8S0 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



tyratmical ar.d unprincipled family. 

 He, after the accession of king Hen- 

 r^' f V^. was on his way home, in con- 

 sequence of the conspiracy being 

 betrayed, and the rebels routed at 

 Cirencester. He was met there by 

 a great number of the Welsh, who 

 had been deprived of their proper- 

 ties by him and his ancestors. These 

 Welshmen took him out of his bed, 

 at Bristol, and being joined by the 

 populace, beheaded him. He left 

 no male issue, and only one daugh- 

 ter, Isabella, his heiress, who mar- 

 ried Richard Beauchamp, earl of 

 Warwick, and in her right, lord of 

 Glamorgan. There remained iii 

 Glamorganshire, of illegitimate issue, 

 several families bearing the surname 

 oC Spencer. The Spencers, lords 

 of Glamorgan, were immensely 

 wealthy ; and hence we may easily 

 account for the magnitude of Caer- 

 philly ciisfle. 



This castle baring been thus rough- 

 ly handled by the queen and barons, 

 in the years 1326 and 1327, there 

 are sonic reasons for supposing, that 

 it was never afterwards inhabited by 

 the lords of Glamorgan. For Me 

 lind that in the year 1400, the fa- 

 E10US Owen Glandwr had obtained 

 possession of it. A celebrated 

 ^Volsh bard addresses a fine ode to 

 Glundwr, expressing himself after 

 the following manner, making al- 

 lowance for the difference of idi- 

 oms. 



" Bring together a faithful host 

 " from the territories of the Dau- 

 *' phin : pursue thy course to Ross 

 ''■ and Pembroke, and to the region 

 " of Rrviddin. Then, a protector 

 " like Constantinc, bring forth thine 

 ""• armies from gigantic Caerphilly, 

 •' a fortress great in its ruins." 



It is very probable that it remain- 



ed in a state of ruin, ever since ffie 

 siege of the barons. Still however, 

 it must have been a place of consi- 

 derable strength, or it Mould not 

 have been occupied by Glandwr, 

 after -whose time there is but little 

 mention of it to be met with, for 

 more than a Mhole century. It 

 seems to have been a place where its 

 rapacious lords, the Spencers, amass, 

 cd every thing they could get, by 

 plundering their vassals or tenants, 

 and the inhabitants in general. From 

 this circumstance aro.ve the Welsh 

 proverb, " It is gone to Caerphilly," 

 signifying, that a thing is irrecover- 

 ably lost, and used on occasions, i 

 ■» iicn an Englishman of no very nice 

 selection' would say, " It is gone to 

 " the devil." 



A distinguished bard of the four- 

 teenth century, David ap Gwilym, 

 has, in a satyrical poem of his, the 

 following passage, the sense and 

 style of which may in some measure 

 be preserved in English, unCouth as 

 they api^ear in our phraseology. 



"• May all curse, and I will curse ; 

 " yes, curse that fellow, and my 

 " curses Mill prevail. He of har- 

 " dencd lips ; — he Mith all the cou- 

 " rage of excessive cold; — he, our 

 " enemy; — may he become a dead 

 " carcase: — hi:', soul ; — may his dog 

 '* run aM-ay Mith it, or become pos- 

 ^' scssed of it, and may his body go 

 " to Caerphilly." 



More passages of this nature might 

 be collected from the (loets ; but 

 these are sufficient to jllustrate'the 

 gloomy ideas M'hich Mere associated 

 in the minds of the natives, Mith the 

 seat of so many horrors and such 

 rapacity. 



Leland, who M'rotc about the. 

 year 15 JO, mentions Caerphilly cas- 

 tle iu his Itinerary, as set among ' 



marshca 



\ 



