Near Dinevor, On The Other Side
Of The River Tywy, In The Cantref Bychan, Or The Little Cantred,
There Is A Spring Which, Like The Tide, Ebbs And Flows Twice In
Twenty-Four Hours.
{100} Not far to the north of Caermardyn, namely
at Pencadair, {101} that is, the head of the chair,
When Rhys, the
son of Gruffydd, was more by stratagem than force compelled to
surrender, and was carried away into England, king Henry II.
despatched a knight, born in Britany, on whose wisdom and fidelity
he could rely, under the conduct of Guaidanus, dean of Cantref Mawr,
to explore the situation of Dinevor castle, and the strength of the
country. The priest, being desired to take the knight by the
easiest and best road to the castle, led him purposely aside by the
most difficult and inaccessible paths, and wherever they passed
through woods, the priest, to the general surprise of all present,
fed upon grass, asserting that, in times of need, the inhabitants of
that country were accustomed to live upon herbs and roots. The
knight returning to the king, and relating what had happened,
affirmed that the country was uninhabitable, vile, and inaccessible,
and only affording food to a beastly nation, living like brutes. At
length the king released Rhys, having first bound him to fealty by
solemn oaths and the delivery of hostages.
On our journey from Caermardyn towards the Cistercian monastery
called Alba Domus, {102} the archbishop was informed of the murder
of a young Welshman, who was devoutly hastening to meet him; when
turning out of the road, he ordered the corpse to be covered with
the cloak of his almoner, and with a pious supplication commended
the soul of the murdered youth to heaven.
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