The Tale of
Daffydd ab Owen, agister for Sir Hywel Coetmor in Gwyrdyr Chase, within Snowdon
Forest, Caernarvon County, Wales.
I
am here to tell the sad tale of Daffydd ap Owen, who died in the prime of his manhood.
He worked as an agister for Sir Hywel Coetmor in the Gwydyr Forest. Sir Hywel was knighted and
given an estate in Snowdon Forest, which had been made in 1304, because he fought alongside
Edward, the Black Prince in the Battle of Poitiers (1356) as a commander of a
unit of longbowmen.
By 1325 the keepers of Snowdon Forest were already forced to assess fines
against those abusing the vert at hundred court at Harlech. Therefore when Sir Hywel
took over Gwydyr Forest, he made it his business to assure he had agisters to
patrol his forest and make sure the vert and venison was properly protected.
So Daffydd was an agister in the master’s
36,000 acre holding (at least it was 36,000 acres by the time the Wyn’s owned
it in the 16th C). The land ranged from hard outcrops of slate and
shale in the Moorish highlands in amongst the peat bogs, to the gentle rolling fertile
fields of Machno and LLedr valleys. Forests verdant with Sitka spruce, Scots
pine, Douglas fir, Welsh Oak, beech and ash cover much of the area. This idyllic area is
nestled between Afon Llugwy and Afon conwy.
However, when the Coetmor’s took
over the surroundings there were already numerous homesteads, mines for slate
and lead, and two town therein, Betys-Y-Coed and the market town of Llanrwst.[6]
Churches which the towns grew up around date back to at least the 6th and 12th
C. The people living here already grazed
their animals in the forest and needed to be allowed to continue to be able to
support themselves and the estate. The Welsh laws dating back to Hywel Dda do
not mention the agistment (payments for allowing animals including sheep,
goats, cattle and ponies to forage in the forest), or Pannage (fees for the use
of the forest in the fall by pigs to forage on acorns and mast). However, his son Owen
Gwenedd who succeeded him in about 1137 along with Rys ap Gruffudd in southern
Wales increased the prices imposed upon cattle in the laws, and extended the
valuations to animals upon which no legal price had been assessed previously. I assume, Since the
Snowdon Forest had been created by the English king, the English rules applying
to grazing rights would hold sway.
Four agisters were employed to
collect fees from the inhabitants of Sir Coetmor’s land. Each one had an
extensive knowledge of the current state of each farm’s animals within their section.
Daffydd patrolled the Northeastern section of the chase. He took his job
seriously and walked his section of the forest weekly to check on the health
and well-being of the animals and the new arrivals in the spring. He also kept
a careful eye on the forest itself to make sure there was no wastage of the vert. I blithely call it a
forest, but the Coetmor’s chase contained croplands, forests, moors, bogs and stony
highlands.
His weekly trips included a great
deal of walking the paths between farm and town. He did not need to camp often
since the church, manor or farms would put him up for the night. Sometimes he
was only allowed to sleep in the sheep fold of the farms, especially in the
farm that resented his collecting fees even though he is not the one that
assigned them. He did not camp out in the forest unless he had badly
miscalculated, for the forest was not the safest place. It was not long ago
that wolves still roamed the less inhabited areas. However a quick lunch on
the road was typical for him so he carried some light food and a fire starter
kit. He did enjoy making a hot lunch for himself even if it took longer than
sitting to a quick cold meal. Towards that end he often carried some barley, a
bit of sausage, an onion or carrot and a bit of spice to make a quick stew.
He also carried the chest made to
carry any fees he collected, and his ink and quills. He would mark a small book
with the names of the farmer and the numbers of their animals, so he would not
forget. When he returned to the manor house the scribe would write his numbers
in the big book, and Daffydd could scrape the vellum to reuse the pages. He
kept each entry on a separate page. I noticed his bottle of ink was running
low, and I am sure he was collecting oak galls as he walked so, he could make
more. He especially liked the waters from the mineral springs at Trefriw. He
said it made the best ink.
Finally, the rest of his pack was
filled with his necessities such as a hatchet, pot, repair kit, and any spare
clothes he was carrying. That day he had both his mittens and hood tucked in
his pack in case it became cold. Early spring in Northern Wales can be
unpredictable.
The wind was brisk but not unusually
so on that day. He had set out intent on visiting the southeastern section of
his route, starting with the homestead of Ries ap Wyn. The early spring was the
best time to be checking in with the farms as the new stock was being born.
There were always new lambs, calves and foals to add to the lists for the farms.
Ries worked in the lead mine and used his ponies to cart the ore. The ponies
were treated well and flourished in the farmstead. Ries was always friendly and
welcoming to the agister, so Daffydd looked forward to his visits. After staying
the night at Ries’ homestead, Daffydd was going to walk up to Llewelyn ap Philep’s
farm. He would stay there that night and travel home the next day.
When
Daffydd did not return home the next day, I went to the manor and asked them to
ride out and look for him. It was not like him to wander from his plan, and he
always got home on time. A couple of the men at arms of Sir Hywel rode out to
look for him.
He
had never made it to Llewelyn’s house. They found him lying in the path under a
large branch that had broken away from an oak tree on the side of the trail. It
must have killed him immediately. There were no signs that he had moved after
the branch fell. The “widow maker” had truly lived up to its name. He was laid
to rest in the church yard in the outfit he had on.
That is how I became one of the
agisters for Gwydyr forest working for Sir Hywel Coetmor. Daffydd and I had
walked the paths from farm to slate mine many times after the children were
grown and married. The boys live with us, and their wives take care of our sheep
when were are away. I know the people and the ways. It was not many years ago
that the plague came through and many people died. The number of young men
to take the job was severely limited, so I said I could do it until Sir Hywel
found someone more appropriate. I cannot
read but the farms are entered in order in the book, and I know what the
symbols mean. I am sure Sir Hywel will soon find a new agister, and I can return
to my spinning and weaving.
Items in
Daffydd’s pack
1.Pack –
patterned after the backpack carried by Utzi, bent wood (Celastrus
orbiculatus), local oak (Quecus rubra) split, and hand planed. Bag of deer hide
hand tanned with alum. Frame held together with sinew from the deer legs. Hide
glue made from cow hide (same hide as shoulder straps) is used to attach the
leather wrapped around the bend wood. Braided leather was purchased as strips.
2.Small
notebook with ink and pen – oak gall and iron ink made from locally sourced oak
galls and rusty water from my own tap. Parchment made from one of my lambskins.
Turkey feather quills found next to a cranberry bog and hardened in hot sand
before carving. The wood was purchased.
3.Birch bark box
first aid kit – based on that carried by Utzi. Bark was harvested in the spring
from a birch tree in my front yard and stitched together with a seam that was
also glued. Kit contains birch polypore sections and linen bandages to wrap
around cuts, a needle and silk thread and some wool handspun thread to stitch
anything that needs it, and a couple dried sinew pieces which could be soaked
in water to make repairs.
4. Two Gourds
for storage – for water and grain. Round gourd grown by me, dried and cleaned
out. Water gourd locally grown by Sunnifa Heinriksdottir.
5.Hood- hand
dyed with fustic and indigo. Hand stitched with wool thread (purchased).
6. Sheep skin
for sitting on or throwing over the shoulders if chilled. Hand tanned from one
of my adult ewes with alum.
7.Hollow log
box, patterned after an English 16th alms box. Turned from a log from
a Helisia Carolina tree in my back yard. Hinges were purchased.
8. Fur mittens.
The back is made from the skin of one of my sheep, with purchased suede on the
front.
Hatchet, knife and cooking pot are included as things that
should have been in his pack but are not entered in the competition.
Shaw,
Ronald 1971 Gwydyr Forest in Snowdonia: A History. Her Majesties Stationery
Office, London.
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