200 



is situated upon an affluent of the Severn, of the same name. 

 In the sixth section of the elegy, he refers to it in these 

 terms : — 



" They have all been killed at one time, my brothers Kenan, Kendelann, 

 and Kenvrez, in defending Trenn, the desolate city, 



" They trampled not with impunity upon the cradle of Kendelann; he 

 drew back not a footstep ; his mother has not nursed a degenerate son." 



He again says, in section VII, apparently referring to this 

 place : — 



" The very wonderful fortress, (henceforth levelled with the ground) is 

 no more ! Henceforth for us is no other refuge than the cover of the thick 

 woods, where hunger (reduces us to the state of) the wild boar, unearthing 

 the roots of wild plants." 



Upon referring to the various authorities upon Shropshire 

 Antiquities, which are the most accessible, I find no allusion to 

 Tern as a place of the slightest historical interest, which fact I 

 think, is fair evidence of the correctness of the bard's account of 

 its total destruction, and " levelling to the ground," as, had any 

 trace of its ramparts remained, they would surely have attracted 

 the attention of modern Archaeologists. 



As Trenn in Welsh means simply " rapid," it is not unlikely 

 that there may have been other streams, or places, so called, 

 within the area occupied by the Britons. The river Trent, 

 doubtless derives its name from the same root. From its par- 

 ticular mention in this poem, it must clearly have been laid 

 waste some time previous to the battle of Dyrham, whence we 

 may infer, that Kendelann had at that time, been effectually 

 driven out of his kingdom of Powys, and had been forced by 

 circumstances beyond his control, to cast in his lot with that of 

 his neighbouring fellow-sovereigns, in their final struggle, not 

 only for independence, but for existence. 



It appears also, from the stanzas quoted, particularly the last, 

 that not only was the bard's return to Trenn, or Powys, con- 

 sidered hopeless, but that the men of the White City could not 

 return to their home, and must wander as fugitives, concealing 

 themselves in the woods, and living, like wild boars, upon roots, 

 like himself. 



