The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through
Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Book I
Chapter VII
The see of Landaf and monastery of Margan, and
the remarkable things in those parts
On the following morning, the business of the cross being
publicly proclaimed at Landaf, the English standing on one
side, and the Welsh on the other, many persons of each
nation took the cross, and we remained there that night with
William bishop of that place,85
a discreet and good man. The word Landaf86
signifies the church situated upon the river Taf, and is now
called the church of St. Teileau, formerly bishop of that
see. The archbishop having celebrated mass early in the
morning, before the high altar of the cathedral, we
immediately pursued our journey by the little cell of
Ewenith87
to the noble Cistercian monastery of Margan.88
This monastery, under the direction of Conan, a learned and
prudent abbot, was at this time more celebrated for its
charitable deeds than any other of that order in Wales. On
this account, it is an undoubted fact, that, as a reward for
that abundant charity which the monastery had always, in
times of need, exercised towards strangers and poor persons,
in a season of approaching famine, their corn and provisions
were perceptibly, by divine assistance, increased, like the
widow's cruise of oil by the means of the prophet Elijah.
About the time of its foundation, a young man of those
parts, by birth a Welshman, having claimed and endeavoured
to apply to his own use certain lands which had been given
to the monastery, by the instigation of the devil set on
fire the best barn belonging to the monks, which was filled
with corn; but, immediately becoming mad, he ran about the
country in a distracted state, nor ceased raving until he
was seized by his parents and bound. Having burst his bonds,
and tired out his keepers, he came the next morning to the
gate of the monastery, incessantly howling out that he was
inwardly burnt by the influence of the monks, and thus in a
few days expired, uttering the most miserable complaints. It
happened also, that a young man was struck by another in the
guests' hall; but on the following day, by divine vengeance,
the aggressor was, in the presence of the fraternity, killed
by an enemy, and his lifeless body was laid out in the same
spot in the hall where the sacred house had been violated.
In our time too, in a period of scarcity, while great
multitudes of poor were daily crowding before the gates for
relief, by the unanimous consent of the brethren, a ship was
sent to Bristol to purchase corn for charitable purposes.
The vessel, delayed by contrary winds, and not returning
(but rather affording an opportunity for the miracle), on
the very day when there would have been a total deficiency
of corn, both for the poor and the convent, a field near the
monastery was found suddenly to ripen, more than a month
before the usual time of harvest: thus, divine Providence
supplied the brotherhood and the numerous poor with
sufficient nourishment until autumn. By these and other
signs of virtues, the place accepted by God began to be
generally esteemed and venerated.
It came to pass also in our days, during the period when
the four sons of Caradoc son of Iestin, and nephews of
prince Rhys by his sister, namely, Morgan, Meredyth, Owen,
and Cadwallon, bore rule for their father in those parts,
that Cadwallon, through inveterate malice, slew his brother
Owen. But divine vengeance soon overtook him; for on his
making a hostile attack on a certain castle, he was crushed
to pieces by the sudden fall of its walls: and thus, in the
presence of a numerous body of his own and his brother's
forces, suffered the punishment which his barbarous and
unnatural conduct had so justly merited.
Another circumstance which happened here deserves notice.
A greyhound belonging to the aforesaid Owen, large,
beautiful, and curiously spotted with a variety of colours,
received seven wounds from arrows and lances, in the defence
of his master, and on his part did much injury to the enemy
and assassins. When his wounds were healed, he was sent to
king Henry II. by William earl of Gloucester, in testimony
of so great and extraordinary a deed. A dog, of all animals,
is most attached to man, and most easily distinguishes him;
sometimes, when deprived of his master, he refuses to live,
and in his master's defence is bold enough to brave death;
ready, therefore, to die, either with or for his master. I
do not think it superfluous to insert here an example which
Suetonius gives in his book on the nature of animals, and
which Ambrosius also relates in his Exameron. "A man,
accompanied by a dog, was killed in a remote part of the
city of Antioch, by a soldier, for the sake of plunder. The
murderer, concealed by the darkness of the morning, escaped
into another part of the city; the corpse lay unburied; a
large concourse of people assembled; and the dog, with
bitter howlings, lamented his master's fate. The murderer,
by chance, passed that way, and, in order to prove his
innocence, mingled with the crowd of spectators, and, as if
moved by compassion, approached the body of the deceased.
The dog, suspending for a while his moans, assumed the arms
of revenge; rushed upon the man, and seized him, howling at
the same time in so dolorous a manner, that all present shed
tears. It was considered as a proof against the murderer,
that the dog seized him from amongst so many, and would not
let him go; and especially, as neither the crime of hatred,
envy, or injury, could possibly, in this case, be urged
against the dog. On account, therefore, of such a strong
suspicion of murder (which the soldier constantly denied),
it was determined that the truth of the matter should be
tried by combat. The parties being assembled in a field,
with a crowd of people around, the dog on one side, and the
soldier, armed with a stick of a cubit's length, on the
other, the murderer was at length overcome by the victorious
dog, and suffered an ignominious death on the common
gallows.
Pliny and Solinus relate that a certain king, who was
very fond of dogs, and addicted to hunting, was taken and
imprisoned by his enemies, and in a most wonderful manner
liberated, without any assistance from his friends, by a
pack of dogs, who had spontaneously sequestered themselves
in the mountainous and woody regions, and from thence
committed many atrocious acts of depredation on the
neighbouring herds and flocks. I shall take this opportunity
of mentioning what from experience and ocular testimony I
have observed respecting the nature of dogs. A dog is in
general sagacious, but particularly with respect to his
master; for when he has for some time lost him in a crowd,
he depends more upon his nose than upon his eyes; and, in
endeavouring to find him, he first looks about, and then
applies his nose, for greater certainty, to his clothes, as
if nature had placed all the powers of infallibility in that
feature. The tongue of a dog possesses a medicinal quality;
the wolf's, on the contrary, a poisonous: the dog heals his
wounds by licking them, the wolf, by a similar practice,
infects them; and the dog, if he has received a wound in his
neck or head, or any part of his body where he cannot apply
his tongue, ingeniously makes use of his hinder foot as a
conveyance of the healing qualities to the parts
affected.
The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through
Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Chapter VI
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