Llewelyn ap Gruffudd

“ God himself will not suffer her to be an exile from the mansions of bliss. Heaven be her lot.
p. 29A POEM To Llewelyn-ap-Iorwerth, or Llewelyn the Great; in which many of his victories are celebrated.
Composed by Llywarch Brydydd y Moch, a Bard, who, according to Mr. Edward Llwyd of the Museum’s Catalogue of the British writers, flourished about the year 1240; but this poem is certainly of more ancient date, for prince Llewelyn died in the year 1240. However that be, the original was taken from Llyfr Coch o Hergest, or the Red book of Hergest, kept in the Archives of Jesus College, Oxon. ”

“ The Shrewsbury and Holyhead road runs through it, and the junction of the Llugwy and the Conwy rivers is at no great distance. The church is a venerable structure, and contains an old monument, erected to the memory of Gruffydd, the son of David Gôch, who was a natural son of David, the brother of Llewelyn, the last Prince of Wales. He died in the fourteenth century, and a stone statue of him is in a recess on the north side of the church, with this inscription: “Hic jacet Gruffydd ap Davyd Gôch, agnus Dei miserere mei.” ”

“ Methinks I am not mistaken in you, sons of Dynevor. You have not willingly left your mountain eyry for these halls where the proud foeman holds his court and sits in judgment upon those who by rights are free as air. I have heard of you before, Llewelyn and Howel ap Res Vychan. You are not here, like your brethren, half won over to the cause of the foe; you would fight with the last drop of your blood for the liberty of our country. ”

“ Next year Llewelyn was occupied in a quarrel with his eldest son Gruffydd, born of a Welsh mother, who resented the favour shown to his legitimate half-brother Davydd, the grandson of King John. The men of Meirionydd, over which Gruffydd bore sway, grievously insulted Llywelyn, who now marched against them with an army. The intervention of 'the wise on both sides' prevented bloodshed. Gruffydd sulkily submitted to Llywelyn, who took away from him his dominions of Meirionydd and Ardudwy. ”

“ A good deal can be said of the century that was to elapse before our story opens, but not much that is of vital import. In 1295, thirteen years after the conquest, Madoc ap Meredith, a connection of Llewelyn’s, made a last attempt to rouse the Welsh. It proved abortive, but was serious enough to stop Edward from going to France, and to take him down to Conway, where it is said that on a certain occasion a high tide cut him off from his men, and nearly delivered him into the hands of the insurgents. ”

“ Cadell’s son, Howell the Good (Hywel Dda) , was the first to codify the ancient laws of Wales at his palace of Ty Gwyn Ar Dâf, the White Lodge on the banks of the Tâf, near the modern Whitland. In 1080, during the troubled reign of Rhys ap Tudor, the Normans first appeared on the shores of Carmarthen Bay, and before the end of King Henry I.’s reign had constructed the great castles of Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Laugharne and Llanstephan near the coast. From this period until the death of Prince Llewelyn (1282) the history of Carmarthenshire is national rather than local. ”

“ In 1223 Gruffydd was entrusted by Llewelyn with a numerous army to oppose William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, who had returned from Ireland to South Wales, and had taken Aberteivi and Carmarthen from Llewelyn. A battle was fought by Carmarthen with doubtful result, but lack of provisions immediately afterwards obliged Gruffydd to retire to the north. ”

“ And buffet round the hill from bluff to bluff.” Here in this castle Owen Goch was imprisoned by his brother Llewelyn. To this prisoner a bard, Howel Voel ap Griffi ap Pwyll Gwyddel, composed his Welsh awdl, or ode, called “The Captive of Dolbadarn.” The feeling in this [173] poem is still quick even after all the changes of the centuries and even with all the loss from translation:—
“His palace gates no more unclose,
No harp is heard within his hall,
His friends are vassals to his foes,
Grief and despair have vanquished all. ”

“ In 1053 his brother Rhys became so troublesome that the witan decreed that he should be slain, 'and his head was brought to Gloucester on Twelfth-day eve.' At last in 1055 Gruffydd ab Rhydderch was slain by Gruffydd ab Llewelyn. He must have possessed unusual vigour of character to struggle so long both against the English and the North Welsh king. ”

“ He rushed into it and found the child's cradle overturned and daubed with blood.
Prince Llewelyn grew more and more terrified, and sought for his little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only signs of some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed. At last he felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting to Gellert, "Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master's eyes. ”

“ To this characteristic of the man is traceable the secret of some of his mightiest achievements. In the present case Llewelyn gained important victories before the English monarch could collect his forces and approach his—Llewelyn’s—dominions. During the lull the prince moved his army against the Lord of Powys, whom he easily defeated. The tidings of this victory having been carried to Gruffydd ab Madog, that chief felt that it would be madness on his part to resist the Cambrian prince, and he therefore sought and obtained a treaty of peace. ”

“ Llewelyn marries King John’s daughter.
Nurtured amid the clash of arms, the boy was only twelve years old when he asserted his right to the throne, and won it against his Norman-loving uncle, Dafydd, whom we left, it will be remembered, fighting in France. The young Prince, backed by a strong following in North Wales, and by the arms of Powys, deposed his uncle and commenced the long career which earned him that pre-eminent fame in warlike deeds which attaches to his name. ”

“ Llewelyn II., Ab Gruffydd (d. 1282) , prince of North Wales, succeeded his uncle David in 1246, but was compelled by Henry III. to confine himself to Snowdon and Anglesey. In 1254 Henry granted Prince Edward the royal lands in Wales. The steady encroachment of royal officers on Llewelyn’s land began immediately, and in 1256 Llewelyn declared war. The Barons’ War engaged all the forces of England, and he was able to make himself lord of south and north Wales. Llewelyn also assisted the barons. ”

“ In the day of battle no danger can turn him from his purpose. He is conspicuous above the rest, with a large, strong, crimson lance. He is the honour of his country, great is his generosity, and a suit is not made to him in vain. Llewelyn is a tender-hearted prince. He can nobly spread the feast, yet is he not enervated by luxury. May he that bestowed on us a share of his heavenly revelation, grant him the blessed habitation of the saints above the stars.
p. 25A PANEGYRIC Upon Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, by Gwalchmai, the son of Meilir, in the year 1157. ”

“ History has no more romantic tale to tell, nor one that is more generally known, than that of the ride of the Prince of Wales, Llewelyn, from Aberedw, where on the banks of the Wye he had a castle, towards Builth, which refused to succour him. There is scarce an elementary schoolboy who has not heard of the ingenious blacksmith who hastily nailed to the hoofs of Llewelyn’s horse the shoes reversed, so that the tracks in the snow might mislead those who were in hot pursuit ”

“ If others of his countrymen forsook the true standard of national independence, if they joined the ranks of the enemy with a view to aid in crushing the liberties of an ancient people—a race who could trace their history, without a single break in the narrative, hundreds of years before the appearance of the Divine Teacher on earth—Llewelyn felt it all the more necessary for him to be more fearless in the fray, to put on a bolder and a manlier front, to toil and to work more incessantly in the cause which he felt was founded upon justice, upon right, and equity. ”

“ In vain was all Llewelyn's grief; he could not bring his faithful dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle walls within sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passer-by might see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones. And to this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert, and men say, "I repent me as much as the man that slew his greyhound." ”

“ Both were buried in the abbey of Llanegwast, or Valle Crucis, in Yale, the favourite foundation of the house of Bromfield, whose rights Gruffydd had defended in 1247 against the sons of Jeuav, son of Maredudd. He married Emma, daughter of Henry of Audley, whom he endowed liberally from the revenues of his manors of Maelor Saesneg and Overton. After his death his sons confirmed these grants. Their names were Madog, Llewelyn, Owain, and Gruffydd. Of these Madog, the eldest, died in 1278, and in 1284 Edward II granted Gruffydd the lands of Yale. ”

“ Gwynneth in that hour felt the cold hand of fate clutch her past happiness. Her pulse stood still. But she was a noble woman. She knew the law of life was resistless. Come from a race of kings, with proud resolve she nerved her wounded spirit, and casting all meaner thoughts of self aside, threw herself with ardour into the interests of her son.
While Llewelyn described the events of the evening, the mists cleared from the past and his mother dimly remembered an ancient tradition heard in days gone by. ”

“ Here, at Aberedw, stands the castle which was the last refuge of the ill-fated Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, whose story we read in a former chapter. From this spot he set out to join his forces, was surprised by the English, and killed in a little wood, henceforth to be known as “the bank of the grave of Llewelyn.”
The story adds that the men of Builth, close by, refused the Prince and his handful of followers a refuge on that occasion, and the curse of the “Traitors of Builth” is said to have clung for many a long day to the inhabitants. ”

“ Llewelyn made his submission at Rhuddlan; he ceded the Four Cantreds, received Anglesey back at a rent of one thousand marks, promised to pay fifty thousand marks for peace, and to do homage in England, gave hostages, and was allowed to retain the homages of Snowdonia for his life. The payments were remitted, and the hostages restored (Fœdera, ii. 88–92) . His brother David, who had fought for Edward, was rewarded with lands and castles, was knighted, and received the daughter of the Earl of Derby in marriage. Llewelyn did homage and spent Christmas with the king at London ”

“ Auloed, says Gruffydd's biographer, to whose rather doubtful testimony our knowledge of Gruffydd's early life is due, was the son of King Sihtric and a descendant of Harald Haarfagr. His wife was a daughter of King Brian. So that Gruffydd sprang from the noblest royal lines of Wales, Norway, and Ireland. He was born about 1055 at Dublin, and was nursed at a place called by the Welsh the 'Cymmwd of Columcille,' three miles from his parents' house. After Cynan's death his mother inspired him with the desire to emulate his father's exploits and save Gwynedd from the usurpers. ”

“ Brief, comparatively brief, was the public life of Prince Llewelyn; but grand, noble, and heroic were his deeds. He lived for others, not for himself. For the welfare of his country he laboured, not for personal aggrandizement. The mainspring of his actions was the deep and intense love of Fatherland. The great object for which he worked and fought and suffered, for which he became a public man, the leader and chief and ruler of a brave, a virtuous, an heroic people, was, to secure the independence of his country, the freedom and liberty of its people, and the blessing of permanent peace. ”

“ The English army in Anglesey bridged the Menai with boats, and a strong detachment, crossing before the connection was complete, encountered the Welsh near Bangor. The invaders, however, were all cut off and slain in a fierce battle fought upon the shore, among them being many barons, knights, and squires.
These successes could only delay the end and exasperate the inevitable conquerors. Llewelyn, not wishing to be starved into surrender among the Snowdon mountains, had gone south to rouse the new shire land of Cardigan and Carmarthen, and the warlike Radnor tenants of the Mortimers. ”

“ Llewelyn, though in battle he killed with fury, though he burnt like outrageous fire, yet he was a mild prince when the mead-horns were distributed - - - - - - he gave generously under his waving banners to his numerous Bards gold and silver, which he regardeth not, and Gasgony prancing steeds, with rich trappings, and great scarlet cloaks, shining like the ruddy flame: warlike, strong, well-made destroying steeds, with streams of foam issuing out of their mouths. He generously bestoweth, like brave Arthur, snow-white steeds by hundreds, whose speed is fleeter than birds. ”

“ Even Anglesey was to revert to the Crown in the event of Llewelyn’s dying without issue. Nothing was to be left of Welsh independence but the “cantrefs,” or lordships, constituting Snowdonia; and over this remnant Llewelyn’s heirs were to be graciously permitted to reign in peace. The Prince’s passion had proved greater than his patriotism; the treaty was signed at Conway, and King Edward, who had advanced unopposed to Cardiganshire, withdrew his troops.
[Pg 71]
Llewelyn’s marriage.
“The force of love,” says the chronicler, groaning over this depressing episode, “does indeed work wonders.” ”