But of the five above-mentioned brothers and sons of earl Milo,the youngest but one,and the last in the inheritance,was the most remarkable for his inhumanity;he persecuted David II.bishop of St.David's,to such a degree,by attacking his possessions,lands,and vassals,that he was compelled to retire as an exile from the district of Brecheinoc into England,or to some other parts of his diocese.Meanwhile,Mahel,being hospitably entertained by Walter de Clifford,{47}in the castle of Brendlais,{48}the house was by accident burned down,and he received a mortal blow by a stone falling from the principal tower on his head:upon which he instantly dispatched messengers to recal the bishop,and exclaimed with a lamentable voice,"O,my father and high priest,your saint has taken most cruel vengeance of me,not waiting the conversion of a sinner,but hastening his death and overthrow."Having often repeated similar expressions,and bitterly lamented his situation,he thus ended his tyranny and life together;the first year of his government not having elapsed.
A powerful and noble personage,by name Brachanus,was in ancient times the ruler of the province of Brecheinoc,and from him it derived this name.The British histories testify that he had four-and-twenty daughters,all of whom,dedicated from their youth to religious observances,happily ended their lives in sanctity.There are many churches in Wales distinguished by their names,one of which,situated on the summit of a hill,near Brecheinoc,and not far from the castle of Aberhodni,is called the church of St.
Almedda,{49}after the name of the holy virgin,who,refusing there the hand of an earthly spouse,married the Eternal King,and triumphed in a happy martyrdom;to whose honour a solemn feast is annually held in the beginning of August,and attended by a large concourse of people from a considerable distance,when those persons who labour under various diseases,through the merits of the Blessed Virgin,received their wished-for health.The circumstances which occur at every anniversary appear to me remarkable.You may see men or girls,now in the church,now in the churchyard,now in the dance,which is led round the churchyard with a song,on a sudden falling on the ground as in a trance,then jumping up as in a frenzy,and representing with their hands and feet,before the people,whatever work they have unlawfully done on feast days;you may see one man put his hand to the plough,and another,as it were,goad on the oxen,mitigating their sense of labour,by the usual rude song:{50}one man imitating the profession of a shoemaker;another,that of a tanner.Now you may see a girl with a distaff,drawing out the thread,and winding it again on the spindle;another walking,and arranging the threads for the web;another,as it were,throwing the shuttle,and seeming to weave.On being brought into the church,and led up to the altar with their oblations,you will be astonished to see them suddenly awakened,and coming to themselves.Thus,by the divine mercy,which rejoices in the conversion,not in the death,of sinners,many persons from the conviction of their senses,are on these feast days corrected and mended.
This country sufficiently abounds with grain,and if there is any deficiency,it is amply supplied from the neighbouring parts of England;it is well stored with pastures,woods,and wild and domestic animals.River-fish are plentiful,supplied by the Usk on one side,and by the Wye on the other;each of them produces salmon and trout;but the Wye abounds most with the former,the Usk with the latter.The salmon of the Wye are in season during the winter,those of the Usk in summer;but the Wye alone produces the fish called umber,{51}the praise of which is celebrated in the works of Ambrosius,as being found in great numbers in the rivers near Milan;"What,"says he,"is more beautiful to behold,more agreeable to smell,or more pleasant to taste?"The famous lake of Brecheinoc supplies the country with pike,perch,excellent trout,tench,and eels.A circumstance concerning this lake,which happened a short time before our days,must not be passed over in silence."In the reign of king Henry I.Gruffydd,{52}son of Rhys ap Tewdwr,held under the king one comot,namely,the fourth part of the cantred of Caoc,{53}in the cantref Mawr,which,in title and dignity,was esteemed by the Welsh equal to the southern part of Wales,called Deheubarth,that is,the right-hand side of Wales.When Gruffydd,on his return from the king's court,passed near this lake,which at that cold season of the year was covered with water-fowl of various sorts,being accompanied by Milo,earl of Hereford,and lord of Brecheinoc,and Payn Fitz-John,lord of Ewyas,who were at that time secretaries and privy counsellors to the king;earl Milo,wishing to draw forth from Gruffydd some discourse concerning his innate nobility,rather jocularly than seriously thus addressed him:"It is an ancient saying in Wales,that if the natural prince of the country,coming to this lake,shall order the birds to sing,they will immediately obey him."To which Gruffydd,richer in mind than in gold,(for though his inheritance was diminished,his ambition and dignity still remained),answered,"Do you therefore,who now hold the dominion of this land,first give the command;"but he and Payn having in vain commanded,and Gruffydd,perceiving that it was necessary for him to do so in his turn,dismounted from his horse,and falling on his knees towards the east,as if he had been about to engage in battle,prostrate on the ground,with his eyes and hands uplifted to heaven,poured forth devout prayers to the Lord:
