DINAS EMRYS-BEDDGELERT. 137 retreat from the just vengeance of his injured subjects; and that being a skilful architect and mechanic, he superintended the building of a fortress in this place.* BEDDGELERT, † Is a village completely embosomed in mountains, whose rude sides form a fine contrast with the meadows of the vale below. Moel Hebog, the Hill of Flight, rises to a point just in front of the village. In a deep hollow high up the side of this mountain there is a cave in which Owen Glyndwr, on one of his expeditions, sought for some time a shelter from his enemies. The houses of the village are few and irregular; the church is small, but the interior, which has been recently redecorated, extremely neat. At Beddgelert there is a most excellent inn called the Goat. Llewelyn the Great, Prince of Wales, is said to have had a hunting seat at this place. Among many others, he possessed one greyhound, a present from his father-in-law, King John, so noted for excellence in hunting, that his fame was transmitted to posterity in four Welsh lines, which have been thus translated The remains of famed Gêlert, so faithful and good The bounds of the cantred conceal, Whenever the doe or the stag he pursued, His master was sure of a meal. During the absence of the family, tradition says, a wolf en * There was another Merlin, (frequently confounded with the above,) a native of Caledonia, called Myrddin ap Morvryn and Myrddin Wyllt, who in the year 542, when fighting under the banner of King Arthur, accidently slew his own nephew. In consequence of this he was seized with a madness which affected him every alternate hour during the rest of his life. He retired into Scotland, and in his lucid intervals composed some of the most beautiful pieces of poetry extant. This Merlin afterwards resided in North Wales, where he died; he was buried in the island of Bardsey. + Pronounced Bethgelert. tered the house; and Llewelyn, who first returned, was met at the door by his favourite dog, which came out, covered with blood, to salute his master on his arrival. The prince, alarmed, ran into the nursery, and found his child's cradle overturned, and the ground flowing with blood. In this moment of his terror, imagining that his dog had slain his child, he plunged his sword into the animal's body, and laid him dead upon the spot. But on turning up the cradle he found his darling boy alive, and beside him a dead wolf. This circumstance had such an effect on the mind of the prince, that on the spot where the dog was slain he caused a church to be erected, and a tombstone to be raised over the remains of the faithful animal, which were deposited in the valley, called from this incident Bedd Gêlert, or the Grave of Gélert. A neatly kept footpath leads to the grave from the little shrubbery opposite to the Goat Inn. From this story was derived a very common Welsh proverb, "I repent as much as the man who slew his greyhound." The following beautiful stanzas, the composition of the Hon. W. R. Spencer, are founded on the above tradition. They were written at Dolmelynllyn, the seat of W. A. Madocks, Esq., after a perusal of the story in the first edition of this book. The spearmen heard the bugle sound, And still he blew a louder blast, And gave a lustier cheer, "Come Gêlert, come; wer't never last, "Llewelyn's horn to hear. "Oh! where does faithful Gêlert roam, "The flower of all his race, "So true, so brave, a lamb at home, BEDDGELERT. "Twas only at Llewelyn's board The faithful Gêlert fed; He watch'd, he serv'd, he cheer'd his lord, In sooth he was a peerless hound, The gift of royal John; But now no Gêlert could be found, And all the chace rode on. And now as o'er the rocks and dells That day Llewelyn little lov'd Unpleas'd Llewelyn homeward hied, When, near the portal seat, But when he gained his castle door His lips, his fangs ran blood. Llewelyn gaz'd with fierce surprize, Onward in haste Llewelyn past, And on went Gêlert too, O'erturn'd his infant's bed he found, gore, 139 He call'd his child, no voice replied, "Hell-hound! my child by thee's devour'd,” The frantic father cried, And to the hilt his vengeful sword His suppliant looks, as prone he fell, But still his Gêlert's dying yell, Arous'd by Gêlert's dying yell, Some slumb'rer waken'd nigh; Conceal'd beneath a mangled heap His hurried search had miss'd, All glowing from his rosy sleep, Nor scath had he, nor harm, nor dread, Tremendous still in death. Ah! what was then Llewelyn's pain! To save Llewelyn's heir. Vain, vain was all Llewelyn's woe, "Best of the kind, adieu! "The frantic blow which laid thee low, "This heart shall ever rue.' And now a gallant tomb they raise, With costly sculpture deck'd, And marbles storied with his praise Poor Gêlert's bones protect. BEDDGELERT-PRIORY. There never could the spearman pass, There oft the tear-besprinkled grass And there he hung his horn and spear, In fancy's piercing sounds would hear And till great Snowdon's rocks grow old, The consecrated spot shall hold The name of "Gêlert's Grave." 141 PRIORY. On this spot there was formerly a priory of Augustine monks, of a foundation so ancient, that Anian, Bishop of Bangor, who lived in the thirteenth century, asserts it to have been the oldest religious house in Wales except one. Part of the south walls of the present church were evidently formed from the old building. In the year 1283, this priory was so much injured by fire, that, in order to encourage benefactors to contribute towards the rebuilding of it, the bishop gave notice that he would remit to all such persons (who sincerely repented of their sins,) forty days of any penance inflicted on them.* EXCURSION FROM BEDDGELERT TO THE SUMMIT OF SNOWDON. The distance from Beddgelert to the summit of Snowdon is about six miles; this ascent is generally reckoned more difficult than that from Dolbadarn; but even from Beddgelert the summit is accessible to a Welsh pony; although, in * The name of this priory was "Abbey de Valle, S. Mariæ Snodonia." Its revenues, at the dissolution, amounted to about 701. per annum. |