Web Of Conflict

       The strife that one family may face day to day varies along the hallways of time. For my own Jones family during the days that are being discussed [1055-1100 A.D.], the difficulties were vast and threating to life itself. The Normans had made their way to the border lands and, demonstrated their own desires to conquer the homeland. A complex network of invasions took place and, as shown in the last post, the family united all the branches by marriage, in order to try and defend the kindred. The following figure tries to show the pathways that the Normans had in mind.

      In the north, the Earl of Chester pushed his way into the homeland of my Celtic ancestors the Deceangli and, in the south, the Earl of Herefore headed toward the land of the Silures. Now right in the middle was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who aimed his forces toward Oswestry and the Vale of the Dee. This approach would involve Trevor [birth place of Tudor Trevor (JC-1)], Selattyn [land of Dingad (JD-3) and his son Rhiwallon (JE-1)], Oswestry and Whittington [associated with the family], and the land of Maelor [tribe by this name] founded by Tudor Trevor (JC-1) himself. Before this time Rhys Sais (JG-4) had been killed [1070 A.D.] and my Cynrig (JE-1) followed close behind [killed 1073 A.D.]. Ninnian (JG-1) had named his son Jeuaf (JE-1) [the Norman-French way]. Jeuaf (JE-1) was now having his family which was about to change the location of the family. Wow, what a web of conflict it was. 

Figure modified from The Jones Genealogist, March/April, No. 6, 1993, p.3.

Networking

       The more numerous the family becomes as one climbs out all the branches, the more difficulty arises sorting through all the leaves. You can certainly imagine if you add all this Welsh language stuff, as well as the surname Jones, you might not want to start climbing this tree altogether. Anyway, during this junction of all the languages and, facing the threat of Norman invasion from all sides [starting after 1066 A.D.], you might want to link-up with all the branches of the family. The following figure shows the descendants of Cynwrig (JF-1) doing exactly the same. The branches of all three sons of Tudor Trevor (JC-1); Gronwy (JD-1), Llydocka (JD-2) and, Dingad (JD-3) [my Jones branch of the family], all joined hands at this point in time. 

      Now let's look. Cynwrig (JF-1) was slain in 1073 A.D. and surprising enough, old Rhys Sais (JG-4) was slain in 1070 A.D. By the time of his death, he had married a daughter of Cynwrig (JF-1) and she was a sister to my line of descent Ninnan (JG-1). Can you believe it, Rhys Sais (JG-4) was the son-in-law of Cynwrig (JF-1). No wonder his sons did all the fighting in 1081 A.D. for their father, and grandfather, were slain pretty much at the same time period and by the same folks. Then, the grandson of Cynwrig (JF-1) married Eva (JH-18) who was linked to the oldest son of Tudor Trevor (JC-1) through the line of Ethelystan Glodrydd (JF-6). All three branches of the family brought together...wow, networking indeed.  

P.S. Poor Eva (JH-18) was the 18th individual discovered in this generation of ancestors. As time moves down my family tree, the higher the number coded, the longer in duration it took to find this person among the branches.

The Great Conjunction

       Different languages coming together at the same time and the same place can produce difficulties in talking and understanding one another. The dominate tongue of choice and influence will even affect the naming of children. As stated in the last post, the Norman-French vogue helped name one of my great...grandfather Jeuaf (JH-1) and, began a number of changes to the family. To help demonstrate the languages of the day, the following table is shown giving a comparison of the common words of life.

     Birth, baby, infant, and child are all common words used in the events of life. The words are shown for each language of this time and, can be compared to the English spellings. Man what a deal! Note the Welsh spellings for each word. Tongue twisters all compared to Latin, French, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon.  Now think how to name your child? My family used Jeuaf (JH-1) [no "J" in the Welsh language] or, maybe it was the ones recording the records of the day. Anyway, the next diagram shows old Jeuaf (JH-1) fitting into my Jones surname family tree.

      Wow...my great conjunction.

 

A Shout Out

      Just wanted to say "Hi y,all" from the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Many folks from around the world have visited the blog. If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please use the comment section at the bottom of the post. Hello to Singapore, France, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, Russia, Cambodia, and United Kingdom. The Jones Genealogist. 

P.S. Also, of course, all the folks from my home country the United States.

Being In Vogue

       Since the earliest days, the human voice has become the vehicle for human thought. Multiple thoughts lead to sounds which are transmitted to the human tympanic membrane and, if understood appropriately, a response is generated back to the sender. If enough folks agree to the sounds being transmitted among themselves, a group think is generated which brings these people together. After time, a language is born producing a recognizable marker to all around. Being part of the cultural glue that clusters folks together, it signals their presence and identity.

      My Celtic ancestors brought their sounds to the Island and, over time the Brythonic branch of the Celtic tongue started bouncing off those ear drums. When the Romans arrived, they brought Latin. Understanding these different sounds were necessary in order to survive their occupation. However, Greek was the language of the Roman elite, including the fellow who built that huge stone wall. It was during this Roman occupation that the monasteries formed at various places around the Island. They recognized that maybe writing things down would be good including Latin [for communication], Kione Greek [for spiritual things] and the vernacular language [for other thoughts]. 

      When Roman society left the Island, the clergy kept education alive and, gave a sense of community. This monasterial stability provided structure to the many remaining kindred groups that clustered around the same sound waves. The languages of the day became distinctive markers for many geographic areas. The following diagram shows the names given to the cluster groups.

      Now, you can certainly imagine the confusion and conflicts that my Celtic ancestors encountered when you add the Irish, Scots, Picts [all that Q-Celtic], all those Mercians with Offa and his Dyke [rex Anglorum ], and all those Danes and the Swedes [y Kenedloed Duon , i.e. Black Gentiles]. Polyglot Island at this time should have been the name. 

       The naming of a son often carried the impact that one of these visitors had on the name.  An example such as my ancestor Rhys Sais (JG-4) who was identified as knowing well the Saxons [soon to be called the English]. My Jones family townlands were on both sides of the Dee right between Welsh Maelor and the English Maelor. Old Rhys Sais (JG-4) must have spent a lot of time on both sides of this fence. [ Please see the recent posts of June 22 and June 28 for a view of this relationship].

 

     Finally, all the above discussion is posted to mark the significant naming of my 8th generation grandfather down from the top.  Jeuaf (JH-1) was his name. The Normans have arrived bringing a new language called French. Anyone wishing to survive this sound wave, had to join the new social elite who started building all those castles.  They certainly were not going anywhere else anytime soon. 

Now, Jeuaf (JH-1) caught my attention because the Welsh language did not use the letter "J". The new French language used this letter often. Therefore, this new and different sound wave must of had some influence at this time in the Welsh naming process. I guess the family decided to join this new social wave, and French was the language of the day. Thank you Ninnian (JG-1) and Jeuaf (JH-1) for being in the vogue. 

P.S. The spelling also was written Ievan (Ieva), so it must have depended on who was doing the writing. It is my guess that to the future English eardrum, the spelling Evan was born.

      

Ninnian (JG-1)

       Moving on down the family tree, the 7th generation grandfather is named Ninnian (JG-1). He is the first grandfather down from the top to have nothing listed connecting his name to a title of some sort or another. Of course my curiosity would wonder why, and it took some time to reach a reasonable explanation. 

       Hum...here goes. Of course the spelling occurs in different ways with Ninnan, Ninian, and Nynia all being an option. The earliest found, spelled Ninian, was a monk who was contemporary to that famous Martin of Tour around 432 A.D. As a monk, Ninnan founded Whithorn, which was one of the earliest missionary bases on the Island. He became known as the Apostle to the Picts, and would certainly have had his work cut out for him. Wow, to be named after one of the first monks to be moving about the Celtic folks of the day would certainly have a reason. Since Tudor Trevor's (JC-1) brother, Ynyr Frych (JC-3), was tagged as a Bishop of  Abbey Dore (see post 25th April, 2023), the family certainly had interest in this line of work. To name your son after a monk must have generated a lot of discussion among the ranks while growing into manhood. Perhaps, this was a family's wish for future activities? 

      Here is a figure which places Ninnian (JG-1) into the family tree. He had three sons of his own and, the name of a monk does not appear on down the branches.

      P.S. The references for the discussion above is Latourette p 344 (see post 30 Sept., 2022), Butler's Lives pp. 371-373 (see post 15 Aug.,2022), and my research notebook titled Celtic Saints RN#9.

By Any Other Name

          After the place of your birth or, after a famous and well known individual or, after a recognized geographic landmark or, after the year you were slain...say what...the year you were slain? Who would want to be remembered upon the pages of history for the year you were slain? Well, most of the first six generations of my Jones surname family tree had all of the above.

      Tudor Trevor (JC-1) was named after his place of birth. Ynyr (JB-1) was named after a well know Celtic name and, Rhiwallon (JE-1) was named after a rock formation. These names are all so well remembered. It is my 6th generation grandfather down from the top, that seems to be remembered upon the pages of history by the year he was slain, 1073! Say what...was my thinking. The events of the day must have been important for those in the family who wanted to remember such an activity.

      Well let's see. Life and death was certainly on top of the list. Lots of folks were knocking at the family's door from all kinds of different directions (see last post). The in-laws of Tudor Trevor (JC-1) had kept the family in some kind of feuding along the way until 1063 when a fellow named Harold came knocking. Under his wings, he placed new family members in charge of the household. These brothers were named Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn. They needed to swear their faithfulness to Edward The Confessor, who at this time was overlord to Harold. Can you believe it, my grandfather was named Cynwrig (JF-1) ap Rhiwallon (JE-1) and not Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn. To add to the confusion, some spelled this name Cynrig, Cynfrn, Cynan, or Cynfyn. Now, if that old Harold's visit was not enough, a new set of busy pioneers and colonist arrived in 1066 to completely move the furniture around in the house. New bullies named "Earls" claimed Shrewsbury in 1069 and Chester in 1070.  During the battle of Mechin, 1070, Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn was killed, and some years later his brother Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was slaughtered in 1075. Right between these two fellows, my grandfather Cynwrig (JF-1) ap Rhiwallon (JE-1) ap Dingad (JD-3) was slain, 1073. 

      By this time you might guess that there is much more to the story and, if interested in exploring these pathways of time, the text by J.E. Lloyd covers all the bases. It was first published in 1911 and, paints a very clear picture of the events of the day pp. 1-26. The cover of my copy is shown.

      This edition was published by Barnes & Noble Books, 2004.

P.S. The son of Cynwrig (JF-1), Ninnian (JG-1) in 1073 was too young to swing the family's sword, so a little later in 1081, the sons of a cousin Rhys Sais (JG-4), at the battle of Mynydd Cam, helped keep the family standing. [Lloyd per above, p. 21] Interestingly, Rhys Sais (JG-4) had a son named Bleddyn (JH-4) who would have named his son after Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who was slain in 1075. It must have been a family thing in 1081. But hey, family survival by any other name was priority.

       The following figure places all the family members in relationship to one another around this time in the pathway of history. [from RN#224]