When Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales was killed at Builth Wells in 1288 the Norman conquerors of England thought that they had finally solved their 'Welsh Problem', after 222 years of hard campaigning against guerrillas famed for their skill with the Longbow. A series of huge castles was completed across the country, to ensure that the Welsh caused no more grief to the English. HARLECH CASTLE was a vital link in this chain of fortresses, commanding an area where the natives were particularly restive and controlling some important harbours on the Irish Sea, across which other troublesome Celts might invade - and could be invaded! By and large the Welsh nobility assimilated into the new order, intermarrying with Norman families and playing important political roles. In particular Richard II was sympathetic to Wales and the Welsh liked him, but in 1400 when returning from Ireland he was ambushed at Conwy by Henry Bolingbroke and was never seen again. The usurper King Henry IV was less well disposed towards Taffies.

So when an influential Welsh squire, Owain Glyndwr unsuccessfully went to law to try to regain parts of his estate which had been seized by an English lord, - "what care we for Welsh dogs?" - trouble was inevitable. Owain had been at Court and had served alongside Henry in the French wars ( 'Owen Glendower' in Shakespear's Henry IV, part 1), so he was militarily well qualified to lead a rebellion.
His battles were honourably fought, but shamefully Owain also indulged in a bit of 'ethnic cleansing' of Saxon settlers and initiated a 'scorched earth' policy against areas which he adjudged to be a bit slow to support the revolt. On 16th September 1400 he was proclaimed 'Prince of Wales'. He established the last Welsh Parliament at Machynlleth (the building still stands) and his victory was assured when Harlech Castle fell to the Welsh forces after a two -year siege with heavy casualties on both sides. Diplomatic relations were established with France & the 'Holy Roman Empire'.
But an independent state so close to the heart of England could never be tolerated. In 1408 Henry returned to Wales, and in 1409 Harlech was recaptured. About 1414 Owain literally disappeared, despite having been offered a pardon by his old comrade-in-arms, & within a few years English rule was firmly re-established.
What happened to Owain? Some said that his spirit became one of the great Sea Eagles soaring round Plynlimon; there are no eagles in Wales today - but one day?

The Welsh were made to pay dearly for what was perceived by the English as wanton treachery. Whole towns were razed; Welshmen could not own land, but were heavily taxed; they had no right to be heard in a court of law; any Englishman who married a Welsh woman became subject to the same harsh treatment. The 'Laws' established in the 10th century by King Hywel Dda ( which emphasised restitution above retribution, & even gave legal rights to women) were abolished. So things remained until Henry VIII, mindful of his own Welsh ancestry abolished Wales as a legal entity in the 'Acts of Union' of 1536 & 1545. Everyone was now equally 'English' before the law !

'MEN of HARLECH' first appeared in the 18th C. During the Wars of the Roses which set the part-Welsh Tudor dynasty on the throne, whilst commanded by Lancastrian officer Dafydd ap Siencyn the castle was besieged in 1468 by the Yorkist supporter William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke & the song might refer to that action. Yet again, in 1647 it was the last Royalist fortress in Britain to surrender to Cromwell's Parliamentarian army. But I guess that the anonymous writer of this stirring march had in mind the siege that secured, albeit for only a few years, the last independent Welsh state.

Chris Davies 1999