<g>The Castle.</g>--In the words of Giraldus, already quoted in our motto, the situation of the Castle of Pembroke is thus correctly described:--A tongue of the sea, shooting forth of Milford-Haven, encloseth in the forked end thereof the principal town of the whole country, and chief place of Dimetia, seated on the ridge of a certain craggy and long-shaped rock, from which circumstance the Britons gave it the name of <g>Penbro</g>, which signifies a head of the sea. Arnulph Montgomery, so often mentioned in the early portion of this work, was the first who built a temporary fortress on this promontory--a very weak and slender thing, God wot, says Giraldus--consisting of merely walls, held together by stake and turf; and which, after returning into England, he delivered unto Girald of <g>Windesor</g>, his constable and captain, to be kept with a garrison of a few soldiers. The absence of Arnulph, however, was the signal for immediate revolt; and the warlike inhabitants of South Wales hastening to the spot, laid siege to the brittle fortress. But here they met with such a hot reception and stubborn resistance from Girald and his small garrison, that they were speedily disheartened and raised the siege. This attack served as a warning for Girald to strengthen his position; and he lost no time in fortifying the town and castle with walls and towers, sufficient to maintain him in quiet possession of the new territory. When this was accomplished, he began to retaliate; and acting upon the aggressive, invaded the surrounding country far and near. At length, finding himself at the head of a powerful garrison, yet willing to conciliate the natives--and thereby preserve his own estates and those of his followers free from the vexation of hostile irruptions--he ingratiated himself with <g>Gruffin</g>, the prince of the country, who gave him his sister, the beautiful <g>Nesta</g>,[381] in marriage; and thus cemented a friendly alliance between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Normans. Great prosperity followed this event, and the Anglo-Normans--as Giraldus Cambrensis, who was a scion of the family, informs us--not only maintained peace along the sea-coasts of South Wales, but won also the “waulls of Ireland.” The Giraldus de Windesor above mentioned was the first of that name; and is considered as the great progenitor of the Fitzgeralds of the present day--of whom the chief families are of Irish extraction, and familiar in the pages of modern history.