94 lin;il MYDDELTON, GOLDSMITH AND TAUT IT. 



CHAPTER II. 



HUGH MYDDELTON, GOLDSMITH AND MERCHANT ADVENTURER. 



THE Myddeltons are an ancient family in North AVales, 

 and have at various times held large possessions in the 



vale of Clwyd and the 

 neighbourhood. They 

 I trace their origin to a 

 noted chieftain of the 

 twelfth century, one 

 SjCn Blaidd, lord of Penllyn, 



Sfrom whom also descend- 

 jj ed the Mostyn family, the 

 L % i Yaughans of Nannau, and 

 'fgjrlt the Salusburies of Llaii- 

 sjd rwst. One of Blaidd' s 

 descendants married Ce- 



^nlTs^T* ciHa > the ^ U ghter and 



heiress of Sir Alexander 

 Myddelton of Myddelton, Shropshire, whose name he 

 assumed, and various branches of Myddeltons sprang 

 from the union. Those of Gwaenynog, near Denbigh, 

 are the elder branch, and the estate is still held by their 

 lineal descendant. Ystrad was another patrimony of 

 the Myddeltons in the time of the Tudors, and there are 

 monuments of the family still to be seen in Llanrhaiadr 

 church. Nearer Denbigh is a third estate which be- 

 longed to the Myddeltons, called Galch-hill : it is situated 

 between Gwaenynog and the town of Denbigh, within 

 sight of the old castle, which commands a view of 

 one of the richest and most beautiful valleys in the 

 kingdom. Three brothers held the several estates of 



