this time in the Land of WALES," ordained that "no waster, rhymer, minstrel nor vagabond be in any wise sustained in the land of WALES to make commorthies or gathering upon the people there." This was probably directed against the bards who were engaged by Owen Glyndwr in rousing the martial spirit of the WELSH, and against the "gwestwyr,” or purveyancers employed also by him to collect money and provisions (cymortha) for the insurrection. Another Act forbade "congregations and councils," unless they were for an evident and necessary cause, or were held by licence of the chief officials of the Lordships. WELSHMEN were not to carry arms without special licence; no food or armour was to be sent into WALES and an English Constable was appointed to prevent and seize such supplies; no WELSHMAN, unless he were a Bishop or a Temporal Lord, could possess a castle or defend his house. No WELSHMAN could be made Justice, Chamberlain, Chancellor, Treasurer, Sheriff, Steward, Constable of Castle, Escheator, Coroner, Chief Forester, Keeper of the Records, or Lieutenant in any part of WALES or of the Council of any English Lord, except Bishops in WALES. For the more sufficient custody of the "Land of WALES" all castles and walled towns were to be kept by Englishmen, and it was ordained that an Englishman married to any WELSHWOMAN of the amity or alliance of "Owain ab Glyndwr, traitor to our Sovereign Lord"—or to any other WELSHWOMAN-Could not be put into office in WALES or its Marches.

A.D. 1407.-In 1407, two statutes were passed concerning felonies and robberies in WALES, after complaints had been made to the King by the Commons, at a parliament held at Gloucester, on October 20th of that year.

George Owen of Henllys says that: "By this it may be seen that those cruel Laws of Henry the fourth proceeded of malice against the whole Nation, for he made no such Laws against the rest of His Subjects of France who Revolted and Rebelled against him neither did he ever attempt to

establish any Law for the good and quiet government of WALES or for the Abolishing any Cruel or Inconvenience which he found Grievous. But all his Laws were general Scourges and punishments against the whole People of the Country of WALES being then his Subjects and his Son Prince of WALES. We in England to this Day have not made the like against the Spaniards or any other Capital Enemies to this Realm." I

A.D. 1413-4.-In the reign of HENRY the Fifth two repressive statutes became law: the first, in 1413 (1 HENRY 5, c. 6), provided that no actions should be brought by WELSHMEN in respect of injuries sustained by them during the rebellion, except upon pain of paying treble damages, suffering imprisonment for two years, and making fine and ransom before being delivered out of prison; the second, in 1414 (2 HENRY 5, c. 5), gave power to Justices of Peace within certain Counties of England to inquire into and determine charges against WELSHMEN who had committed offences "with force and arms in the manner of war, sometimes by day and sometimes by night," in the bordering English counties.

A.D. 1425-1429.-In 1425 and 1429 two Acts were passed giving powers of amendment in records of the Courts to Justices in certain cases, but it provided in both Acts that they were not to extend to records and processes in WALES.

A.D. 1430.-In 1430, a personal statute confirmed all the previous judgments and processes against Owen Glyndwr (or Glendwrdy) and those who were his heirs or of his blood, on account of the "horribility of his so many treasons."

A.D. 1441–2.—Under HENRY the Sixth (by 20 HENRY 6, c. 3) WELSHMEN were to be adjudged guilty of high treason for committing offences that had not been effectually prevented by the preceding penal acts; and (by 20 HENRY 6, c. 7) foreign merchandise, coming to England through WALES without paying customs duty, was to be forfeited and the 1 Owen's "Pembrokeshire," Part 3, p. 123.

offending party was to be tried in the county next adjoining in England.

A.D. 1444-5.—In 1444, an Act (23 HENRY 6, c. 4) against WELSHMEN, who were indicted for treasons and felonies, was passed, alleging that outlawed persons of WALES and the Marches came to slay, burn, rob, and do other offences in the County of Hereford; and directing that a hue and cry was to be raised against them by the officers of that County. In this Act it is also alleged that persons living in WALES and the Marches, so indicted and outlawed, came into the said County, to cities and burghs, to fairs and markets, sometimes by night, to there sell and buy merchandize and "tarry 2, 3, 4 days or more at their will and after return into their countries without execution of the law made upon them by the Sheriff of the said County." Fines were to be inflicted upon persons conversant with the hue and cry who did not assist in the arrest of such outlaws.

In the same year we find (see Rot. Parl., vol. v. pp. 104, 155) the English living in the English towns in WALES earnestly petitioning that the previous legislation, excluding WELSHMEN from bearing office in WALES, should be kept strictly in force.

A.D. 1446.-In 1446, all statutes against WELSHMEN were confirmed, and grants of privileges to WELSHMEN in NORTH WALES were made void.

A.D. 1448-9.-In 1448 (by 27 HENRY 6, c. 4), the legislation of 1441 concerning "WELSHMEN who take away Englishmen was extended until the next Parliament, and in 1449, by 28 HENRY 6, c. 4, it was made a felony for persons in WALES and certain other districts to take away men and goods under colour of distress. This was to prevent the great assemblies of persons, riots, mayhems, and murders which were occasioned by such actions, and was not to prevent distresses which were lawful by the common law of England.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, WALES and the

Marches could not accurately be described as a peaceful country, for according to Sir John Wynn in his history of the Gwydr family, "in those dayes in that wide worlde every man stood upon his guard and went not abroad but in sort and soe armed, as if he went to the field to encountre with his enemies." Hallam says that the WELSH frontier was constantly almost in a state of war, which a very little good sense and benevolence would have easily prevented, by admitting the WELSH people to partake in equal privileges with their fellow subjects. Instead of this, the mischief was aggravated by granting legal reprisals upon WELSHMEN. I

The internecine strife between the various Lordship Marchers, the privileges of the Marcher Lords, their oppression of the WELSH people, their tyrannical administration of justice in their Courts, and the hostility of the WELSH people to English official rule, were the chief causes of this deplorable state of affairs. A strong central government was required, and this became possible in the reign of HENRY the Seventh, to whom the powers of the Marcher Lordships had passed through the death of Richard the Third. All the estates of the Earldom of March had become forfeited to the Crown, and in 1488, an Act relating to the Crown Lands provided that in future all grants in the Marches were to be made under the great seal of England.

With the accession of the Tudor dynasty the coercion period passed away. HENRY the Seventh (Harry ap Tudor) was a WELSHMAN. Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a WELSHMAN, was largely instrumental in placing him on the throne. Henceforth, flattered by the knowledge that a King, proud of his WELSH ancestry, was ruler of Great Britain; treated with a sympathy they had never previously experienced; and judiciously managed by statesmanlike legislation based upon the concession of equal rights and full privileges, the people of the Principality and Dominion of WALES entered upon a more peaceful era.

'Hallam's "Middle Ages," vol. iii. p. 169.

THE TUDOR PERIOD.

A.D. 1495.-During the twenty-four years of the reign of HENRY the Seventh, the only Act that had special reference to WALES was passed in 1495. It is a private Act (II HENRY 7, c. 33). It made void divers leases and offices "within the Principality of SOUTH WALES, NORTH WALES, and in the County Palatine of Chester and Flint and in divers other Castles, Manors, Lordships, Lands and Tenements in the Marches of WALES, and in the Counties of Hereford, and Salop, parcels of the Earldom of March." This was done because" much less rent was reserved to the King and Prince of WALES than might be reasonably required." In this Act, there are many provisions made in favour of certain officials such as the "Porter of Beeston Castle; the Master Forester of Snowdon Forest; Sir Rhys ap Thomas, the Chamberlain of SOUTH WALES and Captain of the Castle of Aberystwyth," &c., &c.

It was during the reign of the great Tudor monarch, HENRY the Eighth, that the most important statutes relating to WALES were passed. The strong personal character of that King, the importance of his initiative, his extraordinary power of carrying the nation with him, and his paternal but despotic policy, thinly disguised under constitutional reforms, are seen throughout the provisions of the many Acts relating to WALES passed by his subservient Parliaments.

In this reign, the abuses of clerical privileges were vigorously attacked by Parliament. In 1515, a Bill was introduced to limit "benefit of clergy." In the same year a petition was presented to the Crown, complaining that clergymen declined to bury their parishioners unless they were rewarded by the most precious jewel, suit of clothes, or other possession of the deceased person; and praying that every incumbent should be compelled to bury the dead or to administer the sacrament to the sick upon penalty of