Powys and Dinevor, and Idwal ab Meurig ab Idwal Voel, who had been chosen by the inhabitants of Gwynedd to be their prince. Maredydd had conquered Gwynedd in 985, in a battle that he fought in that country with Cadwallawn' ab Ieuan, the then reigning prince, and his brother Meurig. In this battle CadwaIlawn was slain, and Maredydd took Gwynedd and ruled over it, and established government over Mona, Arvon, and Meirionydd, where proper government had not been obtained for a long time.

In 993 the black Danes came to the island of Mona, and devastated the whole island as they pleased, for Gwynedd at that time had neither head, nor owner, nor court, nor government, nor anyone who would up on behalf of the country against strangers and spoliation. On that account the Cymry took Idwal, son of Meurig, one of the sons of Idwal Voel, King of Gwynedd, who died in 943, and made him prince over them; and they received assistance from Ithel, Prince of Glamorgan, and they put the Danes to flight with a great slaughter. Idwal was a praiseworthy and just prince, and established government in Gwynedd, and the disposition proper in peace and war.

In the same year the battle of Llangwm took place, by which Maredydd hoped to reconquer Gwynedd, but Idwal defeated him, and in this battle Tudor Mawr, the son of Einion ab Owain ab Hywel Ddu, and nephew of Prince Maredydd, was slain. Maredydd succeeded to the principality of Dinevor on the death of his brother Einion, who was slain at the battle of Pen Coed Colwyn in 982. Maredydd died in 994, and in the same year the battle of Pen Mynydd, in Mona, took place between Idwal ab Meurig, Prince of Gwynedd, and Swayn, son of Harold, King of Denmark, in which battle Idwal was slain.2

1 Cadwallawn had usurped the throne of Gwynedd. In this battle the royal castle of Penrhyn was destroyed.

2 Brut y Tywysogion.

The comot or lordship of Dinmael was given by Madog ab Maredydd, Prince of Powys, to Owain Brogyntyn, one of his illegitimate sous, whose mother was a daughter of the Maer Ddu of Rug, and on the deposition of his half-brother, Elissau, Lord of Edeyrnion, in 1202, he appears to have succeeded him as Lord of Edeyrnion also, and the seignorial rights of these lordships descended from him to his posterity, the Barons and Lords of Dinmael and Edeyrnion. Owain Brogyntyn married, first, Sioned, daughter of Howel ab Madog ab Idnerth ab Cadwgan ab Elystan Glodrudd, by whom he had no issue, and secondly, Margaret, daughter of Einion ab Seisyllt, Lord of Mathavarn (argent, a lion passant sable, inter three fleurs-de-lys gules), by whom he had issue three sons-1, Gruffydd, Baron of Yr Hendwr, Branas Uchav, Branas Isav, and Gwnodl; 2, Bleddyn ; and 3, Iorwerth, Baron of Cymmer and Llangar. varred oedd vam plant Owain Brogyntyn Medd Llyvr Swri Wyn ab Davydd ab Gruffri" (Lewys Dunn, vol. ii, p. 109).

"Ar

Bleddyn of Maesmor, the second son of Owain Brogyntyn, had the lordship of Dinmael and Rug in Edeyrnion. He was living 2nd Henry III (1218),

when he did homage to that monarch in conformity with the treaty of the first year of his reign between Henry and Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Wales: "Rex Lewelino Principi Norwalliæ salutem. Sciatis quod Madog filius Griffini Coswell (Croes Oswallt: viz., Oswestry), Oeni Bothi, Blebh filius Oeni de Porkinton (Brogyntyn) venerunt ad fidem et servitium nostrum, etc. Teste apud Wudestock xxv die Maiæ, A.D. 1218, An. 2, Hen. III." Bleddyn married Margaret, daughter of Gwyn ab Gruffydd, by whom he had a younger son, Howel, and a son and heir

Owain ab Bleddyn of Maesmor, Lord of Dinmael and Rug. He married Gwenllian, daughter of Madog ab Iorwerth ab Madog ab Ieuan Llywd, by whom he had issue three sons-1, Gruffydd; 2, Howel, who was the ancestor of the Wynns of Pentrev Morgan in Dudlyston yn Y Waun, the Vaughans of Dudlyston (Trev Dudlysh), and the Lloyds of Ebnall in Drewen; and 3, Llewelyn; and a daughter, Annesta, who married Heilin' ab Sir Tudor ab Ednyved Vychan, Lord of Nant and Llangynaval in Mon.

Gruffydd ab Owain of Maesmor, the eldest son, succeeded his father as third Lord of Dinmael and Rug. He gave the royalties of his lordship to Henri de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, being compelled, most probably, to do this by forfeiture. The comot of Dinmael, with the cantrefs of Rhos and Rhuvoniog, was confirmed to the Earl of Lincoln, 16th October, 10 Edward I, by that monarch. Previous to this there was a hangman (Crogur) at Maesmor, where the criminals were executed, as the barons had "liberas furcas"-i.e., the right of executing malefactors. Gruffydd married, first, Elen, the only daughter of Roger Ingram of Denbigh, by whom he

1

Rymer's Fœdera, 1816, vol. i, p. 151.

2 Heilin was living 25th May, 2 Henry III. He was the ancestor of the Morgans of Golden Grove in Tegeingl; Sir Richard Williams Bulkeley of Baron Hill and Cwch Willan, Bart.; the Baronet family of Williams of Vaenol, now extinct; Williamses of Meilionydd Hugheses of Prestatyn and Ffeydor; and Lloyds of Nant.

had a son, John ab Gruffydd. He married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of Madog, second son of Glyndyvrdwy, by whom he had issue four sons-1, Howel; 2, Madog; 3, Llewelyn offeiriad; and 4, Owain Hen, who married Lleicu, the daughter of Madog ab Iorwerth ab Madog ab Rhirid Vlaidd, by whom he was father of Owain Vychan of Y Ddwyvaen and Llewelyn ab Owain Hen. Gruffydd had also a daughter named Generis, who came to Ddwyvaen to end her days at a place still called Muriau Generis.

Llewelyn offeiriad, the third son (or the second son, according to Lewys Dwnn) of Gruffydd ab Owain, became a priest. He was an eminent herald and bard, and his works are still preserved at Jesus College, Oxford. In consequence of differences that arose between him and his brothers, he sold his lands to the Earl of Lincoln, and obtained from the said Earl a charter for his son Howel for thirteen parcels of land, which his descendants hold by privilege of their nobility (ym mraint Uchelwyr) by this charter; and for these thirteen parcels of land they pay thirteen pairs of gloves, as an acknowledgment (see "Llysan" at a future page).

Howel ab Gruffydd of Maesmor, the eldest son, succeeded his father as Lord of Rug in Edeyrnion. He was summoned about 1351, 24 Edward III, with his brother Madog, to appear before Richard de Stafford, Justiciary, by Edward, the last prince, at Aberconwy, to answer by what right they have free court in all their lands in Edeyrnion to be held by Seneschal, when they pleaded that from time immemorial they were seised of the liberties. Fined xd. Their pledges were Madog, the second son of Elissau, Lord of Llangar, and Llewelyn ab David Bach, Lord of Cymmer in Edeyrnion. Howel ab Gruffydd married Angharad, daughter and co-heiress of Cynwrig Sais of Llaneurgain in Tegeingl, who bore quarterly argent and sable, four lions rampant countercharged. Cynwrig Sais was one of the sons of Ithel Fychan of Llaneurgain, Lord of Mostyn, in Tegeingl,

1 Record of Caernarvon.

who bore azure, a lion statant argent, armed and langued gules, the son of Ithel Llwyd ab Ithel Gam, Lord of Mostyn, son of Maredydd ab Uchdryd, Lord of Cyveiliog, ab Edwin ab Goronwy, Prince of Tegeingl. By this lady Howel ab Gruffydd had a son and heir, David ab Howel of Maesmor, Lord of Rug. This baron married, first, Angharad, daughter of Rhys ab Rotpert of Kinmael,1 ab Gruffydd ab Sir Howel, Knight, son of Gruffydd of Henglawdd, youngest son of Ednyved Vychan, Baron of Bryn Ffanigl, who dwelt at Trev Garnedd in Mon. The Kinmael family appear to have changed their armorial bearings very frequently, for Rhys bore sable, a chev. inter three molets argent, and his father Rotpert bore gules, a chev. inter three molets or.

Ednyved Vychan bore gules, a chev. ermine, inter three Englishmen's heads in profile, couped ppr.; and their ancestor, Marchudd of Bryn Ffanigl, Lord of Uwch Dulas, bore gules, a Saracen's head erased gardant, evined and bearded ppr., wreathed about the temples argent and azure. David ab Howel ab Gruffydd married, secondly, Catharine, daughter of Richard ab Sir Roger Pulestone of Emeral, Knight, by whom he had three daughters, viz., Gwladys, ux. Gruffydd ab Ednyved; Lleucu, ux. Rhys ab Llewelyn ab David ab Ieuan Wyddel3; and Gwen, ux. Twna ab Ieuan ab David Vychan ab Iorwerth ab David ab Iorwerth ab Cowryd ab Cadvan, ancestor of the Lloyds of Llanbedr (see Lewys Dunn, vol. ii, p. 284). By his first wife, Angharad, David had issue a son and heir

According to the sound, should not this place be spelt Cun

mael?

2 Besides Sir Howel, Gruffydd of Henglawdd had another son, Sir Rhys ab Gruffydd, the father of Sir Gruffydd Lloyd, who received the honour of knighthood from Edward I on bringing him intelligence of the birth of his son, Edward of Caernarvon. (See Arch. Camb., July 1876, p. 178, note.)

3 Ieuan Wyddel of Mwssoglen, in the parish of Llangeinwein in Cwmwd Menai, ab Ieuan ab Meredydd Dhu ab Goronwy ab Meredydd ab Iorwerth ab Llywarch ab Bran, Lord of Cwmwd Menai. 4 See vol. iv, p. 167.