The missionaries, of whom St. Illtyd was one, came into Wales and Merioneth in the Vth and Vlth centuries at the invitation of the descendants of Cunedda, the great Brythonic chieftain who, by means of his sons and grandsons, established his power in Wales when the Roman Empire collapsed.
The grandson to whom this tract of country fell was Meirion, after whom Merioneth is called; but it was part of the policy of the house of Cunedda to keep the scattered divisions of Wales subject to the head of the royal house who lived at Aberffraw and Deganwy.
In the Vlth century, the head of the house was the great Maelgwn Gwynedd, and it was largely through the instrumentality of a chieftain, who lived near Dolgelley, that Maelgwn Gwynedd was able to establish his acknowledged supremacy over most of Wales. This chieftain was Maeldaf the elder) son of Ynhwch of the single coat - the great Ashen Thruster - and he dwelt at the foot of Moel Esgidion where the house of Caerynwch stands to-day. At a great gathering of princes and chiefs at Cors Fochno he made a throne with waxen wings to it for Maelgwn Gwynedd; and when the tide came in, Maelgwn Gwynedd rode triumphantly on the waves, while others fled precipitately, and so Maelgwn was acknowledged as supreme.
Under the direct rule of the line of Meirion, acknowledging the supremacy of the prince at Aberffraw, this neighbourhood enjoyed peace for many centuries, but of that period, beyond that it was one of peace and calm, little is really known. Only a name here and there bursts through the mists of ages.
One such name is that of Idris, whom later story confused with a mythological giant of the same name, and from whom Cader Idris derives its name. He was lord of the neighbourhood in the Vllth century, and met with his death in 632 A.D. fighting against the Saxons somewhere in the neighbourhood of Welshpool.
He and his end were sufficiently striking to find mention, not only in the old Annales Cambriae, but also in the Irish chronicles.
Up the Ganllwyd valley, near to Bedd Porius, there is a great monolith, known to this day as Llech Idris, the Stone of Idris, and possibly it was a great boundary-stone erected in his day to mark the limits of his territories, which would include both Dolgelley and Llanelltyd within them.
Another name is that of Gwrin of the Shaggy Beard, Idris's grandfather, after whom Llanwrin is named, for Gwrin, besides being a chieftain, was a saint of the Church. Another is that of Cynan ap Brochwel, who was alive in the year 870 A.D., and was one of the very last of the direct line of Meirion.
What brought about the end of this family is not known; but, by the end of the Xth century, it was extinct; and, for the time being the princes of Aberffraw, who were the overlords, had dwindled in power and importance.
About. 942 A.D. the countryside passed into the dominions of the great Hywel Dda, to be re-captured by Iago ap Idwal Foel in the year 966 A.D., and again lost to Maredudd ap Hywel a few years later.
These Xth century days of internecine warfare were gloomy ones, and the state of the land may be judged from a statement recorded of Maredudd, who, with reference to these parts, is said to have "imposed a government thereon, where there had been no worthy government for a long time." It was a terrible period throughout the western world, for the Scandinavian rovers were harassing the sea-borders, and the insecurity, which they were in part responsible for, was reflected inland.
This period of warfare, with the dominion over the Dolgelley neighbourhood passing from hand to hand in a bewildering confusion, lasted, off and on, for nearly a century; and great figures like Llywelyn ap Seisyll, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Trahaearn ap Caradawg, and Gruffydd ap Cynan arose, playing their parts, however, largely in other portions of Wales. These, save Gruffydd ap Cynan, were, in reality, adventurer usurpers. Gruffydd, one of the great heroes of Wales, regained for himself and his successors, hit by bit, the realm that rightly belonged to the old line of Aberffraw.
We find Gruffydd ap Cynan firmly established in the year 1081 as Prince of Gwynedd, which for a while did not include Dolgelley, the boundary of Gwynedd terminating with the Mawddach. Then he had to turn and face a new power, which was arising-the Norman power, strongly entrenched at Chester and Shrewsbury, and pushing forward Into Wales. Under Hugh of Shrewsbury the tramp of Norman troops echoed round the neighbourhood of Dolgelley; but Gruffydd turned upon the invaders and hurled them out of the land. Then came William Rufus n 1093 or 1095, marching, probably, past where Dolgelley now stands and on to Tomen-y.Mur; but as the old chronicle says, faced by Gruffydd, " William returned home empty, without having gained anything."
Some twenty years later, in 1114 A.D., Henry I. penetrated as far; but he was harassed in much the same way as William Rufus had been, and, like him, he was only too glad to get back safely, away from the terrible Gruffydd, whose long and victorious reign lasted for 62 years (1075-1137 A.D.).
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