Triers. Several fables are related by Nennius and others as to the acts of his second mission, the whole circumstances of which are too absurd to repeat. One of them is in brief:Ketelus, or Cadellus, the swineherd of Benly, king of Powys, offered the Saint that hospitality which had been refused by his master; in consequence of which Benly was deposed by the Saint, and the swineherd was elected in his room, whose descendants continued afterwards to possess the territory.* It so happens that the Welsh accounts mention the name of Benlli Gawr, who, according to Mr. Owen,† was a chieftain of a district in the present county of Denbigh about the middle of the fifth century; but he was succeeded by his son Beli. By Ketelus is meant Cadell Deyrnllug," a prince of the Vale Royal and part of Powys," who rose into power about this time. These facts show that there is some foundation for the story, though they are no proof of its correctness. It is remarkable that there is a church dedicated to St. Germanus, called Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, in the district which might have been part of the possessions of either Cadell or Benlli; and a chapel, subject to the church of an adjoining parish, is called Llanarmon Fach.

Another story relates that Vortigern endeavoured in a council of the Britons, held in Gwrtheyrnion, to palm upon the Saint the fruit of his own incest; for which he was cursed by the Saint and the whole body of the clergy assembled; and that afterwards Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, to appease the Saint, gave him the lands upon which he suffered the insult to be his for ever. Gwrtheyrnion is a district of Radnorshire,

See Usher, De Primordiis, Cap. XI, who attributes this tale to the first mission; but the arrangement here attempted is more consistent with chronology. The names are given according to Gildas, as of better authority than Ranulphus Cestrensis.

+Cambrian Biography.

Nennius, as quoted in Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol. I page 52, says that Cadell Deyrnllug was converted and baptized by St. Germanus.

forming the present hundred of Rhayader; and there is in it at this day a church, which under the name of St. Harmon's is ascribed to St. Germanus. Whether these stories were invented to account for the origin of the churches, or whether the churches owe their dedications to the previous existence of the stories, is more than can be determined; but the coincidence is singular.

The festival of St. Germanus was observed July 31, or, according to other authorities, August 1. The churches, the foundations of which may be ascribed to him, are—Llanarmon in Iâl, Denbighshire, Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, ditto, St. Harmon's, Radnorshire, and Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire; and the chapels dedicated to him aree-Llanarmon under Llangybi, Carnarvonshire, Bettws Garmon under Llanfair Isgaer, ditto, Capel Garmon under Llanrwst, Denbighshire, and

Llanarmon Fach under Llandegfan, ditto.den algu That Germanus effected a great change in the religious condition of the Britons is not unlikely from the respect so generally paid to his name; and it may be observed that there are no parish churches in Wales which can be traced to a higher date than his first visit, and even those that may be so ancient are few. Parochial churches did not belong to the early ages of Christianity. According to the concurring testimony of ecclesiastical writers, the clergy lived for some time in towns in communities under their Bishop, from whence they itinerated about the country, and on their return brought with them the offerings which they had collected for the common support of the society. But about the beginning of this. century the ecclesiastical system was undergoing a change, and Germanus would regulate the British Church after the model of the Gallican. Accordingly, in the Council of Vaison in Gaul A. D. 442, a decree was made "that country parishes should have presbyters to preach in them as well as the city-churches ;*-—and to the influence of this circumstance,

*Bingham's Ecclesiastical Antiquities, Book IX. Chap. 8. Section 1.

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, M Guitolin, M'ap Glou;" and the following is the pedigree of his descendants according to Achau y Saint:

* 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.

copus or local Bishop, an office which was at this time not uncommon. 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 Llanstad wel, Pembrokeshire, an abbreviation of Llansant. tudwal?

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