{182} The Lake Of Penmelesmere, Or Pymplwy Meer, Or The Meer Of The
Five Parishes Adjoining The Lake, Is, In Modern Days, Better Known
By The Name Of Bala Pool.
The assertion made by Giraldus, of salmon
never being found in the lake of Bala, is not founded on truth.
{183} Giraldus seems to have been mistaken respecting the burial-
place of the emperor Henry V., for he died May 23, A.D. 1125, at
Utrecht, and his body was conveyed to Spire for interment.
{184} This legend, which represents king Harold as having escaped
from the battle of Hastings, and as having lived years after as a
hermit on the borders of Wales, is mentioned by other old writers,
and has been adopted as true by some modern writers.
{185} Some difficulty occurs in fixing the situation of the Album
Monasterium, mentioned in the text, as three churches in the county
of Shropshire bore that appellation; the first at Whitchurch, the
second at Oswestry, the third at Alberbury. The narrative of our
author is so simple, and corresponds so well with the topography of
the country through which they passed, that I think no doubt ought
to be entertained about the course of their route. From Chester
they directed their way to the White Monastery, or Whitchurch, and
from thence towards Oswestry, where they slept, and were entertained
by William Fitz-Alan, after the English mode of hospitality.
{186} By the Latin context it would appear that Reiner was bishop
of Oswestree:
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