The Word Landaf {86} 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 {87} to the noble Cistercian monastery of Margan.
{88} 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.
It came to pass also in our days, during the period when the four
sons of Caradoc son of Iestin, and nephews of prince Rhys by his
sister, namely, Morgan, Meredyth, Owen, and Cadwallon, bore rule for
their father in those parts, that Cadwallon, through inveterate
malice, slew his brother Owen. But divine vengeance soon overtook
him; for on his making a hostile attack on a certain castle, he was
crushed to pieces by the sudden fall of its walls: and thus, in the
presence of a numerous body of his own and his brother's forces,
suffered the punishment which his barbarous and unnatural conduct
had so justly merited.
Another circumstance which happened here deserves notice. A
greyhound belonging to the aforesaid Owen, large, beautiful, and
curiously spotted with a variety of colours, received seven wounds
from arrows and lances, in the defence of his master, and on his
part did much injury to the enemy and assassins. When his wounds
were healed, he was sent to king Henry II. by William earl of
Gloucester, in testimony of so great and extraordinary a deed. A
dog, of all animals, is most attached to man, and most easily
distinguishes him; sometimes, when deprived of his master, he
refuses to live, and in his master's defence is bold enough to brave
death; ready, therefore, to die, either with or for his master. I
do not think it superfluous to insert here an example which
Suetonius gives in his book on the nature of animals, and which
Ambrosius also relates in his Exameron. "A man, accompanied by a
dog, was killed in a remote part of the city of Antioch, by a
soldier, for the sake of plunder. The murderer, concealed by the
darkness of the morning, escaped into another part of the city; the
corpse lay unburied; a large concourse of people assembled; and the
dog, with bitter howlings, lamented his master's fate. The
murderer, by chance, passed that way, and, in order to prove his
innocence, mingled with the crowd of spectators, and, as if moved by
compassion, approached the body of the deceased. The dog,
suspending for a while his moans, assumed the arms of revenge;
rushed upon the man, and seized him, howling at the same time in so
dolorous a manner, that all present shed tears. It was considered
as a proof against the murderer, that the dog seized him from
amongst so many, and would not let him go; and especially, as
neither the crime of hatred, envy, or injury, could possibly, in
this case, be urged against the dog. On account, therefore, of such
a strong suspicion of murder (which the soldier constantly denied),
it was determined that the truth of the matter should be tried by
combat. The parties being assembled in a field, with a crowd of
people around, the dog on one side, and the soldier, armed with a
stick of a cubit's length, on the other, the murderer was at length
overcome by the victorious dog, and suffered an ignominious death on
the common gallows.
Pliny and Solinus relate that a certain king, who was very fond of
dogs, and addicted to hunting, was taken and imprisoned by his
enemies, and in a most wonderful manner liberated, without any
assistance from his friends, by a pack of dogs, who had
spontaneously sequestered themselves in the mountainous and woody
regions, and from thence committed many atrocious acts of
depredation on the neighbouring herds and flocks.
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