BRENDA, the son of Helig ab Glànog, of Tyno Helig. "Gwir à ddywed Sant Brenda,

"Nid llai cyrchir drwg no da." True is what is said by Saint Brenda,

Not less is evil resorted to than good.

BRID, Saint y Brid, or St. Bride, to whom there are churches dedicated in the counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan, and Pembroke, and Radnor; she is otherwise called San Fraid, and San Fraid Leian. There are twelve churches dedicated to her in South Wales, and two or three in North Wales, but in the latter under the name of Fraid.

BROTHEN, the son of Helig ab Glànog of Tyno Helig, whose land was overflowed by the sea.

BRYCHAN, or Brychan Brycheiniog, the son of Anllech Goronog, King of Ireland; his mother was Marchell, the daughter of Teudrig ab Tithfalt ab Teithrin ab Tathal ab Amun Ddu, king of Greece. Brychan had three wives, namely, Eurbrawst, Rhybrawst, and Peresgri; his children are one of the three holy lineages* of the Isle of Britain; the other two are the children of Cunedda Wledig, and the children of Caw of Prydyn t.

The names of the Sons of Brychan:

3. Tangwystl 10. Nevydd

4. Mecheli

5. Nevyn 6. Gwawr 7. Gwrgon

15. Elined

16. Ceindrych 22. Tydvyl 11. Rhieingar 17. Gwen 23. Envail 12. Goleuddydd18. Cenedlon 24. Hawystl 13. Gwendydd‡ 19. Cymhorth § 25. Tybie

*The Triad, which records the three holy families, may be found in the first volume of the CAMBRO-BRITON, p. 169. but, instead of Caw of Prydyn, as here mentioned, the chieftain, there joined with Brychan and Cunedda, is Bran ab Llyr Llediaith.

+ Prydyn is the name generally applied to North Britain.

Or Gwawrddydd.

§ Or Clydai.

BRYNACH: he is called Brynach Wyddel, or Brynach the Irishman, in the Triads. There is a church named after him in the county of Brecon.

BUAN, the son of Ysgwn ab Llywarch Hen.

[To be continued.]

ANCIENT LAWS.

THE PRIVILEGES OF THE MEN OF ARVON.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CAMBRO-BRITON.

SIR,-The following copy of the Privileges of the Men of Arvon, with the curious reason for their being granted, is extracted from the text of the Laws of Hywel the Good, in a manuscript apparently written before the close of the twelfth century, as printed in the Archaiology of Wales, vol. iii. p. 383. The manuscript is in the library of the Welsh school, in London. You will observe, that the translation is almost a literal one, and it is sent without any illustration, with a view of leaving you, Mr. Editor, to say what you may deem ne

cessary.

There are other copies extant of these privileges; but whether any one of them has the eighth, which is a blank in this copy, I cannot recollect, and have not now the opportunity of ascertaining.

The reader will observe, that this document gives a quotation out of some verses by our celebrated bard Taliesin, which, it is to be regretted, are not now, most probably, in existence; and the subject of those verses, as the quotation seems to indicate, was the privileges here submitted to the notice of the reader.

HANESAI.

THE PRIVILeges of the MEN OF ARVON*. In former times was slain Elidyr the Courteous, a man of the

*Notwithstanding that a translation of these ancient and curious "Privileges" has already appeared in print, we gladly avail ourselves of this opportunity to present to our readers another, and, in some particulars, a more correct, version than that which has been published in the Cambrian Register; and we wish we could comply with our correspondent's sug

North and after he was slain the men of the North came here to avenge him. The following were the men, who came as their leaders,-Cludno Eiddyn, and Nudd the Generous, son of Senyllt, and Mordav the Generous, son of Servan, and Rhydderch the Generous, son of Tudawal Tutclyd; these came to Arvon*. And, in killing Elidyr in Aber Meweddus, in

Arvon, they burnt Arvon, in excess of revenge. And after that, an armament was raised by Rhun, son of Maelgwn †, and the men of Gwynedd with him, and they came as far as the banks of the Gweryd, in the North; and there they remained long disputing who ought to take the lead through the river Gweryd‡. Then Rhun dispatched a messenger to Gwynedd to ascertain who possessed the lead. Some said, Maeldav the Elder, chieftain of Pénardd, and adjudged it to the men of Arvon; Iorwerth, son of Madawg, by authority of record, assigned it to Idno the Old, that is, to the men of the black-headed posts §. And thereupon the men of Arvon went in the van, and they conducted themselves well there and thus Taliesin sang

Behold, by the heat of their blades,
With Rhun as a reddener of armies,

The ruddy men of Arvon becoming free ||.

gestion, by offering at the same time a satisfactory illustration of this singular document. But the remoteness of the age to which it relates, and the want of cotemporary information respecting it, necessarily lays bounds to our inclination in this particular. Arvon, the English reader should know, embraces, in a popular sense, the county now called Caernarvon, and implies the country opposite Mona, or Mon.-ED.

* Of the four Chieftains, here mentioned, Nudd, Mordav, and Rhydd, erch are celebrated as the three " generous princes" of Britain, in a Triad, translated in the first volume of this work. The last mentioned is also often commemorated by the earlier bards for the possession of the same quality.-ED,

↑ Maelgwn, Prince of Gwynedd, and finally of the Britons, died about 560; and his son Rhun reigned till 586. Consequently these "privileges" were granted to the "Men of Arvon" during the latter part of the sixth century.-ED.

This halting of the armament at the river Gweryd is a singular proof of the military etiquette of the ancient Britons, and of which we are not aware that any other memorial is in existence.-ED.

§ The original words, here translated "black-headed posts," are pyst penddu, the true signification of which it is now perhaps impossible to ascertain. The words appear, however, from the context, to have had a reference to the inhabitants of Arvon.-Ed.

The following is the original of this fragment of Taliesin,

Then from the length of time that they remained in the war, their wives slept with their bond-servants; and for that reason Rhun gave them fourteen privileges.

The first is, precedence before a wife; namely, a man's precedence in his tame horses, his swine, his geese, and a car, with any two oxen he may like among his kine, and the carful of such furniture as he may choose.

The second is, the lead of Gwynedd in armaments.

The third is, that he pays not for his beast.

The fourth is, to settle the limits of the countries bordering upon Arvon.

The fifth is, if there be a dispute between two manors, of the nine that Arvon contains, that the seven shall determine the dispute of the other two, without the assistance of any person from another place.

The sixth, that there shall be no Serjeant therein *.

The seventh, that it shall be a free right of fishing in the three rivers that are there.

The ninth, that they shall not be restrained to the nearest mill.

The tenth, that they may not drink half-brewed liquor.

The eleventh, that there is no abatement of their suits till the third word.

The twelfth, that there shall be no payment of guest horses, nor men on circuit †.

Cyglyu, wrth wres eu llavnau,

Gàn Rhun yn rhudder byddinau,

Gwyr Arvon rhuddion yn rhyddâu.—

And it deserves to be remarked, that the words and mode of expression, employed in it, are at this day in common use, which adds one to the numerous proofs of the indestructibility (if we may so say) of the Welsh tongue.-ED.

*The Serjeant, or Rhingyll, is mentioned with much respect in the Laws of Hywel, wherein his privileges and duties are particularly defined. The name is still in use in Carmarthenshire, and is synonymous with an apparitor or summoning officer, attached to a Court of Justice. Hence the exemption of the "Men of Arvon" from the presence of this important character may have been of the same nature with the freedom from arrest claimed by certain privileged persons in these days.—Ed.

+ The exemptions, embraced in this "privilege," seem to have reference, in the first place, to the arian y gwestvau, or entertainment money, which the people paid in commutation for the provisions with which they were bound to supply the prince and his retinue on their journey, and, se

The thirteenth, that they shall not be obliged to go to another lodging out of the hall.

The fourteenth is, that whosoever shall reside in it one day and a year, if he be a man of property, he becomes of the same privilege as a man of the country.

If there be any who question any of these privileges, the college of Bangor and that of Bueno are to defend them*.

ANTIQUITIES.

I. DRUIDICAL MONUMENT IN GUERNSEY.

WE insert, with pleasure, the following communication respecting a supposed Druidical relic in the Island of Guernsey, though it does not appear, that the Druidical character of the monument in question has been ascertained with a precision sufficiently satisfactory. However, as the investigation of the antiquities of the Cymry, of whatever country, forms a leading object of this work, all inquiries, tending, however remotely, to this end, cannot fail to be welcome to the pages of the CAMBRO-BRITON. For this reason, our Guernsey Correspondent's Letter merits a grateful acknowledgment; and we should be glad, if, at a future opportunity, he could supply us with some less equivocal proofs of the peculiar character which he ascribes to this remnant of ancient days, by comparing it with such others as are acknowledged to be of Druidical origin. In the mean time we recommend the example he has offered to general imitation, since it is only by the hearty and patriotic co-operation of our readers, in this, as in every other, branch of our inquiries, that we can hope to arrive at any satisfactory result.

condly, to the gifts customarily bestowed upon bards and musicians in their triennial circuit, or cyleh clera. Both these ancient customs are particularly specified in the Laws of Hywd, a translation of which was commenced in the last volume of the CAMBRO-BRITON.-ED.

* The colleges of Bangor and Beuno were founded respectively in the years 525 and 616, the former by Deiniol, son of Dunawd ab Pabo, or, according to some, by Maelgwn, and the latter by St. Beuno, the founder of several other religious institutions in Wales. Bangor still retains its original name; and the college of Beuno is now called Clynog Vawr.—Ep.