{24}Rhaiadyr,called also Rhaiader-gwy,is a small village and market-town in Radnorshire.The site only of the castle,built by prince Rhys,A.D.1178,now remains at a short distance from the village;it was strongly situated on a natural rock above the river Wye,which,below the bridge,forms a cataract.
{25}Llywel,a small village about a mile from Trecastle,on the great road leading from thence to Llandovery;it was anciently a township,and by charter of Philip and Mary was attached to the borough of Brecknock,by the name of Trecastle ward.
{26}Leland,in his deion of this part of Wales,mentions a lake in Low Elvel,or Elvenia,which may perhaps be the same as that alluded to in this passage of Giraldus."There is a llinne in Low Elvel within a mile of Payne's castel by the church called Lanpeder.
The llinne is caullid Bougklline,and is of no great quantite,but is plentiful of pike,and perche,and eles."-Leland,Itin.tom.v.
p.72.
{27}Hay.-A pleasant market-town on the southern banks of the river Wye,over which there is a bridge.It still retains some marks of baronial antiquity in the old castle,within the present town,the gateway of which is tolerably perfect.A high raised tumulus adjoining the church marks the site of the more ancient fortress.The more modern and spacious castle owes its foundation probably to one of those Norman lords,who,about the year 1090,conquered this part of Wales.Little notice is taken of this castle in the Welsh chronicles;but we are informed that it was destroyed in 1231,by Henry II.and that it was refortified by Henry III.
{28}Llanddew,a small village,about two miles from Brecknock,on the left of the road leading from thence to Hay;its manor belongs to the bishops of Saint David's,who had formerly a castellated mansion there,of which some ruins still remain.The tithes of this parish are appropriated to the archdeaconry of Brecknock,and here was the residence of our author Giraldus,which he mentions in several of his writings,and alludes to with heartfelt satisfaction at the end of the third chapter of this Itinerary.
{29}Aberhodni,the ancient name of the town and castle of Brecknock,derived from its situation at the confluence of the river Hodni with the Usk.The castle and two religious buildings,of which the remains are still extant,owed their foundation to Bernard de Newmarch,a Norman knight,who,in the year 1090,obtained by conquest the lordship of Brecknock.[The modern Welsh name is Aberhonddu.]
{30}Iestyn ap Gwrgant was lord of the province of Morganwg,or Glamorgan,and a formidable rival to Rhys ap Tewdwr,prince of South Wales;but unable to cope with him in power,he prevailed on Robert Fitzhamon,a Norman knight,to come to his assistance.
{31}This little river rises near the ruins of Blanllyfni castle,between Llangorse pool and the turnpike road leading from Brecknock to Abergavenny,and empties itself into the river Usk,near Glasbury.
{32}A pretty little village on the southern banks of the Usk,about four miles from Hay,on the road leading to Brecknock.
{33}The great desolation here alluded to,is attributed by Dr.
Powel to Howel and Meredyth,sons of Edwyn ap Eineon;not to Howel,son of Meredith.In the year 1021,they conspired against Llewelyn ap Sitsyllt,and slew him:Meredith was slain in 1033,and Howel in 1043.
{34}William de Breusa,or Braose,was by extraction a Norman,and had extensive possessions in England,as well as Normandy:he was succeeded by his son Philip,who,in the reign of William Rufus,favoured the cause of king Henry against Robert Curthose,duke of Normandy;and being afterwards rebellious to his sovereign,was disinherited of his lands.By his marriage with Berta,daughter of Milo,earl of Hereford,he gained a rich inheritance in Brecknock,Overwent,and Gower.He left issue two sons:William and Philip:
William married Maude de Saint Wallery,and succeeded to the great estate of his father and mother,which he kept in peaceable possession during the reigns of king Henry II.and king Richard I.
In order to avoid the persecutions of king John,he retired with his family to Ireland;and from thence returned into Wales;on hearing of the king's arrival in Ireland,his wife Maude fled with her sons into Scotland,where she was taken prisoner,and in the year 1210committed,with William,her son and heir,to Corf castle,and there miserably starved to death,by order of king John;her husband,William de Braose,escaped into France,disguised,and dying there,was buried in the abbey church of Saint Victor,at Paris.The family of Saint Walery,or Valery,derived their name from a sea-port in France.
{35}A small church dedicated to Saint David,in the suburbs of Brecknock,on the great road leading from thence to Trecastle."The paroche of Llanvays,Llan-chirch-Vais extra,ac si diceres,extra muros.It standeth betwixt the river of Uske and Tyrtorelle brooke,that is,about the lower ende of the town of Brekenok."-Leland,Itin.tom.v.p.69.
{36}David Fitzgerald was promoted to the see of Saint David's in 1147,or according to others,in 1149.He died A.D.1176.
{37}Now Howden,in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
{38}Osred was king of the Northumbrians,and son of Alfred.He commenced to reign in A.D.791,but was deprived of his crown the following year.
{39}St.Kenelm was the only son and heir of Kenulfus,king of the Mercians,who left him under the care of his two sisters,Quendreda and Bragenilda.The former,blinded by ambition,resolved to destroy the innocent child,who stood between her and the throne;and for that purpose prevailed on Ascebert,who attended constantly on the king,to murder him privately,giving him hopes,in case he complied with her wishes,of ****** him her partner in the kingdom.
Under the pretence of diverting his young master,this wicked servant led him into a retired vale at Clent,in Staffordshire,and having murdered him,dug a pit,and cast his body into it,which was discovered by a miracle,and carried in solemn procession to the abbey of Winchelcomb.In the parish of Clent is a small chapel dedicated to this saint.