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A68397 The breuiary of Britayne As this most noble, and renowmed iland, was of auncient time deuided into three kingdomes, England, Scotland and Wales. Contaynyng a learned discourse of the variable state, [and] alteration therof, vnder diuers, as wel natural: as forren princes, [and] conquerours. Together with the geographicall description of the same, such as nether by elder, nor later writers, the like hath been set foorth before. Writen in Latin by Humfrey Lhuyd of Denbigh, a Cambre Britayne, and lately Englished by Thomas Twyne, Gentleman.; Commentarioli Britannicae descriptionis fragmentum. English Llwyd, Humphrey, 1527-1568.; Twyne, Thomas, 1543-1613. 1573 (1573) STC 16636; ESTC S108126 73,902 228

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nothyng troubled with hunger nor cold neither wearied with martial affayres neither fallynge into desperation by aduersitie but soone redie to rise vp after a fall and prest by and by agayne to assay the peril of war as in battayle easie so in continuance of warre harde to be ouercome Wherby Claudianus seemeth to speeke of the nature of the same nation saying If that their harts you let a whyle To rest so many slaughters they deuoyd of sence doo seeme To take and of smale price the losse of so much bloud to deeme Thus much he and more whiche shortly god willyng shal be set forth Now let vs come to the description of the lande This lande after the British destruction was deuided into six Regiōs as I read of late in a very auncient booke written of the lawes of the Britaynes For sayth that booke after that the Saxons had vanquished the Britaynes obtayned the Scepter of the Realme and the crowne of London all the people of Wales assembled together at the mouthe of the Riuer Deuey to choose a kynge And yno i Doethant Gwyr Gwynedh à Gwyr Powys à Gwyr Deheubarth à Reynnwc ac Esylluc à Morganuc That is to say and thither came men of Gwynedh and men of Powys and men of Deheubarth and of Reynnucia and of Syllucia and Morgania they chose Maylgun whom others call Maclocunius of Gwynedh to be their kynge This was aboute the yere of our Lorde ●60 Howbeit afterward in the lamentable conflict agaynst Ethelfredus kynge of Northumberland are recited the kings of Dynetia whiche falsly they call Demetia of Guenta of Powysia and of Northwales And in another place ●ention is made of the kinges of Stra 〈…〉 Cluyde So that hereby it is easely 〈…〉 ered that this country was subiect 〈…〉 iuers petikinges or Erles vnto 〈…〉 e of Roderike the great who ob 〈…〉 the Monarchie of al VVales the yere of our Lorde 843. deuidyng it into three partes whiche he left in possession of his three sonnes For vnto Meruinius as Gyraldus termeth him to whom I consent his eldest sonne he gaue Gwynedh to Anaraudus whome some make the eldest Powys to Cadelhus the youngest Deheubarth And that I may vse the woords of Gyldas Southwales was alotted to Cadelhus with the blessyng and goodwil of all the people which they call Deheubarth which is as much to say as the right side Which although in quantity it be farre the biggest notwithstandyng by reason of noble men which in the welsh tongue are called Vchelwyr that is to say high men wherwith it aboundeth whiche were wont to rebell agaynst their Lordes to defie them in armur it séemed to be the worser This diuision whilst their posteritie contēded among themselues in Ciuill warre and ech of them alone with the Englishmen in externall at last destroyed the kyngedome of wales The cheefest of these kyngdomes whiche the inhabitantes call Gwynedh Englishmen Northwales the Latine writers corruptly Venodotia had in auncient time these limites On the Weast and North sides it hath Vergiuiū or the Irish Oceane at the Southwest and by South the Riuer Deuye Wherby it is cut of from Southwales On the South and East sides it is seuered from Powys and England with high Hilles and somtime with waters vnto the force of the Riuer Dee The same also was parted into foure Regions which conteined fiftéene Cantredi which signifieth an hundred villages The principallest of these Regions was the I le of Anglysey of whom wee haue spoken in another place in the same was a kynges Palace the seate of Northwales in Aberfraw whereof the kinges of Gwynedh haue the name of the kinges of Aberfraw For in the lawes of Howel Dha that is to say good Howel of walles both kynge and lawier which I haue seen written both in the British and Latin tongues it was decreed that like as the kynge of Aberfraw ought to pay threescore and thrée poundes for tribute vnto the kynge of London So likewise the kinges of Dinesur an Matrafall were seuerally bounde to pay so much Whereby it appeareth that this kinge was the cheefest prince of al wales About Anglysey be diuers litle Ilands as Ynis Adar that is to say the I le of Byrdes sometime but now it is called Ynis Moylrhoniaid to witte the I le of Whales in English Ysterisd Also Ynis Lygod that is the I le of Myse and the I le Seirial in english Preêstholme The seconde Region of Gwynedh called Arfon as who should say aboue Anglysey the best fortified parte of all VVales For it centeyneth the highest Mountaynes and Rockes of all Britayne which wee terme Yriri the Englishmen Snowdowne because they carie Snow For height and plentie of cattayle scarce inferiour to the Alpes It hath in it many Riuers and standing Waters Beyonde whose farthest promontory called Lhynus lieth an I le whiche Ptolomaeus termeth Lymnos our countrymen Eulhi the Englishmē Bardesey that is to say the I le of the Bardi In Arfon oueragaynst Anglysey stoode an auncient Citie called of the Romans Segontiū of the Britaynes Caërsegont of a Riuer whiche passeth therby But now out of the ruynes therof there is a new Towne and a Castle founded by Edward the first of that name kyng of England called Caër Arfon that is to say a Towne vpon Anglysey And not farre from thence oueragaynst Anglysey lieth the Byshops See of Banchor And vpon Conway water which there ebbeth and sloweth standeth Conway of our countrie men called Aberconwy a walled towne builded by the same kynge Then followeth Meridnia with vs Merionydh and Gyraldus calleth it the land of the sonnes of Conauius The same as he sayeth is the most roughest and sharpest of al VVales hauynge in it moste highest Mountaynes The people vse longe Speares wherwith they be of greate force as the Southwales men with their Bowes so that an Harnies cannot beare it of So much he The Sea coast there by occasion of great Herryng takyng is much frequented by people of diuers countries In the same standeth the Towne Harlechia by the Sea side And within the lande is the great lake Tegid through which the riuer Dee whiche wee call Douerduwy that is to say the water of Dee floweth Where it is worthe the notyng that there is in that Ponde a peculiar kinde of Fish which is neuer founde in the runnynge water neither the Salmons wherof the Riuer is full doo euer entre into the Lake In this country and in Arfon are seene greate multitude of Deare and Goates vpon the high Hilles And these two countries of all Wales cam last into the power of the Englishmē Neither did the people of this country euer frequent domestical incursiōs but before our time alwaies séemed to obey lawes rightfully The farthest last part of Gwynedh is called of our coūtrimen Berfedhwlad that is to say the inward and midland region and is seuered from
water either into the Sea as Aberconwy Abertiui Abertawy that is to say the mouth of Conway Tibius and Tobius or into some great Riuer as Aber hodni Abergeuenni to say the fall of Hodnus and Geuenus into Osca Moreouer wee call mouthes and entrances of Riuers Aber without addynge any thynge more thereto as in Carnaruanshyre between Conouium and Banchorium in the same maner so that I thinke Aber to signifie as much as Aestus doth whiche is the rage fall or force of Water as is most agreeable with Ptolomaeus Aboue these were the Damnij whose cheife Citie Antoninus maketh Vandagora to be not far from the valley Ofdam wherby I coniecture that they be those whiche wee call now VVestmerlandshyremen The Selgouij and Otadeni in times past inhabited Cumberland At the verie brimme of the Uallie standeth a most auncient citie Ptolomeus calleth it Lucopibia Antoninus Luguballia the Britaynes and Englishmen terme it Caerloyl and it standeth in the Frontirs of the Nouantes Not farre from this Citie as Malmsburiensis reporteth there was a Stone founde with this inscription In token of Marius victorie whiche token of triumph I suppose to haue bin erected by Meurigus whom some of the Romans haue termed more aptly Aruiragus othersome Marius in token that the Readshankes were there vanquished Rodericus beyng theyr kynge whiche at that season as the Saxons did exercised Pyracie in our Seas vntill at length one parte of them setled in Albania and other in Fraūce And it is wel knowne that these countries together with Gallouidia so farre as the Riuer Cluda vnto the yere of our Lorde 870 were in the Britaynes possession at what time beyng by the Scottes Danes and Englishmen disquieted with many batayles and in the ende their kynge Constantinus slayne at Lochmaba in Anādra they were enforced to returne into VVales to their countrymen and dryuing away the English Saxons forcibly chalenged to them selues the greater parte of the country which lieth twixt Conway and the water of Dee whiche they possessed and there appoynted a kyngdome whiche of the riuer Cluda on whose shoare they dwelt is of our countrymen called Struteluyd of Marianus Scotus corruptly Streadiylead of the VVallanes They had many conflictes agaynst the kynges of England as the same author reporteth vntill at length their last kynge dying at Rome they submitted themselues to the princes of Gwynedh This Marianus the chiefest Hystoriographer of his time one of late hath caused to set foorth in Printe being imperfect and lackynge the better parte of set purpose as him selfe confesseth because of the ambiguitie of the British Hystorie In like maner Sleydan while he turneth his abbridgement of Frossard into Latine beyng too too muche partiall to the Frenchemen either ouerpasseth with silence the most noble valiant deedes of the Englishmen or variynge from his author reporteth them otherwyse then Frossard hath written Wherefore me seemeth that the sayinge of Martial the Poet verye well agreeth with them That which now thou doest turne O Fidentine the booke is mine But when thou turnest him ill then he begins for to be thine But this much by the way The laste of the Northumberlandshyremen and almost of all Lhoëgr follow the inhabitantes of Lancashyre to be intreated of whom the Ryuer called of the Englishmen Merssee deuideth from the Kyngedome of March of whom the kyngdome of March in Englande was so called It is soone prooued out of Ptolomaeus that these were called Ordouici in olde time For the Ordouici saieth he lie more Southwest then the Brigantes doo Since therefore that Yorkeshyre is the kyngedome of Brigantes in vayne with Boethius wee seeke them in Scotland and muche more in Northfolke with Polydorus Wherefore renouncing these fables for my part I am perswaded that the ORDOVICI are not only the Lancas hyremen but also the Deuani or Ches hyremen and Shrops hyremen beyng recompted of Tacitus for a greate Citie In this place I call a Citie as Caesar doeth an whole conuent or kyngedome For looke how many Cities there are so many kyngedomes in olde time were in Britayne whiche seuerally wagyng batayle agaynst the Romans were all the sooner ouercummen Amongst the Cities of these kingdomes Ptolomaeus reciteth Mediolanū called now Lancastre Mancunium as appeareth out of Antoninus is called Māchestre Their kynge in times past was Cataracus whose fame was knowne aboue the Skies who the space of nine continuall yeres very muche molested the Romans with Warre at length was taken by treason of a Woman and led to Rome in triumphe And Claudius the Emperour deserued no lesse prayse for vanquishynge Cataracus then did Scipio for Syphax or Lucius Paulus for Perses as Tacitus writeth two moste puissant kynges brought home in shew to the people of Rome And here can I not maruel enough what came in minde to that Boëthius not the Troiane but the Scotte for Ahlas what one was he how farre from that same Hector sore He chaunged was that in Achilles spoyles came home before Impudently to affirme that he was a Scot seeyng that there was no suche nation at that time in the worlde But if there were it was so enfolded in darkenesse that it was vnknowne to the Romans and Britaynes or as Haymo Armenius writeth of a certayn nation it had so bleared the eyes of all peoples and countries that the Scots were inuisibly conuersant between the Romans and Britaynes Polydorus also writeth that he was kynge of the Ordulacae when neither Tacitus nor Ptolomaeus mentioneth the same but of the Ordouici And Tacitus reporteth that he was not onely gouernour of the Ordouici but also of the Siluri Which Siluri dwelled not in Scotland but in Southwales as in another place it shal be prooued more playnly And I remember very well that a few yeres agoe when I was in the frontirs of Shrops hyre with others about certain businesse of my Lordes the right honoble Erle of Arundell where some parte of his inheritance lieth I chaunced to fall into the view of a place exceedingly well fortefied both by nature art The situation whereof was vpon the toppe of an high hill enuironed with a triple ditche of greate depth There were iij. gates not directly but a shoshe the one agaynst the other and on three sides steepe headlonge places and compassed with twoo Riuers on the lifte hande with Colun or Clun on the right with Themis which our countrymen call Teuidia and accessible but on the one side therof These thinges when I beheld I vnderstoode by the inhabitants that this place was called Caër Caradoc that is to say the citie Caradoc and that there haue bin many fierce battayles fought there agaynst a certaine kyng called Caradoc who at last was vanquished and taken of his enemies For our coūtrymen ca● not only walled Cities townes but also al maner places which are entrenched and walled by the name Caër as I wil proue afterward by
called in Latin Deua of the riuer whiche wee terme Dourdowy to say the water of Dee The Englishmen call it Legancestre and afterward clippyng the name shorter called it Chester and the Citizens doo glory that they haue the body of Henry the fourth Emperour whome they affirme to haue yelded vp the Empyre and haue betaken him selfe to an Hermites life And so are they likewise perswaded of Herald who was the last kynge of the Danish bloud More East from these are the Doruentani now Derbishyremen so termed of theyr cheifcitie Dwrguent whiche is as muche to say as white Water All these shyres and conuentes with a great parte of VVales as farre as the renowmed ditche of Kyng Offa of whiche wee will speake hereafter made vp the sixt kingedome of English Saxons in Britayne which of the ryuer Merse was called the kyngedome of Mercij or March. Here now I cannot sufficientlye merueile how VVolfangus Lazius a man excellently learned and very well deserued of all that be studious of antiquitie in his greate worke of the Migration of nations should be so muche deceaued as to say that the Mertij or people of March were Marcomanni and the their kynges Penda Offa with all the rest reigned in the lower Germany Beyng most euident in all hystories that there was neuer any such kyngdome there and that these kynges peoples whom he affirmeth to haue dwelled in Germany inhabited that country of Britayne whiche wée now describe Likewise while he endeuoreth to lynke together the discentes and pedegrees of the Norman bloud of the kynges of England he handleth them so confusely so far besides truth that it seemeth he neuer read either the names or order or deedes of the kinges but it is rather likely that he learned thē by hearesay of some babling vnlearned foole that had no regarde of his good same or honestie As a nother hath ●oone of late dayes a man famously learned in the Mathematikes in his Geographical chart of this Ilande And besides these Hieromus Ruscellus in his Ptolomaeus lately printed at Venice while he goeth aboute to set foorth new names correspondent to the olde confoundeth places an hundreth miles distant one from another namely Colchester and VVynchester Neither in other places ar his gheasses any thynge more certayne wherefore I exhorte men not to trust him in this behalfe There remayneth the seuenth and last kyngedome of Saxons in Englande whiche they termed Nordan Humbrorum because it standeth at the Northecoast of Humber The same was afterwarde deuided into two kyngedomes of the Deeres and Bernices The kyngedome of Deera contayned all the country from Humbre and Trent to the Riuer Tyssa Bernicia reached from Tyssa to the Scottish Sea whiche they call now Fyrthew the Britaynes terme this same Brennich the other Deifyr The inhabitantes of this region especially south warde are called Snotyngomenses but now most cōmonly Notingamshiremē Next vnto these are Yorkeshyremen who of the Romans were called Brigantes of whom Tacitus writeth thus Petilius Caerealis fought many batailes wherof some were not vnblouddy agaynst the Citie of the Brigantes which is reported to be the place of resorte to the whole populous prouince and obtayned a greate parte of the Brigantes either by victory or els by fight All these the liyng champion of the Scottysh name Hector Boëthius sticketh not to put into his Gallouidia and to proue the same by argumentes gathered out of Ptolomaeus and Tacitus But how much Ptolomaeus was deceaued trustyng to the report of others in describing the length and bredth of places in Britayne for he writeth that Scotland lieth forth to the East that the farthest Promontorie therof is viij degrees more Easterly then any place of England whiche in this paralelle do make aboute 240 miles whiche is altogether vntrue seyng Englande standeth more to the East then Scotlande ●●the is as cleare as day light to all those that haue tasted of Cosmography But Ptolomaeus is to be pardoned beyng an Egyptian borne and excellently well learned in Mathematicals who hath done the best he coulde but not foolish and impudent Boëthius borne and brought vp no farther of then Scotlād He speaketh thus of Tacitus that he beyng a graue author affyrmeth that the Brigantes were a Spanish broode dwellyng in a farre corner of Britayne farther then any durst auouche that at his time the Britaynes had passed O impudent face where aboute did Tacitus speake thus of the Brigantes He seemeth to deriue the Siluri by a colour from the Spanish broode because they lye ouer agaynst Spayne Gallouida is farther from Spayne then any Region of Englande or VVales And that in Tacitus time the Brigantes were first knowne to the Romans I confesse it but he findeth it not in Tacitus and not mindefull of him selfe as it behoueth a lier to be he calleth not to remembrance that he wrote in another place that Claudius the Emperour adioyned also vnto his Empyre the Orchades whiche lie beyonde Scotland But let vs bid faythlesse Hector a dieu and let vs now also see what the auncient writers haue writen of the Brigantes Ptolomaeus reciteth the Cities of Brigantes Eboracum Epiacum Calatum Bimonium Caturactoniū Rhigodunum Isurium Olicana with others All men know that Eboracum is that Citie whiche the Britaynes call Caër Efroc the Englishmen Euerwyke and now shorte Yorke Of the rest wee doo but coniecture as Bimonium to be Bincestre Calatum which Antoninus and Bede cal Calcaria to be Helicastre now Tadcastre Rhigodunum Rippon and Olicana Haligfex And that Isurium is called Aldburg There was neuer any man that dreamed that these Cities were in Scotland But Antoninꝰ ascribeth thē to the Brigāts placeth them in the way which leadeth to London from the Ually Praetoriū for that there was a vally from the riuer Soluathianus to the mouth of Tine al do knowe I conclude therfore that it is impossible that the Brigants were euer in Scotland In so muche that the remembrance of this name remaineth vntill this day amongst vs For when we sée any man not duly obeing lawes cōmaundements him wée cal Chwaret Brigans that is to say one that plaieth the Brigant And like as they were rebelles agaynst the people of Rome so doth he contempne the lawes of Magistrates and of Elders And surely I am of beleefe that all Deera before time was called Brigantia Ptolomaeus placeth the Vernicones and Taiazalos betweene the Riuers Tine and Tweede This country alonely now refayneth the name of Northumberland when al the region before time from that riuer to the Scotish Sea was called by that name For there is no riuer in all Britayne that hath the name of Humbre but only the water into whom many notable streames do flow Wherby our freend M. Leland not with out good cause supposed that the same should be called Aber whiche amonge the Britaynes signifieth an arme of the Sea either swiftnesse or fall of any
call it Mur seuerus that is to say Seuerus wall and in another place Gual seuerus Seuerus vally at this day In this region standeth Edēburge the seat of the kinges of Scotland somtime builded by Eboracus kyng of Britaynes called also Castle Mynyd agnes that is to say the castel of S. Agnes hil afterward the Castel of Virgins The water there which is now called Forthea was called the Picticum Sea and afterward the Scottish Sea and thus farre stretched the kyngedome of Northumberland Tacitus calleth the same Bodotua howbeit Polydorus so termeth the Riuer Leuinus whiche out of the lake Lomundus floweth into Cluyda For saith he Glota and Bodotua two diuers armes of the Sea rūnyng forth a greate length are kept a sundre with a narrow peece of grounde Wherfore Bodotua floweth not into Glota neither is it any riuer but an arme of the Sea therefore it cannot be Leuinus by any meanes Beyonde these armes of the Sea dwelled the Caledonij the most nobliest nation of Albania where now the inlande Scots inhabite At the East parte was Horestia now Angusia Fisa and Mernia At the VVest were the Epidij and more towards the North the Creoni And after these the Canouaci where now Lennosia Argadia and Lorna are The Carini possessed Loguhabria the Logi Strathnauernia And at the other Sea coast the Cauti Morauia and Rossia And the Cornabij which are farthest of al inhabited Sutherlandia and Cathanisia And wheras Boethius writeth that in the time of Claudius the Emperour the Moraui came by an whole Nauie into Scotland it is most false as appeareth in Hystories For the nation of the Slaui wherof the Moraui tooke theyr beginnyng was altogether vnknowen to the worlde vntil the time of the Emperour Mauritius aboute the yere of our lorde 600. The Marcomanni also and the Quadi inhabited those places whiche afterward the yere of our Lorde 900. beyng vnder Arnulphus began by Zuentebaldus kynge of the SLAVI to be called the kyngdome of Morauia Beyonde Scotlande in the Germane Oceane are the Ilandes called Orchades wherof the biggest is called Pomonia And on the other side of Albania in the sea Vergiuium which the Britaynes call Norweridh as who should say the Irishe Sea from whence I coniecture that the antique name Vergiuium was deriued lie the Iles Hebrides in nūbre two and fortie of others called Euboniae The I le of Anglisea is none of these as I will shew in another place And not far hence lieth Ireland an Iland also whiche our countrymen call Ywerdhon the inhabitants Verni Wherby in my opinion they do farre better which terms it Iuernia as Mela and Iuuenal in his seconde Satyre or Ierna as Claudianus and Dionysius rather then Hibernia now Ireland The Britaynes and Scots doo call the inhabitantes by one name Guyddhyl THus hauynge ▪ ended the description of Scotland with the Ilandes liyng thereabout let vs now proceede to wales the third part of Britayne The same is deuided frō Lhoëgr that is England by the Riuers Seuern d ee and on euery other side is enuironed by the Vergiuiū or Iris he Oceane And it was called Cambria as our Chronacles doo report of Camber the thyrde sonne of Brutus like as Lhoëgr of Locrinus and Albania of Albanactus his other sonnes also This same only with Cornwal a most auncient country of Britaynes enioyeth as yet the olde inhabitants The welshmen vse the British tongue and are the very true Britaynes by birth And although some doo write that VVales doth not stretch foorth on this side the Riuer Vaga or VVye this can be no fraud to vs For we haue taken in hand to describe Cambria and not VVallia Wales as it is now called by a new name and vnacquaynted to the welshmen In Northwales the welshmen keepe their olde boundes But in Southwales the Englishmen are come ouer Seuern and haue possessed al the lande between it and VVye So that al Herefordshyre the Forest of Deane and Glocestreshyre a great part of worcestershyre Schreupshyre on this side Seuern are inhabited by Englishmen at this day These regions with certayne corners of Fluitenshyre and Denbyghshyre were sumtime vnder the kings of March. And our countrymen vnto this day do call their neare borderers Gwyry Mers that is to say the men of March. For OFFA a most mightie kynge of March the yere of the incarnate worde seuen hundred and seuentie to the intent that the boundes of his kyngdome towardes the Britaynes in Wales might the better be knowne caused a verie deepe ditch with an exceedynge high wall to be made from the water Deuanus a litle aboue the Castle called Filix through ●ie hilles and deepe valleyes Fennes Kockes Cliffes Riuers vnto the mouth of the Riuer wye about an hundred myles longe The same reseruyng the olde name for of our countrymen it is called Clauddh Offa that is to say Offas ditch it may easely be seene of all throughout the whole coast And all the townes and villages almost whiche be on the East side therof haue their names endynge in these terminations ton or ham wherby it appeareth that the Saxons sometime dwelled there Howbeit now the VVelshmen in all places beyond that ditch towards Ihoëgr haue planted them selues The inhabitants of this region are called in their mother tongue Cymbri In whiche word the force of the sounde of the letter B is scarcely perceaued in pronouncing And it is very likely that this was the moste auncient name and that Cambria a region of England was therof so called When I perceaued that the Cymbri whiche fought with the Romans so manie blouddy battels were called by the same name that ours are it came into my mynde to enquyre and search what good writers haue thought of the beginnyng of that nation And hauyng read much therof I founde also very much wherby I am so perswaded that I dare auouche that it was this our British nation First the name is all one with ours then their tongue which is a very great argument For Plinius in his fourth booke and. 13. chapter saieth that Philemō was of the Cymbri called Mori marussium that is to say Mare mortuū the Dead Sea vnto the promontory Rubeas c. And our countrimen call the Dead Sea in their tongue Mor Marw And as for these words neither the Germans neither the Danes neither Suenones neither the Slaui neither the Lithuani nor the Lyuones doo vnderstand them Wherfore it is manifest that the Cymbri were none of these nations But our Cymbri doo speake so wherfore it is euident that they were of the same name and tongue Moreouer Plutarchus in the life of Marius affirmeth that they departed out of a farre country and that it was not knowne whence they came nor whether they went but the like cloudes they issued into Fraunce and Italy with the Almaynes Whervpon the Romans supposed that they had byn
weapons and require benediction with a stoupyng head In the same Region is a place in whiche they say vnder Deuus feete whom in Lantine they call Dauid whyle he inueyhed agaynst the Pelagians the earth bellowed and rose vp in an hill whiche they terme Lhandewybreuy In the other part of the Regiō is the principall Towne of the Shyre vpon the riuer Teify which wee terme Aberteifi to say the mouth of Teifus the Englishmen call it Cardigan This Riuer only of al Britayne as Gyraldus reporteth aboūdeth with Otters but now our countrimē know not what they ar The bare name which is Auanc they take for a Monstre of the water Passyng foorth alonge by the same Sea coaste there commeth vnto our view a Region of auncient time termed of our countrymen Dyfed of Ptolomaeus Demetia for Dynetia in English VVestwales and now Penbrokeshyre The same reacheth from Sea to Sea the farther Promontorie wherof Ptolomaeus calleth Octopitarum a litle declinyng from the worde Pebidion By the Northern Ocean a longe lie Trefdraeth Aberguain Cilgaren within the mayne lande in the west Angle is the Bishops See of Meneue sometime famous with an Archbishops see For Deui who is called Dauid translated the Archbishopprick from the Citie of Legions where it was of antiquitie into Meneue Afterwhome there sate there fiue twētie Archbishops whose names are founde in Gyraldus The last wherof called Samson in the time of a greuous Plague of Pestilence then reignyng fled into Armorica or the lesse Britayne with his palle where beyng chosen Bishop of Dole he lefte there his Palle whiche his successours haue enioyed vnto this daye before whom the Archbyshop of Turo hath preuayled But ours by occasion of the Saxon warre and their owne pouertie lost their auncient dignitie notwithstādyng al Bishops of VVales were consecrated by the Bishop of Meneue and he of them as his Suffraganes vntill the dayes of Henry the first when as Bernhard was consecrated by the Archbyshop of Cantorbury and vsed him selfe longe time after as Archbyshop vntill in the ende his action fell at Rome This much Gyraldus Neither was there any Bishop of Meneue before Morgenew whiche was the. xxxiii from Dauid that tasted any fleash And he the very same night when he first tasted fleash was slayne by Pyrates This Church hath been very often spoyled and destroyd by English and Danish Pyrates Here in the valley Rosea was borne the greate Patricke who endued Ireland with the Christian faith Hauerfordia whiche they call now West Hereford is distāt from this See xxi myles in olde time called of the Britaynes Aberdaugleddaw that is to say the mouth of two swords For so the cheifest Ryuers of all Britayne which make any hauen are termed Englishmen call the same Milford and some Alaunicum by the Latin name The VVelshmen call this Towne now Hulphordh and the Hauen reserueth his antique name Upon the same crooke or bosome standeth Benbrock head of the shyre the worke of Arnulph Montgomer whiche Girarde of VVyndelesour valiantly defended agaynst Rhesus sonne to Theodore And after that peace was established as Gyraldus reporteth he tooke to wife Nessa the daughter of Thesus on whom he begat worthy issue bothe Male and Female by whom both the Sea coast of VVales remayned vnto the Englishmen and the force of Ireland was afterward vanquished At the South Sea lieth Tenbigh as Englishmen terme it but welshmen Dinbegh Ypyscot that is to wit fisshyng Denbygh so called for difference twixt it and the other which is in Gwynedh This same part of Demetia or Dynetia is at this day possessed and inhabited by Flemmynges sent thither by Henry the first ▪ The people beyng stout and rough defended them selues and theirs valiently agaynst the VVelshmen ▪ And although many times especially by Cadwalader Conanus and Howell sonnes of Owaen Prince of Gwynedh and Rhesus sonne to Gryffeth of Northwales and lastly by Leweline the greate as Parisiensis termeth him who had in his armie thirtie thousande men they were almost destroyed and sleyne yet haue they alwayes recouered their strength agayne and vnto this day are knowen from VVelshmen by diuersitie of their manners and tongue The thyrde Prouince of Southwales Maridinia taketh name of Maridunum a very auncient Citie whereof both Latin and Greeke writers make mention By which name it was so called and knowne longe before the birth of that very well learned man whom the Englishmen corruptly call Merlin but our countrymen Merdhin Neither did the Citie take name of him but he of that whereas he was borne Wee call the same Caer fryd●in by reason of proprietie of the tongue whereby wee change M into V the consonant for whom our countrymen do vse F in the Castle Citie of Merdhyn That same Ambrose who was borne of a noble Uirgin whose fathers name is of purpose suppressed for his passyng skill in the Mathematicals and wonderful knowledge in al other kinde of learnyng was by the rude common people reputed to be the sonne of an incubus or a Male Diuell whiche in similitude and likenesse of men do vse carnally to companie with women This Towne as Gyraldus writeth was in olde time compassed rounde with a fayre brickewall And vpon the riuer Clarus whiche Ptolomaeus termeth Tobius wee Towi is sayde that the kynges seat and Palace of Southwales was builded vntill that it was taken by the Englishmen After what time it was remooued vnto Dynefur vpon the same Riuer a place very well fortefied with woodes and hilles In this Region by reason of the stronge situation of places the princes of Southwales made welnigh their continuall abode Which was deuided from Ceretica by the Riuer Tifey by whose side standeth the noble Castle of Emlyn On the other sides it is enuironed with very high hilles and with the Sea. Towards the Sea is Catguilia now Cydweili a country sometime possessed by Mauritius of London Next whom lieth Gwhir which ioyneth vnto Morgania with a Towne at the mouthe of Tawai of vs Abertawai of Englishmē called Swansei Morgania of Englishmen Glamorgā of vs called Morganwc and Gwladforgan that is to say the country of Morgan of one Morgan which was there slayne by his Auntes sonne Cuneda who was king of Lhoëgr more then twoo thousand yeres since so called It lieth on the Seuern Sea and was alwaies wont to be rebellious agaynst his Prince Wherfore when it refused to obey his true and lawfull Prince by the iust iudgement of God which alwayes reuengeth Rebellion and Treason it was enforced to come in seruitude vnto straungers For aboute the yere of our Lorde one thousand fourescore and ten when Iestinus sonne to Gurgantus Erle of Morgania refused to obey Rhesus sonne to Theodore Prince of Southwales and sent Aeneas sonne to Cediuorus sometime Lorde of Demetia into England to take muster of Souldiers and there receaued a great army vnder the conduct of one Robert sonne