Essay on Caerphilly Castle. 63 



It is iiotj however, I am inclined to tliink, very difficult to divine the 

 causes of the obscurity in which the early history of Caerphilly is involved, 

 and the absence of any historical associations may perhajjs be permitted to 

 account for the continued silence of modern writers. 



A castle, if not of equal, yet of considerable magnitude, had been erected 

 at a period anterior to, or closely succeeding the Norman conquest, at Cardifi*, 

 a position which, from its proximity to the estuary of the Severn, and the 

 embouchure of the Taffe, from the fertility of its subjacent meadows, from 

 the protection which it reciprocally afforded and received from the towns- 

 men, and from its greater distance from the mountains, and consequent 

 diminished liability to be surprised by their crafty and warlike inhabitants, 

 was invariably the chief residence of the feudal lords of Glamorgan ; and 

 from hence it followed, as a necessary consequence, that Caerphillv, which 

 from its dangerous proximity they were obliged to retain in their immediate 

 possession, fell into comparative neglect, and although very superior in 

 magnitude to Cardiff, was considered only as its dependency in importance. 



It was to the lord of Cardiff th&t the feudatories of Glamorgan owed suit 

 and service, and it was to the castle court of that place that they were 

 bound annually to repair. 



The castle of Cardiff h not unfrequently mentioned as the death-place of 

 great Norman Barons ; it was more than once honoured by a royal guest, 

 and even at the far later period of the parliamentary wars, its acquisition 

 was considered as of great importance.* 



(/aerphilly, on the contrary, is rarely mentioned by the chroniclers, and 

 seems only on one occasion to have lodged a royal presence, when the 

 second Edward took refuge there for a few hours towards the close of his 

 reign, a few months before he met with that death, which, from other hands, 

 and in a less barbarous manner, he had so justly merited. 



'J'liese considerations will, it appears to me, fully explain the little notice 

 taken by contemporaries of this magnificent structure, and the consequent 

 dearth of information respecting its fortunes, exercising in the compilation 

 of its history, rather the painful ingenuity of the antiquary, than the dis- 

 criminating judgment of the historian. 



Dine-favvr, or South Wales, appears anciently to have consisted of the 



shires or divisions of Caerdigan, Dyvet, or Pembroke, Cacrmarthen, 



Morgannwc, or Glamorgan, f Gvvent, or Monmouth, and 



I'owxl'sLhyd, Brecheinoc, or Brecknock, six in numberj of these Morgannwc 



4to. 1811. contained four cantreds, or hundreds, which were further 



' " In this year, (164.5) the royal garrison was driven from CardifT Castle by Col. 

 Pritchard, and Wales was reduced, but soon after revolted, and Col. Pritchard was 

 besieged in Cardiff', though after succoured."— Z,?(rf/o«>, I'ol. 1751. p. fil. 



t Morgannwc seems to have contained a part of the modern county of Glamorgan, 

 and mucli of Monmoutli.— Hugo Le Despenccr is styled upon his seal, " Dominus 

 Morgania; ct Glamorganix-."— /Ja/Zoway'* Herahlri/, 4to. 



