Welsh Journals

67 PRENDERGAST FAMILY. The name of Prendergast appears amongst the officers of William the Conqueror's army, on the Roll of Battle Abbey. It does not follow, however, that the family was Norman. Thierry, quoting the contemporary his¬ torians, says that William had his proclamation of war published in the neighbouring kingdoms, and offered good pay, and the plunder of England, to every tall and stout man who would serve him with spear and cross¬ bow. A multitude came by all roads from far and near, from the north and from the south. Some arrived from the province of Maine and from Anjou, from Poictou and from Britany, from France and from Flanders, from Burgundy, from Piedmont, and from the banks of the Rhine. All the adventurers by profession, all the out¬ casts of Western Europe, came eagerly and by forced marches.1 It is probable that the Prendergasts were Flemings; for the name, in composition and character, resembles the following names, which are found in the preface to the Salic Law, the oldest manuscript of the dark ages still subsisting in Europe, according to M. Guizot, and written in mixed Latin and German, supposed to be of the sixth century after Christ. " Those who compiled, the Salic Law are, Wisagast, Arigast, Salegast, Winde- gast, in Bodiham, Saliham, and Wrindham."2 And he mentions that " gast" means " host," and that " Saligast" is " inhabitant of the canton or district of Sale."3 Hence " Prendergast" would mean " inhabitant or owner of the district of Prender." Another circumstance that renders it probable that the Prendergasts were Flemings, is the early settlement of the family in Pembrokeshire, which was a conquest 1 Thierry, Conquest of England by the Normans, book iii, p. 62. "Whitaker. London. 2 Guizot, Cours cFHistoire Moderne, vol. i, p. 279. 3 lb. p. 276. 5*