Pasgen "ap Urien Rheged", Lord of Gower

PASGEN "ap URIEN RHEGED", LORD OF GOWER

By Darrell Wolcott

An number of families in southern Carmarthenshire, including Rice of Newton[1], Bowen of Llangyndeyrn in Cedweli[2], Sir Dafydd ap Gwalter, parson of Llanedi[3], and Elidyr ap Llywarch of Abergwili[4] claim descent from Urien Rheged through his son, Pasgen. The best known of these is the Rice family, whose name comes from Sir Rhys ap Thomas, the latter having been a powerful ally of Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth. A twelfth-century ancestor of that family assumed the surname "fitz Urien", being convinced he descended from Urien Rheged ap Cynfarch Oer of the Men of the North. Local lore claims that Urien came to Gower in the sixth century, displaced the Irish Deisi and built his castle at Is Cennen. Others say it was Urien's son, Pasgen, who when forced by the Saxons to leave north Britain, resettled in Gower c. 593.[5]

After his laborous work on Welsh pedigrees, Peter Bartrum concluded the Pasgen of Gower in the pedigree material must have been born c. 850 and was simply mistaken for the much earlier man of that name.[6] Our studies led to the same conclusion, but pointed to other data which might explain the early tales of a man forced from his lands "in the north" who relocated in Gower.

We think the same Pasgen appears in the pedigrees cited for Collwyn ap Tangno, Marchweithian and Nefydd Hardd, all associated with Gwynedd. Those citations trace upwards to a "Lludd ap Llew ap Llymidod Angel ap Pasgen". Those of Marchweithian and the Rice family make their Pasgen "ap Owain ap Urien Rheged", while those of Collwyn and Elidyr ap Llywarch omit Owain to say "Pasgen ap Urien Rheged". A chart of the putative "sons" of Pasgen appears thusly:

850 Pasgen

__________________l_______________________

l l l

880 Llyminod angel 880 Gwgan ceneu menrud 885 Mor*

*Possibly this son of Pasgen was named Ynyr, whose son was Mor. The citations conflict, but either is chronologically possible

Leaving the Gwynedd families descended from Llyminod for last, we begin our discussion with the two sons whose eleventh-century descendants are found in or near Gower.

880 Gwgan ceneu menrud*

910 Llowarch

945 Mor

975 Bleddri

1005 Llywarch Elystan Glodrydd 985

l l

1040 Elidyr Cadwgan 1020

l l

1070 Ellelw========Llewelyn 1055

1085 Seisyllt of Buellt

*This pedigree is found in Jesus College Ms 20, 33 & 34

The pedigree does not cite the ancestry of Seisyllt ap Llewelyn, but the man of that name who held Buellt in the early 12th century was descended from Elystan Glodrydd as indicated by us. There are problems with other parts of the citation, however. It's author gratutiously adds that Gwgan was slain at Abergwili together with Llewelyn ap Seisyllt, father of Gruffudd ap Llewelyn. Bartrum correctly notes that the Gwgan in this pedigree could not have been contemporary with Llewelyn ap Seisyllt who was slain in 1023, although both could have fought at Abergwili at different times. But the main question raised by the pedigree is whether Gwgan was nicknamed "ceneu menrud" (Bartrum translates it "the whelp with the red neck") who (the citation continues) "had a serpent for a year about his neck". Or whether Ceneu menrud refers to the name of his father; in giving the ancestry earlier than Gwgan, the citation simply reads "Ceneu menrud ap Pasgen ap Urien Rheged ap Cynfarch" etc. If it were necessary to include an extra generation in our chart, one could still make it compatable with a Pasgen born c. 850 by redating the ensuing men so that Ellelw occurs c. 1115 and re-identifying the man she married as Llewelyn ap Moreiddig Warwin who also had a son named Seisyllt. He was Lord of Cantref Selyf in Brycheiniog which adjoins Buellt, but the citation's author may have gratutiously added "of Buellt" just as he added the false connection to Llewelyn ap Seisyllt. Perhaps it is merely a coincidence that Moreiddig Warwin is also said to have been born with a snake wrapped around his neck. The alternate pedigree might look like this:

850 Pasgen

885 Ceneu menrud

920 Gwgan

955 Llowarch

990 Mor

1020 Bleddri Maenyrch 1015

l l

1055 Llywarch Trwmbaenog* 1050

l l

1085 Elidyr Moreiddig Warwin 1080

l l

1120 Ellelw======Llewelyn 1110

1140 Seisyllt

*Brother of Bleddyn ap Maenyrch, last king of Brycheiniog, slain in 1093

The Seisyllt in this chart had a daughter, Elisabeth, who married Sir Elidyr Ddu of another family descended from Pasgen[7]. While that might seem to favor this alternate descent for Ellelw, others[8] say Llewelyn ap Moreiddig married a different lady. We prefer the first chart making Gwgan the same person as ceneu menrud since the required generational gaps in the second chart are somewhat suspect (Ellelw is moved about 45 years forward, not just one standard generation, to chronologically fit the alternate marriage). Either way, the Pasgen at the top of her pedigree occurs c. 850.

When we turn to Mor ap Pasgen, we find attempts have been made to lengthen the pedigree with the insertion of 6 or 7 extra generations between Mor ap Pasgen and his descendant Einion ap Llywarch. Either the authors of those versions of the pedigree were trying vainly to push Pasgen back to the 6th century (even 7 more generations would only redate him to c. 625) or more likely, was done to compensate for 5 generations we find missing between 1065 and 1345 in the Rice family pedigree. In Bartrum's work, he dates the Einion ap Llywarch of that line to c. 1150, while we put that man nearer c. 1005. This chart shows the differences down to that man:

850 Pasgen 850 Pasgen

l l

885 Ynyr* 885 Mor

l l

915 Mor 920 Rhiryd

l l

945 Rhiryd 950 Llywarch

l l

975 Llywarch 985 Rhun

l l

1005 Einion 1015 Seisyllt

1050 Gwrwared

1080 Cynhaethwy

1115 Llywarch

1150 Einion

*Should we omit Ynyr as does the other line, it would take an average 38 year generation gap to reach Einion near c. 1000. We opt for his inclusion.

The pedigree is the first column is cited in many manuscripts in the Peniarth collection[9] while the expanded version on the right appears in fewer sources[10]. Working from the latter group, we find marriage matches cited which wholly defy the chronology accepted by Bartrum but work well with the shorter version. These include:

1. Gronwy ap Einion married Llewelydd ferch Einion Clud. The latter was a son of Madog ap Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan Glodrydd and his obituary is recorded in 1177. He would occur c. 1115 and his daughter c. 1145. One should expect Gronwy to date from c. 1130

2. Rhys (in the pedigree, ap Gronwy) is said to have married a daughter of Gruffudd ap Cydrych ap Gwaethfoed. However, the Rice family pedigree[11] also says the mother of that daughter was a daughter of Hywel, Lord of Caerleon. The pedigree of the latter family says a daughter of Hywel named Gwenllian married Gwilym ap Aeddan, not Gruffudd ap Cydrych. In any event, a daughter of Hywel would occur c. 1185 and her daughter c. 1205. That Rhys should then occur c. 1195 If a second Rhys in this family DID marry a daughter of Gruffudd ap Cydrych, he would occur c. 1075

3. Elidyr (in the pedigree, ap Rhys) is said to have married Gwladys ferch Philip ap Bah ap Gwaethfoed. This is the second Gwaethfoed of Gwent and Gwladys would have been born c. 1235. The Elidyr she married should occur near 1225.

4. Sir Elidyr (in the pedigree, ap Elidyr) married Elisabeth ferch Seisyllt ap Llewelyn ap Moreiddig Warwin. She would occur c. 1175, requiring a husband born c. 1165. Sir Elidyr, according to the same pedigrees, was a Knight of the Sepulchre who joined Richard the Lionhearted on his crusade in 1191. This also fits a man born c. 1165

5. Philip ap Elidyr married Gwladys ferch Dafydd Fras, a man who occurs 7th after Cadifor Fawr, the latter born c. 1030. We would date her to c. 1295 and Philip to c. 1285

6. Nicholas ap Philip married Sioned ferch Gruffudd ap Llewelyn Foethys; the latter occurs 10 generations after Elystan Glodrydd; we date him to c. 1330 and his daughter to c. 1365. Thus Nicholas should occur c. 1355

7. Gruffudd ap Nicholas is a well-known personage who occurs in 1441 and 1451, and was grandfather to Sir Rhys ap Thomas. The latter was born in 1449 and we date Gruffudd to c. 1385

When we present a chart based upon the pedigree which dates Einion ap Llywarch to c. 1150, we can see the absurdities:

1150 Einion===not cited

1180 Gronwy===Llewelydd 1145

1215 Rhys===grandaughter of Hywel 1205

l or daughter of Gruffudd 1095

1250 Elidyr===Gwladys 1235

1285 Sir Elidyr===Elisabeth 1175

1320 Philip===Gwladys 1295

1355 Nicholas (the first generation which fits)

1385 Gruffudd

1415 Thomas

1449 Sir Rhys

Our attempts to make chronological sense of the pedigree led us to the conclusion that only the shorter version of the pedigree of Einion ap Llywarch will work, the one which dates him to c. 1005:

1005 Einion===not cited

1035 Gronwy===cited for wrong Gronwy

1065 Rhys===dau of Gruffudd 1075

1095 *Einion===not cited

1130 *Gronwy===Llewelydd 1145

1165 *Sir Elidyr===Elisabeth 1175

1195 *Rhys===lady born 1205

1225 Elidyr===Gwladys 1235

1255 Elidyr Ddu==not cited

1285 Philip===Gwladys 1295

1320 *Philip===not cited

1355 Nicholas (as above)

*Names not included in that pedigree material which extends the family back to Pasgen, but the names do occur in pedigrees from families of men who married daughters of all men in our pedigree after c. 1100, including the second Philip. That generation is essential to any timeline, including ours, to connect the first Philip to Nicholas. It is cited in an 1896 work by a descendant of Sir Rhys ap Thomas. [12] Also, the wife of a Brychieniog man born c. 1360 is cited in Peniarth Ms 156 as "Arddun ferch Philip ap Elidyr" but only a Philip ap Philip at Elidyr would chronologically match with her.

We will conclude our comments on the Carmarthenshire/Gower families who claim descent from Pasgen ap Urien Rheged by mentioning a Cedwili family who married into that descended from Einion ap Llywarch. The Gwyn family of Gwempa cast a pedigree[13] showing an Einion, whom it calls Einion ap Llywarch, had sons named Lleison, Rhys, Gronwy and Llywarch. Unfortunately, about 200 years is missing from their chart and we'd hesitate to date those brothers from data given there. But we suspect their Einion was the one we date to c. 1095 and not Einion ap Llywarch.

The final son we assign the Pasgen of c. 850 is the one whose descendants are found in Gwynedd, not far to the south near Gower. The pedigrees do have some variations, but essentially look like this:

850 Pasgen

880 Llyminod angel

915 Llew

950 Lludd

______________________l____________________

l l l

Nefydd Hardd 985 Tangwel Cadfael

l l

1020 Marchweithian Tangno

Collwyn

We did not date two of the claimed sons of Lludd as some problems arise with making the three men brothers. Peniarth Ms 101 written by the noted antiquarian Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt claims that Nefydd Hardd fostered Idwal ap Owain Gwynedd, but caused his own son Dunod to kill the child. If true, it would date Nefydd to c. 1100 and he could not be an uncle of Marchweithian born c. 1020. On the other hand, one must wonder why Nefydd was later honored by inclusion among the heads of the 15 Noble Tribes of Gwynedd if the tale is true. While we have done insufficient work on the families said to have descended from him to estimate his birthdate, Peter Bartrum says they also point to c. 1100. So either 4 generations are omitted from the above pedigree, or he belongs to a wholly different family.

Both Bartrum and our own work date Collwyn ap Tangno to c. 1015/25 and thus in the same generation as Marchweithian. While Bartrum accepts that the two men might have been cousins, their pedigrees date them a whole generation apart. Perhaps Tangwel and Tangno were brothers and the "ap Cadfael" is missing from the Marchweithian line. To accomodate that possibility, as well as to make Collwyn fit chronologically in the chart, we must redate Lludd to c. 915. This will either push Pasgen back a generation or one intervening man should be deleted.

Our attention is drawn to the name "Llyminod" called angel. It is unique as a Welsh male name and might possibly be not a name at all, but a part of the nickname. The Welsh "llym" means keen or sharp while "miniog" connotes "sharp like the edge of a knife". Is it possible the man called Llew[14] in the pedigrees was actually known as "Llewelyn, the angel with the sharp edged blade"? Let's explore that possibility as we develop a plausable scenerio that might have taken this Gwynedd Pasgen to Gower with two young sons, but a third son stayed behind.

In another paper on this site, we discussed a c. 890 event in which invaders had taken over much of northeast Wales and were subsequently driven out only by the efforts of men living elsewhere who came seeking the reward of land of their own. Let's posit that one of the original owners who had been displaced was the c. 850 Pasgen. When the invasion first occurred in 892, let us assume his eldest son had just turned 14 and had been sent according to the laws to be trained by his Lord, either King Anarawd over in Anglesey or more likely Gwgan Gleddyfrydd, the Lord of Rhos and Tegeingl. The younger sons of Pasgen were yet under age 14 and were still at the bed and board of their father.

We have previously assumed the invaders were attacked by the warband of Gwgan into whose lordship they had come; clearly the defense was unsuccessful and we think Gwgan may have been killed in the action. Suppose among his men who survived was a young lad whose tender age and demonstated prowess with a sword allowed him to retreat from the battlefield without a scratch while men many years his senior came home with multiple scars. Might not his peers call the boy "an angel with a sharp edged blade" much as they had called his lord "Gwgan with the red sword"?

If we further assume that Pasgen held lands in Tegeingl, the principal territory taken by the invaders, and fled south to Gower with his young sons, it would accord with the later stories that he had "come from the north when invaders forced him from his lands". If that were the case, why was he called Pasgen ap Urien Rheged, a man clearly of the sixth century? Perhaps his father's name WAS Urien, just not the famous one? If he were seated in the lands invaded in 892, he was almost certainly a member of the ruling family although from a junior cadet. One reasonable guess would make him a cousin of Gwgan Gleddyfrydd as:

745 Caradog ap Meriaun ob 798

780 Hywel ob 825

_________________l__________

l l

820 Urien 815 Caradog Freich Fras of Rhos

l l

850 Pasgen 850 Gwgan gleddyfrydd

878 Llewelyn llyminiog angel

910 Lluddoca, abbreviated to Lludd

945 Cadfael

The chart would conclude with two sons of Cadfael, Tangwel the father of Marchweithian, and Tangno the father of Collwyn and date those cousins to c. 1010, both lineal descendants of the one son of Pasgen ap Urien who remained in Gwynedd. While Marchweithian lived in Is Aled in Rhufoniog, which we believe was a part of his patrimony, Collwyn is found in Ardudwy, a cantref in lower Gwynedd not thought to have been ruled by the Rhos clan. His being named among the founders of the 15 Noble Families of Gwynedd indicates he had some noteworthy achievements in his life and may have been granted the Lordship of Ardudwy by Gruffudd ap Llewelyn in whose service he should be expected to have served.

For our final comments on this family, we shall propose a reason why some pedigrees read "Pasgen ap Owain ap Urien" while other omit Owain. The Williams Family of Humphreyston[15] descended from Sir Rhys ap Thomas cites the marriage of that Thomas to an heiress descended from Ednyfed Fychan. In her portion of the pedigree, the grandfather of Ednyfed (c. 1165-1246) is said to have married "Gwenllian daughter of Rhiryd ap Mor ap Pasgen". Her husband, Iorwerth ap Gwgan, is identified in early manuscripts[16] and would have been born c. 1100. If we date Gwenllian to c. 1110/1115, the Pasgen cited as her great-grandfather would occur c. 1015. This would preclude her ancestors from having been the same "Rhiryd ap Mor ap Pasgen" discussed earlier in the lineage of the Rice family of Newton. But they may have been from the same clan...the northern portion of it up in Gwynedd where Ednyfed Fychan lived. It is merely a wild guess, but a chart like the family shown on the right may have been seen by those authors who inserted Owain as the father of the Pasgen of c. 850:

850 Pasgen

_________________l______________

l l

890 Mor 880 Llyminod

l l

920 Rhiryd 915 Llew

(to Sir Rhys ap Thomas) 950 Lludd

980 Owain

1015 Pasgen

1045 Mor

1075 Rhiryd

1010 Gwenllian

We are not told the name of the father of the Pasgen in Gwenllian's ancestry, and this chart would not work if Llyminod and Llew are the same man as we suggested, but such a pedigree could have once existed with the same errors we find in those cast for Marchweithian and Collwyn. But the possibility that a similar string of names with the Mor ap Pasgen followed by "ap Owain" could be the reason it was also applied to the Pasgen in the earlier name string.

We shall conclude with a few comments about how Nefydd Hardd might have been attached, although far out of chronological placement, to the families of Marchweithian and Collwyn. Among the descendants of Gwgan Gleddyfrydd is a Pasgen ap Heilig ap Glannog ap Gwaethfoed ap Gwgan[17] would would occur c. 980. If that man had a son called something similar to "Llyminod" who had a son Llewelyn who had a son Lluddoca, the latter would occur c. 1070 and be living at the right time to have fathered Nefydd Hardd. The latter is associated with the cantref of Nant Conwy in north central Gwynedd and other descendants of Pasgen ap Heilig are known to have held the lands which border it to the east and west. We do think Nefydd also descended from that Pasgen, just not in the manner claimed by his pedigree.

NOTES:
[1] Dwnn i, 210; West Wales Historical Records, vol i, pp 64/65

[2] West Wales Historical Records, vol ii, pp 12

[3] West Wales Historical Records, vol i, pp 81

[4] Jesus College Ms 20, 33 & 34

[5] http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/ebktime1.html

[6] P.C. Bartrum "Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts", 1966, pp 141

[7] Dwnn i, 210; other citations call the lady Cecillia or Sissely

[8] Llyfr Baglan pp. 103-104, 111; Theophilus Jones "History of Brecknockshire", 1909, vol 2, pp 141; these sources say Llewelyn ap Moreiddig married a daughter of Cynhillin ap Rhys Goch, a lady we date c. 1125

[9] National Library of Wales Journal, vol xiii, pp 110 lists the Peniarth manuscripts

[10] ibid; these include Dwnn i, 32 and Dwnn i, 131

[11] West Wales Historical Records, vol i, pp 64

[12] Lawrence B Thomas "The Thomas Book", 1896, pp 4

[13] ibid Note 3

[14] The name appears as "Llen" in some citations; the name Llewelyn is often abbreviated to Llen in pedigrees and we would expand "Llew" to read "Llewelyn"

[15] West Wales Historical Records, vol ii, pp 89

[16] ABT 9a and HLG 7c

[17] Peniarth Ms 181 and 134 cite the ancestry of Gwrydr Goch, a brother of this Pasgen; Peniarth Ms 128 omits one generation when giving the ancestry of Pasgen ap Heilig and corrects other sources which spell his name Kysgen