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Llangwm, Johnston, Freystrop, Picton, Jeffreston, Begelly and St. Issells. There were a few other industrial ventures in the county, though they were much less important. George Barlow had a busy iron forge at Blackpool on the Eastern Cleddau which he supplied with timber from Narberth forest,' and John Voyle and Sir Thomas Canon formed a partnership in 1623 to prospect for silver in the parish of St. Elvis." The age was rich in enterprise and venture. There was glory and sometimes wealth to be won from the profession of arms, and a few local squires followed Walter Devereux and his son Robert to Ireland and the Low Countries, the most notable among them being Sir Thomas Perrot,3 Sir Gelly and Sir Francis Meyrick,' and Captain Richard Cuny.5 Sir Gelly Meyrick was perhaps one of the most successful soldier-adventurers of the age. Starting luckily he had entered the service of Sir George Devereux of Lamphey as a page, and later served with Walter, Earl of Essex, in the Low Countries, where he formed a close attachment to the young Robert Devereux, becoming eventually his confidante and chief agent. Steward to the young Earl, who secured Wigmore Castle for him, he was reputed to have abused his position in order to line his own pockets, though after his marriage to the wealthy and childless widow Mrs. Gwynn of Llanelwedd he had a small fortune at his disposal. Moreover, war was not without its compensations: after the Cadiz attack of 1596, Sir George Carew delivered him £ 1,723 10s. od. as his share of the spoils,6 a tremendous windfall, and apart from that he was later accused of concealing 600 Barbary hides, a chest of plate, pearls, and amber, and a large quantity of precious fabric.' By the time of the Essex conspiracy he was a prominent landowner with lands scattered throughout a number of counties,8 an unscrupulous and able adventurer who was feared far and wide by the tenantry of South Wales, a man substantial enough to marry off his daughter to Sir John Vaughan of Golden Grove.9 Apart from the unpaid administrative duties in which every man of substance was involved, there was keen competition among local squires to secure one or several of the more lucrative Crown offices such as receiverships and stewardships of Crown estates, butlerages, and the post of searcher-general. Most employments of this type carried fees and emoluments which were coveted by all, especially when they opened up prospects of economic investment. To secure these offices there was resort to a good deal of petitioning and underhand dealing Slebech Ms. 441. Fenton, Historical tour through Pembrokeshire, 2nd edn., p. 7). 3 Sir Thomas Perrot had fought alongside Essex in the Low Countries. In January, 1959, his brother, Sir James Perrot of Haroldston. mentioned in a letter to Essex that it is now six years since I first depended on your lordship. Salisbury Mss. vol. IX, p. 54). 4 The sons of Roland Meyrick, Bishop of Bangor. s F. Green, 'Cuny of Welston and Golden W.W.H.R., vol. XII. 1927. pp. 170-3. 6 Col. S.P. 1595-7, p. 275. Salisbury Mss., vol. VI, p. 568 and vol. XIII, p. 582. 8 D. Mathew, The Celtic peoples and Renaissance Europe. (London. 1933), pp. 345-6. Visitations, vol. 1, p. 214,