fourteenth century--that is to say, about two hundred years after
the date at which the marriage between the youth of Blaensawdde and his
fairy love is alleged to have taken place; and it is believed by the
editor of the published volume to be a copy of a still more ancient
manuscript now in the British Museum. Yet it contains no reference to
the legend of the Van Pool. The volume in question includes a transcript
of another manuscript of the work, which is ascribed in the colophon to
Howel the Physician, who, writing in the first person, claims to be
"regularly descended in the male line from the said Einion, the son of
Rhiwallon, the physician of Myddfai, being resident in Cilgwryd, in
Gower." This recension of the work is much later in date than the
former. A portion of it cannot be older than the end of the fifteenth
century; and the manuscript from which it was printed was probably the
result of accretions extending over a long period of time, down to the
year 1743, when it was copied "from the book of John Jones, Physician of
Myddfai, the last lineal descendant of the family." The remedies it
contains, though many of them are antique enough, and superstitious
enough, are of various dates and sources; and, so far from being
attributed to a supernatural origin, they are distinctly said to "have
been proved to be the best and most suitable for the human body through
the research and diligent study of Rhiwallon" and his three sons. The
negative evidence of the "Meddygon Myddfai," therefore, tends to show
that the connection of the Van Pool story with the Physicians is of
comparatively recent date.[233]

And yet it is but natural (if we may use such an expression) that a
mythical creature like the Lady of the Lake should be the progenitor of
an extraordinary offspring. Elsewhere we have seen her sisters the
totems of clans, the goddesses of nations, the parents of great families
and renowned personages. Melusina gave birth to monsters of ugliness and
evil,[234] and through them to a long line of nobles. So the heroine of
the Llanberis legend had two sons and two daughters, all of whom were
remarkable. The elder son became a great physician, and all his
descendants were celebrated for their proficiency in medicine. The
second son was a Welsh Tubal-cain. One of the daughters invented the
small ten-stringed harp, and the other the spinning wheel. "Thus," we
are told, "were introduced the arts of medicine, manufactures, mus