Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau

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I won't comment on our start to the Six Nations against Ireland this afternoon: I think the first half said it all, let alone the final scoreline. I also won't stray into the surreal world of Westminster today, either, where the return of The Truss into the fray has raised disbelieving eyebrows to a new height. Plenty to come on that front, I'm sure. However, we did venture out for a short, local trip to the ancient settlement of Llanddeiniolen, around five or six miles from here, on the way out towards Caernarfon.

In the churchyard of Eglwys Deiniol Sant - the church of Saint Deiniol - [d. 584], are three Yews of considerable age. Two are classed as Ancient at around eight or nine hundred years old, and one as Exceptional, meaning that it could be anywhere from a thousand to fifteen hundred-plus years old, although the dating of Yews is extremely difficult and the subject is of much debate. The church itself is a nineteenth century replacement for a much older one, itself almost certainly still very much younger than these trees.

To put their lives in perspective - and living they most certainly still are - the oldest of the three was around during the lifetime of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1010 – 5 August 1063), King of Wales from 1055 to 1063: the end of his life and reign three years before the Norman invasion.  And don't forget, Wales didn't fall to the English until 1301, when that tree in that churchyard was already well over two hundred years old. Kinda makes the human race look frail and foolish, don't it?

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