Meifod, in the valley of the Vyrnwy, is also in a fertile neighbourhood. Above the village rises the mountain called the Hill of the Anchorite, with a bald head, blushing with heather, and crowned with ancient earthworks.
Meifod was the summer residence of the kings of Powys, but was given by Brochwel to his son Tyssilio when he entered religion, and he founded here an abbey which became important.
His mother was Arddun, daughter of Pabo Post Prydain, whose monument we have seen in Anglesey. He was great-grandson of Cadell Deyrnllwg, who founded the dynasty of the kings of Powys after the expulsion of Benlli by S. Germanus.
The first Abbot of Meifod was Gwyddfarch. Tyssilio found the old man one day full of the project of going to Rome. But he was too advanced in age for such a journey, and Tyssilio said to him, “I know what this journey to Rome means; you want to see the palaces and churches there. Dream of them instead of going.” Then he took the abbot a long mountain trudge, till he was thoroughly exhausted and declared that he could go no further. So Tyssilio bade him lie down on a grassy bank and rest. And there Gwyddfarch fell asleep.
When he awoke, Tyssilio asked how he could endure a journey to Rome if such a country stroll tired him. And then the abbot informed him that he had dreamed of seeing a magnificent city, and that sufficed him.
Some time after this Gwyddfarch died, and Tyssilio succeeded him as abbot.
On the death of Brochwel this prince was succeeded by a son, who, however, died two years later without issue. This son’s widow was a strong and determined character, and after consulting with the chief men of Powys, resolved on withdrawing Tyssilio from his monastery, marrying him, and making him king of Powys.
The times were full of peril, and a strong and able man was necessary for the post. But Tyssilio was not the right person for the occasion; he hated war, knew nothing of its practice, and, above all, objected to marrying his deceased brother’s wife, and she such a masterful woman. So he refused. His sister-in-law took this as a personal affront. She was incapable of understanding that Tyssilio had a vocation for the monastic life, could not believe that he was intellectually and morally unfit for a life of war, and assumed that his refusal was due to personal dislike of herself. Therefore, as an offended woman, she did all in her power to injure and annoy the monks of Meifod.
The position of Tyssilio, close to Mathrafal, where the slighted widow resided, became intolerable. She seized the revenues of the abbey; and Tyssilio, to free his monks from persecution, fled with a few attached to his person and left Wales, crossed the sea, and entered the estuary of the Rance, near where now stands S. Malo. The river forms a broad estuary of blue glittering water, up which the mighty tides heave gently, the waves broken and torn by a natural breakwater. Ascending this river for four miles, he found a point of high land with a long creek on the north, making of it a narrow peninsula. On this point of land Tyssilio drew up his boat, and there resolved on settling.