Battle of Stalling Down - Re-examination of Historical Sources

Re-examination of Historical Sources

More recently, historians have begun to question the veracity of the report of a battle at Stalling Down; for example, the foremost modern authority on Glyndŵr, the late R. R. Davies, made no mention of it in his meticulous account of the revolt, published in 1995. The problem lies in the fact that the earliest recorded reference to the battle is late, and is found in the works of the 18th-century writer Iolo Morgannwg. Morgannwg was well known for taking liberties with Welsh history, and the 'ancient' manuscript on which he is supposed to have based his account of Stalling Down has never been traced. Morgannwg's account held considerable sway for some years, and was repeated by several later writers, including the Edwardian historian Arthur Bradley in his 1901 biography of Owain Glyndŵr. In it, he places the battle in 1405, calling it the 'battle of Bryn Owen'. Such uncritical recountings of Morgannwg's version of events have had a considerable effect on popular perceptions of Glyndŵr's revolt in the Glamorgan area.

Nevertheless, in spite of this uncertainty it is not safe to conclude that Stalling Down never occurred. There is much local tradition to be found in connection with it (see above), and the context of a battle in either the summer of 1403 or 1405 accords well with our understanding of the progress of Glyndŵr's revolt. Glyndŵr's presence at nearby Carmarthen in the summer of 1403 is well attested, and it may be that an incursion into nearby Glamorgan produced a confrontation of which the battle of Stalling Down, as remembered today, is a manifestation.