DAFYDD GAM
(d.
1415
),
Welsh warrior
,
was the son of
Llywelyn ap Hywel Fychan
, a
Brecknock
landowner
of the stock of
Einon Sais
, whose castle stood at
Pen-pont
on the river
Usk
. His byname signified that he
squinted
or had
lost an eye
. Tradition averred that he fled from his homeland after killing his relative,
Richard
of
Slwch
, in the
High Street
of
Brecon
. He first appears, as a
king's esquire
, in
April 1400
; in this capacity he was to receive forty marks a year (
Cal. Close Rolls
, 79). Since
Henry
had been for some years, through his marriage to
Mary
Bohun
, in control of the lordship of
Brecknock
, the association was probably not new;
Dafydd
, at any rate, remained a loyal
Lancastrian
until his death. In
Nov. 1401
he was rewarded out of rebel lands (
Cal. Pat. Rolls
, 11), and, according to the
Scottish
historian
,
Walter
Bower
, he had a part in the royal victory over
Owain Glyn Dŵr
at
Pwll Melyn
, near
Usk
, on
5 May 1405
(
Scotichronicon
, ed.
W.
Goodall
,
1759
, ii, 452). This date throws doubt upon the familiar story of his treacherous attack upon
Owen
at the parliament of
Machynlleth
in
1404
; it has other doubtful features, and, in any case, is not heard of until the time of
Robert
Vaughan
,
Hengwrt
(d.
1667
)
. That
Dafydd
fell into the hands of
Glyn Dŵr
is certain, but that was at a much later date; it was in
June 1412
, when the revolt was nearing its collapse, that the
seneschal
and the
receiver
of
Brecon
, with the assent of
Llywelyn ap Hywel
, the prisoner's father, were empowered to treat with
Owen
as to the ransom of ‘David Gamm,’ tenant in the lordship of
Brecon
(
Cal. Pat. Rolls
, 406). The release was effected, and the final scene came in
1415
, when
David
went with his royal master to
France
, to meet his death on the field of
Agincourt
. Legends gathered round the end of this puissant fighter; in particular, it was believed that he was
knighted
on the fatal day. An influential posterity kept up his reputation; for two centuries and a half the
Games
clan were prominent in
Brecknock
affairs, at
Aberbrân
,
Newton
(near
Brecon
),
Tre-gaer
,
Buckland
, and
Penderyn
, until the male line died out and the surname disappeared. The last sheriff to bear it was
Hoo
Games
of
Newton
(
1657
). Through the marriage of his daughter
Gwladus
to
Sir William ap Thomas
of
Raglan
(see under
Herbert
,
William
, d.
1469
),
Dafydd Gam
was forefather of all the
Herberts
.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
J. E. Lloyd
,
Owen Glendower / Owen Glyn Dwr
,
1931
, 43, 142, 148;
-
Gwaith Lewis Glyn Cothi
, 1-15;
-
Heraldic Visitations
of Wales and Part of the Marches
, 1846
, i, 56-7.
Author:
Sir John Edward Lloyd, D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A. (1861-1947), Bangor
