{131} St. Bernacus is said, by Cressy, to have been a man of
admirable sanctity, who, through devotion, made a journey to Rome;
and from thence returning into Britany, filled all places with the
fame of his piety and miracles.
He is commemorated on the 7th of
April. Several churches in Wales were dedicated to him; one of
which, called Llanfyrnach, or the church of St. Bernach, is situated
on the eastern side of the Prescelley mountain.
{132} The "castrum apud Lanhever" was at Nevern, a small village
between Newport and Cardigan, situated on the banks of a little
river bearing the same name which discharges itself into the sea at
Newport. On a hill immediately above the western side of the parish
church, is the site of a large castle, undoubtedly the one alluded
to by Giraldus.
{133} On the Cemmaes, or Pembrokeshire side of the river Teivi, and
near the end of the bridge, there is a place still called Park y
Cappel, or the Chapel Field, which is undoubtedly commemorative of
the circumstance recorded by our author.
{134} Now known by the name of Kenarth, which may be derived from
Cefn y garth - the back of the wear, a ridge of land behind the
wear.
{135} The name of St. Ludoc is not found in the lives of the
saints. Leland mentions a St. Clitauc, who had a church dedicated
to him in South Wales, and who was killed by some of his companions
whilst hunting. "Clitaucus Southe-Walliae regulus inter venandum a
suis sodalibus occisus est. Ecciesia S. Clitauci in Southe Wallia."
- Leland, Itin., tom. viii. p. 95.
{136} The Teivy is still very justly distinguished for the quantity
and quality of its salmon, but the beaver no longer disturbs its
streams. That this animal did exist in the days of Howel Dha
(though even then a rarity), the mention made of it in his laws, and
the high price set upon its skin, most clearly evince; but if the
castor of Giraldus, and the avanc of Humphrey Llwyd and of the Welsh
dictionaries, be really the same animal, it certainly was not
peculiar to the Teivi, but was equally known in North Wales, as the
names of places testify. A small lake in Montgomeryshire is called
Llyn yr Afangc; a pool in the river Conwy, not far from Bettws,
bears the same name, and the vale called Nant Ffrancon, upon the
river Ogwen, in Caernarvonshire, is supposed by the natives to be a
corruption from Nant yr Afan cwm, or the Vale of the Beavers. Mr.
Owen, in his dictionary, says, "That it has been seen in this vale
within the memory of man." Giraldus has previously spoken of the
beaver in his Topography of Ireland, Distinc. i. c. 21.
{137} Our author having made a long digression, in order to
introduce the history of the beaver, now continues his Itinerary.
From Cardigan, the archbishop proceeded towards Pont-Stephen,
leaving a hill, called Cruc Mawr, on the left hand, which still
retains its ancient name, and agrees exactly with the position given
to it by Giraldus.
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