Such being probably the nature of these groups, it becomes necessary to examine their relation to the Tuath and that of the Flath Geilfiné or Geilfiné chief to the Ri Tuath. We find in the Senchus Mor the following statement:—‘The head of each Finé, or the Ceannfiné, should be the man of the Finé who is the most experienced, the most noble, the most wealthy, the wisest, the most learned, the most powerful to oppose, the most steadfast to sue for profits and for losses.’ The two qualities of ‘most noble’ in race and ‘most wealthy’ in cattle can only be found united in the Flath or chief, and he is expected to possess the rest. We therefore find in the commentary ‘the head of each Finé’ defined to be ‘every one who is head chief of the Geilfiné.’ We are then told that ‘every person in a Tuath accepts equal stock or subsidy from the Flath Geilfiné or Geilfiné chief, and the Flath Geilfiné accepts stock or subsidy from the Ri Tuath, or else every person in the Tuath accepts it from the Ri Tuath, though it is from him that the Flath Geilfiné takes his Flaithius or chiefship.’^[210] We have here an alternative statement. In the one the members of the tribe take stock from the Geilfiné chief, that is, are his dependants. In the other they take stock directly from the Ri Tuath. These statements represent different states of the tribe; the older state, when the members of the tribe were equal and independent of each other, and the later when they had become dependent upon the Flath or chief; but both might exist at the same time, some taking stock from the chief and some from the king. There was this distinction between the chief and the king as regards Saer stock tenure, that the connection between the Flath and the Ceile was based upon contract, and the connection which was freely entered into might be dissolved by either party; but we are told in the Cain tsaorrthadh or law of Saer stock tenure, ‘a man need never accept of Daer stock from any other unless he likes it himself, and he need not accept even of Saer stock from any but his own king, and he cannot refuse taking Saer stock from his own king.’ And further, ‘he cannot separate from his own king at any time, either while he holds by Saer stock tenure or by Daer stock tenure.’^[211] And in the Cain Aigillne or law of Daer stock tenure we read, ‘The law does not require of a man to accept of Daer stock from his own chief or from an extern chief, or from his own king or from an extern king, but the law requires of him to take Saer stock from his own king. If he takes Daer stock, it should be from his own king.’^[212]

This power which the Ri Tuath possessed of forcing the members of the tribe to become his dependants in Saer stock tenure, and of retaining them permanently, enabled him to increase his dependants to any extent; and besides the Ceile whom he thus gathered around him he likewise settled Fuidhir or stranger septs upon his waste land in proportion to the extent of his territory and the amount of his wealth. He thus not only occupied the position of Ri Tuath or king of the tribe, with all its rights and privileges, but was likewise the Flath or chief of the most powerful sept within it.

The Flath Geilfiné or Geilfiné chief was likewise the chief of an entire Finé or sept. This is implied in a passage in the tract ‘Of the judgment of every crime,’ where we are told that ‘the reason why the crime goes upon the Deirbhfiné and the Iarfiné before it goes upon the Flath or chief, is because it is one chief that is over them, the Flath Geilfiné, and he is chief of four Finés or groups.’ Another passage in the Book of Aicill also shows that he was next in rank and power to the king, for it apportions the fines for injuring the roads of a Tuath between the Ri or king and the Flath Geilfiné, and adds, ‘What is the reason that there is more due to the Ri Tuath for injuring his principal road than his by-road, and that there is more due to the Geilfiné chief for injuring his by-road than his principal road? The reason is, the principal road is more the peculiar property of the Ri Tuath than the by-road, and the by-road is more the peculiar property of the Flath Geilfiné than the principal road.’^[213]

Where then are we to recognise the Flath Geilfiné among the Aires of a Tuath of the Grad Flath? The Geilfiné chief, as we see, received his stock or subsidy direct from the Ri Tuath, but there were only two of the Aires who were in this position, and in this respect the Aires of a Tuath fall into two divisions. The Aire Desa and the Aire Ard received their stock from a Flath, but the Aire Tuise and the Aire Forgaill from the Ri Tuath direct, and it is in this latter division we have to look for the Flath Geilfiné. The Aire Forgaill was the highest grade of the Aires, and is said to be so named ‘because it is he that testifies (Fortgella) to the grades in every case in which denial of a charge is sought, and because his quality is superior to that of his fellows;’ while the Aire Tuise is said to be so called ‘because his race has precedence,’ or, as it may be more literally rendered, ‘because he is Tuisech or leader from race’ (Toisech a Ciniul).^[214] The former, as the superior of the two, may probably be viewed as the Flath Geilfiné or Geilfiné chief, and exercised the judicial functions of a chief; while the latter, as the oldest cadet, led the forces of the clan when called out either by the chief or by the king on a Sluaged or hosting.

Although the position of Flath or chief of a sept, as well as that of Ri Tuath or head of the whole tribe, was hereditary in the family but elective in the person, there can be little doubt that the senior of the family, as representing the founder of it, was usually elected as entitled to the position, unless disqualified by some defect mental or physical, and this principle is recognised in the tract on Succession, where it is thus laid down:—‘The senior with the Finé or sept, dignity with the Flath or chief, wisdom with the Eclais or church;’ and this rule is thus illustrated in the commentary: ‘Ignorance was set aside for wisdom in the orders of the church. An Aitech or tenant of the Grad Feiné was set aside for a Flath or chief, a junior was set aside for the senior, that is, the person who is junior shall rise or walk out of the kingship or the abbacy or the Geilfiné chiefship before the person who is senior.’ And again—‘Age is rewarded by the Feiné, for where there are two Aires or lords of the same family who are of equal dignity and property, the senior shall take precedence.’ And again—‘The senior is entitled to noble election,’ but ‘if the kings be equally old and good, lots are to be cast between them respecting the kingship, but if one of them is older than the other he shall go into it.’ Finally, it is laid down that ‘the junior shares and the senior is elected,’ and that ‘it is according to desert they come into power, and it is according to the goodness of the branch itself and the goodness of the grade also, and the most worthy person of the branch shall go into it, that is, the best person of that branch. And the head of all according to the dera of the Finé, that is, that every one who is a head should be afterwards according to the Finé.’

The following commentary on the qualities required in a chief further illustrates the principles on which the selection is made:—‘The noblest, that is, in age or in race (Cenel). The highest, that is, in grade. The wealthiest, that is, in ploughing and reaping. The shrewdest, that is, in wisdom or in mind. The wisest, that is, in learning. Popular as to compurgation, that is, who has good friends with compurgators, that is, good friends outside the territory adhering to him. The most powerful to sue, that is, to prosecute for each of them. The most firm to sue for profits, that is, of the dibad property. And losses, that is, liabilities.’ Finally, ‘the body of each is his Finé, that is, the body of each person who is head is his Finé. There is no body without a head, that is, of themselves, over them, according to law.’^[215] It was the operation of this rule that led to brothers being preferred to sons, and when there was alternate succession the collateral in the same degree was preferred to the son of his predecessor, as being one degree nearer to the common ancestor.

The regulations for compelling attendance upon the Sluaged or hosting still further illustrate the relations between the king and the chief of a sept. They are contained in the Book of Aicill, and are as follows:—‘If a man of the Grad Flath, with his Daer Ceile, came away from it (that is, the hosting), or if the Ceile came away from it, if ordered by the chief, Honor price shall be paid for it, half of which goes to the king of the province and the other half is divided into three parts; one third goes to the king who is nearest the king of the province in upward gradation (that is, the king of a Mortuath), one-third to the Ri Tuath who is over those below, and one-third to the chiefs and intermediate chiefs (Flathaibh) who are between them in the middle,’ by which latter distinction the two divisions of the Aires of the Grad Flath are intended.

‘If it was a man of the Grad Flath and one Ceile that came away from it, Honor price is to be paid for it also; and the share which the Ceile should pay, if all the Ceile had been concerned in it, is what he is to pay now, and the remainder is to be paid by him (that is, the chief), and the same division is made of the half for the king of the province, and the other half is divided into three parts.’

‘If it was the Ceile themselves that came away from it without the chief’s leave, the Smacht fine or Honor price, which is due for it, is to be paid by them; one-third of it goes to the king of the province, and one-third to the chief whose Ceile came away, and the other third is to be divided into three parts, one-third of which goes to the king of the Tuath who is over them, and one third to the chiefs and intermediate chiefs who are in the middle between them;’ to which is added, ‘Whenever it is Smacht fine that is paid, it shall be paid according to the rank of the person who pays it; and whenever Honor price is paid, it shall be paid according to the rank of the person to whom it is paid.’

‘What is the reason that there is a greater fine upon the Grad Flath for not going to the hosting than upon the Grad Feiné? The reason is, The hosting or the Dun-building suffers a greater loss from the absence of the Grad Flath than from that of the Grad Feiné, and they are more needed, and it is right there should be a greater fine upon them.’ ‘What is the reason that there is a greater fine imposed upon them for coming away from it than for not going to it? The reason of it is, It is more dangerous for the king to be deserted outside in an enemy’s territory, than that they should not go out with him at first.’^[216]

The tie between the chiefs and their dependants was still further strengthened by the custom of fosterage, by which the children of the upper classes were intrusted to a family belonging to the inferior ranks to be brought up and trained along with their own children. This custom prevailed from an early period among the Irish tribes, but it is obvious that such an institution could only have arisen after the distinction of ranks had been fully organised in the tribe. The influence of early association with the earlier stage in the constitution of the tribe, when its free members were in a state of independence and equality with each other, may have led to their regarding the children under age, and before they had acquired any independent rights and privileges, as occupying no better position, and so created a sentiment that they ought to be trained along with the children of a lower rank, long after the reality which gave rise to the feeling had ceased to exist. Be this as it may, we find the institution in full operation in these Ancient Laws, and the regulations connected with it forming part of the Senchus Mor. According to it there were two kinds of fosterage with the Finé which had not been annulled—fosterage for affection, and fosterage for payment. The clothing and the food of the children given to the inferior families to foster is minutely regulated. Those of the children of the Grad Feiné were to be black or yellow or grey, and old clothes were to be worn by the sons of an Ogaire, and new by the sons of a Boaire. The sons of an Aire desa were to wear clothes of a different colour every day, and of two different colours on Sunday, and to have both old and new clothes. The sons of the superior chiefs were to wear clothes of two colours every day, both old and new, and new clothes of two colours on Sunday; while the sons of the Aire Forgill, the highest of all, and of the king, were to have new coloured clothes at all times, and all embroidered with gold and silver. How far such regulations were ever practically observed may well be doubted, but those regarding food are probably enough. Porridge^[217] was to be given to them all, but the materials of which it is made and the flavouring vary according to the rank of the parents of the children. The sons of the inferior grades are fed to bare sufficiency on porridge made of oatmeal and butter-milk or water taken with salt butter. The sons of chiefs are fed to satiety on porridge made of barley-meal, upon new milk with fresh butter. The sons of kings are fed on porridge made of flour, upon new milk taken with honey. The food of all, however, was alike, till the end of a year or of three years.

The price of the fosterage of the son of an Ogaire is three Seds or three Samhaiscs, that is, three-year-old heifers; and for his daughter four Seds, a Sed in addition being given for the daughter, because the household arrangements for her accommodation are more extensive than for the sons. This was the lowest price given, and the Fer Midbuid, or man of the humblest rank, could not perform the fosterage for less. The boys were to be taught the herding of lambs, calves, kids, and young pigs, and kiln-drying, combing, and wood-cutting; and the daughters the use of the quern, the kneading-trough, and the sieve. The price of the fosterage of the son of a Boaire was five Seds, or three cows. The price of the fosterage of the son of an Aire was ten Seds, and instruction in the usual sciences is given him; that is, the sons were taught horsemanship, brann-playing, shooting, chess-playing, and swimming; and the daughters sewing and cutting-out, and embroidery. The price of the fosterage of the son of a king was thirty Seds, and the foster-sons were to have horses in time of races, and the foster-father was bound to teach them horsemanship.

The relationship thus formed was considered most friendly, and was connected with the Geilfiné relationship, but the passage which states it is so obscure that it is difficult to attach a definite meaning to it. The children remained with the foster-father till the boys were seventeen and the girls fourteen. The age of the boys was divided into three periods. The first extended till he was seven years old; the second from seven to twelve years, and the third till he was seventeen. During the first period the foster-father might punish him for faults with castigation, and during the second with castigation without food, but for his first fault there were to be three threatenings without castigation, and after the age of twelve he had to make compensation in the usual way, with regard to which there are many minute regulations. On the termination of the fosterage the foster-father returned the children with a parting gift, which was regulated according to the Honor price; and in return, the foster-son was bound to maintain his foster-father in sickness or old age, in the same manner as he would maintain his own father and mother.

Such were the leading features of the system of fosterage as presented to us in the Senchus Mor.^[218]

The ancient topographical descriptions of some of the territories in the three provinces of Munster, Connaught, and Ulster, which have been printed by the Irish Archæological and Celtic Society, and which have been already referred to as affording illustrations of the tribe system, so far as preserved, likewise indicate the existence of the Finé or sept. Thus in the district of Corca Laidhe in Munster, which consisted of eight Tuaths or tribe territories, in describing the district of Cuil-Cearnadha, it is added, ‘These are its hereditary tribes (Fineadha duchusa), O’Rothlain its Toiseach, and Ua Cuinn, Ua Iarnain, and Ua Finain,’ three septs. Again, of the country or Duthaich of Gillamichil, which formed a Tuath, we are told, ‘These were its hereditary leaders (Oclaich Duthaich), O’Duibharda, O’Dunlaing, Oh-Ogain, O’Dubhagan,’ etc. It is unnecessary to go through the whole of them, or the Oclaich Duthaich of the other Tuaths, as Mr. O’Donovan adds a note which sufficiently explains their relation to the tribe. He says that these Oglaich ‘were the petty chiefs, Kenfinies or heads of families,’ properly septs, ‘who held their lands by the same right of descent from the common ancestor as the chief, or rather Toiseach, himself; and they were called ’Oglaich, young heroes, because they were bound to assist him in his wars against his enemies at the heads of their respective clans.’^[219]

We have some information, too, regarding the Finé or sept in Connaught. Thus in the ‘Tribes and Customs of Hy Fiachraich’ we read that Fiachra, son of Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin, Ardri of Erin, colonised this district, and had a son, Amhalgaidh, from whose son, Fedhlim, sprang the Cineal Fedhlimidh, which consisted of ‘O Ceallachain, O Caithniadh, Mac Coinin, O Muimhneachain, Mac Fhionain, O Gearadhain, O’Conboirne. These are the Cineal Fedhlimidh of Jorrus.’ The Cineal Feidhlimidh here is the tribe occupying a Tuath, and the others are the Finé or septs of which it was composed. Then from ‘Aongus, son of Amhalgaidh, came the Cineal Aongusa in Hy-Amhalgaidh, viz., O Muireadhaigh, Taoisig of the Lagan.’ Here we have the Taoisech at the head of the Cineal or tribe, and then we are told that ‘of the descendants of Aongus are the people of Dun Finne, or fort of the Finé, viz. O Cuinn, MagOdhrain, O Comhdhan, O’Duibhlearga, O Bearga, O Blighe, O Duanma or Duanmaigh;’ and these were the Finé or septs. Amhalgaidh had other sons by Earca, daughter of Eochaidh, king of Leinster, the eldest of whom was Fergus, and his son Muireadhach was Rig Ua n-Amhalgaidh, or king of Hy-Amhalgaidh. The descendants of this Muireadhach possessed ‘the Triocha Ceud of Bac and of Gleann Nemthinne, and the half Triocha Ceud of Breudach. These are the hereditary tribes (Fineadhoigh Dudhchusa) of Bac, viz., O Lachtna, Taoisioc of the two Bacs and of the Gleann, and of them O Dubhagain and the Clann Firbisigh, O Maoilruaidh of Ardachaidh, and O’Cuimin of Lios Cuimin on the Muaidh. These are the families or septs (Fineada) of Breudach, viz., O Toghda, Taoiseach of Breudach, O Glaimin, O Luachaidh, and O Gilin.’^[220] Here we have two groups of Finé or septs, with a Toisech at the head of each. Lastly, from Aongus Fionn, another son of Amhalgaidh, are O’Gaibhtheachan, O’Flainn, and O’Maoilhiona, chiefs (Flaithe) of Calraighe Muighe h-Eleag.

In one of MacFirbis’s tracts he deduces the tribes and septs descended from Brian, the son and successor of Eochaidh Muighmeadoin, king of Connaught. He is said to have had ‘twenty-four‘twenty-four sons, and from Echean, one of them, descended the Cinel n-Echean or tribe of Echean, consisting of the septs of O’Biasta, O’Bli, O’Caisleorach, O’Ruanuidhen, and O’Fionnucain. From Fergus came the Cinel Fergusa of Echtge, consisting of the septs of O’Brain, O’Bruachain, O’Conrethe, and O’Cairriodha, Taoiseachs of Cinel Fergusa. From Erc Dearg, or the Red, came the Cinel Deirg in Connaught; from Esse or Essile came the Tuath Esille; from Aongus are the Cinel n-Aongusa of Galway, that is, the O’Hallorans with their branches; from Tenedh the Corco-Tenedh, and Muichead, from whom Corco-Muichead; from Cana, the O’Cananans in Uaithne; Neachtain, from Tir Neachtain, with their septs (Fineadhaibh); two Carbrys, viz., Carbry Conrith, from whom is descended St. Barry of Corc, and Carbry Aircheann, from whom the Hy Briuin Ratha in West Connaught; three Conalls, viz., Conall Oirisin, from whom the men of Umalia, Conall Glun, from whom the O’Monahans, Taoiseachs of the three Tuaths, and Conall Cortaine, from whom the O’Maolduibh; Eochaidh, from whom the Cinel n-Eachach; and Enna Eamalach, from whom Cinel n-Eanna; Duach Galach, the youngest, from whom the kings of Rath Cruachan are descended.’^[221]

In the province of Ulster we find, besides the Tuaths which formed the subdivisions of the larger districts and were equivalent to the tribe territories, that in some a smaller division is mentioned termed a Cinement. Thus in the district of the Glynnes, consisting of seven subdivisions, six are termed Tuoghs or Tuaths, and one is the ‘Cynamond of Armoy and Raghlin,’ containing the parish of Armoy and the island of Rathlin. Again, among the Tuoghs in North Clandeboy we find the ‘Cinament of Knockboynabrade;’ the ‘Cinament of Duogh Connor,’ containing the sixteen towns of Connor; the Cinament of Kilmahevet; the Cinament of Ballinowre, represented by the modern parish of Ballinowre, and containing 8000 acres; the Cinament of Carntall, Monksland, and Carnemony; the Cinament of Dirrevolgie, alias Fealaogh; and the Cinament of Clandermot, containing four Ballys or townlands.^[222] This word Cinament is derived from Cine, a sept, and Minand, a habitation or residence, and these smaller districts were obviously the possessions of septs or Finés which had become detached from their tribe, and thus we find the name of the Clan Dermot connected with one of them. Again, we find the Barony of Lower Castlereagh in South Clandeboy consisted of five smaller territories termed Slut Henrickies, Slut Kellies, Slut Hugh Bricks, Slut Bryan Boye, Slut Durnings, and Slut Owen mac Quin, the last two forming one district; but this word Slut is the Irish Sliocht or sept, and the names are corrupted from Sliocht Enri Caoich, or the sept of Henry the Blind; Sliocht Ceallaigh, or sept of the Kellies; Sliocht Aodh breac, or sept of Hugh the Freckled; Sliocht Briuin buidhe, or sept of Brian the Yellow; Sliocht Owen mhic Cuinn, or sept of Owen son of Conn.^[223]

Sir John Davis, in his Letter to the Earl of Salisbury, written about the same time, gives us a very clear account of the position of these septs in the counties of Fermanagh and Cavan. In Fermanagh he derived his information from certain of the clerks or scholars of that country, who knew all the septs and families and their branches, and the dignity of one sept above another, and what families or persons were chief of every sept, and who were next, and who were of third rank, and so forth, till they descended to the most inferior man in all the barony. Moreover, they took upon them to tell ‘what quantity of land every man ought to have by the custom of their country, which is of the nature of gavelkind, whereby, as their septs or families did multiply, their possessions have been from time to time divided and subdivided, and broken into so many small parcels as almost every acre of land had a several owner, who termeth himself a lord and his portion of land his country.’ ‘Notwithstanding, as McGuire himself had a chiefry over all the country, and some demesne that did ever pass to him only who carried that title, so was there a chief of every sept who had certain services, duties, and demesnes that ever passed to the Tanist of that sept, and never was subject to division.’ And in his return of the state of the county of Cavan he gives the following general account:—‘In the Irish countries, where the custom of Tanistry is not extinguished, the tenures are everywhere alike. There is first a general chieftain of every country or territory, which hath some demesne and some household provisions yielded unto him by all the inhabitants under him; every sept or surname hath a particular chieftain or Tanist, which hath likewise his peculiar demesne and duties, and these possessions go by succession or election, entirely without any division; but all the other lands holden by the inferior inhabitants are partable in course of gavelkind, wherein there is no difference made between legitimate sons and bastards.’^[224]

Such, then, being the leading features of the Tuath or tribe, and the Finé or sept, so far as we can gather them from the Ancient Laws of Ireland, and as we find them exemplified in the later condition of the country, which it is essential for our purpose to indicate, we must now pass over to the mainland of Great Britain, and examine how far we can likewise trace them in the Ancient Laws of its Welsh population; and here we see clearly enough that a tribal system possessing in the main the same characteristics lies at the foundation of their social organisation. It was likewise modified in the main by the same influences, but that of the Church was earlier encountered, and it could hardly escape being affected by another influence to which the Irish tribe was not exposed, viz., that of the Roman institutions during the period when the Welsh population formed a part of the Roman province—an influence, however, which would be more intense in the southern and eastern districts, and more superficial in the mountainous region of the west, and in the frontier districts between the Roman walls, whose Welsh population afterwards formed the kingdom of Strathclyde.

The Welsh codes which have been preserved are those of Gwynedd or North Wales, and Dyved and Gwent, the west and east divisions of South Wales. Besides these we have some fragments of Commentaries printed under the title of Anomalous Laws, and we have also the advantage of possessing a Latin version of the Laws of Dyved, which gives us the equivalent of the Welsh terms in the Latin of the feudal charters. The oldest of these codes are certainly the Laws of Gwynedd or North Wales, and they recognise the influence of the Church as establishing the sanction of marriage, requiring legitimacy in the sons, and introducing a law of primogeniture in the succession to land which did not exist in the Irish system, when it declares, ‘An innate Bon-eddig is a person who shall be complete as to origin in Wales both by the mother and by the father. The ecclesiastical law says again that no son is to have the patrimony but the eldest born to the father by the married wife.’ The rule was not, however, universally accepted, for it is added, ‘The law of Howel, however, adjudges it to the youngest son as well as to the oldest.’^[225]

These laws present to us the Cymric people, or Welsh population, who still maintained their independence, as in a more advanced stage of organisation than the Irish tribes are exhibited in the Brehon Laws. We find the land divided into Talaeth, or provinces, each under its Brenhin, or king, similarly to that of Ireland, and all under a Brenhin penrhaith, or supreme king; but while we can trace the original function of the king as judge of his people, the position of king had assumed a more modern aspect both as relates to his power and authority, and to his rights in connection with the land. The whole people are termed the Cenedl y Gymry, or race of the Cymry, and we can see that the organisation of each province was based upon an earlier tribal system, and that it must have been formed by a confederation of tribes similar to that of the Irish province. Indications of this earlier tribal system appear to be contained in ‘The Heads of the Social State’ attributed to Dyvnwal Moelmud, a mythic king. These tribes appear as Llwylh a Cenedl. We find also the same distinction of the people into bond and free, Caithion and Rydyon, the Latin equivalents of which were Nativi and Liberi, the latter alone representing the ancient free members of the tribe. These are termed in the Laws Boneddic Cancwynawl. They were pure Cymri both by father and mother, and the Latin equivalent was nobilis ingenuus. The head of the tribe was the Pencenedl, or prefectus generis, who is still recognised as a functionary in these Laws. According to the Triads of the Social State, the Pencenedl must be the oldest in the Cenedl so far as the ninth degree of kindred, who is in full strength of body and mind. The same process which in the case of the Irish tribe had created a class of territorial lords or Flaith, no doubt gave rise to the similar class whom we find fully developed in the Welsh law. These were the Uchelwyr or Breyr, sometimes termed Mab Uchelwyr, just as the Irish Flaith appear as Mac Oclaich, and their Latin equivalent was Optimates. When a family succeeded in retaining possession of the same portion of land for a certain period, they were recognised as proprietors of it, and entered the class of territorial lords. Thus in the Laws of Gwynedd, ‘Whosoever shall claim land and soil by kin and descent, let him show his kin and descent from the stock from whence he is derived; and if he be a fourth man, he is a proprietor because a fourth man becomes a proprietor;’ and in the Laws of Gwent, ‘a dadenhudd is the tilling by a person of land tilled by his father before him. In the fourth degree a person becomes a proprietor,—his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, and himself the fourth.’^[226] The servile class consisted of two kinds. First, those of native race termed Taeog or Villanus, and the Caeth or prædial serf. The former class was analogous to the Daer Ceile or bond tenants, and the latter to the Sencleithe of the Irish.

Besides the occupiers of the soil, who were native members of the tribe, there was a class of foreign settlers analogous to the Fuidhir of the Irish, who were termed Alltudion or strangers, and were settled on the waste lands.

The land which formed originally the common property of the tribe now appears as consisting of the Tir Gwelyawg or inheritance land, similar to the Irish Orba. Part was held in demesne and cultivated by the Alltudion or stranger villains, and the Caethion, or prædial serfs; and part occupied by the Taeog, or native members of the tribe, who had become his tenants. There was also the Tir Bwrdd or mensal land, and the Tir Cylladus or geldable land, also termed Tir Cyfrif or register land, which was divided among the Aillt or native members of the tribe.^[227] The mode in which the land was occupied will, however, be better understood in connection with the system of land measurement which appears in these laws.

It is thus given in the Laws of Gwynedd. The smallest denomination of land was the Erw or acre. It was a ridge of land. The measure was what was termed the long yoke of sixteen feet, the breadth consisted of two yokes, and the length was thirty times its breadth. It thus contained 3413 square yards, that is, somewhat less than three-fourths of an imperial acre. The basis of this system is the number four. Four of these Erws formed a Tyddyn or man’s house, that is, the homestead of a single family, and four Tyddyns made a Randir or division of land. Four Randirs formed a Gavael, and four Gavaels the Tref or townland. Four Trefs made a Maenawl. Twelve Maenawls and two Trefs formed a Cymwd, and two Cymwds a Cantrev, so called because it thus contained one hundred Trefs. The Cymwd, however, appears to be the true unit in this system, for we are told that the two Trefs which it contained, besides the twelve Maenawls, were for the use of the Brenin or king. One was his Maertrev land, and the other for his waste and summer pasture. There were thus, we are told, four legal Erws of tillage in every Tyddyn; sixteen in every Randir; sixty-four in every Gavael; two hundred and fifty-six in the Tref; one thousand and twenty-four in every Maenawl; twelve thousand two hundred and eighty-eight in the twelve Maenawls. In the two Trefs which pertain to the court are to be five hundred and twelve Erws; the whole of that, when summed up, is twelve thousand and eight hundred Erws in the Cymwd,^[228] or about 9600 imperial acres.

The Tref thus, in the main, corresponds to the Ballyboe or ploughgate of the Irish system, and the fifty Trefs of the Cymwd were thus distributed among the people. Sixteen Trefs formed the Tir Cyfrif or register land, occupied by the Bonedic or free members of the tribe. Eight Trefs, or two Maenawls, were assigned to the Cynghellawr and the Maer who represented the king in the Cymwd, and divided the register land among the people. Twenty-four Trefs, or six Maenawls, were the Tir Gwelyawg or inheritance land, possessed by the free Uchelwyr; and the two Trefs which remained over were the king’s Tir Bwrdd or mensal land. Under the Uchelwyr there was a similar distribution of land, and it is obvious that what was originally the common land of the tribe, had now come to be viewed as the property of the king; and the Bonedic, or original free occupiers of the land, now appear as the king’s Aillts. Though, like the Irish Ceile, they came to occupy a dependent position in relation to the superior, their original mode of occupation of the soil remained unchanged, and the Maer and Cynghellawr are directed to share this land equally between all in the Tref or township, and on that account it is called Tir Cyfrif or register land. On the other hand, the sons succeeded equally to the Tir Gwelyawg or inheritance land, and if they failed, it went to their first and second cousins, after whom there was no further division, a succession very similar to the Irish Gavelcine.

This system of land-measures was not, however, uniform, for we are told that Bleddyn, a prince of Gwynedd and Powis, altered the size of the Tyddyn or smallest holding from four Erws to twelve Erws when held by an Uchelwr, eight Erws when held by an Aillt, and four when held by a Godaeog or superior Taeog,^[229] and in the Laws of Dyved we find a still greater variety. In these laws the Tref or township in the free manors is to consist of four Randirs, instead of sixteen as in the Laws of Gwynedd, and the Randir is to contain three hundred and twelve Erws, ‘so that the owner may have in the three hundred Erws arable pasture and fuel wood and space for buildings on the twelve Erws.’ The Erw, however, is smaller than that in the Laws of Gwynedd, for while it is of the same breadth, viz., the long yoke of sixteen feet, it is only sixteen times as long in place of thirty. Again, in place of the Maenawl containing a uniform quantity of four Trefs, the lowland Maenawl, where the land is more fertile, is to consist of seven Trefs, and the upland Maenawl thirteen.^[230] The land-measures as given in the Code of Gwent are very similar, but with some variations. There is the same direction that there are to be four Randirs in the Tref and three hundred and twelve Erws in the Randir, but the Erw contains eighteen rods of eighteen feet in place of sixteen yokes in the length, and there are to be thirteen Trefs in every Maenawl, except those of the Taeog Trefs, which contain only seven. Of the four Randirs in the free Tref three are for occupancy and the fourth pasturage for the three; but in the Taeog Tref there are only three Randirs, the third being pasturage for the other two.^[231]

The original rights of the free members of the tribe, on which their possession of the register land is based, are thus defined in the Triads of the Social State:—‘There are three original rights of every native Welshman (Cymro Cynwhynawl),—first, the possession, without restriction, of five Erws of land; second, a right of determining the constitutional law of the country under protection and in right of the Pencenedl; and third, a right to the freedom of the country in general, that is to say, that he be free to go whither he will without loss of privilege or verdict, unless when in actual service of the country, or of a court of law.’^[232]

The burdens upon the land and its possessors were as follows:—The sixteen Trefs in the Cymwd possessed by the Aillt paid a rent in kind, termed Dawnbwyd, which was similar to the Biatad or food-rent of the Irish system, and were subject to the Cylch and Dovraith of the superior, or refection and quartering, equivalent to the Conmedha or Coigny of the Irish. From the Trefs possessed by the Uchelwyr, and the two manors belonging to the Maer and Cynghellawr, the king received a Gwestva or food-rent, which corresponds to the Bestighi or food-rent of the house paid by every rank in the Irish tribe to the Ri Tuath; but in the Welsh system the payment in kind was, in part, commuted for a money payment, and we find no trace of the subsidy or gift of stock by the superior, in proportion to the return in the shape of food-rent, which characterises the whole relations of the different grades in the Irish tribe to each other.^[233]

Besides these regular burdens, there were two that may be termed casual. These were the Ebidiw or relief, payable to the superior by the heir of a defunct vassal; and secondly, the Amobr, Gobr Merch, or maiden fee, that is, a fee paid to the superior by the person subject to that payment on the marriage of a daughter. By the Welsh laws the Amobyrs of the daughters are said to be of equal amount with the Ebidiws of their fathers, and there were three Ebidiws—an Ebidiw of a pound, an Ebidiw of six score pence, and an Ebidiw of three score pence. The first was paid by the principal officers of the palace—by the Pencenedl and by the officers of the country, the Maer and the Cynghellawr. The second by the superior officers, the Uchelwr or Breyr, and the Gwahalaeth or son of a lord; and the third by the king’s Taeog, an Arddelwman and an Alltud whom the king has enfranchised.^[234]