Duke of Buckingham, Richard Duke of York, who began the
contest for the crown with King Henry the Sixth, Jasper Earl of Pembroke,
son of Owen Tudor, and half-brother of the king, and the Earl of Warwick.
These accused him at court of being a comforter and harbourer of thieves,
the result being that he was deprived not only of the commission of the
peace, but of the captaincy of Kilgarran, which the Earl of Pembroke,
through his influence with his half-brother, procured for himself. They
moreover induced William Borley and Thomas Corbet, two justices of the
peace for the county of Hereford, to grant a warrant for his apprehension
on the ground of his being in league with the thieves of the Marches.
Griffith in the bosom of his mighty clan bade defiance to Saxon warrants,
though once having ventured to Hereford he nearly fell into the power of
the ministers of justice, only escaping by the intervention of Sir John
Scudamore, with whom he was connected by marriage. Shortly afterwards,
the civil war breaking out, the Duke of York apologised to Griffith, and
besought his assistance against the king which the chieftain readily
enough promised, not out of affection for York, but from the hatred which
he felt, on account of the Kilgarran affair, for the Earl of Pembroke,
who had sided, very naturally, with his half-brother, the king, and
commanded his forces in the west. Griffith fell at the great battle of
Mortimer's cross, which was won for York by a desperate charge made right
at Pembroke's banner by Griffith and his Welshmen, when the rest of the
Yorkists were wavering. His last words were: "Welcome, Death! since
honour and victory make for us."

The power and wealth of Griffith ap Nicholas, and also parts of his
character, have been well described by one of his bards, Gwilym ab Ieuan
Hen, in an ode to the following effect:--

"Griffith ap Nicholas, who like thee
For wealth and power and majesty!
Which most abound, I cannot say,
On either side of Towey gay,
From hence to where it meets the brine,
Trees or stately towers of thine?
The chair of judgment thou didst gain,
But not to deal in judgments vain--
To thee upon thy judgment chair
From near and far do crowds repair;
But though betwixt the weak and strong
No questions rose from right or wrong
The strong the weak to thee would hie;
The strong to do thee injury,
And to the weak thou wine wouldst deal,