and Rywalhon, the sons of Confyn, brothers, by the mother's side, to Prince Gruffydh, and who probably, for the desire of rule, were accessory to the murder of that noble Prince."

The Llyfr Ieuan Brechva, in a pedigree on p. 32, says that Gwerystan married Angharad, daughter of Meredydd ab Owain, and had issue, Cynfyn, father of Bleddyn; and on p. 54 has a passage which may be freely translated, "And now let us turn to the talaith of Mathravel in Powys, which descended to Bleddyn ab Cynfyn through Angharad, his mother, the daughter of Meredydd ab Owain ab Howel Dda ab Cadell; and she, indeed, had been the wife of Llewelyn ab Seissyllt, the mother of Gruffydd ab Llywelyn; and because of the death of her brother Rhys, the talaith descended to Gruffydd ab Llywelyn through his mother; and because of the failure of heirs of Gruffydd ab Llywelyn ab Seissyllt, the talaith descended to Bleddyn ab Cynfyn, whose descendants had it."

In the Brut y Tywysogion we read of the sons of Bleddyn ab Cynvyn Gwyn; and in The Golden Grove Book, M, p. 1971, is a pedigree wherein Karadoc ab Gwyn ab Collwyn is stated to have married, firstly, "Angharad, fh. M'red, King of N. Wales", relict to Llywelyn ab Seissyllt ab Gwerystan ab Gwaithvoed; and secondly, blank. By which second marriage he had a son, Trahaiarn ab Caradoc, King of North Wales, who married Nest, daughter to Gruffydd ab Llywelyn ab Seissyllt ("potius f. Ll'en ab Seissyllt, King of N. Wales"). But in another place of the Llyfr Ieuan Brechva, we read the following: "Gwehelyth Arwystli, Ho ap Ieuaf ap Ywain ap trahaiarn ap Kradawc ap Gwynn ap Golwyn ap bleddyn ap ednywain ap pladrwys ap Kaidiau ap Korf ap Kynoc ap ferw hyvlawdd."

Amidst such conflicting testimony we can only offer a suggestive explanation, which is that Angharad, heiress of Meredydd, married firstly Llywelyn, who had a claim on the sovereignty of North Wales from the fact that his father, Seissyllt, had married Trawst,

daughter of Elisse, son of Anarawd, and brother of Edwal Voel, King of Gwynedd. Llywelyn was slain in 1021, having a son and successor, Gruffydd, who was slain in 1061, leaving by his wife, Editha the Fair, daughter of Alfgar Earl of Mercia, and sister of Edwin Earl of Chester, who held Tegeingl, a daughter, Nest, who, after certain untoward adventures with Fleance, son of Banquo, married Trahaiarn ab Caradoc. For her second husband Angharad married Gwyn, by whom she had issue Caradoc, who had issue the aforesaid Trahaiarn, slain in 1080; and she had also issue, Cynvyn, father of Bleddyn, who was slain in 1072. This Cynvyn is called Cynan in the Llyfr Ieuan Brechva.

If we attempt to trace the genealogies upwards, difficulties increase upon us, but it is worthy of remark that both Gwerystan and Gwyn are referred to the same ancestry. The line usually given for Caradoc is ab Gwyn ab Collwyn ab Ednowain ab Bleddyn ab Bledri, Prince of Cornwall. But this is evidently fictitious, for this Caradoc was slain at Rhuddlan, contending with the Saxons, in 795, and so could not be father of Trahaiarn, who was slain in 1079-80. The Iolo MSS., indeed, declare this Caradoc to be the son of Iestyn ab Gwrgant, King of Glamorgan. Perhaps the truth lies between the two, and that Caradoc was indeed the son of Gwyn ab Collwyn ab Gwyn, King of Dyved; which Collwyn had a sister, Angharad, wife of Gwrgan ab Judhael, and mother of Iestyn, Llewelyn, and Tudor; and another sister, Gwenllian, wife of Tewdwr Mawr, Prince of South Wales.

What somewhat confirms the idea that he was of this lineage is the fact that Trahaiarn was assisted by his cousins, Caradoc ab Gruffydd and Meilyr son of Rhiwallon ab Gwyn, when he opposed the invasion of Gruffydd ab Cynan in Gwynedd.

With respect to the lineage of Bleddyn ab Cynfyn, we read in the Iolo MSS. that Iestyn married, for his first wife, Denis, daughter of Bleddyn ab Cynfyn. by his first wife, Haer, and received as her portion the

lordship of Cibwyr in Gwent, and their son Rhydderch had the lordship of Caerlleon by a settlement made with Bleddyn ab Cynfyn. We also find that Bleddyn ab Cynfyn kept his Christmas in Dyved: all which points out the fact of his connection with South Wales. The Brut y Tywysogion also tells us that in “1073 Bleddyn ab Cynfyn was killed ...... the man who, after Gruffydd, his brother, nobly supported the whole kingdom of the Britons; and after him Trahaiarn ab Caradog, his cousin, ruled over the kingdom of the Gwyneddians."

It is nearly certain that the only claims which Cynvyn and Trahaiarn ab Caradoc had to royalty were derived from their ancestress, Angharad, Queen of Powys, and there is a suspicious appearance about the numerous pedigrees attributed to them, as though the genealogists had given them an eminent genealogy in virtue of their eminent position, but had not agreed among themselves what that genealogy should be. This appearance may, however, have arisen by the mistakes and conjectures of ignorant persons in later times at least there is one point of unity, viz., that Cynvyn, Caradoc, and Llywelyn, of Buallt, are all derived by the genealogists from Iorwerth Hirflawdd, Cynvyn being fourteen generations, and Caradoc and Llywelyn eight generations from him. But let it be observed that that Caradoc was the one which we have already rejected, he having been slain in 795; and the same reason will cause the rejection of this Llywelyn.

With respect to Cynvyn or Cynan more may be said, because he is called the grandson of Gwaithvoed; and though we must reject the Gwaithvoed of Powys with the above genealogy from Iorwerth Hirflawdd, it is possible for him to have derived his connection with South Wales, which is historical, from Gwaithvoed of Cardigan. But here again we are met by the difficulty that both Gwaithvoed of Cardigan and Gwaithvoed of Powys are said by the genealogists to have married Morfydd, daughter and heir of Ynyr Ddu, King of

Gwent. However, Gwaithvoed is called Prince of Cardigan and lord of Cibwyr, and Cibwyr is the portion given in marriage by Bleddyn ap Cynfyn with his daughter, Denis, to Jestyn ab Gwrgan. Moreover, this Gwaithvoed of Cardigan had a son, Gwyn, lord of Castell Gwyn.

All this, however, involves considerable chronological difficulties, for it has been said that this Gwaithvoed of Cardigan was father of Ednowain, the lay Abbot of Llanbadarn in 1188, when Giraldus visited that part of the country. This, however, is impossible if Gwaithvoed was grandfather of Cynvyn; and also, we may add, impossible if he was the father of Cynan Veiniad, as he is called, lord of Tregaron. We say impossible with regard to the latter, because this Cynan Veiniad had, according to the heralds and genealogists, a son named Rhun, whose daughter and heiress, Gwladys, was wife of Elystan Glodrhudd, said to have been born A.D. 933, and in whose right the three boars' heads couped are placed upon the shield of Elystan. We do not believe in such advanced heraldry at so early a time, and the whole shield is suspiciously like those of Gwaithvoed of Cardigan and Ednowain quartered; the only difference being that the shield of Gwaithvoed is tinctured sable, that of Elystan gules. It is evident, therefore, that it would be quite possible for Gwaithvoed of Cardigan to have lived at a period sufficiently remote for him to be father of Gwyn.

In Williams' Eminent Welshmen Elystan is said to have married Gwenllian, daughter of Einion ab Howel Dda; but his coat is always given as quarterly, 1 and 4, gules, a lion rampant, regardant or; 2 and 3, argent, three boars' heads couped sable, founded upon the above descent from Rhun.

We pass on to Llywelyn ab Seissyllt, whose ancestry seems equally involved in obscurity. We have already noticed that Seissyllt is called son of Gwerystan ab Gwaithvoed, and this Gwerystan is the same person

called in other places Gwynn and Gwedylstan (query, a confusion of Gwyn ab Elystan ?); and it is also certain that Gwaithvoed had a son called Elystan (Harl. MS. 1977), whose descendant, Hunydd, afterwards married Meredydd ab Bleddyn, Prince of Powys. By many genealogists, however, Seissyllt is considered to be the son of Llywelyn of Buallt; but if so, in the Jesus College MS. previously mentioned, where the children of this Seissyllt are given, no mention is made of any named Llywelyn; and, moreover, this Seissyllt is stated to be son of Llywelyn of Buallt, son of Cadwgan ab Elystan Glodrhudd; which Cadwgan is stated to have married Angharad, daughter of Lawr by Leuki, daughter of Meredydd Owain ab Howel Dda: which, if it be true (and it is one of our oldest MSS.), puts Llywelyn of Buallt out of the question.

The mistakes of copyists and others are so manifold, manifest, and great, in our genealogical manuscripts, as all well versed in them must know, that there would be no difficulty in the words Cynvyn mab Gwyn mab Elystan, or Cynvyn Gwyn Elystan, becoming Cynvyn ab Gwydelystan, and later, Cynvyn ab Gwerystan. Some such explanation there must be, for the pedigrees as they stand are otherwise inexplicable, and this confusion seems to have taken place just about the time when there were such changing and troublous times recorded as existing in the kingdom.

Since we find so much confusion amongst royal personages, we cannot expect those who held a humbler position to have escaped. Next to the king in Gwynedd came the heads of the tribes, or chiefs of the noble families, who amounted to fifteen. Their order is given differently by different authorities, and the fact seems to be that they had no definite order. Their power,

according to the Welsh constitution, was very great, since they were able, for sufficient cause, to put one member of the royal family off the throne, and replace him by some other member of it,-a notable instance being that of Iorwerth Drwyndwn.