Welsh Journals

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It does not seem at all unlikely that this may have been the work of Iestyn or some immediate predecessor. I am aware that the existence of the mound upon which the keep stands has been supposed to indicate a Saxon occupation. But we have no record of any Saxon occupation of Cardiff, and Mr. Clark has pointed out in his Mediaeval Military Architecture that the Welsh princes used this mode of construction in some instances. This, however, is a point rather more connected with the origin of the various works at Cardiff Castle, and I only mention it here in order to show that the existence of the mound does not prove any occupation of the place by Saxons. I have written the above with the knowledge, as I said at the beginning, that there may well be authorities which I have not seen, rather with a view to investigation than as desiring to lay down any indisputable conclusion, and if anyone who has considered the subject can point out reasons for arriving at different opinions from those above indicated, I, for one, should be very much obliged It may well be that I have fallen into errors which fuller and wider investigation might have avoided, but I feel that in a society like ours, consisting largely of busy men, few of us would write anything at all if we waited until we were certain that we had examined every authority extant upon the matters of which we may treat. It may be said that without such full inquiry our papers must be of little value. Possibly that would be so if considered merely as expressions of our own views, but if, while expressing those views, we give our reasons, and endeavour in historical matters to refer to the earliest authorities to which we have access, we may hope at least to have done something towards getting rid of opinions which have no historical foundation, and arriving, so far as the materials admit, at the true history of the town and district.