CHAPTER V
Of the river Devi,and the land of the sons of Conan Approaching to the river Devi,{145}which divides North and South Wales,the bishop of St.David's,and Rhys the son of Gruffydd,who with a liberality peculiarly praiseworthy in so illustrious a prince,had accompanied us from the castle of Aberteivi,throughout all Cardiganshire,to this place,returned home.Having crossed the river in a boat,and quitted the diocese of St.David's,we entered the land of the sons of Conan,or Merionyth,the first province of Venedotia on that side of the country,and belonging to the bishopric of Bangor.{146}We slept that night at Towyn.Early next morning,Gruffydd son of Conan {147}came to meet us,humbly and devoutly asking pardon for having so long delayed his attention to the archbishop.On the same day,we ferried over the bifurcate river Maw,{148}where Malgo,son of Rhys,who had attached himself to the archbishop,as a companion to the king's court,discovered a ford near the sea.That night we lay at Llanvair,{149}that is the church of St.Mary,in the province of Ardudwy.{150}This territory of Conan,and particularly Merionyth,is the rudest and roughest district of all Wales;the ridges of its mountains are very high and narrow,terminating in sharp peaks,and so irregularly jumbled together,that if the shepherds conversing or disputing with each other from their summits,should agree to meet,they could scarcely effect their purpose in the course of the whole day.The lances of this country are very long;for as South Wales excels in the use of the bow,so North Wales is distinguished for its skill in the lance;insomuch that an iron coat of mail will not resist the stroke of a lance thrown at a small distance.The next morning,the youngest son of Conan,named Meredyth,met us at the passage of a bridge,attended by his people,where many persons were signed with the cross;amongst whom was a fine young man of his suite,and one of his intimate friends;and Meredyth,observing that the cloak,on which the cross was to be sewed,appeared of too thin and of too common a texture,with a flood of tears,threw him down his own.
CHAPTER VI
Passage of Traeth Mawr and Traeth Bachan,and of Nevyn,Carnarvon,and Bangor We continued our journey over the Traeth Mawr,{151}and Traeth Bachan,{152}that is,the greater and the smaller arm of the sea,where two stone castles have newly been erected;one called Deudraeth,belonging to the sons of Conan,situated in Evionyth,towards the northern mountains;the other named Carn Madryn,the property of the sons of Owen,built on the other side of the river towards the sea,on the head-land Lleyn.{153}Traeth,in the Welsh language,signifies a tract of sand flooded by the tides,and left bare when the sea ebbs.We had before passed over the noted rivers,the Dissenith,{154}between the Maw and Traeth Mawr,and the Arthro,between the Traeth Mawr and Traeth Bachan.We slept that night at Nevyn,on the eve of Palm Sunday,where the archdeacon,after long inquiry and research,is said to have found Merlin Sylvestris.{155}
Beyond Lleyn,there is a small island inhabited by very religious monks,called Caelibes,or Colidei.This island,either from the wholesomeness of its climate,owing to its vicinity to Ireland,or rather from some miracle obtained by the merits of the saints,has this wonderful peculiarity,that the oldest people die first,because diseases are uncommon,and scarcely any die except from extreme old age.Its name is Enlli in the Welsh,and Berdesey {156}in the Saxon language;and very many bodies of saints are said to be buried there,and amongst them that of Daniel,bishop of Bangor.
The archbishop having,by his sermon the next day,induced many persons to take the cross,we proceeded towards Banchor,passing through Caernarvon,{157}that is,the castle of Arvon;it is called Arvon,the province opposite to Mon,because it is so situated with respect to the island of Mona.Our road leading us to a steep valley,{158}with many broken ascents and descents,we dismounted from our horses,and proceeded on foot,rehearsing,as it were,by agreement,some experiments of our intended pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Having traversed the valley,and reached the opposite side with considerable fatigue,the archbishop,to rest himself and recover his breath,sat down on an oak which had been torn up by the violence of the winds;and relaxing into a pleasantry highly laudable in a person of his approved gravity,thus addressed his attendants:"Who amongst you,in this company,can now delight our wearied ears by whistling?"which is not easily done by people out of breath.He affirming that he could,if he thought fit,the sweet notes are heard,in an adjoining wood,of a bird,which some said was a woodpecker,and others,more correctly,an aureolus.The woodpecker is called in French,spec,and with its strong bill,perforates oak trees;the other bird in called aureolus,from the golden tints of its feathers,and at certain seasons utters a sweet whistling note instead of a song.Some persons having remarked,that the nightingale was never heard in this country,the archbishop,with a significant smile,replied,"The nightingale followed wise counsel,and never came into Wales;but we,unwise counsel,who have penetrated and gone through it."We remained that night at Banchor,{159}the metropolitan see of North Wales,and were well entertained by the bishop of the diocese.{160}On the next day,mass being celebrated by the archbishop before the high altar,the bishop of that see,at the instance of the archbishop and other persons,more importunate than persuasive,was compelled to take the cross,to the general concern of all his people of both sexes,who expressed their grief on this occasion by loud and lamentable vociferations.