Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

irr^nlnjia Cauttottsii THIRD SERIES, No. XXIII.—JULY, 1860. ON SOME OLD FAMILIES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF LAMPETER, CARDIGANSHIRE. (Mead at Cardigan.) The materials of this account have not been obtained without some research and labour, and I trust that it will be interesting to those connected by blood with the families of the county of Cardigan, if not to the archaeological inquirer. I wish, before going any farther, to acknowledge my obligations, for valuable assistance in compiling the paper, to the Rev. H. R. Lloyd, Vicar of Owersby, Lincolnshire, and to Mr. Gwynne Stedman Thomas, of the town of Caermarthen. I am also indirectly indebted to Mr. Walter Lloyd, of Caermarthen, for some parti¬ culars in the later history of Peterwell. It was one of Voltaire's sneers, that heraldic knowledge is " the science of fools with long memories;" and a Welshman's fond¬ ness for pedigree has always been the subject of ridicule; yet no one will deny that genealogical memoranda are valuable aids to history. But the Welshman's predilection arose from the state of the law with regard to property. The Welshman's pedigree was his title-deed, by which he claimed his birthright in the country. Every one was obliged to show his descent through nine genera¬ tions in order to be acknowledged a free native, and by which right he claimed his portion of land in the community. He was affected, with respect to legal process, in his collateral affinities through nine degrees.1 For instance, every murder committed had a fine levied on the relations of the murderer, divided into nine parts; his brother paying the greatest, and the ninth in 1 "Nid wyf fi yn perthyn iddo o fewn i'r nawfed ach," is a common saying in these parts. ARCH. CAMB., THIRD SERIES, VOL. VI. Z