Glamorganshire, South East Wales, British Isles

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 1 Chapter 6. In this same town of Caerdyf [Map], king Henry II., on his return from Ireland, the first Sunday after Easter, passed the night. In the morning, having heard mass, he remained at his devotions till every one had quitted the chapel of St. Piranus.⁷⁵ As he mounted his horse at the door, a man of a fair complexion, with a round tonsure and meagre countenance, tall, and about forty years of age, habited in a white robe falling down to his naked feet, thus addressed him in the Teutonic tongue: "God hold the, cuing," which signifies, "May God protect you, king;" and proceeded, in the same language, "Christ and his Holy Mother, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Peter salute thee, and command thee strictly to prohibit throughout thy whole dominions every kind of buying or selling on Sundays, and not to suffer any work to be done on those days, except such as relates to the preparation of daily food; that due attention may be paid to the performance of the divine offices. If thou dost this, all thy undertakings shall be successful, and thou shalt lead a happy life." The king, in French, desired Philip de Mercros,⁷⁶ who held the reins of his horse, to ask the rustic if he had dreamt this? and when the soldier explained to him the king's question in English, he replied in the same language he had before used, "Whether I have dreamt it or not, observe what day this is (addressing himself to the king, not to the interpreter), and unless thou shalt do so, and quickly amend thy life, before the expiration of one year, thou shalt hear such things concerning what thou lovest best in this world, and shalt thereby be so much troubled, that thy disquietude shall continue to thy life's end." The king, spurring his horse, proceeded a little way towards the gate, when, stopping suddenly, he ordered his attendants to call the good man back. The soldier, and a young man named William, the only persons who remained with the king, accordingly called him, and sought him in vain in the chapel, and in all the inns of the city. The king, vexed that he had not spoken more to him, waited alone a long time, while other persons went in search of him; and when he could not be found, pursued his journey over the bridge of Remni to Newport. The fatal prediction came to pass within the year, as the man had threatened; for the king's three sons, Henry, the eldest, and his brothers, Richard of Poitou, and Geoffrey, count of Britany, in the following Lent, deserted to Louis king of France, which caused the king greater uneasiness than he had ever before experienced; and which, by the conduct of some one of his sons, was continued till the time of his decease. This monarch, through divine mercy (for God is more desirous of the conversion than the destruction of a sinner), received many other admonitions and reproofs about this time, and shortly before his death; all of which, being utterly incorrigible, he obstinately and obdurately despised, as will be more fully set forth (by the favour of God) in my book, "de Principis Instructione."

Note 75. St. Piranus, otherwise called St. Kiaran, or Piran, was an Irish saint, said to have been born in the county of Ossory, or of Cork, about the middle of the fourth century; and after that by his labours the Gospel had made good progress, he forsook all worldly things, and spent the remainder of his life in religious solitude. The place of his retirement was on the sea-coast of Cornwall, and not far from Padstow, where, as Camden informs us, there was a chapel on the sands erected to his memory. Leland has informed us, that the chapel of St. Perine, at Caerdiff, stood in Shoemaker Street.

Note 76. So called from a parish of that name in Glamorganshire, situated between Monk Nash and St. Donat's, upon the Bristol Channel.

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 1 Chapter 6. At Newport [Map], where the river Usk, descending from its original source in Cantref Bachan, falls into the sea, many persons were induced to take the cross. Having passed the river Remni, we approached the noble castle of Caerdyf [Map], situated on the banks of the river Taf. In the neighbourhood of Newport, which is in the district of Gwentluc,⁷¹ there is a small stream called Nant Pencarn,⁷² passable only at certain fords, not so much owing to the depth of its waters, as from the hollowness of its channel and muddy bottom. The public road led formerly to a ford, called Ryd Pencarn, that is, the ford under the head of a rock, from Rhyd, which in the British language signifies a ford, Pen, the head, and Cam, a rock; of which place Merlin Sylvester had thus prophesied: "Whenever you shall see a mighty prince with a freckled face make an hostile irruption into the southern part of Britain, should he cross the ford of Pencarn, then know ye, that the force of Cambria shall be brought low." Now it came to pass in our times, that king Henry II. took up arms against Rhys, the son of Gruffydd, and directed his march through the southern part of Wales towards Caermardyn. On the day he intended to pass over Nant Pentcarn, the old Britons of the neighbourhood watched his approach towards the ford with the utmost solicitude; knowing, since he was both mighty and freckled, that if the passage of the destined ford was accomplished, the prophecy concerning him would undoubtedly be fulfilled. When the king had followed the road leading to a more modern ford of the river (the old one spoken of in the prophecy having been for a long time in disuse), and was preparing to pass over, the pipers and trumpeters, called Cornhiriet, from HIR, long, and CORNU, a horn, began to sound their instruments on the opposite bank, in honour of the king. The king's horse, startling at the wild, unusual noise, refused to obey the spur, and enter the water; upon which, the king, gathering up the reins, hastened, in violent wrath, to the ancient ford, which he rapidly passed; and the Britons returned to their homes, alarmed and dismayed at the destruction which seemed to await them. An extraordinary circumstance occurred likewise at the castle of Caerdyf. William earl of Gloucester, son of earl Robert,⁷³ who, besides that castle, possessed by hereditary right all the province of Gwladvorgan,⁷⁴ that is, the land of Morgan, had a dispute with one of his dependants, whose name was Ivor the Little, being a man of short stature, but of great courage. This man was, after the manner of the Welsh, owner of a tract of mountainous and woody country, of the whole, or a part of which, the earl endeavoured to deprive him. At that time the castle of Caerdyf was surrounded with high walls, guarded by one hundred and twenty men-at-arms, a numerous body of archers, and a strong watch. The city also contained many stipendiary soldiers; yet, in defiance of all these precautions of security, Ivor, in the dead of night, secretly scaled the walls, and, seizing the count and countess, with their only son, carried them off into the woods, and did not release them until he had recovered everything that had been unjustly taken from him, and received a compensation of additional property; for, as the poet observes,

"Spectandum est semper ne magna injuria fiat

Fortibus et miseris; tollas licet omne quod usquam est

Argenti atque auri, spoliatis arma supersunt."

Note 71. Gwentluc - so called from Gwent, the name of the province, and llug, open, to distinguish it from the upper parts of Wentland, is an extensive tract of flat, marshy ground, reaching from Newport to the shores of the river Severn.

Note 72. Nant Pencarn, or the brook of Pencarn. - After a very attentive examination of the country round Newport, by natives of that place, and from the information I have received on the subject, I am inclined to think that the river here alluded to was the Ebwy, which flows about a mile and a half south of Newport. Before the new turnpike road and bridge were made across Tredegar Park, the old road led to a ford lower down the river, and may still be travelled as far as Cardiff; and was probably the ford mentioned in the text, as three old farm-houses in its neighbourhood still retain the names of Great Pencarn, Little Pencarn, and Middle Pencarn.

Note 73. Robert Fitz-Hamon, earl of Astremeville, in Normandy, came into England with William the Conqueror; and, by the gift of William Rufus, obtained the honour of Gloucester. He was wounded with a spear at the siege of Falaise, in Normandy, died soon afterwards, and was buried, A.D. 1102, in the abbey of Tewkesbury, which he had founded. Leaving no male issue, king Henry gave his eldest daughter, Mabel, or Maude, who, in her own right, had the whole honour of Gloucester, to his illegitimate son Robert, who was advanced to the earldom of Gloucester by the king, his father. He died A.D. 1147, and left four sons: William, the personage here mentioned by Giraldus, who succeeded him in his titles and honours; Roger, bishop of Worcester, who died at Tours in France, A.D. 1179; Hamon, who died at the siege of Toulouse, A.D. 1159; and Philip.

Note 74. The Coychurch Manuscript quoted by Mr. Williams, in his History of Monmouthshire, asserts that Morgan, surnamed Mwyn-fawr, or the Gentle, the son of Athrwy, not having been elected to the chief command of the British armies, upon his father's death retired from Caerleon, and took up his residence in Glamorganshire, sometimes at Radyr, near Cardiff, and at other times at Margam; and from this event the district derived its name, quasi Gwlad-Morgan, the country of Morgan.

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 1 Chapter 7. On the following morning, the business of the cross being publicly proclaimed at Landaf, the English standing on one side, and the Welsh on the other, many persons of each nation took the cross, and we remained there that night with William bishop of that place,⁷⁸ a discreet and good man. The word Landaf⁷⁹ signifies the church situated upon the river Taf, and is now called the church of St. Teileau, formerly bishop of that see. The archbishop having celebrated mass early in the morning, before the high altar of the cathedral, we immediately pursued our journey by the little cell of Ewenith [Map]⁸⁰ to the noble Cistercian monastery of Margan [Map].⁸¹ This monastery, under the direction of Conan, a learned and prudent abbot, was at this time more celebrated for its charitable deeds than any other of that order in Wales. On this account, it is an undoubted fact, that, as a reward for that abundant charity which the monastery had always, in times of need, exercised towards strangers and poor persons, in a season of approaching famine, their corn and provisions were perceptibly, by divine assistance, increased, like the widow's cruise of oil by the means of the prophet Elijah. About the time of its foundation, a young man of those parts, by birth a Welshman, having claimed and endeavoured to apply to his own use certain lands which had been given to the monastery, by the instigation of the devil set on fire the best barn belonging to the monks, which was filled with corn; but, immediately becoming mad, he ran about the country in a distracted state, nor ceased raving until he was seized by his parents and bound. Having burst his bonds, and tired out his keepers, he came the next morning to the gate of the monastery, incessantly howling out that he was inwardly burnt by the influence of the monks, and thus in a few days expired, uttering the most miserable complaints. It happened also, that a young man was struck by another in the guests' hall; but on the following day, by divine vengeance, the aggressor was, in the presence of the fraternity, killed by an enemy, and his lifeless body was laid out in the same spot in the hall where the sacred house had been violated. In our time too, in a period of scarcity, while great multitudes of poor were daily crowding before the gates for relief, by the unanimous consent of the brethren, a ship was sent to Bristol to purchase corn for charitable purposes. The vessel, delayed by contrary winds, and not returning (but rather affording an opportunity for the miracle), on the very day when there would have been a total deficiency of corn, both for the poor and the convent, a field near the monastery was found suddenly to ripen, more than a month before the usual time of harvest: thus, divine Providence supplied the brotherhood and the numerous poor with sufficient nourishment until autumn. By these and other signs of virtues, the place accepted by God began to be generally esteemed and venerated.

Note 78. William de Salso Marisco.

Note 79. The see of Llandaff is said to have been founded by the British king Lucius as early as the year 180.

Note 80. From Llandaff, our crusaders proceeded towards the Cistercian monastery of Margam [Map], passing on their journey near the little cell of Benedictines at Ewenith, or Ewenny [Map]. This religious house was founded by Maurice de Londres towards the middle of the twelfth century. It is situated in a marshy plain near the banks of the little river Ewenny.

Note 81. The Cistercian monastery of Margam [Map], justly celebrated for the extensive charities which its members exercised, was founded A.D. 1147, by Robert earl of Gloucester, who died in the same year. Of this once-famed sanctuary nothing now remains but the shell of its chapter-house, which, by neglect, has lost its most ornamental parts. When Mr. Wyndham made the tour of Wales in the year 1777, this elegant building was entire, and was accurately drawn and engraved by his orders.

Reliquiæ Diluvianæ. The seventh and last case that has occurred in this country is that of another discovery recently made on the coast of Glamorganshire, fifteen miles west of Swansea, between Oxwich Bay and the Worms Head, on the property of C. M. Talbot, Esq. It consists of two large caves facing the sea, in the front of a lofty cliff of limestone, which rises more than 100 feet perpendicularly above the mouth of the caves, and below them slopes at an angle of about 40° to the water's, edge, presenting a bluff and rugged shore to the waves, which are very violent along this north coast of the estuary of the Severn. These caves are altogether invisible from the land side, and are accessible only at low water, except by dangerous climbing along the face of a nearly precipitous cliff, composed entirely of compact mountain limestone, which dips north at an angle of about 45°. One of them only (called Goats Hole [Map]) had been noticed when I arrived there, and I shall describe it first, before I proceed to speak of the other. Its existence had been long known to the farmers of the adjacent lands, as well as the fact of its containing large bones, but it had been no farther attended to till last summer, when it was explored by the surgeon and curate of the nearest village, Port Inon, who discovered in it two molar teeth of elephant, and a portion of a large curved tusk, which latter they buried again in the earth, where it remained till it was extracted a second time, on a further examination of the cave in the and of December last by L. W. Dillwyn, Esq. and Miss Talbot, and removed to Penrice Castle, together with a large part of the skull to which it had belonged, and several baskets full of other teeth and bones. On the news of this further discovery being communicated to me, I went immediately from Derbyshire to Wales, and found the position of the cave to be such as I have above described; and its floor at the mouth to be from 30 to 40 feet above high-water mark, so that the waves of the highest storms occasionally dash into it, and have produced three or four deep rock basins in its very threshold, by the rolling on their axis of large stones, which still lie at the bottom of these basins (see Plate XXI. h h.); around their edge, and in the outer part of the cave itself, are strewed a considerable number of sea pebbles, resting on the native limestone rock. The floor of the cave ascends rapidly from its mouth inwards to the furthest extremity (see Plate XXI. and description), so that the pebbles have not been drifted in beyond twenty feet, or about one-third of its whole length; in the remaining two-thirds no disturbance by the waters of the present sea appears ever to have taken place, and within this point at which the pebbles cease, the floor is covered with a mass of diluvial loam of a reddish yellow colour, abundantly mixed with angular fragments of limestone and broken calcareous spar, and interspersed with recent sea-shells, and with teeth and bones of the following animals, viz. elephant, rhinoceros, bear, hyaena, wolf, fox, horse, ox, deer of two or three species, water-rats, sheep, birds, and man. I found also fragments of charcoal, and a small flint, the edges of which had been chipped off', as if by striking a light. I subjoin a list of the most remarkable of the animal remains, most of which are preserved in the collection at Penrice Castle, and the Museum at Oxford.

Elephant. Head broken into numerous fragments, the sockets of the tusks being nearly entire, and six inches in diameter, and very long.

One large portion of tusk, nearly two feet long, and five inches and a half in diameter.

One large portion of diseased tusk, and many very small fragments of decayed ivory.

Two molar teeth entire, fragments of two others.

Part of the epiphysis of the humerus.

Large fragments of the ribs.

Splinters of large cylindrical bones of the legs.

Rhinoceros. A tooth resembling the incisor of the upper jaw.

One fragment of upper molar tooth.

One large bone of the carpus.

Two phalangal bones of the toe.

Horse. Many teeth and fragments of bones.

Hog. One upper incisor, apparently modern.

Bear. Many molar teeth, two large canine ditto.

One fragment of lower jaw, and the anterior portion or chin part of two other lower jaws firmly anchelosed, and exhibiting the sockets of the incisor teeth and of both tusks; the latter are more than three inches deep, and equal in size to the largest from the caves of Germany.

One humerus, of the same large size, nearly entire.

Many vertebrae, equally large.

Two ossa calcis, and many large bones of the metacarpus and metatarsus.

Hyaena. Lower extremity of the left humerus.

Fox. Lower extremity of the femur.

Wolf. One lower jaw.

One os calcis.

Several metacarpal bones.

Ox. Many teeth.

Two lumbar vertebrae.

One femur, and many entire bones of the foot, and fragments of larger bones.

Deer. One skull, large as the red deer, but of a different species.

Fragments of various horns, some small, others a little palmated, one approaching to that of the roe.

Many teeth, and fragments of bones.

Bat. One skeleton, nearly entire, of a small water-rat, or

Large field-mouse, probably postdiluvian.

Birds. Single bones of small birds, all recent.

Man. Portion of a female skeleton, clearly postdiluvian.

Fragments of many recent bones of ox and sheep, apparently the remains of human food.

Reliquiæ Diluvianæ. Vertical section of the cave of Goat Hole at Paviland [Map], in the sea cliff 15 miles west of Swansea, in Glamorganshire.

Note A. Mouth of the cave, at the base of a nearly vertical cliff, facing the sea, and accessible only at low water, except by dangerous climbing.

Note B. Inner extremity of the cave, where it becomes so small, that a dog only can go further, and apparently ending at a short distance within B.

Note C. Body of the cave. Its length from A. to B. is about 60 feet, the breadth from C. to D. (in the plan, fig. 2,) is about 20, the height of the cave from 25 to 30 feet.

Note D. (In the section) irregular chimney-like aperture, ascending from the roof of the cave, and terminating in the nearly perpendicular cliff at K.; it is too small for the entire carcase of an elephant to have passed down through it.

Note E. Bottom of the cave, to which the sea water never reaches; this part is covered over with a loose mass of argillaceous loam and fragments of limestone, of diluvial origin, about six feet deep, which has been much disturbed by ancient diggings, and through which are dispersed the bones and teeth. The elephant's head, and human skeleton, are marked in the spot in which they were actually found.

Note F. Mass of the same materials as E., but less disturbed, and overhanging E. with a small cliff, five feet high, in which were found two elephant's teeth. This mass, though less disturbed than E., has been dug over before, and extends into the small hole within B.; it contains dispersed through it, particularly near B., recent sea shells and pebbles: at this place also it is firmly united by stalagmite, which rarely occurs in any other part of the cave.

G. Loose sea pebbles, strewed in small quantity over the floor of the cave near its mouth, and washed up only by the waves of the highest storms.

H. Rock basins, three feet deep, produced by friction of the large pebbles, which still lie in them.

I. Naked limestone of the floor of the cave, forming the line within which the waves appear never to enter, and separating the sea pebbles without, from the diluvial loam and angular fragments that form the loose breccia within it.

K. Upper termination of the chimney-shaped aperture in the face of the naked cliff.

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 1 Chapter 7. On the following morning, the business of the cross being publicly proclaimed at Landaf, the English standing on one side, and the Welsh on the other, many persons of each nation took the cross, and we remained there that night with William bishop of that place,⁷⁸ a discreet and good man. The word Landaf⁷⁹ signifies the church situated upon the river Taf, and is now called the church of St. Teileau, formerly bishop of that see. The archbishop having celebrated mass early in the morning, before the high altar of the cathedral, we immediately pursued our journey by the little cell of Ewenith [Map]⁸⁰ to the noble Cistercian monastery of Margan [Map].⁸¹ This monastery, under the direction of Conan, a learned and prudent abbot, was at this time more celebrated for its charitable deeds than any other of that order in Wales. On this account, it is an undoubted fact, that, as a reward for that abundant charity which the monastery had always, in times of need, exercised towards strangers and poor persons, in a season of approaching famine, their corn and provisions were perceptibly, by divine assistance, increased, like the widow's cruise of oil by the means of the prophet Elijah. About the time of its foundation, a young man of those parts, by birth a Welshman, having claimed and endeavoured to apply to his own use certain lands which had been given to the monastery, by the instigation of the devil set on fire the best barn belonging to the monks, which was filled with corn; but, immediately becoming mad, he ran about the country in a distracted state, nor ceased raving until he was seized by his parents and bound. Having burst his bonds, and tired out his keepers, he came the next morning to the gate of the monastery, incessantly howling out that he was inwardly burnt by the influence of the monks, and thus in a few days expired, uttering the most miserable complaints. It happened also, that a young man was struck by another in the guests' hall; but on the following day, by divine vengeance, the aggressor was, in the presence of the fraternity, killed by an enemy, and his lifeless body was laid out in the same spot in the hall where the sacred house had been violated. In our time too, in a period of scarcity, while great multitudes of poor were daily crowding before the gates for relief, by the unanimous consent of the brethren, a ship was sent to Bristol to purchase corn for charitable purposes. The vessel, delayed by contrary winds, and not returning (but rather affording an opportunity for the miracle), on the very day when there would have been a total deficiency of corn, both for the poor and the convent, a field near the monastery was found suddenly to ripen, more than a month before the usual time of harvest: thus, divine Providence supplied the brotherhood and the numerous poor with sufficient nourishment until autumn. By these and other signs of virtues, the place accepted by God began to be generally esteemed and venerated.

Note 78. William de Salso Marisco.

Note 79. The see of Llandaff is said to have been founded by the British king Lucius as early as the year 180.

Note 80. From Llandaff, our crusaders proceeded towards the Cistercian monastery of Margam [Map], passing on their journey near the little cell of Benedictines at Ewenith, or Ewenny [Map]. This religious house was founded by Maurice de Londres towards the middle of the twelfth century. It is situated in a marshy plain near the banks of the little river Ewenny.

Note 81. The Cistercian monastery of Margam [Map], justly celebrated for the extensive charities which its members exercised, was founded A.D. 1147, by Robert earl of Gloucester, who died in the same year. Of this once-famed sanctuary nothing now remains but the shell of its chapter-house, which, by neglect, has lost its most ornamental parts. When Mr. Wyndham made the tour of Wales in the year 1777, this elegant building was entire, and was accurately drawn and engraved by his orders.

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 1 Chapter 8. Continuing our journey,⁸² not far from Margan, where the alternate vicissitudes of a sandy shore and the tide commence, we forded over the river Avon, having been considerably delayed by the ebbing of the sea; and under the guidance of Morgan, eldest son of Caradoc, proceeded along the sea-shore towards the river Neth, which, on account of its quicksands, is the most dangerous and inaccessible river in South Wales. A pack-horse belonging to the author, which had proceeded by the lower way near the sea, although in the midst of many others, was the only one which sunk down into the abyss, but he was at last, with great difficulty, extricated, and not without some damage done to the baggage and books. Yet, although we had Morgan, the prince of that country, as our conductor, we did not reach the river without great peril, and some severe falls; for the alarm occasioned by this unusual kind of road, made us hasten our steps over the quicksands, in opposition to the advice of our guide, and fear quickened our pace; whereas, through these difficult passages, as we there learned, the mode of proceeding should be with moderate speed. But as the fords of that river experience a change by every monthly tide, and cannot be found after violent rains and floods, we did not attempt the ford, but passed the river in a boat, leaving the monastery of Neth [Map]⁸³ on our right hand, approaching again to the district of St. David's, and leaving the diocese of Landaf (which we had entered at Abergevenny) behind us.

Note 82. In continuing their journey from Neath to Swansea, our travellers directed their course by the sea-coast to the river Avon, which they forded, and, continuing their road along the sands, were probably ferried over the river Neath, at a place now known by the name of Breton Ferry [Map], leaving the monastery of Neath at some distance to the right: from thence traversing another tract of sands, and crossing the river Tawe, they arrived at the castle of Swansea [Map], where they passed the night.

Note 83. The monastery of Neath [Map] was situated on the banks of a river bearing the same name, about a mile to the westward of the town and castle. It was founded in 1112, by Richard de Grainville, or Greenefeld, and Constance, his wife, for the safety of the souls of Robert, earl of Gloucester, Maude, his wife, and William, his son. Richard de Grainville was one of the twelve Norman knights who accompanied Robert Fitz-Hamon, and assisted him in the conquest of Glamorganshire. In the time of Leland this abbey was in a high state of preservation, for he says, "Neth abbay of white monkes, a mile above Neth town, standing in the ripe of Neth, semid to me the fairest abbay of al Wales." - Leland, Itin. tom. v. p. 14. The remains of the abbey and of the adjoining priory-house are considerable; but this ancient retirement of the grey and white monks is now occupied by the inhabitants of the neighbouring copper-works.