cities for the purpose of carrying on business, maintain a more civilized kind of life." dence of the vourable Thus it appears that even at this period there The resi were not only Danes, but English and French Normans in people also living within the towns of this Ireland fa island (hostis habet muros). No wonder then to the Invathat the Anglo-Norman invaders prospered fa- sion. mously in mastering the cities of Ireland, thus establishing themselves in the strongholds of the country, and leaving the natives to carry on as they might the debasing and weakening exercises of a bootless and fatal guerilla warfare in the rural districts. No. XXXIII.-EXTRACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF WALES BY CARADOC Extracts Edition of Llancarvan. Mention has been made in the preceding Ar- from ticle of the Chronicles of Caradoc of Llancar- Powell's van, as throwing light on the early history of Caradoc of our own country. From the rare old English version of this work, prepared in the reign of Q. Elizabeth, we have drawn for the reader's information the copious extracts that here follow; which are rendered peculiarly interesting to the student of Irish history, from the close analogy existing at the time alluded to between the respective circumstances of the two coun Title of the work. of his edi tries Ireland, and Wales, as connected with the invasions of the Norman aggressors. The title of the work from which the extracts are made is as follows: "The Historie of Cambria, now called Wales; a part of the most famous Yland of Brytaine, written in the Brytish language about two hundreth yeares past: translated into English by H. Lhoyd, gentleman: corrected, augmented, and continued out of Records and best approved authors by David Powel Doctor in Divinitie. Lond. 1584." The address "To the reader" contains much instructive matter illustrating the work itself and its subject. In it we are informed that Powell's ac"Caradoc of Lancarvan collected the successions and count of the actes of the Brytish Princes after Cadwallader [who died original A.D. 688] to the yeare of Christ 1156. Of the which colAnnals, and lections several copies were kept which were yearetion of them; lie augmented... until the year 1270... a little before the death of the last Lhewelyn who was slain at Buelht. These collections were copied by divers, so that there are at this daie of the same in Wales a hundred copies at the least, whereof the most part were written two hundred years ago.* This book Humffrey Lhoyd gent... translated into English, and partlie augmented, chieflie out of Matthew Paris and Nicholas Trivet. The copie of his translation the Rt. Honble. Sir Henry Sidney Lord president of Wales . . . had lieing * It is be regretted that there is no copy of this curious record, in the original tongue, to be found in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. by him a great while, and being desirous to have the same set out in print sent for me in September last, requesting me to peruse and correct it, in such sort as it might be committed to the press:" which accordingly after some hesitation Powel undertook to do. Touching his motives, he says "The second thing that mooved me thereunto, is the which he slanderous report of such writers as in their books do was led to undertake, inforce everie thing that is done by the Welshmen to partly in their discredit, leaving out all the causes and circum- order to do stances of the same; which doo most commonlie not justice to onelie elevate or dissemble all the injuries and wrongs and vindithe Welsh, offered and done to the Welshmen, but also conceale or cate their deface all the actes worthie of commendation atchieved character by them. Search the common chronicles touching the from the asWelshmen, and commonlie thou shalt find that the king English persions of sendeth some nobleman or other with an armie to Wales, writers. to withstand the rebellious attempts, the proud stomachs, the presumptuous pride, stirre, trouble, and rebellion of the fierce unquiet craking fickle, and unconstant Welshmen, and no open fact laid downe to charge them withall, why warre should be levied against them, nor yet they swarving abroad out of their owne countrie to trouble other men. Now this historie dooth shew the cause and circumstances of most of those warres, whereby the qualitie of the action may be judged, and certeinlie no man is an indifferent witness against him whom he counteth his enimie or adversarie, for evil will never speaketh well. The Welshmen were by the Saxons and Normans counted enimies, before the twelfth yeare of Edward the first, while they had a governour among themselves: and afterward, when king Edward had brought the countrie of the English rulers; to his subjection, he placed English officers to keepe them under, to whome most commonlie he gave the forfaits and possessions of such Welshmen as disobeied his lawes, and refused to be ruled by the said officers: the The rebel- like did the other kings that came after him. The said lious temper officers were thought oftentimes to be over-severe and Welsh crea- rigorous for theire owne profit and commoditie; which ated by the things caused the people often to disobeie, and manie times tyranny and like desperate men to seeke revengement, having those cupidity of for their judges which were made by their overthrow, and also wanting indifferencie in their causes and matters of griefes; for the kings alwaies countenanced and beleeved their owne officers, by them preferred and put in trust, before their accusers whom they liked not of. Whereupon the inhabitants of England, favouring their countriemen and freends, reported not the best of the Welshmen. This hatred and disliking was so increased by the stirre and rebellion of Owen Glyndoure, that it brought foorth such greevous lawes, as few Christian kings ever gave or published the like to their subjects. These things being so, anie man may easile perceive the verie occasion of those parentheseis and briefe notes of rebellion and troubles objected to the Welshmen, without opening of cause or declaration of circumstances. and by the necessity of defending their own against An "The Normans having conquered England and gotten all the lands of the Saxon nobilitie, would faine have had the lands of the Welshmen also, whereupon divers of them entred Wales with an armie, so that the Welshmen glo-Norman were driven for their owne defense to put themselves in aggression. armour; for the which fact they are by some writers accused of rebellion, whereas by the law of nature it is lawful for all men to withstand force by force. They were in their owne countrie, the land was theirs by inheritance and lawfull possession; might they not therefore defend themselves from violence and wrong, if they could. What right or lawfull title had the Earle of Ches ter to Ryuonioc [now Denbighland] and Tegengl? or the Earle of Salope to Dyvet, Caerdigan, and Powys? or Rob. Fitz Hamon to Glamorgan? or Barnard Newmarch to Brechnoke? or Ralph Mortimer to Eluel? or Hugh Lacy to the land of Ewyas? or anie other of them to anie countrie in Wales? By what reason was it more lawful for those men to dispossesse them of these countries with violence and wrong, than for them to defend and keepe their owne? Shall a man be charged with disobedience, because he seeketh to keepe his purse from him that would robbe him? I meane not by this to charge those noble men, which wan these countries by the sword: but I speake it to note the parcial dealing of the writers and setters foorth of those histories, that should have reported things indifferentlie as they were done, and laid downe the causes and circumstances of everie action truelie, who being altogether parcial, favoring the one side and hating the other, do pronounce of the fact according to their private affections, condemning oftentimes the innocent, and justifieing the wrong doers," &c. from the The extracts next following are from the Extracts Chronicle itself; where they may readily be Chronicle' found by the accompanying references to the of Wales' year and page at which each occurs. itself. Roman Eas A.D. 755 (p. 17.) "About this time there was an or. Introducder taken for the right keeping of the feast of Easter in tion of the Wales, by Elbodius a man both godlie and learned: for ter among the Brytaines ever before that time varied from the the Britons Church of Rome in celebrating the feast of Easter." A.D. 735. A.D. 1031 (p. 88.) "About the yeare 1031 the Irish Wales inScots entred South Wales, by the meanes of Howel and vaded by an Meredyth, the sonnes of Edwyn ap Eneon ap Owen ap A.D. 1031. VOL. III. M Irish force |