ABEKCONWY. 7 



of" his past life, and to have come to a resolution 

 of retiring from the world, and devoting himself 

 to a cloister; a design which he did not persist in, 

 but returned to the affairs of government. He 

 died of the vad velen, or yellow plague, in the 

 church of Llanrhos, whither he had taken him- 

 self for shelter. The British poets personified 

 disease, and this, in the form of a woman, was to 

 slay Maelgwn, if he looked upon it, which he in- 

 cautiously did through the window. Taliesin's 

 prophetic words are these : 



E ddaw pryv rhyvedd 



O Vorva Rhianedd 

 I ddial anwiredd 



Ar Vaelgwn Gvvynedd ; 

 Ai view ai ddannedd 



Ai lygaid yn euredd, 

 A hyn a wna ddiwedd 



Ar Vaelgwn Gwynedd. 



" A strange creature will come from the Marsh 

 of Rhianedd, to punish the crimes of Maelgwn 

 Gwynedd : its hair, its teeth, and its eyes are 

 yellow, and this will destroy Maelgwn Gwyn- 

 edd." 



