Dear Sir;

Erthig, Nov^r: 17^th. 1777–

I received with great pleasure your Commands by our friend Owen Wynne;¹ I divided the Contents between two Covers, for I found that the large single Pacquet [sic], which brought them enclosed to me, weighed considerably above two Ounces. M^r. Newcome dined with me last Thursday, and he encourages me to dislodge that ancient Briton from his snug Situation under the Wall of his Church:² My Mason (who is a [...]careful Person, and like his Master, having a due veneration for Antiquities) will go over with me for that purpose, and we will serve Wilkinson the Herald with notice, if he should be at liesure [sic] to attend us in the Course of the next week. By the marginal note in M^r. Lloyd's Powell, this Monument should be given to Madoc ap Llewellin ap Griffri, who was buried (according to our Antiquary) in the Church of Gresford, circiter Annum 1330, the 4^th. of Edw[...]ard the 3^d. If the Inscription be decypherable [sic], and shall square with M^r. Lloyds Intelligence, there seems no difficulty in pointing out the Person –³ He was the Son of Gruffith y Barwyn Gwyn (or the White Baron) Lord of Glyn dyfy[...]rdwy, and succeeded his Father, and died possessed of that L[...]ordship; He is called by the Welsh Heralds and Historians: Madoc Grupul, and was the Great-Great Grandfather of owen Glyndyfyrdwy, who inherited that Estate in Succession from him. This Baron Gwyn (the Father of Grupul) was the third of the four unfortunate Sons of Griffith Lord of Dinas-Bran, Temp: Hen: 3d. The two Elder (Madoc, & Llewellin,) inherited f^m. their Father in Gavel, the two Bromfeilds,⁴ and the Lordships of Yale, and Nanthewdwy; They were wards. (as you well know) to Earl Warren & Roger Mortimer; by whom, they were dispossess'd, and dispatched privately:⁵ When, the 4^th. Son of Gruffith Lord of Dinas, had the Moiety of [...]Cynllaeth; He was intended for the Church, but died young, and his Patrimony Devolved to his Brother Griffith, and thro' him, was continued [...] Glyn dyfrydwy, the legal Representative of the House of Powys Fadoc (before it was dismembered,) and the lineal descendant of Merfyn the third Son of Rodericus Magnus, Princeps tertius Walliæ.⁶

It seems particular that Madoc Grupul, should bear the Addition :ap LLewellin [sic], seing [sic] that neither his Father or Grandfather, had that appellation; His Uncle had :ap Griffri is very Intelligible; his Mother being the Daughter of Cadwgan ap Griffri – It does not appear, that any of the Princes of the House of Powys Fadoc, or of its Gavelled Divisions, had sepulchure at Gresford.

I am Dear Sir,
Your affect: Friend
& Faithful Serv^t.

Ph: Yorke –

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Editorial notes

1. Owen Wynne has not been identified.
2. This may refer to Gresford Church, which featured a statue sometimes described as representing Henry VII. Cf. also a note by Trevor Parkins in the 1883 edition of Pennant's A tour in Wales, which mentions the discovery of a tombstone upon the demolition of wall at the old mansion of Pantiocyn near Gresford. On the stone, there was 'a shield with a lion rampant on it, and the inscription, Hic jacet Griffri'. Parkins noted that the stone had subsequently been taken to Gresford Church, whence he believed it had come originally.Tours in Wales by Thomas Pennant, Esq ed. by John Rhys (3 vols., Caernarvon: H. Humphreys, 1883), I, p. 388.
3. Yorke mistakenly identifies Madog ap Llywelyn ap Griffri, who died in 1331, with Madog ap Gruffudd Fychan (Madog Grupul; c.1275–1304/6). See further n. 5, below.
4. Yorke refers to Maelor Gymraeg and Maelor Saesneg, both also known by the name 'Bromfield'.
5. Yorke here apparently draws on Davies, A display of herauldry, pp. 19–20. The story of the two sons being 'dispatched privately', is recounted in A tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1778), I, p. 210, where Pennant also wrongly identifies them as the elder sons of Gruffudd ap Madog (Gruffudd of Bromfield). Modern scholarship records the death of Gruffudd and Llywelyn, the young sons of Madog ap Gruffudd, grandsons to Gruffudd ap Madog, noting the tradition that they were drowned in the river Dee at Holt on the orders of John de Warenne and Roger Mortimer and on the instructions of Edward I. ODNB s.n. Madog ap Gruffudd.
6. 'the third prince of Wales'.