quod eo tempore tenuerunt, Tegerinus ap Jeuan Ddu, et David et Jeuan ddu, solvendo inde Dno Regi pro quolibet trimestri spatio duos solidos, octo denarios, unum obolum, cum uno quadrante. Tertium est allodium vulgo dictum Wele Tudur Voel, tunc occupatum a Madoco ap Bleddyn, Adamo et Davydd goch et Evano ap Nest, reddendibus inde Dno Regi pro quolibet trimestri termino 18 denarios cum uno obolo. Cæterum hæc tria allodia, præter hos redditus omnia consueta servitia cursusque (vulgo Cylchau) uti olim solebant Dno Principi, usque quo Villanagii mos perstitisset, exsolvere tenebantur, pro quibus demum cum hujusmodi servitia cursusque obsequendi pro rebus supervacancis existimarentur, ineuntibus tunc inde seculis pecuniarum summas statis temporibus quas Anglice Fines dixerunt, cum solutis redditibus, ex pacto Dno Regi solvendi usus inoleverat. Hic idcirco obiter prehensum vellem, quod quotquot terrarum inter Norwallos homines, non pro tiberis tenementis (vulgo freeholds) sed pro Villanagiis nativisque (uti vocitari solebant) recensebantur, quarum farrago frequens est in Regis Episcopique extentis istiusmodi terræ, ubicumque fuerint, a Regibus Angliæ sui sane juris, in feodo simplici (uti amant loqui) adrogatæ et assumptæ sunt, ac eo nomine a Questoribus suis quibuscunque gentium vitæ vel annorum termino, prætio præ manibus soluto, ad morem antiquum elocatæ fuerunt: verum nunc temporis quorundam Regum inopia vel incuria, hujusmodi prope omnes terra qua Regia (ut puta King's land) solenniter dictæ, primoribus nostratium viris, præsertim qui apud Aulicos ære suo gratiores accepti, ut plurimum concessæ, ac demum venditæ sunt; eo tandem pacto, ut quid villanagium et liberum tenementum interfuerit, vix jam a promiscua turba internosci contigerit: quinimo nunc rerum gerundarum statu, omnia fiunt libera indiscrimi

three months, three shillings and eight pence. The second, is the allody commonly called Wele Tegerin Goch; held at that time by Tegerin ap Jevan Ddu, and David ap Jevan Ddu, on the tenure of paying out of it to the king, every three months, two shillings and eight pence three farthings. The third, is the allody commonly called Wele Tudur Voel; then occupied by Madoc ap Bleddyn, Adam ap Davydd Goch, and Evan ap Nest, on the tenure of paying thence to the king, every three months, eighteen pence halfpenny. These three allodies, however, besides those returns, were bound to pay all accustomed services and circuit payments, (commonly called cylchau,) as they had been formerly bound to do to the prince, while the custom of villenage remained; instead of which, in course of time, when services of this kind and circuit payments were considered as superfluous matters, the custom of paying by agreement sums of money to the king, at stated times, which, in English, are called fines, grew into a matter of settled use for all future periods. Here, therefore, I could wish it to be understood, that whatever lands amongst the men of North Wales were considered not as free tenements, (commonly called freeholds,) but as villenages and native, (as they used to be styled) of which there is a frequent farrago in the royal and episcopal extents of land of this sort, were claimed and seized wherever they might be, by the kings of England as of their own right in fee simple, (as the expression commonly is :) and under that name were let out by the king's collectors, whoever they might be, for a term of life or years, a price being paid down according to ancient custom. Now, however, through the necessity or the neglect of some of the monarchs, almost all the lands of this kind, which are legally styled royal, (as being king's lands) have been com

natim tenementa, quamvis in his novissimis acquisitionibus ab antiquis feudis, jus tenendi longe discrepit; ejusque discriminis hæc ratio ac præcipua nota est, scilicet, omnia villanagia vel terras nativas gravioribus, hac die Fisco Regio censibus (antiqui enim redditus erant) quam antiqua Feuda i. e. tenementa libera, onerari videntur. Hæc villula, duobus hisce seculis jam ultime elapsis, a præcelebri familia, viz. Mossoglen eo locata, maxime innotuit: primus autem qui hujus domus fundamina stabilivit, fuit Hugo ap Rhys ap Howel, filius Rhesi ap Howel ap Rhys de Bodowyr, ex prima conjuge, natu maximus e Lowarchana origine, Jerwerthino stemmate ortus, quem Parens (ut fertur) nuptiarum causa, toto fere asse exhærebat. At stirps hæc resecta (sic Deo placuit) pleniores in hoc solo egit radices, pluresque in eo quidem florentiores restirpescebat, a qua grandiori propagine Dominus Arthurus Owen, Baronettus, vir amplissimus, qui materno sanguine hoc toto potitus hæredio, ex latere vero paterno jure Dominus Audoenus Wynne de Glascoed in agro Arfonensi, Dominus Hugo Wynne de Trejorwerth, maternoque Dominus Johannes Evans Antistes Bangorensis, admodum Reverendus, Dominus Audoenus Hughes in ore mihi semper celeberrimus; viri sane spectatissimi, aliique suam ducunt prosapiam, locoque honori sunt, domumque præclare illustrant.

monly granted, and ultimately sold, to the chief men of our country, especially to those, who, by their wealth, had any influence at court; so that it is hardly possible, at the present day, to distinguish amidst the common mass, what may have been a villenage from a freehold. Indeed, in the present state of conducting matters, they have all become freeholds, indiscriminately; although, in these newest purchases, the right of tenure differs widely from the ancient fiefs. The nature and principal mark of this difference is, that all the villenages or native lands, seem at the present day, to be burthened with heavier taxes (formerly called returns) payable to the royal chest, than the ancient fiefs or freeholds are.

This small township, for the last two centuries, has been principally known from the honourable family of Mossoglen, settled within it. The first person who established the foundations of this house, was Hugh ap Rhys ap Howel, eldest son of Rhes ap Howel ap Rhys of Bodowyr, by his first wife, descended from Lowarch, of the branch of Ierwerth ; whom his father, as is said, disinherited of almost every penny, on account of his marriage. The stock, however, thus cut off, (so it pleased God,) struck out larger roots in this soil, and sent forth more numerous and more flourishing stems; from which larger offset Sir Arthur Owen, Bart., a gentleman of great wealth, who obtained all this property by his mother's side; Mr. Owen Wynne, of Glascoed, in Carnarvonshire, and Mr. Hugh Wynne, of Trejorwerth, by right on the father's side; and, again by the maternal side, the Right Reverend John Evans, Bishop of Bangor, and Mr. Owen Hughes, a gentleman who must always be honourably mentioned by me; all of them, persons of the highest character, and others, deduce their descent: being at once an illustration to the place, and an honourable distinction to their family.

BOD DRUDAN.

Nomen maxime antiquum, quod hic præ se locus fert, ab Druidum inferiorum consortio olim inditum, mihi hariolari alibi contigerat. Villa inops et perexigua est, conditione nativa, complectens tempore Edw. III. unum duntaxat allodium, tunc nuncupatum Wele Gronw Voel, tenente eo tempore Howel ab Ithel, qui Regi pro redditu solvebat quolibet anno sex solidos et novem denarios. Terra hæc avenacei grani secaliceique industria colonorum bene ferax est: perstitit nativo jure in Regum manibus ad Virginis Reginæ tempus, quum Hugo Hughes, de Plascoch, tunc Regius Nordwalliæ attornatus, eam una cum allodio contiguo, viz., Cefn Mossoglen, tenentium veterum evictione, prætio soluto suam fecerat, a quo Dominus Rogerus Hughes hanc villulam una cum Cefn Mossoglen, nunc tertius possidet hæres.

TRE BILL.

Hæc olim dicta Tre feibion Pill, hoc est, Villa filiorum cujusdam Philippi, ut Extenta prædicat: ex hac Extenta videtur hanc Villulam tempore Edw. Regis Angliæ tertii, in duo allodia vel Wele fuisse discriminatam: primum in allodium vel Wele Brochvael, in quo, ea tempestate, suas terras occupaverunt Evanus Moel et Dithic verch Tegerin i. e. filia Tegerin, reddendo inde Dno Regi quolibet trinorum mensium spatio pervoluto septem solidos et sex denarios. Alterum allodium in hac villa vocatum est Wele Idnerth, cujus terras eo tempore tenebant Evanus ap Llowarch, et Evanus ddu ap Llowarch, qui co-hæredes illius prædii existere, pro quo solvebant, quolibet trimestri termino, Dno Regi sex solidos, unum obolum cum uno quadrante. Cæterum quilibet

ARCHEOL. CAMB. VOL. II.]

BOD DRUDAN.

This place bears a very ancient name, which I have elsewhere had occasion to conjecture was derived from an assembly of the lower order of Druids. The township is poor and very small, native by condition, and comprising in the time of Edward III., only one allody, then called Wele Gronw Voel. It was held at that period by Howel ab Ithel, who paid annually, to the king, six shillings and nine pence. This district, through the industry of the farmers, is tolerably productive of oats and rye. It remained under its native tenure in the hands of the king until the time of the Virgin Queen, when Hugh Hughes, of Plas Coch, then royal attorney for North Wales, made it his own, by purchase, the old tenants being turned out; together with a contiguous allody, viz., Cefn Mossoglen. And from him, Mr. Roger Hughes, the third by succession of inheritance, holds this little township, together with Cefn Mossoglen.

TRE BILL.

This was formerly called Tre Feibion Pill, that is, the township of the sons of some one named Philip, as the extent informs us. By this extent, it appears that this township in the time of Edward III., of England, was divided into two allodies or weles; first into the allody or Wele Brochvael, in which at that period, lands were held by Evan Moel, and Dithic verch Tegerin, or the daughter of Tegerin, on condition of paying thence to the king, every three months, seven shillings and sixpence. The other allody in this township, was called Wele Idnerth; the lands of which were then held by Evan ap Llowarch, and Evan ddu ap Llowarch, coheirs of that property, for which they paid to the king, every three months, six shillings and three farthings. Every one, how

C

hæredum hujus villæ, Wallicorum Principum tempore, sectam molendino de Rhossir, cum opere manerii (uti solebant) et cursum Stalonis et Rhaglotti præstari tenebantur, reddendo quoque pro quolibet Relevio decem solidos et totidem pro quolibet Amobro, quando acciderint, ut ex Extenta Regia, si placet, videre licet. Verum cum in hæc verba admodum barbara, viz., Stallo, Rhaglottus Relevium, Amobrum, et hujusmodi, enarranda res incidenti causam dederat, hoc igitur loco, ut quid quæque eorum sonant quispiam capiat edocere, mihi video affatim expedire: quapropter enim hoc loco, præsertim, intellectum a quoque lectore vellem, quod in antiquorum Britonum regimine, suis Principibus Primariisque viris sua vectigalia, quam maxime ex tenentibus, vel rerum necessitudine vel casu, erogata fuerunt; idcirco præsto convenire visum est, cum Principes sua maneria peragrabant, eoque ritu vitam quasi per transitum e loco in locum agebant, convenire (inquam) tunc visum est quod quisque ex tenentibus hujusmodi suum Principi officium præstare teneretur; hoc est, unus equis, alter canibus, hic accipitricibus, ille raglottis i. e. tributorum collectoribus, sua quisque vice victum commeatum que (ut in Extenta Regia passim videre est) præstandi, vel pro illis nummos solvendi, cursum absolveret; cursusque illi uti vocabant cylch stalon, cylch dowrgon, cylch hebogyddion, cylch rhaglon, id est, equorum, canum, accipitrum, et æconomorum Principis vices opitulandorum, in multis locis olim lega lata impositas, nostra vernacula indigitant, consilimi autem modo ex casu et contingenti hujus modi tenentium non pauci pro hæredis morte Relevium, et pro puellarum viduarumque stupro, Amobrum, impositâ mulctâ, exantlari tenebantur. Favete linguis, sic enim barbararum rerum insuetæ voces quum gestæ rei enarrandæ inserviant, a nobis non incommode usurpantur.

ever, of the heirs of this township, were bound, in the time of the Welsh princes, to pay suit to the mill of Rhossir, with Manor-work (as it was called), and the circuitpayments of Stalonage, and of the Rhaglot; paying also for each Relief ten shillings, and as many for each Amobrum, whenever such might happen, as may be seen, if desired, from the Royal Extent. Since the matters which I have to relate, have given cause for the employment of these barbarous words, viz., Stalo, Rhaglot, Relief, Amobrum, and such like, I think it my duty briefly to explain in this place what each of these terms signifies, so that any one may be able to comprehend it. would, therefore, desire the reader to understand, and in this place more especially, that under the system of the ancient Britons, the princes and the chief men derived their revenues principally from their tenants, either by the necessity of the case, or by accident. It was, therefore, soon found convenient, when the princes were going the round of their manors, and thus were leading a kind of life of passage from place to place,it was found convenient, I repeat, that every one of the tenants of this kind, should be bound to perform each his own peculiar duty to his prince; that is to say, one for the horses, another for the dogs, one for the hawks, another for the rhaglots, or tribute collectors: so that each, (as is commonly to be seen in the royal extent,) might go through his due course, each in his own turn, by furnishing food and provisions, or by paying money instead. And these courses or circuit-payments, or as they termed them, cylch stalon, cylch dowrgon, cylch hebogyddion, cylch rhaglon; that is to say, the turns of supplying the horses, dogs, hawks, and stewards of the prince, formerly imposed in many places by a specific law, are indicated in our common national speech. In a similar man