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they bear is evident in the instance of Merthyr Dyfan, the designation of which implies that it was a martyrium, and the erection of places of worship of this description did not commence before the fourth century. Ecton, or rather Browne Willis, asserts that the patron Saint of Merthyr Dyfan was Teilo; it is not known upon what authority he gives the name, but if he were correct, it might be said that the church was founded in memoriam martyris Duviani by Teilo in the sixth century. The most safe conclusion is that these four churches were built at a later age to the memory of the persons whose names they bear, and in situations which tradition reported to have been the scene of their labours.

The monkish historians mention that Elfan was the second Bishop of London; and, according to the authors of the Latin account of the origin of the church of Llandaff, it would appear that he was ordained a Bishop at the time of his visit to Rome, while his companion Medwy, was created a Doctor. Upon these points the Welsh authorities are silent; and all that is related of Elfan is that he presided over a congregation of Christians at Glastonbury; but this allusion to the church founded by Joseph of Arimathea savours of a monkish origin. The monks are also prolix in their detail of the acts of Dyfan and Ffagan in various parts of Britain; but setting the legends aside, it will be sufficient to add, to the little information to be gleaned from the Welsh historical remains, the supposition that the former suffered martyrdom at the place now called "Merthyr Dyfan ;" and as for Ffagan and the rest, the conjecture may be hazarded that they lived and died in Glamorganshire, as in this county alone they seem to retain traces of

"A local habitation and a name."

SECTION V.

An Examination of the early Welsh Pedigrees, with a view to ascertain the period about which the commencement of their authenticity may

be dated.

WITH the foregoing Saints is concluded the list for the second century. From the age of Lleurwg, the Triads and the Poems of the Bards present a perfect blank until the time of Macsen Wledig, generally supposed to be Maximus, Emperor of Rome, who began to reign A. D. 383. But not so the Genealogists, for they carry the ancestry of the British Chieftains and Saints, without interruption, through the period of Roman ascendancy. The alleged descendants of Bran Fendigaid are, therefore, drawn up in a tabular form, as it appears on the opposite side.

This pedigree is arranged according to the "Cambrian Biography," where each connecting link may be found upon reference to most of the names included, but more especially under the names Caradog ab Iestin, Cadfrawd, Tudwal Befr, and Eldad. The names printed in Italics are those of reputed Saints, and the rest are introduced for the sake of preserving the lineage unbroken. It has been already stated that genealogy, if its details be at all complicated, can hardly fail of betraying itself whenever it is not founded in fact. Thus Ystrafael, the daughter of Cadfan, is said to have been the wife of Coel Godebog; and she is placed in the pedigree in the

*It is to be regretted that Dr. Owen Pughe, to whom Welsh literature is already under greater obligations than to any other individual, does not favour the public with a new and enlarged edition of this useful work.

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The

seventh generation from Llyr Llediaith inclusive. The ancestry of Coel Godebog is also given under his name in the Cambrian Biography, and the number of generations there enumerated agrees with the statements usually given. ancestor of Coel, according to that list contemporary with Llyr Llediaith was Afallach; but from Afallach to Coel there are fourteen generations, precisely double the number of those from Llyr Llediaith to Ystrafael, the wife of Coel; and this large discrepancy must have happened in the short space of 250 years, for Afallach and Llyr Llediaith were of a generation commencing with the Christian era, while Coel Godebog is stated to have lived about the middle of the third century. There are reasons for placing Coel a few generations later than the date usually assigned him; but Ystrafael must also be brought down to the same period, and, early or late, both lineages cannot be true together. It is possible and often happens that a son is born after his father is fifty years of age, but the accident must be repeated twice before a century can pass with only two generations; the line of Ystrafael would render it necessary for the accident to happen five or six times in regular succession. It happens equally as often that a son is born when his father is twenty five years of age or under, but this accident must be repeated four times successively before a century can pass with four generations; in the line of Coel the accident must have happened about fourteen times in about three centuries and a half. But in every examination of well authenticated genealogies the accidents generally correct each other, and the average in a long pedigree is three generations to a century.* In this respect, whenever the

* From the birth of William the Conqueror A. D. 1027 to the birth of William the Fourth A. D. 1765, twenty four generations may be reckoned, the average duration of each of which is thirty years and nine months; and the proportion is maintained under the disadvantage of a succession, in every possible case, of elder children.

Welsh pedigrees attempt to penetrate the Roman-British period they are all of them faulty.* With the exception of the line of Eudaf ab Caradog ab Bran, already given, they are during this period a mere string of names, without a single marriage, plurality of issue, or reference to historical events, by which their correctness may be determined. Those which pass through the period in question are five in number, two of which have been given already, and the remainder may be added by way of illustration.

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* In the first table it may be noticed, that the date of Teithfallt, the seventeenth descendant from Llyr Llediaith in one line is A. D. 430; while that of Cystennyn Goronog, the ninth descendant in another line, is

A. D. 542.

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