people. His conduct, however, is justified by the interposition of an angelic vision. This yellow plague is probably historical. Maelgwn Gwynedd, the prince of North Wales, whom Gildas reproved, is said to have fallen a victim to it. The date given by the "Annales Cambria" is 547, but this must be wrong, and 587 would be nearer the truth. The legend of St. Teilo states that all who were seized appeared to be yellow and without blood, "and it appeared to men as a column of a watery cloud, having one end trailing along the ground, and the other above, proceeding in the air, and passing through the whole country, like a shower going through the bottom of valleys. Whatever living creatures it touched with its pestiferous blast either immediately died or sickened to death. If any one endeavoured to apply a remedy to the sick person, not only had the medicines no effect, but the dreadful disorder brought the physician, together with the sick person, to death. . . . . It raged not only against men, but also against beasts."

The usual wonders are related of Teilo's stay in Brittany, but they are all surpassed by the story of the great miracle which was worked after his death, which happened at Llandeilo Fawr, in Carmarthenshire. Instead of mourning for him in a becoming manner, the clergy of three of his churches"Penallun" (Penaly, near Tenby), Llandeilo Fawr, and Llandaff,-quarrelled, so runs the tale, as to which place should have his body. Next morning, however, they found three bodies in the place of the

E

one, without any difference between them. Each church, accordingly, boasted of having the true body of St. Teilo. It is easy to see how this ridiculous story originated. When the worship of the relics of saints commenced, it added lustre to a church to be able to boast of having the body of the most notable worthy of the district, and, without doubt, each of the three churches named laid claim to that honour. As the three claims could not all be genuine without a miracle, it was a happy thought on the part of some one to imagine a solution which would please everybody. The story ends with a characteristic touch on the part of its writer, who, as a Llandaff clergyman, naturally favoured his own church most. He suggests that the miracles worked at the Llandaff shrine proved that the real body had been buried there, whereas the other churches had only to boast of counterfeit, though supernatural, present

ments.

CHAPTER IX.

THE WELSH BISHOPRICS-LLANDAFF-ST. OUDOCEUSOTHER BRITISH BISHOPRICS.

THE third bishop of Llandaff was Oudoceus, who is said to have been a nephew of St. Teilo. His father was Budic, a prince of Armorica. When Teilo left his diocese on account of the yellow plague, he found his nephew already a young man of eloquence and saintly life, and on his return to Llandaff, Oudoceus accompanied him, and eventually became his successor. A dispute afterwards arose between the bishop and Prince Cadwgan, on account of an injury done by the prince to one of Oudoceus's clergy, and for a time Cadwgan excluded the bishop from his territory. Towards the end of his life, Oudoceus resigned his bishopric, and retired to an oratory which he founded at Llan Einion. The usual miracles are

related by the author of the legend. The only story which is worth mentioning illustrates that love for every living thing which in early times. was considered an especial mark of saintliness. One day, Prince Einion was hunting "among the rocks and woods of the River Wye," as was his wont, when the wearied stag came in its flight to where Oudoceus was, with his cloak lying on the ground,

near at hand. The stag cast itself down upon the cloak. Oudoceus pitying it, and considering that it had thus appealed to him for protection, saved it from the hunters, and the prince, struck by the strange event, is said to have made a gift of the spot to the bishop and the church of Llandaff.

Oudoceus is the last of the early bishops of Llandaff of whom any detailed information is given. The "Liber Landavensis" records many deeds of gift in subsequent years, and mentions the names of many bishops; but, although some of the stories preserved are curious, as showing the wild and troublous character of the times, and the half-savage passions of many of the Welsh princes, only restrained by their awe for the Church, most of the records are of little interest to any but the antiquary. One pathetic story is told regarding the fierce struggle which was ever going on between the Welsh and their English neighbours. An old Prince, Tewdrig, had retired from the exercise of his authority, having given up the power to his son Meurig, and was leading the life of a hermit in the picturesque valley of Tintern. But he was called forth from his retirement by the news of a Saxon invasion, and the old man, who had never known defeat himself, must of necessity come to aid his son and his people. The sight of the old king riding in front of the army animated his people, and, as they thought, terrified their enemies, who turned. their backs and fled. But as their ranks were breaking, one threw a lance, and wounded him mortally, so that he lay dying, like Wolfe, in the hour of

victory. He lived to be carried as far as Mathern, and there died. His son Meurig established on the place of his death "an oratory and cemetery."

One difficult question regarding the Welsh bishoprics is whether in ancient times there existed an archiepiscopate. Analogy would seem to point to Caerleon as the seat of such, as it seems to have been the earliest bishopric, and it was the capital of the Roman province. St. David's claimed to have succeeded to the honour. However, the "Liber Landavensis" asserts a sort of archiepiscopal dignity for Llandaff, and the term "archbishop" is certainly used very loosely, for two of the earliest and best authorities, the "Annales Cambria" and the "Brut y Tywysogion," speak of an archbishop of Bangor. In 1125, an attempt was made at the English court and at Rome to get the authority of the see of St. David's recognised; but these efforts, afterwards renewed by Giraldus Cambrensis, were wholly abortive. On the whole, several of the best authorities are inclined to the opinion that the title of archbishop was used loosely and inaccurately, and that no Welsh see at any time had any jurisdiction over another. In the Irish Church the word archbishop was loosely used in old times.

Before leaving the subject of the early bishoprics, it is necessary to summarise the scanty knowledge we possess of British bishoprics beyond the borders of Wales. Bede mentions that British bishops, apparently from Cornwall, joined in the consecration of Ceadda to the see of York, A.D. 664. Moreover, the names and