In Kidwelly castle lived Sir Elidir Dhu, knight of the Holy Sepulchre. He had two sons, Gruffydd and Rhys, and one daughter Nest. Sir Elidir called his young daughter to him. “How like thy dead mother thou art!” he said. “She too was fair and beautiful gentle and kind.” Gladys, Nest’s cousin, stood by, a dark scowl on her face. How she hated the beautiful Princess Nest. Gladys paced the terrace of Kidwelly castle, had her father not been killed in battle, she would not have been obliged to seek shelter in the home of her uncle, Sir Elidir. Gladys knew that Gruffydd, her cousin loved her but she tossed her head haughtily. She would marry a greater prince than Gruffydd. Was she not descended on her mother’s side from the great welsh prince Cadifor? “Gladys, Gladys!” Nest called. “Wynne, the blind harpist is here. Come cousin, he will play and we will dance.” Gladys turned away, her mind filled with dark thoughts of hatred against the lovely Princess Nest. A little later Gladys discovered that nest loved a certain Norman Knight who lived in the neighbourhood. He was called Sir Walter Mansell. “Here is my chance “ Gladys whispered to herself as she sat alone in her room in the south tower. “I know my uncle does not approve of this Norman Knight. Shame on a Welsh Princes that she should love a Norman!” Gladys sat brooding, thinking out plan after plan. She paced her room, and then stood at her window, watching the waters of the river Gwendraeth flow out to sea. “I vow that I will destroy their love” she said. “Gruffydd loves me, I know. I care naught for him, but I will pretend I love him and so tell him evil things of Nest” At this time a call to arms rang across Europe. The Holy Sepulchre- that is, the Tomb of Christ was in danger of falling into the hands of the Saracen Turks. The clash of armour was heard in the courtyard of Kidwelly castle as knights and pages prepared to answer the call. Sir Elidir left his home to join the crusade, and travelled far to join the forces with those who went to fight for the cross. With him went his younger son, Rhys. Gruffydd remained in charge of Kidwelly castle during his father’s absence. Sir Walter Mansell’s land lay in Glamorganshire, but he had an estate in Trimsaran, near Kidwelly. The knight often met Nest secretly at a bridge across the river Gwendraeth at a point midway between Kidwelly castle and Sir Walter’s home. Gladys knew of these meetings, and carried evil tales to Gruffydd. Among the servants and retainers at Kidwelly castle was a man named Meurig Maney. He was crafty and cruel, but he held a place of importance in the castle, for he was a foster-brother of the lady Gladys. Although of evil mind Meurig loved Gladys, and he was prepared to do anything that she bade him. Gladys summoned Meurig to her room. “Meurig, I trust you” she said. “You are my only faithful friend. If the lord Gruffydd orders you to do something this evening you must do it, for the command is mine.” It was a fine evening in early autumn. Nest hurried from the castle to her usual trysting place. “Here I come,” she called gaily to her lover as she ran along a leaf strewn path. “No-one could have a lover more faithful than thou, my Walter.” Sir Walter raised his hand in greeting. As he reached the middle of the bridge, Sir Walter fell. At the same time, a man who had been hiding in the trees near by sprang out upon the knight. Newt ran forward, she saw the assassin hurl her lover’s body into the quick-flowing river below. Shrieking in horror she jumped into the water after Sir Walter. Their bodies were carried out to sea, and a few days later were found in the quicksand of Cefn Sidan, clasped in each other’s arms. The lady Gladys was sitting in her bower when the fatal news was brought. “A sad tale,” she exclaimed to the maidens around her, “but there could be no happy ending when Nest loved Sir Walter. I had done all I could to save her from her foolishness.” Gladys shrugged her shoulders. “Nest has brought this fate upon herself. I can only guess at what happened. The lovers must have tried to elope, the tide must have overtaken them, and so they were drowned.” Doubting the truth of Gladys’s word the maidens moved away. On the parapets and in the courtyards they whispered to the grooms and the pages. The men repeated the tale told by the fisherman who had found their bodies. They spoke of an ugly knife wound near Sir Walter’s heart, such a wound as only an assassin could have made. Time passed on. When Sir Elidir, in the Holy Land heard of the death of Nest, he died broken hearted. Another crusade was proclaimed. More knights were needed to fight in the Holy Land, and Sir Gruffydd left Kidwelly castle to join in the war. Among his many followers was Meurig Maney. Soon after reaching Palestine, Sir Gruffydd died. Sir Rhys was now the heir to Kidwelly castle and all it’s lands. He returned home and married the Lady Gladys. She cared but little for her husband, nor in later years did she show any love for her sons Nicholas and Thomas. A heavy gloom hung over Kidwelly castle, few were happy there. One day news was brought to the Lady Gladys that Meurig Maney had returned from the Holy Land to the castle. “I must welcome him, I suppose,” muttered Gladys sullenly, “ for he is my foster brother.” The messenger explained that he as lying sick in his room. He was very weak, and the herb doctor had said he would not live. Lady Gladys climbed the stone staircase to Meurig’s room high in the lonely turret. The room was filled with the light of the setting sun, and in a shadowed corner knelt a priest holding a cross and praying. “Come hither,” beckoned Meurig to the Lady and the priest. “I must tell you my tale before I die. The spirit of princess Nest has followed me since the day I killed Sir Walter. O how I have regretted my evil deed.” Lady Gladys tried to soothe the dying Meurig. She did not want the priest to know it was she who was to blame for the double tragedy. Meurig went on; “sleeping or waking, I hear the wild shriek of the beautiful princess Nest. I had hoped that joining in the crusade, I would meet my death. I was punished severely in that I was spared to live.” Meurig paused for breath, for he was very weak. The priest broke the silence and prayed in Latin. The sick man raised himself on his straw pallet his face wearing a strange expression, and his eyes looking wild and fierce. “I have seen Nest again and again” he said. “It was when Sir Elidir died that she first came to me. She spoke so gently that I was yet more ashamed at the evil I had done. She told me her spirit was doomed to walk the earth because she had taken her own life. Only when in years to come a marriage shall take place between one of her family and a member of the family of Mansell will her spirit be at rest. Comforting me then, she told me she would give warning of the approaching death of each member of her family by appearing on the Gwendraeth Bridge.” Meurig sank back on his bed and died. The Lady Gladys brooded long over those words he had spoken. Many declared that Meurig had spoken the truth and that Nest often appeared at Pont Ysgrech, or the bridge of the White spirit. Ffarwel i Blwy’ Llangower A’r Bala dirion deg; Ffarwel fy anwyl gariad Nid wyf yn enwi neb. ‘Rwyn mynd i wlad y Saeson a’m calon fel y plwm; i ddawnsio o flaen y delyn ac i chwareu o flaen y drwm.
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