BEUNO
(d.
642?
),
patron saint
,
is widely commemorated in
North Wales
. Under his patronage are
Aberffraw
,
Trefdraeth
,
Clynnog
,
Penmorfa
,
Carngiwch
,
Pistyll
, and
Botwnnog
in
Gwynedd
, and
Llanycil
,
Gwyddelwern
,
Berriw
, and
Betws Cydewain
in
Powys
.
Llanfeuno
in
Ewias Lacy
alone represents him in
South Wales
. Of these foundations
Clynnog
(for
Celynnog
) was much the most important. The group of
clergy
who held it appear in the oldest manuscript of the
Venedotian Code
, under the
name of ‘
clas Beuno
,’ as warranting (with
Bangor
) the legal privileges of the
cantref of Arfon
. According to tradition, the site was given by
Gwyddeint
, a cousin of
Cadwallon
,
king of Gwynedd
, and, therefore, about
630
. A long list of other donors who enriched the community in later years appears in the records of the church; they made it one of the wealthiest foundations in
north-west Wales
. At
Clynnog
, the fame of the founder was perpetuated in many ways. ‘
Bedd Beuno
’ marked his resting place, ‘
Ffynnon Beuno
’ was his healing well, ‘
Cored Beuno
’ his weir, ‘
Cyff Beuno
’ his strong chest of solid oak, ‘
Nod Beuno
’ the notch on the ear of cattle dedicated to him, ‘
Llyfr Beuno
’ the repository of his claims.
Notwithstanding this wealth of local commemoration, history has little to tell of the
saint
. The only extant life is a brief
Welsh
summary of about
1350
contained in the
Book of the Anchorite of Llanddewi Brefi
(ed.
J.
Morris-Jones
and
J.
Rhys
,
Oxford
,
1894
). This makes him a scion of the royal stock of
Morgannwg
, born on the
banks of the Severn
in
Powys
, educated at
Caerwent
, settled at
Berriw
(until driven away by the approach of the
English
), at
Gwyddelwern
, at
Holywell
(where he plays a part in the story of
S.
Winifred
), and finally at
Clynnog
, where he ended his days on
Low Sunday (British reckoning)
. As his festival was almost everywhere observed on
21 April
, it may perhaps be inferred that this was the date of his death in
642
.
Bibliography:
-
The Lives of the British Saints
, i, 208-21;
-
Eben Fardd
,
Cyff Beuno
, 1863
(Tremadoc,
1863
).
Author:
Sir John Edward Lloyd, D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A. (1861-1947), Bangor
