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6
A SHORT HISTORY OF WALES

place of stone ones. Another brought the energy of the chase and war, and another a delight in sailing a ship or in building a fortress.

One thing they had in common—they wandered, and they wandered to the west. From the cold wastes and the dark forests of the north and east, they were ever pushing west to more sunny lands. As far back as we can see, the great migration of nations to the west was going on. The islands of Britain were the furthest point they could reach;for beyond it, at that time, no man had dared to sail into the unknown expanse of the ocean of the west. In the islands of Britain,the mountains of Wales were among the most difficult to win, and it was only the bravest and the hardiest that could make their home among them.

The first races that came were short and dark. They came in tribes. They had tribal marks, the picture of an animal as a rule; and they had a strange fancy that this animal was their ancestor. It may be that the local nicknames which are still remembered—such as "the pigs of Anglesey," "the dogs of Denbigh," "the cats of Ruthin," "the crows of Harlech," "the gadflies of Mawddwy"—were the proud tribe