MACHYNLLETH is a large and well-built town; the three principal streets of which are long and straight, and seem to contend with Pall-Mall itself for width. The inhabitants display a spirit of building unrivalled in North Wales. The manufacture of flannel is carried on here, and the country around is supposed to contain mineral substances in great plenty, which at present lie dormant. The church is a handsome edifice, rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in 1827 this part of the structure was raised a few feet higher, and crowned with battlements and crocketed angular pinnacles.

In this famous town Owain Glyndwr held his Parliament, and the house is still in being in which he and his adherents assembled. Its exterior appearance is barn-like, and it is now used as a granary, &c., a small part at one end having been fitted up as a dwelling-house. Its interior exhibits great age; at the back, are the ruinous remains of a stone staircase, which led into the great room, in which are carved ribs, &c., of timber. Glyndwr convened the states of his country at this place, for the purpose of establishing himself on the throne, and causing his title to it to be acknowledged. He was accordingly crowned, and reached the zenith of his ambition. The birth-place of Owain Glyndwr is a matter of uncertainty; VOL. IX. Second Series.

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but it is probable that it was either Glyndyrdwy, in Merionethshire, or Sycharth, in the county of Denbigh. Owain Glyndwr himself resided occasionally at each of these places : it is therefore reasonable to conclude, that they were, in their turns, the abode of his parents.

But whatever soil had the honour of his birth, the event took place, according to the most credible authorities, on the 28th of May, 1354; and if we might lend an ear to the tales of superstition, it was not unaccompanied by those phenomena which have been supposed to mark the nativity of illustrious men. It is safer, however, to ascribe these preternatural prognostics to the ignorance of the age, or the credulous adulation of his admirers.

As Owain Glyndwr's father was a gentleman, not only of rank, but of considerable property, it is natural to imagine that he gave his son an education suitably liberal. Where he acquired his rudimental instruction, however, we are not informed; but his education was completed in one of the Inns of Court, where he entered as a student of the English law. He was afterwards called to the bar, though it is probable he never practised much in his profession. His forensic views seem soon to have given place to the more powerful attractions of a military life, and he speedily devoted himself to the profession of arms. Richard II. appointed him his body-squire in his wars in France and Ireland; and he held the same distinguished situation in the domestic contests between the houses of York and Lancaster, which originated at this period.

Glyndwr was an active partisan in the cause of Richard, who rewarded his fidelity by conferring on him the order of knighthood. The zeal thus manifested he retained to the last; for, when the unfortunate Monarch was a prisoner in the Castle of Flint, Glyndwr was among the number of his few faithful adherents.

Upon the deposition of Richard, in the year 1399, and the consequent accession of Henry IV., Owain Glyndwr, at this time about forty-five years of age, retired to his patrimonial estate, lamenting the fallen fortunes of his master, and having, as may be concluded, no favours to expect from his successor. During this season of relaxation from the feverish turmoils

of public life, he dedicated himself to the offices of hospitality, and the encouragement of the national minstrelsy. On both these points the surviving productions of contemporary bards are loud in his praise. His mansion was open to all that chose to resort to it, and was supplied with every convenience for the accommodation of his numerous guests, that his liberality could devise, or his means afford.

During a part of his former life, it is probable, as well as the present, his time was chiefly spent in these social enjoyments, surrounded and beloved by his family, his friends, and dependents. He had early been married to a daughter of Sir David Hanmer, of Hanmer in Flintshire, one of the Judges of the King's Bench, and a gentleman of distinguished birth and connexions. With this lady he appears to have lived in great felicity, and a numerous progeny was the fruit of the propitious union.

A year had scarcely elapsed after the fall of King Richard, before this scene of hospitality and repose was obscured by circumstances, which influenced the future destiny of Glyndwr, and have communicated to his history that particular interest with which it is regarded even after the expiration of four centuries.

The unfortunate altercation which arose between our hero and Lord Grey de Ruthin, was productive of the most painful and distressing consequences to the former. In the year 1400, Henry IV. meditated an expedition against Scotland, and, preparatory to this, he sent writs of summons, according to the custom of the times, to his several feudal Barons, and tenants in capite, requiring their attendance with their vassals in this military enterprise. A writ of this nature was directed to Owain Glyndwr, and entrusted to Lord Grey for the purpose of being delivered to him. This the vindictive nobleman maliciously neglected to do; and Glyndwr was not apprized of the royal mandate until it was too late for him to comply with it. His non-attendance was immediately ascribed by Henry to a spirit of disaffection; and the construction was rendered more plausible by some malevolent and unfounded representations of Grey. The result of the whole was, that Glyndwr was pronounced a traitor, and his property declared to be confiscated.