A.D. 1282. PBTNCS LLJCWELLYTï I S BESTEADED. 477 met with, young and old, women and children, in their beds, and devastating afterwards with plunder and conflagration the greater part of the marches. The king, hearing of this, but scarcely believing it, sent the barons of his exchequer and the justices of the King's Bench to Shrewsbury, to compel the observance of the laws of his kingdom ; and having assembled an army, he reduced all Wales towards the mountains of Snowdon under his authority, and he gave large portions of the territory which he acquired there to his earls and barons, and to others of his faithful adherents, to be possessed for ever by them and their heirs. And accordingly, many thousands of soldiers were sent to the assistance of the king from Guienne, and the Basque provinces and other foreign countries ; therefore the king, wishing to advance onwards, and supported by his ships, caused a large bridge to be built over the waters of the Conway, which flow and ebb near the mountain of Snowdon ; and some of the nobles of the king's army passing over this bridge for the sake of taking exercise, were set upon, and being alarmed by the number and the shouts of the Welch who came against them, endeavoured unsuccessfully to effect their return into the island of Anglesey, from which they had come, but were miserably drowned in the water ; the Welch, therefore, ascribing this not to misfortune but to a miracle, suggested to their prince that he should act courageously and not fear, because in a short time, according to the prophecy of Merlin, he was fated to be crowned with the diadem of Brutus. Therefore Llewellyn, prince of Wales, taking with him a numerous army, descended into the champaign country, leaving the mountainous district to his brother David. Edmund, the heir of that famous knight now deceased, Roger de Mortimer, with some of the lords marchers, at tacked the army of Llewellyn, and without losing any of his men, slew a great number of the Welch ; and in this battle the head of prince Llewellyn was cut off and carried to London, where it was placed on a stake and crowned with ivy, and erected for a long time on the top of the Tower of London, from which his father, Griffith, had formerly fallen and broken his neck, and so died. The Welch being alarmed at the death of their prince, and being thrown into confusion, surrendered all the castles of Snowdon to the king of England. In these days, the clergy and laity gave the king as a sub