Welsh Journals

SEPT., 1877. THE CAMBRIAN REMEMBRANCER. ■!**>. . ,;-;V TBE CAMBRIAN REMEMBRANCER. .;:,;..- September w, wn. f hip. spirit of inquiry, is happily gaining ground among the Welsh people. This is a good sign of the times, and now that tens of thousands of our English friends are visiting North Wales, not only for health and pleasure but also to become better acquainted with the country and people, we feel that the time has arrived when we may usefully open a special column in our paper, devoted to inquiries and replies, upon interesting North Walian subjects which are ever cropping up in these days. This column will be devoted to communica¬ tions of that nature, to poetry, in English or in Welsh, to historial scraps, short biographical notes of eminent North Walians, and "Odds and Ends." We invite our correspondents to assist us in making it useful and agreeable. When replies are made to inquiries, they should be niade under the same heading as the inquiries themselves, and the number of the inquiry given between brackets, thus [ ■].—Ed. NOTES. The...Royal and Noble Tribes of Wales.—We are sometimes laughed at for our well-known attach¬ ment to the glories of our ancestry. At times we, no doubt, carry this too far, but no one can deny the value of heraldic and genealogical studies, and it is difficult indeed to follow the course of history without eome knowledge of them. Mr Pennant, in one of his numerous works, has given a list of the Five J^yal Tribes of Cambria,on the authority of the cele- w$* S& Sobert^Vaughan of Hengwrt; and of the ?„ f£t?oW8. Tribes of North Wales, from a MS. m the possession of the Rev L. Owen. The column which you propose to open in the 'Herald' for the collection of « Odds and Ends " relating to North Wiles will I hope lead to a more general study of the history of our nation and people, and as many writers may make heraldry and genealogy a part of their contributions to it, I have thought it would not be unwelcome if you inserted these lists in an early issue of this much needed Remembrancer, I shall simply name the tribes in their order, and the arms they respectively bore, beginning with the Five Royal ones:— 1. Gryffytt ap Cynan, king of North Wales, who beareth—Gules, three lionaels passant in pale borry argent, armed azure. 2. Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr, who took upon him the government of South Wales in 1077. He beareth— Gules, a lion rampant or, within a borduie indented. 3. Blethyn ap Cynfyn, king of North Wales aud §rinoe of Powys, and after the death of the prince o outh Wales he became king of all Wales, 11 beareth—Or, a lion rampant gules.armed and langued or. 4. Ethelystan Glodrydd, prince of Ferlys, a county lying between the Wye and Severn. He bore two coats quartered azure, three boars' heads caboched sable, langued gules, tusked or. 5. Jestyn ap Gwrgant, prince or lord of Glamorgan who bore—Gules three cheveronels in pale argent. The Fifteen Noble Tribes, or North Wales are:— '. " :, ' '[ 1 Hwfa ap Cyhddelw, who lived in the; time of Owain Gwynedd, his arms—Gules between three lioncels rampant, a cheveron or. 2 Llowarch ap Bran, living in the same period, his arms—Argent between three crows, with ermine in their bills, a cheveron sable. 3 Gweirydd ap Rhys Goch, living about the com¬ mencement of the twelfth century, ; his armB—Ar¬ gent on a bend sable, three lions' heads cabouched of the first. 4 Cilmin Troed Du, living in the ninth century. He bore quarterly—(1) Argent, an eagle displayed with two heads sable ; (2) Argent, three fiery ragged sticks gules; (3) as the second; (4) as the first. Over all, upon an escutcheon of pretence argent, a man's leg coupe a la cuisse, sable. 5 Oollwyn ap Tango, living about the end of the eighth century. His arms sable, between three flower de-luces, a cheveron argent. 6 Nefydd Hardd, living in the time of Owain. Gwynedd. He beareth argent, three spears's heads imbrued, sable pointed upwards. 7 Maelog Crwm, living in the twelfth century.. His arms—Argent, on a cheveron sjkble, three augers or." " '?■....... " > 8 Marchudd ap Cynan, living in the ninth oeh-