cadwaladr Caffo
Caian Cain
295 213 270
.
102
.
232
142 270 299, 301 . 227 .
.
.
.
.
.
Callwen
.
Cammab Cam march
.
.
Canna Caradog Carannog Caron Carwyd Cattwg Ddoeth
,
146 228 153 233 933 222
.
305 209 306
.
207
.
.
.
155, 176, 233 .
.
Cawrdaf
.
Cedol
.
2 V
280 233
92, 100
.
Cathan or Cath en
302 189
.156
.
.
302 302 76
280 270 306
INDEX TO THE
354 Cedwyn Ceidio ab
Caw
Ceidio ab Ynyr Gwent
Ceindrych
Ceinwen Ceitho Celer
Celynin ab Cynyr Celynin ab Helig
Cenedion
280 227 234 150 151 213 306 213 302 150
Ceneu, a'bishop
245 ,274
Ceneu ab Coel Ceneu or St. Keyna Cennych Cennydd
102 ,104
153
306
257
Cewydd
230
Cian
302
.
Ciwa Ciwg
307
.
Cloffan
271 307
Clydai
151
Clydno Eiddyn Clydog
270
.
145
Clydwyn Cof Cofen
.
.
Colman
190
Constantine the Great
97 222
.
Cristiolus
Curig
Lwyd
220 .
Curig or Cyrique
Cwyfen Cwyfyn Cwyllog
Cwynrau Cybi Cyfelach
Cynfarch
307 82 ,307
.
.
.
.
Cynfarwy
.
Cynfelyn ab Bleiddyd Cynfelyn Drwsgl Cynfran
.
.
.
Cynfyw or Cynyw Cyngar ab Arthog Cyngar or Docwinus Cyngar ab Geraint Cyngen ab Cadell
168
307 260 270 144
.
233
.
211
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
133 253 138 241, 244 12, .
Cynog ab Brychan Cynog of Llanbadarn Cynon Cynudyn
.
.
.
.
Cynwyd Cynwyl Cynyw or Cynfyw Daniel
215 261
208, 270
206, 260 .
233
192 206, 258
or Deiniol
304 307
David or Dewi 43, 162 191, 193 Dedyn or Neubedd 146
228
Degeman
307
Deiniol or Daniel
162 ,266 50, 274 ,305
.
.
Deiniolen or Deiniol Fab
.
281
•
221
Cyflefyr
141
Cyflewyr
233
Dier or Diheufyr
Cyfyw
233
Digain
.
Cyllin
82
Diheufyr or Dier
.
150
305
192, 206, 258
Gadarn Dewi or St. David
Cymorth
307
183 232 161,207 Cynhafal 295 Cynhaiarn 275 Cynheiddion 152 Cynheiddion ab Ynyr Gwent 234 Cynidr 148 Cynin 144 Cynllo
302
Crallo
.
Cynmur
307
.
Cyndeyrn ab Arthog Cyndeyrn or St. Kentigern Cynfab
140
.
270 144 76,81 281 211 261
.
.
Cynddilig
208
.
Collen
Cynan Cynbryd Cyndaf
Derfel
43, 162, 191,
Dingad ab Brychan
.
.
.
193 276 134
276 140
NAMES OF Dingad ab Nudd Hael Dirdaa Dirynig
Dochdwy
.
Docwinus or Cyngar
.
.
Dog-ed
269
Elfod or Elbodius
.
162
Elgud
.
.
228
Elian
.
183, 219 .
.
Dogfan Dolgan Dolgar
.
.
.
Dona
.
183
209 211 145 257 258 302
186
.
156
Emyr Llydaw
.
165
Enddwyn
.
307
Enfail
.
152
Enghenel Erbin
Eurgain
224 307
Euryn
.
Dwynwen Dwywau Dwywe
.
151
.
221
.
207
Dyfan Dyfnan
.
Dyfnig
.
82,84
Dyfnog
142
.
224 295
Dyfrig or St. Dubricius 144, 170, 176, 191
Edeyrn
ab Gwrtheym
Edeyrn ab Nudd Ednyfed
Eigen Eigrad
.
186
298 115 303
Edwen Egryn Egwad
.
,
.
304
.
298
297 134 307 261
.
.
.
.
.
302
Ffagan
83,
Ffili
.
.
Ffinan
.
Ffinian
.
Fflewyn
.
Ffraid or St. Bride •'
Fidelis"
84 276
.
240 239 222 189
.
253
Gallgo
.
Garci
.
Garmon orSt.Germanu s .
.
207 149
Eurfyl
.
280
.
.
206
Durdan Dwyfael
.
.
EUdcyrn Ellyw
Dunawd Fyr
.
66, 305 .
Elined
Dubricius or Dyfrig 144,170,176, 191 .
355
.
.
Dogfael
SAINTS.
230 258
119,129, 159
307 157 169 Germanus or Garmon 119, 129, 159 Gerwyn 142 Giidas or Aneurin 225 Gistlianus 162 . Glywys Ccrniw 233 Goleuddydd . 149 Gartheli
.
Gasty or Gastayn Geraint ab Erbin
.
.
.
.
81
.
.
228
.
230
.
Eigron
.
212 224 271 Elaeth 66, 305 Elbodius or Elfod 298 Eldad ab Arth 298 Eldad ab Geraint 307 Elenog 147 Eleri, daughter of Brychan 275 Eleri, daughter of Dingad 83, 87 Elfan 236 . Elffin ,
Einion Frenhin
.
Gredifael
.
Eithras
.
Grwst
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Gurmaet"
.
G war than Gwawr Gwen
.
.
222 294 253 260 147
Gwenddydd
.
150 230 166 208 149
Gwenfaen
.
237
.
Gwenafwy
.
Gwenaseth
.
Gwenddolau
.
.
.
.
.
.
INDEX TO THE
356 Gwenfrewi or Gwenfyl Gwenlliw Gwenllwyfo
St.
Winefred
.
.
.
Iddon
.
Idloes
.
lestyn ab Cadfan
.
lestyn ab Geraint Ifor
.
ab Tudwal
.
liar
.
Illtyd or St. Iltutus
Isan
.
Ismael
"
307 308 125, 178 257 244, 252 308 .
.
Gwrmael
280 233 298 102 232 148 224
82,
Illog
.
.
219
76, 81
Hid Hid or Julitta
.
Gwrhai Gwrhir
Issui or
Ishaw"
.
.
Gwrnerlh Gwrthefyr or Vortimer Gwrthwl
Gwryd
Julitta
.
Julius
.
.
Justinian or Stinan
.
307 96 238
Kentigern
.
261
.
or Hid
82,
.
Gwyddelan Gwyddfareh
or
Cyndeyrn
.
Gwyddlew
.
Gwyn Gwynau
.
.
GwyndafH^n Gwvnen
.
« Keurbreit"
Keyna
or
Leonorius Llawdden Llawddog or Lleudd ad Llecheu .
.
Lleian
.
.
.
.
Gwynnoro Gwynodl
Gwynws Gwyrfarn Gwytherin
Gynyr of Caer Gawch
.
.
•
Llcminod Angel Lies ab Coel or Luc ius Lleuddad ab Alan Lleuddad or Llawdtlog Lleurwg or Lucius Llewelyn Llibio
.
Llidnerth
Llonio Lawhir
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
152 97 298 232 144 233
Llwchaiarn Llwni
Llwydian Llynab Llyr Forwyn Llyr Merini
Llywan Llywel
152
.
153
.
.
256 308
274 144 223 147 280 83 221 274 82 261 308 269 221 . 275 308 308 221 161, 308 169 224 253 .
.
.
Llechid
.
Ceneu
.
Gwynno or Gwynnog
Huail
Iddew
.
Gwrfyw Gwrgon
Hychan Hywgi or Bugi
.
.
Gwerydd Gwladus Gwodloew Gwrddelw
Helen Helig Foel
142 307 142 . 258, 307 215 102 . 146 . 268 231 280 . 147 231 251 102 279 134 308 305 308 308 . 233 213 153 219 308 237 308 261 170 302 . 213 257 213 236 153 . 308 275 162
Hywyn
.
Gwenteirbron
Hawystl
295 153
.
Gwennan Gwenog
Gwyngeneu Gwynio Gwynlleu Gwynllyw Filwr Gwynnin Gwynno ab Cynyr
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
NAMES OF Lucius, Lies, or Lleurwg
" Lunapeius"
83 253
.
.
119, 126, 160
Lupus or Bleiddian
Mabon
ab Bleiddyd Mabon ab Enlleu Marhes Machraith Machutus or Maclovius Madog ab Gildas
Madog Morfryti Madog ab Owain Madrun
.
251
Neubedd
233 308 256 257 169 133 164 220 230 222 270 256 276
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
143 76,81 Mawan 207 Mawan ab Cyngen Mechell, daus^hter of Br ychan 147 308 Mechell ab Echwydd 280 Mechydd 280 Medrod ab Cawrdaf 83,84 Medwy 166 . Meigyr .
.
.
.
.
.
.
143
.
.
.
Meilyr ab Gwron Meilyr ab Gwyddno Meirion Melangell Merit! or Merini Meugan or Meigant Meurig ab Tewdrig Mor ab Ceneu Mor ab Pasgen
.
Nefydd, daughter of Brychan Nefydd ab Nefydd Ail
261
.
Meilig
Neffai
.
.
Maelrys Maethlu or Amaethlu Maglorius . Marchell Mathaiarn
357
Nefydd ab Rhun Nefyn
.
Mael Maelog
SAINTS.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mordeyrn
.
Morfael
.
Morhaiarn
.
Mwrog Mwynen Mydan Mygnach
.
Myllin
.
.
.
.
.
or
Nidan
Non Nudd Nwython
.
148 238
.
.
146
.
.
Dedyn
147 146 295
.
.
.
.
.
.
.163
.
.
.
y)UDOCEUS Owain ab Macsen Pabiali or Papai Pabo Post Prydain Padarn Padrig ab Alfryd Padrig or St. Patrick
Papai or Pabiali Pasgen Paul deLeon
Pawl H6n
or Paulinus
208 257
.
.
253, 274
108
.
144 167 197, 215 298 128 144 143 256 . 187, 191 .
.
.
.
.
.
Peblig
.
Pedita
.
Pedr Pcdrog
.
.
237
.
.
Pedrwn
.
PeiUan
.
231 166
Peirio
.
222 212 269 236 269 184 117 280 308 308 308 308 142 280 280 308
Peris
Peithien
.
Peulan
Rhain Dremrudd Rhawin Rhediw Rhidian Rhiengar
.
.
.
Rliian
.
.
Rhuddlad
.
.
.
Rhun
.
Rhwydrys
.
Rhystud
Sadwrn Farchog Sadwrn of Henllan Sadyrnin
115
146 211 266 211 230 230 230 302
.
.
.
.
141 145
309 309 309 148 309 145 309 220
222 298 305
INDEX,
358
118, 271
Saeran
Samled Samson ab Samson ab Sandde Sannan Sawyl
309 228, 253 .
.
Amwn Ddu Caw
•
.
.
.
.
.
Seiriol
.
Selyf
.
Senefyr or Senewyr
.
Silin or Sulien
Stinan or
St.
.
Justinian
.
Sulien or Silin
.
Tanglwst
.
Tathan
Tecwyn Tegai Tegfan
.
.
Tegfedd
Tegiwg
Tegonwy Tegwedd
Tewdwr
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tudwg
.
Twrnog- or Teyrnog
.
Twrog
.
Tybie Tydecho ab Amwn Ddu Tydecho ab Gildas
.
Tydfyl
.
.
Tydie
.
.
.
Tyfei
Tyfodwg
Tyfrydog ab Arwystli Gloff Tyfrydog or Tyfriog
.
256
Tygwy
.
223 . 223 238 218 . 234 . 236 167 195,197,241 238 256
Tyneio
.
Tyssilio
.
.
.
.
Tyrnog
or
Tyssul
.
.
.
Teyrnog
.
.
276 223 152 218 258 151 149
.
.
Tyfriog or Tyfrydog
.
133
309 258
252 223 275 276 275 275 236
.
.
.
.
236 276
.
211
.
277
.
209"
Ulched
.
Urabrafel
.
309
.
.
.
Urien Rheged
.
Ust
.
219 203 224
.
297
Usteg
.
.
Teithfal It
Brycheiniogr
Teyrnog or Twrnog TeyrnogorTyrnog
.
138
.
271
.
276
.
211
Trillo
.
Trinio
.
Tudglyd
232 236 220 238 220
.
Teilo
Teon Teulydog Tewdrig ab
207 211
Tudno Tudur Tudwal Befr Tudwen
147 270 208 222
.
Tangwn ab Caradog Tangwn ab Talhaiarn Tanwg
228 166 240
&c.
.
.
233 219 236
VoRTiMER
or Gwrthefyr
WiNEFRED
or
Gwenfrewi
.
.
Ynyr Gwent
.
Ysgin ab Erbin
.
Ystyffan
.
.
WILLIAM REES, PRINTER, LLANDOVERY.
134
295
164 170 251
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