The Lord of Dynevor: A Tale of the Times of Edward the First

ll the Prince of Dynevor be the man to bring ruin upon a noble cause, by banding with the alien oppressor

nd soldiers, so eagerly discussing some matter of vital interest that the brothers stepped o

hood; the sun-browned face was lined with traces of thought and care, though the blue eyes sparkled with their old bright and ready smile, and the stern lines of the lips were shaded and hidden by the drooping moustache of golden brown. There were majesty, power, and intellect stamped upo

ght to spareness, and save in moments of excitement there was something of languor in his movements. The colour in his cheeks was not the healthy brown of exposure to sun and wind, but the fleeting hectic flush of long-stand

nged. They were taller and more stoutly built than Wendot and Griffeth, and their dark skins and coal-black hair gave something of ferocity and wildness to their appearance, w

in the possession of their ancestral rights. The tie between the brothers had therefore been more closely drawn, and Wendot's responsibility for the submissive behaviour of the turbulent twins had made him keep a constant eye u

lyn, had commenced it, and the prince had followed the example thus set him. He had broken out into open rebellion, and had summoned the whole nation to stand by

t wildly at the thought that they might win liberty by the overthrow of the foe. One after another the petty chiefs, who had sworn fealty to Edward, renounced their allegiance, and mustered their forces to join those o

ause, and, having sent on a compact band of armed men to announce their coming in person, h

subjected country, was not such as to endear their cause to the hearts of the sons of Wales. Heart-burnings and jealousies were frequent, and Wendot had often had his spirit stirred within him at some tale of outrage and wrong. The upright justice of the king was not observed by his subjects, and the hatred to any kind of foreign yoke was inherently strong in these sons of the moun

twins came with the news that they had openly joined the standard of Llewelyn, they did not encounter the opposition they had expecte

ts lived -- when they bid us not look upon the foe with too great bitterness -- it was only because a divided Wales could not stand, and that submission to England was better than the rending of the kingdom by internal strife. But if she would have stood united against the foreign foe, thinkest thou they would ever have held back? Nay; Res Vychan, our father, would h

the first to hasten to his kinsman's side. If indeed the united country could be strong enough to throw off

f honour in any wise pledged to Edward? He had paid him homage

to the wilder spirits by whom he was surrounded. Llewelyn answered the brief objection by

thou must either yield all in ignominious flight or take up arms to defend thyself and thine own. I trow that no son of Res Vychan will stand calmly by to see himself thus despoiled; and if thou must fight, fight now, forestall the foe, and come out sword in hand at thy country's call, and let us fight shoulder to shoulder and hand to hand, as our forefathers have done before us. Thou knowest somewhat of English rule, now that thou hast lived beneath it these

uick mind revolved the situation thus thr

held responsible for his brothers' revolt. The English harpies would make every endeavour to poison the king's mind, so that they might wrest from him his inheritance. He would be required to take up arms against his brothers, and his refusal to do so would be

ate utterance of his decision, and that was the vision of a pair of dark soft eyes, and a child's fac

m; but if he sometimes sighed as he looked upon it, it was a sigh without much real bitterness or regret. He had a tender spot in his memory for the little maid he had saved at the risk of his ow

lley of the Towy; but the years passed by and they came not, and the brief dream of Wendot's dawning youth soon ceased to have any real hold upon

etch of country that lay before their eyes in all the glory of its autumn dress, and asking if that were not

land. The Lord of Dynevor shall not be slack to respond to his country's call. Methi

ns of wild melody from the harp of old Wenwynwyn. It seemed almost as though he must have heard the words that

eeth, and with a goodly following of armed attendants. Wendot and Griffeth paused at a short distance from the castle to loo

w burning with the rich hues of autumn. The fair valley stretched before their eyes, every winding of which was familiar to them, as was also every individual tree or crag or stretch of moorland fell as far as eye could see. The very heart strings of Wendot and Griffeth seemed bound round these homelike and familiar

nger of the brothers beneath his breath.

e had time for regretful thought; but Griffeth had been visiting every haunt of his boyhood with strange feelings of impending trouble, an

thing? I asked not thy gentle counsel, yet thou didst not bid me hold ba

others have undone thee, and that even wert thou not willing to take up arms against them and thy countrymen, the rupture with Edward is

to danger and death, and who knows what may betide ere we see these

's home, together with a sudden strong presentiment that there was something prophetic in his brother's words. He gazed upon the

afe shelter of home than for the strife of a winter war. Why shou

ndo

brought Wendot to a sudden stop. They looked into each other's ey

er been together. It is too late to change all that now. I will be by thy

ring look at the familiar towers of the old home, Wendot and Griffeth, the Lords

h, and by much able assistance from the South, drove back the English across the border; and when Edward, hurrying to the spot, marched against them, his army was utterly

e less hardy soldiers suffered so terribly in the winter cold that the mortality in their ranks caused the tri

its to defeat. He knew well that Wales was in his power, and that he had b

fected nobles had drawn away to join the insurgents under the Prince of Wales, as Llewelyn was called. It was a shock of no small magnitude to that prince to hear that his foe was thus employing himself; and leaving the fas

e was surrounded the less he was able to hope for any permanent advantage as the result of this rising. The jealousies of the respective chiefs were hardly held in check even in the face

south; but the condition of Griffeth withheld him, for the youth was very ill, and he often felt that

me protection against the deep snow. Griffeth had borne his share gallantly in the earlier part of the campaign, but a slight wound had laid him aside; and since the intense cold had come, he had only grown more white and wasted and feeble day by day. Now that the sun was

Carnarvon Castle in person, making hostile demonstrations of a determined kind, which, in the absence of their chief, the wild Welsh kerns knew not how to repel. They were

mblance of those familiar towers and rocks which he sometimes felt as though he should never see again. Griffeth paused in the midst of something he was saying, and looked round with a start. It seemed to both brot

red a startle

he door, and coming forward like one in a dream, as

e is

speaker was exhausted past words -- "dead by the side o

in perfect silence; and his brothers watched him without having the heart to put another question. Indeed they knew the worst: their prince dead; the flower of their army sl

is time with more strength, but st

me, stark and dead, and our prince a few yards away, with his own men round him. I do not think the foe knew whom they had slain, or they would have taken at least his head away as a trophy. I know not who took the news to our comrades, but they learned it, and dispersed to th

e have been living in hopes of some triumph, some victory. We will let our fellows rest i

ere is but one choice open to us now. Let those who will submit themselves to the proud usurper, and let us, who cannot so

he snow in the increasing power of the sun. The chiefs, without a head, without a cause or a champion, either retired to their own wild solitudes or hastened to make their peace with their offe

of Dynevor, who, having once taken up the sword against Edward, were deter