72 HISTORY OF 



by tlie beirdd, or bards belonging to the two 

 houses, when they went their ordinary visitations, 

 or clera. This continued until the year 1270, a 

 little before the death of the last sovereign prince 

 of Wales, Llywelyn ab GrufTydd, who was slain 

 at Buallt.' 



The abbey was honoured by being the burial 

 place of several illustrious persons: of its founder, 

 Llywelyn the Great, whose coffin was removed 

 after the dissolution, and is preserved in the church 

 of Llanrwst; it is made of stone, and the sides 

 are curiously carved into quatre foils. This prince 

 died in 1240. Previously to him, in 1200, GrufTydd 

 ab Cynan ab Owen Gwynedd was buried here in 

 a monk's cowl, a mode of burying lately intro- 

 duced from England, and very much practised by 

 the higher ranks, as highly conducive to future 

 bliss ;^ it may be observed, that about this period, 

 several superstitious practices of the church of 

 Rome gained ground in Wales, and soon l)egan 

 to corrupt the purity of the ancient British church. 

 There were also buried here, Llywelyn son of Mael- 



• Preface to Powell's Wales. 

 2 Powell's Wales. 



