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GLANSEVERN E. H. C. DAVIES, M.B.E., B.A., D.L. The Welsh Chronicle of the Princes Brut y Tywysogion referring to events of 1165 relates that 'in that year the Lord Rhys attacked the fortress of Cardigan and its castle, and he destroyed and burned them; and he carried off vast spoil. l' The castle had been held by Roger de Clare and a garrison of Flemings and Normans, but was taken by escalade. Tradition has it that the first man up the ladders and over the ramparts was Cadifor ap Dinawal, Lord of Castell Hywel in south Cardiganshire. He was rewarded for his exploit with extensive lands and with the hand in marriage of Catrin, one of the Lord Rhys' numerous natural daughters.2 Cadifor's descendants perpetuated his achievement by adopting and retrospectively awarding to him a coat of arms of a blood-tipped spear between three scaling ladders, with the conventional representation of a castle above them. Among these descendants was a Montgomeryshire man named Owen Owen, whose family owned property scattered around the county, being termed as of more than one place. The earlier generations were usually known as Owen of Glyngynwydd, after a farm in the township of Cefn yr Hafodau in the parish of Llangurig, or as Owen of Cefn yr Hafodau after the township itself. Owen Owen, who died in 1719, was survived by a son, David, born in 1700, who died in 1777 leaving behind him four remarkable sons, of whom this account is concerned only with the eldest another Owen. This last was born in 1723 and died in 1789, having been High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1766. Through his marriage to Anne, daughter and heiress of Charles Davies of Llifor4, he acquired the additional estates of Rhyd y carw in Trefeglwys and of Glan rhiew and Tyn y coed in the parish of Berriew. About 1760 he moved to Tyn y coed, and it was owen of Tyn y Coed that he became High Sherrif. This second Owen Owen was survived by three sons and a daughter. The second son, David, emigrated to New Brunswick and reappeared in Berriew only to be placed in the family vault. The daughter, Mary, married Thomas Jones of Garthmyl Hall, Berriew, and will feature again in the 'Thomas Jones. 'Brut y Tywysogion, Red Book of Hergest Version,' 1955, p. 146. 2Sir Anthony Wagner et al: 'Royal & Princely Heraldry in Wales', p. 16. P. C. Bartrum. 'Welsh Genealogies', Vol. 1. 3The lives of the others have been recorded by various authors. They and their descendants include an eminent classical scholar, clergymen, a distinguished naval captain of the eighteenth century and two admirals. See: Mont. Coll. vol 3, pp 232, 252 et seq. Richard Williams, 'Montgomeryshire Worthies.' The Dictionary of Welsh Biography. 4Llifior is a township in the parish of Berriew. Charles Davies acquired much of his property through his wife, Anne. The latter had inherited Rhyd y Carw from her mother (the heiress of Edward Evans, last male representative of the family of Evans of Rhyd y Carw) and Tyn y Coed from her uncle, Arthur Davies. Charles died young, and his widow later married John Clunn of Lower Glandulas. See Mont Coll. vol. 8, p. 193.