13. Cadwallawn ap Owen Gwynedd, Abbot in the year 1169.
14. Thomas ap Griffith Nicholas, of Dinevor, in South Wales, who was killed in a Duel at Penal, in Merionethshire, was buried here.
15. Griffith ap Thomas, nephew of Griffith ap Nicholas, was interred here.
16. Hugh ap Richard ap Sion ap Madog, of Bodwrda, was buried here, in the time of Queen Elizabeth.—See William Lleyn’s Elegy on his Death.
This little Inland, at present contains about twelve or fifteen houses, and about sixty or seventy inhabitants, who are mostly fishermen.—It produces very good barley, and round its coast are great plenty of fish, and abundance of Lobsters, which are mostly sent (as before observed) to the Liverpool Market.
The revenues of the Monastery, at the general Dissolution, amounted, according to Dugdale, to £46. 1s. 4d. Tradition says, that Aberdaron, Bryn-croes, and Nevin, originally belonged to Bardsey, but at present the Tythes of those three Parishes, are the property of the Cefn Amwlch Family; and it is very probable that one of their ancestors purchased them of the King (Henry VIII.) or his Ministers at that time. This Island was granted by Edward VI. to his Uncle, Sir T. Seymour, and afterwards to John, Earl of Warwick; and the present proprietor’s father purchased it from Dr. Wilson of Newark. A tenement, called Court, in the Parish of Aberdaron, originally belonged to Bardsey, and was granted and purchased with the Inland, as before described. Part of Lleyn is to this day, called the Lordship or Manor of Bardsey, and a kind of Leet Court is still held, occasionally, either at Aberdaron, Bryncroes or Tydweiliog, which is called the Court of the Lord of the Manor of Bardsey. The present Lord of the Manor is the Marquis of Anglesey; there are also a Recorder, Bailiff and Constable, attached to this Lordship. The Court was probably held, formerly, at the above-mentioned Farm, which still bears the name of Court; and not far off is another place, called Secar (Exchequer), and it seems there was a prison or gaol there, for near it is a hill, called Brynn y Grogbren, or Gallows Hill.—In general, when any of the Inhabitants die, they are brought to Aberdaron for interment; but in very stormy weather, the corpse is buried in the old Abbey Church yard, and the person who is best qualified reads the funeral service. Many years ago, when some of the Inhabitants had been to a Mill at Aberdaron, a great tempest arose on their return, and they were blown to the Coast of Cardiganshire, and landed in safety. A Light House is very much wanted on this Island, as, for want of such an object to direct them, Vessels are driven on Sarn Badrig-Goffrydiau-Caswennan, and other dangerous rocks, and many lives lost every year. We are happy to add, that such a building is at present in contemplation. There are several Welsh Poems still extant, addressed to some of the Abbots.—Not far from hence is Carreg, the seat of Robert Thomas Carreg, Esq. now resident at Cefn mine.
The distance from Aberdaron to Pwllheli is about twenty miles; the road along the sea coast by Llanfaelrhys, Rhiw, Llandegwnning, Llan Engan, and Llanbedrog, is the most interesting.—On a part of the Promontory, called Penrhyn Du, in former years, have been considerable adventurers for Lead Ore, and attempts to drain the mines, by means of a fire Engine, but the expences proved to exceed the profits.—The dangerous Bay, between Rhiw Mountain (Mynydd y Rhiw) and Penrhyn Du, is called by the Sailors Hell’s Mouth, being considered the Scylla to the Charybdis of Sarn Badrig, whose extremity lies nearly opposite; and if the mariners can pass between these two, there is a very secure anchorage for ships of large burthen, at a place called the St. Tudwal Roads, near the two Islands of that name, on the largest of which are the remains of a small Chapel, dedicated to that reputed Saint.—At Abersoch, near this place, is also a small but safe harbour, where barley and other articles, the produce of this part of the County, are exported, and coals, &c. imported. At Gelliwig, which was (for we greatly regret to hear that he is lately dead) the residence of Colonel Evan Jones, a gentleman who, as a brave and enterprizing officer, distinguished himself in several campaigns, particularly in Egypt, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie; the writer cannot refrain from paying this tribute to departed worth, for he was certainly an honor to his country, and greatly beloved by all who knew him. And at Nanhoron, in this neighbourhood, is the elegant and hospitable seat of Colonel Edwards, one of the few gentlemen who constantly reside in the country, and give regular employment to a number of poor labourers, and set a good example to their tenantry in Agricultural improvements. The following inscription was transcribed from a Monument, erected to the memory of his brave father, Captain Edwards, in the Parish Church of Llan Gian:
“Sacred to the memory of Timothy Edwards, Esq. of Nanhoron, who, being appointed to the command of the Cornwall Man of War, of 74 Guns, in the year 1777, and having, in the course of a twelve-month, distinguished himself in four successive engagements, in the West Indies, against the French Fleet, was unfortunately, on his return home, carried off by a bilious fever, on the 12th of July, 1780, aged 49, before he had received those honors from his King and Country, which were destined to be the reward of his gallant and faithful services.—His disconsolate widow, penetrated with the deepest regret, for her irreparable loss, caused this Monument to be erected.
“In cœlo quies.”
Llyn, or Lleyn, is a very extensive Hundred, in general flat, but interspersed with most characteristic hills or rocks, rising insulated in several parts; none makes so conspicuous a figure as Carn Madryn, Carn Boduan, and Mynydd Mynytho, (Mann-noeth-wy); the country, of late years, is greatly improved, owing to the laudable example of the resident gentlemen. The chief produce is oats, barley, pigs, and black cattle; it is supposed that above three thousand of the latter are annually sold out of these parts; much oats, barley, butter and cheese, are exported.—The land is good, particularly for grazing, being watered by a thousand rills; it is in general destitute of trees, except near gentlemen’s seats,—the example of planting, set by men of property, is however rapidly spreading; and by an Act, passed some years ago, many of the commons and waste lands have been enclosed, and brought into a state of cultivation. Giraldus Cambrensis, in his Itinerarium Cambriæ, says, that the Cantreds of Lleyn and Eifionydd were the possessions of Owen Gwynedd’s children, when he passed through Wales, and that they had two Castles, one at Carn Madryn, and the other at Penrhyn Deudraeth. Castellmarch, in this neighbourhood, is an old family seat, now the property of Thomas Asheton Smith, Esq. of Vaenol. Margaret Griffith, heiress of Plas mawr, in Carnarvon, and Trefarthen, in Anglesey, married Griffith Jones, of Castellmarch, in Llyn, Esq. and her daughter Margaret Jones, heiress of Castellmarch, married Sir William Williams, of Vaenol, Baronet. Not far from the road is Wern fawr, now in ruins, the property of Parry Jones Parry, Esq. of Madryn. Near Llanbedrog is the Cottage, the residence of Lloyd Caldecot, Esq. and before we enter Pwllheli, is Bodegroes, the hospitable seat of Glynn Griffith, Esq. and not far distant is Bodvel, [179] an old house, which had the honor of giving birth to the celebrated Mrs. Piotzi.
Pwllheli is the principal Town in this part of the County, and the Magazine of Goods which supplies all this tract; it lies near the sea shore, and has a tolerable harbour for vessels of about 60 tons: Leland styles it “statio optima Carinis.” The entrance is by a high rock, called Carreg y Wimbill, (the Gimlet,) which is near a mile from land, to which it is joined by a range of sand hills. This place, as well as Nevin, was made a free Borough, by the Black Prince, by Charter, dated the 12th year of his Principality, at Carnarvon, in compliment to Nigel [180] de Loryng, or Lohareyn, one of the gentlemen of his bedchamber, on whom he had bestowed, Nevin and Pwllhely, in consideration of his great service in Gascony, and particularly at the Battle of Poitiers. He entitles him to “servitiis quorumcunque tenentium tam liberorum quam nativorum,” by which it may be presumed, that he did not include the Welsh in the privileges; what those were we do not learn, but they were the same which the Burgesses of Rosfair, in Anglesey enjoyed, and for them Pwllheli was to pay to Nigel fourteen pounds a year, and Nevin thirty-two. This Borough and Nevin, he freely bestowed on him, with all its appurtenances, together with four librates of Land, towards the repairs of his Manors, and for all these he was only to pay an acknowledgment of a rose, in lieu of all services; if he died without issue the whole was to revert to the crown. Edward III. afterwards confirmed these grants to Sandwich. Denio, the Parish Church, (or rather a Chapel to the Vicarage of Llannor) stands on a hill about half a mile out of the Town; it is dedicated to St. Beuno. The Markets are on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the Fairs on the 5th of March, 13th of May, 28th of June, 19th of August, 24th of September, and 11th of November. Pwllheli is a safe and good harbour, as we before observed, and well sheltered from all winds, but a Perch is much wanted at the extreme end of the Gimlet Rock. This is one of the Contributory Boroughs with Carnarvon, in returning one Member to Parliament; it is a Corporate Town, and is governed by a Mayor, two Bailiffs, and a Recorder. The Petty Sessions for the District are held here. An Embankment has been made within these few years, on both sides of the Town, by which several hundred acres have been recovered, the greatest part of which used to be overflowed by the high tides. Pwllheli has as excellent beach for Sea bathing, and is likely to become a place of resort in the Summer season, for that purpose. The number of inhabitants in 1811, was nearly thirteen hundred. The Prince (says Leland) had a place here, as yet appeareth.