iligent and powerful

tref, or hundred, to

on. This parliament amine the ancient acted new ones, and dence. This reviLich he having ap authority. Both to imprecate the upon any who tu in titutes, uni

nal coun

discussed.

Hywel

ni, et alio

erait intérpre

aus, Š. T P. adju

adicem adjecit. Lon

of Britain," are some of the most

in the Welsh language, and are deposed in triplets,

try, till the time of Henry the Seventh, are little interesting;for the inhabitants were reduced to a state of the severest bondage.* Henry the Seventh from the assistance the Welsh had afforded him in obtaining the crown, the title to which he made out by his descent from Rhys apTewdwr, was more favourably inclined towards them, than preceding monarchs; and granted the principality considerable immunities. But still in a national point of view, their state was far from enviable. Several ameliorating statutes were passed in the reign of Henry the Eighth to exonerate them from the tyrannical oppressions of the lordsmarchers; and at length the people, awake to their true interest, solicited the king to give his liberal designs a more salutary effect, by extending to them all the privileges of the English jurisprudence. The prayer of their petition was granted, and Wales was formally united and incorporated with England. *

During centuries this country was the theatre for the display of the most heroic courage and conspicuous martial prowess, ever exhibited to the world; and while it made a bold and continued stand for liberty, unexampled in the annals of man; opportunities occurred of learning the art of fortification, and necessity would impel the natives, equally with their assailants, to bring it into use to the most powerful extent. Wales therefore abounds with the remains of encampments, lines of circumvalation, strong holds, hill-fortresses, castles, and castellated mansions; specimens of military architecture therefore in the diversified styles of different and distant periods constitute some of the most prominent and very interesting features in the artificial part of its picturesque scenery. While the Romans generally chose for the site of their camps or forts, a rising ground near some river, or a lingula, formed by the confluence of two; the Britons selected the most lofty, insulated, and least accessible mountains, the summits of which they fortified by excavating

deep

*See statutes at large, 27th Henry VIII. c. 26, & 34, S5, of Henry VIII. c. 26.

Sixth.

See statutes at large, in the reigns of Henry the Fourth, and Henry the

deep trenches in the solid rock, adding valla by heaping up the loose stones, dug out of the fosses; and in succeeding times, by adding strong walls, and erecting massy circular towers, with other bastion works of defence. Among the former, may be classed, Moel Arthur, and Moel y Gaer, in Flintshire. The Gaer, near Montgomery; Trer-Caeri, and Dinas, in Caernar vonshire; with Carn Madryn, Pen y Crag, and Pen y Parc, in the county of Brecon. Of the latter description, are Dolbadern, and Penmanmawr, in Caernarvonshire; Caergwrle, in Flintshire; Craig y Dinas, in Merionethshire; Carreg Cennin, in Caermarthenshire; and Castle Coch, in Glamorganshire, with numerous others, which will be noticed in the course of this work.

The Normans introduced a new and more magnificent style of military fortification;-and to secure their unjustifiable seizures, and proceed in their sanguinary aggressions, they were obliged to erect castles more formidable, both in number and extent, so that what are termed the marches of Wales, consist of one broad line of massy fortresses from the mouth of the Dee to the embouchure of the Wye. Flint, Denbigh, Montgomery, Powys,Brecknock, Caerphili, and Caerdiff furnish bold examples of the style at that period. More were erected by the AngloNormans as they progressively encroached on the country; for to secure the possessions they conquered from the retaliating vengeance of the expelled owners, they were necessitated to repair and strengthen the fortresses they took, or build others. Thus did this kind of buildings so far increase, that Mr. Pennant enumerates one hundred and forty-three castles in the principality; and the number is probably short of the actual amount. On the conquest of Wales by Edward the First, that monarch, who had been crusading in the holy land, and there imbibed a spirit for eastern magnificence, for the purpose of overawing his new but refractory subjects, constructed three castles in a style, which for strength, beauty, and grandeur, have never yet been surpassed. Harlech, Caernarvon, and Conway, remain the proud monuments of the Cainbrian conqueror's footsteps, and

5

the

the finest display ever evinced of skill and execution, in military architecture.

1. CONSTITUTION, GovernmenT, and LAWS. From the accounts given by the Roman writers, a monarchial form of government was prevalent among the early Britons. The island was divided into several petty sovereignties, each subject to a separate prince; but in time of emergency and danger were united in one, under an officer similar to a dictator among the Romans, called a Pendragon. To him by joint consent was committed the whole military government of the independent tribes. Nor was this dignity temporary, like the power, for though the latter appears to have ceased with the necessity that demanded it, yet the former continued for life, and was hereditary to the male heir. But the right of succession to the separate governments does not seem to have been strictly indefcasible; for, in some instances, the lineal succession was violated by the rule of tunistry. By this the king's son, brother, or nephew, became the customary inheritor of the crown; the particular person being selected by the reigning monarch, with the advice of his nobles. This sovereign elect, was denominated by the law, the tanist, or the second in dignity. No power, but the regal, could either enact or abrogate a law; yet the king could effect neither without the consent of the country. And this maxim, on which is founded the fair structure of popular liberty, is expressly recorded in the institutions of Wales. The Britons were not unacquainted with that rational restraint upon monarchial despotism, parliamentary suffrage. It is highly probable, that the constitution of all the British states in the period of confusion which followed the evacuation of the island by the Romans, was not exactly the same; but that some of their princes enjoyed greater powers and privileges then others; still it is evident, that none were despotic: for a decisive argument in favour of the existence of British parliaments, is found in the preface or introduction to the laws of the great Cambrian legis

lator,

Taciti Annales. Lib, XII. c. 33. Cæsar de Bell. Gall. Lib. IV. c. 30. and Lib. V. c. 19, 20, 22.

lator, Howel Dda.

Six of the most intelligent and powerful persons were summoned out of every Cantref, or hundred, to assist the king in the great work of legislation. This parliament having been assembled, they proceeded to examine the ancient laws, cancelled some, reformed others, enacted new ones, and digested all into one regular code of jurisprudence. This revi sion they presented to good king Howel, which he having ap proved, gave the ratifying sanction of royal authority. Both the monarch and parliament then proceeded to imprecate the power of the state and the wrath of Heaven upon any who should violate, or attempt to abrogate any of these institutes, unless they should be constitutionally annulled în à national council, similar to the one in which they had recently been discussed. The origin of laws must have been nearly coeval with society, and evidently from the circumstances of this revision, many of those in the code of Howel Dda were pre-existent statutes, by which the early Britons had been regulated in previous times. For in the Triades,* Dynswal, Prydain and Hywel are mentioned, as the three good princes of Britain for improving and extending the laws, customs, privileges and uses of the Cymry; so that all might obtain equal justice and protection. From these it appears, that immediately below the sovereign, tanked the Uchelwyrs, or great men, holding their lands in capite from the crown, and each presiding as lord over his particular domain. As immediate tenants of the king they were obliged to perform certain services. Some held their lands by a tenure, siinilar to the grand serjeantry among the Normans, by an obliga

"J.

·tion

This work, inagnificiently printed in folio, is entitled, Cyfreithjeu Hywel Dda ac eraill, seu Leges Wallicae Ecclesiasticæ et civiles Hoeli' boni, et aliofum Wallis principum, quas ex variis codicibus manuscriptis eruit interpretatio Latina, notis et glossario illustravit Gulielmus Wottonus, Š. T P. adjnvante Mose Guilielmo, A. M. R. S. Soc. qui et Appendicem adjecit. Lon dini MDCCXXX.

* These called "The Triades of the Isle of Britain," are some of the most useful and curious historical fragments in the Welsh language, and are denominated triades, from being composed in triplets,