That This Animal Did Exist In The Days Of Howel Dha
(Though Even Then A Rarity), The Mention Made Of
It in his laws, and
the high price set upon its skin, most clearly evince; but if the
castor of
Giraldus, and the avanc of Humphrey Llwyd and of the Welsh
dictionaries, be really the same animal, it certainly was not
peculiar to the Teivi, but was equally known in North Wales, as the
names of places testify. A small lake in Montgomeryshire is called
Llyn yr Afangc; a pool in the river Conwy, not far from Bettws,
bears the same name, and the vale called Nant Ffrancon, upon the
river Ogwen, in Caernarvonshire, is supposed by the natives to be a
corruption from Nant yr Afan cwm, or the Vale of the Beavers. Mr.
Owen, in his dictionary, says, "That it has been seen in this vale
within the memory of man." Giraldus has previously spoken of the
beaver in his Topography of Ireland, Distinc. i. c. 21.
{137} Our author having made a long digression, in order to
introduce the history of the beaver, now continues his Itinerary.
From Cardigan, the archbishop proceeded towards Pont-Stephen,
leaving a hill, called Cruc Mawr, on the left hand, which still
retains its ancient name, and agrees exactly with the position given
to it by Giraldus. On its summit is a tumulus, and some appearance
of an intrenchment.
{138} In 1135.
{139} Lampeter, or Llanbedr, a small town near the river Teivi,
still retains the name of Pont-Stephen.
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