We Slept At Oswaldestree, Or The Tree
Of St. Oswald, And Were Most Sumptuously Entertained After The
English Manner, By William Fitz-Alan, {187} A Noble And Liberal
Young Man.
A short time before, whilst Reiner was preaching, a
robust youth being earnestly exhorted to follow the example of
His
companions in taking the cross, answered, "I will not follow your
advice until, with this lance which I bear in my hand, I shall have
avenged the death of my lord," alluding to Owen, son of Madoc, a
distinguished warrior, who had been maliciously and treacherously
slain by Owen Cyfeilioc, his cousin-german; and while he was thus
venting his anger and revenge, and violently brandishing his lance,
it suddenly snapped asunder, and fell disjointed in several pieces
to the ground, the handle only remaining in his hand. Alarmed and
astonished at this omen, which he considered as a certain signal for
his taking the cross, he voluntarily offered his services.
In this third district of Wales, called Powys, there are most
excellent studs put apart for breeding, and deriving their origin
from some fine Spanish horses, which Robert de Belesme, {188} earl
of Shrewsbury, brought into this country: on which account the
horses sent from hence are remarkable for their majestic proportion
and astonishing fleetness.
Here king Henry II. entered Powys, in our days, upon an expensive,
though fruitless, expedition. {189} Having dismembered the hostages
whom he had previously received, he was compelled, by a sudden and
violent fall of rain, to retreat with his army.
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