Clynnog, Llanrhychwyn, Langienwen - Arthur Pendragon of Wales

Three Old Foundations. 97
in 1346 at Llan Dewi Brefi^ a manuscript was written
which contained a history of Beuno seems to point out
that, though over six hundred years had elapsed since the
death of the saint, stiU his fame remained, and we might
also infer that his principal foundation and his successors
there had befittingly upheld the reputation then acquired.
Eowlands in " Mona Antiqua " maintains that it " con-
tinued a place of education and literature ".^ If we may
rely on the testimony of " Brut y Tywysogion "^, in 978,
for the second time, the grove of Celynog Fawr was de-
vastated by Hywel ap leuan and his Saxon allies, and that
the church, among many others, was destroyed. After
such a catastrophe it may be gathered that, though the
place would still be associated in the minds of the people
with learning and piety, yet such a disaster with all its
concomitant consequences would at any rate for a long
period appear to be irreparable. The endowments would
remain, but the duties of those in charge would have dis-
appeared. We associate this time with the deflection of
the character of the establishment. Though some effort
was made to resuscitate the work, yet it never recovered
its former glory. In 1188 Archbishop Baldwin and Archdeacon
Gerald must have passed through Clynnog when
they made their itinerary,"* for they
were at Nevin one
day and at Caernarvon the following, but they do not refer
tion when the church was burnt down. " I saw this book ", said
Thomas Williams (of Trefriw), " in the year 1594". An old poet
refers both to the book and to the black stone upon it, as follows :—
" An eye like a polished rain-stone, like the stone of Tiboeth ". It is
said that this book was commenced by Twrog, the amanuensis of
Beuno.
^ See "Life and Miracles of S. Wenefrede", Bishop Fleetwood
(1713), Llyvyr Ayhyr Llandewivrevi, printed in 1894, and edited by
J. Morris Jones and Rhys.
- Mona Antiqua, p. 152.
' Myvyrian Archaioloyy, p. 692.
* The Itinerury throuyh Wales (^Dent & Co.), p. 116.
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