Welsh Traitors in a Scottish Chronicle: Dafydd ap Gruffudd, Penwyn and the Transmission of National Memory

Abstract

The focus of this article is the capture and execution of Dafydd ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd in 1283. Various texts found in medieval and Early Modern manuscripts (including a notable example from Scotland) show a continuing interest in these events, including the identification of an individual blamed for Dafydd's betrayal. The article will consider the veracity of these texts and also the repeated tendency to relate Dafydd's execution to the events of the Glyndŵr rebellion of the early fifteenth century. It will argue that poetry that lies outside the 'mainstream' bardic tradition played a crucial role in the transmission and reinterpretation of national memory.