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the origin of country churches in Wales may perhaps be traced.

About the commencement of this generation, Gwrtheyrn, or Vortigern, first appears among the chiefs of the Britons. According to Nennius his territories included the northern part of the present counties of Radnor and Brecon, and some of the Welsh genealogists state also that he was the regulus of Erging or Erchenfield in Herefordshire. From these two points being considered together it would appear that his dominions, as the leader of a clan, extended along the vale of the river Wye. But in 448, or about the time of the second visit of Germanus, he became by treachery or otherwise the Pendragon or chief ruler of Britain. To trace the various circumstances of his history would require a separate treatise; for they have been obscured with the extravagancies of romance, and a careful investigation would be necessary to distinguish the truth from fable.* Suffice it for the present purpose to say that his ancestors, as given in the mutilated orthography of Nennius, were "Guortheneu,† M Guitaul, Mr Guitolin, M'ap Glou;" and the following is the pedigree of his descendants according to Achau y Saint:

[TABLE X.]

Gwrthefyr Fendigaid,

or Vortimer

M'

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Anna dr. married to Cynyr of Caergawch

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* Instances of the confusion, with which Geoffrey of Monmouth has clouded the life of Vortigern, have been shown by Mr. S. Turner in his "History of the Anglo Saxons," Vol. I. Book II. Chap. VII.

While nearly all accounts agree that the father of Gwrtheyrn was Gwrthenau, some modern pedigrees state that his grandfather was Rhy

In passing through the different families seriatim, and observing the Saints whose names fall in with this generation, the only one that occurs in the line of Macsen Wledig is Madog, the son of Owain; but as other persons of the name of Madog have received the honours of sanctity, the churches to be assigned to each of them separately are uncertain.

In the line of Coel Godebog, Cynllo, the son of Mor, presents himself to notice. He was the tutelar Saint or founder of the three churches in Radnorshire, whose extensive endowments have been already described. He was also the founder of Llangynllo, and Llangoedmor, in Cardiganshire; to the latter of which, the neighbouring churches of Mount and Llechryd, both dedicated to the Holy Cross, were formerly subject. Cynllo is commemorated in the Calendar, July 17, under the name of Cynllo Frenhin, or the King; and as he belonged to a powerful family it is probable that he was originally a chieftain, and might afterwards, according to the practice of the age, have embraced a life of religion. The Pseudo-Taliesin says of him

*

“The prayer of Cynllo shall not be in vain."+ —a proof that in after times his intercession was considered efficacious.

In the line of Cynan Meiriadog occurs the name of Tudwal Befr, who is described as a Saint and Bishop; and as his diocese is not mentioned, it is possible that he was a Chorepis

deyrn, whose descent is traced in the ninth, or according to others in the fifteenth degree from Beli Mawr; but the older and better supported authority of Nennius must be preferred. The discrepancy coincides with the time of the retirement of the Romans, and the names given by Nennius are no more than might easily have been retained from the period before that crisis.

* See the old Editions of the Welsh Common Prayer.

+"Ni bydd coeg gweddi Cynllo." Dyhuddiant Elphin. My vyrian Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 83.

Son of Morfawr ab Cadfan ab Cynan, in Table I.

uncommon.

copus or local Bishop, an office which was at this time not An island off the coast of Carnarvonshire is called after him, in which are the ruins of a small chapel, dedicated to the same person,* and subject, as it would seem, to the church of Llaneingion Frenhin on the main land. Another church in the neighbourhood is named Tudweiliog, but the word is more descriptive of a district or clan of followers than of a religious edifice; and Carlislet says that the parish festival is that of St. Cwyfen, which is holden on the third of June. Tudwal Befr was married to Nefydd, daughter of Brychan, and is reported to have had a son, Ifor ab Tudwal, who is said to have been a Saint, but no churches are ascribed to him.‡

The Saints of the family of Cystennyn Gorneu are, Erbin ab Cystennyn Gorneu, and Digain his brother;§ to the latter of whom the foundation of Llangerniw, or the "church of the Cornishman," in Denbighshire, is attributed. His festival is held Nov. 21.

The date of some of the descendants of Vortigern renders it necessary to place the age of his son, Gwrthefyr or Vortimer, in this generation; and though this arrangement differs from the chronology which has been generally followed, it is agreed on all hands that both these persons were engaged in active life together, and the inference to be drawn is that Vortimer was born when his father had scarcely passed the time of youth. It would appear, however, that the monkish chronologists have placed the era of Vortigern several years too late;

Is there any tradition that this chapel was actually founded by St. Tudwal; its peculiar situation would prevent it from becoming afterwards a parish church?

+ Topographical Dictionary.-Browne Willis states that Tudweiliog is a chapel, subordinate to Llangwynodl, and dedicated to St. Cwyfen.

Qu. Is not Llanstadwel, Pembrokeshire, an abbreviation of Llansant. tudwal ?

§ In Table VII. Digain was erroneously shown to be a son of Erbin.

for they extend his reign from A. D. 448 to 464, when he is superseded by his son for four years, countably reigns again until A. D. 481.

after which he unacAll this is inconsis

tent with their statement that Vortimer, who is known from a respectable authority* to have died before the battle of Crayford in 457, was of age to take the chief command of the Britons in the field so early as 455; and though it is uncertain how long Vortigern may have survived his son, it is probable that the date usually assigned to his deposition is in truth the date of his decease. Vortimer, who has been surnamed Bendigaid, or the Blessed," has been accounted a Saint; and as he was not an ecclesiastic, the honour is perhaps due to his care in restoring those churches which had been destroyed by the Saxons, and the respect which he paid to men of religion.t In the Triads he is styled one of the three canonized kings of Britain.

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The sons of Cunedda were all of them warriors, and though several of his grandchildren might have flourished in this generation, the order of succession would be better preserved by referring them to the next. The name of Ceredig ab Cunedda, the time in which he lived, and the situation of his territories, determine him to be the hero of the following rencounter with St. Patrick; and the circumstances of the incident, which exhibit a curious picture of the manners of the age, are thus related by Mr. Moore in his "History of

* Henry of Huntingdon.

+ Matthæus Florilegus says "Vortimerus, victoriam adeptus, cœpit possessiones amissas civibus indigenis restituere, ipsosque diligere, Ecclesias destructas restaurare, atque viros Ecclesiasticos, præcipuè religiosos, honorare."-(Usher De Primordiis, Cap. XII.) "Gwedy kaffael o Werthyfyr e wudugolyaeth dechreu a oruc talw y pawb tref y dat ac eu kyvoeth or ar rydugassey e sayson y arnadunt. ac y gyt a henny hevyt karu y wyrda ac eu hanrydedu ac o arch Garmawn ae kynghor adnewydhau er eglwyseu."-Brut G. ab Arthur. Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II. p. 252.

*

Ireland."- "The event, in consequence of which the Saint addressed his indignant letter to Coroticus, the only authentic writing, besides the Confession, we have from his hand, is supposed to have taken place during his stay on the Munster coast, about the year 450. A British prince, named Coroticus, who, though professing to be a Christian, was not the less, as appears from his conduct, a pirate and persecutor, had landed with a party of armed followers, while St. Patrick was on the coast, and set about plundering a large district in which, on the very day before, the Saint had baptized and confirmed a vast number of converts. Having murdered several of these persons, the pirates carried off a considerable number of captives, and then sold them as slaves to the Picts and Scots, who were at that time engaged in their last joint excursion into Britain. A letter despatched by the Saint to the marauders, requesting them to restore the baptized captives, and part of the booty, having been treated with contumely, he found himself under the necessity of forthwith issuing the solemn epistle which has come down to us, in which, denouncing Coroticus and his followers as robbers and marauders, he in his capacity of Bishop established in Ireland' declares them to be excommunicated.”

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The family most distinguished in the Church during the present interval was that of Brychan, who is said, in Bonedd y Saint, to have been the father of twenty four sons and twenty five daughters, in all forty nine children!! Statements, however, vary, of which this is the largest. The smallest statement is twenty four for the whole number. In explanation it is said that he had three wives,† though it is not mentioned that they were living at the same time; and it appears

* In some printed accounts of St. Patrick, this name is spelled-Coreticus, and Cereticus, the latter of which is but a slight deviation from the Welsh orthography.

+ Eurbrawst, Rhybrawst, and Peresgri.

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