Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/294

266 was not only known and practised, but that they who followed it were privileged individuals, holding somewhat high rank at Court, and treated as if their art was one of great value. That remarkable method of division or enumeration of the ancient Celtic nations, the trinal system, had divided Wales, between the years 843 and 876, into three dynasties,—North, South, and Powysland; and it is in the code of laws applicable to each of these, that we discover the link in the chain of evidence required to bring our history into harmony with the relics just described. These laws altogether show a very advanced agrarian condition, and much beyond that of any other nation at this period. In the 'Dull O Gwynedd,' or Venedotian Code of North Wales, it is ordained that the judge of the court 'is to have from the chief groom his horse, complete from the first nail to the last, and saddled, and brought to him when he rides.' Amongst the other privileges and duties of the groom of the rein, 'he is to have his land free, his horse in attendance, and his clothing like the rest; his woollen clothing from the king, and his linen clothing from the queen.' He is 'to have the king's rain-caps in which he shall ride; his old bridles, his old hose, his spurs, his brass-mounted saddles, and all his horse equipage. He is to officiate in the absence of the chief groom. He is to hold the king's stirrup when he mounts and when he alights, and lead his horse to the stable, and bring it to him on the following day. He is always to walk near the king, that he may serve him when necessary. He is to shoe the king's horse. . . . . . . . His protection is, from the time the smith of the Court