Slike strani
PDF
ePub

which, according to Mr. Theophilus Jones, is to be found the well of the saint, and the situation of her oratory may yet be traced. The St. Cadoc here mentioned was Cattwg, the son of Gwynllyw Filwr and founder of Llangattock Crickhowel, of which Llangeneu is one of the subordinate chapelries. From the omission of Ceneu in several of the lists, it may be inferred that she was a grand-daughter, and in that case Cattwg would be her sister's son ; but if she were a daughter of Brychan, and Cattwg were her great nephew, it would by no means violate the unity of the story; and it is obvious that Cadog, the son of Brychan, was not the person intended, as he must have been either the brother or uncle of Ceneu, and not her nephew, The oratory alluded to was situated on a hill at some distance from the present church of Llangeneu; and if it were founded by the saint herself, as the legend would imply, its subordinate condition, for its modern representative is only a chapelry, would seem to violate the principle laid down in the first section of this Essay, namely, that upon the institution of tithes, and consequent division of the country into parishes, every primitive religious edifice received a separate endowment. It is clear, however, that the legend is a fabrication, for it does not appear why an oratory, of such high antiquity and honoured with so many sacred recollections, should afterwards be neglected, and its very name transferred to a church in another situation; but the following passage from the tale, in the words of Cressy, will explain that it was of late erection, and built by some foreign devotees who pretended to discover the burying-place of the saint.—“ Some time before her death she had a prospect of her eternal happiness in a future world in a vision, being ministered to and comforted by angels, when she thus prophesied to her nephew St. Cadoc;-this is the place of all others beloved by me, here my memory shall be perpetuated, this place will I often visit in spirit if it may be permitted me, and I am assured it shall be permitted me, because the Lord hath granted me this place

[ocr errors]

as a certain inheritance. The time will come when this place shall be inhabited by a sinful people, which, notwithstanding, I will violently root out of this seat. My tomb shall lie a long time unknown, until the coming of other people, whom by my prayers I shall bring hither; them will I protect and defend, and in this place shall the name of the Lord be blessed for ever."

According to Jones's Brecknockshire, Ellyw or Elyw, whose name is not mentioned in any of the lists, was a grand-daughter of Brychan. With her may have originated the establishment of Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, subject to which are Llangennech and the extinct chapels of Dewi, (St. David,) Ifan, (St. John,) and Berwick or Dyddgen chapel. The church of Llanelieu, Brecknockshire, is called after her; and she is also the patron of Llanelly, subject to Llangattock Crickhowel in the same county, where her wake is held on the Sunday next before the first of August O. S. and renders it probable that her name is only an abbreviation of Elined, already noticed, upon whose festival the wake depends.*

The legendst relate that the spiritual instructor of Brychan was Drichan or Brynach, who is called in the Triads Brynach Wyddel or the Irishman, and is said to have married Corth or Cymorth, one of the daughters of Brychan, by whom he had four children already mentioned. He is considered to be the founder of Llanfrynach, Brecknockshire, Llanfrynach alias Penllîn, Glamorganshire, Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire, and Llanfernach, Dinas, and Nefern, Pembrokeshire.‡ It may also be inferred, from the analogy of similar cases, that Henry's Moat, and Pontfaen, in the neighbourhood of the three latter, which Ecton ascribes to St. Bernard, should be

* History of Brecknockshire, Vol. II. p. 473.

+ The Cognacio, and an English legend cited in the History of Brecknockshire, Vol. I.

Eglwys Fair Lan Tâf. (St. Mary,) chapel to Llanboidy; and Cil gwyn, (St. Mary,) chapel to Nefern.

attributed to Brynach, whose parishes would thus form a continuous endowment which was afterwards disturbedby the Norman Lords of Cemmaes. The parish of Clydai, and the localities of Cymorth and Cenedlon, are inmediately adjoining, if not partly included in, the district. Cressy states that "St. Bernach" was an abbot, and that he is commemorated in the Church on the seventh of the Ides of April.

According to the Cognacio, the spiritual instructor of Cynog, the eldest son of Brychan, was a holy man named Gastayn, to whom the same document attributes the church of Llangasty Tal y Llyn, Brecknockshire. This name may conclude the connexions of a family of saints, which for its celebrity has been styled the third holy family of Britain.

[ocr errors]

It is stated in the Triads that Brychan educated his children and grandchildren to qualify them "to show the faith in Christ. to the nation of the Cymry where they were without faith;" and upon this statement an argument has been grounded to show that there were parts of Wales which had not yet embraced Christianity. Evident proofs remain that the Britons had not entirely emerged from heathenism, and Druidical superstitions were rooted in the minds of the people until late in the following century, which the foundation of churches about this time must have tended mainly to eradicate; still the allegation, that the Welsh race should have been converted by missionaries from a family whose origin was Irish, is so singular as to demand some inquiry into the correctness of the original assertion. The question may be determined by considering the districts in which the churches and chapels dedicated to the family of Brychan, including those of Brynach and Gastayn, are distributed. They are about fifty five in number, out of which twenty two are in Brecknockshire, or

*"Brychan Brycheiniog, a ddug ei blant a'i wyrion ar ddysg a bonedd, fal y gallent ddangos y Ffydd yng Nghrist i Genedl y Cymry, lle ydd oeddynt yn ddiffydd." Triad 18, Third Series.

*

immediately upon its borders. Those situated in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, at that time occupied by the Gwyddyl Ffichti, are sixteen, Five more are in Anglesey, and three of the family settled in the Isle of Man, both occupied by the same tribe. Most of the remaining churches are situated together in Denbighshire; and as parts of North Wales are said to have still continued in the possession of the Irish, it may be judged by analogy that this was one of the districts so retained. The conclusion presented by a consideration of these localities, is, that the people without the faith, who from their settlement in Wales have been mistaken for the nation of the Cymry, were not Welshmen but Irish. The latter race had not received the truths of the Gospel, for this was the age in which St. Patrick was employed in imparting Christianity to their countrymen in Ireland, and in Wales the hostility of the native inhabitants would prevent them from obtaining that blessing: but upon the family of Brychan they could prefer the claim of a kindred origin; and to this, together with the territorial influence of Clydwyn, it may be added, that Brynach, who was adopted into the family, and who for a single member seems to have founded the greatest number of churches, was himself an Irishman.

Saintship in Wales was already a profession, and those who belonged to it were persons, who, in the character of ecclesiastics of various grades, devoted their lives to the service of religion. In the next generation it will be discovered that many of them belonged to an order of primitive monks, such as flourished in Gaul in the fifth century,† and the foundation of several monasteries will soon be noticed. But it is remark

* Cambrian Biography, sub voce Meigyr, from Achau y Saint.

"That there were monks in Gaul long before the time of St. Benedict is evident from the unquestionable authority of Gregory of Tours. It is, however, certain that prior to the sixth century there was no common observance among them; and that though the men, who fled from the world to practise unusual austerities were held in reverence, the new

able that no nunnery is known to have been established in the Principality for several hundred years later than the period under consideration. It is, therefore, an interesting inquirywhat rank did female saints hold in the Church of the ancient Britons? They were not numerous compared with those of the other sex, and by far the largest quota seems to have been furnished by the progeny of Brychan. A review of the list will show that only half the reputed daughters of that prince have received the honours of sanctity. No churches bear the names of the remaining half, no festivals have been kept to their memory, and they are known only as the wives of chieftains. Some, even of those particularized as saints, are described as having married, and become the mothers of children; but it does not appear whether they afterwards renounced the marriage state, or whether, as is more probable, they devoted themselves to religion upon the death of their husbands. A few individuals, however, are specified in the legends as having made a vow of virginity in their youth; and from the contemporary practice of Gaul it may be learned that, before. the institution of nunneries, they were consecrated by bishops, and led religious lives in the society of their kindred. The fact on record, that St. Germanus, while proceeding upon his mission, was a party to a consecration of the nature described, leaves a fair inference that he introduced the custom into Britain.* On the other hand, it was by no means uncommon for men, in this age, to exchange the state of matrimony for

mode of life did not rise to the dignity of an institute, nor obtain any degree of organization."-Europe in the Middle Ages, by S. A. Dunham, Esq. Vol. II. Chap. II.

* "In Gaul, as in other parts of the Christian world, women, previous to the establishment of nunneries, were consecrated to God by bishops; and they led religious lives in the houses of their parents or nearest kindred. There is something peculiarly striking in the manner in which Genevieve, when in her fifteenth year, assumed the irrevocable obligation. She was among the inhabitants of Paris who went forth to receive the two

« PrejšnjaNaprej »