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be endued with miraculous powers even at present. His wake is held in the month of August, while the festival of St. Hilary occurs on the thirteenth of January.

Beuno was the son of Hywgi or Bugi ab Gwynllyw Filwr and Perfferen daughter of Llewddyn Luyddog of Dinas Eiddyn in the North. He was, therefore, nearly related to Cattwg and Kentigern, with the latter of whom he was contemporary. Few particulars of his life are known, though it must have extended into the following century, as it is recorded that he founded a religious society at Clynnog Fawr in Carnarvonshire in 616. The land, upon which the college or monastery of Clynnog was built, was granted by Cadfan, the reigning prince of North Wales, to whom St. Beuno gave a small golden sceptre as an acknowledgement for the donation. He was in his old age one of the instructors of Gwenfrewi or St. Winefred; his festival is April 21; and the churches and chapels dedicated to him are the following:

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Berriew, alias Aber-rhiw, V. Montgomeryshire.

Bettws, V. Mont.

Llanycil, R. Merionethshire.

Gwyddelwern,* R. Merioneth.

Clynnog Fawr, R. Carnarvonshire.

Carngiwch, a chapel to Edeyrn (St. Edeyrn,) Carn.
Pistyll, a chapel to Edeyrn (St. Edeyrn,) Carn.

"Penmorfa, R.-1 chapel, Dolbenmaen (St. Mary,) Carn. Aberffraw, R.-1 chapel, Capel Mair (St. Mary,) Anglesey. Trefdraeth, R.-1 chapel, Llangwyfen (St. Cwyfen,) Anglesey. 'Llanfeuno, a chapel to Clodock (St. Clydog,) Herefordshire.

Cannen, the son of Gwyddlew ab Gwynllyw Filwr, is presumed to have been the founder of Llanganten, near Builth, Brecknockshire.

Gwodloew, the son of Glywys Cerniw ab Gwynllyw Filwr, is said to have been at first a teacher in the college of Cattwg, and afterwards bishop of Llandaff; but the last assertion is

* Built by St. Beuno on land granted to him by Cynan ab Erochwel Ysgythrog, prince of Powys.-Cambrian Register, Vol. I.

incorrect, as "Guodloiu" in the catalogue of bishops of Llandaff* must have lived at an age too late for the son of Glywys Cerniw.

Meugan or Meigant, a son of Gwyndaf Hên ab Emyr Llydaw and Gwenonwy the daughter of Meurig prince of Glamorgan, was originally a member of the college of Iltutus, from whence he removed to the college of Dubricius at Caerleon, of which society his father was the president. In his old age he retired to Bardsey, where he died. He may be deemed the founder of Llanfeugan, Brecknockshire; and the chapels consecrated to his memory are St, Moughan's under Llangattwg Feibion Afel, Monmouthshire; and Capel Meugan, formerly subject to Llandegfan, Anglesey. Two poems, composed by Meugan, who is thought to have been the same person as the saint, are inserted in the Myvyrian Archaiology.

Melangell, the daughter of Tudwal Tudglyd of the line of Macsen Wledig, was the foundress of Pennant Melangell,† Montgomeryshire. She was a sister of Rhydderch Hael of Strath Clyde; and her mother was Ethni, surnamed Wyddeles or the Irish-woman. Festival, May 27.

Dingad, the son of Nudd Hael of the line of Macsen Wledig, is called a saint, but no churches are ascribed to him. His wife was Tonwy or Trefrïan, a daughter of Llewddyn Luyddog of Dinas Eiddyn.‡

Llidnerth ab Nudd, a brother of Dingad, and a saint.

* He is the eleventh bishop in Godwin's list, and is mentioned as contemporary with Maredudd, king of Dyfed, about A. D. 790.

"It is distinguished from other Pen Nants by the addition of Melangeli, i. e. Monacella, the patron saint, whose Latin Legend is still extant; her history is also rudely sculptured on the gallery of the church; and several of her relics are still (1811) shown to the credulous, who happen to visit this sequestered spot. The cell of Diva Monacella is in a rock near the church."-Carlisle's Topography.

+ Page 261, antea.

Clydno Eiddyn, Cynan, Cynfelyn Drwsgl, and Cadrod, sons of Cynwyd Cynwydion of the line of Coel Godebog, were chieftains of North Britain, who are said to have embraced a religious life.*

Cawrdaf, the son of Caradog Fraichfras of the line of Coel, succeeded his father as sovereign of Brecknockshire, and is distinguished in the Triads for his extensive influence, for whenever he went to battle the whole population of the country attended at his summons.† He is said to have embraced a religious life in the college of Illtyd; and Llangoed, a chapel subordinate to Llaniestin, Anglesey, is dedicated to him in conjunction with his brother Tangwn. It has been suggested that the name of Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire, is derived from Cawrdaf, though the more obvious meaning of the word is "the church of the holy man," without intending to describe any particular saint. The festival of St. Cawrdaf is Dec. 5; while the wake of Llanwrda depends upon Nov. 12, or All Saints' Day, Old Style.

Cadfarch, a brother of Cawrdaf, was the founder of Penegos, Montgomeryshire, and Abererch, Carnarvonshire. Festival, Oct. 24.

Tangwn, brother of Cawrdaf, was one of the saints to whom Llangoed, Anglesey, is dedicated.

Maethlu or Amaethlu, brother of Cawrdaf, the founder of Llanfaethlu, Anglesey, and possibly of Llandy falle, Brecknockshire. The syllable dy is introduced into the last name upon the same principle as Llandy faelog is formed from Maelog; both the names so formed occur in Brecknockshire, while the corresponding appellations in Anglesey omit it.§ Festival, Dec. 26.

* Cambrian Biography, voce Cynwyd Cynwydion.

Triad 41, Third Series.

Jones's Brecknockshire, Vol. I. p. 70.

§ Page 231, antea.

Tewdwr Brycheiniog, the son of Nefydd ab Nefydd Ail ab Rhun ab Brychan, a saint of whom nothing more is known than his pedigree.

Ciwg, the son of Aron ab Cynfarch of the line of Coel, was the founder of Llangiwg, commonly called Llanguke, in Glamorganshire.

Elaeth, sometimes styled Elaeth Frenhin or "the king," was the son of Meurig ab Idno of the tribe of Coel, and Onen Grêg, a daughter of Gwallog ab Llenog. In the former part of his life he was a chieftain in the North, from whence he was driven by a reverse of fortune to spend the remainder of his days in the college of Seiriol in Anglesey, and he is also considered to have been the founder of the church of Amlwch in that county. He was a bard, and a few religious stanzas attributed to him are preserved in the Myvyrian Archaiology. Festival, Nov. 10.

Saeran, a saint, is said to have been the son of Geraint, surnamed Saer, or "the artisan,” of Ireland. He was buried at Llanynys, Denbighshire, from which circumstance that church has been thought to have been dedicated to him; but its original founder, according to Llywarch Hên, was Mor ab Ceneu ab Coel. According to Usher, Kieranus filius artificis was an eminent saint who founded the bishoprick of Cloyne in Ireland between the years 520 and 550; and the similarity of the names suggests the idea that he was the same person as Geraint Saer, the father of Saeran, in which case the Welsh appellation ought to have been written Geraint ab Saer.

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The period just passed over includes the principal part of the lives of Aneurin, Taliesin, Llywarch Hên, and Myrddin, four bards, of whose compositions a very considerable portion has remained to posterity; and rude and obscure as these poems may seem to a modern reader, they should be received with the indulgence due to their antiquity, for they are perhaps the earliest specimen of a vernacular literature possessed

by any of the existing nations of Europe. They are, however, not destitute of the spirit of poetry, and their violation of the rules of criticism is amply compensated by their value as his-. torical records; for they abound in allusions to passing events, and when their scattered notices are collected together and embodied, an interesting dissertation may be written upon the history and manners of the times. The names of several other bards of this date are preserved, whose works are entirely lost. But the question more deeply interesting to the ecclesiastical historian, as well as to the best feelings of the Christian, is— Did the Welsh at this early age possess, in their own language, a version of any part of the sacred Scriptures? Without answering this question absolutely in the negative, it may be said that no traces of such a version have yet been discovered, and it is to be feared that in this respect the British Church was not so highly favoured as the Anglo-Saxon.* But the disadvantages of the former will appear much lessened when it is remembered that the Latin language must have been known in Wales to a considerable extent; for the Britons had formed a part of the Roman empire, from which they had not been separated a full century before the establishment of the monastic institutions so often noticed; and if the system of instruction adopted in those communities was conducted in Latin, as was the case in similar institutions on the continent, it must have had a powerful tendency to preserve the knowledge of a language, in which the government of the people had so lately been administered.

* About the year 706, Aldhelm, the first bishop of Sherborne, translated the Psalter into Saxon: and at his earnest persuasion, Egbert or Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, soon afterwards executed a Saxon version of the four Gospels. Not many years after this, the learned and venerable Bede, who died A. D. 735, translated the entire Bible into that language.

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