They had little to do with him but to pay him revenue, and he had little to do with them but to receive it.
Gwythno and his subjects went on together very happily. The chace conduced to the good cheer of the feast, and to the good appetite which consumed it the feast inspired the song and the song gladdened the feast, and celebrated the chace. His several pursuits composed a very harmonious triad. Gwythno, like other kings, found the business of governing too light a matter to fill up the vacancy of either his time or his head, and took to the more solid pursuits of harping and singing not forgetting feasting, in which he was glorious nor hunting, wherein he was mighty. To prevent the repetition of the first of these inconveniences, and to check the progress of the second, the people of Gwaelod had built the stony rampart, which had withstood the shock of the waves for centuries, when Gwythno began his reign. This port, we may believe if we please, had not been unknown to the Phænicians and Carthaginians, when they visited the island for metal, accommodating the inhabitants, in return, with luxuries which they would not otherwise have dreamed of, and which they could very well have done without of course, in arranging the exchange of what they denominated equivalents, imposing on their simplicity, and taking advantage of their ignorance, according to the approved practice of civilized nations which they called imparting the blessings of Phænician and Carthaginian light.Īn embankment of massy stone protected this lowland country from the sea, which was said, in traditions older than the embankment, to have, in occasional spring-tides, paid short but unwelcome visits to the interior inhabitants, and to have, by slow aggressions, encroached considerably on the land. It contained also one of the three privileged ports of the isle of Britain, which was called the Port of Gwythno. It contained sixteen fortified towns, superior to all the towns and cities of the Cymry, excepting Caer Lleon upon Usk and, like Caer Lleon, they bore in their architecture, their language, and their manners, vestiges of past intercourse with the Roman lords of the world. This district was populous and highly cultivated. The most valuable portion of his dominions was the Great Plain of Gwaelod, an extensive tract of level land, stretching along that part of the sea-coast which now belongs to the counties of Merioneth and Cardigan. In the beginning of the sixth century, when Uther Pendragon held the nominal sovereignty of Britain over a number of petty kings, Gwythno Garanhir was king of Caredigion. That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening prey." -Gray "Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway,