The  story  is  briefly  this:  When  Owen  Gwynnedd,
Prince  of  North  Wales,  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  a
strife  arose  among  his  sons  as  to  who  should  reign  in  his
stead.  The  eldest  legitimate  son,  Edward,  was  put  aside
as  unfit  to  govern  "because  of  the  maime  upon  his  face,"
he  was  known  as  "Edward  with  the  broken-nose,"  and
the  government  was  seized  by  Howel  who  was  illegiti
mate,  "a  base  son  begotten  of  an  Irish  woman."  But
the  next  brother,  David,  refusing  allegiance  to  this  Howel,
and  civil  war  followed.  At  length  the  usurper  was  killed
in  battle,  and  the  rightful  heritage  established,  David
holding  the  reins  of  government  as  regent  till  the  son  of
Edward,  eldest  brother,  was  of  age.  In  this  contention,
Madoc  took  no  part,  but  endeavored  to  escape  from  it;
which  inasmuch  as  it  was  a  struggle  for  the  lineal  suc
cession  of  his  family,  was  not  much  to  his  credit.  Leav
ing  his  brothers  (about  1170)  to  fight  it  out  among  them,
he  got  together  a  fleet  and  put  to  sea  in  search  of  adven
tures.  He  sailed  westward,  leaving  Ireland  to  the  North,
which  it  may  be  remarked,  is  nearly  the  only  thing  he
could  do  in  sailing  from  Wales,  unless  he  laid  his  course
northward  through  the  Irish  Sea.  But  at  length  he  came
to  an  unknown  country,  where  the  natives  differed  from
any  people  he  had  ever  seen  before,  and  all  things  were
strange  and  new.  Seeing  that  this  land  was  pleasant
and  fertile,  he  put  on  shore  and  left  behind  most  of  those
in  his  ships  and  returned  to  Wales.
