The story of the emigration to America of Prince Madoc, or Madog, is
told in the old Welsh books as follows:
About the year 1168 or 1169 A.D., Owen Gwynedd, ruling prince of North
Wales, died, and among his sons there was a contest for the succession,
which, becoming angry and fierce, produced a civil war. His son Madoc,
who had "command of the fleet," took no part in this strife. Greatly
disturbed by the public trouble, and not being able to make the
combatants hear reason, he resolved to leave Wales and go across the
ocean to the land at the west. Accordingly, in the year 1170 A.D., he
left with a few ships, going south of Ireland, and steering westward.
The purpose of this voyage was to explore the western land and select a
place for settlement. He found a pleasant and fertile region, where his
settlement was established. Leaving one hundred and twenty persons, he
returned to Wales, prepared ten ships, prevailed on a large company,
some of whom were Irish, to join him, and sailed again to America.
Nothing more was ever heard in Wales of Prince Madog or his settlement.
All this is related in old Welsh annals preserved in the abbeys of
Conway and Strat Flur. These annals were used by Humphrey Llwyd in his
translation and continuation of Caradoc's History of Wales, the
continuation extending from 1157 to 1270 A.D. This emigration of Prince
Madog is mentioned in the preserved works of several Welsh bards who
lived before the time of Columbus. It is mentioned by Hakluyt, who had
his account of it from writings of the bard Guttun Owen. As the Northmen
had been in New England over one hundred and fifty years when Prince
Madog went forth to select a place for his settlement, he knew very well
there was a continent on the other side of the Atlantic, for he had
knowledge of their voyages to America; and knowledge of them was also
prevalent in Ireland. His emigration took place when Henry II. was king
of England, but in that age the English knew little or nothing of Welsh
affairs in such a way as to connect them with English history very
closely.
It is supposed that Madog settled somewhere in the Carolinas, and that
his colony, unsupported by new arrivals from Europe, and cut off from
communicated[TN-6] with that side of the ocean, became weak, and, after
being much reduced, was destroyed or absorbed by some powerful tribe of
Indians. In our colony times, and later, there was no lack of reports
that relics of Madog's Welshmen, and even their language, had been
discovered among the Indians; but generally they were entitled to no
credit. The only report of this kind having any show of claim to
respectful consideration is that of Rev. Morgan Jones, made in 1686, in
a letter giving an account of his adventures among the Tuscaroras. These
Tuscarora Indians were lighter in color than the other tribes, and this
peculiarity was so noticeable that they were frequently mentioned as
"White Indians." Mr. Jones's account of his experiences among them was
written in March, 1686, and published in the Gentleman's Magazine for
the year 1740, as follows:
"REV. MORGAN JONES'S STATEMENT.
"These presents certify all persons whatever, that in the year
1660, being an inhabitant of Virginia, and chaplain to Major
General Bennet, of Mansoman County, the said Major General Bennet
and Sir William Berkeley sent two ships to Port Royal, now called
South Carolina, which is sixty leagues southward of Cape Fair, and
I was sent therewith to be their minister. Upon the 8th of April we
set out from Virginia, and arrived at the harbor's mouth of Port
Royal the 19th of the same month, where we waited for the rest of
the fleet that was to sail from Barbadoes and Bermuda with one Mr.
West, who was to be deputy governor of said place. As soon as the
fleet came in, the smallest vessels that were with us sailed up the
river to a place called the Oyster Point; there I continued about
eight months, all which time being almost starved for want of
provisions: I and five more traveled through the wilderness till we
came to the Tuscarora country.
"There the Tuscarora Indians took us prisoners because we told them
that we were bound to Roanock. That night they carried us to their
town and shut us up close, to our no small dread. The next day they
entered into a consultation about us, and, after it was over, their
interpreter told us that we must prepare ourselves to die next
morning, whereupon, being very much dejected, I spoke to this
effect in the British [Welsh] tongue: 'Have I escaped so many
dangers, and must I now be knocked on the head like a dog!' Then
presently came an Indian to me, which afterward appeared to be a
war captain belonging to the sachem of the Doegs (whose original, I
find, must needs be from the Old Britons), and took me up by the
middle, and told me in the British [Welsh] tongue I should not die,
and thereupon went to the emperor of Tuscarora, and agreed for my
ransom and the men that were with me.
"They (the Doegs) then welcomed us to their town, and entertained
us very civilly and cordially four months, during which time I had
the opportunity of conversing with them familiarly in the British
[Welsh] language, and did preach to them in the same language three
times a week, and they would confer with me about any thing that
was difficult therein, and at our departure they abundantly
supplied us with whatever was necessary to our support and well
doing. They are settled upon Pontigo River, not far from Cape
Atros. This is a brief recital of my travels among the Doeg
Indians.