Welsh Journals

THE LESSER COUNTRY HOUSES OF CARDIGANSHIRE (Continued) 5. Ffos-y-Bleiddiaid A GOOD example of the lesser country houses of Cardiganshire is Ffos-y-bleiddiaid in the parish of Upper Lledrod. The name is romantic, the ditch or dyke of the wolves, and the surrounding country- side dotted with huge rocks and boulders might well have been one of the last haunts of the wolf in Wales. A long and narrow track leads through rugged and barren country to Ffos-y-bleiddiaid. The present farmstead is small and mean-looking and retains no feature of interest and only the ruins of what at one time must have been substantial outbuildings confirm that this was once the home of one of the oldest families in Cardiganshire. In a letter written in 195 1 Mr. Osborne Jones of Ystradmeurig informs me that when he first visited Ffos-y-bleiddiaid in 1893 'the ground floor was occupied by a huge kitchen slanting towards the fire place and paved with cobble stone. At the west end opposite to the fire there was a small narrow room, and an outer kitchen on the south side of the house. There was no upper floor except a few boards placed upon rafters where the Ystradmeurig students who lodged there slept. Their study was the tiny room at the west end.' The picture drawn by Mr. Osborne Jones depicts a residence both rude and almost medieval in appearance. Alas, in the early years of this century the cobbled floor was pulled up and the huge kitchen divided by cheap wooden partitions. Ffos-y-bleiddiaid was a farmhouse when Meyrick visited it about 1809, but it had recently been the residence and was still the property of James Lloyd, who had now moved to his wife's more commodious residence at Mabws. These Lloyds were descended in the male line from Cadifor ap Dyfnwal, Lord of Castell Hywel, and their right to bear his arms is recorded in H.M. College of Arms. The members of this family appear to have been attracted to the profession of arms and the law and to have played their part in the outside world rather than in their own county. Loyal adherents to the Stuart cause, they no doubt suffered for their political faith and it is notable that no member of the family was a high sheriff during the eighteenth century. The best-known member was David Lloyd, a naval captain, an old sea comrade ofjames II, and an active Jacobite agent, who is mentioned in Macaulay's History of England and in many other books dealing with the reign of William III. After James II's death he retired into private life andis believed to have died in 1722, aged 79 His younger brother