Page:Welsh Medieval Law.djvu/427

 GLOSSARY

agweddi, dowry. The word ' seems to mean all that the dyweddi (the betrothed woman) brings with her to the husband '. In the text, however, it is normally limited to a pecuniary sum, varying according to the status of the bride's father, which is handed over with the bride to the bridegroom on the occasion of the marriage. It remains, however, the wife's property, to be restored or forfeited, as the case may be, in certain events. The agweddi is paid in cattle in the case of a woman going away clandestinely, without consent of kindred, with a man who afterwards abandons her. The agweddi is also paid in case of rape.

alltud, foreigner. The word ' is equivalent to Anglo-Saxon el-theod ' In the Latin texts of the laws, it is represented by exul, which may explain the treatment of Hengist and Horsa as exiles from Germany in the Welsh versions of the fable of the Saxon conquest. The status of every alltud in Cymru was fixed by law, as he had his own galanas and sarhad. He could give no evidence, however, against a Cymro, and some lord had to be in some way responsible for him, which lord might be a king, breyr, or a taeog. His galanas and sarhad were according to the status of this lord. It appears from the text that his descendants could be incorporated into the Cymric kindreds (p. 62).

amobr, a maiden fee, payable to her lord, when she married or had connexion with a man. Normally the amobr was paid by her father, who, however, had no need to pay should the daughter go away clandestinely without consent of kindred. See gobr merch.

arddelw, a vouchee of various kinds in defence. The term is only used in one passage in the present text.

arglwydd, lord. This word appears to be used as a general term for a superior of any kind, from arglwydd Dinevwr, the Lord of Dinevwr, to arglwydd caeth, the lord of a bondman, and even arglwydd ci, the lord of a dog. In reading the earlier and more reliable texts of the laws, one must carefully avoid