Of the vicissitudes of Robert Curthose during the long years of his imprisonment we know almost nothing. A curious notice in the chronicle of Monte Cassino for the year 1117 styles him ‘king of the English,’ and avers that his ‘legates’ had visited the monastery, and, presenting the monks with a precious golden chalice, had besought their prayers for himself and his realm.[61] In 1126, upon his return from Normandy, Henry I transferred the duke from the custody of Bishop Roger of Salisbury to that of Earl Robert of Gloucester, who placed him in confinement at first in his great stronghold at Bristol.[62] But later he moved him to Cardiff castle in his Welsh lordship of Glamorgan;[63] and there, in this wild frontier stronghold, in full view of the ‘Severn Sea’ Robert Curthose ended his days. If we can rely upon our evidence, he took advantage of his long imprisonment to master the Welsh language, and amused himself with verse-making. And he appears to have left behind him a poem of no mean order. It was extracted by the Welsh bard, Edward Williams,[64] “from a MS. of Mr. Thomas Truman, of Pant Lliwydd (Dyer’s valley), near Cowbridge, Glamorgan, containing, in the Welsh language, ‘An Account of the Lords Marchers of Glamorgan from Robert Fitz Hamon down to Jasper, Duke of Bedford,’ and written about the year 1500,”[65] and was published in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1794, from which it seems worth while to quote it in full, together with the attribution of authorship:
Pan oedd Rhobert Tywysog Norddmanti yngharchar Ynghastell Caerdyf, gan Robert ap Amon, medru a wnaeth ar y iaith Gymraeg; ac o weled y Beirdd Cymreig yno ar y Gwyliau efe a’u ceris, ac a aeth yn Fardd; a llyma englynion a gant efe.
Dar a dyfwys ar y clawdd,
Gwedi, gwaedffrau gwedi ffrawdd;
Gwae! wrth win ymtrin ymtrawdd.
Dar a dyfwys ar y glâs,
Gwedi gwaedffrau gwyr a lâs;
Gwae! wr wrth y bo ai câs.
Dar a dyfwys ar y tonn,
Gwedi gwaedffrau a briw bronn;