Mathafarn, a house near Llanwrin on the North bank of the Dyfi, was owned in the late 1400s by one Dafydd Llwyd ap Llewelyn, a poet, scholar and astrologer. Apparently, the Earl of Richmond stayed at Mathafarn in August 1485, on route with his army to the Battle of Bosworth Field. He asked Dafydd whether he was going to win the battle and, after an all night deliberation, Dafydd told him he would - and even lent him his horse. Dafydd, of course, was right; the Earl defeated King Richard III's troops and later became King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor Dynasty.
Later, in 1468, Dafydd wrote in expectation of Jasper Tudor's return from Ireland "The brave, long-haired exile will come with his mansions riding the salt water".
In the early 1600s, Mathafarn was owned by Owen Pugh, Mayor of Machynlleth, and in 1644 it was burned down by Parliamentary forces when its Royalist occupier was Rowland Pugh, who died not long after.
The house now on the site dates from about 1800, although the outbuildings are older.
... and the Fairy Ring
There's a place called Ffridd yr Ywen (Yew Pasture), near Mathafarn, where under a certain yew tree there's a fairy ring. A long time ago two local farmhands decided to have a nap in the middle of this fairy ring (oh, dear, when will the younger generation ever learn?) and when one of them awoke the other was missing. Despite much searching, he couldn't be found, but a local wise man suggested that the farmhand go back to the fairy ring a year later and his friend would re-appear. He did as he was told, his friend appeared in the ring, dancing with the Tylwyth Teg, and was promptly rescued. He of course didn't know he'd been absent for a whole year and, poor bloke, as soon as he tried to eat, he turned to dust. The number of times this happens, you'd think they'd have been warned, wouldn't you? It's the fault of the parents, I say.