Raised by the fall, decreed by loss to gain; Enslaved but to be free, and conquered but to reign. THE next morning Sir Owen, previous to parting with his guests from Nantmawr, insisted on taking them for a drive up the valley of the Wye. Issuing from the park-gate, they heard before them on the road the lowing of many oxen, the smacking of long whips, and the short, oftrepeated cries of "Ya, ho!" and soon passed through a multitudinous drove of black cattle, which parted hither and thither as they were overtaken, some with chins exalted to the hedges, some with long white horns ready-set for butting interlopers, some running against and over each other in utter confusion, while two or three sharp-visaged drovers, each mounted on his sprightly pony, diligently endeavoured, both with words and deeds, to set them all to rights again. The party, getting clear of this obstruction, soon afterwards overtook several carts, each drawn by a strong pony, and driven by a little man who sat apparently wrapped in thought, and soothed by the monotonous creaking of his wheels. One vehicle was inscribed "David Davies," another "Jenkin Gwylim," and another "William Williams." "They are retailers of fish," said Sir Owen, "and carry dried salmon, cod, and oysters, sewin, whitings, herrings, lobsters, shrimps, and cockles, from the Caermarthenshire coast as far as Hereford, selling as they travel along. For a return freight they take apples, which are extremely scarce higher up in Wales." They presently saw the road before them crowded with a troop of wild, unshackled Welsh ponies, trotting with might and main, and pursued by the mounted dealers, who led in halters, with ropes attached, some few of the least tractable; but Sir Owen's party, diverging to the left, lost sight of them again immediately. The tourists' course was directed up the narrowed valley of the Wye; which river, flowing close in view, and at times just below to the right of their road, falls every now and then in loud and broad cascades over successive ledges of rock. To the left rise hills thickly covered with rich woods; and at intervals the still darkly green, though mellowed, foliage of foresttrees shaded on both sides the sloping banks of the beautiful river. Among the sterile hills beyond it houses and cottages lie dispersed; and a little church or two, peeping forth among them, was every now and then revealed by stray gleams of sunshine. Passing a mill to the left, and pointing towards the flanking hill from which its stream descends, Miss Perrot remarked "About two miles from hence, in that direction, is Llanerchgoedlan, a place which every one should visit at this season who wishes to see funny * Wales for ever! specimens of the invalid Welsh, with heads tied up to assist the cure of aching fingers or ankles." "Yes," said David Perrot, "the strata for many miles around Builth is broken by the irruption of trap-rocks; crystals are found in some places, and mineral waters ooze forth at all points. For instance, north of that town lie the celebrated Llandrindod Wells; their waters are of several kinds; and the Llandrindod chalybeate is considered the best in the principality. East of Builth is Llanwrtyd, famous for the superiority of its sulphur-springs; and the Park Wells of Builth afford excellent waters of four kinds: the efficacious qualities of the saline spring are peculiarly extolled." "Llanerchgoedlan," resumed Dyddgu, "is so very picturesque, and has so many romantic rocks and fine waterfalls on its wild little river, that very few prettier places can be found for a pic-nic. There is no pump-house, or accommodation for genteel company; but I really believe the springs are quite as good as any in Wales, or in the world. Farmers and cottagers flock thither, for Llanerchgoedlan is the Llandrindod of the poor." As the party proceeded, the woods to the left were replaced by fields set with trees, then by the rugged edges of a rhôs, and again by a high wall of ragged dark shale cliffs. Sir Owen was lively and fluent in describing localities, and in relating remarkable otter-hunts, and wonderful catches of trout, grayling, laspring, and salmon. David Perrot possessed some practical knowledge of geology, and talked with animation of Sir Roderick Murchison's researches, and of his descriptions of the Silurian system of rocks, and of the various arrangements, mixtures, and displacements of the argillaceous, arenaceous, and calcareous. He spoke also of the lack of coal, of metal, and of good slate in that vicinity, and of the comparative scarcity of limestone; and of the special advantages that would accrue from opening quarries wherever they could be worked on commons and waste land; and told what sort of stone was of use for building, and what for roofing, and what for paving, and what for repairing the roads. Approaching nearer to Builth, the strangers were amused by watching the various persons on foot and on horseback whom they happened to pass or to meet on the way. The dress and aspect of many of the men struck them as grotesque. There was frequently the keen glance of interrogation cast toward the carriages, then the shrewd nod to a neighbour, and words uttered in Welsh, which expressed in tone the formation of a satisfactory conjecture; and most of them wore a sort of bird-tailed grey, or dull blue coat, and light-coloured small-clothes, without gaiters, exhibiting their bluish grey home-knit stockings. Among the elder women, who all wore neat dark blue cloaks, the interposition of an angular white kerchief between the mob-cap and the round hat, which kerchief stretched its middle point precisely to the centre of the wearer's well-set shoulders, produced a singular and characteristic effect. The younger women were remarkable for their short, pretty faces, clear complexions, white teeth, and bright eyes. Most of those on horseback wore a short riding-skirt, or safety girdle, of coarse, dark blue cloth, with a small checked neckerchief, a frilled or laced mob-cap encompassing the glossy braids of their brown hair, and a hat as black as jet set high and forward upon the head. Many were carrying baskets or burdens, but all managed their palfreys with graceful ease. The opposite bank of the Wye now began to exhibit some stately rocks, and soon the attention of the party was concentrated upon the stupendous bastions and magnificent fortresses there offered by nature to the imitation of man. "It is Aberedwy," said Sir Owen. "Look how beautifully the Wye forgets its haste, and loiters just below, softening and calming the scene. There once stood a favourite castle of Llewelyn ab Gruffydd, the last Llewelyn; and from thence, in a deep snow, and, according to local tradition, with his horse's shoes reversed, he escaped to Builth from the pursuing soldiers of King Edward, but a wicked blacksmith betrayed the secret to the English, and thus ensured his prince's destruction. The name of that blacksmith, remembered with its unfavourable descriptive particulars, Madoc goch min mawr!' red-haired, wide-mouthed Madoc! still proves his countrymen's abhorrence of his treachery.” The enchanting vistas formed by the meandering river and its islands between encompassing hills, and the unexpected and striking changes of the prospect gradually unfolding, called forth continual expressions of admiration from the visitors, who found their attention sometimes complacently resting on the delicate tints and fine forms of particular points, and again spontaneously expanding into a fuller enjoyment of the whole lovely scene. Leaving the carriages, and crossing the river in a boat, the party now proceeded to explore Aberedwy. "Many historical incidents," said Cadog Trevor," are associated with this neighbourhood. Hither the unfortunate Vortigern retreated before the Saxons; and here, broken-hearted and forlorn, he is supposed to have perished. The exploits of Arthur, too, are traditionally attested by the mark of his hound's footsteps upon a cairn; and about two miles beyond Builth may be found the fatal spot still called Cwm Llewelyn, the pretty brook still called Nant Llewelyn, and the funereal ridge which gives name to a farm-house called Cefn y beêdd, the scenes of our last native prince's death and partial burial." "Come, Trevor!" said Sir Owen; "and while we are all striving to conjure up old remembrances, sitting here among the very rocks from whence our prince went forth unwittingly to his destruction, tell us his sad yet glorious history." Cadog Trevor complied, as follows: The long and prosperous reign of Llewelyn ab Iorwerth was troubled towards its close by the restless ambition of Gruffydd, his illegitimate son. Gruffydd was married to Senena, a lady of distinguished abilities and extraordinary influence; and his own fine person, martial accomplishments, and princely qualities, had won the affections of the Cambrian people. Impatient of dependence, even upon a royal father, he possessed himself, in the year 1221, of the cantref of Merionydd: and when, as a last resource, the prince brought an army against him to compel his submission, Gruffydd, with reckless audacity, set his own rebel forces in hostile array. Yet in the midst of the conflict he yielded, conscience-stricken, and implored his father's mercy. Restored to Prince Llewelyn's favour, and entrusted with the command of several important military expeditions, he afterwards performed signal services to his country, and established for ever his own reputation as a dauntless patriot and an able general. Fresh acts of disobedience, however, renewed his father's displeasure, and were punished by an imprisonment of six years. Soon after Gruffydd's liberation, the aged prince, afflicted with palsy, grieved by Gruffydd's past conduct, and apprehensive that the safety of his family and country might yet be endangered by that wayward warrior, called together his lords and barons, and caused them all to swear fealty and to do homage to David as their lawful sovereign. The subsequent incarceration of Gruffydd in Criccieth Castle appears to have been one of the first acts of Prince David's reign. In the year 1240, Llewelyn ab Iorwerth died, leaving only two legitimate children, Prince David, his successor, and a daughter, called Gladys Ddu, who was married to Sir Ralph Mortimer, of Wigmore, one of the most powerful of the lords marchers. The spirit of Gruffydd and his partisans now stirred all Cambria to obtain his freedom, and the throne of the new prince was shaken by his captive brother's popularity. Senena, Sir Ralph Mortimer, the other lords marchers, and many of the Cambrian nobles and churchmen, urgently and unitedly besought King Henry's aid in effecting his release, and obtaining for him a share of the principality; and they almost prevailed. But Prince David was the nephew of King Henry, and pleading for the safety of his crown and life, and bribing still higher than Senena, he persuaded King Henry to disappoint her expectations, and to befriend his kinsman's cause. Succeeding in this negotiation, the prince immediately consigned Gruffydd ab Llewelyn to the custody of the English king, who committed him to the Tower of London, and allowed him a noble a day for his maintenance. He was not long confined there, for making a desperate attempt to escape from the Tower, Gruffydd fell headlong to its base and perished miserably. After Gruffydd's death King Henry presumed to confer upon his own son Edward the empty title of Prince of Wales. Aroused by so great an insult, Prince David solemnly protested against its gross injustice, and immediately took arms to defend his right. He triumphantly repelled King Henry's invading troops from Cambrian soil; he gained his people's love and admiration, and after a brilliant reign of five short years Prince David died childless. According to Cambrian usage, and to ancient precedent in that royal race, Gladys was Prince David's heir, and ought to have succeeded to his diadem; but her husband was an Anglo-Norman, and the lords and barons of the principality decreed in full assembly that it was incompatible with the welfare and independence of the country that the sons of Gladys should reign, by setting aside the lawful claim of the house of Mortimer, and electing Owen and Llewelyn, two of the sons of Gruffydd and Senena, to be their sovereigns, and doing homage to them. Immediately upon the accession of the young princes, the mortal remains of their father Gruffydd were brought from London, and honourably interred among his ancestors at Conway. Sir Ralph Mortimer did not long survive his brother-in-law Prince David; and in the year 1252 died Gladys Ddu, leaving several sons. In the line of the eldest, Roger, the hereditary title to the crown of Cadwalladwr, has descended through King Henry VIII. to our British sovereigns. In the year 1254, Owen Goch, joint Prince of Wales, and eldest son of Gruffydd ab Llewelyn, being no longer satisfied with the possession of half the principality, engaged younger brother named David in his cause, and levied war against Prince Llewelyn. A battle ensued, in which Prince Llewelyn overthrew 2 his adversaries and captured his hostile brethren. He cast both Owen and David into prison, and thenceforth reigned alone. That was indeed no time for civil strife or divided counsels. The Cymry, intolerably oppressed by the tyrannous exactions of the Anglo-Norman settlers, and incessantly exposed to the formidable invasions of English armies, led by King Henry, Prince Edward, and their generals, the Cymry in their determined resistance of personal slavery, and of national extinction, required such a prince as Llewelyn ab Gruffydd, who vindicating their own spontaneous preference for his native blood, and their ardent attachment to his person, now steadfastly resolved, on behalf of his people, rather to die at liberty than to live in thraldom. For sixteen years he ruled his country wisely and well, for sixteen years he successfully resisted the active encroachments of English power, performing throughout that period feats of arms which must ever class him among our most illustrious heroes. The chronicles of Conway and Strataflorida cease with the year 1270, leaving their country still independent, and their prince at the height of his prosperous renown. King Edward succeeded Henry III. in the year 1272, and in the prosecution of his plans against Wales is supposed not only to have followed the promptings of ambition, but also to have sought the gratification of personal revenge. Prince Llewelyn had formerly defeated him in war, and from that time was regarded by the proud Plantagenet with implacable hatred; and Prince Llewelyn, consequently, is thought to have been withheld by dread of treachery from attending at his rival's coronation in 1275. An English chronicler records that, in the year 1277, it rained blood in various parts of the principality thus human woes still find their types in senseless nature! No effort which subtle policy could suggest was spared by King Edward in effecting the ruin of Prince Llewelyn. He had seduced that prince's younger brothers, David and Roderic, from their allegiance, and had secured the assistance of Sir Roger Mortimer, and of many other powerful lords of the country, when, as if to complete his cruel hold upon the domestic ties of Llewelyn, Eleanor de Montfort also fell into King Edward's power. Her mother was a sister of King Henry, her father was the celebrated Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Before his death at the battle of Evesham he had promised his daughter in marriage to Prince Llewelyn, and, in fulfilment of that engagement, the widowed countess, who resided at a nunnery in France, now sent her son Americ and a suitable retinue to conduct his sister into Wales. Avoiding the English coast, their vessel kept its course by the Scilly Isles, but meeting by chance with four ships of Bristol, the bridal party were intercepted, made prisoners, and brought to King Edward. He consigned young Americ to a fortress, but, with chivalrous courtesy, entertained the lady as his royal kinswoman. Having carefully prepared two armies well adapted to the nature of the country, and to the Cambrian mode of warfare, King Edward sent one of them, under the command of Paganus de Camurtijs, to carry fire and sword through West Wales; and its deadly errand was fulfilled. The other he led in person against North Wales, and advancing along the coast, he strengthened its fortifications. The country was beset, its lands were devastated; its lords, reduced to desperation, offered homage to King Edward, and, in the year 1278, Prince Llewelyn sued for peace. |