* * * * *
McLiver in due time was brought before the bar of justice, and his guilt having been clearly established, was banished the kingdom. After undergoing ten years of punishment in Van Diemen’s Land, he obtained his release, and settled down in one of the Australian colonies as a small farmer. His uncle and cousin were finally apprehended, and being found guilty were transported. Donald was allowed to go free, as his guilt could not be legally established. Some years afterwards Mr. Wynn learned that he was engaged in the fish trade in one of the Orkney Islands.
TRADITIONS OF LLYN SAVATHAN;
OR LLANGORSE, OR TALYLLYN LAKE.
CHAPTER I.
TRADITIONS OF GIRALDUS.
“Not a tree,
A llyn, a leaf, a blossom, but contains
A folio volume. We may read, and read,
And read again, and still find something new.”
Respecting Llyn Savathan, which also bears the several names of Lake Brecheinoc, Brecinaumere, Llangorse, and Talyllyn Pool, Giraldus relates that in the reign of Henry I., Gruffydd, son of Rhys ap Theodor, held under the king one comot, namely, the fourth part of the cantref of Caoc, in the cantref Mawr. When Gruffydd, on his return from the king’s court, passed near this lake, which at this cold season of the year was covered with wild fowl of various sorts, being accompanied by Milo, Earl of Hereford and Lord of Brecon, and Payn FitzJohn, Lord of Ewyas, who at that time were secretaries and privy counsellors to the King, Earl Milo, wishing to draw from Gruffydd some discourse concerning his innate nobility, rather jocularly than seriously thus addressed him: “It is an ancient saying in Wales, that if the natural prince of the country, coming to this lake, shall order the birds to sing, they will immediately obey him.” To which Gruffydd replied, “Do you, therefore, who now hold the dominion of this land, first give the command.” But he and Payn, having in vain commanded, and Gruffydd perceiving that it was necessary for him to do so in his turn, dismounted from his horse, and falling on his knees towards the east, as if he had been about to engage in battle, prostrate on the ground, with his eyes and hands uplifted to heaven, poured forth devout prayers to the Lord; and at length rising up, and signing his face and forehead with the figure of the cross, thus openly spake, “Almighty God, and Lord Jesus Christ, who knowest all things, declare here, this day, Thy power. If Thou hast caused me to descend lineally from the natural princes of Cambria, I command these birds, in Thy name, to declare it.” And immediately, beating the waters with their wings, the birds began to cry aloud and proclaim him. The spectators were astonished and confounded; and Earl Milo, with FitzJohn, hastily returned to court, and related this singular occurrence to Henry, who is said to have replied, “By the death of Christ, it is not a matter of so much wonder; for although by our great authority we commit acts of violence and wrong against these people, yet they are known to be the rightful inheritors of this land.”
CHAPTER II.
THE LAST WARNING.
Long previous to the time to which the tradition of Giraldus relates, the place occupied by Llyn Savathan formed a beautiful and picturesque valley, through which the waters of the Llewenny meandered and flowed gently along in their progress towards the Wye. On the left bank of the Llynfi, and within half a mile of its channel, there stood the church of Llangasty, which was dedicated to Saint Gasty, an eminent British saint who flourished in the fifth century, and was murdered on the Van Mountain, in the parish of Merthyr Cynog. On the other side of the Llynfi, and nearly opposite the church, there stood a magnificent palace, belonging to and occupied by a tyrannical prince, who neither feared God nor regarded man, who scorned religion, and loathed everything which was pure and good and beautiful; a prince who, by the magnitude of his extortions and the relentlessness with which he pursued his unfortunate vassals, became the object of hate and intense aversion to all who had dealings or came in contact with him. Moreover, as he grew older, his extortions became more burdensome, while his tyranny increased in its fury, notwithstanding the warnings he received from those who desired the perpetuation of his reign. To all those warnings he turned a deaf ear, while he punished with the utmost rigour those who sought to thwart him in his infamous practices.
It was a cold December morning, when Father Olyver, of Llangasty, repaired to the palace in order to condole with the prince on the death of a son. On entering the reception-room, and finding the prince alone, he thus addressed him—
“My heart grieves and is sad, my prince, at the loss you have sustained. Another prop of your house has been taken away, and oh, reflect, I pray, on your present mode of life; consider your ways and be wise.”