In Llongborth I saw a confused conflict, At Llongborth was Geraint slain, A strenuous warrior from the woodland of Dyfnaint, Ysgin ab Erbin, brother of the preceding, is mentioned in Bonedd y Saint; and to him, perhaps, the name of Llanhesgin, Monmouthshire, may be traced. To this generation belongs Gwynllyw Filwr, the son of Glywys ab Tegid ab Cadell, and chieftain of Gwynllwg or Gwentloog in Monmouthshire, which is supposed to take its name from him. He is called by the Latin writers of the middle ages St. Gundleus, and according to John of Teignmouth he was the eldest of seven brothers, who, in compliance with the custom of gavel-kind, divided the territories of their father between them, the six younger paying homage to Gwynllyw as the elder. He married Gwladus, a grand-daughter of Brychan; and was the father of a large family of children, most of whom resigned their temporal possessions and embraced a life of religion. From the epithet attached to his name it may be judged that he was originally a warrior, but in course of time he surrendered his dominions to his son Cattwg, and built a church where he passed the remainder of his life in great abstinence and devotion.* The church alluded to is supposed to be that of Newport, Monmouthshire, situated in the hundred of Gwentloog, and dedicated to him under the name of St. Woolos. His festival was held on the twenty ninth of March. All the family of Brychan for obvious reasons were described in the last generation, except Dyfrig or St. Dubricius, 'Regno Cadoco filio suo commendato, Ecclesiam construxit, ibique in magnâ abstinentiâ et vitæ sanctimoniâ vivere cœpit."-Johannes Tinmuthensis, apud Usher. * who for his celebrity deserved a more particular notice. Two localities rather ill defined contend for the honour of his birth, namely the banks of the Gwain near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, and the banks of the Wye in Herefordshire. On the part of the former it has been contended that he has been called "Dyfrig of Langweyn, Gwaynianus, and Vaginensis," -vagina being the Latin translation of the Welsh name. "Gwain." On behalf of the latter, the Life of Dubricius by John of Teignmouth, and another by Benedict of Gloucester,+ affirm, that he was born at Miserbdil on the Wye, and that the name was afterwards changed by Dubricius to Mochros. The claims of either place would be equally consistent with the idea that he was a grandson of Brychan, but the Welsh genealogies are silent upon the subject. The weight of evidence is in favour of the latter, as there happen to be in a part of Herefordshire, called Erchenfield, a church (Whitchurch) and two chapels (Ballingham and Hentland, subject to Lugwardine,) which are dedicated to Dubricius, all of which are situated near the Wye. While in Pembrokeshire there is not a single church which bears the name of the saint. As for the translation of Gwain into Vagina, it should not be forgotten that the Latin name of the Wye was Vaga," from which in the corrupt state of the Latin language there would. be no difficulty in forming the adjective Vaginensis. John of Teignmouth says that his mother was Eurdila,§ the daughter of Peiban, a certain regulus of Cambria, but that his father's name was unknown. One of the Warwick chroniclers says that his father was a king of Erging or Erchenfield, by name 66 * Cambrian Register, Vol. II. p. 202. + Benedict was a monk of Gloucester, and his Life of St. Dubricius, written about A. D. 1120, is published in Wharton's Anglia Sacra. Qu. Is not St. Devereux, Herefordshire, a Norman rendering of Dubricius ? § Eurddyl, Pepiau ;* and an old commentator upon the Book of Llandaff asserts that the same statement originally appeared in that document, but that a later hand, wishing to make a correction, had mutilated the manuscript. If these authorities can be depended upon, the unknown person is discovered, for Pabiali, the son of Brychan, is also called Papai; and the hypothesis that Dyfrig was a grandson of Brychan is satisfactorily explained. It is said that he founded a college at Henllan on the Wye, where he remained seven years before he removed to Mochros on the same river; and in support of the assertion it may be said that Hentland in Erchenfield, where on a farm called Lanfrother traces of former importance were lately remaining, is dedicated to St. Dubricius. The other place is supposed to be Moccas, in the same district and not many miles distant. John of Teignmouth gives a list of his most distinguished disciples at Henllan, which it is needless to transcribe as it is not chronologically correct. According to Achau y Saint he was consecrated bishop of Llandaff by St. Germanus, which can hardly be admitted, for Germanus died A. D. 448, and Dubricius was living in 520, so that he must have held his episcopal honours for the improbable period of seventy years. The utmost that can be granted is to suppose with Archbishop Usher, that he was appointed bishop of Llandaff about A. 1). 470, which however is rather too early; and that he was raised by Ambrosius to the archbishoprick of Caerleon, upon the death of Tremounus or Tremorinus, in 490.+ * Usher de Primordiis, Cap. XIII. + De Jure et Fundatione Landavensis Ecclesiæ a Registro Landavensi. "Supra dictus rex Ergic, Peipiau nomine, fuit pater Sancti Dubricii ; prout habetur in Chronicis apud Collegium de Warwick; et supra nomen dicti Regis patris Sancti Dubricii prius rectè scribebatur antiquâ manu, et quidam novellus voluit corrigere, sed scripturam antiquam corripuit et malefecit." (Additamentum recentius.) Wharton's Anglia Sacra. Usher de Primordiis, Cap. V. et Index Chronologicus. In this part of the subject, it is necessary to pause awhile to consider the general state of the Church. It does not appear that the Principality of Wales was in this age divided into dioceses, or that there were any established bishops' sees; for it is generally agreed upon that the bishopricks of St. David's, Llanbadarn, Bangor, and St. Asaph, were not founded till some time in the following century. The archbishoprick of Caerleon was the only exception, and its permanency depended upon the importance which that place had maintained. from the time it was occupied by the Romans. The jurisdiction of its archbishop, according to the rule observable in other parts of the Empire, would be co-extensive with the Roman province of Britannia Secunda; and his suffragans were so many "Chorepiscopi" without any settled place of residence ; thus the names occur of Tudwal in Carnarvonshire, Cynin at Llangynin, Gistlianus at Menevia, Paulinus at Tygwyn, all of whom are called bishops, and to their number may be added Dubricius, bishop of Llandaff. The influence of the latter, together with the liberality of Meurig ab Tewdrig, king of Glamorgan, was the means of making the see of Llandaff permanent ; whence Dubricius is said to have been its first bishop. It appears, however, that after his promotion to the archbishoprick of Caerleon, he still retained the bishoprick of Llandaff; and that he mostly resided at the latter place, from which he is called archbishop of Llandaff.§ But that the title still belonged to Caerleon, is clear from the fact that St. David, his successor in the primacy, was appointed archbishop of Caerleon; and though the bishoprick of Llan In strictness the see of St. David's may be said to have commenced with Gistlianus, but as it had no diocese until it is was formed into an archbishoprick by St. David, its existence is usually dated from that event. + Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book II; and Stillingfleet's Origines Britannica, Chap. II. Registrum Landavense apud Godwin et Usher. § Achau y Saint, Registrum Landavense, and Godwin's Bishops. daff merged into the archbishoprick in the person of Dubricius, it was not extinguished; for, upon his resignation of the primacy, Teilo was appointed bishop of Llandaff, as if the title had been kept distinct. St. David, after his election, removed the archiepiscopal see from Caerleon to Menevia, where he had lived before as Chorepiscopus. His successor was Cynog, who was translated to Menevia from Llanbadarn.* The third primate after Dubricius was Teilo, who, having appointed a suffragan at Menevia, continued his residence at Llandaff;t and is therefore styled its archbishop; but the migratory nature of the primacy seems to have weakened its stability, and it is not certain who was the next metropolitan. The partizans of the church of Llandaff, at a later time, contended that St. Oudoceus, its third bishop, succeeded to the archiepiscopal honours of Teilo;§ while the clergy of Menevia, who exhibit the name of Teilo in their own catalogue, maintained that Ceneu, their fourth archbishop, transmitted the primacy to a long list of successors. From a comparison of a variety of testimonies, it appears that upon the death of Teilo, the dignity sunk between contending parties; and at the time of the conference between St. Augustine and the British bishops it does not seem to have retained its existence. The title was, however, occasionally assumed by the different prelates who contended for it; and in the year 809 there were no less than three candidates for supremacy, a claim having been set up by the bishop of Bangor.* The bishops of Wales, as well as its princes, were jealous of each * Giraldus Cambrensis. + Usher de Primordiis, Cap. XIV. p, 560. Godwin. Usher, Cap. V. § Usher, Cap. V. p. 85. || Bede, Lib. I. Cap. 27, Lib. II. Cap. 2.—Giraldi Retractationes, apud Wharton. * "Oed Crist 809, y bu farw Elfod Archescob Gwynedd, ac y bu diffyg ar yr haul, ac y bu terfysg mawr ym mhlith y Gwyr Eglwysig achaws y |
