The Parish of Llanwynno (extracts)

for breakfast, as he left. He would cross the Rhondda river by the black pools near Britannia, and climb up the mountain in a straight line, ignoring roads, walls, hedges, or ditches, and although over twelve miles, Guto arrived back at Nythbran with the yeast, in time for the breakfast that his mother had prepared. 7 His mother once sent him on a message to Aberdare while she had other things to do, hoping for a gossip and a pinch of snuff at Hafod Fach.8 Guto set off over Mount Gwyngul (see footnote 4 above) to Cwmaman and Aberdare, and delivered the message. His mother saw that it was time for her to leave Hafod in time so that she could get back in time to get Guto's lunch, only to find that Guto had already got back a bit before her. She did not, at first, believe he had delivered the message, until he was able to convince her. There is a story about him, and a tradition, that his father one requested him go into the mountains and collect the sheep and bring them down to the yard at Nythbran. "Go," said his father, "and take the dogs with you, and collect the sheep as soon as you possibly can." "Keep the dogs in the house, I will be better without them," replied Guto. "Listen, boy, take the dogs that are best for you, or how else are you going to get the sheep down?" said the old man. But he went without the dogs, and was in the hills a long time, but eventually brought the sheep back into the yard without the help of man or dog. "Did you have any trouble with the sheep?", asked the old man. "No, only with the little red-grey one, and that gave me a great deal of trouble, but I caught her and damaged one of her legs." "Listen, boy," said his father, "That's a hare. Listen, boy, what are you thinking of? Where did you find her?" "She rose up out of the bracken on the Llwyncelyn hills, and before she reached the Hafod, I caught her, and she then limped along among the sheep." "Listen, boy; listen, you really are a comic fellow!" said his father. I heard many of the oldest residents tell of his great courage when he went out to hunt a fox with the Llanwynno hounds, and they followed it all the way to a comer of Cardiganshire. It was late when they - the fox, two dogs, and Guto - ended up somewhere near a gentleman's house, but by then, the dogs and Guto were too weak to catch it. Griffith got a great reception from the gentleman who had lost a considerable sum of money when one of his running horses had been beaten by another gentleman's, and so the (first) gentleman decided to arrange a race between Guto and the (second) gentleman's horse, and Guto beat him fairly,