¹ Here is an account of the pedigree of Saint David and a sketch of his life.

² David was the son of Sandde, the son of Ceredig, the son of Cunedda, the son of Edeyrn, the son of Padarn Beisrudd, the son of Deil, the son of Gwrddeil, the son of Dwfyn, the son of Gorddwfyn, the son of Amgnod, the son of Amweryd, the son of Onwydd, the son of Perw, the son of Dwfn, the son of Owain, the son of Avallach, the son of Eugen, the son of Eirdolen, the son of the sister of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

³ King Ceredig reigned for a number of years, and from him Ceredigion took its name; and he had a son, whose name was Sant, or Sandde. While he was asleep, an angel appeared to him and said, “Tomorrow you will go hunting and will obtain three things near the River Teifi: namely, a stag, a salmon, and a swarm of bees in a tree above the river, at a place now called Henllan. These will belong to one who has not yet been born, and he will possess the two places, namely Linhenllan and Liconiuancan, until the Day of Judgement.” Then Patrick came to the valley of Rosina, called Glyn Rosyn, and intended to spend his life there; but an angel came to him and said, “You must leave this place to one who has not yet been born.” He became angry and said, “Why has the Lord treated his servant with contempt, who has served him with fear and love, and has chosen before him one who is not yet born, and will not be born for thirty years?”

⁴ Patrick therefore prepared himself to leave that place in the Lord Christ, but the Lord loved Patrick greatly and sent his angel to comfort him. The angel said to him, “Patrick, rejoice: the Lord has sent me to show you the island of Ireland from a station in Glyn Rosyn (now called Eisteddva Padric, or Patrick’s Station). You shall be an apostle in the island that you see, and you will suffer much there for the love of God, but God will be with you in whatever you do.” Then Patrick’s mind was set at rest, and he left that place to David. A ship was prepared for him in the harbour, and he raised from the dead a man who had been buried in the marsh there for fifteen years, whose name was Cruchier. Patrick went to Ireland accompanied by this man, who afterwards became a bishop.

⁵ At the end of thirty years, the king called Sandde was walking alone when, look, a nun met him. He seized her and violated her, and she became pregnant. Her name was Nonn, and she bore a son who was given the name David. She had no husband either before or after, and she was chaste in both mind and deed. The first miracle that David performed after she became pregnant was that she took no food except bread and water, and David tasted no other food. The second miracle was this: when his mother went to church to hear Saint Gildas preaching, Gildas began to preach but was unable to continue. He said, “All of you, go out of the church,” and then attempted to preach again, but still could not. He then asked whether anyone remained in the church besides himself. “I am here,” said the nun, “between the door and the partition.” “Go out,” said the saint, “and ask all the parish to come in.” They all came, and then the saint preached clearly and loudly. Afterwards the parish asked him, “Why could you not preach to us a short while ago, when we were eager to hear you?” “Call in,” said the saint, “the nun whom I sent out just now.” “Here I am,” said Nonn. Then Gildas said, “The child in this nun’s womb has greater gifts, grace, and dignity than I, for God himself has given him the privilege and supreme authority over all the saints of Wales for ever, both before the Day of Judgement and afterwards. Therefore,” said he, “there is no way for me to remain here any longer because of the child of this nun, to whom the Lord has given supreme rule over all the people of this island; I must go to another island leave this one to the child.”

⁶ Another miracle was performed by David at the hour of his birth. There came thunder and lightning, and a stone opposite Nonn’s head split into two parts, and one half leapt over her head to her feet as she gave birth. David performed another miracle when he was baptised: a spring burst forth from the ground where no spring had existed before, and a blind man who held David at his baptism received his sight at that moment. The blind man knew that the child he held to be baptised was full of the grace of God, and he took the baptismal water and washed his face with it. From the time of his birth the blind man had kept his face covered, and when he received his sight he caused all who belonged to him to praise God as they ought.

⁷ The place where David was educated was called the Old Bush, which in Welsh is Yr Henllwyn. There he was taught the Psalms, the lessons, and the public prayers; and there his disciples saw a dove with a golden beak instructing him and playing around him. From there David went to a teacher called Paulinus, who had been a disciple of a bishop at Rome, and he taught David until he himself became a master. It then happened that David’s teacher lost his sight through severe pain in his eyes. He summoned all his disciples so that he might receive from them a remedy for his eyes, but none was able to help him. At last he called David and said to him, “David, look at my eyes, for they pain me.” “Lord and master,” he replied, “do not command me to look at your eyes, for in the ten years since I came to you to be taught, I have not yet looked upon your face.” The master, considering this and admiring his modesty, said to the young man, “Since this is so, put your hand upon my face and bless my eyes, and I shall be well.” When David laid his hands upon his eyes, they were completely restored. Then Paulinus blessed David with every blessing found in the Old and the New Testament.

⁸ Then an angel came to Paulinus and said to him as follows: “The time has now come for David to depart from here, to accomplish those things which God has appointed for him to do.” David then came to Glastonbury, and there he built a church. He came to a place where the water was full of poison, and he blessed it, and caused it to become warm until the Day of Judgement; and it was called the Hot Baths. David then came to Cowlan and to Repicwn, and from there to Collan and Glasgwm. Afterwards he built Leominster on the banks of the Severn, and then cured Bebrawc, king of Erging, who was blind. He then built a church in Gwent at a place called Raglan, and afterwards built another at a place called Llangyfelach in Gower. There were two saints in Kidwelly, named Bonducat and Nailtrim, who became disciples of David.

⁹ From there David returned to the place called the Old Bush, where there was a bishop named Gweslan, who was a brother in the faith to David. David said to him, “An angel of the Lord has said to me that scarcely one in a hundred from this place will enter the kingdom of heaven, and he showed me another place, from which no one would go to hell, if he had faith and belief in him; and of those who are buried in the churchyard of that place, none will go to hell.” On a certain day David and his disciples, namely Aedan, Eliud, and Ismael, together with many others, came to the place which God had shown them, namely in Glyn Rosyn, whose name was Hodnant. The first place under heaven where they lit a fire was there; and when they lit the fire early in the morning, smoke arose which surrounded the whole island much of Ireland, and it remained from early morning until the time of evening service.

¹⁰ Then the prince called Boya and the Scots saw the smoke, and in his anger he remained on a high rock from morning until the time of evening service, without food or drink. His wife came to him there and asked him why he would take neither food nor drink. “Truly,” he said, “I am sorrowful and angry because of the smoke which I saw today rising in Hodnant and surrounding many settlements. The man who has lit that fire,” said he, “will possess and travel the way that the smoke has gone.” His wife said to him, “You are foolish; arise, take your men with you, and kill whoever has lit that fire on your land without your consent.”

¹¹ Then Boya came with his esquires, intending to kill David and his disciples. When they reached the part of the country where David was, they were seized with trembling and were unable to do any harm either to David or to his disciples, except to mock them, utter contemptuous words, and return home. As they were doing so, Boya’s wife met them and said, “Our herdsman has told me that all our livestock are dead—cows, oxen, horses, and sheep—and that they are all lying dead with their eyes open, wailing, howling, and groaning.” Then Boya, his wife, and their household said, “The saint whom we have mocked has done this,” and they were advised to pray to the saint and ask him to grant what he and his family desired. Boya then gave Hodnant to David for ever. Boya and his family returned home, and when they arrived they found their cattle alive and well.

¹² Then Boya’s wife said to her female servants, “Go to the river near the saint, take off your clothes, and when you are naked speak indecent and immodest words to them.” David’s disciples could scarcely endure such immodesty, and they said to him, “Let us leave this place; we cannot bear this, nor look upon those wicked women.” Then the saint said, “Would it not be better for us to command them to leave the place to us?” And David and his disciples remained there that night until the following day.

¹³ On the next day Boya’s wife said to her stepdaughter, “Rise, girl, and we will go to Twyn Alun to gather nuts.” The girl said to her stepmother, “I am ready to go.” They walked and went to the bottom of the valley, and when they arrived there the stepmother said to her stepdaughter, “Place your head on my lap, that I may cut off your head.” The chaste maiden placed her head on her stepmother’s lap, and she drew her knife and cut off the head of the holy girl. Opposite the place where the blood fell to the ground a spring burst forth, and many people received health and were healed there; and to this day that spring is called Dunawd’s Well, for Dunawd was the name of the maiden. Then the wicked stepmother went away, and no one in the world knew what manner of death later took her.

¹⁴ Boya then returned to his evil ways, but David and his disciples rejoiced. Boya next intended to kill David and his disciples; but very soon afterwards, on the following morning, an enemy of Boya came to the tower where he was sleeping, and finding the gates open, cut off Boya’s head as he lay in his bed.

¹⁵ Immediately fire came down from heaven and burned all the buildings to the ground. Let it be known to all that the Lord God slew Boya the governor and his wife on account of David. David was building in Glyn Hodnant, and there was no water there except a small stream. David prayed to the Lord, and at once a clear spring arose; and while David remained in Glyn Hodnant that spring flowed with wine, so that throughout his life he was never without good wine. This was a fitting gift from God to a man of such worth.

¹⁶ Afterwards Bishop Gweslan, a brother in the faith to David, and a disciple of David called Eliud, both fasted and prayed to God for pure water, for there was none in the settlement because of the drought of the season. They obtained from God two springs, which to this day are called Gweslan’s Well and Eliud’s Well. The crippled, the blind, and the sick have received healing from these two springs.

¹⁷ In the midst of these events, Aedan was praying in his own church in the settlement of Gwerwin on the very eve of Easter. He saw an angel of the Lord coming to him, who said, “Do you know, good and blessed man, what is being prepared for Saint David, your master, in Glyn Rosyn?” “I do not know,” said Aedan. Then the angel said, “It is certain that three members of the monastery are acting treacherously, intending to put poison in bread and give that bread to him to eat tomorrow. Therefore send a messenger to your master and warn him to beware of the bread that has poison in it.”

¹⁸ Then the saint became sorrowful and wept. “Lord,” he said, “how shall I be able to send a messenger there? The time is so short, and there is no ship to be had.” “Send,” said the angel, “your fellow disciple, namely Scuthyn, to the seashore, and I will enable him to cross over.” Then Scuthyn gladly did what he was commanded to do. He went to the seashore and walked into the water until it reached his knees, and suddenly a sea-creature came out of the water and took him upon its back; carrying him across, it set him down on the other side. By midday on Easter Day he was with his master.

¹⁹ As David was coming from the church, after saying Mass and preaching to all the brethren, he saw the messenger, who met him at a place called Bed Yscolan. David greeted him gladly, took him by the hand, and asked how his disciple Saint Aedan was. When the messenger had told him everything concerning Aedan’s condition, he drew David aside and delivered his message, and related how and what the angel had said to Saint Aedan. David then became silent and thoughtful, and gave great thanks to God. He returned to the monastery, and when they were all seated as they should be, and grace had been said, the deacon rose to serve David with the poisoned bread. Then Scuthyn rose and said, “You shall not serve today; I will be the servant today.”

²⁰ Then he went and, having sat down, was regarded with astonishment. David took the poisoned bread and divided it into three parts. One part he gave to a bitch that was standing outside the door; and when the bitch tasted the bread she died, and her hair immediately fell away so that it could be seen, and the skin that covered her burst, and all her entrails fell to the ground. When all the brethren saw this, they were greatly amazed. David sent the second part of the bread to a crow that was lying in its nest in an ash tree belonging to the monastery, over the river to the south; and when the crow took the bread into its beak, it fell dead from the tree to the ground. The third part of the poisoned bread David himself took; he blessed it and ate it, and he caused all the brethren to look upon him, and they marvelled greatly and were filled with fear for David.

²¹ David then related the whole matter to the brethren, namely that a deceiver had attempted to poison him; and all the brethren uttered a curse upon those men, and then the heavenly Father ordained that they should not receive an eternal share in the kingdom of heaven.

²² After the faith and belief had been confirmed in this island, all the spiritual workers of the land assembled at the door of the synod at Brevi. Bishops, doctors, clergy, kings, princes, earls, barons, nobles, esquires, advocates, and a multitude beyond number were gathered together at the Synod of Brevi. At that meeting it was agreed that whichever of the saints should preach at the synod so that the great multitude as a whole could hear him should be sovereign over the saints of the island of Britain. The saints therefore began to preach, each in turn; and someone spoke on behalf of the assembly as a whole, saying, “A hundredth part of this congregation cannot hear any portion of your preaching; you labour altogether in vain.” Then the saints said to one another, “There is none of us who can preach to so many. All of us have tried in turn, and we see that none has the ability to preach to this multitude. Look, consider, and enquire whether there is anyone who is worthy and able to preach to so great a gathering.”

²³ Then Saint Paulinus, an aged and holy bishop, answered, “I know,” said he, “a fair and virtuous young man who is always accompanied by an angel. I know that he is eloquent and chaste, that he greatly loves God and that God loves him, and that he is a doer of all good works. I myself know that he has more of the grace of God than anyone in this island, and he is called Saint David. From the beginning he received the instruction he ought to have, and afterwards he was instructed by me in the Holy Scriptures, and he became a Doctor; and in his own land he was ordained an archbishop. I saw,” said he, “an angel coming to him, calling him and directing him to go and dwell in the land which God had appointed for him, namely the kingdom of Dyfed, that is Mynyw, in the south. Go and call that man who greatly loves God and preaches in Christ, for I know that God has given his grace to him.”

²⁴ The assembled saints then sent messengers to the city of Rubi, where Saint David, the servant of God, was praying and teaching. When he heard the purpose of their mission, he gave them this reply: “I will not go there,” he said, “for I would rather pray to God here; but go you,” he said, “in the peace and love of God.” A second time the saints invited Saint David, and he returned the same answer as before. The third time, by common agreement, all the saints sent to David as messengers the two chief saints who were present, namely Deiniol and Dubricius. On the night before they came to David, he said to his disciples, “My sons, know that two messengers will come here tomorrow; go to the sea to catch fish, and bring clear water here from the spring.” The messengers came on the day he had foretold, and he and his disciples prepared dinner for the saints, setting before them an abundance of fish and water from the spring, which became wine for them. David said to them, “Eat, my brethren, and be joyful.”

²⁵ Then the two saints said to him, “We will take neither food nor drink unless you come with us to the great and wonderful synod, where there is a multitude beyond number waiting for you. Therefore hasten to go with us, for the sake of God and for the blessing of the saints, unless you wish to incur their curse.” Then David said, “I will go, for the love of God, to those who are assembled there; but what you desire of me I cannot accomplish. Nevertheless, I will go with you to the synod, and you must pray to the supreme Father to give his help to us poor creatures; and I beg you, brethren, to partake of the food and drink which has been kindly and charitably given to us from heaven.”

²⁶ Afterwards David went with the messengers to the synod at Brevi; but before he reached the assembly, they saw a woman coming to meet them whose only son had died, and she was crying and wailing. When David saw her in this condition, he stopped and asked the messengers to go on ahead of him. The distressed woman, having heard of David’s fame, fell on her knees and told him that her only son was dead. David had compassion on her and went with her to the place where her son was lying dead on the banks of the river called the Teifi. When he came to the house where the young man’s body lay, he prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, who have come down into this world from the bosom of the Father for us miserable sinners, and to redeem us from the mouth of the ancient enemy, have mercy, Lord, upon this widowed woman, and give her back her only son alive, with his soul restored, that your name may be magnified throughout all the earth.” When David had finished his prayer, the young man rose up in perfect health, as though he had merely awakened from sleep. David took him by the right hand as he rose and restored him safe and sound to his mother. The young man who had been raised from the dead followed David from that place in mind and deed, and for many years remained with him, serving God.

²⁷ David then went on with the messengers of the saints to the place where they were waiting for him. When he arrived, all the saints rose up to meet him; and when they saw him, they greeted him, fell on their knees, and begged him to preach. They proposed to lead him to the top of a high hill, where preaching had previously taken place. For some time he excused himself, saying that he dared not, and that he was unable to do what they asked. But after receiving a general blessing from them, he consented, though he refused to go up to the hilltop, saying that he would stand only on the level ground.

²⁸ David then began to preach from the law of Christ and the Gospel, clearly like the sound of a trumpet, and plainly to every person, so that he was heard alike by those who were farthest away and by those nearest to him, just as the sun at midday is seen by all. This filled everyone with wonder. As David preached on the level ground already mentioned, the earth rose beneath his feet into a high mound, and all the people of that assembly saw it; and it remains to this day a high hill, visible to all, while the land around it is flat. This miracle and marvellous deed was performed by God for David at Llanddewi Brefi.

²⁹ Then they agreed among themselves to honour David and to acknowledge unanimously that he was prince over the saints of Britain, saying as follows: “As God has appointed a ruler in the sea over all kinds of fish, and as God has appointed a ruler on the earth over the birds, so he has appointed David to be a ruler over men in this world. And just as God gave Matthew in Judea, and Luke in Alexandria, and Christ in Jerusalem, and Peter in Rome, and Martin in France, and Samson in Brittany, so he has given Saint David to the island of Britain.”

³⁰ Therefore Saint David was made sovereign and prince of the saints of the island of Britain on account of his preaching at the great synod to all the people, since no one but he was able to preach to them. On that day all the saints of this island, and all the kings, fell on their knees to do homage to David, and they granted that he should be sovereign of the saints of the island of Britain, as he deserved. On that same day David granted privileges and protection to all who had committed a crime and fled to the sanctuary of David. This is David’s privilege for everyone who is in the city of Rubi, within the sanctuary of David and under his protection from the world: he has leave to travel from the Tywi to the Teifi in safety from worldly harm, and, what is more, he may go secure from every saint, king, and prince of this island. David’s privilege applies wherever land is consecrated to Saint David, and no authority is granted to any king, prince, bishop, or saint to have precedence in protection before David, because he had this privilege before all others, and no one possessed it before him, since he was appointed by God and by men to be sovereign over the whole island. Therefore whoever broke the privilege of Saint David was excommunicated by the saints and excluded from the fellowship of kings.

³¹ Afterwards, as David was on the last Tuesday in February listening to his disciples serving God, he heard an angel speaking to him and saying, “David, that which you asked some time ago of the Lord God is ready for you whenever you wish to receive it.” Lifting up his face, he rejoiced and said, “Now, O Lord, take your servant into your peace.” The disciples heard what both had said, were greatly astonished, and fell as though dead; and in their distress they heard a gentle voice, and the sweetest fragrances filled the city.

³² David then spoke aloud a second time: “Lord Jesus Christ, take my soul, and grant that I may no longer live amid these evils.” After this they heard the angel speaking to David a second time: “Saint David, prepare for the first day of March, for your Lord Jesus Christ will come with nine orders of angels from heaven with him, the most beautiful on earth, to meet you; and he will call to come with you whomever you wish, of clergy and laity, of the righteous and the wicked, of the young and the old, of virgins and harlots, of Jews and Saracens, and will leave them with you.” When all the brethren heard this, they wept together with lamentation, wailing, and sighing, and lifted up their voices, saying, “Lord Saint David, who will help us in our sorrow?” David said to them, to comfort and encourage them, “My brethren, be always of one mind, and whatever you have seen and heard from me, keep it, and leave off what you are doing.”

³³ From that day until the eighth day David did not go out of the church to preach or pray; it is reported that on one day he went with the angel throughout this island Ireland. As the angel had said, “Know that in the coming week your master Saint David will depart from this world to the Lord,” the saints of this island those of Ireland were seen coming together from all parts to visit Saint David. Who could endure the lamentation of the saints and the wailing of the hermits; the teachers with their disciples crying, “Who will teach us?” the lament of the clergy saying, “Who will help us?” the despair of kings saying, “Who will ordain us? Who will be a father to us as merciful as David was? Who will pray to the Lord for us?” The poor complained, the sick lamented, and monks, youths, the married, penitents, young men and maidens, sons and daughters, and newborn infants at the breast all shed tears. What more can be said, except that there was the same lamentation among all: kings lamenting their brother, the aged lamenting their son, and sons lamenting their father.

³⁴ On the Sunday David sang Mass and preached to the people; such preaching they had never heard before, nor would they ever hear again after him. No one had ever seen so many gathered together in one place as were present there.

³⁵ When the sermon and the Mass were ended, David pronounced his blessing upon all who were present. After he had blessed them all, he spoke as follows: “Lords, brethren, and sisters, rejoice and keep your faith and belief, and perform the small things which you have heard and seen with me; and I shall go the way which our fathers have travelled. Be steadfast while you are upon the earth, for you will see me no more in this world.” Then the whole multitude rose up with lamentation, wailing, and weeping, crying, “Alas, that the earth will not swallow us! Alas, that fire does not come to consume us! Alas, that the sea does not come over the land! Alas, that the mountains do not fall to cover us!” All who were there felt as though they would die.

³⁶ From the Sunday until the Wednesday after the death of David they tasted neither food nor drink, but prayed continually in their sorrow. On Tuesday night, about the time of cockcrow, a host of angels filled the city, and it was full of every kind of song and rejoicing. In the morning, look, the Lord Jesus came, and with him nine orders of angels, having laid aside his majesty, and the sun was shining upon all the heavenly host.

³⁷ On that Tuesday, the first day of March, Jesus Christ took the soul of Saint David with great victory, joy, and honour, after hunger and thirst, cold and labour, fasting and charitable giving, affliction and trouble, temptation, and care for the world. The angels bore his soul to the place where there is light without end, rest without labour, joy without sorrow, abundance of every good thing, victory, brightness, and beauty: the place where praise is given to the champions of Christ and where wealthy evildoers are disregarded; the place where there is health without pain, youth without old age, peace without discord, music without affliction, and rewards without end.

³⁸ It is the place where Abel is with the martyrs; where Enoch is with the living; where Noah is with sailors; where Abraham is with the patriarchs; where Melchizedek is with the priests; where Job is with the patient; where Moses is with princes; where Aaron is with bishops; where David is with kings; where Isaiah is with prophets; where Mary is with virgins; where Peter is with the Apostles; where Paul is with the Greeks; where Thomas is with the Indians; where John is with the men of Asia; where Matthew is with the men of Judea; where Luke is with the men of Achaia; where Mark is with the men of Alexandria; where Andrew is with the men of Scythia; where angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, and the King of kings are for ever and ever. Amen.

³⁹ And as we have commemorated David in his life and works here on earth, so may he assist us and strengthen us effectually before our true Creator, that we may obtain mercy hereafter. Amen.