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GLEN'DWR, OWEN. 



QLENDWR, OWEN. 



123 



tainouR country, Glendwr marched to Pliulimmoii ia the summer of 

 1401, and proceeded to ravage the surrounding country: he sacked 

 Montgomery, burned the suburbs of Welshpool, destroyed Abbey- 

 cwm-Hir, and took the castle of Radnor, where he beheaded the 

 garrison to the number of sixty. The Flemings (who in the reign of 

 Henry I. had settled in Pembrokeshire), incensed at his incursions, 

 raised a force of 1500 men, and were so expeditious in their move- 

 ments, as, unexpected and unnoticed, to surround him at Mynydd 

 Hyddgant. Hemmed in on every side, Glendwr broke through their 

 ranks, and 200 of the Flemings remained dead upon the field. These 

 depredations and victories awakened the fears of the king, and a 

 second expedition into Wales was determined upon. Early in June 

 (1401) the king was at the head of his troops, but after razing to the 

 ground the abbey of Tstrad Fflor, and pillaging the county of Cardigan, 

 he withdrew his army, already exhausted by famine and disease. The 

 extent of the popularity of Glendwr's cause among the Welsh may be 

 estimated by a complaint now made by the Commons to the king and 

 the upper house of parliament, that the Welsh scholars had left the 

 English universities in order to aid in the rebellion at home, and that 

 even the Welsh labourers had provided themselves with warlike weapons 

 and quitted the service of their employers. In 1402 the event of a 

 comet waa interpreted by the bards as an omen most favourable to 

 his cause. Predictions gave new energy to his followers, and Glendwr 

 advanced towards Kuthyn, drew Lord Grey into the field, surprised 

 him with an ambush, and carried him olf captive to his camp near 

 Snowdon : the prisoner's release was granted only upon the payment 

 of 10,000 marks (66661.), and on his entering into an engagement to 

 observe a strict neutrality. For his better security, or perhaps by 

 compulsion, Lord Grey married Jane, the fourth daughter of Glendwr, 

 immediately upon his liberation. Being now free from English 

 opponents, he turned his arms against such of his countrymen as had 

 adhered to the English or forsaken his cause : he marched upon 

 Caernarvon, and closely blockaded the castle. 



The cathedral of Bangor, and the cathedral, palace, and canons' 

 houses at St. Asapb, were destroyed at Owen's command. His excuse 

 for these outrages was that Trevor, bishop of St. Asaph, had been 

 di-loyal to Richard, from whom he had received his preferment. 

 Trevor subsequently revolted from King Henry, allied himself to 

 Glendwr, and did not quit the see, in which Owen confirmed him, until 

 that chieftain's fortunes declined, when he prudently retreated to Paris. 



The king, determining upon a third expedition into Wales, called 

 upon his principal subjects to assemble at Lichfield. In the meantime 

 Glmdwr had defeated Sir Edmund Mortimer at Pilleth Hill, not far 

 from Knigliton, in Radnorshire, and had left dead upon the field 1100 

 of Mortimer's followers, whose bodies were treated by the Welsh 

 women with atrocious indignities Sir Edmund, who was himself 

 made a prisoner, was uncle to Edward Mortimer, earl of March (then 

 about tea Tears old), whose title to the crown having been acknow- 

 ledged by the parliament, he was kept in close custody by the king. 

 In consequence we may suppose of this relationship, Henry could not 

 be prevailed upon to take measures for his ransom a refusal which, 

 . to the humanity and respect with which he was treated by his 

 captor, induced him to become a partisan of Glendwr, whose subse- 

 quent alliance with the Percies wag mainly attributable to Mortimer. 

 Instead of assembling one army at Lichfield, Henry determined to 

 raise three separate divisions, and to attack the Welsh from three 

 different quarter* at the same time. It was arranged that the king 

 should muster the first division at Shrewsbury ; Lord Warwick, Lord 

 Stafford, and others were to assemble the second at Hereford ; while 

 Prince Henry was to have the command of the third at Chester. 

 Ow<-n Glendwr in the meantime made an inroad into Glamorganshire, 

 burnt the houses of the bishop and archdeacon of Llandaff, set fire to 

 Cardiff and Abergavenny, and then returned to oppoae the English. 

 Too prudent to hazard an encounter with a force far superior to his 

 own, he concealed himself among the hills, driving away all the cattlo 

 and destroying all the mean* of subsistence. At this time the rebellion 

 teemed likely to gain ground, for the confederates Mortimer, the 

 Percies, and Glendwr confiding in their own power, determined to 

 divide the whole kingdom among themselves; for which purpose they 

 met at the house of Aberdaron, dean of Bangor, a descendant of 

 Caradoc, princa of Wales, and strongly attached to the cause of 

 Glendwr. They agreed upon the following allotments : Mortimer, in 

 behalf of the Karl of March, was to take possession of all the country 

 from the Trent and the Severn to the southern and eastern limits of 

 the island ; Northumberland claimed all lands north of Trent ; the 

 district westward of the .Severn was apportioned to Qlendwr. It was 

 at this juncture that Glendwr revived the ancient prophecy that 

 Henry IV. should fall under the name of ' Moldwarp, 1 or ' the cursed 

 of God's mouth;' and styliug himself 'the Dragon,' he assumed a 

 badge representing that monster with a star above, in imitation of 

 Utber, whose victories over the Saxons were foretold by the appearance 

 of a star with a dragon threatening beneath. Percy was denoted ' the 

 Lion,' from the crest of hi* family; and on Sir Edmund Mortimer 

 they bestowed the title of ' the Wolf.' Owen, who was now at the 

 lenith of hi. glory, called together the estates of Wale at Machynlleth, 

 and there was formally crowned and acknowledged Prince of Wales. 

 Some of his enemies however as well as his allies assembled at this 

 meeting, and he narrowly escaped assassination. 



In 1403 Glendwr and Mortimer marched towards Shrewsbury, in 

 order to join their troops to the army of Percy, which was encamped 

 near that town. It required all the vigilance of Henry to prevent this 

 union, but by forced marches he succeeded in reaching their position 

 when only a small portion of Owen's army had arrived. An engage- 

 ment took place at Battle Field, three miles from the town, in which 

 Percy fell. Littla was done during the rest of this year beyond the 

 king's securing the Welsh castles, and intrusting them to persons of 

 tried fidelity. In the following year (1404) Owen Glendwr entered 

 into a treaty, offensive and defensive, with Charles VI., king of France, 

 which was concluded at Paris on the 14th of June. He then opened 

 the campaign with fresh vigour, ravaged the enemy's country, took the 

 castles of Harlech and Aberystwyth, and several others, of which 

 many were dismantled and some garrisoned. In the beginning of the 

 year 1405 Glendwr made an attempt to liberate the young Earl of 

 March, with the intention of making him contest the crown with 

 Henry. He persuaded Constance, widow of Lord Spencer and sister 

 to the Duke of York, to assist in setting him free : by means of false 

 keys she effected his escape, and was in the act of conducting him to 

 Wales when they were seized and brought back. 



About this period (March, 1405) Owen's fortunes began to decline : 

 lie was attacked at Grosmont Castle, about twelve miles from Mon- 

 mouth, and driven back by Henry, the young Prince of Wales, then 

 only seventeen years of age, to whom the king had intrusted the 

 conduct of the war. Eight hundred men remained dead upon the 

 field, as the English gave no quarter. During the same month he 

 suffered a second defeat at Mynydd pwl Melyn, in Brecknockshire : in 

 this engagment there were killed or made prisoners 1500 of Owen's 

 followers ; one of his sons was taken prisoner, and his brother Tudor 

 fell in the action. After these reverses all Glamorganshire submitted 

 to the king, and Glendwr was compelled to wander over the country 

 with a few faithful friends, concealing himself in remote and unfre- 

 quented places. There is a cave in the county of Merioneth, known 

 by the name of Ogof Owain (Owen's Cave), in which he is said to have 

 been secretly maintained by an old and trusty adherent. He is sup- 

 posed to have instigated the conspiracy that was headed by North- 

 umberland, but which being speedily detected was followed by the 

 execution of several of the abettors : Northumberland found it 

 necessary to fly to Scotland for protection. After quelling this revolt 

 the king marched upon Wales with an army of 37,000 men, but 

 stormy weather and other contingencies forced him to retreat to 

 Worcester. 



It was fortunate for the declining power of Glendwr that the French 

 now determined upon executing the scheme which had long been feared 

 by the English and hoped for by the Welsh. A fleet of 140 ships, 

 commanded by Renaud de Trie, admiral of France, disembarked 1 2,000 

 men at Milford Haven. Caermarthen capitulated : Haverfordwest was 

 successfully defended by Lord Arundel. At Tenby, Glendwr joined 

 them with 10,000 men, and thence the whole army marched through 

 Glamorganshire to Worcester, laying waste the country up to the very 

 suburbs of the town. Henry now again took up arms, and made use 

 of every means in his power to counteract the measures of so formid- 

 able an enemy. Lord Berkeley received orders to burn fifteen of the 

 French ships that were lying at anchor in Milford Haven, and to 

 intercept some others which were conveying stores and ammunition to 

 the invaders. Hugueville, the commander of the French crossbow- 

 men, and Owen, chose a strong position : the former encamped on a 

 high hill, three miles from Worcester, a wide valley lying between 

 him and the English; Glendwr posted himself nine miles from the 

 town, on Woodbury Hill, which was surrounded by a fosse. The 

 armies were arrayed before each other in order of battle for three 

 successive days and nights, and repeated skirmishes took place, in 

 which the loss that both sides sustained was computed at 200 men, 

 besides the wounded : at the end of this time the French and their 

 allies retired into Wales, having been harassed incessantly by the 

 watchfulness of Henry's troops, who had cut off all their supplies. 

 Shortly after this attempt the French quitted the kingdom in vessels 

 that Glendwr furnished for their use. The castle of Llanbedr, in the 

 county of Cardigan, surrendered the same year, on certain conditions, 

 to Henry, prince of Wales ; that of Coitie, on the river Ogmore, was 

 besieged by Glendwr, and a loan was raised in both houses of 

 parliament for the purpose of effecting the rescue of its owner. 



Notwithstanding occasional assistance from his foreign allies, Owen's 

 strength continued to decline ; so many of bis adherents deserted him, 

 that he chiefly confined himself to the mountains, and rarely descended 

 from them, except on predatory excursions. Two years afterwards, 

 Glendwr again began to make head against the English by devastating 

 the Marches, and seizing the property of those who refused to join 

 him ; but Lord Powys, who was commanded by the king to take active 

 steps against the renewed incursions of the rebels, fortified several 

 castles, and subsequently took prisoners Rhys Ddu and Philip Seuda- 

 more, two of Owen's best officers, who were carried to London, where 

 they were executed as traitors. Another similar effort proved 

 unavailing, and Glendwr concluded a treaty with some of the lords- 

 marchers, but it was disclaimed and rescinded by the king as illegal. 

 Compelled to abandon this project, he retired into comparative 

 obscurity. On Henry's death Glendwr, though still inaccessible, was 

 so closely watched as no longer to be formidable. Still he carried on 



