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Castell Caer Seion

Hillfort

Folklore

This fort is on the summit of Mynydd y Dref (Conwy Mountain). It has 24 hut circles inside, and some outside its walls. There's the remains of a larger building (a 'citadel' so Coflein grandly says) at one end of the fort.

This from 'Notes and Queries', March 12,1870.
I have [examined repeatedly the] remains on Conway mountain. They are intensely interesting.. They consist of a multitude of circular structures partly sunk below the ground, with rough walling a little raised above, evidently the substructure for huts... They are called by the country people "Cyttiau Gwyddelod," which is generally interpreted " the huts of the Irishmen," but which in its primary meaning is "the huts of the savages," or wild men, in contradistinction from the Gal, or agricultural race.
'Cytiau' (so I understand from the dictionary) does imply a rude kind of hut, more of an animal shelter, so this could be a dig at the Irish?? Or maybe not at all. Maybe a Proper Welsh person can explain the subtleties of the phrase for me.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
9th September 2006ce

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