Page:VCH Herefordshire 1.djvu/348

 A HISTORY OF HEREFORDSHIRE whose fief follows Gilbert's, was his brother, and possible that the rather uncommon name of Ilbcrt may point to some relationship to the Lacis. A ' William and Ilbert his brother ' are found holding of Ralf de ' Todeni ' at Dinedor and in ' Westwood ' close by, but there is no proof that this Ilbert was identical with Ilbert Fitz Turold. Thurstin Fitz Rou (' Rolf), though only holding two manors in this county, may be mentioned because of his remarkable position on the southern March, where William Fitz Osbern had pushed him forward in what is now Monmouthshire, and also because Brictric, his predecessor in the Hereford- shire manors, is also found preceding him so far afield as Hampshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire. I have elsewhere shown that much of his fief passed within a few years to the family of Ballon ^*"' of Abergavenny. At the end of the survey, as usual, are a few Serjeants and thcgns, with the former of whom we may probably class Herman de Dreux also.'"* But of special local interest are the holdings of a Welshman, ' Grifin ' son of ' Mariadoc,' and an Englishman, Godric Mappesone, who held ' Hulla.' This place has been said to be Howl '"'' in the extreme south of the county, just to the east of the Wye. But, observing that it is entered under Archenfield, that its peasantry paid a honey-rent, and that its ' fishery ' proves it to have touched a stream, I cannot but think that in this holding we have the origin of Goodrich Castle, which would thus derive its name, like Richard's Castle, from its lord. The Monmouth Priory charters prove that the name of Goodrich Castle {castellum Godric) existed as early as iioi or 1102, and the form 'castellum Godrici' definitely establishes its origin.^"* As to the Welshman, one would like to explain the strange phenomenon of a Welsh prince enjoying the favour of William Fitz Osbern and receiving from him land in Herefordshire. The salient point to be noted is that, in four entries, ' Mariadoc ' is styled king (rex)^ and as we learn from three of these that Earl William gave him lands, we have to look for a Welsh prince who was actually reigning within the period 1066—70. The only one who answers to that description is Meredydd the son of Owain, the ' Mariadoth ' of Orderic Vitalis, who speaks of him, not as befriended, but as overthrown by the earl. This Meredydd, son of Owain, had obtained possession of ' Deheubarth ' (South Wales) in the course of civil war about a year after the Norman Conquest, and was slain by Caradoc son of Gruffyd and the ' French *■ on the banks of the Rumney in 1070. He alone, it would seem, can be the ' king ' of whom we are in search, though the known facts of his career seem hopelessly at variance with the evidence of Domesday that he and his- son enjoyed the favour of the Conqueror and he himself of the earl. But on the Welsh march the foes of to-day became the allies of to-morrow,"^ as is well seen in GrufFydd ap Llewellin's strange changes of side under Edward the Confessor, who granted lands to him at one time only to resume them at another."* Moreover, William Fitz Osbern himself "* Studies in Peerage and Family Hist. "" Judging from the entry of his holding in Wilts. io3« ^y_ jjj_ Wood states that Howl was formerly ' Holwell,' and suggests Hill Court near Ross. '•* Cal. of Doc. France, 403-8. "' Or, as Mr. Freeman expresses it, the alliances of Welsh and Normans • were commonly short-lived.' "" ' Rex Eadwardus dedit regi Grifino totam terram quae j^cebat trans aquam quae dk vocatur. Sed postquam ipse Grifin forisfecit ei, abstulit ab eo hanc terram et reddidit episcopo de Cestre et omnibus suis. hominibus qui antea ipsam tenebant' (Dom. Bk. i, 263). 280