(alternative spellings , or ) is a Welsh form of Celtic medieval football. The game originated in, and seems to have remained largely confined to, the western counties of Wales, especially Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. According to George Owen of Henllys, in his Description of Pembrokeshire (1603), cnapan had been "extremely popular in Pembrokeshire since greate ". Cnapan was one of the traditional ball games played to celebrate Shrovetide and Eastertide in the British Isles. These games were the forerunners of the codified football games first developed by Public Schools which led to the creation of Association football and Rugby football in the 19th century. Cnapan continued to be played until the rising popularity of Rugby Union Football resulted in the game falling into decline.
History
The earliest documented source for a group ball game in Great Britain comes from Wales. Historia Brittonum (The History of the Britons), written in the ninth century, depicts events after the end of Roman rule and forms the basis of the Arthurian legend. The book is accredited to Welsh monk and historian Nennius who supposedly had access to 5th century sources which have not survived. The preface, which appears in several recensions credited to Nennius, is considered by some historians to be a later embellishment by an anonymous writer. Others believe Historia Brittonum to be a collection of stories from the 7th century. Regardless of erroneous historical content, the main text does demonstrate that group ball games were understood in the 9th century and that the author of chapter 41 believed these games were played by the Britons. The oldest surviving transcript dates to c.1100 A.D.
"In consequence of this reply, the king sent messengers throughout Britain, in search of a child born without a father. After having inquired in all the provinces, they came to the field of Ælecti, in the district of Glevesing, where a party of boys were playing at ball. And two of them quarrelling, one said to the other, "O boy without a father, no good will ever happen to you." Upon this, the messengers diligently inquired of the mother and the other boys, whether he had had a father? Which his mother denied, saying, "In what manner he was conceived I know not, for I have never had intercourse with any man;" and then she solemnly affirmed that he had no mortal father. The boy was, therefore, led away, and conducted before Vortigern the king."
By the 4th century Britannia was divided into four provinces. The province of Britannia Prima extended its influence over what is now Wales and the West Country. The district of Glevesing referred to in the story is likely to be Colonia Nervia Glevensium founded as a Roman fort in the 1st century which later developed into a colony for retired legionaries. Some Latin inscriptions show this place name abbreviated to Glev'vm/Glevum. According to chapter 49 of Historia Brittonum it was here on the banks of the River Severn that the ancestors of King Vortigern founded the city of Gloucester (Brythonic name "Cair Gloui") where a medieval ball game is known to have been played. In Gloucester Cathedral, built in on the site of an abbey founded 678 or 679, a carved wooden relief on a misericord dated to the 14th century shows a scene from a "medieval football" game where two players are challenging for the ball. The small ball illustrated is more compatible in size to a Cnapan-type ball than the larger bladder inflated or stuffed ball used in similar mob games. An alternative theory is that the "district of Glevesing" was the 5th-century sub-Roman petty Kingdom of Glywysing named after the legendary Welsh King Glywys who probably took his name from the then demised Roman colony. Glywysing is located in modern day Glamorgan.