“And then was effected the betrayal of Llywelyn in the belfry of Bangor by his own men. And then Llywelyn ap Gruffudd left Dafydd, his brother, guarding Gwynedd, and he himself and his host went to gain possession of Powys and Buellt. And he gained possession of them as far as Llanganten. And thereupon he sent his men and his steward to receive the homage of the men of Brycheiniog, and the prince was left with but a few men with him.”
This account was probably written about 1320, hence later than other chronicle sources for Llywelyn’s death. Yet it contains details not found elsewhere, such as Llywelyn’s march into Powys and the despatch of his steward to take the homage of the men of Brycheiniog. The fate of his steward or ‘distain’ (seneschal) is perhaps a neglected detail. Llywelyn’s previous distain, Tudur ab Ednyfed, had died in 1278 and the identity of his successor is uncertain. However in 1281 a man named Dafydd ab Einion appears at the head of a witness-list on a document issued by Llywelyn. This was the position usually reserved for the distain, who was normally preceded only by princes and important clerics.
Moreover, Dafydd was the son of Einion Fychan, a leading minister under Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Dafydd ap Llywelyn and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Therefore there is nothing unlikely in the son of such a high-ranking individual being appointed to the rank of distain. The family hailed from Anglesey.
The distain sent to take the homage of the men of Brycheiniog in 1282 is not named by the Brut. In the ministers’s accounts of the fourteenth century, however, reference is made to an Anglesey man, Dafydd ab Einion Fychan, who died ‘against the peace’ - contra pacem - in South Wales. In other words, he died in arms against the English crown.
If the Dafydd who died ‘contra pacem’ can be identified as Llywelyn’s distain - and the evidence, while not conclusive, is quite strong - then this would make sense of the Brut account. It would also make sense of the army that allegedly ‘vanished’ at Cilmeri. Llywelyn’s army did not vanish, and nor do his men lie under a local golf course. Instead, according to the Brut, he sent the bulk of his force with Dafydd into Brycheiniog, while he and a few men went to their fatal meeting with the Mortimers and their allies near Builth.
The army thus met its Waterloo much further south, and Llywelyn’s men fell alongside Dafydd ab Einion; or were ‘swept away in flight’, as Peckham’s Register puts it. This would imply the plan to draw Llywelyn and his army to their doom was organised and widespread all along the line of the marches. Brycheiniog was Bohun territory, though Llywelyn, Clare and Mortimer all had a stake in it.
To conclude. English records of the 1290s refer to a Dafydd Fychan ap Dafydd ab Einion who held his father’s lands in Dindaethwy, Anglesey, for a fine of £5 per year. This is almost certainly the son of Dafydd Einion, Llywelyn’s probable distain. If his father had died in arms against the king, this would explain why he held his lands conditionally on payment of a ‘fine’ instead of rent.
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