CHAPTER XII
Of Penbroch The province of Penbroch adjoins the southern part of the territory of Ros,and is separated from it by an arm of the sea.Its principal city,and the metropolis of Demetia,is situated on an oblong rocky eminence,extending with two branches from Milford Haven,from whence it derived the name of Penbroch,which signifies the head of the aestuary.Arnulph de Montgomery,{110}in the reign of king Henry I.erected here a slender fortress with stakes and turf,which,on returning to England,he consigned to the care of Giraldus de Windesor,{111}his constable and lieutenant-general,a worthy and discreet man.Immediately on the death of Rhys son of Tewdwr,who a short time before had been slain by the treachery of his own troops at Brecheinoc,leaving his son,Gruffydd,a child,the inhabitants of South Wales besieged the castle.One night,when fifteen soldiers had deserted,and endeavoured to escape from the castle in a small boat,on the following morning Giraldus invested their armour bearers with the arms and estates of their masters,and decorated them with the military order.The garrison being,from the length of the siege,reduced to the utmost want of provisions,the constable,with great prudence and flattering hopes of success,caused four hogs,which yet remained,to be cut into small pieces and thrown down to the enemy from the fortifications.The next day,having again recourse to a more refined stratagem,he contrived that a letter,sealed with his own signet,should be found before the house of Wilfred,{112}bishop of St.David's,who was then by chance in that neighbourhood,as if accidentally dropped,stating that there would be no necessity of soliciting the assistance of earl Arnulph for the next four months to come.The contents of these letters being made known to the army,the troops abandoned the siege of the castle,and retired to their own homes.Giraldus,in order to make himself and his dependants more secure,married Nest,the sister of Gruffydd,prince of South Wales,by whom he had an illustrious progeny of both sexes;and by whose means both the maritime parts of South Wales were retained by the English,and the walls of Ireland afterwards stormed,as our Vaticinal History declares.
In our time,a person residing at the castle of Penbroch,found a brood of young weasels concealed within a fleece in his dwelling house,which he carefully removed and hid.The mother,irritated at the loss of her young,which she had searched for in vain,went to a vessel of milk that had been set aside for the use of the master's son,and raising herself up,polluted it with her deadly poison;thus revenging,as it were,the loss of her young,by the destruction of the child.The man,observing what passed,carried the fleece back to its former place;when the weasel,agitated by maternal solicitude,between hope and fear,on finding again her young,began to testify her joy by her cries and actions,and returning quickly to the vessel,overthrew it;thus,in gratitude for the recovery of her own offspring,saving that of her host from danger.
In another place,an animal of the same species had brought out her young into a plain for the enjoyment of the sun and air;when an insidious kite carried off one of them.Concealing herself with the remainder behind some shrubs,grief suggested to her a stratagem of exquisite revenge;she extended herself on a heap of earth,as if dead,within sight of the plunderer,and (as success always increases avidity)the bird immediately seized her and flew away,but soon fell down dead by the bite of the poisonous animal.
The castle called Maenor Pyrr,{113}that is,the mansion of Pyrrus,who also possessed the island of Chaldey,which the Welsh call Inys Pyrr,or the island of Pyrrus,is distant about three miles from Penbroch.It is excellently well defended by turrets and bulwarks,and is situated on the summit of a hill extending on the western side towards the sea-port,having on the northern and southern sides a fine fish-pond under its walls,as conspicuous for its grand appearance,as for the depth of its waters,and a beautiful orchard on the same side,inclosed on one part by a vineyard,and on the other by a wood,remarkable for the projection of its rocks,and the height of its hazel trees.On the right hand of the promontory,between the castle and the church,near the site of a very large lake and mill,a rivulet of never-failing water flows through a valley,rendered sandy by the violence of the winds.Towards the west,the Severn sea,bending its course to Ireland,enters a hollow bay at some distance from the castle;and the southern rocks,if extended a little further towards the north,would render it a most excellent harbour for shipping.From this point of sight,you will see almost all the ships from Great Britain,which the east wind drives upon the Irish coast,daringly brave the inconstant waves and raging sea.This country is well supplied with corn,sea-fish,and imported wines;and what is preferable to every other advantage,from its vicinity to Ireland,it is tempered by a salubrious air.
Demetia,therefore,with its seven cantreds,is the most beautiful,as well as the most powerful district of Wales;Penbroch,the finest part of the province of Demetia;and the place I have just described,the most delightful part of Penbroch.It is evident,therefore,that Maenor Pirr is the pleasantest spot in Wales;and the author may be pardoned for having thus extolled his native soil,his genial territory,with a profusion of praise and admiration.