Dafydd Gam
Encyclopedia
Dafydd ap Llewelyn ap Hywel (c. 1380 – October 25, 1415), better known as Dafydd Gam or Davy Gam, was a Welsh
medieval nobleman
, a prominent opponent of Owain Glyndŵr
, who died at the Battle of Agincourt
fighting for King Henry V
, King of England
in that victory against the French. The name "Gam" is taken from a Welsh
word for "lame/deformed" (from which 'gammy' , as in 'gammy leg', may be derived), and stories about him give him a characteristic squint which may have led to his nickname 'gam' . It is possible that he may have lost an eye. Regarded as a traitor ("Crooked David") by some Welshmen, he is regarded as a hero by others; his reputation has waxed and waned with those of his enemy Glyndŵr and his ally King Henry V.
. Dafydd Gam was the grandson of Hywel Fychan, who held the manor of Parc Llettis near Llanover
in Monmouthshire
near Abergavenny
, and fourth in descent from Einion Sais who held a castle at Pen Pont on the River Usk
near Brecon
and who had served at both the Battle of Crecy
and the Battle of Poitiers
. Their power base had developed mainly as consistently loyal supporters of the de Bohun family who were both earls of Hereford
and Lords of Brecon from the thirteenth century onwards. Dafydd Gam's father, Llywelyn ap Hywel, purchased the estate of Penywaun near Brecon
and Dafydd is thought to have been born there. His family was described as "a striking example of a native family that flourished under the rule of an English aristocratic family." Under Llywelyn ap Hywel, the family’s traditional loyalty was transferred to the new Lord of Brecon, Henry Bolingbroke
, who had married Mary de Bohun
in the 1380s. Some say Dafydd was previously in service to Henry's father John of Gaunt and, having killed a rival in Brecon High Street, had to leave Wales temporarily. Dafydd Gam was certainly being paid the substantial annuity of 40 marks by Henry’s estate in 1399, even before Bolingbroke became King, and later he and his brothers were described as King’s esquires. It seems likely they were prominent partisans of Henry in South East Wales as he gathered support for his overthrow of Richard II
around 1399.
When the Owain Glyndŵr
rebellion broke out in 1400, the family’s traditional loyalty to their liege lord remained unshaken and they played a leading role in opposition to the rebellion in the area. Their lands in and around Brecon
became a target for Glyndŵr's attacks, and were extensively damaged as early as 1402-1403. The Scottish chronicler Walter Bower
names Dafydd as a leader in the crushing defeat of Glyndŵr's men at the Battle of Pwll Melyn
near Usk
on 5 May 1405. After the battle, 300 of Glyndŵr's men were executed and his son, Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr
, was captured. Gam’s local knowledge might well have played a part in the Crown's victory here and in other battles like that at Grosmont
around the same time, and may have won over local Welshmen to fight against Glyndŵr. The family's loyalty was rewarded with the gift of some of Glyndŵrs' supporters' confiscated estates in Cardiganshire. In 1412 Dafydd Gam was captured by Glyndŵr’s men and estimates of the amount paid as his ransom recorded at the time, range from 200 to 700 marks, a large amount. That it was paid directly and speedily from the King’s estates in Wales indicates the esteem in which Gam was held by Henry. Glyndŵr had made Gam swear an oath to never bear arms against him again or oppose him in any other way. On his release Gam told King Henry of Glyndŵr's whereabouts and attacked Glyndwr's men. Glyndŵr had Gam's Brecon estates attacked and burned in retaliation and his Brecon house was razed.
's leadership in the campaign against Glyndŵr, Dafydd would have known the new King crowned in 1413 personally, and perhaps even fought alongside him. Records show that Dafydd Gam served with three foot archers in the Battle of Agincourt
campaign. His death in the battle was a fact noted in several contemporary chronicles. There is much controversy about whether Gam was knighted at the battle. His example shows that Welshmen continued to fight in the English army after the Glyndŵr rebellion.
Stories of Gam’s exploits at Battle of Agincourt
in which he saved Henry V’s life, and that he was knighted either posthumously or as he was dying on the field of victory at Agincourt by King Henry V as a result, are not vouched for in contemporary sources and have thus been discounted by many historians. According to the legend the intervention occurred during the counter-charge of John I, Duke of Alençon
, which certainly is historical, leading to the wounding of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
, and Henry fighting hand-to-hand in the late stage of the battle. The King was hard pressed and the Duke of Alençon supposedly cut an ornament from Henry’s crown with a sword blow. Then a group of Welsh knights in the King’s bodyguard led by Dafydd Gam intervened to save Henry's life, only for some to be killed in doing so, including Dafydd himself, and his son in law Sir Roger Vaughan. One of those supposedly involved in this exploit was Sir William ap Thomas who survived the battle. Some accounts claim Dafydd slew the Duke of Alençon himself. This story was being frequently told by the Tudor period in histories of the campaign and by the descendants of those involved and was widely accepted as the truth at that time. Although both Gam and Vaughan did die in the battle, the exact circumstances of their deaths are unknown. Gam’s reputation was still very much alive in nineteenth-century Wales. George Borrow
said of him: “where he achieved that glory which will for ever bloom, dying, covered with wounds, on the field of Agincourt after saving the life of the king, to whom in the dreadest and most critical moment of the fight he stuck closer than a brother.” Juliet Barker, while not accepting the rest of the legend, states in her authoritative history of Agincourt that "Llewelyn was knighted on the field, only to fall in the battle." She says Dafydd's Welsh comrade, and posthumous son-in-law, Sir William ap Thomas
may have been knighted at Agincourt.
, Seren y Fenni , made two good marriages, the first to Sir Roger Vaughan
, who also died at Agincourt. Her second was to Sir William ap Thomas
of Raglan Castle
who survived the battle. Her son became the extremely powerful William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1423-1469)
and took the surname Herbert, later to become one of the best known names in the nobility. All these noble connections ensured Dafydd Gam's name remained a celebrated one.
in 1404. The still standing Royal House in that town is where, according to local lore, he was imprisoned when the attempt failed. The legends differ on his fate after the attempt failed some state Glyndŵr in a generous gesture let Gam go soon after the Parliament, despite Gam’s refusal to submit, a decision he was later to regret. Others claim he was imprisoned for years, but given Gam’s seeming participation in the Battle of Pwll Melyn
in 1405 they certainly cannot be true. The stories concering his rivalry with Glyndŵr include satirical englyn
in Welsh supposedly composed by Glyndŵr himself on his rival after burning his house to the ground.
These stories also contain descriptions of Gam recorded by George Borrow
: “He was small of stature and deformed in person, though possessed of great strength. He was very sensitive of injury, though quite as alive to kindness; a thorough-going enemy and a thorough-going friend.” Whatever the truth of these tales there seems no doubt that Glyndŵr and his men, and popular tradition, regarded Dafydd as one of the chief enemies of the rebellion.
Gam is a key character in John Cowper Powys
's novel Owen Glendower.
The stories certainly testify to Dafydd Gam’s position as typifying the loyal and valiant Welshman by the Tudor period. He is better known in England as "Davy Gam," by which name he is mentioned briefly in Shakespeare's
Henry V
(4.8.102) as the last name in the short list of the noble fallen read out to King Henry. He may have made an even larger contribution to the play for as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states Dafydd: “may indeed, as has been suggested, be the model for Shakespeare's Fluellen
, the archetypal Welshman.” This theory making Dafydd Gam one of the sources for the play has long been discussed, as early as 1812 it was said “There can be little doubt but that Shakspeare, in his burlesque character of Fluellen, intended David Gam.”
Shakespeare captures the local Monmouthshire dialect
(still readily to be heard in the town of Monmouth and the hill villages of Trellech
and Catbrook
) with its glottal sounds.
, near Abergavenny
in Monmouthshire
(where just the moat remains today http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/142271, at Hen Gwrt near the modern-day village). There is a legend or story that persists in this part of Monmouthshire that Davy Gam, and all his children had a turn in their eye making them cross-eyed and that if they all linked hands they could reach from the church door to Hen Gwrt. Dafydd Gam is commemorated in a stained glass window, of unknown date, at Llantilio Crossenny church, in the north wall. The inscription is in Latin and the transcription reads 'David Gam, golden haired knight, Lord of the manor of Llantilio Crossenny, killed on the field of Agincourt 1415'.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
medieval nobleman
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, a prominent opponent of Owain Glyndŵr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
, who died at the Battle of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
fighting for King Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
, King of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in that victory against the French. The name "Gam" is taken from a Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
word for "lame/deformed" (from which 'gammy' , as in 'gammy leg', may be derived), and stories about him give him a characteristic squint which may have led to his nickname 'gam' . It is possible that he may have lost an eye. Regarded as a traitor ("Crooked David") by some Welshmen, he is regarded as a hero by others; his reputation has waxed and waned with those of his enemy Glyndŵr and his ally King Henry V.
Biography
Dafydd Gam was a member of one of the most prominent Welsh families in Breconshire. His recent pedigree was 'Dafydd Gam ap Llywelyn ap Hywel Fychan ap Hywel ap Einion Sais', but beyond that the family claimed an ancient Welsh lineage going back to the Kings of BrycheiniogBrycheiniog
Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it...
. Dafydd Gam was the grandson of Hywel Fychan, who held the manor of Parc Llettis near Llanover
Llanover
- Location :Llanover is located four miles south of Abergavenny just off the A4042 road to Pontypool.- History & Amenities :Llanover is associated with Lady Llanover who lived locally all her life and certainly left her mark on the village and the surrounding Llanover estate, still privately owned...
in Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
near Abergavenny
Abergavenny
Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
, and fourth in descent from Einion Sais who held a castle at Pen Pont on the River Usk
River Usk
The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain of mid-Wales, in the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and...
near Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
and who had served at both the Battle of Crecy
Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
and the Battle of Poitiers
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt....
. Their power base had developed mainly as consistently loyal supporters of the de Bohun family who were both earls of Hereford
Earl of Hereford
The title of Earl of Hereford was created six times in the Peerage of England. See also Duke of Hereford, Viscount Hereford. Dates indicate the years the person held the title for.-Earls of Hereford, First Creation :*Swegen Godwinson...
and Lords of Brecon from the thirteenth century onwards. Dafydd Gam's father, Llywelyn ap Hywel, purchased the estate of Penywaun near Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
and Dafydd is thought to have been born there. His family was described as "a striking example of a native family that flourished under the rule of an English aristocratic family." Under Llywelyn ap Hywel, the family’s traditional loyalty was transferred to the new Lord of Brecon, Henry Bolingbroke
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
, who had married Mary de Bohun
Mary de Bohun
Mary de Bohun was the first wife of King Henry IV of England and the mother of King Henry V. Mary was never queen, as she died before her husband came to the throne.-Early life:...
in the 1380s. Some say Dafydd was previously in service to Henry's father John of Gaunt and, having killed a rival in Brecon High Street, had to leave Wales temporarily. Dafydd Gam was certainly being paid the substantial annuity of 40 marks by Henry’s estate in 1399, even before Bolingbroke became King, and later he and his brothers were described as King’s esquires. It seems likely they were prominent partisans of Henry in South East Wales as he gathered support for his overthrow of Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
around 1399.
When the Owain Glyndŵr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
rebellion broke out in 1400, the family’s traditional loyalty to their liege lord remained unshaken and they played a leading role in opposition to the rebellion in the area. Their lands in and around Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
became a target for Glyndŵr's attacks, and were extensively damaged as early as 1402-1403. The Scottish chronicler Walter Bower
Walter Bower
Walter Bower , Scottish chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian.He was abbot of Inchcolm Abbey from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom of James I, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris on the business of the...
names Dafydd as a leader in the crushing defeat of Glyndŵr's men at the Battle of Pwll Melyn
Battle of Pwll Melyn
The Battle of Pwll Melyn, also known as the Battle of Usk, was part of the Welsh War of Independence against English rule that lasted from 1400 to 1415. This key battle in the Glyndŵr Rising occurred in the spring of 1405. The defeat of the Welsh rebels here was devastating and included the loss of...
near Usk
Usk
Usk is a small town in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated 10 miles northeast of Newport.The River Usk flows through the town and is spanned by an ancient, arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. A castle above the town overlooks the ancient Anglo-Welsh border crossing - the river can...
on 5 May 1405. After the battle, 300 of Glyndŵr's men were executed and his son, Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr
Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndwr
Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr (c.1375-c.1412 was the eldest son of Margaret Hanmer and Owain Glyndŵr the disinherited Prince of the old Royal house of Powys Fadog who led a major revolt in Wales between 1400 and c.1416.- Early life :...
, was captured. Gam’s local knowledge might well have played a part in the Crown's victory here and in other battles like that at Grosmont
Grosmont, Monmouthshire
Grosmont is a village in Monmouthshire, Wales near Abergavenny.- History :Grosmont Castle is a major feature of the village and was the birthplace of Henry, 1st Duke of Lancaster. St...
around the same time, and may have won over local Welshmen to fight against Glyndŵr. The family's loyalty was rewarded with the gift of some of Glyndŵrs' supporters' confiscated estates in Cardiganshire. In 1412 Dafydd Gam was captured by Glyndŵr’s men and estimates of the amount paid as his ransom recorded at the time, range from 200 to 700 marks, a large amount. That it was paid directly and speedily from the King’s estates in Wales indicates the esteem in which Gam was held by Henry. Glyndŵr had made Gam swear an oath to never bear arms against him again or oppose him in any other way. On his release Gam told King Henry of Glyndŵr's whereabouts and attacked Glyndwr's men. Glyndŵr had Gam's Brecon estates attacked and burned in retaliation and his Brecon house was razed.
Agincourt
Given King Henry VHenry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
's leadership in the campaign against Glyndŵr, Dafydd would have known the new King crowned in 1413 personally, and perhaps even fought alongside him. Records show that Dafydd Gam served with three foot archers in the Battle of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
campaign. His death in the battle was a fact noted in several contemporary chronicles. There is much controversy about whether Gam was knighted at the battle. His example shows that Welshmen continued to fight in the English army after the Glyndŵr rebellion.
Stories of Gam’s exploits at Battle of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
in which he saved Henry V’s life, and that he was knighted either posthumously or as he was dying on the field of victory at Agincourt by King Henry V as a result, are not vouched for in contemporary sources and have thus been discounted by many historians. According to the legend the intervention occurred during the counter-charge of John I, Duke of Alençon
John I of Alençon
John I of Alençon, called the Sage , was the son of Peter II of Alençon and Marie de Chamaillard. In 1404, he succeeded his father as Count of Alençon and Perche. He was made Duke of Alençon in 1414.He commanded the second division of the French army at the Battle of Agincourt...
, which certainly is historical, leading to the wounding of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Pembroke, KG , also known as Humphrey Plantagenet, was "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of king Henry IV of England by his first wife, Mary de Bohun, brother to king Henry V of England, and uncle to the...
, and Henry fighting hand-to-hand in the late stage of the battle. The King was hard pressed and the Duke of Alençon supposedly cut an ornament from Henry’s crown with a sword blow. Then a group of Welsh knights in the King’s bodyguard led by Dafydd Gam intervened to save Henry's life, only for some to be killed in doing so, including Dafydd himself, and his son in law Sir Roger Vaughan. One of those supposedly involved in this exploit was Sir William ap Thomas who survived the battle. Some accounts claim Dafydd slew the Duke of Alençon himself. This story was being frequently told by the Tudor period in histories of the campaign and by the descendants of those involved and was widely accepted as the truth at that time. Although both Gam and Vaughan did die in the battle, the exact circumstances of their deaths are unknown. Gam’s reputation was still very much alive in nineteenth-century Wales. George Borrow
George Borrow
George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe. They figure prominently in his work...
said of him: “where he achieved that glory which will for ever bloom, dying, covered with wounds, on the field of Agincourt after saving the life of the king, to whom in the dreadest and most critical moment of the fight he stuck closer than a brother.” Juliet Barker, while not accepting the rest of the legend, states in her authoritative history of Agincourt that "Llewelyn was knighted on the field, only to fall in the battle." She says Dafydd's Welsh comrade, and posthumous son-in-law, Sir William ap Thomas
William ap Thomas
William ap Thomas was a member of the Welsh gentry family that came to be known as the Herbert family through his son William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and is an ancestor of the current Earls of Pembroke....
may have been knighted at Agincourt.
Descendants
Some of Dafydd's descendants, who adopted the surname 'Games' to mark their connection to him, remained one of the most powerful families in the Breconshire area until Stuart times. They were noted for their support for Welsh bards. His beautiful daughter Gwladys ferch Dafydd GamGwladys ferch Dafydd Gam
Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam was a Welsh noblewoman, the daughter of Dafydd ap Llewelyn ap Hywel, otherwise known as Dafydd Gam, who was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415....
, Seren y Fenni , made two good marriages, the first to Sir Roger Vaughan
Sir Roger Vaughan
Sir Roger Vaughan of Tretower Court, was the son of Welsh noblewoman Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam and Sir Roger Vaughan of Bredwardine, who fought and died with Gwladys' father, Dafydd Gam in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.-Marriages:...
, who also died at Agincourt. Her second was to Sir William ap Thomas
William ap Thomas
William ap Thomas was a member of the Welsh gentry family that came to be known as the Herbert family through his son William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and is an ancestor of the current Earls of Pembroke....
of Raglan Castle
Raglan Castle
Raglan Castle is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th-centuries, when the successive ruling families of the Herberts and the Somersets created a luxurious,...
who survived the battle. Her son became the extremely powerful William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1423-1469)
William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1423-1469)
William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke KG , known as "Black William", was the son of William ap Thomas founder of Raglan Castle and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, and grandson of Dafydd Gam, an adherent of King Henry V of England....
and took the surname Herbert, later to become one of the best known names in the nobility. All these noble connections ensured Dafydd Gam's name remained a celebrated one.
Legacy
Like his opponent Glyndŵr, Gam has gained a sheen of legend and many stories about him are late oral traditions, folklore and family legends which may be unreliable. Chief amongst them is the tale that he tried to assassinate Glyndŵr at his parliament at MachynllethMachynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
in 1404. The still standing Royal House in that town is where, according to local lore, he was imprisoned when the attempt failed. The legends differ on his fate after the attempt failed some state Glyndŵr in a generous gesture let Gam go soon after the Parliament, despite Gam’s refusal to submit, a decision he was later to regret. Others claim he was imprisoned for years, but given Gam’s seeming participation in the Battle of Pwll Melyn
Battle of Pwll Melyn
The Battle of Pwll Melyn, also known as the Battle of Usk, was part of the Welsh War of Independence against English rule that lasted from 1400 to 1415. This key battle in the Glyndŵr Rising occurred in the spring of 1405. The defeat of the Welsh rebels here was devastating and included the loss of...
in 1405 they certainly cannot be true. The stories concering his rivalry with Glyndŵr include satirical englyn
Englyn
Englyn is a traditional Welsh and Cornish short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as cynghanedd.- The Eight Types :There are eight types of...
in Welsh supposedly composed by Glyndŵr himself on his rival after burning his house to the ground.
These stories also contain descriptions of Gam recorded by George Borrow
George Borrow
George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe. They figure prominently in his work...
: “He was small of stature and deformed in person, though possessed of great strength. He was very sensitive of injury, though quite as alive to kindness; a thorough-going enemy and a thorough-going friend.” Whatever the truth of these tales there seems no doubt that Glyndŵr and his men, and popular tradition, regarded Dafydd as one of the chief enemies of the rebellion.
Gam is a key character in John Cowper Powys
John Cowper Powys
-Biography:Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, in 1872, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys , who was vicar of Montacute, Somerset for thirty-two years, and Mary Cowper Johnson, a descendent of the poet William Cowper. He came from a family of eleven children, many of whom were also...
's novel Owen Glendower.
The stories certainly testify to Dafydd Gam’s position as typifying the loyal and valiant Welshman by the Tudor period. He is better known in England as "Davy Gam," by which name he is mentioned briefly in Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
(4.8.102) as the last name in the short list of the noble fallen read out to King Henry. He may have made an even larger contribution to the play for as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states Dafydd: “may indeed, as has been suggested, be the model for Shakespeare's Fluellen
Fluellen
Fluellen is a fictional character in the play Henry V by William Shakespeare. Fluellen is a Welsh Captain, a leader of a contingent of troops in the small army of the English King while on campaign in France during the Hundred Years' War.-The name:...
, the archetypal Welshman.” This theory making Dafydd Gam one of the sources for the play has long been discussed, as early as 1812 it was said “There can be little doubt but that Shakspeare, in his burlesque character of Fluellen, intended David Gam.”
Fluellen: "If your Majesty is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps, which your Majesty knows, to this hour is an honourable badge of the service, and I do believe, your Majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's day".
King Henry: "I wear it for a memorable honour; for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman".
Shakespeare captures the local Monmouthshire dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
(still readily to be heard in the town of Monmouth and the hill villages of Trellech
Trellech
Trellech is a village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, near Monmouth and the location of an archaeological site. The village is designated as a Conservation Area....
and Catbrook
Catbrook
Catbrook is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.- Location :Catbrook is located six miles south of Monmouth and one mile north west of Tintern.- History & Amenities :...
) with its glottal sounds.
Monmouthshire Traditions
According to local legend one of Gam's homes was a moated manor house http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/55245 at Llantilio CrossennyLlantilio Crossenny
Llantilio Crossenny is a small village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, in the United Kingdom.- Location :The rural village of Llantilio Crossenny is situated between the two towns of Abergavenny and Monmouth on the B4223 road.- Amenities :...
, near Abergavenny
Abergavenny
Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
in Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
(where just the moat remains today http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/142271, at Hen Gwrt near the modern-day village). There is a legend or story that persists in this part of Monmouthshire that Davy Gam, and all his children had a turn in their eye making them cross-eyed and that if they all linked hands they could reach from the church door to Hen Gwrt. Dafydd Gam is commemorated in a stained glass window, of unknown date, at Llantilio Crossenny church, in the north wall. The inscription is in Latin and the transcription reads 'David Gam, golden haired knight, Lord of the manor of Llantilio Crossenny, killed on the field of Agincourt 1415'.