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does not appear to have passed from father to son. None of the descendants of Cunedda is known to have held it after Cunedda himself, not even the powerful Maelgwn. It certainly involved some sort of overlordship extending over all the kings of a given territory, and it is won by such military prowess as would ensure the protection of that territory, theoretically perhaps of Britannia.^[1] Cunedda protects Britannia from the Scots. Emrys likewise protects Britannia from the anti-Britannic policy of Vortigern and his allied Saxons. It represents the Roman tradition as opposed to the barbaric or 'tribal' interest of the native kings. And perhaps, above all, it in some way symbolizes the unity of Britannia, which in this case is what every gwledig would seek to preserve as the Roman legacy handed over to his special care. It would devolve

↑ Cf. the description of Ambrosius as 'rex inter omnes reges Brittannicae gentis'. Hist. Britt. c. 48 (Chr. Min. III. 192). Also the passage in Maxen's Dream (Oxford Mab. 89), where Elen, on the morning after her marriage with the gwledig, being asked to mention the agweddi she desired, demanded ' ynys prydein yw that o vor rud hyt ym mor Iwerdon ar teir rac ynys y dala dan amherpdres ruuein a gwneuthur teir prif gaer idi hitheu yn y lie y dewissei yn ynys prydein ', which Lady Guest translates ' the Island of Britain [Britannia] for her father from the Channel to the Irish Sea, together with the three adjacent islands [that is, presumably, Wight, Anglesey, and Man], to hold under the empress of Rome; and to have three chief castles made for her in whatever places she might choose in the Island of Britain [Britannia].' The three castles or caers mentioned are Caermarthen, Caerlleon, and Caernarvon. Surely all this implies that Eudav, Elen's father, is to hold the whole of Britannia as gwledig under the emperor. Bede also, in the account which he gives (H. E. II. 5) of the overlords, who in the Chronicle are called Bretwaldas, describes them as the kings who ruled over all the southern provinces which are divided from the northern by the Humber, &c. (' qui tertius quidem in regibus gentis Anglorum cunctis australibus eorum prouinciis, quae Humbrae fluuio et contiguis ei terminis sequestrantur a borealibus, imperauit ').

[1] Cf. the description of Ambrosius as 'rex inter omnes reges Brittannicae gentis'. Hist. Britt. c. 48 (Chr. Min. III. 192). Also the passage in Maxen's Dream (Oxford Mab. 89), where Elen, on the morning after her marriage with the gwledig, being asked to mention the agweddi she desired, demanded ' ynys prydein yw that o vor rud hyt ym mor Iwerdon ar teir rac ynys y dala dan amherpdres ruuein a gwneuthur teir prif gaer idi hitheu yn y lie y dewissei yn ynys prydein ', which Lady Guest translates ' the Island of Britain [Britannia] for her father from the Channel to the Irish Sea, together with the three adjacent islands [that is, presumably, Wight, Anglesey, and Man], to hold under the empress of Rome; and to have three chief castles made for her in whatever places she might choose in the Island of Britain [Britannia].' The three castles or caers mentioned are Caermarthen, Caerlleon, and Caernarvon. Surely all this implies that Eudav, Elen's father, is to hold the whole of Britannia as gwledig under the emperor. Bede also, in the account which he gives (H. E. II. 5) of the overlords, who in the Chronicle are called Bretwaldas, describes them as the kings who ruled over all the southern provinces which are divided from the northern by the Humber, &c. (' qui tertius quidem in regibus gentis Anglorum cunctis australibus eorum prouinciis, quae Humbrae fluuio et contiguis ei terminis sequestrantur a borealibus, imperauit ').

[1]