It was in North Wales that the spirit of patriotism received its strongest inspiration from this burst of song.

Again and again Henry the Second was driven to retreat from the impregnable fastnesses where the "Lords of Snowdon," the princes of the house of Gruffydd ap Conan, claimed supremacy over the whole of Wales.

Once in the pass of Consilt a cry arose that the king was slain, Henry of Essex flung down the royal standard, and the king's desperate efforts could hardly save his army from utter rout.

The bitter satire of the Welsh singers bade him knight his horse, since its speed had alone saved him from capture.

In a later campaign the invaders were met by storms of rain, and forced to abandon their baggage in a headlong flight to Chester.