year 560.* cumstance that their father was living so late as the Dunawd, therefore, was not a saint till near the close of the past generation, about which time he might have founded the monastery of Bangor Iscoed. The monastery of Bangor' Deiniol was founded afterwards; and the situation of Deiniol in his own pedigree assigns him to the present generation, which agrees also with the time when Maelgwn Gwynedd, his acknowledged patron, was at the height of his power. Stress is laid upon this point, as it involves the date of the foundation of the present bishoprick of Bangor; but the churches attributed to Deiniol are few, and not disposed in such a way as to afford a criterion for ascertaining the extent of his diocese. He was consecrated, probably, by St. David, as there is reason to assert that he and his relatives lived for some time under the protection of that saint at Llanddewi Brefi,† where churches still retain their names; but the synod of Brefi and the death of Dubricius were events which must have happened when he was a child. Few particulars of his life can be collected, for tradition and the legendary writers have been all but silent respecting him. It is said that he was a bard, though none of his poems remain. He was buried in the Isle *He survived Ida, the king of the Angles, whose death is placed in 559-Compare Nennius with the Saxon Chronicle. Gwynfardd, enumerating the privileges of St. David at Brefi, says, that he had the happiness To have around him, about his plains, Men liberal and kindly disposed, and fair towns; He ensured protection to a quiet people, The tribe of Daniel, highly exalted, their equal A bod o'i gylchyn, cylch ei faesydd, Llwyth Daniel oruchel, eu hefelydd Nid oes, yn cadw oes, a moes, a mynudydd. of Bardsey, and his memory has been celebrated on the tenth of December. The churches founded by him were, Llanddeiniol in Cardiganshire, which is perhaps due to his connexion with St. David at Llanddewi Brefi; Llanddeiniol, or Itton, Monmouthshire; Hawarden, Flintshire; and Llanuwchlyn, Merionethshire: and the chapels under his tutelage are, Worthenbury, Flintshire, formerly subject to Bangor Iscoed, but now a separate benefice;* and St. Daniel's, subject to Monktown, Pembrokeshire. Cynwyl, a brother of Deiniol, appears also to have lived under the protection of St. David, and has been deemed the founder of Cynwyl Gaio, the church of a parish adjoining that of Llanddewi Brefi. Another trace of this family may be found in the name of Llansawel, a chapel subordinate to Cynwyl Gaio, which is dedicated to Sawyl, the uncle of Deiniol. The churches of Cynwyl Elfed, Carmarthenshire, and Aberporth, Cardiganshire, have likewise been attributed to Cynwyl, and according to Ecton he is the patron saint of Penrhos, a chapel under Abererch, Carnarvonshire. He assisted at the establishment of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed; and his wake or saint's day is April 30. Gwarthan, another brother of Deiniol, assisted at the establishment of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed, but nothing further is known respecting him. Cynfelyn, a son of Bleiddyd ab Meirion of the line of Cunedda, was the founder of Llangynfelyn, Cardiganshire; and of a church at Welsh Pool, Montgomeryshire, which was probably connected with the religious society established there by his brother, Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd. *Separated by Act of Parliament in the second year of William and Mary.-B. Willis. + The Ordnance map notices an upright stone in this neighbourhood, which it calls "Crossgonwell," i. e. Croes Gynwyl, or St. Cynwyl's Cross. Page 207, antea. Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd ab Tegonwy ab Teon, by mistake for Llewelyn ab Bleiddyd ab Meirion ab Tibion, is said to have founded a religious house at Trallwng, now called Welsh Pool. He ended his days in the monastery of Bardsey. Mabon, a brother of Llewelyn, is presumed to have been the founder of Rhiwfabon, Denbighshire. Cynudyn ab Bleiddyd ab Meirion, was a dean of the college of Padarn at Llanbadarn Fawr. Lewis Morris suggests that a stone in the churchyard of Llanwnws, Cardiganshire, with the inscription "Canotinn" was a monument to the memory of this person.* Gwynlleu, the son of Cyngar ab Arthog of the line of Cunedda, was probably the founder of Nantgwnlle, Cardiganshire. Eurgain, daughter of Maelgwn Gwynedd and wife of Elidyr Mwynfawr, was the foundress of Llaneurgain, or Northop, Flintshire. Cyndeyrn or St. Kentigern, according to Bonedd y Saint was the son of Owain ab Urien Rheged and Dwynwent the daughter of Llewddyn Lueddog of Dinas Eiddyn‡ in the north. According to John of Teignmouth he was born in North Britain, where he was placed under the instruction of Servanus, an Irish saint; and it is said that he earned the esteem of his instructor to such a degree that he was styled by him Mwyngu or "amiable," which later writers have rendered into St. Mungo, a name by which he is frequently known. When he grew up he founded the bishoprick of Glasgow, or, as the Welsh writers term the place, Penryn Rhionydd; but after a time the dissensions of his countrymen forced him to retire to Wales, where he was kindly received by St. David. * Myv. Archaiology, Vol. II.-This stone is not noticed in Meyrick's Cardiganshire. John of Teignmouth calls her "Tanen." Dinas Eiddyn is almost a literal translation of Edenburgh. While he remained in Wales he founded another bishoprick at Llanelwy in Flintshire about A. D. 550; and though in its establishment he experienced some opposition from Maelgwn Gwynedd, that chieftain was eventually reconciled and became one of his patrons. After a few years he was recalled to his native country by "Rederech" or Rhydderch Hael, chief of the Strath Clyde Britons; and resigning the see of Llanelwy to Asaf, one of his disciples, he resumed the bishoprick of Glasgow, at which place he died at an advanced age.† He has been a great favourite with the legendary writers, who, in order to enlist his name in behalf of the prerogatives of Rome, have asserted that, being dissatisfied with the mode of his consecration, he applied to the Pope intreating his Holiness to rectify its irregularities. The following is Cressy's elucidation of the subject: "When he was come to an age wherein he might dispose his own actions, the man of God, Kentigern, went from his Master (Servanus) to a place called Glashu,† where he lived alone in great abstinence, untill the King and Clergy of that Region, calld then Cumbria (now Galloway) together with other Christians, who were but few, chose him for their Pastour and Bishop, notwithstanding the utmost resistance he could make. And sending for one single Bishop out of Ireland they caused him to be consecrated after the then usuall custome among the Brittains and Scotts. For at that time a practise had gott footing to use no other Ceremonies in the Consecration of a Bishop, but onely the infusion of Sacred Chrism on their heads with invocation of the Holy Spirit, benediction, and imposition of hands. For those Islanders, * St. Asaph. + There are several churches dedicated to St. Kentigern in Cumberland, which remain as monuments of the occupation of that country by the Britons. Qu. Glasgow ? removed as it were from the World, by meanes of their continuall infestations by Pagans, were become ignorant in the Ecclesiasticall Canons. For which reason the Law of the Church condescended to them, and admitted an excuse in this regard, so that Ecclesiasticall censures did not touch them. * But a more authentic proof of the respect and dependance which the British Churches had of the Roman cannot be imagined, then the behaviour of S. Kentigern himself. For being afterwards afflicted in his mind for the foresaid defects in his Ordination, he did not seek for Counsel or remedy from any Metropolitans in Brittany, Ireland, or France, but onely from Rome and the Supreme Bishop thereof, to whom the Custody of Ecclesiasticall Canons was by the Church committed, and who had authority to enjoyn the observation of them, to punish the transgression, and to supply or dispence with the defects either by negligence or necessity occurring in the execution of them. This is expressly declared by John of Tinmouth in his prosecution of the Life of S. Kentigern : where he tells us, 'That the Man of God went seaven severall times to Rome, where he simply and particularly layd open his whole life, his Election, Consecration, and all the accidents which had befalln him to S. Gregory the speciall Apostle of the English. Upon which the Holy Pope perceiving that he was a sincere man of God and full of the Grace of God's holy Spirit, confirm'd his Consecration, knowing that it came from God. Moreover at his often and earnest request, yet with great unwillingnes, he condescended to supply those small defects which were wanting in his Consecration, and having done this he dismissed him to the work of the Ministry which was enjoyned him by the Holy Ghost.'-Hence appears that in the Ordination of S. Kentigern nothing was omitted that was of any necessity, since it was only upon his importunity and for satisfaction of his Scrupulosity that S. Gregory supplied the omission of certain Rites required by the Canons. The greatest fault that the Holy Bishop could impute to him |
