HENRY SALUSBURY succeeded to the estates of his father and grandfather. He married Nest, daughter of Kenrick Sais ap Ithell Fychan of Northop, in the county of Flint, and was the first of the name born in Wales, the first of his family who allied himself through marriage with the Welsh, in short, the Welsh founder of Lleweni.
We soon find his name identified with the busy events of his day, a valiant man of war, devotedly attached to the fortunes of his great master, he follows him to Dunbar, and doubtless found his reward in many substantial benefits at the hands of this tenderest, most generous and noblest representative of the Plantagenet race.
Sir Harri Dou...Black Sir Harry....was the pride and darling of his country. The bards and minstrels sang merrily in his praise; he was one of themselves, his wife the same, his children "to the nature born." Can we wonder that such a man should command the love, affections, and trust of such a people as the Welsh?
His example told upon many a gallant soldier, for we find that the Anglo-Normans of the district hastened to ally themselves in marriage with the lovely daughters of the proud old Cambrian Chiefs. To this day we can trace the fine Norman names in Welsh homes, and this is one of the main reasons why Wales has been so securely attached to England.
Not only was Henry Salisbury a valiant soldier, but he had been wise in the selection of his wife. Her father derived his descent from Edwin Lord of Tegangel, founder of the 12th noble tribe of North Wales. Maternally she had descended from the De Clares Earls of Hertford, the De Maschines and Albinas Earls Palatine of Chester, and the Saxon Earls of Mercia. He occupied in this way a front rank among the great families of England, who for many generations exercised so potent an influence in the affairs of the nation.
He had a large estate, a high reputation for birth, valour and wisdom; and had laid the foundation from which his family "spread over the whole country...Bachymbyd, Bachegraig, Rug, Llewesog, Maescadarn, Brynbarcet, Dolbelider, Plasissa, Brynsyllty, Berthddu, Henblas, with large estates at Lleporog, Clogtnog, Llanrhaiader, Llanfwrog, Gwytherin &c., &c." So great did his descendants become, that there is hardly a family of any note in North Wales that cannot trace its history to Sir Henry Ddu, the noble and chivalrous founder of the great house of Lleweni. Llew, a lion, ... the emblem of courage and strength, the type of generosity and true nobility.

Reinault informs us that Syr Harry Ddu (so called from his being of the order of Knights who wore black armour) married Nesta, daughter of the celebrated Ithel Fychan. "The Salusburies, like many other noble Normans, became by matrimonial alliances with ancient Welsh families, thoroughly naturalised...acquired the Welsh language, habits, sentiment and character, and were held in the highest favour and honour among that people, as well as possessed of immense territory in these parts. From Lleweni they spread over the whole country...Bachymbyd, Bachegraig, Rug, Llewesog, Maescadarn, Brynbarcut, Dolbelder: Plasissa, Brynsyllty, Berthddu, Henblas (Llanrwst), &c...came to their descendants; with large estates as Lleqrog, Clocaenog, Llanrhaiadr, Llanfwrog, Llandynog, Gwytherin, &c.. We have heard some of their progeny say that they acquired much of this territory "by false accusations and unjust confiscation's, &c." This, we believe, however, to be untrue; on the contrary, most, if not all, came by lawful marriages with rich Welsh heiresses who, no doubt, thought such alliances highly honourable; and so they were looked upon by the Welsh people and their minstrels.

What kind of house was this Lleweni?
It was built on a flat, about the centre of the glorious Vale of Clwyd, near a river, at no great distance from the town of Denbigh. Standing on its site, you behold on one side the steep town rising from the flat to a considerable elevation; and on the summit of that elevation stands the castle of Denbigh, commanding the whole of the surrounding country. On the other or Flintshire side, you behold a fine range of highlands called the Clwydian Hills. Far in the distance, up the Vale, is the town of Ruthinl; and in another direction the city of St. Asaph, the marsh lands of Rhuddlan, and then the sea. The house that once stood there was a great one, and it is often spoken of as "Lleweni Palace." Dr. Johnson, who visited it in the year 1774, states that he found a hall 40 feet long by 28 feet broad, hung with old armour; a gallery 120 feet long; a library 42 feet by 28; parlours of the respective lengths of 36 feet and 26 feet in beadth; a chapel very complete with monumental stones placed in the floor. Pennant says that when he visited it he found there many objects of great interest and several pictures. Traditionally it is said to have been built by Sir Harry Ddu. It had many towers, and upon the highest of these was set up a brazen lion.

We are now in the richest and most luxuriant part of the famous Vale of Clwyd, which supplies the eye in abundance with every object which can enter into the composition of landscape magnificence. This valley is the widest in Wales, extending in parts to three and four miles in breadth, and interspersed with rising knolls and gentle swellings on the surface, which partly disguise its character as a valley, and contribute greatly to the variety and grandeur of the scenery. The eastern side is flanked by the embattled range of the Clwydian hills, which at intervals shoot up to abrupt elevations sufficiently high to give effect to the scene, and yet so near as to present every tiny ravine and gully worn on their sides by the rains of ages, and every cosy farmstead and cot in clear definition. On the gentle slopes between the wilder mountain side and the champaign of the vale, and also on the level floor of the valley, the eye observes many residences of the gentry, and these are found on the Denbigh side, in the less abrupt and broken but rolling country which spreads between the Clwyd and the Hiraethog range to the west, in almost equal abundance.
On the eastern side, and in mid-valley, are . . . the historic old mansion of Lleweni, one of the most remarkable spots in Wales, now, however, in a state of comparative neglect, being half farmhouse, half mansion. This was the place where resided Marchweithian, founder of one of the noble tribes; here dwelt the distinguished family of Salusbury; here was the home, as the wife of Sir John Salusbury, of that remarkable woman, Catherine of Beren; and here abode the Hon. Thomas Fitzmaurice, who, about 1780, established here extensive works for the bleaching of Irish linen, paid in kind for rent by his Irish tenants.348