Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

FOURTH SERIES.—No. XXX. APRIL, 1877. EARLY REMAINS IN CARMARTHENSHIRE. Cynwyl Elfed, or Elvet, a portion of the parish of Abernant, lies about seven miles from Carmarthen, on the main road to Newcastle Emlyn, and is a wild and thinly inhabited district. Its name is said to have been derived from a Roman officer, Helvetius, as Cynwyl Caio, in the same county, is from Caius, another Roman official. There is little of interest to be seen except the long embankment surmounting the crest of the hill on the left hand side as one goes towards Newcastle, for nearly a mile and a quarter. It is called in the Ord¬ nance Map"Clawdd Mawr", but was more usually known as " The Line" in the early part of the present century, if not at the present time. According to the Rev. D. Lewis, the correspondent of Nicholas Carlisle, the well known Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Lon¬ don, and the compiler of the Topographical Dictionary of the Dominion of Wales (published in 1811), this line is said to have been thrown up by the Earl of Richmond on his way from Milford Haven to Bosworth; but his route is stated in the account given in the Cambrian Register to have been by Cardigan and Brecon, while his friend Sir Rhys ap Thomas took that by Carmarthen and Llan¬ dovery. But whether Henry followed this latter road or not, his object in raising such a work is not evident or even intelligible ; for considering of what immense 4th see., vol. viii. 6