Page:Welsh Medieval Law.djvu/17

 y caffey teir rann Kymry, nyt amgen, Gwyned, Pwys, Deheubarth, audurdawt kyureith yn eu plith vrth eu reit yn wastat ac yn parawt. After that he ordered three law books to be made: one for the daily court to be always with him; another for the court of Dinevwr; the third for the court of Aberffraw, so that the three divisions of Cymru, to wit, Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth, should have the authority of law amongst them at their need, always and ready.

Here it is clearly implied that the king's daily court was not in Deheubarth but in Powys. The common opinion is that Howel Dda lived in Deheubarth and especially in Dyved, but in the light of the above passage he generally dwells in Powys. Moreover, the manner in which the White House is spoken of as being the king's hunting-lodge 'when he came to Dyved' seems to bear out the same idea. It is true that the preface to the Book of Cyvnerth appears to restrict Howel's dominions outside Powys, and it is curious that Powys appears to be the very division of Wales wherein that compilation had its origin. How to reconcile these apparent contradictions does not at present appear. The above passage would seem to suggest that there were three types of law books, those of Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth respectively, although, as the passage now stands, it means no more than that three copies of one original were made for the three divisions of Cymru. It may be that in time they each underwent such modifications as adapted them more perfectly to the varying