In Our Time, Also, A Woman Was Born In Chester Without Hands, To
Whom Nature Had Supplied A Remedy For That Defect By The Flexibility
And Delicacy Of The Joints Of Her Feet, With Which She Could Sew, Or
Perform Any Work With Thread Or Scissors, As Well As Other Women.
CHAPTER XII
Of the journey by the White Monastery, Oswaldestree, Powys, and
Shrewsbury
The feast of Easter having been observed with due solemnity, and
many persons, by the exhortations of the archbishop, signed with the
cross, we directed our way from Chester to the White Monastery,
{185} and from thence towards Oswaldestree; where, on the very
borders of Powys, we were met by Gruffydd son of Madoc, and Elissa,
princes of that country, and many others; some few of whom having
been persuaded to take the cross (for several of the multitude had
been previously signed by Reiner, {186} the bishop of that place),
Gruffydd, prince of the district, publicly adjured, in the presence
of the archbishop, his cousin-german, Angharad, daughter of prince
Owen, whom, according to the vicious custom of the country, he had
long considered as his wife. 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. On the preceding
day, the chiefs of the English army had burned some of the Welsh
churches, with the villages and churchyards; upon which the sons of
Owen the Great, with their light-armed troops, stirred up the
resentment of their father and the other princes of the country,
declaring that they would never in future spare any churches of the
English. When nearly the whole army was on the point of assenting
to this determination, Owen, a man of distinguished wisdom and
moderation - the tumult being in some degree subsided - thus spake:
"My opinion, indeed, by no means agrees with yours, for we ought to
rejoice at this conduct of our adversary; for, unless supported by
divine assistance, we are far inferior to the English; and they, by
their behaviour, have made God their enemy, who is able most
powerfully to avenge both himself and us. We therefore most
devoutly promise God that we will henceforth pay greater reverence
than ever to churches and holy places." After which, the English
army, on the following night, experienced (as has before been
related) the divine vengeance.
From Oswaldestree, we directed our course towards Shrewsbury
(Salopesburia), which is nearly surrounded by the river Severn,
where we remained a few days to rest and refresh ourselves; and
where many people were induced to take the cross, through the
elegant sermons of the archbishop and archdeacon. We also
excommunicated Owen de Cevelioc, because he alone, amongst the Welsh
princes, did not come to meet the archbishop with his people. Owen
was a man of more fluent speech than his contemporary princes, and
was conspicuous for the good management of his territory. Having
generally favoured the royal cause, and opposed the measures of his
own chieftains, he had contracted a great familiarity with king
Henry II. Being with the king at table at Shrewsbury, Henry, as a
mark of peculiar honour and regard, sent him one of his own loaves;
he immediately brake it into small pieces, like alms-bread, and
having, like an almoner, placed them at a distance from him, he took
them up one by one and ate them. The king requiring an explanation
of this proceeding, Owen, with a smile, replied, "I thus follow the
example of my lord;" keenly alluding to the avaricious disposition
of the king, who was accustomed to retain for a long time in his own
hands the vacant ecclesiastical benefices.
It is to be remarked that three princes, {190} distinguished for
their justice, wisdom, and princely moderation, ruled, in our time,
over the three provinces of Wales: Owen, son of Gruffydd, in
Venedotia, or North Wales; Meredyth, his grandson, son of Gruffydd,
who died early in life, in South Wales; and Owen de Cevelioc, in
Powys. But two other princes were highly celebrated for their
generosity; Cadwalader, son of Gruffydd, in North Wales, and
Gruffydd of Maelor, son of Madoc, in Powys; and Rhys, son of
Gruffydd, in South Wales, deserved commendation for his enterprising
and independent spirit. In North Wales, David, son of Owen, and on
the borders of Morgannoc, in South Wales, Howel, son of Iorwerth of
Caerleon, maintained their good faith and credit, by observing a
strict neutrality between the Welsh and English.
CHAPTER XIII
Of the journey by Wenloch, Brumfeld, the castle of Ludlow, and
Leominster, to Hereford
From Shrewsbury, we continued our journey towards Wenloch, by a
narrow and rugged way, called Evil-street, where, in our time, a
Jew, travelling with the archdeacon of the place, whose name was Sin
(Peccatum), and the dean, whose name was Devil, towards Shrewsbury,
hearing the archdeacon say, that his archdeaconry began at a place
called Evil-street, and extended as far as Mal-pas, towards Chester,
pleasantly told them, "It would be a miracle, if his fate brought
him safe out of a country, whose archdeacon was Sin, whose dean the
devil; the entrance to the archdeaconry Evil-street, and its exit
Bad-pass." {191}
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