surcôte or surcoat: outer tunic or jacket, often of rich material, worn over armour and bearing the owner’s coat of arms.

uterine: ‘of the womb’, i.e. offspring of one mother by different fathers.

verteagle: heraldic symbol showing a green eagle with wings spread on a yellow ground. Personal badge of Warwick’s father Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury.

vintner: a dealer and importer of wine.

*wimple: woman’s headdress covering hair, by mid 15thC becoming restricted to nuns and widows. (see coif)

WELSH WORDS AND NAMES

Abermaw: name for the present day town of Barmouth, at the mouth of the River Mawddach.

ab: son of (before a name beginning with a vowel)

ap: son of (before a name beginning with a consonant)

Bethan: a form of the English name Elizabeth.

brwd: praise or enthusiasm – also a poem written in that vein.

Dai: a shortening of Dafydd = David in English

Dewi: an affectionate shortening of Dafydd, often used for St David, patron saint of Wales.

eisteddfod: a festival of music and poetry.

ferch: daughter of

Fychan: Welsh spelling of the English surname Vaughan and pronounced much the same.

Evan: pron. Evin A form of the English name John

Emrys: a form of the English name Ambrose

Glyn Dŵr: pron. Glyn Dour. Welsh hero of a failed rebellion against the English at the beginning of 15thC. The English called him Glendower. By tradition he was Owen Tudor’s godfather and namesake, related through his mother.

Gwyladus: Welsh spelling of English name Gladys and pronounced the same.

Hywel: pronounced Howell in English.

Maredudd: a man’s name, pronounced Meredith in English.

mab: son

merch: daughter

Merlin: legendary bard or wiseman who taught King Arthur.

Sian: equivalent to the English girl’s name Jane or Joan. Pronounced Shaan.

Tudur: sometimes spelled Tudŵr. A form of the English name Theodore and the basis of the Tudor surname. The Welsh did not use surnames but were known by the name of their fathers and grandfathers. So Owen Tudor was originally Owain ap (son of) Maredudd, which was his father’s name, but he was also recorded as Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudŵr (his grandfather’s name) and it was this name that stuck, with an English spelling. Otherwise the dynasty would have been the Meredith and not the Tudor dynasty.

Tŷ Cerrig: House of Stone.

Ynys Mon: The Isle of Anglesey.

Yr Wyddfa: The Great Mountain, now known as Snowdon.

Y mab daragon: ‘The son of prophecy’ in bardic ode, destined to restore Wales to true British rule.

AUTHOR’S NOTES