CHAPTER XVIII 



Rhiwaedog Roman and Saxon invasions Lywarch Hen Harriers 

 "The Eagles" Kite Golden and White-tailed Eagles The king of 

 birds Druid's birds A dust-bath. 



A SHORT way beyond the Llanwddyn valley, and nearly over- 

 looking Bala station, stands Rhiwaedog, or "The Bloody 

 Braes," an old Roman station, later occupied by the 

 Saxons, and redolent of tales of the days of eld. To 

 quote Sir George Douglas 1 



" The grassy mound you here may trace, 



Green foss and ruin'd wall, 

 That tells of a once conquering race, 

 And of the conqueror's fall." 



Much that told of ancient occupation has been carried 

 off, from time to time, to Chester and elsewhere, but a good 

 deal still remains to interest the antiquarian. A curious old 

 stone is pointed out, that legend avers was wont to open 

 before the death of the reigning chieftain, or to portend 

 any similar calamity, the runic signs which it disclosed 

 being, of course, only decipherable by the bard. Some 

 old furniture remains in the house, but the building itself 

 is modern. The origin of the name is variously traced to 

 engagements with the Roman legions, or to a battle fought 

 by Lywarch Hen against the invading Saxons, in which the 

 defender was defeated, and lost the youngest, and last, of 

 his large family of twenty-four sons. Lywarch himself died 

 at Llanfor, in the valley on the opposite side of the Dee, 

 A.D. 660, aged 145, so that he well deserved his title of 

 " The Aged." He had lost all his possessions, as well as 

 all his sons, in defence of his friend, Prince Cynddylan, to 



1 Poems of a Country Gentleman. 

 144 



