Welsh law

“ So when Welsh law dealt with insults and attacks on one’s honour the payment to be made to the injured person was called gwynebwerth, ‘the price of one’s face,’ or gwynebwarth, ‘the payment for disgracing one’s face.’ Irish law arranged for similar damages, and called them by analogous names, such as enech-gris, ‘a fine for injuring or raising a blush on the face,’ and enech-lóg or enech-lann, ‘honour price’ ”

“ There is something very natural in the desire of a large Welsh landowner of that time to familiarise himself with English law, for the two codes, Welsh and English, to say nothing of compromises between them, existed side by side over nearly all Wales, and one can well understand the importance of some knowledge of Anglo-Norman jurisprudence to a leading Welshman like Glyndwr, who must have had much to do, both directly and indirectly, with both kinds of courts. ”

“ WELSH LAWS, or Leges Walliae. There is, comparatively speaking, no great distance of time between the leges barbarorum and the Laws of Wales, while the contents of the latter show a similar, nay almost the same, idea of law as the former; and, apart from the fact that Wales became permanently connected at the end of the 13th century with a Teutonic people, the English, it has been noticed that in Wales Roman and Germanic, but no traces of a specific Welsh, law are found. King Howel Dda (i.e. the Good) , who died in 950, is the originator of the Welsh code. ”

“ And whereas the people of Wales have besought us that we would grant unto them, that concerning their possessions immovable, as lands and tenements, the truth may be tried by good and lawful men of the neighbourhood, chosen by consent of parties; and concerning things movable, as of contracts, debts, sureties, covenants, trespasses, chattels, and all other movables of the same sort, they may use the Welsh Law whereto they have been accustomed ”

“ For as Rhodri would bring all Wales under the direct sway of one family, so Howel would bring the whole of the Welsh people under one law. A common rule implied a common law, and in order that men might know what this common law was, it had to be codified and thereby reduced to writing. This was the task to which Howel applied himself, and by having laid a sound foundation he occupies a foremost place not only amongst the rulers of the Welsh people, but also amongst all those who have distinguished themselves throughout the centuries by their devotion to the cause of Wales. ”

“ The law is the law of Howel, but it is the law of Howel as modified and amplified both by the varying customs of different parts of Wales and also by the changes which are taking place throughout three and a half critical centuries in the general life of the people. ”

“ It would be difficult to find a story more clear and simple in its main outlines than the growth of modern Wales from its earliest conscious beginnings in the fifth and sixth centuries, where we discern a number of small patriotic communities gradually cohering as they become more and more conscious of their common life. But when for all this there is substituted a golden age wherein Britannia is converted into the Isle of Britain and the Britons masters of the same from end to end ”

“ For in Maelgwn we seem to discern the progress of a policy which aims at bringing all the royal stems, from Anglesey to the river Wye, into subjection to the main stem of the family of Cunedda. This continues until in the first quarter of the ninth century there begins a new policy, which will bring almost the whole of Wales under the sole and immediate rule of this main stem of Cunedda. The many royal stocks are to give way to one royal stock, and in this manner is the unity of the Cymric Britannia to be achieved. ”

“ Notwithstanding the lamentable prevalence of diseased political and moral feeling among a certain portion of the inhabitants of South Wales, it is certain that the primitive simplicity of character by which the Welsh nation is still distinguished, tends in a great degree to keep them from the commission of those crimes which attract the serious notice of the law. ”

“ The obstacles in the way of the unity of Wales were stupendous, such as no bare coercion could overcome. We have seen their like on a modern and larger scale in the story of Italian and German unity. In the Dark Age the difficulty was accentuated by the fact that, even given a unity achieved by a capable ruler, the mind of the age as reflected in the Leges Barbarorum, of which the Laws of Howel are the Welsh exemplar, compelled that unity to be divided after his death among his sons. Charlemagne himself had so to divide his empire ; the same necessity rested on Rhodri the Great. ”

“ By this statute the Welsh system of land tenure and partition on death was finally abolished, and the 91st, 92nd, 93rd, 101st, and 128th sections are worthy of attention. The leading principle contained in these sections was that all lands in Wales were to be held subject to English tenure and not to be partible among heirs male after the custom of gavelkind, but should descend to the heirs according to the course of the common laws of the Realm of England. Lands were to be sold and mortgaged also according to English law. ”

“ Howel then promulgated the code they drew up, and he and the wise men pronounced the curse of all the Welsh on those who should not obey the laws, and on all judges who undertook judicial duties without knowing the three columns of law and the worth of tame and live animals, or on any lord who conferred office on such a judge. ”

“ Painful, however, as it must be to Welsh patriotism, and high-wrought sentiment, yet it is not to be doubted that the genius of Wales is receding before that of England, as is so clearly evident to those who dwell on the border land, where the two rival powers are brought face to face. And now what I wish my country-people particularly to understand is, that as long as they adopt a policy of stagnation, Cambria is sure to be worsted in the conflict for distinctive existence; because such is the law of evolution, a law which pervades all nature ”

“ Herein Edward's policy of recognizing and perpetuating the ancient laws and customs of the Welsh is shown. The Welsh rule of law was that the inheritance, at the death of the head of the family, became equally divided among the male children—a custom which is termed "gavel-kind" in English law. It therefore differed from the general English custom of primogeniture. The Statute enacted that in Wales the inheritance was to be divided equally among the heirs male, as it was wont to be "from the time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary." ”

“ In the second place, by substituting romance for history, it has surreptitiously concealed the steady and unbroken development of Cymric nationality from the day that Cunedda and his Sons established themselves in Wales at the commencement of the fifth century. Not only have authentic traditions been distorted to make them fit with the romance, not only has the memory of important historic events been for ever lost, but the very idea of the evolution of Wales from the primitive little kingdoms of the fifth century has been blurred in the national consciousness. ”

“ Interesting questions of a nature analogous to those treated by the branch of modern jurisprudence known as International Private Law must constantly have arisen. The “peers” of a Welshman were not defined; but a court composed of Welsh barons or freeholders was probably meant.
The final words of the chapter, declaring that Welshmen were to afford reciprocal redress to John and his subjects, are interesting, since they imply that Welshmen had, in some cases, successfully seized lands claimed by Englishmen. Here, as usual, the barons were mainly interested in securing their own rights. ”

“ If a man in any host denies having killed [what is now] a corpse, let him pay six score pence and give the oaths of fifty men of the same status as himself to deny murder. [529] Whoever shall do sarhad to another of the people of these four gwlads, to wit, Deheubarth, Gwynedd, Powys, and Lloegr, let him pay four kine and four score of silver to him. [530] Whoever shall pay galanas to another [of the same gwlads] , is to pay three score and three kine without addition. ”

“ Thus the unity of Roman Britannia became definitely a thing of the past. Henceforth Wales is free to evolve its own life. The unity of Cymric Britannia will now replace that of Roman Britannia, with this difference, that the latter was possibly never more than an official idea to be preserved, whereas the former becomes a national ideal to be attained. ”

“ There was a legend current in later times that Rhodri the Great, erroneously regarded as king of all Wales, damaged the Welsh cause irretrievably by sharing his kingdom among his three sons, giving, according to one version, Gwynedd to Mervyn, Powys to Anarawd, and Deheubarth to Cadell. [86] Nothing can be further from the truth than the impression left by this tale. For as we have seen, Rhodri's aim was to consolidate Wales by substituting the rule of his own family for that of many families. Princes of the blood of Rhodri alone were to govern the land directly from one end to the other. ”

“ The 'Men of the North' were almost certainly for the most part Britons both by race and language, but all who were free amongst them called themselves at a later period, even if not already, by the name Cymry, that is, compatriots.
Cunedda is one of the very few to whom Welsh literature assigns the rare title of gwledig, [50] a term which denotes the ruler of a territory, apparently as distinct from that of a community of persons, which is a very important distinction in view of ' tribal ' custom. ”

“ His plea that the amending or abrogating of Welsh laws was for the good of the Welsh people themselves is the excuse which strong empires have always made use {100} of when seeking to justify the subjugation and assimilation of small nations. ”

“ Throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries what may be called Welsh Wales, as distinct from Norman Wales, [27] was divided into the three main divisions of Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth. As the result of the important battle of Mynydd Carn in 1079, [28] Gwynedd and Deheubarth henceforth remained under the rule of the House of Gruffydd ap Cynan and that of Rhys ap Tewdwr, respectively. Powys continued as before to be governed by the House of Bleddyn. These three families were all sprung from Rhodri the Great and were consequently of the true Cymric lineage of Cunedda Wledig. ”

“ The same Offence was again committed three different Times, and as many Actions brought, in all of which the Farmer had a Verdict and Costs paid him; but notwithstanding these Advantages, the Law was so expensive, that he was ruined in the Contest, and obliged to give up all he had to his Creditors; which effectually answered the Purpose of Sir Timothy, who erected those Nuisances in the Farmer's Orchard with that Intention only. Ah, my dear Reader, we brag of Liberty, and boast of our Laws: but the Blessings of the one, and the Protection of the other, seldom fall to the Lot of the Poor ”

“ King Howel, who was surnamed Good, that is, da, put together the laws of Britannia moderately and temperately with the unanimous consent and after the careful consideration of the wise men of his kingdom, namely, the men of Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth, who had assembled together in one place before his tribunal. ”

“ The expression Cunedda Wledig in this case would point to Cunedda as a ruler of territory (gwlad) whilst Cunedda and his Sons would indicate his character as a ' tribal ' king. Almost all who are known to have borne the title of gwledig can be proved to have lived within a century or so about the end of Roman rule in Britain. The three best known, Maxen, Cunedda, and Emrys, are all credited with being in some way connected with the Roman officialdom or race, so that there can be little doubt that gwledig is a Welsh rendering for a Roman title, perhaps the Comes Britanniae. ”

“ And that from and after the said Feast of All-Saints, Justice shall be ministered and executed to the King's Subjects and Inhabitants of the said County of Glamorgan, according to the Laws Customs and Statutes of this Realm of England, and after no Welsh Laws, and in such Form and Fashion as Justice is ministered and used to the King's Subjects within the three Shires of North Wales. ”

“ For it is nowadays commonly and even dogmatically asserted that it divided the Britons of the North from those of Wales, whereas there is no evidence forthcoming that these were ever united by land. Late Glamorganshire legends ascribe the name of Teyrnllwg [77] to a supposed Cymric patria lying appar- ently between the river Dee and the river Derwent in Cumberland, a name based on erroneous etymology as to Durnluc in Catel Durnluc, that is, Cadell Ddyrnllug, the king who founded the royal stem of Powys. ”

“ The Books of Gwynedd, Blegywryd, and Cyvnerth, however, are produced in such a way that the various MSS. of each particular class are interblended, so that it is with the greatest difficulty that any particular one may be distinguished. ”

“ Stewards of manors were to continue to hold their courts, but were expressly forbidden to inquire into felonies. Officers of incorporated towns, according to their lawful grants and laudable customs, were to continue to hold pleas and to determine actions, provided that they followed the English laws and customs, and not Welsh laws, and provided also that in personal actions the issues joined should be tried by a jury of six men, as had been the custom in divers places in Wales. ”