The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-15

Liverpool Courier.
 At the Pan-Celtic Congress, held In Dublin some time ago. Lord castletown is said to have claimed for the Irish the credit of having discovered Amer ica prior to Columbus, on the ground that the exciting game of La Crosse Is similar and probably a modernisa- tIon of the old Irish game of hurling. If the similarity of exciting sports ana pastlmes were a sufficient title to the honor of having found the land of the West, his lordshipp would scarcely have hazarded such an opinion had ne known of the ancient Cymric game or knappan, commonly played in Wales from the time of the Saxon Heptarchy down to the eighteenth century. That game, which Is frequently referred to and described in Welsh historical workse. Is much like la crosse than
 is the Irish game < of hurling. La crosse and knappan may indeed be de- scribed as practically the same game And whilst we have never heard Of any intercourse whereby knappan could De
 introduced into Wales from America before the Norman Conquest, we have evidence which would account for the Welsh game being taken westward Tn the twelfth century, and eventually de-
 veloping Into la crosse.
 At Rhos-on-Sea, a watering piace
 on the Welsh coast Just midway be-
 tween Colwyn Bay and Llandudno, there is a spot. on what is now formed into golf links, which an old and conn
 mon local tradition has always asso- ctated with the authorization of Madoe'
 the son of Prince owen Gwynedd, Tor
 the land of the west about the year
 117g, over 800 years before Columbus
 voyage. The history of Wales during the time of Owen Gwyncdd, the most
 famous of all the independent Sover-
 eiRns of Wales. is so fully detailed by Welsh historians, and so completely supported by contemporary evidence. that if Is dif1cult to divine any logical reason for rlsputing the solitary inci-
 dent associated with his son Madoc, Owen Gwynedd fought many oattie
 with the English invaders of his do- inions during the reign of Henry H.. particularly against Hugh Lupus. Ear of Chester Owen had many sons sew erai being named in the History Of
 Wales by Caradoc of Llancarfan. who lived and wrote about the tune ne fourished. One of these sons, named | Madoc, Is referred to by certain of the earlier Welsh bards as the admiral or | his fathers fleet: and as the Welsh l King was so intimately connected wlth the locality mentioned, having ms stronghold at Deganwy Castle and as Ilandrlllo-yn- Rhos (now Rhos-on- Sea
 was a place of considerable maritime | importance at that period. 1t IS Qulte | conceivable that Madoc was closely connected with the place now known as Rhos-on- Sea. Here was the ancleni ana valuable Royal fishing weir (still | existing), which was of great hlstoIt l cal importance long beT"re Edward | separated it from the endowmehts o! | the Cistercian Abbey of Conway ana | granted 1t with special favors to tht 1 lords of Rhufoniawc. Here also was | the
 Ancient Shrine and Sacred Well. | still to be seen, on the pebbkly shore
 where the baptism and blessing Of St | Trillo was sought by those who wen, | out to sea in ships. And part or wha,
 ts beyond douht very old quay wal | or pier Is still visible. where receh'
 excavations have disclosed traces ol ancient shipping. | Caradoc of Llancarfan, the earlies' and most aocepter of all Welsh histor'
 ians. lived from 112O to 1l7O' and wrot' l the chronicles known as "Brut IyWy- 1 soaion." The records were continued | after his death. and eventually were | edited and revised by Humfrey Llwyd
 a famous scholar and scion Of tnt
 ancient family of Foxhall, near Den | high. He Is spoken of in gIowlns | terms by Camden, who followed mn | at Oxford. His origianl Ms, Is now lti,
 cIuded in the Cottonian collection ane | In which he asserts there were no ieW
 CT than a hundred copies of Caradoe'
 chronicles extant in various librarlel
 in his time Llwyd's work, being al | extension based on the chronicles o | Caradoc. was subsequently, prepared
 for the press by pr. David Powell
 the request of Sir Henry Sidney apou l 1880. The passage relating to MAoo