"In 1415, Owen disappeared, so that neither sight nor tidings of him could be obtained in the country. It was rumoured that he escaped in the guise of a reaper; bearing[1] ... according to the testimony of the last who saw and knew him; after which little or no information transpired respecting him, nor of the place or manner of his concealment. The prevalent opinion was, that he died in a wood in Glamorgan; but occult chroniclers assert that he and his men still live, and are asleep on their arms, in a cave called Govog y ddinas, in the Vale of Gwent, where they will continue, until England becomes self-debased; but that then they will sally forth, and reconquer their country, privileges, and crown for the Welsh, who shall be dispossessed of them no more until the day of judgment, when the world shall be consumed with fire, and so reconstructed, that neither oppression nor devastation shall take place any more: and blessed will be he who shall see the time."—Page 454. Historical Notices extracted from the Papers of the Rev. Evan Evans, now in the Possession of Paul Panton, Esq., of Anglesea.
[1] The manuscript is defective here. "A sickle" was probably the word.
SELEUCUS.
THE BRITISH SIDANEN.
(Vol. iv., p. 83.)
MR. J. P. COLLIER will find all the information that Cambrian antiquaries can give him respecting Sidanen in Powell's Cambria, Matthew Paris, Wynne's Caradoc, and Warrington's History of Wales, under the year 1241. The history is given at most length in Warrington; where the share which Sidanen had in an interesting episode in Cambrian history is fully developed. There were two Welsh princes named Llywelyn, who stood to each other in the following relation:
| LLYWELYN AB JORWERTH (died in 1240). | | |||
| _____________________________________________________ | |||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| GRIFFITH, | DAVID. | GLADYS, | |
| married to Senena, daughter of a Cambrian lord named Caradoc ab Thomas. | | | a daughter. | ||
| _____________________________________________________ | |||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| LLYWELYN AB GRIFFITH, last Prince of Wales. | OWEN. | DAVID. | |
The Prince of Wales mentioned by Munday is the first, Llywelyn ab Jorwerth, whose descent, as his father was not allowed to reign on account of personal deformity, we had better indicate:
| OWEN, king of North Wales. | | |||
| (Eldest son) JORWERTH, the Broken-nosed. | | |||
| LLYWELYN AB JORWERTH. | | |||
Llywelyn, as has been shown, had two sons, Griffith and David, the first and eldest of whom, being a turbulent prince, was set aside by his father at a solemn assembly of Cambrian lords, in 1238, and David was elected to succeed his father. In 1240, David became king of North Wales, and one of his first acts was to apprehend his brother and his son Owen, and put them in prison. This was done with the connivance of a Bishop of Bangor: but that worthy, fearing that the scandal would spread abroad, intrigued with Senena, the daughter-in-law, and not the daughter of Prince Llywelyn, and wife of his son Griffith, for his release. Overtures were made to Henry III.; and certain lords having joined the confederacy, stipulations were entered into, and Henry marched against King David. David, who had married the king's daughter, now began to counterplot, in which he was quite successful; for Henry, who had come to release Griffith, by special contract with his brother, took him, with his wife Senena, and his son Owen, with him to London, and imprisoned them in the Tower, in attempting to escape from whence, two years afterwards, Griffith lost his life. Such is a brief outline of all that is known of Senena, who is undoubtedly the Sidanen of Munday, and whose name is variously written Sina, Sanan, Sanant, and in the Latin chronicle Senena. The negotiations here alluded to, with the names of all the parties engaged in them, will be found in the authorities herein named; all of which being in English, MR. COLLIER can easily consult.
John a Cumber is probably John y Kymro, or John the Cambrian; but I know nothing of him.