Welsh Journals

BROGYNIN, TREFEIRIG AT Brogynin in the Cardiganshire parish of Trefeirig are the remains of a building known locally as Ty Dafydd ap Gwilym. It stands about one and a half miles east- north-east of Penrhyn-coch, on level ground at about two hundred feet O.D., on the south bank of the river Stewi. Several adjacent sites share the name Brogynin, but none appear to be as old and consequently, as Dafydd's association with the. area is certain, it is to the oldest remains that his name is allied. The earliest record of this association appears in an anonymous englyn first recorded in a late fifteenth century MS. this cites an alleged prophecy of Taliesin's to the effect that Brogynin would produce a poet of Dafydd's calibre. Additional evidence helping in the identification of Dafydd's home can be gleaned from his own works, which contain personal and place names. In his poem to the women of Llanbadarn he calls the congregation his plwyf,' or the people of his parish. In another, he begs the river Dovey not to hinder his return to Llanbadarn, his cwmwd'. It is possible that the neighbouring farm of Cwmbwa, shown on Speed's map as Ummabowa, represents the abode of the detested Bwa Bach', husband of the much desired Morfudd. This Bwa Bach may be the Ebowa baghan whose name, in a court case of 1344, is linked with that of a Robert le Northern, a burgess of Aberystwyth, who, in turn, may be Dafydd's Robin Nordd'.2 It can be said with confidence that no part of the surviving structure can ever have sheltered the bard but the absence of any early occupation site near makes the suggestion that the present building replaces the actual home of the poet worthy of serious consideration. The remains (see plan) consist of the roofless ruins of the western end of a two- storeyed house set on a S.W.-N.E. axis. The south-west gable stands to near ridge height, whilst the two side walls survive to first floor level. These three walls represent the earliest work but an old photograph shows an eastward extension almost twice as long as the present ruins. This had two chimneys, one on the north-east gable and one further to the south-west built of small stones similar to the remains of the present north-east wall. As is indicated on the plan, this wall is clearly secondary, and it is likely that the eastern part of the house as shown on the photograph was also later than the surviving structure. It could be conjectured that this eastern part represented a rebuild of an earlier, possibly medieval, structure but it is doubtful whether an excavation would be rewarding. Ruined for many years, the building presents a squalid picture it has been fitted with a low iron roof and is used as a pig-sty and implement store. The breach in the front wall has been widened in recent years, causing the masonry above to fall. A very heavy growth of ivy makes observation difficult, and may hide some dateable details. Its most interesting feature is the fragments of painted plaster8 of sixteenth-seventeenth century type which is very difficult to reconcile with archi- tectural features which point to an eighteenth or even nineteenth century date. The walls, apparently dry built, are of courses of split local lava boulders broken by regular bands of thin slabs. The only original opening is a small window in the north-west wall, which has well-formed jambs and a stone lintel with the remains of a wooden inner lintel. The door at the eastern end of the front wall appears to be co-eval with the remainder of the walling, although its ruined head containing one brick voussoir adhering to a stone springer is indicative of a very late date. The old photograph shows other openings in this facade with segmental arches apparently of brick. As noted the north-east wall is built of small stones and is an insertion although partly covered with fallen rubble the straight joint is visible at the north- western end. At the opposite end there is a blocked door, above which the apparent