heard it he sent the princes, the earls, and barons, and a great army with them to that place, and against them David ab Owain came as far as Traeth Caer and slew them. And when the king saw this, he collected his whole army and went along the shore to Rhuddlan, and Owain came to Tal Llwyn Pennant to measure ground for a castle, to drive the king and his army from there. And from there came Madawg, Prince of Powys, and a large part of the king's army with him in ships to Aber Menai, and then they came to Môn and sacked the church of Eglwys Fair and Eglwys Pedr, and many other churches. And thus did God revenge upon them, for the following day the young men of Môn came to fight with them, and the Normans fled, and a great many of them were killed, others drowned, and a very few of them narrowly escaped to their ships. And then Henry, the son of King Henry, was slain, and all the princes of the ships were slain, and then peace was made between the king and Owain, and Cadwaladr had his land.1 Add. MS., No. 14,869, fo. 65.—No. 33. ARWYREIN MADAWC VAB MAREDUF KYNDELW BRYDYT AE CANT. Ardwyreaf naf o naw ran vyg kert O naw rif angert o naw ryw vann Goruu morgymlawt ae goglawt glam Pargoch glyw glewdraws maws mab kaduan Pell yd wletych wyr wledic aruan Pergig kyniweir peir pedrydan Pedrydawc uadawc narchawe midlan Vy martlef is nef nyd agkyuan Vy marteir yth barth nyd gwarth nyd gwan Taer am aer am gaer am gein walchlan Tew am lew trylew treul aryangan Taryf am gelennic toryf am galan 1 Brut y Saeson. Twryf sonn fraeth am draeth am draed gwylan PANEGYRIC OF MADOG AB MAREDUDD, BY THE BARD CYNDDELW.1 Translated by HOWEL W. LLOYD, Esq., M.A. A Sov'reign Prince will extol, of nine parts is my poem, As rolls the surge from off the sea, the coast line scarcely stems it 1 Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, one of the most celebrated of the Welsh bards, flourished from about 1150 to 1200. He was bard to the Princes Owain Gwynedd, Madog ab Maredudd ab Bleddyn, and David ab Owain Gwynedd. Many of his poems are preserved, and are valuable for the historical notices contained therein, as well as for the excellence of the poetry, which proves that his fame was no more than he was entitled to. His works are published in the first volume of the Myvyrian Archaiology, and comprise fifty-four pages in double columns. He was in advance of the age he lived in, and he was a decided enemy of the superstitions of his time. We learn from an Englyn by him, that during his last illness, the monks of Ystrad F'en so the valour stubborn is of Cadvan's gentle scion. Protector roving far and wide, O Madog, mayst thou govern True to the hero fair and pure, the fortress and the battle. And scatters largess lavishly, his heart is in his people, As bounds the billow on the strand, and under feet of sea-mew, A pilgrim of the hill and forge, am I with panegyric, Whose praise shall ne'er from mem'ry fade, with its sweet rev'rent greeting. O thou, whose shield pierced through and through, hath e'er repelled the foeman, How oft have I, a guest within thy lovely court of Lleision, Quaff'd oft, received in golden cup, the golden-waving liquor! The gilded horns of buffalo-the lofty horns of oxen. Hast thou to us directed aye, and standard bearing coursers, The steeds that stretch their striding limbs, far reaching in their gallop, Their colour that of fishes blue, the salmon of the ocean. An eagle he to tear his prey since first he was a chieftain, With Wolf-like bearing doth he lead the chase of flying foemen. Marchell, in Powys, sent a deputation to him with a requisition that he should renounce his errors, and make satisfaction to the Church, threatening, in case of non-compliance, that he should be excommunicated and deprived of Christian burial. His answer may be thus translated, "Since no covenant could be produced against me, which the God of purity knoweth, it would have been more just in the monks to receive than to reject me" (Myv. Arch., i, 263). Williams's Eminent Welshmen. The lines he sent the monks were these: "Cen ni bai ammod dyfod-i'm herbyn A Duw gwyn yn gwybod Oedd iawnach i fynach fod Im gwrthefyn nag im gwrthod." Myvyrian Archaiology, p. 290. But cease! my wrath is soothed, that for my high-soul'd prince was rising, Be it of whomso'er I sing, a mighty plague in battle! I sing, because I love, because with loud contention striving, A song around the glorious gates for some to aid me singing. Arise, and sing! the brimful horn is my secure possession; For I, O Bards! am safe within, and ye without the palace. Prince Madog ab Maredudd married, first, Susanna, daughter of Gruffydd ab Cynan ab Iago, King of Gwynedd, gules, three lions passant in pale argent. He married, secondly, an English, or rather a Norman, lady, Maude, daughter of Roese de Verdun, upon whom he settled the lordship of Oswestry, on herself for life, and afterwards upon his children by her. This marriage proved to be a most unhappy and unfortunate one, and, in the end, caused the prince's ruin. In consequence of disagreements she left the prince, her husband, and went to Henry II, King of England, for the purpose, as she alleged, of laying her case before him. The king upon this sent to Madog requesting him to come and state his cause before the judges appointed for causes of this nature, and to come for that purpose to Winchester, and, at the same time, desiring him not to bring more than four and twenty horse with him. The Lady Maude was to bring no more with her. On the day appointed for the meeting, Madog arrived with the four and twenty horsemen after him, as had been agreed upon. Maude came also with twenty-four horses, but two men on each horse; and then, by direct treachery and treason, Madog was overpowered, caught and thrown into prison at Winchester; and for this purpose it was that the king and Maude allured him from his own country and friends, that when they got him into their own power they might compel him to settle the lordship of Oswestry upon her, and the heirs of her body, by whomsoever they might be begotten. Thus betrayed by his wife, and by one whom he had always aided in war and trusted as his friend, Madog languished in the prison of Winchester, with no friend near him, till death freed him from his misery in the year 1159.1 His body, we are told, was conveyed from Winchester with great pomp to Powys-land, and honourably interred in the church of St. Tyssilio, at Meivod. Other writers, however, say that he was buried in St. Mary's Church at Meivod, which he had consecrated in 1155. Our historians tell us that he was a prince who honoured God, and relieved the poor and indigent. "After life's fitful fever he sleeps well, Treason has done her worst: no steel, nor poison, Can touch him further." "Since he lost his life, may he in recompense for the flagitious injustice, remain in the glorious hierarchy of Saints, in the presence of grace, in perfect bliss. Amen." (See his Elegy by Cynddelw y Brydydd Mawr, p. 137). After the death of Madog, Maude married John Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel and Baron of Colynwy, now called Clun, who died in 1268, by whom she had a son, John Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel and Baron of Oswestry and Clun; "and this", says Rhys Cain," "was the way how the English obtained the lordship of Oswestry".3 Prince Madog ab Maredydd, had issue by his first consort, Susanna, the daughter of Gruffydd ab Cynan ab Iago, King of Gwynedd, four sons and three daughters, 1. Gruffydd Maelor, of whom presently. 11. LLYWELYN AB MADOG, who is called in the Bruts "the hope of all Powys". He was slain just after his father's death in 1159. How or where is not stated. The following stanzas were composed by the bard Cynddelw. 1 Cae Cyriog MS. 2 Rhys Cain was a poet and painter who flourished about the year 1500. He was born in the parish of Trawsfynydd in Meirioneddshire, on the river Cain, whence he assumed his name; but he resided the greatest part of his life in Oswestry. He was a disciple of William Lleyn's, "and was a perfect man, and hath written concerning all Wales".-Lewys Dunn, vol. i, 331; Williams's Eminent Welshmen. Cae Cyriog MS. |