The Drowning of the Bottom Hundred IN the beginning of the sixth
century, Gwyddno Garanhir was King of Ceredigion. The most
valuable portion of his dominions was the great plain of the
Bottom Hundred, a vast tract of level land, stretching along
that part of the sea coast which now belongs to the counties of
Merioneth and Cardigan. This district was populous and fertile.
It contained sixteen fortified towns, superior to all the towns
and cities of the Cymry excepting Caer Lleon upon Usk. It
contained also one of the three privileged ports of the Isle of
Britain which was called the Port of Gwyddno, and had been known
to the Phoenicians and Carthaginians when they visited the
island for metal in the dim dawn of history. This lowland
country was below the level of the sea, and the people of the
Bottom Hundred had in very early times built an embankment of
massy stone to protect it from the encroachment of that hungry
element. This stony rampart had withstood the shock of the waves
for centuries when Gwyddno beg