Bronwen, the fair necked, sister to Bren ap Lyr, Duke of Cornwall, and afterwards King of England, had a castle on this rock called “Twr y Bronwen.” She flourished in the third century, and was married to Matholwch, an Irish chieftain. The highest turret of the present fortress is still called, by the Welsh, after the name of the fair-bosomed princess, who once kept her court at Harlech. Colwyn ap Tango, Lord of Effionydd and Ardudwy, repaired and fortified the castle of Bronwen, and changed its name to Caer Collwyn. Upon the ruins of the British castle King Edward the First raised the beautiful and impregnable fortress of Harlech (the fair rock), and the union of the old and new masonry is still distinguishable in the walls. Owen Glandwr seized this fortress in the year 1404, but resigned it shortly after upon the approach of Henry’s army. Here the wretched Margaret of Anjou took refuge after the defeat of her friends at Northampton, but being pursued and discovered, she fled from Harlech also, leaving her jewels and baggage behind, which were afterwards seized by the Lord Stanley. Dafydd ap Ivan ap Einion, an adherent of the house of Lancaster held out, in Harlech Castle, for nine years after the accession of Edward the Fourth to the throne of England. His determined obstinacy, a quality for which his countrymen have always been remarkable in war, compelled the king to send a powerful army to dislodge him, under the leadership of William, Earl of Pembroke. After a march, both tedious and difficult, across an Alpine country, Pembroke sat down before the castle walls, and summoned the brave Welshman to surrender, but only received from him this singular answer: “Some years ago I held a castle in France against its besiegers so long, that all the old women in Wales talked of me; tell your commander that I intend to defend this Welsh castle now, until all the old women in France shall hear of it.” Sir Richard Herbert, who had the immediate conduct of the siege, finding the impregnable nature of the castle, and stubborn quality of its governor, accepted the surrender upon conditions honourable to Dafydd, guaranteeing to him and to his followers, fifty in number, their lives and estates. Being all persons of consideration, they were at first committed to the Tower, the king designing to put them all to death, notwithstanding the conditions of the surrender. Against Edward’s cruel and dishonourable conduct Sir Richard remonstrated, urging, that the Welsh hero might have held the castle longer for any thing the king’s army could have done to expel him; but the king still continuing in his base resolve, “then, sire,” said Sir Richard, “you may take my life, if you please, instead of that of the Welsh captain; for, if you do not, I shall most assuredly replace him in his castle, and your highness may send whom you please to take him out.” The king was too sensible of Sir Richard’s utility to persevere in his