S. CYNFYW, Confessor

THAT Gwynllyw Filwr had a son of the name of Cynfyw-liable to be reduced to Cyfyw and Cynyw—is clear; but in the older pedigrees it appears under a variety of spellings, which are at first a little puzzling. In Peniarth MS. 16 it occurs as Kemmeu, in Hafod MS. 16 as Cennen, in Peniarth MS. 12 as Cannan, and in Cardiff MS. 25 (p. 116) and Peniarth MS. 27 as Kymynyn. In Peniarth MS. 75, however, we have it as Kynvyw, and in Cardiff MS. 25 (p. 33) as Kynnyw. The Kemmeu of the thirteenth century Peniarth MS. 16 obviously stands for Kenmeu, which would be a very old form of the name; and the late forms Cammab, Cammarch, and Cannen, given as names of sons of Gwynllyw, are really misreadings by transcribers of this entry.

In the late pedigrees his name occurs as Cynfyw, Cynyw, Cyfyw, and Cifiw, and he is said to have been a saint or monk at Llancarfan, where he was his brother Cadoc's cofedydd or registrar.1

He is, no doubt, the original patron of Llangyfyw or Llangifiw (but to-day generally spelt Llangeview), near Usk, now said to be dedicated to S. David. Ecclesia S. Ciuiu (Cyuiu), mentioned in the Book of Llan Dâv, is a church which was once at or near Llangadwaladr, now Bishton, near Newport, Mon. The church of Llangynyw (spelt also Llangynviw in the Red Book of S. Asaph 2), in Montgomeryshire, was in all probability originally dedicated to him; but Browne Willis 3 gives All Saints as its dedication.

His festival is not entered in any of the Welsh calendars.

3

S. CYNGAN FOEL-see next article

S. CYNGAR AB CAW, Confessor

IN the Iolo MSS., at pp. 142–3, is mention made of a Cyngar son of Caw, but at p. 137 he is called Cyngan Foel.

"On referring to the list of the children of Caw of Twrcelyn' given in the Hanesyn Hên, of which we have two copies in the Cardiff MS., we find no Cyngar there, but a Bangar (pp. 13, 46); and there seems little doubt but that this rare name has been manufactured into Cyngar or Cyngan of the four lists referred to in the Iolo MSS., in three of which there is no other name resembling Bangar, though in the fourth

1 Iolo MSS., pp. 109, 130; Myv. Arch., pp. 422-3. The name Conbiu or Conuiu, borne by a layman in the Book of Llan Dâv, is a distinct name. 3 Survey of Bangor, p. 360.

2 P. 54.

he appears as Bangawr." Illtyd, at Llantwit.

"1

He is said to have been a saint of Côr

S. CYNGAR AB GARTHOG, Confessor

IN the saintly pedigrees in the thirteenth century Peniarth MSS, 16 and 45, this Saint's name only occurs as the father of S. Gwynlleu. In Hafod MS. 16 (circa 1400), however, he is entered as a saint, as well as the father of SS. Gwynlleu and Cyndeyrn (not Kentigern). So also as a saint in the later MSS.2 He was the son of Garthog ab Ceredig ab Cunedda Wledig. In the Iolo MSS. he has been confounded with S. Cyngar ab Geraint. He does not appear to have had in Wales any church dedicated to him, nor a festival day assigned him.

It is possible that he is the patron saint of Landeda near Lannilis in Léon, Brittany, for there a S. Congard is culted as founder. This may be the more famous Cyngar ab Geraint, but it is more likely that it was the son of Garthog, for Landeda is in the midst of a number of settlements of the family of Cunedda. S. Tyrnog founded Landerneau and Plabennec; S. Carannog, his brother, was at Tregarantec and Carantec; Dogfael, a cousin, has left his impress in the adjoining diocese of Tréguier; S. Tyssul is probably the saint culted at Crozon ; S. David has a parish adjoining Landerneau, and S. Non was buried at Dirinon.

Landeda is on the tongue of land between the Aberfrach and the Aberbenoit, looking out on the ocean, which here unceasingly rages and foams against the granite cliffs.

In the church is a statue representing the patron mitred and with pastoral staff, giving benediction.

S. CYNGAR (CUNGAR) AB GERAINT, Abbot, Confessor

CYNGAR, also called Docwin and Dochau, was the brother of Iestyn, Selyf, Caw, and Cado or Cador, Duke of Cornwall. He was the son

1 Mr. Egerton Phillimore, Notes on Place-names in English Maelor," in Bye-Gones, 1889-90, p. 535. Cyngar occurs also in the lists on pp. 109, 117. 2 Cambro-British Saints, p. 265; Myv. Arch., p. 421; Iolo MSS., pp. 104, 125. His father's name is sometimes wrongly spelt Arthog and Arthwg.

of the heroic Geraint, who fell at Llongborth, and uncle of S. Cybi and of S. Constantine. His mother was Gwyar, daughter of Amlawdd Wledig.

The Life of S. Cyngar, in Latin Cungarus, is by John of Tynemouth, probably, though it is not in the Cottonian Collection, Tiberius E. 1. It is, however, printed in Capgrave's Nova Legenda Angliæ. It is an unsatisfactory document, based on no genuine documents, betraying at every point the work of a hagiographer making bricks without straw. In place of historic facts it is stuffed with pious commonplaces. Further information is obtained from the Life of his nephew, S. Cybi. The Life, as given by Capgrave, states that Cungarus was the son of an "Emperor of Constantinople," and of his wife Luciria. The name of the emperor is judiciously kept back. Loving the things of God rather than worldly pomp, Cungar ran away from home and formed for himself a hermitage by the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, but when his father sent after him he took ship, crossed to Italy, then passed the Alps into Gaul, and from Gaul migrated to Britain. He settled in that part of Britain " quæ vocatur Somersete." Finding a suitable spot surrounded by water and rushes, he settled there," postea suo vocabulo Cungresbiria nominatum." Cungar, as he was called by the English, was known to the Britons as Doccuinus.2

He was led, in the way so common to Celtic Saints, to fix on the site of a monastery by finding the lair of a wild boar. It was his wont every morning to stand in cold water till he had recited the Lord's Prayer thrice. By diligent culture and drainage, he succeeded in reclaiming the land and converting it into pasture fields. He planted his yew staff in the cemetery he had formed at the outstart, and this grew and became a memorable tree.

Ina, king of the English, gave to Cungar as much land as he desired. But no Saxon king dared to visit Congresbury, as it was held that such a visit entailed sickness and speedy death; a curious instance

1 Myv. Arch., p. 421; Cambro-British Saints, p. 269; Iolo MSS., pp. 116, 136. In the Abbatia (and Abbas) Docunni of the Book of Llan Dâv we seem to have the Goidelic for an early form of Cyngar, viz. Cuno-caros, from which would be formed To-chun or Do-chun (Rhys, Celtic Folklore, p. 163). The forms Docguinni and Dochou occur in the same MS. In the Life of S. Cadoc he is called Docguinnus, Doguuinnus, and Dochu (Cambro-British Saints, pp. 48, 50). See also Birch, Margam Abbey, London, 1897, pp. 2, 3. Browne Willis (Llandaff, 1719, append., p. 2) gives Llandough as dedicated to a S. "Tocho," on May 1. Cynghar is Welsh for the burdock.

2 "

Cungarus apud Angligenas vocabitur, Doccuinus, quasi Doctor, apud Britannigenas vocabatur." Capgrave, ed. 1901, p. 249.

34 'Si enim contingeret casu, ut reges aut viderent aut visitarent a beato Cungaro incultum, aut graviter et continuo inciperent infirmari, aut viso loco non haberent longius spacium vivendi." Ibid., p. 250.

1

of taboo. Great numbers flocked to Cungar from all quarters and the monastery became a flourishing centre. Desiring privacy, Cungar deserted the place, crossed the Severn into Glamorgan, and landed "in portu Camensi." He ascended a steep mountain hard by, and finding a clear fountain there, established himself and at once constructed a cemetery, always the first thing thought of by a Celtic founder. However, on the following night he dreamed that an angel bade him remove elsewhere, so he ascended another mountain at no great distance, and there constructed church and cemetery.

The cattleherd of the King of Morganwg finding him there, told his master that a hermit had settled on his land without leave, and the king, Paul, blinded by rage, went to the spot and rated him soundly and ordered him to leave. However, Cungar succeeded in assuaging his wrath, and Paul granted him the land he needed. Paul's successor Peibio tried to wrench it away again, but was deterred by threats of divine vengeance.

The fable of Cungar having been son of "an Emperor of Constantinople" springs from the writer of the legend having heard of his descent from Constantine the Blessed, who was actually his great-grandfather, and he mistook this Cornish Constantine for Constantine the Great, but was puzzled as to which of the Emperors was his father, as the name of Solomon did not occur in any such list, whereupon he wisely refrained from naming his father.

The date of the fall of Geraint is thought to have been about 522, consequently the period of his grandson would be about 590. A gross anachronism has been committed by the author of the Life in bringing him into relation with Ina, King of the West Saxons, and not of the Angles (688-728).

What drove Cyngar from Somersetshire was probably the gathering strength of the Saxons in that district after the battle of Deorham in 577. Congresbury is on the Yeo, with extensive marshes stretching to the west to the Bristol Channel, and completely open to attack from the side of Bath, which had fallen into the hands of the Saxons in the same year. This would be the true explanation of Cyngar flying to Morganwg, and not a sudden desire for solitude, as represented by the biographer. As a rule we may almost invariably be sure that the motive attributed to a Saint when he deserts his post is not that which actuated him in reality.

The site on which he settled in Morganwg is said to have been Llandaff, formerly Llangenys, but this is difficult to reconcile with other accounts. It is more probably Llandough-juxta-Cardiff, variously

1 Capgrave, ed. 1901, p. 251.

called "Bangor Cyngar" and "Bangor Dochau," in the Coychurch MS. printed in the Iolo MSS., where we read (p. 114), “Bangor Gyngar was made by Cyngar ab Geraint ab Erbin, and was destroyed by the pagan English, and afterwards was made anew by S. Dochau of the Côr of Illtyd, and called Bangor Dochau." Here the same Saint has been made into two, on account of his double name.

Another entry in the same MS. (p. 104) says that a Côr, now called Llangenys, was founded in Morganwg by Cyngar ab Arthwg (for Garthog) ab Ceredig ab Cunedda Wledig; but this again is a mistake.

In the Truman MS. (p. 116) we are told that "Cyngar ab Geraint ab Erbin, a Saint of the Côr of Garmon made a Côr at Llangenys which is called Llan Doche Fawr, and was destroyed by the pagan English, and S. Doche made a Côr in its place which was called Bangor Doche."

The Iolo MSS. vary considerably in the notices they contain of Docheu or Dochau. They state that he came over to Britain with Ffagan, in the time of Lucius (p. 101); with Dyfan (p. 220); with Garmon (p. 101); and with Cadfan (p. 103); but the compilers confounded him with Dochdwy, whose name is also spelt Dochwy.1 The statement that he refounded Bangor Cyngar places him later than Cyngar ab Geraint.

In the Book of Llan Dâv the abbot of Docunni, that is, of Llandough, is mentioned as one of the three chief abbots of the diocese of Llandaff. In the story of S. Cyngar in Capgrave, the King Paul is Paul Penychen, brother of Gwynllyw Filwr, who appears also as a hot-tempered rough man in the Life of S. Cadoc.

Peibio occurs in the Book of Llan Dâv, but as king of Erging, and certainly at an earlier date than Paul Penychen.2

Cyngar next comes under our notice in the Life of S. Cybi, as an old man. Cybi was his nephew. When Cybi was obliged to leave the south of Wales, he went to Ireland and took his uncle with him.3

Cyngar was then so aged that he was unable to eat solid food, and Cybi bought a cow for him, when he settled with S. Enda in Aran, that his uncle might have milk for his food.4

This occasioned a quarrel with one of the clerics on Aran, as has already been related in the account of S. Cybi. This Saint, taking his uncle with him, left Ireland and crossed into Carnarvon, and

On p. 103 he is also confounded with Oudoceus.

2 He was son of Erb, and father of Efrddyl, mother of S. Dyfrig.

3

P. 184.

4

Consobrinus autem ejus Kengar erat senex."

Cambro-British Saints,

Cui Sanctus Kepius emit vaccam cum vitulo suo, qui alium cibum propter senectutem suam manducare non poterat." Ibid.