Rhiwaedog is the name of an ancient estate in

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

, located in the Penllyn forest near

Bala, Gwynedd Bala ( cy, Y Bala) is a town and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Formerly an urban district, Bala lies in the historic county of Merionethshire, at the north end of Bala Lake ( cy, Llyn Tegid). According to the 2021 Census, Bala had a population ...

. It gives its name today to two hills, Rhiwaedog-is-Afon and Rhiwaedog-uwch-Afon, meaning "Rhiwaedog below the river" and "Rhiwaedog above the river" respectively. There is also the ancient manor house Plas Rhiwaedog, from which

Rhirid Flaidd Rhirid Flaidd (sometimes called Rhirid ap Gwrgenau) ( fl. 1160), according to Welsh tradition, was the son of Gwrgenau, who is supported by an obscure pedigree going back to Cunedda Wledig, the progenitor of the House of Cunedda which had provided ...

(also known as Rhirid ap Gwrgenau) (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1160) ruled his

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

Traditional history

According to Welsh tradition, Rhirid was the son of Gwrgenau, who is supported by an obscure and doubtful pedigree going back to Cunedda Wledig. The appellation of ''blaidd'' (wolf) was inherited from his maternal grandmother, Haer, daughter and heiress of Gillyn, son of Blaidd Rhudd (meaning "the Bloody Wolf") of Gest in

Eifionydd Eifionydd () is an area in north-west Wales covering the south-eastern part of the Llŷn Peninsula from Porthmadog to just east of Pwllheli. The Afon Erch forms its western border. It now lies in Gwynedd. The commote of Eifionydd formed the no ...

. There are a number of traditions and legends associated with Rhiwaedog. One such legend speaks of an egg-sized crystal which was passed from generation to generation, and is said to have had the power to foretell the death of the head of the household when its brilliant colour became clouded.

References

External links

Rhiwaedog: Our Ancestral Foulke TreasureThe History of RhiwaedogPlas Rhiwaedog at British Listed Buildings
Llangywer Houses in Gwynedd Houses in Snowdonia {{Gwynedd-geo-stub