That there was some aggression on the part of Howel against Morgannwg with Gwent is clear from the dispute between him and King Morgan mentioned in the Book of Llandav (247-9), a Welsh translation of which precedes the Cwta Cyfarwydd list of the cymwds and cantrevs of Wales.[1] The dispute was settled by King Edgar years after Howel's death, and was concerned at that time only with the two cymwds of Ewyas and Ystrad Yw, which were regarded as parts of Gwent. It may be therefore that Howel laid claim to the whole of Gwent, and that our author includes it within that Deheubarth over which Howel's rule extended. It is very noticeable in this connexion that Howel's grandson, Einion, is described in the Brut y Tywysogion as having Brycheiniog and all his territory ravaged by the Saxons, and as having afterwards being murdered through the treachery of the nobles of Gwent,[2] which certainly suggests his authority in the far south-east. This seems to show that the House of Howel Dda claimed some jurisdiction over Gwent. Morgannwg minus Gwent, of course, or at least some portion of it, is, in the light of the entry in the Book of Llandav clearly exempt, so that it appears hopeful that a minute research may still reveal what exactly were the sixty-four 'pagi' of the Deheubarth which acknowledged Howel Dda as their supreme lord.[3] It is noticeable, as already shown by Mr. Phillimore, that it is only the law books of our present class, the Book of Cyvnerth, which carefully avoid describing Howel Dda as King of all Wales (kymry oll).[4] Our author indeed appears anxious to exclude Howel's jurisdiction from Powys, and not only from Powys proper but also from the patria of Rhwng Gwy a Havren, and the Perveddwlad or ' middle country '
- ↑ Y Cymmrodor IX. 325-6.
- ↑ ' y diffeithwyt Brecheinawc a holl gyfoeth Einawn uab Owein y gan y Saeson '; ' y lias Einawn uab Owein drwy dwyll gan uchelwyr Gwent.' Oxford Brut) pp. 262-3. In the fragmentary list of cantrevs from the Liber Abbatis de Feversham (Hall's Red Book of the Exchequer II. 1896) there appears the following curious notice :— ' Homines autem de Lydeneye interfecerunt dominum suum scilicet Ris filium Oeni filii Howelda.' As Lydney is in the Cantrev Coch (Forest of Dean), the presence of the House of Howel there goes to confirm the above argument.
- ↑ Gwent and Gwynllwg, according to the Cwta list, contained twelve cymwds which would complete the sixty-four required. Gwynllwg lay between the lower courses of the Usk and Rhymni.
- ↑ Owen's Pembrokeshire III. 220.
