{108} St. Caradoc Was Born Of A Good Family In Brecknockshire, And
After A Liberal Education At Home, Attached Himself To The Court Of
Rhys Prince Of South Wales, Whom He Served A Long Time With
Diligence And Fidelity.
He was much esteemed and beloved by him,
till having unfortunately lost two favourite greyhounds, which had
been committed
To his care, that prince, in a fury, threatened his
life; upon which Caradoc determined to change masters, and made a
vow on the spot to consecrate the remainder of his days to God, by a
single and religious life. He went to Llandaff, received from its
bishop the clerical tonsure and habit, and retired to the deserted
church of St. Kined, and afterwards to a still more solitary abode
in the Isle of Ary, from whence he was taken prisoner by some
Norwegian pirates, but soon released. His last place of residence
was at St. Ismael, in the province of Rhos, where he died in 1124,
and was buried with great honour in the cathedral of St. David's.
We must not confound this retreat of Caradoc with the village of St.
Ismael on the borders of Milford Haven. His hermitage was situated
in the parish of Haroldstone, near the town of Haverfordwest, whose
church has St. Ismael for its patron, and probably near a place
called Poorfield, the common on which Haverfordwest races are held,
as there is a well there called Caradoc's Well, round which, till
within these few years, there was a sort of vanity fair, where cakes
were sold, and country games celebrated.
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