Design by Dragon Enterprise
Valuable information concerning some aspects of the early history of this part of
Gwynedd from the end of the fifth to the end of the sixth centuries can be gathered
from the inscriptions carved on memorial stones. The evidence of these inscriptions
is also important for the study of the development of the Weish language from its
Brythonic antecedents as wall as for the study of the forms of Latin Used in Britain.
Seventeen inscriptions from Caernarvonshire have survived (it is known that one from
Pen-prys, Llannor, has disappeared). The inscriptions are in Latin and the lettering
is in the Latin alphabet, but the inscription at Llystyn Gwyn, Bryncir, is in Latin
together with a name in Ogam characters. The Ogam ` alphabet ' was a system of notches
cut across the ang":e of the face a:id side of the stone (there are twenty `characters'
in the alphabet). Ogam developed in Ireland and there are inscriptions in Wales
with Ogam alone as well as with Ogarn and Latin together. The Llystyn Gwyn stone
provides an example of a ` bilingual ' inscription - Latin: ICORI FILIVS POTENTINI,
Ogam: ICORIGAS. This, and a similar ` bilingual ' inscription on the Clocaenog (Denbigh)
stone, are the only two in North Wales with Ogam. The use of Ogam testifies to the
persistence of Irish influence in Wales, but the significance of the Ogam on this
stone in Eifionydd has not yet been fully explained (the Irish origin of the names
Llyn and Portinflaen, or Porth Dinllaen, is relevant in this context).
The inscriptions can be dated by reference to Latin epigraphic styles and also according
to the formulae employed in them. It is possible to identify the influence of forms
which are characteristic of Christian Latin monuments in Gaul on about twelve of
the Caernarvonshire inscriptions. The formulae of Ogam inscriptions were different
and their pattern can be discerned in some of the Latin inscriptions - for example,
at Llanfaglan, Llannor (VENDESETLI), Eglwys Rhos, Llanaelhaearn, Llystyn Gwyn, and
Penmachno (] FILI AVITORI). Another Latin inscription was added on the Penmachno
stone. The words on it have been abbreviated and the interpretation is uncertain.
According to one interpretation, a precise date is recorded, namely, ` in the time
of the consul Justinus' (that is, A.D. 540); another reading has been suggested -
' (the grave of) a most loving and righteous husband '. In any case, it is not certain
that the two inscriptions on this stone were carved at the same time.It is most likely
that these stones were set up to mark the burial places of notable Christian persons
(men and women). The Eglwys Rhos inscription states that SANCTINVS was a SACER[DOS]
` bishop ', probably. The Aberdaron inscriptions, which were at one time sited near
Capel Anelog, name two priests (the term is presbyter): VERACIVS and SENACVS. Senacus
is said to be resting with a multitude of brethren (CVM MVLTITUDNEM FRATRVM), and
this suggests that there is reference here to a grave within the cemetery of an
ecclesiastical community, the nucleus perhaps of the later clas at Aberdaron. Occasionally
a formula was used which was not necessarily factually correct; for example, one
of the Penmachno inscriptions, CARAVSIVS HIC IACIT IN HOC CONGERIES LAPIDVM (` Carausius
lies here in this cairn of stones'). Both this stone and one at Treflys (Cricieth)
have the Chi-Rho symbol - a monogram formed from the first two letters of the Greek
form of the name of Christ: X(chi) and P(rho). There are no other examples of this
symbol with an inscription in Wales. Not every memorial stone was set up near an
ecclesiastical foundation - for example, the inscribed stone at Cesail Gyfarch,
Penmorfa, which names CVNACVS (corresponding to Welsh Cynog) and the stone at Llystyn
Gwyn, Bryncir. The stones discovered at Llannor were used to provide two sides for
a later grave (it is not known whether this was a Christian burial). The name VENDESETLI
is recorded on one of these - it corresponds to the later Welsh form Gwynhoedl. Since
the Llannor inscription is probably of fifth century date, it is difficult to establish
that it commemorates Gwynhoed] the saint associated with Llangwnnadl whose period,
according to the Welsh genealogies, seems to have been the sixth century. On the
other hand, it is possible that the inscription may refer to the lay patron of a
Christian foundation in the district. The early name of the district was Nant Gwnnadl
(and this explains why the name of the parish is not ` Llanwnnadl ').The significance
of two of the Penmachno stones has already been noted. On one of the others it is
stated that CANTIORI[X] lies there, that he wasVENEDOTIS CIVE[S] and a close kinsman
of Magios who was magistratus. Venedotis is an adjectival form of the Brythonic name
for Gwynedd (*Ueneda); the corresponding Welsh form would be Gwyndod and there is
a reference in the 'Stanzas of the Graves' to Gwrgi, ` Gwyndodydd lew ' - ' the hero
of the men of Gwynedd '. Cantiori[x] was an important Gwyndodwr whose family shared
his pride in the dignity implicit in the term cives, ' citizen '. The exact nature
of the office of magistratus at this period is not clear, but the word suggests that
there was a fairly wellestablished social organization in this part of Gwynedd.
Taliesin, at the end of the sixth century, eulogizes Gwallawg who was ygnat (ynad)
in Elfed - a district in Yorkshire which included Leeds - and it may be that magistratus
and ygnat were synonymous terms for equivalent offices. It should be noticed that
neither clues nor magistratus occurs on any other Christian inscription in Britain.
Moreover, references to the professional occupations of laymen are extremely rare
in the Christian inscriptions of Britain. The Llangian inscription is therefore of
particular interest: MELI MEDICI - ` Melus the doctor', son of Martinus. The term
medicus does not occur on any other monument in Britain.
A man who died far away from his native territory is commemorated on the Llanaelhaearn
stone: ALIORTVS ELMETIACO. He was a stranger whose roots were in Elfed but he was
neither the first nor the last to move ' from kingdom to kingdom ' to serve a lord
in his court or in his war-band.
The inscriptions from Caernarvonshire record 26 personal names. Ten of these are
Latin names and there are Welsh derivatives of some of them. Thus, IOVENALI FILI
ETERNI is named on one of the Llannor inscriptions; the first name is a form of Juvenalis,
and louanaul occurs as the name of a cleric in the ' Book of Llandaff '; Eternus
appears in Welsh as Edyrn and Edern. The name SANCTINVS in the Eglwys Rhos inscription
corresponds to the Welsh form Seithin. Celtic elements can be identified in the
other 16 personal names. For example, at Llanfaglan - FILI LOVERNII ANATEMORI, that
is, ' [the stone of] Eneidfawr (literally, ' Great Soul 'or' The magnanimous one
') son of Llywern '; Ilywern is one of the Welsh names for ' fox ' and it occurs
as a persona! name, Louern, in the ' Book of Llandaff ' and in the place-name Llanfihangel
Ystum Llywern in Gwent. LOVERNACI is named on an inscription at Merthyr, near Llannewydd
(Newchurch), Carmarthenshire. Reference has been made to Vendesetli/Gwynhoedl (Llannor)
and to Maglos (Penmachno): the Welsh form of Maglos is mael, ' prince, leader', and
this element is found in the names of Maelgwyn, Cynfael, Brochfael and Arthfael.
In Cantiori[x] (Penmachno) and Icori[x] (Llystyn Gwyn, Bryncir), the second element
-rix corresponds to Welsh rhi, ' king '; forms corresponding to the first elements
in these two names are found in personal names in Gaul, and Cantiori]x] probably
meant ' king of hosts'.
Inscribed Stones Records for the Llyn Peninsula
