Wales glossary

Furnace in which metal is smelted by an indirect heat.

The deputy of the king or lord in Welsh law.

The sergeant-at-law in a Welsh court who acted as a security officer during court sittings.

Following the defeat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd by Edward I in 1282, his Gwynedd territories were designated by the Statute of Rhuddlan as the ‘Principality of North Wales’, and were incorporated into the English state. The Principality was divided into shires on the English model, and a ‘Justiciar of North Wales’ was appointed as the principal Royal representative.

1132–97. Yr Arglwydd Rhys – or the Lord Rhys. The leading Welsh magnate of the period.

(1760–1804). Political radical and nonconformist minister who migrated to north America, where in Pennsylvania he founded a Welsh colony which he named ‘Camria’.

(1812–1888) Independent minister who in 1850 became full-time secretary of the Peace Society, and won a famous victory in the 1868 Merthyr election as a Liberal Nonconformist. Then known as ‘the member for Wales’.

Welsh colony established in Brazil by Thomas Phlips of Tregaron in 1852.

Inspiring preacher who became one of the leaders of the Welsh Revival of 1904–05, attracting huge audiences before his physical collapse in 1906.

(c.1575–1610). Roman Catholic priest from Trawsfynydd, Meirionydd, hanged, drawn and quartered for his priesthood at Tyburn on 10 December 1610.