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VESTIGES OP THE GAEL, 
 
VESTIGES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GAEL IN GfTNEDD, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 KEY. WILLIAM BASIL JONES, MA., 
 
 FELLOW OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE. OXFORD. 
 
 Come quando la nebbia si dissipa, 
 Lo sguardo a poco a poco raffi^ura 
 Cid che cela il vapor, chc L'aere atipa. — Dante. 
 
 LONDON: 
 W. PICKERING, 177, PICCADILLY. 
 
 TENBY: R. MASON. 
 1851. 
 
TENBY: R. MASON, PRINTER, HIGH STREET. 
 
rmio7 
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 The following Paper was commenced with a design 
 of communicating it to the Cambrian Archaeological 
 Association, at their Meeting in August, 1850. It was 
 thought that the subject might derive some degree of 
 interest from the place of meeting, Dolgellau, being 
 situated within the district treated of, and that some 
 amount of confirmation, or the contrary, might be ob- 
 tained from the local knowledge of Members present. It 
 was found, however, that the proofs and arguments far 
 exceeded the limits of recitation, and it became necessary 
 to produce nothing at the Meeting beyond the general 
 results. The details, being of a kind not altogether 
 attractive to a public meeting, together with much which 
 it was impossible to bring forward for want of time, were 
 reserved to appear in the present form. 
 
 These facts will account for the shape into which a 
 large part of the Paper has been thrown. It has not been 
 thought requisite to distinguish the parts which were 
 omitted in reading. They include, besides the quotations 
 and details in the second, third, fourth and fifth sections, 
 
 2679 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 the theory developed in the seventh, and the whole of 
 the last. 
 
 For the sake of those who are unacquainted with 
 Welsh topography and history, it may be desirable 
 to state, in explanation of the title, that Gwynedd 
 (Gwynedh) is the ancient and native appellation for 
 North Wales, sometimes including, and sometimes dis- 
 tinguished from, Powys. For a further account of the 
 localities mentioned in the Paper, the reader is referred 
 to the topographical index, which has been added at the 
 end of the volume. 
 
 It is a sheer waste of time to apologize for obvious 
 imperfections ; yet it may be lawful to urge in palliation 
 of the particular imputations of obscurity and unmetho- 
 dical arrangement, to which many parts of this Paper 
 are liable, that the whole theory had to be made out 
 piecemeal, and that in fact a great part of it was made 
 out after portions had been committed to writing, or 
 were actually in print. Something may be pardoned in 
 the exposition of a view, which has been gradually 
 evolved by a process not altogether unlike the complex 
 act of sense, reason and imagination, described in the 
 motto on the title-page. 
 
 QUEEN'S COLLEGE, 
 November 15, 1850. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 § I. — Loss of Ancient Names . . . . . . 1 
 
 § II. — Ancient Authorities 5 
 
 § III. — Traditional Evidence 12 
 
 § IV.— Chronology 26 
 
 § V. — Extent of the Gaelic Dominion 30 
 
 § VI. — The Legend of Cunedda Examined . . . .40 
 
 § VII. — Origin of the Gaelic Dominion 47 
 
 § VIII. — Consequences of the Cuneddian Migration . . .57 
 Topographical Index 75 
 
VESTIGES OF THE GAEL. 
 
 ^ I. LOSS OF ANCIENT NAMES. 
 
 The question of the primeval occupations of a country is 
 among the most directly and purely interesting of any 
 which its present inhabitants can entertain. It is of 
 direct interest, because it is their country. The vales 
 which they inhabit — the fields which yield them sus- 
 tenance — the fertilizing streams — the mighty hills which 
 they are taught to look upon as types of permanence, 
 and that which is at once the bulwark of their liberty, 
 and the channel of their civilization, the universal ocean — 
 all familiar objects, whose names are to them as house- 
 hold words, and possibly those very names themselves 
 were the birth-right of a race which has passed away, it 
 may be, from the face of the earth, leaving not a 
 memorial of its existence, or only the very faintest traces. 
 Moreover, the interest of the question is intense, in 
 proportion to the obscurity of the indications by which 
 we have to determine it. We all know the excitement 
 of curiosity — the attractiveness of mystery — the pleasure 
 which men feel in reconstructing a bygone state of things 
 out of its scattered fragments — the charm of disinterested 
 suspense, and the satisfaction of successful ingenuity. 
 
 B 
 
VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 These, and other similar elements, combine to augment 
 the interest we feel in prosecuting inquiries of this nature. 
 
 But the question is not only one of direct and intense 
 interest — it is also purely interesting. Subjects of 
 political or practical import have a far higher value 
 than any which can be derived from mere intellectual 
 interest. They can hardly be considered without refe- 
 rence to action; and so far as a question issues in action, 
 we do not call it interesting. To take an illustration 
 from other branches of knowledge : Astronomy is inte- 
 resting, and Agriculture useful ; Geology is interesting 
 to the scientific inquirer, but a matter of business to the 
 miner ; while, to every Christian, it is of deep and vital 
 import, as long as its statements either do, or can be 
 supposed to, affect the authenticity of Divine Revelation. 
 
 Now, as the intensity of this interest is directly depen- 
 dent on the obscurity of the memorials, so is its purity 
 indirectly proportioned to the same. For it is hardly 
 possible that the prior occupants of a country, in such an 
 age especially as is necessary for a total change of its 
 inhabitants, should leave behind them plain and authentic 
 records of their existence, without in some way affecting 
 the destinies of their successors, and so passing out of 
 the sphere of historical interest, into that of historical 
 importance. Such records must be the memorials either 
 of stubborn resistance, or of elements absorbed into the 
 supervening system ; and neither of these can have taken 
 place without having materially affected that system. 
 Thus, the very conditions of pure historical interest are 
 identical, in one respect at least, with the conditions of 
 its intensity. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. J 
 
 The question which I am now approaching belongs to 
 this class partly, but not wholly. So long as we merely 
 attempt to determine who were our predecessors in the 
 occupation of this country, or whether any such existed, 
 the question is one of extreme and pure interest ; but, as 
 soon as we touch on the settlement of our own progeni- 
 tors in Gwynedd, it assumes at once the form of historical 
 importance. And, as these points cannot be separated, I 
 shall solicit your attention to the subject, regarded under 
 the twofold aspect of importance and interest. As a 
 matter of fact, these points cannot be considered separately, 
 because we have generally taken it for granted that the 
 present inhabitants of this country have dwelt in it from 
 the beginning. If they had believed and avowed them- 
 selves to be invaders and interlopers, the history of the 
 aborigines might have formed an amusing speculation, 
 whereas, at present, it is necessarily mixed up with many 
 practical questions. 
 
 The case stands thus at present. As in England 
 people are apt to regard the Roman dominion, the Saxon 
 immigration, and the Norman conquest, as events dif- 
 fering not at all in kind, and perhaps hardly in degree, 
 so have we tacitly acquiesced in the belief that we are an 
 aboriginal nation. But surely this ought not to be 
 assumed until it has been proved. As far as I know, 
 the position has never been proved, and though generally 
 believed, has been occasionally impugned : I trust, there- 
 fore, I shall not be deemed an audacious innovator, 
 or maintainer of paradoxes, for again bringing it into 
 question. 
 
 In reading the histories of Caesar and Tacitus, the 
 
4 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 geographies of Strabo, Ptolemy, and Pomponius Mela, 
 the Itinerary of Antoninus, and that of Richard of Ciren- 
 cester, we are met at once by the patent fact, that a great 
 and sweeping change has passed upon the names of 
 localities within this island. Compare the case of France, 
 and the fact becomes evident. The names of the many 
 nations who dwelt from the Rhine to the Atlantic, from 
 the Mediterranean to the German Ocean, have not yet 
 been extinguished. The various tribes who submitted 
 to or resisted the dominion of the Caesars, have mostly 
 left memorials of their independence in the names of the 
 great provincial towns. The appellations of natural 
 objects, of rivers and mountains, are unchanged except 
 by time. And yet that country has experienced mighty 
 revolutions. The Romans had changed its language and 
 its character. Huns and Saracens have swept over it. 
 Franks and Visigoths have occupied it. But, for all this, 
 men continue to hand down the memory of those ancient 
 people, by an unconscious but everlasting testimony. 
 
 I need not say that our case is far different. London 
 and York, the Severn and the Thames, a few natural 
 objects, and a few time-honoured cities, retain the names 
 by which they were known to the Romans ; but, of the 
 Trinobantes, the Iceni, and the Brigantes, the nations of 
 Cartismandua, Boadicea, and Cassivellaunus, every trace 
 has long since been obliterated, and their exact position 
 is a matter of historical inquiry. It will be said that the 
 Teutonic immigration into Britain was a far more com- 
 plete and decisive change than the corresponding event 
 in Gaul. The assertion is undeniable, and scarcely needs 
 any further confirmation than the fact that English is 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. O 
 
 spoken in one country, and French in the other. But 
 this brings us to the very point at issue. If in England 
 the ancient names have been blotted out one after 
 another by the victorious Saxons, what has been done in 
 this country, where, according to the popular view, no 
 change whatever has taken place ? We have here, as it 
 seems, a crucial instance to try the question by. If our 
 local names remain unaltered, as in France, it is probable 
 that there has been no change in our population, or a 
 very trifling one. If they have been generally effaced, as 
 in England, there is a strong presumption in favour of 
 the influx of some external element. 
 
 Our authorities on this head may be arranged in four 
 classes. In the first, we place Caesar, as an eye-witness ; 
 in the second, Tacitus, as an historian of the first repu- 
 tation. Then come the Itinerary of Antoninus, and the 
 geographers Strabo, Ptolemy, and Pomponius Mela. 
 The fourth place is reserved for Richard of Cirencester. 
 But, of these, four only bear upon the present question, 
 and we may regard their authority as varying in the 
 order of enumeration. These are Tacitus, Ptolemy, 
 Antoninus, and Richard the Monk. 
 
 § II. ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 
 
 We will begin with Tacitus. In the Annals we meet 
 with the river Sabrina, 1 and the tribe of Silures, 2 in 
 South Wales ; and, in North Wales, the nations of the 
 Ordovices 3 and Cangi, the latter of whom he describes as 
 
 1 Tac. Ann., xii., c. 31 * Ibid., c. 33, 38, 39, &c, xiv., 29. 
 3 Ibid., xii., c. 33. Agric, c. 17. 
 
() VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 not far from the sea on the side of Ireland, 4 together with 
 the island of Mona. 5 Of the southern names, the one is 
 obviously retained in the Severn, the other less obviously 
 in the old Welsh name for the south-eastern part of the 
 Principality — Essyllwg. Of the northern names, that of 
 Mona alone remains. 
 
 Antoninus presents us with the following names of 
 stations in North Wales : — 
 
 Segontium, on the Seiont ; ' ^^ ^' ' ' 
 
 Conovium, on the Conway; 
 
 Varis, 6 near Bod- fari ; #w ■■•* ' 
 
 Deva, Chester on the Dee; 1 
 
 Bravinium; 8 
 
 Tvr°!, 1U ? ? fouUrfa***** (jot***}* M^v 
 
 Mediolanum ; ' ' 
 
 Rutunium.9 <*>&w <fi*$k . 
 
 The last four names are entirely lost. In South Wales 
 we find : — 
 
 Leucarum, Loughor on the Llychwr ; 
 
 Nidum, Neath on the Nedd; 
 
 Bomium (Bovium), Boverton (?); 
 
 Isca Leg. II. Augusta. Caeiieon on the Usk ; 
 
 Burrium ; 
 
 Gobannium, Abergavenny on the Gavenny ; 
 
 Magna ; x 
 
 Venta Silurum, C&er-went in Gwent. /2/ru-*^ h & j "^ 
 Burrium and Magna are lost ; the latter is possibly a 
 Latin name. 
 
 4 " Haud procul mari quod Hiberniam aspectat." 
 
 5 Ann., xiv., c. 29. Agric, c. 17. Mona is also mentioned by 
 Caesar and Pliny. 
 
 6 Varis is a dative plural j it does not appear what the real name 
 was. 
 
 7 Itinerary, xi. 8 Ibid., xii. 9 Ibid., ii. l Ibid., xii. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. / 
 
 Ptolemy enumerates the natural objects, proceeding 
 southwards along the coast ; they occur in the following 
 order : — The estuary of Seteia, the river Tisobis, the 
 promontory of the Cangani, the rivers Stucia and Tue- 
 robis, the promontory Octapitarum, the rivers Tobius 
 and Rhatostathybius, and the estuary of Sabriana. 2 The 
 position assigned to the Cangi by Tacitus, and to the 
 Cangani by Richard of Cirencester, makes it clear that 
 the three localities first enumerated are in North Wales ; 
 and it is equally clear, from the probable identification of 
 the headland of Octapitarum, or Octorupium, with St. 
 David's Head, that the four last named places are in 
 South Wales. The former are altogether lost ; while, of 
 the latter, two can easily be identified with the Tywy 
 and the Severn. Octapitarum is apparently a foreign 
 word. The two intervening names, Stucia and Tuerobis, 
 can only be identified with the Ystwyth and Teifi, both 
 in South Wales. 3 This author mentions the Ordovices in 
 
 2 Herifia ei^vartg. 
 
 ToMTofllOQ TTOT. £fv/3o\a/. 
 
 Kayfcaj/wv (var. 1. Tayyavijjv) aicpov. 
 
 liTOVKld TTOT. £/v/3o\cU. 
 
 Tovepofiioc 7tot. etcfjoXai. 
 
 'QK-aTrLrapov aKpov, 
 
 Toftlov (var. 1. TovfiLov) ttot. £k - /3o\cu. 
 
 'Farocradvfyiov izor. eKftoXai. 
 
 2c//3piaya Etc^yaiQ (var. 1. 'Zajjpiavaig yyaiQ.^) 
 I observe that, in the notes to the Iolo MSS., Rhatostathybius, or 
 Rhatostaubius, is identified with the Taf, or Tibia Amnis. It is ex- 
 plained Rhatli Taf — the Taff moorland. Rhath, or Roath, is a place 
 contiguous to Cardiff. — p. 374, Note. Baxter assigns to it. the same 
 locality, though not the same signification. — Qlos. A nt. />/•/'/., sub core. 
 3 It is true that these rivers were included in a district which we 
 shall presently have to regard as part of North Wales; but it will 
 appear that this district was probably conquered at a very early period. 
 
iS VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 North Wales, and apparently includes among them the 
 Cangiani, 4 naming their chief cities Mediolanum and 
 Brannogenium, names altogether lost. In South Wales 
 he places the Demetse to the west, their towns being 
 Loventium and Maridunum ; and the Silures to the east, 
 whose only town is Bullium. 5 The Demetse and Mari- 
 dunum are Dyfed and Caermarthen ; Loventium is sup- 
 posed to be Llanio, and Bullium has been identified with 
 Builth. 
 
 We now bid farewell to ancient authors, and turn to 
 Richard of Cirencester — a writer more copious, but of 
 less authority. The following North-Welsh names occur 
 in his " Itinerary" : — 
 
 Banchorium, Bangor Iscoed ; 
 
 Deva Colonia; 
 
 Varis ; 
 
 Conovium ; 
 
 Segontium; 6 
 
 Heriri Moris ; 
 
 Mediolanum ; 
 
 Kutunium ; 
 
 Brano^enium. 7 
 The only new names here are Banchorium and Heriri 
 Mons. The former is so obviously late a name, that it 
 must be cut off as being fictitious, or, at all events, 
 foreign to our purpose. The latter is placed near 
 Trawsfynydd. In the South we meet with — 
 
 4 Yirb ce tovtovq Koi rovg "BpiyavrcLQ oiKovrrt dvar/JtKwrara fxev 'Opdovuceg 
 kv olg 7r6\eig MeCioXaviov, Bpavvoyevtov. — Ibid. 
 
 5 IlaXtv o vwo ra elprj/jiva tQvq cvrr/jLiKwrarot fiev Arj/Ji]Tai, kv 0I5 
 ttoKelq Aovevriovj MapiCovvov. Tovrwv avaroXiKioTEpoi "EiXvpeg, kv olg 
 7roXir BouAAiov. 
 
 6 Itinerary, i. t Ibid., ii. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. V 
 
 Venta Silurum ; 
 Isca Colonia ; 
 Tibia Amnis ; 
 Bovium ; 
 Nidum ; 
 Leucarum ; 
 
 Tl* 7? TV* *A* 
 
 Ad Vigesimum ; 
 
 Ad Menapiam; 8 
 
 Bultrum, or Ballium; 9 
 
 Gobannium ; 
 
 Magna. 1 
 The new names, Tibia Amnis, and Menapia, are the 
 Taf, and St. David's, or Mynyw. 
 
 In his treatise " De Situ Britannise," Richard enume- 
 rates the following places : — Sariconium (Ross), Magna, 
 Gobaneum, Venta, Isca, among the Silures; 2 Octorupium 
 Promontorium, Menapia, Muridunum, and Lovantium, 
 among the Demetse, or, as he calls them, Demecise. 3 In 
 the country of the Ordovices he places Mediolanum and 
 Brannogenium, 4 and among the Cangiani, who dwelt be- 
 yondthe last named race, Segontium 5 as their only town, 
 the isle of Mona, the Fretum Meneviacum, or Menai 
 Strait, the rivers Deva and Canovius, or Tossibus, and 
 the mountain of Eriri. 6 He thus appears to identify the 
 
 8 Itinerary, iii. 9 Ibid., xiii., xiv. * Ibid., xiii. 
 
 2 De Situ Brit., i., c. 6, § 22. 3 Ibid., § 24. * Ibid. 
 
 5 " Hue quoque referendum illud, quod a Septentrionc Ordovicum 
 situm ab Oceano alluitur, cum illorum regimini quondam fuerit sub- 
 jectum : hoc certo constat quod ilium Cangiani quondam inhabita- 
 verint tractum, quorum urbs unica Segontium promontorio Cangano 
 vicina." — De Situ Brit., i., c. G, § 2f5. It is to be observed that the 
 worthy monk invariably places the north where the west ought to be. 
 
 6 Ibid. 
 
10 
 
 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Conway with the Tisobis of Ptolemy, and seems to indi- 
 cate, by placing the Dee within the territory of the Can- 
 giani, that they occupied at one period a large portion of 
 North Wales. 
 
 It will be as well to present the results of this exami- 
 nation in a tabular form. The names given by these 
 several authorities remain in the following proportions: 7 — 
 
 
 
 Tacitus. 
 
 Antoninus. 
 
 Ptolemy. 
 
 Richard. 
 
 Added by 
 Richard. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 go 
 
 DO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 a 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 T 
 
 1 
 
 T 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 T 
 
 9 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 02 
 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 IS 3 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 T 
 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 l 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 •4 
 
 I 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 l 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 It 
 
 o 
 H 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 19 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 9 
 10 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 15 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Before making any remarks upon this table, it will be 
 
 7 The proportion of names remaining has been thrown into a 
 fractional form ; the number of names recorded is indicated by the 
 denominator, while the numerator shows how many remain. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 1 1 
 
 necessary to premise that the name of Banchorium 8 has 
 been omitted in the calculations, for reasons already 
 alleged, and those of Octapitarum and Ad Vigesimum, 
 as being foreign names. The name of Magna is omit- 
 ted, partly on that account, and partly because the 
 district in which it stands has been wholly Anglicised, 
 and the place itself has assumed the English name of 
 Kentchester. The general result is that, whereas in 
 North Wales one -half of the ancient names of places are 
 preserved, three-fourths remain in South Wales. But, if 
 we subtract the additions of Richard of Cirencester, we 
 have, in North Wales, only six out of fourteen names 
 remaining — in South Wales, thirteen out of seventeen. 
 Again, of the names surviving in North Wales, the 
 largest proportion are those of natural objects, which we 
 should always expect to be the most permanent, and the 
 remainder are those of towns or stations preserved in the 
 appellations of the rivers on whose banks they stood. 
 The most important conclusion of all is, that the names 
 of the two races which inhabited North Wales, the Ordo- 
 vices and Cangi, or Cangiani, are utterly lost, while 
 those of the Demetse and Silures, the inhabitants of the 
 South, are preserved among us. 
 
 Now these considerations suggest the probability of a 
 revolution of some kind among the inhabitants of 
 Gwynedd, since the close, or, at all events, since the 
 commencement, of the Roman domination in Britain. 
 The nature or extent of such a revolution is a further 
 question ; all that can be said at present is, that it would 
 
 8 Banchorium and Deva are placed by Richard in the territory of 
 the Carnabii. — De Situ Brit., i., c. 0, § 27. 
 
12 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 seem to have involved a total or partial change of the 
 population, and to have been at least so far complete, as 
 to have obliterated a large proportion of the local names. 
 And this probability is heightened, when we remember 
 that we have to account for the introduction of a wholly 
 new name into North Wales, I mean that of Gwynedd. 
 The designation of Genania, although applied to this 
 country, with some degree of hesitation, by Richard of 
 Cirencester, 9 can hardly be a latinized form of Gwynedd, 
 the first two letters of which are invariably represented 
 by V in Latin, as well by the later writers, who use the 
 form Venedocia, and by the Romans themselves in writ- 
 ing other British names — as Venta for Gwent. It is also 
 worthy of notice that, whereas Richard applies the name 
 of Genania to a district much more extensive than any to 
 which that of Gwynedd was ever applied, there is reason 
 to think that Gwynedd was formerly used in a more 
 limited sense than afterwards. 
 
 § III. TRADITIONAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 It is true that the probability does not amount to 
 more than a presumption, and that we have to look for 
 other evidence as well to confirm as to explain it. Such 
 evidence is by no means wanting, although the docu- 
 ments on which it rests are obscure, and often contradic- 
 tory. Nevertheless, there is quite enough to assure us 
 that a change, of which it is not easy to measure either 
 
 9 " Ordovicia una cum Cangiorum Carnabiorumque regionibus, 
 ni fama me fallit, nomine Genaniai sub imperatoribus post Trajani 
 principatum inclarescebat." — De Situ Brit., i., c. 6, § 25. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 13 
 
 the extent or the degree, came over the population of 
 Gwynedd, at some period subsequent to the commence- 
 ment of the Roman dominion in Britain. The first 
 notice we have of the event is to be found in the Triads, 
 which, after enumerating the various races which had 
 settled at different periods in our island, reckon among 
 " the three invading tribes that came into the isle of 
 Britain, and departed from it, ... . the hosts of 
 Ganfael Wyddel, who came to Gwynedd, and were there 
 twenty-nine years, until they were driven into the sea 
 by Caswallawn the son of Beli, the son of Manogan." 1 
 I call this the first notice of this event, because it is 
 the earliest that occurs in the Triads, which are allowed 
 to contain the earliest native authorities on ancient 
 British history. Another Triad enumerates, among " the 
 three dreadful pestilences of the isle of Britain, the pesti- 
 lence from the carcases of the Gwyddyl, who were slain 
 in Manuba, after they had oppressed the country of 
 Gwynedd for twenty-nine years." 2 It is evident that 
 these documents relate to the same transaction, and we 
 gather from them that North Wales, or some part of it, 
 was under the dominion of a people called Gwyddyl, 
 for twenty-nine years, who were finally expelled by 
 Caswallawn, or Cassivellaunus, the opponent of Julius 
 Caesar. The name Gwyddel is to this day applied to 
 the Irish, and is, etymologically, the same as Gael, ? the 
 common name of the Irish, and Highlanders of Scotland. 1 
 
 1 Trioedd Ynys Prydain. Myv. Arch., vol. ii., p. 58. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 29. 
 
 3 The latter word is spelt GaoidheaJ, the soft consonant being 
 elided in pronounciation. 
 
 4 It may be necessary to state distinctly the precise significations in 
 
14 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 All that we are justified in concluding from the name is, 
 that these occupants were a Gaelic race of some kind or 
 other. In another Triad we meet with a curious allusion 
 to a similar event, which must have occurred at a much 
 later period. " The tribe of Caswallawn Law Hir put the 
 fetters of their horses on their feet by two and two, in fight- 
 ing with Serigi Wyddel, at Cerrig y Gwyddel, in Mon." 5 
 In the Historia Britonum, attributed to Nennius, we 
 meet with another account of the expulsion of the Gael. 
 He informs us that Cunedda and his eight sons came 
 from the north, from a province known as Manau 
 Guotodin, and expelled the Scots from Gwynedd, Dyfed, 
 
 which the terms " Celtic/' " Gaelic/' &c., are used ; especially as 
 some confusion exists in people's minds on the subject. The common 
 name of Celtic is applied to all and each of the members of a family 
 of nations, distinguished by certain phenomena of language and 
 organization. This is the ethnological use of the term, and is the 
 result of a generalization from existing facts. It must carefully be 
 distinguished from the historical use of the term, as applied to a race 
 whom the Greeks and Romans found in various parts of western 
 Europe. Whether the historical Celts were Celtic in our use of the 
 word, i. e. } whether they possessed the distinctive marks of language 
 and organization, it is one of the problems of ethnology to determine. 
 Now this Celtic family is found to divide itself into two branches, one 
 of which, at present occupying the Highlands, Hebrides, Man, and 
 a great part of Ireland, in a tolerably pure state, is called Gaelic. 
 The other, in possession of Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, is here, as 
 elsewhere, for convenience, denominated Cymraic. A closer connexion 
 is found to subsist between the Bretons and Cornish, than between 
 either of those people and the Welsh. These facts are stated here, to 
 avoid needless verbal discussion ; although they must be familiar to 
 the majority of my readers. Those who wish to see the subject of 
 Celtic ethnology clearly drawn out, will do well to read Dr. Prichard's 
 " Essay on the Eastern origin of the Celtic Languages ; " and a 
 memoir, by M. Adolphe Pictet, " De l'affinite des Langues Celtiques 
 avec le Sanscrit.'' 
 5 Myv. Arch., p. 62. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 15 
 
 and from the districts of Gower and Kidwelly. 6 Their 
 expulsion is placed about the close of the fourth century, 
 and, although the date of their immigration is not stated, 
 we are left to infer that it was synchronical with the 
 occupation of Dalriada and Man by their countrymen. 7 
 To the testimony of Nennius we may add that of Rhydd- 
 march, the author of the life of St. David, as a writer 
 whose date we are able to fix. He speaks of the Saint 
 being persecuted, in his hallowed retreat at Menevia, by 
 a certain Scottish tyrant, by name Boia, who had built 
 himself a strong castle, overlooking the Rosy Vale, in 
 which St. David had establised himself with his com- 
 panions. 8 The name of this regulus is preserved in 
 Clegyr Foia, a precipitous volcanic rock, surmounted by 
 
 6 " Novissime venit Damhoctor, et ibi habitavit cum omni genere 
 suo usque hodie in Brittanniam. Istorith, Istorini filius, tenuit 
 Dalrieta cum suis ; Builc autem cum suis tenuit Euboniam insulam, 
 et alias circiter ; filii autem Liethan obtinuerunt in regione Demetorum 
 et in aliis regionibus, id est, Guir et Cetgueli, donee expulsi sunt a 
 Cuneda et a filiis ejus ab omnibus Brittanicis regionibus." — Hist. 
 Brit., § 14. " Mailcunus magnus rex apud Brittones regnabat, id 
 est, in regione Guenedotae, quia atavus illius, id est, Cunedag, cum 
 filiis suis, quorum numerus octo erat, venerat prius de parte sinistrali, 
 id est, de regione quse vocatur Manau Guotodin, centum quadraginta 
 sex annis antequam Mailcum regnaret, et Scottos cum ingentissima 
 clade expulerunt ab istis regionibus, et nusquam reversi sunt ad 
 habitandum." — Ibid., § 62. 
 
 7 Nennius, on the authority of the " peritissimi Scottorum,*' places 
 the migration of the Scots from Ireland to Dalriada, in the sixth 
 century B.C., that is to say, in the present case, in a period anterior 
 to history. Mr. Skene, in his ingenious Essay on the Highlanders, 
 dates the last occupation of Dalriada, a.d. 503, and appears to con- 
 sider the earlier migrations as fabulous. — Vol. i., pp. 15-20. 
 
 8 Ricemarus in Vita Sti Davidis apud Wharl. Angl. Sacr. II. 
 Giraldus omits the words " Scottus quidain," which arc supplied by 
 Wharton in the margin. Rhyddmarch lived in the eleventh century. 
 
16 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 an ancient earth -work, within a quarter of a mile of St. 
 David's. Perhaps this is the proper place to observe 
 that the Menapii are placed by Ptolemy and Richard on 
 the coast of Ireland, immediately opposite to St. David's 
 Head, 9 so that it is easy to imagine the settlement of a 
 section of this tribe on the opposite shore of Menevia, or 
 Menapia. William of Malmesbury, in his History of 
 Glastonbury, gives us a rather more detailed account of 
 the event recorded by Nennius. He confirms the state- 
 ments of that writer, and of Rhydd march, by informing 
 us that the Gael were expelled from Dyfed, as well as 
 Gwynedd. 1 
 
 The scanty notices we have already met with concur 
 in recording the settlement of Gaelic tribes, at an un- 
 known period, in various parts of Wales, especially in 
 Gwynedd, and their expulsion on one, or more than one, 
 occasion, attributed variously to Caswallawn the son of 
 Beli, to Caswallawn Law Hir, and the family of Cunedda. 
 We must now turn to another quarter for more detailed 
 information with respect to the Gaelic dominion in 
 Wales. It is to be found in the valuable Miscellany 
 collected by the late Iolo Morganwg, and recently 
 published by the Welsh MSS. Society. The notices 
 which it gives us on this subject are fuller than those 
 which have already been produced, and serve in many 
 instances to explain them ; on the other hand, it must 
 be owned that they frequently contradict each other, and 
 rest, of course, on comparatively slender authority. 2 I 
 
 9 They are called by Ptolemy, Maj/ct7rtoi. 
 
 1 Gale, Scriptores, vol. i., p. 295. 
 
 2 I am content to take these documents at the lowest value that can 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 17 
 
 shall give some of the more explicit of these memorials 
 in full, and proceed to harmonise them as far as it is 
 possible : — 
 
 " Three Irish invasions took place in Cambria ; and one family, 
 that of Cuneddaf Wledig, delivered the country from the three. 
 The first occurred in Gower, in Glamorgan, where Caian Wyddel 
 and his sons landed, subjugated the country, and ruled it for 
 eight years ; but Cuneddaf Wledig, and Urien the son of Cyn- 
 farch, subdued and slew them to nine, whom they drove into the 
 sea ; and the government of the country was conferred on Urien 
 the son of Cynfarch, having been constituted a kingdom for that 
 purpose, and called Rheged, because it was bestowed unani- 
 mously by its ancient British inhabitants on Urien, in free gift, 
 whence he was called Urien Rheged. 3 
 
 " The second invasion was that of Aflech Goronog, who seized 
 upon Garth Mathrin by irruption ; but, having married Marchell, 
 the daughter of Tewdrig, king of that district, he acquired the 
 good will of its inhabitants, and obtained the country in marriage 
 settlement with his wife ; and there his descendants still remain, 
 intermixed with the natives. 
 
 " The third invasion was that of Don (others say Daronwy), 
 king of Lochlyn (Scandinavia), who came to Ireland, and con- 
 quered it; after which he led sixty thousand Irish and Loch- 
 lynians to North Wales, where they ruled for one hundred and 
 twenty-nine years ; when Casvvallawn Law Hir the son of Einion 
 Yrth, the son of Cunedda Wledig, entered Mona, wrested the 
 country from them, and slew Serigi Wyddel, their ruler, at a 
 
 be put upon them, as the weight of my proof does not rest upon the 
 authority of individual passages, but upon the coincidence of a large 
 number, and indeed, as will be seen, upon their very discrepancies — 
 an authority which cannot well be destroyed, except by the supposition 
 of an actual forgery. 
 
 3 In the published translation which I have elsewhere followed, the 
 last sentence runs thus: — "whence it was called Urien Rheged.' 1 It 
 is probably an error of the press. 
 
18 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 place called Llan-y-Gwyddyl, in Mona. Other sons of Cuneddaf 
 Wledig slew them also in North Wales, the Cantred, and Powis, 
 and became princes of those countries. Don had a son called 
 Gwydion, king of Mona and Arvon, who first taught literature 
 from books to the Irish of Mona and Ireland ; whereupon both 
 these countries became pre-eminently famed for knowledge and 
 saints." 4 
 
 The next history is at variance with the last, and with 
 itself: its chronology is altogether hopeless: — 
 
 " a.d. 267, Don, king of Lochlyn and Dublin, led the Irish 
 to Gwynedd, where they remained one hundred and twenty-nine 
 years. Gwydion the son of Don was highly celebrated for 
 knowledge and science. He was the first who taught the 
 Cambro-Britons to perform the plays of illusion and phantasm, 
 and introduced the knowledge of letters to Ireland and Lochlyn ; 
 but after the Irish and Lochlynians had inhabited North Wales 
 for one hundred and twenty-nine years, the sons of Cuneddaf 
 Wledig came there from the north, overcame the Irish and their 
 confederates, and drove them in flight to the Isle of Man. 
 They were slaughtered at the battle of Cerrig y Gwyddyl ; and 
 Caswallawn Law Hir, with his own sword, killed Serigi Wyddel 
 the son of Mwrchan, the son of Eurnach the Aged, the son of 
 Eilo, the son of Rhechgyr, the son of Cathbalig, the son of 
 Cathal, the son of Machno, the son of Einion, the son of Celert, 
 the son of Math, the son of Mathonwy, the son of Gwydion, the 
 son of Don, king of Mona and Arvon, the Cantred, and of Dub- 
 lin and Lochlyn, who came to the isle of Mona one hundred 
 and twenty-nine years before the incarnation of Christ. 
 
 " Eurnach the Aged fought, sword to sword, with Owen 
 Finddu, the son of'Maxen Wledig, in the city of Ffaraon; and 
 he slew Owen, who also slew him/' 5 
 
 I should be glad to know whether these can be 
 regarded as perversions of Gaelic names. Again, — 
 
 4 Iolo MSS., p. 467. 5 Ibid., p. 471. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 10 
 
 " After the departure of the Romans from Britain, Serigi took 
 upon him the supreme government of Mona, Gwynedd, and the 
 Cantred ; but so excessive was the oppression of the Irish there 
 that messengers were sent to Cuneddaf Wledig, who dispatched 
 his sons to Gwynedd, and they put them to flight; except in 
 Mona, where they had become a distinct nation, with Serigi for 
 their king, who came with a strong force to Gwyrfai, in Arfon, 
 to fight against Caswallawn, who drove them back to Mona, 
 where they were slain at a place called Cerrig y Gwyddyl ; 
 whereupon Caswallawn, and the family of Cuneddaf, placed 
 saints in that island, to teach the Christian faith there, and be- 
 stowed lands on the Cambro-Britisb, who were brought there 
 from Dyfed, Gower and Gwent ; so that Mona became cele- 
 brated for its saints, wise men, and pious persons." 6 
 
 I shall add two more, — 
 
 "Gwydion Wyddel, the son of Don, the son of Dar, the son of 
 Daronwy, the son of Urnach Wyddel, of the city of Ffaraon, was 
 slain by Owen Finddu the son of Maxen Wledig ; this Urnach 
 led twenty thousand Irish from Ireland to Gwynedd, where they 
 landed, and where they and their descendants remained for one 
 hundred and twenty-nine years. 
 
 "The son of Urnach was Serigi Wyddel, who was slain at 
 Cerrig y Gwyddyl, in Mona, by Caswallawn Law Hir the son of 
 Einion Yrth, the son of Cuneddaf Wledig, in the time of Owen 
 the son of Maxen Wledig ; and upon the greensward they found 
 a male infant, who was Daronwy the son of Urnach Wyddel, 
 Serigi's brother, of the city of Ffaraon. An illustrious chieftain 
 who resided just by, commiserating his beauty and destitution, 
 reared him up as one of his children ; but he became eventually 
 one of three native oppressors ; for he confederated with the 
 Irish, and seized the dominion from its rightful Cambro-British 
 owners, namely, 7 — " 
 
 And this, — 
 
 * Iolo MSS., p. 471. ' Ibid., p. 47'^ 
 
20 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 " Saint Gynyr of Caer Gawch the son of Gwyndeg, the son 
 of Saithenyn, king of Maes Gwyddno, whose land was over- 
 flowed by the sea, the son of Saithenyn Hen, the son of Plaws 
 Hen, king of Dyfed, the son of Gwrtherin, a prince of Rome, 
 who expelled the Gwydelians from Dyfed and Gower. 
 
 "Meyrig, king of Dyfed, the son of Gwrthelin, the son of 
 Eudaf, the son of Plaws Hen, king of Dyfed, the son of Gwr- 
 therin, a nobleman of Rome, who expelled the Gwyddelians 
 from Gower and Dyfed." 8 
 
 The notices before us, however discordant in detail, 
 coincide in the main, both with each other, and with 
 those which were cited before. They agree so far in 
 their general purport that we cannot doubt their relating 
 to the same event, while they are so contradictory in 
 minor j^oints as to prove, beyond question, the antiquity 
 of the original legend which is embodied in them. Thus 
 their very discrepancies are a confirmation of their general 
 authenticity, and at the same time allow us a conside- 
 rable latitude in interpreting them. It is evident then 
 that a tribe of Picts or Scots were in possession of several 
 portions of Wales, in an age within the domain of history; 9 
 that they had settlements in the country between the 
 Neath and the Tywy, 1 in Brecknockshire, 2 and probably 
 
 8 Ibid., p. 545. Achau y Saint. 
 
 9 It is not necessary here to decide whether the Gael of North 
 Wales were Picts or Scots, or, indeed, whether the Picts were Gael 
 or Celts at all. This has heen, as is well known, the vexata quwstio 
 of Scottish antiquaries for many years. Those who wish for speci- 
 mens of the spirit in which it has been discussed, will do well to read 
 the quarrel between Monkbarns and Sir Arthur Wardour, in the 
 " Antiquary," or (if they prefer reality to fiction) Ritson's Annals of 
 the Caledonians. 
 
 1 See Nennius, as already quoted. See also Iolo MSS., pp. 456-7. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 467. Cf., p. 517.— " Marchell, the daughter of Tewdrig, 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 21 
 
 in western Pembrokeshire ; 3 but that their principal ter- 
 ritory was in North Wales, the whole, or a large portion, 
 of which they occupied at an early period, where their 
 power was not entirely extinguished until the fifth cen- 
 tury. We are presented with lists and genealogies of 
 their kings and leaders, contradictory to the last degree, 
 and yet, as it seems, containing germs of truth. The 
 Brecknockshire colony was governed by one Aflech, 
 that in Gower by a person variously designated as Caian, 4 
 Glaian, 5 and Liethan 6 — distinct forms, as it would seem, 
 of the same name. In another document, the Gael of 
 Gower are said to have been led by Gilmwr Rechdyr. 7 
 But it is concerning the Gael of Gwynedd that we have 
 the most copious information, and it is to them that our 
 attention must be principally directed. We have a 
 multiplicity of accounts concerning their original settle- 
 ment in the country, but they may be reduced to three 
 several legends. 
 
 The first is derived from a source we have not hitherto 
 touched. In the genealogy of Iestyn ab Gwrgant 8 we 
 are informed that, in the reign of " Annyn the Rugged 
 the son of Alafon," a prince of Siluria, seven or eight 
 generations before the Roman invasion, a people whom 
 it calls " y Ddraig Estron," or the " dragon strangers," 9 
 
 was the wife of Anllcch Goronog, who was king of Ireland, and their 
 son was called Brychan, and he had in right of his mother the terri- 
 tory of Garth Mathrin, which he called after his own name, Bry- 
 chciniog." 3 See above, pp. 15, 16. 
 
 4 Iolo MSS., p. 4G7. 5 Glaian Ecdawr, ibid., p. 458. 
 
 6 Nennius, ut supra. 7 T 1 MSS., p. 457. 
 
 8 IbhL, p. 341. — This document is not cited as an authority, bin as 
 containing a legend different from any that we have met with, 
 
 9 The appellation is a curious one, but it may serve to interpret 
 
2*2 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 came to Britain and Ireland : " they are now become 
 quite extinct in this island, although they still entirely 
 possess Ireland, where they are termed Gwyddelians." 
 It would appear at first sight that this notice refers only 
 to the settlement of the Gael in North Britain, an event 
 commemorated in various Triads, and placed at a very 
 early period ; but the assertion that their descendants 
 were extinct in this island — having, of necessity, refe- 
 rence to the southern portion of it — makes it probable 
 that the history speaks of a Gaelic colony in Gwynedd 
 at this early period. And this is confirmed by various 
 passages in the same document. It informs us that, in 
 the reign of the same Annyn, " a new king sprang up in 
 Gwynedd, in utter violation of justice ;" x that the king 
 of Gwynedd was conquered by Lleyn, a descendant of 
 Annyn, who gave name to the country ; 2 that the war in 
 Gwynedd was continued by Tegid, the brother and suc- 
 cessor of Lleyn, 3 and that a third brother, Llyr, the 
 grandfather of the great Caractacus, finally expelled the 
 Gael from Gwynedd. 4 
 
 The second legend is that presented to us in the Triads, 
 
 certain obscure passages of Welsh tradition. In one of the Triads the 
 " Dragon of Britain" is described as one of the " oppressions of the 
 isle of Britain." — Myv. Arch., ii., p. 59. In the Mabinogi of Lludd 
 and Llefelys, Britain is visited by three simultaneous afflictions, one 
 of which is, the invasion of the Coritani, and another, the conflict of 
 two dragons, which are ultimately buried in Dinas Ffaraon, subse- 
 quently the metropolis of the Gael. The title of Draig appears to 
 have been afterwards applied to the Welsh princes of Gwynedd. 
 Gildas calls Maelgwyn " draco insularis," and Gwalchmai applies 
 to Owen Gwynedd the title of " Dragon of Mona." — Evans' Speci- 
 mens of Welsh Bards, p. 127. 
 
 1 Iolo MSS., p. ,341. ~ Ibid., p. 346. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDO. '2'4 
 
 which places the invasion of the Gael, under Ganfael, 
 shortly before the Roman invasion, and attributes their 
 expulsion, after a short domination of twenty-nine years, 
 to Caswallawn the son of Beli. 5 
 
 The third legend is that of which we have given speci- 
 mens already. It generally describes the invaders as led 
 by Don the son of Daronwy, who is represented as a Scan- 
 dinavian settler in Ireland. They are in possession of the 
 country for a hundred and twenty -nine years, although 
 other accounts abbreviate the period to twenty-nine, 
 while another extends it to three hundred and twenty- 
 nine. 6 Among their princes we meet with various names 
 distinguished in Welsh romance, Gwydion the son of 
 Don, Arianrod his sister, Math the son of Mathonwy, 
 the Palug Cat, with other personages wearing a very 
 mythological aspect. Gwydion is invariably represented 
 as a wise man, and sometimes as a wizard. In one 
 Triad he is said to have learned illusion from Math ab 
 Mathonwy, who is denominated one of the three " men 
 of illusion and phantasy." 7 The Mabinogi of Math gives 
 us a specimen of his performances, and those of his in- 
 structor ; and we are elsewhere informed that his magic 
 sleights secured him the possession of his principality. 8 
 Another Triad unites him with Idris the Giant, and 
 Gwyn the son of Nudd, under the class of chief astrono- 
 mers. 9 Elsewhere we are told that he was highly cele- 
 brated for knowledge and sciences, that he introduced 
 the knowledge of letters to Ireland and Lochlyn, 1 and to 
 
 5 Myv. Arch., ii., p. 58. ,; [old MSS., ,,. (>o<). 
 
 7 Myv. Arch., ii., p. 71. 8 lolo MSS., p. 421. 
 
 9 Myv. Arch., ii., p. 71. x lolo MSS., p. 267. 
 
24 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 the Irish of Mona, whereupon these countries (Ireland 
 and Anglesey) became pre-eminently famed for know- 
 ledge and saints. 2 His court was the resort of bards and 
 philosophers, and was visited by Merddyn, 3 as that of his 
 son was by Taliesin. 4 Both of these assertions, it is 
 needless to say, are palpable anachronisms ; but they 
 show the light in which Gwydion was regarded in later 
 times. An obscure memorial of him in the Achau Saint 5 
 appears to imply that he was the means of converting 
 the Gael of Gwynedd to Christianity, and connects him 
 in some way with the Pelagian heresy. But he appears 
 elsewhere in a more marvellous form. His path is in the 
 sky, and may be seen in the galaxy. His sister, the 
 Lady of the Silver Wheel, holds her court among the 
 stars. On occasion, like Apollo, he plays the part of a 
 herdsman, and keeps thrice seven thousand kine above 
 the Conwy. 6 Enough has been said to show that 
 Gwydion is more than half a mythic character, and that 
 he is the great hero of the Gaelic legend. 
 
 Math, whose exact relation to Gwydion it is rather 
 
 2 Iolo MSS., p. 468. 3 Ibid, p. 466. * Ibid., p. 467. 
 
 5 " Mor, the son of Morien, brought baptism and faith, and would 
 not bring baptism to the country of Gwynedd. The first that did so 
 was Gwydion, the son of Don, king of Llychlyn, who was king of 
 the country of Gwynedd, during the time the Gwyddelians bore rule 
 in Gwynedd." — Ibid., p. 551. 
 
 6 Trioedd Ynys Prydain. Myv. Arch., ii., p. 10.—" The three 
 herdsmen of tribes of the isle of Britain, . . the second, Gwydion 
 the son of Don, who kept the cattle of the tribe of Gwynedd, above 
 the Conwy ; and in this herd were twenty-and-one thousand." Baxter 
 asserts, without giving his authority, that the Cangi were a pastoral 
 race, subject to other tribes. — Gloss. Ant. Brit., p. 73, sub voce 
 Ceangi. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 25 
 
 difficult to determine, held his court at Caer Dathyl, and 
 carried on a war with the king of Dyfed. f) Another 
 warrior, Urnach, or Eurnach, the Aged, 7 who in one 
 record is represented as the original invader, and the 
 great-grandfather of Don, is elsewhere described as fight- 
 ing single-handed with Owen the son of the Emperor 
 Maximus, a contest which was fatal to both. He is 
 also called Brynach, and is said to have been the first 
 king of Gwynedd converted to Christianity. 8 His do- 
 minions extended over the western part of North Wales, 
 Mona and Man, and he held his court at Dinas Ffaraon 
 in Snowdon. 
 
 His son Serigi closes the list of the Gaelic chiefs of 
 Gwynedd. 9 The Welsh, who had, as it seems, for some 
 time pressed hard upon them, and apparently limited 
 their dominions to Mona, ultimately overcame them, and 
 slew their leader at Holyhead under the command of 
 Caswallawn Law Hir, the grandson of Cunedda Wledig, 
 whose family had emigrated from North Britain for the 
 express purpose of rescuing Wales from the oppression of 
 the invaders. 
 
 In the names of Eurnach, Serigi and Caswallawn, we 
 seem to have an approach to authentic history ; and we 
 may perhaps conclude that, as far at least as the termi- 
 nation of their empire is concerned, this legend gives us 
 the real account. We can hardly doubt that the story 
 which ascribes their expulsion to the celebrated Cassi- 
 vellaunus arises merely from the confusion of two per- 
 sonages bearing the same name ; and the legend referred 
 
 6 Mabinogi of Math. T Iolo MSS., p. 471. « Ibid., p. 474. 
 9 One legend ascribes the original invasion to Serigi. 
 
 E 
 
26 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 to in the genealogy of Iestyn is probably an even more 
 corrupted form of the present one. 
 
 § IV. CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 Before we proceed to consider the details of the con- 
 quest of Gwynedd by the family of Cunedda, it will be 
 well to examine the chronology of their occupation and 
 evacuation of that country by the Gwyddyl — to see, 
 in fact, whether anything can be made of it. We will 
 assume that the termination of their dominion is fixed by 
 the accession of Caswallawn Law Hir, who is said to have 
 reigned over North Wales from 443 to 517. This date 
 is rendered probable by that of his son Maelgwyn, which 
 is better known. The latter was contemporary with 
 Gildas, the first British historian, if he should not rather 
 be called a preacher, who was born about the year 516, 
 and wrote in the middle of the sixth century. For the 
 invasion of the Gwyddyl we find various dates assigned. 
 The genealogy of Iestyn ab Gwrgant places it, as we 
 have seen, at an indefinitely early period. 1 The Triads 
 fix the invasion of Ganfael Wyddel in the first century 
 b.c. 2 A record which we have already quoted 3 fixes the 
 invasion in the year 267 a.d., and, almost in the same 
 breath, in 129 b.c. In another document we find the 
 following chronological notices : — 
 
 " In 294 a.d., the Irish Picts, who had migrated from Beitwy, 
 were slain." . . " In 307 a great pestilence prevailed, and a 
 fearful number of full-grown males and females died in conse- 
 quence, together with more than half the children of the island ; 
 
 1 See above, p. 21. 2 p. 13. 3 Iolo MSS., p. 471, cited above, p. 18. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 27 
 
 in consequence of which, the invasion of the Irish Picts took 
 place in the north, and that of the pike-bearing Irish and Loch- 
 lynians in Anglesea, Arvon, and the Commot." . . " In 314 
 scarcity and famine took place ; the Irish and Lochlynians hav- 
 ing spoiled the corn lands/' " In 339 many of the Irish ban- 
 ditti were taken." " About this period [a.d. 380] Morien the 
 son of Argad the Bard flourished^ ... he denied Baptism 
 and the Sacrifice, . . whence arose great hatred, contentions, 
 and wars." 
 
 We have already seen that Morien was supposed to be 
 contemporary with Gwydion. 
 
 " In 400 the Irish Picts came to Cambria, and committed 
 atrocious depredations ; but at last they were vanquished, slain 
 unsparingly, and driven back beyond the sea to their original 
 country." " In 410 severe diseases and great mortality pre- 
 vailed, occasioned by the yellow pestilence, which arose from the 
 dead bodies that remained unburied." 
 
 This pestilence is connected with the Gaelic invasion 
 by the Triads. 
 
 " In 430 the Irish Picts made a descent on Anglesea and 
 Arvon, and were joined by the Irish of those countries, in com- 
 bined hostility to the crown of the island of Britain ; but they 
 were opposed by the kings and princes of Cambria, whose cause 
 was espoused by the two saints, namely, Germanus and Lupus ; 
 and they prayed to God, who . . made them victorious 
 over their enemies." " In 436 ... a terrible pestilence 
 occurred in Britain ; . . whereupon the Irish Picts came to 
 Cambria ; but, through the prayers of the saints, they were 
 vanquished." 4 
 
 It is obvious that such circumstantial chronology, in 
 relation to an age of which so little is known, cannot be 
 trusted in detail. In fact, the only positive conclusion 
 
 4 Iolo MSS., pp. 418-422. Cf. Bede, Hist. Eccl. i., c '20. 
 
28 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 which we can draw from it is, that the Irish domination 
 terminated about the middle of the fifth century, that is, 
 about the period assigned to Caswallawn Law Hir. It 
 does not give us a hint of the commencement of their 
 empire, but appears to imply that it was kept up by 
 continual succours from their brethren in Ireland, or 
 elsewhere. 5 We have however further data, as it would 
 appear, for determining the time of their arrival, in the 
 duration of their power, as derived from the Triads and 
 other sources. This we have already seen stated variously 
 as twenty -nine, one hundred and twenty -nine, and three 
 hundred and twenty -nine years. These numbers bear so 
 evident a relation to one another, that they seem clearly 
 to be different versions of the same legend ; while they 
 occur in accounts so contradictory, as to prove the anti- 
 quity of the legend from which they are derived. They 
 are so circumstantial that they must mean something, 
 while they are far too circumstantial to be received with- 
 out caution. We may fairly assume that one of the 
 three was found in the original story, and that the others 
 are perversions of it. And we may probably conclude 
 that to be the original number which bears the clearest 
 marks of being artificial, or that which there was most 
 reason to change in subsequent versions of the story. 
 Now it appears more natural to lengthen the period than 
 to shorten it, simply for the purpose of allowing more 
 time for the events which confused traditions, or the in- 
 genuity of poets, had made to occur within it. And the 
 shortest of these periods can with least difficulty be 
 
 5 The events of 430 particularly deserve notice, as the pre-existence 
 of the Gael in Mona and Arvon is expressly mentioned. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 29 
 
 regarded as artificial. The partiality of the Welsh for 
 the triad is too well known to need proof, and it would 
 necessarily extend to the number thirty. Now, in 
 twenty-nine, we have three decades minus one ; or, if 
 we please to put it in this way — the Irish having ruled 
 in Gwynedd for nine-and-twenty years, were driven out 
 in the thirtieth. This view of twenty-nine as a mythical 
 or mystical number, is confirmed in some degree by 
 a curious story published in the Iolo MSS., of " Einion 
 the son of Gwalchmai of Anglesey, and the Lady of the 
 Greenwood, which was a witch, or female goblin, that 
 fascinated him for nine-and-twenty years, and of the 
 manner in which he was liberated from the illusions and 
 bands she had cast over him." 6 Nennius also, who 
 delights in triads and round numbers, tells us a story of 
 three sons of a certain knight of Spain, who were utterly 
 destroyed, with nine-and-twenty ships of war, as they 
 were besieging a tower of glass in the middle of the sea. T 
 This explanation may appear fanciful to those who are 
 not accustomed to observe the manner in which numbers 
 are manufactured in mythological history. The only 
 object of it is to destroy the apparent credibility of these 
 numbers arising from their extremely circumstantial 
 character, by showing how easy it is to account for their 
 origin. Whether this be the true explanation or not, we 
 may be allowed to have grave doubts as to the value of 
 such precise dates in the history of an age of which so 
 little is really known. The only result, then, of our 
 chronological examination is, that we can have no 
 certain chronology in the matter; that the close of the 
 
 6 Iolo MSS., p. 591. 7 Nennius, Hist. Brit., § 13. 
 
30 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Gaelic dominion in North Wales took place about the 
 middle of the fifth century ; and that we are at liberty to 
 place its commencement in an indefinitely early period. 
 Indeed, we are not without authority for supposing that 
 it took place at a date anterior to any facts recorded in 
 the history of this country. 8 We shall soon see reasons 
 for wishing to extend the duration of their sovereignty 
 beyond the limits, not of the twenty-nine years only, but 
 of the hundred and twenty-nine. 
 
 § V.' EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 
 
 We have been occupied with the limits of duration 
 assigned to the Gaelic domination, let us now consider its 
 extent in point of space. I do not now speak of the minor 
 settlements in South Wales, but of that great principality 
 in Gwynedd, of which we may regard Gwydion the 
 son of Don as the mythic representative, and of which 
 Serigi the son of Urnach was the last ruler. The 
 authorities which we have already had occasion to con- 
 sult, are rather vague in their information as to the 
 limits of their territory. They speak in general terms 
 of an invasion and occupation of Gwynedd, 9 or in more 
 precise language, of Mona, Arvon and the Cantred, 1 
 which appears to be identical with Merioneth ; others 
 speak of Mona, Gwynedd (used, as it would seem, in a 
 limited sense) and the Cantred, or Commot ; and one 
 document, which we have already quoted, speaks of their 
 
 8 See above, p. 21. 
 
 9 Trioedd Ynys Pryd. Myv. Arch, ii., p. 58. Iolo MSS. ; p. 468. 
 1 Ibid., 471. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 31 
 
 being overcome by the sons of Cunedda, in Mona, 
 Gwynedd, the Cantred and Powys. 2 We also find the 
 isle of Man annexed to their dominions, and spoken of 
 in such a way as to leave no doubt that it formed at one 
 time part of the great principality of Gwynedd. 3 It is 
 to be observed, however, that Mona is spoken of as their 
 principal seat, as it was certainly the district in which 
 they maintained their power to the latest period, and 
 hence in the ordinary histories of Wales their empire is 
 generally spoken of as a temporary occupation of Mona, 
 or at most of Mona and Arvon. 4 We shall be able 
 however to ascertain the limits of their territory with 
 greater accuracy, if we examine the accounts handed down 
 to us of their overthrow and expulsion. The most 
 minute record is contained in the following extract from 
 one of the genealogies termed Achau Saint : 5 — 
 
 " Cunedda Wledig sent sons to Gwynedd against the Gwydd- 
 elians, which came with Serigi the Gwyddelian, to Anglesey, and 
 other places, and had taken the greatest portion of that country 
 from the inhabitants, when there were no princes over them ; 
 and the sons of Cunedda led the Cymry, and expelled the 
 Gwyddelians from the country, and slew them, making prisoners 
 of such as had their lives spared ; then the men of Gwynedd 
 gave those princes possession of the lands they had won ; 
 namely : — 
 
 "Tybiawn the son of Cunedda Wledig, won the Cantref, 
 routing the Gwyddelians, and in that battle he was slain, and 
 the nobles of the country conferred the sovereignty on Meirion 
 his son, and he was called Meirion of Meirionydd. 
 
 " Arwystl the son of Cunedda Wledig, won a district, which 
 
 2 Iolo MSS., p. 408. > Ibid., p. 474. 
 
 4 It is thus represented by Lhoyd and Warrington. 
 a Iolo MSS., p. 521. 
 
32 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 was given him, which he called after his own name, and he 
 himself is called Arwystl of Arwystli. 
 
 " Ceredig the son of Cunedda Wledig, expelled the foreigners 
 from the Cantref of Tyno Coch, and received it as an inheritance, 
 and called it Ceredigion after his own name, and he himself is 
 called Ceredig of Ceredigion. 
 
 " Dunawd the son of Cunedda Wledig, delivered the Commot 
 of Ardudwy, in Eifionydd, and received it as a possession, and 
 called it Dinodyng after his own name, and he is called Dunawd 
 of Dinodyng. 
 
 " Edeyrn the son of Cunedda Wledig, delivered the country, 
 which he called Edeyrnion from his own name, of which he 
 received possession, and he is called Edeyrn of Edeyrnion. 
 
 " Mael the son of Cunedda Wledig, had Maelienydd, which 
 he named after his own name, and he is called Mael of Maeli- 
 enydd, in remembrance of his act in delivering the country. 
 
 " Dogvael the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the country called 
 after him Dogveilyng, and he is called Dogvael of Dogveilyng. 
 
 " Rhufawn the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the Cantref, which 
 after him was called Rhyfoniog, and he is called Rhufawn of 
 Rhufoniog, and also Rhun Hael of Rhufoniog, because he was 
 the most generous man in Wales in his times. 
 
 " Oswal the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the country called 
 after him Osweilyng, and he is called Oswal of Osweiliawn, and 
 that country is the town of Oswestry and its precincts. 
 
 " Clwyd the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the vale of Clwyd. 
 
 " Cynir, Meilin, and Meigir, the sons of Gwron, the son of 
 Cunedda Wledig, went w 7 ith Caswallawn Law Hir their cousin to 
 expel the Gwyddelian Picts from the island of Anglesey, where 
 they had fled from the sons of Cunedda, and had established 
 themselves in that island ; and after furious fighting they drove 
 the Gwyddelians out of Anglesey, and Caswallawn Law Hir slew 
 Serigi Wyddel there, with his own hand. That Serigi was the 
 prince of the Gwyddelian Picts, which had governed Gwynedd 
 from the time of the Emperor Maximus. And after expelling 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 33 
 
 the foreigners from Anglesey, the Cymry took courage, and 
 drove them out of every part of Gvvynedd, and none of them 
 remained in the country, except such as were made captives for 
 ever. And thus did Cunedda Wledig obtain the sovereignty of 
 Wales, and his sons the lands before mentioned. 
 
 " And Caswallawn Law Hir the son of Einion Yrth, the son of 
 Cunedda Wledig, founded a church to God in the place where 
 he obtained a victory over his enemies, and called it Llan y 
 Gwyddyl, and which is in Anglesey, and now called Cerrig y 
 Gwyddyl. 
 
 " Einion the king the son of Einion Yrth, the son of Cunedda 
 Wledig. His church is in Lleyn, of which country he was king." 
 
 A somewhat different account is given in the description 
 of Wales prefixed to Lhoyd's history : — 
 
 " The sons of Cunetha being arriued in North Wales, (as well 
 I thinke being driuen by the Saxons, as for their inheritance,) 
 diuided the countrie betwixt them. And first, Meireaon the 
 sonne of Tibiaon, the sonne of Cunetha, had Cantref Meireaon 
 to his part. Arustel ap Cunetha had Cantref Arustly. Caredic 
 ap Cunetha had Caerdigion, now Caerdigan Shire. Dunod had 
 Cantref Dunodic. Edeyrn had Edeyrnion. Mael had Dynmael. 
 Coel had Coeleyon. Doguael had Dogueilyn. Ryvaon had 
 Ryuonioc, now Denbighland. Eineon Yrth had Caereneon, in 
 Powys. Vssa had Maesvswalht, now Oswestree. . . Maelor 
 the sonne of Gwron, sonne to Cunedha, had Maeloron." 6 
 
 I shall presently have occasion to criticise these pas- 
 sages in detail, and to compare them with other accounts 
 of the same event. My only object in citing them at 
 present is, to show the extent of country over which the 
 Gaelic sway may have extended at various times. It is 
 obvious that the various districts which it enumerates 
 were regarded as the possessions of, and deriving their 
 
 6 This account is adopted in the Hanes Cymru of Carnliuanawe. 
 
 F 
 
34 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 appellation from, the legendary heroes of the Cuneddian 
 race, whose names stand at the head of many Welsh 
 genealogies. We may also assume that all the regions 
 connected by tradition with that family were supposed, as 
 they are here asserted, to have been won from the 
 strangers. Now these districts would appear to include 
 the whole of Anglesey, Caernarvon, Merioneth, and 
 Cardiganshire, with a portion at least of Denbighshire, 
 Montgomeryshire, and Radnorshire. It would include 
 the entire coast from the Clwyd to the Teifi, 7 and would 
 be bounded to the east by the Clwydian and Berwyn 
 mountains, and the wild hills of Montgomeryshire and 
 Radnorshire. 8 It would also appear from this document, 
 and others, that their power was more complete, or lasted 
 longer, in some parts than in others, and most of all in 
 Mona, although they continued to exist elsewhere in 
 isolated positions even after the overthrow of Serigi. 
 
 This tradition receives a remarkable confirmation from 
 modern topography, a source of historical information 
 to which too little attention has been paid in general, 
 and particularly in the present instance. Rowland, the 
 author of the " Mona Antiqua Restaurata," records the 
 expulsion of the Irish from Anglesey, of which he seems 
 to consider them at one time the sole occupants. 9 He 
 
 7 Since this passage was written, I have been informed that 
 Ceredigion extended to the Preseleu mountains, a fact which the 
 features of the country and the present ecclesiastical divisions had led 
 me to suspect. 
 
 8 Some parts, indeed, of this territory lie beyond the limits we have 
 fixed. 
 
 9 " The Irish, under Sirig the Rover, who once indeed drove the 
 inhabitants out of the island, were soon after themselves outed and 
 expelled by Melirion ap Meirchion, and his cousin Caswallawn law 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 35 
 
 tells us also that the circular foundations of houses, like 
 those in what we are accustomed to call British towns, 
 were ordinarily known as Cytiau r' Gwyddelod, the cabins 
 of the Gael. 1 Yet he does not seem to connect these 
 facts in any way ; on the contrary, he has recourse to a 
 very unsatisfactory argument to explain away the apparent 
 connexion. I believe that name is in common use in 
 various parts of North Wales at this day ; and one 
 instance certainly exists in Anglesey. But we find in 
 various parts of Wales, the word Gwyddel entering into 
 composition in the local names, frequently in very re- 
 markable positions. I give a list of these which I have 
 been able to discover, and it is probable that more are to 
 be found/ 
 In Anglesey, — 
 
 Porth y Gwyddel, in Holyhead Island ; 
 
 Pentre Gwyddal, also in Holyhead Island ; 
 
 Cytiau *r Gwydd'lod, about a mile to the south of the cause- 
 way leading to Holyhead Island. 
 
 To these we may add Cerrig y Gwyddel, Llan y Gwyddel, or 
 Capel y Gwyddel, the ancient name of Holyhead. 
 In Caernarvonshire, — 
 
 Pentre Gwyddel, on the shore between Conway and Abergele; 
 
 Bwlch y Gwyddel, between Capel Curig and Llanberis; 
 
 Mynydd y Gwyddel ; and, 
 
 Trvvyn y Gwyddel, at the extreme promontory of Lleyn. 
 
 hir, who killed the said Sirig, at a place called Cappel Gwyddil as 
 tradition hath it." — p. 37. 
 
 1 " There are, to this day, visible upon our heaths and JRkosydh, the 
 marks and footsteps of these booths and cabbins, in the oval and circular 
 trenches which are seen in great plenty dispersed here and there on 
 such grounds . . . they are called Cyttie r* gwyddelod, viz., the 
 Irish men's cottages." — p. 27. 
 
36 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 In Merionethshire, — 
 
 Muriau 'r Gwyddelod, ancient fortifications near Harlech ; 
 
 Muriau 'r Gwddel, near Maentwrog ; 
 
 Gwyddel-fynydd near Towyn ; 
 
 Gwyddel-wern. 
 In Montgomeryshire, — 
 
 Dol-y-Gwyddyl, in the hills between Machynlleth and Llan- 
 idloes. 
 
 In Radnorshire, — 
 
 Crugyn Gwyddel, in the mountainous district west of Rhayader. 
 In Cardiganshire, — 
 
 Waun y Gwyddel ; and, 
 
 Nant y Gwyddel, about six miles west of Plinlimon ; 
 
 Wern y Gwyddel near Tregaron ; 
 
 Llwyn y Gwyddyl, near the ruins of Strata Florida ; 2 
 
 Cefn Gwyddel, near the sea-coast, at no great distance from 
 New Quay ; a farm in the neighbourhood bears the significant 
 name of Lletty 'r Cymro ; 
 
 Pant yr Wyddeles, four or five miles from the place last men- 
 tioned, but further inland. 
 In Pembrokeshire, — 
 
 Trewyddel, on the coast between Cardigan and Newport ; 
 
 Llwyn Gwyddel; and, 
 
 Pant Gwyddel, both a little to the south of the Preseleu moun- 
 tains. 
 In Glamorganshire, — 
 
 Twll y Gwyddel, in the hills separating the vales of the Tawe 
 and Llychwr. 
 
 2 The genealogy of Iestyn informs us that Meyryg, a prince of 
 Siluria, marched against the Irish Picts, and defeated them, " but was 
 killed by an Irishman concealed in a wood, since called Ystrad 
 Meyryg."— Iolo MSS., p. 352. Llwyn Gwyddyl, the Irishman's 
 Grove, is within a short distance of Ystrad Meyrig. The tradition is 
 valuable, although this Meyryg is placed in a very apocryphal age. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 37 
 
 In Monmouthshire, — 
 
 Pentre Gwyddel, near the Usk, a little below Abergavenny. 
 
 It can hardly be conceived that a score of places 
 should exist in eight small counties, bearing so signifi- 
 cant a name, by a mere accident ; especially when we 
 know that the name coincides so remarkably with ascer- 
 tained facts in the early history of this country. It is 
 quite true that one, or two, or three, or four of them 
 might be the result of events of later occurrence ; but it 
 is impossible to believe that the word should occur so 
 frequently, unless there had been very numerous colli- 
 sions, and at very various points, between the Gael and 
 the Cy mry ; and we are unable to assign any later period 
 for these events than that of the great Gaelic occupation 
 we are now dealing with. 3 The argument, however, is 
 
 3 It is true that isolated invasions took place at a much later period, 
 as in the following instances recorded by Lhoyd : — 
 
 a.d. 914. — " The men of Develyne did destroie the ile of Mon or 
 Anglesey." " About the same time Leofred a Dane, and Gruffyth 
 ap Madoc, came from Ireland with a great armie to Snowdon." 
 
 a.d. 958. — " Abloic king of Ireland landed in Mon, and having 
 burnt Holyhed, spoiled the countrie of Lhyyn." 
 
 a.d. 966. — " Roderike the sonne of Edwal Voel was slaine by the 
 Irishmen, by whom Aberfraw was destroied." 
 
 a.d. 1031. — " The Irish-Scots entred Southwales, by the meanes 
 of Howel and Meredyth, the sonnes of Edwyn ap Eneon ap Owen ap 
 Howel Dha, who hired them against Rytherch ap Iestyn." 
 
 a.d. 1041. — " Conan the sonne of Iago, with the power of Alfred 
 king of Deuclyn, entred North Wales." 
 
 a.d. 1073. — " Gruffydd ap Conan came from Ireland with a great 
 army of Irish." 
 
 a.d. 1087. — " Rees ap Tcwdor not being able to nicetc with them, 
 fled to Ireland, where he purchased himself great i'reends, and got an 
 armie of Irishmen and Scots — and so landed in Southwales — and at 
 Llechryd they gave him battell." 
 
 a.d. 1142. — "Cadwalader fled to Ireland and had hired Octer and 
 
38 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 much strengthened by the geographical distribution, the 
 several positions, and, in some cases, by the particular 
 meanings of these local names. As regards their distri- 
 bution, we have four in Anglesey, four in Caernarvon- 
 shire, four in Merioneth, one in Montgomeryshire, one 
 in Radnorshire, six in Cardiganshire, three in Pembroke- 
 shire, one in Glamorganshire, and one in Monmouthshire. 
 Thus, out of the five-ancl-twenty instances, twenty fall 
 within the limits which we have just assigned to the 
 Gaelic territory. Of the remaining five, one is at no 
 great distance from the Irish colony in Brecknockshire, 
 one is actually within the territory of Rheged, and 
 the Pembrokeshire instances may be accounted for by 
 their proximity to the territory of Ceredigion, 4 unless 
 they are rather due to the settlement on the coast of 
 Dyfed, whose existence is implied in the account of 
 Rhyddmarch, and in other passages to which we have 
 alluded. Again, as regards the several positions of these 
 localities, we shall find that they are placed, with very 
 few exceptions, just where a vanquished and declining 
 race would make their final efforts for independence. 
 The Anglesey instances are among the low grounds, 
 intersected, and partially isolated, by creeks and quick- 
 sands, which characterise the western extremity of that 
 county. In Caernarvonshire, two are at the utmost 
 point of the wild promontory of Lleyn, to which we can 
 well imagine the Gwyddelod to have been beaten back, 
 
 the sonne of Turkel and the sonne of Cherulf, with a great number of 
 Irishmen and Scots for 2000 markes to his succour, and landed at 
 Abermenay in Carnaruonshire." 
 
 4 One of them, in fact, was within it. See above, p. 34, Note. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 39 
 
 step by step : a third is at the entrance of the terrific 
 pass of Llanberis. In Merionethshire, we find two 
 at the foot of the great mountain chain which extends 
 from Traeth-Bychan to the Mawddach, protected on the 
 north by the former estuary, and on the west by marshes 
 and the sea; another is among marshes, at the mouth 
 of a valley leading to Cader Idris. The Montgomery- 
 shire instance, and two in Cardiganshire, are on the 
 skirts of the Plinlimon group. The instance in Rad- 
 norshire, and two of those in Cardiganshire, stand at 
 the entrances of gorges leading into that savage region 
 of mountain and moorland, then and long afterwards 
 clothed with impenetrable forests, 5 which lies between 
 the Wye, the Tywy and the Teifi, and comprises por- 
 tions of Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, 
 Brecknockshire, and Caermarthenshire. The remaining 
 cases in Cardiganshire, and one in Pembrokeshire, are 
 close upon the western coast. Twll y Gwyddel, in 
 Glamorganshire, lies in a mountain pass on the borders 
 of the Gaelic district of Rheged, and the instance 
 which occurs near Abergavenny, is not far from the 
 mouth of that wonderful valley which opens into 
 Brecknockshire between the Sugarloaf and Blorenge. 
 The names of three are highly significant. Cytiau 'r 
 Gwyddelod, near Holyhead, I have already had occasion 
 to notice. The two localities on the shore of Traeth 
 Bychan bear the names of Muriau 'r Gwyddel, and 
 Muriau 'r Gwyddelod, respectively. The name signi- 
 fies " the Gwyddclians' walls," and one of them at least 
 contains the remains of ancient fortifications. This is 
 
 5 Lclaml. 
 
40 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 especially important, because such fortresses are less 
 likely to have been raised by temporary invaders during 
 a mere foray, than by the actual possessors of the country 
 as a means of defence against aggressors. They seem 
 therefore to imply that the Gael were, for some time at 
 least, in possession of the district in which they are found. 
 In general I may remark that the localities we are con- 
 sidering are to be found principally in the western 
 portion of the region which we have assigned to the 
 Gaelic occupants, which we should be inclined to expect, 
 on the supposition that they derived their appellations 
 from having been the scene of final conflicts with the 
 conquerors. 
 
 § VI. THE LEGEND OF CUNEDDA EXAMINED. 
 
 It will now be necessary to criticise more minutely 
 the legend of Cunedda, which has been already cited for 
 another purpose. It appears in various forms in Welsh 
 mythological history, and is so frequently repeated, that 
 it is impossible to overlook its importance. According 
 to one account, Cunedda and his eight sons came in per- 
 son to effect the deliverance of Wales ; according to 
 others, he sent his sons ; most records agree in attributing 
 the victory to the family of Cunedda, and not to that 
 prince himself. All assert that he was a northern prince, 
 and some set up for him a hereditary claim to Gwynedd, 
 transferring to that early period the ideas and practices 
 of a later age. A few ascribe to him the deliverance of 
 Gower and the adjoining districts ; but the majority of 
 records make Urien the conqueror and first prince of 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDI). 41 
 
 Rheged, and limit the victories of the Cuneddian race to 
 North Wales, Cardiganshire, and part of Radnorshire. 
 One document, quoted by William of Malmesbury, goes 
 so far as to attribute to the Cuneddian race the conquest 
 of Gwynedd, Dyfed, Gower, and even of Somersetshire. 6 
 The most explicit account is contained in the genealogy 
 already quoted. But here we are met by a very curious 
 fact. Of the twelve sons of Cunedda there enumerated, 
 it is quite obvious that two at least are fictitious names. 
 One is that of Clwyd, the name of a river, very probably 
 imported from the north ; the other is that of Oswal, 
 evidently a Teutonic name, and apparently invented to 
 account for a local appellation, which is known to have 
 had a totally different origin. This is enough to cast 
 doubt on the historical existence of the other brethren. 
 
 r> The passage referred to is as follows : — " Legitur in antiquis 
 Britonum g est is, quod a Boreali Britannia? parte venerunt in occi- 
 dentem duodecim fratres, et tenuerunt plurimas Regiones, Venedociam, 
 Demetiam, Butlrir, (query, Guhir ?) Kedweli, quas proavus eorum 
 Cuneda tenuerat : nomina eorum fratrum inferius annotantur Ludnertb, 
 Morgen, Catgur, Cathmor, Mcrguid, Morvined, Morehel, Morcant, 
 Boten, Morgen, Mortincil, Glasteing. Hie est ilia Glasteing, qui 
 per mediterraneos anglos, secus villain qua? dicitur Escebtiorne, 
 scrofam suam usque ad Wellis, et a Wellis per inviam et aquosam 
 viam, quae Sugewege, id est, Scrofce via, dicitur, sequens porcellos 
 suos, juxta ecclcsiam de qua nobis sermo est, lactentem sub malo 
 invenit, unde usque ad nos emanavit, quod mala mali illius Ealdcyr- 
 cenes epple, id est, veteris Ecclesiae poma vocantur : sua quoque 
 ealdccyre suge idcirco nominabatur qua? cum cetera? sues quatuor pedes 
 babeant, minim dictu, ista babuit octo. Hie igitur Glasteing, post- 
 quam insulam illam ingressus, cam multimodis bonis vidit affiuentem, 
 cum omni familia sua in ea venit habitare, cursumque vitae suae ibidem 
 percgit. Ex ejus progenic et familia ei succedente locus tile primitus 
 dicitur populatus, luce de antiquis Britonum libris sunt." — 117//. 
 Malmsb. de Antiq. Glaston. Eccl ; Gale Scriptures, xx., vol. i., 
 p. 295. 
 
 Q 
 
42 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 And it is to be observed that all the existing names 
 are connected with the designations of their respective 
 principalities, a circumstance which gives them a some- 
 what artificial aspect. 7 The names of Tibion, and his 
 son Meirion, are in a plural form, while those of Cere- 
 digion, Edeyrnion and Arwystli seem to stand to those 
 of their eponymous heroes in the relation of plurals to 
 their singulars. 8 This is sufficient at least to raise a 
 suspicion that we have here the names not of individuals, 
 but of nations, of various petty tribes of common origin, 
 which moved down gradually from North Britain, and 
 expelled the Gael from their seats in Gwynedd. The 
 common legend represents the sons of Cunedda as 
 putting themselves at the head of volunteers from Dyfed, 
 Gower, and Gwent. Now it is obvious that the popu- 
 lation of North Wales is of distinct origin from those to 
 whom the legend traces them. A Triad, which bears 
 strong marks of historical truth, mentions the three 
 primary tribes of the nation of the Cymry, viz., the 
 Gwentians, or the men of Essyllwg ; the Gwyndydiaid, 
 or the men of Gwynedd and Powys ; and the tribe of 
 Pendaran Dyfed, comprehending the men of Dyfed, of 
 Gwyr, and Ceredigion. " And to each of them," the 
 Triad proceeds to say, " belongs a peculiar dialect of the 
 
 7 The account preserved in Lhoyd's History omits the name of 
 Clwyd and Oswal, substituting however for the latter that of Ussa. 
 
 8 This relation of terms appears not unfrequently in the Welsh 
 genealogies. Sometimes the father appears in the plural form, and 
 the son in the singular. Thus we have Gair the son of Geirion, 
 lord of Geirionydd, March the son of Meirchion, &c. The fact is 
 noticed by Professor Rees, in the case of Ceredig ; but he gives it a 
 somewhat different interpretation. — Welsh Saints, pp. 109, 110. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 43 
 
 Welsh." 9 There can be little doubt that the author of 
 the Triad is describing accurately the phenomena of his 
 own time, and in the main they correspond with those of 
 our own. It is much to be regretted that the dialectic 
 varieties in various parts of Wales have not been so 
 minutely ascertained and registered as has been the case 
 in England. Still the several varieties of the Welsh 
 language may, I believe, be classed under three principal 
 dialects of North Welsh, South Welsh, and the language 
 of Gwent and Morganwg. The exact limits of South 
 Wales and Essyllwg are rather difficult to ascertain ; the 
 district of Gower, which is included by the Triad in the 
 former, and which afterwards became a sort of debateable 
 land between the contending principalities, has since been 
 to a certain extent Anglicised, so that it is difficult to 
 verify the assertion before us. Both however are so 
 distinct from Gwynedd, that it is difficult to believe the 
 people of North Wales to be a colony from Gwent and 
 Dyfed, upon the supposition, at all events, that a portion 
 of the former was depopulated by the Gael. 1 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the region of Ceredigion, 
 one of those which were won from the Gael by the 
 sons of Cunedda, is included by the Triad within the 
 territory of the tribe of Dyfed. At present, unless I am 
 mistaken, the inhabitants of the northern portion of that 
 county speak a dialect nearly akin to that of the popula- 
 tion of Merioneth, while the language in the south of the 
 county is nearly identical with that in use in Pembroke- 
 
 9 Myv. Arch., ii., p. 61. 
 
 1 This supposition is implied in a Triad quoted in the Iolo MSS., 
 (p. 421,) and is assumed by Rowland, Mona Antiq., p. 37. 
 
44 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 shire and Caermarthenshire. At all events the natives 
 of the extreme north and extreme south of Cardigan- 
 shire are not always mutually intelligible. There is 
 also reason to believe that the district of Ceredigion ex- 
 tended at one time north of the Dy fv so as to take in a 
 portion of Gwynedd properly so called. In that case, 
 we may well conceive that the people who gave name 
 to that country occupied the northern portion alone, but 
 finally extended their supremacy and their name over 
 the neighbouring^ Demetians, at least as far as the Teifi. 
 In confirmation of this view, it must be recollected 
 that the centuries during which these events are supposed 
 to have occurred constituted pre-eminently the age of 
 migrations. It is very difficult for us who live at a time 
 when society is fixed, consolidated, and permanent — who 
 dwell under the shadow of a civilisation built upon the 
 precedents of ages — whose hope and ambition is circum- 
 scribed by home and country — to realise a condition of 
 things when the whole population of the west was in a 
 state of flux and agitation, when entire nations quitted 
 their seats from time to time, and entire realms received 
 new names from the various nations that had occupied 
 them. The difficulty is great to us ; but it was still 
 greater to our ancestors in the middle ages. They lived 
 at a time when society in some respects appeared even 
 more unchanging than at present, and when men's 
 thoughts and affections were certainly much more limited 
 by place. They lived at a time when national migra- 
 tions had ceased, and systematic colonisation had not 
 yet begun. They lived at a time when bold and 
 
 2 Iolo MSS., p. 476. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 45 
 
 grasping adventurers were continually carving out for 
 themselves an inheritance with the sword, and numberless 
 petty lordships were governed in almost regal style by 
 men who had neither title to the land, nor relation to 
 its occupiers. It is not to be wondered then that, in 
 their version of the ancient legend, they converted the 
 mythical sons of Cunedda, the eponymous heroes of 
 various kindred and associated tribes, into the likeness of 
 the foreign adventurers of their own age, and represented 
 them as placing themselves at the head of subjects with 
 whom they had no concern, and dividing among a single 
 family the inheritance of the conquered. Or, again, they 
 described the partition of Gwynedd as an act of gratitude 
 to the deliverers — a piece of poetical justice, no doubt, 
 but more akin to poetry than history. I think we may 
 fairly regard the whole story as the record of an extensive 
 national migration, and I shall venture to call it the 
 Cuneddian migration. 
 
 If this be the true view, if it was really a whole race, 
 and not a single family alone, that left its home under 
 some pressure external or internal, to find new seats in 
 the south, we may well believe that the change was very 
 gradual. 3 We know that, even in much later times, the 
 territory of Gwynedd stretched to the north-east, con- 
 siderably beyond its present limits. It is therefore 
 probable that the Gwyndydians, (for so we must call the 
 new occupants of Gwynedd, to which they gave their 
 
 3 I do not mean that the actual movement of the invaders w&f 
 gradual, a view which would be contrary to the history of migrations j 
 but that the successive movements of tribes from the north may haw 
 extended over an indefinite period. 
 
46 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 name,) moving down from their northern habitations, 
 pressed first upon the north-eastern frontier of the Gael, 
 and gradually established themselves in the country of 
 Powys. The districts of Arwystli, Edeyrnion, Maeli- 
 enydd and Ceredigion, as being most accessible, would 
 next fall into their hands, and the Gael would remain 
 entrenched behind the strong natural barriers which 
 defend Mon, Arfon and Meirion. And hence in many 
 versions of the legend we have their power limited to 
 those counties. It is probable that a considerable length 
 of time would be necessary for these events to take place 
 in ; and we have seen that it is in our power to place their 
 commencement at a very early period. 
 
 I must turn aside for a moment to notice an apparent 
 difficulty in the accounts of this migration. The nature 
 of the country, as well as the universal tradition, would 
 lead us to conclude that Mon, Arfon and Meirion were 
 the last conquered of all the Gaelic possessions. We 
 must therefore conclude that the Cymry pressed on the 
 Gael from the east. The isle of Man, which appears to 
 have formed part of the Gaelic principality of North 
 Wales, would be their nearest place of refuge ; and we 
 are told that the Gwyddelians were driven to that place 
 after the conquest of Mona. On the other hand, we 
 are elsewhere informed that Tibion, the father of Meirion, 
 died in the isle of Man, or Manaw, apparently before 
 the conquest of Gwynedd by his brethren. This would 
 imply that the Cuneddian race took a different course 
 from that which has been assigned to them, and invaded 
 Wales from the sea, proceeding from North Britain by 
 the way of the isle of Man — a view inconsistent at once 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 47 
 
 with probability, and with the traditions already cited. 
 The expression used by Nennius probably gives us the 
 ancient legend, and thus serves to explain this tradition. 
 He tells us that Cunedda and his eight sons came to 
 Wales from the northern parts, from the country called 
 Manau Guotodin. Now Nennius elsewhere speaks of 
 Man as Eubonia, or Manau simply, 4 and would scarcely 
 have described it as " the parts of the north, to wit, 
 the country called Manau Guotodin." 5 It is therefore 
 probable that the word Manaw was applied to several 
 districts, and that the word Guotodin, possibly a national 
 appellation, was added as a mark of distinction. And it 
 is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it was the country 
 of the Gododin, or Ottadini, the British inhabitants of 
 the eastern coast, north of the Brigantes, from whom, 
 according to Mr. Stephens, 6 Aneurin's celebrated poem 
 derives its name, and who may thence be concluded to 
 be a Cymraic tribe, akin to the conquerors of Gwynedd. 
 
 § VII. ORIGIN OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 
 
 We now come to a very obscure question, and one to 
 which in our present state of knowledge on the subject 
 we shall hardly be able to give a satisfactory answer — 
 were the Gael of North Wales invaders after all ? I do 
 not mean to ask whether they were invaders absolutely, 
 but whether they had dispossessed the Cymry ? To 
 answer the question in the negative would not prove 
 them to be aborigines, it would only prove them to be 
 
 4 § 8. 5 § 62. See above, p. 15, Note. 
 
 6 Literature of the Kymry, p. 11. 
 
48 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 the original inhabitants as compared with the present 
 possessors of the country. The question whether the 
 Celts had predecessors in these islands is a highly diffi- 
 cult one ; but the solution is possibly not beyond the 
 power of archaeological science. Bat it is no part of 
 the present question. The present question is — did the 
 Gael temporarily dispossess the Cymry ; or did the 
 Cymry, for the first and last time, dispossess the Gael 
 of a country which they themselves had never before 
 inhabited ? 
 
 To adopt the latter alternative almost necessarily in- 
 volves the affirmation of another contested position, I 
 mean, that the Gael preceded the Cymry in the pos- 
 session of the whole of Britain, and were afterwards 
 driven by them into the highlands of Scotland, and the 
 neighbouring islands of Ireland, Man, and the Hebrides. 
 I will not open this question now, (as it is far too exten- 
 sive to be treated of here,) but assume it on the authority 
 of the best historians and ethnologists. 7 Still it will not 
 be out of place to state briefly some of the leading 
 arguments on either side. On the one side we have the 
 great argument derived from geographical position. The 
 Gael are situated further from the great cradle of the 
 human race, and from the continent of Europe. They 
 would therefore appear to have preceded the Cymry in 
 their advance westwards, and if so, they would doubtless 
 seize first upon the nearer and more fertile districts, after- 
 
 7 Niebuhr, History of Rome, Transl., vol. ii., p. 522, sq. Thierry, 
 History of the Norman Conquest, b. i. E. Lhuyd. Dr. Prichard 
 suggests this view, but does not positively adopt it. — Physical History 
 of Mankind, vol. iii., c. 3., § 12. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 
 
 49 
 
 wards occupied by the other great branch of the Celtic 
 family. Add to this, that there appears greater proof of 
 connexion between the Welsh and the continental Celts, 
 than between the latter and the Irish. 8 The Welsh have 
 an obscure tradition of an earlier race, whom they drove 
 out or made slaves of. 9 The earliest known name of 
 Britain, Albion, seems connected with Alban, a name 
 now confined to the highlands of Scotland. 1 Finally, 
 Lhuyd discovered in Wales numerous local names, which 
 can only be interpreted by reference to the Gaelic idiom. 2 
 On the other hand, we have an absence of traditional 
 evidence in favour of this view among the Welsh and 
 Irish alike, except the vague legend alluded to above ; 
 and we have on the part of the former nation a claim to 
 be the aborigines of the country, whatever the value 
 of that claim may be. 
 
 Let us assume then that the Gael were the first Celtic 
 inhabitants of Britain, whether aboriginal or otherwise ; 
 and that, at various periods anterior to the Roman 
 invasion, the Cymry dispossessed and drove them for- 
 ward, and were themselves invaded and circumscribed by 
 foreign tribes, as the Belgse and Coritani. It is obvious 
 that the earlier possessors would retire into the more 
 distant, the least penetrable, and the least enviable dis- 
 tricts, as for example those in which they still exist, 
 Ireland, Man, the Highlands and Hebrides. But it is 
 
 8 Prichard, Physical History of Mankind, vol. iii., c. 3, § 11. 
 
 9 Thierry, b. i. 
 
 1 Aristot. de Mundo, c. 3. The book, however, is pronounced to 
 be spurious. 
 
 2 Welsh preface to the Archaeologia Britannica. 
 
50 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 also evident that they would hold out, for some time at 
 least, in Wales, Cumberland and Cornwall, just as the 
 Cymry did centuries afterwards. The former of these 
 districts, as the most extensive and impregnable, would 
 probably be their last possession in South Britain. And, 
 surely, what the mountain ranges of Gwynedd and 
 Ceredigion became in later ages to the Cymry, they 
 were then to the Gael ; what they became in later ages 
 to the Teutons, they were then to the Cymry. To the 
 former they were a secure bulwark, to the latter an 
 impassable barrier, perhaps for centuries. Of course we 
 have no data for fixing the age in which this struggle 
 commenced, and it is equally impossible to say how long 
 it would continue. As to the former question, the name 
 given to Britain by the author of the treatise, " De 
 Mundo," would lead us to conclude that the whole, or 
 the greater part of it, was in the possession of the 
 Albanich, 3 until within a very few centuries of our era. 4 
 The answer to the latter question would depend on the 
 resistance of the old inhabitants, the population of the 
 aggressors, and the extent to which they were pressed 
 upon by new invaders. We know that the Cymry had 
 been dispossessed of the south-eastern portions of the 
 island shortly before the invasion of Caesar ; 5 we know 
 also that at that period the population of South Britain 
 was enormous, 6 and would therefore require an outlet to 
 
 3 The Scottish Highlanders. 4 Aristot. de Mundo, c. 3. 
 
 5 The Bel^ae had a tradition of their arrival, and tradition in those 
 ages was probably short-lived ; the invasion of the Coritani, too, is 
 placed in the age immediately preceding the Roman invasion. 
 
 6 " Hominum est infinita multitudo." — -Cces. Bell. Gall., b. v., 
 c. 12. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 01 
 
 the north or west. In Ireland, so far as we know, the 
 Cymry never settled; 7 and, from what we know of the 
 Caledonians at a somewhat later period, it is probable 
 that their northern limit was already fixed. They would 
 therefore be compelled to press upon, and gradually to 
 supplant, the more isolated tribes of the Gael in North 
 Wales; and it is quite conceivable that this process of 
 extermination continued until the victory of Caswallawn 
 Law Hir, in the fifth century. We should here take 
 notice of a fact which, to a certain extent, falls in with 
 our argument. A people called Cangani 8 are placed by 
 Ptolemy and Richard in the west of Ireland ; and the 
 latter writer tells us that a portion of the Cangi and 
 Brigantes emigrated to Ireland in the first century of our 
 era. 9 
 
 This view of the history of North Wales seems, to say 
 the least, more probable than that a colony of Irish Scots 
 would seize upon and occupy the least accessible and 
 least eligible portion of South Britain, neglecting the 
 more inviting districts in the immediate neighbourhood, 
 which were under the dominion, not of their subsequently 
 successful opponents from Cumbria and Strathclyde, but 
 of Silurians and Demetians, who, as we are told, were 
 
 7 Prichard, Physical History, vol. iii., c. 3, § 12, p. 148. 
 
 8 FayyavoL. — Ptolemy. 
 
 9 " Circa liaec tempora, relicta Britannia, Cangi et Brigantes in 
 Hiberniam commigrarunt, sedesque ibi posuerunt." One cannot help 
 suspecting a connexion between these Brigantes and Brychan Bry- 
 cheinioc, a patriarch of Gaelic origin. — Ilk. Ciren., de Situ Urit., ii., 
 c. 1, § 17. Compare however i., c. 8, § 9, wlwvc Richard appears to 
 imply that the language of these immigrants referred them to the 
 Cymraic branch. One may doubt his having sufficient grounds for 
 the assertion. 
 
52 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 unable to face them alone. If the northern Picts and 
 Scots never effected a settlement in England, confining 
 their invasions to predatory incursions, is it likely that 
 their brethren from the other side of the channel would 
 be either willing or able to seize and retain for a century 
 and a quarter, not the rich province of Loegria, tenanted 
 by half- Romanized Britons, but the wilds of Arfon, the 
 heritage of the free mountaineers of Gwynedd ? It is 
 true that the Irish Scots were a hardy and adventurous 
 people, and were already, or soon afterwards, making 
 piratical excursions, and establishing foreign colonies. 
 It is probable that they did so in various parts of South 
 Wales in the fifth and sixth centuries ; it is certain that 
 they did so in Scotland in the sixth. But it is very 
 probable that the Gaelic dominion in North Wales, never 
 previously extinguished, was kept up by occasional sup- 
 plies from Ireland ; and not altogether impossible that 
 the Dalriadic colony in the western Highlands was in 
 some measure occasioned by the loss in North Wales 
 both of actual territory and of an outlet for superfluous 
 energy. 1 
 
 There is one further difficulty in accepting this view, 
 
 1 It is asserted by Professor Rees, on the authority of Mr. Moore, 
 (History of Ireland, c. 7,) that " an invasion of Britain on an extensive 
 and formidable scale took place towards the close of the fourth cen- 
 tury, under the auspices of a king of Ireland, called Nial of the Nine 
 Hostages." — Welsh Saints, p. 109, note. This Nial occurs in the 
 Four Masters, and the Annals of Innisfail, as reigning from 379 to 
 405. The latter chronicle certainly informs us that a large number 
 of captives, and among them St. Patrick, were brought into Ireland 
 from Britain in 388. This is, however, much too late for the com- 
 mencement of the Gaelic kingdom in North Wales. — 0' Conor, 
 Herum Jlibb. Script. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 53 
 
 namely, that all the traditions of the subject represent 
 the Gwydclyl as invaders ; and some represent the in- 
 vasion as having occurred at a comparatively short 
 distance of time before their expulsion. To this it 
 must be said, that one tradition at least appears to 
 regard the invasion of Gwynedd as contemporaneous 
 with the first arrival of the Gael in Britain, though 
 it evidently regards that event as posterior to that of 
 the Cymry ; 2 that the occasional supplies which were 
 probably sent to Gwynedd, and the known piratical 
 habits of Scots and Scandinavians, may have caused the 
 chroniclers of a later age to represent the whole affair as 
 a mere foray of Irish and Lochlynians, antedating by 
 centuries the northern invasions of Britain ; and the same 
 pride which prompted the Cymry to falsify the account 
 of their first entrance into the island, would induce the 
 men of Gwynedd to regard themselves as aborigines, 
 rather than as invaders. They are not the only nation 
 that have been content to sacrifice the glory of conquest 
 to that of aboriginality. We all know how the Athe- 
 nians bound up their hair with grasshoppers, in token 
 that they were children of the soil ; yet the early institu- 
 tions and traditions of that people exhibited no faint 
 marks of foreign conquest and military dominion. 3 It is 
 probable that our antiquarian discoveries will one day 
 prove that neither Gael nor Cymry were the first inhabi- 
 tants of these islands, will silence the latter in their vain 
 
 2 See above, p. 21. 
 
 3 E, (j., in the relics of a division into castes, or something very 
 
 like one. The tradition of the contest between Posidon and Athene 
 also seems to point to something of the kind. 
 
54 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 boasts of aboriginal possession, and thus destroy the 
 traditional evidence against the prior occupation of the 
 former. 4 If then we assume that the Welsh were 
 prompted by vanity to claim a precedence to which 
 they had no right, we may believe that the same vanity 
 would lead them to pervert the traditions concerning the 
 Gwyddelian occupation of North Wales. 
 
 This however is a further question, and the position 
 just advanced cannot rise above a conjecture. But the 
 general fact of the Gaelic occupation of North Wales is 
 much more than a conjecture ; the fact rests on indis- 
 putable evidence ; though we are compelled to make out 
 its extent and duration, as well as its circumstances, by 
 the help of obscure and inconsistent fragments of tra- 
 dition. There is one point however on which I must 
 insist, and that is the importance of the fact. Whether 
 the Gael were invaders or not, it is clear that the ancient 
 civilisatiou, if any such existed, was broken up and had 
 disappeared before the conquest by Caswallawn. The 
 Cuneddian migration is the first chapter in the history of 
 North Wales. To the Cuneddian family the kings and 
 nobles of North Wales traced up their genealogies. 
 From the age of Cunedda we are to date, if not the 
 introduction, at least the establishment of Christianity 
 in that province. 5 Previous history we have none : the 
 
 4 Worsaae, Primeval Antiquities of Denmark, Tr., pp. 127-135. 
 A valuable paper on this subject was read by Mr. D. Wilson, before 
 the British Association, at Edinburgh, in August, 1850, entitled, " An 
 Inquiry into the evidence of the existence of Primitive Ilaces in Scot- 
 land prior to the Celtae." 
 
 5 Iolo MSS., p. 472. Trioedd Ynys Prydain. Myv. Arch., ii., 
 p. 61. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 00 
 
 earliest Welsh legends are nearly all connected with South 
 Wales, or with North Britain.^ The genealogy which 
 claimed for Cunedda the hereditary monarchy of North 
 Wales, reminds one strongly of the supposed title of the 
 Peloponnesian kings to the inheritance of Hercules. 7 
 The same spirit which converted the Dorian migration 
 into the return of the ITeraclidse, probably created the 
 female succession which handed down the right and title 
 to the royalty of Gwynedd. It is clear that, to the in- 
 habitants of the south, Gwynecld was at this time an 
 unknown land. Their imagination filled it with giants, 
 fairies, monsters, and magicians'. 8 The inhabitants exer- 
 cised strange arts : they had cauldrons of like virtue with 
 that which renewed the youth of iEson : 9 a red dragon 
 and a white were buried as the palladium of their 
 metropolis. 1 Among their monarchs was a veritable cat, 
 the offspring of a wandering sow. 2 Their chief philoso- 
 
 6 The Gael, it is said, found " no princes" in Gwynedd. — Iolo 
 MSS., p. 522. 
 
 7 Professor Rees has successfully destroyed the Welsh genealogies 
 of the period prior to the departure of the Romans. — IVelsh Saints, 
 § 5. The pedigree of Cunedda is also open to the remarkable objection 
 that for six generations the name of the father is derived from that 
 of the son. 
 
 8 Mabinogi of Math. Hanes Taliesin. 
 
 9 Mabinogi of Branwen. 
 
 1 Mabinogi of Lludd and Llefelys. 
 
 2 Iolo MSS., p. 471. Compare the Triad of the " Three powerful 
 Swineherds," Myv. Arch., vol. ii., p. 72. This wandering of swine 
 runs through many of the Welsh legends, as for instance in the 
 Mabinogion of the Twrch Trwyth, and Math the son of Mathomvy. 
 The tradition of Arthur's boar-hunt still lingers in parts of North 
 Wales. We may compare with these the story already quoted from 
 William of Malmesbury, above, p. 41, note. Have we the feme key to 
 these legends, in Mr. Stephens' suggestion with reference to the 
 
56 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 pher was of gigantic stature, and sat on a mountain-peak 
 to watch the stars. 3 Their wizard-monarch, Gwydion, 
 had the power of effecting the strangest metamorphoses. 4 
 The simple peasant, dwelling on the shore of Dyfed, 
 beheld across the sea those shadowy mountain summits 
 pierce the air, guardians as it seemed of some unearthly 
 region. Thence came the mist and storm ; thence flashed 
 aloft the northern streamers ; thence rose through the 
 silent sky the starry path of Gwydion. 
 
 In South Wales, meanwhile, we find matters in a much 
 more advanced state. The Silurians, formerly the most 
 powerful tribe of Britannia Secunda, exercising, as it 
 appears, some sort of supremacy over their neighbours, 5 
 having been of old the opponents of Roman power, be- 
 came at length the inheritors of Roman civilisation. 
 The rest of South Wales was divided into small princi- 
 palities, the chief bearing the ancient name of Dyfed, 
 which in course of time was quite independent of its 
 neighbours on the east. The country was under a regular 
 ecclesiastical establishment, subject to the see of Caerleon. 
 As yet we find no bishoprics in Gwynedd, and for a long 
 time the ecclesiastical establishment seems to have been 
 unsettled, corresponding probably to the state of the 
 country. 6 Ceredigion, which, as we have seen, was 
 
 " Hoianau," that the " pig typifies the Welsh people?" — Literature 
 of the Kymry, p. 250. Cf. Virg. JEn., viii., 42, sq. Niebuhr, 
 Hist. Rom., Tr. y i., p. 195. 
 
 3 Idris Gawr. 4 Mabinogi of Math. 
 
 5 Duae alias sub Siluribus gentes fuere ; primum Ordovices . . . 
 deinde Dimeciae." — Hie. Ciren., de Situ Brit., i., c. 6, § 24. — Iolo 
 MSS., p. 609. 
 
 6 Cybi, the first person called a bishop in Gwynedd, was posterior 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. .\>7 
 
 earlier conquered than most parts of the Gaelic kingdom, 
 soon became a separate principality, and appears to have 
 continued independent of Gwyncdd from that time for- 
 ward. And one by one the possessions of the Gael were 
 wrested from them; a new people came in, introducing 
 a name possibly connected with that of their mythical 
 leader. 7 The Ordovices passed away, and with them the 
 Cangani ; the latter, it may be, to find a refuge with 
 their brethren of the same name in Ireland. 
 
 § VIII.' — CONSEQUENCES OF THE, CUNEDDIAN MIGRATION. 
 
 It only remains to trace as concisely as possible the 
 results of this event in the subsequent history of Wales — 
 results which will combine to form at once an additional 
 proof of the fact, and an illustration of its importance. 
 The first and most prominent consequence was the esta- 
 blishment of a new power in Gwynedd, a power destined 
 to draw to itself the sovereignty of the Cymry, to be 
 their last stay and defence, and in some measure, per- 
 haps, the cause of their ultimate downfall. 
 
 We have seen that the principal kingdom in South 
 
 to the conquest by Caswallawn. — Welsh Saints, p. 206. But we 
 meet with nothing like fixed sees before the time of Maelgwyn 
 Gwynedd. 
 
 7 I shall probably be censured by Welsh scholars, for venturing 
 to connect the name of Gwynedd with that of Cunedda, and by Welsh 
 antiquaries, for throwing doubts upon the historical existence of that 
 personage. I do not know what arguments may be urged in favour 
 of his existence. The Marwnad Cunedda, ascribed to Taliesiu, has 
 recently been pronounced, by a competent authority, to be of doubtful 
 origin, and even if genuine, does not amount to contemporary evi- 
 dence. — Stephens' Literature of the A'ymry, p. 28*2. 
 
 i 
 
58 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Wales was that of Essyllwg, and that the remainder of 
 that country was divided into several small territories. 
 Several of these appear to have been grouped into larger 
 principalities, probably varying with the relative impor- 
 tance of their constituent elements. The country of 
 Dyfed seems to have preserved its appellation through- 
 out. Rheged, lying between Essyllwg and the region 
 last mentioned, and for a time independent, fell subse- 
 quently under the power of each of its neighbours at 
 various periods. It may be doubted however whether 
 its independence was at any time more than partial. 
 But it is evident that there existed at an early period an 
 independent power on the north of Dyfed. We are often 
 able to determine the boundaries of ancient kingdoms, 
 by those of dioceses still existing. Thus the kingdom of 
 Siluria, or Essyllwg, is represented by the diocese of 
 LlandafT; that of Dyfed, or Demetia, by St. David's. 
 It is well known that a third diocese existed to the 
 north of the latter, I mean that of Llanbadarn-fawr, 
 founded in the sixth century by Paternus, an Armori- 
 can refugee. 8 We are informed in the Life of Pater- 
 nus, published originally by Capgrave, that David, y 
 Teilo and Paternus, undertook a journey to Jerusalem 
 together, to receive consecration from the patriarch ; and 
 that, on their return, they divided the spiritual govern- 
 ment of Wales between them. 1 They are also classed 
 
 8 Usher, Britt. Eccll. Antt., c. xiv. 
 
 9 Nova Legenda-Anglise, fol. cclix. The same story occurs in the 
 Life of St. David, by Rhyddmarch, and that of St. Teilo, by Geoffrey 
 of Llandaff. — Whart. Aug. Sac, ii., pp. 637, 663, sq. 
 
 1 " Regressi enim ad patriam in tres episcopatus Britanniam divise- 
 runt." — Capgrave j fol. cclix. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 59 
 
 together by a Triad, under the title of " Blessed Visitors." 2 
 It is clear from this that the churches founded by them 
 were regarded as of co-ordinate rank, and as two of them 
 represent ancient secular divisions, it is probable that a 
 similar division coincided with the diocese of Llanbadarn. 
 The limits of that diocese may be determined with 
 some degree of accuracy, at all events as regards its 
 southern frontier. If we start from the sea-coast about 
 fourteen miles south of Aberystwyth, we shall find two 
 lines of churches running nearly straight and parallel to 
 each other, and extending from Cardigan Bay, through 
 the counties of Cardigan, Brecknock and Radnor, to the 
 borders of Herefordshire. The churches composing the 
 northern line, on the side of Llanbadarn-fawr, are dedi- 
 cated to St. Paternus, while those on the south are under 
 the invocation of St. David. This probably marks the 
 ancient boundary between the dioceses of St. David's 
 and Llanbadarn. The latter must therefore have occu- 
 pied the northern part of Cardiganshire, the mountainous 
 district to the east of it, and a portion of the country 
 between the Wye and Severn. To the north and east it 
 would be conterminous with the present diocese of St. 
 David's. 3 It is worthy of notice that the line of churches 
 which I have just mentioned, is marked throughout the 
 western portion of its extent by a chain of fortresses, 
 occupying in many instances both sides of the valleys 
 which would naturally divide the districts; 4 while we 
 find a little to the north of it the " Cwys yr Ychain 
 
 2 Myv. Arch., vol. ii., p. Gl. 
 
 3 See Rees' Welsh Saints, p. 198. 
 
 * One of them bears the name of Clcuvdd Ddewi. 
 
60 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Bannog," a dyke extending east and west for some 
 miles, which we may conceive to have formed part of a 
 line, if not of defence, at least of demarcation. The 
 division moreover coincides in the main with the distri- 
 bution of dialects which I have already noticed. 5 These 
 facts all tend to confirm the notion of its making a civil 
 or national, and not merely an ecclesiastical, separation. 
 
 Upon this supposition the question remains unsettled, 
 what name we are to give to this principality. The Life 
 of Paternus already quoted informs us that he founded 
 churches and monasteries throughout the whole of Cere- 
 digion ; 6 and the Life preserved in the Cotton Library 
 further speaks of him as ruler and pastor of the church 
 of Ceredigion. 7 It would appear from these statements 
 that the principality of Ceredigion was originally co- 
 extensive with the diocese of Paternus, especially as 
 there are no signs of his having founded churches in the 
 south of Cardiganshire. And this falls in with the view 
 already suggested, that the north of Cardiganshire was 
 the earliest seat in Wales of the family of Ceredig, and 
 that they subsequently extended their dominion and their 
 name over a portion of their Demetian neighbours. 8 
 
 On the other hand, we are elsewhere presented with an- 
 other threefold division of South Wales, also resting partly 
 on the authority of a Life of St. Paternus. 9 In this "it is 
 
 5 See above, p. 43. 
 
 6 " Monasteria et ecclesias per totam kereticam regionem, quae nunc 
 Cardiganshire appellator, edificavit." — Capgrave, folio cclviii. 
 
 7 " Postquam Cereticoi'um ecclesiam (ut loquitur vetus Vitae illius 
 scriptor, quern in Bibliotheca Cottoniana vidimus) fy pascendo rexisset, 
 fy regendo pavisset." — Usher, JBritt. Eccll. Antt., c. xiv. 
 
 8 See above, p. 44. o Cotton MS. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 61 
 
 said that the whole of South Wales was divided into 
 three kingdoms, the same forming three bishoprics. Of 
 these, the kingdom of Seissyl received its consecration 
 from St. Paternus, bishop of Llanbadarn Vawr, as the 
 other two, those of Rein and Morgant did, from St. 
 David and St. Eliu, (Teilo)." 1 This is explained by a 
 passage in the Mabinogi of Pwyll, which gives the name 
 of Seisyllwch to a district comprising Ceredigion and 
 Ystrad-Tywi, 2 that is to say, Cardiganshire, Caermar- 
 thenshire, Cemaes and Gower. 3 The same division of 
 South Wales is implied by a passage in the Welsh Laws, 
 which in speaking of a general convention of the Welsh 
 nation, informs us that it was gathered from Gwynedd, 
 Powys and Deheubarth, the latter comprising Reinwg, 
 Morganwg and Seisyllwg. 4 It is also more directly 
 asserted in another passage, where we are probably to 
 read " Seisyllwg" for " Riellwg." 5 In this latter Reinwg 
 
 1 Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion, iii., p. 74, note. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 70. 
 
 3 The name of Seisyllwch also occurs in the Triads, but its locality 
 is not fixed. — Myv. Arch., ii., p. 60. 
 
 4 " Ac yno y doethant gwyr Gwynedd agwyr Powys agwyr Deheu- 
 barth a Rieinwc a Morganwc a Seisyllwc." — Ancient Laws of Wales, 
 (Record Comm,) p. 412. Cf lolo MSS., p. 4G1, (74,) where 
 Essyllwg is read erroneously for Seisyllwg. It is pretty clear both 
 from the structure of the sentence, and from external evidence, that the 
 three districts last mentioned are regarded as divisions of Deheubarth, 
 and I suspect we are to read " o Rieinwc a Morganwc a Seisyllwc." 
 
 5 " The South is in three parts : Reinwg, that is, the count}' of 
 Rein; and Riellwg; and Morgannwg." — Ancient Lams of Wales, 
 p. G87. Compare the following extract from the Mabinogi of .Math, 
 whether the perfect symmetry of the numbers leads us to the same 
 conclusion : — " Prydcri the son of Pwyll was lord over the one-and- 
 fcwenty Cantrefs of the South; and these were the seven Cantrefs of 
 Dyied, and the seven Cantrefs of Morganwc, and the four Cantrefs of 
 
6'2 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 is explained to be " the country of Rein." Two persons 
 of this name occur, both of them princes of Dyfed, one 
 in the ninth century, and the other in the eleventh. 6 
 This, in conjunction with a fact already mentioned, leads 
 us to infer that Reinwg is another name for Dyfed. 
 But as Reinwg and Morganwg are derived from Rein 
 and Morgan, we must look for the origin of Seisyllwg in 
 Seissyl or Sitsyllt. It is suggested by an authority 
 already quoted that it may be derived from Sitsyllt, the 
 father of the first Llywelyn. 7 But we also meet with 
 the name as that of one of the early princes of Cere- 
 digion, 8 a fact altogether consistent with the position 
 assigned to Seisyllwch. Its limits however considerably 
 exceed those of the principality represented by the diocese 
 of Llanbadarn ; and we may perhaps infer from them 
 that the tripartite arrangement of South Wales was 
 preserved, while the name and extent of its component 
 districts varied from time to time. 
 
 It is impossible to determine the duration of the princi- 
 pality whose existence I have just indicated ; but the 
 diocese of Llanbadarn, which would probably outlive the 
 corresponding civil division, seems to have lasted nearly 
 
 Ceredigiawn, and the three of Ystrad Tywi," the seven last mentioned 
 making up Seisyllwch. — Lady C. Guest's Mabinogion, in., p. 217. 
 
 6 Annales Cambriae, Ann. ccclxiv. (808.) Ibid., post Ann. 1016. 
 Monumenta Historica Britannica, vol. i. Brut y Tywysogion, Myv. 
 Arch., h., pp. 474, 504. The name also occurs in a genealogy of 
 Owen ap Hywel dda, which seems to contain the names of early 
 sovereigns of Dyfed. — Ancient Laws of Wales, Preface, p. v. 
 
 7 Lady C. Guest's Mabinogion, p. 74, note. 
 
 8 Williams' Biographical Dictionary, p. 21. It is rather curious 
 that this person was contemporary with the first Rein of Dyfed, as the 
 father of Llywelyn was with the other. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. (13 
 
 two centuries from its foundation. 9 Two powerful neigh- 
 bours arose, one on either side. On the south, the 
 kingdom of Dyfed appears to have increased in impor- 
 tance about the sixth century. A change of dynasty is 
 recorded to have occurred in that age. Hyfeidd the 
 Aged, a foreigner, the son of St. Lupus of Troyes, 
 became the prince of Dyfed, and possibly infused new 
 energy into it. 1 A prince of Dyfed was at this time 
 elected to the sovereignty of the Britons, if we may 
 credit the testimony of Geoffrey of Monmouth, possibly 
 supported in this instance by that of Gildas. 2 At all 
 events, the last trace of subjection to the Roman me- 
 tropolis of South Wales was swept away, when in the 
 sixth century the archiepiscopate was removed from 
 Caerleon to Mynyw, situated at the extreme point of the 
 Demetian territory. 3 
 
 In the meantime a new power was formed on the 
 north of Llanbadarn, which even in the time of Paternus 
 seriously menaced it. 4 The country of Gwynedd, the 
 
 9 " The same year (a.d. 720) the unbelieving Saxons ravaged many 
 churches of Llandaff, St. David's, and Llanbadarn." — Brut y Tywy- 
 sogion, Myv. Arch., ii., p. 472. 
 
 1 Trioedd Ynys Prydain. Myv. Arch., ii., p. 62. 
 
 2 Myv. Arch., ii., p. 359. Cf. Ep. Gildas: — " Demetarum tyranne, 
 Vortipori . . . . Tu etiam, insularis draco, multorum tyranno- 
 rura depulsor tarn regno quam etiam vita supradictorum novissime in 
 stylo prime in malo, Maglocune." The sense depends partly on our 
 placing a comma before or after " supradictorum." Compare the 
 genealogy of Owen ap Hywel dda, already referred to. 
 
 3 It would seem that this translation was effected, if not by violence, 
 at least not by mutual consent. — See Wharton, Any. Sacr., ii., pp. 
 667, 670, (ITU.' 
 
 4 " Interea Mailgunus Rex Borealium Britonum, ad debeUandos 
 et depraedandos Australes Britones cum suo exercitu venit." — Cap- 
 
64 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 conquest of which we have been occupied in tracing, 
 was about this time consolidated into one kingdom. 
 Previously it appears to have been under various 
 independent rulers, and there is reason to think that 
 it was not perfectly united until a later period. 5 Still 
 the territorial title of Maelgwyn Gwynedd, the son 
 and successor of Caswallon, seems to prove that he 
 had acquired that supremacy over North Wales, which 
 he afterwards attempted with partial success to extend 
 over his neighbours. It is to the interference of Mael- 
 gwyn that we are probably to refer the fall of the 
 principality represented by Llanbadarn. Paternus com- 
 plains of the tyranny which he had exercised over his 
 
 grave, fol. cclviii. The authority of Albert le Grand may perhaps 
 be cited as that of an independent witness, as he professes to have 
 taken his account from the ancient breviaries of Quimper and Vannes. 
 It is rather curious that he makes mention of the river Clarach as 
 flowing by, and giving name to, the monastery of Paternus. This is 
 the more remarkable, as the maps and topographies of that time, as 
 Saxton, (1575,) Jansson, (1629,) Speed, and Drayton in the " Poly- 
 olbion," give the names of Salck and Massalck to the streams that 
 flow through the vale and into the bay of Clarach. It is therefore 
 possible that the name of Clarach marks an independent tradition. 
 I do not know whether it occurs in the Cotton MSS. The writer's 
 confused notions of British geography may be taken as further evi- 
 dence. He did not know the difference between Wales and Cornwall. 
 He writes as follows : — " En ce temps la regnoit en la Province de 
 Wales vn Prince nomme Malgonus homme fort mal conditionne, 
 lequel entendant merveilles de S. Patera, le voulut tenter; & vne 
 guerre luy estant survenue contre le Roy de Bretons septentrionaux 
 de l'isle [sic] il amassa son armee pres le fleuve de Clarach." — Vie 
 des Saincts de la Bretagne Armorique, p. 93. 
 
 5 Powys, for example, was not united to Gwynedd, if dependant on 
 it. We read also of kings of Mona, and even of Man, as well as a 
 distinct and probably subordinate line of Venedocian princes of Cor- 
 nish origin. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 65 
 
 flock. Gildas, too, who seems to imply that Mona 
 was the chief and original seat of his power, accuses 
 him of gaining his authority by foul means. He is 
 represented by Geoffrey of Monmouth as supreme 
 monarch of the Britons, 7 and Gildas enumerates some 
 of his immediate predecessors in that office, whom he 
 had successively deprived of their authority. 8 There is a 
 fantastic legend preserved in the Welsh Laws, giving an 
 account of the election of Maelgwyn to the sovereignty 
 of Wales. The scene of the council is laid on the Dyfi 
 sands, a portion of which still bears the name of Traeth 
 Maelgwyn. 9 We may therefore fairly conclude that the 
 name of Maelgwyn marks the consolidation of Gwynedd, 
 and the commencement at least of its aggressions on the 
 independent kingdoms of South Wales. The ultimate 
 result of his interference maimed the tripartite division of 
 that country, a division which would very probably be re- 
 garded as essential. It may therefore be conceived that 
 Gwynedd subsequently took its place among the king- 
 doms of Wales, so as to maintain the integrity of their 
 confederation. It is clearly impossible to describe with 
 any degree of accuracy the several characteristics of these 
 nations. It is probable, however, that the Silurians had 
 been Romanized to a greater degree than their country- 
 men on the north and west, and they appear to have 
 preserved among them a certain amount of learning and 
 civilization. 1 The Gwendydians on the contrary, the 
 
 6 Ep. Gild®. 7 Myv. Arch., ii., p. 359. * Ep. Gildae. 
 
 9 Ancient Laws of Wales, (Record Comm.,) p. 412. lolo MSS., 
 p. 461. 
 
 1 It is certain that the Romans had a more extended influence in 
 this district than among the Ordovices and Dcmetsc : two of the most 
 
 K 
 
66 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 children of the north, nursed among the wild mountains 
 of Arfon and Meirion, and trained to war and conquest 
 by their conflicts with the Gael, may have become to 
 the Silurians what the Northmen were to the civilized 
 nations of southern Europe. They were from the begin- 
 ning an aggressive and conquering race, and it is to this 
 that we are to attribute the supremacy which they subse- 
 quently obtained over their countrymen, and the long 
 resistance they were able to make the English and 
 Normans. 
 
 The period between the death of Maelgwyn in the 
 sixth century, and the accession of Rhodri Mawr in the 
 ninth, seems to have been marked by important changes 
 in the south. It is most probable that the principality 
 of Ceredigion, whose limits in the days of Maelgwyn 
 have just been determined, assumed during this period a 
 form and extent more nearly approaching that of the 
 
 important relics of their power to be found in Britain still exist in 
 Caerleon and Caerwent. The following description of the former at 
 the close of the twelfth century is pretty well known : — " Videas hie 
 multa pristinaB nobilitatis adhuc vestigia : palatia immensa aureis olim 
 tectorum fastigiis Romanos fastus imitantia, eo quod a Romanis 
 principibus primo constructa, et aedificiis egregiis illustrata fuissent ; 
 turrim giganteam ; thermas insignes ; templorum reliquias, et loca 
 theatralia muris egregiis partim adhuc extantibus, omnia clausa. 
 Reperies ubique tarn intra murorum ambitum, quam extra, aedificia 
 subterranea ; aquaram ductus hypogaeosque meatus ; et quod inter 
 alia notabile censui, stuphas undique videas miro artificio consertas, 
 lateralibus quibusdam et prseaugustis spiraculi viis occulte calorem 
 exhalantibus." — Giraldi Itin. Camb., c. v. Cf. Iolo MSS., pp. 
 350, 374. The existence of religious and educational establishments 
 at Lantwit and Llancarvan seem to point in the same direction ; the 
 connexion of the former with the Emperor Theodosius may be fabu- 
 lous, yet the legend is not devoid of value. — See Williams' Eccl. Ant. 
 of the Cymry, p. 97, note. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 67 
 
 present county of Cardigan. The territory of Seisy- 
 11 well may have been formed by conquest during this 
 interval. And there is reason to think that it ac- 
 quired some degree of supremacy over the rest of 
 South Wales. For we find it recorded that the royalty 
 of South Wales, including the actual dominion of 
 Dyfed, with a sort of unrecognised claim over Essy- 
 llwg, was conveyed to Rhodri by his marriage with 
 Angharad, the daughter of Meurig, king of Ceredigion. 2 
 In Gwynedd, in the meantime, the sovereignty of the 
 descendants of Cunedda was not uninterrupted. A 
 passage which we have already cited hints that a 
 formidable rebellion was raised by the subjugated 
 Gwyddyl in a very early period ; 3 and in the seventh 
 century the dominion of the country fell into the hands 
 of one Cadafael, the assassin of Iago ab Beli, king of 
 Gwynedd. 4 From the epithet Gwyllt 5 attached to his 
 name, and the fact of his being described as a stranger 
 monarch, 6 one cannot help suspecting that he was one of 
 the descendants of the Gael, who may very well have 
 maintained themselves as a distinct nation until that 
 age. The " Arymes Prydain Fawr," formerly ascribed to 
 Taliesin, and subsequently to Golyddan, in the seventh 
 century, might perhaps have been regarded as nearly 
 contemporary evidence of the existence of Gwyddyl in 
 Mona as a distinct and important nation, even after their 
 
 2 Myv. Arch., ii., p. G2. 3 See above, p. 19. 
 
 4 Trioedd Yyns Prydain. Myv. Arch., ii., p. ()•">. 
 
 5 The epithet is applied to at least one person of Irish origin, Idio 
 the son of Sutric. — Williams? Biographical Dictionary t p, 230. 
 
 6 Trioedd Ynys Prydain. Myv. Arch., ii., p. 62. 
 
68 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 defeat by Caswallawn, had it not been determined by a 
 high authority to be of a later date. 7 It is evident 
 however that some such distinction may be traced to 
 a much later period, in the internal organisation of 
 Gwynedd, as compared with the south. Not to men- 
 tion the diversity of local customs, (as the mode of 
 inheritance, for instance, 8 ) which taken alone would only 
 prove the early separation of the respective districts, we 
 find decided marks of conquest in Gwynedd, which are 
 absent in Dyfed and Essyllwg. For, in the first place, 
 a kind of villenage existed in the former, more complete 
 and oppressive than was permitted in the south, 9 and we 
 are not without grounds for the inference, that this sys- 
 tem was in some way connected with the co -existence of 
 distinct races. 1 We have also a species of aristocracy in 
 North Wales, unknown in the southern portions of the 
 country. The fifteen tribes of Gwynedd, dating, as it is 
 said, from the tenth century, but probably representing a 
 state of things which had then been some time in exist- 
 ence, appear to have exercised a certain degree of politi- 
 cal power, which was elsewhere in the hands of the nation. 2 
 
 7 Myv. Arch., i., p. 156. Stephens' Literature of the Kymry, p. 
 287, sq. 8 Ancient Laws of Wales, p. 84. 
 
 9 Howel Dda " permitted every uchelwr . . to rule his bonds- 
 men according to conditional bondage in South Wales, and perpetual 
 bondage in Gwynedd." — Ibid., p. 573. 
 
 1 " The sons of Cunedda led the Cymry, and expelled the Gwydd- 
 elians from the country, making prisoners of such as had their lives 
 spared. . . . And none of them remained in the country, except 
 such as were made captives for ever, (namyn a wnaed yn gaethion a 
 hynny yn dragywydd). — Iolo MSS., pp. 522, 523, (123). Com- 
 pare this with the perpetual bondage (cathiwet tragwydawl) of the 
 passage cited in the preceding note. 
 
 ■ Iolo MSS., pp. 405, 407, 478. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 69 
 
 They were popularly believed to be the pure representa- 
 tives of the Cymry as distinguished from the race which 
 had been corrupted by an admixture of Gaelic blood ; 
 and it seems probable that this view was at least an ap- 
 proximation to the truth. 3 In Powys, a similar class 
 existed under another name, and were ascribed to a like 
 origin. 4 We are probably to refer to the same source, 
 the existence at an early period of certain clans, to whom 
 peculiar immunities were granted. One of these derived 
 its name from the conqueror of Gwynedd, Caswallawn 
 Law Hir, and another was connected with the district of 
 Lleyn. 5 The men of Arfon also enjoyed particular 
 privileges, which were regarded as memorials of their 
 resisting and requiting an invasion of the Strathclyde 
 Welsh, in the time of Rhun, the son of Maelgwyn 
 Gwynedd. 6 We may perhaps infer from the record of 
 this transaction, that the migrations from the north 
 which we have traced to the fifth century were continued 
 in the sixth, as they were certainly revived in the ninth. 7 
 The date of Rhodri Mawr may be fixed as that in 
 which the princes of Gwynedd first attained their full 
 
 3 Iolo MSS., pp. 477, 478. 
 
 4 Ibid. They were called " Gwelygorddau," as distinguished 
 from " Llwythau." 
 
 5 " The three Banded Families (Teulu) of the isle of Britain : the 
 family of Caswallawn Law Hir ; the family of Rhiwallawn the son of 
 Urien ; and the family of Bclyn of Lleyn. That is, they were so 
 named, hecausc there was neither head nor sovereignty over them, so 
 far ;is the liberty of their families and possessions reached, if they 
 were questioned within those limits, save the jurisdiction of the country 
 and people." — Trioedd Ynys Prydain. Myv. Arch., ii., p. (5*2. 
 
 6 Ancient Laws of Wales, pp. 50, 51. 
 
 7 Brut y Tywysogion. Myv. Arch., ii., p. 582. See above, p. 41. 
 
70 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 power. By inheritance, stratagem, or conquest, they had 
 made themselves masters of Powys on the east, and 
 Ceredigion on the south, the latter apparently involving 
 the sovereignty of Dyfed. The division of Wales among 
 three of the sons of Rhodri seems to be a recognition 
 of the ancient threefold confederation. 8 The kings of 
 Gwent and Morganwg resisted their aggressions, so that 
 the three constituent sovereignties were henceforward 
 those of Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth on the south, 
 the latter including the ancient dominions of Ceredigion 
 and Dyfed, with a vague claim over Gwent and Mor- 
 ganwg. 9 Subsequently to this division, we read of petty 
 sovereigns of Ceredigion and Dyfed, 1 (the latter term 
 being used in its narrowest sense,) who apparently stood 
 in an ill-defined relation to the prince paramount of 
 Deheubarth, and occasionally resisted his power. 2 It is 
 also worthy of notice that the kingdom of South Wales 
 
 8 It is important to remember that Anarawd, Cadell and Merfyn 
 were not the only sons of Rhodri. 
 
 9 The preface to the laws of Hywel Dda is especially worthy of 
 notice. The codes of Gwynedd and Dyfed entitle him " king of all 
 Wales," that of Gwent merely "king of Wales," adding that he 
 enacted the laws " when Wales was in his possession in its bounds." 
 — Ancient Laws of Wales, (Record Comm.,) pp. 1, 164, 303. 
 
 1 E. g., Gwaethfoed, king of Cardigan, and Hyfeidd, king of Dyfed, 
 the latter of whom was involved in warfare with the sons of Rhodri. 
 — Asserius de rebb. gestt. JElfredi, Cf Annates Cambria Ann. 
 ccccxlviii., (892). We also find a distinction made between two 
 grades of kings, the Cuneddian princes of Gwynedd, Powys and 
 Deheubarth being " crowned kings," and those of Ceredigion, Mor- 
 ganwg and Fferyllwg (between Wye and Severn) being " fettered." 
 Trioedd Ynys Prydain, My v. Arch., ii., p. 64. Cf. Iolo MSS., 
 pp. 407, 408, 449, where the two princes last named are excluded 
 from the Cuneddian confederation. 
 
 2 We hear of " lords" of Dyfed down to a very late period. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 71 
 
 now lost, for the most part, the ancient national appel- 
 lation of Dyfed, which as I have said, was henceforth 
 used in a narrower sense, and assumed that of Deheu- 
 barth or Dinefawr, having become a political rather than 
 a national division. When the Cuneddian princes were 
 established in it, they made continual aggresssions on the 
 domains of the Silurian princes. In the reign of Hywel 
 Dda, its eastern limits were fixed at Crickhowel in. 
 Brecknockshire, and a continual warfare was waged 
 between the two neighbouring powers, until the inde- 
 pendence of Morganwg terminated with the reign of 
 Iestyn the son of Gwrgan. It is clear that the Cune- 
 ddian princes of South Wales had been continually pres- 
 sing on it, from a corresponding change which had taken 
 place in the ecclesiastical divisions. Urban, bishop of 
 Llandaff, writing to Pope Calixtus II. in the twelfth 
 century, complains that the bishops of St. David's had 
 taken from his diocese Ystrad Tywy, Gower, Kidwelly, 
 and Cantref Bychan. 3 This appears to be an ecclesi- 
 astical version of the fact that these districts, or the 
 greater part of them, had passed from the dominion of 
 the princes of Essyllwg into that of the Cuneddian 
 monarchs of South Wales. 
 
 Much more might be written on this head, but to trace 
 fully the consequences of the Cuneddian migration would 
 be in effect to write the history of Wales. I will notice 
 one further result, because it has lasted to the present 
 time, and is therefore in some respects the most impor- 
 tant, as it is the most obvious. The inhabitants of North 
 
 3 Wharton, Ang. Sac, vol. ii., pp. G73, 074. Cf. Iolo MSS., pp. 
 373, 374. 
 
72 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 and South Wales are clearly two different races. Of the 
 distinction of dialect I have spoken elsewhere ; there is 
 is also a physiological difference. On this head Dr. 
 Pri chard observes : — 
 
 " In North Wales, a fair complexion and blue eyes prevail, 
 according to the observation both of Dr. Macculloch and Mr. 
 Price. There is probably no part of Britain where the inhabi- 
 tants are less intermixed with Saxon or German blood, certainly 
 they are much less intermixed than the South Welsh. In parts 
 of South Wales, particularly in Glamorganshire, black eyes are 
 very prevalent, and the hair is frequently black." 4 
 
 The author of the " Physical Atlas of Natural Pheno- 
 mena" confirms these observations as regards the diffe- 
 rence of complexion prevalent in North and South 
 Wales ; and hence concludes that the inhabitants of the 
 former are not unmixed with a Teutonic, perhaps a 
 Belgic element. 3 Finally, I have extracted these re- 
 marks from an able article in the Quarterly Review. 
 They bear closely on the subject of this paper, although 
 they certainly do not coincide with it in detail : — 
 
 " Others again who observe how the South Wales features, 
 after being interrupted in North Wales by an inlet of the Cim- 
 bric or more northerly type, reappear in Anglesey, may rather 
 suspect that a refluent Gaelic wave has been thrown back from 
 Ireland upon the north and south extremities of the Principality. 
 This latter assumption is countenanced not only by the philo- 
 logical observations of E. Llwyd, but by certain Welsh traditions 
 that fall within the historical period." 6 
 
 Is it too great a refinement to add, that the mutual 
 
 4 Physical History of Mankind, vol. iii., p. 199. 
 
 5 Johnston's Physical Atlas. 
 
 6 Quarterly Review, No. clxxiv., September, 1850. — " The Church 
 and Education in Wales." 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 73 
 
 antipathy which still subsists between the extremities of 
 the Principality may be taken as an additional proof of 
 different origin ? It is certain that in earlier times a 
 strong principle of repulsion existed in the many distinct 
 though kindred races composing the population of 
 Wales, which caused endless divisions and subdivisions 
 of territory, and, working counter to the principle of 
 political centralization, generated continual intestine 
 wars. The language applied by M. Thierry to the 
 inhabitants of southern Gaul, may with trifling altera- 
 tions be used of the Welsh throughout the period of 
 their independence : — 
 
 " They detested all foreigners, yet a restless turbulence, a wild 
 passion for novelty and excitement impelled them to seek their 
 alliance, whilst they were torn by domestic quarrels and petty 
 rivalries between man and man, town and town, province and 
 province. . . . Nature had given them all, all except political 
 prudence and union, as descendants of the same race, as children 
 of one country. Their enemies combined to destroy them, but 
 they would not combine to love each other, to defend each other, 
 to make one common cause. They paid a severe penalty for 
 this." ^ 
 
 Shall we say that this spirit is extinct yet ? Does it 
 not survive — happily in the only possible form — in the 
 absurd local attachments, the mutual dislike, or rather 
 the total ignoring of each other's existence, which is still 
 an active principle among our countrymen ? Is it not 
 conspicuous and energetic in their utter inability to com- 
 bine for a patriotic, as distinguished from a national 
 purpose, for anything in fact but to keep alive the effete 
 traditions of a very questionable antiquity, and to re- 
 
 7 Norman Conquest, b. viii. 
 
 L 
 
74 VESTIGES OF THE GAEL. 
 
 enact what they believe to be the ceremonies of ancestral 
 heathenism ? 8 
 
 8 It may be as well to mention two or three points affecting my 
 argument which have come under my notice during the printing of 
 this paper. In p. 8 I said that Bullium has been identified with 
 Builth. It is with greater probability regarded as another form of 
 the name Burrium (Usk). In that case one name less has been pre- 
 served in South Wales, not one more being lost. I have also identified 
 Stucia with the Ystwyth, after Baxter and others, (p. 7). In the map 
 of Roman Britain lately published by the Record Commission, (Monu- 
 menta Historica Britannica, vol. i.,) Stucia is given as the name of 
 the Dyfi. In that case it is to be regarded as a lost name, and rather 
 referred to North Wales. In fact the Ystwyth is scarcely of sufficient 
 importance to be singled out by Ptolemy, without making mention of 
 the Dyfi and Mawddach ; and it is only by considerable twisting that 
 the names of either the Stucia or the Tuerobis can be got out of the 
 Ystwyth and Teifi. In p. 15 I do not think that enough has been 
 made of the testimony of Rhyddmarch to the settlement of Gael in 
 Pembrokeshire. He describes Boia, the persecutor of St. David, as 
 "Scottus quidam." These words are omitted by Giraldus in his 
 rifacimento of Rhyddmarch, probably because he was not aware 
 that any Scots had ever occupied that district. The tradition then 
 had died out by his time ; and as Rhyddmarch died only half a 
 century before the birth of Giraldus, one can hardly conceive that 
 such a tradition would be very general in the days of Rhyddmarch. 
 But as even in those times historians would avoid improbabilities, 
 except in the matter of miracles, Rhyddmarch would not have said 
 " Scottus quidam," in the plain matter-of-fact way he does, without 
 something like earlier documentary evidence. It is therefore probable 
 that this passage embodies a tradition of very high antiquity. 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL INDEX. 
 
 The names in small capitals are found in, or derived from, ancient 
 authorities, including Richard of Cirencester ; those in Italics 
 are names in ordinary use ; and those in CAPITALS include 
 obsolete names, with such as remain only in Welsh, or are 
 retained as the appellations of hundreds and lordships, and are 
 therefore unlikely to be generally known. 
 
 Aberfraiv: 21,31. 
 
 Abergavenny, Gobannium : 6, 37, 39. 
 
 Abergele: 35. 
 
 Abermenay, on the Menai Straits : 38. 
 
 Aberystwyth: 59. 
 
 Ad Menapiam, see Menapia : 9. 
 
 Ad Vigesimtjm, Castle Flemish (J): 9, 11. 
 
 Anglesey, Mona, MON : 24, 27, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 72. 
 
 ARDUDWY, a Commot in the Cantref DINODYNG, occu- 
 pying the north-western portion of Merionethshire : 32. 
 
 ARFON, Caernarvonshire, including ARDUDWY in Merioneth- 
 shire: 18, 27, 28, 30, 31, 46, 52, 66, 69. 
 
 ARWYSTLI, a Cantref of POWYS, occupying parts of Mont- 
 gomeryshire and Radnorshire, about the sources of the Wye 
 and Severn : 32, 33, 42, 46. 
 
 AUSTRALES BRITONES, the people of South Wales: 63. 
 
 Ballium, see Burrium : 9. 
 Banciiorium, Bangor Iscoed: 8, 11. 
 
76 VESTIGES OF TH 
 
 Bangor Iscoed, Banchorium (?) : 8. 
 
 BEITWY(?): 26. 
 
 Berwyn Mountains: 34. 
 
 Blorenge: 39. 
 
 Bodfari, Varis, near St. Asaph: 6. 
 
 Bomium, Bovium, Cowbridge or Boverton: 6, 9. 
 
 BOREALES BRITONES, the people of North Wales: 63. 
 
 Boverton, Bovium (?) : 6. 
 
 Bovium, Bomium : 6. 
 
 Brannogenium, Branogenium, Braunogenium, near Leint- 
 
 wardine(?): 8, 9. 
 Bravinium : 6. 
 Brecknockshire, GARTH MATHRIN, BRYCHEINIOG: 20, 
 
 21,38,39,59,71. 
 Brigantes, a tribe inhabiting the northern counties of England, 
 
 and found in Ireland : 47, 51. 
 BRITANNIA, applied to Wales: 58. 
 Britannia Secunda, a Roman province nearly corresponding 
 
 to Wales : 56. 
 BRITONES, applied to the Welsh: 63. 
 BRYCHEINIOG, see GARTH MATHRIN : 21. 
 Builth, Bullium (?) : 8, 74. 
 Bullium, Builth (?), or see Burrium : 8, 74. 
 Bultrum, see Burrium : 9. 
 Burrium, Usk : 6, 74. 
 
 BUTHIR, probably an error for GUHIR, GO WER, q. v. : 41. 
 Bwlch y Gwyddel, " Gael pass :" 35. 
 
 Cader Idris, " Idris' chair :" 39. 
 
 CAER DATHYL, Pen y Gaer, near Conway: 25. 
 
 CAEREIN ION, a Commot of POWYS, in Montgomeryshire: 83. 
 
 CAER GAWCH (?) : 20. 
 
 Caerleon, Isca Silurum : 6, 56, 63, 66. 
 
 Caermarthen, Maridunum, Muridunum : 6. 
 
 Caermarthenshire : 39, 44, 61. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 77 
 
 Caernarvonshire : 34, 35, 38. 
 
 Caerwent, Venta Silurum : 6, 66. 
 
 Cangani, Cangi, Cangiani, Ceangi, occupied the north-western 
 
 portion of North Wales: 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 24, 51, 57, 
 
 59. 
 Canganorum Promontorium, Braichy pwll: 7. 
 Canovius Fl., see Tossibus : 9. 
 CANTRED, THE, see MEIRION : 18, 19, 30, 31. 
 CANTREF BYCHAN in Caermarthenshire : 71. 
 Capel Curig : 35. 
 CAPEL Y GWYDDEL, "Gael chapel," see CERRIG Y 
 
 GWYDDEL: 35. 
 Cardiff, Tibia Amnis : 7. 
 Cardigan: 36. 
 Cardigan Bay: 59. 
 Cardiganshire, CEREDIGION : 34, 36, 38, 39, 41, 44, 59, 60, 
 
 61, 67, 70. 
 Carnabii, or Cornavii, a nation lying to the east of the Ordo- 
 
 vices : 11, 12. 
 Cefn Gwyddel, "Gael ridge:" 36. 
 
 CEMAES, a Cantref forming the northern part of Pembroke- 
 shire: 61. 
 CEREDIGION, a division nearly coextensive with the present 
 
 county of Cardigan : 32, 33, 34, 38, 42, 43, 44, 46, 50, 56, 
 
 60, 61, 62, 66, 67, 70. 
 CERETICI, the people of CEREDIGION : 60. 
 CERRIG Y GWYDDEL, "Gael stones," Holyhead: 14, 18, 
 
 19, 33, 35. 
 CETGUELI, Kidwelly: 15. 
 Chester, Deva : 6. 
 Clarach: 64. 
 
 Clawdd Bdewi, " St. David's dyke :" 59. 
 Clegyr Foia, " Boia's rock :" 1 6. 
 Clwyd River : 34, 41. 
 Clwyd, Vale of: 32. 
 
78 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Clwydian hills: 34. 
 
 COELEYON, a Commot in the upper part of the Vale of Clywd; 
 
 at present part of Denbighshire : 33. 
 COMMOT, THE, see MEIRION : 27, 30. 
 Conovium, Caerhun, on the Conwy: 6, 8. 
 Conway: 35. 
 
 Conwy, river ; Tisobis, Tossibus, or Canovius: 6, 10, 24. 
 Crickhowel : 71. 
 
 Crugyn Gwyddel, " Gael knoll:" 36. 
 Cwys yr Ychain Bannog, " Buffaloes' furrow :" 59. 
 Cytiau'r Gwydd'lod, " Gael's cots:" 35, 39. 
 
 Dee, Deva, DWFRDWY: 6, 10. 
 
 DEHEUBARTH, South Wales, including or excluding GWENT 
 and MORGANWG, but most commonly used in the nar- 
 rower sense : 61, 70, 71. 
 
 Demet^:, Demeci^:, Demetia, Demetian, DYFED ; the in- 
 habitants of the western portion of South Wales, probably 
 including Cardiganshire, Caermarthenshire, and Pembroke- 
 shire : 8, 9, 11, 15, 41, 44, 51, 56, 58, 60, 62, 63, 65. 
 
 Denbighshire, DENBIGHLAND : 33, 34. 
 
 Deva Colonia, Chester on the Dee : 6, 8. 
 
 Deva Fl., DWFRDWY, Dee : 9, 11. 
 
 DINAS FFARAON, Dinas Emrys, in Snowdon: 18, 19, 22, 25. 
 
 DINEFAWR, see DEHEUBARTH : 71. 
 
 DINODYNG, a Cantref of ARFON, including parts of Caer- 
 marthenshire and Merionethshire : 32, 33. 
 
 DOGFEILYNG, a Commot in the Vale of Clwyd, adjoining 
 COELEYON ; part of the present county of Denbigh : 32, 
 33. 
 
 Dol y Gwyddyl, " Gael mead :" 36. 
 
 DYFED, a division nearly coextensive with Pembrokeshire, at 
 other times used for the country of the Demet^e, q. v. : 6, 
 15, 16, 19, 20, 25, 38, 41, 42, 43, 56, 58, 62, 63, 67, 68, 
 70, 71. 
 
GAEL IN GWYtfEDD. 79 
 
 Dyfi, Stucia (?) : 44, 65, 74. 
 
 DYNMAEL, a Commot of POWYS, at the north-eastern angle 
 of Merionethshire : 33. 
 
 EDEYRNION, a Commot of POWYS, near the upper part of 
 the vale of the Bee: 32, 33, 42, 46. 
 
 EIFIONYDD, a Commot in Cantref DINODYNG, now form- 
 ing part of Caernarvonshire : 32. 
 
 Eriri Mons, ERYRI, Snowdon : 9. 
 
 ESSYLLWG, Silures, the south-eastern principality of Wales, 
 consisting ultimately of GWENT and MORGANWG, and 
 occasionally spoken of by either of those names : 6, 42, 43, 
 58, 67, 68," 71. 
 
 EUBONIA, see Man: 15, 47. 
 
 FFERYLLWG, or FFERLEGS, a principality between the 
 Wye and the Severn : 70. 
 
 GARTH MATHRIN, BRYCHEINIOG, Brecknockshire: 17, 
 21. 
 
 Gavenny : 6. 
 
 GEIRIONYDD, a district in Caernarvonshire : 42. 
 
 Genania, included the territory of the Carnabii and Ordo- 
 vices(?): 12. 
 
 Glamorganshire, MORGANWG, GWLAD MORGAN : 17, 36, 
 38, 39, 72. 
 
 Gobaneum, Gobannium, Abergavenny : 6, 9. 
 
 GODODIN, see MANAU GUOTODIN : 47. 
 
 GOWER, GWYR, GUIR, the western promontory of Glamor- 
 ganshire: 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 30, 40, 41, 42, 43, 61, 71. 
 
 GWENT, a division nearly coextensive with Monmouthshire ; 
 the name is sometimes used for ESSYLLWG, q. v. : 6, 12, 
 19, 42, 43, 70. 
 
 Gwyddel-fynydd, " Gael mountain :" 36. 
 
 Gwyddel-wern> " Gael alder-wood :" 36. 
 
80 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 GWYNEDD, North Wales, sometimes including and sometimes 
 distinguished from POWYS ; it also appears at one time to 
 have been used in a narrower sense: 3, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 
 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 
 44, 45, 47, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 
 69, 70. 
 
 GWYR, see GOWER : 42. 
 
 GWYRFAI, Gerfai, a stream near Caernarfon : 19. 
 
 Harlech: 36. 
 Herefordshire : 59. 
 Heriri Mons, Trawsfynydd : 8. 
 
 Holyhead, CAER GYBI, CERRIG Y GWYDDEL, CAPEL 
 Y GWYDDEL, or LLAN Y GWYDDEL : 25, 35, 37, 39. 
 
 Isca Leg. II. Augusta, Isca Colonia, Isca Silurum, CAER- 
 LEON AR WYSG, Caerleon on the Usk: 6, 9. 
 
 KEDWELI, Kidwelly: 41. 
 
 Kentchester, Magna : 11. 
 
 KERETICA REGIO, see CEREDIGION : 60. 
 
 Kidwelly : 15, 71. 
 
 Lantwit, Lantwlt Major, LLANELLTUD-FAWR, CAER- 
 
 WORGAN, BANGOR TEWDWS : 66. 
 Leucarum, ABERLLYCHWR, Loughor : 6, 9. 
 Llanbadarn-fawr, Llanbadarn: 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64. 
 Llanberis: 35, 39. 
 Llancarvan: 66. 
 Llandaff: 58, 63, 71. 
 Llanidloes: 36. 
 Llanio, Lovantium : 8. 
 LLAN Y GWYDDYL, " Gael church," see CERRIG Y 
 
 GWYDDYL: 18,33,35. 
 Llechryd: 37. 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 81 
 
 Hetty V Cymro, "The Cymro's lodging:" 36. 
 
 LLEYN, the western peninsula of Caernarvonshire : 22, 33, 35, 
 
 37, 38, 69. 
 LLOEGR, LOEGRIA, England: 52. 
 Llwyn Gwyddel, "Gael grove:" 36. 
 Llwyn y Gwyddyl, " Gael grove :" 36. 
 Llychwr : 6, 36. 
 
 Lovantium, Loventium, Llanio in Cardiganshire : 8, 9. 
 Loughor, Leucartjm : 6. 
 
 Machynlleth: 36. 
 
 MAELIENYDD, a Cantref of POWYS, including the northern 
 
 part of Radnorshire, with parts of Montgomeryshire: 32, 46. 
 MAELORON, two Commots of POWYS, including parts of 
 
 Denbighshire and Flintshire : 33. 
 Maentwrog : 36. 
 MAES GWYDDNO, CANTREF GWAELOD, a district which 
 
 is said to have been overwhelmed by the sea, in Cardigan 
 
 Bay: 20. 
 MAESUSWALLT, see OSWEILAWN : 33. 
 Magna, Kentchester in Herefordshire : 6, 9, 11. 
 Man, MANAU, MANAW, EUBONIA: 14, 15, 18, 25, 31, 46, 
 
 47, 48, 49, 64. 
 MANAU, MANAW, Man: 46, 47. 
 MANAU GUOTODIN, probably the county of the Ottadint, 
 
 Northumberland, &c. : 14, 15, 47. 
 MANUBA(?): 13. 
 Maridunum, Muridunum, CAERFYRDDIN, Caermarthen : 
 
 8,9. 
 MASSALCK : 64. 
 Mawddach : 39, 74. 
 Mediolanum, Meifod{?): 6, 8, 9. 
 MEIRION, MEIRIONYDD, a Cantref occupying the southern 
 
 portion of the present county of Merioneth : 31, 3:5, A'2, 46, 
 
 66. 
 
 M 
 
82 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Menai, Fretum Meneyiacum : 9. 
 
 Menapia, MYNYW, MENEVIA, St. David's: 9, 16. 
 
 Men api i, a tribe occupying the counties of Water ford and Wex- 
 ford: 16. 
 
 MENEVIA, see MYNYW: 15, 16. 
 
 Meneyiacum Fretum, Menai : 9. 
 
 Merioneth, Merionethshire, MEIRION, &c. : 30, 34, 36, 38, 39, 
 43. 
 
 MON, Mona, Anglesey: 14, 37, 46. 
 
 Mona, MON, Anglesey: 6, 9, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 
 34, 64, 65, 67. 
 
 Monmouthshire, GWENT : 37, 38. 
 
 Montgomeryshire: 34, 36, 38, 39. 
 
 MORGAN WG, a district extending from the Neath to the Ush; 
 here sometimes used for the whole of ESSYLLWG, q. v. : 
 43, 61, 62, 70, 71. 
 
 Muriau V Gwyddel, "The Gael's walls :" 36, 39. 
 
 Muriau V Gwyddelod, " The Gaels' walls :" 36, 39. 
 
 Mynydd y Gwyddel, " Gael mountain :" 35. 
 
 MYNYW, MENEVIA, Menapia, St. David's: 9, 63. 
 
 Nant y Gwyddel, " Gael brook :" 36. 
 
 Neath, Nidum : 6. 
 
 Neath River, NEDD : 20. 
 
 NEDD, River Neath : 6. 
 
 Newport: 36. 
 
 New Quay: 36. 
 
 Nidum, Neath : 6, 9. 
 
 North Wales, North Welsh, Ordovices and Cangani, GWY- 
 NEDD and POWYS : 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 
 21, 25, 26, 30, 33, 35, 37, 41, 43, 46, 47, 51, 52, 54, 55, 
 64, 68, 72. ' 
 
 Octapitarum Promontorium, Octorupium, St. David's Head: 
 7,9,11, 
 
GAEL IN GWYNEDD. 83 
 
 Ordovices, Ordovicia, the people inhabiting North Wales, 
 with the exception of the north-western portion : 5, 7, 11, 
 12, 56, 57, 65. 
 
 OSWEILIAWN, the country round Oswestry: 32. 
 
 Oswestry, CROESOSWALLT : 32, 33. 
 
 Ottadini, the inhabitants of Northumberland, &c; see MANAU 
 GUOTODIN: 47. 
 
 Pant Gwyddel, " Gael dell :" 36. 
 
 Pant yr Wyddeles, " The Gael woman's dell :" 36. 
 
 Pembrokeshire, DYFED : 21, 36, 38, 39, 43. 
 
 Pentre Gwyddal, " Gael hamlet :" 35. 
 
 Pentre Gwyddel, " Gael hamlet :" 35, 37. 
 
 Plinlimon: 36, 39. 
 
 Porthy Gwyddel, " Gael port:" 35. 
 
 POWYS, a principality comprising Montgomeryshire and Rad- 
 norshire, with parts of Flintshire, Denbighshire and Merion- 
 ethshire, and of the border counties of England : 18, 31, 33, 
 46, 61, 64, 69, 70. 
 
 Preseleu Mountains : 34, 36. 
 
 Radnorshire: 34, 36, 38, 39, 41, 59. 
 
 REINWG, REIN, COUNTRY OF, probably another name 
 
 for DYFED, q. v. : 61,62. 
 Rhatostathybius, Rhatostaubius, Tibia Amnis, Toff: 7. 
 Rhayader: 36. 
 RHEGED, a principality extending from the Neath to the 
 
 Tywy: 17,38,39,41,58. 
 RHUFNONIOG, a Cantref, part of Denbighshire : 32, 33. 
 RIELLWG, probably an error for SEISYLLWG, q. v. : 61. 
 Ross, Sariconium : 9. 
 
 ROSY VALE, VALLIS ROSINA, St. David's: 15. 
 Rutunium : 6. 
 
 Sabrina, Sabriana .est, 1IAFREN, Severn : 5, 6, 7. 
 
84 VESTIGES OF THE 
 
 Saint David's, Menapia, MENEVIA, MYNYW : 7, 9, 16, 58, 
 
 59, 63, 71. 
 SALCK : 64. 
 Sariconium, Ross: 9. 
 
 Segontium, Caernarvon, on the Seiont : 6, 8, 9. 
 
 SEISSYLLWG, SEISSYLLWCH, an ancient principality com- 
 prising CEREDIGION and YSTRAD TYWY : 61, 62, 67. 
 
 Seteia mst, see Deva fl. : 7. 
 
 Severn, Sabrina, HAFREN : 6, 7. 
 
 Silures, Siluria, Silurian, ESSYLLWG ; the people occu- 
 pying the south-eastern part of Wales, and probably extend- 
 ing over the counties of Brecknock, Radnor, Glamorgan, 
 Monmouth, and Hereford: 5, 8, 9, 11, 21, 36, 51, 56, 58, 
 65, 66, 71. 
 
 Snowdon, Eriri Mons, ERYRI : 37. 
 
 South Wales, South Welsh, the South, Silures and Demet^e, 
 ESSYLLWG and DYFED ; sometimes used for DEHEU- 
 BARTH, q. v.: 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 30, 37, 43, 55, 56, 51, 
 
 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 61, 68, 71, 72. 
 Strata Florida : 36. 
 
 Stucia fl., Ystwyth, or Dyfi : 1, 74. 
 Sugar loaf : 39. 
 
 Taff, Rhatostathybius, Tibia Amnis : 7, 9. 
 
 Taive: 36. 
 
 Teifi, Tuerobis : 7, 34, 39, 44, 74. 
 
 Tibia Amnis, Cardiff on the Taff; see Rhatostathybius: 7, 9. 
 
 Tisobis fl., see Tossibus : 7, 10. 
 
 Tobius fl., Tywy; 7. 
 
 Tossibus fl., Canovius, Tisobis, Conwy; 9. 
 
 Towyn ; 36. 
 
 Traeth Bychan ; 39. 
 
 Traeth Maelgwyn, " Maelgwyn's strand :" 65. 
 
 Trawsfynydd, Heriri Mons : 8. 
 
 Trewyddcl, "Gael town:" 36. 
 
GAEL IN (JWYNEDD. 85 
 
 Trwyiiy Gwyddel, "Gael ness:" 35. 
 
 Tuerobis fl., Teifi ; 7, 74. 
 
 Twll y Gwyddel, « Gael hole :" 36, 39. 
 
 Tyivy, Tobius : 7, 20, 39. 
 
 TYNO COCH, afterwards CEREDIGION, q. v. : 32. 
 
 Varis, Bodfari; 6, 8. 
 
 VENEDOCIA, VENEDOCIAN, see GWYNEDD : 12, 41, 
 
 60, 64. 
 Venta Silurum, Caerwent ; 6, 9, 12. 
 Uslt, Burrium, Bultrum, &c. : 74. 
 Usli, River: 6, 37. 
 
 Waun y Gwyddel, " Gael moor:" .36. 
 
 Wern y Gwyddel, " Gael alder-wood :" 36. 
 
 Wye, GWY : 39. 
 
 WYE AND SEVERN, the country between, seeFFERYLLWG : 
 
 59, 70. 
 
 Ystrad Meyrig ; 36. 
 
 YSTRAD TYWI, " Vale of Tywy," a division including a great 
 
 part of Caermarthenshire ; 61, 62, 71. 
 Ystwyth, Stucia (?) : 74. 
 
December, 1850. 
 
 LIST OF WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
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 ARCKLEOLOGIA CAMBRENSIS, 
 
 A Record of the Antiquities of Wales and its Marches, and the 
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REMARKS ON THE 
 
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