Radnorshire Bardic Poems, 22

A run of the mill praise poem by Lewis Glyn Cothi to three brothers from the descent group of Meilyr o Ddiserth.

No. 149 Praise to the Three Sons of Dafydd ap Hywel

The three sons who yet improve,
No better three ever joined the host;
Three brothers like three eagles,
Three falcons, none more venturesome.
Bedo Chwith who owns the house,
Then generous Hywel y Fron,
And Ieuan Du, by the day!
The third authority of the three.
The rods of Hywel ap Meilyr,
A fair vine and earth’s increase,
A strong foundation for Elfael,
Fair saints, three generous pheasants,
Flowers, in a place where there is loyalty,
Fair Buallt, there is no better land.
By Melangell! There are no better
Young adventurers than these three men.

Three roads, a score of roads, I’ll take
To your homes from the furthest land:
The poet’s road, it runs straight
To the house of Bedo, through the countryside;
A road through the centre of Llys Colwyn
To the second lad and his kind expense;
Another road in the tracks of power
I know to the house of Ieuan Du;
A road I know by heart,
To the houses of the swans through Rhiwlen.
I strike out for the three sons of Dafydd
With the skill of a trained falcon in the forest.

Noah had three sons,
They were raised to be three eagles;
In Elfael there are three patrons,
Three branches which have been dressed,
And that land and the vale above
Are the third share of these three.
Three kings went to their feast
To Cologne, through yonder glen,
Three of equal rank bearing three gifts,
One of the three was fine old gold;
Three fine presents for a good person,
The weighty gold of these three.
Three wax candles will be placed
On the three arms of the Cross.
The three bucks of a generous great grandfather,
The three elements of the land of Elfael.
Teilo had three living bodies,
Without finish, between two sheets;
There are three bodies for one corporation
Over the gentle folk of Uwch Mynydd;
We see three fervent swans,
Three griffins, three strong wings,
Three apostles of Llys Colwyn
Three hands of mead, three gentle lions,
Three men, three good flowers,
Three oaks of a nobleman,
Three generous branches of Elfael and its men,
Three lifetimes for the three eagles.