These englynion were written in empty space on three pages of the Hendregadredd Manuscript by one of several hands which added poems when the manuscript was in the home of Ieuan Llwyd of Glyn Aeron during the second quarter of the fourteenth century (Huws, 2000, 207–13, 221–2). The text has deteriorated badly because of the poor quality of the ink, and several parts are illegible. Some verses were also lost due to cropping of pages when the manuscript was rebound, and it is likely that this was originally a sequence of 50 englynion. The text was clearly in bad condition in the early 17th century when John Davies made his copy of the Hendregadredd Manuscript in BL 14869, since he copied only the first six lines of this poem. There is no other independent source, and the text must therefore remain incomplete.
The title of the poem in the Hendregadredd Manuscript is 'Eglynyon a gant dauid llwyd uab gwilim gam yr groc o gaer' ('Englynion which Dafydd Llwyd son of Gwilim Gam sang to the rood of Caer'). This is the only instance in the manuscripts of the poet's full name (although some later poets refer to him as the son of Gwilym Gam). Dafydd ap Gwilym certainly visited the house of Ieuan Llwyd, as his elegies to Ieuan's wife Angharad (9) and their son Rhydderch (10) show. It is therefore possible that this text is in Dafydd own hand. The script is textura, as would be expected of someone who learnt to write at Strata Florida about 1330. The hand is rather uneven, and is clearly not that of a professional scribe. The other two contemporary texts of Dafydd's poems, 'Marwnad Angharad' on the last page of the Hendregadredd Manuscript and 'Englynion y Cusan' (84) in the White Book of Rhydderch, are in cursive script. Of the three, this is the most likely to be in the poet's own hand according to Daniel Huws (2000, 221–2). The text itself is generally of the high quality that one would expect of a holograph copy (but note the errors in lines 92 and 143, and possibly also in 16 and 111). But it cannot be proved that this is Dafydd ap Gwilym's own hand, and the matter must remain only a strong possibility.
Thomas Parry did not include this poem in GDG. His main reason for rejecting it initially was that the poet is named as Dafydd Llwyd (GDG1 xiii). But in fact, although Dafydd ap Gwilym is not referred to by that name in any other manuscript, he does use the adjective 'llwyd' to describe himself in his own poems (e.g. 137.27). By the second edition of GDG Parry had changed his mind (GDG2 xix, 556; see also Y Casglwr 15 (1981), 5), but he did not see fit to include the poem, probably because of the defective state of the text. It was first edited by Ann Parry Owen in Gwaith Llywelyn Brydydd Hoddnant, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Hillyn ac Eraill (Aberystwyth, 1996), pp. 51–91, and this edition is heavily indebted to her work.
Parry assumed that Caer in this poem refers to Caerlleon (Chester) as it normally does in modern Welsh, and that assumption is quite understandable considering the poems to the famous rood of Chester which have survived from the time of Gruffudd ap Maredudd onwards (see Barry J. Lewis, Welsh Poetry and English Pilgrimage: Gruffudd ap Maredudd and the Rood of Chester (Aberystwyth, 2005)). However, it is quite clear from several references in the text that Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) is meant (see lines 100 and 120, and the reference to the River Towy in line 12). Although Caer is no longer used with reference to Carmarthen itself, the colloquial name for the county, Sir Gâr, indicates that it must have been common at some time, and there are numerous instances of Caer for the town in the poetry of Lewys Glyn Cothi (see GLGC p. 667). The town name almost certainly occurs in 'Y Pwll Mawn' ('hosanau / Cersi o Gaer', 59.37–8), since Carmarthen was a major centre of the wool trade, and there may be another example in 'Marwnad Angharad', 9. 29, 'digrifaf goreufun yng Nghaer' (although 'yng nghaer' was understood as a common noun in GDG).
The poem provides no definite evidence as to the location of the rood, but it was clearly situated in an ecclesiastical establishment within the walls of the town of Carmarthen. Note in particular teml (43), tŷ a phlas (162), a cysegrblas (28), plas being a borrwing from the French place in the sense of 'mansion'. This was therefore not the cross known to have been in the market square in front of the castle, nor could it be the crosses in Priory Street or Lammas Street, which were in any case outside the town walls. The castle chapel is a possibility, but since emphasis is placed on pilgrims journeying to venerate the rood (see lines 83–4, 124, 128 a 140), it is unlikely to have been in a private chapel of that kind. A more likely location is St Mary's Church near the market square, built in the 13th century for the use of the inhabitants of the town (see Terrence James, Carmarthen: An Archaeological and Topographical Survey (Carmarthen, 1980), 36–7). It is described as 'capelle Sancte Crucis de Kerm'dyn' in 1401 (The Episcopal Registers of the Diocese of St David's 1397–1518, I (London, 1917), 240) and as 'Rode Church' (the church of the cross) in 1546 (Arch Camb lxxxix (1934), 139). That name could refer to the nearby market cross, or to a cross within the church itself. No cross is mentioned in the inventory of the church made in 1548 (see J. T. Evans, The Church Plate of Carmarthenshire (London, 1907), 118), but since this seems to have been a portable cross it would be no surprise if it had disappeared by the time of the Protestant Reformation.
It is stated in the opening verse that this was a four-pointed cross (crog bedwarban), and it was therefore most likely to have been placed on the roodscreen in the church (see Lord, 2003, 168–71 for discussion of such crosses). It is referred to repeatedly as a delw ('image'), which suggests that it bore an image of Christ, most probably Christ victorious. It is also stated to be a delw fyw ('living image'), that is one believed to speak or behave like a living being occasionally (see GPC 927). It was gilded, and perhaps adorned with jewels. In line 109 a golden mantle is said to have been made by Englishmen for the cross. This was probably a colobium, a liturgical costume used to decorate crosses (see note by M. P. Bryant-Quinn on the Rood of Brecon, GIBH 161–2). Crosses sometimes had more than one such costume, and this may refer specifically to the practice of draping crosses in bright cloth on Maundy Thursday to celebrate Christ's victory. Easter ceremonies are certainly relevant to this poem, and the worshipping of the cross mentioned in lines 88–9 and 93 may refer to the veneratio crucis service held on Good Friday.
The practical purpose of this poem was undoubtedly to spread the fame of the rood in order to attract pilgrims as a source of income for the church in which it was kept (see lines 161–2). There is therefore no need to look for a secular patron for the poem, but nevertheless it may be relevant to note that Sir Rhys ap Gruffudd, a distant kinsman of Dafydd's, was constable of Carmarthen Castle in 1335. It is possible that the poem may have been commissioned by Sir Rhys in exultation of the town. The possible reference to Carmarthen in the elegy to Angharad cited above is also suggestive. If Angharad had visited Carmarthen in order to worship the rood, that would explain why a copy of this poem was preserved in a manuscript at her home.
43. Deifr from the placename Deira, the old Saxon kingdom in the north of England, this came to be used as a name for the English in general. Carmarthen was essentially an English borough, as is stated openly in line 50 below.
92. Myrddin This reflects the popular belief that the second element of the placename Caerfyrddin was a personal name. See A. O. H. Jarman, 'The Legend of Merlin and its Associations with Carmarthen', Carmarthenshire Antiquary xxii (1986), 15–25.
171. camlas This probably refers to the millstream which ran into the Towy on the western side of the town.