The hill-walking fraternity often refer to this great mountain massif as 'Plynlimon'. Yeah, right. But try calling it by its proper Welsh name of Pumlumon - 'Five Stacks' - however, and those after more than a quick masochistic ego trip will gain immediate insight into the true prehistoric relevance of this iconic landscape. The harsh brutality of Nature suddenly gets the human touch.......
True, there are five great Bronze Age burial cairns here - if attention is limited only upon Pen-Pumlumon Fawr (with two) and Pen Pumlumon-Arwystli (with three). But that is only part of the story, with several other large examples waiting to be visited upon satellite peaks along the main ridge.
Pen Pumlumon Fawr, at 2,467ft, is by a small margin of 39ft, the highest point of the massif. It is also the most dramatic topographically, the relatively featureless southern slopes suddenly terminating in a sheer cliff-line plunging to the source of the Afon Rheidol far below. The two burial cairns are large, if all too predictably having suffered the attentions of the aforementioned hillwalking fraternity. Sure, the landscape has altered since these monuments were first erected, the most obvious change being the Nant-y-Moch reservoir glistening to the west. But stand upon one and survey the surrounding hills and the myriad other visible cairns may convince you that, no......... up here things really haven't changed that much in the intervening millennia. In fact there are so many burial cairns concentrated around that I'd go as far as to say that here we have Wales' - indeed the UK's - Bronze Age answer to Carrowkeel.
So why here? Why upon this (arguably) not very physically striking, dare I say it not especially 'high' Mid Walian mountain range do we have perhaps the UK's greatest Bronze Age burial cemetery? A tentative answer may present itself if the traveller decides to go for a wander past Pen Pumlumon-Arwystli to distant Pumlumon Cwmbiga and Carnfachbugeilyn. For if he/she does so the source of two major rivers (in addition to the aforementioned Rheidol) will be visited upon the ridge line; namely the Wye and the Severn (Hafren). These sources are mere boggy pools, it must be said, but their significance is ..... well. Perhaps it's just the over-excited imagination of one freaked out Gladman up here. But could we refer to Bronze Age Pumlumon as a perceived place not only of death, but also a simultaneous source of life/rebirth. Too fanciful? Perhaps.
Pen Pumlumon Fawr is most easilly reached starting from the farm of Eisteddfa Gurig on the A44 to the south. However a direct ascent from the Maes Nant activity centre to the north will assure the traveller he/she is indeed climbing a true mountain.
Pen Pumlumon Fawr finds its place in legend as the dwelling of a reaver giant who often waylaid unwitting travellers and became notorious throughout the land. In King Arthur's hunting of the monstrous boar Twrch Trwyth, as told in the tale of Cullhwch and Olwen, a great hunting hound named Drudwyn was needed. Unfortunately no leash in the world could hold such a powerful hound save one manufactured from the beard of this robber giant of Pumlumon. Here is the extract from Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion that details the events which were said to have taken place here.
'As Cai and Bedwyr sat on a beacon carn on the summit of Pumlumon, in the highest wind that ever was in the world, they looked around them, and saw a great smoke towards the south, afar off, which did not bend with the wind. Then said Cai, "By the hand of my friend, behold, yonder is the fire of a robber!" Then they hastened towards the smoke, and they came so near to it, that they could see Dillus Farfawc scorching a wild boar. "Behold, yonder is the greatest robber that ever fled from Arthur," said Bedwyr unto Cai. "Dost thou know him?" "I do know him," answered Cai, "he is Dillus Farfawc, and no leash in the world will be able to hold Drudwyn, the cub of Greid the son of Eri, save a leash made from the beard of him thou see yonder. And even that will be useless, unless his beard be plucked alive with wooden tweezers; for if dead, it will be brittle." "What thinkest thou that we should do concerning this?" said Bedwyr. "Let us suffer him," said Cai, "to eat as much as he will of the meat, and after that he will fall asleep." And during that time they employed themselves in making wooden tweezers. And when Cai knew certainly that he was asleep, he made a pit under his feet, the largest in the world, and he struck him a violent blow, and squeezed him into the pit. And there they twitched out his beard completely with the wooden tweezers; and after that they slew him altogether.'
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Posted by GLADMAN
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