Glamorgan

“ The conquest of “Morgannwg,” that is the country between the Usk and the Neath, was the most permanent of any of those accomplished by the Normans in Wales, but its details [Pg 277] are the most obscure of any. The earlier version of the Brut takes no notice of the conquest of Glamorgan; the later version which goes by the name of the Gwentian Chronicle [908] tells us that the Norman Robert Fitz Hamon, being called in to the help of one Welsh prince against another, conquered Glamorgan for himself, and divided it amongst his followers, who built castles in all parts of the country. ”

“ I had verily forgotten thee. But is not this king of ours as the Minotaur, dwelling in the labyrinths of deceit, and devouring the noblest in the land? There was his own Strafford, next his foolish Laud, and now comes my son, worth a host of such!'
'In his letter, my lord of Glamorgan complaineth not of his majesty's usage,' said the countess.
'My lord of Glamorgan is patient as Grisel. He would pass through the pains of purgatory with never a grumble. But purgatory is for none such as he. ”

“ Among the Norman magnates who encouraged the intellectual movement in Wales—one stands out pre-eminent—Robert Earl of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan, a splendid combination of statesman, soldier, patron of letters. Robert was a natural son of Henry I.—born before 1100—there is no evidence that his mother was the beautiful and famous Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tudor. He acquired the Lordship of Glamorgan together with the Honour of Gloucester and other lands in England and Normandy, by marriage with Mabel, daughter and heiress of Fitzhamon, conqueror of Glamorgan. ”

“ MERRICK, RICE (d. 1587) , historian of Glamorgan, son of Meiric ap Howell of Cottrell in Glamorganshire, resided at that place, being part owner of the manor of St. Nicholas. He was appointed clerk of the peace for the county of Glamorgan by William Herbert, first earl of Pembroke (and subsequently by Henry, the second earl) , and held the office until his death on 1 March 1586–7. ”

“ On the hill above Ruperra is a very large and very perfect moated mound, but without any trace or tradition of masonry. Llangibby is an old Monmouthshire castle.
The occupation by the Normans of the valleys of the Wye and the Usk no doubt served to protect the exposed flank of Monmouthshire, but beyond the Rhymny in Glamorgan this protection ceased, and the hill territory of Glamorgan contained a native population ever ready to assist their countrymen, who frequently invaded that Lordship from the north-west. ”

“ Fairs, too, were established and protected by the Lords Marchers. The early lords of Glamorgan seem to have been specially successful in this respect; in the twelfth century immigrants from other parts of Wales are said to have come to reside in Glamorgan, owing to the privileges and comparative security which were to be found there. Nor perhaps has it been sufficiently recognised how soon the [Pg 26] Lords of the Marches began drilling their Welsh subjects in Anglo-Norman methods of local self-government. Most of the greater Marcher Lords possessed estates in England ”

“ Charles, moreover, disavowed Glamorgan in a letter to the Parliament, “That the Earl of Glamorgan having made offer unto him to raise forces in the Kingdom of Ireland, and to conduct them to England for his Majesty’s service, had a commission to that purpose and to that purpose only. That he had no commission at all to treat of anything else without the privity and directions of the Lord Lieutenant, 306much less to capitulate anything concerning religion or any propriety (i.e. property) belonging either to church or laity.” ”

“ In return they promised a force of 10,000 men for England under Glamorgan's leadership. The warrant which Glamorgan produced was utterly repudiated by Charles and his ministers as a forgery, and Glamorgan was imprisoned at Dublin. This naturally excited the Irish to the utmost, and the difficulties in the way of the treaty were rendered still greater by the indefatigable efforts of the pope's nuncio to defeat it. ”

“ The last, which was afterwards the basis of the Glamorgan treaty, authorised him to treat with the confederate Roman catholics in Ireland, and promised to ratify any concessions he might make. Glamorgan interpreted these commissions as authorising him to make any terms he pleased with the confederates without consulting any one, and as such they were interpreted by the papal nuncio and the confederates (Rinucchini, Embassy, pp. 95–6, 103) . ”

“ More serious, however, than Glamorgan, bristling as it was with Norman interests and Norman castles and always hard to hold against them, the powerful and populous island of Anglesey in the north and the Vale of the Towy in the south fell away from Glyndwr. ”

“ Glamorgan, the old Morganwg, had been practically a County Palatine since Fitzhamon and his twelve knights seized it in Henry the First’s time, that is to say, the inferior lordships were held in fealty, not each to the King as elsewhere, but to the heirs of Fitzhamon, who for many generations were the Clares, Earls of Gloucester, having their capital at Cardiff, where higher justice was administered. Pembroke was something of the same sort, though the Flemish element made it differ socially from Glamorgan. ”

“ It is remarkable that the transaction is never mentioned in the History of the Rebellion. The noble author was, however, convinced of the genuineness of Glamorgan's commission, as appears by a letter to Secretary Nicholas. "I must tell you, I care not how little I say in that business of Ireland, since those strange powers and instructions given to your favourite Glamorgan, which appear to be so inexcusable to justice, piety, and prudence. And I fear there is very much in that transaction of Ireland, both before and since that you and I were never thought wise enough to be advised with in. Oh! ”

“ Well, I was born in Glamorgan, at Ruperra Castle, on this side of the Rumney. I know that if a man is born in a stable it doesn't make him a horse, but I always understood that the place of your birth had a certain claim upon you. ”

“ Authorities.—The records of the Curia comitatus or County Court of Glamorgan are supposed to have perished, so also have the records of Neath. With these exceptions, the records of the county have been well preserved. A collection edited by G. T. Clark under the title Cartae et alia munimenta quae ad dominium de Glamorgan pertinent was privately printed by him in four volumes (1885–1893) . A Descriptive Catalogue of the Penrice and Margam Abbey MSS. in the Possession of Miss Talbot of Margam (6 vols.) ”

“ CHAPTER XI. THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER AN EXILE; RESIDES IN FRANCE.
The Earl of Glamorgan, succeeding to his father’s title and honours in December, 1646, while he was yet in Ireland, very soon after, as we have seen, went to France, a voluntary exile. His countrymen had heaped on him (in common with the entire Roman Catholic adherents to the royal cause) all the acrimonious abuse which political and religious intolerance is always too ready to disseminate, with a zealous ardour which defies discrimination. ”

“ And that the Shire of Glamorgan and Mordonnoke, and all the aforesaid Lordships, Towns, Parishes, Commotes, Hundreds and Cantrefs, united and annexed to the said County of Glamorgan shall from and after the said Feast of All-Saints, be reputed, named, accepted and known by the Name and Shire of Glamorgan only, and by none other Name. ”

“ Ecclesiastical law, however, as strong in Wild Wales as in other parts of Europe, soon followed them into Glamorgan, and, very properly, separated them. The lady was restored to her husband, and Ab Gwilym fined to a very high amount. Not being able to pay the fine, he was cast into prison; but then the men of Glamorgan arose to a man, swearing that their head bard should not remain in prison. “Then pay his fine!” said the ecclesiastical law, or rather the ecclesiastical lawyer. “So we will!” said the men of Glamorgan, and so they did. Every man put his hand into his pocket ”

“ During the Tudor and Stuart periods Cowbridge was almost if not quite the chief town of Glamorgan, its importance being largely due to its central and accessible position in a rich agricultural district where a large number of the county gentry lived. ”

“ During the fervour of the civil wars in 1646, Lord Glamorgan had in the name of Charles I. concluded a treaty with the confederated Irish Catholics, by which, on the condition of their aiding the king, besides other concessions, the Roman Catholic religion was to be restored to its old supremacy through a great part of Ireland. Ormond, the lord lieutenant, charged Glamorgan with high treason: but he produced two commissions from the king. ”

“ He labours to prove that the pretended commission given by Charles at Oxford (12 Jan. 1644–5) to Lord Glamorgan (Lord Herbert) for treating with the Irish catholics, was a forgery of Glamorgan's. The book is still of value from the mass of materials which his diligence collected. Yet Dr. Johnson's criticism must be allowed to have some justification: ‘The matter is diffused in too many words; there is no animation, no compression, no vigour. ”

“ Is there then nobody in all the world but Glamorgan? Verily I believe thou wouldst turn thy back on the angel Gabriel, if he dared appear before thee without thy Ned under his arm. Bless the Irish heart! I never gave thee MY Ned that thou shouldst fall down and worship the fellow.'
'Bear with me, sir,' she answered faintly. 'It is but the pain here.
Thou knowest I cannot tell but he lieth at the bottom of the Irish Sea.'
'If he do lie there, then lieth he in Abraham's bosom, daughter, where I trust there is room for thee and me also. ”

“ Sion Mowddwy, a contemporary, says he was an usher in the Glamorgan court of great sessions, but he gained his living mostly by transcribing Welsh manuscripts for Glamorganshire gentlemen, and had access to the libraries at Raglan, Y Vann, and other places. About 1575 he is mentioned under the name Lewelyn John by Sir Edward Mansel in his 'History of the Norman Conquest of Glamorgan,' as a learned and diligent collector of Welsh manuscripts. ”

“ In return he was to raise two armies, each of ten thousand Irish, of which one was to land in North Wales, and the other in South Wales. A third—of six thousand men—was to be raised abroad by the help of the pope and catholic princes, with whom Glamorgan was granted full powers to treat, offering as an inducement the remission of the penal laws against Roman catholics. ”

“ Cardiff has published its Records in 5 vols., and there is a volume of Swansea charters. There is no complete history of the county, except a modest but useful one in Welsh—Hanes Morganwg, by D. W. Jones (Dafydd Morganwg) (1874) ; the chief contributions are Rice Merrick’s Booke of Glamorganshire’s Antiquities, written in 1578; The Land of Morgan (1883) (a history of the lordship of Glamorgan) , by G. T. Clark, whose Genealogies of Glamorgan (1886) and Medieval Military Architecture (1884) are also indispensable ”

“ They are of course in no way unwilling; and they are joined by some of Jestin’s Welsh enemies. Jestin is driven out, and his land is partitioned. The rough mountain land is assigned to Einion and his Welsh companions, and Einion also marries Nest the daughter of Jestin. 81 Robert Fitz-hamon and his twelve knights divide the fertile vale of Glamorgan among them. Division of Glamorgan. Each man establishes himself in a lordship and castle, and all do homage to Robert as lord of Glamorgan, holding his chief seat in his castle of Cardiff. ”

“ LEWIS Morganwg, i.e. of Glamorganshire (fl. 1500–1540) , Welsh bard, was the son of another bard named Rhys Llwyd ab Rhys ab Rhicert (fl. 1450–1490) , otherwise known as the Old Grey Bard of Glamorgan, who lived at Blaen Cynllan in that county. ”

“ The mind of man was not yet broken down into a dull monotony.”
No doubt exists that all these, the more splendid characteristics of the age of chivalry, were daily before the eyes of the Welsh bard. The county of Glamorgan, in which he spent the greatest part of his life, was in his time studded with proud feudal castles, and superb ecclesiastical edifices in the finest style of architecture, many of which still excite admiration even in their ruins. In the hospitable mansion of his patron he appears to have enjoyed all the peculiar amusements of that festive period. ”

“ The Glamorgan canal has also a branch (made in 1811) running from Abercynon to Aberdare. From being, at the beginning of the 19th century, a mere village in an agricultural district, the place grew rapidly in population owing to the abundance of its coal and iron ore, and the population of the whole parish (which was only 1486 in 1801) increased tenfold during the first half of the century. Ironworks were established at Llwydcoed and Abernant in 1799 and 1800 respectively, followed by others at Gadlys and Aberaman in 1827 and 1847. ”

“ On the 24th of December, 1645, the Earl of Glamorgan went from Kilkenny to Dublin to confer with the Marquis of Ormond. On the 25th he was received by the Lord Lieutenant with the greatest possible civility, and every assurance of regard for his Lordship. ”

“ Describing a midsummer fire, an old inhabitant, born in 1809, remembered being taken to different hills in the Vale of Glamorgan to see festivities in which people from all parts of the district participated. She was at that time about fourteen, and old enough to retain a vivid recollection of the circumstances. People conveyed trusses of straw to the top of the hill, where men and youths waited for the contributions. Women and girls were stationed at the bottom of the hill. Then a large cart-wheel was thickly swathed with straw, and not an inch of wood was left in sight. ”