4 
 
THE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REV. THOMAS PRICE, 
 
 Cunilitimtiir, 
 
 VICAR OF CWMDU, BRECONSHIltE; AND RURAL DEAN: 
 
 AUTHOR OF HANES CYMRU, ESSAYS ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS OF EMPIRE 
 AND CIVILIZATION, ETC. ETC. 
 
 VOLUME L 
 
 "Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a progeny of life in them to bo 
 as active as that soul was whose progeny they are ; nay, they do preserve, as in a phial, the 
 purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. 1 know they are as 
 lively, and as vigorously productive as those fabulous dragon's teeth ; and being sown u]> 
 and down, may chance to spring up armed men." Mii-ton's "Areopagitioa." Section vi. 
 
 LLANDOVEEY: 
 WILLIAM REES. LONDON; LONGMAN 4 CO. 
 
Digitized by 
 
 the Internet Archive 
 
 
 
 in 2014 
 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/literaryremainso01pric 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY, pp. 1— ill. 
 
 Celtic Remains in the Island of Jersey 
 
 3- 
 
 -5 
 
 Descriptions of the Province of Bretagne, and its Inhabitants 
 
 5- 
 
 -20 
 
 Breton Music 
 
 20- 
 
 -25 
 
 Breton MSS. 
 
 25 
 
 
 Curious Irish MSS. ... ... ... 
 
 26 
 
 
 Dissertation upon the Breton and other Languages 
 
 29- 
 
 -50 
 
 Marriage Ceremonies of Bas Leon, compared with those of 
 
 
 
 Wales 
 
 50- 
 
 -59 
 
 Breton Literature 
 
 59 
 
 
 Drama of the Four Sons of Aymon 
 
 69 
 
 
 Modern Books in the Breton Language 
 
 81 
 
 
 Prophecies of Merlin 
 
 92 
 
 
 Historical Poem of the xivth century, called the Combat des 
 
 
 
 Trente 
 
 94 
 
 -102 
 
 Breton Costumes 
 
 102- 
 
 -107 
 
 Customs and Language of the Bretons 
 
 107- 
 
 -111 
 
 II. AN ESSAY 
 
 Oi\ THE Comparative Merits of the Remains of Ancient Literature in 
 THE "Welsh, Irish, and Gaelic Languages, and their value in 
 elucidating the Ancient History and the Mental Cultivation 
 of the Inhabitants of Britain, Ireland, and Gaul 
 
 pp. 113—232 
 
 1st period, druidic. 
 
 Welsh Literature of the Druidic Age ... ... 117 — 120 
 
 Irish Literature of the Druidic Age ... ... 121 
 
 2nd period, from 6th to 11th century. 
 
 Welsh Literature of the 6th century. Poetry ... ... 121 — 150 
 
 „ „ 7th century. Poetry ... ... 150 — 151 
 
 „ „ 8th, 9th, and 10th. 
 
 „ „ 6th to nth century. Prose ... 152—155 
 
 Irish Literatui-e of the 6th Century. Poetry, ... ) , ..^^ 
 
 „ 10th century. Poetry ...J ^ot— Abb 
 
 „ „ 6th to 11th century. Prose ... 166— 167 
 
 Gaelic Literature of the 6th to 11th century. Poetry ... 168—188 
 
viii. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 3rd PERIOD. 11th TO 14th century. 
 
 Welsh Literature of the 11th to 14th century. Poetry ... pp. 189 — 204 
 
 11th to 14th century. Prose ... 205—206 
 
 Irish Literature of the 11th to 14th century. Poetry & Prose 206 — 207 
 
 Gaelic Literature of the 11th to 14th century. Poetry & Prose 207 
 
 Comparative merits. Poetry ... ... ... 208 
 
 Prose . . ... ... 213 
 
 Value in elucidating Ancient History, &c. ... ... 214 
 
 ___ Mental Cultivation , . ... 217 
 
 Balance of Merits ... ... ... 227 
 
 Influence on European Literature ... ... ... 229 — 232 
 
 Scale of Merits ... .. ... 232 
 
 III. AN ESSAY 
 
 On the influence which the Welsh Traditions have had on the 
 Literature of Europe. ... ... ... 233 — 303 
 
 IV. A CRITICAL ESSAY 
 
 On the History of the Language and Literature of Wales, from the 
 time of Gruffydd ap Cynan and Meilyr to that of Sir Gruff- 
 YDD Llwyd and Gwilym Ddu. A.D. 1080—1294 305—344 
 
 V. AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 
 
 Of the Statuta Walli^, or the Statutes of Rhuddlan, by which 
 Wales was annexed to England ... ... 345 — 392 
 
 List of Subscribers . . ... ... ... 393 — 400 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait of Mr Price. Frontispiece. 
 
 
 View of Dinan 
 
 
 Breton Peasants 
 
 105 
 
 Breton Peasant 
 
 107 
 
 View of Crickhowel, in which Town Mr. Price resided many years... 
 
 118 
 
 Profile, full-length likeness of Mr. Price 
 
 233 
 
 View of Mr. Price's Vicarage-House, with the Briannog Mountain 
 
 345 
 
 The Frontispiece has heen taken hy Miss Whitehead, Photographic Artist, 
 Whitehead Grove, Chelsea ; from the original Portrait painted in the year 1846 
 hy Mr. Charles Augustus Mornetcicl, noto in the posset^sion of Lady Hall of 
 Llanover. 
 
 The Prints are from the Anastatic Press of Mr. Cowell of Ipsv^ich. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Multiplied engagements having prevented the Ven. 
 John Williams, Archdeacon of Cardigan, from execut- 
 ing his intention of editing the Literary Remains and 
 Writing the Life of the late Rev. Thomas Price of 
 Cwmdii, the Publisher conjointly with the Principal 
 Legatee and with the most intimate of Carnhuanawc's 
 private Friends, anxious that no further delay should 
 occur in rendering this due tribute to his memory, in 
 the autumn of the year 1851, confided the editorial 
 task to other hands. A mingled mass of unsorted 
 papers, comprising the miscellaneous accumulations 
 of more than fifty years, and including the principal 
 materials for the present w^ork, were, consequently, 
 delivered untouched to the present possessor. 
 
 The estimated expense of the publication was, how- 
 ever, too great to be prudently undertaken by Mr. 
 Rees, without the safeguard of a Subscription List ; 
 and the tedious process of enrolling 500 names has 
 retarded the appearance of the present Volume. 
 
 As the Author of the "Hanes Cymru," the best exist- 
 ing History of his country and nation, Mr. Price's name 
 is already immortalized by the Welsh Bards. His 
 contributions to various Welsh Magazines are likewise 
 well known and highly valued throughout the Princi- 
 pality. As an English writer he, as yet, is chiefly 
 known by several clever papers in periodical works, 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 and by his separate Essays on Physiology,* and on the 
 Geographical Progress of Civilization.f 
 
 Reflection upon the past is so natural to man, 
 that history has ever been a favourite study. To the 
 illiterate, history is comprised in the recollections and 
 traditions of their progenitors, and in the visible and 
 tangible existing monuments, locally connected with 
 such orally transmitted facts. 
 
 The diffusion of elementary literature has lately 
 enabled persons of all classes to indulge their several 
 inclinations in acquiring various kinds of information. 
 Antiquarian science has consequently become in our 
 days almost a popular study; while associations of 
 accomplished and industrious scholars systematically 
 group its facts, define its objects, direct methodical 
 inquiry, and contribute tested truths for the correction, 
 establishment, and enrichment of history. 
 
 The minds of the Cymry are so deeply embued 
 with reverence for every vestige of the past, and espe- 
 cially for such as relate to their religion or their race, 
 that the observation and description of ancient remains 
 has long employed the leisure hours of many among their 
 reading and reflecting mechanics and husbandmen. 
 
 In general, an increased acquaintance with the 
 habits of life of our predecessors, tends to produce 
 feelings of stronger interest and more tender venera- 
 tion towards them as our forefathers. On the contrary, 
 among the Welsh it is affectionate regard for their 
 patriarchal chiefs, which endears to their ever mindful 
 descendants, every thing belonging to the old times 
 in which they lived. Family affection expands into 
 national attachment, and extends to kindred races. 
 The Welshman's love of antiquities is therefore a 
 part of his patriotism. 
 
 * Rodwell, London. 1829. 
 
 + Longman, 1847. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xi 
 
 The political earthquake, which in the fifth century 
 broke up the Western Empire, left the severed 
 countries of Europe, still vibrating from the shock, to 
 lie obscured by its succeeding mists for ages. 
 
 To penetrate that gloomy depth of time, explore its 
 shadowy regions, define its boundaries, and bring to 
 light its monumental records, has, within the last 
 century, excited the ambition of many Continental and 
 British scholars. Among them, simply intent upon dis- 
 covery, and thoughtless of fame, Mr. Price unostenta- 
 tiously laboured. His affections as well as his intellects 
 were engaged in such researches. Thus, when reviewing 
 the origin of Grecian arts and customs, did Flerodotus 
 explore the stupendous monuments and sacerdotal 
 traditions of Egypt. Thus, under the dominion of 
 imperial Rome, did Pausanias fondly visit and record 
 the ruined glories of his native Greece. Filial ven- 
 eration and love endearing every relic of the race, 
 hallowing the ancestral footsteps, and fondly absorb- 
 ing the individual in his people. 
 
 British Archaeology was to Mr. Price at once a 
 favourite study, and an habitual recreation ; and the 
 elucidation of the political and literary history of the 
 Cymry ever formed the central point, towards which 
 the lines of all his other antiquarian researches regu- 
 larly converged. The Essay on the Statute of Rhudd- 
 lan, will probably be deemed an acceptable contribu- 
 tion to diplomatic archaeology. The Tour in Brittany, 
 not only bears treasures for almost every section of 
 that science, but also forms a narrative so engaging and 
 full of entertaining matter, as to offer attractions to 
 the most desultory reader. 
 
 The Bardic Poetry of Wales, from about the sixth 
 to the fifteenth century, forms the principal subject of 
 the Essays contained in the present Volume. They 
 
xii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 were all of them written for competition at Eistedd- 
 fodau, with a view to ultimate publication. 
 
 Some readers may perchance feel tempted to regret, 
 that the translations from the Welsh Bards, should not 
 be given in verse. For their consolation must suffice 
 the remark made by Pope, in the preface to his trans- 
 lation of the Iliad, that 
 
 "If there be sometimes a darkness, there is often a light in anti- 
 quity, which nothing better preserves than a version almost literal." 
 
 It must also be considered that insuperable difficul- 
 ties attend the attempt to render into English metre 
 that fulness of meaning, which animates the epithets 
 of Welsh poetry. No adequate terms or correspond- 
 ent phrases can be found for their expression; and 
 paraphrase alone can convey to the English reader 
 some faint idea of their aptness, beauty, and power. 
 
 The extraordinary merit of Mr. Price's English 
 versions of Ancient Welsh Poetry, has long been ac- 
 knowledged by all competent judges. 
 
 If Dr. Owen Pughe, and his fellow-labourers, in 
 editing the Myfyrian Archaeology, may be allowed to 
 deserve conjointly the credit of an Aristarchus ; none 
 can reasonably deny to Mr. Price, for his commenta- 
 ries and conjectural criticisms upon the Ancient 
 Bardic Remains, the well merited praise of an Eusta- 
 thius. 
 
 Mr. Price's speculative ingenuity, his unselfish 
 predilection for recondite inquiry, and his ingenuous 
 temper fitted him in a very remarkable degree for 
 archaeological disquisitions. These natural qualifica- 
 tions were every day enhanced by assiduous study, and 
 by the continual growth of cultivated experience, 
 which produced, in simultaneous luxuriance, the fruits 
 ripe and immature, the fair flowers and promising buds, 
 and natural foliage, which, carelessly gathered by pass- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xiii 
 
 ing occurrences, now lie intermingled for the use of 
 his survivors. 
 
 When an author has once laboriously produced a 
 work, sufficiently comprehensive to embody all his 
 knowledge, and give expression to all his opinions ; a 
 work, lighted and warmed, pervaded and vivified by 
 his own peculiar spirit ; composition must ever after- 
 wards become to him an act of comparative ease. The 
 mind having proved her faculties, will henceforth pro- 
 ceed to employ them in the joy of conscious strength. 
 The sense of toil is lessened by long habits of close 
 application ; and practical experience has taught a 
 frugal management, of time, and space, and manual 
 labour, which facilitates all subsequent undertakings. 
 Such a comprehensive work was the " Hanes Cymru,"* 
 (History of Wales) of Mr. Price. During six years, 
 1836 — 1842, he had diligently laid up there the ga- 
 thered stores of his past life, essentially condensed 
 into all that he then knew, and thought, and felt. 
 One of the Essays contained in the present Volume 
 was contemporary with the middle part of Mr. Price's 
 great work ; and two of the others were subsequent 
 to its completion. The remaining one, although of 
 antecedent date, was revised by its Author within the 
 very last few months of his life. Mr. Price did not 
 survive, by a single day, the full and vigorous matur- 
 ity of his intellect. These Essays therefore, contain- 
 ing the last enunciations of that critical judgment, to 
 which Celtic scholars ever gladly appeal, may with jus- 
 tice be reckoned among the most valuable of his 
 wwks. 
 
 Virgil, in his last illness, knowing that the ^Eneid 
 still wanted the finishing strokes, which he alone 
 could give, and frustrated, by the command of Au- 
 
 * WUliams, Crickhowel, 1842. 
 
Xiv PREFACE. 
 
 gustus in his intention of having it destroyed, con- 
 signed it finally to the care of his friends, Varius and 
 Tucca, for publication, on condition, that they should 
 not attempt to correct the poem, nor make the very 
 smallest addition to the genuine text, even to fill up a 
 break in a single line. 
 
 The record of this fact stands a beacon to all Editors; 
 and cannot fail to direct the course of him, who 
 trembles consciously within, lest the touch of ignorant 
 presumption should some day blot his own produc- 
 tions. But, while literary sympathy thus stays the 
 rude hand of alteration, it serves to direct and ani- 
 mate the labours of criticism 
 
 The forthcoming Memoir of Mr. Price, is intended 
 to contain a summary view of all his works. A few 
 brief paragraphs, therefore, may convey all the inform- 
 ation here required by the reader, for a just appreci- 
 ation of the present Volume. To each of the five 
 following pieces a short introductory account of it 
 is prefixed, and some few notes are added here and 
 there. Mr. Price himself was sensible that he had 
 laid by these Essays in an unfinished state ; and once 
 in conversation with a friend, he pleaded want of time 
 for revision, as an excuse for deferring the publication. 
 
 To communicate improving knowledge to his 
 countrymen, and to inform the world of things re- 
 dounding to Cambria's national honour, having always 
 been made points of practical use, and of conscienti- 
 ous duty by Mr. Price, it is confidently believed, that 
 the present publication fulfils his ultimate intention. 
 His objection having certainly arisen, not from per- 
 sonal considerations, but merely from a fear, that the 
 want of elaborate completeness might prejudice his 
 readers against the subject of the work. 
 
 From that apprehended danger the posthumous ap- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 pearance of these Literary Remains will, doubtless, 
 secure them ; and the over-spreading charm of a 
 venerated and beloved memory may more than coun- 
 teract some faults of plan and diction. 
 
 The numerous repetitions appearing in the collected 
 MSS., have compelled the Editor to strike out many 
 pages of quotations, and some original sentences. In 
 their stead, references have been inserted to parallel 
 passages, which are thus, with a saving of spaced made 
 to serve their double and sometimes treble purposes. 
 
 As regards the style, the Editor has merely tried to 
 rectify mistakes of the pen ; to supply unintentional 
 omissions affecting the sense ; occasionally to inflect 
 the form of a sentence, so as to avoid ambiguity, or 
 prevent confusion ; and to curtail redundancy and 
 tautology; never correcting negligence unless it 
 amounted to inaccuracy, and leaving untouched all 
 such peculiarities as Mr. Price himself had either ad- 
 mitted into his previously published works, or repeated 
 without change in frequent transcripts.* 
 
 It is usual to place the biography of a deceased 
 Author in front of his posthumous works ; and that 
 arrangement is generally the best, because, after mak- 
 ing an intimate acquaintance with the life and cha- 
 racter of an amiable man, we become naturally 
 disposed to receive his Literary Remains with a sort 
 of friendly partiality. In the present inst ance, circum- 
 stances have prescribed the adoption of a different 
 plan; and perhaps the accumulated works of the 
 Author may thus form a solid and advantageous basis 
 for his statue. 
 
 The Second Volume of this work will contain a 
 Memoir of Mr. Price, embodying many of his fugitive 
 
 * Among these may be numbered his method of spelling Trouverres, Don 
 Quixote, &c. 
 
xvi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 papers, selections from bis correspondence, and notices 
 of all his separately published works. 
 
 When the freighted merchant ship sails away upon 
 her voyage, all know that perils wait for her, but none 
 can foresee, in the possible occurrence of shipwreck, 
 which precious things, among all her rich and various 
 stores, may chance to be picked up floating, or to be 
 washed ashore. Such is very much the case with 
 personal remembrances. Some sink at once, others 
 are preserved, as isolated waifs, by persons seemingly 
 least likely to possess them. Some are hoarded up 
 by friends, who punctiliously secure them among 
 their hidden treasures. Comparatively few can ever 
 be brought together to raise a trophy to their 
 owner's honour. 
 
 Intention, however, may often insure the safety of 
 certain documents, alike amid the billows of the 
 ocean and of time. Thus, like the contents of care- 
 fully sealed glass vessels committed to the great deep ; 
 the printed and manuscript works of deceased authors 
 appear before the public as memorials. But when 
 inquiry rises, as to the personal history of him, who 
 has thus informed and interested his countrymen, the 
 materials which should compose it are often wanting ; 
 some lost irrecoverably, and the rest lying far asunder, 
 covered by accident or veiled by self-interest. Dili- 
 gent application alone can effect their recovery, their 
 arrangement, and their compact embodiment ; and the 
 process must occupy a proportionate space of time. 
 Great part of that labour has already been performed, 
 and unremitting efforts will be made to effect the 
 earliest possible completion of the Second Volume. 
 
 JANE WILLIAMS, 
 
 Ysgafcll. 
 
 Neuadd FeleUy May 25, 1854. 
 
A 
 
 €mx tlir0iiglj Irittanq. 
 
 At the Powys Eisteddfod, in the Autumn of the year 1824, a Prize was 
 awarded to Mr. Price for the best Essay on " The Causes and Extent of the 
 Early intimacy and Mutual intercourse between the Armoricans and Britons ; 
 and the National affinity still existing between their Descendants." It appears 
 to have been his first attempt at P^nglish Essay writing, and contains a good 
 deal of valuable matter, arranged with considerable ability. So much, how- 
 ever, of its substance was wrought up into his " Tour through Brittany," written 
 several years afterwards, with increased sources of information and improved 
 powers of diction; that the Editor, after mature consideration, has decided 
 upon suppressing the crude Essay, and reprinting this Tour ; a composition of 
 sterling value, carefully finished and revised by its Author, and possessing 
 peculiar interest as a piece of Autobiography. In its original form its 
 circulation was limited by that of the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, in which 
 it appeared, and it has long been inaccessible to the Public, 
 
€mx tlinruglj Iriltomj, 
 
 MADE IN THE SUMMER OF 1829. 
 
 There are few places where a fine summer's day can be 
 more pleasantly spent, than in the island of Jersey, with 
 its cloistered lanes, its secluded sandy bays, its varied and 
 amusing rocky coast ; it seems the perfect model of a snug 
 liveable island : moreover, with this advantage, that should 
 you be tired of one shore, an hour's walk will always take 
 you to the opposite. 
 
 But it is not the mere scenery of Jersey that has occa- 
 sioned the obtrusion of the present remarks ; for, however 
 pleasing that may appear to the traveller, of whatever 
 nation he may chance to be, yet it is too remotely connected 
 with the history of our native country to occupy, on 
 its own account, any portion of a work upon Cambrian 
 literature. It is, therefore, to another subject, more con- 
 sonant with the general matter of this publication, that I 
 would confine my present observations. 
 
 It was in wandering along the coast of this delightful 
 island, that I noticed upon a little rocky promontory, over- 
 looking the beautiful bay of Bozel, the remains of one of 
 those extraordinary monuments of antiquity, called Druid 
 altars^ which, till within these few years past, were so 
 numerous in this island ; but of which, at the present time, 
 this at Rozel Bay is almost the only specimen left. 
 
4 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 This altar, or, rather, cistfaen^ consists of two flat stones 
 placed tablewise upon low pillars, the whole about three 
 feet high. When perfect, it evidently consisted of four 
 such flat stones, or cromlechs, placed together in a line, 
 forming a long cistfaen, and enclosed within an oblong 
 square of low stones, extending about thirty feet by fifteen, 
 and affording a specimen of Druidic architecture not often 
 met with ; though it appears that this kind of monument 
 was not uncommon in Brittany, as may be seen in the re- 
 mains of those of a similar construction still found in that 
 country, especially of one in the wood of Cerfili^ in Morbihan. 
 
 These cromlechs, or cistfaens, for it is not always easy to 
 distinguish between them, are called in Jersey poquelays^ 
 and in Brittany SLud poulpiquets, &lc. The cistfaens 
 
 are also in the latter country called roches-aux-fces and 
 grottes-aux-fees ; and these appellations of fairy-rocks^ and 
 fairy-grottoes^ and the current superstition of the fairies 
 dancing about these monuments at night, somewhat em- 
 bolden me to venture upon the etymology which I have 
 framed from the Jersey word poquelay^ and to derive it from 
 the Welsh words, pwcca^ a goblin, and llech^ a stone ; though 
 I must own, that some of the Breton names have a little 
 deranged my system, at least as far as the last syllable, 
 llech^ is concerned. 
 
 But, however interesting this small Celtic relic may be, 
 in its present situation, where the scarcity of such monu- 
 ments has made every remnant doubly precious, yet who- 
 soever is desirous of examining Druidic remains, should 
 pass over at once to the neighbouring province of Brittany, 
 and there he will find them in greater profusion than 
 perhaps in any other country whatever. And notwith- 
 standing the unceasing and relentless hostilities, which 
 have been waged against these monuments by agriculturists, 
 builders, grubbing antiquaries, and treasure-finders, yet I 
 should scarcely exaggerate, if I said that there are still 
 existing in one department of Brittany, that is, in Morbihan, 
 a greater variety of these curious remains, than in all the 
 British islands put together. Whether they originally 
 abounded in this district more than in others, or whether by 
 eomc fortunate chance they escaped demolition here, while 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 5 
 
 those of other countries were destroyed, I cannot pretend to 
 decide ; but there is some reason for concludinc^, that, from 
 the earliest periods of history, this corner of Europe was a 
 favourite resort of the Druids ; and, consequently, must have 
 possessed a greater number and greater variety of their monu- 
 ments than other places less frequented by them. I shall, 
 therefore, for the present, make this little Jerseyan roche- 
 aux-fees, a stepping-stone to that ancient country, upon 
 whose antiquities it is my intention to offer a few remarks. 
 
 This province of Brittany, which was the Roman Ar- 
 morica, is by the French called Bretagne^ the inhabitants 
 Bretons^ and their Celtic language, the Breton^ or more 
 generally the Bas Breton, 
 
 By the Welsh it is called Llydaw^ the people Llydawiaid^ 
 and the ancient language, the Llydawaeg ; terms corres- 
 ponding to the Latin word, Leti, &c. 
 
 But the Bretons themselves, in their own vernacular 
 tongue, call the country Breiz^ themselves Breiziaded^ 
 (singular Breiziad^) and their language Brezoneh, They 
 also make use of the word Breton^ which is generally 
 pronounced Brettwn^ with the accent on the first syllable ; 
 but never Britoon, as it is often heard pronounced in 
 England. 
 
 When the French use the word Bretagne^ without any 
 adjunct, they invariably imply their own province of Brit- 
 tany ; for, when they speak of Great Britain^ they always 
 employ the terms Grande Bretagne ; and sometimes, es- 
 pecially in old works, the Armorican province is designated, 
 La Petite Bretagne. And this mode of contradistinguish- 
 ing the two countries, was generally used by the Latin 
 writers of the later ages, in the terms of Major^ and Minor 
 Britannia. We also frequently see the same epithets in 
 English authors, that is, Great., and Little Britain. 
 
 The Bretons likewise themselves make the same distinc- 
 tion in their ancient Celtic language, calling our island Breiz 
 mur^ and their own province Breiz mlian ; words answer- 
 ing to the Welsh of Prydain fawr^ and Prydain feclian. 
 England they call Bro-zaos^ that is, Saxon land : and 
 France, exclusive of their own territory, they call Bro- 
 Chall^ the land of Gaul. 
 
6 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 As this country is distinguished from its insular parent 
 by the appellation of Little Britain^ it is also divided within 
 itself into two districts, that of Haute Bretagne^ or Upper 
 Brittany^ called in the Breton language Breiz uchel^ or Gorre- 
 Vreiz ; and that of Basse Bretagne^ or Lower Brittany^ 
 whose Breton name is Breiz isel, or Gweled- Vreiz. 
 
 Haute Bretagne^ or Upper Brittany, which comprises the 
 eastern division of the province, is, with regard to its external 
 appearance, for the most part an exceedingly flat country, 
 even when compared with the generality of France ; but I 
 do not hesitate to say, that it is one of the finest flat countries 
 I ever saw ; for, though there are vines enough in the southern 
 part to mark the fertility of the soil, and warmth of the cli- 
 mate 'y yet there are not so many vineyards as to disfigure 
 the face of the country : and the land is equally divided 
 between corn and pasture. The enclosures also are very 
 small, rarely exceeding a few acres ; the hedges are formed 
 of tall trees, and every field is an orchard : so that, at a 
 certain distance, the whole country looks like an intermina- 
 ble forest, and that without the deserted and inhospitable 
 aspect of a real uncultivated woodland. This part of Brittany, 
 therefore, having, in addition to the above circumstances, 
 the advantages of a southern climate, the richest flats of 
 England will bear no comparison with it. And this style 
 of beauty does not extend merely for a few stages, as in 
 England, but accompanies you on your journey for many 
 days together. I am not surprised that Conan Meriadoc, 
 and his companions, should have chosen this land for their 
 portion, as the remuneration of their services in the cause of 
 Maximus; there are few parts of the Roman dominions 
 which that emperor could have bestowed upon his old con- 
 federates, possessing greater attractions to an army fatigued 
 with the toils of war, and from long experience acquainted 
 with the respective evils and advantages of the various 
 countries of Europe, than this. 
 
 Where the exact line of demarcation between the two 
 divisions of the province lies, I am not able to state ; but, in 
 conversing upon the subject, the natives express themselves 
 as if they considered it to be an imaginary boundary, con- 
 current with the difi'erence of language, the French being 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 spoken for the most part in Upper Brittany, and the Breton 
 in Lower Brittany; though, doubtless, there must be a terri- 
 torial boundary, independent of language, the French and 
 Breton having evidently changed their limits, in the course 
 of time, as circumstances have contributed to the abolition 
 of the one, and forwarded the introduction of the other. 
 However, to speak in general terms, the division of Basse 
 Bretagne comprises the western part of the province, as far 
 as the promontory of Finist^re. Why it is called Lower 
 Brittany, I cannot discover, unless it is on account of its 
 being the most remote from Rennes, once the capital and 
 seat of government ; as we say, down to Wales, down to Scot- 
 land, <Sfc. or else from the western situation, as we talk of 
 going down channel, when sailing to the west, for certainly 
 its epithet of Low, does not by any means apply, with refer- 
 ence to the elevation of the ground ; because, though no 
 part of the country can with propriety be called mountainous, 
 yet the few hills which do at all exist in the province, are 
 almost exclusively to be found in this lower division ; which 
 is altogether a much more elevated district than the other. 
 
 These hills, or mountains, as the French call them, which, 
 to an inhabitant of Wales, would seem but mere rising 
 grounds, do in reality possess a much greater degree of ele- 
 vation than they appear to have. Some of the highest are 
 upwards of 900 feet above the level of the sea. The 
 Montagnes 6?" Are, in Finist^re, being 286 metres, and the 
 Montagnes Noires not much less ; but the gradual slopes by 
 which they ascend, and a very slight undulation of their 
 outline, greatly diminish their apparent altitude. 
 
 As there is no large river, or marked natural boundary, 
 between Upper and Lower Brittany, as may be supposed, 
 the transition is not immediate from the character of the one 
 region to that of the other ; yet, on passing from one to the 
 other, a few stages will remind us of a considerable change 
 in the climate and aspect of the country, and as might be 
 expected, in that of the inhabitants. Instead of the rich 
 and luxuriant plains of the upper district, with its woods and 
 orchards, Basse Bretagne, on the contrary, presents the ap- 
 pearance of a cold, hilly, and sterile region ; the corn more 
 scanty and later in ripening, a comparative deficiency of 
 
8 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 wood, and the trees that do exist, especially in high situa- 
 tions, stunted, and bending from the west wind. Of course 
 there are exceptions to this general character, and there are 
 many sheltered spots in which the influence of a southern 
 climate is perceptible in the more favourable appearance of 
 the vegetation ; and not unfrequently spots of considerable 
 beauty. But generally speaking, this country, from the 
 elevation of the land, and its peninsular situation, is more 
 subject to rain than any part of France, and even than 
 many parts of England. And doubtless it is to this ungenial 
 state of the climate, that the dreary and naked appearance 
 of the fences is to be attributed, which are for the most part 
 formed of dikes or mounds of earth, unaccompanied by any 
 hedges or trees. And as in so exposed a country, shelter is 
 an important consideration, these embankments are, in the 
 absence of hedge-rows, raised to the height of five or six 
 feet. This circumstance, added to the diminutive size of the 
 enclosures, which contain about one acre each, and their 
 regular oblong square form, gives the face of the land a very 
 singular appearance, and naturally suggests the idea of the 
 difficulties which would attend the conducting of a campaign 
 in this country, particularly if opposed by the natives. In 
 fact, every field is a fortification, with its breast- works ready 
 thrown up. It would require incredible labour to render it 
 passable to artillery, or even to practise the regular move- 
 ments of cavalry. 
 
 The destinies of nations are often connected with other 
 causes far more difficult of comprehension than those which 
 appear most prominent in their immediate operation; other- 
 wise here, in this land of intrenchments, the brave and loyal 
 little band of the Chouans might have continued to keep the 
 republican troops engaged until their friends had rallied in 
 other parts of the kingdom. But the revolutionary spirit 
 had been too widely difi'used, and too deeply imbibed, and 
 numerous powerful, though hidden and unsuspected causes, 
 had been too long in operation, to be then counteracted by a 
 few local advantages and partial successes. 
 
 Whether it is the general humidity of the climate, which 
 must make travelling less pleasant in this country than in 
 the interior parts of France, or whether it is the difference 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 9 
 
 of language, and the primitive and grotesque dress of the 
 people ; or perhaps an old hereditary grudge, occasioned by 
 numerous ages of almost unceasing hostilities, that has im- 
 pressed the French with the ideas they entertain of Basse 
 Bretagne, I know not ; but certainly, if we attended to their 
 report of it, we should conclude it to be, with respect to the 
 appearance of the country itself, and of the people who inha- 
 bit it, the most repulsive place upon the face of the earth. I 
 had so frequently heard this description of its uninviting 
 character from the French inhabitants of Paris, and of the 
 interior, that previously to my visiting it, and making ob- 
 servations for myself, I had naturally adopted their ideas, 
 and not only expected to see something very different from 
 what is usually met with in the rest of Europe, but had 
 actually made preparations for an expedition, such as I was 
 given to understand would take me beyond the limits of the 
 civilized world. And when about to commence my excursion 
 thither, it was my fortune to meet, in the city of Rennes, 
 with a gay Parisian party, who so effectually succeeded in 
 confirming my prejudices, that had I implicitly followed the 
 advice they so liberally bestowed upon me, I should doubt- 
 less from thenceforward have most faithfully transmitted to 
 others the same impression that had been communicated to 
 myself. These savans, it appears, had just been making an 
 excursion towards the borders of Basse Bretagne, but were 
 then returning, as they said, completely disgusted, though 
 they had only proceeded as far as the town of Dinan^ which 
 is not even within the limits of the country they were de- 
 scribing. And when I signified my intention of making a 
 tour of the whole province, they most earnestly advised me 
 to alter my plans, and occupy my time in visiting some 
 other part of the kingdom ; for they assured me, that 
 travellers who attempted Basse Bretagne, returned in disgust 
 before they went more than a few stages into the country, 
 for that its general aspect was that of desolation itself ; the 
 roads were impassable ; and the people dirty, ragged barbar- 
 ians, living in filthy huts, and clothed in sheepskins ; that, 
 in short, every thing was affreucc. 
 
 Having, therefore, heard so many repetitions of this de- 
 scription, I must confess that I was, in a great measure, 
 c 
 
10 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 inclined to give it credence ; of course, making due allowance 
 for a few French metaphors, and for the ideas of rural life, 
 which these good Parisians had acquired in the Champs 
 Eljsees and the Tuileries Gardens, adding, moreover, that' 
 they had never seen the country themselves, but had under- 
 taken to assure me of all this upon mere hearsay ; yet, not- 
 withstanding all this, such was the urgent persuasiveness 
 with which this advice was given, and the convulsive shrug 
 which accompanied the emphatic pronunciation of the word 
 affreux^ that I absolutely forgot that this province contained 
 the great towns of Brest and FOrient, &c. and that through 
 it ran some of the finest high roads in France ; and had 
 gradually lapsed into that state of wondering expectation 
 which a person would experience when about to land among 
 the Caffres or Catabaws ; and, when I approached the borders 
 of the Bas Bretons, I constantly kept a look out for some- 
 thing egregiously outlandish and untamed, something 
 between the Esquimaux and the Hottentot, which should 
 concentrate all the distinguishing characteristics of the 
 savage of both hemispheres. I was thus looking out 
 for my Breton cousins, in their sheepskins and nose- 
 rings, and figuring to myself the beau ideal of rags and 
 beggary which I was shortly to see realized ; when I heard 
 the first words of Breton spoken, near Chatelaudren. I was 
 not a little disappointed at not seeing the expected concomi- 
 tants of war-mats and wigwams ; and it must be admitted 
 that I was doomed to endure the same mortification as far 
 as the town of Morlaix, and even down to Brest itself. For 
 the truth is, that the Bas Bretons, along this line of country, 
 so far from being the arrant savages those French cockneys 
 would have us believe, on the contrary, live in as comfort- 
 able farm-houses as the same class of people in any part of 
 France, and, to outward appearance, as well constructed as 
 those of the small farmers in many parts of England. Their 
 houses, so far from being mud huts, are well built, and that 
 generally of stone, having good barns and outhouses, all well 
 covered with tile or thatch ; though here, as in other coun- 
 tries, wherever building stone is scarce, and bricks not easily 
 obtained, the usual substitute of earthen walls is had re- 
 cour;sc to. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 11 
 
 The inhabitants, it must be owned, appear a little grotesque 
 in their dress, as they still retain the old costume worn in 
 France, and some other countries, two centuries ago ; and 
 living- upon coarse and scanty fare, they are of a spare habit, 
 and of a rather sallow complexion, but they are by no means 
 more ragged nor more dirty than their Frankish neighbours; 
 though that is not saying much for them. 
 
 But although this accusation of barbarism is false, as im- 
 plicating the general character of the Bas Bretons, yet it 
 must not be concealed that there are some remote corners in 
 the western department, on the sea-coasts and among the hills, 
 in which the condition of the people seems extremely wretch- 
 ed, both with regard to their personal appearance and their 
 mode of living ; there, their dwellings are really mud cabins, 
 ill built and dirty, and destitute of all that we understand 
 by the comforts of life ; but it is just as unfair to attach this 
 character to the country in general, as it would be to include 
 the city of London under the description of Wapping, or 
 the new town of Edinburgh under that of the Oanongate. 
 But, even when the wretchedness of these poor creatures is 
 seen and admitted in its full extent, there are many circum- 
 stances which, when rightly considered, will serve, if not to 
 excuse, at least to explain its existence. 
 
 The only one which I shall now insist upon is the temper- 
 ature of the climate ; for the department of Finistere, though 
 not so cold in winter as the interior, yet in summer is far 
 less warm and genial, the thermometer seldom rising above 
 23 degrees, Reaumur, (not quite 84^ Fahrenheit ;) in addi- 
 tion to which, from its position so far in the Atlantic, it is 
 exceedingly subject to rain and tempests ; the wind blowing 
 from north-west to south-west, for three quarters of the year, 
 so that it often rains for weeks together without intermission ; 
 in short, fine weather is very rare, even in summer, the sky 
 being generally covered with clouds. The number of rainy 
 days in the year is upon an average 220. 
 
 In such a state of unceasing rain, it is not surprising that 
 the natives should acquire an indifference to the effects of 
 wet weather; and as it would be utterly impossible to guard 
 against it out of doors, so it would be inconvenient for them 
 to be continually changing their clothes, when wetted, or to 
 
12 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 attempt to protect themselves from its influence by retiring 
 under shelter ; therefore, from sheer necessity, the peasantry 
 of the western extremity have acquired such habits of care- 
 lessness in this respect, both in the fields and in their houses, 
 as are by no means favourable either to personal or domestic 
 cleanliness. And it is wonderful to what a pitch of hardi- 
 hood these men have attained, for they may be seen walking 
 about most deliberately in the heaviest rain, though drench- 
 ed from head to foot for hours together. They seem quite 
 amphibious. 
 
 But, while I am thus explaining, extenuating, and apolo- 
 gizing, lest I should incur the imputation of prejudice on the 
 one hand, or of inconsistency on the other, I shall here en- 
 deavour to sum up the character of the country in a few 
 words, according to the opportunities I had of making ob- 
 servations; and whatever degree of accuracy these remarks 
 may possess, I feel conscious that they at least have the 
 merit of impartiality. 
 
 The province of Brittany varies exceedingly in character 
 in every particular, as we proceed from its eastern to its west- 
 ern extremity. 
 
 In the eastern department, the farmers live as comfortably, 
 if that term may be permitted, as the same class in the other 
 districts of France, although in no part of that kingdom can 
 they bear the least comparison with the bettermost English 
 farmers, either in comfort, cleanliness, or industry. 
 
 As we proceed westward, in proportion as the climate be- 
 comes less favourable^ so the inhabitants become deteriorated 
 in their general appearance, until we come to the wretched 
 huts of Finistere, and there we certainly do find that kind 
 of squalid misery that will justify a good deal of the tirade 
 of abuse which my Parisian friends had levelled against the 
 whole country without distinction. But while this state of 
 wretchedness is admitted with regard to the secluded dis- 
 tricts of Finistere, I can only say that is a fortunate country 
 indeed which is entirely free from a similar reproach, with 
 regard to its remote districts, especially if its territories can 
 boast of any great extent ; at least, I have seen in other 
 countries quite as much misery as in the Basse Bretagne. 
 
 With respect to the origin of the present inhabitants of 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 13 
 
 this province, it is universally allowed that they are derived 
 from two separate nations, though both of the Celtic race, 
 that is, from the aboriginal Gaulish population of Armorica, 
 and also from a later colony which emigrated from Great 
 Britain, and afterwards mingled with the ancient inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 In what parts the insular Britons chiefly settled, or whe- 
 ther they chose any particular spots for their residence, or 
 else dispersed themselves over the country in general, is not 
 distinctly known. Though it is probable that the armed 
 legions of Conan Meriadoc would select the rich plains of 
 the Loire and the Vilaine for their possession, as indeed the 
 seat of government of that prince's descendants would clearly 
 imply, whether at Nantes or at Kennes ; while later emi- 
 grants would occupy such districts as would from time to 
 time fall to their lot, according to their influence in obtain- 
 ing them by favour, or their power in seizing them by force. 
 
 But, however this may have been, there does not at pre- 
 sent exist any national variety of character among the Bre- 
 tons, which can, in the remotest degree be attributed to the 
 original diff'erence of race ; yet, nevertheless, from the variety 
 of character which does exist there, the province of Brittany 
 offers a fertile and extensive field for the speculations of the 
 physiologist; for the inhabitants of the rich flat countries, 
 having a tolerable supply of food, are as robust and well 
 grown as those of France in general, and more so than many 
 of the genuine Frankish districts, although in no part of the 
 kingdom can the peasantry be said to live well ; and, conse- 
 quently, they do not possess that athletic frame and florid 
 complexion, which is always characteristic of those countries 
 in which good living forms one of the hereditary habits of 
 the people. 
 
 In the luxuriant country surrounding the city of Rennes, 
 they are of good stature, and well proportioned, and not 
 unfrequently possessed of remarkably fine and handsome 
 features. 
 
 As we proceed towards the hilly country in the west, a 
 visible change takes place in the appearance of the people ; 
 the stature becomes smaller, and the frame of the body more 
 slight, the features also bearing the stamp of harder and 
 
14 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 more scanty fare, though sometimes, even here, may be seen 
 some handsome countenances. And this change is not sud- 
 den, but gradual ; nor is it concurrent with any division 
 of language, or territorial boundary ; but according to the 
 most accurate observations I was enabled to make, it is in 
 exact proportion to the quantity and quality of food, and 
 the hereditary habits of the people, all of which is also most 
 undoubtedly connected with the difference of soil and climate. 
 For although the peasantry of the plains live poorly enough, 
 in comparison with English farmers, yet having wholesome 
 bread to eat, and a better supply of the other necessaries of life, 
 when compared with the people of the hills, they may be 
 said to fare sumptuously ; for these poor creatures, so far 
 from having wheaten bread to eat, do not always enjoy the 
 luxury of that of barley, but generally subsist upon the mi- 
 serable black bread made of buckwheat I of which, together 
 with some cabbage, and occasionally a small bit of bacon, 
 they make a kind of pottage ; and this is their general food. 
 A long and hereditary habit of living upon this wretched 
 diet, and of being content with a scanty supply even of this, 
 must have stamped upon their personal character a corres- 
 ponding impression ; and therefore we must not be surprised 
 if we find, in the poorer districts, among the Bas Breton 
 peasants, that diminutive stature, attenuated figure, and 
 thin and skinny visage which I have just alluded to. 
 
 Whether the natives of the western coasts were driven to 
 the necessity of adopting this wretched fare, by the poverty 
 of their soil and ungenial nature of their climate, or else from 
 the troubled and unsettled state of things, so unfriendly to 
 the progress of agricultural improvement, which they must 
 have experienced during so many ages of incessant wars, it 
 may not be easy to pronounce; but I feel assured that this 
 unfavourable style of personal appearance is purely attribu- 
 table to the above circumstances, for among those Bas Breton 
 families whose circumstances have enabled them to live more 
 generously, we find as tall, as well-grown, as well-looking 
 people as in other countries. 
 
 Notwithstanding this excess of frugality in their mode of 
 living, it is said that many of the Bas Breton farmers are 
 very rich ; yet they seem to inherit and indulge in so miserly 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 15 
 
 a disposition, that they will deprive themselves of what we 
 consider the necessaries of life, rather than part with any 
 portion of their long-hoarded family stores. This false eco- 
 nomy, of course, prevents their engaging in any mercantile 
 speculations, by entirely cramping the spirit of enterprise, 
 and consequently obstructs the free circulation of money in 
 the country ; and thus they continue, as they always have 
 done, hoarding up, with clenched hands, their slowly gathered 
 wealth, unwilling ever to part with the penny which falls into 
 their possession, until some inevitable necessity wrenches it 
 from their grasp. There are individuals of this class in all 
 countries, though the progress of general improvement has 
 happily reduced their numbers, in many instances ; and even in 
 Basse Bretagne, a better system is beginning to work its way. 
 
 But if the Bas Bretons are, in some districts, small of sta- 
 ture, and slight of form, nature has made compensation for 
 it, in bestowing upon them the most vigorous frame of body 
 that it is possible for human beings to possess. 
 
 Havingv, soon after my arrival in Basse Bretagne, had oc- 
 casion to make an excursion on foot across the country, I 
 requested I might be provided with a guide who should 
 accompany me, to point out the road, and also to carry 
 my luggage. I accordingly soon found one of these little 
 Bretons standing by me, with my wallet strapped upon his 
 back, ready to start ; but when 1 beheld his small stature, 
 (about five feet five inches,) his thin and apparently feeble 
 frame, I began to think that either he had mistaken my ideas 
 of the qualifications of a guide, or else had undertaken much 
 more than he was capable of performing ; and I little doubt- 
 ed that I should in a short time have to leave him behind, 
 and find my way without him as well as I could, with my 
 package upon my own shoulders; and when, to signify my 
 doubts as to his fitness for his situation, I mentioned the 
 degree of speed at which I should expect him to walk, he 
 begged I would be under no apprehension on that account, 
 as he assured me he could perform all that, and more, with 
 the greatest ease, and could carry my luggage at the same 
 rate, not only as far as I intended going, but the whole of 
 the day, if I wished it. And I verily believe he could ; for 
 he started off before me with such a light and elastic step, 
 
16 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 that he absolutely kept me to a kind of trot for some hours 
 together ; and, at the journey ""s end, did not seem to think 
 he had done any thing extraordinary, but set off home again 
 at the same rate. Nor was this man a singular instance; 
 for I had afterwards occasion to prove the pedestrian powers 
 of several others, and found them all equally tough and 
 hardy. They seem all sinew, or, rather, made of whalebone 
 itself. Bonaparte once said, that the Bretons and Piedmon- 
 tese were the best soldiers in his army ; and I can easily 
 conceive that a regiment of these active little fellows would 
 wear out the tallest grenadiers in Europe. And here a reflec- 
 tion is naturally suggested, which may admit of a moment's 
 attention. If these men, though small of stature, possess some 
 of the most useful physical powers in a more perfect degree 
 than taller men, is it not a false value that is placed upon height 
 of stature and size of limb, as far as they are supposed to 
 excel in the possession of any important advantages ? 
 
 This vigorous frame of body, which the Bas Bretons 
 seem to possess in so eminent a degree, if it has not always 
 been applied to purposes of useful industry, yet it cannot 
 be said that it has been entirely neglected, for they have 
 ever been exceedingly fond of cultivating athletic exercises, 
 and particularly that of wrestling, at which they have at 
 all times been considered most expert. In former times, 
 wrestling constituted one of the principal amusements of the 
 Breton court ; and the accounts of the treasurers are almost 
 always charged with sums of money given to the wrestlers. 
 When the Constable de Bichemont visited the city of Tours, 
 in the time of Charles the Seventh, he took with him some 
 wrestlers from Basse Bretagne, who exhibited their powers 
 before the French court. 
 
 Such was the celebrity they had acquired in this art, that 
 their superior strength and skill were universally acknow- 
 ledged ; for when Francis the Firsts and Henry the Eighth, 
 of England, met at the field of the Cloth of Gold^ there was 
 given a grand spectacle of a wrestling match between the 
 French and English, in which the latter were victorious ; 
 and the French writers of the time, in lamenting this defeat, 
 say that their countrymen would not have suffered such dis- 
 grace had the Breton wrestlers been there. 
 
TOUR THROUGPl BRITTANY. 
 
 17 
 
 But it is not merely in tlie variety of stature, consequent 
 upon the nature of food, that Brittany affords subjects of 
 physiological remark, for here may also be noticed, in a 
 striking manner, the effect of climate upon the complexion. 
 The people of the flat and warm districts in the neighbour- 
 hood of Rennes, and other places similarly situated, are often 
 of a decidedly dark complexion, dark-haired, and black-eyed, 
 manifesting, to a considerable extent, the character of a south- 
 ern climate, as in fact they are situated near the forty-eighth 
 degree of latitude, and inhabit a low country, far from the 
 influence of any mountainous region. Yet, notwithstanding 
 this geographical situation of Brittany, in consequence of the 
 causes already mentioned, the climate varies exceedingly from 
 the eastern to the western extremity. And, accordingly, as 
 we quit the plains of the Haute Bretagne, and proceed to- 
 wards the hills and colder regions of the west, the dark com- 
 plexion gradually gives place to one of a much lighter cha- 
 racter, the hair being less black, and the eye of some shade 
 of gray. The people also, having for many successive genera- 
 tions followed the same habits, and rarely changed their 
 abode, the influence of climate, as it varies from the warm 
 temperature of the banks of the Vilaine to the cold elevation 
 of Finistere, may be most distinctly perceived, in its several 
 gradations. And even if the different aspect of the soil and 
 its vegetation did not remind us of a change of climate, the 
 various shades of the eye, passing from black to gray, would 
 form an accurate thermometrical scale, wherein the change 
 would be found registered. I am aware there are artificial 
 causes which would operate to counteract this effect of cli- 
 mate, but which it is not now my intention to describe; 
 but as those causes are not at this time in operation among 
 the Breton peasantry, the influence of climate remains un- 
 disturbed. 
 
 Those who advocate the dark complexion of the Celtic race 
 may imagine that this statement of the prevalence of the 
 dark temperament in some parts of Brittany, affords a con- 
 firmation of their system, but I am prepared to show that it 
 will prove the direct reverse ; for if there be any portion of 
 the Breton population more purely Celtic than another, it 
 must be that of the mountains, where the Celtic language is 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 the only one spoken ; and here it is that the hghtest shade 
 of eye and the fairest complexion is to be found ; whereas, 
 in the lowlands, and especially in the vicinity of the large 
 towns, the people are most decidedly of a much darker com- 
 plexion. And if a Gothic mixture prevails any where, it is 
 most likely to do so in the towns and districts nearest the 
 French borders. 
 
 I may be asked, why these effects of the difference of 
 climate are not seen in other countries ? in England, for in- 
 stance ; where the surface of the land varies so greatly, and 
 is of course accompanied by a corresponding change of tem- 
 perature. I answer, that there is no part of England situ- 
 ated so far south, as by the influence of climate alone to 
 produce the dark coloured eye, and therefore the change of 
 temperature cannot be so marked; whereas the whole of 
 Brittany, with the exception of one small headland, lies 
 more to the south than the latitude of Paris; and, in the 
 low and warm districts, the climate has naturally a greater 
 tendency to darken the complexion ; and as far as my ob- 
 servations have extended, I have always found that a change 
 to a colder temperature, in consequence of the greater eleva- 
 tion of the land, has precisely the same effect upon the com- 
 plexion as a similar change occasioned by a more northern 
 degree of latitude. 
 
 But although in Great Britain the mere climate would 
 never produce the black coloured iris, nevertheless there are 
 some artificial local causes in operation in Great Britain, 
 which have the effect of producing that hue of complexion, 
 and so powerful is their influence, that they are found to 
 counteract the effects of our northern climate even in the 
 greatest habitable elevations. 
 
 I have occasionally seen assertions made by some who had 
 visited the Bas Bretons, that they bear a strong personal re- 
 semblance to the Welsh; but, for my own part, I have 
 never been able to satisfy myself of this resemblance, and I 
 rather suspect that it exists only in the preconceived notions 
 of those by whom such statements were made. Indeed I am 
 inclined to think that, if those persons had not been pre- 
 viously acquainted with the identity of language and origin 
 of the two nations, they would never have perceived any 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 19 
 
 particular resemblance between them. The Welsh, it is 
 true, in many of the poorer districts of the Principality, live 
 upon very hard fare, and so do the Bretons in general ; and 
 so far there may be a resemblance, as it is reasonable to sup- 
 pose that, in this case, a similarity of habits of living will 
 stamp such a corresponding impression upon the counte- 
 nance, that both shall proclaim the poverty and scantiness of 
 their food ; but this will be found to hold good between any 
 two nations whatsoever. In person, however, the Bretons 
 are by no means so robust as the Welsh ; and I am disposed 
 to think, that their features approach nearer to those of their 
 French neighbours, than to any other ; though really, in 
 some parts of the country, their visages are so very thin and 
 haggard, that it is scarcely possible to discover what they 
 would be, if they were better covered with flesh. 
 
 The same persons who make the above assertions respec- 
 ting the Bretons, assure us also that they resemble the Welsh 
 in their mental disposition, but of this fact I have not made 
 sufficient stay in the country to form a judgment, though I 
 should expect to find that they partake more of the lively dis- 
 position of the French. But how can any general descrip- 
 tion be given of the character of a people, who are allowed, 
 even by their own writers, to vary so much among them- 
 selves ? For M. Villeneuve, in his Descriptive Itinerary of 
 Finistere, says, that the river of Morlaix separates two dis- 
 tricts, in which the inhabitants afford a striking example of 
 this difference of character. On the right bank, that is, on 
 the coast of Treguier, he says, they are more lively and 
 cheerful, their dances are more animated, and their airs 
 brisker, than on the coast of Leon, where they are slower in 
 their gait, and more grave and taciturn, and that there is 
 also a difference in the physiognomy and in the dialect. The 
 same writer says, that as striking a difference occurs in many 
 other towns of the department. He also states, that the 
 people of Plougastel are more robust than those of some 
 other districts. 
 
 The truth seems to be, that as the climate of Brittany, as 
 well as the face of the country, varies so greatly, so also 
 does the character of the people, both mental and personal. 
 
 It may be said that, as the languages of Wales and 
 
20 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANV. 
 
 Brittany continue so much alike, why may not the people I 
 To this I answer, that many causes tend to alter the personal 
 character, which cannot affect the language. And even should 
 it be said, that the Bretons have remained to this day very 
 little altered in their national peculiarities, yet we know that 
 the Welsh have undergone numerous changes according to 
 the progress of civilization among them; and, if it be allowed 
 that a gradual change has been proceeding in both nations 
 for twelve or fourteen hundred years, I think it will be un- 
 reasonable to expect any very striking resemblance between 
 them at the present day. 
 
 Among other proofs of similarity, it is urged that both 
 nations are musical. The pretensions of the Welsh to this 
 character cannot be disputed, as they possess a superb style 
 of national music, forming a class in itself; but then, they 
 have always had the advantage of that noble instrument the 
 harp, to preserve and cultivate, both in its melody and 
 harmony; whereas the Bretons, having no such national 
 instrument, are very far behind them in musical science. 
 The bagpipes are frequently seen among them, as they are 
 in other parts of France, and so is the violin, but they can 
 scarcely be called national here, and the performers on those 
 instruments as frequently play French airs as Breton. 
 Therefore, if the music of Brittany was ever the same with 
 that of Wales, (as it must have been in some degree,) it is 
 not surprising that, at the present day, they bear no resem- 
 blance to each other. Indeed, it seems impossible to pre- 
 serve a style of music traditionally, without the assistance of 
 some instrument ; for it would seem that the voice, when 
 left to itself, without any instrumental guide to lead and 
 direct it, will in a short time deviate exceedingly from the 
 proper notes which it is intended it should follow ; and, in a 
 few generations, would probably lapse into a vicious and im- 
 perfect scale, and only chant a monotonous recitative, very 
 different to the established gamut, or division of notes. 
 
 The Bretons are certainly fond of singing, but nevertheless 
 they can scarcely be called a musical people in the strict 
 sense of the word ; for though they have a great number 
 of songs, and what they call a variety of airs, yet there 
 seems such a sameness throughout them all, that a stranger 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 21 
 
 might imagine each succeeding song to be only a repetition 
 of the one he heard last, except the time and measure is 
 manifestly different. The airs are all short, simple, and of 
 very small compass; seldom having any thing striking in 
 their composition, or even beyond the most common arrange- 
 ment of notes; in short, they resemble our old English 
 " Chevy Chase," or " Cease rude Boreas," more than any- 
 thing else, and that not only in the style of the music, but 
 in the length of the song ; for if the tunes are short, the 
 words seem interminable. When I had listened to this 
 Chevy Chase style of singing for some time, I would occasi- 
 onally ask if they had no other sort of song, and was always 
 answered, that they had a great number ; and, upon my re- 
 questing to be favoured with one, they would strike up 
 Chevy Chase again with the greatest composure, always 
 appearing to estimate the singing according to the merits 
 of the words, the air being a very secondary consideration. 
 
 But still, not liking to be foiled in my object, I have per- 
 sisted in my inquiry. " Have you no others of a different 
 style to any of these f " O, yes! a great abundance;" 
 and then comes the same eternal Chevy Chase as before. 
 Did a similarity of musical taste argue an identity of origin, 
 I should say the Bretons are more nearly allied to the 
 English than to the Welsh. Could we not find out some 
 theory concerning the Loegrian Britons from this ? 
 
 But as it may not be uninteresting to musical readers, 
 I shall, by way of illustration^ insert a Bas Breton Air, 
 which is a great favourite with the peasants, and is no 
 bad specimen of their taste ; and never having been pub- 
 lished, it may be the more acceptable.* The subject of the 
 song is satirical; it was given me by a Breton gentleman, 
 who wrote it down, together with many others, from the 
 mouths of the peasants who sang them. The same gentle- 
 man also favoured me with several- curious particulars 
 relative to the Bas Bretons, whom he had every opportunity 
 of acquainting himself with, having, during the revolution, 
 resided among them in some of the most secluded parts of 
 the country. 
 
 * I am indebted to Mr. Parry [Bardd Alaw] for the Bass to this and the 
 following Air ; the originals consisting of the melody only. 
 
22 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 ANN HANI GOZ. 
 
 Ronde Bretonne. 
 
 
 ^-1- 
 
 — « — ff_ 
 
 
 
 Anr 
 
 1 ha - ni 
 
 goz eo va 
 
 dous ann ha - ni 
 
 
 1 
 
 — A' 
 
 
 — V V 
 
 goz eo 
 
 4 
 
 zur 
 
 Ann ha - ni 
 
 ia-ouank a zo 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 koaiit ann ha - 
 
 ni goz e deuz ar - 
 
 chant ann 
 
 ha - ni 
 
 p— 
 
 :zz| Tz^-J^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -4 TT 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 -H 
 
 
 
 
 goz eo va 
 
 dous ann ha - ni 
 
 goz eo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 23 
 
 But among all the various specimens of songs and tunes, 
 which exist in different collections, as there are none more 
 simple, so perhaps there are none more ancient than those 
 of the nursery. And however slightly, in our maturer age, 
 we may be disposed to esteem them, either in their wording 
 or music, possibly their moral influence is much more 
 extensive than we would always choose to admit. And in 
 those moments of the revival of early impressions, which 
 occasionally occur, when the prejudices of the child rise up 
 and confound the man, the nursery song, and nursery tale, 
 may often prove more powerful in their operation than 
 the lecture of the philosopher or the divine. 
 
 But however this may be, I shall perhaps be pardoned for 
 inserting here a Breton nursery song, which was given me 
 by the gentleman who favoured me with the one above, and 
 which has also never been published. Although it can- 
 not pretend to any other influence than that of hushing a 
 Breton child to sleep ; yet, in point of composition, it is by 
 no means inferior to some which, among us, are honoured 
 with dissipating the waking moments of those of a larger 
 growth. 
 
 The subject, though of the most primitive simplicity, yet 
 is one of vast importance in a Breton nursery. The nurse 
 tells her child that she was going to make a bake-stone cake ; 
 but, on looking for the fuel to bake it, she found it as yet 
 uncut in the wood, and the hatchet for cutting it without 
 a helve ! Each succeeding verse brings with it some new 
 disaster ; the meal is yet unground at the mill ; the butter 
 is in the market ; the tripod is at the smith's forge, unmade; 
 and the bake-stone plate is yet unbought, in the shop at 
 Perros ! ^ 
 
 NENIE. 
 
 Ou, Chanson, d'une Bretonne pour endormir son Enfant. 
 
24 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 
 
 e ma va 
 •JZ_L • 
 
 k ^ — - 
 
 zoaz kram-poez e 
 
 ^ — 
 
 go a - chan ! 
 
 -a — 1 A A -I 
 
 
 
 e ma va 
 
 zoaz kram-poez e 
 
 go. 
 
 1 = 
 
 
 
 
 Eunn daou pe tri dervez a z6 
 
 Ema va zoaz krampoez ^ go— Acli&n ! 
 
 Ema va zoaz krampoez ^ go. 
 
 Rak va chefmedd a z6 er choad, 
 
 Ha va bouchal a z6 didroad — Achan! 
 
 Ha va bouchal, &c. 
 
 Ha va amann z6 er marchat, 
 Ha va bleCid z6 choaz 6 valat — Acli&n ! 
 &c. 
 
 Ha va spanel zo ^ Montroulez, 
 Ha va rozel i Karaez — AchSn ! 
 &c. 
 
 Ha va zr^bez z6 i Landreger, 
 Ebarz ar ch6vel och 6ber — Ach&n ! 
 &c. 
 
 Ha va fillik z6 Perroz, 
 
 Alias! shetu deCiet ann n6z — Achdn ! 
 
 Alias ! shetu deClet ann nAz. 
 
 It is some two or three days 
 Since my pancake dough has been put to 
 [heave— Ah, welladay! 
 Since my pancake dough has been put to 
 [heave. 
 
 For my fuel is in the wood. 
 
 And my hatchet is without a lielve— Ah, 
 
 And my hatchet, &c. [welladay 1 
 
 And my butter is in the market, 
 
 And my meal is yet unground— Ah, 
 
 &c- [welladay! 
 And my baking-slice is at Mori lix. 
 And my rolling pin at Carhaix— Ah, 
 
 &c [welladay ! 
 
 And my tripod is at Treguier 
 At the smith's forge, in the making— Ah, 
 
 &c. [welladay ! 
 
 And my bake-stone plate is at Perros, 
 Alas! here the night is come— Ah, wella- 
 Alas ! here the night is come. [day ! 
 
 The exclamation achanl which is pronounced with the last syllable long and accented, 
 had formely a corresponding word in the Welsh, that is, ochan,^ alas; though it is not 
 now in use. It is, however, retained in the Irish och hone, and the Gselic ochain. The 
 rest of the words will generally be found, by the Welsh reader, to bear a strong resemblance 
 to similar terms in his native language, as, toes, cramwyth, di-droed, gofail, &c. I do not 
 know that this last word is at present used in any part of Wales to signify a smithy, 
 though it must at one time have been the general expression. We still Ifind its plural 
 retained in the name of Ooneilon, a village in Monmouthshire. 
 
 In offering these remarks upon the merits of the Bas Bre- 
 ton music, though I have little doubt of their general accu- 
 racy, yet it is but justice to acknowledge, that I have not 
 had opportunities of judging of that of every portion of the 
 
 * See Owen's Dictionary. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 25 
 
 country, and there may be exceptions. However, upon a 
 future occasion, I hope to have the pleasure of communica- 
 ting some others from a different quarter of the province. 
 
 When travelling in this country, one of my principal ob- 
 jects was the inquiry after ancient manuscripts, both Welsh 
 and Breton, of which a great number are known once to 
 have existed, but are no more to be found. And as there 
 was, in former times, so intimate a connection between 
 W ales and Brittany, it is not unreasonable to suppose, that 
 tliere was an interchange with regard to their respective 
 books. It is true, that we do not now find any Armorican 
 works in Great Britain, though we know that they once did 
 exist. But it does not follow that no Welsh writings could 
 find their way to France. However, notwithstanding every 
 search I was enabled to make, I have not been fortunate 
 enough to meet with a single manuscript in the Welsh 
 language, nor with any thing of antiquity in the Breton it- 
 self ; and, from every information I have been able to pro- 
 cure, I despair of their existence in this portion of the king- 
 dom, there being now so many men of learning, and of 
 research in that country, and so interested in Celtic investi- 
 gations, that were any such manuscripts extant, they could 
 hardly have escaped their observation. 
 
 Having been informed that there were some old manu- 
 scripts at Morlaix, after visiting several other places, I di- 
 rected my course towards the town, and soon found my way 
 to the shop of that patriotic printer and antiquary, M. Ledan, 
 who, I understand, is in possession of the only Breton 
 writings of any consideration in those parts, and which he 
 most readily produced and allowed me to examine. They 
 consist of four thin folio pamphlets of paper, copied about 
 the year 1765 from older manuscripts. They are all in the 
 Breton language, and in verse ; each pamphlet contains a 
 play, or tragedy, as it is here denominated, having much the 
 character of the old moralities and mysteries which were 
 general all over Europe a few centuries ago, and which are 
 still acted in some countries. The subjects of the above 
 Breton manuscripts are as follows : — 
 
 The tragedy of St Trefinnan, Princess of Brittany. 
 
 The tragedy of St. Genevieve, of Brabant. 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 The tragedy of Jacob and Joseph. 
 And the Passion of our Lord. 
 
 I also made inquiries in the Bibliotheque at Rennes, but 
 found nothing there relating to Wales. But though I was 
 not so fortunate with regard to Welsh remains, I was shown 
 a very old, and apparently valuable Irish manuscript ; and 
 perhaps it may not be thought irrelevant to give here some 
 account of this Celtic relic. 
 
 The work is in small folio, written on vellum, in double 
 columns, in the Irish language and character, and contains 
 125 leaves. From a note at the beginning, in the handwri- 
 ing of M. de Robien, who, as M. Maillet, the librarian, in- 
 formed me, was president of the Breton parliament, and died 
 in 1746, this manuscript contains fragments of piety and of 
 morality, several translations in prose and verse, extracts 
 from the discourses of St. Ambrose, and also the genealogy of 
 the ancient kings and principal families of Ireland; and as 
 M. Maillet assured me that he had never seen any person 
 that could understand it, though he had shown it to numbers 
 even of Irishmen, the following examples, copied from differ- 
 ent parts of the work, may not be uninteresting, as affording 
 some idea of the style of writing, though they are rather 
 imitations than accurate facsimiles. 
 
 The following is from another part of the manuscript ; 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 27 
 
 ^.y^ ^nc^ »n6^f fv;s^ £f;*tfr4|<4j5tno4pi'« 
 
 I have likewise seen other Irish manuscripts of a similar 
 description, and which it is my intention hereafter to notice. 
 
 But if I was unsuccessful in the discovery of manuscripts, 
 fortune made me some compensation for my disappointment 
 by introducing me to some of the most literary and national 
 characters of the province ; and I had the satisfaction of see- 
 ing, that many of the Breton gentry are fully alive to the 
 literature and antiquities of their native country ; and there 
 are among them persons actively engaged in collecting and 
 publishing whatever may appear to them interesting as con- 
 nected with those subjects. As a proof of this spirit, I need 
 only mention the following works, which have either lately 
 left the press, or are at this time in their progress through it ; — 
 
 Darn's History of Brittany, 8 vol. - - - 1826 
 
 De Roujoux's History of the Kings and Dukes of Brit- 
 tany, 4 vol. - - - 1829 
 Mahe's Antiquities of Morbihan - - - 1825 
 Poignand's Antiquities of St. Malo, &c. - - 1820 
 Kerdanet on the Language of the Gauls - - 1821 
 Villeneuve's Descriptive Itinerary of Finistere - 1828 
 De Penhouet's Castles of Brittany, a very handsome 
 work, now (1829) in the press, &c. 
 
 To which I may add, that M. Le Gonidec, in addition to 
 the Breton-French Dictionary and Grammar, which he pub- 
 lished some years ago, has now lying by him, in manuscript, 
 a French-Breton Dictionary, being the counterpart of the 
 former ; and he is only waiting for a sufficient patronage to 
 ensure him against loss, in order to put it into the press ; 
 and it is to be hoped he will not be allowed to wait long, as 
 this work, together with the other two, will form a com- 
 plete repository of the Breton language, as it now exists. 
 
28 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 In the conversations which I had the pleasure of holding 
 with the gentlemen before alluded to, as may be supposed, 
 the subjects generally related to the antiquities of our re- 
 spective nations, and a wish was often expressed to see an- 
 other edition of the Myvyrian Archaiology, and I gave them 
 no small gratification, when I told them that such a work 
 had been in contemplation. I also informed them that, in 
 addition to the relics contained in those volumes, we had also, 
 in the ancient British language, many unpublished manu- 
 scripts of great curiosity, and among others, the Mabinogion^ 
 which probably are the most ancient specimens of romantic 
 fiction in existence, and seem to be among the original mo- 
 dels of those tales of chivalry and romance which afterwards 
 spread so widely over the world, and, in their subsequent 
 modifications, directed the taste and sentiment of Europe 
 for so many ages. When I mentioned the existence of 
 those extraordinary tales, and, moreover, that Dr. Owen 
 Pughe had collected, translated, and arranged them for the 
 press, my hearers manifested a degree of delight, which 
 seemed as sincere as it was extreme. And they hoped that, 
 when this work should be put into the press, notice would 
 be given in the French papers^ in order that they might 
 avail themselves of the earliest opportunity of possessing it. 
 And then it was that, with shame and confusion^ I was 
 compelled to finish my statement, by saying that Dr. Owen 
 Pughe, after all his labours, had been for some years endea- 
 vouring to procure a sufficient number of subscribers, merely 
 to defray the expense of printing the work, even without 
 any emolument to himself, and was at last obliged to abandon 
 the idea entirely, for want of support, and that, after all, the 
 Mabinogion may never appear in our time, and probably, be- 
 fore another Dr. Owen Pughe appears, the originals will have 
 shared the fate of many others of our most valuable remains. 
 
 Such was the humiliating confession which was extorted 
 from me by the anxious curiosity of my Breton friends. 
 Had I been more prepared to meet their inquiries, I might 
 have suppressed the name of the Mabinogion altogether ; as 
 it is, I can only hope that my bad French, and embarrassed 
 manner, did in some degree prevent their comprehending the 
 full measure of disgrace, which most assuredly attaches to a 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 29 
 
 country that can allow such valuable remains of antiquity 
 to continue so long unnoticed, and in all probability to be 
 finally lost.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the intimate connexion which, in formei 
 times, subsisted between the province of Brittany and the 
 principality of Wales, yet, for several ages past, so entirely 
 has all national intercourse ceased between the two countries 
 that, at the present day, there is but little known of Brittany 
 among the Welsh, further than that the inhabitants speak a 
 language similar to their own. But although our country- 
 men are generally acquainted with this fact, for there is 
 scarcely a peasant in the Principality but has some know- 
 ledge of the Llydawiaid^ and their Celtic tongue, yet there 
 are but very few in any station of life who have a distinct 
 idea of the limits of that language, much less are they ac- 
 quainted with its dialects and local peculiarities. Indeed, so 
 little is the subject understood among them, that I have 
 known more than one Welshman, on landing at St. Malo, 
 exceedingly surprised and disconcerted at not finding the 
 Breton spoken in that town, or even in the adjacent country. 
 
 Should any one, therefore, feel interested in ascertaining 
 the present limits of the Celto-Breton language, if he will 
 take a map of France, or of Brittany, and commencing at 
 the northern shore of that province, opposite to Guingamp^ 
 draw a line through the little town of CJiatelaudren. and also 
 through that of Quiniin^ and proceeding in the same direc- 
 tion to the commune of Noyal^ on the east of Pontixty, and 
 from thence through the commune of Ehen^ and of Muzillac, 
 to the west bank of the Vilaine, opposite to La Roche Ber- 
 nard^ and from thence again to the ocean, at the mouth of 
 that river, he will find that he has thus divided the province 
 into two parts, by aline drawn across from sea to sea ; to the 
 westward of which, with the exception of the towns, the 
 Celtic is the general language. And of this western division, 
 which is called, in French, La Bretagne Bretonnante^ that is, 
 the Breton-speaking Brittany^ the city of Vannes is consi- 
 dered the capital. The Breton continues also to be spoken 
 in the small isolated canton of Batz^ in the department of 
 
 * This prediction has been happily falsified, by the Welsh patriotism of Lady 
 Charlotte Guest. 
 
30 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 Loire Inferieure : in the rest of the province, the French is 
 the universal tongue. Nevertheless, it must be stated, that 
 this line is not every where perfectly distinct ; as, in some 
 places, the French and Breton are blended together, and in 
 others, especially in the north, it is so well defined that, 
 in one part of the town, the inhabitants will be found to speak 
 nothing but French, in their general conversation, while in the 
 other, at the distance of a few paces, they speak only Breton. 
 
 With regard to the number of persons now speaking the 
 Breton, I have heard a great variety of opinions ; some esti- 
 mating them at a million, and others at not more than sia; 
 hundred thousand. It has even been asserted that, when 
 Bonaparte ordered a census to be made of the various inha- 
 bitants of his dominions, according to their respective nati- 
 ons and languages, there were found eleven hundred thousand 
 speaking the Celtic. I am, however, rather inclined to doubt 
 the accuracy of this statement : for although it was the po- 
 licy of that emperor to magnify his resources, yet I scarcely 
 think he could have managed to swell the number to this 
 amount, even though the Basque population were considered 
 as belonging to the Celtic race ; for the utmost amount of 
 that people, within the French frontier, hardly exceeds sixty 
 thousand souls. But I am disposed to think that, in the 
 present instance, as the statement was communicated in the 
 English language, the error was occasioned by a mistake, 
 easily made in a verbal repetition of the number, and that 
 instead of eleven^ it should have been seven hundred thousand ; 
 as from all the information I have been able to collect, that 
 amount would be nearer the truth than the other; and, in con- 
 firmation of my opinion, I submit the following documents. 
 
 In the table of the population of France, as divided into 
 departments, and published in 1791, the only one I have 
 now an opportunity of referring to, the following statement is 
 given of the province of Brittany : — 
 
 DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 Loire Inferieure 
 Isle et Vilaine 
 Morbihan 
 Cotes du Nord . 
 Finistere 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 831,270 
 519,169 
 281,565 
 523,880 
 285,730 
 
 Total of the population of Brittany in 1791, 
 
 1,941,614 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 81 
 
 Now, if we take the whole of Finist^re, and such portions 
 of Morbihan and Cotes du Nord as are to the west of the 
 line I have just described, and also the little district of Batz, 
 in Loire Inferieure, and then make reasonable allowance for 
 the Francicised inhabitants of the towns, on the one hand, 
 and for the increase of the Bretonnante population which 
 must have taken place since the year 1791, on the other, it 
 will, probably, be found that seven hundred thousand is a 
 fair computation of the number of persons speaking the Celto- 
 Breton. 
 
 At what particular time the Breton became confined to its 
 present limits, is not exactly known ; though it is certain 
 that, throughout a great portion of Upper Brittany, it had, 
 at a very early period, given way to the more cultivated 
 Gaulish-Latin. So little was it known in some parts of the 
 upper division in the twelfth century, that the celebrated 
 Ahelard^ though himself a Breton, having been born near 
 Nantes, yet when he was stationed in the diocese of Vannes, 
 complained that he was surrounded by a barbarous people, 
 whose language was hateful and unintelligible to him. 
 
 But notwithstanding that the Breton was soon supplanted 
 by its more elegant rival in the upper country, it appears 
 that, in Lower Brittany, at a greater distance from the re- 
 finements of the court, it never ceased to be the general lan- 
 guage. However, it can hardly be doubted that, at one 
 time, it prevailed to a considerable degree, if not generally, 
 throughout the whole of the province. For it is not probable 
 that Oonan Meriadoc, when he took possession of the coun- 
 try, at the head of his victorious legions, would pass by the 
 fertile plains of the Loire and Vilaine, to settle in the unin- 
 viting climate of the west. And, accordingly, we find that 
 the seat of the Breton government was chiefly at Nantes 
 or Rennes ; and all the descendants of the British prince, 
 which formed the dynasty of the Conanighnes^ held their 
 court generally at one or other of those places. Yet when 
 we occasionally find them at Vannes, or any other part of the 
 lower division, we do not perceive that any difierence is made 
 between the people of the two countries. In fact, whether we 
 take into consideration the settlement under Conan, in the 
 fourth century, or that under Riwal, in the fifth, these insular 
 
32 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 Britons must have brought with them their native language, 
 and, although that has been superseded by the Romance, or 
 corrupt Latin, the parent of the present French, yet, if we 
 had no historical intimation of the fact, the existence of its 
 remains in the little canton of Batz, would, at least, afford 
 strong presumptive evidence of its former prevalence in that 
 portion of the province : and, that the present Breton is not 
 merely a remnant of the ancient Gaulish, is, I think, placed 
 beyond a doubt, by the very name which it bears among 
 those who claim it as their original tongue ; inasmuch as 
 they call it the Brezonek^ or British^ whereas to the French, 
 they apply the term GalleJc^ i.e. Gaulish ; evidently implying 
 that the present Celtic language is not the immediate de- 
 scendant or representative of that of ancient Gaul. 
 
 Another inquiry arises out of this discussion. Did the 
 insular Britons, when they established themselves in Ar- 
 morica, find there any remains of the ancient Celtic of Gaul, 
 or was the present language entirely imported from Great 
 Britain 1 and, also, if there were then any remains of the 
 ancient language, in what parts of the country was it spoken ? 
 In answer to the first part of this inquiry, it may be said, 
 that it is by no means improbable that some remains of the 
 ancient language might have been in existence at that period ; 
 though it was afterwards superseded by, or incorporated with, 
 that of the new colonists. Indeed, some have imagined the 
 previous existence of such a language to have been the cause 
 of the insular Britons selecting that spot for their residence ; 
 but this is merely a gratuitous assumption, or, at least, one 
 resting upon very slender authority, as that country, so rich 
 in natural advantages, could not require any additional in- 
 ducement whatever to tempt the choice of these wanderers. 
 Others, again, assert that the soldiers of Conan, on their set- 
 tling in Armorica, intermarried with a people whose lan- 
 guage differed from their own ; though the authenticity of 
 this assertion is somewhat shaken by the recital of the ex- 
 pedient which they had recourse to, in order to prevent their 
 children acquiring the language of their Armorican mothers, 
 which was no other than that of cutting off their wives' 
 tongues. The later emigrations would, of course, find -there 
 a language resembling that of Britain, which, a short time 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 33 
 
 before, had been introduced by their insular precursors ; but 
 that such a language existed there on the arrival of Conan, 
 rests upon conjecture alone. 
 
 In the next place, as it is consistent with probability, that 
 the ancient language of the aborigines was not entirely era- 
 dicated in the fourth century ; so it may be presumed, that 
 like its Celtic successor, the present Breton, it would be re- 
 tained in its greatest purity in the mountains and remote 
 parts of the west. As there can be little doubt, that in this 
 province, as well as throughout the whole of the empire, the 
 large towns were very soon placed under the Roman munici- 
 pal system ; and, we may reasonably infer, that together 
 with the jurisprudence and civic customs of Rome, the 
 Latin language would, in a great measure, be introduced, 
 while such of the peasantry as resided at a distance from 
 the influence of those establishments would retain their ori- 
 ginal Celtic. 
 
 With regard to the relative circumstances of the French 
 and Breton languages, at the present day, they may be said 
 to resemble, in many particulars, those of the English and 
 Welsh, in the principality of Wales ; the French being the 
 language of commerce, of legislation, and of the upper classes 
 of society, while the Breton continues to be that of the peas- 
 antry. With this exception, however, in the resemblance, 
 that, the Welsh is by far a more cultivated and literary 
 language than the Breton ; the latter rarely appearing in the 
 press, in works of any consideration; whereas, the Welsh 
 have, at this moment, at least, eight or ten monthly maga- 
 zines published in their native tongue, besides numerous 
 other publications, of various descriptions. It is, likewise, 
 by no means uncommon in Wales to see the language, 
 to a certain extent, employed in commercial transactions, 
 in advertisements, &;c. whereas, I never noticed the Breton 
 applied to any such purpose, excepting, occasionally, in 
 the words Butun mdd^ that is, good tobacco^ written over a 
 shop door. 
 
 But although the Breton has not materially lost ground 
 for several ages, as far as its territorial limits are concerned 
 yet it is evident that the French has been making consider- 
 able inroads upon it throughout the interior of the country. 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 This is very perceptible in the interspersion of French words 
 which continually occur in conversation, as also in the in- 
 creased number of persons capable of conversing in the 
 French language ; and in some places, so corrupt is the ver- 
 nacular tongue become, that although its grammatical struc- 
 ture retains the Breton character, yet, with the exception of 
 the smaller particles of speech, about one third of the words 
 are French, though generally so disguised by inflections, to 
 suit the genius of the Breton, as not to be immediately re- 
 cognised ; furnishing a living example of the manner in 
 which the ancient Gaulish gradually progressed towards the 
 Latin, until at length it assumed the form of the present 
 French. In most instances, the Breton words borrowed from 
 the French, as they correspond with the modern pronunci- 
 ation of that language, shew that they are of late adoption, 
 whereas some others seem to have been introduced at a much 
 earlier period, and before the French had begun to dispense 
 with the sounds of the, now, quiescent letters. At the same 
 time I am far from supposing, that because a Breton word is 
 found to correspond in sound with a similar word in French, 
 that it must of necessity have been borrowed from that 
 language ; on the contrary, both may have been derived from 
 the Latin, or Gaulish, or some other language, through 
 different channels : and I also feel convinced, that the 
 French have borrowed some words direct from the Breton ; 
 and this will not appear matter of surprise when we re- 
 collect, that Brittany was for many ages the central point 
 of chivalry and romance; that the Breton knights were 
 among the most eminent that entered the lists ; and that the 
 Breton Lays were the originals from which the earliest 
 French romances were avowedly translated. 
 
 The later encroachments of the French upon the Breton 
 are attributed to two principal causes, both of which may be 
 said to owe their commencement to the effects of the Revolu- 
 tion. The first is the progress of commerce, which having, 
 about that time, from operations not easily defined, .received 
 an extraordinary stimulus, was afterwards greatly accelerated 
 by the formation of roads, chiefly intended for military pur- 
 poses, but which opened communications, and gave facilities 
 for intercourse between districts once completely separated. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 85 
 
 The other is referred to the effects of the military conscription, 
 in consequence of which, almost every young man capable of 
 bearing arms was at one time or other called upon to serve 
 in the army, where he would, of course, become in some de- 
 gree acquainted with the French language. Such of those 
 soldiers, as returned to their native country, would bring with 
 them a knowledge of the French ; and thus that language 
 has been introduced into families, which otherwise would 
 rarely have heard it spoken. In a military nation, such 
 as France had become, the number of disbanded soldiers 
 must at all times have been considerable, but especially after 
 the breaking up of Napoleon's immense establishment. 
 
 But, although there are but few places in which there is 
 not some person who is more or less acquainted with the 
 French; yet, generally speaking, throughout the whole of 
 Bretagne Bretonante, the Breton is the usual tongue of the 
 people, and it is by no mean uncommon to meet with persons 
 who cannot speak a word of French. I have frequently, 
 when addressing them in that language, and asking for local 
 information, been repulsed with the reply of "iVa gompsann 
 Gallek^'' I do not speak Gaulish^ that is, French, 
 
 I may here be asked a question, which I should myself 
 have proposed to another upon a similar occasion, had I 
 never visited Brittany j and that is, if the Welsh and Bre- 
 ton languages bear so near a resemblance to each other as is 
 generally understood, where was the necessity of having re- 
 course to the French as a medium of communication ? Why 
 not converse with the Bretons in the Welsh at once ? To 
 this I answer, that notwithstanding the many assertions 
 which have been made respecting the natives of Wales and 
 Brittany being mutually intelligible through the medium of 
 their respective languages, I do not hesitate to say, that the 
 thing is utterly impossible ; single words, in either language, 
 will frequently be found to have corresponding terms, of a 
 similar sound, in the other; and occasionally a short sentence, 
 deliberately pronounced, may be partially intelligible ; but as 
 to holding a comer sation^ that is totally out of the question. 
 If the difference between the construction of the Welsh and 
 Breton grammars were not enough to prevent this reciprocity 
 of speech, the prevalence of French words in the Breton 
 
36 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 would effectually suffice, and yet the strong and repeated as- 
 severations which have been advanced respecting this identity 
 of language require some explanation, otherwise such a posi- 
 tive contradiction as I am now giving them, may seem not 
 only to impugn the accuracy of those who have made the ob- 
 servations, but even to arraign their veracity also. That ex- 
 planation I persuade myself I shall be able to furnish, having 
 myself been more than once the means of occasioning similar 
 observations ; for, whenever I have chanced to fall into con- 
 versation with any of the Bas Bretons, I have generally 
 availed myself of the opportunity to make inquiries respecting 
 their native tongue; which, on a comparison of words, I 
 have of course, found to bear a strong resemblance to the 
 Welsh ; as for instance, pen, a head ; troed, a foot, 8zc. and, 
 occasionally, some particular expression, or turn of phraseo- 
 logy, would be found to have its counterpart in that language ; 
 now, it has sometimes happened, that a Frenchman has been 
 present at this lingual barter ; whom, not having a very dis- 
 tinct idea of the subject, I have afterwards heard announcing 
 with the greatest confidence, to the first person he has met, 
 that I could speak Bas Breton, and that he himself had heard 
 me speak it ! and I have not the least doubt that he would 
 ever after, when the subject should be mentioned, repeat the as- 
 sertion in the same unqualified terms. I do not mean to say that 
 1 am totally ignorant of that language, but the assertion re- 
 specting my conversing in it has often rested upon no other 
 foundation than the mere comparison of words just alluded 
 to. That a person unacquainted with either language should 
 fall into such a mistake, upon observing among the speakers a 
 mutual recognition of the same terms, is not to be much won- 
 dered at, but I have generally heard even the Bretons them- 
 selves make the same assertion, after my having uttered a few 
 detached words in Welsh, and have been much amused with the 
 earnestness with which they have announced the fact to each 
 other, and the remarks occasioned by it. This circumstance 
 has generally produced an interest in my favour, as persons 
 possessed of the slightest historical information would im- 
 mediately refer the similarity of language to the original iden- 
 tity of nations, though among others not so well informed, I 
 have heard it attributed to another cause not so well calculated 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 37 
 
 to promote feelings of kindness towards me. I had upon several 
 occasions perceived symptoms of such a misunderstanding, but 
 was for some time unable to comprehend the reason of their 
 existence: however, at length, the whole mystery was fully ex- 
 plained ; for one day, on passing through a small village, I 
 stopped a short time in. order to make inquiries concerning my 
 route, of such of the inhabitants as I met in the street ; and 
 finding them, as usual, speaking their native tongue, I soon 
 entered into a comparison of it with my own ; and, as every ex- 
 pression we uttered, produced an additional confirmation of 
 their original identity, I began to flatter myself that J was 
 making no small progress in theirgood opinion by thisdevelope- 
 ment of national affinity, especially when I heard a girl, who 
 had been listening attentively for some time, call out across the 
 street, with considerable delight and surprise, " Father, this 
 English gentleman speaks Bas Breton ! " Had the epithet 
 by which the girl designated me, borne the same restricted 
 sense in French as it does in English, I should have suspected 
 by the indifference which the old man evinced upon the oc- 
 casion, that he thought it rather misapplied, to the dusty 
 and way-worn figure which I exhibited j but he soon made 
 me acquainted with the reason of his cool reception of the 
 communication, and at the same time completely dissipated 
 all my Celtic visions, by coming forward and replying to the 
 girPs exclamation, " Well, and what is there to wonder at 
 in that ! England was formerly in alliance with Brittany." 
 In fact, he seemed to know nothing of the early British emi- 
 grations, but was alluding to the English troops, which 
 under Edward the Third and his successors, in the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth centuries, had been sent over as partisans in 
 those dissensions by which Brittany was so frequently agi- 
 tated ; and actually supposed that the Welsh which I was 
 speaking was nothing else than English, the general language 
 of England, and which had somehow or other, at the above- 
 mentioned period, become common to both countries; and, 
 from the manner in which he enlarged upon the event of 
 those times, and adverted to the Combat des Trente^ and other 
 encounters which his countrymen had with the English, it 
 was evident that this idea of my being a descendant of a 
 people who, though not actually enemies, were often rather 
 
38 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 troublesome allies, did not enhance his veneration for my dia- 
 lect, which he never doubted to be the general language of Eng- 
 land at this day, and spoken by the king, lords, and commons. 
 
 But notwithstanding that this notion has frequently led 
 to discussion, and sometimes to much difference of opinion, 
 yet it is but justice to acknowledge, that neither upon this 
 nor any other occasion, did I ever experience the slightest 
 tendency towards incivility, much less towards insult; on 
 the contrary, whenever I have felt disposed to explain to 
 them the ancient connection betwixt our respective nations, 
 they have always listened to me with much attention and 
 complacency, and as I persuaded myself, not without some 
 feelings of interest. 
 
 In addition to these recollections of the English armies 
 being so long stationed in the country, an idea prevails that 
 some of their churches were built by the English, and the re- 
 lation of this circumstance is not unfrequently accompanied 
 by a significant remark, that the English must be Bons Ca- 
 tholiques. There seems to be some truth in the idea, I mean 
 respecting the building of churches ; as some of the finest 
 specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, in the northern parts 
 of France, are undoubtedly of English construction, though it 
 is not probable that the English would do much in the way 
 of church building for Brittany, a country in which they had 
 no possessions. 
 
 But although the languages of Wales and Brittany are not 
 so absolutely identical, as to admit of the natives of those 
 countries using them in common, yet they certainly do bear 
 so striking a resemblance to each other as to make it evident 
 that they must, at some period not very remote, have sprung 
 from the same origin. But, however, the resemblance between 
 the Welsh and Breton is by no means so striking as that be- 
 tween the Breton and the old language of Cornwall, now ex- 
 tinct, as may be perceived by a reference to the grammars of 
 those languages ; nevertheless, the Cornish does in many 
 particulars draw nearer to the Welsh than the Breton, and 
 may be considered as a connecting link between the two. 
 
 One of the most remarkable differences exists in the numer- 
 als, the Bretons and Cornish counting by tens^ whereas the 
 Welsh count up to ten, in the first decade of the score, and 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 39 
 
 then by fims in the second j that is, counting up to fifteen in 
 the usual way, and then stopping at that number and form- 
 ing a new series up to twenty, saying one upon fifteen^ two 
 upon fifteen^ &c. and so through each of the five scores up 
 to one hundred. Now this, it must be confessed, is a most 
 rude and awkward method of calculation ; yet it does at the 
 same time, argue a very remote origin, and affords a strong 
 plea against the assertions of those who maintain that such 
 words as are found in the Welsh resembling the Latin, must 
 of necessity have been borrowed from that language ; for in- 
 stance, the words cant^ a hundred^ and mil^ a thousand ; as 
 they so nearly resemble the Latin centum and mille^ it has 
 been urged that they must of course have been taken from 
 those words. But I think it beyond a doubt^ that if the 
 Welsh had learnt the use of these terms from the Romans, 
 they would also have adopted the Roman intermediate ar- 
 rangement of numerals, and not have used their own less 
 commodious process of calculation ; not to mention that se- 
 veral of the Welsh numerals, as well as multitudes of other 
 words in that language, bear a much nearer resemblance to 
 the Greek than to the Latin, and yet they could not have 
 acquired this resemblance through any intercourse with the 
 Romans, nor does it seem probable that it proceeded from any 
 connection with the Greeks themselves ; therefore the most 
 rational inference is, that such words are the remains of the 
 Celtic, or aboriginal language of Europe, the parent stock 
 from which both the Greek and Latin, as well as several 
 other dialects, have sprung ; and that this original language 
 has been more perfectly preserved in the W elsh than in either 
 of the two, may be seen upon an examination of their etymo- 
 logical structure ; for, although the original roots are more 
 distinctly perceptible in the Greek than in the Latin, yet we 
 find in both those tongues a great number of insulated 
 words which have no etymological connexion with any of 
 their existing roots, nor any thing to direct us to their ori- 
 ginal formation ; but, on having recourse to their counter- 
 parts in the Welsh, we seldom fail of finding the roots, not 
 merely in single words, but branching out into such a number 
 of ramifications, and so interwoven with the language, as to 
 make it evident that they could never have been foreign 
 
40 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTAMY. 
 
 terms adopted for the purpose of expressing new ideas, but 
 native words entirely formed of the elements of that tongue, 
 and coeval with its original construction. 
 
 In consequence of the similarity between the languages of 
 Cornwall and Armorica,some have imagined the Cornish to be 
 the language of the Loegrian Britons, the third and last 
 Celtic tribe that settled in Britain ; but there is no authority 
 whatever for this supposition : on the other hand it is most 
 probable, that Lhuyd has given the right explanation of this 
 fact in the preface to his Cornish Vocabulary, where he at- 
 tributes it to the introduction of the Armorican by an army 
 of Bretons ; who, according to the Welsh Chronicles, came 
 over into this island in the seventh century, under their leader 
 Ivor, son of Alan the Second, king of Brittany ; and having 
 in conjunction with the original people, re-established the an- 
 cient kingdom of Cornwall, and re-conquered from the Saxons 
 the adjoining county of Somerset, &c., they kept possession of 
 this territory until the year 986, when they were by king 
 Athelstan driven back beyond the Tamar. In confirmation 
 of this statement it may be added, that the people of Corn- 
 wall kept up a considerable intercourse with the Bretons, 
 until as late as the time of Elizabeth ; and it is even said, 
 that it was not an unusual thing for some of the Cornish fa- 
 milies to form matrimonial alliances with those of Brittany ; 
 and, probably, if the old national customs of the Cornish 
 could be ascertained, they would be found in many particulars 
 to bear a resemblance to those of the Bretons. I have already 
 noticed, that the Bretons were celebrated for their skill in 
 wrestling, and we know that the same athletic exercise has 
 been long cultivated in Cornwall; and so characteristic of 
 both countries has this gymnastic science become, that our 
 English expression, a Cornish hug^ has its equivalent in 
 French, in the saut de Breton. But notwithstanding this 
 colonization by the Armoricans, and so many years of sub- 
 sequent intercourse with Brittany, yet the language of Corn- 
 wall does bear in its construction so strong a resemblance to the 
 Welsh, in many particulars in which it differs from the Breton, 
 that there can be no doubt that it always retained a great 
 portion of its ancient British character, in consequence of the 
 prevalence of that race which first established itself in the land. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 41 
 
 How difficult it is to extirpate the original possessors of 
 a country, when once they have become attached to the soil ! 
 The first inhabitants of Cornwall were of the aboriginal 
 British race ; they were, along with the rest of the neigh- 
 bouring tribes, brought under the dominion of the Romans, 
 and remained so for upwards of three hundred years ; they 
 were then invaded by the Saxons, and their limits gradually 
 reduced ; then an army of Bretons, with probably a Gaulish 
 mixture, came over from Armorica, and coalescing with the 
 original inhabitants, subdued those Saxons, and recovered 
 possession of the country; afterwards came a second in- 
 cursion of Saxons, by this time mixed up with their Danish 
 conquerors, and to a certain extent regained their former 
 dominion ; and, lastly, came the people called Normans, 
 composed of Scandinavians, Gauls, Bretons, Flemings, 
 Piedmontese, &c. and they, in their turn, became con- 
 querors of the country, and established their dominion upon 
 the debris of the Danish, Saxon, Armorican, Roman, and 
 British dynasties. And yet, notwithstanding all these 
 extraordinary vicissitudes, the people of Cornwall, as late 
 as the eighteenth century, spoke their aboriginal Celtic 
 dialect; so difficult is it to eradicate all traces of the first 
 cultivators of the soil. 
 
 In a champaign country, unprotected by natural fast- 
 nesses, an agricultural population, when invaded by a 
 superior force, may soon be subdued, but they will rarely 
 be extirpated. Their non-resistance, and general usefulness 
 as labourers, will ensure their protection ; and, becoming 
 the vassals of the conquerors, they will, in the course of 
 time, ainalgamate with them, and form one people ; and if 
 the most numerous of the two parties, they will in the end 
 predominate : but in a wild and mountainous country, the 
 aborigines will generally be enabled, either to repulse their 
 invaders in battle, or else to harass and wear them out by 
 a desultory warfare ; continually retiring from one strong 
 hold to another, and leaving them nothing to enjoy as a 
 conquest, but the unsatisfactory possession of a deserted 
 and desolate country. Of course, there are few invading 
 armies, however well appointed, that would not soon retreat 
 from so unprofitable an employment, when the original 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 inhabitants, returning to their native glens, are in a short 
 time again prepared to give the next assailants a similar 
 reception. 
 
 I may be told, that the fate of the American Indians can 
 be cited as an instance of the fallacy of this idea, as 
 they have almost without exception yielded their ancient 
 possessions to the European adventurers, and have never 
 returned ; but I answer, that the American Indians were 
 never cultivators of the soil, they were mere hunters ; and, 
 when driven from their original haunts, they only exchanged 
 one hunting ground for another, without suffering any 
 material inconvenience. To the Indian, who, in his hunting 
 excursions, rarely slept two successive nights in the same 
 place, the shade of one tree must differ but little from that 
 of another, and his local attachments would be regulated by 
 the plentifulness of the animals which he pursued. Had 
 the aborigines of America been an agricultural people, they 
 would have been more able to defend their country, as well 
 as more determined to retain it; and it is probable, that by 
 some compact or other, either tacit or avowed, they would 
 at this day have claimed their portion of the soil, among 
 the various nations which compose the population of the 
 United States. 
 
 Having alluded to the landing of Ifor, son of Alan, in 
 Cornwall, as related in the Welsh Chronicles, published in 
 the Myvyrian Archaiology, if we turn to the preceding 
 part of that account, we shall find, that this expedition into 
 Britain had been previously meditated by Cadwaladr, who 
 went over to Armorica to request assistance of his kinsman 
 Alan ; but he was then told by an angel, that the Britons 
 could not recover their ancient dominion until the time 
 should arrive which Merlin had foretold before Uther Pen- 
 dragon, and this could not be until he (Cadwaladr) had 
 devoted himself to fulfil a long penance, &c. Upon this 
 vision being made known, Alan, king of Brittany, took all 
 the books of the predictions of Merlin, and the predictions 
 of the eagle which prophesied at Caer Septon, (Shaftesbury, 
 also called Caer Paladyr,) in order to see whether they 
 corresponded with the communication made to Cadwaladr. 
 Now, whoever is acquainted with the various compositions 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 43 
 
 attributed to the bard Taliesin, will recollect that there is 
 among them an ode called Yr Awdl Fraith^ which is totally 
 different in style from any other poem of that bard, and 
 which, I am disposed to think, will be shown by the above 
 story to be spuriously attached to his name; for instance, 
 in this Awdl Fraith, we meet with the following lines j 
 
 Geiriau yr angel Mi wn eu cerdded 
 
 Am hedd a rliyfel A'u twng a'u tynged 
 
 A fydd diogel A'u tro a'u trwydded 
 I Brytania Hyd ultima. 
 
 The words of the angel concerning peace and war will be certain 
 to Britannia ; I know their progress, their lot, their destiny, their re- 
 volution, and their course, unto the last." 
 
 Again, 
 
 Mawr gefais innau 
 Yn fy mardd-lyfrau. 
 
 " I also found in my bardic books." 
 
 A Iso, 
 
 Y daw'r ddarogan. 
 " How the prediction will come to pass." 
 
 And, 
 
 Oni ddel rhyw fyd 
 Yn ol hir benyd. 
 
 " But a certain period will arrive, after a long penance." 
 
 Yno caifF Brython 
 Eu tir a'u coron. 
 
 " Then the Britons shall have their land and their crown." &c. 
 
 It will be admitted, that all these allusions are utterly 
 unintelligible without some explanation beyond what is to be 
 found in the poem itself ; but, if any person will take the 
 trouble to compare them with the afore- mentioned passage 
 in the Chronicles, he cannot for a moment hesitate in con- 
 cluding, that both refer to the same event, and more especi- 
 ally as he will find there the selfsame words employed ; as, 
 Holl lyfrau darogan Myrddyn Emrys — geiriau yr angel — y 
 gymeryd penyd — pan fai gyflawn yn yr amser tyngedfenawl — 
 y cant y Britaniaid eu Braint cCu coron yn ol y dywaid yr 
 angel wrth Gadwaladr^^ ^c. 
 
 Now, as it is beyond a doubt, that the event thus alluded 
 to in the poem, is the very same with that stated to have 
 
44 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 taken place in the time of Cadwaladr, the inevitable conclu- 
 sion is, that the poem cannot be the composition of Taliesin, 
 as that bard must have been dead long before Cadwaladr 
 went to Armorica, and most probably before he was born, 
 for Taliesin flourished in the middle of the sixth century, 
 whereas Cadwaladr was alive in the latter end of the seventh, 
 and this vision appeared to him only eight years before his 
 death. 
 
 I am aware that many of my countrymen will regard with 
 any thing but pleasure, this act of spoliation committed upon 
 their favourite bard, and would prefer remaining under their 
 long cherished delusion, rather than have the truth thus ab- 
 ruptly dragged to light. I can most cordially sympathise 
 with them in these feelings of regret and veneration, and can 
 assure them it is no slight or doubtful evidence that would 
 induce me to impugn the genuineness of any composition 
 attributed to Taliesin ; but, " Y gwir yn erbyn y byd," 
 " The truth, even opposed by the whole world." And let 
 them not be overwhelmed with grief at this discovery; Tal- 
 iesin's fame rests upon too solid a basis to be affected by the 
 loss of a few monkish rhymes ; nor would his name, as a 
 poet, suffer any injury, if it were disencumbered of some 
 others of a similar description. 
 
 But to return to the Breton. Although that language is 
 by no means so identical with the Welsh as to be, either in 
 its oral or written state, intelligible to the natives of the 
 Principality ; yet, at the same time, it must be admitted, 
 that there exists a very striking similarity between them, 
 and that, not only in single words, but also in phraseology, 
 and modes of expression ; and this is frequently so strong, 
 that it might be thought that the two nations had separated 
 but yesterday. Le Gonidec has, in his Dictionary, given 
 several Breton expressions, together with their parallels in 
 French, in order to show the difference of idiom between the 
 two languages ; and, on comparing the former with the 
 Welsh, we find the difference to be very trifling ; for ex- 
 ample, the expression to quench his thirst, is^ in Breton, 
 torri he zeched^ literally, to break his thirst; but the French 
 say, etancher le soif^ and not rompre le soif ; whereas, the 
 Welsh is precisely similar to the Breton ; torri ei syched. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 45 
 
 Again : for the Breton gwell eo gan en^ Iliad rather^ literally, 
 It is better with me ; the French use the expression, faime 
 mieux^ and not mieux est avec moi^ but the Welsh say, gwell 
 yw gan i. 
 
 Also, gwerza war goll, to sell upon a loss, is, in French, 
 vendre d perte, and not, sur perte but in Welsh it is gwerthu 
 ar golled. A hed ann deiz, all day long, is in French, tout 
 le jour, but, in Welsh, it is ar hyd y dydd. 
 
 Merch he mamm eo Katell, Catherine is her mother'' s daughter. 
 This, according to the French idiom, is, Telle mere telle fille ; 
 but the Welsh have an expression similar to the Breton. 
 
 Tro all, another time, literally, another turn ; for this ex- 
 pression the French use autrefois, and not autre tour, but 
 the Welsh say tro arall. 
 
 There are a great many other expressions in which the 
 idiom corresponds so exactly with that of the Welsh, that 
 when we have examined them individually, in this manner, 
 we must feel surprised that the two languages are in other 
 respects so very different ; as the words briz klenved, a 
 slight illness, the Welsh use the word hrith in the same 
 qualifying sense ; also, maro eo gand ar mech, he is dead of 
 the smallpox ; here the word 'crech, or meach, is precisely the 
 Welsh /r^cA, which seems to indicate that this disorder was 
 common to Europe previous to the Breton colonization. 
 The Welsh word frech is the feminine of hrych, frecMed, and 
 in that sense is, in old writings, translated by the Latin 
 word mrius. Now the terms mrus and vara are, by Celsus 
 and other ancient authors, applied to a certain eruptive 
 disease, by translators sometimes called the measles, and at 
 others, the smallpox; The Welsh, when they intend to dis- 
 tinguish between the two, call the latter the frech-wen, i. e. the 
 white freckle, and the former, the frech-goch, or the red frecMe ; 
 but, whether the Welsh frech, or the Latin mra, was the 
 same with the modern variola, it is not for me to determine. 
 
 The verbs also, in some of their formations, have a re- 
 semblance to those of the Welsh, especially the reflective ; 
 as emwisJca, to dress one's self; in Welsh, ymwisco. Some 
 of the minor parts of speech have, also, a strong resemblance, 
 as piou-hennag, whosoever, and pegement-hennag, how much 
 soever, in Welsh, bynnag, and^^ gymaint bynnag . 
 
46 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 The Bretons also change the initial letters in composition, 
 like the Welsh, and, in many instances, precisely in the 
 same manner, as dourgi^ an otter^ for dour ki^ a water dog ; 
 morwan^ a cormorant^ for mor hran^ a sea crow; les-vab, a 
 stepson, for les-mah ; also, in local names, as Penwern, for 
 Penn gwern, the head of the alder swamp ; the difference is 
 but small. 
 
 The plurals of nouns are also much alike, especially in 
 the irregular declensions, as, asJcourn, a bone, plural, eskern ; 
 blaiz, a wolf, pi. bleizi ; krogan, a shell, pi, kregin ; damd, a 
 sheep, pi. demd ; tarv and taro, a bull, pi. tirm ; likewise, 
 gwenanen, a bee ; gwenan, bees ; irmnen, a turnip ; irmn, 
 turnips. They have also several formations resembling 
 those of the Welsh, as, dournad, a handful, from dourn, a 
 hand ; karrad, a cart-load, from karr, a cart ; braz, big ; 
 brazder, bigness ; bihan, small ; bihander, smallness ; teo, 
 thick; teoder, thickness. 
 
 The degrees of comparison also correspond, as uchel, high ; 
 uchelach, higher ; uchela, highest. And even the irregular 
 adjectives are not altogether destitute of some resemblance, 
 as may be seen in the words good and bad ; which, in the 
 Welsh and Breton, as well as many other languages, are 
 found among the irregular words ; as mdd, good ; gwell, 
 better ; gwella, best ; drouk, bad ; gwaz, worse ; gwasa, worst. 
 However, notwithstanding these resemblances, the conjuga- 
 tions of the verbs, together with the declensions of the 
 nouns, and a variety of other grammatical essentials, are so 
 totally dissimilar that, without absolutely studying it as a 
 foreign language, it is impossible, even for a Welshman, 
 perfectly to comprehend, in a connective sentence, more than 
 a very few words of Breton. 
 
 I have sometimes been asked whether the language when 
 spoken by the natives, does not in its sound and accent bear 
 some resemblance to the Welsh. To this I could only re- 
 ply, that the resemblance would altogether depend upon the 
 pre-disposition of the listener : if he were determined upon 
 discovering a likeness, he would as easily perceive it in the 
 language, as others have done in the physiognomy of the 
 two nations, and even in their very costume ; but, for my 
 own part, I never could decide, from the mere sound of the 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 47 
 
 language, whether the speakers were conversing in a dialect of 
 the Welsh, or of the German, or of any other foreign tongue ; 
 and how is it to be expected that I should ? seeing that the 
 people of Wales, like those of other countries, differ greatly 
 among themselves in their intonations of voice, and provin- 
 cial peculiarities. The natives of the counties of Monmouth 
 and Glamorgan have, in this respect, very little affinity 
 with those of Flint and Denbigh, while the natives of Brecon- 
 shire differ quite as much from those of Caernarvonshire and 
 Anglesey. The case is precisely the same in Brittany : 
 each district has its peculiar dialect and tone of voice, and 
 should a resemblance be found to exist between those of any 
 parts of Wales and Brittany, I should feel inclined to attri- 
 bute it more to the effect of accident, than to any preserva- 
 tion of national resemblance. 
 
 If I were asked, what language I was chiefly reminded 
 of, by hearing the Breton spoken by the natives in conver- 
 sation ; I should say, certainly not so much the Welsh as 
 the Gaelic : and this from the frequent occurrence, in the 
 Breton, of a certain nasal pronunciation, very much resem- 
 bling that so frequently heard in the Highlands of Scotland. 
 This sound, which is unknown to the Welsh, is, in the 
 Breton, expressed by the character n, and bears some analogy 
 to the French gn^ in the word gagner^ and, also, to the n in 
 mn ; though not exactly the same ; being, in the Breton, so 
 lengthened out, and strongly accented, as to form a very 
 striking characteristic of that language, as in the words 
 klanv, sick ; hanv and ban, summer^ &;c. However, it must 
 be allowed, that although there is not, in the colloquial 
 sound of the language, so close an affinity to the Welsh as 
 some have imagined, yet in the pronunciation of individual 
 words, there is often a considerable resemblance ; and whenever 
 I have been reading the Breton aloud to the natives, they have 
 always assured me that I have pronounced it much more cor- 
 rectly than a Frenchman could have done. And, notwith- 
 standing the usual quantum of complaisance to be allowed 
 for on such occasion, I am inclined to think that the as- 
 surance I received was not altogether a mere compliment, 
 as, from paying attention to the requisites of reading Welsh, 
 which are also equally essential in reading Breton, that is, of 
 
48 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 duly pronouncing every letter, I may have given the words 
 a more intelligible utterance than a Frenchman would, who, 
 from national habit, would make about one half of the letters 
 remain mute, and, of course render his reading unintelligible : 
 and from the distinct manner in which the Breton pro- 
 nounced several Welsh words, I was inclined to fancy 
 there was a particular aptitude in their organs of utterance, 
 towards the articulation of Welsh ; though, I must confess 
 that, in many instances, their attempts at pronouncing the 
 language were rather Frenchy, 
 
 There are several letters common to the Welsh, which 
 the generality of the Bretons cannot pronounce; among 
 others, are the ih and dd ; and such words as, in the Welsh, 
 are written with these letters, are, in the Breton, generally 
 written with a and pronounced accordingly ; as pliz, dew, 
 in Welsh, gwlith ; hez, a grave, in Welsh, hedd^ &c. But 
 I have met, on the southern coast, with persons who pro- 
 nounced the th exactly as we do ; and when I first noticed 
 this peculiarity, so different to any thing usually found 
 among the natives of France, I supposed it proceeded from 
 some lisp or defect of speech, by which an aspirate was 
 formed resembling our pronunciation of those letters ; but, 
 on paying more particular attention, I found that they gave 
 the th as perfect a sound as we do in Wales or England. 
 
 The Welsh, LI is also unknown to the Bretons. Whether 
 the French II had, originally, any affinity to this sound, I 
 cannot say, although, when we see how variously some of 
 the old French names are written, which commence with 
 the letter Z, as in the name Lothair, which is written Clotair, 
 Chlotar, ajidLhotar, &c., it would seem as if they intended to 
 express some similar sound to the Welsh 11. This aspirated 
 mode of pronouncing the letter / is supposed to be, at present, 
 peculiar to the Welsh ; but a gentleman, whose well known 
 accuracy and philological knowledge must entitle his remarks 
 to every attention, has assured me, that a pronunciation, if 
 not exactly similar, at least very nearly approaching to it, 
 exists at this day among some of the tribes of the Caucasus. 
 
 The Bretons, also, occasionally, make use of the sh, or 
 ch, though it is asserted that this sound is a modern innova- 
 tion, being, formerly, that of s ; and it is rather singular 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 49 
 
 that the same idea prevails among the Welsh respecting 
 that pronunciation in their native tongue; for example, the 
 word siarad, to talk, is, in many parts of the Principality, 
 pronounced sliarad ; but, in others, that sound is exclaimed 
 against as a modern corruption. The notion, I believe, ori- 
 ginated with Lhuyd; and although in some parts the sh 
 may seem a vicious pronunciation of the 5, yet, with every 
 deference to the authority of that eminent philologist, I am 
 inclined to think that it is by no means of modern introduc- 
 tion, but that it always existed in most of those districts in 
 which it is at present heard ; and, probably, in some parts 
 of Brittany, it has always formed a part of the language, 
 though, like the th^ which 1 heard in the neighbourhood of 
 L' Orient^ it had never the good fortune to be acknowledged 
 as such by grammarians. 
 
 Although the Bretons have not the aspirate /, they 
 have the guttural ch^ in common with the Welsh. That 
 sound does not belong to the French : and, in the Breton, 
 it is often introduced into words in which it is not used 
 in the Welsh ; as also, in the mutations of the c ; for 
 example, Poaz a- walch eo ar chig^ the meat is done enough ; 
 here the Welsh would say, Poeih ei wala yw yr cig. But 
 in the dialect of Vannes, this guttural pronunciation is 
 affected in a greater degree than in any of the others, as in 
 the word daroueden^ a tetter^ which, in Vannes, is pronoun- 
 ced derchouiden ; and sometimes it seems as if it marked the 
 etymology of the word more distinctly, but in other instances, 
 the ch is, doubtless, a corrupt and superfluous addition. It 
 may be here proper to explain, that the Breton is divided 
 into four dialects, named after the cantons in which they 
 are spoken ; which are Vannes, Cornouailles, Treguier, and 
 Leon, called in the Breton, Gwened, Kerneo, Treger or 
 Landreger, and Leon. In order to decide which of these 
 approaches nearest the Welsh, or whether any one does so 
 more uniformly than the others, it would require an examina- 
 tion more elaborate than is compatible with the limits of the 
 present article. 
 
 The acknowledged affinity existing between the languages 
 of Wales and Brittany, has often led to a supposed discovery 
 of other resemblances ; wdth respect to many of which, I 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 have already expressed my conviction that they are alto- 
 gether fanciful, or, if they really do exist, that^they are 
 more the effect of accident than of national affinity. Such, 
 in a great measure, may be the case with regard to ancient 
 customs and superstitions, in which, although a perfect 
 similarity may be discovered, yet it is to be attributed 
 entirely to an identity of religious ceremonies, once common 
 to all Roman Catholic countries. Some superstitious usages 
 may, possibly, have had their origin in Druidism ; but as 
 both countries have, together with the rest of Europe, been 
 so many ages under the dominion of the church of Rome, 
 and as we know that the Welsh still retain many customs 
 derived from that communion, though they are now igno- 
 rant of the fact, we should be careful not to attribute such 
 characteristics to an earlier and more original state of the 
 two nations. 
 
 Of all the various ceremonies of a people, those of mar- 
 riage are amongst the most important, both in their mode 
 of celebration, and in their consequent effect upon the re- 
 lations of society; I shall, therefore, subjoin an account of 
 the marriage ceremonies of that part of Brittany called Bas 
 Leon, which was given me by M. Le Gonidec, and which, 
 some years ago, was read by him before the Academie 
 Celtique, now the Societe Royale des Antiquaires de France; 
 but whether it was ever printed, he could not inform me.'^ 
 
 MARRIAGE CEREMONIES OF BAS LEON. 
 
 " When the father of a family has fixed his mind upon a young- 
 woman whom he would wish to see married to his son, and the' latter 
 has consented, and declared himself to that effect, the father and son 
 go both together to the house of one of those inter-nuncios called in the 
 language of the country, Baz-valan, which signifies Broom- walking- 
 stick a name these persons have acquired from their habit of carrying a 
 walking-stick made of the wood of that shrub. 
 
 ^ " This envoy, having received his instructions, proceeds to tlie re- 
 sidence oi the young woman, and announces to the family the object 
 of his visit. If the proposed alliance meets the approbation of her re- 
 latives, they immediately begin to signify the same by a corresponding 
 treatment of the ambassador. For this purpose, they set about 
 
 * The original French MS. in the handwriting of M. Le Gonidec, remains 
 among Mr. Price's papers. It is entitled " Notice lue a I'Academie Celtique, 
 aujourd 'hui Societe Royale, des Antiquaires de France, en 1807, par M. Le 
 Gonidec." — Editoh. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 51 
 
 preparing him a dish of soup, into which they put a piece of salt pork, 
 together with some eggs, and, should they he near a village, they send 
 to fetch a hottle of wine. If, perchance, there should he no meat in 
 the house, and they reside too far from any other dwelling to borrow 
 of their neighbours, they then put the baking plate on the fire, and 
 proceed to make a bake-stone cake. This eatable, being a greater ra- 
 rity in the district whereof I am speaking, than in any other part of 
 Basse Bretagne, is regarded as a dainty mess, and worthy of being pre- 
 sented to the most delicate palate. But when the proposed alliance 
 does not give satisfaction, they content themselves with merely offering 
 the ambassador some hasty pudding, by that means giving him to un- 
 derstand, that they dispense with more ample details upon the subject 
 of his mission. 
 
 " If the envoy has been well received, as soon as he has finished his 
 splendid repast, he enters upon the business of his visit. After having 
 extolled the unspotted lineage of his principal, his fortune, his capacity, 
 and his general merits, he inquires whether it is the intention of the 
 family that the young woman should reside at her paternal home, 
 after her marriage, or at thatof her husband. Should they choose to keep 
 her at home, he inquires what portion of the household management 
 they mean to make over to her ; and also what dowry in money they 
 mean to ensure her. Supplied with these particulars, he returns to the 
 father of the young man, and renders an account of his embassy. 
 
 " When the preliminary conditions are approved of by the young 
 man's father, he again despatches the ambassador to the young wo- 
 man's family, in order that they may fix a day for making the gwel- 
 aden, i. e. the visit. Upon this occasion, the future spouse, accompa- 
 nied by six or eight of his nearest relatives, all mounted on horseback, 
 and suitably equipped, proceed to the house of the intended bride, 
 where, after partakmg of some refreshments, the two families proceed 
 together, to take a survey of the whole contents of the house, care 
 having been taken to lay open for inspection, the chests, and cupboards, 
 and all the household stores. From these, they proceed to the stables, 
 beast-houses, and barns ; and from thence to the corn-fields ; not for- 
 getting to cast a look at the dunghill heap. Before separating, they 
 appoint a time and place for meeting to arrange the marriage contract, 
 and generally make choice of some inn in the neighbouring village or 
 town. There they determine upon the dowry to be given on either 
 side, and also what portion of the household management shall be 
 assigned by the party in whose paternal house the future residence 
 has been fixed, which portion varies according to the property, and 
 number of children likely to be married and reside in the house. If 
 only one is to be married, it is usual to give up one half, or one third 
 of the household affairs. If two are to be married, each receives a 
 third. If the farm is considerable, and tliere are several children, it 
 frequently happens that there are more than two married and living in 
 the house, and, in that case, each receives one sixth only. For the 
 purpose of ascertaining the amount of that half, third, or sixth, as the 
 case may be, some competent person is fixed upon, by the consent of 
 all parties, to make a valuation of the whole property, comprising the 
 moveables, stock, and crops on the ground. The half, third, or sixth 
 of which estimate, is the sum in proportion to which the young couple 
 calculate their share in the farm. It may, perhaps, be asked, how the 
 young couple, upon their first entering into the business of farming, 
 are to find money for the payment of sums for which they must be 
 called upon, and which upon that occasion are often very considerable. 
 
52 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 But, in order to meet this call, the parents at first agree to give each 
 of the parties a certain marriage portion : this money goes towards 
 the first expenses ; and for the discharge of what may be after- 
 wards advanced for them, the parents allow them, fixing a certain 
 sum to be paid annually until the whole is cleared. Private interest 
 is never allowed to interfere in these contracts : from the moment 
 the first money is invested, the young people have their share in 
 the produce of all that is sold in the markets and fairs, in propor- 
 tion to their half, third, or sixth, according to the original agreement. 
 They are also obliged to furnish, towards the general stock, their por- 
 tion of the sums necesary for the purchasing of farming implements, 
 cattle, &c. There is neither steward nor cashier ; whoever has been 
 to market, on returning home, places on the table the produce of the 
 sale ; the division is made on the spot, and every body is content. 
 
 " The estimate being now completed, the two young people, to- 
 gether wdth the mother of the young woman, proceed to the neigh- 
 bouring town, to purchase the ring, or as it is jocularly termed, to buy 
 the halter, prena ar chabestr. The ring is generally ornamented with 
 tvvo hearts united. They also, at the same time, purchase the young 
 lady's sash ribbon, and other articles of the toilette, preparatory to the 
 wedding. 
 
 " Eight days previous to the wedding, the two families go and in- 
 vite their respective friends and relatives to the feast ; that invitation 
 extends to all the inhabitants of the house, great and small, both 
 masters and servants ; and in order that the invited may have no doubt 
 upon the subject, they never forget to request them to put the key under 
 the door. The persons thus invited, think they would be grievously 
 wanting in respect, if they did not bring with them every individual 
 member of their household, persuaded that they cannot show greater 
 honour to the young couple, than by contributing all in their power 
 towards augmenting the number of their guests ; and in this manner, 
 these assemblages generally consist of two or three hundred persons, 
 and it is not uncommon to see four hundred ; I, myself, once assisted 
 at a marriage feast, where there were five hundred present. It is the 
 invariable rule to provide a cask of wine for every hundred guests. 
 
 " As there never is, in any of the houses of the peasantry, a room 
 sufficiently large to contain such a number of people, it is customary 
 to erect one or more very long tents ; the interior of which, or at least 
 the upper part, is generally hung with the finest cloth the house con- 
 tains ; over the place occupied by the young couple are suspended 
 coronets of flowers, garlands, and bouquets ; the cloth is covered with 
 images of the saints coarsely painted ; the tables are formed of ladders, 
 placed end to end, and resting upon stakes, with boards to cover the 
 staves ; and long pieces of cloth for table cloths ; the seats are formed of 
 planks, likewise fixed upon stakes, and placed on each side of the table. 
 
 " The wedding day having arrived, the bride completes her 
 toilette at a very early hour, in order to be ready to receive her 
 intended spouse, when he comes to conduct her to the church. 
 Having at length made his appearance, accompanied by a great number 
 of his relatives and friends, he stops at the door, but finds it closed ; 
 then a couple of bards, one of whom is shut up in the house with the 
 young woman's family, and the other stationed out-side the door at 
 the head of the young man's party, commence a dialogue, half serious, 
 half comic. Eacli of these bards carries in his hand a walking-stick of 
 a dark colour, ornamented with ribbons, and with an ivory head ; after 
 saluting all the spectators with a most magisterial countenance, the 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 58 
 
 bard of the bridegroom commences his discourse by demanding tlie 
 young lady in marriage ; the other bard within the house pretends 
 not to understand his meaning ; the former then repeats his demand, 
 and with much emphasis descants upon the merits of the bridegroom ; 
 the other, in Uke manner, breaks out into a most extravagant panegy- 
 ric upon his protegee, and exalts her character beyond all possible 
 comparison ; the dispute soon grows warm, and the readiness which 
 these poets possess in this improviso style, frequently causes the dia- 
 logue to last for a couple of hours. He who pleads for the bridegroom 
 urges the claims which his patron has upon the young lady's heart, in 
 consequence of the strength of his affection and the unceasing atten- 
 tions by which he has constantly evinced it ever since he knew her ; 
 but the other continually discovers some new reason for refusing her 
 to him, till, at length, some unanswerable argument, or well-timed 
 sally of wit, decides in favour of the bridegroom. 
 
 " Having thus approached the termination of the dispute, the young 
 lady's bard asks the other, if he would recognise the object of his search 
 were he to see her ; the other answers, that he could not possibly be 
 deceived, so matchless are her charms ; the door then opens, and they 
 present to him a harsh-featured old woman; and, as she has not been 
 selected for this purpose on account of her beauty, she does not take 
 any extra pains to improve her appearance ; this, when well managed, 
 always causes the most immoderate merriment from all parties, ex- 
 cepting the disappointed bard ; he, on the contrary, throws himself 
 back with horror, and says, the person he is in quest of is quite a dif- 
 ferent being, is full of youth and beauty, and abounds in all desirable 
 qualities ; they then bring out a very little girl, and ask him if that is 
 the person he seeks, but his chagrin is scarcely less upon this than the 
 former occasion ; having exhausted this kind of badinage, they at last 
 bring out the real bride, whom the bard immediately acknowledges, 
 and addresses in a complimentary harangue in the name of the bride- 
 groom, from whose hands he receives a ribbon sash, which he immedi- 
 ately ties about her waist ; in order, as he says, that there may be no 
 further mistakes with regard to her identity. 
 
 " These discourses which take up so much of the day, are so inter- 
 larded with scraps of Latin, and quotations of various kinds, and put 
 together in so incoherent and absurd a manner, and at the same time 
 with so much farcical humour, and often-times genuine wit, that to 
 those who understand the language, the effect is of the most amusing- 
 description. 
 
 " The dialogue being now finished, both parties set off for the church, 
 preceded by the bagpipes. The ceremonies upon this occasion differ 
 but little from those of the rest of France. I would only observe, 
 that, at the time of the offering, there are placed upon the altar a 
 quantity of cakes and several bottles of wine, which are there blessed 
 by the priest, together with the wedding-ring. It may also be re- 
 marked that, when the bridegroom places the ring upon his spouse's 
 finger, she takes care to close her hand in such a manner that it 
 shall not pass the second joint, believing that, by this precaution, she 
 will be able to maintain a decided ascendancy over her husband. 
 
 " The marriage ceremony being concluded, the whole party set off 
 from church, to the sound of the bagpipes, and, on arriving at the 
 house, seat themselves at the tables, but this first meal being only a 
 breakfast, consists merely of tripe, trotters, pettitoes, or some such 
 light eating, together with some wine ; and, as all the guests do not 
 arrive at the same time, the breakfast is prolonged for the space of 
 
54 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 two hours, the tables being left contmually supplied for those who 
 may choose to eat. When the whole of the guests have at last ar- 
 rived, they all enter the tents and sit down to dinner. The new mar- 
 ried couple place themselves at the head of the table, and on each 
 side of them the brides-maid and brides-man, or friend of the bride- 
 groom ; and, next to these, are placed the most honourable of those 
 who are invited. The first course consists of nothing but pottage, from 
 one end of the table to the other, and as the table consists of only the 
 breadth of a ladder, the dishes are all placed in a line with each other, 
 and only one sort of dish is placed upon the table at the same time. 
 After the pottage has been removed, the boiled meat is brought on, and 
 that is again replaced by salt pork and boiled pudding ; then come 
 beef, mutton, veal, all roasted in |he oven ; after these they bring in a 
 mess of wheat and rice, with raisins interspersed, also cooked in the 
 oven : afterwards pies, plums, and grapes, and various kinds of cake 
 for the dessert. 
 
 " Dinner being ended, one of the heads of the families arises, and 
 having obtained silence, says grace, and puts up a prayer for the pros- 
 perity of the young couple, not forgetting those friends who have died 
 within the year. As soon as he has re-seated himself, they commence 
 singing Latin hymns, to which succeed canticles in the Breton 
 language, and lastly songs, 
 
 " Gradually the younger part of the company make their escape 
 from the table, and proceed to the place appointed for dancing, which 
 is kept up to the sound of the bagpipes ; or, in default of that, to the 
 voice alone : sometimes they join in a circle, the men presenting the 
 little finger, and the women the second finger ; and, occasionally, they 
 separate two and two, and skip along one before the other. 
 
 " The two new married people, instead of going to join in the dance, 
 upon leaving the table, place themselves on each side of the door of 
 the court, where the bridegroom, holding a bottle in one hand, and a 
 silver cup in the other, presents some of the wine which had been 
 blessed by the priest, to those whose residence is too distant to admit 
 of their staying to supper ; and who are, on that account, making pre- 
 paration for departing ; the bride, at the same time, offering some of 
 the cake, of which every person who passes* breaks off a piece. 
 
 " When there are no more left than those who intend staying to 
 supper, the young couple proceed to join the dancers ; but, during the 
 whole of that evening, they are not to dance with any but each other : 
 when the hour of supper has arrived, all the company seat themselves 
 at the tables with the exception of the new married couple ; who, after 
 having been waited upon during the course of the day by their nearest 
 relatives, now, in their turn, wait upon those, without once sitting 
 down during the whole time ; and, at the conclusion of the supper, 
 they proceed together, each carrying a glass of wine, and walking 
 round the tables, drink the health of all the guests : after this little 
 mark of attention they retire to the house to divest themselves of their 
 wedding habiliments, where they are soon followed by their friends ; 
 and there, throwing themselves on their knees at the feet of their 
 parents, they ask their blessing : that act of piety, as well as of filial 
 submission, being performed, the bride, all in tears, preceded by the 
 brides-maid, who holds a lighted candle in her hand, approaches the 
 company, and takes leave of every one individually, kissing them all 
 without exception, each of whom expresses some particular wish for 
 her welfare, one wishes her health, another happiness, another long life, 
 ike. Having satisfied herself that she has not overlooked or forgotten 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 55 
 
 any one present, she takes the hand of the brides-maid and with- 
 draws : the bridegroom next approaches, preceded by the brides-man, 
 who also carries a lighted candle ; and he, in like manner, takes his 
 leave of the company individually, and receives the good wishes of all, 
 but it is remarked that he never sheds tears. 
 
 " When the young couple have thus withdrawn from the company, 
 and taken their final leave, one of the assi^itants commences singing the 
 ' Veni Creator,' and is soon joined by the others, thus forming a 
 choir, which, from the effects of the wine drank during the day, is not 
 always of the most harmonious description : that Latin hymn is suc- 
 ceeded by songs, and the festivities are often prolonged till daylight." 
 
 It may be supposed, that in such a general uproar as 
 must by this time have grown into existence, should any of 
 the inmates of the house feel disposed to sleep, it would not 
 be a very easy matter so far to indulge themselves ; how- 
 ever, if such there should be, we are informed that it is the 
 duty of the brides-maid and brides-man to afford them pro- 
 tection ; and, for this purpose, they station themselves in 
 that part of the house where their services are most likely to 
 be required, each holding a lighted candle without a candle- 
 stick ; and as long as they can keep their candles burn- 
 ing, so long does their authority continue ; and sometimes, 
 such is the unwearied pertinacity of the company, that they 
 are in danger of burning their fingers. But the arrange- 
 ments of a Breton establishment being in many respects 
 different from those of our peasantry, I am here under the 
 necessity of omitting some portion of the present description, 
 inasmuch as, in order to render them intelligible, it would 
 be necessary to enter into such explanations as the space 
 already occupied by this article would scarcely admit of. 
 Suffice it to say, that the persecutions which our English 
 grandmothers were obliged to submit to, and from which the 
 present generation has been happily rescued, are still in full 
 force among the Bas Bretons; and, although that of throw- 
 ing the stocking is not mentioned among the number, there 
 are substitutes for it by no means less vexatious. 
 
 " Very early the next morning the young people are made to break- 
 fast on a kind of milk pottage, whereof all the bits of bread are at- 
 tached together by a thread ; each person is furnished witli a bone 
 instead of a spoon, and they are expected to eat the whole of the mess 
 to the last morsel; and, by this time, the protecting candles having 
 been burnt out, these two people are abandoned to the mercy, or 
 rather the mercilessness, of their persecutors. 
 
56 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 "On the day after the wedding, the new married couple put on 
 deep mourning, and cause a solemn service to be chanted, for the souls 
 of their deceased relatives. 
 
 " If there are bees kept at the house where a marriage feast is cele- 
 brated, care is always taken to dress up their hives in red, which is 
 done by placing upon them pieces of scarlet cloth, or of some such 
 bright colour ; the Bretons imagining that the bees would forsake their 
 dwellings if they were not made to participate in the rejoicings of their 
 owners ; in like manner they are all put into mourning, when a 
 death occurs in the family." 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the national customs of 
 the Welsh, would, on reading the foregoing description, be 
 disposed to consider it as nothing more than that of a real 
 Welsh wedding ; such as, till within a few years, was very 
 general in the Principality, with only such slight variations 
 as are necessary to adapt it to the character of the country 
 in which the scene is laid ; and it must be allowed^ that in 
 the general outline there is a striking resemblance ; though, 
 on a closer examination, we shall find that there are very few 
 particulars in which there is an exact similarity : however, 
 in the most characteristic feature of the whole ceremony, the 
 reception of the bridegroom and his party on the morning 
 of the wedding, the closing of the door against them, and 
 the rhyming altercation which then takes place, together 
 with the immense cavalcade assembled upon the occasion, the 
 whole proceedings are literally identical with those of the 
 Welsh. Whether this whimsical custom does, or ever did 
 prevail in any other country, I have never learned : but while 
 the similarity on the immediate arrival at the house is so 
 striking, yet, in many subsequent particulars, there is a 
 considerable diflference ; for instance, in Wales, instead of 
 the bride being voluntarily brought out, the besieging party 
 have to make their way into the house as well as they can, 
 and this is generally effected by stratagem, and even then 
 they have the mortification of finding that she has been 
 most studiously concealed from them ; and, having ascer- 
 tained this to be the case, they commence a general rum- 
 mage for her amongst the furniture of the house, and so well 
 is this plot of hiding the bride concerted, that I have more 
 than once known it so completely baffle all attemps at disco- 
 vering her, that the forenoon has entirely passed away in 
 this ridiculous occupation before she could be found, so that 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 57 
 
 the parties not being able to reach the church till long after 
 the close of the canonical hours, have of course been obliged 
 to defer the ceremony until the following day. No doubt, 
 the Marriage Act which limited the solemnization of matri- 
 mony to the forenoon hours, must have sadly trenched upon 
 these nuptial amusements of our countrymen. 
 
 But, as if all this rhyming and rummaging were not suf- 
 ficient to peril the performance of the marriage ceremony, 
 the Welsh have recourse to an additional expedient ; that of 
 racing and chasing each other all over the country, on their 
 way to church. For this purpose, the bride is mounted on 
 a pillion behind the person acting as her father, who, escorted 
 by her friends, together with those of her intended spouse, 
 sets off from the house for the parish church, but when he 
 comes to a convenient spot, instead of proceeding along the 
 proper road, he sets spurs to his horse, and gallops off in a 
 contrary direction, along some of the numerous cross lanes 
 which intersect the country, apparently with every intention 
 of carrying off the bride. Upon this, the bridegroom, to- 
 gether with the whole troop of his attendants, set off in pur- 
 suit ; while the other party are no less active in pressing 
 forward to protect the fugitives, and prevent their capture : 
 and, for the more effectual carrying on this system of attack 
 and defence, it is necessary that the whole country should be 
 scoured in every direction, in order that the lanes and high- 
 ways may be properly occupied by the pursuing party, to 
 prevent all possibility of escape ; and, also, that gaps may be 
 made in the fences by the others, and the gates thrown off the 
 hinges to enable the bride and her protector to pass across 
 the fields and avoid the ambuscades of their opponents, and 
 then woe to those gates and hedges which happen to stand 
 in the way. Sometimes it will happen that the route lies 
 over a mountain or common, and as it is a matter of prin- 
 ciple with the guardian to be continually endeavouring to 
 effect an escape with his ward, so here upon open ground, the 
 movements of the parties may be seen to great advantage ; 
 and the appearance of such a number of men and women^ all 
 smartly dressed, and galloping about in every direction, gives 
 the whole scene a most singular appearance, especially as the 
 Welsh women, from their being such bold and expert riders. 
 
58 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 keep up and mingle with the foremost of the party, and enter 
 into the spirit of the tumultuous procession in the most ani- 
 mated manner. It is scarcely posssible to imagine any thing- 
 more wild and irregular than the various movements of the 
 whole company upon this occasion. It is a favourite amuse- 
 ment with Welsh children to set a piece of paper on fire, and 
 when it has ceased flaming, to watch the little sparkles run- 
 ning along the tinder, which they call a priodas wyllt^ and I 
 do not know any better representation of the hurry and con- 
 fusion of a Welsh wedding. 
 
 The existence of these customs, in whatever country they 
 may be found, indicates a state of society in which the com- 
 mercial value of time is but little understood, and the 
 pressure of care and labour but lightly felt : a state which 
 the toiling mechanic would regard with feelings of envy, as 
 being exempt from the evils of unceasing exertion ; and 
 the speculating merchant would look upon with contempt, 
 as incompatible with the improvements of commerce. 
 
 Whether such customs maintain the same ground in 
 Brittany as formerly, I never thought of inquiring : but in 
 Wales they are vastly more rare than they were a few years 
 ago ; for the Welsh, having assumed a character much more 
 thoughtful and serious than they once possessed, do at the 
 present day evince a dis-inclination towards numbers of 
 amusements, which occupied the attention of the last gene- 
 ration as matters of the most important concern. This 
 difierence of disposition has been partly occasioned by the 
 progress of industry, and a better estimate of the value of 
 time ; but more especially it is the result of that change of 
 religious opinions and habits, which of late years has been 
 so visible throughout the country. 
 
 In the preceding description may be seen notices of 
 national customs among the Bretons, which, though simple 
 and patriarchal in a high degree, yet must have the most 
 pernicious efiects in their influence upon the interests of 
 agriculture. I allude to that joint occupation of the farm 
 by several branches of the family, all living under the same 
 roof, and mingled together in one household, than which no- 
 thing could be devised more effectual for the purpose of pre- 
 serving every thing in its primitive state, and barring out 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 59 
 
 every prospect of improvement. Whether this custom ever 
 existed in any part of Wales, I am unable to state, but, as 
 I do not recollect seeing any allusions to it in the Welsh 
 Laws, I conclude it never could have been general and sys- 
 tematic, as in Bas Leon. However, a divison of land equally 
 detrimental, once prevailed in several parts of the kingdom ; 
 in that practice of several occupiers taking a tenement to- 
 gether, and ploughing the land by alternate ridges, and 
 dividing the crop accordingly ; some remains of which prac- 
 tice are said to be still extant in the remote parts of Scotland, 
 in what is termed run-rigg^ and which, if possible, had a 
 worse tendency that even the Breton custom, as it not only 
 impeded every progress towards improvement, but must 
 necessarily have had a deteriorating operation, offering no 
 inducement even to retain the few advantages of soil which 
 might already exist. 
 
 During those long ages of intellectual gloom which imme- 
 diately succeeded the extinction of classic literature in the 
 West, however a few smouldering embers might occasionally 
 cast a glimmer around, when disturbed by the accidental 
 tread of some solitary wanderer, yet it was but to make the 
 darkness more perceptible, and betray the desolation of the 
 scene ; and so effectually had all traces of Roman learning 
 been obliterated, that while the language itself had become 
 unintelligible, even the very books in which it was contained 
 had disappeared, and the ideas once conveyed through its 
 medium had been entirely effaced ; the historical recollec- 
 tions, the poetic imagery, the traditions, mythology, and all 
 the characteristic features of ancient learning, had completely 
 vanished, without leaving any definite system to replace 
 them. 
 
 While we regard this state of mental night, in which the 
 last rays of classic literature had been extinguished, and even 
 its very ashes raked together, at the knell of the Gothic 
 curfew ; we discover, in one secluded spot, indications of 
 another flame, which, in succeeding ages, was destined to 
 blaze forth and light up a theatre far more brilliant, and 
 more spacious, than that which had been demolished in the 
 overthrow of the Roman power ; for in the remote and iso- 
 lated province of Brittany, we find a style of thought and 
 
60 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 imagination arising into notice, totally new in its character, 
 and altogether distinct from any thing the world had pre- 
 viously been acquainted with ; for it was in this province of 
 Brittany, that the character of thought known by the term 
 Bomantic first appeared on the continent of Europe. Brit- 
 tany, in fact, was the very cradle of Chivalry and Romance, 
 and in that country were located some of the most essential 
 materials of romantic fiction. There was the enchanted 
 forest of Broceliande^ inhabited by the fairies, where the cele- 
 brated Merlin was held imprisoned by the mis-directed power 
 of his own incantations. There were the illusory waters, 
 among which the Lady of the Lake dwelt in her invisible and 
 enchanted palace ; there was the castle of the Joyeuse Garde, 
 the residence of the gallant Launcelot du Lac ; there was the 
 Val sans Retour^ and the fountain of Baranton. In short, 
 there was, at least, the frontier district of fairy-land itself, 
 where Morgana^ the fairy queen, held her elphin court, 
 amidst such splendid scenes as mortal eyes were rarely 
 privileged to view. 
 
 The wood of Broceliande, it is true, though still in exist- 
 ence, no longer displays those waving honours which dis- 
 tinguished it in the days of Merlin, and the voice of that 
 magician is now but seldom heard within its precincts ; the 
 mouldering turrets of the Joyeuse Garde no longer echo the 
 acclamations of the tournament ; the Dame du Lac has drawn 
 closer around her the veil of secrecy which envelopes her 
 abode ; and the fountain of Baranton has ceased to obey the 
 accustomed spell ; but the style of thought and tone of senti- 
 ment once awakened by their influence, still exist, under their 
 various forms and modifications, in the numberless works of 
 imagination which have since appeared in the world of fiction ; 
 for, with very few exceptions, whatever work of imagination we 
 examine, from Shakspeare to Sir Walter Scott, it is not the 
 style of the classic writers that has been employed to give an 
 interest to the subject, but, on the contrary, a species of ima- 
 gination totally distinct from, and independent of, that dis- 
 played in those models. Virgil and Ovid could have had no 
 more conception of the character of thought contained in the 
 Castle of Otranto, or the Bridal of Triermain^ than they 
 could of the architecture of a Gothic cathedral. This modern 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 61 
 
 style of composition, under whatever form it may appear, 
 whether as shown in the playful fantasies of the Midsummer 
 Nights' Dream^ or the mysterious gloom of Mrs. Radcliffe's 
 novels, dates its commencement at the period when the 
 tales of chivalry and romance began to succeed the literature 
 of the classics : and although that literature has since been 
 recovered, and also cultivated with unspeakable advantage 
 to the interests of general knowledge, yet it has never been 
 able to re-instate itself in that paramount authority which it 
 once maintained over the powers of fancy. The world has 
 now tasted of a richer and more palatable repast, and will 
 never more relish the vapid mythology of the classics. The 
 Greek and Latin originals, together with their translations, 
 will still be read with profit as well as pleasure, but they 
 will never more be imitated as models of taste and fancy : 
 for what original work of imagination could possibly acquire 
 any degree of popularity in the present day, or even escape 
 actual indifference, if it exhibited no other sentiment than 
 that found in the classic writings ? And although we have 
 seen such classic imitations attempted, both in the French 
 and English languages, (and these, like all other exceptions, 
 only serve to confirm the rule,) yet, generally speaking, if 
 they have possessed any particle of interest, it has been pro- 
 duced by the portion of modern feeling and sentiment added, 
 perhaps unconsciously, by the authors, which has given a 
 currency to the obsolete ideas of the ancients. And what- 
 ever merit those so highly extolled productions of antiquity 
 may possess as efforts of genius, or as instances of logical 
 and grammatical accuracy, yet it must be confessed, that, at 
 least in one most indispensable requisite, they are irre- 
 trievably and hopelessly deficient ; and that is, the due esti- 
 mation of the female sex. The existence of this very 
 sentiment alone, places the tone of feeling and character of 
 chivalry, infinitely above that produced by the most cele- 
 brated works of antiquity : it has, in fact, reformed and 
 corrected the impulses of the heart, and given a new 
 direction to the progress of taste and imagination. 
 
 But while we are attributing this beneficial change to the 
 institution of chivalry, it must not be concealed, that, for 
 the existence of such immense superiority of refinement, 
 
62 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 that system is indebted to a far more exalted principle than 
 any that could have operated in the pagan institutions of 
 Greece and Rome. And, however the genuine purity of 
 the Christian doctrines may have been impaired, amidst the 
 tumult of those unsettled times which immediately succeeded 
 the incursions of the northern hordes, yet so powerful and 
 quickening are the principles of Christianity, that even 
 degraded and reduced as that religion was in those days of 
 ignorance and superstition, the small leaven of it, which 
 remained, was sufficient to produce the most salutary effects 
 upon society ; and to influence the dispositions of a mass of 
 turbulent barbarians, at that time, scarcely escaped from the 
 marauding habits of their roving ancestors, so as to com- 
 municate to them a character, in many particulars, vastly 
 superior to that which had been acquired by the most cele- 
 brated nations of antiquity, after ages of instruction in the 
 schools of their boasted sages and philosophers. 
 
 Under the guidance of this principle, therefore, the system 
 of chivalry contributed most essentially towards meliorating 
 the state of the world. And this very act, of exalting the 
 condition of women, and giving them their proper rank in 
 society, has done more towards humanizing mankind than 
 all the learned ethics of the profoundest philosophers, and 
 may be considered as the first and most important step 
 towards general civilization ; and those laws of knighthood 
 which effected this beneficial change in the social condition 
 of women, and made them the principal objects of esteem 
 and protection, though dependent upon opinion alone for 
 their enactment and execution, were amongst the wisest and 
 most efficient ever promulgated. When, therefore, in tales 
 of chivalry, whether of romance or of reality, we read of the 
 fervid devotedness of a young knight towards the object of 
 his affections, the extravagant expression of his attachment, 
 and the actual dangers he is continually seeking and en- 
 countering, in order to recommend himself more strongly to 
 her favour; however we may smile at the description of 
 such exuberant feeling, yet the excess was most assuredly on 
 the right side, and its consequences most beneficial to society ; 
 for while, in those days of barbarism, it operated as a protec- 
 tion against the injustice and brutality too prevalent where 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 63 
 
 this spirit of chivalrous honour was unknown ; in process of 
 time it gradually settled into that system of politeness and 
 good-breeding, which is ever the distinguishing feature of 
 civilized life. 
 
 In short, when we examine the institutions of chivalry, 
 we may safely venture to pronounce, that they are the 
 sources from which our present ideas of honour, in the best 
 acceptation of the word, are derived ; and whatever modi- 
 fications those ideas may have undergone, according to the 
 various channels through which they have descended to us, 
 yet it would be no very difficult task to trace back the cur- 
 rent of all our high and courtly feelings, from the finished 
 gentleman of the present day to the no less polished model 
 of the old school, and from thence to the generous and high- 
 spirited cavaliers of the Stuarts, the courteous and gallant 
 knights of Elizabeth and the Tudors, until we come to the 
 Bayards, the Du Guesclins, and all the preux chevaliers, 
 the splendid ornaments of knightly honour. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the origin of this 
 system among the people of Brittany, as far as its conti- 
 nental relations are concerned. If we proceed to contemplate 
 its operations during the time of its greatest lustre, though 
 we shall perceive its influence more or less diffused over the 
 whole of Christendom, nevertheless, some of its brightest 
 rays will be found concentrated in that land of its earliest 
 adoption. The province of Brittany has ever held an 
 exalted rank among the most eminent nations of the world, 
 as the native country of some of the most brilliant examples 
 of chivalrous conduct. And whatever instances of courage 
 or courtly deportment may elsewhere be adduced, the 
 country which gave existence to Oliver de Clisson and 
 Bertrand du Guesclin need not hesitate to place itself among 
 the foremost claimants of glory and renown. 
 
 Having stated that Brittany was the cradle of chivalry 
 and romance, I must now remark that the expression was 
 used advisedly, and with a reservation. For although that 
 province was the country of the earliest adoption of those 
 systems upon the continent, yet it must by no means be 
 considered as their birth-place. Even the Bretons themselves 
 lay no claim to that honour, but they, together with all the 
 
64 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 other nations of Europe, refer the earliest notices of the 
 subject to the island of Britain, and more especially, to 
 the principaHty of Wales. It is in that corner of the world 
 that the earliest specimens of romantic fiction are to be 
 found, as well as the most ancient characters of chivalry. 
 For Arthur, and Merlin, and the knights of the Round 
 Table, though they have been long naturalized in Brittany, 
 nevertheless are, with very few exceptions, in their origin 
 undoubtedly Welsh. And there is one material difference 
 between the character they sustain among the Welsh, their 
 real countrymen, and that which they exhibit in other 
 countries of Europe. On the continent, for instance, they 
 never appear otherwise than as heroes of romance ; whereas 
 in Wales, although in subsequent ages they were made to 
 support the exaggerated character of fiction, yet in the 
 compositions of their contemporary bards, they are always 
 represented as real and actually existing personages. That 
 the Welsh possessed tales of fiction, and those of a very 
 high tone of colouring too, even in the days of the real 
 Arthur, I do not mean to deny ; aware as I am of the 
 numerous proofs of the fact still extant ; I am even con- 
 vinced, that much of the machinery of the romance of 
 chivalry is of an era far more remote than even those early 
 ages ; but it is evident that, in consequence of the all- 
 absorbing fame of Arthur and his knights, these minor 
 traditions became in the course of time blended with those 
 of the Round Table. 
 
 However this may be, it is fully evident, from incontro- 
 vertible proofs, that the earliest characters of chivalry and 
 romance are altogether Welsh. When the origin of those 
 institutions, and of the extraordinary moral phenomena 
 which accompanied them, began to be made the subject of 
 literary inquiry, and before the several evidences necessary 
 to its elucidation had been properly developed, various 
 theories were suggested and strenuously maintained by 
 several writers of ability; and almost every nation of the 
 world laid claim to the honour of having given existence to 
 them. Greece, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, Arabia, all had 
 their advocates, and all with equal success. Those who 
 advanced their claims in favour of Italy, although the 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 65 
 
 influence of that country had once extended itself as far as 
 the limits of the Roman empire, yet could not make it appear 
 that the literature of chivalry and that of the classics, had 
 any one character, or one single feeling in common. Those 
 again who advocated the title of Germany and Scandinavia 
 were equally unfortunate with the others : for neither Thor 
 nor Odin, nor the names or attributes of any of their kindred 
 divinities, nor even the slightest tinge of the northern mytho- 
 logy, are to be found in these tales. And, notwithstanding, 
 the Normans had for so many years acted so conspicuous a 
 part on the same arena with the heroes of chivalry,, not a 
 single noi*th-man, of any importance to the system, is found in 
 the early romances ; and scarcely any in the second class, 
 with the exception of Ogier the Dane, and he only as a 
 follower of Charlemagne. With regard to the Spaniards, 
 they have never even advanced any pretensions to the pos- 
 session of such literature, prior to its introduction from France; 
 and their early heroes are all of foreign extraction. The 
 Saracens are in no better predicament than the others ; for 
 neither Mahomet, nor any other Arabian, is represented as 
 founding the order of knighthood, nor is there among the tra- 
 ditions of the Round Table any allusion to the ordinances of 
 the Koran. The very circumstance alone of the superior 
 respect paid to the fair sex under the institution of chivalry, 
 will for ever exclude the Mahomedan nations from the honour 
 of having originated that noble system. And surely it is but 
 reasonable to suppose that if either of the above nations had 
 exercised any material influence upon the institution of 
 chivalry, or its concomitant system of romance, there must 
 have been some remains of such interferences, in the national 
 customs, traditions, and names of eminent persons, according 
 to the eff'ect produced ; and how absurd must it be then to 
 imagine that any people could have founded the institution it- 
 self, without leaving any memorial to record the circumstance. 
 
 But in proportion as this subject became more investigated, 
 and the various facts connected with it brought into notice, it 
 became more and more evident that the primary elements of 
 the whole system, were to be referred for their origin to the 
 nation of the Welsh. Arthur, the founder of the Round 
 Table, was a Silurian chieftain, and all his knights, together 
 
 K 
 
66 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 with Merlin, the enchanter, were, without exception, of the 
 same ancient British race. In short, the whole machinery of 
 romance is of that identical fabrication : the mythology, tra- 
 ditions, and tone of sentiment, are altogether of Cymraeg 
 origin : even those interesting personages, the fairies them- 
 selves, are of the same Celtic stock ; and however the advo- 
 cates of their Oriental extraction may endeavour to derive 
 them from the Peries of Persia, it is evident that the earliest 
 notices of these unearthly beings are to be found in the ro- 
 mances of Arthur and his knights. The celebrated Morgan 
 la Fai^^ whose very name implies her Cambrian origin, exer- 
 cised her dominion not only in Britain, but also over the 
 whole of the continent, long before any idea of eastern 
 mythology had found its way there ; and so far had this 
 powerful princess extended her authority, that her reign was 
 acknowledged, not merely throughout the whole of the western 
 world, but even in those countries whose geographical situa- 
 tion would naturally have rendered them subject to the in- 
 fluence of Oriental fiction, did such influence exist, rather 
 than to that of the remote Celtic tribes of Britain. For we 
 find that, in Italy and Greece, and in many parts of Asia 
 itself, the spirit of the Welsh romances had extended itself, 
 and prevailed to such a degree as to supersede that of the 
 native traditions. And, to this day, we are informed that 
 when that beautiful and well-known optical illusion appears 
 on the coast of Calabria, in which the forms of the buildings, 
 on the shore, are seen as a series of castles and palaces over 
 the straits of Messina, the inhabitants run out of their houses 
 to view the extraordinary phenomenon, with every demon- 
 stration of delight, exclaiming that the Fata Morgana has 
 honoured them with a visit, and deigned to reveal to 
 them some of the magnificence of her fairy abode. 
 
 Although at the period when the investigation of the origin 
 of modern literature began to occupy general attention, a 
 diversity of opinion existed ; yet, as the various historical 
 evidences were gradually developed, the claims of the Welsh 
 became more decidedly established ; and Dunlop^ who, in his 
 admirable '-^History of Fiction^'''' has examined the pretensions 
 of the various claimants, has come to the conclusion that the 
 
 * Sometimes written Morgain and Morguein. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 67 
 
 romances of the Round Table, which originated in the early 
 legends of Armorica and Wales, form the most ancient and 
 numerous class of this style of composition of which any 
 trace remains. And Panizzi^ in his masterly essay on the 
 romantic poetry of the Italians, prefixed to his Ariosto, 
 profiting by the researches of tlie numerous writers who 
 preceded him on this topic, and possessed of a highly culti- 
 vated and discriminating judgment, has formed that decision 
 to which a thorough knowledge of the subject must inevitably 
 lead, and which must, henceforth, be considered as incon- 
 trovertible. He says, "If the original destination of poetry 
 were in every nation of the world to celebrate the glorious 
 actions of heroes, one of the provinces of England,* pos- 
 sessing one of the most ancient languages extant, would 
 seem^to have surpassed all other countries in the application 
 of the art. All the chivalrous fictions, since spread through- 
 out Europe, appear to have had their birth in Wales." 
 
 Such then, after the most severe and laborious scrutiny, of 
 at least a century, appears to be the state of this question. 
 But the original causes of these facts offer another problem 
 not so easily solved. What could have compelled all the 
 several nations of the civilized world to have recourse to the 
 harassed, reduced, and almost exterminated race of Wales 
 for subjects of applause and imitation I Were there among 
 none of these any national recollections of their own, which 
 could attract their notice ? Was there among the warlike and 
 widely extended tribes of Germany nothing worthy of at- 
 tention I Nothing among the more polished inhabitants of 
 Gaul ; or even among the descendants of the Romans them- 
 selves I Was it that the coruscations of the Bardic Awen 
 shone so bright that every other light faded into obscurity 
 before them, and that the Bardic harp was so sweetly strung 
 that whensoever its chords were struck, all others, even those 
 of the classic lyre itself, must remain for ever mute ; or, 
 was there some mysterious destiny allotted to the first 
 colonizers of the western world, that, although they should 
 lose their dominion over the soil, they should still retain it 
 over the minds of its occupiers ? Truly there is something 
 
 Britain. 
 
f)8 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 in this subject more difficult of explanation than may ap- 
 pear upon a superficial view, and which may challenge the 
 application of much more time and penetration in the 
 inquiry, than I can ever hope to command. 
 
 When I was in Brittany, I felt exceedingly anxious to dis- 
 cover some remains of the ancient Breton lays^ or of the 
 original romances of the Round Table in the Breton language. 
 But I was totally disappointed in my endeavours. What 
 can have befallen all the ancient manuscripts which once 
 existed, I am not able to conjecture ; possibly the exercise of 
 more attention and leisure than I was able to bestow upon 
 the research, may hereafter succeed in bringing some of these 
 treasures to light, if not in Brittany itself, at least in some 
 of the libraries of other parts of the continent. 
 
 But although I was not successful with regard to the more 
 ancient literature of the country, yet I was fortunate enough 
 to meet with several compositions of the latter eras, both in 
 manuscript and print, by no means devoid of interest. And 
 that which I shall now notice as connected with the present 
 subject, is a dramatic work, in the form of a tragedy, printed 
 by Ledan, of Morlaix, in 1818 ; and which, to the best of 
 my recollection, he told me was the first and only impression 
 that had appeared, having been edited by himself from ma- 
 nuscript copies. It is entitled, Buez ar pemr mob Emon^ 
 
 The Life of the four sons of Aymon ; " and, for a single 
 tragedy, is a work of extraordinary dimensions, being an oc- 
 tavo of 41 6 pages, containing four times the quantity of one 
 of Shakespeare"'s plays, and consisting of seven Acts, six 
 of which are in verse, and the seventh in prose^ which last is 
 not in the form of a dialogue, but an historical narrative ; 
 and, as is befitting a work of such magnitude, the dramatis 
 personse are numerous and important in proportion ; con- 
 sisting of at least fifty characters, besides esquires, soldiers, 
 monks, and attendants. The actors are no less important 
 personages than Charlemagne and his Paladins, Boland, 
 Oliver, Ogier the Dane, Solomon of Brittany, Aymon, duke 
 of Dordogne, with his four sons, Keynault of Montauban, 
 Richard, Alard and Guichard, &c. ; also Beuvet of Egre- 
 mont ; Yon, king of Gascony ; Maugis, the enchanter, and 
 a multitude of others of nearly equal distinction. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 69 
 
 It has been already observed, that the earliest European 
 works of literature subsequent to the extinction of classic 
 learning, were the romances of Arthur and his knights, 
 forming a species of themselves, totally distinct from any 
 thing which had been previously known. These having oc- 
 cupied the attention of the world for several ages, were at 
 length succeeded by the romances of Charlemagne, which 
 having grown out of the others, and though by no means 
 equal to them in point of interest, did nevertheless, accord- 
 ing to the progress of fashion, in many respects, supersede 
 them. ^In this second class of romances, it must be admitted, 
 the majority of the characters are not of the Breton race; 
 however, the suspicion which has been often entertained, 
 seems by no means unfounded, that even the fame of Charle- 
 magne owed its existence to a connection with Brittany. For 
 although I shall not much rely upon the assertion of the 
 Breton extraction of his grandfather, Charles Martel, I 
 still think it more than probable, that however great the 
 real achievements of Charlemagne may have been as a 
 character of history, yet that he owes his romantic cele- 
 brity altogether to the circumstance of his fellow-warrior, 
 Koland, being warden of the borders of Brittany ; and, if 
 this Paladin was not actually a native of that province, as 
 some suppose, he was at least a particular favourite with the 
 Bretons, and was the means of transferring to his patron 
 some of the effects of the partiality which he himself enjoyed, 
 and of raising him to a certain degree of poetic renown, 
 in consequence of the influence which the people of Brittany 
 had long exercised over the imagination of the continental 
 nations^ and which afterwards so eminently displayed its 
 power in the songs of Roncesvalles, and other popular com- 
 positions of the middle ages. 
 
 The romance of the Quatre fits Aymon^ which was once 
 so general throughout France, is said to have been originally 
 composed by Huon de Villeneuve, together with several other 
 pieces upon the same subject, as far back as the thirteenth 
 century. But, however this author may claim the merit of 
 the French compositions, it is not probable that the materials 
 were entirely of his own creation. How far he is indebted 
 to the Bretons for their supply, I cannot pretend to say ; or 
 
70 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 whether any of the above-mentioned French works be in the 
 Breton tragedy, I have no opportunity of ascertaining. But 
 whatever country produced the original, I must own that this 
 identical copy under consideration cannot urge any preten- 
 sions to antiquity, as far as its present style of wording is 
 concerned ; there being a variety of internal evidence to limit 
 its composition, or at least its revision, at farthest, to the 
 latter end of the fifteenth century. 
 
 This subject appears, in later ages, to have become popular 
 in several other countries as well as in France; as may be seen 
 in the Spanish ballad, Don Reynaldos de Montalmn^ and also 
 in another, Conde Claros de Montahan^ which Count Claros 
 was son to Eeynauld. But to return to the tragedy. 
 
 The scene opens with Charlemagne seated on his throne, 
 attended by his son Lohier, the twelve peers of France, and 
 the rest of his suite. Charlemagne commences the drama in 
 a speech, of which the following lines will afford a specimen 
 of the metre used throughout the whole composition, and 
 likewise of the corrupt state of the Breton language, in con- 
 sequence of the perpetual mixture of French words. Charle- 
 magne speaks,-— 
 
 " Me a meus an enor da vea roue Fran9, 
 Hac Ampereur Romen, dre ar guir Brovidan^ ; 
 Me so mab da Bepin, ar monarq immortel, 
 A verit uii enor a vezo eternel." 
 
 » "I possess the honour of being king of France, 
 And Roman emperor by the true Providence ; 
 I am son of Pepin, the monarch immortal, 
 Who deserves an honour that shall be eternal." 
 
 When he has gone on in this strain for a page or two, the 
 Duke of Nismes addresses him in a very courtier-like speech, 
 upon the greatness of his fame, and the extent of his power. 
 This is seconded by the Prince Lohier, who acknowledges the 
 extensive nature of his father's power, but at the same time 
 throws in an alloy by alluding to the conduct of Beuvet, 
 duke of Egremont, who refuses to pay the homage which 
 had been universally acknowledged by all others : this fact 
 is confirmed by Ganelon, who says, " That it is very true 
 that the duke has refused to pay either homage or tribute, but 
 that he does by no means mention this from any motives of 
 jealousy.'" Upon this, the king flies into a rage, and swears 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 71 
 
 by St. Denis of France, that he will punish this Duke of 
 Egremont for his arrogance ; but first of all, it is determined 
 in council, that a deputation shall be despatched to him, con- 
 sisting of Prince Lohier, the Counts of Morillon and Gidelon, 
 together with four esquires, to demand his homage. 
 
 The second dialogue ( eilvet dialog ) opens with the speech 
 of the Duke of Egremont, who addresses his suite in the 
 same manner that Charlemagne did : 
 
 Me so Due puissant ebars en Egremont, &c." 
 "I am the puissant duke over Egremont, &c," 
 
 and proceeds to state how, through the assistance which 
 he, his brothers, and family, had rendered Charlemagne, that 
 monarch had been elevated to the rank which he enjoyed : 
 
 " On eus er zicouret en e oil vrezellou, 
 Exposet en danjer hor chorf hac hor madou." 
 
 " We have succoured him in all his battles. 
 Exposed to danger our body and our goods." 
 
 but that his services had been repaid with ingratitude and 
 insult, and he therefore determines upon refusing him tribute. 
 His courtiers, of course, approve highly of his determination, 
 and encourage him to persevere in it. 
 
 The next dialogue commences with the arrival of the ambas- 
 sadors, Lohier, and his attendants : Lohier cites the duke to 
 appear before his father and pay tribute, on pain of having 
 every soul in the country put to the sword. The duke, as 
 may be expected, refuses to obey, upon which a very stormy 
 altercation takes place; and in consequence of the irritating- 
 language of Lohier, the duke orders him to be seized : but 
 the prince strikes the soldier who approaches him with his 
 sword, and kills him : the duke and Lohier then engage in 
 single combat, and Lohier is slain with a stroke of the sword. 
 Treuzi ra Lohier gant un tol cleze. 
 
 The body of Lohier is brought home ; and, after consider- 
 able agitation and argument, his father prepares to avenge 
 his death. Upon receiving intelligence of this, the Duke of 
 Nanteuil, Beu vet's brother, together with his barons and his 
 army, march to Egremont to succour Beuvet ; and likewise 
 Gerard, duke of Rousillon, to endeavour to mediate : and 
 Aymon, duke of Dordogne, another brother of Beuvet, goes 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 with his four sons to Paris to join the king. In the follow- 
 ing scene, at the meeting of Beuvet and his adherents, the 
 duke, after stating his intentions, intimates, that if matters 
 should go hard with him, he will apply to his friend, the 
 great Sultan of Constantinople, to bring an army of pagans 
 to his assistance, and in this very Christian mood retires to 
 make preparations. 
 
 In the meantime, Charlemagne is actively engaged in 
 preparing his expedition against Egremont : and having 
 assembled his army, when on the point of marching, he gives 
 to Ogier the Dane, commission to head the vanguard, and 
 display the Oriflamme : 
 
 Dechu, Ojer-Danoa, pa ne doch quet couard, 
 E roan-me ar soign demeus va avan-gard 
 Hac eus an a Oriflam, ar guir anseign a Fran^, 
 Dre meus bepret ennoch calz euz a gonfian^, &c." 
 
 Ogier, in a high-toned speech,, acknowledges the honour, and 
 declares his determination to maintain his post, even at the 
 expense of being hacked to pieces alive. 
 
 " Pa roit din-me'r soign. O roue Charlamagn ? 
 Demeus och avan-gard ha demeus och ansagn, &c." 
 
 The army then sets out for Egremont j and, in the next 
 scene, they appear again on the stage, march once round, 
 and halt before the town of Egremont, whence a messenger 
 is sent to the duke, while the troops are refreshing them- 
 selves and adjusting their arms. 
 
 In the second act, the two armies approach each other ; 
 that of Beuvet appears, and passes across the stage in quest 
 of the king"'s, and again the hinge's army enters in search of 
 Beuvet. At length the duke and his troops make their ap- 
 pearance a second time, and the two armies range themselves 
 on the stage in front of each other. Then Ogier the Dane, 
 at the head of the royal vanguard, calls out to the opposite 
 army in no very gentle terms, and bids them stand, and he 
 is answered in similar language by Gerard of Rousillon ; 
 upon this the king and the duke commence a dialogue, and 
 enter into a series of taunts and recriminations ; the king 
 charges him with the massacre of his son Lohier, and the 
 duke, in his turn, complains of ill usage from the king, and 
 says,— 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 73 
 
 " Guir e sur, Charlamagn, choui zo en Fran^ roue, 
 
 Hogen ni a zoug choas, ha va breudeur ha me, 
 
 Partout dre hor chorfou merqou an tolliou lancp 
 
 Recevet vit sou ten ho cumnen a Franc ; 
 
 Hac evit recompan9 da venteni ho stad, 
 
 E fel dech or laqat pave dindan ho troad ! 
 
 Mes, mar och eus desir dont da denna venjan^ 
 
 Eus a varo ho mab, n'och eus nemet coman9 ; 
 
 Me a zo preparet, hac o tefi ive 
 
 Da dostat diouzm demeus hed va chleze." 
 
 It is surely true, Charlemagne, you are in France the king, 
 But we bear also, my brothers and myself, 
 Throughout our bodies, marks of the wounds of the lance, 
 Received to sustain your crown of France ; 
 And to recompense the maintaining of your state, 
 You place us as the pavement under your feet ! 
 But if you now desire to take vengeance 
 For the death of your son, you have but to commence ; 
 I am prepared , and I also defy you 
 To approach me within the length of my sword." 
 
 This defiance is answered by Ogier the Dane, in his usual 
 style. Then Gerard draws his sword ( Jerard a denn e gleze ) 
 and replies to Ogier ; whereupon Solomon of Brittany, one 
 of the king's adherents, calls upon the troops to draw their 
 swords, and most devoutly commences the fight. 
 
 The two armies then engage, and after several pages spent 
 in fighting, altercation, and tumult, night comes on, and the 
 troops withdraw until the next morning, leaving a vast num- 
 ber of killed on the field. But on the morrow, instead of 
 renewing the battle, a negociation is entered into, and Beuvet 
 is pardoned, upon condition of his doing homage, and appear- 
 ing at Midsummer ( Voel yan ) in Paris with 200 men ; but, 
 on his way to fulfil his engagement, he is met by a party of 
 the king'*s adherents, where a skirmish takes place, and the 
 duke is slain, together with several of his followers. 
 
 The next scene presents an encounter between a giant and 
 Maugis, the enchanter, son of Beuvet. The giant enters 
 alone, and commences a soliloquy in a very surly mood ; in 
 which he expatiates upon his superior strength in the most 
 arrogant manner. Having proceeded with this ebullition of 
 self-sufiiciency for a considerable time, he at length espies 
 Maugis making his entrance, and immediately, in the most 
 insolent manner, demands the reason of such intrusion. But 
 Maugis, who does not seem to have any particular awe of 
 
 L 
 
74 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 giants, answers him carelessly, and calls him Camarad, 
 This familiarity excites the gianf s choler still more, and he 
 uses yet more abusive language ; and upon this Maugis turns 
 to, and answers him in his own style, with suitable fluency, 
 and they commence a most energetic display of mutual 
 abuse, which continues for two or three pages, until the 
 giant, unable to control his temper any longer, draws his 
 sword, and aims a furious blow at Maugis, which the en- 
 chanter parries most adroitly, and instantly closes with the 
 giant, and throws him on the ground. Finding himself in 
 this predicament, the monster roars out for quarter ; but 
 Maugis asks him what ransom he will give ; upon which the 
 giant answers that he will give his horse Boyard^ the best in 
 the universe, which is — 
 
 " Strong as the ocean, and fleet as the gale." 
 "Creii e evel ar mor, buan vel an avel ;" 
 
 he will also give his sword Flamberje, the most eminent 
 in existence^ which was 
 
 t« Forged in hell, and tempered in the blood of asps ; " 
 
 and adds, 
 
 " Flamberj ens da goste, ha Boyard dindannout, 
 Ep aon rac den ebet ech elles mont partout :" 
 
 With Flamberj at thy side, and Boyard under thee, 
 Without fear of man thou mayst go where e'er thou wilt." 
 
 The necromancer then accepts the ransom, and calls on the 
 names of his familiar spirits, 
 
 " Tariel, Gaviel, Tarquam, Guabariel, 
 Crarari, Atarib, Core, Gargatiel, &c." 
 
 The giant then discovers who he is, and informs him how the 
 horse and sword had been obtained from the demon Rou- 
 ard. The two combatants then part good friends ; Maugis 
 mounts on the back of Boyard, takes leave of the giant, and 
 
 says, 
 
 " Flamberj ens e goste, ebars e zorn eul lan^, 
 Hac eve dirac-an an daouzec Tad a Fran^, 
 Ha daou-chant den armet prest clos da gombati, 
 E retent aroc-an evel gad dirac qi." 
 
 " With Flamberj at my side, and in my hand my lance, 
 Should there come to meet me the twelve Peers of France, 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 75 
 
 And two hundred armed men ready to combat. 
 
 They would run away before me like a hare before a dog." 
 
 Having said this, he sallies forth upon Boyard, liJce the wind, 
 to seek his cousins ; ( hao e ya evel an avel da gaout e gendervi.) 
 
 The piece now becomes more confused and complicated ; 
 Ajmon and his sons are among the principal actors, and an 
 occurrence takes place which gives a new turn to the proceed- 
 ings. Bertelot,the king's nephew, meeting Renauld, challenges 
 him to play at chess, which challenge he accepts ; and, while 
 engaged at the game, Bertelot, being dissatisfied at Renauld's 
 conduct, and presuming upon his connection with the king, 
 makes use of very offensive language, whereupon E-enauld 
 not only returns him the abuse, but lifts up the chess-board, 
 and with it splits his head. After this exemplary act, 
 which of course occasions some slight sensation at court, 
 Renauld and his three brothers, together with their cousin 
 Maugis, think it expedient to have recourse to flight ; and 
 having taken refuge in the forest of Ardennes, they build a 
 castle upon a rock on the banks of the Meuse, to which 
 they give the name of Rochefort. 
 
 Charlemagne and his troops then set out to besiege this 
 eastle; and, after various skirmishes, a project is formed by 
 Hernier, and Griffon de Hauteville, to take it by stratagem ; 
 accordingly, the royal troops gain admittance in the night, 
 and a general assault is made. However, the vigilance of 
 Maugis discovers the evil in time, and, rushing from his 
 couch, towards his kinsmen, he gives the alarm, and rouses 
 them in the following energetic address ; — 
 
 Va chendervi Renod, Richard, Alard, Guic^ard, 
 Possubl ve e varvach evel pevar couard ? 
 Qemerit och armou, deut buan ganeme, 
 Setu leun ar chastel eus a dud ar roue." 
 
 " My cousms Renaud, Richard, Alard, Guichard, 
 Is it possible that you will die like four cowards ? 
 Take your arms, come quickly along with me. 
 Here the castle is full of the king's troops : " 
 
 and again, 
 
 " Setu tud ar roue deja mestr en donjon." 
 
 " Here the king's people are already masters of the keep." 
 
 In consequence of this seasonable alarm, the king's troops 
 
76 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 are repulsed, and compelled to quit the castle ; but the two 
 spies, Griffon and Hernier, are taken ; and, as a reward for 
 their treachery, the one is hanged and the other quartered, 
 both which operations are duly performed upon the stage, 
 as are all the other actions of the piece. 
 
 The castle holds out a considerable time longer, but it is 
 at length set on fire, and its inmates turned adrift to seek 
 their fortunes once more ; and, after a number of adventures, 
 they come to the court of Yon, king of Gascony, who is at 
 war with the king of Burgundy, a Saracen and a pagan. A 
 battle soon takes place, in which Renauld encounters the 
 king of Burgundy, and subdues him in single combat, but 
 spares his life on condition of his renouncing paganism, for 
 which service the king of Gascony gives Renauld the 
 castle of Montauban, from which he afterwards derives his 
 title, which castle is in the ancient province of Guienne, 
 about twenty miles from Toulouse, and must not be con- 
 founded with another Montauban in Brittany, which is 
 also celebrated in history. 
 
 The scene next following discovers Clera, sister to king 
 Yon, attended by her page, whom the princess addresses as 
 follows ; — 
 
 Clevit, va Faj bian, pa omp ama hon daoii, 
 Em eus desir da chout diganech eur chelaou ; 
 Hac eun dra a neve var sujet ar brezel, 
 Piou en deus delivret ar ger eus a Vourdel ? " 
 
 " Listen, my little page, as we are here both together, 
 I have a wish to hear of thee the news ; 
 And one thing new on the subject of the battle, 
 Who was it that rescued the town of Bordeaux ? '* 
 
 The page answers, 
 
 " Ato, princes yaouanq, &c." 
 
 " Truly, young princess, a certain knight who came into 
 this country with the Frankish people;" and proceeds to 
 eulogize Renauld, and expatiate upon liis exploits, and then 
 " O my mistress, a braver knight does not exist than this 
 Renauld, what a valiant man ! How I should delight in 
 seeing him married to you !" It should seem, that the 
 princess had been accustomed to this kind of familiar com- 
 munication with her little page, for she immediately ac- 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 77 
 
 knowledges that, from what she has heard, she is greatly 
 charmed with the fame of this knight, and commissions the 
 page to bring about an opportunity for an interview with 
 him ; and it so happens, that, with the good offices of this 
 page, together with the good fortune of Renauld, not only 
 an interview, but an attachment takes place; and, after a 
 short scene of stage courtship, a match is concluded under 
 the sanction of the king and public authorities. 
 
 The king then gives them possession of the castle of Mon- 
 tauban, which, he says, is one of the bravest places that can 
 be found in this world. 
 
 '* Hac evit argoulou qemerit Montoban, 
 Unan a vreva pla9 a gafet er bed-man." 
 
 His comforts there are but of short duration, for his old 
 persecutor Charlemagne finds him out, and determines upon 
 laying siege to his castle ; 
 
 " De laqat ar siej var castel Montoban." 
 
 And Eoland, who is on this occasion appointed to lead the 
 vanguard, approaches the fortress, and says, 
 
 Quent evit ma quitain castel caer Montoban, 
 Ma na ran en laqat en ludu hac en tan." 
 
 ** Before I quit the fair castle of Montauban, 
 
 I will cause it to be reduced to ashes and to fire." 
 
 However, the worthy Paladin does not find that so easy a 
 business, for the castle holds out in defiance of him for a 
 considerable time, until at length, through the treachery of 
 Yon, it is forced to surrender. 
 
 It would not be an easy matter to give a description of 
 the piece during the ensuing act, which consists of fighting, 
 killing, and plotting, as usual, in which Roland and Oliver, 
 and the other Paladins, act conspicuous parts, until at length 
 Maugis, the magician, is brought into the power of Charle- 
 magne, and instead of endeavouring to conciliate his enemies 
 by respectful behaviour, he is upon this occasion more im- 
 pertinent than ever ; till at length he provokes the king to 
 order chains and fetters to be brought and placed upon him, 
 and to have him bound to a pillar for the night, promising 
 that, before he breakfasts on the morrow, he will have him 
 hanged ; but Maugis, though bound in chains, tells him, 
 
78 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 " Me bromet dech, Charles, dirac ar brincet man, 
 E tijunin varchoas en castel Montoban." 
 
 " I promise you, Charles, before these princes here. 
 
 That I will breakfast to-morrow in the castle of Montauban." 
 
 This piece of insolence is too much, and they proceed to exe- 
 cute their threat on the spot, without waiting for the morn- 
 ing : upon this Maugis has recourse to his necromancy, and 
 utters the following mystic words, 
 
 " Manreilon, Goberlon et chiminalom 
 
 and immediately the king and his attendants fall into a 
 profound sleep ; Maugis then continues his incantations, and 
 his chains are burst, and he is set at liberty : he then takes 
 the king''s crown, the sceptre, and the swords of the twelve 
 peers ; and, after a suitable soliloquy, walks away with 
 them . 
 
 In one of the succeeding scenes, we have a single combat 
 between Roland and Renauld, before the court, according to 
 the usages of knighthood : they first prove their lances on 
 horseback, and then they alight {disqen a reont) and combat 
 on foot with their swords ; and lastly, they close and try 
 their strength in wrestling, occasionally addressing each 
 other in courteous language, as becomes gentle and well-bred 
 knights. 
 
 The prose narrative at the end goes on to relate, how 
 Renauld went to the Holy Land, and how he and Maugis 
 rescued Jerusalem by their courage : how he returned to 
 Paris, and found his two sons grown up and knighted ; and 
 how he was at last treacherously slain while asleep, in the 
 neighbourhood of Cologne, where he had retired, seemingly, 
 as a voluntary act of penance. 
 
 Such is the outline of this Breton drama. Whether it 
 was ever acted, or intended for acting, I have never inquired ; 
 but, as far as its general construction is concerned, I cannot 
 see that, in addition to a sufficiently ample theatre, and the 
 requisite number of performers, there is anything required 
 but time and patience towards carrying its representation 
 into effect, with as much consistency as that of dramatic 
 compositions in general : and when we recollect that to this 
 day, in many parts of the continent, theatrical exhibitions 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 79 
 
 are conducted in the open air, and the same draaia carried 
 on for several days together, we may conclude that it 
 is not impossible that this piece may have undergone a 
 similar representation. With regard to its language and 
 composition, although there is a good deal of tedious ha- 
 rangue, yet, altogether, it is by no means devoid of in- 
 terest, and in many passages possesses a considerable degree 
 of merit. 
 
 The principal characters have long enjoyed a poetic 
 celebrity in the world, although their real history is often 
 very obscure, as well as the race of people to which they 
 belonged, and the origin of their names and titles. The 
 name of Emon is frequently met with in the middle ages, 
 and is variously written, as Aymon, Almundus, Hamon, &c. 
 and may be seen in that of Fitz-Hamon^ one of the followers 
 of the Conqueror who settled in South Wales ; but of what 
 language it was originally formed, is uncertain. The name 
 of Renauld is equally obscure in its origin, and takes 
 various forms according to the languages in which it appears ; 
 in France it is Renaud, anciently Regnault and Reginald; 
 in Italy it is Rinaldo, and in Spain Reynaldos. It seems 
 to have been introduced into Wales at the Norman con- 
 quest, and is still often met with, and pronounced Rhynallt. 
 Roland has likewise been subject to similar transformations ; 
 in Italy he is Orlando, and in Spain Don Roldan, &c. but 
 it has been conjectured, with some appearance of correctness, 
 that he was in reality of Breton origin. Ogier, Ojer, or 
 Hulgerus, is likewise supposed to have been a real character, 
 but that his cognomen of Danoys has any reference to Den- 
 mark as his native country, is more than doubtful. The 
 most probable conjecture is, that it was originally Danne^ 
 from his having been condemned to banishment by Charle- 
 magne. Maugis, Mojis, Mogis, Malgis, or Malagigi, may 
 have been of any race upon earth as far as his name is con- 
 cerned, but the supernatural qualities of his horse seem to 
 refer to a Celtic organ. In the Welsh triads, we have a 
 notice of some sort of mischievous occurrence which seems 
 to have taken place in Britain in the early mythological 
 ages, and which is called the oppression of March Malaen^ 
 literally the horse of Malaen : whether this has any thing 
 
80 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 to do with the demon horse of Malgis^ I cannot pretend to 
 say ; I have known more improbable conjectures adopted 
 upon less obscure subjects. 
 
 However the province of Brittany may have led the way 
 in the revival, or rather the new formation of European 
 literature, by exciting a spirit of composition, and supplying 
 the materials of thought, in that interesting department 
 which constitutes one of the principal characteristics of the 
 modern school ; and, however the same country may, in 
 later times, have contributed towards the advancement of 
 learning, by giving existence to men of distinction, in 
 various branches of science, yet, from the secluded situation 
 of the Bas Bretons, and the limited patronage which their 
 ancient language has for some centuries experienced, it must 
 not be expected, that, at the present day, their vernacular 
 literature can be in a very flourishing state. Nevertheless, 
 when it is recollected that the Bas Breton is the language 
 of the peasantry, and lower orders only, we shall perhaps 
 find that, with regard to its literary character, it is upon an 
 equality with most of the provincial dialects of Europe. At 
 least, we may venture to affirm that, with the exception of 
 the Welsh, it possesses a greater command of the press than 
 any other Celtic dialect, either as a patois, or a distinct 
 speech. Indeed, whenever they have opportunities, the Bas 
 Bretons, like their relatives, the Welsh, appear to be great 
 patrons of the press ; though it is to be lamented, that in 
 Brittany, there are many causes in existence which tend 
 greatly to obstruct the beneficial operations of that noble 
 engine. 
 
 As an instance of the favourable disposition evinced by 
 the Bas Bretons towards the cultivation of their native 
 tongue, I need only notice the success which has attended 
 the typographical labours of M. Ledan, the spirited and 
 patriotic printer of Morlaix ; who, having for many years 
 devoted his time to the editing of Breton books, has always 
 found the demand to keep pace with his exertions. If I 
 might judge from the appearance of his shop and warehouse, 
 he has not to regret the want of pecuniary remuneration, 
 for I found those depositories almost entirely filled with 
 publications in the Breton language, whilst the rolling of his 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 81 
 
 printing press was continually heard over-head, employed 
 upon similar works, as appeared by the proof sheets brought 
 to him for examination, during the time I was standing by. 
 
 On seeing such a quantity of printing in the Bas Breton, 
 I naturally felt a wish to ascertain the description of his 
 readers ; and, before he had time to answer the inquiries I 
 was making, my curiosity was gratified by seeing several 
 young persons, in peasants'* habits, enter the shop, speaking 
 Bas Breton, who asked for some small tracts in that lan- 
 guage, and, after selecting such as they wanted, paid a few 
 halfpence for them, and departed. M. Ledan took the op- 
 portunity of teUing me, that this was the class of people 
 which formed the bulk of his customers, and that, if I 
 remained there some time, I should see others constantly 
 coming in upon the same business. He also assured me 
 that the Breton peasants are much more disposed to culti- 
 vate a taste for reading, than the same class of persons 
 among the French ; and I must add, in confirmation of this 
 statement, that I am not aware of the existence in any 
 other part of France, of a printing establishment entirely 
 supported by the peasantry, and lower orders. 
 
 It may possibly here be asked, of what description those 
 publications are which occupy so much of the printer^s atten- 
 tion, and so crowd his warehouse ; as it may reasonably be 
 supposed that there must be among them many things of 
 importance in a literary point of view. To this I can only 
 answer, that the existence of the foregoing facts will afford 
 us gratification, merely as evidences of the taste of the people 
 for reading their native tongue ; for, it must be acknowledged, 
 that the contents of the publications are, for the most part, 
 of a very inferior order. And, although the perusal of such 
 works, must, in strictness of speech, be denominated reading^ 
 yet, as far as the cultivation of the mind is concerned, it is 
 little else than the sheer act of deciphering so much letter- 
 press, without the acquisition of a single new idea that can 
 at all conduce towards improvement. It, however, familiar- 
 izes the eye with the appearance of a book, and so far, of 
 course, is not without its utility. I would by no means wish 
 to detract from the merits of M. Ledan ; he has perhaps 
 done as much as is compatible with his own principles, and 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 the restrictions under which he labours ; but I would solely 
 wish to furnish those of my countrymen, who feel an in- 
 terest in the subject, with such information as I may chance 
 to possess, relative to Bas Breton publications, of which this 
 establishment at Morlaix supplies, by far, the greatest 
 portion ; and, having purchased a copy of every publication 
 there for sale, I feel myself competent to speak, with some 
 degree of certainty, of their contents. It is therefore not 
 without considerable regret, that I am forced to acknowledge, 
 that, although there is a shop and a warehouse nearly full 
 of these publications, and a printing press unceasingly era- 
 ployed in their production, yet, when an assortment is made, 
 consisting of a single copy of each work, the whole collec- 
 tion will occupy but a very small space in a library. It is 
 much to be lamented, that a people who evince such a strong 
 predilection for books, should remain so long unsupplied 
 with some more profitable matter than that which they are 
 now permitted to possess. I took the liberty of suggesting 
 to the printer the expediency of establishing some Breton 
 periodical, similar to our Seven Gomer^ &c. but he did not 
 appear to receive the hint in such a way as to give me any 
 hopes of his acting upon it. Indeed, were he disposed to 
 undertake such a work, there are insurmountable difficulties 
 in the way of his conducting it upon an enlarged and liberal 
 plan ; for as this gentleman, in addition to his being himself 
 a staunch Catholic, is also printer to the bishop of Quimper, 
 and all his publications have to pass the censorship of that 
 prelate, and to receive his imprimatur, permitting their 
 being printed and circulated through the whole diocese {dre 
 an oil Escopti) before they can be put into the press ; and, 
 as the Breton clergy would look with no small jealousy upon 
 whatever should, in the remotest degree, interfere with their 
 particular views, it is morally certain that any periodical 
 work upon general topics, however cautiously edited, could not 
 fail of coming, sooner or later, in collision with their prejudices. 
 
 Such, at least, was the state of things among the Bas 
 Bretons a few months ago.* What effects the late revolu- 
 tionary proceedings may have produced, or may be likely to 
 
 * In 1829.— Editor. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 83 
 
 produce, I have no means of ascertaining ; but it is probable 
 that their moral influence will be far greater, and more 
 permanent, than those of the first revolution, in proportion 
 as the people have been prepared for their reception. 
 
 The former revolution had to enter into immediate con- 
 flict with all the ancient prejudices of the nation, both poli- 
 tical and religious. It had to encounter the prepossessions 
 of a people, whose isolated situation, and dislike of innova- 
 tion, had estabhshed among them a sentiment of the most 
 devoted attachment to the reigning family and existing 
 order of things ; and whose local and detached dialect had 
 operated as an efiectual barrier against the introduction ot 
 those sceptical principles so generally diff'used over other 
 parts of the kingdom.* Whereas the last convulsion found 
 a people, who, for almost a whole generation, had been ac- 
 customed to similar changes, and to a considerable portion 
 of whom they were by no means unwelcome : for, notwith- 
 standing that the Bas Bretons have generally retained a 
 strong attachment to the Roman Catholic religion, and, as 
 far as might be collected from outward appearance, a stranger 
 would hardly suspect that the present inhabitants had in 
 the least deviated from the example of their forefathers ; 
 yet, at the same time, it is scarcely possible that they could 
 have passed through thirty years of revolutionary agitation 
 without, in some degree, partaking of its influence, even in 
 their religious observances. However this may be, it is 
 quite certain, that in political matters, there is no equivocal 
 demonstration of feeling. Therein, the first revolution has 
 eff'ectually done its work, in Brittany as well as in the rest 
 of France. It was evident, even long before the late move- 
 ments were in the least anticipated, that although the 
 Bourbons had succeeded in repossessing themselves of the 
 throne, they had never been able to regain their influence 
 over the people. For in that instance, by some singular 
 and extraordinary fortune, the empire of Napoleon had con- 
 tinued to survive his personal defeat, and the overthrow of 
 
 * It is but justice to that ancient language to remark, that although jts 
 limited application, as a medium of intercourse, may subject it to the charge of 
 having perpetuated the superstitions of popery, it nevertheless possesses the 
 merit of having, by the exclusion of the works of Voltaire snd his associates, 
 preserved the country from the contamination of infidelity. 
 
84 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 his dynasty. During the short time I passed in Brittany, 
 this alienation of homage was continually thrusting itself 
 upon my observation, in the manner and style of expression 
 of those with whom I chanced to converse, and was after- 
 wards more decidedly evinced in the conduct of the people ; 
 for, when the Bourbons, on their expulsion from Paris, des- 
 patched emissaries into Brittany and La Vendee, to en- 
 deavour to rouse those provinces to take arms in support of 
 their cause, they were utterly unable to make any impres- 
 sion in their favour. And when the heads of the old Ven- 
 dean families sent to those of the Chouans of Brittany, to 
 know their sentiments upon the subject, the result of the 
 consultation was a unanimous determination to make no 
 further exertions in support of the Bourbons. 
 
 One of the effects of the last revolution has been the es- 
 tablishing of a complete religious toleration ; so that the 
 church of Rome is no longer in possession of that para- 
 mount authority which it previously enjoyed. The way is 
 now legally open to the introduction of Protestant principles. 
 What success any attempts at conversion would meet with 
 among the Bas Bretons remains to be seen : the priests 
 would, of course, endeavour to retain their influence, 
 and offer resistance to whatever might militate against 
 their creed. It is a curious fact, that the New Testa- 
 ment has, within these four years, been, for the first time, 
 translated into the Breton, and also printed in that language; 
 and the translation of the Old Testament is also in a state 
 of forwardness.* When these weapons shall be brought into 
 the field against the legends of Popery, the result of the 
 contest will be a matter of no ordinary interest. 
 
 But, to return to the Breton press at Morlaix. Of the 
 works which I purchased at that establishment, the following 
 selection may serve as a specimen. 
 
 The first that presents itself, and the most important, in 
 point of size and literary value, is the old dramatic ro- 
 mance of the Four Sons of Emon, already noticed. 
 
 The next that comes to my hand is a duodecimo, entitled 
 An Devez Mad, The Good Day, containing short prayers 
 
 *For further particulars concerning these translations, the Reader is referred 
 to Vol. II. of the present woi'k. — Editor. 
 
> 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 85 
 
 and reflections for every portion of the day, adapted to the 
 station of every member of a family, some of which are 
 marked by great simplicity of character, though perhaps not 
 always happy in their explanation of scriptural texts. As 
 instances, the females when they sweep the house (pa scuhit 
 an ti) are instructed to recollect the self-abasing expression 
 of St. Paul, " we are the sweepings of the earth," " for that 
 we are but earth and ashes, like this dust which I sweep 
 " Nen on nemet douar ha ludu e'cel ar poultr-man a scuhan 
 and to seek the purifying of the soul, as well as the cleans- 
 ing of the house. The men, when they cut wood (pa 
 drochit coat ) are taught to reflect upon the expression, " now 
 is the axe at the root of the tree " ^ man a wchel e grien 
 ar mzen?''^ "Death will lift up his scythe to cut ofl" my life, 
 as I cut down this tree " Ar maro a sao he falch da drechi 
 xia hue^ eml ma trochan ar wzen man.''"' 
 
 This volume also contains Breton verses, descriptive of the 
 various ceremonies of the mass ( on Oferen^) together with 
 some Latin extracts from the mass-book. Among the 
 Breton verses, there is one upon the renouncing of the seven 
 mortal sins, which appears to possess some merit, as far as 
 its easy flow of language is considered. The first stanza 
 will serve as a specimen of the whole. 
 
 Renon^ a ran 
 Dide, Orgouill, pechet Lucifer 
 
 Renon^ a ran, 
 Dide adieu a lavaran : 
 Te cheus collet hon Tadou qenta 
 Va choll a rafes ive brema. 
 
 Renon9 a ran.f 
 
 * This is not from Le Gonidec's translation ; the sentence is by him rendered 
 m\ich more literally, Rag ar vouchal a z6 a-vrema leMad out grisien ar guez. 
 The edition of the Breton Testament, printed at Brest in 1847, reads, " Hag ar 
 vouc'hal a oz dija lekeed out grizien ar guez," Matt. iii. 10 ; and, " Hag ema ar 
 vouc'hal leeked dija ouc'h grizien ar guez," Luke iii. 9. — Editor. 
 
 "t Gran is an inflexion of the verb, Oier, to do. This is one of the many in- 
 stances of the general imperfect state of all existing languages, and of the man- 
 ner in which the inflexions of one word are borrowed to eke out the deficiences 
 of another. Oher is doubtless of the same origin with the Latin oj^ero, and 
 appears under another form in the Welsh peri, to cause, and the Hebrew hara, 
 to createiJ whereas, gran is evidently the Latin creo, as may be seen in its inflexion 
 greoA, made ; the resemblance of ran, to the Greek t^av, seems likewise some- 
 thing more than a mere coincidence. The corresponding Welsh word to the 
 Breton gra, seems to be giona. 
 
 Why oher, in default of regular inflexions, is indebted to its synonyme gran, 
 let those answer who can explain the same irregularity in the English go, and 
 
8G 
 
 TOUR TIIKOUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 Renounce I do 
 Thee, Pride ; the sin of Lucifer, 
 
 Renounce I do : 
 To thee I say adieu ; 
 
 Tliou didst cause the perdition of our first parents, 
 Thou wouldst also work my perdition now : 
 Renounce thee I do. 
 
 As this book contains the licences of two Breton bishops, 
 for its printing and circulation, I shall copy those documents 
 here as examples of the jealousy with which the Breton 
 priests watch over the movements of the press. 
 
 APPROBATIONOU. APPUOBATIONS, 
 
 Ni Escop a Sant-Briec, goude 
 beza laqet examina ar scrit dorn- 
 en brezonec euz al levric-ma han- 
 vet " An Devez Mad," a bermet 
 d'an Autrou Ledan, Imprimer- 
 Librer e Montroulez, e imprima 
 hac e verza. 
 
 f Mathias, 
 Esc. St. Briec. 
 En Caer-Ahes an 80 a Ebrel, 1822. 
 
 Ni Yan-Lois Keramanach, Cure 
 euz Montroulez, carg-uet gant an 
 Outrou Per-Vi9ant Dombidau de 
 Crousheilles Escop a Guemper, 
 da examina al levr bian hanvet 
 An Devez Mad, ha de approuvi, 
 mar bize a propos ; goude beza en 
 examinet mat, o veza n'hon euz 
 cavet ennan petra control d'ar feiz 
 Catholic, 0 veza er chontrol cavet 
 penaoz e vezo util meurbet evit 
 sanctification ar Vretonet hon euz 
 permetet d'an Antrou Ledan e 
 imprima hac e zistribui dre ann 
 oil escopti. 
 
 J . L . K eram anach , 
 Cure a Vontroulez. 
 
 E Montroulez, 
 
 an 20 a vis Even, 1822. 
 
 We, the Bishop of St. Brieux, 
 after having caused to be exa- 
 mined the Breton manuscript of 
 this little book, called " The 
 Good Day," do permit M. Le- 
 dan, printer and bookseller, of 
 Morlaix, to print and sell it. 
 
 t Mathias, 
 Bishop of St. Brieux. 
 Carhaix ; SOth April, 1822. 
 
 We, J ohn Louis Keramanach, 
 Cure of Morlaix, charged by the 
 Lord Per-Vi9ant Dombidau de 
 Crousheilles, Bishop of Quimper, 
 to examine the little book, called 
 ''•The Good Day," and to ap- 
 prove of it, if it should be proper ; 
 after having examined it well, we 
 have found in it nothing contrary 
 to the Catholic faith ; we have, 
 on the contrary, found that it 
 will be exceedingly useful to the 
 sanctification of the Bretons, and 
 we have permitted M. Ledan to 
 print and distribute it through 
 the whole diocese. 
 
 J. L. Keramanach, 
 Cure of Morlaix. 
 Morlaix, 20th June, 1822. 
 
 This book, like all others sold ready bound, has, on one of 
 the inside corners of the cover, a small square piece of paper 
 pasted in, similar to the advertisements of stationers in ge- 
 neral, and of which the following is a copy : 
 
 went, din and be; the Welsh viyned, and (xetlc, wyf s-nd hydclaf j the Latin sum, 
 es, fui, &c. Are not these the distorted fragments of some great primeval lan- 
 guage, shattered at Babel, and dispersed among the various nations of the earth ? 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 87 
 
 Avis. 
 
 Caout a rer e ty Ledan 
 Imprimer-Librer e traon 
 Rii ar Vur e Montroulez, 
 a bep seiirt Levriou latin 
 gallec ha brezonec ; pliin 
 lion, paper, &c. &c. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 To be had at the house of Ledan, 
 printer and bookseller, at the bot- 
 tom of Wall-street, Morlaix ; and 
 every sort of Latin, French, and 
 Breton books ; pens, ink, paper, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 There is likewise another small volume, called Raglamant 
 ar Vuez^ The Regulation of Life ; emd an dut divar ar meaz^ 
 for Country People. It is nearly a counterpart of the fore- 
 going, and contains Ar Pedennoio^ deus ar mintin hac eus an 
 nos, Gousperou ar Zul, <Sfc. The prayers for morning and 
 nighty Sunday vespers, S^c. It is probable that considerable 
 portions of these, and other works of the same description, 
 are only translations from the French. 
 
 Also, Christian Instruction for young People. I2mo. 
 containing moral and religious duties, with examples 
 and illustrations from various authors, both sacred and 
 profane. 
 
 The Historical Catechism of the Abbe Fleury, 12mo. 
 There is another translation of this work by Le Gonidec, 
 more complete in its contents, as well as in style and ortho- 
 graphy. 
 
 The Lamentations of Jeremiah, in Breton verse. 
 
 In addition to these, I have a Breton almanac, such as is 
 
 * The word peden and beden, a prai/er, and also j^edi, to pray, are evidently 
 taken from the Latin, peto, to entreaty as is also the German, beien^ to pray, as 
 well as the English, lead, which originally signified a prayer, as may be seen in 
 the expression, '■'■to tell one^s heads,'"'' i. e. to say one''s prayers; although the 
 word has long been transferred from its proper signification, and applied to the 
 little tallies strung together, and used by the Roman Catholics to assist in keeping 
 a register of their prayers. In the Principality of Wales, there are several churches 
 which bear the name of Bettws, the etymology of which has not a little puzzled 
 antiquaries, and has been variously given, as Abbatis , Beaius, Bead-house, d;c. Noav, 
 the latter word, could the difficulty of its Saxon origin be removed, would afford 
 a very plausible explanation of the term ; but it is not easy to conceive how an 
 English word could have been so generally adopted in Wales, while it does not 
 appear that it occurs at all in England itself. But if we consider the priority of 
 the Latin word, and the exclusive use of that language in ecclesiastical matters, 
 during the dominion of the church of Rome, the objection will, in a great mea- 
 sure, be obviated, though I must confess the last syllable remains as unintelli- 
 gible as ever. 
 
88 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 published annually; and also a collection of about sixty 
 pamphlets mostly small, and seldom exceeding eight pages 
 each, containing religious dialogues, generally in rhyme, to- 
 gether with songs of various descriptions, to the amount of 
 seventy or eighty pieces. 
 
 These, like the same class of compositions in England, are 
 printed on paper of the coarsest sort, though they differ from 
 the long scroll-shaped English ballad, in being made to fold 
 into duodecimo pages. They have generally the name of the 
 tune to which they are to be sung, annexed to the title, such 
 as Var ton, An dour hag an tan; on the tune. Fire and Water ; 
 Var ton, Labourer Sul ha Gouel ; Labouring Sunday and 
 holiday ; loar ton nevez ; on a new tune ; Var ton Galleg ; on 
 a French tune, ^c. The Canticles, or religious songs, which, 
 as may be expected from a press so entirely under ecclesias- 
 tical superintendence, form the most numerous class, have 
 also the names of the tunes annexed ; and those are, for the 
 most part, of a more serious character. Buez Job ; the Life 
 of Job ; for instance, is composed to the tune Va Doue leun 
 a drugarez ; My God fall of mercy. 
 
 Some of these last appear to be composed by men of edu- 
 cation, probably clergymen ; and could they be divested 
 of the superstitions and puerilities by which they are en- 
 cumbered, they would not be altogether devoid of merit. 
 They are, for the most part, evidently the compositions of 
 uneducated persons, and exhibit the efforts of a rustic 
 muse in her native untutored simplicity. 
 
 The Breton poets, like the sons of genius in all countries, 
 are not without their aspirations after fame and immortality. 
 And lest their poetic merits should not be duly assigned to 
 them by their readers, they often contrive to make the last 
 stanza a medium for conveying to the worlda knowledge of 
 their name, residence, occupation, &c. after the manner 
 of their fellow-rhymers in Wales. 
 
 In modern Welsh ballads, and other rustic composi- 
 tions of the Principality, it is very usual to find these im- 
 portant circumstances announced at the conclusion, in such 
 words as the following ; — 
 
 Os gofyn neb yn unlle 
 Pwy ddododd hyn ar gan," &c. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 89 
 
 So in a poetical dispute, between a ragman and a papermaker, 
 in the Breton language, now before me, the author informs 
 " all that may be curious to know who composed this song, 
 that it was John ar Guen^ of Treguier, a native of Plougre- 
 scant, who, ever since his youth, has lived in the parish of 
 Plouguiel."*^* 
 
 " An ini a vo curius a deuyo da choulen 
 Piou en eus gret ar c/ianson var ar Bapererien ; 
 Yan ar Guen eus a Dreguer, natif a Blougrescant, 
 E chom e paros Plouguiel abaoa ma voa yaouanq." 
 
 He also talks of lodging at Melin Pont ar Vern, e ti Yan- 
 Frances ar Moen ; at the Mill of Pont yr Vern, in the house 
 of John Francis Moen. 
 
 This Yan ar Guen seems to be not only possessed of that 
 ambition so becoming his character as a poet, but also to be 
 a man of no small industry in his pursuits, if I may form a 
 judgment from the number of his compositions which I have 
 chanced to meet with. However, he does not mean to rest 
 satisfied with the empty possession of a name, even after the 
 termination of his mortal career ; as he takes the opportu- 
 nity of making the posthumous celebrity which he pre- 
 pares for himself, the means of procuring advantages which 
 are never dreamed of by his Welsh fraternity. Yan ar 
 Guen, in his autobiographic summary, at the conclusion 
 of his compositions, does occasionally, in the most adroit 
 manner possible, introduce a hint that his readers, when 
 they hear of his death, should say a prayer for the deli- 
 verance of his soul out of purgatory. 
 
 Pa glevot e vo maro, lavarit ur beden 
 En deliveran9 da ene ar Chaner Yan ar Guen.'* 
 
 It is true, that in consequence of this post-obit demand 
 the patrons of Breton bardism have an extra call upon 
 their attention, yet they are in other respects possessed of 
 
 * The word Plou, which commences so many Breton local names, signifies a 
 parish {\Y aWice plwyf,) and is, by the Breton etymologists, derived from the 
 Latin word plehs. It is remarkable that the word Llan, a church, which, in the 
 same manner, commences the names of Breton parishes, as Lanion, &c. has be- 
 come so completely obsolete in Brittany, that I never met with any one in that 
 country acquainted with its signification ; but as the word is also seen perpetu- 
 ally occurring in Welsh names, as well as Breton, it is suspected by the Bretons 
 that it must be of British origin, 
 
 N 
 
90 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 privileges which some of our countrymen would regard with 
 feelings of envy, as they are totally exempt from the system 
 of the cynghanedd^ or alliteration, so unremittingly pur- 
 sued by the generality of our modern Welsh bards. The 
 Breton poetry, like the language itself, being of the most 
 plain and simple construction, I do not recollect a single 
 instance of even accidental alliteration in the whole lan- 
 guage j nor do I suppose that the Bretons have the slightest 
 notion of its application to the purposes of poetry, either as 
 necessary or ornamental. The only passage I can call to 
 mind, as in the least partaking of this style, is the following : 
 
 " Mervel da greis an lianter nos, 
 Mervel bemde, mervel bemnos." 
 
 I. — Waliice marw b. unydd, marw heunos. 
 
 It must be allowed, that in unskilful hands, when sense is 
 sacrificed to sound, and when superfluous and unmeaning 
 expressions are had recourse to, in order to fill up vacancies, 
 this system of alliteration becomes intolerably tiresome and 
 disgusting ; but, when judiciously employed by men of 
 genius, it is a most valuable auxiliary, and contributes ex- 
 ceedingly to the sweetness and harmony of versification ; 
 and, however deservedly its abuse may be censured, yet, 
 doubtless, the Welsh language owes much of its copiousness, 
 flexibility, and energy of expression, to the cultivation of 
 the bardic cynghanedd. 
 
 From the errors of this system the Bretons are at pre- 
 sent free, but they are, at the same time, unacquainted 
 with its advantages. Nevertheless, their poets do some- 
 times succeed in giving considerable eflect to their composi- 
 tions, as, for instance, in the song of " Come to the Gharnel^^'' 
 which, though extremely simple in its language and ideas, 
 yet is so admirably adapted to the subject, as well as to the 
 taste and comprehension of the people, that upon those in 
 whose native tongue it is written, it cannot fail of making a 
 deep impression. The first stanza commences with a call 
 to come to the charnel-house, and behold the relics of our 
 brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, nearest relatives, and 
 dearest friends, &c. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 01 
 
 ''Demp d'ar Garnel, Christcnien guelomp ar religion 
 Eus hor breudeur, choareset, hon tadou, nor mamou, 
 Demeus hon ameze^^cn, hor brassa migiionet, 
 Guelomp ar stad truezus e pini infc rentet." 
 
 This commencement does, somehow or other, remind me 
 of the opening address of the ancient British elegy on 
 Cynddylan, by Llywarch Hen ; though in other respects 
 it bears no comparison with that beautiful composition. 
 There is a boldness of thought and expression in the works 
 of our ancient bards, together with a wild independence of 
 style, which gives them a character in the highest degree 
 striking and decided, and which modern poets have hitherto. 
 for the most part, wanted either the courage or the genius to 
 imitate. 
 
 From the foregoing extracts it will be seen,, that the 
 Bretons, although unacquainted with the alliterations of the 
 Welsh, or the blank verse of the English, yet do, in common 
 with them, acknowledge the use of rhyme in the construction 
 of poetry ; and that not merely as an occasional ornament, 
 as among the English, but as an indispensable qualification. 
 They have also the knowledge of various metres, according 
 to the subjects of their compositions, and the airs to which 
 they are intended to be sung. Nor have I remarked any 
 thing in the genius of their language, to prevent its being 
 moulded into any known species of verse; but the measure 
 which appears to have been adopted as the heroic, is the 
 Alexandrine couplet, of which the following specimens, front, 
 the tragedy of "Pevar mab Emon," will suffice: 
 
 Rac-se eta, Roland, it hardivar al lis, 
 Ni a rey hor possubl da ober decli justly." 
 
 " Ha clioui a voar brema ar poucz demeus va lan^ 'i 
 Ne vo qet pel Roland, o pezo recompan^.." 
 
 This is precisely the French heroic metre ; and, although 
 the accent of the Breton is more distinguishable to an 
 English ear, yet, upon the whole, the cadence of the French 
 and Breton poetry seems to have sprung from the same origi- 
 nal source, though it would be difficult to determine in which 
 language this metre was first used. Of course I may be 
 biassed in my judgment by national prejudice, but I have 
 never been able to persuade myself that this style of verse is 
 
92 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 SO well adapted to epic poetry as the shorter metre of the 
 English. Whether the constant use of this lengthened 
 measure, and the rigid adherence to rhyme, has tended to 
 create that habit of prolonged declamation so general among 
 the French dramatic writers, I will not take upon myself to 
 decide ; but there most certainly is in the French heroic 
 measure, even in their most celebrated compositions, and 
 when recited by their ablest tragedians, a monotonous and 
 sing-song cadence, which imparts to it a character, par- 
 taking more of the ballad, or elegiac strain, than of the mas- 
 culine dignity of an epic composition. 
 
 I will acknowledge that this kind of measure has often 
 been successfully used in English, and that too in subjects of 
 an heroic description. Campbell has managed to give it a 
 character of exceeding energy, in some of the commencing 
 lines of one of his songs. The address to the Mariners of 
 England : 
 
 " This spirits of your fathers shall start from every wave, &c." 
 
 But then Campbell used it merely in a song, and would 
 probably hesitate before he adopted it for a tragedy, or an 
 epic poem. 
 
 Notwithstanding its defects, this lengthy kind of metre 
 seems to have been very general, a few centuries ago, among 
 most European nations. Although the Bretons do not 
 possess documents of sufficient antiquity to enable us to 
 determine the date of its first appearance in that country, 
 yet, it has evidently been long naturalized among them. 
 There is no proof of their having brought it over with 
 them from Great Britain ; the measure most congenial with 
 the taste of the ancient British bards was one of a very dif- 
 ferent description, being generally shorter, and more irre- 
 gular, and what may be properly distinguished by the term 
 Pindaric. 
 
 But, however this may have been with regard to the early 
 bardic writers, the measure in question was, in subsequent 
 times, a favourite among the Welsh, as may be seen in 
 the instance of those old and popular verses, called the 
 Prophecies of Merlin^ of which the following stanza will serve 
 as an example : 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 98 
 
 " Ceir gwel'd ymladdfa greulon ar Gefencethin fiyii, 
 Ceir gwel'd y gwaed yn llifo ar hyd cleddyfau'n Ilyn, 
 Fe fydd y cyrn yn canu o gylch i Abernant ; 
 Ar ben rhiw y cyrph ond odid fe leddir llawer cant." 
 
 " There will be seen a fearfnl conflict on Cefen-cetliin hil], 
 And blood in torrents streaming along the sword-blades down, 
 The war-horns will be sounding round about Abernant ; 
 On the height of the steep of corpses there will be many a hundred 
 slain." 
 
 This stanza, which I quote from memory, forms part of a 
 long rhapsody of similar " skimble-skamble stuff," relating 
 to the fortunes of Britain ; and though not the identical strange 
 concealments concerning the Molewarp and the Ant, alluded 
 to, by Shakespeare, as having been dwelt upon by Glyndwr, 
 so much to the annoyance of his confederate. Hotspur, yet 
 this curious composition has long been current in the Princi- 
 pality as the production of Merlin, and, like all others attri- 
 buted to that extraordinary personage, it has obtained no 
 small influence among the people ; one instance of which I 
 shall here notice, as having occasioned the present occurence 
 of this metrical specimen to my recollection, and likewise, 
 afi'ording an example of the manner in which accident may 
 sometimes contribute towards the confirming of prejudices 
 and superstitious notions. 
 
 A few years ago, when the colliers and miners of South 
 Wales had struck for wages, and entered into a determina- 
 tion of redressing their own grievances, it was their custom 
 to meet upon the mountains in bodies of several thousands, 
 and having there formed themselves into parties of a hundred 
 men each, to move about the hills in that order, for the pur- 
 pose of visiting the several iron-works and stopping the fur- 
 naces, &c. Now, it so happened that one of their places of 
 rendezvous was on the side of the mountains of Oarno, to the 
 south of CricMowel, and not far from Nant-y-glo^ another 
 place named in the poem ; 
 
 " Ceir gwel'd y g^d a'r dyrfa yn d'od i Nantyglo ; " 
 
 " The battle and the tumult will be seen approaching Nantyglo, &c." 
 
 And the above-quoted prediction of Merlin was applied to 
 that occasion : the word Penrhiw-cyrph being, by a very easy 
 mistake, changed into Penrhiw-cyrn ; the summit of the steep 
 
94 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 of the cams ; * and was thus continually repeated through 
 the country with the greatest earnestness, as about to come 
 to pass. It also happened while these misguided men were 
 thus ominously hovering along the sides of Penrhiw-cyrn, 
 that a strong body of military was actually marching up the 
 other side of the adjacent valley, for the purpose of dispersing 
 them ; and had they encountered them among the fastnesses 
 of Carno, it is not improbable that the natural advantages of 
 the ground would have tempted them to resistance, and oc- 
 casioned the slaughter and bloodshed described in the pre- 
 diction. 
 
 Where Penrhiw-cyrph may be, I cannot tell, or Oefen- 
 cethin either ; but there is an Abernantf among the iron- 
 works of Glamorganshire, and had this mischance occurred, 
 the difference between earns and corpses would not have been 
 sufficient to deprive the sage enchanter of the honour of ha- 
 ving foreseen the whole event. 
 
 Among the various recollections of Breton chivalry, few 
 are cherished in that country with greater delight than 
 those connected with the Combat des Trente^ or, as it is some- 
 times called, the Bataille des Trente^ in which thirty Breton 
 knights and their attendants entered the lists, in mortal 
 combat, against the same number of English. The parti- 
 culars of this celebrated rencounter are as follows : 
 
 During the Breton war of the succession, between John de 
 Montfort and Charles de Blois^ in the reign of our Edward 
 the Third, a.d. 1350, while De Beaumanoir, a Breton knight, 
 commanded the forces of De Blois, at the castle of Josselin, 
 and the Earl of Pembroke, who had been sent over from 
 England, by King Edward, with a body of men, to the assis- 
 tance of De Montford, was stationed at Ploermel ; it appears 
 that the English troops, under the sanction of Pembroke, 
 but contrary to the conditions of a truce then established, 
 were in the habit of committing many excesses in the neigh- 
 
 * Cyrn is, in a part of South Wales, used as the plural of Cam, as in this 
 instance of Mynydd y Cyrn, Waun y Cyrn, Sic. There are several Carns upon 
 this mountain, which, from the stone coffins they contained, are evidently sepul- 
 chral, and their situation seems to indicate that they were also intended as 
 beacons. 
 
 f Penrhivvcyrph, Cefncethin, and Abcrnant, are places in Carmarthenshire . 
 fhero is also a place called Abcrnant, near Llanwrtyd, in Breconshire.— Editor. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 95 
 
 bouring country, ill-treating the unarmed peasantry, and 
 exercising much cruelty and oppression towards such as fell 
 into their power. Beaumanoir, indignant at these proceed- 
 ings, went with an escort to Josselin, and remonstrated 
 with Pembroke upon the unworthiness of such conduct ; but 
 that nobleman, instead of attending to his arguments, treat- 
 ed him with considerable haughtiness ; whereupon, Beau- 
 manoir, with all the good breeding which characterized the 
 gallant and gentle knights of that day, proposes that the 
 difference may be settled between themselves, and that a 
 day be appointed on which they shall meet, with an equal 
 number of followers, and decide the dispute by an appeal to. 
 arms. To this the haughty Pembroke immediately consents ; 
 and accordingly, upon an appointed day, a tournament of 
 thirty against thirty, takes place on the field of Mie- Vote, 
 half-way between Josselin and Ploermel, in which the Bre- 
 tons are victorious. Froissart, in referring to this combat, 
 says it was undertaken by these champions for the lo'ne of 
 their mistresses ; and that he had, afterwards, seen at the 
 table of Charles the Fifth, king of France, a Breton knight, 
 named Yewains Oharruel, who had been in the Combat des 
 Trente, and whose hacked and scarred visage satisfactorily 
 shewed that the day had been well fought. 
 
 This celebrated rencounter has always been a favourite sub- 
 ject of traditional record among the Bretons ; and there are 
 several families still in existence in Brittany, which claim 
 a descent from some of the principal persons engaged in it. 
 I have had the honour of meeting one gentleman who was 
 an acknowledged descendant of Beaumanoir himself, and 
 who was by no means insensible to the merits of his illus- 
 trious ancestor. 
 
 In addition to the traditions of the Bretons, and the local 
 testimonies of Mie-Voie and the adjacent territory, this oc- 
 currence has been frequently noticed by historians. But the 
 fact has been lately corroborated by a discovery, in the 
 Bibliotheque du Roi, of a contemporaneous manuscript, con- 
 taining a poem, in old French, descriptive of the event. 
 
 This manuscript was discovered a few years ago by M. de 
 Freminville and M. de Penhouet, in their antiquarian re- 
 searches relative to Brittany. It is written on vellum, in 
 
96 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 4to. and contains upwards of five hundred lines ; and has 
 been handsomely printed, at Paris, by Crapelet, with a fac- 
 simile of the original, and explanatory notes, together with 
 the armorial bearings of the Breton champions. The follow- 
 ing extracts will serve as specimens : 
 
 commence In bmiWt be ^ff englofs tt 
 hxttom QUI fu fai'te m bretaigne^ Pan lye grace mil trot's 
 tens CDinquante le sammelJi Ijebant letare Siberusalem.^' 
 
 " Here commences the battle of the Thirty English and the Thirty 
 Bretons, which took place in Brittany, in the year of grace 1850, 
 on the Saturday before Laetare Jerusalem."* 
 
 " Seigneurs or fastet paix chlrs et barons 
 Bannerols bachelers et trestoux nobles hons 
 Euesques et abbes gens de riligions 
 Heraulx menestreelx et tons bons compaignons 
 Gentilz homs et bourgois de toutes nacions 
 Escoutez cest roumant que dire vous voulons 
 Listoire en est vraie et lez dix en sont bons 
 Coment xxx Engloiz hardix come lions 
 Combatirent vn jour contre xxx Bretons." 
 
 " Nobles give attention ; knights and barons, bannerets, t bachelors,;}: 
 and all noble persons ; bishops and abbots, religious men, heralds, 
 minstrels, and all good companions ; gentlemen and burghers of every 
 nation ; listen to the romance which we will relate to you ; the 
 history is true, and the expressions [ditties] good ; how thirty Eng- 
 lish, bold as lions, combated one day against thirty Bretons." 
 
 " Quant Dagorne fu mort de cest ciecle devie 
 Deuant auril le fort fu finee sa vie, &c." 
 
 " When Dagorne§ was dead, before the castle of Auray his life was 
 terminated, &c." 
 
 During his lifetime, the citizens and cultivators of the soil 
 were not harassed by the English : but after his death, all 
 this was changed, for Pembroke began to ravage the country, 
 and illtreat the inhabitants. When Beaumanoir heard of 
 this, he went to Ploermel, to remonstrate upon the subject ; 
 
 * A festival of the church of Rome, 27th of March, 1351, according to the 
 new style. 
 
 + Bannerets, knights who had a sufficient number of vassals to form a com- 
 pany, and entitle them to bear a banner in the field. 
 
 + Bachelors, students in arms or arts, gentlemen who had not received the 
 order of knighthood. 
 
 § Sir Thomas Daggeworth, the English commander, who held the castle of 
 Auray for the Countess de Montfort. He was slain in a Battle with Raoul de 
 Cahors, one of De Blois' captains. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 97 
 
 and on his way he witnessed the cruelty which was exercised 
 towards the peasantry, for multitudes of them were led 
 captive, bound and fettered, like cattle. Beaumanoir being 
 grieved and enraged at this sight, said to Pembroke ; 
 
 "Chlrs 'd Engleterre, voiis faictes grant pechie 
 De trauailler les poures, ceulz qui siement le ble 
 Et la char et le vin de quoy avon plante, &c." 
 
 " Knights of England, you do great wrong in afflicting the poor 
 people, those who sow the corn, &c. they formerly were allowed to 
 remain unmolested. How soon the arrangements of Daggeworth are 
 forgotten ! " 
 
 " Et Bomcbourc s'y respont par moult tres grant fierte, 
 Beaumaner taisies vous ; de ce naist plus parle, &c." 
 
 "And Pembroke answered him with great haughtiness, * Beaumanoir, 
 be silent, speak no more- of that, Montfort shall be duke of this noble 
 duchy, from Pontorson to Nantes, and even to Saint Mahe. Edward 
 shall be king of France, in spite of the French and their allies.' " 
 
 " Et Beaumaner respont par grant humilitez. 
 Songies un aultre songe, cestui est mal songe 
 Q,uer jamais par tel voie nen auriez demy pie,'* 
 
 "And Beaumanoir answered with great humility, 'Conceive another 
 idea, this was ill imagined, for by such a road you can never proceed 
 half a foot.' " 
 
 He then makes the proposal to Pembroke of deciding the 
 dispute in mortal combat, and an arrangement is entered into 
 that they shall meet for that purpose, thirty against thirty. 
 Upon which he returns to his ^friends, and relates to them the 
 result of his interview, stating that it is determined they 
 shall meet together, with their companions, 
 
 " Men properly chosen, who know well how to wield the lance, the 
 battle-axe, the sword, and heavy dagger."* 
 
 " S'y feroit bon choisir qui bien ferroit de lance 
 Et de hache, et d'6spee at de dague pesante." 
 
 Upon this his friends express their approbation, and re- 
 quest him to choose his retinue ; and there is a promptness 
 in the manner in which the offer is made, and accepted, that is 
 very striking. 
 
 " Prenes qu'il vous plaira, tres nobile baron. 
 
 Je pren Tintiulac a Dieu soit beneichon 
 
 Et Guy de Rochefort et Charuel le bon, Sec." 
 
 * A sort of sword, shorter than that generally used, but broader, and worn, at 
 the right side, hke a dagger. 
 
 O 
 
98 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 " 'Take whom you please, most noble Baron.' ' I take Tinteniac, to 
 God be thanks ; and Guy de Rochefort, and Charruel the Good ; 
 William de la Marche, and Robin Raguenel ; Huon de Saint Yvon ; 
 Caro de Bodegat,* whom I should not forget ; Geoffroy de Bois,t of 
 great renown ; Oliver Arrel, the valiant Breton ; and John Rousselot, 
 of the Lion Heart, If these will not defend themselves gallantly 
 against the felonious Pembroke, I shall be much deceived in my ex- 
 pectations.' " 
 
 He then proceeds to select his esquires, whose names are 
 given as follows. 
 
 " Guillaume de Montauban, Alain de Tinteniac, Tristan de Pesti- 
 vien, Alan de Keranrais and his Uncle Oliver, Louis Guion of the two 
 handed sword : Hugues Capus the Prudent, and Geoffroy de la Roche. 
 * If these do not defend themselves well against the rapacious Pem- 
 broke, they never more deserve to gird on a sword of steel.' " 
 
 " Se ceulx ne se deflfendent de Bourcbourc le merchier, 
 Jamais ils ne deuroient chaindre de branc d'achier." 
 
 He also selected Geoffroy Poulart, Maurice de Treziguidi, 
 Guion de Pont blanc, Maurice du Pare, Geoffroy de Beau- 
 corps^ and Geoffroy Mellon — 
 
 " All whom he called, returned him their thanks ; they were all 
 present and ready in attendance." 
 
 Beaumanoir also selected John de Serent, Guillaume de la 
 Lande, Oliver Monteville, and Symon Richard — 
 
 " All ready to put their hearts and bodies to the risk, and all as- 
 sembled without delay." 
 
 Sir Robert Pembroke, on his part, chose thirty combatants, 
 whose names were as follow : 
 
 KNIGHTS. 
 
 Robert KnoUes 
 Herve de Lexuale 
 Hul De Caverlay 
 
 Richard de la Lande 
 Thommelin Belifort X 
 Thorn melin Hualton. 
 
 ESQUIRES. 
 
 Jean Plesanton 
 Richard-le-Gaillard 
 Hucheton de Clamaban 
 Repefort 
 
 Jenequin de Betonchamp 
 
 Boutet d'Aspremont 
 Hugues-le-Gaillard. 
 
 Hennequin Herouart 
 Hennequin-le-Marechal 
 
 MEN AT ARMS. 
 
 Croquart 
 
 Walter Lallemant 
 Robinet Melipart 
 
 Troussel 
 Robin Ades 
 Perrot de Gannelon 
 
 * Caron de Boscdegas, MS. f Guiffrai de Bones, ms. 
 
 X He fought with an iron mace, weighing twenty -five pounds. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 99 
 
 Isanny-le-Haidi 
 
 Dagge-worth 
 
 Helcoq 
 
 Helicon-le-Musart 
 
 Guillemin-le-Gaillard 
 Rango-le-Couart 
 Jennequin-Taillard 
 Dardaine. 
 
 Hubinet Vitart 
 
 " Of these, twenty were English, bold as lions, 
 Six were Germans, and four Brabantians, 
 Armed in mail, bacinets and haubergeons. 
 With swords and daggers, lances and falchions." 
 
 Having marshalled his attendants, Beaumanoir addresses 
 them in a speech which strongly marks the character of the 
 times, and the high sense of honour which prevailed ; for in- 
 stead of disparaging the courage of his enemies, in order to 
 inspire his followers with better confidence, as is sometimes 
 done in modern times, he, on the contrary, assures them 
 that they have to deal with men of valour, and warns them 
 of the necessity of exerting themselves to the utmost. 
 
 " Seigneurs, dit Beaumanoir, o le hardy visage 
 
 Ja trouverois Englois qui sunt de grant courage, &c." 
 
 Pembroke, also, on his part, addresses his companions, 
 and tells them that he had caused the books of Merlin to be 
 consulted, and that they assured him of success. 
 
 The parties having arrived on the ground, Pembroke pro- 
 poses a parley and a postponement of the combat; which 
 Beaumanoir rejects. The fight then commences, and the 
 first shock is terrible; Charruel is taken prisoner;* the va- 
 liant Tristan is struck to the ground with a mace ; and so are 
 Rousselot and Bodegat. The poem then proceeds to give a 
 particular description of the combat, of which the following 
 translated extracts may suffice : 
 
 " Mighty was the conflict on the grassy plain ; Caro of Bodegat was 
 stunned by a mace, and the valiant Tristan smitten to death. Then 
 he cried aloud, ' Beaumanoir, where art thou? here, the English have 
 seized upon me, wounded and overthrown ; but I never despair of 
 victory on the day I see thee near me, &c.' " 
 
 " Mighty was the conflict in the midst of the field, and the carnage 
 horrible, and fierce the tumult. The Bretons are worsted ; I relate 
 no falsehood, for two of them are slain, and three are prisoners ; and 
 thei-e are but five and twenty engaged in the fight. But GeofFroy de 
 la Roche, an esquire of most high and noble ancestry, demands the 
 order of knighthood, and Beaumanoir confers it on him, in the name 
 of St. Mar}^, and says unto him, ' Good gentle son, spare not thyself ; 
 
 * He was afterwards rescued, and joined the figlit. 
 
100 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 remind thee of him who, by his order of knighthood, was at Constan- 
 tinople, in the company of such honourable associates ; and I swear 
 that the English shall pay the cost of thy knighting before the hour 
 of vespers.' Pembroke heard him, but he considered not his valour, 
 nor his noble conduct ; and he said to Beaumanoir, with much confi- 
 dence. Surrender thee, Beauraanoir, and I will not injure thee : but 
 I will present thee as a captive to my mistress, for I promised her, 
 and shall not deceive her, that to-day I would bring thee to her fair 
 abode.' And Beaumanoir answered, * I have other things in contem- 
 plation, and I purpose them much, together with all my companions, 
 that if it please the King of Glory and Saint Mary, and the good Saint 
 Yves, in whom I strongly trust, when the die is cast, the hazard falls 
 on thee ; and thy life will not be long.' Alan de Keranrais heard the 
 words, and said to Pembroke, * Unworthy wretch, what meanest 
 thou ? Thinkest thou thus to treat a man of such renown ? 'tis I 
 myself that defy thee this day on his behalf ; and now will I strike 
 thee down with my tranchant sword.' Alan de Keranrais, at the 
 same moment, struck him with his sharp-headed lance, in the midst 
 of his visage, so that the iron head entered into his brain, &c.' " 
 
 " Mighty was the conflict and long its duration, and the carnage 
 horrible on every side. It was on a Saturday before Laetare Jerusa- 
 lem, and the sun shone bright. The heat was excessive ; each com- 
 batant exerted himself to the utmost, and the earth was reddened 
 with blood. That good Saturday, Beaumanoir had fasted, and he 
 now felt great thirst, and asked for drink. GeofFroy de Boues 
 answered him immediately, ' Drink thy blood, Beaumanoir, and thy 
 thirst will leave thee. &c.' " 
 
 " Fierce was the combat, and the rencounter deadly. Half-way be- 
 tween Josselin and the castle of Ploermel, on an exceeding pleasant 
 plain, at the oak of Mi-voie, by a field of broom that was green and 
 beautiful, there were the English close collected in a body, &c." 
 
 " Mighty was the conflict, never was known its equal. The English 
 maintained their position, closely formed together ; none approached 
 them but fell dead or wounded : they are all in one compact body, as 
 if they had been bound together.* But William de Montauban, the 
 brave and valiant, &c." 
 
 The poem here describes the manner in which he broke 
 their column, by dashing, on his charger, into the centre of 
 their square. 
 
 " Mighty was the conflict, and the battle obstinate. Tinteniac the 
 Good, who was the foremost combatant, &c." 
 
 " Mighty was the conflict, doubt it not. The English are routed, 
 who wished to exercise over the Bretons mastery and control ; but 
 all their pride has ended in great folly, &c," 
 
 * In a note upon this passage, the French editor pays a high compliment to 
 the coolness and discipline of the English troops (le sang-froid et la discipline 
 des troupes Angloises,) which at Cressy and Poictiers, and also at Fontenoy, 
 until attacked by artillery, triumphed over the numbers and valour of the 
 French army, inasmuch as, at the latter place, a column of English infantry 
 sustained the shock of all the French regiments, which came on successively, 
 only to break themselves in pieces against its immoveable mass, (contre sa 
 masse inebranlable.) 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 101 
 
 Such is the general character of the Combat des Treiite ; 
 whereof, to those interested in Breton antiquities, the fore- 
 going specimens may not be unacceptable j and should any 
 of our Cambrian countrymen take the trouble of comparing 
 it with the compositions of our early bards, they will find, 
 in many particulars, a very striking resemblance, especially 
 in the ancient British poem of the Gododin. Like that, the 
 Breton poem is divided into detached portions or stanzas of 
 irregular lengths, from four lines to forty, and upwards. In 
 the same manner, one particular sentence is repeated at the 
 beginning of the several successive stanzas, as a sort of 
 ground-work to build upon, and the same rhyme is con- 
 tinued for a considerable number of lines without any 
 change. For example, of the commencing stanzas of the 
 Gododin, one contains nine lines all ending with theletters / 
 ei^ as 
 
 " Caeawc Cynhaiawc men y dehei, &c." 
 The next contains the same number of lines ending in wyt^ 
 '^Caeawc Cymnifiat Cyflat erwyt, &c." 
 
 Another contains seven lines ending in an ; and the following 
 has eleven lines ending in awr. In like manner, the Combat 
 des Trente commences with a stanza consisting of twelve 
 lines, ending in the syllable ons^ and, in some instances, the 
 same rhyme is followed for nearly thirty lines. 
 
 In the Breton poem it has been shewn, in the foregoing 
 extracts, that several successive stanzas commence with the 
 words Grande fu la hataille. The same order is followed in 
 the Gododin ; for instance : 
 
 *' Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth oedd fFraeth eu llu 
 Glasfed eu hancwyn a gwenwyn fu 
 Try chant trwy beiryant en cattau 
 A gwedy elwch tawelwch fu, &c." 
 
 " Warriors went to Gattraeth, and loquacious was the host ; for the 
 bright and intoxicating mead had been in their banquet," &c. 
 
 "Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth gan wawr, &c," 
 " The warriors went to Gattraeth with the dawn, &c." 
 " Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth gan dyd, &c." 
 " Warriors went to Gattraeth with the day, &c." 
 ** Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth buant enwawc 
 Gwin a med o eur fu eu gwirawt, &c." 
 
102 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 " Warriors went to Cattraetli, heroes of renown ; wine and mead, 
 out of golden goblets, had been their beverage, &c."* 
 
 The French poem, it must be owned, has nothing of the 
 wild irregularity of the Gododin, neither does it display the 
 genius and energy of diction which characterize that extra- 
 ordinary production ; but there is, nevertheless, in many 
 respects, a very striking resemblance between them. I will 
 acknowledge that the characteristics which I have been 
 noticing are not peculiar to these two compositions, but may 
 be found in the ancient poetry of some other countries ; but, 
 when I recollect the intimate connection which subsisted be- 
 tween Wales and Brittany, in the early ages, and how the 
 Bretons transported the compositions of our Welsh bards 
 into their own country, I am inchned to hazard a conjecture 
 that the similarity of style observable between the Combat 
 des Trente, which is evidently the production of a Breton, 
 and the ancient British poems, must be accounted for, by the 
 fact of the Breton minstrels having continued among them- 
 selves the style of the bardic school, as they did its traditions, 
 and handed it down even to the later Trouveurs, who composed 
 their poems in the French language. If this conjecture be 
 correct, it will serve to establish another of those facts which 
 appear so difficult to account for ; which is, that whilst the 
 Principality of Wales and the Cymraeg districts furnished 
 the nations of Europe with the materials of romantic fiction, 
 and thus gave a new impulse to their literature, so they also 
 supplied the very style and model of poetic composition, and 
 laid the foundation upon which subsequent schools erected 
 their various systems. 
 
 As the people of Bas Bretagne differ so materially from 
 the other inhabitants of France in their language and customs, 
 it may be supposed that they are not without some corres- 
 ponding peculiarities in their national costume : and we ac- 
 cordingly find that they maintain as distinct a character in 
 this, as in other particulars. Some of our countrymen, on 
 observing this distinction, have been disposed to imagine 
 
 * This is the stanza which Gray translated in his specimens of ancient British 
 poetry, commencing 
 
 " To Cattraeth's vale in glittering row." 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 103 
 
 that even in this circumstance a resemblance may be traced 
 between the Bretons and the Welsh. But, on examining the 
 subject, I feel satisfied that such an idea must be altogether 
 erroneous : for, however upon a slight inspection some re- 
 mote resemblance might be fancied to exist, yet if we refer to 
 the general costume of the Welsh, at any period within 
 these last two hundred years, as described to us by old 
 people, and as still seen among the remains of old wardrobes, 
 there is not the slightest foundation for this alleged corres- 
 pondence as a national distinction. And even the Breton 
 costume, I should apprehend, is not so much a distinct 
 characteristic of that people, as the remains of an old style of 
 dress, at one time very general throughout the greatest part 
 of Europe, as may be seen in old pictures, and especially in 
 the wood-cuts in old Dutch and Flemish books. 
 
 The first article of the Breton dress, that I shall name, is 
 the hat^ which is made of black felt, with a low rounded 
 crown, but with a brim of enormous dimensions, something 
 similar to that once worn by the Quakers of the old school, 
 but much larger than any now in fashion among that people, 
 and regularly turned up at the rim, all round. This de- 
 scription of hat must at all times be extremely inconvenient, 
 and, therefore, though not entirely unknown in other parts 
 of France, yet, with the exception of the Bretons, the French 
 peasantry, wherever it is used, generally loop up the brim 
 against the crown, forming by this contrivance a cocked hat, 
 such as was, till lately, generally worn by military ofiicers, 
 and which doubtless explains the origin of that once fashion- 
 able incumbrance. In some parts of France, the same hat is 
 seen, made of straw, though not looped up like those 
 made of felt. 
 
 The next article is the jacket, which is very short, like 
 that worn by sailors, and reaching (such a thing as a long 
 coat being unknown) no lower than the waist, and this is 
 worn by persons of all ages. But the principal characteristic 
 of the Bretons consists in the enormously large breeches, 
 which are made so full and so plaited, that they look more 
 like a short petticoat than the same garment as worn in 
 most other countries. This, however, is by no means to be 
 considered as peculiar to the Bretons, inasmuch as the same 
 
104 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 style of dress was once common in Holland, as may be seen 
 in the old prints before referred to, and of which a recollec- 
 tion is still retained in the proverbial allusion to the magni- 
 tude of that portion of a Dutchman's wardrobe. The same 
 characteristic may also be noticed in some of the Swiss 
 Cantons. However, the Breton antiquaries contend, that 
 this is only a remnant of the national costume of their 
 Gaulish ancestors, and quote an expression of Martial in 
 proof of their opinion, although it would be difficult to 
 apply the description to the garb of the Bretons ; especially 
 when we remember that the particular garment which gave 
 the designation of Gallia hraccata to one division of ancient 
 Gaul^ was not, properly speaking, that which is now dis- 
 tinguished by the name of breeches, but the long trousers, 
 reaching to the ancles, and at this time so common through- 
 out Europe ; and, indeed, in Brittany likewise, with the ex- 
 ception of some of the western districts, where the other dis- 
 tinction is retained. 
 
 In the district of Finistere, the male portion of the pea- 
 santry dress altog;ether in black j and when the population is 
 seen congregated, as on Sundays, or other fete days, a stranger 
 might be led to suppose, that the whole country was in gene- 
 ral mourning, so universally is this colour used in the whole 
 of their dress. In other parts of the country, the prevailing 
 colour is a drab or gray, the trousers being made of coarse 
 linen, though sometimes of a kind of linsey-woolsey, called 
 Daoulas^ from the name of the town where it was originally 
 fabricated and exported. This word, which is the name of a 
 river near Brest, seems very general among the Cymraeg 
 Celts, though, in the countries now occupied by the Graelic 
 tribes, it is spelt Douglas ; nevertheless in pronunciation the 
 g is dropped. Thus Douglas^ in the Isle of Man, is by the 
 Manx people pronounced Dhawlish^ evidently the same with 
 DawlisJi^ in Devonshire. The word is frequently supposed 
 to be derived from du^ black ; and glas, blue ; but its real 
 etymology is du, blach ; and glias a stream. The latter word 
 being frequently met with, in that sense, in the Principality, 
 as Morlais, Dulais^ Blaen-y-glais^ Claisfdr^ &lc. 
 
 With regard to the costume of the female peasantry, it 
 does not vary much from that of Normandy, and other parts 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 105 
 
 of France; the only difference I noticed was, that the Breton 
 cap has long broad lappets hanging down on each side to the 
 shoulders, which are sometimes pinned up to the crown 
 of the head, thus forming broad loops at each side of the 
 head, as low as the ears, and which some antiquaries would 
 h^ve us believe to be of great antiquity, and refer to the 
 head-dress of an ancient Gaulish statue in proof of their 
 opinion. 
 
 But there is one article of dress, common to both males and 
 females, which, though not peculiar to the Bretons, yet must 
 not be passed unnoticed, as it forms a very remarkable cha- 
 racteristic of continental costume. I mean the sabot^ or 
 wooden shoe, that disgrace to civilization, and especially to 
 France, the most civilized of all the continental nations. We 
 have occasionally seen wooden shoes in our own country, i. e. 
 a sole of wood, with the upper part of leather ; but the sahot 
 is entirely made of wood, quarters, vamp, and all ; without 
 a single morsel of leather or any other material ; being no- 
 thing more than a log of wood, with a hole scooped out to 
 contain the foot, and having the point turned up like a cre- 
 scent. As may be supposed, these receptacles afford but very 
 hard and uncomfortable accommodation for the feet; and, 
 therefore, to meet this inconvenience, it is usual to protect 
 the feet by wrapping them round with rags, or as is more 
 generally the case, with whisps of hay, and then to stuff 
 them into these excavated timbers, where, after a short time, 
 this primitive garniture is seen starting out^ and forming a 
 long and irregular fringe around the ancles. I know not 
 which is the most offensive object in a civilized country, that 
 of actual barefoot squalor, or this remnant of the rudest and 
 most uncouth efforts of barbarian ingenuity. Were the sahot 
 confined to the Bretons, such is my dislike to that article of 
 dress, that I should, from a feeling arising out of ancient 
 consanguinity and national attachment, really sympathize 
 still more acutely with the people in this, to me, mark of 
 barbarism among them ; but, when I see the same thing 
 equally common in Normandy, Picardy, and almost every 
 part of France, as well as in other nations of the continent, I 
 am in this respect the more reconciled to its existence among 
 our old allies and kinsmen. 
 
 p 
 
106 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that the French pea- 
 santry have no other kind of shoes, as they all possess, for 
 their fete days, leathern shoes, like other people. But, never- 
 theless, the impression produced upon an Englishman, by the 
 first appearance of the sahot is not easily effaced, and even 
 its very sound in the streets is peculiar to itself : for the 
 continued noise made in the French towns on a market-day, 
 by the heavy tramp of the sahoted peasants along the pave- 
 ment, cannot be compared to any thing on this side of the 
 channel. 
 
 Whoever examines his recollections of foreign countries, 
 which he may have visited, will probably find that, while 
 many have subsided almost into complete oblivion, there will 
 still be some so vivid as, by their recurrence, to call up in 
 the mind a perfect and correct representation of scenes which, 
 without such aid, might remain altogether unremembered. 
 Now it happens to myself that there are two descriptions of 
 noises so domiciled in my ears, that I imagine I can never 
 entirely forget them, or their accompanying localities. The 
 one is the noise made by the march of the cows through the 
 village of Chamouni every morning on their way to be milked ; 
 each cow having a harsh sounding square iron bell tied 
 round her neck, forming, as they pass in procession under 
 one's bed-room window, one of the strangest choruses ima- 
 ginable, and often causing the recently arrived traveller to 
 start from his sleep, and gaze towards Mont Blanc and the 
 glaciers for an explanation of this, to him, unaccountable dis- 
 turbance. The other is the noise caused in the streets of 
 Morlaix by the tramp of the sahots in the market-place, and 
 which, in fine weather, commences early enough to surprise 
 the weary traveller before he has finished his morning nap, 
 and increases more and more as the peasantry arrive from 
 the country, until at length even sleep and fatigue give way 
 to the more powerful effect of curiosity. 
 
 Having now exhibited the Bas Breton in his broad hat, 
 wide braccse, and heavy sahots; in order to complete the 
 picture, there remains one characteristic more to be noticed, 
 which is the walking-stick. This article, which I believe is 
 peculiar to Brittany, is formed of a round twig, or sapling, of 
 the usual length and size, having a part of the root attached, 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 107 
 
 and shaped into a knob at the end, similar to that of the 
 large club-headed walking-stick occasionally seen in our own 
 country. But, instead of the knobbed end being held in the 
 hand, as is the practice among ourselves ; here, on the con- 
 trary, the small end is held in the hand, while the knob rests 
 on the ground ; and, in order to prevent its slipping out 
 of the grasp, a piece of string is passed through a hole near 
 the upper end, thus forming a loop, which may be placed 
 about the wrist, or the hand, after the fashion of the little 
 pocket bludgeon, or staff of office, carried by our constables. 
 From the formidable appearance of this weapon, and the se- 
 curity which is provided for holding it firm in the grasp, a 
 suspicion might be entertained that it is sometimes employed 
 in services of a less peaceful nature than that of affording as- 
 sistance in walking. But, when the universality of its ap- 
 pearance is considered, as even the very priests carry it with 
 them in their walks, it is evident, that whatever offensive 
 designs may have given rise to the practice, it is now con- 
 tinued as a matter of custom only. However, on inquiry 
 respecting the habits of the Bretons, I am inclined to think, 
 that as they once rivalled their Cornish relatives in the art 
 of wrestling, so this club-shaped baton is only a memorial of 
 the amusement of single-stick, still retained in the west of 
 England. I have likewise heard it remarked, that a few 
 years ago, the Bretons were exceedingly expert in the use 
 of that formidable weapon, called a quarterstaff^ which, 
 though once very general in England, and still seen in the 
 hands of constables in some remote districts, yet, having of 
 late years fallen much into disuse, may require some expla- 
 nation. This article of rustic warfare consists in a rounded 
 stick of ash, or other tough wood, about six feet long, and as 
 thick as may be grasped in the hand without inconvenience, 
 being of equal size from end to end. This stick, which is 
 called quarterstaff, to distinguish it from the single-hand 
 stick, is held in both hands near the middle, as shown in 
 some of the old woodcuts to Robin Hood^ and the Pindar^ 
 of Wakefield^ and is then twisted about, and shifted from 
 hand to hand, as may be most expedient for the purpose of 
 
 * Quer//. Prior. -Editok, 
 
108 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 attack or defence. I have seen a man go through the exer- 
 cise of quarterstaff with so much dexterity, that in whirling 
 the stick around his head and body, such was the rapidity of 
 its motion, that it assumed the appearance of the spokes of a 
 wheel moving about him, thus rendering him perfectly se- 
 cure against any attack with a similar weapon ; and, when 
 in imitation of striking at an opponent, he brought it down 
 in its full length with a two-handed blow, — the effect was 
 really terrific. If our old English yeomanry were as ex- 
 pert at the exercise of quarterstaff as this foreigner, the con- 
 stabulary force^ thus armed, must have been a most formida- 
 ble body. 
 
 During my stay in Brittany, I had no opportunity of 
 witnessing any contest, in either wrestling, cudgel-playing, 
 or quarterstaff, and therefore cannot undertake to state any- 
 thing respecting the present cultivation of those games ; but 
 I am rather disposed to imagine that the present race of 
 Bretons have been so much occupied in contests of a more 
 serious nature, both in their own and other countries, that 
 the ancient rural amusements of the villagers have been 
 superseded by those of a more military character, and the 
 cudgel and quarterstaff' have given way to the musket and 
 the sabre. 
 
 - In a former part, I signified my conviction that, how- 
 ever strong the resemblance may be which the Welsh and 
 Breton languages bear to each other in their original con- 
 struction, yet that, from various causes, so great a difference 
 exists between them, at the present day, that the natives of 
 Wales and Brittany are not mutually intelligible, even in a 
 single sentence of any length. But, notwithstanding this 
 statement, -which I had hoped was sufficiently corroborated 
 by instances of personal experience, I have subsequently 
 seen a contrary opinion advanced in an article by M. De 
 Kerdanet, published in the " Cambrian Quarterly." I shall 
 therefore give a few examples of the colloquial language now 
 in use among the Bas Bretons, and then leave it to every 
 Welshman to judge for himself, whether it is possible for 
 any native of the Principality, without a knowledge of 
 French, and by the bare assistance of the Welsh, to hold a 
 conversation with a Breton, Jn the language of Brittany. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 109 
 
 In a Book of French and Breton Dialogues, published at 
 Brest, about twenty years ago, the following examples are 
 given, among a variety of others, of precisely the saoie 
 character ; and, as they are intended, not as illustrations of 
 etymology, but as practical lessons for the use of those who 
 would learn to converse in Breton, we must conclude that 
 they are fair specimens of the language in daily use among 
 the people. 
 
 PREMIER DIALOGUE. 
 
 Bonjour Monsieur ? 
 Votre serviteur ? 
 Je suis le votre. 
 Comment-vous portez-vous ? 
 A votre service. 
 
 J'ai bien de la joie de vous voir. 
 Comment se porte Monsieur 
 
 votre cousin ? 
 II se portait bien hier au soir. 
 Comment se porte Madame 'i 
 Elle se porte bien. 
 D'ou venez-vous ? 
 Je viens de Rennes. 
 Quelle nouvelle y a-t-il ? 
 Je n'en sais aucune. 
 Ou allez-vous ? 
 A Morlaix. 
 
 Faites mes complimens a Madame. 
 Je n'y manquerai pas. 
 
 DIALOGUE QUENTA. 
 
 De-mat deo'ch Autrou ? 
 Ho servic'lier ? 
 Me so hoc'h-hini. 
 Penaos ac'hanoc'h hu ? 
 En ho servich. 
 
 Ur joa bras am-eusd'ho queled. 
 En Autrou ho quenderv penaos 
 
 anezhan ? 
 Yac'h aoualch e oa neizeur. 
 Penaos e ra an Itron ? 
 Yac'h manific. 
 A belec'h e teut-hu ? 
 Eus a Roazon e teuan. 
 Pe seurt quelou a so ? 
 Ne ouzon nicun. 
 Pelec'h he zit-hu ? 
 Da Vontroullez. 
 
 Grit va gour'chemennou d'an Itron. 
 Ne vanquit quet. 
 
 In case these observations should fall into the hands of 
 any of our Welsh countrymen, who may be unacquainted 
 with the French language, I shall give one specimen more, 
 with an English translation. 
 
 What do you want ? 
 
 Is the gentleman at home ? 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 Is he up ? 
 
 An hour ago. 
 
 Is he engaged ? 
 
 I believe so. 
 
 Who is with him ? 
 
 He has company. 
 
 Can I speak to him ? 
 
 Soon. 
 
 Where is he? 
 
 In his room. 
 
 Shew me it. 
 
 Have you breakfasted? 
 
 Petra a choulennit hu ? 
 An autrou so er gucer ? 
 Ya Autrou. 
 Savet ef-en ? 
 Un heur so. 
 Ampechet ef-en ? 
 M'er gred. 
 Piou so gantan ? 
 Compagnunez en deus. 
 Corns a ailan-me outan ? 
 Soudan. 
 
 Pelec'h euia-en ? 
 En e gambr. 
 Discuesit-hi din. 
 Dijunet hoc'heus-hu ? 
 
110 
 
 TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 Not yet. 
 
 Will you drink 'i 
 What you please. 
 Will you eat anything ? 
 
 Non pas choas. 
 
 Ha choui a euteur efa ? 
 
 Ar pez a guerrot. 
 
 Ha choui a euteur dibri un dra 
 
 bennac ? 
 
 When I eat in the morning, I Pam bez debret d'ar mintin, n'em 
 have no more appetite all day. eus mui a appetit en deiz. 
 
 The above are specimens of the commonest expressions in 
 the colloquial language of Brittany ; and, however unin- 
 telligible they may appear on paper, I can assure the reader 
 that, when spoken in conversation by a native Breton, they 
 are, if possible, still more so. 
 
 In a former part of the Tour through Brittany, a descrip- 
 tion was given of a Breton wedding, together with the cere- 
 mony of bidding or inviting the guests, which will be 
 recognised by those acquainted with the customs of the 
 Welsh, as bearing a striking resemblance to the usages still 
 retained in the Principality. But, as these ceremonies vary 
 in different districts, we subjoin the following invitation of the 
 Gwakoddwr, as used in some parts of Oaermarthenshire : 
 
 Arwydd fy mhastwn yn awr mi a fostia, 
 Y neges diammeu, fy nygws i yma ; 
 Ar ystyr y'm dodwyd, ar hast mi a'i d'weda, 
 Geiriau fy neges, yn gy wir fynega : 
 
 Cennad pur ddifrad wyf attoch o ddifri', 
 Yn enw Gwahoddwr yn awr 'rwy'n cyhoeddi, 
 At Wr y ty yma, fe roddwyd arch imi, 
 I gofio'n ddigellwair, rhag ofn ei golli ; 
 Ei wahodd e'n gynta' yn rhwydd, a'i Wraig ganto, 
 A'i Dylwyth yn gysson, da dylwn i geisio ; 
 Meibion a Merched, hwy gant eu mawr barchu, 
 Wy'n wa'dd yn buredig, at rai sy'n priodi, 
 Heb adael yr Wyron, ond nid am eich arian, 
 Ond am eich cwmpeini, da, digri', diogan, 
 Am hyn yn bentadol dymuna'i'n bwyntiedig, 
 Na byddo i chwi gadw y rhai cyflogedig, 
 Pob un wrth ei enw, yn hynod ei hunan, 
 Morgan, a Marged, a Sioned, a Siwsan ; 
 Am fraint y Briodas, yn frwnt na fwriadwcli, 
 Ond dewch yn wych addas, mewn urddas a huiddwch. 
 
TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Nesewch bawb attaf, ni chly wsoch chwi etto, 
 Mo banner yr eithaf, sydd gennyf i areithio ; 
 Dewch feirdd i'r gamp honno, i harddu'r cwmpeini, 
 Ag arian'n eich pyrsau, ac aur wrtb y pwysi ; 
 Er cariad, i'r unlle, cariwch yr enllyn, 
 Rwy'n gwa'dd Gvvraig y ty yma, a choflaid o Gosyn ; 
 Basgedaid o Fenyn, yn nesaf, os ewyllysiwch, 
 I ddangos blaenorol, rhagorol hawddgarwch ; 
 Dewch bawb a'ch seigiau, rhowch dorthau o Siwgir, 
 Gwin yn alwyni, a Brandi, a S^dir, 
 Ychydig o Bysgod, ac Ych wedi'i besgi, 
 Maenllwn yn enllyn, Porcyn a Thwrci ; 
 Ystlys o Facwn, Gwydd a Cheiliogwydd, 
 Wyau rifedi, leir yn ddiw'radwydd : 
 Ac fel y galloch, rhanwch y rlieini, 
 Nid ydym ni'n disgwyl eich trysor na'ch tasgu, 
 Yn gynnysgaeddiad gwell ydyw geno'n 
 Eich 'wyllys, a'ch cariad, a'ch cwmpni, na'ch rhoddion. 
 
 Diwedd y Gan, 
 
 Diod i Forgan. 
 
■AN ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 OF 
 
 Inrieut Ititerittee 
 
 IN THE 
 
 WtlB^, Srislj, md fntlit latiguoges, 
 
 AND 
 
 THEIR VALUE IN ELUCIDATING THE ANCIENT 
 HISTORY, AND THE MENTAL CULTIVATION OF THE 
 INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN, IRELAND, AND GAUL, 
 
 BY 
 
 "Bran a g3.nt chwedl yn nyffryn." 
 
 "A Crow sang a saying in a valley." — Triads. 
 
 At the Abergavenny Eisteddfod of October, 1845, the principal Prize, a sum 
 of £87 3s. was awarded to the Rev. Thomas Price, for the best Essay on 
 " The Comparative Merits of the Remains of Ancient Literature in the Welsh, 
 Irish, and Gaelic Languages, and their value in elucidating the Ancient History 
 and the Mental Cultivation of the Inhabitants of Britain, Ireland, and Gaul." 
 The Adjudicator was that celebrated Physiologist and eminent Scholar, the late 
 Dr. Prichard, who prefaced his analysis of the successful composition with the 
 following remarks : — "The writer of the Essay subscribed Branawc, (whose real 
 name and country have been kept from me a profound secret,) has, in my 
 opinion, fully merited the Prize to be awarded by the approaching Eisteddfod. 
 His Treatise contains an able and masterly analysis of the remains of Celtic 
 literature in its different branches. He has laid before the reader a clear 
 and lucid account of the nature and constituent elements of these remains in 
 the several Celtic dialects, and has not only displayed a sound critical judgment 
 in the comparison of their respective merits, but has also selected, with excellent 
 taste and skill, such extracts and specimens, from the productions of each age 
 and language, as may enable the reader to follow him with ease in the survey, 
 and to form an estimate for himself." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In classing the subjects of the following Essay under their 
 respective dates, it was found that the Literature of the 
 Welsh, the first named in the list of languages, so arranged 
 itself, as not to be divided according to centuries, but eras ; 
 in two of which, viz. those commencing about the sixth and 
 eleventh centuries, the rise and decline of genius are dis- 
 tinctly defined ; and by analogous reasoning, the reality of 
 two others is presumed. The following is the arrangement 
 which suggests itself : — 
 
 The First Period, which is here called the Druidical Age^ 
 is supposed to have commenced nearly two centuries before 
 the Christian era, and to have continued until near 
 the sixth century, when the genius of Poetry greatly 
 declined. 
 
 The Second Period commenced with an outburst of 
 genius, near the beginning of the sixth century, and con- 
 tinued until the eleventh, and at its close exhibited a similar 
 decline of talent. 
 
116 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Third Period commeuced in the eleventh century, 
 with another outbreak of genius, and has now terminated 
 in the nineteenth, having seen the same stages in the 
 progress of genius, of rise, maturity, and decline. 
 
 The nineteenth century is supposed to be an epoch from 
 which a Fourth Period will date its progress. 
 
 The reality of the Second and Third of these Periods 
 seems to be borne out by facts, but the first and last are 
 mere conjectures ; should these conjectures, however, be 
 found consistent with truth, the system would aid, in some 
 degree, in elucidating the progress of mental cultivation, as 
 it would show that the developement of intellect proceeds by 
 impulses, at regular periodical intervals ;* such intervals, 
 with regard to the Welsh Poetic excitement, occupying 
 nearly seven centuries each. How far the Irish mind has 
 been governed by the same laws, the scantiness of materials, 
 and uncertainty of dates, will not authorize us to decide, but 
 for the convenience of discussion, the Irish Literature, as 
 well as the Gaelic, has been arranged under these Periods. 
 
 * For a further exposition of Mr. Price's opinions upon this subject, the 
 Reader is referred to his " Essay on the Progress of Empire and Civilization,"" 
 separately published, during his life-time, by Rees, Llandovery, and Longmans, 
 London. — Editor. 
 
WELSH LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SmiMr ^niA 
 
 The earliest compositions in the Welsh language, whose 
 date has heen ascertained, are those of the sixth century ; 
 but there are others extant, which, from their style and 
 character of thought, are supposed to be much older, and to 
 be the remains of the literature of the Druids. These are 
 verses, chiefly in the triplet measure, called Englyn Milwr, 
 the Warrior's Stanza, consisting of three lines, the third of 
 which contains a moral maxim, and is apparently unconnected 
 with the two first. Lhuyd gives several specimens of this 
 verse, at the same time signifying his opinion, that it is the 
 most ancient kind of verse among the Welsh, and the one in 
 which the Druids conveyed their instructions to their dis- 
 ciples ; and though he does not assert that these specimens 
 are actually Druidical, yet he gives it as his belief that they 
 are old enough to be so, and leaves a strong impression on his 
 readers, that he considered them to have been really com- 
 posed by the Druids. The following, from the Myfyrian 
 Archaiology, are of similar construction to those given by 
 Lhuyd. 
 
 " Eiry Mynydd llydd ar ffb 
 
 Gochwiban gwynt ym mlaen to 
 
 Nid ymgel cariad lie bo." 
 Snowy is the mountain, the stag takes to flight ; 
 The wind whistles in the thatch top : 
 Love, where it exists, will not conceal itself.* 
 
 It must be acknowledged that, however the Druidical ori- 
 gin of some of these stanzas may be alleged, yet, it is very 
 evident that by far the greatest number bear the decided 
 
 '* There is certainly a real connection, though not an obvious one, between 
 these lines, for, — As surely as the snow is seen upon the mountain, as surely as 
 the aroused stag flees, as surely as the cottager hears the whistling of the wind 
 in his thatched roof, so surely will Love, where it exists, make itself manifest. 
 — Editor. 
 
118 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 impress of Christianity, retaining however the ancient form 
 of composition and arrangement of thought ; together with the 
 ancient headings of the several stanzas, as '•'•Eiry Mynydd^"" 
 
 Snowy Mountain Marchwiail Derxt^^'' " Sprigs of Oak 
 " Gorwyn blaen derw^'' " Glittering the points of the Oak 
 branches,'^ &;c. and, as in many instances, these stanzas ap- 
 pear to form mere collections, unconnected and unconsecutive, 
 it is possible that some of them may be of great antiquity. 
 It may be added that the few notices of Druidic com- 
 position, to be found in the classic writers, sanction the idea 
 that this measure was used. Caesar states that the Druids 
 conveyed their instructions in verses, but does not specify 
 the kind ;* and Pomponius Mela, who wrote in the first 
 century, strongly confirms the supposition that it was of the 
 triad or triplet measure, for he says that one of their pre- 
 cepts had become known ; viz. " That they should excel in 
 war ; that souls are eternal ; and that there is another life 
 to the departed spirits." 
 
 " Unum cx lis, quae praecipiunt, in vulgus effliiit, videlicet ut forent 
 ad bella meliores, aeternas esse animas, vitamque alteram ad manes," 
 
 Whether this is a complete triad, as some have supposed, 
 or whether the words " ut forent ad bella meliores are 
 merely those of the author himself, we will not undertake to 
 decide, but the words " Unum ex iis*"* seem to imply that 
 these three sentences form one complete precept. It must be 
 admitted that Pomponius Mela describes the practice of the 
 Gaulish Druids ; but we are informed by Caesar, that the 
 tenets of those of Gaul and Britain were nearly identical, 
 with the exception that the Druidism of the latter country 
 was considered the most pure, and that the Gaulish nobility 
 sent their children to Britain for instruction. 
 
 The next author is Diogenes Laertius, who wrote in the 
 second century. According to his statements, it was said 
 that the Gymnosophists and Druids communicated their 
 tenets enigmatically and sententiously, \in apothegms^^ and 
 enjoined to worship the gods, to do no evil, and to exercise 
 fortitude. 
 
 ' Magiium ibi numorum vei'suum ediscere cUcuntur.— (,'as«r, de Bello G'allico 
 Lih. VL 
 
THE DRUTDTC PERIOD. 
 
 no 
 
 UTToCpOe'y'yoiitevov^j (Pi\o(To(p7](Tai (xe^eiv 0eov<i, Kai /urjSef kukov 
 Ipav, Kai av^peiav acTKeiv, 
 
 Though, from the manner in which these precepts are 
 assigned to two distinct races, it is possible that the author 
 intended nothing more than to give, in a condensed form, 
 the principal features of their respective religions, which, in 
 these particulars, appear to have coincided ; yet, when we 
 compare this statement with that of Pomponius Mela, it is 
 scarcely possible not to acknowledge a remarkable similarity, 
 and, altogether, we may be justified in believing that we 
 have here, at least, presumptive evidence, that the triplical 
 style of composition, amongst the Welsh, is but a continua- 
 tion of that in use among the Druids ; and it may not be 
 too much to suppose that some of the ancient anonymous 
 triplets, quoted by Lhuyd are, actually, remains of the 
 Druidic age. 
 
 The next class of compositions I shall notice is one which 
 bears still more decided marks of belonging, either to an age 
 anterior to the introduction of Christianity, or, to one in 
 which Druidical tenets still prevailed. The compositions of 
 this class are generally attributed to Taliesin ; but it is well 
 known that many of them bear the name of that Bard, 
 merely in consequence of being found in the same manu- 
 scripts with some of his genuine productions, and of such is, 
 undoubtedly, the following piece, which, according to the 
 the Rev. Edward Davies, contains a Druidical prayer or 
 hymn addressed to the ancient British divinity Beli ; and 
 as it appears to have been originally composed in a triplet 
 measure, as given by Davies, that arrangement is here 
 adopted. 
 
 " Cein gyfeddwch Odduch lleeu 
 
 Y am deulwcli Llestri Had 
 
 Llucli omplaid Llad yn eurgyrn 
 
 Pleid 
 
 Eurgyrn yn Haw 
 
 Firain fo rhagddaw 
 
 Ry ysgrifiad 
 
 Llaw yn ysgi 
 Ysgi ymodrydaf 
 Fur iti iolaf 
 
 Ar lien caw 
 
 Buddug Feli 
 A manhogan Rhi 
 
 Mwyedig fein 
 Dreig amgyffreu 
 
 Rhygeidwei deithi 
 
 Ynysfel Feli." 
 
120 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE 
 
 The following is Davies's translation : — 
 
 "With solemn festivity round the two lakes; with the lake next 
 my side ; with my side moving round the sanctuary ; whilst the 
 sanctuary is earnestly invoking the gliding king, before whom the 
 fair one retreats, upon the veil that covers the huge stones, Avhilst the 
 dragon moves round over the places which contain vessels of drink- 
 offering ; whilst the drink-offering is in the golden horns ; whilst 
 the golden horns are in the hand ; whilst the hand is upon the knife ; 
 whilst the knife is upon the chief victim ; sincerely I implore thee, 
 O victorious Beli, son of the sovereign Man-Hogan, that thou 
 wouldest preserve the honours of the Honey Island of Beli." 
 
 It must be observed that Dr. Owen Pughe gives a different 
 rendering of the words, and instead of a hymn of adoration 
 or prayer, he gives the piece the character of merely an ode 
 of celebration ; but still, in whatever way it may be tran- 
 slated, there is something so mystical in the words, and so 
 little resembling the style of any Christian composition, 
 that we may at least suppose there was a good deal of 
 Druidical superstition remaining at the time of its composi- 
 tion, and also influencing the mind of the author. 
 
 But as the evidence of these compositions, being of the 
 Druidic period, rests entirely upon their internal character, 
 and as we know of no prose work that is even alleged to 
 be of so ancient a date, we shall leave this division, and 
 proceed to another, where documents exist of a less uncer- 
 tain description ; and, in the meantime, we shall, according 
 to the order already prescribed, review the claims of the 
 other Celtic branches to the possession of the literary 
 remains of this remote period. 
 
IRISH LITERATURE. WELSH LITERATURE. 121 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BruiWr ^kxiA 
 
 The Irish, like their neighbours, the Welsh, claim for their 
 literature a high degree of antiquity, and some antiquarians 
 unhesitatingly produce specimens of Irish composition which 
 they allege to be of the fourth, and even of the third century. 
 Others, more moderate, place these compositions as low 
 down as the fifth or sixth century. After duly weighing the 
 arguments of all parties, the safest conclusion appears to 
 be that which we have adopted with regard to the Welsh 
 remains, and that is, to admit the probability of there being, 
 in the Irish language, certain fragments of a date prior to the 
 sixth century, but that the evidences requisite to prove the 
 fact are so few and unsatisfactory, that until something more 
 decided is produced, this remote antiquity must be aban- 
 doned as untenable, and the sixth century taken as that of 
 the commencement of existing Irish literature. 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FROM THE SIXTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 In examining the Bardic remains of the Welsh, we cannot 
 fail to notice two difierent periods of intellectual excitement 
 and poetic cultivation of the language ; the one com- 
 mencing in the sixth century, when the Welsh people were 
 assailed by the Saxon invaders, and the other in the 
 eleventh century, when they sustained a similar assault 
 from the Normans. Each of these two periods may be con- 
 sidered as an Augustan age, and, therefore, these epochs may 
 be taken as the proper divisions of the present investiga- 
 tion. It would be foreign to the subject to enter into an 
 
 R 
 
122 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 inquiry respecting the cause of those outbreaks of genius, 
 at those particular periods ; whether the people, being roused 
 to action by foreign aggression, were upon each occasion 
 animated by similar sentiments, and gave them utterance 
 by a similar mode of expression : or whether there was, at 
 each of these periods, some general excitement amongst the 
 western nations, which, acting like an epidemic, impelled them 
 to extraordinary exertion of mind and body, I cannot under- 
 take to determine ; I will only say that certain phenomena 
 have, from time to time, made their appearance in the moral 
 world which might, with some degree of plausibility, be 
 adduced in support of the latter position. However this 
 may be, the sixth century must be considered, not only as 
 the period at which the earliest authenticated specimens of 
 Welsh composition commence, but also as a time when the 
 fire of poetic genius blazed out with a splendour, equal, if 
 not superior, to that of any subsequent age : for here we 
 find a constellation of Bards shining out all at once, which, 
 from the testimony of succeeding writers, as well as from 
 the specimens of their compositions still extant, were by no 
 means unworthy of the elevated position assigned to them. 
 These Bards were Aneurin^ Taliesin^ Llywarch Hen^ and 
 Myrddin ; to which Nennius adds two others, Talhaern and 
 Cian^ but of these last no composition is known to be 
 extant. The words of Nennius are these, — 
 
 " Tunc Talhaern Cataguen in poemate claruit et Neirin, et Talies- 
 sin, et Bluchbard, et Cian, qui vocatur Guenith Guaut, simul uno 
 tempore in poemate Britanico claruerunt."* 
 
 To these we may add a few others of minor note, and 
 also some of doubtful date. 
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 ANEURIN. 
 
 To Aneurin may not improperly be assigned the first 
 rank amongst the early Bards of the Welsh ; and this, not 
 only on account of the genius he evinces, but also of the 
 quantity of matter extant in any single composition : for 
 his celebrated Poem of the Gododin contains upwards of a 
 
 * Stevenson's Nennius. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 123 
 
 thousand lines ; a considerably longer production than has 
 been handed down as the work of any other Bard. This 
 Poem, from the obscurity of its allusions, and the absence 
 of historical documents, has been differently interpreted. 
 According to some, it records a battle fought in the northern 
 portion of the island, and which proved disastrous to the 
 Britons, in consequence of their taking the field in a state 
 of intoxication ; whilst the Rev. Edward Davies maintains 
 that it records the massacre of the Britons at Stonehenge, 
 by order of Hengist, at the great national festival. 
 
 But, whatever the subject of the Gododin may be, the Poem 
 itself has claims upon our notice as possessing very consider- 
 able intrinsic merits, some of which even " attracted the lofty 
 muse of Gray." The piece may be said to be entirely of a 
 Lyric character, the historical facts which are occasionally 
 introduced, being merely alluded to, as matters too familiar 
 and well known to require any further narration or explana- 
 tion whatever. The Poem opens with a description of a 
 warrior armed and mounted for the field, young, and in the 
 full vigour of life, apparently betrothed, and looking forward 
 to the bridal festival, and he is no sooner thus presented to 
 the reader, than his death and elegy are as transiently touched 
 upon, and the Bard hurries on to other warriors, many of 
 whom are disposed of in a manner equally short and cursory. 
 "Gredyf gwr oed gwas Gwell gwneif a thi 
 
 Of manly soul was the youth ; 
 
 Manful was he in battle, 
 
 A swift thick-man ed charger 
 
 Was vmder the thigh of the stately youth. 
 
 A shield light and broad 
 
 Was on the slender swift flank. 
 
 A sword blue and bright. 
 
 Golden spurs and ermine 
 
 * Mr. Price's citations are made from the edition of the Gododin published in 
 the Myfyrian Archaiology, 1801. Vol. I. pp. 1 — 14 ; and he has generally adopted 
 Mr. Panton's marginal emendations of the text. — Editor. 
 
 Gwrhyt am dias 
 Meirch mwth myngfras 
 Y dan mordhuit mygr was 
 Ysgwyt ysgafn llydan 
 Ar bedrein mein buan 
 Cledyfawr glas glan 
 Ethy aur a phan 
 Ny bi efafi 
 Cas y rhof a thi 
 
 Ar wawt dy foli 
 Cynt ei waet e lawr 
 No gyt i neithiawr 
 Cynt e uwyd i frein 
 Noc yr argynrein 
 Cu cyfeillt EueinI 
 Cwl y fot o dan frein 
 Marth ym pa fro 
 Lladd un mab Marro." " 
 
124 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 It is not by me 
 
 That hatred shall be shown thee ; 
 
 I will do better towards thee, 
 
 In poetic eulogy to celebrate thee. 
 
 Sooner shall the ground be stained with blood, 
 
 Than thou enjoy the nuptial feast. 
 
 Sooner shall the ravens have their prey, 
 
 Than thou again lead on the charge ! 
 
 My beloved companion Euein, 
 
 Narrow is thy dwelling beneath the stones ! \_carn] 
 There is sorrow in the land. 
 For the son of Marro slain ! 
 
 After this short and abrupt opening, the Bard hastens on to 
 another warrior, and, with the subject, also changes the metre. 
 
 " Caeawc cynhaiawc men y delei, 
 Diphun ymlaen bun medd a dalhei 
 Twll tal i rodawr yn y clywei 
 Awr ni roddei naud meint dilynei 
 Ny chyliei o gamhawn yn y ferei 
 Waet mal brwyn gomynai gwyr nyt elhei 
 Nys adrawdd Gododin ar lawr mordei 
 Rac pebyll Madawc pan atcorei 
 Namyn un o gant yn y delei." 
 
 Adorned with his torques, when the chieftain arrived, 
 
 Honourably in the presence of the maiden he distributed the mead. 
 
 Broken was the front of his shield ; when he heard the shout 
 
 Of battle, he would give no quarter wherever he pursued ; 
 
 He would not retire from the combat until he caused 
 
 Streams of blood ; like rushes would he hew down those who 
 
 would not retreat. 
 Did not the Gododinian relate it, in the land of Mordei, 
 Before the tents of Madawc, when he returned ? 
 But one out of a hundred came back. 
 
 The Bard then proceeds with several stanzas, in the same 
 metre, each commencing with the word Caeawc, for instance, 
 
 The torques-adorned chieftain, the ravager of countries. 
 Like the rushing of the eagle on the sea-beach, when attracted by 
 his prey, &c. 
 
 Also, 
 
 The torques-ornamented chieftain of tumult, the wolf of the sea- 
 marsh. 
 
 The twisted amber wreath adorned his brow, &c. 
 
 After which other headings are introduced to the stanzas, and 
 each is repeated a few times, for instance : The men who went 
 to Gododin, and. The men who went to Cattraeth ; the metre 
 continuing the same, but the stanzas varying in length, and the 
 same abrupt Lyric style being maintained throughout, without 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD.^ — POETRY. 
 
 125 
 
 the slightest indication that the Bard felt any desire to enter 
 into any details of a narrative character. Some of the de- 
 scriptive passages, though short and abrupt, are nevertheless 
 exceedingly graphic and striking, as in the following, for 
 example, where the boisterous character of the intoxicated 
 army, on entering into battle, is contrasted with the stillness 
 of the field at the close of the day. 
 
 " Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth oedd ft'raeth y In 
 Glasfed eu hancwyn ae gwenwyn fu 
 Trychant trwy beiriant yn cattiiu 
 A gwedy elwch tawelwch fu 
 Cyt elwynt y lanneu y benytu 
 Dadyl dieu angeu y eu treudu." 
 
 The warriors went to Cattraetli, loquacious were the host. 
 The bright mead was their feast and also their poison. 
 Three hundred [^chieftains'] were contending with their weapons ; 
 And after the tumult, what a stillness ensued ! 
 
 They should have gone to churches to do penance — 
 The inevitable strife of death is piercing them ! 
 
 The appearance of the army, marching towards the field, 
 is also given in a similar spirited style. 
 
 " Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth ygcat ygcawr 
 Nerth meirch a gurumseirch ac ysguydaur 
 Pelydr ar gychwyn a Ilym waeawr 
 A lluruceu claer a chledyfawr 
 Ragorai tyllei trwy fyddinawr 
 Cw^^dei pum pymwnt rac y lafnawr 
 Rhuwawn hir ef rodai eur i allawr 
 A died a clioelrein gein y gerddawr." 
 
 The warriors went to Cattraetli in battle array and with shouting. 
 With powerful steeds and dark-blue harness and with shields, 
 With upraised spears and sharp lances, 
 And glittering corslets and swords, 
 
 They would penetrate through the embattled hosts. 
 
 Five battalions would fall beneath their spears. 
 
 Rhufawn the tall, \_Thei7' leader^'] he would give gold to the altar, 
 
 And presents and honourable rewards to the minstrel. 
 
 Again, another leader is introduced in a similar style of 
 sententious description. 
 
 "Ardyledawc canu cyman o fri 
 
 Twrf tan a tharan a rhyuerthi 
 
 Gwrhyt ardderchawc marchawc mysgi 
 
 Rudd fedel rhyfel a eidduni, &c." 
 
 It is an imperative duty to sing the chieftain of renown ; 
 The tumult of fire and thunder and tempest ; 
 Manly — exalted — the horseman of conflict, 
 
 Who ardently desires the red reaping of war, &c. ^ 
 
126 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 This Poem contains a variety of metres, amongst which 
 may be found a species of triplet with the last line of each 
 stanza rhyming to the same line of the next, and forming, in 
 reality, a complete stanza of six lines ; and, sometimes, there 
 are eight lines arranged in this manner, but the wildness 
 and irregularity of the composition will scarcely admit of 
 any classification of metres. And as is the metre such is 
 the train of thought — wild, irregular and impetuous ; some- 
 times we find a highly polished and classic passage, and then 
 in a short space, to use the words of Davies, " we see the bar- 
 baric muse in all her native asperity." The Gododin is not 
 altogether destitute of the softer touches of pathos, as for 
 instance: — 
 
 "Llawer mam a'i deigyr ar ei hamrant" — 
 Many a mother with a tear upon her eyelash. 
 
 But the general character of the piece is decidedly martial. 
 We may sum up the description of this poem in a few words. 
 It is strictly a Lyric composition, a succession of comparatively 
 unconnected strophes, without the slightest tinge of the Epic^ 
 and even an almost studious avoiding of the Narrative; with 
 abrupt, vivid, and highly graphic descriptive passages. 
 
 It was from this Poem of the Gododin that Gray selected 
 the passage which he has called The Death of Hoel^ and 
 which he has given amongst his specimens of national 
 poetry. Gray'^s versified translation begins with the fol- 
 lowing lines : — 
 
 *'Had I but the torrent's might, 
 
 With headlong rage and wild atfright, &c." 
 
 There is also another passage, beginning, in the translation, 
 
 with the lines, 
 
 "To Cattraeth's vale, in glittering row. 
 Twice two hundred warriors go, &c." 
 
 which, in the original, are separated by several strophes, 
 though Gray has given them as if they had been connected, 
 as he has also taken the licence to insert the name of Hoel^ 
 in the first specimen, which is not in the original. It is 
 probable that Gray was supplied with the translation, previous 
 to his putting it into verse,* from Evans's Dissertatio de 
 
 * It is not a mere probability, but an acknowledged faet. Vide Mason's Notes 
 to Gray's Poems, — Editor. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 127 
 
 Bardis^ where selections out of the Bards are given, with 
 Latin translations. The original of the first specimen com- 
 mences thus, — 
 
 "Ar deulu Bryneich be'ch barnaswn 
 Diluw dyn yn fyw nis gadawswn 
 Cyfeillt a gollais, difflais oeddwn, &c." 
 
 And Evans's translation runs thus, — 
 
 " Si mihi liceret sententiam de Deirorum populo ferre, 
 ^que ac dilivium omiies una strage prostrarem ; 
 Amicum eiiim amisi incautus, 
 
 Qui in resistendo firmus erat 
 
 Non petiit magnanimus dotem a socero, 
 Filius Ciani et strenuo Gwyngwn ortus." 
 
 The original of the other passage begins thus, — 
 
 "Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth buant enwawd 
 Gwin a medd o aur bu eu gwirawd, &c." 
 
 And Evans's translation is as follows, — , 
 
 "Viri ibant ad Cattraeth, et fuere insignes, 
 
 Vinum et mulsum ex aureis poculis erat eorum potus. 
 
 Trecenti et sexaginta tres aureis torquibus insigniti erant, 
 
 Ex iis autem qui nimio potu madidi ad bellum properabant, 
 
 Non evasere nisi tres, qui sibi gladiis viam muniebant. 
 
 Sc. bellator de Aeron et Conanus Daearawd, 
 
 Et egomet ipse [sc. Bardus Aneurinus] sanguine rubens ; 
 
 Ahter ad hoc carmen compingendum non superstes fuissem." 
 
 Besides the above, there are several other compositions 
 extant of the Bard Aneurin, three of which are called 
 Gwarchans^ which the Rev. Edward Davies translates. 
 Incantations, and one of which, Gwarchan Gynfelyn, or the 
 Incantation of Cunoheline, he seems to have satisfactorily 
 proved to refer to the figures on the ancient British coins of 
 Cunoheline, and which he supposes to have been considered 
 as talismans, and that the figures represent objects connected 
 with the tenets of Druidism. This discovery gives to the 
 Poem an importance in an antiquarian point of view, of no 
 small magnitude, whatever may be thought of its poetical 
 merits. The following extract, from the commencement of 
 the Poem, comprises the principal part of the reference to 
 the coins : — 
 
128 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 GORCHAN CYNFELYN, 
 
 " Pei mi bry twn pei mi ganwn Tyllei garngaffon 
 
 Tardei warchan gorchegin Rac carneu riwrlion 
 
 Gweilging torch Trychdrwyt Ryfelfodogion 
 
 Trychethin trychinfwrch Esgyr fyrr fyrrfach farchogion 
 
 Cyrchesit en afon Tyllei ylfacli 
 
 Cynn noe geinnyon Gwryt gofurthiach." 
 
 The following is Mr. Davies's translation. — 
 
 cunobeline's incantation. 
 
 *'Were it that I performed the mystic rite ; were it I that sung, a 
 talisman would spring forth — the high shoots, the wand, the wreath of 
 the unobstructed pervader. The most hideous form, even that which 
 is cut off from the haunches, should be procured in the river, rather 
 than his beautiful steeds. 
 
 " The [horse] which is hoofed with the capped stick, would pene- 
 trate before the high-tailed steeds of those who delight in war. 
 
 " With its short bones, and short diminutive riders, the horse with 
 the bird's beak, would pierce the mean afflicter of heroism." 
 
 In comfirmation of his views, Mr. Davies gives a plate 
 of Ancient British Coins, which bear the figure of this 
 mystical creature. And, when we compare the representa- 
 tion on the coins with the description given in the Poem, 
 we cannot withhold our acknowledgment that the resemblance 
 is too perfect to be considered as a mere coincidence : for we 
 have on them the hideous horse, cut off at the haunches, with 
 its short bones, hoofed with the capped stick, its bird''s beak, 
 and short diminutive riders, i. e. as Mr. Davies seems to 
 infer, the glain, [ovum anguinu,] or Druid's beads, on the 
 horse''s mane.* 
 
 In addition to the above particulars, Mr. Davies recog- 
 nises in this figure the head of Ceridwen, a Druidical cha- 
 racter here represented by the bird's head with a small object 
 in its beak, and explains it as the symbol of that mytholo- 
 gical personage, as she appears in the history of Taliesin. 
 For, in that story, it is said that, in order to insure the gift 
 of genius for her son Afagddu, to compensate for his natural 
 deformity, she commenced boiling the Cauldron of Genius, 
 which must continue boiling for a year and a day, without in- 
 terruption, and as one of its attendants she put Gwion Bach to 
 
 * These Coins have been so often engraved, that it will be sufficient here to 
 refer the Reader to Mr. Davies's work, to the plates in " Camden's Britannia," 
 and to the descriptive list of Ancient British Coins in " Akerman's Numismatic 
 Manual. " — Editor. 
 
 I 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 129 
 
 watch it. And as Ceridwen was one day gone out to collect 
 herbs, according to her custom, it happened that three drops 
 of the liquor of the cauldron started out, and lit upon the 
 finger of Gwion ; who, in consequence of the pain, immedi- 
 ately put his fingers in his mouth, and instantly became 
 possessed of such knowledge, that he understood all the craft 
 of Ceridwen, and knew that she was his enemy, upon which 
 he immediately took to flight. And the cauldron burst in 
 pieces, inasmuch as all the liquor it contained was poisonous, 
 except those three drops. And Ceridwen now coming in, 
 and seeing all her labours frustrated, she instantly pursued 
 Gwion Bach, and when he perceived her approaching, he 
 changed himself into a hare, wherupon she changed herself 
 into a greyhound bitch, and gave him chase, and turned him 
 towards the river. Upon this, he changed himself into a 
 fish, and she immediately changed herself into an otter, and 
 pursued him in the water. He then changed himself into a 
 bird, and took to the air, and she again changed herself into 
 a hawk, and continued the pursuit in the air. And Gwion 
 being now nearly overtaken, perceived a heap of wheat on a 
 barn floor, and changed himself into a grain of wheat, and 
 Ceridwen instantly changed herself into a black-crested hen, 
 and scratched him out of the heap of wheat, and swallowed 
 him. 
 
 This, according to Mr. Davies, is the subject represented 
 by the bird's beak on the coin, and the small object which it 
 lays hold of. And it must here, also, be admitted that the 
 resemblance is close enough to justify our conclusion that 
 Mr. Davies has so far succeeded in his investigation. It 
 must, however, be noticed that some have attributed the 
 distorted figure of the horse, to the want of skill of the die- 
 sinker; but the slightest inspection of these coins, will 
 convice us that this want of symmetry is by no means 
 attributable to the ignorance of the artist, as everything 
 connected with it evinces a sufficient degree of skill to have 
 approached much nearer to the form of a horse, had that 
 been his object ; not to mention that these coins, which 
 are from diff'erent dies, and probably of different ages, all 
 preserve the same characteristics of disjointed limbs, and 
 birds' beaks ; and, in some, the elements of this monstrous 
 s 
 
ISO 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 figure arc given in a disconnected manner : from which we 
 may infer that the Coins and the Incantations all refer to 
 some Druidical subject, which was handed down amongst 
 the Bards till the sixth century, and thus became known 
 to Aneurin, who introduced it in this Gwarchan. 
 
 The other two Incantations of Aneurin, viz. those of 
 Adebon and Tutfwlch, are, on account of their obscurity, not 
 of so much interest as the first, though that of Tutfwlch 
 possesses considerable spirit, and refers to the battle of 
 Cattraeth. Besides these pieces, there is but one other 
 extant of Aneurin — the Stanzas of the Months, which are 
 mere proverbial sentences put into rhyme, and descriptive 
 of the twelve months, but totally unconnected, and with but 
 very little poetical merit. The following extracts will be 
 sufficient as examples of the style : — 
 
 " Mis lonawr myglyd Dyffryn ; Cynnwy march, distaw aderyn ; 
 Blin Trulliad, treiglad Clerddyn ; Hir i blygain, byr brydnawnyn ; 
 Cul bran, anaml llais Gwenyn ; Gwir a ddy waid Cynfelyn, 
 Gwag buches, diwres Odyn ; Gorau Canwyll Pwyll i ddyn.'* 
 
 The month of J anuar}^, smoky is the vale ; 
 
 Weary is the Butler, roaming the Minstrel ; 
 
 Lean is the Crow, unfre€[uent the sound of Bees ; 
 
 Empty is the Milking-fold, unheated the Kiln ; 
 
 Housed is the Horse, silent the Bird ; 
 
 Long is it till morning, short the Evening ; 
 
 Truly spoke Cynfelyn, 
 
 Reason is to man the best candle. 
 
 In the month of August it is said, 
 
 *' Gwell gwaith Cryman na Bwa." 
 Better is the work of the Sickle than the Bow ; 
 
 evidently alluding to the use of the bow in war, and also 
 in the chase, the similarity of form of the two objects, 
 probably, suggesting the comparison. 
 
 TALIESIN. 
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 The next Bard to be noticed is Taliesin^ who, from his 
 cognomen of Ben Beirdd, the Chief of the Bards, would seem 
 to claim the most conspicuous portion in the present group ; 
 but as it is net known whether he enjoyed this title in right 
 of any pre-eminence of genius, or from some official privi- 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 181 
 
 leges, we can at present only rank him according to the 
 merits of such portions of his works as have come down 
 to our own times, and, in so doing, we certainly cannot in 
 justice place him before the author of the Gododin. 
 
 The Poems of Taliesin are, like those of the Welsh Bards 
 in general. Lyric Odes, chiefly heroic, some times highly 
 spirited and poetical, abounding with transient bursts of 
 description, of a superior order, but totally distinct from the 
 Epic style, though sometimes bordering on the Narrative. 
 The Odes of Taliesin generally refer to the wars of Urien, 
 Prince of Rheged, a district in the northern parts of the 
 Island, supposed to comprise the present Cumberland with 
 part of the adjacent country. There are numerous composi- 
 tions attributed to Taliesin, several of which are un- 
 doubtedly genuine, whilst others are as certainly spurious. 
 Amongst the genuine productions of this Bard, we may 
 safely name the Battles of Gwenystrad and Argoed Llwy- 
 fain, together with the Odes to Urien Rheged. 
 
 C WAITH G WEN YSTR A D . 
 
 " Arwyne gwyr Cattvaeth gan ddydd 
 
 Am wledig gwaitli fiiddig gwarthegydd 
 
 Urien hyn anwawd einenydd 
 
 Cyfeddeily teyrnedd ai gofyn rhyfelgar 
 
 Rhwysg anwar rliwyf bedydd 
 
 Gwyr Prydain adwythein yn lluydd 
 
 Gwen ystrad Ystadl cad gynygydd 
 
 Ni ddodes na maes na choedydd tud addes 
 
 Diormes pan ddyfydd 
 
 Mai tonni ar tost ei gawr tros elfydd 
 
 Gwelais wyr gwychyr yn lluydd 
 
 A gwedy boregat briwgig, &c." 
 
 THE BATTLE OF GWENYSTRAD. 
 
 Translation [nif allot''] by the Author of the Dissertatio de Bardis, 
 
 " Extol the men of Cattraeth who with the dawn went with their 
 victorious leader Urien, a renowned elder, the pillar of kings, of match- 
 less valour, a chief great of power. The men of Britain came in a great 
 body to Gwenystrad to offer battle ; neither the fields nor the woods 
 afforded shelter to their enemies, when they came in their fury, like 
 the roaring wave rushing in its might to cover the beach. I have seen 
 brave men in the army, and after the battle in the morning, the man- 
 gled flesh. I saw the place where the shout was given, and where 
 three ranks of men fell, and where the crimson gore covered the 
 ground. In Gwenystrad was seen a fort assailed by the laborious toil 
 of warriors. In the pass of the ford have I seen men dyed with 
 red, &c." 
 
132 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 The other battle is that of Argoed Llwyfain, fought 
 betwixt Urien Rheged, the British Prince, and a leader of 
 the invading army, called Fflamddwyn, or the Flame-bearer, 
 who is supposed to be Ida, king of Northumberland, who, 
 about this time, made a descent from the coasts of Deira and 
 Beruicia with a large fleet, and a vast body of Angles. And 
 although strenuously opposed by Urien, and the native 
 Britons, yet ultimately succeeded in obtaining possession of 
 the greatest portion of that country, and establishing the 
 Angles there. 
 
 GWAITU ARGOED LLWYFAIN. 
 
 " Y Bore ddu^^• Sadwni cadfawr a fu 
 Or pan ddwyre haul liyd pan gynnu 
 l^ygi"ysowys fflamddwyn yn bedwarllu 
 Godden a Rheged i ymddyllu 
 Dyfwy o Argoed hyd Arfynydd 
 Ni chefFynt eiryoes liyd yr undydd 
 At orelwys fflamddwyn fawr drybestawd 
 A ddodynt ygwystlon a ynt parawd, &c." 
 
 THE BATTLE OF ARGOED LLWYFAIN. 
 
 From a Translation by Lewis Morris, A.D, 1763, 
 " On Saturday morning a great battle ensued, 
 Which lasted from sun-rising to its descent, 
 Fflamddwyn hastened in four legions, 
 Godden and Rlieged's forces to fight. 
 They reached from Argoed to Arfynydd, 
 But lived only one day. 
 Fflamddwyn loudly called in great hurry, 
 Will they [the Britons] give hostages, are they ready ? 
 He was answered by Owain brandishing his spear. 
 They will give no hostages, nor are they ready. 
 And Cenan the son of Coel would be an enraged lion 
 Before he would give hostages to any. 
 
 In the forenoon Urien, the prince, with fresh men, 
 Called aloud, We relations will unite our forces, 
 And will erect our banner on the hills. 
 And will assist, and turn our faces above the ridge, 
 And will raise our shafts above men's heads. 
 And will assail Fflamddwyn in his army, 
 And fight with him and his auxiliaries. 
 
 And because of the battle of Argoed Llwyfain, 
 There was many a corpse, 
 
 Andfthe ravens were reddened through the war of meUj 
 And the common people ran about hastily with the news, 
 I will remember the year until I am deceased ; 
 And till I grow old, and of necessity must die, 
 Let me never smile if I praise not Urien. 
 
 The other compositions of this Bard in praise of his 
 patron, Urien Rheged, are in the same abrupt sententious 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 133 
 
 style, and with much less narration, so as to make them 
 generally very obscure ; and, indeed, through the absence of 
 any key to the allusions, for the greatest portion, totally 
 unintelligible : and we may attribute to this difficulty the 
 injuries which these Poems have suffered through tho 
 negligence of transcribers. 
 
 Besides the Odes to Urien, there is another Poem of Ta- 
 liesin^s, called Gwarchan Maelderw^ The Incantation of Maeh 
 derw, consisting of upwards of 300 lines, and referring to the 
 Battle of Cattraeth, and other events of that period, and also 
 containing a great number of lines out of the Gododin. It is 
 said that this poem of Taliesin gained greater applause in 
 the Bardic contest, than the Gododin, and that because of its 
 enumerating the warriors who went to Cattraeth. In a sub- 
 ject of such obscurity, and in the total absence of every clue 
 to the object of these compositions, it would be an absolute 
 waste of time to attempt any analysis, or comparison of their 
 respective merits ; but, from all the light that has hitherto 
 been thrown upon them, we must, according to our present 
 standard of criticism, give the preference to the Gododin. 
 
 There are also several compositions attributed to Taliesin, 
 of a mythological character, some of which are unquestion- 
 ably old enough to be ranked among his genuine productions ; 
 whilst there are many decidedly spurious, and some probably 
 not older than the twelfth century. 
 
 LLYWARCH HEN. 
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 The next Bard to be noticed, as belonging to this period, is 
 Llywarch Hen^ or the Aged. He was a prince of some ter- 
 ritory in the north of England, the situation of which is not 
 at present known, and was, upon the Anglian invasion, de- 
 prived of his patrimony, and obliged to seek an asylum in 
 Wales. His works are numerous, and, with a few exceptions, 
 may be looked upon as genuine. They are chiefly elegiac, 
 and composed in the triplet metre ; and refer altogether to 
 events of his own day. The principal composition, with re- 
 gard to extent, is the Elegy on Cynddylan, Prince of Powys, 
 who fell in battle whilst defending his territory against 
 the Saxons of Mercia. This piece contains upwards of a 
 
134 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 hundred stanzas, and opens with the burning of Pengwern, 
 the palace of Oynddylan, where, it appears, the Bard himself 
 had found a hospitable retreat in his old age and affliction, 
 and was now again compelled to seek another refuge. 
 
 MARWNAD CYNDDYLAN AP CYNDRWN. 
 
 " Sefwch allan forwynion a syllwch 
 
 Werydre Cynddylan 
 
 Llys Pengwern neud tandde 
 
 Gwae ieuanc a eiddynt brodre. 
 
 Un pren a gwyddfid arno 
 
 0 dianc os odid 
 
 A fyno Duw a derfid." 
 
 Stand forth, ye maidens, and behold 
 
 The dwelling of Cynddylan ; 
 
 The royal palace of Pengwern, is it not in flames ? 
 
 Woe to the youthful whose home it was ! 
 
 One tree with woodbine on it — 
 
 May it escape, perchance. — 
 
 What God wills, may that be done ! 
 
 The Bard then, immediately, addresses Cynddylan, who had 
 recently been slain, and, in the simplicity of his antique style, 
 introduces a recollection, which, although it may not add to 
 the dignity or pathos of the composition, yet, affords an un- 
 deniable argument in favour of the remote age to which it 
 belongs : — 
 
 " Cynddylan calon iaen gauaf 
 A want Twrch trwy ei ben 
 Ti a roddest cwrwf Tren." 
 
 Cynddylan, thy heart is now cold as the winter ice ! 
 Thou who wert pierced by Twrch through the head ! 
 Thou once didst distribute the ale of Tren ! 
 
 He then proceeds with several stanzas, beginning with 
 Cynddylan, as — 
 
 " Cynddylan calon goddaith wanwyn." 
 Cynddylan, thy heart w^as once like the conflagration of spring. 
 
 Likewise, in the same manner, he has "Cynddylan of the 
 heart of the Greyhound," " Cynddylan of the heart of the 
 hawk," " of the heart of the wild boar, &c." And, on one 
 occasion, he evidently implies that the custom of burying in 
 coffins existed at that time. 
 
 " Gan fy nghalon i mor dru 
 Cysylltu ystyllod du 
 
 Gwyn gwnawd Cynddylan cynran canllu." 
 
THE SECOND TERIOD. — POETRY. 135 
 
 How afflicting it is to my heart, 
 That black boards should be joined together, 
 Around the blessed flesh of Cynddylan, the foremost in a hun- 
 dred hosts 1 
 
 He then turns to the desolated dwelling of his fallen be- 
 nefactorand, follows up the subject for several stanzas, as, — 
 
 "Ystafell Cynddylan ys tywyll heno 
 Heb dkn heb wely 
 Wylaf dro tawaf wedy." 
 
 The hall of Cynddylan is dark this night, 
 
 Without fire, without bed ; 
 
 I will weep awhile and then be silent. 
 
 He then turns to the field of battle on the night follow- 
 ing the death of the prince. 
 
 " Eryr Eli ban ei lef, &c." 
 
 The eagle of Eli, loud is his cry. 
 
 He has drank fresh beverage, 
 
 The heart's blood of fair Cynddylan ! 
 
 The eagle of Eli, loud is his cry this night. 
 
 Thou dost riot in the blood of warriors. — 
 
 He is in his [shrine of] wood, heavy is my woe ! ike. 
 
 Brown -beaked eagle of Pengwern, 
 
 Loud is his scream. 
 
 Eager for the flesh of him I loved ! 
 
 Brown-beaked eagle of Pengwern, 
 
 Loud is his screaming. 
 
 Eager for the flesh of Cynddylan ! 
 
 The next composition of this Bard, as regards its extent, 
 
 is his Ode to Ms Old A ge and to Ms Sons ; in which it appears 
 
 that he had four and twenty sons, every one of whom fell in 
 
 battle. He commences with a reference to his aged and 
 
 decrepid state. 
 
 '*Cyn bum cain faglawg bum cyfFes eiriawg." 
 
 Before I became hoary-headed and crutch-supported I was expert 
 in speech. 
 
 And he pursues the same strain for a few stanzas, as — 
 
 Before I became hoary-headed and crutch-supported, I was da- 
 ring, &c. 
 
 Before I became hoary and crutch-supported, I was comely. 
 And foremost amongst the spears was my lance, &c. 
 
 He then, immediately, addresses his crutch, Baglan hren^'' 
 " My wooden crutch," with which expression he commences 
 several stanzas in succession, after which he addresses 
 
136 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 several surrounding objects, in a desultory manner, but in 
 the same strain of sentiment, and sometimes with consi- 
 derable effect, as — 
 
 " Y ddeilen hon neu's cynnired gwynt 
 Gwae hi o'i thynged 
 Hi hen eleni y ganed," 
 
 This leaf, is it not driven by the wind ? 
 Woe to it, of its fate ; 
 
 It also is old — though in this year it was born. 
 
 After having made several allusions to the achievements of 
 
 ])is youth, he says, 
 
 " Tra fum i yn oed y gw^s draw 
 
 A wisg 0 aur ei ottoew 
 
 Byddai re y rhythrwn y waew." 
 
 Whilst I was of the age of yonder youth, 
 
 That wears the golden spurs, 
 
 It was with velocity I pushed the spear. 
 
 And he almost immediately proceeds to describe his sons, 
 
 the eldest and bravest of whom was Gwen. 
 
 " Gwen wrth Lawen yd wylwys neithwyr 
 Arthur ni thechas 
 
 Aer a drawdd ar glawdd gorlas, &c." 
 
 Gwen on the Llawen [River] kept watch last night ; 
 Arthur did not retreat — 
 
 The battle progressed on the green enbankment. 
 
 Gwen by the Llawen watched last night, 
 With the shield upon his shoulder ; 
 And as he was my son, he was valiant. 
 
 Gwen by the Llawen watched last night, 
 
 With the shield upon his shoulder. 
 
 And as he was my son, he did not retreat. 
 
 After several stanzas, of similar character, he states that 
 
 Gwen was slain on the ford of Morlas ; and then he points 
 
 to his grave, and says, 
 
 ** Teg yd g&n yr aderyn ar berwydd bren 
 Uch ben Gwen ; cyn ei olo dan dy warch 
 Briwai galch Llywarch Hen." 
 
 Sweetly sings the bird on the fragrant tree 
 Over the head of Gwen. Before he was covered with the turf, 
 He broke the armour of Llywarch Hen. 
 
 And, even then, he seems unwilling to part from the 
 subject, but devotes several stanzas to his favourite son : — 
 
 Pedwar meib ar ugaint a'm bu 
 Eurdorchawc ty wysawc llu 
 Oedd Gwen goreu o naddu, &c." 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 137 
 
 Four and twenty sons I had, 
 
 Wearing the golden torques, leaders of the host ; 
 
 Gwen was the best of them. 
 
 Four and twenty sons I had, 
 
 Wearing the golden torques, princely chieftains; 
 
 Compared with Gwen they were but striplings. 
 
 He then proceeds to name his sons, with an occasional 
 brief description, in the same cursory and desultory manner. 
 His son Pyll is introduced in the same abrupt style: — 
 
 When Pyll was slain, there were marky wounds. 
 
 And ghastly blood on the hair, 
 
 And on the banks of the Fraw scarring gashes. 
 
 A chamber might be formed of the wings of shields, 
 Which would hold one standing upright, 
 That were broken in the grasp of Pyll. 
 
 The chosen man amongst my sons. 
 When each charged his enemy. 
 
 Was fair Pyll, impetuous as the fire through a chimney.* 
 
 He then mentions others of his sons, together with their 
 places of sepulture. 
 
 The grave of Gwell is in Rhiwfelen, 
 The grave of Sawyl in Llangollen, 
 And Llafyr guards the pass of Llorien. 
 
 After thus giving utterance to his grief, and occasion- 
 ally lapsing into a mood of a somewhat querulous character, 
 the old warrior seems to return to his native vigour and 
 intrepidity, and concludes with the following stanza, — 
 
 " Teneu fy ysgwyd ar asswy fy nhu 
 
 Cw bwyf hen as gallaf 
 
 Ar Rodwydd Forlas gwyliaf." 
 
 Thin is my shield on my left shoulder ; 
 Though 1 am old, yet whilst I am able, 
 I will keep watch on the encampment of Morlas. 
 
 The other elegies of this Bard are those on Geraint the son 
 of Erbin, Urien Bheged^ and Cadwallawn. They occasion- 
 ally throw some light on the history of that period ; and 
 from the simple and unartificial style of their construction, 
 
 * How much depends upon diction ! There is not in the English language a 
 more mean and unpoetical word than chimney, unless it be flue, and yet their 
 near neighbour hearth, ranks with the most dignified. With such a word, and 
 that the only word in the language, to use in this translation, this expression of 
 the ancient British Bard, which in the original is not destitute of poetic merit, 
 is, in the English translation, an absolute example of the Bathos. 
 
 T 
 
138 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 there is every reason to conclude that the occurrences men- 
 tioned, were either witnessed by the Bard himself, or else 
 generally received, at the time, as matters of fact. Indeed, 
 in some instances, the Bard adduces his own testimony in 
 confirmation of his statements, as in the Elegy on Geraint 
 the son of Erbin, he declares that he was present at his 
 deaths and commences no less than eleven stanzas with words 
 to that effect, as — 
 
 At Llongborth I saw the tumult, 
 
 And the dead drenched in blood, 
 
 And warriors reddened from the onset of war. 
 
 Before Geraint, the opposer of aggression, 
 
 I saw steeds white with foam, 
 
 And after the shout of battle a fearful rushing. 
 
 At Llongborth I saw the gushing of blood, &c. 
 
 At Llongborth I saw a conflict, &c. 
 
 MYRDDIN WYLLT. 
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 The next Bard to be noticed is Myrddin^ better known as 
 Merlinus Sylvestris, and Merlinus Oaledonius, a name given 
 to distinguish him from Merlinus Ambrosius, or Myrddin 
 Emrys^ the Bard of Arthur. Of the latter Bard there is 
 nothing extant excepting the prophecies in the Brut, which 
 are in prose, and their genuineness much too doubtful to admit 
 of their being noticed in an investigation such as the present. 
 But with regard to the other Myrddin, i. e. Myrddin Wyllt, 
 there are some pieces extant which are attributed to him, seve- 
 ral of which are beyond all question spurious, whilst others 
 bear strong internal evidence of being, in a considerable mea- 
 sure, genuine productions of the sixth century, but greatly 
 disfigured by interpolations, which later Bards were tempted 
 to make, in consequence of the fame which the author enjoyed 
 as a prophet. Amongst the productions attributed to this 
 Bard, there are only two that can be adduced as containing 
 any portions of his genuine composition, and those are the 
 Hoianau and the Afallenau^ both of which, on account of 
 their allusions, and their evident interpolations, render it ab- 
 solutely hopeless to attempt their interpretation without 
 some further explanation than we are, as yet, in possession of. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 139 
 
 It is true that the Rev. Edward Davies has undertaken to 
 translate some portions of them, and, also, to explain them ; 
 and, possibly, he may have succeeded in demonstrating their 
 connection with the tenets of Druidism ; but, as the princi- 
 ples of that system were, even in the ages of its predominance 
 as the national creed, so studiously and jealously concealed, 
 we can hardly expect that they can, at this remote period, be 
 developed through the faint light which may be cast upon 
 them, by the few mutilated pieces that have come down 
 to us. According to Mr. Davies, Myrddin Wyllt was at- 
 tached to the superstitions of the Druids, which still lingered 
 in the country, and lamented the exertions then made by 
 Rhydderch Hael, king of the Strathclyde Britons, to extir- 
 pate them, and forward the progress of Christianity. In ac- 
 cordance with this view, Mr. Davies says that the Hoianau 
 opens with an address from the author to the cultivator of 
 Druidism, with a warning to betake himself to the more se- 
 eluded parts of the country, in order to save himself from the 
 enemies of his creed. Mr. Davies says that the Druid is 
 here addressed under the designation of a pig, and adduces se- 
 veral authorities in proof of the fact of the Druids being 
 often represented as swine. 
 
 HOIANAU MYRDDIN. 
 
 " Oian a Phorchellan a pliarchell dedwydd 
 Na chladd dy red cyr yn mlien mynydd 
 Cladd yn lie argel yn argoedydd 
 Nac erwys Rydderch hael rwyfadwr fFydd." 
 
 " Attend little pig — thou initiated pig ! Burrow not with thy 
 snout on the top of the hill, burrow in a secret hiding place amongst 
 the forests, — a place that has not been noticed by Rhydderch the Li- 
 beral, the champion of the faith." 
 
 In the same strain of interpretation, Mr. Davies, ma-kes 
 the Poem of the Afallenau^ or Apple Trees, to allude to the 
 same subject of Druidism, and maintains that the Bard 
 evinces his attachment to that system, and evidently refers 
 to some of its mysteries. In giving the following extracts, 
 it is requisite to observe, that ihe interpolations of later ages 
 are to the full as distinguishable in this Poem, as in the fore- 
 going, whilst there arc many passages which exhibit equal 
 proofs of genuineness. 
 
140 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 AFALLENAU MYRDDIN. 
 
 A I'odded i neb yn un plygeint 
 A roed i Fyrddin cyn no heneint 
 Saith Afallen bereint a saith ugaint 
 Yn gyfoed gyfuch gybyd gymaint 
 Trwy fron trugaredd a tyfeddaint 
 Un ddoled uched ei gorddoaint 
 Un forwyn bengrech au gorchedwaint 
 Olwedd ei henw oleuwedd ei daint." 
 
 " To no one has been exhibited at one hour of the dawn, what was 
 shewn to Merddin before he became aged ; namely seven score and 
 seven delicious apple trees, of equal age, height, length, and size, 
 which sprung from the bosom of Mercy. One bending veil covers 
 them over. They are guarded by one maid with crisped locks ; her 
 name is Olwedd with the luminous teeth.'* 
 
 Mr. Davies remarks that the number of the trees is 147, 
 a sacred number amongst the Britons, as appears from Ta- 
 liesin, and he adds that this number is the square of 7 multi- 
 plied by 3. He also says, that the round number 140 often 
 occurs, and is the computed number of the stones which 
 completed the great temple on Salisbury Plain. 
 
 This piece consists of twenty-two stanzas, generally com- 
 mencing with the words "-^ Afallen heren^'' Sweet Apple Trees. 
 It is very probable that the original had, as Mr. Davies main- 
 tains, a reference to the system of Druidism, for it is but reason- 
 able to suppose, that much of that superstition still remained in 
 the island, and, indeed, there may be discovered some traces 
 of it even as late as the twelfth century, though, at that time 
 by no means as portions of a distinct and independent religion, 
 but merely as harmless and unmeaning traditions. However, 
 in the sixth century the case was, of necessity, very different, 
 for although Christianity was introduced into this country 
 in the first century, yet, it could not have been publicly 
 sanctioned till the time of Constantine, in the third century. 
 In the fourth again, it lost the protection of the Roman 
 government in all the remoter parts of the island, and suf- 
 fered greatly from the incursions oi barbarians and the un- 
 settled state of the times, and we may suppose that the 
 votaries of the ancient rites of Druidism, were not inactive 
 in their attempt to reinstate their system. Indeed, from the 
 writings of Gildas, as well as the lives of some of the ancient 
 British saints, we may infer that the supporters of Druidism, 
 or at least of some ancient heathen superstition, had succeeded, 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. 
 
 . — POETRY. 
 
 141 
 
 to a great extent, in supplanting the Christian doctrines, and 
 establishing a system of Paganism in their place.* But, in 
 the fifth and sixth centuries, we find that new vigour was 
 communicated to the church ; a number of persons, in every 
 part of the country, devoting themselves to the service of 
 religion, and erecting churches, and establishing colleges, and 
 other ecclesiastical institutions, many of which still bear the 
 names of their founders, who are also themselves honoured 
 with the title of saint, and a place in the calendar. We 
 likewise read of certain princes affording their protection to 
 some particular saints, and conferring on them grants of land, 
 whilst other sovereigns evinced their hostility towards them, 
 visiting them with persecutions. These facts are found not 
 merely in the legendary tales of the middle ages, but are 
 also supported by documents of undoubted authority. 
 
 Viewing, therefore, the state of the country in this light, 
 the Poems of Myrddin assume an historical importance, of 
 no inconsiderable magnitude ; and, whether the elucidations 
 offered by Mr. Davies may fully develop the character of 
 the superstitions referred to in these compositions, or not, 
 the existence of such native testimony is, to say the least of 
 it, a curious and interesting feature in the history of the 
 country, as affording proofs of the pertinacious nature of the 
 ancient superstition, together with a record of the last 
 struggle "which took place before it was totally extirpated. 
 
 We have, in this Poem of the Apple Trees^ internal de- 
 monstration of the author's connection with the northern part 
 of the island, confirming his Appellation of Caledonius. 
 Such, for instance, is the following : — 
 
 " Am ysgwyd ar fy ysgwydd am cledd ar fy nglun, 
 Ac ynghoed Celyddon i cysgais i fy hun." 
 
 * The lamentations of Gildas, upon the subject of this defection, are too well 
 known to require repetition here. His charges are repeated by other writers of 
 later periods, who appear to have drawn their testimony from other sources, for 
 instance, John of Tyninouth, speaking of the Cambrian kingdom, [" in Canibrensi 
 regno,'''''] in the north, says, — " Regionis incolaj viam Domini relinquentes, et 
 tanquam canes ad vomitum reversi ad idolatrite ritum prolapsi sunt. Suscitavit 
 tandem Dominus regem nomine Rederech, a discipulis Sancti Patricii in Hiber- 
 nia baptizatum : qui in toto corde quserens Dominura, fidem Christi reparare in 
 regnum studebat." 
 
 Also, in the Life^of St, Kentigern, we find a similar statement. 
 
 *' Rex Rederech quem Dominus suscitaverat super regnum Cambrinum, videns 
 Christianam Religionem in regno suo pene deletam, magnam operam adhibuit 
 quomodo reparaverit f am/' 
 
142 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 With my shield on my shoulder, and my sword on my thigh, 
 
 And in the wood of Caledonia I slept my sleep. 
 " Afallen beren a dyf yn Llanerch, 
 Angerdd ei hargel rhag rhieu Rhydderch.'* 
 
 The fair apple-tree grows in the glade of the Wood ; 
 
 Its hiding-place has no protector from the chiefs of Rhydderch. 
 
 It has been supposed that Llanerch^ which signifies a glade, 
 
 is intended for Lanark^ in Strath Clyde^ the territory of 
 
 Rhydderch Hael. Again, — 
 
 " Afallen beren a pren ffion 
 
 A dyf dan gel ynghoed Celyddon." 
 
 A fair apple-tree, a blooming tree. 
 
 Grows in concealment in the wood of Caledonia. 
 
 Also, — 
 
 A fair apple-tree of sweetest fruit 
 
 Grows in a secret place in the upper wood of Caledonia. 
 
 It is said that Myrddin's appellation of Wyllt^ ov Sylvestris^ 
 was given him in consequence of his being deranged, and 
 secluding himself in the woods, the cause of which is attri- 
 buted to his having unintentionally slain his kinsman; and 
 being engaged in the battle of Arderydd, he saw in the air 
 some fearful and supernatural appearance, which drove him 
 distracted. It is to this unhappy condition that he appears 
 to allude, when mentioning his sleeping in the wood of Cale- 
 donia. He also refers to his wretched state, with a good deal 
 of feeling, and contrasts it with his former honourable con- 
 dition as a chieftain and a warrior. His expressions are to 
 this effect : — 
 
 " And I am become a wild distracted wanderer, an afflicted out- 
 cast, unclad with raiment — unsoothed — unvisited ; and yet in the battle 
 of Arderydd I wore the golden torques." 
 
 *' Ac yngwaith Arderydd oedd aur fy ngorthorch." 
 
 There is, also, amongst the compositions attributed to Myr- 
 ddin, one called Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei Chwaer^ con- 
 sisting of a dialogue between the Bard and his sister Gwen- 
 ddydd, in which she inquires of him respecting the destinies of 
 the Britons, and receives from him answers containing predic- 
 tions of events, and the names of the several sovereigns 
 who are to reign : from which it appears that some portions 
 cannot be earlier than the tenth century, and probably none 
 much later than that period. It is composed, generally, in 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 143 
 
 triplet stanzas, of which there are, in all, 141, though some 
 are of a different metre. It is worthy of notice, that Gwen- 
 ddydd, in this dialogue, addresses Myrddin by the appella- 
 tion of Llallogan^ twin brother, as, for instance, — 
 
 " Cyfarchaf i'm llallogan 
 Merddyn y chwedlau dysgogan." * 
 
 I will ask my twin brother Myrddin concerning the predictions, 
 and — 
 
 "Cyfarchaf i'm llallogan Fyrddin 
 Gwr doeth darogenyd." 
 
 I will enquire of my twin brother Myrddin, a wise and prophetic man. 
 
 Now this will explain a passage in the Life of St. Kenti- 
 gern, in which it is said, that there was at the court of Rhy- 
 dderch Hael^ a certain idiot, named Laloicen, who uttered 
 predictions; " — in curia ejus quidam homo fattuus vo- 
 cabulo Laloicen and, in the Scotochronicon, it is stated 
 that this Laloicen was Myrddin Wyllt.-f By connecting 
 these several particulars, we find an air of truth cast 
 over the history of this Bard, as regards the principal 
 incidents of his life, and there can be no reason to 
 doubt that some of the Poetry attributed to him was 
 actually his composition. Whether the following is to 
 be considered as such, I cannot undertake to say ; but 
 it is much in the spirit of the rest — gloomy and mystical, 
 and partaking of the supernatural, but in a strange train 
 of thought, to which no other known system of legen- 
 dary or fabulous ideas appears at all to bear any resemblance. 
 It professes to be a dialogue between Myrddin and Taliesin. 
 The concluding stanzas are as follows : — 
 
 T. Saith mab Eliffer saith gwyr pan brofFer 
 Saith gwaew ni ochel yn eu seithran. 
 
 M. Saith tan afelin, saith cad cyferbin 
 Seithfed Cynfelyn y pob cinfan. 
 
 T. Saith gwaew gwanon saith loneid afon 
 0 gwaed cinreinion y dylanwon. 
 
 M. Seith ugein liaelion aethan yg wllwn 
 Ynghoed Celyddon y darfuan. 
 
 * In a marginal autograph note to Mr. Price's own copy of the Myf. Arch. 
 Vol. I, p. 138. he says : " In the Life of St. Kentigern, Merlin is called Laloicen 
 and Lailoken." — Editor. 
 
 f See Hanes Cymni. 
 
144 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 Taliesin The seven sons of ElifFer, seven warriors, when they are 
 tried, 
 
 Who seven spears will not avoid in their seven divisions. 
 Myrddin Seven burning fires, seven opposing armies, 
 
 The seventh Cynfelyn in every foremost place. 
 T, Seven thrusting spears, seven rivers full 
 
 Of the blood of heroes have filled up. 
 M. Seven score generous ones became wandering spirits, 
 In the wood of Celyddon they came to their end. 
 
 It is very probable that it is to tiie present Bard, Merlinua 
 Sylvestris, and not to Merlinus Ambrosius, that we ought to 
 look for the origin of much of what is contained in the Brut, 
 as the prophecies of the last mentioned. It, also, seems 
 evident, that it is to his Chwifleian that we are to attribute 
 the origin of the Viviane of the Romances of Chivalry, and 
 who acts so conspicuous a part in those compositions ; 
 although it is true that there is not much resemblance be- 
 twixt the two names. But, if we look into the Poems of 
 Merlin Sylvestris, we shall find that the female personage of 
 this name, which by the French Romancers might easily 
 be modified into Viviane, is repeatedly referred to by the 
 Bard in his vaticinations. It also seems probable, as Chwif- 
 leian signifies a female who appears and disappears,* and, also, 
 as the word bears some resemblance in sound to Sibylla, that 
 the Bard, by a confusion of terms and ideas, not uncommon 
 in early writers, coined this name, as an appellation for some 
 imaginary character, and thus furnished the original of Vi- 
 viane. 
 
 Amongst the remains of Welsh Poetry attributed to the 
 sixth century, there are several compositions, which, though, 
 perhaps it would be difiicult to establish as genuine, yet evi- 
 dently are of considerable antiquity, and possibly not much 
 later than that age ; of such are the stanzas said to have been 
 composed by Gwyddno Garanhir, when the sea burst over his 
 territory of CantreV Gwaelod. It is stated that the space 
 now occupied by the Bay of Cardigan, was once a fertile and 
 populous plain, the patrimony of Gwyddno Garanhir, but on 
 so low a level as to make it necessary that it should be pro- 
 tected against the sea by an embankment and floodgates, 
 and that, in consequence of the latter being left open by Sei- 
 tlienyn Feddw^ the Drunkard, in a moment of intoxication, 
 
 * Owen's Dictionary. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 145 
 
 the sea broke in, and entirely overwhelmed the whole country. 
 The Poem opens much in the style of Llywarch Hen'^s Elegy 
 on Oynddylan. Gwyddno Garanhir calls upon Seithenyn to 
 look upon the devastation he had occasioned. 
 
 " Seithenyn saw di allan ag- edrych 
 
 Uirde varanres raor maes Gwitneu rytoes, &c.'* 
 
 Seithenyn stand thou forth and behold the dwelling of heroes ; 
 The sea now covers the plain of Gwyddno ! 
 
 Cursed be the slave, who after his carousal 
 
 Let loose the inundating fountain of the raging sea ! 
 
 Accursed be the watcher, who after the conflict 
 
 Let loose the inundating fountain of the desolating sea ! 
 
 A cry from the ocean is heard above the summit of the fortress, 
 Even to heaven is it sent : 
 
 How frequently after excess arrives interminable destruction ! 
 A cry from the ocean is heard, above the height of the fortress, 
 Even to heaven is it sent. — Frequent after excess is seen restraint. 
 
 A cry from the ocean is swelling out the night, &c. 
 The cry from the ocean comes upon the winds, &c. 
 The cry from the ocean afflicts me this night, &c. 
 
 Although the Roman Itineraries forbid our adopting this 
 tradition, as a correct record of any thing that could have 
 occurred, to that extent, in the fifth or sixth century ; yet it 
 is, nevertheless, possible that some such inundation took place 
 on a minor scale at that time, or else that some more exten- 
 sive catastrophe occurred at a period anterior to the Roman 
 surveys, and which has erroneously been placed in the fifth 
 century. But be the historical fact as it may, the lines are 
 certainly old, and possess considerable poetical merit. The 
 opening address to the wretched drunkard, and the call to 
 him to behold the effects of his intemperance : the twice 
 uttered malediction, and the cry of distress from the perish- 
 ing inhabitants, borne on the winds over the heights of the 
 fortress, all combine to produce as striking an eft'ect as, per- 
 haps, can be found in the same number of lines in any 
 language. 
 
 There is also assigned to this age, but by no means au- 
 thenticated, a dialogue between Gwyddno Garanhir and Gwyn 
 ap Nudd. The latter personage is the Fairy King of the 
 Welsh, and frequents the tops of mountains, where he holds 
 u 
 
146 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 his elfin court in great pomp and splendour, and sometimes 
 deigns to discover his magnificence to mortals, but it is only 
 to tempt them to evil, for should they once enter his do- 
 mains, and partake of his hospitality, they become his sub- 
 jects ever after. There is in the Welsh language an ancient 
 composition called The Life of St. Collen, in which it is said 
 that the saint once being in his hermitage under the shelf 
 of a rock, received a summons from Gwyn ap Nudd to attend 
 him on the mountain top. This message the saint paid no 
 attention to, until on the third occasion, when it was ac- 
 companied with a threat, he determined to go, and having 
 prepared some holy water, he set out for the mountain. When 
 he arrived there, he saw a magnificent castle, with troops of 
 horsemen, splendidly equipped, exercising in front. He then 
 received an invitation from Gwyn ap Nudd to enter the 
 castle, and partake of the repast which had been prepared ; 
 he did enter the castle, and sat down at table, but on being 
 pressed to eat, he refused, saying he did not intend to dine 
 upon leaves ; and upon that he took the holy water, and 
 sprinkled it all around, and instantly the whole scene va- 
 nished, and left him on the mountain alone, with nothing 
 around him but the green hillocks. 
 
 From his name and general character, I am inclined to 
 think that this mythological personage is the original of the 
 well known Oberon, the Fairy King of a great portion of 
 Europe, and that he was adopted on the Continent along 
 with the other heroes of Arthurian Romance. The name of 
 Oberon was originally written Alberon, synomous with Gwyn. 
 It is true that in the poetical dialogue above mentioned, his 
 Fairy character is not so prominent as in the legend, yet 
 here he appears in something of a preternatural state : for, 
 on being asked whence he comes, he makes answer, — 
 
 I come from battle and mighty conflict, 
 Where the shield was in the hand, 
 
 Where helmets were battered by the thrust of the spear. 
 
 And on being asked his name, he says, — 
 
 Round-hoofed is my horse in the tumult of battle. 
 
 I am called Gwyn, the son of Nudd, 
 
 The lover of Cordelia, the daughter of Lear.* 
 
 * In the Mabinogi of Kilhwch and Ohven, it is said that Creirddylad the 
 daughter of Lludd Llaw Ereint [Cordelia, daughter of Lear] " was the most 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 147 
 
 Gwyddno then makes himself known, and they proceed to state 
 their knowledge of events, by which it appears that both 
 were present at the battle of Caer Fandwy, an event 
 connected with much that appears fabulous, or at least 
 mystical; and they conclude by each, in his turn, naming the 
 spot where he saw some warrior slain, such as Gwendolef 
 the son of Ceidiaw, Bran the son of Gwerydd, Llachau the 
 son of Arthur, &:c. after which Gwyn sums up his know- 
 ledge, by saying, — 
 
 I know where were slain the warriors of Britain, 
 From the East to the North, 
 And I also know their graves. 
 
 And Gwyddno concludes, by saying. 
 
 And I also know where were slain the warriors of Britain, 
 From the East to the South, 
 I know their death. 
 
 There are also many similar compositions extant, attri- 
 buted to mythological characters : some containing allusions 
 of so mystical a caste as to render them, in reality, quite 
 unintelligible; others refer to Arthur and his knights, 
 clearly betraying their later origin, as coming within the era 
 of the Romances of Chivalry. 
 
 MEUGANT. 
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 Two other Bards of the sixth century may be added to 
 this list, though one of them, most probably, wrote also in the 
 seventh. One is Meugant^ of whom two pieces are extant ; 
 an Elegy on Cynddylan, the patron of Lly warch Hen, and a 
 short composition, containing moral and religious senti- 
 ments mixed up with some predictions ; the whole at the 
 present time exceedingly obscure. The Elegy on Cynddylan 
 is also obscure in the allusions, and though not destitute of 
 spirit and harmony of language, is, nevertheless, to be con- 
 sidered as what it is entitled, An Elegy ^ a mere lamentation 
 for the loss of his chieftain. The Ode commences with the 
 following lines : — 
 
 splendid maiden in the three Islands of the mighty, and in the three Islands 
 adjacent, and for her Gwyth>/r the son of Greidawl, and Gwynn the son oi Nudd, 
 fight every first of May, until the day of doom." — Lady Charlotte Guests'" 
 Mdbinogion. 
 
148 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 " Dyhedd deon die hir by 
 Rhiau a Rhirid a Rhiosedd, &c.'* 
 
 GOLYDDAN. 
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 The other Bard is Golyddan, of whose composition there 
 is extant only one piece, an Ode of about 200 Hnes. This 
 Ode contains numerous allusions to facts generally known 
 as connected with the Saxon wars ; Hengist and Horsa are 
 mentioned by name, and several localities introduced, which 
 are recorded as the scenes of hostile encounters, as, for in- 
 stance, Aber Peryddon^ which is supposed to be the estuary 
 of the river Parret, the Pedridan of the Saxon Chronicle. 
 Tt is probable that this Ode was composed in the seventh 
 century, although the author was evidently of the school 
 of the sixth. 
 
 MEMORIALS OF THE GRAVES OF THE WARRIORS. 
 
 Amongst the early Bardic productions may be seen col- 
 lections 0 ^ separate and unconnected stanzas, called Englynion 
 y Beddau^ the Verses of the G-raves ; and Englynion Beddau y 
 Milwyr^ Verses of the Graves of the Warriors, being memo- 
 rials of the places of sepulture of about two hundred warriors 
 and persons of distinction connected with the early history 
 of Britain. They are chiefly in the triplet metre, and refer, 
 generally, to Wales, and frequently to characters well known 
 in history, though many of them are unknown, excepting 
 through the medium of these short records. From the 
 places of sepulture being generally upon the tops of moun- 
 tains, and but seldom in the church-yards, it is most 
 probable that the verses were composed before the latter 
 mode of burial was adopted, and that the graves here men- 
 tioned are the earns and tumuli which are still to be seen 
 upon the mountains, and also sometimes in the cultivated 
 lands. Whether the mountains were selected in preference 
 to the valleys, or whether the progress of agriculture has 
 caused the disappearing of these earns and barrows in the 
 cultivated land, is not quite clear; but it is certain that at 
 the present day these remains are more frequently met with 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 149 
 
 on the mountains than in the valleys. These graves are of 
 various dimensions, from such as might be supposed to 
 mark the sepulture of an infant, and might be constructed 
 by one or two persons in half an hour, to large mounds that 
 would require the labour of a number of people for several 
 days. They generally contain one or more square stone 
 cells, which vary in size from two feet square to such as 
 would afford room for several persons to enter them at once. 
 The smaller cells seem to have been constructed for urns, 
 whilst in the larger it appears that whole length bodies were 
 deposited. The following are from the stanzas : — 
 
 " Piau'r bedd yn y mynydd 
 
 A lywiasai liossyd 
 
 Bedd Teyrfael hael ab Hyflydd." 
 
 Whose is the grave in the mountain? 
 He marshalled armies ; — 
 
 It is the grave of Teyrfael the generous, son of Hyflydd. 
 
 *'Piau y bedd yn yr allt draw 
 
 Gelyn i lawer ei law 
 
 Tarw trin trugaredd iddaw." 
 
 Whose is the grave in yonder woody steep 1 
 His hand was an enemy to many — 
 The Bull of Battle, Mercy to him ! 
 
 " Piau y bedd yn llethr y bryn 
 Llawer nis gwyr ai gofyn 
 Bedd i Coel mab Cynfelyn." 
 
 W hose is the grave on the slope of the hill ? 
 
 Many who know it not do ask ; 
 
 The grave of Coel the son of Cynfelyn. 
 
 ** Piau y bedd pedryfal 
 
 A'i bedwar maen am ytal 
 
 Bedd Madawc marchawc dywal." 
 Whose is the quadrangular grave, 
 With its four stones supporting the front ? 
 It is the grave of Madoc, the intrepid warrior. 
 
 " Y tri bedd yng Nghewyn Celfi 
 Awen a'u dywaud i mi 
 Bedd Linon garw ei dduael 
 Bedd Cynfal bedd Cynfeli." 
 
 The three graves on the ridge of Kelfi, 
 The Awen has declared them to me ; — 
 The grave of Linon of the rugged black brow, 
 The grave of Cynfael and the grave of Cynfeli. 
 
 " Bedd milwr mirein gnawd celein o'i law 
 
 Cyn bu taw y dan mein 
 
 Llachar mab Rhun yng nglyn Cain." 
 
150 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 The grave of a stately warrior; many a carcase was 
 
 made by his hand, 
 Before he became silent beneath the stones ; — 
 Llachar the son of Rhun is in the valley of Cain. 
 
 " Y beddau hir yn Ngwanas 
 
 Ni chafas eu dioes 
 
 Pwy fynt ai pwy eu neges." 
 
 The long graves in Gwanas, 
 
 This history is not had, 
 
 Who claims or who disowns them. 
 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 As the sixth century witnessed the awakening of the 
 Awe?i, or Poetic genius, among the Welsh, so the seventh 
 century saw it sink into a state of repose, from which it was 
 not again aroused for nearly five centuries ; and the Bardic fire 
 of the seventh century, although towards the early part of that 
 period it burned with brightness and intensity, yet, towards 
 the latter end of the century, when the generation of 
 Aneurin and Taliesin had passed away, the flame gradually 
 subsided, and for many ages we find scarcely anything 
 deserving the name of Poetry. It is true there is no century 
 in which we do not meet with some metrical composition, 
 but the inspiration of the Awen is very languid indeed. 
 The first of this cycle is Maetk, who wrote about the latter 
 end of the seventh century. He was originally a prince of 
 some district in the North ; but having lost his patrimony, 
 he retired to Wales, where he joined a religious community, 
 and is registered as a Saint in the Ancient British Calendar. 
 
 ELAETH. 
 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 There is but one piece extant of this Bard's composition, 
 
 and that but short, containing only seven triplet stanzas. 
 
 They are altogether of a religious character, and recommend 
 
 pious exercises and early rising in order to perform them. 
 
 He says, — 
 
 " O treinc mab dyn heb ymddiwin a Duw 
 
 Am a wnel o bechawd 
 
 Nis mad aeth eneid yn ei gnawd," 
 
 If a son of man dies without being reconciled to God, 
 For the sins he has committed, 
 
 It is not well for him that a soul has ever entered his flesh. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY 
 
 151 
 
 TYSILIO. 
 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The next Bard is Tysilio, also a Saint. The only com- 
 position assigned to him, now extant, is a religious dialogue 
 betwixt Llewelyn and Gwrnerth, two Saints of Powys. It 
 is in the triplet measure, and contains thirty stanzas, several 
 of them beginning with the old, and alleged Druidical, sentence 
 of '■^Eiry Mynydd^"" "Snowy Mountain."' 
 
 CYHELYN. 
 
 EIGHTH CENTURY AND PART OF THE NINTH. 
 
 There is but one composition extant bearing the name of this 
 Bard, an Ode of twenty-two triplet stanzas, in a metre usual 
 in the sixth century, and used by Aneurin and others. This 
 Ode is, like many others of this early period, extremely 
 obscure. The Rev. Edward Davies gives a translation of it, 
 and maintains that it refers to the massacre at Stonehenge. 
 From the absence of positive references, it would be difficult 
 to disprove it, as it also appears to be no slight task that 
 he has undertaken in his attempts to substantiate his theory. 
 The language is regular and harmonious. 
 
 LLEFOET WYNEB GLAWR. 
 
 NINTH CENTURY AND PART OF THE TENTH. 
 
 Somewhere about this period, we may place the above 
 Bard, Llefoet, of whose composition there is one Ode extant, 
 called his Gosymdaith^ or his Stock of provisions for his 
 journey through life. This piece has but little merit, and is 
 merely a versified collection of proverbs. 
 
 TENTH CENTURY. 
 
 It is to this century that we are most probably to ascribe 
 the composition attributed to Merlin, containing some of his 
 prophecies, which has been already noticed, as well as some 
 other pieces, anonymous and spurious. 
 
 We may, also, notice a Bard of the tenth century, called 
 Bardd Glas y Gadah\ or Geraint Fardd Glas, who is sup- 
 posed to be Asser Menevensis; the name Asser being alleged 
 to be Azure^ and a translation of Glas, blue. This is not 
 
152 
 
 AVELHH LITERATURE OF 
 
 impossible, as Chaucer mentions a minstrel of the name of 
 
 Glaskerion^ which appears to resemble the Welsh name of 
 
 Geraint Fardd Glas, or Geraint Glas : — 
 
 " And other harpers many a one, 
 And the Briton Glaskerion." 
 
 The works of Y Bardd Glas are of the same monotonous 
 and inanimate character with the rest of the compositions of 
 this time, and, together with those, strongly confirm the im- 
 pression that the poetical genius became more and more torpid 
 from the sixth century down to the eleventh. And did we 
 not know, from the Welsh Laws, that the order of Bards was 
 then existing, we might suppose that this class of men had 
 become extinct. It must be at the same time acknowledged, 
 that they are not destitute of merit in the work they adopt, 
 but it is extremely prosaic and didactic. The following lines, 
 from Pope, will convey some idea of the spirit in which the 
 compositions of this description are written, and the style 
 in which the proverbial adages are strung together, — 
 
 " All nature is but art, unknown to thee ; 
 All chance, direction which thou canst not see ; 
 All discord, harmony nut understood ; 
 All partial evil, universal good, &c." 
 
 Besides the above Bards there are some others named, 
 though of doubtful authority, such as Cattwg Ddoeth and 
 St. Cattoc, who lived in the sixth century, but the pieces 
 attributed to the latter scarcely confirm the assertion. 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE. 
 PROSE. 
 
 SIXTH TO ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Although the Welsh have preserved a large quantity of 
 their ancient Prose compositions, yet, in the absence of evi- 
 dence, there are but few that can, with any degree of confi- 
 dence, be attributed to a period prior to the tenth century, 
 and those few appear in a very imperfect state, on account 
 of the unsettled nature of the Orthography. Amongst the 
 remains which may be safely given as existing antecedent to 
 the tenth century, are the ecclesiastical records written in 
 the margin of the Book of St. Chad in Litchfield Cathedral 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — PROSE. 
 
 153 
 
 library ; but they are so brief and obscure, and also so 
 mixed with Latin, that they can hardly be called Welsh 
 compositions. There are also, in the Liber Landavensis, nu- 
 merous records in the Welsh language, consisting of de- 
 scriptions of the boundaries and landmarks of church-lands, 
 which appear to be taken from very ancient documents, and 
 probably the identical words used in the sixth century, when 
 the grants were made. 
 
 There are, also, other ancient compositions in the Welsh 
 language, called Triads^ some of which appear to be of 
 very remote antiquity, whilst others bear marks of having 
 been composed in the middle ages. Many of these Triads 
 refer to subjects of the fabulous and mythological ages, and 
 may be assigned to the Druidical period ; others again seem 
 to contain the germ of those legislative institutions, which in 
 the tenth century were collected by Hywel Dda, and which 
 form the basis of the code of laws that goes under his name, 
 and some are historical.* But amongst these ancient docu- 
 ments, not the least interesting are those which relate to the 
 
 * The Historical Triads are extremely perplexing to the Historian, as it is 
 difficult to decide whether they are to be considered as authentic records, or 
 merely as ingenious fabrications. The collection in which they are found was 
 made by Thomas Jones, of Tregaron, about the close of the sixteenth century, a 
 time when the Trojan origin of the Britons had scarcely been called in question, 
 and yet these Triads give a totally different, and more rational account of the 
 colonizations of Britain. The character of this Jones, as an Antiquary and 
 Genealogist scarcely admits a suspicion of forgery on his part, and these docu- 
 ments exhibit a consistency with historical truth far beyond what is found in 
 works of prior ages. Indeed, were any well-read historian of the present day 
 to undertake the framing of a system of colonization, he could not produce 
 any thing more plausible than what is found in the Triads. The statement of 
 Jones, respecting his being merely a transcriber, is also supported by certain 
 indications of their being partially corrupted when he found them. For instance, 
 in the account of the settlement of the Insular Britons on the Continent, it is 
 said that they fixed themselves in Ystre Gyfaelwg, " Yn Ystre Gyfaelwg this 
 the Author of Hanes Cymru* supposes to have been originally Yn Nenstre ag y 
 Faelwg, i. e. in Neustrie and Valois. If he is right, it implies an old corruption 
 of the text, as Jones must have been too well informed to have written it so. 
 But the author of Hanes Cymru, in another place, rather impugns the authority 
 of the Triads, as be supposes the word Lloegyr to be the British pronunciation 
 oi Flavia Cassariensis, which, if correct, will overthrow the assertion of the name 
 being given by the tribe of the Lloegrwys. The same writer also supposes that 
 the Welsh name of Armorica, Llydaw, and the Latin Leiavia, are merely cor- 
 ruptions of lAtgdtinensis, as that country was part of Liigdunences tertian and 
 he adduces the instances of Lyons and Leyden in support of this assumed cor- 
 ruption. If, again, this is correct, the dropping of the termination ensis, in this 
 case, will tend considerably to confirm his supposition respecting Lloegyr. 
 
 * Having written the present Essay under a pseudonymous signature, Mr. Price could 
 not, of course, refer to the "Hanes Cymru" as his own work, its author being publicly 
 known. He, therefore, mentions himself here in the third person. — Editor. 
 
 X 
 
154 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 fellow-warriors of king Arthur, inasmuch as they contain 
 the primitive and principal elements of the Romances of Chi- 
 valry ; those extraordinary productions, which, at a later 
 period, exercised such a powerful influence on the literature 
 and habits' of Christendom ; for it is amongst these, and 
 similar productions, that we are to look for the original ma- 
 terials which entered into the very ground-work of imagina- 
 tive composition in modern Europe; as it is well known that 
 the earliest style of composition in the vernacular languages 
 of the west, was that of the Romances of the Arthurian cyclus, 
 known as those of the Round Table. In these compositions, 
 the principal characters are all of them Welsh, and most of the 
 events are connected with ancient British traditions, and the 
 scenes of action generally indicate a British locality. 
 
 HYWEL DDA. 
 
 TENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Next, in point of antiquity, are the Welsh Laws, of the 
 Code of Hywel Dda, of which several manuscript copies exist, 
 but this Code, it is believed, underwent some alteration in 
 the eleventh century, as at that period several of the Welsh 
 Princes are known to have revised the laws, and adapted them 
 to the particular circumstances of their respective provinces. 
 Of these laws, it may be observed, that they bear every ap- 
 pearance of being the genuine productions of Cymraeg legis- 
 lation, inasmuch as no such resemblance can be traced between 
 them and the laws of any other country, as to induce 
 a belief that they were copied from them, or formed upon 
 the same model.* Had any foreign code of laws served as 
 their model, it is reasonable to suppose that it would have 
 been the ancient Roman ; but there is nothing to mark a re- 
 semblance. As to the laws of Justinian, they were not 
 enacted until long after the Romans had left Britain, therefore 
 it would be in vain to seek any model there ; and amongst 
 that voluminous collection of legislative enactments, of 
 Pandects, Institutions, and Novellae, the dissimilarity of every 
 
 * The Origin of Trial by Jury was suggested by His Excellency the Chevalier 
 Bunsen, as the subject of the principal Literary Prize for the Abergavenny Eis- 
 teddfod of 1853. The mass of matter brought together in the works of the 
 various Competitors for that Prize, and especially in the successful Essay of Mr. 
 Stephens of Merthyr, deserves the careful study of future historians. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — mOSE. 
 
 155 
 
 tiling to the contents of the Welsh Code is singularly striking. 
 Nor is there any stronger resemblance traceable betwixt the 
 laws of the Gothic or Teutonic nations. It has been observed 
 that there is one very striking difference in the mode of clas- 
 sification of the people — the Welsh classing them by tribes and 
 families, a practice not known in the Teutonic courts ; from 
 which, it is but reasonable to conclude, that the statement in 
 the preamble to the code of Hywel Dda, is, in every respect, 
 genuine and authentic, in which it is said, that after hav- 
 ing consulted the codes of various nations, that prince found 
 the ancient British laws of Dyfnwal Moelmud to excel them 
 all, and that he therefore ^i;dopted them as the basis of his new 
 arrangement. From this fact we are justified in concluding, 
 that the ancient British tribes, who w^ere the progenitors 
 of the present Welsh, did at least enjoy the privileges 
 of the Jus Latium^ and for the most part, were, like some 
 other Roman tributaries, allowed to govern themselves 
 entirely by their own laws. Therefore, we cannot refuse to 
 admit these ancient Welsh Laws, as amongst the most inte- 
 resting remains of ancient Celtic literature, inasmuch as they 
 represent to us a state of society, customs and laws, but little 
 affected by Roman influence, either imperial or ecclesiastic. 
 
 The laws of Hywel Dda are divided into chapters and ar- 
 ranged. The general division is into three parts ; the first 
 part refers to the rules and customs of the court ; the second 
 contains the laws of the country ; and the third relates to 
 offences, and also to the prices of various articles. Hywel 
 Dda died in the year 948, having reigned forty years, during 
 the last seven of which he was king of all Wales, the title 
 that is given him in the preamble to his laws. 
 
 Besides the above mentioned, it does not appear that there 
 are any compositions extant, in the Welsh language, of a 
 date anterior to the eleventh century ; though there are some 
 historical records to be met with, such as short chronological 
 memoranda, together with some genealogical tables, as well as 
 legendary notices connected with the lives of saints, which 
 may possibly be of a prior time ; but the task of proving 
 such to be the case, would be an undertaking scarcely within 
 the scope of the present Essay, or likely to prove satisfactory, 
 even were the subject of greater importance. 
 
156 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 THE SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 As it is an historical fact that ecclesiastical learning had 
 made considerable progress in Ireland as early as the sixth 
 century, there can be but little doubt that the vernacular 
 language of the country shared in the advantages of the use 
 of letters of that period. Indeed, it is strongly argued, that 
 the Irish were acquainted with the art of writing long before, 
 and made use of an alphabet of native construction, peculiar 
 to themselves ; but, however this may be, it is evident that 
 they were not long in adopting the Roman alphabet, as that 
 is the only one to be found in their books, notwithstanding that 
 they have modified the sound of some of the characters, in 
 order to adapt them to the requirements of the Irish language. 
 
 From the early introduction of learning, and the high 
 reputation of the ancient Irish literati, we might expect to 
 find that country rich in ancient manuscripts ; and this ex- 
 pectation would be confirmed by the assertion of Lhuyd ; 
 who, having given a catalogue of British manuscripts ex- 
 tending to thirty-six columns, and an Irish catalogue of 
 only six columns, says, "Thei'e are Irish manuscripts 
 enough extant, to make a more considerable catalogue than 
 T have given of the British ; but, for want of further infor- 
 mation, I must leave that task to some antiquary of Ireland 
 or Scotland, as being, in all respects, much better qualified 
 for the undertaking.**^ What has become of these treasures 
 is not known. It is scarcely credible that they should have 
 been lost since Lhuyd's time ; but, however that may be, if 
 we compare the Welsh remains at the present day before 
 the public, with those of Ireland, we must allow, that in 
 quantity at least, the advantage is greatly in favour of the 
 former. It is true that the Principality is indebted to the 
 public spirit and liberality of one individual, Owen Jones, 
 for the privileges it enjoys in this respect ; and should such 
 another benefactoi ^rise in Ireland, it is possible that a new 
 
THE SECOND PElllOD. POETRY. 
 
 157 
 
 field of antiquarian investigation might be opened to the 
 world in this branch of Celtic Literature, as there was in the 
 Cymraeg, when the Myfvrian Archaiology was published. 
 
 Of the ancient Irish compositions, those which claim the 
 most prominent station, are the tales, both prose and metri- 
 cal, which are said to have supplied the materials of Mac- 
 pherson's Ossian. And, therefore, without, at this time, 
 entering into the merits of the Ossianic controversy, I shall 
 consider the Irish remains as they are given us by the Irish 
 themselves ; among whom, we cannot fail to perceive, they 
 assume a character materially different to that in which they 
 appear in Macpherson's Ossian. 
 
 Amongst the Stories of this class, the Irish have a regular 
 Triad, i.e. " The three tragic stories of the Irish," which are 
 " The death of the children of Touran," [clann Touran ;] 
 "The death of the children of Lear,"' [clann Lir;] and 
 " The death of the children of Usnach," [clann Usnigh.] 
 The two first Stories belong to the Tuatha de Danans, and 
 the last is a Milesian Story. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE SONS OF USNACH. 
 
 This Story claims a prominent position amongst the remains 
 of ancient Irish literature, as it is, according to the allegation 
 of Irish antiquaries, the original of Macpherson's Darthula^ 
 which name is merely a modification of that of Deirdri, the 
 heroine of the Story, and which is sometimes written Deardir 
 and Dearduil, though it must be allowed, that in the hands 
 of Macpherson, the subject has undergone a very consider- 
 able change, and can scarcely be recognised as the same with 
 that of the Irish copy. 
 
 The Story itself, in the Irish copy, bears some resemblance 
 to the Mahinogion of the Welsh, with the exception of being, 
 in a great measure, written in verse — the Welsh tales being 
 altogether prose; and, it may be added, that the latter 
 exhibit much greater spirit and variety of incident, together 
 with a considerable degree of humour and drollery; whereas 
 the Irish Tale is, as described, a tragic story ^ the prevailing 
 character being that of melancholy. 
 
 In selecting this Story for the commencement of this sec- 
 tion, i. e. of the era from the sixth century to the eleventh, 
 
158 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 it must be admitted, that I am laying myself open to the 
 charge of unauthorised classification ; and as I may be called 
 to account for this arrangement, I shall therefore anticipate 
 this objection by the following statements. The Darthula 
 of Macpherson being attributed to Ossian, must, of course, 
 together with all the Ossianic remains, be placed in the third 
 century. But, on the other hand, there are some antiqua- 
 ries, and those, too, persons of no small acumen as critics, 
 who maintain that none of the Ossianic Poems are older than 
 the eleventh century ; therefore, when I adopt, for the pre- 
 sent occasion, the sixth century, the era assigned to the Poem 
 under consideration by the Gaelic Society of Dublin, I feel 
 that I am only steering a middle course, and at least avoid- 
 ing the necessity of combating my adversaries single-handed, 
 inasmuch as 1 profess merely to give the sentiments put 
 forth, under the sanction of the learned body who have 
 taken the subject under their consideration. The Tale opens 
 with a magnificent banquet in the palace of the king of Ulster, 
 and, for several pages, the description is in Prose. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE CHILDREN OF USNACH.* 
 
 '^A feast of convivial exhilaration, grandly magnificent, was given 
 by Connor, (son of Factna the wise, son of Ross the red, son of Rory,) 
 king of Ulster, in the delightful splendid Eman of Machna, for his 
 grandees, nobles, and other gentry, at which the entire assembly were 
 gay and cheerful. Then arose their professors of music, and harmony 
 and poetry, to sound their melodious harps of sweet strings, and their 
 bright splendid tympans ; and to sing their poetic strains, their 
 branches of consanguinity, and boughs of genealogy. These are the 
 names of the Fileas that were then in the mansion, viz. CofFa the 
 generous Druid, son of Conall son of Rory, and Gennan of the light- 
 some countenance, son of Caffa, and Fercartni the Filea ; and Gannari 
 the black-knee, son of CafFa ; and many more together, with Senchan, 
 son of Glial." 
 
 The Story proceeds to relate, that Connor dispatches mes- 
 sengers to Scotland, to bring back Deirdri, and her husband 
 Naisi, who had fled there from Connor, to whom Deirdri had 
 been betrothed against her inclination. The retreat of this 
 couple was on the western coast of Scotland, in Lorn, in Ar- 
 gyleshire, and they were accompanied by the two brothers 
 
 * For the original passages, the reader is referred to the publications of the 
 *' Irish Archseologieal Society." Though copied in Mr. Price's manuscript, 
 it is obviously superfluous here to reprint what is already in the hands of the 
 learned, and must be useless to others. — Editor. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 159 
 
 of Naisi, Ainli and Ardan ; and these three, the three sons 
 of Usnach, give to the composition the title by which it is 
 known. 
 
 When the party heard the invitation of the messengers, 
 one of whom was the celebrated Cuchullin, they prepared to 
 sail for Ireland^ and having embarked, and put out to sea, 
 Deirdri looked back at the Scottish coast, and recollecting 
 the pleasant time she had passed there, "she raised the 
 strains — 
 
 Delightful land, yon eastern land, 
 Alba with all its wonders ! 
 I would not hither thence depart, 
 Did I not go with Naisi. 
 Lovely is Dunfy and Dunfin, 
 Lovely the Dun over them ; 
 Lovely is the Isle of Drayno, too, 
 And lovely is the Dun of Savno. 
 Oh wood of Kone, Oh wood of Kone ! 
 Whither, alas ! Ainli would resort ; 
 Too short I deem my stay there. 
 With Naisi in the west of Alba. 
 Vale of Laith, Oh in the vale of Laith ! 
 I used to sleep under my soft coverlets ; 
 Fish and venison and the delicious prime of badger, 
 Was my repast in the vale of Laith ! 
 
 Vale of Masan, Oh vale of Masan ! 
 High its hart's-tongue,* fair its stalks ; 
 We enjoyed a rocking sleep 
 O'er the grassy harbour of Masan. 
 
 Vale of Urchay, Oh vale of Urchay ! 
 It was the straight vale of smooth ridge ; 
 A man of his age was not more sprightly 
 Than my Naisi in the vale of Urchay. 
 
 Vale of Eiti, Oh vale of Eiti ! 
 In it I raised my first house ; 
 Beauteous its wood ; — upon rising- 
 Delightful resort of the sun is the vale of Eiti. 
 
 Vale of the two Roes, Oh vale of the two Roes ! 
 My love to each man to whom it is inheritance ! 
 Sweet is the cuckoo's note on bending bough, 
 On the cliff over the vale of the two Roes. 
 
 Dear is Drayno of resounding shore, 
 Dear its water over pure sand, 
 I would not thence at all come 
 Except I should come with my love." 
 
 * A species of fern ; the Scoloperidrium Vulgare. — Editor. 
 
160 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 The Story is then continued in Prose for about three pages, 
 when we have a short dialogue, between Deirdri and Naisi, in 
 verse, in the same metre of quatrain stanza ; and then again 
 the Prose narrative is resumed, and, in a short space, it is re- 
 placed by verse, which is always commenced by Deirdri, and 
 is chiefly her own composition throughout. At the conclu- 
 sion, the three sons of Usnach are slain by the troops of 
 Connor; and Deirdri, having uttered a lamentation over 
 their grave, died there of a broken heart. The Lamentation 
 contains twenty-one stanzas, and commences thus : — 
 
 DEIRDRl's LAMENTATION FOR THE CHILDREN OF USNACH. 
 
 " Long is the day without the children of Usnach ; 
 It was not irksome to be in their assemblage, 
 Sons of a king by whom sojourners were entertained, 
 Three lions of the hill of Huama. 
 
 Three attachments of the fair Britain, 
 
 Three falcons of the mount of Culan, 
 
 Sons of a king to whom valour made obedience, 
 
 And to whom heroes yielded homage. ' 
 
 Three mettlesome bears, 
 
 Three lions of the fort of Conrach, 
 
 Sons of a king to whom praise was wealth. 
 
 The three sons of the breast of the Ultonians." 
 
 After six stanzas in the same strain, Deirdri says, — 
 
 " After them alive I must not be, 
 
 Three that would rush through the midst of the battle, 
 Since my attached has gone from me, 
 I'll shed showers o'er his grave. 
 
 Oh man, who diggest the new grave ! 
 Make not the tomb narrowly ; 
 I'll be over the grave 
 Reiterating sorrow and lamentation. 
 
 Their three shields and their three spears 
 
 Have often been my bed : — 
 
 Set their swords of steel 
 
 Over the grave, goodly weight ! 
 
 Their three hounds and their three falcons 
 Shall henceforward be without folk of game ; 
 Three sustainers of every conflict 
 The three wards of Con all Carnach. 
 
 The three slips of these three hounds 
 Have forced a sigh from my heart. 
 It was with me they were in keeping ; 
 To see them is cause of sorrow." 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 161 
 
 Slie tlien concludes, — 
 
 " I am Deirdri without joy, 
 And I in the end of my life ; 
 Since to be after them is misfortune, 
 I will not be longer." 
 
 " After this lay, Deirdri flung herself upon Naisi in the grave, and 
 died forthwith, and stones were laid over their monumental heap, 
 their Ogham name was inscribed and their dirge of lamentation was 
 sung." 
 
 The story occupies, altogether, about thirty-five octavo 
 pages, the greatest portion of which consists of prose, though 
 the quantity of poetry intermixed seems to require that it 
 should he noticed under the latter heading. 
 
 With regard to the date of this composition, I have given 
 it as being of the sixth century, merely in deference to the 
 opinion of the learned society, under whose sanction it has 
 been published ; but I must own there are several circum- 
 stances which incline me to doubt this antiquity. In the 
 first place, the amusement of Chess is frequently mentioned, 
 which it would be difficult to show was prevalent in Ireland 
 in the sixth century. In the next place, the structure of the 
 verse is such as hardly to have existed at so remote a period, 
 for it is a kind of verse often to be distinguished only by the 
 eye and not by the ear. The language Is also much more 
 intelligible than that of the undoubted remains of the early 
 ages. 
 
 On the other hand, the practice of burying under the cam 
 is greatly in favour of considerable antiquity, at least of a 
 time prior to the general custom of burial in church-yards ; 
 though, according to the Welsh remains, it is clear that the 
 former mode of sepulture prevailed amongst the Welsh to 
 the close of the sixth century, and if we may argue from the 
 tenaciousness with which that people clung to their ancient 
 customs, we may suppose that the practice continued much 
 longer. So that, perhaps, the safest conclusion would be that 
 this story, in substance, is of the sixth century, but that it 
 may, in the twelfth century, have undergone such alterations 
 as to obliterate its original character, and give it those marks 
 of a more recent construction, which are certainly percepti- 
 ble throughout. 
 
 Y 
 
162 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 Having now disposed of this alleged specimen of the sixth 
 century, and left it at least in a state of doubtfulness, we 
 shall proceed to inquire respecting those remains of Irish 
 Poetry which can, without dispute, be referred to that period. 
 In this inquiry, although the field appears extensive, yet, 
 in the present state of published Irish works, we lament to 
 say that the harvest proves to be very scanty. According 
 to the Irish Annalists, the sixth century was not deficient 
 in native Bards : several are mentioned, as Oearnach, Sin, and 
 Cenfaelad; but with the exception of a very few short pieces, 
 their works are either totally lost, or else locked up in manu- 
 scripts, of which the existence, or at least the value, is not 
 known to the public ; and until the depositories of ancient 
 Irish manuscripts have undergone a thorough examination, 
 it will be impossible to pronounce upon the existence of such 
 works. It is well known that there are, in several of the con- 
 tinental libraries, very ancient Irish manuscripts; as for in- 
 stance at Rennes, St. Gall, and Milan, and some of these as 
 old as the ninth century. It is possible that the works of 
 the above named Bards may be in existence, as well as many 
 others of equal antiquity. 
 
 Amongst the numerous fragments of Ossianic poetry, 
 though many must be allowed to be comparatively modern, 
 yet there is no reason to doubt that some are also of consi- 
 derable antiquity. Amongst the latter, the Author of 
 the Claims of Ossian places the Eulogy on Gaul the son of 
 Morni, published in the Transactions of the Royal Irish 
 Academy, 1 788 ; though the learned writer is not disposed to 
 concede to it the date assigned it by Mr. O'Halloran, i. e, 
 A. D. 155. However, from the style of the composition, and 
 its resemblance to the works of the Welsh Bards of the sixth 
 century, he seems to consider it as not later than that period. 
 The piece consists of nearly ninety lines, in a short metre, and 
 sententious, unconnected style, and seems but little else than 
 a mere string of epithets, with not so much as a single verb 
 to connect them together. 
 
 The following extract is from the beginning of the Poem : — 
 
 " Goll, vigorous and warlike, 
 
 Chief of heroes ! 
 
 Generous and puissant hand, 
 
 Meditator of glorious deeds, 
 
THE SECOND PEiaOD. — POETRY. 
 
 163 
 
 Bulwark dreadful as fire, 
 Terrible is thy truth ! 
 Champion of many battles, 
 Royal hero, 
 
 Like a lion, rapid to the attack, 
 
 Ruin to the foe ! 
 
 Overwhelming billow, 
 
 GoU, frequent in action. 
 
 Invincible in tlie most dreadful conflicts, 
 
 Great in the conflicts. 
 
 Warrior of increasing glory, 
 
 Hero of mighty deeds, 
 
 Lion furious in action ! 
 
 Animating, harmonious Bard, 
 
 Destroyer of Councils, 
 
 Puissant, all- victorious, &c." 
 
 It must be admitted that Mr. Davies throws out strong- 
 hints, that this piece may possibly not be older than the ninth 
 century; but as he forms a parallel betwixt it and some Welsli 
 compositions of the sixth, it would hardly be consistent to 
 refuse it that degree of antiquity. 
 
 In the library of Milan there is an ancient Irish manu- 
 script, which contains several poetical fragments, apparently 
 of very early composition. A transcript of one was made some 
 time ago, and shown to an eminent Welsh scholar, who sup- 
 plied a translation of the first part. The original commences 
 thus, — 
 
 " Ad coidarc allail innocht b'am 
 Trad lirn. tarport. Re. Seal fidu 
 Ormuba, dubutch frigu clannjda 
 gnarni rugchuir iarsin Cinmadur 
 Pobru bacundau Se immimgu 
 Gabsasu lur fomnent fent milh 
 Soru sliuchtum echt. mau 
 Sir asdaile nimtha dochumd 
 Chid a abrama. y re ama 
 IHTdalim ba brathir dam-matha 
 thir se. mu no idenan merynan 
 Mars — ni duthiraisa bithingnaif, &c." 
 
 The following is the translation, — 
 
 " Thus Cinmadur, illustrious in fight, dealt blows and bitter deatli 
 around. His trusty sword leaped on his foe, and fearful wounds inflicted. 
 — With dreadful and confused laments they became lifeless lumps of 
 clay, a dreadful breach he made that day, among the opposing hosts ; 
 so much did he exceed the rest in figlit. 
 
 " Take thou the erect captive : he who despises death and scorns sub- 
 mission, nnlike the coward who succumbs, he braves his dark and 
 hidden fate. 
 
164 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 " Let all come here and gain instruction. Let this slaughter teach 
 them. Here may the brother and the daughter, and tender nursing- 
 mother view the heaps of slain : all victims to the grim, practices of 
 war. No fort was their protection. &c." 
 
 It may not be irrelevant here to notice that the Gaelic 
 Society of Dublin, already mentioned, in confirmation of the 
 antiquity of the piece called the Death of the Children of 
 Usnach^ adduces another Poem in the same metre — Golumkill's 
 farewell to Ara7i ; which is confidently asserted to be the 
 composition of the Saint, but which will probably be found 
 to be of much later date. 
 
 " Farewell from me to Aran, 
 A sad farewell to my feeling ; 
 I am sent eastward, to Hy, 
 And it separated since the flood." 
 
 In the course of the composition, which consists of twenty- 
 two stanzas, there are several commencing, as in the former 
 Poem, with the repetition of the first sentence to form the 
 first line, as for instance, — 
 
 Alas I it's far ; alas ! it's far, 
 
 I have been sent from Aran west, 
 Towards the population of Mona east. 
 To visit the Albanaclis ! [inen of Alha.~\ 
 
 Aran, thou sun ! Oh Aran, thou sun ! 
 
 My affection is buried in her, westward ; 
 Alike to be under her earth pure, 
 As under the earth of Paul and Peter. 
 
 Aran, thou sun ! Oh Aran, thou sun ! 
 
 My love lies in it west, 
 
 If within the sounds of its bell, 
 
 Alike is it for any one as to be in happiness. 
 
 Also, — 
 
 Aran blessed, Oh Aran blessed! &c. 
 
 The same society also gives a Poem of nine stanzas, in the 
 same metre, entitled The Blackbird of the grove of Carna^ 
 from the works of Ossian, or Oisin, as he is here called. 
 And also another Poem of twenty stanzas, in the same 
 metre, called The Poem of Talc son of Trone ; in which 
 the same repetition of words forms a striking feature in the 
 style, and of which the Editor of the Transactions observes, 
 "Both these specimens are the genuine effusion of that 
 genius that produced the Poems attributed to Oisin, all of 
 which have such a uniformity of easy style, diction, and 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 165 
 
 metre, as pronounces them the work of one man, one over 
 whose name is spread the veil of eternal oblivion, from the ^ 
 assumption of the name of the son of Finn in conversation 
 with St. Patrick.'" And thus he leaves us entirely in the 
 dark respecting the real author of the Poems attributed to 
 Ossian, but evidently implies his belief that they are as 
 old as the sixth century. Upon, this opinion, all that I 
 shall observe is, that if the address of Columkill is really 
 the production of that Saint, and if the other two Poems of 
 the Blackbird and Talc are, actually, of the sixth century, 
 there can be no reason, whatever, for refusing a similar 
 antiquity to Macpherson's originals, or even a more remote 
 date. But, before all this is conceded, it. will be well to 
 wait until some further light is thrown upon the subject. 
 We shall, in the mean time, proceed to consider the pro- 
 ductions of a later period, and of less doubtful character.* 
 
 Amongst the publications of the Irish Archaeological 
 Society is a Poem, called " The Circuit of Ireland^ writ- 
 ten in the year 942, by Cormacan Eigeas, Chief poet of 
 the North of Ireland," and which describes the Circuit of 
 the county made by Muircheartach, or Murtogh, king of 
 Aileach, [Ely^'] in Ulster, for the purpose of exacting- 
 hostages from such chieftains as he thought likely to op- 
 pose his views. This Poem contains nearly 260 lines, and is 
 written in quatrains, of similar structure to those already 
 noticed, each line consisting of seven syllables, and each 
 quatrain, or stanza of four lines, making perfect sense by 
 itself, without any dependence on the following or preceding- 
 one. The Poem begins as follows : — 
 
 " O Muircheartach, son of valiant Niall ! 
 Thou hast taken the hostages of Iiiis Fail ; 
 
 * Probably, the following stanza may be as old as any of the above named pi'O- 
 d notions : — 
 
 " Genair Patraic i Nemthur 
 Asseadh adfet hi scelaibh 
 Macan se mbliadhan dece 
 An tan do breth fo dheraibh." 
 
 Patrick was born to Nemthur,* 
 As histoi'ies relate ; 
 A youth was he of sixteen years, 
 When he was taken away captive. 
 Kirkpatric, near Dumbarton, according to some authorities. 
 
16G 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 Thou hast brought them all to Aileacli, 
 
 Into the stone built Grianan \_Palace] of steeds. 
 
 Thou didst go forth from us with a thousand heroes. 
 
 Of the race of Eoghan of the red weapons, 
 
 To make the great circuit of all Erin, 
 
 Oh Muircheartach of the yellow hair ! 
 
 Whereas no longer lives Cuchillin, the comely, 
 The beautiful foster-son of the just Conchobhar, 
 On thee has descended the renown of his shield, 
 Oh son of the son of Aedh Finnliath ! " 
 
 The Poem is almost entirely taken up with the names of 
 the places in which the expedition halted at night, and the 
 names of the hostages they carried off with them. In fact, 
 it is a mere chronicle in rhyme, with scarcely a single spark 
 of poetic feeling throughout. It is, of course, valuable in an 
 antiquarian point of view ; but is by no means worthy of 
 being ranked with the Ossianic remains, as they are called. 
 And as the foregoing comprise the principal Irish Poems 
 hitherto published, of a date prior to the eleventh century, 
 we shall proceed to the next department. 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 PROSE. 
 
 FROM THE SIXTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Whatever may be the intrinsic value of the numerous prose 
 compositions in the Irish language, extant in manuscript, 
 we can only lament that such a very small portion has been 
 made accessible to the public by means of the press. For 
 unless repetitions and duplicates abound to a very extraordi- 
 nary extent, there must be a great number of manuscripts 
 yet remaining unpublished, as we can hardly suppose that 
 they have disappeared, to any considerable amount, since 
 the days of Lhuyd. But, however this may be, there is one 
 fact at least very certain, and it is that when we look 
 for some composition in prose, prior to the twelfth century, 
 in a printed form, we are obliged to acknowledge that we 
 meet with little else than absolute disappointment. Now, 
 in the middle of the nineteenth century, we might have a 
 right to expect that the Brehon Laws should, long before 
 
THE SECOND TERIOD. — PROSE. 
 
 167 
 
 this, have been laid before the public ; but, hitherto, 
 they have been allowed to remain entirely unknown, 
 excepting a few clauses noticed by some occasional com- 
 mentator. We may, therefore, set aside this very im- 
 portant branch of Irish antiquities, as unavailable on the 
 present occasion.* 
 
 The same observation will apply, also, to the Lives of the 
 Saints, in the Irish language, as well as to the genealogical 
 records of the country, together with the numerous ancient 
 miscellaneous fragments, commentaries, and glosses, which 
 are to be seen in manuscripts, and which are, in many 
 respects, exceedingly curious, not only as specimens of the 
 ancient language, but also as exhibiting the devotional 
 excercises of the time. 
 
 However, there is one department in which Irish litera- 
 ture has been more fortunate, and that is the publication of 
 Annals and Chronicles. For, through the industry of 
 O'Connor, the ancient historical records of the nation have 
 been laid before the public in such a form as to reflect 
 much credit upon the learned Editor, as well as to place 
 those national monuments in a condition to be accessible to 
 the world at large. 
 
 Besides this publication of O'Connor, several ancient 
 records of Ireland have been published by different Editors, 
 as the Annals of Ulster, &c. which are chiefly written in 
 Irish, but with frequent passages in Latin intermixed, and 
 may generally be attributed to the era now under consider- 
 ation, i. e. from the sixth to the eleventh century. 
 
 * It is said that, in the seventh century, three brothers of the O'Burechan 
 family, named Beethgal, Boigalach, and Moeltule, the first being a Judge, the 
 next a Bishop, and the last a Poet, compiled and digested the Irish laws, both 
 ecclesiastical and civil, and called their code, Brathaneimhadh, i. e. the Sacred 
 Judgments. The following distich is given as descriptive of it. 
 
 '* Eagluis, flatha agus filidh Britheamh'd dhi'os gachdlo'gh 
 Na brui'gh to aibh dar linn, na saor agus na gabhan." 
 which is translated, — 
 
 " Quid fit jus Cleri, Satrapa, vatisque fabrique 
 Nec non Agricola, liber iste docebit abunde," 
 " The priest, the prince, the bard, the man of art, 
 And peasant, from this book may learn their part." 
 
 Will's Lives of Illustrious Irishmen. 
 
168 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SIXTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 It must be here premised that the terms Irish and Gaelic are 
 not intended to designate any difference of language, or even 
 of dialect, inasmuch as the language of the Celtic popula- 
 tion of Ireland and Scotland is radically and essentially 
 the same ; but, in the present inquiry, we find a certain 
 feature presenting itself to our notice, and occupying so 
 prominent a position, that notwithstanding the identity 
 of language, the identity of books, and almost the actual 
 identity of words and syllables, we still find ourselves 
 compelled to make such a separation betwixt the claims of 
 the two countries^ as to place them in two distinct classes. 
 And this in consequence of the different interpretation which 
 each nation gives to the same composition. The Scottish Os- 
 sian is a totally distinct creation from the Irish Ossian, 
 though the Celtic original is the common parent of both. 
 When Macpherson published his poems of Ossian, the Irish 
 immediately cried out " These poems are. our property, they 
 are Irish, and we are in possession of the original manu- 
 scripts, and will convince the world of the fact by publishing 
 them." They did, accordingly, publish portions of their 
 Ossian, together with English translations ; but their Ossian 
 was no more like the Ossian of Macpherson, than the Neib- 
 lungen is like the Iliad, or Paradise Lost like the Shah^Na- 
 meh. It is true the names were identical and many of the 
 incidents, but the spirit was totally and irreconcileably dis- 
 tinct. The Irish Ossian excited no feelings, but such as the 
 world had long been familiar with, but the same work, as in- 
 terpreted by Macpherson, called forth sentiments, which till 
 then had never been felt. Macpherson's Ossian was a new 
 creation, a world of imagination totally different to that 
 which was previously known ; and such a discovery could 
 not long remain unheeded, accordingly we find that Mac- 
 pherson's Ossian, in a short time, actually influenced the 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 169 
 
 poetry of Europe, and tinctured it with its own cast of 
 thought. The work was translated into foreign languages, 
 imitated, dramatised, and sung. It afforded subjects for 
 painting, sculpture, and musical composition. In fact, with 
 the exception of the Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth, there 
 is no instance on record of a single work, extending itself 
 with such rapidity over the civilized world, and influencing 
 the public mind in so powerful a manner; and, what is 
 somewhat remarkable, both these writers disclaimed the 
 mighty engines they had set in motion, as of their own for- 
 mation, declaring themselves to be mere translators, and not 
 the authors of these works. 
 
 Having, so far, established the existence of a new and ori- 
 ginal train of thought in Macpherson^s Ossian, and that so 
 peculiar, so evident, and acknowledged, as to be distinguished 
 as the Ossianic feeling, it may not be out of place here, to 
 make some inquiry, as to its actual origin, and first appear- 
 ance; whether, prior to the publication of Macpherson''s 
 work, the Highlander, in reading or hearing these Poems in 
 the original Gaelic, felt the identical impressions that he re- 
 ceived from the English translation : or whether, even now, 
 at the present day, the Gaelic Ossian produces the Ossianic 
 feeling as awakened by Macpherson. No one but the born 
 and bred Highlander, and he, too, equally conversant with the 
 English and Gaelic, is competent to decide this question. It 
 has sometimes been asked, and the answer has invariably 
 been in the affirmative, but as invariably with the addition, 
 that the original Gaelic exceeds the translation in beauty 
 and in force ; but it must not be overlooked, that this 
 universal concurrence to enhance the value of the ori- 
 ginal, though it may be perfectly just, as regards beauty and 
 force, yet at the same time, gives rise to some suspicions, that 
 in this asserted superiority of beauty and force, is involved a 
 difierence of thought and sentiment. In order, therefore, to 
 make some approach towards solving this problem, the follow- 
 ing suggestions are offered ; not with any expectation of co- 
 ming to a decision upon the subject, but as merely making one 
 move forward in the investigation. And if the analysis of 
 mind, and the classification of feelings can, under any circum- 
 stances, be deemed worthy of attention, the present inquiry 
 z 
 
170 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 will not be thought to be totally destitute of interest. 
 In the first place, then, Macpherson^s Ossian is in prose, 
 measured, it is true, and constructed with much attention 
 to cadence and diction, but most carefully avoiding every 
 thing like metre or rhyme. The original Gaelic is in metre, 
 and also generally, in rhyme, excepting where (as it is al- 
 leged,) corruptions have crept into the text. Nevertheless, 
 these originals as printed by the Highland Society, have so 
 completely the character of measured prose, or blank verse, 
 that no eye, unaccustomed to Gaelic versification, could ever 
 detect the existence of rhyme. The following, from the Poem 
 of Carricthura^^ will afford an instance : — 
 
 ORIGINAL GAELIC. 
 
 " Dh' eirich maduinn a' soills' o'n ear ; 
 Bu ghorm air an lear an tonn. 
 Ghairm an righ a shiuil gu crann ; 
 Thainig gaoth a nail o'n chruaich ; 
 Dh' eirich Innis-thorc gu mall, 
 Is Carraig-thura iul nan stuadh. 
 Bha comhara bend gu h-ard, 
 Teine dall's a thaobh san smuid ! 
 Bhuail an righ a chliabh air ball ; 
 Gun d^il bha 'garbh shleagh o chul ; 
 Clmnnaic e gun clilith a' gaoth ; 
 Bha 'leadan air a chul a 'stri ; 
 Cha robh samhchair an righ faoin." 
 
 LATIN TRANSLATION, BY MR. R. M'fARLANE. 
 
 Surrexit matutinus (radius) elucens ex oriente ; 
 Erat cserulens super sequore fluctus, 
 Vocavit rex sua vela ad (malum) arborem ; 
 Venit ventus hue ab praecipitio ; 
 Surrexit Innistorca lente, 
 Et Carricthura dux undarum. 
 Erant signa maleficii in alto, 
 Ignis coccus et ejus latus in fumo. 
 Percussit rex suum pectus e vestigio 
 Sine mora fuit ejus crassa hasta ab ejus tergo ; 
 Vidit ille sine vi ventum ; 
 Erant ejus crines super ejus tergo certantes ; 
 Non erat silentiam regis vanum." 
 
 MACPHERSON'S TRANSLATION. 
 
 " Morning rose in the east ; the blue waters rolled in light. Fingal 
 bade his sails to rise ; the winds came rustling from their hills. Inistore 
 rose to sight, and Carricthura's mossy towers. But the sign of distress 
 was on their top, the warning flame edged with smoke. The king of 
 Morvan struck his breast ; he assumed at once his spear. His darkened 
 brow bends forward to the coast ; he looks back to the lagging winds. 
 His hair is disordered on his back. The silence of the king is terrible." 
 
 * Carraig-Thura. Vide " Dana Oisein Mhic Fhinn air an cur amach airson 
 maith Coitcheannta muinntir na Gaeltachd. Dun-eiden, 1818." For tlie use of 
 a copy of this very scarce work, in the correction of the text, the Editor is 
 indebted to His Excellency the Chevalier Bunsen. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 171 
 
 Nevertheless, we are assured by Irish scholars, that when- 
 ever these Ossianic fragments are ancient and in their ori- 
 ginal state, neither corrupted nor interpolated, they are 
 invariably in rhyme, and in quatrains, or tetrastichs, each 
 stanza being complete in itself. And this rhyme is only to 
 be detected by an acquaintance with the rules of Irish pro- 
 sody, which are exceedingly artificial and arbitrary. Mr. 
 Davies, in his Claims of Ossian, gives illustrations of this 
 system of composition, together with extracts from the Gaelic 
 originals. The following stanzas are from the opening of 
 the Poem, called Oina-Morul^ : — 
 1. 
 
 ** Mar ghluaiseas solus speur fo scleo, 
 Air Larmon, mor, a's uaine torn ; 
 Mar sin thig sgeul nan triatli nach beo 
 Air m'anam is an oidhche trom. 
 
 2. 
 
 'Nuair thr^igeas filidh caoin a mhuirn 
 A chlarsacli chiuil san talla ard 
 Thig guth gu cluais Oisein o chul 
 Mosgladh anma an tur nam bard. 
 3. 
 
 'Se guth nam bliadhna thuit a ta ann, 
 Tional uile a nail le'n gmomb, 
 Giacam-sa na sgeula nach fann 
 Cuiream sios iad am fonn gun gbiomh." 
 
 LATIN TRANSLATION. 
 1. 
 
 " Ut movetur lux caelorum sub vapore 
 Super Larmone magna, cujus est viridissimus collis, 
 Sic venit historia procerum baud vivorum 
 Super meum animum nocte gravi. 
 
 2. 
 
 Q,uando relinquit poeta blandus suam blanditiam 
 Ejus citbara canora in aula sublime 
 Venit vox ad aurem Ossiani a tergo, 
 Expergefaciens ejus animam in torpore bardorum. 
 3. 
 
 Est vox annorum quae ceciderunt, quae adest, 
 Colligens omnia hue cum eorum factis. 
 Captem ego bistorias baud futiles, 
 Mittam deorsum eas in cantionem sine fraude." 
 macpherson's translation. 
 " As flies the inconstant sun over Larmon's grassy bill ; so pass 
 the tales of old along my soul by night ! When bards are removed to 
 their place, wben barps are hung in Selma's ball, then comes a voice 
 to Ossian, and awakes bis soul ! It is tbe voice of years that are gone. 
 They roll before me with all tbeir deeds. I seize the tales as tbey 
 pass, and pour them forth in song." 
 
 * Oigh-Nam-Mor SIuM. 
 
172 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 4. 
 
 " Cha shruth tha dorclia foiin an righ, 
 'Nuair dh'eireas e measg stri nan tend ; 
 O Rimh-ghil an Lutha nam frith, 
 Malmlima, cruth clith gun bheud ! 
 5. 
 
 A lutha nan tend a's gloine fuaim ! 
 Gun s^mhchair air do chruachan ard, 
 'Nuair shiubhlas geal-lamh na stuaim 
 Air clairsaich fo dhuan nam bard. 
 
 6. 
 
 Sholuis nan smuainte dorcha truagh 
 
 Tha tarruing suas air m'anam dall ; 
 
 A nighean Thoscair nan ceann-bheart cruaidh, 
 
 Thoir cluas do chaoin fhuaim tha mall !" 
 
 LATIN TRANSLATION. 
 4. 
 
 *' Non flumen, quod est obscurum, melos regis, 
 Quando surgit e media contentione chordarum 
 Ab manu Candida in Lutha saltuum, 
 MalviuEl, formal concinna sine defectu. 
 
 5. 
 
 Lutha chordarum quarum est purissimus sonus ! 
 Sine silentio super tuis praecipitiis altis, 
 Quando pergit Candida manus modestiae 
 Super citharam sub carmine bardorum. 
 
 6. 
 
 O lux cogitationum obscurarum, rniserarum, 
 Quae se-trahunt sursum super meum animum caecum, 
 O filia Toscaris galearum durarum, 
 Adhibe aurem blando sono qui est lentus." 
 
 macpherson's translation. 
 " Nor a troubled stream is the song of the king, it is like the rising 
 of music from Lutha of the strings. Lutha, of many strings ! not silent 
 are thy streamy rocks, when the white hands of Malvina move upon 
 the harp. Light of the shadowy thoughts, that fly across my soul, 
 daughter of Toscar of helmets, wilt thou not hear the song ? We call 
 back, maid of Lutha, the years that have rolled away." 
 
 These lines, though given in the original as one connected 
 strophe, yet, in Mr. Davies's opinion, naturally resolve 
 themselves into tetrastichs as he has arranged them. And 
 in order to perceive the existence of rhyme, which is 
 sometimes that of alternate lines, he says it is necessary to 
 have recourse to the rules of Irish Prosody. 
 
 He observes that the Irish Grammarians have arranged 
 the letters of the Alphabet into eight fanciful and artificial 
 classes ; and they deem it sufficient, for the purpose of 
 rhyme or correspondence, that a letter should be answered 
 by one of its own class, agreeably to the following distri- 
 bution ; — 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 173 
 
 The vowels a, o, tt, are broad ; e and i, small. 
 
 Dipthongs and tripthongs generally follow the class of the first 
 vowel. 
 
 Of Consonants, — c, p, are soft ; b, d, g, hard : 
 
 ch, fh, sh, th^ are rough ; m, II, nn^ rr, ng, robust : 
 hh, dh, gh, mh, /, n, r, are light ; /, weak, sometimes rough : 
 s is barren ; h, hollow. 
 
 Now, if we examine the foregoing extracts, we shall find, 
 that the first stanza happens to be so constructed as to make 
 the rhyme obvious enough, according to our ideas of as- 
 sonance, but it will be seen that this is not a reason that 
 would weigh with the Poet who composed them, therefore 
 we shall go on to the second stanza. And here we cannot 
 find anything bearing the semblance of rhyme, excepting in 
 two lines ; but, according to the above canon, the other two 
 also form a rhyme, i.e. the words mhuirn and chul form a 
 legitimate rhyme : for as ui in the former is a broad dip- 
 thong, and u in the latter is a broad vowel, they are of the 
 same class, and consequently rhyme together ; so also rn in 
 the former, and / in the latter, are light consonants, and of 
 the same class, and likewise rhyme together. Therefore, in 
 spite of the eye and the ear of the un-initiated, mhuirn and 
 cliul form a perfect rhyme. 
 
 But the learned critic goes on to detect what he calls a 
 concord or agreement in the verse, besides that of the ending- 
 words, and which is to be found betwixt the last word of 
 the first line and some word in the body of the second, as 
 also betwixt the end of the third line and some word in the 
 fourth ; thus in the second stanza, mhuirn in the first line, and 
 chiuil in the second make a concord, because r, and / per- 
 tain to the same class. Also, in the third stanza, we have the 
 like concords between ann and nall^ and again between fami 
 and fonn^ nn being robust consonants, and a and o broad vowels. 
 Mr. Davies also points out similar instances of rhyme in 
 other Poems : such, for instance, as Lula and dhuhhra^ 
 where there is a double rhyme, inasmuch as dh^ hh^ and r 
 belong to the same class of light consonants. So likewise 
 speur and fein rhyme together, because eu and ei belong to 
 the same class of vowels, and r and n to the same class of 
 consonants. For similar reasons, donn and shoill form a 
 rhyme, as also chul and lur^ ann and mall^ threin and deigh. 
 
174 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 &c. Mr. Davies alsp notices several instances of faulty 
 rhymes, which he attributes to various causes ; and amongst 
 them the change or transposition of words or lines by illiterate 
 reciters or superficial critics, without regard to the laws of 
 the metre. He also very distinctly charges Macpherson with 
 the mutilation of several stanzas, in his anxiety to suppress 
 everything that might derogate from the majesty of Ossian, 
 and also with the change of the Orthography, in order to 
 obliterate the Irish mark, whenever it appeared too con- 
 spicuous. However, this latter influence could not have 
 extended beyond the manuscripts in Macpherson"'s own hand- 
 writing or possession. 
 
 Thus it is proved, that there is a striking difference be- 
 twixt the construction of the Ossianic poetry, as seen in the 
 Gaelic and Irish orignals, and that given by Macpherson. 
 In the former, it appears in rhyme and divided quatrain 
 stanzas, each stanza being complete in itself. Whereas, in 
 Macpherson''s work, it is given as blank verse, not divided 
 into quatrains, or any other stanzas of regular length, but 
 into passages of various lengths, according to the subject, 
 without regard to any system or order, or any acknowledged 
 prosodiacal rules. 
 
 Besides this diff'erence, it appears that there exists another 
 no less important ; and that is a diff'erence of style. The 
 style of Macpherson's Ossian being heroic, sublime, and ma- 
 jestic, the Bard never, on any occasion, descending from the 
 elevation which he has chosen for his flight ; whereas in the 
 Gaelic and Irish the sublimity is often interrupted by a 
 lower^grade of poetic sentiment, and much of the composi- 
 tion may be said to be in the Ballad style ; a style, certainly, 
 very different to the Ossianic, and scarcely compatible with 
 it under any modification. As an instance, the following, 
 from the alleged original of Darthula, may be adduced, (the 
 death of the Children of Usnach, already noticed.) 
 
 " Oh wood of Kone, oh wood of Kone ! 
 Whither, alas ! Ainli would resort, &c." 
 
 " Vale of Urchay, oh vale of Urchay ! &c." 
 
 Now it is remarked, that although Macpherson has given 
 tlie story of Deirdri or Darthula, yet, he had not, in the 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD.^ — POETRY. 
 
 175 
 
 slightest degree, referred to these verses, and indeed, accord- 
 ing to the manner in which they are given in this publica- 
 tion, they would appear most incongruous in his work, and 
 completely destroy its character. Such a line as — 
 
 " Oh wood of Kone, Oh wood of Kone !" 
 
 or 
 
 "Glenorchy, Oh Glenorchy !" 
 
 beginning a rhyming stanza, and followed up for a whole 
 page, establishes the ballad style in the most decided man- 
 ner, and fixes a character, not only different to the Ossianic, 
 but totally opposite.* 
 
 But, in order to show the various effects these verses can 
 be made to produce, according to the interpretation they 
 may receive, the following collation is added : — 
 
 from the report of the gaelic society of dublin, edited by theophilus 
 o'fanagan, 1808. 
 
 " A choill Chuan ! on a choill Chuan ! 
 Gus ttigeadh Ainnle, mo nuar ; 
 Fa gairid liomsa ro bhi ann, 
 Is Naisi, in iarthar Alban. 
 
 Glenn Laidhe ! on in glenn Laidhe ! 
 Do chodluinn fdm erradli chaimh ; 
 lasc' as ois-fheoil is saill bruie, 
 Fa hi mo chuid in Glenn Laidhe. 
 
 Glenn Mhasan ! on glenn Mhasdin ! 
 Ard a clienamh, gel a chasain ; 
 Do ghnidhmis codhladh corrach, 
 Os inbher mongach Mhasain. 
 
 Glenn Archain 1 on glenn Archain ! 
 Fa' lie an glenn di recti druimchain ; 
 Noch ar bh'uallclia fer a aise. 
 No mo Naise an glenn Archain. 
 
 Glen Eitche ! uch on glenn Eitche ! 
 Ann do thogbhas mo ched-thigh ; 
 Aluinn a fiodli iar n-eirghe 
 Buaile greine glenn Eitche. 
 
 Glenn da ruadh ! on glenn-da ruadli ! 
 Mo chion gacli aen f hear dar dual ; 
 As binn guitli cuaiche ar chraibh cliruim 
 Ar an mbinn 6s glenn d^ rnadh.t" 
 
 * As there are several copies of this tale, it is possible, that the one in which the 
 verses are found was never seen by Macpherson, for had he chosen to exercise 
 bis powers of Ossianising upon them, as he is charged with doing with regard 
 to others, he would have found no difficulty in modelling them after his own 
 taste. 
 
 + The order of the stanzas is not the same in the two works. 
 
176 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 THE ABOVE TRANSLATED BY MR, O'faNAGAN, 
 
 " Oh wood of Kone, oh wood of Kone ! 
 Whither, alas ! Ainli would resort ; 
 Too short I deem my stay here, 
 With Naisi in the west of Alba. 
 
 Vale of Laith, oh in the vale of Laith ! 
 
 I used to sleep under my soft coverlets ; 
 
 Fish and venison and the delicious prime of badger 
 
 Was my repast in the vale of Laith ! 
 
 Vale of Masan, oh vale of Masan ! ,! 
 High its harts- tongue, fair its stalks ; 
 We enjoyed a rocking sleep 
 O'er the grassy harbour of Masan." 
 
 Vale of Urchay, oh vale of Urchay ! 
 It was the straight vale of smooth ridge ; 
 A man of his age was not more sprightly 
 Than my Naisi in the vale of Urchay. 
 
 Vale of Eiti, alas ! oh vale of Eiti ! 
 In it I raised my first house ; 
 Beauteous its wood ; — upon rising 
 Delightful resort of the sun is the vale of Eiti. 
 
 Vale of the two Roes, oh vale of the two Roes ! 
 My love each man to whom it is inheritance [sic] 
 Sweet is the cuckoo's note on bending bough, 
 On the cliff over the vale of the two Roes." 
 
 FROM THE REPORT OF THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND, 1805. 
 
 " Caill cuan gar tigeadh Ainnle mo nuar 
 
 Fagair lim ab bitan 
 
 Is Naise an oirear Alban, 
 
 Glend Laidh do chollain fan mboirmin caoimh 
 
 lasg is sieng is saill bruich 
 
 Fa hi mo chuid an Glend laigh, 
 
 Glend masain ard a crimh geal a gasain 
 
 Do nimais colladh corrach 
 
 Os Inbhar mungach Masain. 
 
 Glend Eitchi ann do togbhus mo ched tigh 
 
 Alaind a fidh iar neirghe 
 
 Buaile grene Ghlind eitchi. 
 
 Mo chen Glend Urchaidh 
 
 Ba hedh in Glend direach dromchain 
 
 Uallcha feara aosi ma Naise 
 
 An Glend Urchaidh 
 
 Glend da ruadh 
 
 Mo chen gach fear da na dual 
 
 Is binn guth cuach 
 
 Ai craeib chruim 
 
 Ar in mbinn os Glenndaruadh." 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 177 
 
 THE FOREGOING TRANSLATED BY DR. DONALD SMITH. 
 
 " But, alas ! the wood, the bay which Ainle would approach, 
 Are left by me and Naos for ever 
 Upon the coast of Albion. 
 
 Oh vale of Laith ! would I were sleeping by its soothing murmur ! 
 Fish and venison, and the choice of the chase prepared, 
 Would be my repast in Glenlaith. 
 
 Glenmasain ! high grow its herbs, fair wave its branches. 
 Steep would be the place of our repose 
 Over the grassy banks of Masan. 
 
 Oh vale of Etha ! where a first house has been built for me, 
 
 Delightful v^ere its groves, when the sun, risen to his height, 
 
 Would strike his beams on Gleneiti. 
 
 How I long for the vale of Urchay ! 
 
 Straight vale of the fairest hills. 
 
 Joyful were his companions around Naos 
 
 In Glenurchay. 
 
 Vale of Daruadh ! 
 
 Pleasant to me would be each of its people ; 
 Sweet is the note of the cuckoo 
 From the bending tree of the mountain, 
 Above Glen-da-Ruadh ! " 
 
 But at this very point, we encounter a difficulty of the 
 most perplexing description, and which must cause us to 
 hesitate considerably before coming to any determination, 
 as Dr. Donald Smith, in the Report of the Highland Society, 
 gives a version of these very lines, which altogether changes 
 their character, and this change is effected in a great measure, 
 by the omission of the words repeated in the Irish copy, and 
 by a slight difference of diction. For instance, instead of 
 repeating the words " oh wood of Kone," &c. he gives them 
 but once, and thus, though unintentionally, divides the pas- 
 sage into triplets, resembling the metre of Llywarch Hen, 
 and which is not so distant from the Ossianic character as 
 the Ballad style of the Irish version. Now here is a curious 
 literary phenomenon. Here is a Poem, which, according 
 to the interpretation it may chance to receive, may, without 
 violating the acknowledged laws of translation, be made to 
 assume the characteristics of three totally distinct styles : 
 the Ossianic, the Ancient British, and the Ballad style. 
 
 As to its Ossianic capabilities, the translation of Dr. 
 Smith shows, that with but a very trifling alteration of the 
 diction, it may be made to speak the language of Macpher- 
 son as distinctly as Oarric-thura, or Oina-Morul, and its not 
 being found in Darthula, is probably to be attributed to the 
 
 2 A 
 
178 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 state of the manuscript of that tale which fell into Macpher- 
 son''s hands ; as in some editions of that tale poetry is want- 
 ing, and the story itself also differently told. 
 
 As to the ancient British character of this work, it may 
 be most distinctly perceived in Dr. Smith*'s edition of the 
 foregoing verses, if they are only arranged in triplet stanzas, 
 according to the subject of each. In Llywarch Hen's He- 
 roic Elegies, for instance, we have numerous stanzas in the 
 following style, — 
 
 " Eryr Eli, gorelwi heno 
 Yng ngwaed gwir gwynofi 
 Ef yn nghoed trwm hoed i mi, 
 
 Eryr Eli a glywaf heno 
 Creulyd y w ni's beiddiaf 
 Ef yn nghoed trwm hoed arnaf. 
 
 Eryr Eli gorthrymed heno 
 Dy'frynt Meisir mygedawg 
 Dir Brochfael hir rhugodded." 
 
 TRANSLATION OF THE; ABOVE. 
 
 Eagle of Eli ! — loud is thy cry this night. 
 In the blood of men thou dost rejoice — 
 He is in the wood : heavy is my affliction. 
 
 Eagle of Eli! — I hear him this night. 
 He is bloody — I will not dare him — 
 He is in the wood ; heavy is my grief. 
 
 Eagle of Eli ! let him oppress this night 
 
 The valley of Meisir, the celebrated 
 
 Land of Brochfael, — long has it been afflicted. 
 
 Such is the style of numerous passages in the works of 
 Llywarch Hen. And now let us merely arrange Dr. Smith"'s 
 text of the foregoing Gaelic lines, in triplets, according to 
 the natural order of the sentences, and we shall have a com- 
 position precisely in the style of the ancient British Bard. 
 
 DR. smith's text. 
 
 " Caill cuan gar tigeadh Ainnle mo nuar 
 
 Fagair lim ab bitan 
 
 Is Naise an oirear Alban. 
 
 Glend Laidh do cliollain fan mboirmin caoimh 
 
 lasg is sieng is saill bruich 
 
 Fa hi mo chuid an Glend laigh. 
 
 Glend masain ard a crimh geal a gasain 
 Do nimais colladh corrach 
 Os Inbhar mimgach Masain. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 179 
 
 Glend Eitchi ann do togbhus mo ched tigli 
 Alaind a fidh iar neirghe 
 Buaile grene Glind eitchi." 
 
 " Wood of Kone !* 
 
 But alas ! tlie wood, the bay which Ainle would approach, 
 Are left by me and Naos for ever. 
 Upon the coast of Alban. 
 
 Oh vale of Laith ! Avould I were sleeping by its soothing murmur ! 
 Fish and venison, and the choice of the chase prepared 
 Would be my repast in Glenlaith ! 
 
 Glenmasain ! high grow its herbs, fair wave its branches 1 
 Steep would be the place of our repose, 
 Over the grassy banks of Masan. 
 
 Oh vale of Eiti ! where a first house was built for me, 
 Delightful were its groves, when the sun, risen to its height. 
 Would strike his beams on Gleneiti ! " 
 
 Now, even without any knowledge, either of the Gaelic, or 
 ancient British, it is scarcely possible to compare these spe- 
 cimens together, without perceiving a striking resemblance 
 in the structure of the stanzas, and when, by the aid of the 
 translations, we acquire some idea of the meaning of the 
 leading words, the resemblance is still more confirmed. And 
 as Dr. Smith professes to follow an ancient manuscript, and, 
 also, gives a facsimile of the manuscript, we are disposed to 
 inquire, how such a vast difference can exist, as between 
 Dr. Smith and Mr. O'Fanagan, in these lines. The answer 
 is readily supplied by Mr. O'Fanagan, as far as his testi- 
 mony may be of weight, who distinctly and without reserve, 
 attributes it to the ignorance of Dr. Smith, and his want of 
 acquaintance with the language of ancient compositions, and 
 with the mode of writinf): in use amon2;st the transcribers of 
 manuscripts, for, as he signifies, it was the custom of tran- 
 scribers to be exceedingly economical of labour, and still more 
 so of writing materials, and they never omitted an opportu- 
 nity of introducing contractions ; therefore, when such repe- 
 titions as A ''chain ^cuan, a chaill cuan^ and Glenn Laidh on 
 a Glenn Laidh occurred, they thought it sufiicient to give the 
 word only once, well knowing that the metre would point 
 out and require the repetition of such words, in order to 
 complete the line. In remarking upon this statement, we 
 
 * Cuon^ a boy. 
 
180 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 are certainly inclined to think, that if the rest of the Poem 
 is in quatrains, and that such a repetition will make the 
 lines in question perfect quatrains also, it is scarcely reason- 
 able to step out of the usual order, and insist upon arran- 
 ging these particular passages either into triplets or irregu- 
 lar lines : Llywarch Hen, and Macpherson to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. 
 
 And now, this statement of Mr. CFanagan brings us to 
 the style which he himself assigns to the Poem, and which, 
 on examination, proves to be the real and genuine Ballad 
 style, such as is to be found in almost every European 
 language, from the middle ages down. The following com- 
 mencement of an ancient Spanish ballad is of this descrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 " Rio verde, rio verde, 
 Quantos cuerpos en ti se bagna, 
 De Christianos y de moros, 
 Muertos por la dura spada, &c." 
 
 which has been thus translated by Percy, — 
 
 " Gentle river, gentle river, 
 Lo, thy streams are stained with gore, 
 Many a brave and noble captain 
 Floats along thy wiilow'd shore, &c." 
 
 and, also, by Dr. Johnson : — 
 
 " Glassy water, glassy water, 
 Down whose current clear and strong, 
 Chiefs confused in mutual slaughter, 
 Moor and Christian roll along." 
 
 One other instance may suffice ; it is the commencement of 
 a Lament on the battle of Oulloden, or Drummossie muir, 
 as the place was called : — 
 
 " Drummossie day ! Drummossie day ! 
 A waeful day thou wast to me ; 
 For then I lost a father dear, 
 A father dear and brothers three." 
 
 Whether these remarks may be thought to throw any light 
 upon the subject under consideration, or not, they may at 
 least be of some service in defining the object of inquiry, 
 and that is, the comparative merit of the Gaelic remains of 
 poetry, as regards the amount and order of poetical genius 
 which they evince. After this review, the following ob- 
 servations offer themselves to our notice. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. iSl 
 
 If the style of the Irish and Gaelic Poems is that of the 
 Ballad, they possess no merit, but what is common to all 
 Europe ; and in point of excellence, tliey are at least equalled 
 if not greatly exceeded by the Spanish ballads. 
 
 If the style is that of the ancient British remains, they at 
 any rate do only partake of that which is equally the pro- 
 perty of another branch of the same race, the degree of excel- 
 lence to be yet the subject of discussion. 
 
 But, if the style is that of Macpherson's Ossian, they un- 
 doubtedly stand forth pre-eminent amidst the literature of 
 the world. The genius which called them to existence was a 
 creative genius ; other Poets have pleased, and even capti- 
 vated, but their genius was but imitative. They only carried 
 out more extensively the development of feelings which 
 already existed, but Macpherson called up new feelings, 
 which, till then, the mind was not conscious of a capability 
 to experience. 
 
 In this view of the subject, the question is not, whether 
 the author of these Poems lived in the third century, or 
 in the sixth, or ninth, or in the twelfth, nor is the question 
 so much whether the Poems are in rhyme, or even whether 
 the words are always literally rendered ; but the question is, 
 the transfusion of sentiment ; Did Macpherson really trans- 
 fuse into his work, the spirit and feeling of the original ? not 
 so much Is he a literal translator, as Is he a faithful inter- 
 preter ? 
 
 In whatever way this question may be decided, it must 
 be acknowledged, that the Ossianic originals, as given by 
 the Highland Society, in whatever manner they may be ren- 
 dered, whether literally, or otherwise, do often possess such 
 very striking marks of genius, that we cannot refuse to as- 
 sign them a poetical merit of the highest order. The follow- 
 ing examples, may suffice to establish this position. 
 
 ORIGINAL OF OSSIAN'S ADDRESS TO THE SUN, IN CARTHON. 
 
 O ! *Usa fliein a shiubhlas shuas 
 
 Gruinn mar Ian sciath chruaidli nan triath, 
 
 C'as tha do dhearsa gu'n ghruaiin, 
 
 Do sliolus ata buan, a Ghrian ? 
 
 Thig thu 'na d'aileadh threin, 
 
 Is faluichidh Reil en tiiall, 
 
182 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 Theid Gealach gun tuar o'n speur 
 'G a death fein fo stuaigh san lar, 
 Tha 'Us' ann a d'astar amhain, 
 Co thu dana blii na d choir ? 
 Tuitidh darag o'n chruaich ah'd, 
 Tuitidh earn fo avis a's scorr ; 
 Tr^ighidh a's lionaidh an Cuan, 
 Caillear shuas an Re san speur ; 
 Thusa d'aon a chaoi fo bhuaidh 
 An aobhneas do sholuis fein. 
 'Nuair a dhubhas m'an domhan stoirm, 
 Le Torrunn borb, a's dealan bearth, &c." 
 
 LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE FOREGOING FROM THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY'S REPORT. 
 
 ** Oh thou who travellest above. 
 
 Round as the full-orbed shield of the mighty I 
 
 Whence is thy brightness without frown, 
 
 Thy light that is lasting oh Sun ? 
 
 Thou comest forth in thy powerful beauty, 
 
 And the stars hide their course ; 
 
 The moon, without strength, goeth from the sky, 
 
 Hiding herself under a wave in the west. 
 
 Thou art in thy journey alone ; 
 
 Who is so bold as to come nigh thee ? 
 
 The oak falleth from the high mountain. 
 
 The rock and the precipice fall under old age. 
 
 The ocean ebbeth and floweth, 
 
 The moon is lost in the sky ; 
 
 But thou alone art for ever in victory, 
 
 In the rejoicing of thy own light. 
 
 When the storm darkeneth around the world, 
 
 With fierce thunder and piercing lightnings, 
 
 Thou lookest in thy beauty from thy noise. 
 
 Smiling in the troubled sky 1 — 
 
 To me is thy light in vain, 
 
 As I can never see thy countenance ; 
 
 Though thy yellow golden locks are spread 
 
 On the face of the clouds in the East ; 
 
 Or when thou tremblest in the West, 
 
 At thy dusky doors in the ocean. — 
 
 Perhaps thou and myself are 
 
 At one time mighty, at another feeble. 
 
 Our years sliding down the skies, 
 
 Quickly travelling together to their end. 
 
 Rejoice then oh Sun ! 
 
 While thou art strong, oh king in thy youth : 
 
 Dark and unpleasant is old age, 
 
 Like the vain and feeble light of the moon, 
 
 While she looks through a cloud on the field, 
 
 And her grey mist on the sides of the rocks ; 
 
 A blast from the north on the plain, 
 
 A traveller in distress, and he slow." 
 
 macpherson's translatio . 
 
 " Oh thou that rollest above. 
 Round as the shield of my fathers ! 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 183 
 
 Whence are thy beams, oh Sun, 
 
 Thy everlasting light ? 
 
 Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty ; 
 
 the stars hide themselves in the sky ; 
 
 the moon, cold and pale, 
 
 sinks in the western wave ; 
 
 but thou thyself movest alone. 
 
 Who can be a companion of tliy course ? 
 
 The oaks of the mountains fall ; 
 
 the mountains themselves decay with years ; 
 
 the ocean shrinks and grows again ; 
 
 the moon herself is lost in heaven ; 
 
 but thou art for ever the same, 
 
 rejoicing in the brightness of thy course. 
 
 When the world is dark with tempests, 
 
 when thunder rolls and lightning flies, 
 
 thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, 
 
 and laughest at the storm. 
 
 But to Ossian thou lookest in vain ; 
 
 for he beholds thy beams no more ; 
 
 whether thy yellow hair 
 
 flows on the eastern clouds, 
 
 or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. 
 
 But thou art perhaps, like me, for a season ; 
 
 thy years will have an end. 
 
 Thou shalt sleep in thy clouds, 
 
 careless of the voice of the morning. 
 
 Exult then, oh Sun, 
 
 in the strength of thy youth ! 
 
 Age is dark and unlovely ; 
 
 it is like the glimmering light of the moon, 
 
 when it shines through broken clouds, 
 
 and the mist is on the hills; 
 
 the blast of the north is on the plain ; 
 
 the traveller shrinks in the midst of his journey." 
 
 There are so many passages, in Macpherson's translation, 
 literally rendered, that we can only say, that had he chosen 
 to be more literal in the rest, he might have been so, without 
 departing from the style of his version, so that thus far, the 
 argument remains in its original state. 
 
 In the following extracts from Ossian' s Address to the Sim^ 
 in Carricthura^ the original and the translations are given, 
 for the convenience of comparison : — 
 
 GAELIC ORIGINAL. 
 
 An d' fhag thu gorm-astar nan speur, 
 A mhic gun bheud a's or-bhui ciabh ? 
 Tha dorsa na h-oidhche dhuit reidh, 
 Agus pailliun do chlos san iar. 
 Thig na stuaidh mu'n cuairt gu mall, 
 A choimhead fir a's gloine gVuaidh ; 
 
184 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 A' togail fo eagal an ceann : 
 
 Ri d' fhaicinn cho aillidh 'na d'shuain, 
 
 Tlieich iadsa gun tuar o d' thaobh. 
 
 Gabhsa cadal ann do chos, 
 
 A Ghrian ! is till o d'chlos le h-aoibhneas. 
 
 LITERAL TRANSLATION. 
 
 " Hast tbou left the blue journey of the skies. 
 
 Oh thou son without fault, of yellow golden locks? 
 
 To thee are the doors of the night. 
 
 And the tabernacle of thy rest in the west. 
 
 The waves come slowly around, 
 
 To view the one of the brightest face, 
 
 Lifting with fear their heads ; 
 
 When they behold thy beauty while asleep, 
 
 They fly without strength from thy side. 
 
 Take thou thy rest 
 
 Oh Sun ! and return again with joy." 
 
 macpherson's translation. 
 
 " Hast thou left thy blue course in heaven, 
 
 golden haired son of the sky ! 
 
 The west has opened its gates ; 
 
 the bed of thy repose is there. 
 
 The waves come to behold thy beauty. 
 
 They lift up their trembling heads. 
 
 They see thee lovely in thy sleep ; 
 
 they shrink away with fear. 
 
 Rest, in thy shadowy cave, 
 
 Oh Sun ! Let thy return be in joy." 
 
 Here again is a resemblance so close as to refute the charge 
 of forgery, provided the genuineness of the Gaelic is proved; 
 and the question still remains one of fidelity of interpreta- 
 tion. It is evident, from a slight examination, that Mac- 
 pherson has not always translated literally, and also, that he 
 has taken many liberties in omitting passages, as well as in 
 adding others, and altering the meaning of some, nevertheless 
 the former question continues unsettled, and that is, Whether 
 the original Gaelic is capable of exciting the Ossianic feeling 
 in the same way with Macpherson's translation ; or, to put 
 the matter in a clearer point of view. Whether the ancient 
 composer of the Poems, attributed to Ossian, was himself 
 conscious of the sentiment awakened by Macpherson'*s work: 
 Whether any Highlander, ever felt the influence of such a 
 sentiment, previous to the appearance of Macpherson''s work : 
 and whether, even now, the Gaelic alone is capable of giving 
 rise to that sentiment. 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. POETRY. 185 
 
 Perhaps, one of the oldest compositions, in the Gaelic 
 language, is that respecting the Liaith fail^ or Stone of des- 
 tiny, which is now under the coronation chair in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey. 
 
 " Cioniodh scuit saor an fine 
 Man ba breag an Faisdine 
 Mar a bh' f huighid an lia-fail 
 Dlighid flaitheas do ghabhail." 
 
 TRANSLATED THUS BY HECTOR BOETHIUS. 
 
 " Ni fallit fatum, Scoti quocunque locatum 
 Inveniuiit lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem." 
 
 As this stone is said to have been brought into Scotland from 
 Ireland at a very early period, it certainly may be urged 
 that the distich is not of Albanian but Hibernian origin ; 
 upon this point, we can only appeal to probability, and the 
 only statement we can with confidence make is, that the 
 lines must be older than a. d. 1800, as in that year the stone 
 was brought to London by Edward I. from the ancient 
 palace of Scone, where it had been placed by Kenneth II. 
 about the year 842. 
 
 Next in point of antiquity to this composition, or per- 
 haps anterior, may be placed the quatrain respecting the 
 destiny of lona, — 
 
 "Seachd bliadhna roimh 'n breLth, 
 Thig muir thair Eirinn re on tr^th, 
 Is thair Ila ghuirm ghlais ; 
 Ach snamhaidh I Cholum claraich." 
 
 ** Seven years before the world's end 
 The sea shall come over Erin at one tide. 
 And over green grassy Islay ; 
 But I Colum shall float upon the flood." 
 
 The following prophecy respecting lona, which is attributed 
 to St. Columba, may be old. 
 
 An I mo chridhe, I mo ghraidh, 
 An aite guth manaich bitludh geum ba 
 Ach mun tig an saoghal gu crich 
 Bithidh I mar a bha." 
 
 " In the isle of my heart, the isle of m}'- love, 
 
 Instead of a monk's voice there shall be the lowing of cattle ; 
 
 But ere the world comes to an end, 
 
 lona shall flourish as before." 
 
 2 B 
 
186 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE OF 
 
 From the uncertainty that rests upon these, and similar 
 traditionary fragments, as regards their date and origin; 
 and from the circumstance of the Irish claiming all the ma- 
 nuscripts in which the ancient Poems are found which are 
 attributed to Ossian, it has been asserted, that the High- 
 landers have not, and never had in their native tongue, any 
 compositions whatever, beyond what they might have re- 
 ceived from Ireland. Now the unreasonableness of such an 
 assertion, and the improbability of the fact, might be suf- 
 ficient to refute it without further argument, as it is not 
 likely that a nation so much under the influence of poetry 
 and imagination, should continue for centuries to receive 
 compositions from another country, without at least attempt- 
 ing their imitation, if not also the construction of something 
 original. But in the deciding of this point, we are not left 
 to a balance of probabilities, for there is extant a Poem in the 
 G-aelic language of Scotland, as early as the time of Mal- 
 colm III. i. e. from a.d. 1056 to 1093, which is believed 
 to have been written by the Highland Court-bard of that 
 sovereign, and, according to Pinkerton, " has no marks of 
 having been written in Ireland." It is a metrical chronicle 
 of the ancient Scottish kings. It contains 112 lines. The 
 following specimens of it are given from Pinkerton^s work, 
 together with the translation : — 
 
 DUAN ALBANACH. 
 
 " A eolcha Alban uile, 
 A shluagh feta foltbhuidle ; 
 Cia ceud ghabhail an eol duibh, 
 Ro ghabhsadar Alban bhruigh. 
 
 Albanus ro ghabh lia shlogh, 
 Macsein oirdhearc Isiacon, 
 Brathair do Bhritus gan bhrath 
 O raitear Alba eathrach. 
 Ro ionnarb a bhrathair bras, 
 Britus tar mhuir Nicht namhnus 
 Ro ghabh Britus Albain ain 
 Go rinn f ladlmach Fothudam. 
 Foda iarniBritus mblaith mbil, 
 Ro ghabhsad clanna Nemhidh ; 
 Erglan iar dteacht as a luing, 
 Do aithle toghla tuir conaing. 
 
 Cruithnigh ro ghabhsad iardain, 
 Iar driachtain a hEreann mhuigh. 
 Dech righ, tri fichid righ ran, 
 Ghabhsad diobh an Cruithean chlar, &c." 
 
THE SECOND PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 187 
 
 FREE TRANSLATION OF THE FOREGOING BY MR. o'CONNOR. 
 
 Ye knowing men of Alba, ye comely hosts of the yellow tresses, 
 know ye the first possessions of that country ? 
 
 *' Albanus of the numerous combatants was the first possessor. He 
 was the son of Isiacon. From him is derived the name of Alba. Britus 
 .was his brother. Britus banished his brother across the Ictian sea. 
 Britus seized upon Alba to the limits of the hunter of Fothadan. 
 
 " Long after the celebrated Britus the Nemedians settled here under 
 auspices of Erglan. It was after the siege of Tor Conang. 
 
 " In a later period Cruithnidh [the Picts^ seized upon Alba, after 
 quitting Ireland. Seventy of their monarchs reigned over Cruthen- 
 land." 
 
 Towards the conclusion are the following words, which 
 clearly prove the era of the Poem : — 
 
 " Maholum, a nosa as righ, 
 
 Mac Donnchaidh datha drechbni, &c." 
 
 *' Malcolm son of Donchod is the present king, God alone knows 
 how long he is to reign." 
 
 BAS FHRAOICH. 
 
 THE DEATH OF FRAOCH. 
 
 The Gaels, also, lay claim to the Poem called the Death of 
 Fraoch, a composition in the same quatrain metre, and in 
 the Ballad style. It consists of thirty-three stanzas, and 
 appears as old as the Poems attributed to Ossian. The sub- 
 ject is the death of Fraoch, which was accomplished through 
 the malice of his mother-in-law, who was named Mey. There 
 was in an island in a neighbouring lake, since called Loch 
 Meyr, a mountain ash, whose fruit had extraordinary medi- 
 cinal powers ; but at the foot of the tree there was a vene- 
 mous monster, which made the approach to it extremely 
 perilous. Mey, to gratify her malice, feigned herself ill, and 
 requested Fraoch to provide her some of this fruit. He ac- 
 cordingly swam the lake, and finding the monster asleep, he 
 brought away some of the fruit uninjured. Then Mey said 
 that the fruit was not sufficient, that nothing would cure her 
 but a branch torn off from the tree. Fraoch again swam 
 the lake, and tore away a branch from the tree, but as he 
 was returning, the monster awoke, and pursued him into the 
 lake, and destroyed him ; the following is the commencement 
 of the Poem : — 
 
 '•Osan caraid ann cluain Fhraoich, 
 Osan Laoich ann caiseal chro, 
 
188 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE. 
 
 An Osan sin on tuirseacli fear, 
 'Son tromghulanach Bean og. 
 
 Sud e shiar an cam am bheil, 
 Fraoch Mac Fedhich an Fhuilt maoidh, 
 Am fear a rinn Buidheachas do Mhei, 
 Sann air a shloinnte Cam Fhraoicli, &c." 
 
 The sigh of a friend in the grove of Fraoch ! 
 A sigh for the hero of its rounded pale, 
 A sigh which causes each man to mourn, 
 And which makes each maiden weep. 
 
 There to the westward is the Carn, 
 
 Which covers Fraoch, son of Fiach of the soft hair , 
 
 He, who obeyed the call of Mey, 
 
 And from whom that carn of Fraoch has its name, &c. 
 
 It is not known that there are in the Gaelic language, 
 any prose compositions of a date anterior to the eleventh 
 century. 
 
WELSH LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 It has already been noticed how, in the sixth century, the 
 genius of Bardism blazed forth amongst the Welsh, and 
 continued in its full brilliancy for upwards of a century, 
 and, probably, could we recover the compositions of the 
 time, it would be found that it did not entirely subside for 
 nearly two centuries. But it cannot be denied that some time 
 towards the close of the seventh century, the real awen and 
 spirit of poetry had nearly disappeared ; and from that time 
 to the close of the eleventh century, or rather the beginning 
 of the twelfth, there is but very little extant that deserves 
 to be ranked amongst the spirited productions of Aneurin, 
 &c. in the sixth century. But at this epoch, i. e. the begin- 
 ning of the twelfth century, we find the awen bursting forth 
 again with the same energy as before, and, for another pe- 
 riod of two centuries, evincing the same power and vitality 
 as at the former outbreak. 
 
 We are naturally led to inquire respecting the causes of 
 such desultory manifestations of genius, and to ask what 
 could have occasioned these extraordinary impulses at these 
 particular periods, and the general torpor which immediately 
 succeeded to each of them. But we are constrained to ad- 
 mit, that the answers which suggest themselves, are any 
 thing but satisfactory. 
 
 In the first place, it may be said, that these revivals of 
 the awenic genius * took place at two periods of similar 
 
 * Awen, in Welsh, signifies Poetic inspiration. Mr, Price has here coined a 
 new English adjective, well suited to enrich the language by its fulness of ex- 
 pressive meaning. — Editor. 
 
190 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 national excitement, the first at the Saxon invasion, and the 
 last at the Norman. It must be acknowledged that these 
 circumstances added force to the existing impulse, but there 
 are certain facts which militate against the idea of their 
 constituting the original cause. For instance, the national 
 struggles of the Welsh against the Saxons did not termi- 
 nate with the subsiding of the Bardic genius in the seventh 
 century, but on the contrary, there were continual wars for 
 some ages afterwards, as with OfFa and Ethelbald, &;c. of which 
 there is no poetic memorial extant. Again, in the eighth 
 and ninth centuries, the Welsh had to maintain a most 
 arduous, and, ultimately victorious struggle against the 
 Danes ; and yet, we do not find that the Bardic spirit was 
 roused from its torpor upon this occasion. Perhaps there 
 never was a time that called for greater exertion of energy, 
 or afforded cause for greater exultation in its results. For 
 those ferocious barbarians, who had conquered England and 
 Ireland, and possessed themselves of a considerable portion 
 of Scotland, yet, were never able to obtain a footing in 
 Wales, nor even to efiect a landing, excepting in marauding 
 parties, along the coast. And when once, with the whole 
 power of the Danish army, they made an irruption into 
 Wales, they were so vigorously attacked by the Welsh, that 
 they were defeated with immense loss, and compelled to re- 
 treat with precipitancy across the Severn : and yet there 
 was no demonstration of a corresponding excitement amongst 
 the Bards. 
 
 Again, at the period of the Norman invasion of Wales, 
 although, in all probability, the spirit of Bardism received an 
 additional stimulus from the stirring events of the time, yet, 
 there are certain facts, which seem to indicate, that the 
 awakening of that spirit is not attributable to the Norman 
 invasion, but, on the contrary, that it had already taken 
 place before that invasion occurred. It does not appear 
 that the collision between the Welsh and the Normans had 
 become general prior to the year 1091, when Robert Fitz- 
 liamon invaded Glamorgan ; but we have reason to believe 
 that the Bardic awen exhibited symptoms of an awakening 
 full ten years before, and the subject which exercised the 
 talents of tlie only Bard of the time, whose works are extant, 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD POETRY. 191 
 
 was the battle of Carno, fought in 1080, betwixt two native 
 princes, GrufFydd ap Cynan, and Trahaearn ap Caradawc, 
 in which the latter was slain. The composition alluded to 
 is a short Ode, by Meilyr Brydydd^ or Meilyr the Poet ; 
 which in the Myfyrian Archaiology, is placed in the twelfth 
 century, but from internal evidence it is clear that it was 
 composed soon after the battle, in which it appears that the 
 Bard himself was present ; as it is said that he sang the Ode 
 in that very expedition. It is stated in the Welsh Chronicle, 
 that GrufFydd ap Cynan, having been obliged to take refuge 
 in Ireland, returned from that country with a strong body 
 of Irish Scots, and having joined forces with Rhys ap Tew- 
 dwr, attacked Trahaearn and slew him. The Ode is as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 "Meilyr Brydydd a gant yr Awdyl hon yn y lluydd y Has Trahae- 
 arn fab Caradawg, a Meilyr mab Rhiwallawn fab Cynfyn. 
 
 Gwolychaf ym Ren rex awyr 
 
 Arglwydd a wyr fy'm pryder 
 
 Pryder pryderaf yn fawr 
 
 Am fy Arglwydd llawr llyw nifer 
 
 Ny ddodynt dros for etwaith 
 
 Pobyl anhyfaeth Nanliyfer 
 
 Gwyddyl dietyl duon 
 
 Ysgodogion dynion lletffer 
 
 Cad a fydd ym mynydd Carn 
 
 A Thrahaearn a ladder 
 
 A mab Rhywallawn rwyf myr 
 
 O'r gyfergyr nid adfer 
 
 Difieu ym mhen y tair wythnos 
 
 Tu a nos yd ith ladder." 
 
 ** Meilyr the Poet sung this Ode, in the expedition in which were 
 slain Trahaearn the son of Caradawc, and Meilyr son of Rhiwallawn 
 son of Cynfyn. 
 
 " I adore my Sovereign, the king of heaven ; the Lord, who knows 
 my affliction. I am greatly afflicted for my earthly lord, the ruler of 
 the host. Should there come again over the sea, the ungentle people 
 of Nanhyfer, the Irish — black devils, the Scots, a savage race ; a battle 
 will take place on the mountain of Carn, and Trahaiarn will be slain ; 
 and the son of Rhiwallawn, the protecting chief, will not return from 
 the encounter. On Thursday, at the end of the three weeks, towards 
 night thou shalt be slain." 
 
 There is, in the style and construction of this Poem, a cer- 
 tain simplicity, which indicates an unpractised composer. 
 This want of skill may be attributed in some measure to 
 the youth of the Poet. For, as he composed an Elegy on 
 GrufFydd ap Cynan, who died in 1137, he must have been 
 
192 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 but a youthful Bard in 1080. But it is more probable that 
 the simplicity of style observable in the foregoing Ode, is 
 attributable to the fact already alluded to, that is, the long 
 period of Bardic torpor which had preceded its composition ; 
 as it appears that Meilyr is actually the first composer of 
 the Bardic school, which arose with the renovation of the 
 aweii at the close of the eleventh century. After a lapse 
 of fifty years, we find that Meilyr^s own style has been 
 greatly improved, though there is still much left of his early 
 character of simplicity. For, in his Elegy on Grufiydd ap 
 Oynan, there is the same detail of occurrences, a feature not 
 so conspicuous in the works of subsequent Bards, and, also, 
 the same bare and unadorned statements of facts, and less 
 of the intricacy of alliteration, and artificial arrangement of 
 sentences. 
 
 But whether times of national emergency are calculated to 
 call forth the energies of the muse, or whether they only add to 
 the excitement already existing, we must acknowledge, to the 
 honour of the Welsh Bards, that their awen was of a character 
 highly patriotic, that from whatever source the inspiration of 
 these men was derived, their sympathies were universally en- 
 listed on the side of their country. The heroes they celebrated 
 were the warriors who really defended their native soil, and 
 the events they recorded, were the battles actually fought in 
 the cause of national liberty. And here we cannot but 
 notice a striking contrast between the direction of the ancient 
 British awen in the middle ages, and that which the modern 
 muse of Britain has taken in our own time. For whilst, du- 
 ring the long and desperate struggle of the last war, the ut- 
 most eff'orts of the nation were exerted against a powerful and 
 inveterate enemy, and its best blood unsparingly shed on sea 
 and land : with the exception of OampbelFs Battle of the 
 Baltic,* not a single Ode was offered in tribute by any of the 
 leading Poets of the day, but the brightest genius of the 
 country lavished its powers upon thevillanies of Moss-troop- 
 ers and Corsairs, and other worthless characters of the same 
 stamp. It is true, we find one individual who evinced a 
 more patriotic spirit, and that was Dibdin ; one, who though 
 
 * And the " Hohenlinden" of the same Poet. — Editor. 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 193 
 
 not of the highest order of genius, yet, perhaps, was equally 
 effective in his compositions with the most distinguished men 
 of the age and who deserved well of his country, for the 
 unflagging manner in which he brought out his inspiring- 
 sea songs. But then, even Dibdin was influenced by the 
 same feeling of idealism, and all his heroes are imaginary 
 beings, To7n Tough^ Jack Junfc^ Ben Blocks S^c. 
 
 In thus attempting to follow the track of the awe7i^ from 
 the sixth century downwards, if we are not able to account 
 for the irregularity of its course, yet, we do at least light 
 upon facts, which seem to indicate similar periods of action 
 and of inactivity in the rest of the world, and which, as they 
 seem to be generally concurrent and contemporaneous, we 
 may, perhaps, be held excusable, if we indulge in an idea, 
 that they indicate the occurrence of a periodial mental excite- 
 ment ; a kind of sleep and waking of the human mind, 
 though the period of rest has generally exceeded in its dura- 
 tion that of the waking state. For instance, in order to 
 illustrate this position, we may take a look at the world after 
 the Roman Empire had reached its height, and the Augustan 
 age passed away ; we find but few works of genius for some 
 centuries. The Roman Colonies seem to have lapsed into a 
 complete torpor; and the Bardic awen of the Britons ap- 
 pears to have shared in the same inactivity ; but in the fifth 
 and sixth centuries, from causes not yet fully explained, we 
 find the whole western world in commotion. To what extent 
 the intellectual frame was influenced amongst those nations, 
 who, from their ignorance of letters, were unable to recoil 
 the workings of the mind, we have no means of judging; 
 but amongst the Britons, we find that the national excite- 
 ment was followed, if not accompanied, by a corresponding 
 intellectual movement, and in the sixth century arose a con- 
 stellation of Bards, whose inspiration appears as unaccounta- 
 ble as does the general outbreak of the barbarian nations 
 around. 
 
 In the course of two or three generations, the spirit of the 
 awen flags, and continues in a state of inactivity, until the 
 end of the eleventh century, and, during this period, the 
 fever of the nations around appears to have subsided, and 
 the world lind lapsed into a state of comparative tranquilitv. 
 2 0 
 
L94 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 But now, at the close of the eleventh century, as if re- 
 freshed by a sleep of 400 years, the Bardic awen is again 
 awake, and immediately in high action ; and this with as 
 little apparent cause as its previous sinking to rest. But it 
 is not merely in the awen of Wales, that this awakening is 
 perceptible, we find it throughout the whole of the western 
 world ; a new impulse seems to be communicated to the 
 mind, and all things bear testimony to the effects of its re- 
 novated energies. New languages are formed, and new books 
 written, and new structures erected ; turreted and embattled 
 castles take the place of earthen forts, and groined and 
 vaulted cathedrals occupy the sites of wattled and mud- 
 walled fabrics ; chivalric honours are created, and crusades 
 undertaken. In short, the whole aspect of society is al- 
 tered, and as great a difference is seen betwixt the twelfth 
 and the tenth centuries, as betwixt the waking and sleeping 
 man. 
 
 But in no country were the effects of this awakening more 
 visible than amongst the Welsh ; for with their copious 
 and expressive language ready formed, and their ancient 
 traditions handed down uninterruptedly, their Bards pro- 
 duced compositions, which, for the lyric spirit, have not been 
 surpassed, nor perhaps equalled, in any language since the 
 days of Pindar. 
 
 Amongst these Bards, the first that offers himself to our 
 notice is Gwalchmai son of Meilyr, the last mentioned 
 Bard, who appears to have inherited his father's poetical 
 talents to their fullest extent ; he also displays a higher 
 degree of taste, and adopts a more cultivated style. The fol- 
 lowing Ode may sufiice as a specimen of his power. It 
 was composed in 1157, in honour of the victory obtained by 
 Owen Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, over the troops of 
 Henry the Second on the shores of Menai : — 
 
 GWALCHMAI AI CANT I OWAIN GWYNEDD. 
 
 " Ardwyreaf hael o hil Rodri 
 Ardwyad gorw lad gweriin teithi 
 
 Teithiawg Prydain 
 
 Twyth afyrdwyth Owain 
 
 Teyrnain ni grain 
 Ni grawn rei. 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 195 
 
 Teir lleng y daethant liant lestri 
 Teir praf prif lynges wy bres brofi 
 
 Un o Iwerddon 
 
 Arall arfogion 
 
 O'r Llyclilynigioii 
 Llvvrw hirion Hi. 
 
 A'r drydedd dros for o Normandi 
 Ar drapherth anferth anfad iddi 
 A draig Mon mor ddrud ei eissillydd yn aer 
 A ba tei'fysg taer 
 I hir holi 
 
 A rhagddaw rhewys dwys dyfysgi 
 A ihewin a thrin a thranc Cymri 
 
 A'r gad gad greudde 
 
 A'r gryd gryd graendde 
 
 Ac am dal Moelfre 
 Mil fanieri. 
 
 A'r Uadd ladd llachar ar bar beri 
 A fFvvyr ffwyr ffyrfgawdd ar fawdd foddi 
 A Menai heb drai o drallanw gwaedryar 
 A lliw gwyar 
 Gwyr yn heli. 
 
 A llyrygawr glas a gloes trychni 
 
 A thrychion yn dud rhag rheiddradd ri 
 
 A dygyfor Lloegr a dygyfrang a hi 
 
 Ac ei dygyfwrw yn astrusi 
 
 A dygyfod clod cleddyf difri 
 
 Yn seith ugein ieith wy feith foil." 
 
 It is scarcely just to attempt to render even the meaning 
 of such a composition in any literal translation, and yet it 
 is necessary towards the illustration of the subject that a 
 translation should be added j the following therefore is 
 otFered, as furnishing the meaning of the original, as nearly 
 as the idioms of the two languages will permit. It is partly 
 taken from the translation of the Rev. Evan Evans : — 
 
 " I will extol the generous hero of the race of Rhodri, the bulwark 
 of his country, exalted chieftain, the glory of Britain, Owen brave and 
 warlike, a prince who will not stoop, nor hoard up riches. 
 
 " Three legions arrived in the vessels of the ocean ; Three mighty 
 fleets, furious to attack, — One from Ireland ; another with well-armed 
 men of Llychlyn ;] lengthy burdens of the deep. 
 
 " And the third came over the sea from Normandi, with prodigious 
 labour, but with ill success — 
 
 " The chief of Mona, how dauntless were his sons in the battle ! 
 There was the furious tumult, and the long enduring contest, and be- 
 fore the prince liimself there was vast confusion, havoc, conflict, 
 honourable death, bloody battle, horrible consternation, and upon T&l 
 Moelfre a thousand banners. 
 
19G 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 *' There was outrageous carnage, »and the rage of spears, and hasty 
 signs of violent indignation and overwhelming in the flood, and the 
 Menai without ebb of tide from the flowing of blood, and the ocean 
 tinged with crimson. 
 
 " There were glittering cuirasses, and the agony of gashing wounds, 
 and the mangled warriors prostrate before the crimson-lance chief. And 
 Lloegria was put to rout and confusion. And the renown of the 
 sword of the exalted prince shall be celebrated. In seven score 
 languages shall it be extolled."* 
 
 This Ode of Gwalchmai was selected by Gray as a speci- 
 men of Welsh Poetry ; and his metrical translation, from 
 Evans's prose, may be seen in the poem entitled the Tri- 
 umphs of Owen, It is to this composition, that bishop Percy 
 refers, when he speaks of " Gwalchmai'^s very sublime and 
 animated Ode." And it is of the Bards of the same period 
 that he speaks, in his correspondence with Evans, when he 
 pays so high a compliment to their genius. " I have,'' says 
 he, " lately been collecting specimens of English poetry, 
 through every age, from the time of the Saxons down to 
 that of Elizabeth, and I am ashamed to show you what 
 wretched stuff our rhymers produced, at the same time that 
 your bards were celebrating the praise of Llywelyn with a 
 spirit scarce inferior to Pindar." 
 
 There are several other compositions of Gwalchmai extant, 
 in which the same spirit and genius is evinced ; from 
 several of them it appears, that the Bard himself had been 
 actively engaged in some of the battles which he refers to, 
 as for instance : — 
 
 " Llochar fy nghleddyf lluch ei anwyd 
 Yn nghad llewychedig aur arfy ysgwyd." 
 
 " Bright is my sword ; — gleaming in battle. 
 Glittering and bright is the gold on my buckler." 
 
 and also, — 
 
 "Gwalchmai a'm gelwir gelyn y Saeson." 
 " Gwalchmai am I called, the foe of the Saxons." 
 and again, — 
 
 *' Bloody is my sword, crimson in battle, 
 
 In conflict with Lloegr was not the ground covered '] [with bloodj 
 I saw, from the stroke of the son of Grufiydd, 
 The routed armies, &c." 
 
 ^ Perhaps the Bard may have had in his mind, the various nations of which 
 the invading army was composed. 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 197 
 
 and also, — 
 
 " Gwelais yn Rhuddlan iuthyr-4flam rhag 
 Owain a chelanedd rhaiii a rimdd fehyr." 
 
 " I saw in Rhuddlan the rushmg of fire before 
 Owam, and prostrate carcases and crimson lances." 
 
 He also enumerates several other battles in which he was 
 engaged, as the battle of Cardigan, the battle of Maesgar- 
 nedd, of Graig Gwydyr, &c. and he says, that he heard 
 the eagle screaming over his prey, when blood was added to 
 his repast : — 
 
 " Endeweisi eryr ar ei giniaw dyfyn 
 Dyraith Gwynedd gwyar iddaw ; " 
 
 and he speaks of his having been engaged in guarding the 
 frontiers, and keeping watch at night on the fords of the 
 waters of the Breiddyn mountains. 
 
 But in the midst of all these martial recollections, the 
 Bard occasionally recurs to scenes and objects of a more 
 gentle character, as, — 
 
 " The sea mews sporting on their bed of floods, 
 Tlieir plumage gliding through the parted waves ; " 
 
 *' Gwylain yn gware arwely lliant 
 Lleithrion eu pluawr pleidiau edrin ; " 
 
 and of his being — 
 
 " Soothed to sleep by the green wave of AberfFraw." 
 
 " Dymhunis ton wyrdd wrth AberfFraw." 
 
 He also speaks of his listening to the notes of the nightin- 
 gale, and alludes to several other subjects of a similar na- 
 ture, by wdiich it appears that he was not insensible to tlieir 
 influence ; but, at the same time, these allusions are but 
 very cursory, and it is evident, that the bent of his mind 
 was almost entirely martial, and in accordance with the 
 stirring spirit of the time. 
 
 But Gwalchmai is not the only Bard of eminence at this 
 period ; there are several others, who are at least his rivals ; 
 as for instance, Cynddelw, Owain Cefeilioc, and Llywarcli 
 ap Llywelyn, but a particular notice of their respective 
 works, would extend the present Essay far beyond its proper 
 limits, as the compositions of Cynddelw alone amount to 
 
198 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 near fifty. It must suffice, as evidence of the estima- 
 tion in which their genius is held, that they are placed in 
 the same group with Gwalchmai ; nevertheless there is in 
 one of the Poems of Owen Cefeilioc, that of the Hirlas, a 
 passage so exceedingly striking and original, so dramatic and 
 efiective, that it is scarcely possible to pass it by unnoticed. 
 The real sense of this passage appears to have been first dis- 
 covered by Sharon Turner, and it is singular, that none of 
 his predecessors as translators or commentators had ever 
 suspected its existence. However, now it is pointed out, no- 
 thing can be more clear, and we are surprised that it should 
 have escaped the notice of Evans, and other admirers of the 
 Poem. The following extract from Sharon Turn3r*'s ex- 
 position of the passage, in his " Vindication of the Genuine- 
 ness of the Ancient British Poems," is here given. It may 
 be necessary to premise, that Owen Cefeilioc was prince of 
 Powis in the middle of the twelfth century. He was a 
 brave and warlike chieftain, and was one of the allied princes, 
 who defeated Henry the Second in the battle of G-rogen, 
 A. D. 1165, and, it is supposed that he composed his Poem 
 of the Hirlas soon after that event. 
 Sharon Turner, says, — 
 
 " Before I dismiss the prince of Cy veilioc, I cannot but crave per- 
 mission to mention a very interesting and original elegial turn wliich 
 occurs in his poem of the Hirlas. 
 
 "The prince was a turbulent warrior, generally fighting with some of 
 his neighbours. His Hirlas, however, shows that he possessed a strong 
 poetic genius, and applied it to celebrate the warriors who accompa- 
 nied him in his quarrels. The plan of the poem is ingenious and pic- 
 turesque. He fancies himself surrounded by his chiefs at the festive 
 table, rejoicing in their victory. And he orders his cupbearer to pour 
 out the generous beverage to those whom he intends to celebrate, and 
 whom he selects and describes successively." 
 
 He thus sends the horn to Rhys, and again, he orders it 
 to be replenished and taken to Gwgan, and then to GrufFydd, 
 and then to Ednyfed, preparing the presentation to each 
 with a complimentary address, descriptive of his valour and 
 achievements. 
 
 " Two of his accustomed companions and favourite warriors were 
 Moreiddig and Tudyr, who had just perished in a preceding battle. In 
 the ardour of his festivity and panegyric, he forgets they are no more. 
 Therefore, after directing the horn of mead to be sent to his warriors, 
 and after addressing each of them with appropriate praise, he proceeds 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 199 
 
 to send it to Moreiddig and Tudyr. He recites their merit, — He turns 
 to greet them, — hut their place is vacant, — he heliolds them not, — he 
 hears their dying groan, — lie recollects their fate, — his triumphant 
 strains cease, — his hilarity flies, and the hroken tones of mournful ex- 
 clamation suddenly burst out. 
 
 " To enhance the compliment, which he is going to pay, he threatens 
 death to his cupbearer, if he execute his office unskilfully. 
 
 " Fill cupbearer, seek not death — 
 
 Fill the horn of honour at our banquets, 
 
 The long blue horn, of high privilege, of ancient silver, 
 
 That covers it not unsparingly ; 
 
 Bear to Tudyr, eagle of slaughter, 
 
 A prime beverage of florid wine. 
 
 Thy head shall be the forfeit if there come not in 
 
 The most delicious mead. 
 
 To the hand of Moreiddig, encourager of songs ; 
 
 May thy become old in fame before they leave us ! 
 
 Ye blameless brothers of aspiring souls. 
 
 Of dauntless ardour that would grasp even fire ; 
 
 Heroes, what services have ye achieved for me ! 
 
 Not old disgustingly, but old in skill ; 
 
 Unwearied, rushing wolves of battle ; 
 
 First in the crimsoned ranks of bleeding spears. 
 
 Brave leaders of the Mochnantians from Pow^^s, 
 
 The prompt ones in every need. 
 
 Who rescue their borders from violence. 
 
 Praise is your meed, most amiable pair ! 
 
 Ha ! — the cry of death — and do I miss them — 
 
 O Christ 1 — how I mourn their catastrophe — 
 
 O lost Moreiddig — how greatly shall I need thee." * 
 
 * " Diwallaw di fenestr na fyn angau. 
 Corn can anrhydedd anghyfeddau, 
 Hirlas bnelin, breint uchel hen ariant, 
 Ai gortho, nid gorthenau ; 
 A dyddwg i Dudyr eryr aerau, 
 Gwirawd gysefin o'r gwin gwinau 
 Oni ddaw i mewn o'r medd gorau oil, 
 Gwirawd o ban, dy ben faddau, 
 Ar Haw Foreiddig, Uodriad cerddau, 
 Cerddyn hyn i glod cyn oer adnau, 
 DieitUr frodyr fryd ucheldau, 
 Diarchar arial o dan dalau 
 Cedwyr a'm gorug gwasanaethau, 
 Nid ym hyn dihyll nam hen deheu, 
 Cynneifieid, gyrtheid, fleinieid, fleiddiau, 
 Cynfaran creulawn creulyd ferau, 
 Glow gly w Mochnantwys o Bowys ben : 
 O glew gwnedd arnaddunt deu, 
 Aehubieit pob rheid, rhudd eu harfau : 
 Echedwynt rhag terfysg eu terfynau, 
 MoHant yw rhan y rhai gwinnau ; — 
 Marwnad fu !- neud mi newid y ddau ! — 
 O chan Grist ! mor drist wyf o'r anaelau 
 O goU Moreiddig ! — mawr ei eisiau." 
 
200 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 Amongst the less distinguished Bards of this age, there 
 are some whose compositions contain occasional passages of 
 considerable merit, and sometimes we meet with a complete 
 Poem equally original and spirited. The following stanzas 
 from an Ode by Llywarch Llew Cad to Llywelyn, son of 
 Madawc, Prince of Powys, who was slain in 1159, are 
 curious, as combining with a highly poetical style and regu- 
 larity of verse, a certain quaintness of manner, which gives 
 to the piece a peculiar degree of interest. The Bard intro- 
 duces his hero as a warrior, fully armed and mounted on 
 liis war-horse, and proceeds to describe him in a series of 
 questions and answers. The Poem opens as follows : — 
 
 " Gofynnwys nebun, ny bu raen gan rei 
 
 Cyn rudaw haearngaen 
 Pa was a wisg e laesgaen 
 Pa walch yw y balch o'r blaen 
 
 Lleissiawn werennic o ranned dyall 
 
 Nid avail ae harwed 
 Llyw gly w glew anhangryud 
 Llywelyn gelyn Gwyned 
 
 Pieu yr ysgwyt esgutwal cynnwau 
 
 Ar canwaew am y tal 
 Pwy'r glew llew Hit aer ddywal 
 Ae deily cyfrwng dwy brennial, &c." 
 
 " Has no one asked ? — Have none been anxious to know, 
 
 Before his iron garb be stained with red. 
 What youth is he that wears his glittering vestment, 
 What hero is the stately person in front ? 
 
 An exalted chieftain is he, we give to know, 
 
 None other wears them ; 
 A leader bold, daring and warlike, 
 Llewelyn, the enemy of Gwynedd. 
 
 Whose is the shield rapidly moved, of noble rank. 
 
 With the burnished lance in its front ? 
 Who is the hero of lion wrath, dauntless in battle, 
 Who grasps it by its two handles ? 
 
 It is the shield of Llewelyn, the chief of his country's honour, 
 
 Such is that shield, we do assert, 
 A shield with a shoulder in it ; 
 A shield with terror in its front. 
 
 Whose is the sword so boldl}'^ brandished. 
 
 Of inevitable wounds ? 
 Renowned champion ! doubtless it will be related. 
 How it committed slaughter in his right hand. 
 He that brandishes it is the defender of dwellings ; 
 
 Amidst the rapid hewing down 
 Of the besieging combatants, in the day of battle, — 
 He is the hero of Mechain, the glory of his country. 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. — POETRY. 
 
 201 
 
 Whose is the helmet of the red-visaged battle, 
 
 With the fierce wolf on its summit 1 
 Who is the valiant one on the grey steed ? 
 What is his name of such distinguished rank ? 
 
 He is called the long-handed Llewelyn, 
 
 The chieftain who terminates the tumults of the land ; 
 Loud is the battle shout of his warriors, 
 The ravager of Lloegyr. 
 
 Whose is the coat of mail, compact, unyielding ? 
 
 It will not retreat till death — 
 What man is he of noble extraction "? 
 We demand before all, what is his origin ? 
 
 He is the renowned and valiant leader ; 
 
 He is bold and slaughtering ; 
 Powerful with the mighty lance, wrathful in conflict ; 
 The son of Meredith, son of Madawc. 
 
 Whose is the war-horse, daring the foremost ranks 
 
 With the fearless march ? 
 And the warrior enjoying the respect of his followers ? 
 And the spear with the impetuous thrust? 
 
 He is a firm support, 
 
 As long as God continues with him. 
 The vanquisher of warriors, manly and fame- enjoying, 
 The protector of the congregation of Tysilio." 
 
 The Ode contains several stanzas more, much in the same 
 strain. 
 
 There is extant another Ode in the same metre, by some 
 Bard so obscure as to be at present unknown, but he is sup- 
 posed to have been one of the name of Peryf ap Cadifor ; 
 this Ode exhibits, in a very striking mannei% the daring and 
 fearless spirit which pervaded the Principality at that time, 
 and was cherished by all ranks of people, whether Bards or 
 warriors. The Ode under consideration, was composed after 
 the death of Hywel son of Owain Glwynedd, who was slain 
 in 1169 ; the Bard was one of seven brothers, his partisans 
 and intimate friends, and was present at Prince HywePs 
 death, when the Bard had four brothers slain, whose fate he 
 laments : — 
 
 " Tra fuam ein saith triseith ni'n beiddiai 
 
 Ni'n ciliai cyn ein lleith 
 Nid oes ysywaeth o'r seith 
 Namyn tri trin dioleith, &c." 
 
 *' Whilst we existed all seven, three sevens would not dare us. 
 
 We would not retreat before being slain ; 
 There are not, alas ! of the seven, 
 But three unslain in battle. 
 
 2 D 
 
202 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 Seven men we wei'e, iiTeproachal)le, unmoveable, 
 
 And irresistible in our combined assault ; 
 Seven men, firm, who would not step back in retreat, 
 Seven once were we, who would not suffer injustice. 
 
 Since Hywel has gone the deadly road of battle, 
 
 To us, who were with him, 
 There is to-day the lamenting of his loss. 
 To him there is the enjoyment of the fairer society of heaven. 
 
 The sons of Cadifor, a numerous progeny, 
 
 In the dell above the beach, [Pentraeth] 
 They were valiant, bold, and resolute, 
 They were slain along with their foster brother. &c." 
 
 The aforesaid prince, Hywel the son of Owain Gwynedd, 
 and who for a short time enjoyed the throne of North 
 Wales, was himself a very elegant Poet: there are several 
 of his compositions extant, containing some exceedingly 
 beautiful touches, but, where so much depends upon diction, 
 it is very difficult to convey the true spirit of the original 
 through the medium of a translation. Indeed, this difficulty 
 must be felt in the translation of poetry in general, but es- 
 pecially of Lyric poetry. As an instance of the untranslata- 
 ble nature of some expressions, and in conclusion of the pre- 
 sent section, the following lines are given from an Ode by 
 Llywarch ap Llywelyn to Grufiydd son of Cynan ap Owain 
 Gwynedd, composed about the twelfth centur}^. The Ode 
 commences as follows : — 
 
 " Rac rwy Dyganwy dygynwyre gly w 
 
 O uon hyd uyn yw Uyw llu agde 
 Dy ryd a doryf dy re orwydawr 
 
 Hyd y llewyrch llav/r gwawr gwymp fore 
 Dyciiymysc aerfpysc yn aryfle desdur 
 
 A'i gledyf flflamdur ag glot dyre 
 Mab medel utcyrn heyrn dy he 
 
 Grufiydd teyrnud tud Elisse." 
 
 In attempting a translation of these lines, we find ourselves 
 between two difiiculties. If the translation is paraphrastic, 
 the Lyric spirit of the original is lost ; if, on the other hand, 
 we make the translation literal, the finer touches become ab- 
 solutely unintelligible. For example,— 
 
 Before the chief of Deganwy, heroes arise 
 From Mona to Menevia, — leader of the resistless host. 
 
 His army and his steeds will proceed 
 
 As far as earth is illumined by the radiant dawn of morning. 
 
 He mingles in the battle tumult, in the weapon-place of steel buck- 
 . lers, 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. POETRY. 
 
 203 
 
 With his sword of flaming steel, and his extending fame. 
 Son of the reaping of trumpets, of irons of the valiant, 
 Gruffydd, the royal chief of tlie land of Elissai ! 
 
 Now, in this translation, though *' the radiant dawn of 
 morning,"'' may be good Enghsh, and express the meaning of 
 the original well, yet it has not quite the effect of " gwawr 
 gwymp fore,"' still it is intelligible ; but when we come to 
 
 the son of the reaping of trumpets, &;c." the whole sentence 
 becomes totally unmeaning, and although the original ex- 
 pression is so beautiful and effective, every attempt to render 
 it into English becomes a complete failure; the Ava^i(f)opfii^^e^ 
 vfivot of Pindar is scarcely more difficult to deal with. The 
 red-reaping of war is used by Aneurin, and is descriptive 
 of the hand-to-hand encounters of those times, but the word 
 ' ' medel " does not signify the mere act of reaping by a single 
 individual or a few persons, but it implies the general reaping 
 festival, still kept up in Wales, where all theneighbours assemble 
 to assist some particular person to cut down his corn, when the 
 day is passed in bustle and exertion ; so that to a Welshman 
 of the twelfth century, the " reaping of the field of battle by 
 the sound of trumpets," was an exceedingly significant ex- 
 pression, and greatly enhanced, by the " heyrn dy he," the 
 iron weapons, which were the imjolements of the bloody 
 harvest, "rhudd-fedel rhyfel." 
 
 The spirit of poetic composition continued, without much 
 diminution, till the close of the thirteenth century, but soon 
 after this period we perceive a falling off in the number of 
 Bards, and also in the spirit of their compositions :* this 
 must undoubtedly, in some measure, be attributed to the 
 conquest of Wales by Edward the First, but we imagine 
 that we can discover a tendency to decline in the powers of 
 the awen^ before this event, which appears especially in the 
 too artificial construction of the verse, and the over-strained 
 alliteration which is used. Still, we may assert that for 
 at least 150 years, during part of the twelfth and thirteenth 
 centuries, the awenic fire burned with exceeding brightness. 
 Within that period, we may count upwards of forty Bards, 
 few of whom do not rise above mediocrity, and many of them 
 display talents of the highest order. 
 
 * We must admit a few exceptions, and amongst them Dafydd ap Gwilym, 
 who flourished in the fourteenth century. 
 
204 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE OF 
 
 In reviewing the works of the foregoing, we are struck 
 with a general resemblance throughout the whole period, and 
 this resemblance consists in the Lyric character of the com- 
 positions. There is not the slightest approach to the Epic, 
 nor, with the exception of one piece, is there any instance of 
 the Narrative or of the Ballad style, and that is the Awdl 
 Fraith, a production of doubtful origin, sometimes ascribed to 
 Taliesin, but evidently of a much later date ; and probably 
 the work of some one of the name of lonas Athraw o Fynyw^ 
 orlonas the Teacher of Menevia^ which name is in some copies 
 attached to it ; he, perhaps, was a monk of St. David's. It 
 is called the Awdl Fraith^ or Mottled Ode, on account of 
 the Latin words which are frequently used to terminate 
 the stanzas. The following from the commencement will 
 suffice as a specimen of the style : — 
 
 " Ef a wnaeth Panton 
 Ar lawr glyn Ebron 
 A'i ddwylaw gvvynion 
 Gwiwlun Adda. 
 
 A phura can mlynedd 
 Heb fawr ymgeledd 
 Bu ef yn gorwedd 
 Cyn cael anima, &c." 
 
 "Panton [Pantocrator] made on the ground of the vale of Ebron, 
 with his blessed hands, the fair formed Adam. 
 
 " And five hundred years, with but little help, he was lying there 
 before he received a soul. 
 
 " He then created, in the court of Paradise, of Adam's left rib, the 
 beauteous Eve. 
 
 " Seven hours were they keeping the orchard, before meeting with 
 Satan, the ranger of Tartarus," 
 
 It then relates how they were driven from Paradise, and 
 there was given them a spade to till the ground ; also, an 
 angelic messenger brought to Eve wheat seed, but she con- 
 cealed the tenth part of it, and did not sow it. Afterwards, 
 where the concealed seed was sown, there came up black rye 
 instead of wheat, and for this reason tithe should be paid. 
 The Ode concludes with a prophecy concerning the destinies 
 of Britain ; it refers to the announcement made by the angel 
 to Cadwaladr, as related by GeoiFrey of Monmouth. 
 
THE THIRD PERIOD. PROSE. 
 
 205 
 
 WELSH LITERATURE. 
 PROSE. 
 
 FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Notwithstanding the many works which may be supposed 
 to have been lost, the Welsh are still in possession of some 
 very interesting remains of this period in Prose, though by 
 no means so numerous as those of the Bards. The principal 
 works extant are the Chronicle of Caradoc of Llancarfan^ 
 and the Brut of Tysilio ; or, more properly, the Ancient 
 British Chronicle as re-translated into Welsh by Walter, 
 Archdeacon of Oxford, in the twelfth century, and the 
 Mahinogion, or Ancient Mythological and Romantic Tales 
 of the Welsh. 
 
 The Chronicle of Caradoc of Llancarfan is a most im- 
 portant work, as constituting the basis of Welsh History 
 subsequent to the sixth century. It is written entirely 
 in the Welsh language, and comes down, continued by 
 some other hand, to the latter end of the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 The Brut of Walter is almost verbatim the same with the 
 Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth^ both being, according to 
 the assertion of their respective translators, taken from the 
 same ancient British original. This work has long been 
 discarded as an historical authority ; but has, at the same 
 time, increased in point of interest as a matter of literary 
 curiosity, inasmuch as it has been the cause of forming a 
 new era in literature, and founding a new school in imagi- 
 native composition; for it is to the Brut of Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth that we are to ascribe the origin of the Arthurian 
 cyclus of Romance, and perhaps much of the chivalrous 
 spirit which pervaded the civilized world soon after, and 
 whose effects continue to influence society even to the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 The Mahinogion are also, for similar reasons, exceedingly 
 interesting, even as a portion of European literature, for 
 
•206 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE OF 
 
 they not only belong to the Arthurian Romance, but carry 
 out the system into greater lengths of detail, and altogether 
 combine in establishing the fact, of the ancient legends of 
 Wales having furnished the earliest materials of thought for 
 the composition of works of imagination, in the modern 
 languages of Europe. 
 
 There are, likewise, numerous biographical works, as the 
 Life of Gruffydd ap Gynan^ the Lims of the W elsh Saints^ 
 and also Treatises on Medicine, Music, &c. The Medical 
 Treatise contains the practice of Rhiwallawn, Physician to 
 Rhys ap GryfFydd, Prince of South Wales in the twelfth 
 century. 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 It appears impossible that Ireland should not have partaken 
 in the effects of the great intellectual impulse which per- 
 vaded the world at the close of the eleventh century, and 
 equally so, that this excitement should not have manifested 
 itself in poetic and patriotic effusions during the Norman 
 invasion in the twelfth; but such creations of the muse 
 have either been lost, or else never committed to writing; or, 
 on the other hand, they have been allowed to lie unnoticed 
 in manuscript in some obscure depository, for, as yet, no 
 such productions have been laid before us through the 
 medium of the press. 
 
JBE THIRD PERIOD. — POETRY & PROSE. 207 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 PROSE. 
 
 FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The Prose Literature of Ireland lias been more favoured 
 than its Poetry, during this Period, as there is at least one 
 work of importance extant, and that is the collection of 
 records made by Tegarnacli^ known as his Chronicles. It is 
 to be hoped that the Irish Societies will add to the quantity 
 of native literature before the public, by putting in the 
 press such works as may be found in manuscript in the 
 various collections. 
 
 GAELIC LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 POETRY AND PROSE. 
 
 Having already placed the Ossianic remains under the 
 heading of the Period prior to the eleventh century, we 
 have now nothing left for the succeeding department, either 
 in prose or verse. The same improbability regarding the 
 silence of their Poets during this stirring era will equally 
 apply to the Gael of Scotland as to the Gwyddelian kinsmen 
 in Ireland ; but the only reply we can make is, that there is 
 nothing before the public that can, in any way, be made 
 serviceable towards the illustration of the subject, as appli- 
 cable to the present Essay. 
 
Having noticed the most important remains of Ancient 
 Literature in the three languages under consideration, our 
 next undertaking is the balancing of their several merits, 
 and estimating their relative amount. In order to faci- 
 litate this task, it will be necessary to class these merits, so 
 as to assign to each its own proper degree of excellence. We 
 shall, therefore, consider them with regard to the Quantity 
 of Materials — -their Poetical and Historical Merits — and, 
 lastly, their Philological Importance. 
 
 QUANTITY OF ANCIENT REMAINS. 
 
 As far as the remains of Ancient Literature, in either of the 
 three languages before mentioned, have been laid before 
 the public, or are generally known to exist in manuscript, 
 the advantage is vastly in favour of the Welsh. The col- 
 lection comprised in the Myfyrian Archaiology alone, is 
 sufficient proof of such superiority ; not to mention the 
 Mahinogion^ and other compositions which have since been 
 added to the amount. 
 
 POETICAL MERIT. 
 
 This is a question, the deciding of which calls for no small 
 degree of discrimination, inasmuch as these Poems are so very 
 different in style and subject : the Welsh Poems being almost 
 entirely Lyric, without the slightest character of the Epic, 
 vvdth but very few instances of the Narrative, and nearly 
 as few of the Ballad style ; whereas the Irish and Gaelic 
 contain many long pieces in a regular and connected Narra- 
 tive strain, with frequent instances of the Ballad style. 
 They also exhibit occasional traces of the Lyric, but that is 
 rather an exception than a characteristic. The supporters 
 of Macpherson's Ossian have also laid claim to the Epic, 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 209 
 
 and in its defence produce the Poem of Fingal and others ; 
 but the proofs of genuineness are not sufficiently satisfactory 
 to establish such a claim ; therefore, as far as concerns the 
 Epic, the three languages are in a state of equality^ neither 
 of them having any well-founded pretensions to that style. 
 
 The Welsh have also numerous pieces in the Didactic 
 style, such as the triplets attributed to the Druids, and other 
 compositions ; but of these the poetical merit is but small : 
 they are for the most part little else than proverbial sentences 
 arranged in a metrical form, and connected by other 
 sentences, apparently introduced to assist the memory. 
 Whether such pieces exist in the Irish or Gaelic does not 
 appear ; all that can be said is, that such compositions have 
 not yet been laid before the public, nor is their existence of 
 much importance in the present comparison, as the style 
 must rank so very low in the scale of poetic merit; so that 
 we shall return to the others. And here some remarkable 
 traits of character present themselves as connected with the 
 respective tastes of the several races. The Welsh Bards 
 rejoice in the Lyric ; and when by chance they deviate but 
 for a moment into the Narrative or Ballad, the style seems 
 uncongenial with their spirit, and they instantly quit it, and 
 return to their favourite strain. On the contrary, the Irish 
 and Gaelic composers do but occasionally evince a Lyric 
 taste, and on those occasions seem to exhibit a consciousness 
 of having stept out of their track, and an anxiety to return. 
 Under these circumstances, then, it will not be surprising 
 if we find that the Irish and Gaelic Poets have generally a 
 story in hand, and that they tell their story well ; whereas 
 the Welsh Bards have no story at all to tell, and there- 
 fore, whatever of history they record, must be collected from 
 detached expressions and obscure allusions, without any 
 connection, or any apparent intention that they should be 
 received as historical facts. With such superiority of detail 
 in favour of the Irish and Gaelic remains, we might feel 
 disposed at once to assign them a higher order of merit as 
 depositories of historical events. But here comes the draw- 
 back. All this taste for Narrative is also accompanied with 
 a tendency to launch out into legendary and unreal occur- 
 rences, to abandon the severity of historical facts for the mere 
 2 E 
 
210 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 creations of fancy. The W elsh Bards, as they merely in- 
 troduced allusions, must allude to something already known. 
 It might be a fabulous occurrence, but to be intelligible, it 
 must have been long received as a fact, and not the creation 
 of their own fancy ; but the Ballad and the Narrative, to be 
 attractive, must be the work of imagination either in the 
 groundwork or the filling up. 
 
 Such being the case with regard to these several languages, 
 the question begins to be reduced within pretty narrow 
 limits, i. e. Welsh Lyric Poetry against Irish and Gaelic 
 Narrative Poetry ; but as the two styles are so diiOPerent, it will 
 be difficult to find a standard of comparison. Perhaps it will 
 appear that each possesses an eminent degree of merit in its 
 particular class, but which class claims the precedence is a 
 question, the determination of which can scarcely be expected 
 in the present Essay : and so for the present, all that can be 
 done is to endeavour to ascertain the degree of merit, to which 
 each particular division has attained in its respective class. 
 
 If we look at the Welsh Poetry as an incorporation of 
 patriotic sentiment, and an expression of public and co- 
 existent enthusiasm, connected with the real and immediate 
 occurrence of national events, we feel constrained to assign it 
 the highest place in the scale of European Poetry. Neither 
 Greece nor Rome can furnish a parallel instance. Pindar 
 stands alone in this class, but the subjects of his praise, 
 though real existences, were not so strictly national. Mo- 
 dern Continental Europe is equally destitute of such in- 
 stances. The Spanish Ballads are all Romances, whilst the 
 Tr ombres and Troubadours of France, the Minnesingers of 
 Germany, and the Scalds of the North, occupied themselves 
 either with fabulous events, or with those of such distant 
 occurrence as to admit of their being treated as fables. As to 
 the muse of Modern Britain, it has already been shown that 
 she has been less patriotic, less grateful, and less mindful of 
 national events, than even that of any other country whatever. 
 It would be more desirable to give the Welsh awen its due 
 meed of praise, without having recourse to such comparisons, 
 but in an estimate of this nature, this comparison afibrds the 
 only means of arriving at the required results. And with regard 
 to the present inquiry, we must come to the conclusion, that the 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 211 
 
 Welsh Poems bear evidence of the existence of a spirit of patri- 
 otism in a far greater degree than those of the Irish or GaeHc. 
 
 As to the degree of genius exhibited in each in its respective 
 class, we are also under the necessity of examining the standard 
 of excellence acknowledged in other languages, in order to 
 establish a criterion ; and here a curious fact presents itself. 
 After three hundred years of Roman dominion, upon the de- 
 parture of that people, the Welsh Poetry does not manifest 
 the slightest resemblance to that of Rome, either in metrical 
 construction or train of thought. The essentials of Roman 
 metrical composition consist in quantity ; those of the Welsh 
 are rhyme and alliteration. The Latin classic prosody does 
 not recognize these latter arrangements, nor do the Welsh 
 understand any thing of classic quantity. Neither is there 
 any resemblance in the structure of the Poems of the two 
 races. And if, amongst the classic Poets of either Greece or 
 Rome, there is any one to whose works the Welsh Poems 
 bear any resemblance, it is Pindar ; one, from his nation and 
 language, not very likely to have furnished models of poetic 
 composition to the Welsh Bards ; and even here the resem- 
 blance is not so close as to justify us in asserting an iden- 
 tity of style ; and we can only say, that if, in order to fix the 
 character of the Bardic Poems, it were requisite to class them 
 under the name of the ancient Poet to whose style they bear 
 the nearest resemblance, we should certainly call them Pin- 
 daric; a term which it does not appear could with propriety 
 be applied to any portion of the Irish or Gaelic poetry, 
 which comprises no Lyric Odes. But at the same time, we 
 must not deny, that the Ossianic Poems contain many pas- 
 sages of a highly Lyric character, such as Ossian's Address 
 to the Sun in Garthon^ and also in Caric-thura^ and which, even 
 without the advantage of Macpherson's diction, must be al- 
 lowed to belong to the highest order of poetic composition : 
 still these Lyric effects are but transient, the bent of the Os- 
 sianic genius is more Narrative and Descriptive, and in these 
 particulars, the Gwyddelian poetry has a decided superiority 
 over the Welsh. As, in the Ossianic poetry, the narration 
 is consecutive uninterrupted and the story well told, so the 
 descriptive passages are minute and graphic in their repre- 
 senta1?ions ; whereas in the Welsh Poems there is but little 
 
212 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 narration at all, and that little abrupt and desultory ; and 
 with regard to the descriptive passages, though they are 
 often highly poetic, yet, they partake of the same transient 
 character ; they are but brilliant flashes of light, which for 
 an instant produce an electric efiect, and then the subject is 
 altogether quitted, and some other idea started, to be dealt 
 with in the same manner. But, notwithstanding this irregu- 
 larity of proceeding, such is the sweetness of the versification, 
 the correctness of the metre, the force and effect of the dic- 
 tion, and altogether the high-wrought character of the 
 Welsh Ode, that the absence of the connected narrative is 
 never felt, but on the contrary its introduction would only 
 cast a shade of tameness over the Ode, and destroy much of 
 its spirit. Let us imagine a stanza of narrative or descriptive 
 matter inserted in Gwalchmai's spirited Ode, [p. 194,] or the 
 Hirlas of Owen Cefeilioc, [p. 198,] and we cannot but com- 
 prehend the deadening effect of such an introduction. 
 
 QUALITY AND DEGREE OF INTENSITY 
 OF POETIC FEELING. 
 
 In quality, the Welsh Bardic poetry is martial and anima- 
 ting, and in poetic feeling it is in a high degree ardent and 
 impetuous. The Ossianic Poetry, on the other hand, is 
 pathetic and melancholy, and at the same time heroic and 
 sublime ; and if Macpherson's translation be admitted as a 
 faithful interpretation of sentiment, it must be acknowledged 
 that in sublimity of pathos, tenderness, and heroic melan- 
 choly, the Ossianic Poems are not only vastly superior to the 
 Welsh, but probably to those of every other nation. IJow to 
 form a just estimate in this case, is not so easily understood, 
 unless somestandard of excellence were admitted asa criterion; 
 and, in the mean time, we can only say, that if the Irish and 
 Gaels on the one hand, hold out the Address to the Sun in 
 Carthon as a specimen of excellence, and unsurpassable ; the 
 Welsh may on the other hand produce the Address to 
 Tudur and Moreiddig, in the Hirlas, as equally unsurpas- 
 sable in its style ; and perhaps these two Celtic races might 
 conjointly challenge the world to meet them on those 
 grounds. • 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 213 
 
 HISTORICAL. 
 POETRY. 
 
 It has already been shown, that the subjects of Welsh 
 Poetry were chiefly passing occurrences of the day ; whilst 
 the efforts of the Irish and Gaelic muse were directed to- 
 wards the celebration of fabulous and imaginary events. 
 These facts must at once prove the superiority of the Welsh 
 Poetic remains, as historical records. There are, of course, 
 exceptions amongst each people, as for instance, the Circuit 
 of Ireland in the Irish language, and the Albanic Duan 
 amongst the Gaels, and on the other hand, the Mythological 
 and Arthurian romantic poetry amongst the Welsh. But, 
 taking into consideration the great mass of poetry belonging 
 to each race respectively, we cannot hesitate a moment in 
 deciding, that in an historical point of view, the Welsh re- 
 mains possess a vast superiority over those of the Irish and 
 the Gael. 
 
 PROSE. 
 
 The same decision will not apply to the Prose compositions 
 of the three races, (if the Gaelic can be admitted into the 
 comparison,) as the Prose Chronicles of the Irish, claim a 
 degree of merit at least equal to the Welsh. All have their 
 fabulous periods, and also their period of authentic record ; 
 and, upon the whole, we may place the historical writings of 
 the Welsh and Irish upon an equality in this regard : they 
 all contain much that is valuable and authentic. But, besides 
 the Chronicles, there are other Prose compositions belonging 
 to each race, of a legendary and imaginative character, as for 
 example, the Mabinogion amongst the Welsh, and the 
 Three Tragical Stories amongst the Irish. Of these the his- 
 torical value is absolutely nothing; and if we are to compare 
 their merits, we must look upon them merely as specimens 
 of imaginative composition. 
 
 PROSE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS. 
 
 It is a singular fact, that the Poets and Prose writers 
 amongst the Welsh, have taken up positions the very op- 
 posite to those of the same classes in other nations. The Bards 
 
214 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 occupying themselves with the matter of fact occurrences of 
 the day, whilst the Prose writers were employed in compo- 
 sing Romances ; for such are the Mabinogion, a series of tales, 
 which for variety of incident, originality, and power of in- 
 vention, are not to be equalled by those of any country 
 prior to the revival of literature in modern times. Such an 
 assertion will of course be immediately disputed, and the 
 Arabian Nights and French Metrical Romances adduced in 
 confutation. But it must be recollected, that the Arabian 
 Nights, in their present form, are not older than the sixteenth 
 century : such ancient Arabic tales as have been preserved^ 
 and which appear to be the rudiments of the present com- 
 positions, being greatly inferior in point of imagination and 
 general interest. And with regard to the French metrical 
 Romances of the middle ages, they are merely the legends of 
 the Welsh translated and put into verse. Besides those 
 stories which are to be found in the Welsh and French 
 languages, the Mabinogion contain several others, which do 
 not appear to have been known to the French, and which 
 are equally original and interesting with them. Therefore, 
 in thus claiming such a degree of eminence for the 
 Welsh Tales as works of fiction, it must not cause sur- 
 prise if we assign them a rank much higher than that 
 which belongs to the same class of compositions in the 
 Irish language. 
 
 VALUE 
 
 IN ELUCIDATING THE ANCIENT HISTORY, AND THE 
 MENTAL CULTIVATION OF THE INHABITANTS OF 
 BRITAIN, IRELAND, AND GAUL. 
 
 WELSH RECORDS. 
 
 From the addition of the ancient History of Gaul to that of 
 Britain and Ireland, it may be presumed that it was intend- 
 ed, that the Essay should comprise a period anterior to the 
 conquest of the two first named countries by the Romans ; 
 if so, it must not be concealed, that we enter upon a very 
 barren field indeed. The references to ancient Gaul, found 
 in either British or Irish works, being exceedingly few, and 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 215 
 
 those so mixed up with fable and mythology, that it requires 
 the greatest caution in receiving any of them as historical 
 documents. 
 
 The earliest reference to Gaul, in the Welsh, is that 
 which occurs in the Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth, when it 
 is said that Brutus and his Trojans, in sailing for Britain, 
 turned into Aquitaine, up the Loire, and built the city of 
 Tours, in honour of his nephew, Turonus. After that comes 
 the story of Cordelia, daughter of King Lear, marrying Aga- 
 nippus, king of Gaul. Then come several chapters contain- 
 ing the account of Brennus^ which are undoubtedly indebted 
 to the Roman historians for any portion of truth they may 
 contain. Afterwards, we have account of Cassivellaunus and 
 other persons of his time, and references to the intercourse 
 betwixt Britain and Gaul at this period. Where these stories 
 originated, it is not easy to determine ; but it is certain that 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, however he might have embellished 
 and made additions^ nevertheless was not the inventor of 
 them altogether, as we find several in Nennius, who tells us 
 he got them partly from the British records. 
 
 There is also in the Welsh copy of the Brut, a curious 
 legend respecting the three afflictions which happened to 
 the Island of Britain, in the time of King Lud, the founder 
 of London ; whose brother, Llevelis, was then King of Gaul. 
 The story is highly interesting for its fairy and legendary 
 character ; but as a matter of history, unless some greater 
 light than has hitherto existed should be thrown upon it, we 
 must consign it to the great depository of fiction, which is 
 already so well stored, as regard British produce. 
 
 It is, notwithstanding, within the range of possibility, that 
 some of these occurrences may be founded upon traditions 
 handed down amongst the Britons themselves ; but when 
 we reflect that several centuries of Roman domination had 
 brought in Roman history, the genuineness of the-^itish 
 traditions may be considered questionable, and therefore their 
 historical value greatly neutralised if not entirely destroyed. 
 Should any historian think differently, the field is wide, 
 though the produce appear scanty, and something of a ge- 
 nuine and valuable description may be discovered amongst 
 so much that is spurious and worthless. 
 
216 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 IRISH RECORDS. 
 
 The Irish also claim a connection with Gaul, but the au- 
 thorities they adduce are of so fabulous a stamp, and the 
 events they record so inconsistent with other accounts, that 
 we are under the necessity of discarding them altogether as 
 authentic histories, and ranking them with the Chronicle of 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, to which we have already referred. 
 
 With the exception of the Firholg^ (which are supposed to 
 have been a Belgic colony,) and of the Gaulish BelgsB, the ear- 
 liest notice of any connection between Ireland and Gaul, is that 
 in which it is stated, that one of the ancient Irish kings, 
 named Labhra Longscach, was in his youth exiled to Gaul, 
 and that he afterwards returned with a Gaulish colony, and 
 established it in Ireland, in the part of the country at pre- 
 sent occupied by the counties of Wicklow and Wexford. 
 The other notices of any connection with Gaul, are of a date 
 so much later, as not to come within the scope of this in- 
 quiry. 
 
 WELSH TRIADS. 
 
 As regards the value of these ancient remains, in elucida- 
 ting the history of Britain and Ireland, it is sufficient to ob- 
 serve, that every writer on British history has always been 
 anxious to avail himself of the assistance of the Bardic and 
 other compositions preserved by the Welsh people. Amongst 
 these documents, the Triads may be considered as amongst 
 the most valuable. They refer to the first colonization of 
 the island, and are so different to the legendary tales of the 
 middle ages, and exhibit so much of the critical acumen, and 
 historical science of the present day, that if we were not as- 
 sured to the contrary, we might suppose they were actually 
 framed by some enlightened and well informed modern his- 
 torian. Instead of the story of Brutus and the Trojans, 
 which was received as undoubted history till a comparatively 
 recent date, the Triads attribute the colonization of the 
 island to various tribes, arriving at different periods, and 
 possessing themselves of different parts of the country, as 
 the Cymry, the Brytlion^ the Celyddon^ S^c. Indeed, in look- 
 ing at these historical Triads, one is disposed to wonder how 
 in an age of credulity and ignorance of the principles of 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 217 
 
 historical criticism, any person could so far divest himself of 
 the Trojan pre-possessions of the day and frame such docu- 
 ments, and yet at the same time, it is difficult to persuade our- 
 selves that they were regularly handed down for so many 
 ages without any corruption being allowed to creep in. The 
 collector of these Triads lived 250 years ago, and from his 
 known zeal and accuracy as an antiquary, there is every 
 reason to believe, that he copied them precisely as he found 
 them, and he speaks of his collecting them, and leaves us to 
 understand that there were originally many more, which he 
 was not able to find ; therefore, the Triads must remain a 
 puzzle, and until some proof to the contrary is adduced, they 
 will doubtless continue to be received as historical and au- 
 thentic documents. 
 
 IRISH HISTORICAL REMAINS. 
 
 However wild and fabulous the early Irish legends may 
 be, nevertheless, every writer on ancient Irish history feels 
 himself constrained to give them some degree of weight, as con- 
 taining, though in a very distorted form, some portion of truth. 
 The Firbolgi^ Milesians^ Tuatha de danans^ S^c. are all sup- 
 posed to have been real colonies, that at some remote periods 
 arrived in the island ; but, unless decidedly confirmed by some 
 other testimony, it would be the extreme of weakness and 
 absurdity, to admit them to any place whatever in the real 
 history of the country, however, they may serve to exercise 
 our ingenuity, in endeavouring to extract from them some 
 hints connected therewith. 
 
 MENTAL CULTIVATION. 
 
 It is very evident, that the grammatical structure of a lan- 
 guage does not afford any criterion for determining the 
 mental cultivation of the people by whom it is spoken. The 
 Basque language far exceeds the other languages of Europe 
 in copiousness of inflexion, and the finer shades of expres- 
 sion j and yet the Basque population does not manifest any 
 degree of mental cultivation, beyond that of the other Europe- 
 an races. Again, it is said that some of the Indian tribes of 
 North America possess a language, so rich in its inflexions, 
 
 2 F 
 
218 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 and the variety of its shades of expression, that no European 
 language, not even the ancient Greek, can bear a comparison 
 with it. The very verbs having their genders, together with 
 other powers, with which we are totally unacquainted, and 
 yet the people who speak this language are absolute savages, 
 like the rest of the North American aborigines. In contrast- 
 ing the fulness of this savage tongue with the grammatical 
 poverty of the English, we might be led to look for a degree 
 of intellectual advancement in the western forests, superior 
 to that of New York and Pennsylvania ; but, however para- 
 doxical the fact may be, grammatical copiousness of expres- 
 sion appears to have little connection with the cultivation 
 of the mind ; therefore, in the present inquiry, we must look 
 for some other criterion as connected with language. Here 
 we must have recourse to the literary compositions ex- 
 tant in the several languages under consideration ; and this 
 criterion, we shall find generally supported by analogy : for 
 amongst the savages of the South Sea, where the mind ex- 
 hibits but few traces of cultivation, such compositions as have 
 been committed to writing by voyagers, show a corresponding- 
 poverty of ideas. Their songs, the only compositions they 
 possess, consist of a few sentences, continually repeated with- 
 out any variety.* The following will suffice as an example 
 of their style : — 
 
 " The stone has hit ; 
 The man is killed ; 
 His mother weeps ; 
 His sister weeps ; &c." 
 
 The Negroes of Africa also exhibit an equal paucity of 
 ideas in their songs, and the same monotonous repetitions of 
 those ideas. 
 
 The North American Indians evince a higher degree of men- 
 tal cultivation, and some of their orations, even after allowance 
 is made for the European embellishments introduced by 
 translators, possess considerable merit ; though compared with 
 those of civilized nations, the ideas they contain have 
 
 * The same remark will apply to the formation of compound words. It does not 
 always indicate the state of civilization of the people. The Fire-water of the In- 
 dian does not bear the impress of a savage intellect, more than the Fire-damp of 
 the Englishman, or the Mustum- ardens [Moutarde] of the Frenchman. 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 219 
 
 not much variety, and the transitions are generally abrupt. 
 It must be acknowledged that, hitherto, we have had but 
 few opportunities, or rather none at all, of judging of the 
 merits of Indian oratory or poetry, as the native composi- 
 tions of the aborigines, in their wild and unsophisticated 
 state, have never been laid before the public, in a form to 
 undergo the analytical examination necessary to determine 
 this question. However, by a comparison of extremes, and 
 their intermediate gradations of savage and civilized life, 
 and their several modifications, together with the composi- 
 tions belonging- to each state relatively, we are led to the 
 conclusion, that however fallacious grammatical structure 
 may be as a criterion of mental cultivation, yet, literary 
 composition affords a surer test, and even one that may be 
 relied upon with confidence, where the quantity of matter is 
 sufiicient to justify a decision : but as we possess no example 
 of Celtic composition, that can be proved to be of a date ante- 
 rior to the introduction of Christianity, nor any that can, 
 with any degree of certainty, be attributed to any period of 
 greater antiquity than the sixth century ; we are in the pre- 
 sent inquiry, left to such inferences as may be drawn from 
 the probable changes that five hundred years might have 
 produced. It is certainly a long period, and under some 
 circumstances sufficient to have obliterated all traces of re- 
 semblance ; but there are reasons for believing that to the 
 ancestors of the Welsh nation, those five centuries were 
 not so revolutionizing as to produce this efiect. What- 
 ever changes did really take place in the habits of the people, 
 must be attributed to two different causes ; the influence of 
 Roman dominion, and the progress of Christianity. With 
 regard to the former, it is evident that it was not so great as 
 many have inconsiderately assumed. Had it been so, we 
 should have perceived traces of it in the language and tradi- 
 tions of the people, instead of which, we find them, on the 
 departure of the Romans, in possession of their original 
 language with but little of Latin mixture, and of their native 
 poetry, not in the slightest degree partaking of the charac- 
 teristics of classic prosody. Nor was the continuance of the 
 Roman power amongst the Welsh, of quite as long duration 
 as is often supposed. The country was not even brought into 
 
220 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 subjection till near the close of the first century, and before 
 the end of the fourth, i. e. a.d. 883, on the revolt of Maxi- 
 mus, the Legions were withdrawn from Wales, and the 
 country left to its own government. At this time, it is evi- 
 dent that Roman influence was by no means powerful ; for 
 the Roman divisions of the country were abandoned, and others 
 adopted. As to the Roman laws, it is equally evident that they 
 were also abandoned altogether, or, what is more probable, that 
 they never prevailed; as when in the tenth century, the Welsh 
 legislator Howel Dda framed his code, he adopted the ancient 
 British Lawsof Dyfnwal Moelmud^ nor can we discover in this 
 code any traces of Roman jurisprudence. In fact, in whatever 
 point of view we regard the country, every feature is per- 
 fectly Celtic ; the language, the poetry, the laws, and social 
 constitution, even the names of individuals are Celtic, as well 
 as those of the new kingdoms which had just been formed. 
 
 In the next place, Christianity would not have made much 
 progress during the two first centuries, and afterwards there 
 were so many obstacles in the way, that until the sixth cen- 
 tury, we can hardly consider it as completely established in 
 the country. 
 
 If, therefore, at the present day, after an Anglian domi- 
 nion of twice the duration of that of Rome, the people of 
 Wales still retain their ancient language, it is but reasonable 
 to infer that their attachment to that, and to their national 
 habits in general was not less strong in their primitive and 
 unmixed state. 
 
 Again, as we know the hold that religious creeds have 
 upon the mind, and how difficult it is, even with the power- 
 ful aid of the press, to eradicate ancient prejudices ; we can- 
 not avoid the inference, that as late as the sixth century 
 there were still existing amongst the Welsh, considerable re- 
 mains of the ancient Druidic system, and that possibly some 
 of the ancient Poetry of that people may be in style and 
 character, if not actually in composition, identical with that 
 of the Druidic age. 
 
 Allowing, therefore, the plausibility of this argument, we 
 may proceed to consider the degree of mental cultivation in- 
 dicated by the style and substance of such compositions as we 
 may suppose to exhibit most of the Druidic character. And 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 221 
 
 here we must recur to the ancient triplet stanzas, and alleged 
 Druidic hymns already cited. A few examples of these have 
 been already given, we might add to them to an extent much 
 too great for the present Essay, but it would be found that 
 the style is of the same didactic character throughout. We 
 may, however, give a few examples. The following are 
 from collections of Stanzas attributed to Cattwg Ddoeth, 
 (St.Cattoc) who lived in the sixth century. The first stanza 
 contains a sentiment identical with one in the Druidic 
 triplets preserved by Pomponius Mela and Diogenes La- 
 ertius: — 
 
 " Gnawd i Iwrf ei ladd yn ffo 
 Gnawd i ddewr ddianc o daro 
 Gnawd i was gwycli a fynno." 
 
 Often is the coward slain in flight ; 
 
 Often does the brave come safe from fight ; 
 
 Often does the strenuous accomplish what he desires. 
 
 The following give an idea of the kind of moral instruc- 
 tion conveyed by means of this species of composition : — - 
 
 " Gwilia ferw dy fryd bennoeth ; 
 Gwell pwyll i ddyn nog aur coeth. 
 Gwell angeu no byw annoeth." 
 
 Watch the ebullition of thy mind daily ; 
 Better is prudence for a man than refined gold ; 
 Better is death than unwise living. 
 
 " Gwilia'th dafawd ac a wnel ; 
 Ond Uafar nid diymgel ; 
 Pob un a gly w lie nas gwel." 
 
 Watch thy tongue and its actions ; 
 
 There is nothing so unconcealable as utterance ; 
 
 People hear where they do not see. 
 
 " Ystyr pob gair a'i ddiwedd ; 
 
 Dir tal i bob amynedd ; 
 
 Ac ni thwyll pwyll pen a'i medd." 
 
 Consider every word and its consequences ; 
 
 Certain is the reward of all patience ; 
 
 And prudence will not deceive that head that possesses it. 
 
 " Gwna y goreu yn mhob angen ; 
 
 O'r peth a fo'n dy berchen 
 
 Gwell no dim gwasgawd brwynen," 
 
 Do the best in every necessity, 
 Of that which is in thy power ; 
 Better than nothing is the shelter of a rush. 
 
222 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 There are other stanzas in the same style, containing the 
 sayings of the crow. — 
 
 " Bran a gant chwedl yn nyfFryn, 
 Wrth chwiliaw am ei gronyn ; 
 Nid dysg dysg heb ei ddilyn." 
 
 A crow sang a saying in a valley, 
 
 By searching for her morsel ; 
 
 Learning is no learning without being followed. 
 
 " Br^n a gant chwedl ar uchder 
 Derwen, uch deufFrwd aber ; 
 Trech deall no grymusder." 
 
 A crow sang a saying on the height 
 
 Of an oak, over the two streams of confluent rivers ; 
 
 Understanding is more powerful than strength. 
 
 This last sentiment appears an anticipation of Bacon's cele- 
 brated maxim, " Knowledge is power,^' and we even find the 
 maxim itself, in the identical words of Bacon, as far as the 
 idiom of the two languages will admit ; in a composition at- 
 tributed to St. Oattwg, i. e. Nid gallu ond gwybod," Know- 
 ledge is power. There is also an adage, " Nid galluus ond 
 call," " There is none powerful but the wise." 
 
 The crow is also made to utter some other maxims to the 
 same effect, as — 
 
 " Br&n a gant chwedl yn mlaen traeth, 
 Wrth nas gellynt ymarfaeth ; 
 Nid meddiant ond gwybodaeth." 
 
 A crow sang a saying at the head of a strand. 
 To those who could not pre-meditate ; 
 There is no possession but knowledge. 
 
 The following is again in the Druidic strain of Pomponius 
 Mela :— 
 
 " Br^n a gant chwedl yn nidrain, 
 Ac o bell clywid ei sain ; 
 Gorfydd dewr ar bob dichwain." 
 
 A crow sang a saying in a solitude, 
 
 And its sound was heard afar ; 
 
 The brave will overcome every event.* 
 
 Lhuyd gives a Cornish stanza in the same didactic style 
 
 * Thorc is also an adage to the same effect,-— 
 
 " Aed lew igynhwrf cad, Duw a'i differ." 
 " Let the brave man go into the tumult of battle, God will protect him." 
 
 / 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 223 
 
 and triplet metre, from which we may infer, that the same 
 species of composition was common in that language, though 
 he says he only heard this one Englyn in the country. — 
 
 " An lavar koth yu lavar gwir, 
 Bedh dorn re ver, dhon tavaz re hir ; 
 Medh den heb davaz a gollaz i dir." 
 
 " The old saying is a true saying, 
 
 The hand will be too short where the tongue is too long, 
 But the man without any tongue lost his land." 
 
 Supposing, then, these specimens to represent, as far as they 
 extend, the style and spirit of the Druidical didactic compo- 
 sitions, they give us at least a respectable idea of the moral 
 feeling and mental cultivation of the people amongst whom 
 they were framed. And if we see in them the mere fragments 
 of a great, well organized, widely extended, and long establish- 
 ed system of moral instruction, we must allow that a term of 
 twenty years under its influence, could not pass away with- 
 out producing corresponding effects ; and whatever liberties 
 Tacitus may have taken with the speech of Oaractacus, to 
 adapt it to the Roman taste, it is not necessary to suppose 
 that such alterations were an improvement, as the term 
 which that chieftain must have passed under his Druidical 
 preceptors, was sufficient to evince a high state of mental 
 cultivation, especially with a mind naturally strong and quick 
 of preception. And again, when we find Galgacus exclaim- 
 ing " Omne ignotum pro magnifico est,'"'' may we not imagine 
 that it was in the spirit, if not in the express words oi Am- 
 heiis poh anwyhod'''' he expressed himself, and that the 
 Roman annalist really obtained possession of that, and other 
 portions of his address ; and however he might have embel- 
 lished and refined, yet that he was not the actual fabricator 
 of the whole harangue. Indeed, when we reflect that these 
 chieftains had been brought up in the school of those masters 
 of wisdom, — " Magistrosq sapientiw Bruidas^'' who professed 
 to know the form and magnitude of the earth, and to un- 
 derstand the movements of the stars, and who reasoned 
 deeply concerning the nature of things, it is not too much 
 to suppose that they were fully equal to the delivery of such 
 harangues, and that these on record contain the substance of 
 what was spoken, and are, to a certain extent, specimens of 
 the eloquence of the race, Facundia sua^ 
 
224 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 With regard to the alleged Druidical Poems, as some of 
 them bear the stamp of considerable antiquity, as for in- 
 stance the address to Beli, and as others are undoubtedly as 
 old as the sixth century, (such as the Incantations of 
 Aneurin,) it is but reasonable to suppose, that the non- 
 Christian sentiments which they contain, are really of Dru- 
 idic origin, and that these compositions are fair specimens of 
 the Druidic school as it existed in the sixth century, and 
 that it had not undergone much change from its primitive 
 state. When, therefore, we review this argument as far as 
 we have proceeded, we must acknowledge, that there is a 
 great body of evidence in favour of a high degree of men- 
 tal cultivation amongst those classes who exercised them- 
 selves in these studies, and if the mass of the population in 
 the mean time remained in a less advanced state, the Celtic 
 nations are by no means singular in that respect, the " oi 
 TToWot,'" the " profanum vulgus," the " swinish multitude,"" 
 has always been found in every country where civilization 
 has made any progress. Indeed, the existence of such a class 
 is the surest proof of the existence of intellectual improve- 
 ment, as it argues, not the degradation of the lower orders, 
 but the advancement of the higher. Had the Druids at- 
 tempted to raise the multitude to their own level, they would 
 have attempted an impossibility, and broken up their system. 
 And had Tacitus^s Germans cultivated learning, they would 
 have created a privileged class, and destroyed the savage 
 equality in which they lived ; if, indeed, there really existed 
 amongst them such a state of society as he describes. 
 
 Having proceeded so far, our next inquiry is, what por- 
 tion of Graul these conclusions will apply to. And here we 
 cannot do better than follow in the track of Dr. Prichard, 
 who has distinctly mapped out that country, and separated 
 between the Celtic and the non-Celtic divisions ; and, ac- 
 cording to his arrangement, the Northern parts of Gaul com- 
 prising Celtic and Belgic Gaul, were inhabited by nations of 
 the Celtic race, whereas the division of Aquitaine contained 
 a population of a different stock, which we may distin- 
 guish as a Non-Celtic people. Dr. Prichard also shows that 
 these two divisions of the Gaulish population, that is to say, 
 the Celtic and Belgic, were of the same branch of the Celtic 
 
COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 225 
 
 stock, and spoke one common language, with only slight idiom- 
 atic differences; and that this language was nearly allied to the 
 Welsh : and after a close and critical examination of the 
 subject, he comes to the conclusion, that the Irish people 
 were much more remotely connected with those of Gaul, 
 and formed another branch of the Celtic family, and also 
 that the Irish language differed from the Gaulish, not merely 
 in dialect and idiom, but also in its entire development, 
 and that this systematic difference commenced at a period 
 anterior to the arrival of the Celtic race in Europe. 
 
 A dopting therefore this arrangement, (and it would be dif- 
 ficult to find any arguments to justify its rejection,) we find 
 the limits of our present subject considerably narrowed, as 
 by this separation between the Irish and Gaulish races, 
 the Irish language is excluded from any place in this depart- 
 ment of the inquiry, respecting the elucidation of mental 
 cultivation amongst the inhabitants of Gaul. And although 
 the Irish people so far exhibited proofs of an original Celtic 
 descent as to submit to the Druidic and Bardic jurisdiction, 
 yet it does not appear that they acknowledged any connection 
 with those orders in Britain and Gaul. And here we cannot 
 avoid noticing what appears to be a strong argument in fa- 
 vour of Dr. Prichard"*s theory. The Gaulish Druidical 
 Hierarchy is said to have been connected with that of Britain, 
 and the youth of Gaul came over to Britain for instruction ; 
 but no mention is made of Ireland. Now had the Irish 
 language been identical with that of Gaul, the language of 
 Britain would have been unintelligible to the Gauls, and 
 consequently the British education of the Gaulish youth a 
 positive absurdity.* 
 
 Having, therefore, come to the conclusion that the Irish 
 language cannot furnish any assistance in prosecuting the 
 present inquiry, as respects either Gaul or Britain, we must 
 now proceed with the investigation as far as Ireland itself is 
 concerned ; and here again, we must acknowledge that our 
 task is very soon brought to a termination, as the remains 
 of early literature in the Irish language are so few, and their 
 
 * Query J — Might it not have been analogous to sending Welsh youths to 
 English Colleges, or English youths to Continental Colleges? — Editor. 
 
 2 G 
 
22G 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS. 
 
 connection with the pre-Ecclesiastic ages so unsatisfactory, 
 that with such data, any inquiry founded, as this ought to 
 be, upon the sole evidence of the Irish language, can only 
 end in disappointment, and occasion a useless expenditure 
 of time. Until the Brehon laws are published, and such 
 other ancient documents as the language cpntains, this por- 
 tion of our subject must remain in abeyance. 
 
 During the foregoing investigation, it may have been observed, 
 that it was found necessary to class the literary productions 
 under different eras ; and this classification leads to another 
 inquiry intimately connected with the intellectual develop- 
 ment of the world, inasmuch as we are disposed to believe 
 that such development has proceeded by impulses, and that 
 these impulses have been of periodical recurrence. For 
 example, amongst the Welsh, we find in the sixth century 
 great mental excitement, and an extraordinary development 
 of poetic genius, all of which gradually subsides, and in 
 about two centuries has lapsed into a state of torpor. Again, 
 in about seven hundred years, we find another outburst of 
 the awen accompanied by an intellectual movement in the 
 nation, i. e. in the twelfth century. And now again, in the 
 nineteenth century, after a period of nearly the same dura- 
 tion of 700 years, we may imagine that we perceive a simi- 
 lar awakening, in the revival of the Eisteddfod, and the zeal 
 with which the cultivation of the Poetry and language of the 
 Principality has been resumed, together with the increasing 
 spirit of nationality which is manifesting itself. 
 
 Should there be any connection betwixt these three epochs, 
 there ought to be another at a similar interval of about 700 
 years prior to the sixth century, or about two centuries be- 
 fore the Christian era ; but whether the occurrence of such a 
 period of excitement is borne out by history, may perhaps be 
 thought too fanciful a question, and too irrelevant to be en- 
 tertained; nevertheless, should such an excitement have taken 
 place, it would not have been confined to the Celtic nations, 
 for as in the nineteenth, twelfth, and sixth centuries, we find 
 the mental commotion general throughout Europe, we may 
 
BALANCE OF MERITS. 
 
 227 
 
 imagine some analogous movement at the other period, some 
 200 years or more before the Christian era ; and in the pro- 
 secution of this idea, as we know the three last to be periods 
 of enterprise, and demonstration of public spirit ; so we may- 
 suppose that the first was marked by a corresponding cha- 
 racter ; as in the nineteenth century we find railroads con- 
 structed, in the twelfth cathedrals and castles built, in the 
 sixth new kingdoms called into existence ; so in the first 
 period, may we not fancy that we see the erection of new Dru- 
 idical Temples, and Cromlechs — Stonehenge and others ? 
 
 'Mmu nf Mtxik. 
 
 Having thus completed our review of the literature of the 
 three languages under consideration individually, viz. the 
 W elsh, Irish, and Gaelic, our task is now to draw out a 
 statement of the comparative merits of the literature of each 
 language respectively ; which we shall attempt in the follow- 
 ing order. 
 
 QUANTITY OF MATTER. 
 
 As regards the quantity of matter before the public, both 
 in verse and prose, as well as the number of authors wdiose 
 works are extant, the Welsh language has vastly the ad- 
 vantage over the Irish and Gaelic. 
 
 ANTIQUITY OF COMPOSITIONS. 
 
 In priority of date, the advantage is also on the side of the 
 Welsh ; there being several works extant in that language 
 which are acknowledged to be of the sixth century, whereas 
 the same degree of antiquity, though claimed for the Irish 
 and Gaelic, yet has not been established except in a few un- 
 important fragments. 
 
 POETIC MERITS. 
 
 In this particular, the balance is not so easily adjusted. 
 The style of composition and species of merit differing so 
 
228 
 
 BALANCE OF MERITS. 
 
 greatly in eacli language, the Welsh Poetry being almost 
 Lyric^ whilst the Irish and Gaelic is Narrative and Descrip- 
 tive. In the Lyric Ode, the Welsh has incomparably the 
 advantage ; but in the Ballad, the Narrative, and the De- 
 scriptive, the advantage is as decidedly in favour of the Irish 
 and Gaelic. 
 
 HISTORIC MERITS. 
 
 In historical value, the Welsh Poetry greatly excels that 
 of the other two languages, inasmuch as it treats of actual 
 occurrences, whereas the other two deal more with fiction. 
 In Prose, the Chronicles and Records of the Welsh and 
 Irish are nearly of equal value, 
 
 ELUCIDATION OF ANCIENT HISTORY. 
 
 There being so little in either language that can properly 
 be brought under this head, and that little so vague and 
 destitute of every character of authenticity, .no preference 
 can be given to either. 
 
 MENTAL CULTIVATION, &c. 
 
 There is but little in the Welsh language that can be 
 brought to bear upon this subject, even by inference ; still, 
 by inference, there is something, but in the Irish and Gaelic, 
 as they belong to another branch of the Celtic family, we 
 cannot expect to find anything, and accordingly the small 
 advantage that exists must be placed to the account of the 
 Welsh. 
 
 IMAGINATIVE MERIT. 
 FICTION. 
 
 Though the Welsh Poetry displays instances of brilliant 
 imagination, yet they cannot properly be brought under the 
 head of Fiction, being generally nothing more than Figures 
 of Rhetoric ; and in this respect the Welsh Poetry is greatly 
 inferior to the Irish and Gaelic, which is chiefly taken up 
 with Tales of Fiction. On the other hand, the Welsh Prose 
 works of Fiction possess a vast superiority over those of the 
 Irish and Gaelic. 
 
BALANCE OF MERITS. 
 
 229 
 
 INFLUENCE ON EUROPEAN LITERATURE. 
 WELSH REMAINS. 
 
 It is a somewhat extraordinary fact, that the two Celtic 
 nations, the Cymry and the Gael^ driven as they have been 
 to the utmost limits of the West, should from those recesses 
 exercise an influence on the European mind, to be equalled 
 only by that of Classic literature. For when in the eleventli 
 century, the intellect of Europe awoke out of sleep, after a 
 repose of five hundred years, with but few exceptions, the 
 world around presented nothing but a barren desert; the 
 Latin language had passed away, and together with it all its 
 classic imagery and associations, leaving in its stead little 
 else than a number of rude and unformed jargons, of too 
 recent origin to be the depositories of ancient traditions, and 
 too imperfect to become the vehicles of new ideas. So the 
 European mind in general, in its newly awakened state, 
 however disposed to literary exertions, yet was not possessed 
 of the materials of thought or composition. It was not 
 so with the Welsh, they had preserved their ancient lan- 
 guage unchanged, and with it their native legends and tra- 
 ditions ; so that at the general awakening in the eleventh 
 century, the W elsh had not to go about forming a new 
 language, they were already in possession of a language co- 
 pious and cultivated; its grammar, its syntax, and its prosody 
 all fixed and acknowledged : nor had they to wander into 
 other countries in search of ideas, they had their own na- 
 tional storehouse of historical and legendary materials 
 amply furnished. Therefore, we must not be surprised that 
 this intellectual abundance was called upon to supply the 
 newly created wants of other countries, and accordingly we 
 find the legends and traditions of Wales passing over to the 
 Continent, and becoming the foundation of the vernacular 
 literature of modern Europe. King Arthur and the Court 
 of Caerlleon, formed the first subject of the French Trouveres, 
 who themselves were the earliest composers of the Continent, 
 in any of the recently formed languages. From France the 
 British legends travelled into Germany and Scandinavia, and 
 southward into Italy and Spain. " Fu gloriosa Bertagna la 
 grande — si che al Re Arture fa portare onore,*" says Boiardo 
 
230 
 
 BALANCE OF MEIUTS. 
 
 in the fifteenth century; and, from the manner in which 
 Dante introduces the name of Lancelot, it is evident that 
 the Arthurian Romances had found their way into Italy long 
 before. Indeed, there can be no doubt that they were known 
 there as early as the twelfth century, for Alain dePIsle, a 
 writer of that period, speaking of King Arthur, says, " Can- 
 tat gesta ejus domina civitatum Roma." As to the influence 
 of the Welsh legends on the literature of Spain, we need 
 only refer to Don Quixotte, in which Merlin acts so conspi- 
 cuous a part ; and the reviewers of Don Quixotte's Library 
 will testify to their influence in Portugal, when in opening 
 the Romance of Palmerin of England,* one of them observes 
 that " it is said to have been composed by an ingenious king 
 of Portugal," It is almost a certainty that the Arthurian 
 Romances penetrated even to Arabia ; at least we have satis- 
 factory evidence of their being current in Greece, from a 
 Poem of the twelfth century in the Greek language being- 
 still extant, of which the heroes are the Knights of the Round 
 Table.-f* This early impression, made by the Welsh legends, 
 was never obliterated, but on the contrary may be traced 
 through each successive generation down to the present 
 day. Shakspeare founded several of his plays on Welsh 
 legends. Milton intended making Arthur the hero of his 
 Epic, and one of the most perfect Poems produced within 
 our own time, " The Bridal of Triermain," proves how deeply 
 the mind of Scott was imbued with Arthurian Romance. 
 
 * This Palmerin of England is probably Paulmerion, the ancient British 
 king, and one of the ancestors of Vortigern, whose son Glouida founded the 
 city of Gloucester. "Glouida filius Paulmerion, ipse autem Glouida sedificavit, 
 urbem magnam super ripam fluminis Sabrinje. quae vocatur Brytannice sermone 
 Cair Gloui." — Nennius. 
 
 f The Welsh names undergo some curious distortions in this Poem. Arthur 
 is called A^tou^oj, and GtoenJnvyfar, Nt^sve^^oc, and Gwalclimai, or WalganuSy 
 is called raouXjSavoJ- Lancelot of the LaJce is m Xt/u,vns AxvuiXuros, and the 
 Round Table K7iights are called Tpa.7rE^-ns Tr,i^ apofyyvX-ni. The following lines 
 are from the Poem : — 
 
 O rov prijos adeX^i^ovs Ap>tov(^ov Bperavioii, 
 and also the following line, — 
 
 Tnv xXnatv siri^epovri, OvTipuTrccvTpayopov. 
 These names appear to have been received through the medium of the Italian. 
 Nt^ is intended to represent Italian G in Genevra, and TaovX^avos is Galvani, 
 the Italian form of Gtvalchmai. 
 
BALANCE OF MERITS. 
 
 231 
 
 In addition to the above causes, we may find another, in 
 the superior imaginative power of the Celtic mind. There 
 can be no doubt that the Franks brought with them their 
 national legends into Gaul, but they had not vitality enough 
 to continue in existence. It is equally unquestionable, that 
 the Normans transplanted into Neustria their native tradi- 
 tions; the demonology of Thor and Odin, together with the le- 
 gends of the ancient Scandinavian Sagas, but they did not take 
 root there, they rotted in the soil. And in a few generations 
 the Normans had forgotten their national heroes, and were 
 celebrating the praises of Arthur and his Celtic associates. 
 Of late, within a few years, the praiseworthy patriotism 
 of the Germans has impelled them into an attempt to force 
 into notice the ancient Teutonic legends of the Nieblungen, 
 but without effect, as far as the rest of Europe is concerned ; 
 they are destitute of the qualities, whatever those may be, 
 which are necessary to interest the mind. 
 
 IRISH AND GAELIC REMAINS. 
 
 As in the twelfth century the Welsh Legends were pro- 
 ductive of a new creation of thought, in the sentiment con- 
 tained in the Romances of Chivalry, and which may be de- 
 signated as the Arthurian ; so in the eighteenth century, 
 the Gwyddelian Poems gave existence to another creation, 
 equally distinct in character, and which is the Ossianic. 
 The powerful nature of this sentiment is evidenced in the ra- 
 pidity with which it extended itself over the civilized world, 
 the electric effect it produced wherever it made its appear- 
 ance, and the influence it exercised on literature, and pro- 
 bably still continues to exercise on the literate mind. And 
 although the Ossianic Poetry has not been so extensively 
 influential as the Arthurian Romances, yet it is quite as dis- 
 tinct in character, and its peculiar style of sentiment has, 
 within the limits of its operation, produced as deep an im- 
 pression on the mind. 
 
 We shall now proceed to form a Scale of Merits of the 
 literature of the several languages, in order that their re- 
 spective claims may be brought under one view. 
 
In the following Scale, superiority of quality is denoted by 
 an asterisk. The Irish and Gaelic Poems being claimed 
 by each country, their merits are here stated according to the 
 interpretation given to them by each : the Scotch inter- 
 preting them in the Ossianic style, and the Irish in the 
 Ballad style. 
 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 POETRY—Lyiic 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 
 0 .. 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 
 
 Heroic — Narrative „ 
 
 0 .. 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 * 
 
 Ballad — Fiction „ 
 
 0 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 
 
 Heroic — Fiction „ 
 
 0 .. 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 * 
 
 Historic „ 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 PROSE— Historic equal ... 
 
 
 
 . 0 
 
 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 Elucidation of Ancient History 
 
 * 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 Elucidation of Mental Cultivation ... 
 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 Influence on European Literature . . . 
 
 
 . 0 . 
 
 . 0 
 
 
 8 .. 
 
 . 2 . 
 
 . 2 
 
 1 
 
CARNHUANAWC. 
 
 Aftir a cutting clone from the Life h^j Lady HaH of Llanover, at Ahercarn, April 25, lf)£ 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 At the Abergavenny Eisteddfod of October, 1838, a Subscription Prize of 
 Sixty Guineas was given for the best Essay on " The Influence which the 
 Welsh Traditions have had on the Literature of Europe." There were five 
 Competitors, and the Prize was awarded by Mr. Hallam, the eminent Historian, 
 to J. D. Hardinge, Esq. of Glanogwr, Glamorganshire, chiefly, it is supposed, 
 for his work's superiority of diction. The intrinsic merit of the present Essay 
 was, however, so highly appreciated by the Chevalier Bunsen, and several other 
 eminent Scholars, that they pressed Mr. Price to consent to its immediate 
 publication. This he refused, fearing it might appear like an attempt to impugn 
 the decision of the Adjudicator ; to which, by sending in the Essay for com- 
 petition, Mr. Price considered that he had tacitly consented to abide. His 
 continued interest in this Essay is proved by various additions made to its 
 illustrative passages at subsequent periods. Among them were the quotations 
 from an Opera of Dryden's, made after its public performance in London in the 
 year 1842 ; and from a German Drama, translated and reviewed in a periodical 
 work of 1844. 
 
 Under the same signature as that originally affixed to this Essay, Mr. Price 
 gained the Prize of £30, and a Medal of £5, at the Liverpool Eisteddfod of 
 June, 1840, for "The best History in Welsh of the Welsh Princes the 
 substance of which is embodied in his "^'Hanes Cymru." 
 
 HAVE HAD ON THE 
 
 BY 
 
 Hie jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus." 
 
236 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 traditions of a secluded people found tlieir way to the Con- 
 tinent, may be partly explained ; to what extent they influ- 
 enced the mind, may also be shown with some degree of 
 correctness. But why these, the legends and traditions of so 
 remote a race, should exercise such absolute dominion over 
 so many active and powerful states, is a question Avhich in- 
 volves arguments too extensive, and perhaps too irrelevant to 
 the subject of this Essay, to be introduced. Were an 
 answer to such an inquiry within its scope, the universality 
 of the reception which these ancient legends experienced, 
 would lead to no other conclusion than that of the evidence 
 of some exceedingly fascinating qualities in those legends, a 
 superior order of imagination, and more commanding genius. 
 Whether to attribute this to the greater cultivation of in- 
 tellect under the Druidical discipline, or to a higher strain of 
 imagination amongst the Cymraeg race, I shall not under- 
 take to decide. But the facts now brought under consider- 
 ation, will, I feel assured, most fully establish the existence of 
 such an influence, not only amongst the neighbouring States, 
 but even in the remotest portions of the civilised world. 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS, &c. 
 
 When the Roman Empire was broken up, and all its insti- 
 tutions overthrown, in the great irruption of the Barbarian 
 nations of the North, so complete was the devastation, that 
 not only was the Imperial dominion annihilated, but even the 
 very language of Rome suiiered total extinction, as a medium 
 of general communication, and all the ideas peculiar to its liter- 
 ature ceased to exist. In short, all that may be character- 
 ised by the term Classic, either in colloquial intercourse or 
 literary composition, entirely disappeared, as far as regards 
 its influence upon society; and excepting where the secluded 
 Ecclesiastic pursued his theological studies, in the retirement 
 of his cloister, even as early as the beginning of the seventh 
 century, the Latin language had altogether passed away. 
 
 But it may be asked. Was the Latin ever the general lan- 
 guage of the Roman Empire in the provinces and distant 
 colonies ? To this it may be answered, Certainly not : for in 
 many parts of Britain the natives continued to retain their 
 aboriginal tongue. In Gaul, it is evident that the pure Latin 
 was never the language of the rural population ; even in 
 Italy itself, there are strong reasons for believing that in 
 many districts, a language was spoken very different to that 
 of the capital ; but, nevertheless, during the existence of the 
 Imperial Supremacy, in all the provinces of the Western 
 Empire, the Latin, according to its Classic construction both 
 of grammar and syntax, was the court and military language, 
 and the organ of all official documents in church and state, 
 and, most probably, the colloquial language of all who aspired 
 to the rank of gentlemen, as citzens of the Empire. That 
 this cultivation of the Latin was prosecuted, even in the re- 
 motest colonies at a very early period, we have the authority 
 of Tacitus, who in speaking of the Britons which had 
 
238 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 submitted to the Roman government, says, that such was the 
 influence which Agricola exercised over them, that those 
 among them, who had once rejected the language of Rome, 
 did at length not only cultivate it, but even aspire to the 
 attainment of eloquence in it, " Ut qui modo linguam Ro- 
 manam abnuebant, eloquentiam concupiscerent.''^* 
 
 GAUL. 
 
 Had the Roman power still continued, it is probable that 
 the Latin language would have gradually extended itself, 
 and through the influence of classic literature, established 
 itself as the colloquial language of Europe. But its progress 
 was arrested at a period when the provinces had but par- 
 tially acquired a knowledge of it, and the languages they 
 spoke were nothing more than the corrupt dialects, or rather 
 uncouth jargons, formed of the words of that language, altered 
 and mutilated ; with perhaps a considerable mixture of the 
 ancient languages of those countries. Even amongst the 
 higher classes of society, and those persons who from their 
 rank and profession must have received the most liberal 
 education of the day, w^e find, that as early as the sixth 
 century, even in the heart of Gaul, the cultivation of the 
 Latin had so far declined, that few, if any, possessed a perfect 
 knowledge of it, inasmuch as Gregory of Tours acknowledges 
 and laments his ignorance both of rhetoric and grammar. 
 He says, he did not understand either the declensions of 
 nouns, or the placing of prepositions, and that he confounded 
 the masculine and the feminine, the ablative and accusative ; 
 and he accounts for his undertaking to record the history of 
 his time, by saying that such was the decline of literature, 
 that no one else could be found capable of such a work, either 
 in prose or verse. "I* It is true that the writings of Gregory 
 of Tours, as now found in print, do not betray such excessive 
 ignorance of grammatical skill, but this is accounted for by 
 the supposition that subsequently to the revival of learning, 
 
 Agx-icolse Vita, 
 
 t " Decedente atque imo percunte ab urbibus Gallicanis liberalium cultura li- 
 terarum — , cum non reperiri posset cpiisquam peritus in arte dialectica gramma- 
 ticus, qui hrec aut stylo prosaico aut metrico depingeret versus." 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 239 
 
 some transcribers better acquainted with the language, cor- 
 rected such inaccuracies as they met with in his writings, 
 and in confirmation of this, D. Ruinart, who edited an 
 edition of his work, assures us, that there are in existence 
 manuscript copies, which really exhibit all the incorrectness 
 of style which the author himself describes.* 
 
 But although Gregory of Tours thus laments his inability 
 to write the Latin language correctly, nevertheless, the lan- 
 guage he does write is really Latin, however it may be dis- 
 figured by occasional inaccuaries. Besides this unclassic style 
 of language, there was another species of Latin in use, which 
 liad by no means such pretensions to the name, inasmuch 
 as it was avowedly a vitiated variety of that language, and 
 was called by various names significant of its corrupted 
 form, such as Usualis^ Gallica^ mlgaris^ simplex^ rustica^ mili- 
 tarise ruralis^ pleheia^ S^c. Of this dialect no specimen re- 
 mains. However, from what we find in the legal Latin of 
 those ages, it may be inferred that the colloquial language 
 had departed very far from that of ancient Rome ; for D. 
 Ruinart presents us with a collection of certain forms of legal 
 documents, consisting of wills, cessions, oaths, &c. according 
 to the usages of Angers, and which as they appertained to 
 the public records of the country, we may suppose were as free 
 from grammatical inaccuracies as was compatible with their 
 usefulness as public documents, and consequently they most 
 probably afford us specimens of what was considered a good 
 style in those days, and yet they manifest such confusion of 
 grammar and syntax, that it must be allowed that the Latin 
 language had at this time ceased to exist, as far as its pecu- 
 liarities of structure are concerned. The following form of 
 a marriage settlement, will be sufficient to explain this state- 
 ment. The first part is pure Latin, being the common pre- 
 liminary sentence in use during the Roman dominion. The 
 English interpretation is from the French of Legrand. 
 
 Dulcissima et cum integvo aiiiore 
 (liligenda sponsa mea, filia ill. 
 nomen ill, ego ill, Et quia propitio 
 Domino juxta consuetudinem una cum 
 vohintate parentum tuorum sponsavi. 
 
 "■■ Legrand, Paris, 1829. 
 
240 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 Thus far the pure Latin, now comes the lingua Romana rustica. 
 " Proinde cido tibi de rem panpertatis 
 mese, tarn pro sponsalitia, quam pro 
 largitatae tuae, hoc est casa cum 
 curte circumcincta, mobile et 
 immobile, Silvas, pratus, pascuas. 
 Tu dulcissima sponsa mea ad 
 die filicissimo nupciarum tibi 
 per banc cessione dileco atque 
 transfundo, ut in tuse jure hoc rocepere 
 dibeas. Cido tibi bracile valente 
 Solidus tantus, toneneas tantas, 
 lectario ad lecto vestito, valente 
 Solidus tantus, inaures aureas valente 
 Solidus tantus, annolus valentes 
 Solidus tantus. Cido tibi caballus cum 
 sambuca et omnia stratura sua, bores tantus, 
 vaccas cum sequentes tantus, ovis tantus, 
 Solidus tantus." 
 
 " My dearest spouse, whom I love with 
 perfect affection, the daughter of N. 
 by name N. I N. And because by the 
 favour of the Lord, I have espoused thee, 
 according to due form and with the consent of thy parents, 
 I cede to thee out of my poor possessions, 
 as well on account of our marriage as for 
 thy own wealth, that is to say, a house 
 with its surrounding court, the moveables 
 and fixtures, woods, meadows, pastures. 
 Thou, my beloved spouse, from the most happy 
 day of our nuptials I give and transmit 
 to thee by this ceding, that thou mayest 
 receive this in thy own right. I cede 
 \ to thee a bracelet worth so many 
 sous, so many [casks q.] bed — 
 furniture worth so many sous, gold 
 ear-rings, worth so many sous, a ring 
 worth so many sous. I cede to thee 
 a horse with his saddle and all his 
 harness, so many oxen, so many cows 
 with their calves, so many sheep, 
 so many sous." 
 
 When such was the state of the Latin language used in 
 the public documents of the country, it may be supposed that 
 the colloquial language of the peasantry must have been still 
 more corrupt. And it appears that this corruption gradu- 
 ally extended itself, till at length the language of France 
 bore but a very remote resemblance to its Roman parent, 
 and in confirmation of this, we find several curious docu- 
 ments of the ninth century, in which this change of charac- 
 ter is very perceptible. It consists of the oaths, which were 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 241 
 
 taken in 842 by the two sons of Louisle Debonnaire — Charles 
 le chauve, and Louis de Baviere — together with their res- 
 pective armies. 
 
 After several years of war, these two princes met at Stras- 
 bourg, and entered into a treaty of peace, and each swore 
 at the head of his army, and each soldier took an oath to 
 the same effect. The following are the two forms of the 
 oaths as pronounced in the Romance, or French language: — 
 
 THE OATH OF LOUIS DE BAVIERE. 
 
 " Pro Deo amur et pro xristian poblo 
 et nostro commun salvament, d'ist 
 di en avant, in quant Deus savir 
 et podir me dunat, si salvarai eo 
 Sist meo fradre Karlo, et in adjudha 
 et in cadhuna cosa, si cum om per 
 dreit son fradra salvar dist, in o 
 quid il mi altresi fazet ; et ab 
 Ludher nul plaid nunquam 
 prindrai qui, meon vol, cist meon 
 fradre Karle in damno sit." 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 " For the love of God and for Christian people 
 and for our common salvation, from this 
 day forward, as far as God gives me 
 knowledge and power, I will defend this, 
 my brother Charles, and will assist him, 
 in every thing, in which every one 
 ought in justice to assist his brother, 
 and whicifi he himself shall do to me 
 on the other hand ; and I will never 
 enter into any treaty with my brother 
 Lothaire, willingly, which may injure 
 my brother Charles." 
 
 THE OATH TAKEN BY THE ARMY OF CHARLES. 
 
 " Si Lodhuuigs sagrament que son 
 fradre Karlo jurat, conservat, et 
 Karlus, meos sendra, de sua part 
 non lo stanit, si io returnar non 
 li'nt pois ; ne io, ne neuls cui eo 
 returnar int pois, in nulla adjudha 
 Contra Lodhuwig nun li iver." 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 " If Louis keeps the oath which he 
 swears to his brother Charles, and 
 if Charles my lord, on his part, 
 does not keep it ; if I can not turn 
 him, and if neither I nor any other 
 can turn him, I will not assist 
 him in any thing against Louis," 
 2i 
 
242 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 In this composition, we find a very decided change in the 
 character of the language from that which it bears in the 
 preceding document ; and in the next examples which we 
 meet with, there is still further departure from the original 
 Latin, but, at the same time, there is a much more perfect 
 structure, and nearer approach to the form which the French 
 language afterwards assumed, and which, with a few excep- 
 tions, constitutes its individual character at the present day. 
 As to the earliest specimens of the French language, pro- 
 perly so called, there are several opinions ; but those speci- 
 mens bear so strong . a resemblance to each other, that it can 
 be of little consequence to which of them the claim of priori- 
 ty may belong, as they are evidently formed of the same 
 materials, and cast in the same mould; and when compared 
 with the Latin, the resemblance will be found so remote, that 
 had we not decided evidence of their origin and descent, we 
 should be justified in concluding them to belong rather to 
 some cognate dialect of that language, than to one regularly 
 derived from it. The Abbe de Larue gives the following 
 specimen, which he believes to have been composed prior to 
 the year 1000; he believes it to be the most ancient speci- 
 men extant of the northern division of the French language, 
 though he acknowledges that some persons maintain the 
 impossibility of that age having furnished any thing of the 
 kind : — 
 
 " Si ti veu de Rein savoir ly eveque. 
 Lye le temporair de Flodoon le saige, 
 Y les mor du tarn d'Odalry eveque, 
 Et fut d'Epernay ne par parentage ; 
 Vequit caste clerc, bon moine, meilleu abbe, 
 
 Et d'Agapit ly romain fut aube ; 
 Par san histoire maintes novelles sauras 
 Et en ille toute autiquite auras." 
 
 Legrand gives a specimen which, according to his judgment, 
 nmst be older than the above, although he does not under- 
 take to fix its date. The specimen is as follows : — 
 
 " En un jor, je depreissez de mult 
 grandes noises dez alquanz secuUirs 
 as queiz, en lur negosces, a la foiz 
 Smnes destraint solre, meismes ce 
 ke certe chose est nos nient devoir, 
 Si requis un secrete liu est amis a dolor." 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 243 
 
 LATIN TRANSLATION. 
 
 ** Quadam die nimis quorundam 
 Secularium tumultibus depressus, 
 quibus in sius negotiis pleramque 
 Cogimur solvere etiam quod nos 
 certum est not debere, secretum 
 locum petii amicum doloris." 
 
 But whatever may be decided respecting the antiquity of the 
 above, we have several compositions of the eleventh and 
 twelfth centuries, whose genuineness is placed beyond dis- 
 pute, and whose distinguishing features are so similar, that 
 we may conclude that at this period, the French language 
 had assumed that form which has ever since constituted its 
 peculiar character as a distinct language. The following 
 extract from the laws of William the Conqueror, may suffice 
 to illustrate this fact. 
 
 " Si home fait plaie a altre et 
 11 denie otrei fair les amendes ; 
 primerement li reude sur le 
 Chefe, et li plaiez jurraz sur 
 Sentez pur mes nel pot fair, &c." 
 
 TRANSLATION BY SELDEN. 
 
 ** Si quis alium percusserit, et 
 neqaverit ultra emendare primo 
 reddat sur le chefe et plaqas et 
 jurat super sancta quod aliter 
 non potuit facere." 
 
 The following extract from the Brut of Wace, which was 
 
 finished in the year 1155, will suffice to show the state of the 
 
 French language at that period, and which may be considered 
 
 as having then assumed the character which distinguishes it 
 
 at the present day. The specimens here given are taken 
 
 from two different copies of the same work, in the king''s 
 
 library, in Paris, as given in the edition of the Brut printed 
 
 at Rouen, 1836. 
 
 MANUSCRIPT DU ROI, NUMBER 73 CANGE, &C. 
 
 " Qui vialt oir et vialt savoir, 
 
 De roi an roi et d'oir en oir, 
 
 Qui cil furent et dont vinrent 
 
 Qui Engleterre primiers tinrent, 
 
 Quer rois ja en ordre eu 
 
 Et qui envois et puis i fu 
 
 Cil reconte la verite 
 
 Qui lo Latin a translate 
 
 Si com li livres le devise 
 
 Quant Greu orent Troye conquise." 
 
244 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 27 CANGE. 
 
 *' Ki velt o'ir et velt savoir, 
 De roi en roi et d'oir en oir, 
 Qui cil furent et dont il vinrent 
 Qui Engleterre primes tinrent, 
 Q,ans rois i a en ordre eu 
 Qui an^ois et qui puis i fu, 
 Maistre Gasse I'a translate. 
 Qui en conte la verite. 
 Si com li livres le devise 
 Qant Griu orent Troie conquise." 
 
 Such are the data afforded us for tracing the progress of 
 the French, evidently the oldest of the languages of modern 
 Europe; and although the facts which we are able to establish 
 are but few, and not always very positively determined, yet 
 they leave no doubt upon the mind respecting the confused 
 and unsettled state of that language for many centuries, and 
 afford the clearest evidence that, during this period, there was 
 nothing in that language that bore the name of literature; 
 they also shew the absolute impossibility of any national li- 
 terature having an existence. 
 
 But, in addition to the present French language, of which 
 the foregoing are the specimens during its early stages, there 
 was also another language in the South of France, called the 
 Provin^al, and also the Romane Provin9al, to distinguish it 
 from the Northern speech, which was called the Romane 
 Wallon. This Southern dialect was also called the Langue 
 d'Oc, as that of the North was called the Langue d'Oil.* This 
 Provencal language was copious, soft, and regular in its con- 
 struction ; and from the evident marks it bears of a Latin 
 origin, many have supposed that it was the remains of the 
 language of the Romanized population of Provence, the 
 Promncia ; but there are others who maintain that it was 
 but of late introduction in that country, being in reality no 
 other than the Catalonian^ which was introduced as the court 
 language by the counts of Barcelona, when those princes 
 became counts of Provence in 1112; and in confirmation of 
 this assertion, it is stated that the Proven9al abounds with 
 Catalan expressions ; that the Troubadours, the minstrels of 
 Provence, frequently address their compositions to the kings 
 of Arragon and Castile ; and that those princes often furnish 
 subjects for the Proven9al muse.-j- 
 
 * Or rather Langue d'Oui. — Ed, f See a summary of these evidences in De Larue. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 245 
 
 It must be acknowledged, this sudden and universal adop- 
 tion of a foreign language would appear incredible, had we 
 not instances of a similar kind in other countries ; and amongst 
 others, we may notice that of the introduction of the Nor- 
 man into England, which, through the effect of its being the 
 language of the court, became also the fashionable language 
 of the higher classes, even amongst the Saxon population, 
 and was that in which the minstrels composed, or recited 
 their songs and romances; and if this court influence made 
 such progress amongst a people of the grave and heavy tem- 
 perament which characterized the Saxons of Britain, it may 
 easily be conceived, that it would be still more powerful in its 
 effects amongst the gay and volatile inhabitants of the South 
 of France. 
 
 Perhaps there is an instance of the power of court influence, 
 in efiecting a change in the language of the people, still more 
 to the point, in the introduction of the English language in- 
 to Scotland, which took place in the eleventh century, in the 
 reign of Malcolm Canmore, in consequence of that sovereign 
 having married an English queen, and made his court an 
 asylum for such Englishmen as fled to Scotland from the 
 Norman persecution. From this time, English became the 
 court language, and gradually banished the Gaelic, both 
 from the capital and its vicinity ; whereas, previous to that 
 time it, had been the only language of the court and people. 
 
 But, whatever may be determined respecting the Oatalo- 
 nian origin of the Provencal, it is evident that no specimen 
 of that language exists, that can with any degree of certainty 
 be referred to a period antecedent to the twelfth century. 
 One of the earliest specimens is the following translation of 
 Boethius : — 
 
 " Nos jove omne quandius que nos estam, 
 
 De gran follia per folledat parllam, 
 
 Quar no nos membra per cui vivri esperam, 
 
 Qui nos soste tan quan per terra annam, 
 
 E qui nos pais que no murem de fam." 
 " We all when we were young were foolish and talked folly, for we 
 did not remember him by whom we live, who sustains us while we are 
 on the earth, and feeds us that we die not of hunger." 
 
 The following composition may with with greater cer- 
 tainty be referred to its proper era, inasmuch as the author, 
 Perdigor the Troubadour, died in 1269. 
 
246 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 *' All chans d'ausels commenza ma chanso, 
 Cant aug chantar I'Agluenta et Aiglos, 
 E p'els cortils vey verdeyar lo luis, 
 ' La blava flors qe par entr'els boissos, 
 
 E'l rin clar corren sobr' els sablos, 
 La u ses pand la blanca flor del lis." 
 
 " With the singing of the birds I commence my song, when I hg ar 
 the lark and the singing, when in the fields I see the earth becoming 
 verdant, when the blue flower appears among the bushes, when the 
 clear brooks run over the sands, there where the white flower of the 
 lily opens." 
 
 The following prose specimen will suffice to shew the cha- 
 racter of the Proven9al about the same period, that is, the 
 middle of the thirteenth century. 
 
 " Et mentre aquest sant home cantava la messa vengro aqui quatre 
 homes ces de longas terras, Et portec casque d'elhs un ciri ardent a la 
 ma. E vengro a la capela, e cridero autament Verge Maria, mayre de 
 Dieu gloriosa, ret nos salut." 
 
 ITALIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 If in our researches respecting the French language, we find 
 it so unformed as to be absolutely incapable of being applied 
 to purposes of Hterature until a very short time prior to the 
 twelfth century, when we turn our attention to Italy, we 
 find the impossibility of such application of the vernacular 
 idioms of that country still more prominent ; inasmuch as 
 from all that can be discovered, these idioms were more neg-" 
 lected, and consequently more confused, less adapted to li- 
 terary composition than even the patois of France ; and this 
 neglect of the vernacular tongue, may, in some measure, be 
 attributed to the fact of the Latin being more generally cul- 
 tivated in that country. 
 
 In consequence of Rome being the Ecclesiastical metropolis 
 of the western world, and the seat of the Pontifical court, and 
 as all the official proceedings of the church were conducted 
 through the medium of the Latin, it may be supposed, 
 if that language was cultivated with any degree of attention, 
 it must have been in Italy : but as the drawing up of Eccle- 
 siastical documents, or event he composition of theological 
 works in a dead language, can scarcely, with any degree of 
 propriety, be entitled to the name of literature, at least as far 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 247 
 
 as its popular iDfluence is concerned, we may assert it as an 
 established truth, that prior to the twelfth century Italy did 
 not possess any national literature. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 The same arguments that have been used with respect to 
 Italy, may with still greater confidence be adopted in the in- 
 stance of Spain as it is very evident that the Spanish lan- 
 guage is of even later formation than the Italian ; so that 
 whatever exists in that language, must be of too recent com- 
 position to be noticed in the present stage of this inquiry. 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 The late introduction of Christianity among the Teutonic 
 nations, must of necessity limit the commencement of their 
 literature to an equally recent period ; and, consequently, as 
 they date its origin no earlier than the beginning of the dark 
 ages, it would be unreasonable to expect to find them in a 
 more forward state than the other nations of Europe, prior 
 to the eleventh century. 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 Though not within the pale of the Roman Empire, yet inas- 
 much as Ecclesiastical learning made its way into Ireland at 
 an early period, the Irish can boast of a national literature 
 perhaps as far back as the sixth century ; yet, in consequence 
 of the conquest of Ireland by the Danes, and the oppressive 
 rule which those pagans exercised, the literature of Ireland 
 sufiered an exceeding great depression long before the eleventh 
 century, so that this country may be said to have shared 
 in the general obscuration which had passed over the world. 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 From the avidity with which the British youth in the first 
 century sought the acquirement of the Latin language, 
 there can be no reasonable doubt, that at the departure 
 of the legions in the fifth century, the principal towns were 
 completely Romanized, and that the Latin was the language 
 
248 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 of the citizens in general, at least of those towns along the 
 eastern coast, which admitted of more frequent communica- 
 tion with the continent. But when the Saxon invasion took 
 place, so numerous were the bands that came over, and so 
 furious their attacks, that in a short time the language of the 
 original inhabitants, throughout the greatest portion of the 
 island, whether Latin or British, was entirely extinguished ; 
 and, probably, in many instances, the inhabitants themselves 
 were either exterminated or forced into exile. Therefore, in 
 that portion of the country peopled by the Saxons, unless we 
 except some few peculiarly favoured establishments, such as 
 Glastonbury and St. Albans, and perhaps one or two others, 
 we have no evidence of any remains of Roman learning 
 having at all survived the general devastation; so that, 
 unless we presume that some few embers might have been 
 allowed to remain unquenched in these retirements, during 
 the pagan domination of the Saxons, we must conclude that 
 whatever of literature existed in England, during the reign 
 of the Saxon monarchs, owed its origin to the introduction 
 of Roman Ecclesiastics by Augustine; and in this case^ Bede 
 and Alcuin are the disciples of the Roman missionaries of 
 the sixth century, and not the successors of the ancient 
 British Clergy. 
 
 But however this may be, the Anglo-Saxons were actually 
 making rapid progress towards establishing a national liter- 
 ature, properly and peculiarly their own ; and had not their 
 language suffered complete extirpation under the Norman 
 dominion, it is highly probable that it would have by 
 this time to boast of productions ranking amongst those of 
 other cultivated nations. The Saxon Chronicle may be con- 
 sidered as a mark of the progress of literature ; and the la- 
 bours of Alfred, in promoting his native tongue, and the 
 success with which he cultivated it, give ample proof of what 
 Anglo-Saxon literature might have been, had that language 
 been allowed to exist. But whatever these efforts might have 
 produced, the positive evidence of facts compels us to admit, 
 that nothing deserving the name of literature existed in the 
 Saxon era, and that what little of a literary kind did exist, 
 perished with the language, without leaving any permanent 
 effect upon the people. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 249 
 
 WALES. 
 
 We now come to that secluded corner of the world, whose 
 literature and traditions form the subject of the present 
 Essay, the Principality of Wales, a country which, from the 
 many extraordinary features in its history, stands alone 
 amongst the nations of Europe. The Principality of Wales 
 is the only portion of the Roman Empire that has retained 
 its ancient language ; it is the only country that successfully 
 resisted the pagan Gothic invasion, and preserved its soil 
 from being occupied and colonised by strangers ; it is the 
 only country that has preserved an indigenous literature un- 
 broken from the earliest ages ; and to add to this list of cha- 
 racteristics, Wales is the country that furnished the materials 
 of thought to the awakening genius of Europe, and perhaps 
 contributed much towards the impulse which occasioned 
 that awakening out of sleep. 
 
 Whilst, according to the most probable conjecture, the 
 eastern districts of this island became completely Romanized, 
 and adopted the Latin language, it is most evident that the 
 inhabitants of Wales resisted this foreign innovation with 
 firmness and success ; for, after a period of three hundred 
 years of Roman domination, we find them, at the departure 
 of that people, speaking their ancient and aboriginal language, 
 if not as free from a mixture of Latin words, at least as un- 
 changed in its grammatical construction, as if that people had 
 never touched their soil. And this freedom from Roman 
 influence is most evident in all their national characteristics : 
 their poetry is peculiar to themselves, and bears not the re- 
 motest resemblance to that of the Romans; their legends are 
 no more like those of Rome than of India; their superstitions, 
 instead of partaking of the mythology of Rome, are purely 
 indigenous ; the very names of their chieftains, even during 
 the stay of the legions here, as well as in subsequent ages, 
 are as purely Welsh as if no foreign people had ever visited 
 their shores. 
 
 But, as connected with the present subject^ i. e. the liter- 
 ature of the race, they can produce undeniable proofs of 
 having preserved a succession of compositions in their ancient 
 
 2 K 
 
250 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 language from the sixth century down ; and many of those 
 persons, who are best acquainted with their bardic composi- 
 tions, are of opinion that some of their fragments belong to 
 periods still earlier, and even to ages in which the Druidical 
 religion prevailed, as they contain allusions, which it is sup- 
 posed cannot refer to any other subjects than those con- 
 nected with Druidism. But, however this may be, it is certain 
 that there is not a century, from the sixth down to the 
 present, of which the Welsh cannot produce some composi- 
 tion either in prose or verse ; so that this people stands in a 
 very different position to the rest of the nations of Europe. 
 For whilst all those nations had each a new language to form 
 before they could lay the foundation of their literature, the 
 Welsh had no such obstacle to contend with ; nor had they 
 to pass through any state of transition from the use of an 
 ancient to that of a modern tongue. And, in addition to this, 
 the Welsh were the only people of Europe who successfully 
 resisted the pagan Gothic invasions. The Saxons were never 
 able to subjugate Wales, and the Danes could never even set 
 foot in the country, except in marauding parties along the 
 coast ; so that with regard to their proper national literature, 
 the Welsh form a very striking exception to the rest of the 
 nations of Europe. 
 
 When we direct our attention to the state of Classic learn- 
 ing in Wales, we may observe a strong similarity betwixt 
 that and other countries. The Latin language will be found to 
 be cultivated in the Colleges and Bangors of the Principality 
 with a considerable degree of success ; but, at the same time, 
 to be entirely confined to the Ecclesiastical profession. 
 Amongst the cultivators of the Latin language in Wales, 
 we may mention Gildas in the sixth century, Nennius in 
 the eighth, and Asser Menevensis in the ninth. Whilst 
 these, and perhaps many others in those seminaries, possessed 
 a knowledge of the Latin so as to write it, if not with classic 
 elegance, at least without any gross errors ; yet from several 
 documents extant, it is evident that this knowledge had 
 greatly declined in many parts of the country : as a confir- 
 mation of this, I need only refer to some of the ancient 
 sepulchral inscriptions still to be seen, one of which I shall 
 notice, as exhibiting that want of grammatical skill whicli 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 251 
 
 Gregory of Tours complains was so common in France. 
 It is the following inscription upon a stone in Breconshire, 
 which, from the form of the letters, must be of the sixth or 
 seventh century. 
 
 CAWY^lilCUcnr 
 
 y 
 
 CATACUS HIC JACIT 
 FILIUS TEGERNACUS. 
 
 CATTOC LIES HERE 
 THE SON OF TEYRNOC. 
 
 It is evident that the composer of this inscription was 
 unacquainted with the grammatical construction of the Latin, 
 and of the necessity of employing the genitive case in the 
 last word. 
 
 We have similar instances in the works of the Welsh 
 Bards, where, occasionally, a Latin sentence is introduced, 
 with the same ignorance or disregard of grammatical ac- 
 curacy ; and, sometimes, the Latin construction is entirely, 
 and perhaps intentionally altered, in order to assimilate to 
 the Welsh ; as in the words Bex Bexedd^ for Bex Begum^ in 
 which the Wel|h plural termination is given instead of the 
 Latin. 
 
 Also the ancient cross at Lantwit with ; — 
 
 In nomine Dei et filii et Speretus santi hanc crucem houel iprope- 
 trabit pro anima Res patres [patris] ejus." 
 
252 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 Also that of Samson at the same place ; — * 
 
 " In nomine di summi incipit crux salvatoris quae [quam] prepava- 
 vit Sanisoni apati [abbas] pro anima sua a pro anima Inthahelo io rex 
 et Artmalo tecani LDecani]." 
 
 From the foregoing facts it is evident, that as far as regards 
 modern Europe, with the exception of the Principality of 
 Wales, prior to the twelfth century, either no national 
 literature existed at all, or else, where it did exist, as among 
 the Saxons of England, or the aborigines of Ireland, it be- 
 came entirely extinguished in the general commotion, — the 
 erection of new states, and the formation of new languages, 
 which took place at that extraordinary epoch. It is there- 
 fore to this period that we are to look for the first dawn of 
 modern literature ; and our next inquiry must be, In what 
 form, and with what character of feature, did this new vis- 
 itant appear on its first arrival. In order to enter into 
 this investigation, we shall have to go over the same ground 
 once more, and examine the state of the various nations of 
 Europe at the commencement of their new era. As we 
 have seen that the French nation holds the most prominent 
 station, as to priority of rank and interest of matter, during 
 the ages which preceded the twelfth century, so we shall 
 find that she was the first that awoke out of sleep at the 
 close of those dark ages. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 That the chronological precedence of literature must be 
 conceded to France, will be placed beyond all possibility of 
 dispute, when it is proved that the French language was in 
 existence, and even furnished some specimens of composition, 
 before any other of the modern languages of Europe was 
 formed. And consequently it is to France that we are to 
 look for the first outbreaking of modern literature. And, 
 truly, it is an employment of no ordinary interest, to inquire 
 into the form and character which the q^wly awakened 
 genius of Europe assumed ; and what the subjects were 
 
 * Engravings of these Crosses, from Drawings made by Mr. Price, may be 
 found in a very interesting work, which bears the anomalous title of "The lolo 
 IVISS," published in 1848, at Llandovery. — Editor. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 253 
 
 which engaged the energies of the renovated mind. In the 
 course of this investigation, a singular phenomenon will 
 present itself to our notice, for we shall perceive that the 
 materials of thought were not of the indigenous growth of 
 the soil ; nor were they the remains of the classic impor- 
 tations of Greece or Rome. But they were altogether 
 furnished by a people, whose destinies had for ages consigned 
 them to a state of obscurity in one or two secluded corners 
 of the world, and whose native literature, from the exclu- 
 sive nature of their language and habits, could scarcely be 
 expected to exercise an influence beyond the narrow limits of 
 their own territories. The earliest materials of thought were 
 furnished by the Welsh. The first efforts of European 
 genius were directed towards celebrating the ancient heroes 
 of Wales ; — Arthur and his fellow warriors were the subjects 
 of composition, and the legendary traditions of the Welsh 
 supplied the whole machinery of imagination; even the 
 very scenes of action were laid within the territories of that 
 people. And whilst Arthur and Merlin fixed the admiration 
 as examples of valour and skill, Carleon and Caerdigan-, 
 Carduel and Tintagel^ rose to a state of celebrity equal to 
 that of the most distinguished cities. 
 
 As we have traced the first awakening of the European 
 mind to the French nation, it now devolves upon us to 
 inquire, in what part of France this phenomenon made its 
 appearance. And after traversing the whole of that exten- 
 sive region, we shall at length find our progress arrested 
 within the province of Normandy : for it is amongst the 
 Troiiv^res of that country that we find the earliest speci- 
 mens of composition that can, with any degree of propriety, 
 be admitted into the rank of literature. It is true, that 
 claims of priority have been put in for the Troubadours of 
 Provence^ but evidently unsupported by facts ; for no speci- 
 men of the Proven9al can be produced of as early a date as 
 some of undoubted authority of Roman composition. And 
 indeed, when the almost established fact of the late intro- 
 duction of the Provencal from Catalonia as a court language, 
 is taken into consideration, it will afford a sufficient reply to 
 any argument in favour of the claims of the Troubadours^ 
 unsupported as they are by ancient documents. 
 
254 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 The earliest compositions, then, of Europe, which from 
 their importance as a class, and their influence upon society, 
 have any claim to the title of literature, are evidently those 
 of the Eoman Trouvferes in the twelfth century, which were 
 known under the names of Fabliaux^ Romances^ and Lays. 
 The subjects of which were the exploits of chivalry, and of 
 which the principal actors were the Knights of the Bound 
 Table. 
 
 It would be no easy task to determine upon the earliest 
 specimen of Romantic composition amongst the French, or 
 even upon the earliest composer of Romances or Lays ; as the 
 source of that species of composition, like that of many 
 others, is enveloped in obscurity. However, at a particular 
 period, we find such a constellation of authors, that we can 
 speak with a certain degree of precision as to the age in 
 which the genius of Romantic Fiction and popular literature 
 began to manifest its power. 
 
 ROBERT WAGE. 
 
 One of the earliest compositions of this description is the 
 Brut of Wace, which was composed about the year 1155, 
 and is a versified translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and, 
 of course, is altogether made up of the history and traditions 
 of Wales. 
 
 GEFFROY GAIMAR. 
 
 Another production of the same period is the history of 
 the Saxon kings by Geff'roy Gaimar, in which the author 
 professes to have drawn his materials from the writings of 
 the Welsh,— 
 
 " Solum les livres as Walleis 
 Kil avoient des Breton Reis.'* 
 
 and again, — 
 
 " GefFun Gaimar eel livre escrit 
 Le translata e fes i mist 
 Ki li Waleis current leissie 
 Kil avait ainz mult purchace 
 Ou fust a dreist ou fust a tort.'* 
 
 CHRETIEN DE TROYES. 
 
 Soon after the appearance of the Brut, a number of em- 
 inent Trouv^res and composers of Chivalrous Tales appeared 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 255 
 
 amongst the French, both in France and England, and 
 amongst the most distinguished, may be ranked ChrMien de 
 Troyes ; but there is one remarkable difference betwixt his 
 writings and those of his predecessors. Wace and Gaimar 
 derive the materials of their Romances from the Brut, either 
 that of Geoifrey of Monmouth or of Walter Calenius ; but 
 Chretien de Troyes, although he takes the Knights of the * 
 EoundTable for his heroes, yet relates adventures entirely 
 distinct from those of the Brut, and introduces names which 
 are not to be found in that work. This introduction of new 
 matter might lead to a conclusion, that Chretien de Troyes 
 was the inventor of these tales, and that the new characters 
 and adventures were altogether the creation of his own 
 fancy. But, upon further examination, this supposition 
 will appear to be altogether unfounded ; for so far from his 
 being the inventor, these names have long been held in 
 veneration among the Welsh, as borne by some of their 
 most distinguished warriors ; and indeed, their history is so 
 blended with that of the Welsh, that in many instances it 
 is impossible to separate them. Therefore it is evident, that 
 ChrMien de Troyes derived the materials of his Romances 
 from the legends of the Welsh, but through what channel 
 remains yet to be shewn. 
 
 MARIE OF FRANCE. 
 
 The twelfth century was the age of Romance : at this time 
 the first impulse was given to the imagination, and as Arthur 
 and the Knights of the Round Table formed the great and 
 all engrossing subject of imaginative composition, so that 
 powerful impulse continued not only unabated, but ab- 
 solutely increasing in strength for many generations ; and 
 early in the thirteenth century we find the name of Marie 
 de France amongst the most distinguished literary charac- 
 ters of the day. This extraordinary woman, like Chretien 
 de Troyes, whilst engaged in narrating the events of the 
 Arthurian era, and celebrating the achievements of the 
 heroes of the Round Table, yet introduces new matter into 
 her compositions, and at the same time gives us to under- 
 stand that it is not the production of her own fancy, but 
 that she found it amongst the Lays of the Bretons. And 
 
256 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 accordingly we find so much in it to connect it with Wales, 
 that we can only regard Marie de France in the light in 
 which she seems to place herself — that of a versifier and 
 adapter of the ancient Welsh legends, with perhaps some 
 few embellishments, such as would be necessary to give 
 currency to those tales when transferred into a different 
 language, and written for the entertainment of an age when 
 some changes had already begun to take place in the habits 
 of the world. 
 
 For many ages after the commencement of the thirteenth 
 century, almost the whole of the popular literature of 
 Europe consisted of Romances, either of the Round Table, or 
 of some one of the cycles which succeeded to that style of 
 composition. It was in this era of the twelfth and thirteenth 
 centuries, that the most striking productions made their 
 appearance ; and it was then the human mind received its 
 present form and impression. There appear to have been, in 
 the course of the world, certain eras in which sudden and 
 powerful impressions have been made upon the moral and 
 intellectual character, not to be effaced for many ages from 
 that time ; and this period assuredly was one. The mind 
 at this time received a peculiar character, and, like metal 
 from the forge, was tempered at once into that constitution 
 which it has ever since been destined to retain. And as the 
 Romances of Chivalry for so many ages formed the principal, 
 if not the exclusive source of popular literature and entertain- 
 ment ; and as the legends of the Welsh furnished the entire 
 supply of materials from which those Romances were 
 constructed, it is not too much to assign to those legends 
 a very prominent post in the formation of modern literature. 
 
 It would be but waste of time to enter into an exam- 
 ination of the several Romances which occupied the attention 
 of Europe during this era, and ever afterwards formed a 
 continuation to those of the Brut and the Fabliaux; the 
 following catalogue will afford some idea of the extensive 
 field occupied by these productions, and the powerful in- 
 fluence they must have exercised upon the public mind. 
 The Romance of Merlin speaks for itself with regard to its 
 Oymraeg origin. The San Graal, also, contains evidence of 
 its being of the same school. Percival of Wales needs no 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 257 
 
 other proof of his Cambrian extraction, than the mere men- 
 tion of his name. In a word, Lancelot of the Lake, 
 Meliadus, Tristan, Isaye le Trist, Perceforest, and others of 
 this cycle, evidently shew, in their construction, in the names 
 of the several actors, as well as in the localities and inci- 
 dents continually introduced, that the composers had only 
 continued down that system which had been established 
 by the early Trouveres.* 
 
 But as the institution of Chivalry is allowed to have had 
 so powerful an effect upon the character of the nations, and 
 as the Romances of Chivalry so greatly contributed towards 
 promoting that institution, and directing the spirit of the 
 times, the attention of the literary world has long been 
 directed towards the investigation of the origin of those 
 interesting compositions. And, accordingly, many laborious 
 and learned works have been composed, both in England 
 and on the Continent, upon the origin of Romantic Fiction. 
 As might be expected in a subject of such intricacy, and 
 especially, when for the first time brought under inves- 
 tigation, this gave rise almost to as many hypotheses as 
 there were writers. Some have maintained the Saracenic 
 origin of Romantic Fiction, through the medium of an inter- 
 course with the Moors of Spain. Others, though maintaining 
 the oriental origin, yet, have had recourse to different modes 
 of importation, attributing this to the Crusades. Others, 
 again, rejecting this explanation, have asserted that we are 
 indebted altogether to the traditions of the Scandinavians 
 for our legends of Romance, which they say were introduced 
 by the Normans and other nations of the north ; whilst a 
 third party contend for that system which traces these 
 legends to the province of Brittany and the Principality of 
 Wales. With regard to the last of these systems, as it has 
 been so repeatedly advocated in the course of this work, it 
 will be needless to use any further arguments in its favour, 
 in the present state of tlie inquiry ; but, inasmuch as each 
 of the others has had its supporters, it will be necessary to 
 enter into some examination of their respective merits ; 
 otherwise it will be impossible to arrive at any conclusion 
 upon the subject proposed for this Essay. 
 
 ^' See an account of these in Dunlop's History of Fiction. 
 2 L 
 
258 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 THE ALLEGED SARACENIC ORIGIN OF 
 ROMANTIC FICTION. 
 
 It would be easy to expend much time and labour in con- 
 futing this theory, and the more so, as we should be through- 
 out the whole contest employed in combating shadows which 
 we should have to call up in succession for the sole purpose 
 of dispelling them again. Therefore, in noticing this system, 
 I shall only state, that not one single fact has been adduced 
 in its confirmation, and that the whole rests upon the most 
 vague and ungrounded assertion. If we consider the Moor- 
 ish importation of the legends of Chivalry, through the 
 intervention of Spain, we have only to ask. How the Moors 
 of Granada came to introduce into the distant province of 
 Normandy, the traditions of the Welsh ? And if the same 
 oriental origin should be contended for, on the ground of 
 these legends having been imported by the Crusaders, still 
 the same question thrusts itself forward, and until answered 
 must for ever silence that claim. For whether the Moors of 
 Spain or the Arabs of Syria, are held forth as the authors 
 of the legends of Romance, we must always recur to the 
 question. How did they abandon their own traditions in 
 order to adopt those of the Welsh ? How is it that neither 
 Mahomet, nor Ali, nor Fatima, nor yet Rustan, or Jem- 
 sheed, have any place in these legends ? and that neither 
 Bagdad, nor Damascus, nor Granada, are at all named ? But 
 on the contrary, the heroes are the ancient warriors and 
 chieftains of the Welsh — Arthur, and Owain, and Uther 
 Pendragon ; and the scenes of them are laid in Caerleon, and 
 CaerdifF, and Camalof, and other places within the territories 
 of theWelsh : names undoubtedly never known to the people 
 of the East, until they were introduced along with the le- 
 gends of Arthur, after those legends had become popular in 
 Europe. 
 
 But while prosecuting this inquiry, and so decidedly as- 
 serting that there is not a single fact adduced to give the 
 slightest support to the Asiatic system, it is but right to ad- 
 vert to one argument, which at first sight may appear to 
 carry some weight. In examining the machinery of Romance, 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 259 
 
 it has been discovered that the word Fairy * bears so strik- 
 ing a resemblance to the Persian Peri, that an identity of 
 origin must be strongly suspected. But if we consider the 
 etymology of the English word, we shall find reason to be 
 convinced that it has no connection whatever with the Per- 
 sian. In the first place, this word is derived from the 
 French, and in that language the original word is Fee^ 
 the termination erie being added in order to form another 
 word Feerie^ which does not signify a personage, but a state 
 of existence. So that this divesting of the word of its termi- 
 nation, destroys all resemblance to the Persian, and leads 
 us at once to the conclusion that this resemblance is a mere 
 coincidence, and that it no more proves that Fairy is derived 
 from Peri^ than that it is, as many imagine, compounded 
 from the English word fair^ &c. 
 
 With the exception of this single word, I know of nothing 
 tliat can be offered as containing even the shadow of an argu- 
 ment in favour of the Asiatic origin of Romance. In a 
 word, Christian Chivalry is as different to any institution of 
 Mahometanism, as the customs of Europe are to those of 
 the East. 
 
 ALLEGED SCANDINAVIAN ORIGIN OF 
 ROMANCE. 
 
 To those who maintain that the legends of Romance were 
 introduced into Normandy by the Scandinavian settlers, the 
 same answer may be given, comprised in the same question, 
 viz. How came those Scandinavians to abandon their own 
 native traditions, and adopt those of Wales or Brittany? 
 But it is useless looking for a reply : there is not a trace of 
 any Scandinavian tradition to be found in the legends of 
 Chivalry. The demonology of Thor and Odin is as distinct 
 from the Faery legends of Romance, as the latter are from 
 the Mythology of Greece and Rome ; and this Scandinavian 
 claim, together with the evidence produced in its abrogation, 
 brings under our notice a very singular fact, which is, that the 
 traditions of Scandinavia, which must have been imported 
 into France at the first settling of the Normans in that 
 
 * For some ingenious and satisfactory remarks upon the Origin of the word 
 Fairy, vide " Keightley's Fairy Mythology'" pp. 4 — 11. Bohn's Edition, 1850. — 
 Editor. 
 
260 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 country, never appear to have in any degree influenced the 
 genius of the people in subsequent ages. That such traditions 
 must have been imported, is a self evident fact. Thor and 
 Odin, together with their kindred divinities, must have had 
 their worshippers in Neustria; the heroes of the north must at 
 one time have occupied a prominent station in the traditions 
 of the people, whether as imaginary personages, or the real an- 
 cestors of those warriors who conquered the country ; and 
 the terrific and powerful Mythology of the Valhalla must 
 have been transplanted there. But it rotted in the soil, with- 
 out leaving a single off-set to record its existence. — So much 
 for the claims of Scandinavia to the honour of having com- 
 municated to the world the materials of Romantic Fiction. 
 
 And now, having considered the progress of the ancient 
 British legends in France, as far as the latter portion of the 
 middle ages, when we find them still exercising an undimin- 
 ished influence upon the public mind, though in the course 
 of time new channels of thought were opened, and new actors 
 and scenes were added to those already existing, yet the 
 spirit of Chivalry and Romance was still the same, and Ar- 
 thur and Merlin never lost the ascendancy which they 
 had gained, it remains to follow this inquiry through the 
 other nations of Europe. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 As the Italian language is of so much later formation 
 than that of France, so the literature of Italy, having the 
 advantage of that already in a forward state of cultivation 
 in its vicinity, had not to struggle against those difficulties 
 to which, from its priority of origin, the other was subject. 
 And though Dante * and his cotemporaries had almost to 
 create the language in which they wrote, yet they had not 
 to discover new ideas ; these were already presented to them 
 
 * See Dante's Rimini, for the story of Lanciotto. 
 
 iMr. Price evidently intends here to refer to the "Inferno,'"' Canto v. 103. «&.c, 
 where, in the course of Francesca's fatal tale, the Konnanee of Sir Lancelot is 
 alluded to : 
 
 " Noi leggevamo un giorno per diletto 
 Di Lancillotto, come amor lo strinse." 
 There is another reference to the same Romance in the " Paradiso," Canto xvi. 
 14. — Editor. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 261 
 
 in a distinct and perfect state, in the Chivalrous Tales which 
 at that time had become current throughout the world. That 
 the Tales of the Round Table had extended themselves as far 
 as Italy, even as early as the twelfth century, we have the 
 evidence of Alain de Lisle, who, in speaking of Arthur, says 
 that his name was celebrated even in Rome, " Cantat gesta 
 ejus domina cimtatum Roma.'''' And in the Beali di Francia^ 
 one of the earliest productions in the Italian language, and 
 which is supposed to be of the thirteenth, or at least of the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century, mention is made of 
 Arthur, in such a way that it is evident his name was 
 familiar to the author, though he affects to depreciate his 
 achievements, and that possibly with a view to enhance the 
 value of his own work. Speaking of Britain, he says : — ■ 
 
 Perche vi era stato il re uter Pandragone ed il re artu* con molta 
 bella baronia ; ma fecero poco per la fede di Cristo." 
 
 When the legends of Wales had found their way into 
 Italy, although from the late formation of the Italian lan- 
 guage, and the more general cultivation of the Latin as 
 the language of literature, these legends were longer in 
 obtaining universal reception in that country, than in 
 France ; yet, we find that the charm which they possessed, 
 at length not only effected their establishment there, but even 
 gave them a degree of ascendancy ; or at least a very decided 
 influence over the literature of the country. This we are 
 assured of from the assertion of Boiardo, who wrote in the 
 fifteenth century ; and in his Orlando Innamorato draws a 
 comparison between the court of Arthur and that of Char- 
 lemagne, and gives a decided preference to the former, because 
 the Knights of Arthur's court devoted themselves to love as 
 well as to war ; whereas Charlemagne, though valiant and 
 powerful in war, yet gave himself entirely to holy battles, and 
 excluded love. 
 
 " Fu gloriosa Bretagna la grande 
 Una stagion per I'armi e per I'amore, 
 Onde ancor oggi il nome suo si spande, 
 Si che al Re Arture fa portare onore, 
 
 ■* It is possible the author's censure rucay have been called forth in consequence 
 of ArthTir's not having made war upon the Saracens, as Charlemagne and others 
 of his own heroes had done. 
 
262 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 Quando il buoii cavalieri, a quel bande, 
 Mostrarno in piu battaglie il suo valore, 
 Andando con lor dame in avventura, 
 Ed or sua fama al nostro tempo dura, 
 
 " Re Carlo in Francia poi tenne gran Corte, 
 Ma a quella prima non fu somigliante, 
 Benche assai fusse ancor robusto e forte, 
 Ed avesse Ranaldo e'l Sir d'Anglante ; 
 Perclie tenne ad Amor chiuse le porte, 
 E sol si dette a le battaglie sante, 
 Non fu di quel valore e quella stima, 
 Qual fu queir altra, ch'io contava in prima. 
 
 " Pero die Amore e quel die da la gloria, 
 
 E chefa I'uomo degno ed onorato, 
 
 Amore e quel, die dona la vittoria, 
 
 E dona ardire al cavaliero armato ; 
 
 Onde mi piace di seguir I'istoria, 
 
 Qual cominciai, d'Orlando innamorato, &c." 
 
 This reference to the days of Arthur corresponds precisely 
 with the declaration of the celebrated Court of Love in Pro- 
 vence, concerning the Code of Love, which was pretended to 
 have been found by a Knight of Arthur's court, suspended 
 from a tree by a gold chain. The foregoing extract from 
 Boiardo establishes, beyond all doubt, the decided influence of 
 the Welsh legends in Italy, and although the Romances of 
 Charlemagne, which were then becoming popular, took pre- 
 cedence in furnishing the actors and subjects of Italian 
 poetry, yet the spirit of the old Arthurian Romance was 
 evidentl}^ perceptible throughout; and as the Orlando Furioso is 
 but a continuation of the Innamorato^ it is scarcely necessary 
 to insist upon the fact of Ariosto's being indebted to the 
 legends of Wales, like his predecessor, for much of that 
 which gives a charm to his writings, although he does not 
 avow it in the same manner. Indeed, it would not be diffi- 
 cult to shew, that however diflerent the subject which he 
 selected, yet even Tasso himself was strongly imbued with 
 that peculiar feeling which was for the first time excited in 
 the world by the Romances of the Round Table. And the 
 same argument will apply in every instance in which poetry 
 has been made the vehicle of chivalrous sentiment. 
 
 As an instance of the continued influence of the Welsh 
 legends amongst the people of Italy, we may notice the 
 name given to that beautiful optical illusion on the coast of 
 Calabria, for it is called the Fata Morgana to this day. So 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 263 
 
 that this Island Faerie has actually driven from their native 
 soil, all the celebrated divinities and demi-gods who formerly 
 displayed their power there. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 In whatever form the elements of the Spanish language may 
 have existed, subsequently to the Gothic invasion, it is clear 
 that no specimen of it can be produced of earlier date than 
 the twelfth, or perhaps the thirteenth century ; so that in 
 the general reveille of Europe, Spain seems to have continued 
 her sleep somewhat longer than the other nations. And as 
 the Spanish language was formed at a later period than the 
 French and the Italian, so it will be found that the style 
 of literature first adopted, was that which was at the time 
 current in the neighbouring states; even that species of 
 Chivalrous Romance which had for its subject the exploits of 
 Charlemagne and his Paladins. 
 
 One of the oldest specimens of the Spanish language is the 
 Chronicle of the Cid, and the next to it is a poetical history 
 of Alexander the Great. But as both these works are ex- 
 tremely tame and uninteresting, not having had any influ- 
 ence upon the literature of the country, they may now be 
 regarded only as philological curiosities. Soon after the pro- 
 duction of these works, another style of composition made its 
 appearance in Spain, of a much more interesting character, in 
 the Ballads and Poetical Narratives descriptive of the con- 
 flicts which the Spaniards had so long maintained with the 
 Moors; and mixed up with these came the Romances of Chi- 
 valry. Indeed, the character of Romantic Fiction received a 
 peculiar colouring in Spain, in consequence of this Moorish 
 alliance. But, nevertheless, however great the influence of 
 Moorish fiction, or however interesting the NaiTatives of 
 Roland, and the Paladins, yet, it appears that the genius of 
 Ancient British Romance was sufliciently powerful to take up 
 a prominent position even in the heart of Spain. For when 
 the most eminent author of that country, in the masterpiece 
 of its literature, finishes one of his highest-wrought scenes, 
 the principal actor is no other than Merlin the Enchanter; 
 and the manner in which this personage is introduced, 
 
264 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 strongly marks the ascendancy which the fictions connected 
 with his history had acquired over those of other countries. 
 For Cervantes, in the hunting scene, in which the disen- 
 chantment of Dulcinea is undertaken, after announcing the 
 procession of six troops of enchanters, and introducing, with 
 much necromatic pomp, the three great enchanters, Lirgan- 
 deo, Alguife and Arcalans, at last brings forward with 
 vastly greater state, the chief of enchanters. Merlin himself, 
 whom he makes to assume the title of Prince and Monarch 
 of Magic, and the Depositary of Zoroastric science, &;c. 
 
 " Yo soy Merhn, aquel que las historias 
 
 Dicen que tuve por mi padre al diablo, 
 
 [Mentha autorizada de los tiempos] 
 
 Principe de la magica, y monarca 
 
 Y archivo de la ciencia Zoroastrica, 
 
 Emulo a las edades y a los siglos, 
 
 Que solapar pretenden las hazaiias 
 
 De los andantes bravos caballeros, 
 
 A quien yo tuve y tengo gran carino, &c." 
 
 Indeed, Cervantes must have been deeply read in works of 
 Romance, as the criticisms upon the library of Don Quixotte 
 prove : for in reviewing those works which had been the 
 means of leading the worthy knight into the strange delu- 
 sion under which he laboured, the author shows such an 
 intimate acquaintance with their contents, as well as with 
 the names of the writers, that we must conclude that they 
 had been to him, not only a source of amusement, but also 
 a subject of study. And however interesting the Moorish 
 traditions may be, and however liberally he may have sup- 
 plied himself with materials for his work from that source, 
 yet it is more than merely probable, that had it not been for 
 the Romances of Chivalry, and especially for that peculiar 
 spirit which they derive from the legends of Wales, the 
 name of Cervantes would not have been known beyond the 
 limits of his native country, and, possibly, would long ere 
 this have sunk into oblivion even there. 
 
 Here, then, we have a decided proof of the influence of the 
 Welsh legends on the literature of Spain. Don Quiccotte may 
 be seen in every house, and Merlin and his enchantments 
 are as well known as the valiant knight himself. 
 
 The celebrity of the Principality of Wales as the birth- 
 place of Romantic Fiction, is continually urged upon our 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 265 
 
 notice, in whatever portion of the Grlobe we make inquiry 
 respecting this subject ; and in the review of Don Quixotte's 
 books, just alluded to, we have a strong confirmation of this 
 fact. Because in the examination which these works under- 
 go, the first that comes to hand is Amadis of Gaul^ concern- 
 ing which, one of the inquisitors remarks, that "he had heard 
 that it was the first book of Chivahy printed in Spain." 
 And as it has been clearly shewn by several writers upon 
 the subject now under consideration, that the word Gaul 
 was intended for Wales ^ i. e. Galles^ the adoption of this 
 title proves the important station which this Principality 
 then held in the world of Chivalry and Romance. 
 
 PORTUGAL. 
 
 W HAT has been said respecting Spain, may be equally ap- 
 plied to Portugal, as far as regards the progress and influence 
 of Romantic Fiction. But there is one circumstance connected 
 with the importance attached to the Principality of Wales 
 as the seat of Romance, which seems to have escaped the 
 notice of commentators. In the above mentioned review 
 of books, one of the volumes opened is Palmerin of England. 
 One of the reviewers observes, " it is said to have been com- 
 posed by an ingenious King of Portugal.'''' Es fama que le 
 compuso un discreto rey de Portugal — That the author of 
 this Romance should have chosen England for the native 
 land of his hero is easily accounted for, as well as his laying 
 some of the scenes in Wales, &;c. But even the name Pal- 
 merin is evidently Welsh, and is no other than Paulmerion, 
 the British king, who is one of the ancestors of Vortigern, 
 and the father of Grlouida, who founded the city of Glou- 
 cester. 
 
 "Glouida filiiis Paulmenoii. Ipse autem Glouida aedificavit urbem 
 magnam super ripam fluminis Sabrinae quae vocatur Britannico ser- 
 mone Cair Gloui." 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 Madame de Stael says, — 
 "The present century [1700] gave birth to German literature: 
 
 * The Preface to " L'Allemagne" of Madame de Stael shows that work 
 to have been first printed in the year 1810. In the 3rd Chapter of the Isfc Part 
 may be found her admirable sketch " Des Principalcs Epoques de la Litterature 
 Allemande.'"' — Editor. 
 
 2 M 
 
266 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 prior to that period, the Germans had directed their attention very 
 successfully to the sciences and metaphysics ; but their writings, which 
 were more frequently in the Latin than in their native tongue, ex- 
 hibited universally a want of originality of character." 
 
 This is a sweeping assertion, and evidently dictated under 
 the influence of prejudice, and in a very exclusive acceptation 
 of the term literature. For when we recollect that Luther 
 translated the Bible into the German as early as 1534, and 
 that since that time the native press of Germany has never 
 remained idle, surely it is too much to deny to the people of 
 Germany a native literature. But now comes the inquiry, 
 "What influence have the Welsh legends had upon their 
 literature, either in early or recent times V — This question 
 brings to light a very curious fact. Germany had its liter- 
 ature in the middle ages like the other nations of Europe, 
 but it was in a dialect now obsolete ; for it is stated that in 
 consequence of Luther's having made choice of the present 
 German for his translation of the Bible, the old dialect 
 gradually fell into disuse, and the works composed in it are 
 no longer understood. But let us inquire what the nature 
 of those compositions was, and what the style of thought. 
 Here again the same extraordinary vision presents itself to 
 our view, — Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. 
 One of the most celebrated of these Romances, is the Titurel 
 of Wofraw wn EschenhacJi^ the subject of which is the quest 
 of the San Graal^ and the principal actors the Knights of 
 Arthur's court. This Tale is avowedly taken from a Provencal 
 Romance written by one Kyot or Guiot, which is now lost.* 
 But whatever the Proven9al edition might contain, the 
 German exhibits a peculiar feature which has not hitherto 
 been satisfactorily accounted for. Many of the names are 
 evidently of an eastern origin: the names of the seven 
 planets, for instance, are pure Arabic, as Zwal [Zuhael,] 
 Saturn; Musteri, Jupiter ; Munet [Meryet,] Mars ; Samsi 
 [Shems,] the Sun; Alligasir [the brilliant,] -Venus; Kitr 
 [Kedr, the obscure,] Mercury; Kamer [Ksemer,] the Moon. 
 From these and other orientalisms, it has been concluded 
 that the Titurel is altogether of Arabic origin, and this con- 
 clusion tends greatly to sanction the idea of the Arabic ' 
 
 * See Warton, 1824. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 267 
 
 origin of Romance; but if the Titurel is really of Arabian 
 origin, how in the name of the marvellous came it to contain 
 the name of Arthur, and the warriors of Wales? I will 
 venture to offer an explanation. This is the result of that 
 importation of the Welsh legends into the East described by 
 Alain de Tlsle. 
 
 "Quis inquam Arturum Britonem non Icquatur, cum pene notior 
 habeatur Asiaticis gentibus quam Britannis. Sicut nobis referunt 
 Palmigeri nostri de orientis partibus redeuntes? — Loquuntiir ilium 
 orieiitales, loquuntur occidui, &c." 
 
 Who, I say, can be found that does not speak of Arthur the Briton I 
 since he is ahnost better known to the nations of Asia, than to the 
 Britons themselves, as our Palmers returning from the East declare. 
 The inhabitants of the East and West speak of him, &c. 
 
 Amongst the eastern nations, the author mentions Egypt, 
 the Bosphorus, Carthage, Antioch, Armenia, and Palestine. 
 Now if all these nations celebrated the achievements of Ar- 
 thur, doubtless they must have been acquainted with the 
 legends of Wales ; though in the recital of them it is natural 
 to suppose, that many orientalisms would be introduced. 
 Is it too much then to suppose that this Titurel is no other 
 than an Arabian edition of the W elsh legend of the San 
 Graal^ translated into German ? 
 
 In the Lohengrin, another German Romance, the same 
 ancient British characters are introduced, and the same 
 Welsh origin is distinctly manifested. Also Henry Von Vel- 
 deck, a minne-singer who lived in the twelfth century, men- 
 tions the name of Tristan in such a way as to make it 
 evident that he was acquainted with his history. 
 
 It is not intended to deny that the Germans were pos- 
 sessed of works of fiction in their native tongue, at an early 
 period, in which the subjects were taken from their own 
 history, and the heroes of Gothic origin, as in the instances 
 of " Dieterich of Bern,"* and "Siegfried;" but from the 
 foregoing remarks, it is evident that the legends of Wales 
 found their way into Germany very soon after their first ap- 
 pearance on the Continent, as popular fictions, in the twelfth 
 century. And however they may, in after ages, have been 
 blended with the native traditions of the country, or otherwise 
 
 * According to some he is Thcodoric of Verona 
 
268 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 modified according to the gradual changes which took 
 place in the social habits of the people, yet it is certain that 
 their influence never entirely ceased to be felt in the more 
 exalted departments of literature, and perhaps some distorted 
 remnants may still be discernible in the Diablerie of modern 
 Germany.* 
 
 * In further illustration of this part of his subject, Mr. Price quotes the follow 
 ing extract from The Athenceum of February 17, 1844. 
 
 " Griselda : a Dramatic Poem. Translated from the German of F. Halm, 
 by Q. E. D. Smith, Elder and Co. 
 
 " AVe have here the old Chaucerian, and Petrarchian, and Boccaccian story of 
 the patient Griselda recast, and set in the age of Arthur and his knights, with 
 every romantic appliance that a poetic fancy can bring into play and bearing on 
 an attractive theme. Perhaps there is no reader of poetry who has not felt the 
 want of adequate motive for the conduct of her despotic lord, as an important 
 drawback from the satisfaction to be derived from Griselda's pathetic story. 
 Friedrich Halm has contrived to supply the want in a manner equally ingenious 
 and pleasing. 
 
 " He presents us, in the first act, with King Arthur's court in the city of Caer- 
 leon. In a richly adorned and brightly illuminated saloon, at a royal festival, 
 Arthur, with his knights and ladies gorgeously attired, attended by servants, and 
 pages, and seneschal, disport themselves in feast and converse, making love, do- 
 ing the gallant, and uttering jests of infinite variety. There, too, are Tristan the 
 Wise, and Percival of Wales. The latter is the husband of Griselda. Lancelot 
 has whispered his soft nothings in the year of the Queen Ginevra, and her maids 
 of honour have frankly accepted the amorous offers of chivalric lovers, when her 
 majesty's attention is attracted towards the person of Percival, who scorning as it 
 would seem to grace by courtly dress the festal occasion, is rudely attired in bear- 
 skin. To her questions, she receives for information, that " since home he led 
 his bride, he has passed three years in forest solitudes." The queen's curiosity is 
 raised about the lady, of whom nothing is known ; whereupon follows a scene 
 which we would willingly, but for its length, extract, in which Percival tells his 
 whole course of wooing. Happening to say, while praising his wife, — 
 
 I have seen many women, ne'er a better, 
 What matter, if she be a collier's child, 
 Or have the blood of nobles in her veins ? — 
 
 the suggestion of her being " a collier's child," so tickles the fancy of the queen 
 and her maidens, that they frequently interrupt his story, to have their joke aside, 
 and then returning to him, beg him to proceed. This conduct naturally irritates 
 Percival ; he is evidently being laughed at, and his rising passion prompts him 
 to resent it. Lancelot demands satisfaction for the insult done to the queen, and 
 the Courtis all in confusion, when Arthur re-enters. The magnanimous monarch 
 wishes to hold evenly the l)alance of justice : but though he perceives plainly 
 enough that " forgiveness on either side is needless," yet he cannot help feeling 
 that " the crown demands atonement." This, however, Percival refuses to make, 
 by retracting his words. Meanwhile the queen is boiling over with wrath and 
 indignation, but at last is reduced to calmness by a sudden scheme of subtle 
 malice which she conceives. This part of the scene we must extract. Arthur 
 says — 
 
 'Only recall thy words ! 
 
 Per. Recall them ! No ! 
 
 Never ! 
 
 K. Arthur, Now, by my oath, thou shalt recall them! 
 
 Per. And, by my oath, the heavens shall sooner fall. 
 
 Gin. (after some minutes^ thought.) 
 My lord and king, permit me ! Let her hand 
 Who tied the tangled knot, unloose it now ! 
 You shall not, Percival, recall your words, 
 And I will kneel before the collier's child. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 269 
 
 SCANDINAVIA. 
 
 Removed as the nations of the Baltic were from any literary 
 intercourse with the more cultivated people of the South, and 
 living under the hereditary dominion of their own gloomy but 
 powerful superstitions, it would appear absurd to expect to find 
 amongst them any of those legendary productions, which have 
 for their object the celebrating of the heroes of more Southern 
 extraction. But here again, should we reason in this manner, 
 we should find ourselves mistaken ; for into Scandinavia 
 itself, the Empire of the terrific demons of the Eddas and 
 the Sagas^ we shall find that Arthur and his Knights found 
 their way, and even disputed the dominion with Odin him- 
 self. We are told that in the year 1226, the whole story of 
 
 Per. What is't you say? 
 
 Lancelot. Incredible ! 
 
 Ellinor. She raves ! 
 
 K. Arthur. Ginevra, are you jesting ? 
 
 Ginevra. Hear me out ! 
 
 I kneel, Sir Knight, before the collier's child, 
 If you can prove yeur wife to be indeed 
 So virtuous, so faithful, and so tender, 
 So to yourself and to your will submiss, 
 That, were rank measured by desert alone, 
 She were the queen, and yvore the crown of England. 
 If you prove this, then will I kneel before her. 
 
 Fer. You will ! 
 
 Gin. I will, I will ! 
 
 K. Arthur. Sir Percival, 
 Should dubious contest thus decide a strife 
 Which one repentant word might end with ease? 
 
 Per. (hastily.) What are the proofs then. Queen, which you demand ? 
 
 Gin. First I require that from your wife you ask 
 Her child, her son, feigning to give him up 
 To your liege lord, who reprobates your choice, 
 Disowns its offspring, and if you refuse. 
 Threatens the Church's thunders on your head. 
 
 Per. She loves her child, loves it with all her heart, 
 But me she loves yet more ! She'd give her life. 
 She'd give her child for me ! Recall my words? 
 What farther, Queen ? 
 
 Gin. And farther, Sir, I ask, 
 
 That in the sight of your assembled vassals, 
 In open presence, you cast out your wife. 
 And send her from you— poor, forlorn, and naked; 
 As poor, forlorn, and naked, you received her. 
 
 Per. And farther, Queen? 
 
 Gin. But she, how deep soe'er 
 
 The blows you strike may sink into her heart, 
 She in her bosom shall retain for you 
 The same affection, nor exchange her love 
 For hate, her patient sweetness of endurance 
 For bitterness, but in her deepest grief. 
 Shall cling to you w ith more devoted love 
 Than when you first embraced her as a bride. 
 
 Per. And then ? 
 
 Gin. Then kneels Ginevra to Griseida ! 
 
 But if she fail, if from the fiery trial 
 She come not forth unchanged as purest'gold, 
 Then at my feet Sir Percival must kneel ! 
 
 Per. Sooner the north pole shall the south pole kiss !' 
 
 Percival, however, accepts the challenge ; and the action of the plav con.- 
 mences." 
 
270 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 Tristan and Yseult was translated into the Norse, (Norwe- 
 gian or Icelandic,) under the title of " Saga af Tristraiid og 
 Isaldisr 
 
 GREECE. 
 
 There is in the Greek language a Poem of the middle age, 
 supposed to be of the twelfth century, (the present copy be- 
 ing of the thirteenth or fourteenth, in the Vatican,) in which 
 the Knights of the Round Table are the heroes. — 
 
 Arthur is called ^pTovX,os, Gwalchmai TaovX^avo^, Gwen- 
 
 ever Nr^ei/e/S/aa, Uther Pendragon OvTepooTraprpafyopo^. 
 
 The verse is a species of heroic metre. — It contains 306 
 lines. 
 
 This Poem begins as follows. — 
 
 Ne'oi, Traid/ffKai, avv avTOi9, /bLTjrepe'i evreKvovaai, 
 Kai pTjr^e's UTTOKeijuevoi, py'yi tvo Bperavia^j 
 '^Eooptcv eKTrKrjTTOixevoL^ to Octpao^ tov irpea^vrov^ 
 To /caXXos h' iyreOavjua^ov, ttj^ eTreXOovcrtjS Koprj's^'" 
 
 TRANSLATION BY THE EDITOR OF TRISTAN. 
 
 " Adolescentes, virgines, cum iisque matres pueipeia?, 
 liegesque, qui parebant regi Britanniae, 
 Spectabant admirantes audaciam senis, 
 
 Simulque venustatem admirabantur virginis, quae advenerat." 
 
 FARTHER ON THE FOLLOWING OCCURS. 
 
 O he 7rpea(^VTrp5 eiprjKev, xaipe juoL, Taovk^ave, 
 O Tov p7jr^09 adeX^tdovs, Aprov^ov Bperai^ia^, 
 AW aTTiOi, juaKpvvOeOi, /ult] fiov 7rpo'i'\Jrav(T7j9 oXa)«?, 
 O/noXofytv Tas %a/3tTas, juerept aov M.opr^aLvrj 
 Kat Tramruo aov tvo OavfJiacTw^ /^^7* '^'^ BpeTavia^, 
 Tyv KXrjaiv e7ri<^epovrij OvrepivTravrpar^opov. 
 
 " Turn senex, salve ait, Galbaiie, 
 
 Regis illius nepos Arturi Britanniae. 
 
 Sed abeas, abscedas loiige, omnino ne me tangas, 
 
 Grates enim confiteor me habere matri tuae Morganse, 
 
 Atque avo tuo admirabili regi Britaniiae, 
 
 Qui nomen gerebat Uteropandragor8e."t 
 
 This Greek Romance appears to be only a fragment, the 
 beginning being wanting. The first lines seem only a portion 
 
 '* Var. 2 linefL'7£j— 3 opt^vrss. 
 t From Tristan, an old French Romance, published by Francisque Michel, 
 pi'inted in London, by Pickering 1835; 2 vols. 12mo. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 271 
 
 tion of some foregoing story; they describe an oldman armed 
 as a knight, and with him a beautiful young woman, neither 
 of whose names is mentioned. The old knight is attacked 
 by Palamedes, and overthrows him immediately. He is 
 then successively attacked by Gaolbanos, AvBpeioi TaovX^avo^, 
 the brave G-awain; O TaXaiivro^ o kXcivo^, the illustrious 
 Galeote ; kXcixo^ Xi/uve^ AavffeXivTos, the illustrious Lance- 
 lot of the Lake; and o arepeos Tpiaiavos^ the vahant Tristan, 
 and the old knight unhorses them all. At length Arthur 
 himself, looking pale with rage, and gnashing his teeth, 
 
 O prf^ w')(povvTai TrpoffivTTOV Kai ^pvx^ei rovs ohovias^ orders his 
 
 arms to be brought, and goes out to encounter the old knight, 
 notwithstanding the entreaties of Gwenever; but the old 
 man, instead of standing his attack, dismounts and pays him 
 homage. Then he is honourably feasted amongst the 
 Knights of the Round Table, -rpaTre^rjs ttjs arpo^r^vXy^s^ and 
 after some other victories, he departs to his own country, 
 and the maid is also allowed to return home. 
 
 BRITAIN. 
 
 Whether it was through the sole instrumentality of the 
 French Trouveres, or the conjoint operation of the British 
 Bards, the ancient legends of Wales were, at a very early 
 period, adopted by the Anglo-Norman population of England ; 
 but, inasmuch as many of those Trouveres were actually of 
 English birth, though still using the Norman language, it 
 would be but a useless repetition to notice fictions of Chi- 
 valry and Romance, of which they were the authors, and for 
 the materials of which they had recourse to the traditions 
 of the Welsh. We shall therefore proceed to consider those 
 compositions which may be strictly denominated English ; 
 and amongst the earliest of these is the work of Thomas the 
 Rhymer, or Thomas of Ercildoune, well known as the 
 Romance of Sir Tristram, which is, according to the latest 
 date assigned to it, as early as 1250, and according to 
 some, much earlier. But as this work has been pub- 
 lished by Sir Walter Scott, together with a learned disser- 
 tation, it will be needless here to add any remark, further 
 
272 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 than to state, that the subject of that Komance is purely 
 Welsh, and that the whole is precisely of the same school 
 with the Romances of Chivalry. 
 
 From the decline of the Norman language to the formation 
 of the present English, there was a chasm in the popular 
 literature of the country. Notwithstanding the Latin 
 writers of that period did, in many instances, dwell with an 
 apparent feeling of interest upon the ancient traditions of 
 Britain, yet the language in which they wrote being con- 
 fined to the monasteries, their compositions can scarcely be 
 considered to come within the design of the present Essay. 
 When the English language in its present form began to be 
 cultivated, then immediately the legends of the Welsh as- 
 serted that ascendancy amongst the modern English, that 
 they had long before enjoyed over their Anglo-Norman an- 
 cestors ; and accordingly a number of the old Romances began 
 to make their appearance in an English garb ; and the 
 Knights of the Round Table once more occupied their proper 
 station in the Island of Britain. 
 
 When the art of printing began to be exercised in England, 
 these Romances were among the first productions of the 
 press ; and as the popularity which they enjoyed rendered 
 them a source of emolument to their publishers, so on the 
 other hand, the numbers that were issued contributed greatly 
 to form the public taste, and to constitute that style of liter- 
 ature which for several ages prevailed in this country, and 
 to the present day has never ceased to exist. 
 
 One of the most complete works of the Arthurian Cycle is 
 the " Morte d' Arthur,'' compiled by Sir Thomas Maelor, 
 (Malory or Mailorie,) from the old French Romances. 
 This work, which is in English, was finished in the year 
 1470, and printed by Caxton in 1485, and afterwards be- 
 came very popular. This work has incurred the censure of 
 the learned Ascham, who inveighs against it in the most un- 
 qualified terms, and condemns both it and all its kindred 
 compositions, for the licentiousness of manners which they 
 describe. This censure, though severe, is certainly just and 
 well merited. The laxity of morals shows an exceedingly 
 depraved state of society at the time these works were com- 
 posed, and the introduction of such topics, doubtless, did not 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 273 
 
 tend to diminish the evil. But this unmitigated condemna- 
 tion comes rather awkwardly from such a man as Ascham, 
 whose life was devoted to the study of the Greek and Roman 
 classics. The Romances of the middle ages are certainly 
 reprehensible enough, but they are purity itself compared 
 with the abominations of Greece and Rome. 
 
 Amongst the cultivators of the English language it would 
 be impossible to pass by "the father of English poetry un- 
 noticed, and in looking at the works of Chaucer, we cannot 
 fail to perceive in them evident proofs of the influence of the 
 fictions of chivalry of the early school ; sometimes the 
 ancient British knights are distinctly named, and through- 
 out his writings we see traces of his acquaintance with the 
 Norman Trouveres. 
 
 The influence of these legends is still more discernible in 
 the writings of Spenser, who seems to have had his taste 
 altogether modelled after the design of those old Romancers, 
 and the very title of his Poem " The Faiere Queen," speaks a 
 pupil of the Arthurian school. 
 
 In Shakspeare too we find evidences of acquaintance with 
 the same Romances and traditions. " King Lear " is al- 
 together an ancient British story. "Cymbeline, King of 
 Britain," speaks for itself. " The dreamer Merlin and his 
 prophecies," the moldwarp and the ant, the dragon and the 
 finless fish, the clip-winged grifiin and the molten raven, &;c. 
 all conspire to prove the currency of these Welsh super- 
 stitions, and the efi^ect they had upon the literature of the 
 country when Shakspeare wrote. 
 
 But this influence did not terminate with Spenser and 
 Shakspeare, for we find that the mind of Milton was so 
 completely iaibued with the spirit of the Arthurian Romance, 
 that it is said he once meditated making Arthur the subject 
 of the Epic Poem which he had in contemplation ; and his 
 acquaintance with the subject is clearly shewn in several 
 passages in the Paradise Lost, and other works ; as 
 
 " What resounds, 
 
 In fable or romance of Uther's Son, 
 Begirt with British and Armoric knights." 
 
 * Paradise Lost, Book I. 579—81. See also Milton's Epistle to Giovanni 
 Battista Manso ; and his " History of Britain," Book III. — Editor. 
 
 2 N 
 
274 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 
 Dryden felt the power of the Arthurian Romances, and wrote 
 a play upon an imaginary topic, called "Arthur," in which that 
 monarch is the Hero, and Merlin a principal actor : Arthur 
 and the Britons being engaged in war with Oswald, King of 
 Kent. It is a kind of mixed English Opera, the music by 
 Purcel. — This piece was brought forward with great splen- 
 dour by Macready, in November, 1842. 
 
 As we descend still lower, and nearer our own times, we 
 shall find the same influence prevailing. Parnell has shewn 
 that he was fully sensible of the effect of this style of fiction, 
 in that beautiful tale, commencing. 
 
 In Britain's Isle and Arthur's days, 
 When midnight Fairies danced the maze, &c." 
 
 And although the Fairies of ParnelFs time had greatly dimi- 
 nished in size, and undergone many changes in their habits, 
 yet his referring the occurrence which formed the subject 
 of his tale to the days of Arthur, plainly shews the impression 
 which the Arthurian Fictions had left in the country. 
 
 Almost every writer of imagination has shewn not only an 
 acquaintance with the subject, but oftentimes indicated an 
 acknowledgement of the powerful nature of that style of 
 thought. And few as are the compositions of G-ray, yet 
 even he does not pass this subject unnoticed, as may be seen 
 in the Bard, — 
 
 " No more our long lost Arthur we bewail, &c." 
 
 The touches of Gray's pencil, though strong and brilliant, 
 and finished, yet are but touches ; and it is only from some 
 short expressions of this kind, that we can form an idea of 
 the nature of those ideas which made the strongest impression 
 on his mind ; yet, from his connecting the re-appearance of 
 Arthur with visions of glory, described by the Bard as 
 descending from the height of Snowdon, and unfolding 
 themselves to his aching sight, we may infer that Gray was 
 not insensible to the charm of the Arthurian traditions. 
 
 But to bring this series of proofs immediately to the time 
 Y'fe live in, we may adduce another instance of the influence 
 of the ancient British legends, in the writings of Sir Walter 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 275 
 
 Scott. This great man was a true patriot ; he never forgot 
 his native country, and when proceeding in the full career of 
 genius, bent upon the celebration of some foreign achieve- 
 ment, he never failed to step out of his way, at one period or 
 other, in order to introduce some incident to the honour of 
 Scotland. But Scott's imagination had been trained in the 
 school of the Arthurian Romance ; and no one but a perfect 
 master of that style could have produced The Bridal of 
 Triermain. Even in this, the nationality of the author 
 afforded a means of gratification, and " Reged wide and fair 
 Strathclyde," were within the precincts of that favoured dis- 
 trict, to which his heart was so devoted.* 
 
 To the foregoing list of poetical writers, we may add the 
 many learned disquisitions which this subject has given rise 
 to in different nations. — On the continent Legrand, De la 
 Rue, Grimm, and others ; and in Britain, Bishop Percy, 
 Warton, Ritson, Ellis, Way, Scott, and many other learned 
 and able writers have turned their attention to the inves- 
 tigation of this subject. When we add to this, the talents 
 that have been employed in arranging these fictions in a 
 dramatic form, and the interest which has been excited by 
 their representation amongst persons of taste and intellectual 
 cultivation, we are under the necessity of admitting, that even 
 to the present moment, the legends of the Welsh continue to 
 exercise a decided influence upon the literature of Europe. 
 
 Having thus far prosecuted this inquiry, and established 
 the fact, that throughout the whole of modern Europe the 
 earliest species of imaginative composition was based upon 
 certain traditions, foreign to those nations by which they 
 were adopted ; and having maintained that those traditions 
 originally emanated from Wales, it now remains to confirm 
 that statement by a reference to the Welsh authorities, and 
 to produce some of the most eminent of the originals referred 
 to. We shall commence the series with Arthur himself. 
 
 ARTHUR KING OF BRITAIN. 
 This extraordinary being, who once filled the whole civilised 
 world with his fame, " whose sword reached from Scandin- 
 
 * Another instance was added to this list, during the last year of Mr. Price's 
 life, by Sir E. B. Lytton's Epic Poem, called "King Arthur."— Editor. 
 
276 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 avia to Spain," and whose very name is still borne amongst 
 the most aristocratic of the age ; this exalted personage, the 
 object of universal admiration, has met with the unaccount- 
 able fate of having even his very existence absolutely 
 denied. His Cambrian countrymen, it is true, urge the 
 authority of their ancient documents in proof of the truth of 
 his having once led their forefathers to victory, but the 
 authenticity of these documents is also denied ; and so there 
 remains little more to be done, than for each party to rest 
 content with their respective opinions, as it is not probable 
 that much more light can be thrown upon the subject. But 
 as Arthur occupies so exalted a station in the ancient works 
 of fiction, which form the subject of this Essay, it becomes 
 necessary, at least, to shew the existence of those traditions 
 among the Welsh, prior to their adoption by the nations of 
 the continent. 
 
 The authenticity of the ancient Welsh documents respect- 
 ing the achievements of Arthur having been called in question, 
 as the object of this Essay is not to prove the truth of that 
 history, but rather to shew the ancient British origin of 
 those legends, it will not be necessary here to enter into any de- 
 fence of them as authentic records, but merely to shew, that 
 they had their origin among the Welsh, and that they were 
 from Britain transplanted among the continental nations. 
 
 One of the earliest documents of undeniable antiquity, in 
 which the name of Artlmr is found, is the work of Nennius. 
 Even the genuineness of this work was for a long time doubted, 
 and many expressed a strong conviction that the passages in 
 question were late interpolations ; but this dispute has been 
 set at rest by the publication of the Vatican copy of Nennius, 
 by Gunn. In this copy the disputed passages are found. 
 And as the manuscript is universally admitted to be of 
 the tenth century, the alleged interpolations are of course 
 disproved. It contains the original history of Nennius re- 
 written by Mark the Hermit, in the year 945. The account 
 of Arthur commences as follows : — 
 
 " Tunc belliger Arthur cum militibus brytannife, atque regibus 
 contra illos pugnabat. Et hcet multi ipso nobiliores essent, ipse tamen 
 duodecies dux belli fuit, victorque belloruni. Primum bellum contru 
 illos iniit juxta hostium fluminis quod dicitur gleis. Secundum et 
 tertium, &c," 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 277 
 
 The writer then enumerates briefly the battles of Arthur, 
 giving the names of the places where they were fought, and, 
 with the exception of the incredible number which Arthur is 
 said to have slain with his own hand, there is nothing in 
 this account to give it a character so marvellous as to excite 
 suspicion of its truth. This last battle is mentioned as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Duodecimiim contra saxones durissime Arthur bellum in monte 
 badonis penetravit, in quo corruerant impetu illius una dcccCjXl. viri 
 nullo sibi britonum in adjutorium adherente, preter ipsum solum, 
 domino se confortante." 
 
 The battle of Badon Mount is also mentioned by Gildas, 
 although the name of Arthur is not found in his work. 
 
 Now, as the above account of Arthur is found in a manu- 
 script so old as to place the subject beyond all suspicion 
 of modern or middle-age forgery, surely it is very unreason- 
 able to deny the existence of this monarch, or to maintain 
 the spuriousness of all the native traditions respecting him. 
 
 But be the Welsh traditions authentic or fabulary, it is 
 evident, that as early as the twelfth century, the fame of 
 Arthur had extended itself over the whole civilised world in 
 a most extraordinary manner, as we learn from the work of 
 Alain de Tlsle, or Alanus de Insulis, whose death took place 
 in the year 1181. His description of the celebrity of Arthur 
 is as follows : — 
 
 " Quo enim Arturi Britonis nomen fama non volans non pertulit et 
 vulgavit. Quousque Christianum pertingit imperium ? — Quis, iu- 
 quam Arturum Britonem non loquator, cum pene notior habeatur 
 Asiaticis gentibus quam Britannis, sicut nobis referunt Palmigeri nos- 
 tri de orientis partibus redeuntes. Loquuntur ilium orientales, loqu- 
 untur occidui toto terrarum orbe divisi. Loquitur ilium ^Egyptus^ 
 Bosforus exclusa non tacet. Cantat gesta ejus domina civitatuni 
 Roma, nec emulam quondam ejus Carthaginem Arturi prselia latent. 
 Celebrat actus ejus Antiochia, Armenia, Palsestina." 
 
 " To what region, as far as the Christian religion has extended, has 
 fame not carried and published the name of Arthur the Briton ? Who, I 
 say, does not speak of Arthur the Briton? since he is almost better known 
 among the nations of Asia than among the Britons themselves, as our 
 Pilgrims returning from the East declare. Both the East and West 
 speak of him, though separated by the extent of the whole world. 
 Egypt speaks of him, and the Bosphorus is not silent. Rome, the 
 mistress of cities, sings his exploits ; nor are the battles of Arthur un- 
 known even to her former rival, Carthage. Antioch, Armenia, and 
 Paelstine, celebrate his achievements." 
 
278 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 The rapidity with wliich the fame of Arthur was borne 
 to these distant regions, is as unaccountable as it is unique 
 in the history of the world. Alain de Flsle died in 1181, 
 and therefore it is reasonable to suppose that this extension 
 of the fame of Arthur had been effected many years before 
 his death, in order to allow for the return of the Pilgrims 
 and others, who brought intelligence of the fact. And al- 
 though Geoffrey of Monmouth's work was know^n on the 
 continent before the year 1189, yet it may be supposed it 
 had not acquired a very general circulation for some years 
 after ; so that the time allowed for this universal spread of 
 Arthur'^s fame must have been but very inconsiderable. And 
 it is probable that it was not much known previous to the 
 publication of the Brut by Wace, in 1155, which reduces 
 the term to a still shorter space. 
 
 Amongst the fictions connected with the history of Arthur, 
 there are two of a very striking nature : his first acquaintance 
 with his title to the throne, and his mortal wound on the 
 field of Camlan ; and I shall notice them here, merely as 
 specimens of fiction : they are given in the Morte Arthur. 
 
 After the death of Uther Pendragon, the throne of Britain 
 remained sometime without an occupant. Arthur, the son 
 of Uther, having been reared by a nobleman in the country, 
 and kept in ignorance of his parentage, according to the 
 counsel of Merlin ; but the nobility having assembled for 
 the purpose of selecting a Sovereign, there was seen near the 
 place of assembly a large block of marble, with a sword 
 stuck fast in it, with an inscription, stating that whoever 
 should draw out that sword was the rightful heir to the 
 throne. After all the aspirants had tried their strength, and 
 failed to move the sword, Arthur came, though ignorant of 
 the importance attached to the act, and drew out the sword 
 without difficulty, in consequence of which he was proclaimed 
 King. 
 
 The other occurrence is that which is related as having 
 taken place at the fatal battle of Camlan. Arthur, finding 
 himself mortally wounded, gave his sword, Caliburn, to 
 Bedwyr, one of his knights, and desired him to take it to 
 the border of a certain lake, and throw it in. Bedwyr took 
 the sword, but when about to throw it into the lake, he was 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 279 
 
 SO much taken with its appearance that he could not make 
 up his mind to dispose of so beautiful and valuable a wea- 
 pon in that manner, he therefore hid it, and returned to 
 Arthur ; and on being questioned by Arthur as to what he 
 saw when he flung the sword into the lake, he said he saw 
 nothing but the waves, upon which Arthur accused him of 
 deceiving him. On his again going to perform the same 
 duty, and again returning in the same manner, Arthur be- 
 came exceedingly enraged, and ordered him in the most 
 peremptory manner to perform his commands. Bedwyr 
 this time went and stood on the margin of the lake, and 
 taking the sword in his hand, he flung it with all his might 
 into the lake ; and as it was descending, a hand and arm 
 came up out of the water and caught it by the hilt, and, 
 brandishing it three times, descended with it into the lake. 
 When Bedwyr returned and related what he had seen, Ar- 
 thur was satisfied, and desired Bedwyr to convey him to the 
 lake, which wlien he did, they saw there " a little barge with 
 many fair ladies in it, and among them all was a queen, and 
 all they had black hoods, and they wept and shrieked when 
 they saw King Arthur." It is also said, that among these 
 ladies were three queens, " one was king Arthur^s sister, 
 Morgan le Fai, the other was the queen of North galis, and 
 the third was the queen of the Waste Lands ; and there was 
 Nimue, the chief Lady of the Lake, which had wedded Sir 
 Pelleas, the good knight."" Arthur desired Bedwyr to assist 
 him into the barge, and they rowed off to the Island of 
 Avalon. 
 
 The belief in this disappearance of Arthur after receiving 
 his mortal wound in the battle of Camlan, and of his re- 
 appearance to lead the Britons to victory, was very general 
 among the Welsh at an early period. Alanus de Insulis 
 mentions it as firmly credited in Brittany; and William 
 of Malmsbury, who died in 1143, has the same remark 
 concerning this country. 
 
 " Sed Arthuri sepulchrum nusquam visitur ; unde antiquitas njeni- 
 arum adhuc eum venturum fabulatur." 
 
 " But the grave of Arthur is nowhere seen, where ancient tales fable 
 him yet to come." 
 
 This expression, ancient fables^ shews that the superstition 
 
280 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 was much older than the time of Geoffrey of Monmouth ; 
 and it precisely accords with what is said concerning the 
 grave of Arthur, in those ancient stanzas, called The Mem- 
 orials of the Graves of the Warriors, which are preserved in 
 the Welsh language, and in which the places of sepulture 
 of many of the chieftains and warriors of Britain are 
 recorded : — 
 
 " Bedd y March bedd y Gwythyr 
 Bedd y Gwgawn Gleddfrudd 
 Anoeth bydd bedd y Arthur." 
 
 The grave of March [ap Meirchion] : the grave of 
 
 Gwythyr [ap Greidiol] : 
 The grave of Gwgawn Gleddfrudd : 
 Unknown is the grave of Arthur. 
 
 The three persons first named were knights of Arthur's 
 court; the one is King Mark, the second was the father of 
 Queen Gwenhwyvar. Among the Triads, there is one con- 
 taining the following stanza, which is said to have been com- 
 posed by Arthur. 
 
 " Sef ynt fy nhri chadfarchawg 
 Mael Hir a Llyr Lluyddawg 
 A cholofn Cymru Caradawg." 
 
 Lo, these are my three knights of battle, 
 Mael the Tall and Llyr Lluyddawg, 
 And the pillar of Wales, Caradoc. 
 
 MERLIN. 
 
 Although now so obscured by fiction, there seems to have 
 been such a character as Merlin, who, by the Welsh, is called 
 Myrddin Emrys, and in the Latin, Merlinus Ambrosius : the 
 change of the dd into /, clearly indicating a Latin alteration 
 from the British original, as the Welsh dd is pronounced 
 like the soft th in the and that ; and as neither the French 
 nor the Latin possessed that sound, the / was chosen as 
 being something similar ; according as we find in many 
 other names in Geoffrey of Monmouth, and other writers 
 both Latin and French. 
 
 This Merlinus Ambrosius is the person whose name is 
 connected with the Arthurian Tales, as an eminent magician. 
 There was another Merlin, who lived nearly a century later, 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 281 
 
 who is called Merlinus Sylvestris, and Merlinus Oaledonius ; 
 and in the Welsh he is called Myrddin Wyllt, and Myrddin 
 ap Morfryn, that is, the son of Morfryn, This person was also 
 considered a prophet, and there are several pieces attributed 
 to him still extant, some of which are, allowing for a few inter- 
 polations, undoubtedly genuine. This Merlin Sylvestris resid- 
 ed at the Court of Gwentolew, one of the princes of the district 
 of Strathclyde ; and in consequence of the defeat and death 
 of his patron in the battle of Arderyth, he became an exile 
 and retired to the Caledonian wood, from which he received 
 the appellation of Caledonius, as it is said that from having 
 seen a terrific vision in the air he lost his reason, and lived 
 in a wild and savage manner in that wood, and received the 
 name of Sylvestris. Before his reverse of fortune, he appears 
 to have been a person of rank, as we may gather from his 
 own expressions 
 
 Ac yn ngwaith Arderydd oedd aur fy ngorddorch." 
 " And in the battle of Arderjth I wore the golden torques." 
 
 There are no remains of Merlin Ambrosius extant in the 
 Welsh language, and those prophecies in Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, are, of course, out of the question. But the identity 
 of names has caused these two characters to be so blended, 
 as to form one great magician and prophet, under the name 
 of Merlin.* 
 
 However this fame may have been acquired, it is certain, 
 that next to Arthur himself, no individual has had such an 
 extraordinary celebrity throughout the worlds as his great 
 counsellor Merlin. In addition to what has been said already 
 upon the influence of the Arthurian Romance upon liter- 
 ature, as an aggregate of legendary tales, it may be added 
 that Merlin, in particular, has individually contributed to- 
 wards that influence in an extraordinary degree. Alanus 
 de Insulis was so struck with the prophecy of Merlin in 
 Geoff"rey of Monmouth^s work, that he actually wrote a 
 commentary upon it, explaining every senterce in regular 
 order ; and in the reign of Charles the first, the same Latin 
 
 See p. 138, &c. 
 
 2o 
 
282 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 prophecies of Merlin were translated into English verse, and 
 published by Thomas Heywood with a similar commentary, 
 applying the predictions to the events of that time. The 
 commencement is as follows ; — 
 
 "Woe's me for the red Dragon, for alach, 
 the time is come, he hasteth to his mach, 
 the bloudy Serpent ! yet whose souls are white 
 Implies that nation on which they delight, &c." 
 
 Tliis alludes to the battle of the Eed and White Dragon 
 mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth. The original is 
 
 Vae rubeo Draconi ! nam exterminatio ejus festinat, &c." 
 
 The Red Dragon represented the Welsh nation, and was 
 worn by Owen Glyndwr in his armorial bearings, and also 
 by Henry VII. and there are many recollections connected 
 with that emblem, which hardly come within the design of 
 the present Essay. 
 
 With regard to the real existence of Merlin, however the 
 fablers of successive ages may have thrown a doubt over it, 
 yet there are a few circumstances which lead us to suppose 
 that such a person actually existed ; for instead of consign- 
 ing him to a state of enchantment in a thorn brake, the 
 ancient remains preserved in the Welsh language speak of 
 his grave, and even point out the spot ; 
 
 " Bedd anap llian yn Neweis 
 Fynydd lluagor Hew Emreis 
 Prif ddewin Merddin Emreis." 
 
 The grave of Anap lleian* is in the mountain of Eweis, tlie leader 
 of the hosts of Emreis — the_chief magician, Merddin Emreis." 
 
 This stanza, from its antiquity, and obsolete and defective 
 orthography, is very obscure ; but it distinctly mentions the 
 grave of Merlin being upon a mountain. 
 
 SIR GAWAIN. 
 
 The Sir Gawain of the English Romances, and Govein of 
 the French, is no other than the Welsh Gwalchmai, first of 
 all Latinised into Walganus, and then reduced to Walwein. 
 
 * A name given to Merlin. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 283 
 
 This knight is well known in Welsh writings as Gwalchmai, 
 the Son of Grwyar but as the literature of Wales scarcely 
 comes within the scope of this Essay, inasmuch as it is con- 
 tinually referred to as the origin from whence these materials 
 were drawn, I shall only mention, that in addition to the 
 station which Govein occupies in the Romances of Europe, 
 William of Malmesbury says, that his grave existed in his 
 time, in Pembrokeshire. 
 
 " Tunc in provincia Walliarum quae Ross vocatur muentum est 
 sepulchram Walwini qui fuit haud degener Arturi ex sorore ne- 
 pos, &c." * 
 
 There is still a place in that county, called in Welsh, 
 Castell Gwalchmai, and in English, Walwyn's Castle ; and 
 not far off is the chapel of St. Gofan. This sepulchre of 
 Gwalchmai was on the sea shore; and in confirmation of the 
 fact, there is a Welsh stanza commemorating his grave, 
 which speaks of its being so situated : 
 
 "Bedd Gwalchmai yn Pyton 
 Yd dilyf y dy neuton." 
 
 " The grave of Gwalchmai is in Pyton, where slowly flows the 
 ninth wave." 
 
 It would not be difficult to identify the knights of Romance 
 generally, with the ancient warriors of the Welsh, together 
 with many other characters and events of the early Arthur- 
 ian cycles. But as many of these have been already pointed 
 out in various dissertations, I shall now merely notice a few 
 identities which seem to have escaped the observation of 
 those who have written upon this subject ; and as Arthur 
 
 * Dr. Giles in his Translation of William of Malmesbury's " Chronicle," 
 Book III. A.D. 1087, renders the passage above referred to as follows: "At 
 that time, in a province of Wales called Ros, was found the sepulchre of Walwin, 
 the noble nephew of Arthur ; he reigned, a most renowned knight, in that part 
 of Britain which is still called Walwerth ; but was driven from his kingdom by 
 the brother and nephew of Hengist, though not without first making them pay 
 dearly for his expulsion. He deservedly shared with his uncle, the praise of re- 
 tarding for many years the calamity of his falling country. The sepulchre of 
 Arthur is nowhere to be seen, whence ancient ballads fable that he is still to 
 come. But the tomb of the other, as I have suggested, was found in the time of 
 king William, on the sea-coast, 14 feet long: there, as some relate, he was 
 wounded by his enemies, and suffered shipwreck ; others say, he was killed by his 
 subjects at a public entertainment. The truth, consequently, is doubtful ; though 
 neither of these men was inferior to the reputation they have acquired." — Editor. 
 
284 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 himself claims the first place in the list — having already 
 named the monarch himself — I shall now turn to his es- 
 tablishment, and in the first place take a review of his per- 
 gonal accoutrements : 
 
 CALIBURN. 
 
 This is the name of Arthur's sword, as given by Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth. Commentators have endeavoured to derive 
 the word from Chalybs, steel; but it is clear that it is nothing 
 more than the Latinised name of Caledfwlch,* the Welsh 
 appellation of the same formidable weapon, according to the 
 practice of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who, having an ear for 
 classic poetry, generally softened down the British words, so 
 as to adapt them to the language he was writing in. Ac- 
 cording to the Welsh authorities, the original name of Ar- 
 thur's sword was " Caled-fwlch^'' which means ''^ hard-notch^'''' 
 and this explains one of the names of certain swords on the 
 Continent, which have equally puzzled interpreters. In the 
 work of Turpin, it is said, that the name of Roland's sword 
 was Durrenda, which the author explains " durum ictum 
 cum ea dans ; " but in the Chanson de Roland it is called 
 Durendal. 
 
 " Li quens Rollans par mi le champ chevalchet, 
 Tint Durendal ki ben trenchet e taillet ;" 
 
 which points out the etymology of the name, and makes it 
 evident that it is compounded of the French words, Dur, 
 hard^ and entail^ a notch^ precisely answering to the Welsh 
 Caled-fwlch^ hard-notch^ and which there can be no doubt 
 was received from the bards of Brittany, first translated into 
 French, and then ignorantly explained in Latin. 
 
 The arms of Arthur are partially enumerated by Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth ; but in the Mabinogi, or Ancient Welsh Ro- 
 mance of Culhwch and Olwen, they are more completely 
 given ; for in this tale, of which I believe a translation has 
 never been published,-]- it is said, that as Arthur was seated 
 in his palace surrounded by his Knights, Cilhwch, a young 
 Knight who is in search of Olwen, the daughter of Yspydd- 
 
 * Qif^eri/, Caled Fwalch, The Hacking Tool ? 
 + Written in or before 1838. — Editor. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 285 
 
 aden the giant, comes in, and without naming his object ; 
 requests a boon of Arthur, and Arthur answers him : 
 
 " Prince thou shalt have thy boon, be it whatever thy tongue shall 
 name, except my ship, and my mantle, and Caled-fAvlch my sword, and 
 Rhongymynat my spear, and Wyneb-gwrthucher my shield, and 
 Carwenan my dagger, and Gwenhwyvar my wife ; name what thou 
 wilt, and thou shalt have it freely." 
 
 Having mentioned the name of Olwen, I cannot avoid 
 entertaining an idea that she is the original of the Blanche- 
 fleur of the French Romances, as she is exceeding beautiful, 
 and wherever she treads three white trefoils spring up im- 
 mediately in the print of her foot, from which she is called 
 Ol-weUy white-track. 
 
 LANCELOT DU LAC. 
 
 As this name is evidently not of Welsh origin, but bears 
 every mark of being French, it has been determined, that 
 although all the other personages of Arthur's Court are 
 British, yet Lancelot du Lac is undoubtedly an exception, 
 and a native of France. But I feel confident that I can 
 satisfactorily point out the British origin of this knight, al- 
 though his name, in its present form, is certainly French. 
 Lance is a spear^ and Lat a laih^ and therefore Lance-lat is 
 Splinted-spear^ corresponding exactly with the habits of the 
 times, as we find in the descriptions of tournaments, and 
 other encounters of Knights, as "The spears to shivers sent,'' 
 and " With him to break a spear" at Chevy Chase, and many 
 other passages of the same import. And we have in the 
 Welsh catalogue, a knight occupying a station answering to 
 that of Lancelot, and named PaladrddelU^ which is precisely 
 Lath-spear^ from Paladr a spear^ and dellt^ lath. But as this 
 word, from its sound as well as appearance, seemed too in- 
 tractable to be either Latinised or Gallicised, like Caliburn 
 or Walwein, there was no other mode to be adopted with it 
 than to translate it, and change its structure altogether, and 
 Paladr ddellt was made into Lancelot. 
 
 OBERON. 
 
 Another personage of Continental Romance is Oberon, the 
 Fairy-king. He is not amongst the number of Arthur's 
 
286 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSrI TRADITIONS 
 
 followers, but he makes a conspicuous appearance in some 
 of the later Romances, and like many other actors in 
 those scenes, I feel assured that he is of Cambrian extrac- 
 tion, and that the original name is Gwyn ap Nudd, the 
 Welsh Fairy King. It must be allowed there is but very 
 little resemblance between the two names to justify such a 
 conclusion, but let us examine the etymology of the words, 
 and the characters of their respective owners. Gwyn ap 
 Nudd [pronounced Neeth,] means White the son of Mist ; 
 and Oberon was originally written Auberon, i. e. Alberon, 
 from Albus, White, which is so near the meaning of the 
 other,, that with the preceding instances before us, I see no 
 reason to discard this as fanciful or far-fetched, particularly 
 when we consider that each of these personages is the Fairy- 
 king. The only difference is, that France being a level 
 country, Oberon inhabits the woods ; whereas in Wales, 
 Gwyn ap Nudd frequents the tops of mountains ; but in order 
 to shew the identity of character, I shall here give an extract 
 from an ancient Welsh legend, called the life of St Collen, 
 which has never, to my knowledge, been translated into 
 English.* 
 
 After relating several adventures of the saint, the legend 
 proceeds to state, that he came 
 
 "To the mountain of Glasynbyri, and there he made himself a 
 hiding place under the cleft of a rock in a secluded place, and as lie 
 was one day in his cell, he could hear two persons conversing about 
 Gwyn ap Nudd, and saying that he was King of Annwn, and of the 
 Fairies. And Collen put his head out of his cell and said, Hold your 
 tongues instantly, those are but demons. Hold thou thy tongue said 
 they, thou shalt receive a visit from him. And Collen closed his cell 
 as before. 
 
 " And soon after he heard a knocking at the door of his cell, and an 
 inquiring if the owner was within ; upon which Collen said, " I am, 
 who is it that asks?" — " It is I, a messenger from Gwyn ap Nudd, 
 to command thee, to come to speak with him on the top of the hill by 
 to-morrow, at noon." But Collen did not go. And the next day be- 
 hold the same messenger, commanding Collen to come and speak with 
 the King, by noon. And Collen did not go. And the third day, be- 
 hold the same messenger, commanding Collen to come and speak with 
 the King on the top of the hill, by noon. And if thou comest not, 
 
 * 1838, 
 
 An abridgment of this Legend has already been given by Mr. Price, see page 146. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 287 
 
 CoUen, thou wilt be the worse. And Collen being fearful, arose and 
 prepared some holy water, and put it in a pitcher by his side, and went 
 to the top of the hill, and when he came there he could see the fairest 
 castle he had ever beheld, and around it the best arranged troops, 
 and many minstrels, and every kind of music of song and stringed in- 
 struments, and horses with most elegant pages mounted on them, and 
 beautiful damsels sprightly, light-footed, gracefully clad, and in the 
 full bloom of youth ; and every pompous display that might become 
 the court of a powerful sovereign. And he saw a man of polished 
 manners on the castle top, desiring him to come in, and telling him 
 that the king was waiting him to dinner. And Collen went into the 
 castle, and when he came in he saw the King sitting in a golden chair, 
 and he welcomed Collen honourably, and desired him to proceed to eat, 
 telling him, that besides what he saw on the table before him, he should 
 have the most exquisite of all luxuries that he could ever imagine, and 
 of every liquor that he could wish for, he should have as much as his 
 heart would desire ; and every politeness of attention and service, of 
 feasting and amusement, of state and of presents, and every respect 
 and welcome that was due to a man of his wisdom. — " I will not eat 
 the leaves of trees," said Collen. " Hast thou ever seen men better ap- 
 parelled than these, in red and blue ? " said the King. — " Their 
 apparel is well enough," replied Collen, " of such apparel as it is." — 
 What kind of apparel is that? " said the King. Then said Collen, 
 the red on the one hand, signifies burning, and blue, signifies cold, — 
 and with that, Collen drew out the flask, and threw the holy water on 
 their heads, and instantly they vanished out of his sight, so that there 
 was neither castle nor troops, nor men, nor maidens, nor song, nor 
 music, nor horses, nor pages, nor feast, nor anything whatever, except- 
 ing the green hillocks." 
 
 In this story we find all the characters of the Fairy-king 
 and his illusory grandeur. At what period he wandered to 
 the continent, I am not able to discover. 
 
 Besides the above story, there is among the Bardic re- 
 mains of the Welsh, an old composition, consisting of a 
 dialogue between Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwythno Garanhir, 
 Lord of Cantref Gwaelod ; the land overflowed by the sea, 
 and forming part of what is now Cardigan Bay, In this 
 dialogue, in which Gwythno Garanhir addresses his friend 
 as an eminent warrior, they both conclude in alternate 
 boasting of their knowledge of the various places in which 
 the warriors of Britain fell in battle. 
 
 VIVIANE. 
 
 Amongst those names which frequently occur in the old 
 Romances, and of which the British origin is not known, we 
 may mention Viviane, the mistress of Merlin ; and who ul- 
 timately, by the misdirected use of his own enchantments, 
 
288 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 confines him in a magical prison, in the forest of BrocMiande, 
 in Brittany ; which, though it is in reality nothing more 
 than a white-thorn, yet presents to his sight the appearance 
 of an impassable castle wall, in whatever direction he looks. 
 
 Now, upon a superficial view of this name, we must admit, 
 that though it forms a portion of the Arthurian Romance, 
 yet it has so foreign a character that we know of no counter- 
 part to it amongst the legends of the Welsh. But if we 
 look for a corresponding character, we shall find that the 
 later Merlin, i. e. Sylvestris, does in this particular afi'ord 
 some assistance to his older name-sake. And amongst the 
 compositions attributed to this Sylvestrian Merlin, we find 
 one, admitted to be of at least as old a date as the tenth 
 century, in which the name of Ohwifleian occurs as that of 
 a female versed in occult knowledge. This word Owen ex- 
 plains to mean a Nymph who appears and disappears. But 
 from the nature of the dialogue, as well as the sound of the 
 name, there can be no doubt that the author had the charac- 
 ter of the Sibyl in view, and that out of this, and some 
 ancient British traditions, he formed the name of Ohwifleian, 
 which I have not the least doubt was afterwards Gallicised 
 into Viviane.* This fiction of the Lady of the Lake, 
 and the idea of certain supernatural beings inhabiting lakes, 
 is very common among the Welsh, and may be traced to a 
 very early period. Amongst the poems of Taliesin, we 
 have the following passage concerning the lake of Geirionydd, 
 in North Wales, on the banks of which it is said he resided : 
 
 " Dysgogan Derwycld 
 A fu Anndydd 
 Wybr Geirionydd 
 Cerddon a gennydd 
 Wylliawd ell echwydd 
 Yn nhorroedd Llynnydd." 
 
 " The Druid relates, who by the water of Geirionydd was a listener 
 to the songs sung by the Gwillion, the children of the evening, in the 
 bosoms of the lakes, &c." 
 
 In the mountains of Oarmarthenshire, there is a wild and 
 dreary lake, concerning which, a curious story is told by the 
 peasantry, of some female forms seen on its margin, but 
 
 * See p. 144. — Editor. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 289 
 
 which it was impossible to come near to, as they always kept 
 at a long distance off, however a person might run in order 
 to overtake them. But one day, a young man of the neigh- 
 bourhood, who had often seen them, and in vain endeavoured 
 to join their party, having well considered an expression 
 which he heard one of them utter, by a certain stratagem, 
 managed to capture her; and she consented to become his wife, 
 at the same time assuring him that if he ever should strike 
 her, she would return and leave him for ever. As they 
 were going towards his habitation, she turned towards the 
 lake, and called out, in the way the country people do when 
 they call the cows, and immediately several beautiful cows 
 and oxen came up out of the lake, together with other cattle, 
 enough to stock a farm, and followed her intended husband 
 to their home. 
 
 This couple, for several years, lived very happily in their 
 farm; but one day as they were out in the ground ploughing, 
 he, in a moment of irritation, in consequence of some offence, 
 struck his wife, and immediately she left him and set off 
 towards the lake ; and as she was departing, she called the 
 cattle in the same way she had done when they first appear- 
 ed, and the whole stock of the farm immediately followed 
 her, and were lost sight of in the lake, and never seen again. 
 In confirmation of the truth of this tale, there is still to be 
 seen a deep furrow-shaped trench leading to the lake, which 
 was made by the plough as the oxen dragged it after them. 
 
 There are many other superstitions still existing in Wales, 
 concerning the inhabitants of lakes, all shewing the native 
 origin of this style of fiction. 
 
 ENIDB. 
 
 She is no other than the Welsh Enid, the daughter of Yniwl. 
 LUNET. 
 
 This is the Eluned of the Mabinogion. 
 
 POUSTOUNED. 
 
 Tn the Romance of Perceforest, there is a minstrel called 
 Poustounet. And amongst the Welsh Bards, there was an 
 inferior order or kind of minstrel, called Pen Pastwn. 
 2 p 
 
290 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 YSEULT. 
 
 The fair Yseult is the Esyllt of the Welsh, which was the 
 name of a Welsh Queen in the ninth century, the daughter 
 of Conan Tindaethwy. 
 
 GIRFLBT LB PETIT,— Arthur's Squire. 
 
 Girflet le Petit is named in Le Manteau mal tailU^ and 
 is the squire of King Arthur. The original is, most pro- 
 bably, Eiddilic Corr, who is mentioned in the Triads, together 
 with Tristan, and another as noted for obstinacy, and never 
 being turned from his purpose. The word Eiddil, signifies 
 feeble, and Corr, means a Dwarf ; so that Feeble the Dwarf, 
 may have given the idea of Le Petit. 
 
 The Oorrs or Dwarfs form a part of the Welsh system of 
 fiction. The word occurs in a Tale which is inserted in the 
 W^elsh copy of Geofi'rey of Monmouth, but is not in the 
 Latin. The Tale recounts the three oppressions of the Island 
 of Britain, which happened in the time of King Ludd. 
 
 " The first of them was some race of people called the Coranians, and 
 so great was their knowledge, that there was not an expression which 
 the wind came in contact with, that they did not know. 
 
 And their coin was corr^s money. " A^u bath oedd arian 
 corr ; " which, probably, in English would bear the sense of 
 " and their coin was fairy money," i. e. bearing the appear- 
 ance of real money when received, but after being kept, 
 turning into bits of withered leaves, &c. 
 
 Then King Ludd was extremely sad and distressed that such op 
 pressions should exist in the Island of Britain, and by the general 
 advice of his nobles, King Ludd went over to France to his brother* 
 Llevelys, [who was then King of France, in right of his wife,] to seek 
 his council ; for Llevelys was a wise and discreet man. And after 
 Ludd had mentioned to him his object, they took advice how to con- 
 verse together so that the wind should not come in contact with their 
 words ; and in order to effect this, Llevelys caused a long horn to be 
 made, to speak through. So they held their conversation through the 
 horn. But neither of them could hear from the other any thing save 
 exceedingly bitter and abusive language. And Llevelys understood 
 that a demon had got into the horn, and he caused it to be washed 
 with wine ; and then they found their expressions correct. And 
 Llevelys told his brother that he would give him certain insects, which 
 when he returned he should bruise in water, and assemble the whole 
 nation, Britons and Coranians, and throw this water over them all in- 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 291 
 
 discriminately ; and he would undertake that the Coranians would all 
 die, but that the Britons would not be injured. 
 
 When Ludd returned he assembled the whole nation, &c. 
 and according to Llevelys's statement, the Coranians were 
 all destroyed. 
 
 BRANGIAN. 
 
 In the Romance of Tristan, we find the name of Brangian, 
 who is represented as an Irish Lady, and the confidante of 
 Yseult ; and there can be no doubt that this is the Welsh 
 Branwen, or as the name is more generally written, Bron- 
 wen. She was the daughter of Llyr Llediaith, and sister to 
 Bran, the father of Oaractacus ; and there is a very curious 
 fact connected with her history.* 
 
 In the year 1813 a — 
 
 " Farmer living on the banks of the Alaw, a river in Anglesey, 
 having occasion for stones to make some addition to his farm buildings, 
 and having observed a stone or two peeping through the turf, of a cir- 
 cular elevation, on a flat, not far from the river, was induced to 
 examine it ; when after paring off the turf, he came to a considerable 
 heap of stones, or Carnedd, covered with earth, which he removed 
 with some degree of caution, and got to a Cist, formed of coarse flags, 
 canted and covered over. On removing the lid, he found it contained 
 an urn, placed with its mouth downwards, and full of ashes and half 
 calcined fragments of bone. The report of this discovery soon went 
 abroad, and came to the ears of the parson of the parish, and another 
 neighbouring clergyman, both fond of, and conversant with Welsh 
 antiquities, who were immediately reminded of a passage in one of the 
 early Welsh Romances, called Mabinogion, [or Juvenile Tales ;] the 
 same that is quoted in Dr. Davies's Latin and Welsh Dictionary, as 
 well as in Richards', under the word Petrual [square.] ' Bedd petrual 
 a wnaed i Fronwen merch Llyr ar Ian Alaw oc yno y claddwyd hi.' 
 A square grave was made for Bronwen, the daughter of Llyr, on the 
 banks of the Alaw, and there she was buried." 
 
 Sir Richard Hoare, by whom the above was written to 
 
 the Editor of the Cambro Briton, continues : — 
 
 " Happening to be in Anglesey soon after the discovery, I could 
 not resist the temptation of paying a visit to so memorable a spot, 
 though separated from it by a distance of eighteen miles. I found it 
 exactly as described to me by the clergymen above mentioned, and as 
 characterised by the cited passage from the Romance. The Tumulus, 
 raised over the venerable deposit, was of considerable circuit, elegantly 
 rounded, but low ; about a dozen paces from the river Alaw.f The 
 
 * See Cambro Briton. Vol. II. 
 f The Editor of the Cambro Briton adds : "This spot is still called Ynys Bron- 
 wen ; or the Islet of Bronwen." 
 
292 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 urn was preserved entire, with an exception of a small bit out of the 
 lip, was ill-baked, very rude and simple, having no other ornament 
 than little pricked dots ; in height, from a foot, to fourteen inches, 
 and nearly of the following shape." 
 
 This interesting relic is now in the British Museum.* 
 Sir Richard Hoare proceeds to notice the history of 
 Bronwen, and says that — 
 
 "Her adventures are connected with Ireland, where she was ill- 
 treated by Matholwch, the then King of that Island ; in consequence 
 of which she left it, and landing in Wales, the Romance tells us, she 
 looked back upon Ireland, which freshening the memory of the indig- 
 nity she had met with there, broke her heart." 
 
 This occurrence is mentioned in the Triads : 
 
 " Tair engyr balfawd ynys Prydain, palfawd Matholwch wj^ddel ar 
 Fronwen ferch Llyr, &c." 
 
 The three savage blows of the hand of the Island of Britain, — the 
 blow of Matholwch the Irishman, on Bronwen the daughter of 
 Llyr, &c. 
 
 The expression, hedd fetriial^'' '•'-four square gra'ce^'' is 
 always applied to those ancient sepulchres formed of stone, 
 something in the form of a cromlech, which are found on 
 the mountains, under earns and tumuli; such graves are often 
 mentioned in ancient Welsh writings, as for example, — 
 
 " Piau y bedd petriial 
 
 Ai bedwar maen amytal 
 
 Bedd Madawc Marchawc dywal." f 
 
 * British Collection. Cases 28—33. 1854.— Editor. 
 + Memorials of the Graves of the Warrriors. Myf. Arch. Vol. I. p. 82. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 293 
 
 Whose is the quadrangular grave 
 
 With its four enclosing stones? 
 
 It is the grave of Madoc, the intrepid warrior. 
 
 And again — 
 
 " Bedd Owain ap Urien yn mhetrual bydd 
 
 Dan weryd Llan Morfael 
 
 Yn Abererch Rhydderch Hael."* 
 
 The grave of Owen the son of Urien is a quadrangular grave un- 
 der the turf of Llanmorfael. In Abererch is the grave of Rhydderch 
 Hael. 
 
 MORHOULT. 
 
 In the Romance of Meliadus of Leonnojs, written by 
 Rusticien de Pise, (temp. Henry III.) mention is made of 
 Morhoult, King of Ireland; and the foregoing story of Bron- 
 wen makes it very probable, that he is the Matholwch of the 
 Welsh Romance. How far this corresponds with the real 
 history of Ireland, is unimportant, as the object of this Essay 
 is to identify the materials of Chivalrous Romance, with their 
 ancient British originals, whether of real history or absolute 
 fiction. 
 
 RUNALEN. 
 
 This name of Runalen occurs in the Romance of Tristan, 
 where he is described as the brother of Yseult, a Breton 
 lady. The original is doubtless Run ap Alun, i. e. Rhun the 
 son of Alun Dyfed, whose grave is noticed in the Memorials: 
 so exactly have the old Romances followed their British 
 originals. 
 
 GADEFER — THE HORSE OF LANFAL. 
 
 As another instance of the continual recurrence of the 
 Continental Romancers to their ancient Cambrian depository 
 of legendary materials, we notice that even this name, which 
 occurs in the Lai de Gruelan, and might appear a mere ar- 
 bitrary fabrication, is to be found amongst the British re- 
 mains; for in an ancient composition, entitled a dialogue be- 
 tween Ugnach ab Mydno and Taliesin, we find it applied to 
 the horse of Taliesin. 
 
 " Taliesin. 
 
 Marchawc a girch y Dinas 
 Ae con guinion ae cirn bras 
 Nyth adwaen, nu rythAveles. 
 
 * Myf. Arch. Vol. I p. 79. — Editor. 
 
294 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 Ugnach. 
 
 Marchawc a girch i'r Aber 
 Y ar y march cadarn Cadfer 
 Dabre genhiw nim gwatter."* 
 
 Taliesin 
 
 Thou knight, who repah'est to the fortress 
 
 With thy white dogs and great brass hunting horns, 
 
 I know thee not, I never saw thee. 
 
 Ugnach. 
 
 Knight, repairing to the estuary. 
 
 On thy powerful steed Gadfer, 
 
 Hasten along with me, — I will take no denial. 
 
 From the heading, it appears that the fortress, or the 
 city, (Dinas,) is Oaerseon,"!- (Segontium,) Caernarvon ; 
 and the estuary is the Aber on the road to Conway. — The 
 word Gadfer is in the Welsh, fierce in battle. 
 
 As the Welsh traditions, in passing down from the Druidi- 
 cal age, most undoubtedly underwent some modification in 
 every century, according to the state of manners and customs 
 of the day, it may be interesting to inquire what character 
 they assumed in Wales, in the days of Chivalry ; and here 
 we shall find, that although they do generally, in their lan- 
 guage and allusions, indicate the age in which they were 
 composed ; yet they invariably exhibit one strong and un- 
 failing peculiarity, which is a pure and unmixed nationality 
 of character. Whatever extraneous matter may sometimes 
 attach to them, the substance is always Welsh ; I shall 
 explain my meaning in this assertion by saying, that a Tale 
 written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, will, by the 
 manners described, by the style of the armour worn, and 
 other peculiarities, point out that period, so as not to be mis- 
 taken that the actors are Welsh j and the localities, and the 
 
 * Myf. Arch. vol. I. p. 46. 
 
 + Caer-seiont. The Segontium of Antoninus appears to have been Caer Segont, 
 a city upon the river Seiont, described by Richard of Cirencester (B. 1. c. 6. s. 21.) 
 to have stood " near the Cangian promontory, on the Mineiran shore, opposite 
 Mona:" and mentioned by Nennius, in his History, (s. 25 Giles's Edition,) as a 
 city near Caernarvon, upon the pavement of which Constantius, the Father of 
 Constantino the Greit, " sowed 3 seeds of gold, silver, and brass, that no poor 
 person might ever be found there ; and also as the place of his interment. 
 Caernarvon was Caer Gusteint. — Editor. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 295 
 
 whole tone of thought and description of the same school. 
 And I should not fear to assert, that so far from merely 
 keeping pace with the times, the Welsh Romances are at all 
 times far in advance of those of the same date in other 
 countries, especially in that property which indicates the 
 presence of genius. As an example of the style of compo- 
 sition among the Welsh in the fourteenth century, I shall 
 give here some portions of a piece, called, the Dream of 
 GrufFydd ap Addaf ap Dafydd ; which has never, as far as 
 I know, been translated into English. The author was 
 killed at Dolgelley, in some affray, about the year 1370. 
 The following is merely an outline, with the exception of 
 the conclusion ; and the Tale is in prose, except also the 
 conclusion. 
 
 " The Dream of a youth of the district of Arwysli, who endured 
 
 the severest agony of love. As he was in Bangor, in Gwynedd, 
 
 after wine out of glass and silver, mead out of buffalo horn, and ale 
 out of maple, [masarn,] he retired to his chamber, and fell asleep ; 
 and he found himself walking along the banks of a river, through a 
 lonely wood, where the birds were singing melodiously. At the ex- 
 tremity of the wood, he perceived a beautiful valley, &c. with a river 
 running through it ; with deer and various animals of chase sporting 
 about ; and also swans on the river, and peacocks on the banks ; and 
 grouse, and black cocks ; and along the valley, in every direction, 
 there was honey-suckle, and there were vines. 
 
 " On the south side of that valley, he perceived a splendid and 
 stately castle, with numerous lofty towers ; and in the highest tower, 
 he saw a noble lady through a window, sitting, in a magnificent 
 dress of flame- coloured silk and purple ; with a veil of red silk on 
 her head, with a coronet of gold, and four and twenty precious gems 
 in the coronet, the least brilliant of which shone like the midsummer 
 sun. Below the coronet was a forehead, white and smooth, and 
 smooth slender eye-brows ; two black eyes bright as the falcon's, 
 crimson cheeks, a nose of beautiful form ; mouth and lips, and neck, 
 and bosom, are [described in the same manner : but the words being 
 compound, it is impossible to find corresponding terms in English] 
 hands, with long slender fingers, and the nails white. And the highly- 
 aspiring youth fixed a gaze of wild and anxious affection upon the 
 lady. And she spoke to him with an emphatic and distinct utterance. 
 * It were fitter for thee to look at the multitude beyond thee, than 
 thus to gaze on me so steadfastly.' With that the youth turn- 
 ed his eyes towards the other side, and there he beheld two immense 
 hosts approaching, the one coming from the north, and the other from 
 the west ; with numerous banners, and standards of various colours, 
 and the heads of the hosts before them : they were not merely two 
 hosts, but two armies ; mighty assemblages of armed men. And by 
 the time the sun was as high as the tops of the trees, the two armies 
 arrived, one from each direction of the valley ; and they lifted the 
 standards, and unfurled the banners, and lowered the spears and ar- 
 ranged the chargers : and before the battle was ended in that valley, 
 
296 
 
 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 there was heard the inflicting of blows, in strenuous fierce encounters, 
 and hard fighting ; with remembrance of enmity, and reproach of 
 broken faith, and prosecution of revenge : and horses prancing and 
 horse-men fatigued, and Merlin predicting, and ruddy lances alluring 
 blood-thirsty ravens ; and battered helmets, and quickly-responding 
 shouts, and trampling, and wrath, and avoiding of disgrace, and ac- 
 cusation, and harsh replying, and full turmoil. And men with muti- 
 lated visages, and pools of blood, and horses without riders, and feet 
 without stirrups ; and the subduing of the Branwys, and the slaugh- 
 tering of the Lloegrwys ; and the sharp-edged weapons, and valorous 
 encountering, and fierce looks : and abundant hostility, and cheeks 
 stained with blood, and sweating and toil, and a twin- sister to Cam- 
 Ian, And death and groaning, and applause to bravery, and swords 
 notched, and mortal wounds. And the Branes [standards] lowered 
 and the Brython overcome.* 
 
 " The youth then looked for the lady in the tower, and she was 
 viewing her face in the gems in the rings upon her fingers ; and then 
 the youth said to the lady, — 
 
 Goreu bun gwen o'r gaer eglurlin 
 
 Glaer ei Ilun a'i lliw 
 
 Paham yr ymwan heddyw, &c. 
 
 Youth. 
 
 Most beauteous lady of this splendid castle, of 
 Fairest form and countenance, wherefore was this 
 Furious conflict to day ? 
 
 Lady. 
 
 Not for the shrubs in yonder bower, nor for the 
 Marble in this tower, and sculptured stone ; 
 It was for me this fight was fought. 
 
 Youth. 
 
 Fairest lady of exalted rank, and wide spread fame, 
 What are the names of the knights engaged ? 
 
 Lady. 
 
 The name of yonder knight, who slew the 
 Brynaich with his own hand, is Paen the 
 Red-handed slaughterer of Brittany. 
 
 Youth. 
 
 Who is the warrior, who together with his host 
 Lies yonder, with the armorial ravens on his arms I [Armor- 
 ial bearings, perhaps.] 
 
 Lady. 
 
 The red bladed Llawred of the north — 
 On my account he met his death. 
 
 Youth. 
 
 Thy beauty has this day caused the alluring of the ravens 
 to blood : Is there hope for the youth who loves thee ? 
 
 Almost a literal translation. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 297 
 
 Lady. 
 
 Youth, hear my words which are not false — There never 
 was a hope, there is none, and none will ever be 
 never with I will and that 
 
 " And with that the youth awoke." 
 
 The whole structure of this Tale, the dream, the tran- 
 sition from prose to poetry, and the abrupt and tantalizing 
 ending, shews a degree of taste and sentiment, perhaps, 
 equal to any thing that can be shewn, not only in the four- 
 teenth century, but even in times of much greater culti- 
 vation of literary composition. 
 
 BRITTANY. 
 
 Having shewn that the earliest efforts of genius, in modern 
 Europe, were directed towards the framing of imaginative 
 Tales, founded upon the history and traditions of the Welsh, 
 and having the warriors and celebrated characters of that 
 race for their heroes ; it remains to inquire, by what channel 
 these traditions found their way to the continent, and also 
 the cause of their universal adoption. 
 
 The channel of communication was, undoubtedly, in the 
 first instance, the Welsh colony in Armorica; which whether 
 founded by Conan Meriadec, in the fourth century, or 
 by later settlers, it is clear, as early as the sixth century, 
 Brittany occupied an important station among the provinces 
 of Gaul, as an independent state, having its own native 
 Kings, and carrying on war against other powerful nations, 
 as the Franks, and Alains, &;c. And so eminent was this 
 colony, that the province of Armorica received the name of 
 Little Britain, Britannia Minor ; whilst the Island of Britain 
 was distinguished from it by that of Major Britannia : 
 which names, in the French, were, in later times, Grande 
 et Petite Bretagne, Great Britain, and Little Britain ; 
 the one being still used to designate this Island, having 
 been adopted by the Government as the distinguishing ap- 
 pellation, in such legal documents as refer to the Island at 
 large; and it is a remarkable fact, that the ancient race 
 which gave its present name to this country, did also, by 
 
 2 Q 
 
298 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 the emigration of its Armorican off set, occasion the adoption 
 of the appellation, which now forms so honourable a distinc- 
 tion amongst the nations of the world. 
 
 When the British colony passed overto the continent, it 
 is certain that they carried with them their traditions, and 
 national legends ; and, retaining their original language un- 
 changed, they were able to hand down those traditions in 
 a way that was impossible amongst the other nations, all 
 of whom had lost their ancient language, and were for some 
 centuries in a state of transition from the language of the 
 ancient world to that of the modern. This Breton colony, 
 therefore, forms the most probable link of connection betwixt 
 the Continent and Great Britain ; and, accordingly, we find 
 that the earliest writers of Romance refer to Brittany as 
 the source of much of their legendary knowledge, as for 
 instance : 
 
 " Bons Lais de harpe vus apris 
 
 Lais Bretuns de nostre pais." Tristan. 
 
 also, — 
 
 " Le cuntes ke jo sai verais 
 
 Dunt li Bretun unt fait lor Lais." Lai de Gugemer. 
 " Une aventure vus dirai 
 
 Dunt li Bretun firent un Lai." Lai de Laustic, 
 
 Here the word Laustic is Breton, and signifies the night- 
 ingale : the name of that bird in Welsh is Eos^ and Laustic 
 seems of the same origin : perhaps L' eostic, the latter sylla- 
 ble being common to both languages. 
 
 There are also numerous allusions to the celebrity of the Bre- 
 ton Lais among the Trouveres, and the heroes and localities 
 are generally Welsh, and the same allusions are found in 
 Chaucer: 
 
 " Thise old gentil Bretons in hir dayes, 
 Of diverse aventures maden layes 
 Rimeyed in hir first Breton tonge — 
 And on of hem have I in remembrance 
 In Armorike, that called is Bretaigne." 
 
 As these, and similar quotations, are given in Warton, there 
 is no occasion for adding them here, inasmuch as that work * 
 is too well known to require such repetition. 
 
 It was not merely among their immediate neighbours that 
 
 * Warton 's History of English Poetry, — Editor. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 299 
 
 the Bretons enjoyed this celebrity, but the songs and lais of 
 Brittany were known and appreciated even amongst the in- 
 habitants of Provence, as may be seen in one of the compo- 
 sitions of Folquet de Marseille. 
 
 " la no volgra qu'liom auzis 
 Los doulz chans dels auzellos 
 Mas cill qui son amoros ; 
 Q,ue res tan no m'esbandis 
 Co ilauzelet per la planha ; 
 E illi belha cui son aclis, 
 Cella m'platz mais que chansos 
 Volta, ni lais de Bretanha." 
 
 " I would not any man should hear 
 The birds that sweetly sing above, 
 Save he who knows the power of love ; 
 For nought beside can soothe or cheer 
 My soul like that sweet harmon}^ ; 
 And her who yet more sweet and dear. 
 Hath greater power my soul to move, 
 Than songs or lays of Brittany." 
 
 Lavs of the Minne-singers. London 1825. 
 
 Besides this Breton channel of communication, it is pro- 
 bable that many Welsh legends were imported into France 
 by the Norman settlers in England, as, almost immediately 
 after the conquest, several Norman Barons established them- 
 selves on the borders of Wales, and even acquired lands with- 
 in the Principality itself, who were known by the name of 
 Marchers ; and we know, that in the course of time, several of 
 the descendants of these Norman Lords became great pro- 
 moters of Welsh literature, especially in the district of Gla- 
 morgan; and it appears impossible that these men could have 
 cultivated the Welsh language themselves, and patronised 
 the Bards, without at the same time transferring into their 
 native French some of the treasures which so much interested 
 them. 
 
 BRETON COMPOSITIONS STILL EXTANT. 
 
 Having cited so many authorities proving the Breton origin 
 of the Lays, quoted by the Trouveres and Troubadours, as 
 well as the extensive influence which these compositions had 
 on the Continent, it appears natural to inquire. Whether there 
 are any remains of these compositions still remaining in 
 
300 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 Brittany, and what form that species of literature assumed in 
 that country I In answer to such inquiry, I can only say 
 that I have not been able to discover in that country any 
 composition of an ancient character: the oldest I should re- 
 fer to a period subsequent to the fourteenth century. There 
 are in private hands a few manuscripts, containing some of 
 the dramatic compositions, called Mysteries, such as : 
 
 St. Trefinnan, Princess of Brittany ; St. Genivieve of Brabant ; 
 Jacob and Joseph ; and The Passion. 
 
 I do not believe they contain anything different to the 
 generality of those pieces in other countries ; but I speak 
 from a very slight examination of the manuscripts. The 
 only printed work of a Romantic character, that I am ac- 
 quainted with in the Breton language, is that called " Buez 
 ar pevar Mab Emon " The Life of the four Sons of Emon 
 printed at Morlaix, by Ledan,in 1818 ; which is an octavo of 
 416 pages, and is called a Tragedy. It is, in fact, a Dramatic 
 Poem, with the exception of a few pages at the end, in which 
 the narrative is continued in prose. This Romance is of the 
 Oyclus of Charlemagne, and is founded upon the Quatre Fils 
 Aymon^ said to be by Huon de Villeneuve. The actors are 
 Charlemagne and his Paladins, with the other characters of 
 that Cyclus. Whether any of the materials of this Romance 
 are taken from the ancient British legends, I am not pre- 
 pared to determine ; but I cannot avoid noticing, that the 
 sword of Maugis, which he obtains from the Giant, seems but 
 an imitation of the Caliburn of Arthur. It is called Flam- 
 berje, and is described as being 
 
 " Forged in Hell, and tempered in the blood of Asps." 
 
 And the Giant, in surrendering it to him, says : 
 
 " Flamberj eus da goste, ha Boyard dindannout 
 Ep don rac den ebet ech elles mont pa;rtout." 
 
 With Flamberje by thy side, and Boyard under thee, 
 Without fear of any man on earth, thou may'st go where'er thovi 
 wilt." 
 
 This Boyard is the horse, which, together with the sword. 
 
 * See pp. 68 — 80. — Ebitok. 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 801 
 
 was originally obtained from the demon Rouart, and is 
 described as being 
 
 " Strong as the ocean, and fleet as the gale." 
 " Creii e evel ar mor, buan vel an avel." 
 
 This Mojis, or Maugis, is the same with the Malgis and 
 Malagigi of similar works in other languages, and it is rather 
 a singular coincidence, that there is, among the Welsh legends, 
 notice of some evil which befel the Island of Britain in the 
 mythological ages, called the " Oppression of the Horse of 
 Malaen," which name bears so near a resemblance to Mal- 
 gis, that I am inclined to think that the idea came from 
 Wales, along with many others of the same character, which 
 may be seen even in later periods than that of the Arthurian 
 Romance. The mythology of the Welsh, which probably is of 
 Druidic origin, abounds with instances of a similar nature, 
 amongst which may be mentioned the Spectre Bulls of the 
 Island of Britain, &:c. But however this may be, it is clear 
 that the Arthurian Romances were still in possession of their 
 ancient territory when this Poem was composed, for the author 
 in speaking of the necromantic skill of Maugis, says, 
 
 "He was learned in the art of Merlin, and vastly expert in it." 
 " Ebars en art Merlin, ez e meurbet habil." 
 
 GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH. 
 
 A QUESTION may now arise as to the real extent of the in- 
 fluence, which this extraordinary book had upon the mind 
 and literature of Europe. There are some who maintain 
 that the first acquaintance with the ancient British tradi- 
 tions, was occasioned by the introduction of Geoffrey's work, 
 and that all the particulars of the Arthurian Romance were 
 derived from it. But this is a mistake, inasmuch as the 
 Breton lays, as given by the Trouveres, contain many por- 
 tions of British history and fable not to be found in Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth ; which argues that there existed some other 
 source. And even Geoffrey himself says he discarded the 
 prophecy of the Eagle, which was uttered during the build- 
 ing of Caer Septon, (Shaftsbury,) because he did not con- 
 sider it authentic. But whatever materials may have been 
 obtained from this, or any other source, it is certain that 
 
302 INFLUENCE OF WELSH TRADITIONS 
 
 the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth did either actually rouse 
 the literary genius of Europe out of its long sleep, or else, 
 coming at the very moment of its awakening, this book 
 presented to it those images which for many centuries con- 
 tinued to be the foremost and most interesting objects, and 
 which, even to the present day, have not entirely withdrawn 
 themselves. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF IMAGINATION, 
 
 FROM THE TWELFTH CENTURY DOWN. 
 
 For a considerable time after the awakening in the twelfth 
 century, there was but little change in the style of thought. 
 The first outbursting of intellect was powerful, and the cur- 
 rent kept on an even unvarying course for many ages. But 
 at length, for some causes, which it would be out of place 
 here to investigate, a change of character began to be exhi- 
 bited, and the Arthurian Romance was superseded by that 
 of Charlemagne. But this did not possess attractions suffici- 
 ent to ensure it a continuance, and it was in its turn obliged 
 to give way to other systems, as the Amadises, and the 
 Palmerins ; each of which enjoyed its era of popularity. 
 But each successive age brought with it an increase of rest- 
 lessness in the human mind, so that the reign of each par- 
 ticular style of imagination appears to have been reduced 
 in point of duration ; and to so great a degree has this 
 mobility of character proceeded, that a strain of thought 
 which once would continue popular for several generations, 
 will now scarcely outlive as many years ; and he is a 
 powerful writer in the present day, who, if he has enjoyed 
 a moderate old age, does not see his early compositions 
 grown obsolete and forgotten. Pope and Sterne, and many 
 others of the last century, whose works were once so popu- 
 lar, as absolutely to furnish proverbial quotations and 
 maxims of established authority, are scarcely even known 
 to the young people of the present generation. Since their time, 
 many new and influential styles of writing have appeared, and 
 again sunk into forgetfulness. Amongst those deserving 
 of notice, for originality of conception, the following may be 
 adduced. The novels of Fielding and Smollet, and others of 
 that class, which had their effect in the placing in a striking 
 
ON THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE. 
 
 303 
 
 light, some of the most interesting occurrences of common 
 life : the Castle of Otranto, and the Old English Baron ; in 
 which a more poetical and imaginative channel of thought 
 was opened, which had a very powerful effect upon the liter- 
 ature of the day, and still continues, though under certain 
 modifications. It was from this school that the Radcliffe 
 novels proceeded, and many others of a strain of thought, 
 though varying in some particulars, yet evidently bearing 
 marks of that origin. And lastly came the historical novels, 
 to which Scott gave the finishing touch ; and though not 
 the founder of the school, yet he carried the system to such 
 a degree of perfection, that no future writer can do more 
 than remind his reader, that he is an imitator of a vastly 
 superior original. Probably, in all the principal styles, 
 some remote influence of the early Romance might be dis- 
 covered. At any rate, it is certain that the style of thought 
 has by no means ceased to exist, as may be seen in the 
 Bridal of Triermain, and many other compositions ; as well 
 as in the dramatic exhibitions which have been founded upon 
 that work, and have met with such encouraging reception. 
 What the next character of thought may be, it is useless to 
 attempt to conjecture, but we may rest assured that the 
 stores of imagination are not yet exhausted ; and without 
 presuming upon any faculty of foresight, but only from a 
 due observation of the past, we may confidently expect, that 
 but a short time can elapse before some new train of thought 
 shall be discovered, and some new feelings called into action, 
 as different in character to those we have already experien- 
 ced, as the Poems of Scott are to those of Pope ; or the 
 Mysteries of Udolpho to Sir Charles Grandison : But what 
 will the traditions of Wales have to do with this new 
 species of composition ? — That it is impossible to^conjecture : 
 but we may entertain a decided expectation, that they will 
 not cease to exist in some form or other, as it is utterly im- 
 possible that the impulses which directed the minds of 
 Spenser and Milton, and Gray, and Southey, and Scott, 
 should ever entirely lose their power. 
 
 Hie jacet Arthiirus, Rex quondam, Rex que futurus. 
 
A 
 
 CRITICAL ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 30mtnri| of tlie fangnnge nnh literature nf 
 
 Win : 
 
 FROM THE TIME OF GRUFFYDD AP CYNAN AND 
 MEILYR, TO THAT OF SIR GRUFFYDD 
 LLWYD AND GWILYM DDU : 
 
 ACCOMPANIED WITH SPECIMENS, BOTH IN THE ORIGINAL, AND IN A CLOSE ENGLISH 
 TRANSLATION OF THE POEMS MOST CHARACTERISTIC OF THAT PERIOD. 
 
 BY 
 
 5linriigcr. 
 
 The first page of this Essay in manuscript, though dated 1828, bears also, by way 
 of title, a pasted extract from the Programme of the Abergavenny Eisteddfod of 
 1848, announcing the subject for the Prize given on that occasion, by H.R.H, 
 the Prince of Wales. The successful Competitor was Mr. Stephens of Merthyr. 
 
 The component matter of this Essay is so nearly the same as that contained in 
 Mr. Price's Treatise of 1845, on the " Comparative merits of the Remains of An- 
 cient Literature in the Welsh, Irish, and Gaelic Languages," that the Editor 
 has found it necessary, in order to avoid a series of repetitions, and to do strict 
 justice to the Author, to adopt the following plan : 
 
 The original structure of the Essay is preserved inviolate, and, with the excep- 
 tion of a few reiterated sentences, all Mr. Price's own remarks are fully given. 
 The first line of every example is preserved, and all the fresh quotations are in- 
 serted at full length. Notwithstanding tbe disadvantages resulting from its con- 
 struction out of materials almost identical with those of another work, this Essay, 
 taken separately and as a whole, possesses considerable merit. 
 
1 Critiral (0Mai| 
 
 The period of time, within which the works under consider- 
 ation were produced, extends over a space of near 250 years ; 
 sa GrufFyth ap Cynan claimed the throne in 1075, and the 
 earhest extant Poem of Meilyr the Bard was composed in 
 1080; whilst Sir GrufFyth Llwyd and Gwilym Ddu were 
 alive in 1323. We are, therefore, enabled to contemplate the 
 several aspects assumed by Welsh Poetry, during the ex- 
 tent of this period, as well with regard to its style of prosod- 
 iacal construction, as the degree of talent evinced by its 
 respective professors. And in this period of 250 years, as 
 there are evident appearances of a rise and decline of poetic 
 genius, and as similar appearances present themselves in the 
 poetry of the sixth and seventh centuries, we are led to ima- 
 gine that we perceive, in the intellectual world, certain seasons 
 of spring and autumn, as in the natural ; certain periodical 
 movements of excitement and subsidence, influenced by laws 
 and agencies hitherto unknown, and which have scarcely at- 
 tracted attention as subjects of investigation. That such an 
 awakening did take place in the sixth century, and also in 
 the eleventh, there can be no question ; but to assign causes 
 for such outbreaks of genius would be no safe undertaking. 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 Whether the people, being roused to action by foreign ag- 
 gression in the sixth century, by the Saxon invasion, and in 
 the eleventh by the Norman, were upon each occasion ani- 
 mated by similar sentiments, and gave them utterance by a 
 similar mode of expression, or whether there was at each of 
 these periods some endemic excitement amongst the western 
 nations, which impelled them to an extraordinary exertion of 
 mind and body, is a question not to be hastily determined. 
 If it should be maintained, that the bursting out of the Bardic 
 awen in the sixth century, was occasioned by the excitement 
 caused by the Saxon invasion, it may be asked. What occasi- 
 oned the subsiding of that spirit at the close of the seventh 
 century, and the general torpor which prevailed from that 
 time to the close of the eleventh century? as during that 
 time there is but little extant that deserves the name of 
 poetry. It could not have been the absence of hostile ag- 
 gression, inasmuch as the Saxon wars by no means ceased 
 with the subsiding of the Bardic ardour in the seventh cen- 
 tury ; but on the contrary, there were continual hostilities for 
 some ages afterwards, as with Offa and Ethelbald, and 
 others, but of which there is no poetic memorial extant. 
 Again, in the eighth and ninth centuries, the Welsh had to 
 maintain a most arduous, and victorious struggle against the 
 Danes ; and yet we do not find that the Bardic spirit was 
 upon this occasion roused from its torpor. And yet there 
 never was a time that called for more strenuous exertion, or 
 afforded greater cause for national exultation. For those 
 ferocious barbarians, having overrun England and Ireland, 
 and possessed themselves of a considerable portion of Scot- 
 land, were continually infesting the coasts of Wales, yet 
 were never able to obtain a footing in the country. And when 
 once^ with a powerful army, they made an irruption into the 
 Principality, they were so vigorously attacked by the Welsh, 
 that they were defeated with immense slaughter^ and compel- 
 led to retreat across the Severn : and yet there was no demon- 
 stration of a corresponding excitement amongst the Bards. 
 
 Again, at the period of the Norman invasion of Wales, 
 although, probably, the spirit of Bardism received an addi- 
 tional stimulus from the stirring events of the time; yet, 
 there are certain facts which seem to indicate that the 
 
THE LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 809 
 
 awakening of that spirit is not attributable to the Norman 
 invasion ; but on the contrary, that it had already commenced 
 before that invasion took place. It does not appear that 
 the collision between the Welsh and Normans had become 
 general prior to the year 1091, when Robert Fitzhamon 
 invaded Glamorgan ; but we have reason to believe that the 
 Bardic awen manifested symptoms of an awakening full 
 ten years before that event ; and the subject which exercised 
 the talents of the only Bard of the time, whose works are 
 extant, was a struggle betwixt two native princes : the 
 battle of Carno, fought in 1080, betwixt GrufFyth ap Cynan, 
 and Trahaearn ap Caradawc, in which the latter was slain ; 
 and the composition alluded to is a short Ode by Meilyr, 
 who was himself present. This composition of Meilyr 
 partakes considerably of the torpor of that and the preced- 
 ing ages ; though there is observable in this Ode, as well as 
 in the other works of Meilyr, a degree of animation suffi- 
 cient to indicate a transition to a more spirited style ; and 
 in the generation immediately succeeding this Bard, there 
 appears such a constellation of talented composers, together 
 with such a change of style, as most distinctly to mark a 
 new era ; whilst in a couple of centuries more, we discover 
 an evident flagging of the spirit of poetry; and, at last, a 
 sinking into a state of torpor, almost as great as that of the 
 dark ages. 
 
 Now, when we contemplate these sudden outbursts of 
 genius in the sixth and eleventh centuries, and their con- 
 sequent subsiding, we are disposed to infer a certain pe- 
 riodical fluctuation in the intellectual world, and to imagine 
 that these phenomena of the appearance and disappearance 
 of poetic inspiration are the effects of impulses undiscovered, 
 and totally independent of political movements, as far as 
 regards their origin. And this inference naturally leads 
 us to inquire, whether we cannot perceive a corresponding 
 mental excitement in other particulars of a social nature. 
 In this inquiry, our attention is first of all directed to the 
 sixth century; and here we find the state of the World 
 rather favourable, than otherwise, to the confirmation of our 
 theory. For we find, at this time, a general commotion 
 amongst the nations. New confederations are formed, the 
 
310 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 elements of new states and new kingdoms elaborated, and 
 the whole frame-work of Society new modelled. So that we 
 must conclude, that the excitement of the sixth century was 
 not limited to the Welsh, but extended over other nations ; 
 though its effects did not manifest themselves by the same 
 awakening of poetic inspiration. 
 
 Again, at the close of the eleventh century, as if refreshed 
 by a sleep of 400 years, we find the Bardic awen again 
 awake, and immediately in high action ; and this with as 
 little apparent cause as its previous sinking to rest. But 
 this excitement is not confined to Wales. We perceive it 
 throughout the whole of the western world ; a new impulse 
 seems to be communicated to the mind, and the effects of its 
 renovated energies are everywhere evident. New languages 
 are formed, new books written, new structures are erected ; 
 turreted and embattled castles take the place of earthen 
 forts, whilst groined and vaulted cathedrals occupy the sites 
 of wattled and mud- walled fabrics ; chivalric honours are 
 created, and crusades undertaken in far distant countries : 
 in short, the whole aspect of society is altered, and as great 
 a difference is seen betwixt the twelfth and tenth centuries, 
 as betwixt the waking and sleeping man. Nor is this change 
 to be attributed to any continuity of causes, any more than 
 the vegetation of spring is attributable to the previous au- 
 tumnal cultivation of the soil : the ground may be tilled, 
 and the seed planted, but the vitality and germination must 
 proceed from some other cause. 
 
 But as this discussion may appear irrelevant, we shall 
 return to the subject of Welsh Poetry, as existing during 
 the period under consideration, and inquire into the attitude 
 and position it assumed in its renovated state. And here 
 we shall find a somewhat curious fact, — that after so many 
 ages of comparative inactivity, the Bardic genius of the 
 eleventh century exhibited the identical aspect under which 
 it appeared in the sixth, and was, as regards style, essentially 
 Lyric. Exceptions scarcely exist ; there is no instance of 
 the Epic, and but few of the Narrative. And if we were 
 required to illustrate this Lyric style of the Welsh Bards, 
 by a comparison with classic productions, we should certain- 
 ly name Pindar as the Poet whose style they most resemble: 
 
THE LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 811 
 
 there is the same digression, the same desultory character 
 and sudden transition, and not unfrequently the same ex- 
 pressiveness of compound words ; as for instance, in Gwalch- 
 mai's " Mochdwyreawg," early- rising sun ; and the Prydydd 
 Bychan's "Aesdromrudd," heavy-crimsoned shield ; so that, 
 altogether, the most appropriate term by which to designate 
 the works of the Welsh Bards, would be that of Pindaric. 
 But here the resemblance ceases; the themes of our Cambrian 
 minstrels 'and of their Theban antecessor are very different- 
 And we must maintain, to the honour of our W elsh Bards, 
 that there^never was a race of men whose patriotic ardour 
 glowed more intensely, or whose talents were more entirely 
 devoted to their country. The heroes they celebrated were 
 the warriors who really defended their native soil ; and tlie 
 events they recorded were the battles actually fought in the 
 cause of national liberty. And here we cannot but notice 
 a striking contrast between the direction of the ancient 
 British awen in the middle ages, and that taken b}^ the 
 modern muse of Britain in our own times. For whilst, 
 during the long and desperate struggle of the last war, the 
 utmost efforts of the nation were exerted against a powerful 
 and inveterate enemy, and its best blood unsparingly shed 
 by sea and land ; with the exception of CampbelFs " Battle 
 of the Baltic,^' not a single Ode was offered in tribute by 
 any of the leading Poets of the day ; but the brightest genius 
 of the country lavished its powers upon the villanies of 
 Moss-troopers and Corsairs, and other worthless characters of 
 the same stamp ; and of those multitudes " on the deck of 
 fame that died,"' excepting the great commander of our naval 
 forces, and " the gallant good Riou ; who of them all has 
 had the good fortune to have even his name recorded in any 
 work of poetic excellence ? It is true we have seen one in- 
 dividual who evinced a more patriotic spirit, and that was 
 Dibdin ; one who, though not of the highest order of genius, 
 yet, was equally effective in his compositions with the most 
 distinguished men of the age ; and, in a great measure, sup- 
 plied the deficiency caused by their unnational and apathetic 
 conduct ; and who deserved well of his country, and better 
 than he received, for the unflagging spirit with which he 
 brought out his animating sea songs : but then, even Dibdin 
 
312 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 was influenced by the same feeling of idealism, and all his 
 heroes are imaginary beings, Tom Tough^ Jack Junk and 
 Ben Blocks &c. He was the Poet of a class, and not the 
 recorder of individual merit, nor even of particular national 
 occurrences, however glorious. 
 
 In this general charge of ingratitude aganst the poetic 
 genius of modern Britain, should I be told that there are 
 many brilliant exceptions that I have overlooked, I answer 
 that I know of none. Wolfe's " Death of Moore" was a 
 posthumous publication, brought out many years after the 
 event ; and Scott's Waterloo," as well as Byron's lines 
 on the same subject, came too late ; after the struggle was 
 over, and their exciting influence was no longer wanted. 
 
 In fixing the general character of the Welsh Poetry of the 
 middle ages, we must designate it as an incorporation of 
 patriotic sentiment, and an expression of public enthusiasm, 
 connected with the real and immediate occurrence of national 
 events ; and in this character we feel constrained to assign 
 it a high, if not the highest grade, in the scale of European 
 poetry. Neither Greece nor Rome can furnish a parallel 
 instance. Pindar stands alone in this class, but the subjects 
 of his praise, though real existences, were not so strictly 
 national. The Spanish Ballads are all Romances ; whilst the 
 Trouv^res and Troubadours of France, the Minne-singers of 
 Germany, and the Scalds of the North, occupied themselves, 
 either with fabulous events, or with those of such remote 
 occurrences as to admit of their being treated as fables. 
 
 And as the poetry of the Welsh appears to be indigenous 
 in regard of direction and train of thought, so it does also 
 in its prosody and metrical construction. And here a curious 
 fact presents itself. After 800 years of Roman dominion, 
 upon the departure of that people, Welsh poetry had not 
 the slightest resemblance to that of Rome. The essentials 
 of Roman metrical composition consist in quantity ; those 
 of the Welsh are Rhyme and Alliteration. The Latin 
 classic prosody does not recognise the two last named 
 requisites, nor does the Welsh know any thing of classic 
 quantity : neither is there any resemblance in the structure 
 of the poems of the two races, further than what is the result 
 of mere coincidence in all metrical compositions. 
 
THE LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 313 
 
 It has been noticed that, in the Welsh poetry, the Lyric 
 is the predominant style ; there is a total absence of the 
 Epic, and but few instances of the Narrative ; and amongst 
 such instances, perhaps the most remarkable is the Awdl 
 Fraith^ a production of doubtful authorship, and sometimes 
 ascribed to Taliesin, but evidently of a much later date. In 
 some copies it bears the name of lonas A thraw o Fynyw^ or 
 lonas the Teacher of Menevia. It is called the Awdl Fraith, 
 or Mottled Ode, on account of the Latin words with which the 
 stanzas generally terminate. The following, from the com- 
 mencement of the Ode, will suffice as a specimen of the style: 
 
 YR AWDYL FRAITH. 
 
 Ef a wneth Panton 
 Ar lawr glyn Ebron 
 A'i ddwylaw gwynion 
 Gwiwlun Adda, &c." 
 
 Panton made 
 On the ground of the Vale of Ebron, 
 With his blessed hands 
 
 The fair-formed Adam, &c."* 
 
 It is then related how they were driven from Paradise ; and 
 there was given to them a spade to till the ground, also an 
 angelic messenger brought to Eve some seed of Wheat, but 
 she concealed the tenth part of it, and did not sow it. After- 
 wards when the concealed seed was sown, there came up 
 black rye instead of wheat ; and for this reason tithe should 
 be paid. The Ode concludes with a prophecy concerning 
 the destinies of Britain, and refers to the announcement 
 made by the angel to Oadwaladr. 
 
 We shall now proceed to illustrate the foregoing observa- 
 tions by selections from the works of the Bards of this period, 
 given in the Myfyrian Archaiology. 
 
 MEILYR. 
 
 The first Bard whose name presents itself to us during the 
 period specified, is Meilyr, a Bard particularly deserving of 
 notice ; and that not so much on account of his genius, which 
 did not rise above mediocrity, as for his being the first of the 
 series of Bards who appeared at the new awakening of the 
 
 * So8 page 204. 
 2 S 
 
314 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 eleventh century, and as being one, who, in his own composi- 
 tions, exhibits the characteristics of the two styles — the tor- 
 por and prosaic tameness of the preceding era, and the spirit 
 and energy of that which was then commencing : though it 
 must be owned that the dulness of the tenth and preceding 
 centuries is much more conspicuous in his compositions 
 than is the fire of the twelfth. 
 
 Meilyr and his descendants also furnish a striking, and by 
 no means usual instance of poetic genius continuing in the 
 same family for three successive generations, and also of this 
 talent running through its three stages of Rise, Culmination, 
 and Decline. Meilyr was a composer tame and prosaic. — 
 His son Gwalchmai was a poet of the highest order of genius, 
 spirited and fiery. — His grandson, Einion ap Gwalchmai, 
 again lost the fire and genius of his father, and sunk into the 
 tameness of his grandfather Meilyr, as also did Meilyr ap 
 Gwalchmai, Einion's brother. 
 
 The first composition of Meilyr, with which we are ac- 
 quainted, is a short Ode, or Elegy, on the death of Trahaearn 
 ap Caradawc, and Meilyr ap Rhiwallon, who were slain in 
 the battle of Oarno, in 1080. In the Myfyrian Archaiology, 
 this composition is placed amongst the works of the twelfth 
 century ; but as it is clear, from internal evidence, that the 
 Bard was an eye witness of the battle, as it is said that he 
 composed the Elegy " in the expedition," we cannot assign 
 to it any other date than that of 1080, the year in which the 
 battle took place.; and as it was expressly ordered by the 
 Welsh Laws, that it was the duty of the Royal Household 
 Bard to attend the king to battle, and to sing the national 
 strain before the engagement, we may suppose that Meilyr 
 accompanied his sovereign in this capacity ; and the short- 
 ness of the composition, which is only fourteen lines in length, 
 together with the marks it bears of haste, and its abrupt and 
 unconnected style, strongly confirm this opinion. The Ode 
 and the occasion of its composition are as follows. 
 
 GrufFydd ap Cynan, being compelled to quit North Wales, 
 took refuge in Ireland, from whence he returned with a 
 strong body of Irish Scots, and having joined forces with 
 Rhys ap Tewdwr, attacked Trahaearn, and defeated and slew 
 him. 
 
THE LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 815 
 
 Meilyr Brydydd a gant yr Awdl hon yn y Uuydd y lias Tra- 
 haearn fab Caradawc, a Meilyr fab Rhi walla wn fab Cynvyn." 
 
 " Gvvolychaf ym Ren rex awyr, &c." 
 
 " Meilyr the Poet sang this Ode, in the Expedition in which were 
 slain Trahaearn the son of Caradawc, and Meilyr the son of Rhiwall- 
 awn son of Cynfyn. 
 
 *' I adore my Sovereign, the king of Heaven, &c."* 
 
 There is, in the style and construction of this Poem, a 
 certain simplicity which indicates an unpractised composer. 
 This want of skill must be in some measure attributed to 
 the youth of the Poet; for as he composed an Elegy on 
 Gruffydd ap Cynan, who died in 1187, he must have been 
 but a youthful Bard in 1080. But it is more probable that 
 the simplicity of style observable in the foregoing Ode, is 
 chiefly attributable to the fact already alluded to, namely, 
 the long period of Bardic torpor which had preceded its 
 composition. As it appears that Meilyr is actually the first 
 composer of the Bardic school, that arose with the revival of 
 the awen in the eleventh century ; therefore this composition 
 becomes particularly interesting as exhibiting the transition 
 from one state to the other, and Meilyr thus forms the con- 
 necting link ; and also affords in himself a striking instance 
 of the progressive state of intellect at this time : for after a 
 lapse of fifty years we find that Meilyr's own style has un- 
 dergone evident improvement, though there is so much left 
 of his early character of simplicity, that we cannot refrain 
 from inferring that his native torpor, the produce of the 
 preceding era, was so strongly inherent, that even the gen- 
 eral resuscitation of the advancing time was not able entirely 
 to remove it. For in Meilyr's Elegy on Gruffydd ap Cynan 
 in 1137, there is the same detail of circumstances — a feature 
 not so conspicuous in the works of subsequent Bards — given 
 with the same bare and unadorned statement of facts, and 
 less of alliteration and artificial arrangement of expression. 
 This Elegy consists of near 200 lines, and therefore is too 
 long to insert the whole in this place, but the following ex- 
 tracts will give an idea of its character^ and also of the 
 improvement in style and poetic expression which had taken 
 place. The Bard commences in the same religious and 
 
 * See page 192. 
 
816 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 devotional strain, as in the preceding composition, as was the 
 general practice of the middle age Bards ; and conformable 
 to the injunctions of the Welsh laws, that the Eoyal House- 
 hold Bard should commence his official services with "a 
 song to God." 
 
 " Rheen Nef mor rhyfedd ei ryfeddawd 
 Rhiau rwyf elfydd rhydd ei folawd, &c. 
 Rex rhadau fry o ryn fy nghardawd 
 Rheg rhydeirin am ynn rhan drindawd." 
 
 " Sovereign of Heaven, how marvellous are his wonderful acts I — 
 The king and governor of earth, extended is his praise ! — The king 
 of exalted blessings, I will ask a gift of the Trinity, &c. &c." 
 
 He then proceeds to eulogise GrufFudd ap Cynan with a 
 good deal of poetic spirit and speaks of the Heavenly King 
 who placed him on the throne : 
 
 " GrufFydd glew dywal ar orseddawd 
 Gwyr gwae ei werin gwin eu gwirawd 
 Gwr a lywiai lu cyn bu breuawd 
 Blaidd byddin orthew yn derw blynghawd 
 Yr perigl preiddwyr peri fFosawd 
 Pascadur cynrain Prydain briawd 
 Handoedd cadgyfFro a Andrawd 
 Ac ail 0 Run Hir ryfel durawd 
 Gwanai yn nghyngar eissor Medrawd 
 Mai Urien urdden ai amgyffrawd 
 Gweled ei ben lie ni bu defawd 
 Mur cadau neuaddau o ystyllawd 
 Cyn myned mab Cynan y dan dy wawd 
 Ceffid yn ei gyntedd medd a bragawd 
 
 0 olo Gruffydd yn rhudd feddrawd 
 Cwynym dragon dwfn dygn diwrnawd 
 Ergyr waew brwydryn cyn rhewin rhawd 
 Ryn ruthrai dorfoedd oedd rybarawd 
 Rygadedd Rhufain rheg addrwyndawd 
 Ni fynnai gamhur garw nebawd 
 
 1 gy meryd llyw doty w dyrnawd 
 Difa draig wron weinion wascawd 
 Gogwypo i Dduw o'i ddiweddawd 
 Nad el yn rygoll o'i holl bechawd." 
 
 Gruftydd, the intrepid hero — men of terror were his bands,~the 
 man who marshalled armies before he became a corpse ; the wolf of 
 the host, silent within the obdurate oaken boards, [the coffin.] The 
 endangerer of depredators, causing gashing ; the nourislier of the vali- 
 ant ; the possesor of Britain. Sprung was the mover of battle from 
 Anarawd, and a descendant of Rhun the Tall, steeled for war ; he 
 could engage in council like Medrawd ; like the honoured Urien was 
 his comprehension. We see his head where it was not wont to be, 
 the bulwark of battle, in his dwelling of boards, [coffin.] Before the 
 son of Cynan was placed beneath the earth, there was had in his hall, 
 
THE LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 317 
 
 mead and ale. From the covering up of Gruffydd in the red [earth] 
 grave, we bewail the chieftain deeply this grievous day ; the warlike 
 thruster of the spear, before his course was ended, who was prepared 
 for the onset of the hosts, who received from Rome a gift of blessing ; 
 who could not delight in any wrong. Since the blow has been given 
 to take away the chief, to slay the valiant leader, the protection of 
 the feeble, may God grant in the end, that he may be delivered from 
 all his sin ! 
 
 In the description of Gruffydd ap Cynan's battles, there 
 occasionally occurs an approach to the more spirited style 
 of the succeeding Bards, together with, here and there, an 
 expression reminding us of the genius of the sixth century, 
 clearly proving that Meilyr was acquainted with those com- 
 positions ; the following will suffice : 
 
 " Tyrfai rhag llafnau pennau peithwydd 
 
 Caeth cwynynt cerddynt gan elfydd 
 
 Cnoynt frain friwgig o lid llawrudd 
 
 Llenwyd dwreawr i fawr faesydd 
 
 Delyd meirch amliw a biw elfydd 
 
 Gwen Gwygydd gwanai bawb yn eu gilydd 
 
 Gwaed gwyr goferai gwyrai onwydd 
 
 Or maint a dufu ar ei edrydd 
 
 A dug o'i gadau chwedlau newydd, &c." 
 
 The chiefs of the land were in commotion from the spears ; 
 Prisoners wailed as they walked the ground ; 
 
 The ravens gnawed the mangled flesh, caused by the wrath of the 
 
 slaughterer ; 
 Streams [of blood] were filled on many fields ; 
 Many-coloured horses were taken ; and cattle through the land ! 
 At Gwengwygydd, each thrust at the other ; 
 The blood of men streamed, the ashen shafts bended ; 
 Those who returned of all his company 
 Brought from his army new reports, &c. 
 
 There is another composition of Meilyr, called his Death- 
 bed Song, " Marw ysgafyn Feilyr Brydydd ; " in this com- 
 position he addresses the Almighty, and prays for a covenant 
 with him, and proceeds to say, that after all his success and 
 honour in his Bardic progress, he is at last reduced to 
 silence : 
 
 " Cefais i liawsawr aur a phali 
 Gan freuawl rieu er eu hoffi 
 Ac wedy dawn awen amgen ynni 
 Amdlawd fy nhafawd ar fy nhewi." 
 
 I have received abundance of gold and silk, 
 From mortal chieftains for extolling them ; 
 And after much energy of the gift of genius. 
 Poor is my tongue, and I am silenced. 
 
318 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 He then calls himself a pilgrim to Peter, and speaks of 
 his wish to be amongst the congregation of the Island of 
 EnUi, (Bardsey,) where the 
 
 " Churchyard is surrounded by the bosom of the ocean." 
 " Ac am y mynwent mynwes heli." 
 
 Such is the character of the poetry of Meilyr ; and al- 
 though it is probable that these three Odes form but a small 
 portion of his compositions, yet, as they comprise his earliest 
 and his latest productions, we may conclude that they 
 afford fair specimens of his genius ; which began with the 
 awakening of the awe?i in the eleventh century, and pro- 
 gressed with its increasing energies. And although it evi- 
 denced a decided influence towards the close of his life, yet, 
 nevertheless, the innate torpor of the product of the pre- 
 ceding age was not to be removed entirely, even by the fire 
 of the new resuscitation which was commencing. W e shall 
 now proceed to contemplate the altered aspect of the awen 
 in the succeeding century. 
 
 GWALCHMAl SON OF MEILYjR. 
 
 Should the theory of the periodical tidal flow and ebb of 
 genius hold good, we have in Meilyr an opportunity of contem- 
 plating the effects of the tidal rise during a period of nearly 
 sixty years ; and in his son Gwalchmai, we have the same 
 tide of genius advancing to its height, during the succeeding 
 forty years. This is not the place to enter into a discussion 
 of so metaphysical a question as that of the cause and effects 
 of poetic manifestations ; but the writer persuades himself 
 that the rise and decline of genius within a specific time, 
 may be brought under notice, without infringing the conven- 
 tional laws of writing, especially when this circumstance com- 
 prehends within its scope a fact so striking, as the same rise 
 and decline of genius in three successive generations of the 
 same family. 
 
 The date of Gwalchmai's birth is not known, nor that of 
 his earliest composition : he is said to have flourished from 
 about 1150 to 1190. This Bard appears to have inherited 
 his father^s poetical talent to its fullest extent, and to have 
 possessed a higher degree of taste, and adopted a more culti- 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 319 
 
 vated style. The following Ode will afford a fair specimen 
 of his genius. It was composed in 1157, in honour of the vic- 
 tory obtained by Owen Gwynedd, Prince of North "Wales, over 
 the troops of Henry the Second, on the shores of the Menai. 
 
 GWALCHMAI a'i CANT I OWAIN GWYNEDD. 
 
 " Ardwyreaf hael o hil Rodri, &c." 
 I will extol the generous hero of the race of Rhodri, &c.* 
 Gwalchmai has several other Odes to Owen Gwynedd, 
 and other chieftains ; but as they are on more general topics, 
 and none of them upon any one single and particular subject, 
 like the Battle of Menai, they cannot be so interesting to the 
 reader of the present day, nor so intelligible without a good 
 deal of circumlocution. The following Ode to Madoc ap 
 Maredud, Prince of Powys, may serve as a sample. 
 
 ARWYRAIN MADAWG MAB MAREDUD. GWALCHMAI a'I CANT, 
 
 " Ardwyreaf deyrn eurgyrn adawd 
 Eisor cor cwbldawn estrawn drullawd 
 
 Ystryw dra-mesur 
 
 Ysgawl pybl pobldur 
 
 Present penadur 
 Prysur durawd. 
 
 Prydain a danad 
 Prydyddion bortliiad 
 Boed cyfoed dy rad 
 Ath wlad ath wawd. 
 
 Ethiw dy ergryd 
 Yn eithafoed byd 
 Arthur gadarnyd 
 
 Menwyd Medrawd. 
 Madawg maws odrud 
 Mygrfab Maredud 
 Meiriau drablud 
 
 Drablawd fosawd . 
 
 Ac yssid arnad ar neb uwy gnawd 
 Na mwy gronni eur nog erwaint flawd 
 
 Ni ryd rwysg eryr 
 
 Hyd troed o'i dymhyr 
 
 Yr ofyn herwyr 
 Yn herw ystawd. 
 
 Nyd haws yth esgar esgor dy gosbawd 
 Na chaffael ty wyn ni bo ty w^awd 
 
 Nid oes gystedlyd 
 
 I hael hefelyd 
 
 Or a pyrth bedyd 
 A fyd a fawd. 
 
 * See pp. 194— 8. 
 
820 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 Nyd ydyw yn fyw 
 Ni daw ni dody w 
 Ni chynhan ni chlyw 
 Ni chlud molawd. 
 
 Hyd pan del Cynan cain adfwyndawd 
 A Chadwaladr mawr mur pob ciwdawd." 
 
 AN EULOGY ON MADOC AP MEREDITH. GWALCHMAI COMPOSED IT. 
 
 I will extol the Prince ; the dispenser of the golden banqueting 
 horns ; the shield of the host, of perfect endowment ; the harasser of 
 the foe, of measureless penetration ; the active potent chief of the 
 armed people of the land, vigorous and steel-clad. 
 
 Britain shall submit to thee, thou supporter of Poets, may thy pros- 
 perity be of equal duration with thy country and thy fame ! Thy 
 dread has proceeded to the extremities of the world, thou hast the 
 power of Arthur, and the talent of Medrod ; Madoc courteous and 
 valiant, the splendid son of Meredith, in the turmoil of leaders, in the 
 tumult of gashing, there is none more practised than thou art. No more 
 would'st thou hoard up gold than thou would' st the blossom of the 
 mountain weed. Not free is the course of the eagle a foot length from 
 his abode, for fear of thy troops in the progress of their ranging. Not 
 more easy is it for thy enemy to achieve thy punishment, than it is to 
 find a beach where there is no sand : there is no competitor, there is 
 no equal to this generous one, from the gates of Christendom as far as 
 the world extends There is not living, nor will he come, nor be ap- 
 pointed. Such will not be mentioned nor heard of, nor will poetic 
 eulogy bear him forth, until Cynan arrives, of bright and gentle qua- 
 lities, and the great Cadwaladr, the bulwark of each tribe.* 
 
 It appears that Gwalchmai was, in his youth, a gay and 
 spirited warrior, and had served in many of the battles of 
 the day ; and in the Poem called his favourite, "GorhofFedd 
 Gwalchmai," we have many allusions to such facts. The 
 following will shew the style of the composition : 
 
 GORHOFFED GWALCHMAI. E HUN a'i CANT. 
 
 Mochdwyreawg huan haf dyfestin 
 Maws llafar adar mygyr hyar hin 
 Mi ydwyf eurdedf diofn yn nhrin 
 Mi ydwyf Hew rag llu lluch fy ngordin 
 Gorwyliais nos yn adrodw fin 
 Gorloes rydau dyfyr dygeu freidin 
 Gorlas gwellt didrif dwfyr neud iesin 
 Gordyar eaws awdyl gynnefin. 
 
 Gwylan yn gware ar wely lliant 
 Lleithrion eu pluawr pleidiau edrin 
 Pellynig fy nghof y nghyntefin 
 Yn ethryb caru Caerwys febin 
 
 * Cynan and Cadwaladr are two legendary personage?, who, according to 
 the predictions of Merlin and other Bards, are to appear amongst the Welsh, 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 321 
 
 Pell o Fon fain ydwyti dwythwal werin 
 Esmwyth ysyd yn aserw gyfrin 
 Yd endewais enau yn achlysur gwir 
 Ar lleferyd gwar gwery ei lain 
 Ac er lies Owain hael hual dilin 
 Dychysgogan Lloegyr rag fy Uain, 
 
 Llachar fy nghledaii lluch yd ardwy — glew 
 Llewychedig aur ar fy nghylchwy 
 Cyfun westlawg dyfyr dyd gafy 
 Catlil o ar adar awdl osymwy 
 Gorfynnig fy mhwyll ymhell amgant 
 Hedy w wrth athreidiaw tir tu efyrnwy 
 Gorwyn blaen afall blodau fagwy 
 Balch caen coed bryd pawb parth yd garwy. 
 
 Caraf Gaerwys fun fenediw deithi 
 Cas genyf genthi ni gynhelwy 
 Fy muner nid mawr 1 mi fy ngofwy 
 Gwyn ei fyd padiw Duw yd ragwy 
 Reinged rwych wyry wared Lywy. 
 
 Llachar fy ngleddyf lluch ei anwyd 
 Y'nghad llewychedig aur ar fy ysgwyd 
 Lliaws a'm golwch nym gwelsant er moed 
 O rianed Gwent Gwyllt ym crybwylleid 
 Gwelais rag Owain Eingyl a'u hadoed 
 Ac 0 du ribyll rebyd y'ngreid 
 Gwalchmai ym gelwir gelyn y saeson 
 Er lies Gwledig Mon gweint ym mhlymnwyd 
 Ac er bod Lly wy lliw eiry ar goed 
 Pan fu aer rag caer cyforiais waed. 
 
 Gwaedreid fy nghledyf a godrud y'nghad 
 Y'nghyfranc a Lloegr llawr nid ymgud 
 Gwelais o arfod aerfab Grutfud 
 Rialluoed trwch tebed ossud. 
 
 Gwaith Aberteifi tewyngad Owain, &c." 
 
 THE FAVOURITE OF GWALCHMAI. 
 
 Early-rising is the sun, hastening is the summer. Sweet the voice 
 of birds in the brilliant season of song. I am one of golden qualities, 
 fearless in battle ; I am a lion before the host, bright is my impulse. 
 I have kept watch throughout the night, guarding the border, by the 
 murmuring fords of the angry waters of the Breiddyn. Green is the 
 grass in the unfrequented spot, and is not the water clear ? — loud is 
 the nightingale with her practised song. 
 
 The sea-mews sporting on their bed of floods, gliding their plumage 
 through the murmuring waves. Far distant are my thoughts in this 
 season of spring, through loving the fair one of Caerwys. 
 
 Far from fair Mona art thou, with its peaceful people : there is re- 
 pose and social confidence, 
 
 I have heard a report, and perad venture it may be true, that the 
 courteous hero brandishes his spear. So that in the service of the 
 generous Owen, when there shall be a continuous following, then shall 
 Lloegr tremble before my blade. 
 
 2 T 
 
322 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 Bright is my sword, gleaming in battle ; glittering and bright is 
 the gold on my buckler. 
 
 Accordant and loud, as the pastime of the day, do I not enjoy the 
 song of the birds, — a warbling ode ? 
 
 Aspiring is my mind on the distant border to-day, traversing the 
 land on the banks of the Fyrnwy. Bright are the branches of the 
 apple tree, with its clustering blossoms. Proud is the covering of 
 woods ; the mind of each is in the quarter he loves. 
 
 I love the maid of Caerwys, of happy accomplishments ; unpleasant 
 is it to me that I am not favoured by her. The maiden wears me 
 away, this precious treasure slays me. At the word of my solicitation 
 it is not much that I should be visited. Happy is he whom heaven 
 protects ! Endued Lady, generous Virgin, guard thou Lly wj^ ! 
 
 Resplendent my sword, brilliant its temper, glittering in battle is 
 the gold on my shield. Multitudes will extol me who have never 
 beheld me. By the maidens of Sylvan Gwent, I shall be mentioned. 
 
 I have seen before Owen, the Angles in destruction, and on the 
 banks of the Rhibyll, the destroyer in his fury. Gwalchmai, am I 
 called, the foe of the Saxons ; in the service of the chief of Mona, active 
 in battle, and for the sake of Lly wy, of the hue of the snow upon the 
 trees ; when the fight was in front of the castle, I poured out the 
 blood. 
 
 Blood — gushing is my sword, red in battle ; in the encounter with 
 Lloegr, was not the ground covered ? — I have seen from the stroke of 
 the warlike son of GrufFydd, mangled hosts, a wondrous sight ! In 
 the battle of Aberteivi, the ardent hosts of Owen, &c. 
 
 In this desultory style the Bard proceeds, making sudden 
 transitions from his own private circumstances to the pub- 
 lic services in which he was engaged; sometimes indulging 
 in reminiscences of .peaceful scenes, and then apparently 
 without any connection flying off to others of martial charac- 
 ter. The following expressions are not separated from each 
 other far, nor is there any thing to indicate a connecting 
 idea : 
 
 "Gwelais yn Rudlan ruthr flam rag 
 Owain a chelaned rain a rud fehyr» 
 
 Endewais i eaws a'm ryhiraeth er gwyl. 
 
 Carafy yr ednan a'i llarian llais 
 Cathl fodawg coed cadr ei ethais. 
 
 Dymhunais ton wyrd wrth Aberfraw. 
 
 Endewaisi eryr ar ei giniaw, dyfyn 
 Dyraith Gwyned gwyar idaw. 
 
 Dymhunais ton wyrdd wrth Aber Dau 
 Dychyrch glan glaswyn glwys y frydau 
 Diessig yd gan ednan enau. 
 
 Adwen yfeisi fed a'i fenestri o aur 
 Yn Ilys Owain hir hwyr dilidau. 
 
 Y'ngwaith maesgarned gan freyrau. &c." 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 823 
 
 I saw in Rhuddlan the rushing of flames before Owen, and spear- 
 pierced carcases and red lances, &c. 
 
 I listened to the nightingale, and melancholy makes me wake- 
 ful, &c. 
 
 I love the bird with its brilliant voice, solacing the wood with its 
 chant of powerful impulse, &c. 
 
 I have been lulled to sleep by the green wave at Aberffraw, &c. 
 
 I have heard the eagle at his repast, when Gwynedd added blood to 
 his banquet, &c. 
 
 I have been lulled to sleep by the green wave at Aber Dau, where 
 the clear pellucid streams do meet, where unceasingly the voice of the 
 bird is heard, &c. 
 
 I have drank mead from golden cups in the court of Owen. 
 
 In the battle of Maesgarneth I earned from nobles rewards poured 
 into my hand, &c. 
 
 To what extent this composition may be formed of con- 
 secutive ideas, the lapse of time will scarcely admit of our 
 forming an opinion. But whether it consists of a series of 
 thoughts whose connection cannot now be traced, or is merely 
 a concatenation of rambling and disjointed sentences, strung 
 together according to the whim and eccentric humour of the 
 Bard ; one thing is certain, that the language is highly cul- 
 tivated, the diction exceedingly choice and poetical ; and we 
 can only lament the apparent absence of unity of design, 
 and the obscurity which pervades the whole. 
 
 CYNDDELW. 
 
 One of the next Bards in point of time is Oynddelw, who 
 wrote between 1150 and 1200. Many of his Poems are 
 preserved, consisting of Odes of Eulogy addressed to several 
 chieftains of the time, and also of Elegies. The style of 
 this Bard is so exceedingly sententious and abrupt, and his 
 language, from the absence of connecting particles, leaves 
 so much to be supplied from the context, that in rendering 
 the real meaning in another language, so much circulation 
 must be used, that the work would be rather an interpreta- 
 tion than a translation. The following verses are less in- 
 tricate, and also containing an original and striking idea, are 
 here selected : they refer to the Death- wail, raised by the 
 household of Madoc ap Meredith, Prince of Powys, through- 
 out his territory, on the death of that Prince. 
 
824 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 ENGLYNION A GANT CYNDDELW I DEULU MADAWC MAB MAREDUDD, 
 PAN FU FARW MADAWC, AM GLYBOD EU GODWRYF. 
 
 ** Godwryf a glywaf am glawr Maelenydd 
 Mur elfydd Elfan Gawr 
 Teulu Madawc mad anawr 
 Mai teulu ban Benlli Gawr. 
 
 Goduryf a glywaf am glaur leithon Hir 
 Hydr ei wyr ar Saeson 
 Teulu Madawc mur dragon 
 Mai twryf tormennoedd Cynon. 
 
 Godwrf a glywaf godor drain — wawawr 
 Gwae hwy Lloegyr yn nydd cain 
 Teulu Madawc mur Prydain 
 Yr llwythawc yn llithiaw brain. 
 
 Godwryf a glywaf am glawr llafur 
 Rei ryfel glod disegur 
 Teulu Madawc mawrglod mur 
 Mai gawr torf teulu Arthur. 
 
 Godwryf a glywaf am glaur Fagu — ^gly w 
 
 Glew Fadawc bieufu 
 
 Trinfa cyfa cynnyddu 
 
 Trydydd Tri Diweir Deulu 
 
 Tyll eu hysgwydawr terfj^sc fawr faon." 
 
 VERSES COMPOSED BY CYNDDELW TO THE HOUSEHOLD OF MADOC, SON OF 
 MEREDITH, ON THE DEATH OF MADOC, WHEN HE HEARD THEIR WAIL. 
 
 A murmur I hear over the region of Maelienyth, the strong 
 land of Elfan the powerful, the Household of Madoc, the beneficent 
 and active, like the mighty household of Benlli Gawr. 
 
 A murmur I hear throughout the region of the long extending leithon; 
 bold were his men against the Saxons, the Household of Madoc the 
 protecting chief, like the tumult of the hosts of Cynon. 
 
 A murmur I hear, a tumult of pointed spears, woe to the men of 
 Lloegyr in the day of arraying ; the Household of Madoc, the 
 bulwark of Britain, once harnessed, and aluring the ravens. 
 
 A murmur I hear throughout the land of those of martial renown, 
 and energetic ; the Household of Madoc, the chief of extensive fame, 
 like the shout of tumult of the host of Arthur. 
 
 A murmur I hear along the region of the beauteous Vaga ;* it is that 
 of the valiant Madoc, in the full assembling in marshalled order. — 
 The third of the three faithful tribes — Broken are their shields in the 
 great encounter of hosts." 
 
 Cynddelw appears to have been himself an eye-witness of 
 some of the conflicts which he describes ; as in an Eulogy 
 upon Rhys ap GrufFydd, Prince of South Wales, he says : 
 
 The river Wye. 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 325 
 
 " Gweleis i gleis a threis a tlirallawd 
 Gleddyfal hywal hwyrnawd * 
 Gweleis i glod a rhod a rhawd 
 O beleidr a rheeidr rhudd o gnawd." 
 
 I saw wounds, and violence, and distress, 
 
 From the sword-stroke fierce and stern ; 
 
 I saw glory, and advancing, and the charge 
 
 Of spears, and crimson cataracts gushing from the flesh. 
 
 Again, in his Elegy upon Owen Gwynedd, he gives a de- 
 scription of one of that Prince's battles, though exaggerated, 
 yet so graphic as to authorize a presumption that he had 
 witnessed that, or some other similar scene. 
 
 " Gwyrd heli Teifi tewychai 
 Gwaedlan gwyr a llyr ai llanwai 
 Gwyach rud gorfud goralwai 
 Ar doniar gwyar gonofiai." 
 
 The green sea-brine of Teivy thickened. 
 
 The blood of warriors, and the ocean wave swelled its tide; 
 
 The red stained sea-mew rejoicing screamed. 
 
 On a surge of gore it swam. 
 
 OWEN CEVEILIOC— Prince of Powys. 
 
 1150—1197. 
 
 CoTEMPORARY witli the last two Bards was Owen Oeveilioc, 
 Prince of Powys ; a very extraordinary man, being a most 
 spirited and gallant warrior, and also a Bard of the highest 
 order of genius. Giraldus Cambrensis describes him as elo- 
 quent of speech, and ruling his territory with discretion. It 
 also appears from this writer, that when Owen Oeveilioc was 
 at peace with Henry the Second, he enjoyed the acquaint- 
 ance of that accomplished monarch, which is no trifling 
 pledge of his mental cultivation. There are but two compo- 
 sitions of this prince extant, one of them is the Poem called 
 the Hirlas^ or Drinking Horn ; this Poem is supposed to 
 have been composed after the battle of Crogen, in which 
 Henry the Second was defeated by the confederate Princes of 
 Wales, of whom Owen Oeveilioc himself was one. The sub- 
 ject is this : After the battle, the prince assembles his war- 
 riors at a banquet, and sends the Horn, filled with mead, 
 
 * Chwyrnawd ? 
 
826 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 and wine to all of his warriors separately, with a compli- 
 mentary address to each separately. The opening stanza is 
 exceeding beautiful and striking. 
 
 THE HIRLAS OF CEVEILIOC. 
 This Poem is rather too long to be given entire, but a few 
 extracts will be inserted as specimens of the style, and there 
 is one passage so exceedingly beautiful and original, so dra- 
 matic and effective, that it must not by any means be passed 
 unnoticed. The real sense of the passage, appears to have 
 been first pointed out by Sharon Turner, and it is surpris- 
 ing, &:c.* 
 
 HYWEL AP OWAIN. 
 
 One of the next Bards in point of time, is Howel the son 
 of Owen Gwynedd, who, on the death of his father in 1169, 
 claimed the throne of North Wales, and after occupying it 
 about a twelve-month, was slain in battle. He was a warlike 
 and enterprising character, and celebrated for his skill in 
 conducting sieges, and the taking of castles. Cynddelw alludes 
 to his taking the castle of Cynfael : 
 
 « Twrwf Tonn Torchawc Hael trwm oedd y glywel 
 
 Twr Cynvael yn cwyddaw 
 A flameu odrum yn edrinaw 
 Ac angerdd oc ongyr yn Haw." 
 
 Like the tumult of the wave was that of the torquesed chief? 
 
 heavy was the sound 
 Of the tower of Cynfael falling ; 
 And the ridgy flames loud echoing, 
 And vehemence, and the spear in hand. 
 
 The Poems of Hywel ap Owain, are but few in number, 
 and those but short, and obscure ; yet from the style, we 
 may conclude that he possessed a cultivated taste, together 
 with considerable genius. It has been supposed that this 
 prince cherished some of the tenets of Druidism, and that he 
 alludes to them under the description of beautiful females : 
 but others think, with greater probability, that the objects 
 of the Bard''s devotion were not so spiritual and abstracted. 
 The Poem of the greatest length is that called his Gorlioffedd^ 
 i. e. his Delight^ or Fawurite^ and which like that of the 
 same title by Gwalchmai, already referred to, appears to be an 
 
 See pages 198 — 9. — Editor. 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 027 
 
 incoherent and unmeaning concatenation of poetic expres- 
 sions ; such as to make one suspect that the Gorlioffedd was 
 a mere rhapsody, formed of unconnected thoughts, the fa- 
 vourite ideas of the Bard, thrown together without regard 
 to any consecutive order. The difficulty is to reconcile this 
 confusion with the elegance of diction, and poetic excellence 
 which each sentence possesses in itself. The following is the 
 beginning of this Poem : 
 
 " GORHOFFED HYWEL AP YWEIN. 
 
 Tonn wenn orewyn a orwlych bet 
 Gwytua ruuawn bebyr benn teyrnet 
 Caraf trachas Lloegyr lleudir goglet hetiw 
 
 Ac am amgant y lliw lliaws callet 
 Caraf am rotes rybuclied met 
 Myn y dyhaet myr meitli gy wrysset 
 Caraf y theilu ae thew anhet yndi 
 
 Ac wrth fot y ri rwyfaw dyhet 
 Caraf y morfa ae mynytet 
 Ae chaer ger y choed ae chein diret 
 Ae dolyt ae dwuyr ae dyffrynnet 
 Ae gwylein gwynnyon ae gwymp wroget 
 Ca]'af y milwyr ae meirch hy wet 
 Ae choed ae chedyrn ae chyuannet 
 Caraf y meusyt ae man feillyon arnaw 
 
 Myn yd gauas faw fyryt oruolet 
 Caraf y brooet breint hywret 
 Ae diffeith mawrueith ae marannet 
 Wy a un mab duw mawr a ryuet 
 Mor yw eilon mygyr meint y reuet 
 Gwneuthum a gwtli gwaew gweith arderchet 
 Y rwg glyw powys a glwys wynet 
 Ac y ar welw ganri gynnif rysset 
 Gorpwyf ollygdawd o alltudet 
 Ny dalyaf diheu yny del ymplaid 
 
 Breutwyd ae dy weid a duw ae met 
 Tonn wenn orewyn a orwlych bet 
 Tonn wenn orewyn wychyr wrth dreuyt 
 Gyfliw ac arien awr yd gynnyt 
 Caraf y morua y Meiryonnyt, &c." 
 
 THE GORHOFFEDD OF HOWEL SON OF OWEN. 
 
 The white wave, high- covered with foam, drenches the grave, the 
 tumulus of Rhufon Befyr, Chief of Kings. 
 
 I love this day the bright region of the north, the land hated of 
 Lloegyr, the territory of the chieftain of the prudent multitude. I 
 love the land where I was supplied with the wished for mead, by the 
 worthy bulwark of wide spread contests. 
 
 I love its people and its dense dwellings within it, and under the 
 sway of the prince ruling in prosperity. 
 
 I love its sea-marsh, and its mountains, and its castle by the wood, 
 and its valleys ; and its white sea-mews, and its brilliant dames. 
 
328 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 I love its warriors, and its steeds of noble aspect, and its woods and 
 fortresses, and its mansions. I love its fields, covered with the tiny 
 trefoils, Avhere I obtained glory of lasting fame. 
 
 I love its plains of heroic dignity, and its great extensive wilds and 
 its strands. How vast and splendid is the wealth it contains ! 
 
 I achieved with the thrust of the spear an honourable act, betwixt 
 the puissant Powys and the pleasant Gwynedd. And upon the war- 
 horse, through the toil of battle, may I obtain deliverance from my 
 banishment ! I will hold nothing as certain unless this comes to pass 
 on my behalf. A dream has told it, and God has it in his power. 
 
 The white wave covered with foam wets the grave. The white 
 wave covered with foam, powerful in its counter ebbing, of the hue 
 of the hoar-frost in the hour of its flow. 
 
 I love the marsh in Meirionyth, &c. 
 
 LLYWAROH AB LLYWELYN. 
 
 The next Bard that comes under our notice is Llywarch ab 
 Llewelyn, called Prydydd Mocli^ the Rapid Poet ; he flour- 
 ished from 1160 to 1220. There are several of his com- 
 positions extant, the following will serve to illustrate his 
 style : 
 
 " AWDL A GANT PRYDyT Y MOCH Y CUFFUT AP CYNAN. 
 
 Rac rwy dygannwy dygynwyre gly w 
 
 O uon hyd uynyw llyw llu agde 
 Dy ryd y doryf dy re orwydawr 
 
 Hyd y llewych llawr gwawr gwymp fore 
 Dychymysc airffysc yn aryfle aesdur 
 
 Ae gledyf flamdur ay glot dyre 
 Mab medel ytcyrn heyyrn dy he 
 
 Gruttud teyrud tut elisse." 
 
 ODE TO GRIFFITH AP CYNAN, GRANDSON OF OWEN GWYNEDD. 
 
 Before the chief of Deganwy, heroes arise 
 
 From Mona to Menevia — leader of the resistless host. 
 His army and his steeds Avill proceed 
 
 As far as earth is illumined by the radiant dawn of morning. 
 He mingles in the tumult in the weapon-place of steel bucklers, 
 
 With his sword of flaming steel and his extended fame. 
 Son of the reaping of trumpets, of the wide spread iron implements, 
 
 Gruffyth, the royal chief of the land of Elissai, &c. 
 
 Without much circumlocution or explanatory insertions, 
 the first lines of this Ode are intelligible enough; but towards 
 the last part it requires explanation, as the son of the reap- 
 ing of trumpets is, in its literal rendering, but very obscure ; 
 and in order to arrive at its meaning, we must understand 
 that the word medel^ a reaping, does not signify the mere 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 329 
 
 act of the cutting of grain by one person, or a few individu- 
 als, but it implies the general reaping festival still kept up 
 in Wales ; in which the inhabitants of a whole district as- 
 semble to assist some particular neighbour to cut down his 
 wheat ; when the day is passed in exertion and emulation, 
 by those employed ; so that to a Welshman of the twelfth 
 century, the reaping of the field of battle by the sound of 
 trumpet was a very significant expression, and greatly en- 
 hanced by the iron implements introduced : and the term 
 red-reaping of war, rimddfedel rliyfel^ was used by Aneurin 
 as early as the sixth century, to denote the bloody harvest. 
 So that much of the figurative language of the Bards must 
 necessarily lose its effect in a translation. 
 
 LLYWARCH LLEW OAD. 
 
 Before noticing other Poems which are given as succeeding 
 those of the last Bard, it will be but right to restore to his 
 proper place a Bard of some originality of talent, called in 
 the Myfyrian, Llywarch Llaety, and placed betwixt the 
 years 1290 and 1840; but who calls himself Llywarch 
 Llew Cad, and evidently wrote as early as 1159, as the ob- 
 ject of his Eulogy was slain in that year. 
 
 " Gofynnwys nebun ny bu raen gan rei, &c." 
 
 VERSES TO LLEWELYN, SON OF MADAWC AP MEREDITH, WHO WAS SLAIN 
 IN 1159, BY LLYWARCH LLEW CAD. 
 
 Has no one asked % — Have none been anxious to know, &c. * 
 
 PERYF AP CADIFOR. 
 
 There is extant another composition, in the same metre, by 
 an anonymous Bard, who, from internal evidence, must 
 have been Peryf ap Cadifor. This piece was composed soon 
 after the death of Prince Howel, the son of Owen Gwynedd, 
 who was slain in 1169 ; the Bard was one of seven brothers, 
 partisans and foster-brothers of Howel, who were all present 
 in the action, and four of them fell there. 
 
 This Ode, composed by a person who does not appear to 
 have borne any rank, but as a private individual rendered 
 his services in the field to his party, with the most fervid 
 
 * S(epp. 200,201. 
 
 2 u 
 
330 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 enthusiasm, illustrates in an eminent manner, the daring and 
 fearless spirit, together with the patriotic ardour which per- 
 vaded the Principality at that time, cherished by all ranks 
 of people, whether Bards or warriors, and which is described 
 by Giraldus Cambrensis, who says, that — 
 
 " The whole nation is devoted to war ; for here not merely the 
 nobles, but the whole people are trained to arms ; and when the 
 trumpet sounds, the peasant rushes to arms from his plough, with 
 no less alacrity than the nobleman from his hall. — Nor are they occu- 
 pied with any except martial exercises. They study the defence of 
 their country and of their liberty. For their country they fight, for 
 their liberty they toil ; for which it appears to them delightful, not 
 only to combat in arms, but also to surrender their life ; hence they 
 consider it disgraceful to die in bed, but an honour to die in battle."* 
 
 AWDYL GAN PERYF AP CADIFOR. 1169. 
 
 " Tra fuam yn seith triseith nyn beitei, &c."t 
 
 ODE, PROBABLY BY PERYF AP CADIFOR. 
 
 Whilst we lived, we seven, three sevens would not defeat us, &c. 
 
 DAFYDD BENFRAS, 
 
 1190—1240. 
 
 Amongst the eulogists of Llewelyn ap lorwerth, was Dafydd 
 Benfras, a Bard of considerable poetic spirit, as may be seen 
 in the following Ode : 
 
 " Gwr a wnaeth Uewych o'r gorllewin 
 
 Haul a lloer addoer addef iessin 
 
 Am gwnel radd uchel rwyf cyf-ychwyn 
 
 Cyflawn a wen awydd fyrddin 
 
 I ganu moliant mal Aneirin gynt 
 
 Dydd y cant Ododin. 
 I foli gwyndawd gwyndyd werin 
 Gwynedd bendefig ffynnedig ffin 
 Gwanas deyrnas deg cywrenhin 
 Gwreidd teyrneidd taer ym mrwydrin 
 Gwrawl ei flamdo am fro freiddin 
 Er pan oreu Duw dyn gyssefin 
 Ni wnaeth ei gystal traws arial trin 
 Gorug Llywelyn onllin — teyrnedd 
 
 Ar y brenhinedd braw a gorddin 
 Pan fu'n ymbrofi a brenhin Lloegr, 
 
 Yn llygru swydd Erbin." 
 
 * " — Gens armis dedita tota ; non enim nobiles hie solum, seel totus populus 
 ad arma paratus est ; bellica tuba sonante non segnius ab aratro ruricola, quam 
 aulicus ab aula prorumpit ad arma. — nec ullo prorsus nisi martio labore vexan- 
 tur, patriae tamen tutelse student et libertatis, pro patria pngnant, pro libertate 
 laborant, pro quibus non solum ferro diraieare, verum etiam vitam dare dulce 
 videtur." Deseriptio Cambriae. Cap. VHI.— Editor. 
 
 t See Pages 201, 202. 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 831 
 
 lie who formed the light from the extremity of the firmament, 
 the sun, and the cold moon ; He of the resplendent dwelling, may he 
 grant me a high degree in the impulse of intellectual light ; a perfect 
 inspiration, the ardent will of Merlin, to sing a song of praise, like 
 Aneurin of old, the day he sang the Gododin; to celebrate the blessing 
 of the Venedotian people, the Ruler of Gwynedd, of enlarging bound- 
 ary, the buttress of his kingdom ; manly, royal, daring in battle ; im- 
 petuous his conflagration through the territory of the Breithin. — Since 
 God first created man, he formed not his equal in the active movement 
 of combat. Llewelyn, of the race of Princes, has caused to kingly 
 assailants terror and rout. When he was contending for superiority 
 with the king of England, devastating the land of Erbin. 
 
 " Oedd breisg weisg ei fyddin 
 Oedd brwysg rwysg rhac y godorin 
 Oedd balch gwalch golchidd ei lain 
 Oedd beilch gweilch gweled ei werin 
 Oedd cly wed cleddyfau finfin 
 Oedd clybod clwyf ym mhob elin 
 Oedd briw rhiw yn nhrabludd oi drin 
 Oedd braw saw Saeson clawdd y Cnwckin 
 Oedd bwlch llafn yn Haw gynnefin 
 Oedd gwaedlyd pennau gvvedy gwaedlin 
 Rhy w — yn rhedeg am deulin 
 Llywelyn ein llyw cyfFredin 
 Lly wiawdwr berth hyd borth Ysgewin 
 Ny ryfa gystal Gwstennyn ac ef 
 
 I gyfair pob gorllin 
 Mi ym byw pe byddwn dewin 
 Ym marddair mawrddawn gyssefin 
 Adradd ei ddaed aerdrin ni allwn 
 
 Ni allai Daliessin 
 Cyn adaw y byd gyd gyfryu 
 Gan hoedl hir ar dir daierin 
 Cyn dyfynfedd ysgyrnwedd ysgrin 
 Yn daer dyfnlas ar lessin 
 Gwr a wnaeth or dwfr y gwin 
 Gan fodd Duw a diwedd gwirin 
 Nog a wnaethbwyd treis anwyd trin 
 Ym mhresent ym mhryssur orllin 
 Ni warthaer hael am mertliefin nos 
 
 A nawdd Saint boed cyfrin." 
 
 Powerful and active was his army, 
 Vehement was his course in front of the tumult. 
 Proud was the hero of the washing of his blade. 
 Proud were the warriors to see his retinue ; 
 There was the hearing of swords edge to edge. 
 There was the feeling of a wound in every limb. 
 Bruised was the steep from the trampling of his host. 
 Dismayed stood the Saxons at the ditch of Cnockin, 
 Notched was the blade in the hand of the veteran ; ■ 
 Bloody were heads after the rush of blood 
 Streaming to the knees. 
 Llewelyn our general leader, a splendid chieftain, even to Porth 
 Yscewin. Constantine was not equal to him in opposing every assault. 
 
332 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 I throughout my life, were I prophet, in Bardic enunciation, in mighty 
 primitive inspiration, recount his merits in battle I could not — Taliesin 
 could not. Before he quits his communion with the world, may he 
 enjoy a long life in this earthly habitation. Before he is placed in his 
 coffin, in the deep bone-decorated grave ; before he goes to the deep 
 verdure-clad earth, may He that made the water to be wine, by the 
 will of God and a holy end, grant that what he has done of evil by the 
 force of sin in this fleeting generation, may not cause the chieftain to 
 be confounded by overwhelming night ; and may the protection of the 
 Saints be his inheritance ! 
 
 The Bards of this period often exhibit instances of this 
 desultory descriptive style, in short and sententious repeti- 
 tions of the same idea : we find an instance in a Poem by 
 Llywarch ap Llewelyn, called Y Prydydd Moch^ already 
 named, to Llewelyn ap lorwerth. 
 
 " Forth aethwy pan aetham y ar 
 Meirch mordwy uch mawrdwryf tonnyar 
 Get ongyr oet engir eu bar 
 Get angut gwaedrut gwaedryar 
 Oet engyrth yn hynt oet agcar 
 Oet yg oet agheu an cymar 
 Oet amlieu yr byd bod abar 
 O honom o heneint lleithyar." 
 
 When we went to Porthaethwy 
 
 On the steeds of the ocean over the tumultuous waves, 
 There were spears, there was awful wrath ; 
 There was conspicuous gushing of the red blood ; 
 Tiiere was pervading terror, there was hatred ; 
 There was anguish, there was death unequalled ; 
 There was general doubting that a single corpse 
 Of us would be made by the death of old age." 
 
 A not very dissimilar train of thought and expression may 
 be seen in Lord Byron's description of the eve of the Battle 
 of Waterloo : 
 
 " Ah 1 then and there was hurrying to and fro, 
 And gathering tears and tremblings of distress, &c." 
 *' And there were sudden partings, such as press, &c." 
 " And there was mounting in hot haste : the steed. 
 The mustering squadron and the clattering car, &c." * 
 
 This practice of repeating a particular word, became very 
 general amongst the Bards of this period, and when had re- 
 course to in moderation, has a good effect ; but in many in- 
 stances it was carried to excess, as was also the use of alhter- 
 ation, especially towards the close of this era of poetry; 
 
 " Mr Price has t<iken these disjoiiited lines from Childc IJaroId. Canto HI. 
 Stanzas 24 and 25. — Editor. 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 883 
 
 nevertheless, there were several Bards, who had sufficient 
 good taste to resist the vicious tendency of the age.* 
 Amonst such exceptions, we may place some of the works of 
 Elidir Sais, a Bard who flourished from 1160 to 1220, as 
 may be seen in an Elegy on Ednyfed Fychan, and Teg- 
 wared ap larddur, the first part of which is as follows : 
 
 ELIDIR SAIS. 
 
 " MARWNAD I EDNYFED FYCHAN A TEGWARED AP lARDDUU. 
 
 Uwch ben bedd newydd Ednyfed y bam 
 
 Ym bu deigr hyd arfFed 
 Cymraw Lloegr cymrwyn lliwed 
 Cymran oed wychran weithred. 
 
 Gweithred Tegwared gynt y gweryd 11a vvr 
 
 Llawen beird o'i wynfyd 
 Gnawd oedd ei way w yn waedlyd 
 O waedlan rhuddai wan rhyd. 
 
 Rliodwyt ar gymryd oedd ar gyniran llu 
 
 Llary Ednyfed Fychan 
 Oedd Bann Gawr am ben garthan 
 Pan gafas aerwas eurw^tn, &c." 
 
 ELEGY ON EDNYFED FYCHAN AND TEGWARED AP lARDDlJR^ 
 
 Above the new grave of Ednyfed I stood, 
 
 The tears flowed to my bosom — 
 The terror of Lloegr ; of the subduing throng, 
 Complete in liberality, valiant in action. 
 
 The actions of Tegwared, before he went to the earth- 
 Joyful were the Bards in his success. 
 Often was his spear blood-stained 
 From the stream that flowed from the gory thrust. 
 
 The leader of the concourse in the assembled host 
 
 Was the gentle Ednyfed Fychan, 
 Loud was the shout on the height of Garthan, 
 When the warrior received his wound, &c." 
 
 There is also an Ode by the Prydydd Bychan, in which the 
 excessive and laboured alliteration, already alluded to, is very 
 strongly marked, but which, nevertheless, through the skill 
 and genius of the Poet, possesses such sweetness of diction, 
 together with coherence of ideas, as to produce a very pleasing 
 effect. The Ode is as follows : 
 
 Amongst the abettors of this style, we cannot exempt Cynddelw, though !io 
 does not carry the practice to such excess as many subsequent Bards. 
 
334 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 " MARWNAD RHYS lEUANC. Y PRYDYDD BYCHAN AE CANT. 
 
 Colled gwr arwr aruawc chwyrn yg cad 
 
 Yg cadarnwisc heyrn 
 Mur toryf aerdoryf eurdeyrn 
 Mygyr bennaeth mab maeth metgyrn. 
 
 Mab metgyrn teyrn tawel ut mwyniiawr 
 
 Cyn maenuet y orchut 
 Mab mad mygyr lleityad llauynrut 
 Brwysc breinyawr gretuawl grufFut. 
 
 Mab grufFut llauynrut lluoet gyrcheid 
 
 Rys gyrchyad tra moroed 
 Gwrt am deruyn amliyl doruoet 
 Gwr bytin gwawr bytinoet. 
 
 Bytinoet hartoet dyt y hyrtei rys 
 
 Ciwdawd ros o hanei 
 Lleitti cynuygyn cynnetyf gwalchmai 
 Llew gawr ysgwyduawr ys gwnei. 
 
 Ys gwnai Rys ar urys arlwy gwlet branlies 
 
 Cyn prynu tangnhefet 
 Par tridryll gwersyll gorsset 
 Penn clod cyn noe fod yw fet. 
 
 Y met argyuet nyd gouyget teith 
 
 Doeth y feirt oe fyned 
 Am ysgwyt gawr fawr fur cet 
 Am ysgwyd friwdoll gollet. 
 
 Colled gwr arwr, &c." ^ 
 
 ELEGY ON RHYS THE YOUNGER, BY THE PRYDYDD BYCHAN, 1223. 
 
 Lost is the armed exalted hero, fierce in battle ; 
 
 In his iron vestment of strength, 
 The bulwark of the host, the war-host of gold-decorated Princes 
 The splendid chieftain, the foster-son of mead-horns. 
 
 Son of the mead-horns, a gentle Prince, a courteous sovereign was 
 
 Before the stone sepulchre became his covering ; 
 Worthy and honourable, the red-blade slaughterer. 
 The energetic, noble, high-spirited son of Gruflfyth. 
 
 The red-blade son of GrufFyth, the leader of the bands of Rhos, 
 
 Rhys of the distant expeditions; 
 Defender of his boundaries, of numerous hosts. 
 The chief of warriors, the dawn of armies. 
 
 The fair-arrayed armies, on the day that Rhys charged with thei 
 
 When the men of Rhos proceeded forth, 
 A carnage of his enemies equal to that of Gwalchmai, 
 Would the large-shielded lion of battle commit. 
 
 Quickly would Rhys provide a feast for the ravens, 
 Before he would purchase peace ; 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 335 
 
 The spear would be splintered in fragments 
 
 By the chief of fame, before he departed to his grave. 
 
 In the mead carousal it was not a joyful event 
 
 That befel the Bards at his departure ; 
 For the giant shoulder, the great bulwark of prosperity, 
 For the broken shield, there is the lamenting the loss. 
 
 Lost is the, &c. 
 
 Amongst the compositions of this period, there are a few 
 Poems bearing the date of 1250, by " Y Brawd Fadawc ap 
 Gwallter ; " The Brother, that is the F riar, Madoc ap 
 Gwallter. To what religious order this Friar belonged, we 
 are not informed ; but he appears to have been a man of 
 piety, as far as can be ascertained from his expressions, and 
 certainly was possessed of considerable talent and power of 
 composing. The following are extracts from one of his Poems: 
 
 " Y BRAWD FADAWG a'i CANT I DDUW. 
 
 Gwared arnaf Naf nawdd am rhoddych 
 Gwan wyf im nerthwyf fy neirthiad fych 
 Gwareder llawer lie gwaredych raid 
 Gwaredwr gweiniaid gwae ni gerych 
 Sef y w gwander ner nid nas gwypych 
 Salw ym gelu pan y gwelycb, &c. 
 
 Tithau yr enaid paid nam pedych 
 
 Tro 0 fFyrdd didro yd tra gefFych 
 
 Tyn droeddy feddwl tra feddych dy bwyll 
 
 O blith maglau twyll ty wyll eu rliych 
 
 Dyfodiad gwastad gwir ystrych 
 
 Dy fonedd ar wedd y harwetfdycli 
 
 Dybyed aeddfed faddeuych yn gall 
 
 Dy anian ddeall a ddyellych 
 
 Gloy w degach no'r aur yngwaith eurych 
 
 Ath luniaidd creawdd hawdd y crettych 
 
 Ei eilun ei hun honnych ei arddelw 
 
 Ac oi deg wirddelw yr arddelwych, &c. 
 
 Nid unwaith na dwy dolurych bob awr 
 Namyn yn rhyfawr a ryfynnych 
 A wneych o ddrwg a ddiwygych 
 Gwedi cant cymmod cymydych unwaith 
 Herwydd cariad maith hyd na methych 
 Disgwyliaw yr awr elych or cnawd 
 Na fydd amharawd pan ammherych. 
 Gwaed lessu a fu gwaed cu a cwynych 
 Gwirdda ystoria pan j^styrych 
 Griddfana ocha fal uch yn beichiaw 
 Pan fo yn cwynaw gwae ei gydych 
 lessu deg lessu im dangosych 
 Dy wyneb ni heb a ohebycli 
 Na rhudd du ddeurudd diddorycli oth was 
 Gwaer neb a gas a gefFych, &c. 
 
33G 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 Ath folaf Duw naf nefoedd lewych 
 Pwy nith fawl or sawl a ry seilych 
 Ith foliant soniant son clycli a llyfrau 
 Cerddau telynau eras dannau crych 
 Nef daear utfern pan y bernych 
 Dod nod im hwyneb am hadneppych. 
 Parth clet i minnau ni mynnych fy mod 
 Parth yr oen gorfod im gossodych 
 Pan ddel y trillu trallavvd berych 
 I leaws yn draws a drais boenych. 
 Ith lu di difri difrych gwynoleu 
 Ar y Haw dehau i'm Ueheych. Amen." 
 
 AN ODE TO GOD, BY THE BROTHER MADOC, 1250. 
 
 Deliver me ; Lord, thy protection render me. 
 Weak am I, may I be strengthened, be thou my strengthener ! 
 Many shall be saved, where thou deliverest it must be, 
 The rescuer of the feeble : woe to those thou lovest not ! 
 Such is my weakness, Lord, thou art not ignorant of it, 
 Base am I accounted by thee, when thou beholdest me, &c. 
 
 And thou, my soul, cease, I beseech thee ; 
 
 Turn from the unturning roads whilst thou hast power ; 
 
 Pull the foot of thy mind whilst thou possessest thy reason, 
 
 From the midst of the snares of deceit ; dark their concealment ! 
 
 Consider the even way of truth ; 
 
 Order thy conduct with propriety. 
 
 Luxurious ideas do thou wisely abandon, 
 
 Understand thou the nature of thy intellect. 
 
 Bright and fairer than the gold in the work of the goldsmith. 
 
 Did thy Creator form thee, do thou readily believe ; 
 
 To His own form dost thou possess a claim, 
 
 And his fair true image dost thou exhibit, &c. 
 
 Not once, nor twice ; do thou lament each hour, 
 And greatly do thou desire 
 To reform the evil thou dost commit ; 
 After a hundred reconciliations be thou reconciled once ; 
 That thou fail not of extended love, 
 Watch for the hour thou shalt depart from the flesh ; 
 Be not thou unready when thou art commanded. 
 The blood of Jesus has been [shed] that beloved blood shalt thou 
 bewail ; 
 
 When thou shalt consider his truthful history, 
 Groan, lam nt like an ox that lows 
 When he bemoans the distress of his fellow ox. 
 Jesus, kind Jesus, shew to me 
 
 Thy countenance, and not without thy communion ; 
 
 Let not thy cheeks be reddened with anger against thy servant ; 
 
 Woe to him whosoever shall meet thy hatred, &c. 
 
 I will praise thee oh God, Lord of the resplendent heaven, 
 Who will not praise thee of those whom thou establishest ? 
 Thy praise is sounded forth from bells and books. 
 Songs, and harps of loud light drawn strings. 
 Heaven, earth, and hell, when thou judgest, 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 837 
 
 Place a mark on my face whereby thou shalt know me ; 
 
 On the left hand do not thou cause me to be ; 
 
 With the suffering Lamb do thou place me! 
 
 When three hosts shall come, when thou causest affliction, 
 
 When thou dost sentence to punishment, 
 
 With thy glorious host, spotless and bright, 
 
 On thy right hand do thou place me ! Amen. 
 
 The last specimen of this century that shall be noticed, is 
 from an Elegy, by Gruffydd ap yr Ynad Coch, on Llewelyn 
 ap Gruffydd, the last of the Welsh Princes, who was slain 
 in 1282. 
 
 JJARWNAD LLEWELYN AP GRUFFYDD, GAN GRUFFYDD AP YR YNAD COCH, 1282. 
 
 " Oer galon dan fron o fraw allwynin 
 Am frenin dewin dor Aberffraw 
 Aur dilyfn a delid oi law 
 Aur dalaeth oedd deilwng iddaw 
 Eurgyrn aur deyrn n'im daw llawenydd 
 Llywelyn nid rhydd i'm rhwydd wisgaw 
 Gwae fi am Arglwydd gwalch diwradwydd 
 Gwae fi o'r aflwydd ei dramgwyddaw 
 Gwae fi o'r golled gwae fi or dynged 
 Gwae fi or clyyd fod clwyf arnaw, &c." 
 
 AN ELEGY BY GRUFFYDD AP YR YNAD COCH, ON LLEWELYN AP GRUFFYDD. 
 
 Cold is the heart within the bosom, from dismay and sorrow 
 For the sacred King, the protector of Aberfraw ; 
 Glittering gold was dispensed by his hand ; 
 The golden diadem was he worthy of, 
 
 The splendid sovereign of the golden horns ! Joy comes no more 
 to me; 
 
 Llewelyn is not in existence, to present me with apparel ; 
 
 Woe is me for the lord, the reproachless hero ; 
 
 Woe, for the misfortune of his fall ! 
 
 Woe, for the loss, woe for the destiny ; 
 
 Woe, for the rumour of his receiving his wound, &c." 
 
 The remainder of the composition consists of a succession 
 of expressions of lamentation, with strong marks of the style 
 of the time, a repetition of some favourite word or idea for 
 several lines consecutively ; as for instance : 
 
 " Llawer deigr hylithr yn hwylaw ar rudd 
 Llawer ystlys rhudd a rhwyg arnaw 
 Llawer gwaed am draed wedi ymdreiddiaw 
 Llawer gweddw a gwaedd y amdanaw 
 Llawer meddwl trwm yn tomrwyaw 
 Llawer mab heb dad gwedi ei adaw 
 Llawer hendref fraith gwedi llwybrgodaith 
 A llawer diftaith drwy anrhaith draw 
 Llawer lief druan fal ban fu'r Gamlan 
 Llawer deigr dros ran wedi'r greiniaw." 
 2 X 
 
338 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 Many a trickling tear passes over the cheek, 
 
 Many a side is red with the gash upon it, 
 
 Many a one with blood on his feet after the mutual piercing, 
 
 Many a widow with her wail for the event ; 
 
 Many a mind heavy with sorrowing, 
 
 Many a son left without a father. 
 
 Many a dwelling discoloured by the course of conflagration ; 
 And many a desert made by yonder ravage, 
 Many a woeful cry, as when the battle of Camlan took place ; 
 Many a tear over the eyelash after the weltering in blood, &c„ 
 
 GWILYM DDU. 
 
 We come now to the last Bard within the prescribed limits 
 of this Essay, Gwilym Ddu of Arfon, who wrote about 
 1323. The following extracts are from an Ode to Sir Grruf- 
 fydd Llwyd, of Trefgarnedd, and Dinorweg in Arfon, who 
 had been taken prisoner, and confined in Rhuddlan Castle. 
 
 GWILYM DDU O ARFON I SYR GRUFFYDD LLWYD, PAN OEDD YNGHARCHAR 
 YNGHASTELL RHUDDLAN. 
 
 ** Rhen trindawd a rawd eirf ynghystudd 
 Rywneuthost am host neddeirgost nudd 
 Rhiau rhad barau beri gorchudd Hew 
 Caer galchdew glew glyw ddaddannudd 
 Rhyfiin yw attal llwydd arial lludd 
 Rhy flwng yw echwng echel ddeurudd 
 Rhy flaengar aerddar urddawl roddfudd hael 
 Rheflac wael rwysg Mael er cael cyhudd 
 Rhyfedd y w yn fyw feirdd n'in dyhudd 
 Ei fod reiniad clod cledren flaen rhudd 
 Rhi Dinorweg deg dygn ryfudd Gwynedd 
 Gan Saeson, &c." 
 
 GWILYM DDU OF ARFON TO SIR GRUFFYDD LLWYD, WHEN IMPRISONED IN 
 RHUDDLAN CASTLE. 
 
 Sovereign Trinity ! affliction hast thou caused to the leader of the 
 armed course ; to the supporter liberal-handed as Nuth ; to him of 
 kingly courtesy, the commander of spears ; the protecting lion ; the 
 strong magnificent fortress, the excellent chief. Distressing is the 
 obstructing of the course prosperous as that of Lludd, — gloomy is the 
 closing in prison of the once cheering countenance. The daring oak 
 of battle, honourable and generous ; by so low a mischance that he 
 of the progress of Mael should suffer degradation ! It is wonderful 
 that we Bards should continue to live, when the chief of fame, of the 
 red-pointed shaft, the Prince of Dinorweg, the goodly leader of Gwy- 
 nedd, remains in the power of the English, &c. 
 
 PROSE LITERATURE. 
 
 Notwithstanding the many works which may be supposed 
 to have been lost, the Welsh are still in possession of some 
 very interesting remains of this period in Prose, though by 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 339 
 
 no means so numerous as those of the Bards. The prin- 
 cipal prose works extant are, the Welsh Chronicle of Oaradoc 
 of Llancarfan ; the Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth; and 
 the Mabinogion, or Mythological and Romantic Tales of 
 the Welsh. There are also numerous Biographical works, 
 consisting chiefly of Lives of Saints ; and one or two works 
 on Music, and Medicine ; the latter containing the practice of 
 Rhiwallon, Physician to Rhys ap Gruflydd, Prince of South 
 Wales in the twelfth century. 
 
 The Chronicle of Caradoc of Llancarfan, to which Geof- 
 frey of Monmouth gives priority of date over the Brut, 
 which he himself translated,* was originally written by 
 Caradoc, in the twelfth century, and afterwards continued 
 by some other hand to the end of the thirteenth. It is writ- 
 ten entirely in the Welsh language, and constitutes the 
 basis of Welsh history subsequent to the seventh century : 
 prior to which time, Geoffrey of Monmouth professes to 
 give the history of the British kings, and to be the sole pos- 
 sessor of the materials from which such history is drawn. 
 His words, at the conclusion of the Brut, are the following ; 
 and are important as establishing the age in which Caradoc 
 wrote. 
 
 " The Kings of the Welsh, who from that time have succeeded them 
 in Wales, I leave their history to Caradoc of Llancarfan, my con- 
 temporary ; as I do also the Kings of the Saxons, to William of Mal- 
 mesbury and Henry of Huntingdon ; hut I charge them to be silent 
 concerning the Kings of the Britons, as they have not that hook in 
 the British tongue which Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, brought out 
 of Britain ; which being a true history, edited in honour of the afore- 
 said Princes, I have thus translated into Latin." 
 
 " Reges autem illorum qui ab illo tempore in Gualiis successerunt : 
 Karadoco Lancarbanensi contemporaneo meo, in materia scribendi 
 permitto. Reges vero Saxonum Guillelmo Malmesberiensi et Hen- 
 rico Huntingdonensi : quos de regibus Britonum tacere jubeo, cum 
 non habeant ilium librum Britannici sermonis, quern Gualterus 
 Oxinefordensis Archidiaconus ex Britannia advexit : quern de his- 
 toria eorum veraciter editum in honore prsedictorum principum, hoc 
 modo in Latinum sermonem transferre curavi." 
 
 The Chronicle of Caradoc is, generally, termed. Brut y 
 Tywysogion, The Brut of the Princes^ to distinguish it from 
 that of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and which is called Brut y 
 Brenhinoedd, or The Chronicle of the Kings^ as it refers to 
 
 * Priority to the translation, not to the Brut itself, — Editor. 
 
340 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 the Sovereigns of Britain ; whereas that of Caradoc is con- 
 fined to the Princes of Wales, and commences with the 
 death of Cadwaladr, and the accession of I for the son of 
 Alan, in the seventh century. 
 
 As Geoffrey of Monmouth gives the precedence to the 
 work of Caradoc, with regard to the date of its publication, 
 we have noticed it as such. And we now come to the work 
 of Geoffrey, the history of which is as follows : — 
 
 Early in the twelfth century, Walter Mapes, or as he is 
 otherwise called, Walter Calenius,* Archdeacon of Oxford, 
 while in Armorica, met with a history of Britain, written in 
 the ancient British language, which he brought with him to 
 Britain, and placed in the hands of Geofirey of Monmouth, 
 (whose Welsh name was Gruffydd ap Arthur,) in order to its 
 being translated into Latin ; this Geoffrey undertook to do, 
 and afterwards published, with a dedication to Robert, Earl 
 of Gloucester, son of Henry I.f 
 
 Though the original British work, which Geoffrey trans- 
 lated, is not known to be extant, yet there is a Welsh copy 
 of the Brut, of the same age with the Latin, and evidently 
 a translation from it ; and which, from the concluding sen- 
 tence, appears to have been translated into Welsh at the 
 instance of Walter Mapes. The words are these : 
 
 " I, Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, translated this book out of 
 Welsh into Latin. And in my old age I translated it the second time 
 out of Latin into Welsh." 
 
 " Myfi Gwallter Archiagon Rydychen a droes y llyfr hwn o Gym- 
 raec yn Lladin. Ac yn fy henaint y troes i ef yr ail waith o Ladin 
 yngliymraec." 
 
 The words will bear the construction that this Walter was 
 himself the actual translator of the Welsh copy : but when 
 we recollect he was only the means of causing the first 
 translation into Latin to be made, it appears probable that 
 he speaks of his services with regard to the second transla- 
 tion into Welsh, in the same manner.J 
 
 * It has been supposed that these names belong to different persons, but there 
 are others who contend for their identity. 
 
 + The exact date of the Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth, has not been ascer- 
 tained, but as Robert, Earl of Gloucester, to whom it is dedicated, died in 1147, 
 it must have been edited previous to that time. 
 
 X Dr. Giles's Preface to his edition of Geoffrey of Monmouth's '•'Chronicle,"' 
 contains further information upon this subject. — Editor. 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 841 
 
 The Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth, though once received 
 as containing the real and authentic records of the ancient 
 British race, has long been discarded as of any historical 
 authority ; but in proportion as its authenticity has declin- 
 ed, its literary value has increased ; inasmuch as it has been 
 the means of forming a new era in literature, and founding 
 a new school in imaginative composition. For it is to the 
 Brut of Geoffrey of Monmouth, that we are to ascribe the 
 origin of the Arthurian cyclus of Romance, and, perhaps, 
 much of the chivalrous spirit which pervaded the civilised 
 world soon after its appearance ; the effects of which con- 
 tinue to influence society even to the present day. 
 
 That the Brut was known on the continent of Europe, 
 and exerted an influence there within a few years after its 
 publication in Britain, is very evident ; as Alan us de Insu- 
 lis, a writer of the twelfth century, speaking of King Arthur, 
 says that his fame had reached even Rome : 
 
 " Cantat gesta ejus domina civitatum Roma.'* 
 Henry of Huntingdon states that he saw the Brut on the 
 continent, as early as the year 1139. And in the course of 
 ten years from that time, King Arthur and the Court of 
 Caerlleon, formed the chief subject of the French Trouveres, 
 as also subsequently, of the Provenc^al Troubadours. From 
 France, these Welsh legends travelled into Germany and 
 Scandinavia; and in addition to the testimony of Alanus de 
 Insulis, from the manner in which Dante introduces the 
 name of Lancelot, it is evident that the Arthurian Roman- 
 ces had become popular in Italy in his time ; and that 
 they continued to be so in the fifteenth century, we may 
 gather from Boiardo : 
 
 " Fu gloripsa Bertagna la grande— si che al Re Artuse fa portare 
 onore." 
 
 As to the introduction of the Welsh Romantic legends 
 into Spain, and their influence upon the literature of that 
 country, we need only refer to Cervantes, in whose work 
 Merlin acts so conspicuous a part. And the reviewers of 
 Don Quixotte's library will testify to their influence in Por- 
 tugal, when, on opening the Romance of Palmerin of Eng- 
 land, one of them observes, that "it is said to have been 
 
342 HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND 
 
 composed by an ingenious King of Portugal." This Pal- 
 merin is probably Paulmerion, the ancient British King, and 
 one of the ancestors of Vortigern ; whose son Glouida is 
 said to have founded the city of Gloucester : 
 
 " Glouida filius Paulmerion, ipse autem Glouida aedificavit urbem 
 magnam super ripam fluminis Sabrinae, quae vocatur Britannice ser- 
 mone Cair Gloui." Gunn's Nennius.* 
 
 There exist certain indications which impress us with 
 an idea, that these British legends have been translated even 
 into the Arabic. But however this may be, we have indis- 
 putable proof of their having appeared in the Greek, as 
 there is a Poem of the twelfth century, in that language, 
 still extant, in which the heroes are the Knights of the 
 Round Table. 
 
 From the manner in which the Welsh names are given, 
 it appears that the subject passed into Greek through the 
 medium of the Italian ; Arthur being written A/jtov^ov, and 
 Gwenhwyfar is 'Sr^eve/Bpa the Nt^ being intended to repre- 
 sent the Italian G in Genevra, whilst TaovX^apo^ is Galvani, 
 the Italian form of Gwalchmai. The Poem bears every 
 mark of being a translation : Lancelot of the Lake is e/c 
 Xijuvrj^ Aav(xeX{V709, and the Round Table Knights are called 
 Tpaire^rj^ Tiys (rpor^^vXrj^, The following lines will shew the 
 metre : 
 
 O Be Trpea^VTi]^ eiprjKev xaipe fioL TaovXjBave^ 
 O Tov prjf^os aSeXipcdov^ Aprov^ov Bperavia9 
 
 Trjv kXtjciv eTTt^epovTi, OvreptvTravTpar^opov.f 
 
 But at the same time that the Brut is admitted to have 
 been the means of the first introduction of the Welsh tradi- 
 tions, and of their general extension amongst the Continental 
 nations ; yet we find amongst the Romances of the continent 
 many Tales which are not contained in the Brut, most of 
 which are still extant amongst the Welsh, especially in the 
 collection called the Mabinogion. Some of hese Tales, pro- 
 bably, found their way through Brittany, and others by 
 means of the Anglo- Norman Trouveres. But by whatever 
 
 * This is the Vatican MS. published with a translation by Gunn. 
 t See pages 270 — 1. 
 
LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 343 
 
 channel they were transmitted, their universal adoption in 
 so short a space of time, constitutes a very extraordinary 
 mental phenomenon. Nor was this impression, made by the 
 Welsh legends in the twelfth century, ever obliterated ; but 
 on the contrary, its existence may be traced through each 
 successive generation to the present day. Shakspeare 
 founded several of his Plays upon these Tales. Milton once 
 intended making Arthur the hero of his Epic. And one of 
 the most perfect Poems produced within our own time, 
 " The Bridal of Triermain," proves how deeply the mind of 
 Scott was imbued with Arthurian Romance. 
 
 In prosecuting this subject we encounter a very remarkable 
 fact ; which is, that the poets and prose writers amongst the 
 Welsh, have respectively taken up positions, the very op- 
 posite to those of the same classes in other nations. The 
 Bards occupying themselves with the matter of fact occur- 
 rences of the day, whilst the prose writers were employed in 
 composing Romances : for such are the Mabinogion ; a 
 series of Tales which, for variety of incident, originality, and 
 power of invention, are not to be equalled by those of any 
 country whatever, prior to the revival of literature in mod- 
 ern times. Such an assertion will of course be disputed, and 
 the Arabian Nights, and French Metrical Romances ad- 
 duced in confutation. But it must be recollected that the 
 Arabian Nights, in their present form, are not older than 
 the sixteenth century ; such ancient Arabic Tales as have 
 been preserved, and which appear to be the rudiments of 
 the present compositions, being greatly inferior in point of 
 imagination and general interest. And with regard to 
 the French Metrical Romances, they are merely the legends 
 of the Welsh, translated and versified. 
 
 In reviewing the impressions made by the consideration 
 of this subject, we arrive at the conclusion, that during the 
 prescribed period of 250 years, the Welsh language did not, 
 in its grammatical structure, undergo any perceptible change. 
 Also, that in its idiom, and turn of expression, there is but 
 little difference to be noticed ; and that little, must be attri- 
 buted to the difference of taste in the several writers, rather 
 than to any essential alteration in the language itself. And 
 as the number of writers increased, the variety of modes of 
 
344 
 
 LITERATURE OF WALES. 
 
 expression would naturally increase as well ; and new com- 
 pound words would be formed. During this period also, a 
 trifling addition was made to its vocabulary, through the 
 introduction of Norman words. Subject to these exceptions, 
 we can scarcely discover any diff'erence in the language used 
 by Gwilym Ddu in the fourteenth century, and that of 
 Meilyr in the eleventh. 
 
AN 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BY WHICH WALES WAS ANNEXED TO ENGLAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 At the Abergavenny Eisteddfod of October, 1848, a Prize of Five Guineas 
 was given by Lady Parry of Madryn, for the best historical account of " Statuta 
 Wallioe," or the Statutes of Rhuddlan, by which Wales was annexed to England. 
 
 The following production was described by Archdeacon Williams, as " a most 
 able and well written Essay, which will prove most interesting to all who possess 
 an antiquarian taste." The Prize was awarded to its Author; who wrote under 
 the signature of " Rhynyr Ynad." and sealed the envelope, which contained his 
 real name, with the impression of the Dying Gladiator. It was his last. 
 
5ln 3iistnriral Irrnunt nf tfjf 
 Itatutu Walim, nr tjie ikMtB nf JljiuJiMaii, 
 W\)\4 mtxth Wain in (Inglanii. 
 
 Before discussing those laws enacted by Edward the First, 
 for the government of his newly acquired dominions in 
 Wales, and known as the Statutes of Rhuddlan, it will be 
 found expedient to take a retrospective view of the progress of 
 Welsh legislation, anterior to those enactments, and to in- 
 quire into the circumstances which called for such innova- 
 tions. 
 
 According to the Welsh records, the Laws of Britain had, 
 at a very remote period of antiquity, been formed into a code, 
 by Prydain the son of Aedd Mawr ; but the tradition is too 
 vague to justify any historical notice further than admitting 
 the possibility of the fact. 
 
 This code is said to have undergone a revision by Dyfn- 
 wal Moelmud, (Latinized into Dunwalo Molmutus,) about 
 400 years before the Christian era ; of which code several 
 clauses are alleged to be still in existence, and to be seen in 
 the ancient Triads which bear the name of that legislator : 
 whatever degree of reality this tradition may possess, there 
 is no reason to doubt that a code of laws, bearing the name 
 of Dyfnwal Moelmud, existed in the tenth century, as in the 
 
 * Although in the title prescribed for this Essay, the plural noun "Statuta" is 
 used, and also that of "Statutes," and this is borne out by the conclusion of the 
 enactment, in which it is spoken of as " Predicta Statuta," nevertheless it will be 
 seen that the law passed at Rhuddlan by Edward the First, by which Wales was 
 annexed to England, was but one single Act, and, accordingly, the writer of the 
 following Essay has headed it as such, i, e. The Statute of Rhuddlan. 
 
348 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 preamble to the Laws of Howel Dda, it is expressly stated, 
 that it was this very code of Dyfnwal that was taken as 
 the basis of the new enactments. The only objection to the 
 possibility of the ancient British Laws having been preserved 
 till the tenth century, is the existence of the Eoman power in 
 Britain for so many centuries, and the difficulty of believing 
 that the native laws could have maintained their influence. 
 But this objection will be found to possess but little weight, 
 when we consider that it was customary with the Romans to 
 allow the conquered nations the rights oi Jus Latium^ or 
 the privilege of governing themselves by their own laws, re- 
 quiring of them nothing further than the payment of tribute, 
 and general obedience to the Eoman power. And, perhaps, 
 the condition of India at the present day, in its subjection 
 to Britain, will aff'ord an exact representation of that of Bri- 
 tain under the Romans. Therefore, on the departure of the 
 Roman troops, the people \vere left, with regard to legislation, 
 very much in the same state as before their arrival. In con- 
 firmation of which it may be stated, that the Welsh Laws 
 of Howel Dda do not bear the slightest resemblance to those 
 of Rome ; the few Latin terms which they contain being 
 purely of ecclesiastic introduction. 
 
 Under whatever name the Welsh laws existed at the de- 
 parture of the Romans, it is evident that for some time pre- 
 vious to the tenth century, they were called the Laws of 
 Dyfnwal Moelmud ; and it is stated that at that period 
 they had become so corrupted, as to require a total revision ; 
 and, accordingly, in the year 914, Howel Dda convened a 
 council of chieftains and clergy, who assembled at the Ty 
 Gwyn ar Baf^ (Whitland,) on the borders of Caermarthen- 
 shire and Pembrokeshire, and entered into arrangements 
 for the framino^ of a new code, takino^ the ancient laws of 
 Dyfnwal as the foundation. This new code, which is called 
 
 The Laws of Howel Dda," (Cyfreithiau Hywel Dda,) con- 
 tinued for near two centuries as the law of Wales, without 
 any alteration ; but in consequence of the inevitable changes 
 wrought by time in the state of society, this code called for 
 another revision ; and, accordingly, the then reigning Princes 
 of ales undertook such revision, but without altering 
 either the arrangement or the title of the code, which under 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 349 
 
 the name of Howel Dda continued generally in force for two 
 centuries longer ; but not entirely so, as its influence began 
 to be interfered with towards the end of the eleventh centu- 
 ry, by the encroachments of the Lords Marchers, who, 
 wherever their power extended, introduced the Norman 
 laws ; or else some legislative forms of their own enactment, 
 having the Norman laws for their basis. 
 
 As the social state of Wales begins at this time to assume 
 an aspect very diff*erent to that which it had previously ex- 
 hibited, we must here devote a few moments to the consider- 
 ation of the changes which were at this time taking place. 
 
 When William the Conqueror had gained possession of 
 England, he changed the condition of the people almost en- 
 tirely ; reducing them to a state of vassalage, parcelling out 
 the kingdom amongst his followers in Manors or Lordships, 
 having courts of justice, in which the law was administered 
 chiefly, if not entirely, according to the Norman practice. And 
 these Lordships were held by charters or grants from the 
 Conqueror, in feudal tenure; their rights and duties dis- 
 tinctly defined. 
 
 William the Conqueror* never obtained any posses- 
 sions in Wales, nor did he ever attempt to gain any. But 
 after his death, and during the reign of his son William 
 E-ufus, some of the Norman Lords on the borders of Wales, 
 or the Marches, as they were called, [from mark, a limit,] 
 began to make incursions into the adjoining Welsh territor- 
 ies ; and, occasionally, taking possession of some lands, an- 
 nexed them to their own property ; and thus in a short 
 time they became possessed of considerable portions of the 
 country. Robert Fitzhamon won the Lordship of Glamor- 
 gan; Bernard de Newmarch that of Brecknock; Hugh Lupus, 
 Roger Mortimer, Fitzalan, Montgomery and others, made 
 
 ^' Hanes Cymru, page 480, contradicts this statement. 
 The Anglo Saxon Chronicle says : 
 
 " A.D, 1081, this year the King (William the Conqueror) led an army into 
 Wales, and there he set free many hundred persons." 
 
 The same Chronicle, in the year 1087, giving a summary of that King's life 
 and actions, says : — 
 
 "The land of the Britons (Wales) was under his sway, and he built Castles 
 therein; moreover he had full dominion over the Isle of Man (Anglesey.)" — 
 Vide Giles's Edition, pp. 457 and 462. Bohn, 1847. . 
 
 See also Hamilton's Thierry's " Norman Conquest," and the authorities there 
 quoted, pp. 91, in proof of William the Conqueror's acquisitions in Wales. — Editor. 
 
350 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 themselves masters of lands on the borders, in like manner. 
 These chieftains were called Lords Marchers, that appellation 
 being given from their residing on the borders of Wales ; 
 and although in the course of time their possessions extend- 
 ed further into the country, yet the original title of "Marcher"*' 
 was applied to them in whatever part of the Principality 
 they lay. The first of these adventurers seem to have acted 
 upon their own responsibility in their invasions ; but after- 
 wards they did homage to the Kings of England, before 
 setting out, for such lands as they should be able to conquer. 
 And on this account, no Lord Marcher ever held his land in 
 Wales by charter ; for, previous to his expedition, the King 
 could not grant a charter, not knowing what lands he might 
 conquer, or whether he would conquer any at all : and after he 
 had succeeded in conquering any, he would not apply to the 
 King for a charter, as such an instrument could not add to 
 his power ; but, on the other hand, it might encumber him 
 with some troublesome conditions. 
 
 Another difference betwixt a Lord Marcher and a Lord 
 of an English Manor, consisted in the mode of obtaining 
 his territory. William the Conqueror had subdued England 
 with his own troops, and at his own charges, and had given 
 the several Lordships to his followers as presents, according 
 to his own discretion ; but the Lords Marchers received no 
 assistance from the King of England, either in troops or 
 money, but made their conquests entirely with their own 
 men, and at their own cost ; therefore, they were, in tlieir 
 respective territories, virtually, independent sovereigns, ex- 
 ercising rights of Jura regalia^ merely doing homage to the 
 King of England, and even placed beyond the limits of the 
 King's writs, 
 
 " Ubi brevia Regis non currunt:" 
 though the Kings of England had also some possessions in 
 Wales, soon after the earliest Marcher conquests. 
 
 When these Norman Lords had secured their new posses- 
 sions in Wales, they began to establish Courts of Justice 
 for their government ; and wherever it was practicable, they 
 introduced the Norman form of Judicature : a system totally 
 different to that of the Welsh, who had hitherto retained 
 the code of Howel Dda. The difference between these two 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 351 
 
 sy steals is observable in almost every particular, especially 
 in the transfer of land : according to the Welsh practice it 
 was made by the form called Cof Llys^ and Estyn Wialen ; 
 whereas by the Norman Law it was made by Fine^ Becomry^ 
 Feoffment^ Livery of Seizin^ and Attornment. 
 
 But although the Lords Marchers had managed to obtain 
 possession of such considerable territories in Wales, yet the 
 people were by no means willing to submit to tliese foreign 
 laws and usages, and claimed to be governed by those of 
 their own country ; and, in numerous instances, it was found 
 necessary to comply with their demands ; and, accordingly, 
 we find in many manorial districts an English Court and a 
 Welsh Court ; which to this day are distinguished as such, 
 by the terms Anglicana and Wallicana or Wallensis, and 
 sometimes Englisherie and Welsherie ; as in the instances 
 of Coity Anglicana, and Coity Wallise ; and of Avon An- 
 glicana, and Avon Wallicana, in Glamorgan ; Haia Angli- 
 cana, and Haia Wallicana, the later still called the Welsh 
 Hay, in Breconshire. Also, in the same county, English 
 Pencelly, and Welsh Pencelly ; English Talgarth, and 
 Welsh Talgarth. Also, Cidwely Anglicana, and Cidwely 
 Wallicana, in Carmarthenshire, &c. 
 
 In the districts subject to the jurisdiction of these courts, 
 the English or Welsh systems prevailed, according tb the 
 usages implied by their respective designations, and some- 
 times a mixed system was in use, called, cyfraith Saesonaeg 
 a rhan Gymraeg, that is, English law with part Welsh ; 
 for although the law was Norman throughout the whole of 
 England, yet soon after the Conquest every thing connected 
 with that kingdom was called English, and hence the above 
 appellations of Anglicana, Saesonaeg, Englisherie, fee. 
 
 Such is the state in which the administration of the law 
 in Wales existed at the commencement of the reign of Ed- 
 ward the First, when an event occurred which enabled that 
 monarch greatly to forward the progress of the English sys- 
 tem in the country. Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Mont- 
 fort, Earl of Leicester, had been for some time betrothed to 
 Llewelyn ap GrufFydd, Prince of Wales, and was residing 
 in the Convent of Montargis, in France. About this time, 
 1276, Llewelyn sent a request to the King of France, that 
 
352 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 Eleanor might be brought over to Wales, in order to solemn- 
 ize the marriage. This request was complied with, and 
 Eleanor was sent off by her mother, in charge of her brother 
 Amaury, but the ship in which they were was captured by 
 some English vessel, and carried into Bristol, and Eleanor 
 given up to Edward, by whom she was detained prisoner ; 
 and before the Prince could obtain her liberation, he was 
 compelled to sign certain articles, in which he consented to 
 do homage to Edward for, and cede over to him, the district 
 comprising the four Cantreds, of Rhos, Rhyfoniog, Tegengel, 
 and DyfFryn Llwyd. 
 
 When Edward had thus obtained possession of the four 
 Cantreds, he began to introduce the English laws, contrary 
 to the provisions of the treaty ; which arbitrary and unjust 
 proceeding caused great dissatisfaction, so that in the year 
 1280, Edward issued a commission to Thomas, Bishop of 
 St. David's, Reginald de Gray, and Walter de Hopton ; 
 appointing them to examine, upon oath, unsuspected persons, 
 both Welsh and English, in order to obtain information 
 respecting the laws and usages, by which the Kings, his 
 (Edward's) predecessors, had been accustomed to govern and 
 order the Prince of Wales, and the Welsh Barons of Wales, 
 and their Peers, and others their equals ; and all particulars 
 connected with such laws and usages. And these Commis- 
 sioners were commanded to appoint certain days and places for 
 carrying on this inquiry, and to return and account to the 
 King within three weeks from Easter. An order was also is- 
 sued to all Justices, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and other Officers of the 
 King in Wales, requiring them to cause to appear on the 
 days appointed, all such witnesses as might be able to give 
 information on the subject ; and also requiring that they 
 should attend upon, and render every assistance andadvice 
 to the said commissioners, in order that every needful in- 
 formation mio^ht be obtained. This commission was dated 
 at Westminster, the fourth day of December, in the ninth 
 year of the reign of King Edward. 
 
 This inquiry comprised fourteen interrogations, which 
 were as follows: 
 
 ]. The witness was to be asked, whether he ever saw a lawsuit 
 between the Prince of Wales, and the Welsh Barons of Wales. 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 353 
 
 2. Between what Prince, and what Barons or Baron, and before 
 what Judges. 
 
 3. Whether he saw any lawsuit between a Welsh Baron of Wales, 
 and his Peer. 
 
 4. Between what Baron and what Peer or Peers, and before what 
 Judges. 
 
 5. If he saw a lawsuit between a person _of inferior rank, and his 
 equal or equals. 
 
 6. Between what person of inferior rank, and his equal or equals. 
 
 7. If he saw a lawsuit ; according to what laws or usages was it 
 conducted. 
 
 8. Before what Justices or Judges ; and in whose Court ; and 
 where was it conducted. 
 
 9. If the proceedings were to be by Royal writ, before the Judges, 
 by objection and responding, and then by inquisition. 
 
 10. If it was to be adjudged according to their word and assertion 
 respecting the inquisition ; or in some other manner. 
 
 11. If it was to be adjudged according to the law of Howel Dda, 
 called Kyfraith ; and how often did he see it thus adjudged, and be- 
 fore whom, and where. 
 
 12. In what cases was it customary to adjudge according to that 
 law, and whether in-moveables, or im-moveables ; or in both. 
 
 13. If it was not possible to form a judgment from the confession 
 of the parties ; must they proceed by inquisition, or by assize, and 
 thus having ascertained the truth, to adjudge. 
 
 14. Whether was it solely in matters of antiquity, to which 
 memory did not extend, or in all matters, new as well as old, that 
 judgment ought to be given, according to the aforesaid law of 
 Howel Dda. 
 
 Armed with these powers, the Commissioners proceeded to 
 Chester, and commenced their labours forthwith : 
 
 1. "William Lanntelyn, Knight, being sworn and diligently exam- 
 ined, concerning all and each of the fore-named articles, says, that he 
 knows nothing. 
 
 2. The Lord Urian de St. Piere, Knight, being sworn and diligently 
 examined, says, that he saw a lawsuit between Roger, the Seneschal of 
 Mold and Griffith ap Madoc, Lord of Maelor ; before the justices 
 of the lord the King, viz. ; — William de Wilton, Geoffrey de Langel, 
 and John the son of Geoffrey, by the King's writ, which was adjudi- 
 cated at Rhuddlan, by twelve Jurors, from the four Cantreds ; of 
 which there were three Jurors from each Cantred, and by their 
 verdict sentence was given. Of other suits he has no recollection. 
 
 8. Hamund de Culford, being sworn and examined, says, the same 
 as Lord Urian, last sworn, and agrees with him in all things. The 
 same Hamund being questioned concerning the Law of Wales, says, 
 that the common law in Wales is, that when any one claims land of 
 2 z 
 
854 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 another, the complaint being heard, the Lord of the Feod ought to 
 seize the land in dispute ; and then he who claims the land shall give 
 to the lord, out of his own property, whatever may he agreed upon 
 between them ; and the lord shall grant to him twelve J urors, and 
 according to their verdict it shall be adjudicated. Being asked whether 
 it was by Pledges, or by the Law of Howel Dda, he saw it adjudica- 
 ted, he answers, that he has'not seen. Being asked whether it was usual 
 to proceed by the King's writ, or without a writ ; he says, it is always 
 customary to proceed by writ, concerning lands and possessions, in the 
 same manner as proceedings are at this time conducted before the King's 
 Justices now being. Being asked if he has seen any other suit be- 
 tween any other parties, he says, " yes." For that he has seen the 
 Lord Ralph of Mold, then living, claiming the land of the late David 
 of Mold, his brother, and that he obtained it by the verdict of twelve 
 Jurors, in the fore mentioned form, and still holds it. He also says, 
 that Llewelyn, the son of Grutfydd, then living, came before the 
 King's Justices at Gruffydd's Cross, but the suit was not terminated, 
 on account of war occurring. He adds, morever, that the King's 
 Seneschal of Mold, claimed the land of Mold, of David ab Llewelyn, 
 before the Lord J. Le Estraunge and others. Justices of the King at 
 Wapir, and there argued his right, by the descent of his ancestors, by 
 common writ and the general law, then practised by the King's Jus- 
 tices in parts of Wales. Being questioned concerning the particulars 
 of other suits ; he says, that he has seen many other suits thus ter- 
 minated, but he does not now recollect the whole of them. 
 
 4. Hugh de Polford, says, he knows nothing, as he never had any 
 intercourse with the Welsh, or heard them pleading, either before the 
 Justice or others. 
 
 5. Lord Roger de Humvill, says that as far as he has hitherto under- 
 stood, the common law betwixt the Prince of Wales and the Welsh 
 Barons of Wales, and betwixt the Welsh Barons of Wales and their 
 equals and inferiors, was that when any person claimed land, he gave to 
 the lord what he could agree upon with the lord, or his Bailiff, and he 
 should have a Jury of twelve Jurors ; nor did he ever see an adjudication 
 by any law of Howel Dda. He says likewise, that it was always cus- 
 tomary to proceed by the King's writ, as at that present time, before 
 the King's Justices. He also says that the person claiming land shall 
 give of his possession to the lord of the land, and shall have an In- 
 quisition of twelve Jurors ; and it was thus that the Lord Ralph, of 
 Mold, sued for the land of David of Mold, his brother. Being asked 
 whether the lord ought to take possession of the land at the com- 
 mencement of the suit ; he says, that lie did not know. Being asked 
 whether he has seen any suit terminated in the fore-mentioned form, 
 he answers 'yes' ; and says, that he himself had a lawsuit with Cyn- 
 wric Sais, and his brothers ; and that he judicially obtained his land 
 before Roger Croistil, then Seneschal of Mold ; and he says, that it 
 was always customary to proceed thus in those parts, and not in any 
 other manner : nor did he ever hear of any other law or custom 
 being practised in those parts. He adds that if any of the Jurors 
 should be found enemies, or otherwise with good cause suspected, 
 they might be removed from the jury or inquisition. Being question- 
 ed concerning other suits, he says, that he does not at the present 
 time recollect. 
 
 6. William of Hawarden, — says, that he saw a lawsuit between the 
 then Prince of Wales Llewelyn, and Owen his brother, by the writ of 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 855 
 
 King Henry, the father of the present King Edward, before the afore- 
 said King Henry, and his council in London, and that Owen came in 
 his own person, nor was any thing alleged respecting the Law of 
 Howel Dda. But that afterwards that suit was stopped by war. Be- 
 ing questioned respecting other suits, he says that he has seen a suit 
 between GrufFydd and David, his brother, the Prince of Wales, before 
 Stephen de Segrave, the King's Justice, nor did they litigate according 
 to the Welsh Law, but by Wager of Battle after the English manner ; 
 and David's Champion was Geoffrey de Langton ; and Richard de 
 Hanetot spoke for the one, and R. de Boy land, for the other ; but the 
 suit proceeded no further as the cause was delayed by the war break- 
 ing out. Being asked if he saw many lawsuits, he says, yes, and that 
 he himself had sued in a cause between Llewelyn, the present Prince of 
 Wales, and Robert, the Seneschal of Mold, at Rhydema, before the 
 Bishop of Exeter, and Walter, the Bishop of Worcester, and Adam 
 de Gremvill. He said the proceedings were according to the Common 
 Law, nor was any thing taken from the Welsh Law. He also says 
 that he saw the same parties litigating at Hawarden, before the Bishop 
 of Bath, Lord Robert Burnel, now living, and Robert Walran, but be- 
 cause of the forementioned war, the cause was not concluded. Being 
 asked what the law ought to be in those parts, and what Laws or cus- 
 toms are in practice, he says the same as tlie forenamed Hamund. But 
 he adds that whenever they practise in any other manner, it is through 
 corruption by money or favour. Being asked if he saw any other 
 actions at law, he says that he saw an action between Lord Thomas 
 Corbet, and GrufFydd the son of Gwenwynwyn, concerning the land 
 of Coedeber, at Rhydwinma, and the said Thomas did claim that land 
 legally by Assize. Being asked if he saw many suits in those parts, 
 he says that he saw a suit betwixt Gronw ap Bleddyn and Llywelyn 
 Goch, and his brothers ; and the said Gronow promised the Seneschal 
 money, in order to obtain an Assize ; and because he did not pay the 
 money, the land remained in the hands of the lord. And this he saw 
 in many other suits, which at present he does not recollect. He also 
 says that this law is common throughout W ales between superiors and 
 superiors ; superiors and inferiors ; inferiors and superiors ; and equals 
 and equals. 
 
 7. Lord Patrick de Hasewell being called and examined, respecting 
 all these articles, says he knows nothing as he never heard any Welsh 
 persons conducting litigations, and has but rarely had any intercourse 
 with them. 
 
 8. Howell de Sothlat, being sworn and carefully examined, says he 
 saw a lawsuit between Gruffyth and David his brother. Prince of 
 Wales. The challenge was made by Gruffyth, and Ednyved responded 
 for David, and an appeal being made, Gruffyth was imprisoned, and 
 died in prison during the suit. He also agrees concerning the common 
 Law of Wales with William and Hamund, the foregoing witnesses. 
 But he adds that those by whom the Inquisition is made, when they 
 speak their verdict are jurors without an oath. 
 
 9. John de Wetenale, being sworn, says that he saw a suit between 
 Gruffyth and David, his brother, and agrees in this with the fore named 
 Howel Choglathe. He also says that most frequently they adjudi- 
 cate between persons in Wales by Inquisition, but how often he knows 
 not. He says also that the lord of the place takes seizure of the dis- 
 puted land into his own hand pending the suit, and afterward by 
 giving their property they may have an Inquisition. He adds that if 
 
356 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 any thing is laid on the disputed tenement in the name of the lord of 
 the foresaid tenement, that the Tenant cannot work upon it, as long- 
 as it is litigated. Concerning the Common Law, he agrees with the 
 foregoing Witnesses. 
 
 10. Hugh de Hatton — has nothing to say. 
 
 11. John de Marston — nothing. 
 
 12. William de Bonebur, says respecting a challenge being made, 
 that he saw and was present at Chester, before the King when a chal- 
 lenge was made by the uncle of forenamed witness W, to wit, the Lord 
 William de Maupas. In the other matters he agrees with the fore - 
 named witnesses Howel Soglauthe, William, and Hamund. 
 
 13. Robert le Brun, says he has not been present amongst the 
 Welsh, in their courts, but he heard that causes concerning rights of 
 parties are discussed by Inquisition. He also saw that the men of 
 Kinerton sued GrufFyth the son of Madoc, Lord of Bromfield for a 
 tenement there, and that at last the said suit was concluded in the 
 Prince's Court, by Inquisition. And so he says of every suit. 
 
 14. Geoffrey of Oddon — knows nothing. 
 
 15. Richard de Massy — knows nothing. 
 
 16. The Lord Abbot of Chester being sworn, says he knows nothing 
 of the articles in question. Being asked if he has in his possession any 
 writings by which the Lord the King might obtain any information 
 respecting the aforesaid articles, he says that he has not. 
 
 17. Allan de Calveton, a monk — knows nothing. 
 
 18. Master John de Stanleye, Clerk — says the same as William de 
 Hawarden of the Inquisitions between Ralph, Lord of Mold, and David 
 his brother, but of others he knows nothing. 
 
 19. Roger Trocle — says the same as Roger de Humvill, concerning 
 the suit between the said Roger and the son of Kynwric Sais, He 
 says also that Cadwgan Ddu by the Common Law^ in the King's 
 Court, and by Writ, recovered against Gruffyth Ddu and his brothers 
 in the Liberty of Mold. He says also that William de Hawarden re- 
 covered by the King's Writ in the foresaid Liberty against the Lord, 
 and by giving of his property obtained an Inquisition. He also says 
 that David ab GrufFyth ab Owen, Lord of Edeirnion, a Welsh Baron, 
 came before the King now at Marliffeud and claimed the village of Bryn- 
 tot, which is within the Liberty of Mold, against Maurice de Cronn, 
 then tenant ; and the Bailiff of the said Maurice came and claimed it 
 in the Lord's Court, and obtained it. Then the said David coming into 
 the same Court, recovered it there by Inquisition by paying ten Marks, 
 and thus by Inquisition and by giving of one's property is the custom 
 hitherto, as well in the time of the Princes as of other Lords." 
 
 Plere the examination at Chester terminates. 
 
 Having thus finished their task at Chester, the Commission- 
 ers proceeded to Rhuddlan, in tlie Cantred of Tegengel, and 
 there they examined persons out of that Cantred respecting 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 857 
 
 the articles. But previous to their commencing the exam- 
 inations, Llewelyn ap GrulFyth, Prince of Wales, sent in 
 the following request. 
 
 Inasmuch as it has pleased our Lord the King, to send such ven- 
 erahle and noble persons as you are, to inquire into the truth con- 
 cerning the laws and customs of the parts of Arwystly between the 
 Dyvi and Dulais, in Wales, in use in the times of their illustrious 
 predecessors, the Kings of England ; therefore the Lord Llewelyn, 
 Prince of Wales, requests that you will be pleased to inquire care- 
 fully whether there are Welsh Judges in the aforesaid parts, there 
 holding the office of judging the aforesaid lands, and their inhabitants 
 according to the Welsh laws. For if those lands were not judged by 
 the aforesaid laws, it would not be necessary to have these Judges 
 sworn and examined for the purpose of giving judgment. For it is 
 clearer than the light, that the sons of Rhynyr ap Cadwgan, are 
 officially Judges, that is in Welsh Yneid, in Arwystly ; and that lor- 
 werth Vychan is Judge, that is Ynad, in Keveiliawc, and betwixt the 
 Dyvi and Dulais." 
 
 The Commissioners then proceeded with their exami- 
 nations. 
 
 1. Penewret Sais, being sworn, says that he heard his father relate, 
 that there had been a lawsuit between Llewelyn ap lorwerth. Prince 
 of Wales, holding, and Gwenwynwyn claiming the whole land of 
 Powys, before the Justices of the Lord the King at Westminster ; in 
 the time of what King, and before what Judges he does not know. 
 When the Prince of Wales gave answer in the King's Court in this 
 manner, to wit, — that the same Gwenwynwyn was convicted of being 
 a deceiver of that Prince, for which by the judgment of the same 
 Court he lost the land of Powys, and thence was disinherited and so 
 died. Being asked how Gruffyth Gwenwynwyn's son recovered the 
 said land of Powys ; he says it was by the power of King Henry, in 
 time of war. He says also that Einion ap Gwalchmai was associated 
 with the King's Justices at Westminster, and they adjudicated to- 
 gether. He also says that he saw a lawsuit at Khuddlan, between 
 Roderic, Plaintiff, and Prince Llewelyn, Defendant, concerning his 
 share of a joint property in Wales, and he there responded according 
 to the common law, and shewed a certain writing made between them. 
 He also says that according to the law of Howel Dda, no one can sell 
 his inheritance or give a quit-claim of it. Being asked concerning the 
 custom of the common law, he says that when there is a suit between 
 any respecting any land, the lord of the place shall lay a Defence 
 upon that tenement, and it is at the will of that lord to grant the 
 parties; the law which is called Kyfraith, or that in which the truth of 
 the matter is inquired into by the country. He also says that he has 
 heard his father relate that there was a suit betwixt Gruffyth ap Llew- 
 elyn and David his brother, in the King's Court, whence proceeded a 
 Duel by champions, as is mentioned elsewhere. He says also that 
 the Prince and any lord of Wales can correct and amend the laws. 
 He says also that he has often seen that tlie trial has been by jury 
 amongst inferiors, but he does not know how often. 
 
 " Quod rei Veritas inquisita fuit per patriam." * 
 
 * For an explanation of this expression, see a subsequent passage. 
 
358 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 David ap Richard — says the same with Kynwric, the foregoing wit- 
 ness, concerning the lawsuit between Llewelyn ap lorwerth and 
 Gwenwynwyn about the land of Powys. He also says the same con- 
 cerning the common law, that whensoever a suit took place between 
 any persons, it was in the power of the lord to grant to the parties 
 either the law, called Kyfraith, or that the matter should be tried by 
 jury, as above stated ; and thus he saw many suits terminated. He 
 says also that the Prince or other, Lord of Wales, could correct and 
 amend the laws, &c. 
 
 Einion ap Rhyryd — says the same respecting the common law with 
 the fore-examined. He adds also that in cases of recent seizing, it was 
 usual to proceed by the English law, [rei Veritas inquiri] and in cases 
 of old possession, by the [Welsh] law called Kyfraith. He also says 
 that should there be a lawsuit between a rich man and a poor man, 
 respecting any tenement, that it was at the option of the lord, whether 
 they should use the aforesaid [Welsh] law, or the English method, 
 [rei Veritas] so that equality be observed, and thus he saw many suits 
 terminated. Concerning the suit between GrufFyth and his brother 
 David, he agrees with the fore- going witnesses. 
 
 Einon ap Ivor — says the same, and also that in case of a lawsuit 
 between the nobles of Wales, they were accustomed to sue in the 
 King's Court. 
 
 Ivor ap Tegwared, a W elsh Ynad, in Latin Judex, [a Judge] — 
 says that the nobles of Wales have been accustomed to obtain judg- 
 ment before the King and his Justices. Concerning the laws, he 
 agrees with the fore-examined. He adds also, that where the truth of 
 the matter could not be easily inquired into by the law Kyfraith, it 
 was customary to obtain an Imparlance ; for as in Wales it was not 
 customary to proceed by Wager of Battle, the law Kyfraith, used in 
 lieu of the Duel to terminate the suit, &c. and thus was it always 
 usual to do. 
 
 Einion ap David, a Judge — says the same with Ivor the Judge, 
 fore-examined. He says also that the Prince, if he sees the laws 
 deficient, can amplify it ; and if it be too ample, he can abbreviate it. 
 
 Llewelyn ap Bleddyn — says that it was always customary for the 
 nobles of Wales to conduct lawsuits before the King and his Justices, 
 because he is their superior, and that it is in the choice of the lord, 
 which law to grant to the parties, as afore-said. The Prince also may 
 construct the laws, for the alleviation and not the exasperation 
 of the Country. 
 
 Gwyon ap Madoc — says it is in the choice of the lord whether the 
 litigating parties use the law of Kyfraith, or the practice of Rei Ver- 
 itas. He says also that he has heard that Llewelyn ap lorwerth, 
 formerly Prince of Wales, would not by any means, in his time, per- 
 mit the practice of the said law of Kyfraith, but that the truth of the 
 matter should be inquired into, [sed quod rei Veritas inquireretur,] 
 and thus does the present Prince Llewelyn, according to the usual 
 mode. Of suits amongst others he knows nothing. 
 
 Ednyyet ap Ithel — agrees with the fore-going, that the lawsuits of 
 the Nobility have always been accustomed to be determined before 
 the King and his Justices. But he says that contrary to the will of 
 the Plaintiff or Defendant, the King cannot proceed by the new 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 359 
 
 method, [veritatem inquirere per patriam] but always by the law of 
 Kyfraith ; unless it shall be otherwise arranged by consent of the 
 parties, and this, whether it be a rich or a poor person. 
 
 Rhyryd ap Llowarch — agrees in every thing with the fore-going 
 witnesses. 
 
 Blethyn ap Ithel — says that when a lawsuit occurred between the 
 Nobility of Wales, the cause was conducted before the King and his 
 Justices, as he believes and understands. Concerning the other ar- 
 ticles he knows nothing, as he says he attends more to hunting than 
 discussing the law. 
 
 Ithel ap Howel — says that the King as superior and his Justices 
 ought to adjudicate between the Nobles of Wales. But he says that 
 he never saw any lawsuit of the kind. He says also that he has often 
 seem the Bailiff agree, according to his own will, to the Inquisition by 
 the new law [rei Veritas]. And he says that the Prince, to wit, 
 the King, can amend the laws for alleviation and not for causing 
 grievance. 
 
 Llewelyn ap Meylir — says that he saw in the town of Rhuddlan, 
 that Llewelyn, the present Prince, adjudging between a Nobleman and 
 a poor man, litigating before thelPrince, conducted the inquiry according 
 to the new mode, [rei Veritas] but he does not know the names of the 
 litigants, but he never saw a lawsuit in this manner between equals. 
 Concerning the amending of laws, he agrees with the preceeding. 
 
 lorwerth ap Madoc — says that the King as superior ought always, 
 to adjudicate between the Nobility of Wales and their Peers. He 
 also says that he, the Bailiff, agreed to try the cause by the mode of 
 Rei Veritas, and if the cause could not be decided thus, then it must be 
 determined by the law of Kyfraith. 
 
 Llowarch ap Meyric — agrees with the fore- going. 
 
 Gruffyth ap Rhyryd — agrees with the three last witnesses. 
 
 lorwerth ap Rhyryd — agrees with the last, and with others, in all 
 things. 
 
 Gronw ap Davydd Vychan — agrees in this with the other witnesses 
 that the King as superior, ought always to adjudicate between his sub- 
 jects. He does not, however, recollect that he saw any lawsuit be- 
 tween any persons, but proceedings ought and have been accustomed 
 to be conducted by the usage of Rei Veritas notwithstanding the ob- 
 jection of the defendant. 
 
 Gwyon ap Blethyn — agrees in all things with the foregoing Gronw. 
 
 The Lord Gruffyth de Brug, [Bridgenorth] a monk of Basingwerk, 
 says he has not seen any lawsuit between any persons, nor does he 
 know any thing of their laws and usages. 
 
 Baldwin, a monk of the same place — says the same with the fore- 
 going. Being asked whether he had in his possession any instruments 
 by which the King might obtain any information on the subject of 
 the articles, he says no. 
 
 Rhyryd ap lorwerth — says that he saw a suit between Llewelyn the 
 present Prince, and Gruffyth the sonof Gwenwynwyn before the King 
 at Rhuddlan. And he afterwards saw a suit between them bofore W. de 
 Hopton and his associates at Montgomery. And he firmly believes 
 
360 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 that the King and his Justices ought to decide lawsuits between the 
 nobility of Wales, as their superior. He also says that suits are 
 more frequently conducted according to Rei veritatem, than according 
 to the Law of Kyfraith ; and this according to the will of the*Lord or 
 the Bailiffs, notwithstanding the objection of the Defendant. It never- 
 theless [apparently an ommission here,] and the Prince can 
 
 amend the laws. He says also that the whole country prefers to 
 proceed according [Rei Veritatem,] rather than according to the 
 Law of Kyfraith. 
 
 Tuder ap David — says the same as Rhyryd. 
 
 Addun ap Tuder — says the same, 
 
 Tuder ap Madoc — says the same of the suits between the Prince 
 and Gruffydd according to hearsay of the suit between Gruffyth ap 
 lorwerth, and David his brother before the King in London. He says 
 also, respecting the law, the same as Rhyryd the forenamed. 
 
 Davydd ap Einion — says that he has heard of the suit formerly be- 
 tween Gruftyth and his brother David in London, before the King, 
 and of the Wager of Battle. Of the laws he says the custom is to 
 proceed by Rei Veritas, at the option of the lord, unless it should hap- 
 pen that on account of the length of time, they cannot proceed by this 
 method, in which case recourse is had to the forenamed Law [of 
 Kyfraith.] 
 
 Meuric ap Tuder — says that he has no recollection of lawsuits, but 
 he verily believes that the King and his Justices ought to have cogni- 
 zance. Concerning the laws and customs, he agrees with the preced- 
 ing witnesses. 
 
 Heilin ap Blethyn — says that he has seen a suit between the present 
 Prince and Gruffytli ab Wenwynwyn, before the King and his Justices. 
 Of other suits he has no recollection. Of the laws he says the same as 
 the other witnesses, and of their alteration for mitigation and not exas- 
 peration. 
 
 Kynwric ap Kareweth, [query lorwerth'?] — says the same with 
 the foregoing in every thing. He says also that with the laws them- 
 selves, people at present declare themselves well satisfied, because their 
 Bailiff, to wit, Gronw ab Heylin, conducts himself well amongst them, 
 always inviting to an inquiry by Rei Veritatem, and this mode the 
 community desires, &c. 
 
 Einion ab Ithel [query leuan?] — says that he has seen the Nobility 
 of Wales trying causes before the King, and before W. de Hopton, and 
 he says there is no doubt that lawsuits ought to be tried before the 
 King and his justices, as before the lord. Concerning the Laws, he 
 says the same as the preceding witness Kynwric. 
 
 Kynwric ab Elidir — says the same as Einion. He adds moreover 
 that where the truth of the matter [Rei Veritas] cannot be elicited, 
 then the proceeding must be according to the forementioned Law, and 
 according to that Law, they must go upon the tenement claimed ; 
 nevertheless the Lord or his Bailiff can say to the parties in Court, if 
 he pleases, " You shall have the same justice here as if you were upon 
 the tenement in question;" and thus they ought to be in Court accord- 
 ing to the will of the Lords, or the Bailiffs. In the other articles he 
 agrees with the foregoing. 
 
 He^din ab Roppert — agrees with the preceding in all things, except 
 that where the proceedings are according to the Law of Kyfraith 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 B61 
 
 tliey must always go to the tenement in dispute and not elsewhere in 
 any Court. 
 
 Ithel ap Philip— says the same in all things with the fore-named 
 Ky wric ; adding that the Prince can at his own will convert the laws 
 and alter them for the better ; exemplifying David ap Llewelyn the 
 Grandfather of the present Prince, who by himself and his council 
 annulled the law of Glanas [Homicide,] throughout all North Wales. 
 It appeared to him and his council that the perpetrators of a crime 
 ought to be detained, and not others who had done nothing wrong, 
 which was otherwise done in the case of Glanas. 
 
 Gronw ab Philip — agrees with the two preceding. 
 
 Edny vet ap Einion — says the same with Helyn ap Roppert. 
 
 Einion ap loynaf, (leuav?) — says that he knows nothing of law- 
 suits ; but he says that certainly the Barons of Wales, litigate before 
 the King as well as before the lord ; and that the mode of Rei veritate, 
 should be used rather than the proceeding by the law of Kyfraith, 
 because it is more pleasing to God, according to what he says. 
 
 Einion ap Richard — says that he knows nothing of lawsuits, but 
 he says that the whole country prefers the proceedings by Rei ver- 
 itate, than by the law of Kyfraith ; and thus it most frequently 
 occurs among them. 
 
 GrufFyth ab Tudor — says that when Llewelyn the Prince was not 
 in allegiance to the King, then the Barons subject to him in Wales 
 were accustomed to litigate before the Prince himself. But since that 
 Llewelyn was in allegiance to the King, then the proceedings were 
 before the King and his Justices. Of the laws and customs, he says 
 it is of the option of the lords to grant either the law of Kyfraith, or 
 the proceedings of Rei Veritas. Of amending the laws, he says that 
 the King can amend them at the urgent desire of the country and 
 with the consent of his council. Of other matters he knows nothing. 
 
 GrufFyth ab lorwerth, a Judge — says that it is at the option of the 
 lords to grant to parties either the law of Kyfraith or that of Rei 
 Veritas. And he says the country prefers the proceeding by Rei Veri- 
 tas, if it could be conducted by trustworthy men. In other things he 
 agrees with the preceding. He also adds that if the law of Kyf- 
 raith is granted to parties, in that case the Judge ought to go to the 
 tenement. 
 
 Tuder Vychan — says that the superior ought always to have 
 cognizance amongst his subjects. Of the rest he says the same as 
 others. 
 
 Kynwric ab Madoc — says the same, and adds that the lord can 
 never appoint the mode of Rei Veritas against the will of the posses- 
 sor, but must proceed by the law of Kyfraith, especially in suits con- 
 cerning land. 
 
 Elias de Llewenny — says the same with GrufFyth ab lorwerth. 
 He also says that if he himself were King, all should proceed by 
 Rei Veritas. 
 
 Tegwared, the Son of John, one of the Judges of the Town of 
 Rhuddlan, — says that he has often seen judgement according to the 
 following mode, to wit, — when any one would claim land of another, 
 
 3 A 
 
3G2 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 he ought first of all to give sureties for proceeding. And so ought 
 the defendant to find sureties that he will he before the Judges at a 
 certain day and place in order to answer ; and if either of them should 
 desire the law of Howel Dda, and the other should desire the inquiry 
 hy Rei Veritas, the Prince may grant to the opposing party, for money, 
 of his special favour if he wills it the inquiry by Rei Veritas. Being 
 asked if he ever heard that Llewelyn proceeded by the law of Howel 
 Dda, when any one desired the inquisition by Rei Veritas ; he says 
 that neither he nor Llewelyn his Grandfather, nor David his Uncle, 
 ever would judge according to that law, but according to the inquisi- 
 tion. And he assigns the reason, that the Welsh have a proverb in 
 their native language* — " Stronger is the truth [Rei Veritas] than the 
 law," [Plus valet Veritas quam Lex.] And he says that he saw a 
 suit terminating in the fore-going manner before the present Prince 
 and his Judges, between the sons of William ab Robin, and the 
 daughters of John his Uncle ; and between David ab Tegwared, and 
 his Relative ; and between Gwyl ab Ridi and William ab Owen, who 
 gave six pounds to the Prince for having an Inquisition. And in the 
 fore -going form he has frequently seen adjudications before the Prince's 
 Bailiffs, but how often he does not know. 
 
 Einion ab Nest, one of the Judges of the town of Rhuddlan — being 
 asked concerning the laws and customs of the town, says that it is in the 
 will of the lord to grant for money or favour, either the inquisition or 
 law, [Kyfraith,] and concerning the fore-named trials he agrees with 
 Tegwared. He also says that it is by that method he has always seen 
 adjudications in the court of Rhuddlan. 
 
 Cynddelw son of Gwrgenen, one of the Judges of the town of 
 Rhuddlan — agrees in all things with Einion, adding that by the char- 
 ter and grant of the present King, the Burgesses of Rhuddlan ought 
 to have the same laws that the Burgesses of Hereford have. 
 
 Roger, son of William, a Burgess of Rhuddlan, being examined res- 
 pecting the laws and customs of the fore-said town — says that they 
 have the same laws and customs with the Burgesses of Hereford. And 
 being asked if he recolleets the fore-said lawsuits, says that he heard 
 his father relate that the fore-said lawsuits were terminated between 
 the fore-said persons in the fore-said form ; but he himself did not see 
 it, being then a boy or very young, as he says. 
 
 John de Pelham, a Burgess of Rhuddlan, being asked concerning 
 the laws and customs of the town of Rhuddlan — said that he has heard 
 
 * The writer is at a loss for this Welsh proverb, but supposes it must be ''Trech 
 gwlad nag Arglwydd," the meaning of which, as connected with this subject, 
 would be, " Stronger is the trial by jury, than the decision by the lord of the 
 court as the word Giclad answers to Patria," a word continually used in 
 this statute to designate a jury, and Arglwydd is the Dominus, or manorial lord, 
 who is also frequently referred to. 
 
 It must be remarked that in this statute, "Veritas," and"Rei Veritas," are always 
 placed in opposition to Lex and Cyfraith. The latter words always denoting the 
 "Welsh Law of Howel Dda, and the former, i. e. Veritas, always implying the 
 new system according to the English form. It is also evident that Veritas es- 
 pecially refers to the trial by jury ; and although the word appears of recent 
 introduction, yet as the practice was long established among the Welsh, it must 
 have been known by a Welsh appellation ; and if the above conjecture is right, 
 the Welsh word for the jury must have been " Gwlad." 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 868 
 
 from the relation of the Burgesses of Rhuddlan, that the present King 
 has granted to them the same liberties that the Burgesses of Hereford 
 possess. And he says that the same laws and customs are in use at 
 Rhuddlan as at Hereford, as he believes. And he says that he rarely 
 comes to the court of Rhuddlan because he is a Merchant, and has 
 but lately come to the town of Rhuddlan ; and he is a great deal out 
 of the town for the purpose of trading, therefore he does not know 
 these laws and customs, nor can he answer further on the other 
 subjects. 
 
 William Wirnyn — says that as often as he has seen litigation, the 
 judgment has been given according to Inquisition. He also says that 
 he has not often seen adjudication, as he has but lately come to 
 Wales, and has resided but a short time in Rhuddlan. Respect- 
 ing the other articles he is totally ignorant, as he says because he 
 is a new comer. 
 
 Alan Colle, a Burgess of Rhuddlan — says the same as John de Pel- 
 ham, afore-said, nor does he know any thing more. 
 
 Further evidence at Rhuddlan. 
 
 William Arbalaster, a Burgess of Rhuddlan — says the same as 
 William Wirnyn, afore-said, nor does he know of any thing more, 
 except that he has heard by the relation of many, that the same laws 
 and customs are now in use in Rhuddlan as in Hereford. 
 
 Meylir, the Cementer, a Burgess of Rhuddlan — says the same, &c. 
 
 William de Coventre, a Burgess of Rhuddlan — says the same, &c. 
 
 The Commissioners having finished their examinations at 
 Rhuddlan, proceeded to the White Monastery, [Album 
 Monasterium,] probably in the neighbourhood of Oswestry ; 
 and commenced their examinations. 
 
 William, a clerk, being sworn and examined, says that he William 
 recovered in the court of the White Monastery, by judgment of the 
 same court, free from damages, a certain land, according to common 
 law ; and thus do they proceed, according to common law in all law- 
 suits. He has also seen a suit between Richard Prufford, and his 
 brother, conducted according to the same law. And he has seen very 
 many other suits which he does not remember. He says also that the 
 King and Prince may correct the laws. 
 
 Richard the Forester — says he knows nothing of lawsuits or of the 
 other matters. 
 
 Philip the son of Hamond — says the same with the fore-named 
 William. 
 
 Richard the Stranger — says that when a suit is instituted between 
 any persons, sureties are found by the parties, and it is determined by 
 twelve jurors according to the Rei Veritas ; and sometimes by the 
 whole court if it is a suit of magnitude. 
 
 Einion Ddu — knows nothing. 
 
 William le Engleis — has heard that there was a lawsuit between 
 Prince Llewelyn and Gruffyth son of Wenwynwyn, but he knows 
 
864 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 nothing of the mode of proceeding. He understands however, that 
 when there is a lawsuit, it shall be determined by verdict of twelve 
 jurors according to Rei Veritas. Of the rest, he knows nothing. 
 
 Roger the son of J ohn — says the same with Richard the Stranger. 
 
 John Marshal — agrees in every thing William le Engleis. 
 
 John son of Richard — says that it is by the verdict of twelve 
 jurors, lawsuits are terminated between parties every where in his 
 country. 
 
 Ralph son of Mabil — has seen no lawsuits that he remembers, but 
 he says that all lawsuits concerning lands and tenements are termin- 
 ated by Inquisition, according to Rei Veritas, as well between the 
 Welsh as the English. 
 
 Nicholas Bonel, Vicar of the church of the White Monastery — 
 agrees in all things with the afore-said Ralph. 
 
 Richard de Camera, Constable — says the same with Richard 
 Strange. 
 
 Einion ab Madoc — says that when a suit is instituted amongst them 
 concerning lands, it is determined by the verdict of twenty four 
 jurors, in the form of Inquisition, according to Rei Veritas. He also 
 says that any Prince may amend the laws. Also that sometimes a 
 suit is decided by the whole court, in Inquisition. 
 
 Madoc, a Foot Soldier — says the same as the fore-going Einion. 
 
 Gruffyth Vychan — says that litigations are conducted by the whole 
 court, by Inquisition. 
 
 Gronw Voel — says the same. 
 
 Einion Voel — says the same — and adds that the Prince may amend 
 the laws and not deteriorate them. 
 
 Rhyrid Voel — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Henry Brun — recollects the suit between David ap Llewelyn and 
 his brother GrufFyth, before the King — knows nothing more. And 
 agrees respecting the laws, with the fore-going. 
 
 Blethyn Voel — says the same. 
 
 Blethyn ab Einion — remembers nothing of lawsuits but says that 
 the law is decided by the whole court. 
 
 Kynwric ab Meylir — says the same. 
 
 Eynion Voel — knows nothing of lawsuits. In other things agrees 
 with the rest. 
 
 GrufFyth Ddu — says the same, 
 
 Einion ab Ithel — says that when a suit is moved between any 
 persons, they themselves excepted, it is decided by the whole court. 
 Einion Voel of Middleton — agrees with the others. 
 
 lorwerth Vychan — agrees with the rest — also in the amending of 
 the law. 
 
 Osbert Vychan, Bailiff of the Welsherie, — says that Rei Veritas by 
 Inquisition, and by the whole court, ought to be practised. He re- 
 members nothing of lawsuits, nevertheless he has seen a suit deter- 
 mined between Kynwrigyn and the son of lorwerth ab GrufFyth, and 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 865 
 
 likewise between Rhyryd ab Howel, and the men of Llanvordav, by 
 Inquisition ; and also between many others, of which he has no 
 recollection. 
 
 Eynion ab loynau — says the same. 
 
 Samuel Voel — the same. 
 
 Madoc ab Gronw — says the same with Osbert Vychan. 
 
 Cadwgan Gam — says he saw a lawsuit between Alic. Salcere, and 
 some other person whose name he does not know, decided by a verdict 
 of jurors and by Inquisition. 
 
 Einion ab Wichin — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Einion ab Ithel — says the same. 
 
 Einion Du — says they have among them a special law, that suits 
 are determined by the whole court after the mode of Inquisition. Of 
 the rest he does not remember. 
 
 Meredith ab Einion — agrees with the fore-going. 
 The Commissioners then proceeded to Montgomery. 
 
 William Gutele — says he has not seen lawsuit between any, and 
 being asked concerning the laws, he says that amongst the Welsh, 
 whether they litigate according to the law of Howel Dda, or the 
 other manner, as ^he has heard, they always proceed by Venue by 
 Inquisition. Of the rest he knows nothing. 
 
 William Pagyn — says that in suits about lands, they always decide 
 by a verdict of twelve Jurors, or of the whole court. Of other 
 matters he knows nothing, being a merchant he does not attend such 
 matters. 
 
 William son of Robert — says the same. 
 
 Nicholas Brusebon — says he has seen a suit between Owen son of 
 Howel, and Cadwalader and Mapmoel and his brothers, before the 
 lord John Estrange, then Justice, which suit was decided by a verdict 
 of twelve Jurors in the manner of Inquisition, in the court of Mont- 
 gomery. And so are the proceedings carried on in the Welsh court, 
 where they practise after the mode of Inquisition by Rei Veritas. 
 He also says that he has seen very many instances which he does not 
 remember. 
 
 Roger, Priest of Shirburg — says that he saw a lawsuit between 
 GrufFyth the son of Gwenwynwyn, and Thomas Corbet of Gordur, 
 which was decided by a verdict of twenty-four Knights. And the 
 said tenement is in the Welsherie, and out of the County. He also says 
 that amongst the Welsh, proceedings are conducted in the same way 
 by Inquisition. 
 
 William de Linley — says he heard that there was a lawsuit between 
 GrufFyth the son of Gwenwynwyn and GrufFyth the son of Madoc, 
 concerning the land of Mohnant [Mold at Westminster, and it was 
 decided by Inquisition. Respecting the laws, he says that as well in 
 the courts of the Welsh, as in the courts of the English, they always 
 proceed by the mode of Inquisition. Of the rest he knows nothing. 
 
 John de Caretona — says that he has heard from his predecessor 
 that a lawsuit had been decided before the King and his Justices by 
 
866 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 the form of Inquisition, between the Barons of the Marches and the 
 Welsh, one half of the Jurors being from the confines of the Mar- 
 ches and one half Welsh ; especially as the King had both under 
 his power. 
 
 Robert son of Howel — says there was a lawsuit between lord 
 Thomas Corbert and Gruffyth son of Gwenwynwyn, before the 
 King's Justices concerning the land of Goiteoure [Coideber, in a pre- 
 ceding clause,] and the afore-said Thomas recovered that land, before 
 the above mentioned Justices of King Henry, the father of the present 
 King, by a verdict of twelve Jurors. And he ^says precisely, the 
 Welsh have always to this day used the same law, &c. And lie says 
 that it is right for the King to correct the laws and customs. 
 
 Howel Vychan — agrees in all things with the fore-going. 
 
 Adam Cornatun* — says that he has not seen any litigation concern- 
 ing land amongst the Nobility, as he is but middle-aged. He says 
 also that those laws have always been in use, which the predecessors 
 of the present King have acted upon. But that in suits concerning 
 land, and in other things of magnitude, they always have been accus- 
 tomed to decide by twelve Jurors. Concerning laws and customs 
 voluntary, and permissions to the people, he says expressly that the 
 King could always, at his own will, correct such laws, but not deteri- 
 orate them. 
 
 Robert Vychan — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Cadwgan son of Wynne — agrees with the fore-going in all things ; 
 adding also that King Henry, the father of the present King, gave 
 the laws and customs which are in use, which he partly corrected. 
 And he says distinctly that the present King if he wills, may at his 
 pleasure amend the laws and customs, for the improvement and 
 general advantage of his land. 
 
 Robert the son of Guinne — says that he does not recollect any thing 
 of having seen any suits for land between the Nobles. Concerning 
 the laws and customs and their amendment, he agrees with the pre- 
 ceding. He also says that when the laws and customs happened not 
 to be correct, as often as need was, they should address the King, 
 that he should appoint a Council, &c. 
 
 Gruffyth son of Gronwy — says as regards suits for lands, if of one 
 acre only, they are accustomed always to proceed before the King's 
 Bailiff without a writ and by twelve Jurors, &c. And if exceeding 
 one acre, then by a King's writ, and recover in the mode of Inquisi- 
 tion, by twelve Jurors, &c. He says also precisely that in other 
 suits, they ought always to proceed before the King's Justices, by 
 assent of the parties having the election. Concerning amending the 
 laws and customs, he says the King ought to amend them, &c. 
 
 David son of lorwerth — knows nothing of suits between the nobles, 
 but of the other matters, he says that the King ought to amend the 
 laws and customs for the public good, as often as needful. 
 
 Cadwgan ab Stocton — has seen nothing of lawsuits, and knows 
 nothing of laws. 
 
 There is a hill called in English Corndon, and in VS^elsh Carnattyn, in 
 Shropshire, not far from Montgomery. 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 367 
 
 lorwerth ap Cadwgan — agrees with Nicholas Brusebon. Speaking- 
 of suits, he says that in time of peace, in both courts, as well English 
 as Welsh, proceedings respecting transgressions are carried on by 
 twelve ; but whether so in case of lands, he does not know. 
 
 Richard Reuen — knows nothing. 
 
 Robert son of Robert — says the same with lorwerth ap Cadwgan. 
 
 Einion de Chirstot — knows nothing. 
 
 Roger son of Roger, sou of Elie — knows nothing. 
 
 Tuder ap Madoc, formerly Bailiff of Kerry and Halsete — says that 
 he has seen that Howel ap Cadwallon, Madoc ap Mailgwn, and 
 Mourice Bariah, for the slaying of William de Moid, by challenge 
 made respecting his death, in the time of King J ohn, before him and 
 his Justices at Bridge North, received judgment there by Inquisition, 
 and were hanged, and thence by judgment were disinherited ; but at 
 the instance of their friends, their sons recovered from the hands of 
 the King, their land hereditary belonging to them, to wit, at the in- 
 stance of GrufFyth ap Wenhwynwyn, and Thomas Corbet. He also 
 says that he has heard of a suit concerning Gordur [Coedeber,] be- 
 tween the forenamed Gruffyth ap Wenhwywyn and Thomas Corbet, 
 which was determined before the King's Justices, but before whom 
 he does not know, by a verdict of a jury of twenty-four Knights. 
 He says also that he himself, the said Tuder, recovered a certain land 
 in Mochtrev, before Hunbert de Monteferand, against Einon ap 
 Gronw, and his brother by a verdict of twelve jurors by the mode of 
 Inquisition ; and such is the general method of proceeding in the dis- 
 trict of Kerry, according to the laws and customs of those parts. 
 And such are used by the people of Kedewain, so that the mode of 
 Rei Veritas is practised. He says also that the nobility in possession 
 of the land in dispute propose the laws of Howel for the sake of delay, 
 because according to that law there are great delays, nevertheless 
 they proceed with the inquiry by Rei Veritas. He also says that the 
 Prince may amend the laws for the advantage of the country, and es- 
 pecially the King. 
 
 From Montgomery the Commissioners proceeded to Llan- 
 badarn Vawr. 
 
 Trahaiarn ab Philip — says that all lawsuits and all Imparlances, 
 have been used to be determined b}^ the Court. And he says that in 
 the county of Cardigan there is not any Judge but the lord and the 
 Court. Being asked if he ever saw any suit amongst the nobility ; 
 he says not. He says notwithstanding, that Llewelyn voluntarily took 
 away from the sons of Meredith ab Owain three Commots, to wit, 
 Geneurghlyn, Creuthyn, and Cwmmvvd Pervedd, and gave that land 
 to Rhys ap Wayghan, the son of Rliys ab Mochegun. [ Rhys 
 Vychan son of Rhys Mechyll ] Being asked if he saw many lawsuits 
 between the nobles, he says not, except on the junction of lands in 
 the manner of a Parliament. 
 
 Philip son of Henry — agrees with the fore-said Trahaiarn, adding 
 that neither throughout the whole of West V/ ales, nor throughout 
 Cardigan, is there any Judge (Ynad.) — Being asked how a suit for 
 land or tenement moved before the King or his Justices amongst the 
 
368 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 nobles, ought to be decided ; he says that the truth Rei Veritas, ought 
 to be inquired into by equals and neighbours of the parties, not being 
 suspected of either party. 
 
 The land of Conan ab Meredyth. 
 
 Morgan ab Einion — agrees with the fore-going. 
 Richard ab Rees — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 The land of Llewelyn ab Owain. 
 
 Howel ab Wayghan [H. Vychan ?] — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Howel ab Cadivor — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Gryffyth ab Madawc — says that all lawsuits in that Commot are 
 accustomed to be decided by twelve men chosen by the King's Bailiff 
 with consent of the parties. 
 
 Meilir ap Waillauc [Gwallawc or Maelawc?] -agrees with the 
 fore-going. 
 
 Meylir ab Einiawn — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Madoc ab lorwerth — says that in that Commot in all lawsuits the 
 Court Judges between the parties ; and he says there is not there any 
 Judge called Ynad. 
 
 Rhys ab Ewayn — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 The Abbot of Whitland [de Alba Domo. Y Ty Gwyn ar Dav 
 in Carmarthenshire,] — says the same as Howel son of William, — 
 adding that if any party complains of false judgment, they ought to 
 convoke twelve men from any Liberty together with the Judge of 
 Ystrad Towy ; and if it is made manifest before them it has been 
 wrongly adjudicated, the Court shall be convicted of false Judgment 
 by their decision. 
 
 The Abbot of Strata Florida — agrees in all things with the Abbot 
 of Whitland, excepting that he is ignorant respecting that Judge. 
 
 GrufFyth son of Meredyth — agrees in every thing with the Abbot 
 of Whitland. 
 
 Howel son of William — says that the laws in his parts are these : 
 to wit, if any one claims land against any, the Defendant may make 
 three Defaults, and after Three Defaults the Defendant ought to have 
 summons testificatory, so that when the Defendant shall come into 
 Court, and the Plaintiff shall claim the land of him, the Defendant 
 ought to answer upon the principal Plea, and the whole Court shall 
 judge between them, so that he to whom the Court shall adjudge the 
 land, shall have it, and he says that there is no litigation in any other 
 way. He also says that if a Welsh Baron shall claim land against 
 a Welsh Baron, he ought to claim it before the King and his J ustices, 
 and the inquiry ought to be made by their Peers, Welsh Barons, not 
 suspected of either party. Being asked if he saw it thus litigated 
 between any persons ; he says yes ; to wit, between Meredyth ab 
 Oweyn and Meredyth ab Rhys, in a suit concerning a bridge over the 
 Teivy, at Appar. [? Aberteivy, i. e. Cardigan.] Also, between Rhys 
 
STATUTE OF RPIUDDLAN. 
 
 369 
 
 Vychan the son of Rhys ab Maelgwn, of the one part and the son of 
 Meredyth ab Oweyn and the father of Llewelyn. The proceedings 
 were conducted before the said Llewelyn, as far as could be done, but 
 no adjudication was made, on account of war breaking out. 
 
 GrufFyth Crach — agrees in all things with the preceding, 
 leuaf ab Maeler — agrees with the fore-going. 
 GrufFyth ab Meredyth — agrees, &c. 
 q. Coytel ab Madawc — agrees, &c. 
 GrufFyth Coch — agrees, &c. 
 
 GrufFyth son of Guen [q. Owen] — says it is always customary to 
 judge by the Court between all parties. Of other matters he is ig- 
 norant, yet he says that he has seen trials concerning thefts and trans- 
 gressions and they were_.decided by the Court. Of suits about land 
 he is ignorant. 
 
 lorwerth Goch — says that in all suits he has seen judgment given 
 by the Court, and so it has always been accustomed to be done as 
 he has seen. 
 
 Madoc Du — says that in all the country of Powys, to wit, the land 
 of GrufFyth ap Gwenwynwyn, the law and custom is to decide all 
 suits by the Court, and that by Veritas. And he says that formerly 
 there was one there named lorwerth Vychan ab lorwerth ab Rhun, 
 who was called Ynad, that is Judge, by name, yet he never adjudi- 
 cated, but because he went to North Wales to learn the laws of Howel 
 Dda, and thus he acquired the name. Being asked if he was a Judge 
 by hereditary right such as is the custom in North Wales, he says, 
 no. He says also that in demands made for lands or tenements for a 
 hundred years or for a longer time, as well as for demands made for 
 any shorter time, it is customary to judge by the Court and by 
 Veritas. 
 
 David Goch — agrees with the fore-going — adding that the lord of 
 the Court should enjoin them respecting the Court, that by the faith 
 in which they are bound to him, they should judge faithfully. And 
 he says that the neighbours of the place in which the disputed land 
 is, should then be in Court, and that they should judge in the matter 
 along with others. 
 
 lorwerth ab Tudur — says that the nearest neighbours of the dis- 
 puted land, being sworn jurors before the lord or the Bailiff, should 
 inquire about the truth by Veritas and judge according to the truth 
 and Veritas. 
 
 Tudur ab GrufFyth — agrees with the last. 
 
 lorwerth ab Cadwgan, BailifF of Arwystly Uwchcoed — says that 
 when there has been any suit in the Court of his lord, the lord shall 
 enjoin twelve or fewer men of the Court, by the faith in which they 
 are bound to him ; or he shall make them swear in the Court before 
 him that they will faithfully inquire respecting the truth, [Veritas,] 
 and judge according to it. And he says expressly that there is no 
 other law or custom in the land of GrufFyth son of Gwenwynwyn. 
 
 GrufFyth Voel — agrees with the last. 
 
 Meredyth ab lorwerth — agrees with lorwerth ab Cadwgan. 
 Adam ab Einion — agrees, &c. 
 
 3 B 
 
370 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 GrufFyth Person — says that he was in some suit in Court : between 
 certain persons the Plaintiff or Defendant may have their adjourn- 
 ments according as Howel the son of William has deposed, and 
 afterwards the whole Court ought to judge ; and thus it has been 
 usual to act from time out of mind. He says also that there is no 
 other judge in those parts but the whole Court. 
 
 Llewelyn the Chaplain — agrees in all things with the fore-going. 
 
 Philip ab Rees — agrees, &c. 
 
 Madoc ab Llewelyn — agrees with the above, and adds that judg- 
 ment should be given by Free-men and Land-holders, and not by 
 Rustics nor by others not having land. 
 
 Philip Vychan — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 Adam ab Howel — agrees, &c. 
 
 David ab GrufFyth — agrees, &c. 
 
 GrufFyth ab Adda — agrees, &c. 
 
 Addaf Vychan — agrees, &c. 
 
 Cadwgan Voel — agrees with the fore-going, and adds that if any 
 suspected person should be in Court, so that any party believes that 
 he would decide wickedly and not justly, that suspected person ought 
 to swear in that Court that he will judge faithfully ; and he says 
 that such suspected person cannot be set aside because of suspicion. 
 
 Gornw ab David — agrees with the fore-going. 
 
 GryfFyth ab Howel — agrees in all things, &c." 
 
 Thus did the commissioners finish their Inquiry ; having 
 examined in all 172 Witnesses ; that is, 19 in Chester; 53 
 in Rhuddlan ; 36 in the White Monastery ; 22 in Mont- 
 gomery ; and 42 in Llanbadarn Fawr. 
 
 In looking for the impression made by the perusal of 
 their depositions, I find them to be the following : 
 
 In the first place, we must recollect that the Commission 
 was held by the King''s appointment, for the purpose of for- 
 warding a plan which he had formed for bringing the country 
 under the jurisdiction of his own Courts. 
 
 Next, — The Commission extended no farther than the 
 Four Cant reds, and the adjacent land belonging to the King, 
 so that there was a considerable portion of the Principality 
 that did not come within the range of the Commissioners ; 
 for instance, the whole of Llewelyn's territory in Snowdonia 
 and Anglesey, and all the territories of the Lords Marchers, 
 who were as yet much too powerful for the King to meddle 
 with their Laws and forms of Court. 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 371 
 
 And lastly, — Whatever bias may have been shewn by the 
 witnesses or others, it is impossible to deny that the Welsh 
 were at this time, as they had been for at least some gener- 
 ations, engaged in reforming their own laws ; and there can 
 be no reason to doubt the statement, that Llewelyn ap lor- 
 werth, the Grandfather of the reigning Prince, Llewelyn ap 
 Grufiyth, had introduced some improvements into the prac- 
 tice of the law, part of which alteration consisted in a sort 
 of Trial by Jury ; but whether by borrowing from the Anglo 
 Norman Code, or by a national developing of the social ele- 
 ments, independent of any extraneous impulse, this is not 
 the place to inquire. However this may be, it is very evi- 
 dent, that though the Welsh Princes were at this time 
 beginning to introduce some innovations into their national 
 Code, yet it by no means follows that they wished to adopt 
 the whole of the English system ; which then so abounded 
 with imperfections, that the mixed style of legislation, such 
 as the witnesses state to have been in use amongst the Welsh, 
 formed partly of the old Welsh Laws of Howel Dda, and 
 partly of the new practice of the English Courts, must have 
 been much preferable to the English system of that day in 
 its entirety. And the fact seems evident, that they did not 
 want the wholesale reform that Edward had in view to 
 thrust upon them. 
 
 But whatever Edward's intentions, or his wishes may 
 have been, his plans were unexpectedly deranged, for Llew- 
 elyn and his countrymen, unable to endure longer the 
 oppressions which they were suffering from Edward's sub- 
 jects, at once broke out into open war, which continued for 
 two years, and terminated only upon the death of Llewelyn, 
 and of his brother David ; of whom Llewelyn was slain, in 
 1282, and David was put to death the following year. Ed- 
 ward then assumed the government of the country; and 
 soon after proceeded to annex the whole of Llewelyn's 
 dominion to the Crown of England ; which he did by an 
 Act, passed at Rhuddlan, in the year 1284, called the Sta- 
 tute of Rhuddlan, [Statutum de Rothelan,] and also spoken 
 of as the Statutum Wallise, or the Statute of Wales : of 
 which the following is the substance, as given by Wotton, 
 from a book of Statutes in the Exchequer : 
 
872 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 " Edward, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, 
 and Duke of Aqiiitaime, to all his faithful subjects of his land of 
 Snowdon, and all his other lands in Wales, Health in the Lord. Di- 
 vine Providence, which in His disposal does not fail, amongst other 
 gifts with which He has thought worthy to honour Us and our King- 
 dom, the land of Wales together with its inhabitants having been 
 subjected to us in Feodal right, now by his Grace, all obstacles what- 
 ever ceasing, he has totally and entirely converted the same into our 
 own proper Dominion, and has annexed it to the Crown and Kingdom 
 aforesaid as a part of the same body. We therefore, by Divine direc- 
 tion, desiring to govern our said land of Snowdon, and our other 
 lands in those parts, in like manner with others subject to our con- 
 trol, to the Honour and praise of God and of the Holy Church, and 
 to the zeal for justice, under due regulation, together with the people 
 and inhabitants of those lands, who from high to low have submitted 
 themselves to our Will, and to bring such as we have thus received 
 unto our Will, to certain laws and customs and under tranquillity and 
 our peace, we have caused to be recited before us and our peers the 
 laws and customs of those parts, hitherto used, which having atten- 
 tively heard, and fully understood, some of them by the council of 
 our foresaid Peers we have annulled, some we have permitted, and 
 some we have amended, and some others we have decreed to add and 
 enact, and finally, these, throughout all our lands in those Parts, we 
 will to be maintained in perpetual firmness, in the following form. 
 
 We provide and decree that the Justice of Snowdon shall have keep- 
 ing and Government of the Peace of our Kingdom in Snowdon, and 
 of our other adjacent Lands of Wales ; and he shall exhibit justice to 
 all whatsoever, according to the original King's Writs, and the follow- 
 ing Laws and Customs. 
 
 We will also and decree that there be Sheriffs, Coroners, and Bailiffs 
 of Commots in Snow^don, and in our lands in those Parts. 
 
 The Sheriff of Angleseye, under whom shall be the whole land of 
 Angleseye, with Cantreds, Metes, and Bounds. 
 
 The Sheriff of Caernarvon, under whom the Cantred of Arvon, the 
 Cantred of Arllechwedd, the Common of Creiddyn, the Cantred of 
 Lleyn, the Commot of Eivionyth. 
 
 The Sheriff of Meirionyth under whom the Cantred of Meirionyth, 
 the Commot of Ardudwy, the Commot of Penllyn and the Commot 
 of Dareynion, with their Metes and Bounds. 
 
 The Sheriff of Flint, under him the Cantred of Englefield [TegengeFj 
 the Land of Meylor Seysnek [Bromfielt] the Land of Hope [Estyn] 
 and all the land adjoining the new Castle and Town of Rhuddlan, as 
 far as Chester. For the rest, as regards their attendance, as also that 
 of certain other Commots, let it be before our Justice at Chester, and 
 let them answer at our Exchequer of Chester. 
 
 There shall be Coroners in the said Counties, chosen by the King's 
 Writ, whose order will be found amongst the original Writs of the 
 Chancellor. 
 
 There shall also be Bailiffs of Commots who, shall faithfully do and 
 perform their duty, according to ^vhat shall be enjoined them by the 
 Justices and Sheriffs. 
 
STATUTE OF EHUDDLAN. 
 
 373 
 
 The Sheriff of Caerinarthen with its ancient Cantreds, and Com- 
 mots, and Metes and Bounds. The Sheriff of Cardigan and Llan- 
 badarn, with their Cantreds, Commots, and Metes and Bounds. 
 
 Coroners shall be in those Counties, and Bailiffs of Commots, as 
 before said. 
 
 OF THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF IN WALES AND THE MODE 
 OF HOLDING THE COUNTIES. 
 
 The Sheriff ought to exercise his Office, in this form, to wit : When 
 any one shall com})lain to him of any Transgression, done to him 
 against the Peace of the Lord the King, whether of seizing, and un- 
 just Detention of Wages, or of unlawful Distraint, or of broken con- 
 tract, and such like, by Writ or without Writ ; First of all he shall 
 take security for his prosecuting his claim, or he shall receive his Faith, 
 if he be poor ; and afterwards he shall proceed to execution, as is more 
 fully declared in this manner. The Defendants shall, in every case, 
 be summoned to be at the next County Court to answer the Plaintiffs. 
 To which Court, Summons being made and witnessed, if they do not 
 come they shall, with the concurrence of the Court, be again summoned 
 that they answer at next Court, as before. To which if they do 
 not come, the summonses shall be repeated and witnessed by the de- 
 liberation of the Court, they shall be summoned a third time that they 
 be at the next, the third Court, to answer, as before. To which 
 Court if they do not come, from that time the Plaintiffs, by the con- 
 sideration as well in suits by writ as in complaints without Writ, shall 
 recover their requests, with damages or amends, as well in moveables 
 as in immoveables according as the actions require, and for defaults of 
 this description, a penalty shall, according to the Welsh Law and 
 Custom, be incurred to the Lord the King. And when the Parties 
 shall appear for the purpose of pleading, each stating his own case, it 
 shall be admitted without hindrance, and according to the Petitions an- 
 swers and allegations on all sides, the Court shall proceed to judgment 
 for the Plaintiff or the Defendant, and according to the quality and 
 amount of his offence shall he be punished. 
 
 And be it known that thus the Court ought to be held ; to wit — 
 from month to month in the place where the Lord the King shall ap- 
 point, and this on Monday in one Court, on Tuesday in another Court, 
 on Wednesday in the third Court, and on Thursday in tlie fourth 
 Court, and upon other days. And the Sherift shall thus proceed to 
 hold his Court. 
 
 First, he shall hear and receive before him and the Coroner and 
 Followers of the Court, Presentations of Felonies and Accidents, which 
 may have happened between two Courts, respecting the death of a per- 
 son, in such a manner as that the four Villages, nearest to the place 
 where the case of homicide or accident has occurred, shall come to the 
 next Court, along with the finder, and the Walsherie, that is the 
 kindred of the person slain, and there shall present the fact of the 
 Felony, the case of the accident, and the manner of each occurrence, 
 stating that on such a day and in such a place, it happened that such 
 a person known or unknown, was found feloniously slain, or drowned, 
 or in some other way dead from accident, and that sucli a one found 
 him, who is now present, &c. And that presentation shall be imme- 
 diately enrolled, as well in the Coroner's Roll, as in the Roll of the 
 
374 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 Sheriff. And if there shall be any man or woman, who will prosecute 
 by appeal, let security to prosecute be immediately taken, and let 
 the Appeal be brought forward in that Court, so that if the Appellees 
 appear they, may be immediately taken, and detained in the prison of the 
 Lord the King until the arrival of the J ustices, and safely kept. And 
 if they should not appear, then let them be at the prosecution of the 
 Appellor summoned from Court to Court, And if they shall not come 
 at the fourth Court, or shall not be taken, let them be outlawed ; and 
 let the women be waived. And if at the first Court to which they 
 shall be summoned, they do not appear, their lands and Chattels shall 
 be immediately taken and seized upon into the hand of the King, and 
 be delivered over for custody to the authorities as below. 
 
 In like manner shall proceedings be conducted in an Appeal con- 
 cerning Theft, Maiming, Forcible stealing, Burning and Robbery 
 against the Appellees, if they do not appear. And if they do appear 
 and find sufficient Bails, six at least or more, standing upright at the 
 arrival of the Judge, they shall immediately be bailed. 
 
 And be it known that against the Appellees, by Force, Command, 
 Mission, or Recapture to outlawry, however any person may be con- 
 vinced of the fact : 
 
 The Sheriff shall hold his Tourn in each of his Commots twice a 
 year, in any certain appointed place, to wit :Once after the Feast of 
 St; Michael, and once after Easter ; to which Tourn, all Freeholders, 
 and other Landholders, and residing in that Commot, at the time of 
 the Summons of holding the Tourn, excepting Religious orders. 
 Clergy and Women, should come there. And the Sheriffby the oath 
 of twelve Freeholders, of the most discreet and knowing, or of more, 
 at the discretion of the Sheriff, shall diligently inquire concerning the 
 under-named Headings touching the Crown of the Lord the King. 
 
 Of the deceivers of the Lord the King, and of his Kingdom, and of 
 His Lady the Queen and their children, and of those consenting to it. 
 
 Of Thieves, Homicides, Robbers, Murderers, Incendiaries felon- 
 iously causing Fires, and their receivers, and those consenting to 
 them. 
 
 Of Butchers knowingly buying and selling stolen meat. 
 
 Of Whittanwariis, to wit, those who knowingly whiten stolen 
 Ox and Horse skins so that they may not be known. 
 
 Of Transformers of Stolen Clothes, reducing them to a new form 
 and changing the old, so as to make a Tunic or a Supertunic out of a 
 Mantle, and the like. 
 
 Of Outlaws, and of the Return of those who have abjured the King- 
 dom. 
 
 Of those who against the arrival of the Judge withdraw themselves ; 
 and after his departure return. 
 
 Of the Rape of Holy Virgins, and of Matrons honestly living. 
 
 Of Treasure found. 
 
 Of the Highway, and its branches. 
 
 Of Highway obstructed, or narrowed, or broken up. 
 
 Of Walls, Houses, Gates, Ditches and Marlpits dug and made near 
 the public way, to the injury of the Road itself and to the danger of 
 travellers, and concerning the erectors and makers of the same. 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 375 
 
 Of the Counterfeitors of Money and of the King's Seal. 
 Of Offenders in Parks and "Warrens. 
 Of Breaking the King's Prison. 
 Of catching Pigeons, flying out of the Dove-houses. 
 Of those committing Pauntbreche, that is of the Breakers of Parks 
 in which animals are imparked. 
 
 Of Forestalls, that is, of withholding wages. 
 Of Homesockne. that is, of House-invading. 
 
 Of Thef bote, i. e. the carrying off stolen property, without the con- 
 sent of the King's Court. 
 
 Of Imprisoning any Freemen whatsoever. 
 Of Usurers. 
 
 Of removing and confusing boundaries. [Divisas, q. Boundaries or 
 Tithes separated.] 
 
 Of the Assize of Bread and Ale not attended to, and of persons in- 
 fringing. 
 
 Of unjust Bushels, Gallons, and other measures ; and those selling 
 by them. 
 
 Of unjust Ells and weights, and those selling by them. 
 
 Of those lodging Strangers beyond one night. 
 
 Of Blood-shed. 
 
 Of a Hue and Cry raised. 
 
 Of shearing Sheep in the folds by night, and flaying the same, or 
 other animals. 
 
 Of Taking and Collecting Corn by night in the Autumn, and carry- 
 ing it away, and of all other similar offences. 
 
 Inquiry shall be made respecting the Rights of the King taken 
 away. As of Custodies, Wards, Marritages, Releves [a kind of Her- 
 riot.] Feods, Advowsons of Churches, if any have been in the Divi- 
 sions of Counties and Commots, who took them away, and at what 
 time. And of those who appropriated to themselves Jura Regalia 
 withoiit warrant, as The Gallows, The amending of the Assize of the 
 Bread and Ale, Suit of the Law concerning illegal Distraint ; and other 
 Rights of this kind, which specially, and by prerogative appertain to 
 the Court of the Lord the King. 
 
 The Sheriff therefore, in making his Visit and his Tourn, shall im- 
 mediately at the commencement, cause to assemble before him all the 
 whole Commot, and cause them to swear that they will present the 
 truth to the twelve jurors or more, who shall be chosen by the Sheriff, 
 and that they will not conceal any truth or say any thing false of those 
 concerning whom the shall be examined of them on the part of they 
 King. And the oath being taken, he shall explain to them the above 
 written Heads, and shall enjoin them that they carefully inquire the 
 truth respecting each of them. And if any should be found who for 
 Witchcraft ought to lose their life or limbs, let their names be inti- 
 mated secretly to the Sheriff, lest being thus indicted, if present in the 
 Tourn, they should flee if they be indicted publicly. With regard to 
 other Heads, they may well be openly and publicly answered, and 
 their verdict rendered ; and then let them be told that they all of them 
 
376 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 go apart, and let them carefully consider and inquire about those 
 things which have heen enjoined them, and when they have been well 
 certified, let them return and render and present their verdict. 
 
 The Sheriff, in admitting Verdicts and Recognizances, shall not seek 
 occasion against the Presenters, nor shall lie take of them payment for 
 the privilege of exemption. The verdict or Presentation, therefore, 
 being received, the Sheriff shall immediately, or as soon as he can, 
 take those indicted of Witchcraft, whose punishment is death or loss of 
 limbs, and shall detain them in prison or dismiss them on Bail. And 
 of the other Heads, according to the Inquiry, let immediate correction 
 be done and due execution in all and every thing aforesaid. 
 
 The Bailiffs of Commots in other matters shall hold their own Com- 
 mots and do and exercise justice between litigants. 
 
 OF THE OFFICE OF CORONER, TO WIT, OF THE CROWN 
 PLEAS IN WALES. 
 
 It is provided, that in every Commot of Wales there shall be one 
 Coroner, at least, who by a King's Writ, in the form contained 
 amongst the other Royal Writs in the' following Roll, shall be elected 
 in full Court, and shall there before the sheriff make oath that he will 
 be faithful to the King, and that he will faithfully do and perform all 
 things that belongs to the office of Coroner. And his office shall be 
 that immediately after he has been required of any person, to come 
 and view any dead person, slain feloniously, or drowned, or otherwise 
 dead through mischance, and also to see a person grievously wounded, 
 whose life is despaired of, that he shall immediately send to the Sheriff 
 or Bailiff of the Commot, that he shall cause to come before him on a 
 certain day and in a certain place, all persons of twelve years of age 
 and upwards, of that town in which the occurrence took place, and of 
 the four nearest villages, and by their oath he shall faithfully, cau- 
 tiously, and secretly and diligently inquire concerning the Felony and 
 the Felons, and their chattels ; in like manner concerning the fact 
 and the manner of the fact, to wit, who was guilty of the fact ; who 
 of force, and what kind of force ; who of command or orders, and 
 who of harbouring after the fact, and of the Chattels of those persons 
 who by the Inquiry may be in those things found guilty. He shall 
 also inquire who first found the person slain, and his name shall be 
 enrolled, and he shall be bound by Bails, whose names shall be en- 
 rolled, to come to the next Court, and also before the Judge at his 
 arrival. And that such Inquiry being ordered, it shall immediately 
 be caused to be distinctly and openly enrolled, together with the 
 names of those who may have been found guilty, and their Chattels, 
 and that the written names of the same shall be delivered to the 
 Sheriff, if he be present, or to the Bailiff of the Commot, secretly 
 with a command on the part of the King, that their bodies may be 
 immediately taken, and that they be safely kept in the King's prison, 
 until they shall have done what is right in the King's Court, and 
 their Chattels faithfully appraised, and as well those cliattels whose 
 price is particularly set in the Roll, and the same chattels by the 
 view of the Sheriff or Bailiff and other faithful subjects of the King, 
 who may be in each of the Villages, in which the Chattels of the 
 foresaid may be found, shall be entirely delivered over, so that at the 
 arrival of the Judge they may faithfully answer to the King. 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 377 
 
 The Coroner also, when he makes Inquest on the Dead, shall in- 
 quh'e of the Walesherie, to wit, the kindred of the slain, and if any 
 one on the part of the Father, and another on the part of the Mother 
 shall appear, saying that they are of his kindred, and this shall be 
 testified to by faithful subjects of the King there present, their names 
 shall immediately be enrolled in the Roll. But if none of his kind- 
 red shall appear, then shall it in like manner be enrolled in the 
 Roll, that none appears, that the Judge may at his arrival show what 
 in this case is to be done. 
 
 The Coroner also shall diligently inquire respecting the cause of 
 the mischance, and its manner, and according as shall be found 
 by the Inquest, he shall cause to be distinctly enrolled. He shall 
 also inquire concerning the Finder, and shall cause his name to be 
 enrolled, as above. 
 
 Moreover, when a Thief or a Murderer, or other Malefactor shall 
 flee to a Church, the Coroner shall, as soon as he can arrange, order 
 the King's Bailiff of that Commot, that he shall on a certain day 
 cause to come before him good men and loyal of that Venue, and 
 having in their presence made recognition of the Felony, he shall 
 cause abjuration to be made in this manner, that the Felon be 
 conducted to the Church Door, and a Seaport shall be assigned him 
 by the Coroner, and thenceforth he shall abjure the Kingdom ; and 
 according as he shall be assigned a Seaport either near or distant, his 
 limits of passage through the aforesaid Kingdom shall be such that in 
 going towards that seaport, carrying a certain Cross in his hand, he 
 shall not deviate from the King's high way in any manner, that is, to 
 the riglit nor to the left, but shall always keep to it as long as he passes 
 through the Kingdom. 
 
 FORMS OF ORIGINAL KING^S WRITS OF 
 PLEADINGS IN WALES. 
 
 WRIT OF NEW DISSEIZIN OF A FREE TENEMENT, OF WHICH A FREEMAN 
 HAS BEEN UNJUSTLY AND WITHOUT JUDGMENT DISSEIZED. 
 OF A NEW DISSEIZIN OF COMMON PASTURE. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff of Anglesey, Health— Complaint has been 
 made to us by A that B and C have unjustly and without judgment 
 disseized him of his Freehold in N since our Peace in Wales, pro- 
 claimed in the eleventh your of our Reign, and therefore we com- 
 mand thee that if the aforesaid shall make thee secure, in prosecuting 
 his claim, then thou shall cause that Tenement to be reseizined of the 
 chattels which were taken in it, and the Tenement itself with the 
 chattels to be in peace until a certain day which our Justice shall 
 make known to thee. And in the mean time he shall cause twelve 
 free and legal men of that Venue to view that tenement, and their 
 names to be inbriefed. And summon them by good Summoners, that 
 they be then before our foresaid Justice ready there to make recog- 
 nition. And place under surety and safe Bails the aforesaid B and C, 
 or their Bailiffs if they themselves shall not be found, that then they 
 be there to hear that recognition. And thou shouldest have there the 
 names of the Bails summoned and this Writ. Given at Caernarvon, 
 such a year and such a day, or elsewhere. 
 
 8 c 
 
378 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 OF A NEW DISSEIZIN OF COMMON PASTURE. 
 
 A has complained to us that B and C have unjustly &c. disseized 
 him of his Common Pasture in N which belongs to his Freehold in 
 the same Town [or in another, if the case requires this] after our 
 Peace, &c. And therefore we command thee that if the foresaid A 
 shall make thee secure &c. then thou shalt cause twelve Free men 
 ike. to view that Pasture and Tenement and their names to he in- 
 briefed. And summon them by good Summoners that they then be 
 before our Justice &c. there ready to make recognition. And place 
 under securities and safe Bails the foresaid B and C or their Bailiffs 
 if they themselves shall not be found, that they then be there to hear 
 that recognition. And thou shalt have there &c. Given &c. 
 
 OR THUS. 
 
 A has complained to us that B has unjustly &c. taken up or pulled 
 down a certain hedge or a certain ditch ; or has obstructed or broken 
 up a certain way ; or has diverted the course of a certain water ; or 
 has raised or lowered or higliered a certain pool in N to the injury of 
 his Freehold in that Town [or elsewhere if such is the case] since the 
 Peace &c. And therefore we command thee if the foresaid A shall 
 make thee Secure &c. then thou shalt cause twelve &c. to view that 
 hedge or ditch, or that way, or that water course, or that pool and 
 tenement, and their names to be inbriefed. And Summon them &c. 
 that they be before our Justices &c. ready &c. And place under 
 Bail &c. the aforesaid B or his Bailiff, that he then may be &c. And 
 thou shalt have &c. Given &c. 
 
 And the forms of Writs shall be altered according to the differ- 
 ence of cases. 
 
 WRITS CONCERNING THE DEATH OF AN ANTECESSOR. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. If A shall make thee secure of 
 prosecuting his claim, then thou shalt Summon by good Summoners 
 twelve free and lawful men of the Venue of N, that they be before our 
 Justices ready upon oath to ascertain if the father of the aforesaid A 
 was seized in his Lordship of a Fee-farm of such a Manor, with its 
 appurtenances, or of so much land with its appurtenances on the day 
 he died, and if he died since our peace in Wales, proclaimed in the 
 eleventh year of our Reign, and if the same A is his nearest heir ; and 
 in the mean time they shall view that Manor or that land, and thou 
 shalt cause their names to be inbriefed. And Summon by good Sum- 
 moners C who holds that Manor, or that Land, that he then be there 
 to hear that recognition. And thou shalt there have the Summons 
 and this Writ. Given, &c. 
 
 And let there be Letters Patent under these words as far as the 
 King shall thence Order. The King to his Justice, Health. Know 
 ye that we constitute you our Justice, together with those whom you 
 shall bring with you associated to tlie Assizes of New Disseizen and 
 Death of an Antecessor, to be held in Parts of Wales. And thus we 
 command you that at certain days and places, which he shall appoint 
 for this purpose, ye shall hold those Assizes, performing there what 
 appertains to Justice, according to the Law and Custom of our King- 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 379 
 
 dom, Saving- to us our Amerciaments, and other things belonging to us. 
 We have therefore commanded our Sheriffs that at certain days and 
 places, w^hich ye shall make known to them, for this purpose, they 
 shall cause those Assizes to be held before you. In witness of which 
 matter we have caused these our Letters Patent to be made known to 
 you. 
 
 And there shall be a Close Writ to the Sheriff to direct the order of 
 the Justice, in this form. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. We command thee that thou 
 cause all Assizes of New Disseizin and Death of Antecessor, arraigned 
 by our Writs before our Justice, to be held before the same J ustice at 
 certain tunes and places that he shall make known to thee, with the 
 Original Writs, attachments, and all other particulars touching the 
 said Assizes, and this Writ. Given &c. 
 
 And the form of the Writ shall be altered according to the differ- 
 ence of Cases : to wit, if a Father, or Mother, or Brother, or Sister, 
 or an Uncle or Aunt has been seized in his Lordship as of a Fee- 
 farm, of the matter claimed, by way of the Death of an Antecessor, 
 on the day he died. And when several co-heirs and participators in 
 any inheritance claim the same ; to wit, when one of them claims by 
 the Death of his Father and Mother, Brother or Sister, Uncle or 
 Aunt ; and another or others of the same co-heirs, claim by the Death 
 of a Grandfather or Grandmother, or of a male or female Cousin, let 
 them have a Writ of Death of Antecessor according to their case, be- 
 cause that part of foresaid Writ which touches the nature of the Death 
 of Antecessor, according to the Article thence in use, draws to it the 
 nature of other Articles, touching the Co-heirs in more remote degrees. 
 
 A COMMON WRIT WHICH IN ANY CASE TOUCHES RIGHT, 
 AND IN ANY POSSESSION. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. Command A that he justly and 
 without delay restore to B the Manor of N with its appurtenances, 
 of which the aforesaid A deforciates him, as he says ; and unless he 
 shall do that, and if the aforesaid B shall make thee secure of prose- 
 cuting his claim, then Summon by good Summ oners the aforesaid A 
 that he shew before our Justice, wherefore he has not done it. And 
 thou shalt have there the Sum. and this Writ. Given ike. 
 
 OR THUS. 
 
 Command A that he justly &c. restore to B so much land with its 
 appurtenances in N as above. And in like manner shall be granted 
 that Writ before the Justice on the Bench if the Plaintiff wishes it. 
 
 WRIT OF DOWER IN WALES. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health, Command A that he justly and 
 without delay restore to B, who was the Wife of C, her reasonable 
 Dower, which has continged to her from a Freehold which belonged 
 to her former liusband in N, from whence she has nothing, as she says, 
 and whence she complains that the aforesaid A deforciates her. And 
 unless he shall do so, and the aforesaid B makes thee secure of prose- 
 
880 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 cuting her claim, then Summon by good Summoners, &c. that he 
 be before our Justice &c. to show &c. And thou shalt have there the 
 Summons and this Writ. Given &c. 
 
 And the form of the Writ shall be altered according to the diversity 
 of cases, to wit, if the woman shall have been dowered at the Church 
 Door with the Assent and free will of the father, or other antecessor 
 whose heir she might or ought to be. 
 
 A WRIT OF DEBT. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. Command A that he justly and 
 without delay render to B a hundred shillings which he owes him and 
 unjustly detains, as he says. And unless he shall so do, and the afore- 
 said B shall make thee secure of prosecuting his claim, then Summon 
 by good Summoners, the foresaid A that he be before our Justice to 
 show wherefore he has not done it. And thou shalt have there the 
 Summons and this Writ. Given &c. 
 
 And if any Chattels or Sacks of Wool shall be wanting, let it be 
 written under the Writ. The King to the Sheriff, Health. Command 
 A that he justly and without delay, deliver to B one Sack of Wool of 
 the price of ten marks which he unjustly detains from him, or Chattels 
 to the value of ten marks which he unjustly withholds from him, as 
 he says, and unless he does so &c. as above. 
 
 And let the forms of the consimilar Writ be according to the show- 
 ing of the Plaintiffs and the diversities of Cases. And Writs of Debt of 
 this kind shall not be tried before a Justice for a smaller sum than 
 Forty Shillings ; but Pleas of Debt which do not amount to Forty 
 Shilling shall be tried in the County Court and in the Commot alike. 
 And if by chance the Plaintiff will sue in this manner in the County 
 Court, then let such a writ be made for him as is called a Justicies. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. We command thee that thou 
 justiciate A that he justly and without delay pays B a hundred Shil- 
 lings, which he owes him, as he says, as he can reasonably show that 
 he owes him, that we hear no more complaint thence through defect 
 of justice. Given &c. 
 
 OR THUS. 
 
 That he restore him One Sack of Wool worth ten marks, which he 
 unjustly detains ; or Chattels to the value of ten marks which he un- 
 justly detains from him, as he says, as he is able reasonably to show, 
 that we be no more &c. Given &c. 
 
 And a Pone shall be granted, if required, in this form. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. Lay at the request of the Plain- 
 tiff, before the Justice &c. on such a day the Impartance which is in 
 the County Court by our Writ between A and B, concerning a Debt 
 of a hundred Shillings which the same requires of the aforesaid B and 
 Summon by our good Summoners the aforesaid B that he then be 
 these to answer thence the aforesaid A. And thou shalt have there 
 the Summons and this Writ, and the other Writ. Given &c. 
 
 A WRIT OF AGREEMENT. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. Command A that he justly and 
 without delay fulfil to A the agreement made betwixt them concern- 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 881 
 
 ing one^ messuage [with the whole] of ten acres of land and five 
 acres of Wood with the appurtenances in N. And unless he does it 
 &c. then Summon the aforesaid A that he is, &c. to shew &c. 
 Given &c. 
 
 And let Writs of Agreement be according to the complaints of the 
 contractors, and the differences of cases, either before the Justices or 
 in the County Court, according to the will of the Plaintiffs. And if 
 they wish to proceed in the County Court, let them have a Writ call- 
 ed a Justicies, and afterwards a Pone may be granted if required. 
 
 THE FORM OF WRIT OF ATTORNEY. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. Know ye that A has appointed 
 attorneys before us B and C to gain or lose in the suit which is before 
 you by our Writ between him A the Plaintiff and D the Defendant, 
 concerning one Messuage with its appurtenances in N. We therefore 
 command you receive the foresaid B and C, or either of them if they 
 both cannot be present, in the place of the said A himself, towards the 
 conducting of this proceeding. Given &c. 
 
 And in this manner shall Writs of Attorneys be made out in other 
 cases, according to the diversities of cases and forms of Writs. 
 
 FORM OF WRIT FOR THE ELECTING OF A CORONER. 
 
 The King to the Sheriff, Health. We command thee that in thy 
 full County Court, with the assent of the same Court, thou dost 
 cause to be chosen one Coroner, who having taken the Oath, as is 
 customary, shall thenceforth do and maintain those things which be- 
 long to the Office of Coroner in the said County, and thou shalt cause 
 such a man to be chosen as may best know and fufil his duty, and thou 
 shalt cause his name to be made known to us. Given &c. 
 
 And if he should become infirm or die, or from any other cause 
 be unable to perform his duty, then let another writ be made out, 
 mutatis mutandis. 
 
 Certain Pleadings shall be terminated by Assize. Others by 
 Juries. 
 
 By Assize they shall be determined when any being seised of a 
 Freehold, is afterwards disseised by force and seeks to have his 
 seizin restored. And in this case there is provided a Writ of New 
 disseisin, in the form above given amongst other original Cancellary 
 Writs. In like manner concerning common pasture ; when any one 
 being disseised of his common pasture belonging to his Freehold, seeks 
 to have his seisin restored, and in this case there is provided the same 
 Writ of New Disseisin by changes of certain words in the form, 
 among other original Cancellary Writs above given, in which writs 
 the following proceedings are to be observed. 
 
 First of all, having received of the Plaintiff two Bails for prosecut- 
 ing, the Sheriff shall cause to be chosen twelve free and lawful men 
 &c. of the Venue where the Tenement or Pasture is, and shall cause 
 them to view the Tenement, aud likewise the Pasture, and shall 
 attach the Disseisors, as is contained in the Writ, afterwards when 
 the Parties and the Assize come before the Justice, he shall inquire of 
 
382 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 the Plaintiff of what Freehold, or of what Common Pasture he com- 
 plains of being disseised, and according to his complaint and the an- 
 swer of the adverse party he shall proceed to take the assize, unless the 
 Disseisor knows any reason why the Assize should be stayed. And 
 if the Assise shall make for the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff shall recover 
 his Seisin together with damages, taxed by the Assize, against the 
 Disseisor, and the Disseisor shall remain at the mercy of the King, or 
 committed to Goal to be redeemed, if the Disseisin shall have been 
 enormous, and with armed force. 
 
 There are certain other Writs, which are to be decided by Assize, 
 to wit : Of a Pool raised, or broken up, or filled ; of a Ditching 
 taken up or broken down, a hedge taken up or levelled, a way ob- 
 structed or broken up, a water course turned. And according to the 
 diversity of cases shall the original writs be varied, which writs are 
 contained above in the forenamed Roll along with the writs of New 
 Disseisin, and in the same manner as above said in the Writ of 
 Freehold and of Common Pasture shall the proceeding be in them. 
 
 In the above mentioned Writs of Assize of New Disseisin, no 
 Essoin or Delay shall lie, but on the first day shall Justice be pro- 
 ceeded with. 
 
 Another is a Writ of Assizes when any one claims Seisin of a Tene- 
 ment of which his Antecessor died seised, to wit, his Father, Brother 
 Uncle, or Grandfather ; in which case is provided a Writ of Death 
 of Antecessor, in a form contained amongst the other original Writs 
 in the foregoing Roll. 
 
 It also sometimes happens that the Seisin of Antecessor is claimed 
 in a' case in which the Antecessor did not die seised, but he was seised 
 on the day when he took a Religious Habit, or a journey of Pilgrim- 
 age &c. And if the journey &c. In that Writ of Antecessor the 
 following is the proceeding. 
 
 First. Bails for prosecution being found, and the Assize chosen, 
 and a view being made by the jury, let the Defendant be summoned 
 by two good and legal Summoners that he be before the Justice at a 
 certain day &c. And let the Summons contain fifteen days at least, 
 on which day if he come, the Justice shall proceed to execute his 
 office ; and if he come not on that day, let him be punished for his 
 default, according to what is contained in the Welsh Law, to wit, by 
 Three Cows, or by their value, and let him be resummoned by two 
 other Summoners, the Summons likewise containing a space of fifteen 
 days, as aforesaid ; on which day whether he comes or not the Jus- 
 tice shall proceed to do his duty, unless he shall have caused himself 
 to be essoined beyond the sea, and then shall be given him the space 
 of forty days that he may have Ebb and Flood. But let him beware 
 whoever essoines himself that being within the four Seas, he do not 
 falsely essoin himself beyond sea, and of this shall they be convinced 
 by good proof or by good inquiry. Let him be punished, neverthe- 
 less, for his default, first by Mercy, according to what is contained in 
 the Welsh Law, and let him be precluded from saying any thing 
 against the Assize, unless he can appeal to a Warrant. 
 
 And be it known that neither in the Writ of Death of Antecessor, 
 nor in any writ of plea of land, does any Essoin lie, excepting only an 
 Essoin beyond the Sea, and the Defendant or Deforciant maintaining 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 883 
 
 this shall appear in Court and essoin himself as in the service of the 
 King, which lies in every part of the Plea, when the King will war- 
 rant it. But let him beware that he do not cause himself to be 
 falsely essoined as in the King's service, because if he is deficient of 
 the King's Warrant, he shall be punished for his default at the 
 King's Mercy, giving according to the Welsh Law, and to the adverse 
 party towards refunding his expenses of that action, according to the 
 discretion of the Justice. 
 
 In those Writs of Death of Antecessor, the following is the pro- 
 ceeding. 
 
 The Writ containing the petition of the Plaintiff being first read, 
 it shall be demanded of the Deforciant if he knows any reason why 
 the assize should be stayed ; which if he does not know, the Justice 
 shall take the assize by the jurors who best know the truth according 
 to the form of the Writ. And if the Assize shall go for the Plaintiff, 
 the Seissin shall be adjudged to the Plaintiff with costs taxed by the 
 jury, and the Deforciant shall remain at the King's Mercy. 
 
 The Deforciant can indeed say much against the Assize. For he 
 can appeal to a Warrant, and then the arrival of the Warrant is to be 
 waited for, which the Justice shall cause to come ; first by one Sum- 
 mons, and if necessary by a Re-Summons, as is said of the principal 
 Deforciant, and for his default he shall be punished as is aforesaid. 
 After the Re-Summons if he does not yet come nor essoin himself, 
 the Assize shall proceed against him by default. And if the Assize 
 shall go for the Plaintiflf*, the Seisin of the property claimed shall be 
 adjudged to the Plaintiff, and the Deforciant shall have of the land to 
 the value of the Warrant. If however the Warrant shall arrive and he 
 be demanded to shew on what account he ought to warrant, the appel- 
 lor must shew a writing which makes mention of a Warrant, or of a 
 gift made by Warrant, or by his Antecessor whose heu' he is, in 
 which mention is made that the tenure ought to be of the FeofFer 
 and his heirs, or that he show that the Warranted is seized of his 
 homage for the disputed tenement, that he has inquired if it should 
 be stated by them, in whose presence he says that he has done hom- 
 age, at the same time with other free and lawful sworn men, or that 
 he holds that tenement in exchange for another tenement. If by 
 this the Deforciant can bring forward his Warrant into a War- 
 ranting, he will remain at the mercy of the King, because he ordered 
 him to warrant, and nevertheless he shall warrant, and shall answer 
 at the assize, if he wills. 
 
 Many other things can the Deforciant say against the Assize, to wit, 
 that the Antecessor of whose Death &c. committed felony for which 
 he was hanged, outlawed, or fleeing as a public thief, and not surrend- 
 ering himself to Justice, he was beheaded, or if confessing his felony 
 before the Coroner, he abjured Wales. 
 
 The Deforciant also may object to the Plaintiff, Bastardy, and then 
 shall the Bishop of the Place be commanded that he inquire into the 
 truth of this, and he shall certify on the matter the Chief Justice of 
 Wales, and according to what the Bishop shall certify shall judgment 
 be proceeded with, without taking an Assize. And if the Bishop shall 
 declare he is a Bastard, he shall be precluded from suing ; and if he 
 declare that he is legitimate, the Justice shall by Summons cause the 
 Deforciant to come, and if needful by Re-summons the King's mercy 
 for default, being reserved as has been often said. After Re-summons, 
 
384 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 whether he comes or not, the Plaintiff shall recover his demand by the 
 testimony of the Bishop, in opposition to whose testimony no other is 
 believed, and he shall remain at the mercy of the King. 
 
 . Many other things may he say, which it would be difficult to enu- 
 merate. Such as that the Antecessor, concerning whose death the 
 Assize has been arraigned, was a Villain and held his land in Villainage, 
 and that he held at will, or for a term of life, or of years, in which 
 cases an Assize of Death of Antecessor does not lie. 
 
 The above named Assizes of New Disseisin and Death of Anteces- 
 sor must not be taken excepting in their proper Counties, that the 
 trouble and the expenses of the Country be not overcharged. But 
 Assizes shall be taken by the Justices twice, thrice, or four times a 
 year. 
 
 Mention has been made in part of Writs of Assize and their pro- 
 cess ; now it shall be stated respecting Pleas to be decided by Inqui- 
 sitions or by Juries of which some are concerning immoveable matters, 
 as Tenements, or of moveables, as Debts and Chattels, some concern- 
 ing both : some concerning Transgrsssions. But first, of Tenements 
 and Immoveables something is to be said, of which a Writ is pro- 
 vided, the form of which is contained amongst other Writs of those 
 departments. 
 
 The process of that Writ is as follows ; — 
 
 First, Bails being found for prosecuting, the Sheriff shall cause the 
 Defendant to be Summoned by good Summoners that he attend on a 
 certain day, on which if he come not, let there be another Summons 
 for another day, on which if he do not come, let him be summoned to 
 attend on a third day, on which if he does not come, nor cause himself 
 to be essoined, the Seisin shall be adjudged to the Plaintiff by default, 
 and the Deforciant shall be at the King's Mercy ; nevertheless the 
 King's mercy shall be reserved for any default whatever as aforesaid. 
 
 When however the Deforciant shall make it appear that by the words 
 of the Writ the Petition of the Plaintiff cannot be known, on account 
 that the causes of petitioning are manifold, and as it were infinite, it is 
 necessary that he who petitions should declare against the Deforciant, 
 and express the object of his petition, and this in words containing 
 truth, without calumny of w^ords, not attending to that hard usage 
 * whoso falls in a syllable, falls in the whole cause.' 
 
 On the causes of petitioning, what they are, and what 
 they ought to be, it is expedient that something should be 
 briefly said. 
 
 " Frequently the Plaintiff possesses a right, through the fact that his 
 Antecessor held the land claimed, and was thence seised of it as by 
 right and by Feoff, and then the Plaintiff finds it needful to declare 
 the parental descent, descending to himself. It happens also that 
 some one may demit his land to the end of life, or of years of which 
 termination the land ought to revert to himself, or to his heir ; or 
 again, it ought to revert to himself after the death of a woman holding 
 it in dower ; or as escheated after the death of a Bastard holding it, 
 who cannot have an heir except of his body lawfully begotten ; or 
 after the death of a Felon, holding it. In the four preceding cases, or 
 after the death of any one of th«m, the land ought to remain to another 
 in the form of a gift. In these cases, and the like, the Plaintiff ex- 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN 
 
 385 
 
 presses his petition according to his case ; and in those cases and their 
 consimilar in which the foresaid Writ is to be used, that and no other 
 shall be used ; and the Petition of the Plaintiff being heard, the De- 
 fendant may have a view of the land, if he desires, and let a day be 
 named within which the view shall be made. And let the Deforciant 
 answer on a given day after the view, and he may appeal to a War- 
 rant by the aid of the Court, as it is said in the Writ of death of An- 
 tecessor ; and the J ustice may cause the Warranted to come as he 
 caused the principal Deforciant, by one Summons, and if needful by a 
 second and third, at which if he does not come, let him be fined for 
 the default as is aforesaid and let the Seizin of the property claimed 
 be adjudged to the Plaintiff by the default of the Warranted, and the 
 Deforciant shall have of the land of the W arranted according to va- 
 lue and the Warranted shall be at Mercy. If the Warranted shall 
 come and shall have Warantized himself freely, he shall be received to 
 his answer, and the defence of his suit without having a view of the 
 land. But if he shall have refused to Warrantize, let the plea be con- 
 ducted between them concerning the Warrant, according to what has 
 been above said in the Writ of death of Antecessor. But if the Defor- 
 ciant shall object against the Plaintiff that his Antecessor whose Seizin 
 he claims, or any one in the descent was a Bastard, so that from him 
 or by his means nothing can descend to him, let he be heard, or let him 
 show the writing of his Antecessors respecting the Feoffment, or of 
 any one in the descent by quiet claim ; and by the affirmation of one 
 party and the denial of the other let the parties come to a legal trial, 
 and the plea shall be decided by a verdict of inquiry, because suits con- 
 cerning land in those parts are not decided by Duel, nor by the Great 
 Assize. In like manner, if he should object that any one in the De- 
 scent has committed Felony by which he is not competent to act, in 
 that case, if he to whom this case is objected shall deny it, the business 
 shall rather be decided by a record of the Justice, or a trial by jury, 
 of Hanging ; and also by a Record of the Coroner of outlawry and ab- 
 juration. In like manner in the petition of a Tenement which ought 
 to revert after the decision is past, either by the mode of Gift, by the 
 aflftrmation of one party and the denial of the other, when recourse 
 shall be had to Trial by Jury, it shall be decided by its verdict." 
 
 It is needful to speak of another Article, to wit, of debts 
 of moveables, or chattels, for which it is provided by a Writ 
 of Debt in form following : 
 
 " Should this Writ be proceeded by, 
 
 First. Bails being found for proceeding, let the Debtor or Offender 
 be Summoned that he be before the Justice on a certain day ; upon 
 which if he do not come, let him be summoned that he be there on the 
 second, and if he come not on the second, nor essoin himself, let the 
 Debt be adjudged to the Plaintiff by Default, along with costs at the 
 discretion of the Judge, or else by a Jury, at the will of the Judge, 
 and let the Debtor be at the Mercy of the King ; Mercy being always 
 reserved to the King in every case of Default. But if the Debtor 
 shall come, it is necessary for the Plaintiff to express his demand, and 
 the amount of his demand, to wit, that he owes him a hundred Marks 
 which he lent him, the day of payment of which has past ; or for 
 land, or for a horse, or for other goods or chattels whatever, sold to 
 him, or for arrears of unpaid Rent accruing from tenements, or con- 
 cerning any other contracts, of which it is necessary to produce a do- 
 
 3 D 
 
386 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 cument or writing of obligation, or to shew a Tally ; the claim of the 
 Plaintiff being heard and also its amount, the Debtor shall answer, 
 who if he acknowledges the Debt, it shall be adjudged and levied upon 
 lands and chattels &c. If he denies the Debt and brings forward 
 against his Bond, the writing ought to be verified by witnesses named 
 in the Bond, if such there be, together with the jury. And if there 
 be no witnesses named, or if they be dead, it shall be verified only by 
 the jury, and according to the verdict of the jury shall proceeding be 
 had to judgment. But if the Plaintiff has not a Conp, but neverthe- 
 less produces an account or Tally, the adverse party may defend 
 [show] that he is in no wise bound, and maintain this by law, to wit 
 by his own oath with eleven sworn men along with him, or by a jury, 
 as he shall choose." 
 
 It happens .sometimes that a Debtor confesses that for- 
 merly he owed him a Debt, and alleges payment, then it 
 behoves hi;n to show an acquittance of the payment, or the 
 Plaintiff may maintain by law that he received nothing, 
 or also by a jury, &;c. 
 
 That writ of Debt shall not be granted for a smaller sum than forty 
 shillings, because for a smaller debt pleadings are conducted in the 
 County Court without a writ and with a writ. 
 
 Of the third article, in which it is provided that there be 
 a writ of compact, by which suits are sometimes had for 
 moveables and sometimes for immoveables, by power of the 
 agreement between the parties ; proceedings are to be had 
 in the form prescribed in the fore-mentioned place. 
 
 The process of that writ is the following : 
 
 First of all, pledges for prosecution being given, let the accused be 
 summoned once, and if needful, twice, and if he does not come at 
 the second Summons, nor essoins himself, let the prayer of the Plain- 
 tiff be heard, and the thing claimed, if it be a tenement, be taken 
 into the hand of the King, and if it be a chattel, let it or its value be 
 taken into the hand of the King, and let another day be appointed, 
 and if within fifteen days he shall redeem the article thus taken into 
 the King's hand and come on the day appointed him, he shall be ad- 
 mitted to an answer and defence. But if not, the Plaintiff shall be 
 adjudged his demand by default, together with taxed costs as afore- 
 said in the writ of Debt, and he shall remain at the King's mercy, 
 always saving the King's mercy in default, as aforesaid. The Plain- 
 tiff's complaint being heard and the amount of his demand, the 
 Defendant may answer, and proceedings shall be had by the affirm- 
 ation of one party and the denial of the other, according to In- 
 quisition, and the business may be terminated by the Inquisition 
 of a jury. 
 
 And be it known, that sometimes a freehold is claimed by a writ of 
 compact, as in the case in which any one lets land to another, thence 
 tendering a certain farm, a condition being inserted in the writing of 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 387 
 
 agreement, that unless he shall receive satisfaction for the farm, it 
 shall be lawful for him to enter upon and hold the land which he 
 let. If he to whom the land shall have been let, shall not make 
 satisfaction for the farm, and he who let it shall not have the power to 
 enter upon the land according to the tenor of his writing, because of the 
 strength of his adversary ; in this case the tenement should be re- 
 covered with costs by a Writ of convention. 
 
 Sometimes, when it is agreed between parties that one enfeoffs an- 
 other with a certain tenement, and shall have to give him Seisin on a 
 certain day, and afterwards shall have transferred that tenement 
 to a third person by enfeoffment, as he cannot confirm that en- 
 feoffment by a former contract not carried into effect, he who has 
 received the injury cannot in this case proceed by Writ of conven- 
 tion, except only in this, that he satisfies him for his costs in money. 
 And thus in this case the action shall proceed for the tenement 
 b}'' Writ of convention, and in case of money or damages, or the 
 tenement. 
 
 And because contracts of agreement are infinite, it would be difficult 
 to make mention of each specially, but judgment shall be had accord- 
 ing to the nature of each agreement by the affirmation of one party 
 and the denial of the other, or an Inquisition shall be entered into 
 upon the fact of the transaction, or recourse shall be had to a cogni- 
 zance of the writings produced in judgment, and it shall be adjudi- 
 cated according to that Cognizance. Or if the writings are denied 
 then proceedings shall be had to inquire into the framing of the 
 writings by the witnesses named in the waitings, if such be, together 
 with a jury, but if no witnesses be named, or if they be dead, then it 
 shall be determined solely by jury. 
 
 Of the fourth Article, to wit, of personal transgressions, 
 concerning which it is provided that all transgressions of 
 which the damages do not exceed forty shillings, shall be 
 tried before the Sheriff in the County Court, without writ, 
 by Bail and Pledges. But Transgressions which exceed the 
 sum of forty shillings shall be tried before the Justice of 
 Wales in this manner : 
 
 That before the Justice hears him, he shall swear the Plaintiff that 
 his action exceeds the sum of forty shillings, and having done this, 
 and surety for proceeding being given, the Justice shall order the 
 Sheriff or the Bailiff of the place to cause by writ, him of whom com- 
 plaint is made to come before him, and the complaint of the prosecu- 
 tor being heard, the accused shall answer. And as in an action of 
 Transgression, the accused can hardly escape unless he defends himself 
 by a jury, the Justice shall by consent of parties inquire into the 
 truth of the matter by a good jury, and if the accused be found guilty, 
 he shall punish him by Prison, or by Redemption, or by Mercy, and by 
 damages rendered for the injury according to the quality and amount 
 of the offence ; so that such punishment be to others an example and 
 be a terror to offenders. And inasmuch as mention has been made of 
 consent of parties, it may so happen that the accused may refuse the 
 Inquisition by Jury ; in that case if the Prosecutor offer to prove by 
 
388 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 jury the Transgression done to him, and the accused shall refuse a 
 jury, he shall he taken as convicted and shall he punished as if con- 
 victed by a jury. 
 
 And because Women have not hitherto been dowered in Wales, the 
 King grants that they be dowered. And be it known that the dower 
 of a Woman is double. One is the assignment of the third part of the 
 land possessed by her husband in his life, respecting which there shall 
 be a Writ of proportional dower, elsewhere mentioned along with the 
 other Writs of Wales." 
 
 The process of such Writ is this : 
 
 " First of all surety for prosecuting being found, let the Deforciant 
 be Summoned that he attend on a certain day, on which if he come 
 not, let him he again Summoned that he come on another day, on 
 which day if he come not, let her dowery be adjudged to the Woman, 
 to wit, the third part &c. together with costs &c. But if the Defendan 
 come, let him be admitted to an answer without a view of the land, 
 and the petition of the woman being framed, let the holder of the land 
 be told to answer if he know any reason v>^hy she should not have her 
 dowery ; and if he knows no reason let the woman recover as above. 
 
 But if by chance he should object that she ought not to have her 
 dower because she never was joined in lawful matrimony to him 
 whom she calls her husband, then it shall be ordered that the Bishop 
 inquire into the truth, and inquisition being made, he shall certify the 
 Justice of Wales, and according to the certificate of the Bishop, judg- 
 ment shall be proceeded with in this form. 
 
 If the Bishop shall certify that she was not his lawful wife, she shall 
 be precluded from her dowery. But if he certify that she was his 
 lawful wife, the holder of the land shall be summoned to attend on a 
 certain day to hear his judgment. At w^hich day if he come not, let 
 him be again summoned to come on another day, on which day, 
 whether he come or not, if no essoin be alleged, the woman shall recover 
 her dower with costs and the Defendant shall be at mercy, always 
 saving the King's mercy for defaulters. 
 
 But if he object that she ought not to receive her dower, because 
 her husband did not on the day of marriage, or ever afterwards, hold in 
 ffee the tenement, of which she claims her dower, so that he could en- 
 dow her with it, the fact is to be tried solely by jury, and proceedings 
 had according to the verdict of the jury. 
 
 If it be objected that she ought not to receive her dower because her 
 husband has committed felony, then if the felony be proved she shall 
 hot recover her dower. 
 
 In like manner, if it be objected to her that her husband lost the 
 land of w^hich she claims her dower, by judgment, as that to which 
 he had no right, this being proved by the record of Justice, if it should 
 be shown before whom that land was lost, either by jury, if in the 
 County Court, or in a minor Court, she shall be precluded from re- 
 covering her dower. 
 
 Another Dower is when a son endows his wife by consent of his 
 father, the form of the Writ will be found amongst the rest, the pro- 
 cess of which is as follows. 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 389 
 
 Let the Deforciant be Summoned as in the otiier Writ of Dower, 
 and let his contumacy be j3unished as in the other writ of Dower. 
 But if he shall come on the appointed day, then the Woman's petition 
 being made, let him answer, and if the Dower be produced, made in 
 the aforesaid manner, and the consent of Dower, and it can be proved 
 by the jury that the husband endowed her at the Church door with 
 his father's tenement, and that his father personally, or by a special 
 messenger sent for this purpose agreed to that dovver, the woman shall 
 recover her dower together with damages. 
 
 Be it known also that in both Writs the Defendant can call for a 
 Warrant by the aid of the Court, and the proceedings shall be had by 
 plea of Warrant as aforesaid. 
 
 But there is a difference in that case of Dower and in the above 
 case by Precipe, where the manner of proceedings terminates by 
 warrant, because where in that case the Plaintiff always recovers the 
 thing claimed, and the Defendant, according to the value of the land 
 in the Warrant ; in case of Dower by the other mode the Defendant 
 shall hold in peace, and the woman shall have of the land in the 
 Warrant according to the value of the Dower claimed, whilst never- 
 theless, the Defendant shall have of her husband's land according to 
 value if this can be done, otherwise not. 
 
 Of the manner of assigning Dower otherwise, nothing at present. 
 
 Because the custom is different in Wales to England respecting 
 hereditary succession, inasmuch as the heirship is divisible among the 
 male heirs, and has been divisible from time of which memory does 
 not exist, the King will not that this custom be abrogated, but that 
 patrimony, remain divisible amongs consimilar heirs according as cus- 
 tomary, and that the partition of such patrimony be made as usual ; 
 with this exception, that Bastards shall not share in the patrimony, 
 and also that they have no share either with the lawful heirs or 
 without lawful heirs. 
 
 And if by chance any patrimony shall henceforth, for want of 
 heirs male, descend to the lawful heirs female of the last ancester 
 seized of it, we will of our special grace that such legitimate women 
 have their portions thence assigned to them in our Court, although 
 this be contrary to the custom of Wales hitherto in use. 
 
 And because the Welsh have besought that w^e grant to them that 
 in their immoveable possessions, such as lands and tenements, the truth 
 be inquired into by good and lawful men of the Venue chosen 
 by consent of the parties ; and concerning moveables, as contracts, 
 debts, securities, agreements, chattels, and all other similar move- 
 ables, that they may use the Welsh Law, which they have been 
 accustomed to, which was such, that if any one complained of an- 
 other concerning contracts or acts in a certain place, that the intention 
 of the Plaintiff might be proved by those seeing and hearing it : 
 When the Plaintiff shall by this kind of Witnesses, v/hose testimony 
 cannot be disproved, have proved his intention, he shall recover the 
 property claimed, and the adverse party shall be condemned. And 
 in other things which cannot be proved by those seeing and hearing, 
 the Defendant shall clear himself sometimes by more, sometimes by 
 fewer, according to the quality and quantity of the property or 
 act. And in theft, if the theft shall be found in his hand, he shall 
 not be able to clear himself but shall be accounted convicted. 
 
390 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 We for the common peace and quiet of our foresaid people of our 
 Land of Wales do grant these premises. Nevertheless so that in 
 theft, larcenies, burnings, murders, homicides, and open and notor- 
 ious robberies, they shall have no place, nor shall they extend to 
 such, in which we will that the Laws of England be used as is men- 
 tioned above. 
 
 And thus we for the rest, we command you that ye firmly observe 
 the Premises in all things, nevertheless that as often soever, and 
 whensoever and wheresoever it may please us, we may declare, inter- 
 pret, add to, or diminish the foregoing Statutes at our free will, 
 and as we shall see expedient for our safety and that of our fore- 
 said Land. 
 
 In witness of which matter our seal is appended to these Pre- 
 sents. Given at Rhuddlan on Sunday in Mid-Lent, in the twelfth 
 year of our Reign." 
 
 Such is the Statute of Rhuddlan by which Edward the 
 First united Wales to England. But it must here be ob- 
 served, that the term Wales is to be understood in a limited 
 sense, as that portion of the country comprehended under 
 this statute by no means extended over the whole of the 
 territory now comprised within the limits of Wales, but 
 only over such parts as had fallen into Edward's hands on 
 the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd. Some other districts 
 had already been in the possession of the English Kings, but 
 by far the greatest portion of the country was in the hands 
 of the Lords Marchers, who were much too powerful and too 
 jealous for Edward to meddle with, and whose dominions 
 were left under the mixed and anomalous species of juris- 
 prudence already adverted to, consisting of Welsh and 
 English Courts and usages. 
 
 In the Statute of Rhuddlan it will also be noticed that 
 several portions of the Welsh Laws were retained and in- 
 corporated with the Anglo-Norman. Some of these were 
 retained, probably from political motives, as adding to the 
 power of the King : but perhaps others were found to pos- 
 sess a certain degree of excellence in themselves, and were 
 on that account adopted. 
 
 But whatever advantages or disadvantages this Statute 
 of Rhuddlan may have been productive of, one thing is 
 clearly shown, both in the Statute itself, and in the prelimi- 
 nary inquiries ; and that is, that the Welsh were at that 
 time, and have been for some generations, engaged in re- 
 vising and reforming their own Laws ; and it is distinctly 
 
STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN. 
 
 391 
 
 proved that they had amongst them the practice of trial by 
 jury, not only during the reign of Llewelyn ap GrufFyth, 
 the last Prince, but even during the reign of his Grand- 
 father, Prince Llewelyn ap lorwerth, as is clearly stated. 
 Whether the practice of trial by jury amongst the Welsh 
 was one of those spontaneous social movements, which took 
 place about the eleventh century, or whether it was the 
 development of some principle of the ancient British Law, 
 must remain a subject of future investigation ; but it is 
 clear that it must have been a practice of voluntary adoption 
 amongst the Welsh, as in the time of Llewelyn ap lorwerth, 
 no foreign power could have imposed a code of laws upon 
 them, or in any way have dictated in matters of legislation. 
 There were several enactments relative to the Principality 
 subsequent to the Statute of Rhuddlan, but none of material 
 importance until the reign of Henry VIII, when Wales 
 was divided into Counties or Shire-ground, and the English 
 system of judicature more generally introduced, though 
 there wei'e still many things retained as peculiar to Wales, 
 
HER MAJESTY'S LIBRARY 
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 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT 
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894 
 
 subscribers' names. 
 
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 Lady Parry, of Madryn, Caernarvonshire 
 
 Sir Francis Palgrave, Record Office, Rolls' House 
 
 Sir John Potter, Baile Hill, Manchester 
 
 Sir Thomas Phillips, Temple, London 
 
 D. Saunders Davies, Esq. M.P. Pentre, Newcastle Emlyn 
 
 J. W. Knight, Esq. M.P. Wolverley, Kidderminster 
 
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 Charles R. Morgan, of Tredegar, Esq. M.P. 
 
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 Rear Admiral David Price, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean 
 
 The Very Rev. the Dean of Llandaff 
 
 The Worshipful the Chancellor of Llandaff, Maesaleg 
 
 The Venerable the Archdeacon of Cardigan, M.A., F.R.S.E. &c. Brighton 
 The Venerable the Archdeacon'of Merioneth, Llanrhaiadr, Denbighshire 
 Dr. Carl. Meyer, of Rinteln, Heidelberg 
 The Royal Institution of South Wales, Swansea 
 
 Abadam, Edward, Esq. Middleton Hall, Llandeilo, Caermarthenshire 
 
 Adney, Mr. John, Blaenau, Abergavenny 
 
 Alcock, Trevor LI., Esq., Mount Hill, Caermarthen 
 
 Allen, Henry, Esq. Oakfield near Hay, Breconshire 
 
 Allen, Seymour, Esq. Cresselly, Narberth, Pembrokeshire 
 
 Appleyard, Rev. E. S., M,A. Tilgate Cottage, Crawley 2 copies 
 
subscribers' names. 
 
 395 
 
 Banks, W. L., Esq., Solicitor, Brecon 
 
 Barton, Rev. Thomas, Duncan Lodge, Cross Lane, Sal ford 
 
 Baskerville, T. B. M., Esq. Clyro Court, Radnorshire 
 
 Berrington, Mrs., Woodland, near Swansea 
 
 Bligh, Mrs., Cilmery, near Builth 
 
 Blommart, J., Esq. Dolaucothy 
 
 Bowcott, Rev. William, Llanfilo, Breconshire 
 
 Bowen, Rev. H. P., Queen's Terrace, Middleborough 
 
 Bowen, John, Esq. M.D. Caermarthen 
 
 Bradford, JMajor, Rifle Brigade, Portsmouth 
 
 Brereton, Mr. Andrew Jones, (Andreas o Fon,) Mold, North Wales 
 Bromley, Miss, Davenport, 32, Lower Grosvenor Street, London 
 Brooke, John, Esq. Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield 
 Brooke, J. William, Esq Sibton Park, Yoxford, Suffolk 
 Bunsen, Ernest, Esq. Abbey Lodge, Regenfs Park, London 
 Burrall, Percy, Esq. 9, Pall Mall, East, London 
 Byrne, Miss, 14, St. George's Place, Hyde Park Comer, London 
 Caradawc, Y Fenni 
 
 Cartvvright, Samuel, Esq. 32, Old Burlington Street, London 
 Chambers, William, Esq. Sen. Llanelly House 
 Charles, Rev. D., B.A. Trefecca College, Breconshire 
 Clark, Mr. William, Wind Street, Swansea 
 
 Clifford, Mrs. Morgan, Llandeilo, near Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Cobb, Joseph, Esq. Solicitor, Brecon 
 
 Cobden, Mrs., Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, London 
 
 Corsbie, Joseph, Esq. Newport, Monmouthshire, South Wales ^ 
 
 Coward, Mr. Edwin James, Ashfield, Crickhowel 
 
 Cross, Mr. James, Blaenau, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Davies, Rev. Henry J., Cayo Vicarage, Llandovery 
 
 Davies, Rev. Jenkin, Tretower, Breconshire 
 
 Davies, Rev. John, Independent Minister, Llanelly, Breconshire 
 
 Davies, Rev. Morgan, St. Mark's Parsonage, Flint 
 
 Davies, Rev. R. P., Cwrt yGollen, Crickhowel 
 
 Davies, Rev. Thomas, M.A. Trevethin, Pontypool 
 
 Davies, Rev. T., Persondy, Defynog, Breconshire 
 
 Davies, Rev. Walter Cecil, M.A. Penmaen Dyfi, Machynlleth 
 
 Davies, Daniel, Esq. Glan y Cefn, Abergavenny 
 
 Davies, David, Esq. Castle Green, Cardigan 
 
 Davies, Mr. David, Clydach, Abergavenny 
 
 Davies, Edward, Esq. Llangattoc, Crickhowel 
 
 Davies, Evan, Esq. M.A. Swansea 
 
 Davies, Mr. George, King's Arms Inn, Abergavenny 
 
 Davies, Mr. John, Ystalyfera Works, Swansea 
 
 Davies, James, Esq. Solicitor, Hereford 
 
 Davies, John, Esq, Surgeon, Brecon 
 
 Davies, Jesse Conway, Esq. M.D. Pant Gwyn House, Holywell 
 Davys, W. H. Campbell, Esq. Neuudd Fawr, Llandovery 
 Da we, Mr. S. R., Swansea 
 
 Denton, Mr. Charles, Bookseller, Abergavenny, South Wales 6 copies 
 
 De Winton, Mrs., of Maesllwch, near Hay, Breconshire 
 
 Dormer, Miss, 10, New Burlington Street, London 
 
 Edwardes, D. John, Esq. Rhydygors, Caermarthen 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Lodowick, Incumbent of Rhymney, South Wales 
 
 Edwards, Mr. John, Mechanic, Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire 
 
 Edwards, Mr. Thomas, Abercarn, Monmouthshire 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Richard, 2, King Street, Tower Hill, London ^ ^ . 
 
 Ellis, Rev. Robert, Baptist Minister, Sirhowy, Monmouthshire - — "'^^^•^f 
 Evans, Rev. Daniel Silvan, Llandegwning, Pwllheli, North Wales 
 Evans, Rev, David, B D. Llanllwchaiarn, New Quay 
 Evans, Rev. David, Baptist Minister, Swansea 
 
 Evans, Rev. John, Vicarage, Llanover, Monmouthshire, South Wales 
 Evans, Rev. John, Rectory, Crickhowel 
 
396 
 
 subscribers' names. 
 
 Evans, Mr. Joseph, Coal Merchant, Brecon 
 
 Evans, Henry Jones, Esq. Bank, Llanelly 
 
 Evans, Mr. John, Kensington, Brecon 
 
 Evans, Stephen J., Esq. Solicitor, Brecon 
 
 Evans, W. Price, Esq. Florence Cottage, Svransea 
 
 Eyton, Joseph Walter King, Esq. F.R.S. Lougham Place, London 
 
 Farmer, George. Esq. Broad Street, Cardiff 
 
 Ffoulkcs, W. Wynne, Esq. Middle Temple Lane 
 
 Foley, Miss, Newport House, Kington, Herefordshire 
 
 Fletcher, Miss Kate, Stansbach, Kington, Herefordshire 
 
 Frater, Thomas, Esq. National Bank, Brecon 
 
 Gabell, Arthur Richard, Esq. HoUyfield, Crickhowel 
 
 Gaviller, G. H , Esq. Lower Clapton, Middlesex 
 
 George, Mr. Edmund, Pant, Newbridge, Monmouthshire, S. W. 
 
 Gilbertson, Rev. Lewis, B.D. Jesus College, Oxford 
 
 Goddard, Mrs. The Lawn, Swindon, Wilts 
 
 Grant, James, Esq. 97, Guildford Street, London 
 
 Grant, Miss Keir, 20, Chapel Street, Belgrave Square, London 
 
 Gray, Mrs., Hamilton, Bolsover Castle, Chesterfield 
 
 Green, Francis, Esq. Park Henry, Caermarthen 
 
 Greenfield, Mrs., Brynderwen 
 
 Griffiths, Rev. Arthur, Llanelly, Breconshire 
 
 Griffiths, Rev. James, Llangunnor, Caermarthen 
 
 Griffiths, Rev. John, Vicar of Llandeilo, Caermarthenshire 
 
 Griffiths, Rev. Walter, B.D. Resolven, Neath 
 
 Griffiths, Mr. John, Blaenau, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Grubbe, Miss, Mount Hill, Caermarthen 
 
 Gulstone, Alan J., Esq. Corner House, Llandeilo 
 
 Gwynne, Rev. E. H. A., St. Paul's, Tipton, Staffordshire 
 
 G Wynne, H. L. E., Esq. Pontgarreg Cottage, Caermarthen, S. W. 
 
 Halford, Rev. Thomas, M.A. 2, Hanover Square, London 
 
 Hall, Mr. Richard, Chemist, Brecon 
 
 Hallam, H., Esq. F.S.A. &c. Wilton Crescent, London 
 
 Hancock, T. W. Esq. Penbryn House, Dolgelley 
 
 Hancocks, Alfred, Esq. Manor House, Wolverley 
 
 Hancocks, W. Esq. Blakeshall, Wolverley 
 
 Hancocks, Mrs. J., Wolverley Court, Kidderminster 
 
 Hare, Mrs. 218, Strand, London 
 
 Harford, John Battersby, Esq. Pant y Curyll, Cardiganshire 
 
 Harries, Cecil, Esq. Llanunwas, Solva, Pembrokeshire 
 
 Harries, George, Esq. Trevaccoon, Haverfordwest 
 
 Harrison, Mr. Richard, Mold, Flintshire 
 
 Hemming, Mr. Thomas, Garnddyris Forge, Blaenafon 
 
 Herbert, J. Arthur, Esq. of Llanarth, South Wales 
 
 Herbert, Mrs. of Llanarth , South Wales 
 
 Herbert, J. M., Esq. Rocklands, Judge of Local Courts 
 
 Hirst, Joseph, Esq. Wilshaw Villa, Meltham, Huddersfield 
 
 Hobhouse, H. W., Esq. 28, South Street Park Lane, London 
 
 Hopkins, Rev. William, Cwmdu, Breconshire 
 
 Horsman, Mrs., ] , Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, London 
 
 Howell, Rev. George, Rector of Llangattoc, Crickhowel 
 
 Howell, David, Esq. Solicitor, Machynlleth 
 
 Howell, Mr. David, (Llawdden,) Somerset Cottage, Abergavenny 
 
 Howell, Thomas, Esq. White House, Builth 
 
 Howell, Mr. WilUam, Trinity Cottage, Brecon Road, Abergavenny 
 
 Hughes, Rev. Edward, M.A. Meliden, Rhyl 
 
 Hughes, Rev. J., Rector of Cwmdu, Crickhowel 
 
 Hughes, Rev. Joseph ( Cam Ingli,) Meltham, Huddersfield 
 
 Hughes, Rev. William, M.A. Popeley House, Mill Bridge, Leeds 
 
 Hughes, David-, Esq. Solicitor, 25, Old Jewry, London 
 
 Hughes, John, Esq., Llucst Gwilym, Aberystwyth 
 
 Hughes, Mr. John, Usk Side Foundry, Newport 4 copies. 
 
subscribers' names. 
 
 397 
 
 Hunter, Mrs. W., London 
 
 Isaac, Mr. David Lloyd ( Llwyd o Wempa,) Pontypool 
 
 Jackson, Mr. Joseph Prince, King's Arms, Abergavenny, S. W. 
 
 James, Rev. D., Ph.D., M.A., F.S.A. Marsden, Huddersfield 
 
 James, Rev. John, Incumbent, Aberpergwm 
 
 James, Rev. William, Llanfair Nantgwyn, Cardigan 
 
 James, Rev. John, (lago Eynlyn,) 14, Frederic Place, Clifton 
 
 James, Rev, Thomas, (Llallawg,) Nertherthong, Yorkshire 
 
 James, Mr. Jacob, Abercarn, Monmouthshire, South Wales 
 
 James, John, Junior, Esq. Caerleon 
 
 Jeffreys, Rev. David, Rector of Trenewydd, Anglesey 
 
 Jeffreys, Mr. Joshua, Blaenau, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Jenkins, J. Hayward, Esq. Crosswood, Welshpool 
 
 Jenkyn, Rev. Richard, ( Llwchaiarn,) Curate of Vaynor 
 
 Jessop, Charles Moore, Esq. King's College, London 
 
 Johnes, A. J. Esq., Judge of Local Courts, Garthmyl 3 copies. 
 
 Johnes, John, Esq. Judge of Local Courts, Dolaucothy 
 
 Johnes, Miss, Dolaucothy 
 
 Jones, Rev. David, Independent Minister, Coedcymer 
 
 Jones, Rev. H. Longueville, M.A. Privy Council Office, London 
 
 Jones, Rev. John, Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn, Aberystwyth 
 
 Jones, Rev. John, Tredegar, Monmouthshire, South Wales 
 
 Jones, Rev. J , Yicar of Pembrey, near Llanelly 
 
 Jones, Rev. Lewis, M.A. Vicar of Almondbury, Huddersfield 
 
 Jones, Rev. Matthias P., Dowlais, Glamorganshire 
 
 Jones, Rev. R., M.A., All Saints Parsonage, Rotherhithe, London 
 
 Jones, Rev. Thomas, M.A. Sporle, Norfolk 
 
 Jones, Rev. William, Canon of Llandaff, Tredegar 
 
 Jones, Mrs., of Pantglas, Caermarthenshire 
 
 Jones, Mr. R., Trefri, Machynlleth 
 
 Jones, Mr. Aneurin, (Aneicrin Fardd,) Gelligroes, Coeduon 
 Jones, Mr. Basselt, Cardiff, Welsh Harp Maker to the Queen 
 Jones, Benjamin, Esq. Solicitor, Llanelly 
 
 Jones, Charles, Esq. 41, Gloucester St , Commercial Road, London 
 
 Jones, Mr. Daniel, Court Farm, Llanover 
 
 Jones, Edward, Esq,, Velindre, Llandovery 
 
 Jones, Mr. E., Bank, Brecon 
 
 Jones, G. W., Esq., Banker, Crickhowel 
 
 Jones, John, Esq. Blaenos, Llandovery 
 
 Jones, John, Esq. Dinorben, St. George's, St. Asaph 
 
 Jones, Mr. John, Warehouseman, Blaenau, Abergavenny, S. W. 
 
 Jones, Mr. John Daniel, Hawen, Newcastle Emlyn 
 
 Jones, Mr. John W. Welsh Insiitution, Llandovery 
 
 Jones, Mr. J. M. Jones (loan Cynllo,) Rhydlewis 
 
 Jones, Mordecai, Esq. Mayor, Brecon 
 
 Jones, Thomas, Esq. Chethara Library, Manchester 
 
 Jones, William, Esq. Bank, Lampeter 
 
 Jones, William, Esq. (Gwrgant,) London 
 
 Jones, William, Esq. Tyllwyd. Aberystwyth 
 
 Joseph, Joseph, Esq. Banker, Brecon 
 
 Kenah, Lieut. General, 35, Albemarle Street, London 
 
 Kerslake, Mr. Thomas Bookseller, Bristol 
 
 Knight, Rev. H. H., B.D., Rectory, Neath 
 
 Lascelles, Rowley, Esq. Pencraig, Newcastle Emlyn 
 
 Lane, Mrs., Wrotham, Seven Oaks, Kent 
 
 Lawrence, J., Esq. Danygraig, Newport, Monmouthshire, S. W. 
 
 Lawrence, Benjamin, Esq. Fish Street, London 
 
 Lawrence, Mrs. Lea Grove, Black Heath, Kent 
 
 Lewis, Rev. Edward, Glyn Pedr, Crickhowel 
 
 Lewis, Charles James, Esq. St. Pierre, Chepstow 
 
 Lewis, Mr. Daniel Seys, Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, S. Vv'. 
 
subscribers' names. 
 
 Lewis, Miss C., Tredegar, Monmouthshire 
 
 Lewis, Frederick, Esq. Llwyncelyn, Llandovery 
 
 Lewis, Parry, Esq. Llangattock, Crickhowel 
 
 Lewis, Mrs, Rebecca Croft, Tredegar, Monmouthshire 
 
 Llewellin, Mr. William, Abercarn, Monmouthshire 
 
 lilewellin, Mrs., Abercarn, Monmouthshire 
 
 Lloyd, Rev. Maurice Hedd, Goodneston, Kent 
 
 Lloyd, Cornelius, Esq. Solicitor, Abergavenny 
 
 Lloyd, George, Esq. Brunant, Llandovery 
 
 Lloyd, Mr. Griffith, Yew Tree, Blaenau, Abergavenny 
 
 Lloyd, Walter, Esq. Caermarthen 
 
 Lloyd, Mrs. William Jones, 93, Eaton Place, London 2 copies. 
 Lhvyd, John, Esq. Llanegryn, Machynlleth 
 Llwyd, Miss Angharad, Ty yn Rhyl, Denbighshire 
 Lucy, Mrs. Charlcote Park, Warwick 
 
 Luxmore, Rev. C. S. C, Vicar of Guilsfield, Montgomeryshire 
 
 Mackenzie, J. Whitefuord, Esq. F.S.A. Scot. Edinburgh 
 
 Maddy, Rev. Joseph, Maesteg, Glamorganshire 
 
 Madocks, Mrs., Tregunter, Talgarth, Breconshive 
 
 Mansel, Raleigh A , Esq. Swansea 
 
 Marsh, Miss Elizabeth, Ilfracombe, Devon 
 
 Meredith, Mr. E. P. (leuati Gryg,) Monmouth 
 
 Meredith, Mr. Joseph, Abergavenny 
 
 Micliacl, Mr., Junior, Abergavenny 
 
 Milman, Mrs., 9, Berkeley Square, London 
 
 Morgan, Colonel, St. Helens, Swansea 
 
 Morgan, Mr. David, Cwmon, Llangattock, Crickhowel 
 
 Morgan, Mr. Hopkin, Glangrwyney Factory, Crickhowel 
 
 Morgan, Mr. Israel, Blaenavon, Abergavenny 
 
 Morgan, John H., Esq. Windsor Terrace, Cheltenham 
 
 Morgan, J. W , Esq. Brecon 
 
 Morgan, Mr. John, Printer, Llandovery 
 
 Morgan, Mrs., Machen Rectory, Newport, Monmouthshire 
 
 Morgan, Mr., Ashburnham Arms, Talgarth 
 
 Morgan, Mr. Robert, Blaenau, Al3ergavenny 
 
 Morgan, T. Owen, Esq. Barrister at Law, Aberystwyth 
 
 Morgan, Mr. Thomas, Golden Lion Inn, Tredegar 
 
 Morgan, William, Esq. Clydach Works, Breconshirc 
 
 Morgan, William, Esq. 1, Finsbury Place, South, London 
 
 Morris, Mr. A. B,, Blaenau, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Morris, Lewis, Esq. Mount Hill, Caermarthen 
 
 Morris, Mr. William, Hafod 
 
 Morris, Mr. William, {Gwilym Tawe,) Stamp Office, Swansea 
 Nevill, S. L. L., Esq. Llangennech Park, Llanelly 
 Nicholl, lUtyd, Esq. Usk, Monmouthshire 
 
 Nicholl, Mrs. George Whitlock, 24, Guildford St., Russell Square 
 
 Ormerod, G., Esq. F.R.S., F.S.A., Sedbury Park, Chepstow 
 
 Ormerod, Mrs. T. J., Rendenhall Rectory, Harleston 
 
 Overton, Mrs., Merthyr Tydvil 
 
 Owen, Rev. H., D.D, Trefdraeth, Anglesey 
 
 Owen, Rev. W. Hicks, M.A. Canon of St. Asaph 
 
 Owen, Mr. David, {Brutus,) Bronarthen, Llandovery 
 
 Owen, J. G., Esq. Goetrc Cottage, Abergavenny, South Waies 
 
 Owen, Mrs., of Glansevern, Montgomery 
 
 Papendiek, Mrs , Glasbury House, Hay, Breconshire 
 
 Parker, Rev. John, A.M. Swiney, Oswestry 
 
 Parry, Rev. David, Vicar of Llywel, Breconshire 
 
 Parry, Mr. Christopher, Tretwr, Breconshire 
 
 Parry, Evan. Esq. Surgeon, Crickhowel ^ 
 
 Parry, John, Esq. Combe Lodge, Surbiton Hill, Surrey ^ 
 
 Parry, Mr. John, Lower Blaenail, Cwmdu, Breconshire, S. W. 
 
subscribers' names. 
 
 399 
 
 Parry, William, Esq. Worcester College, Oxford 
 
 Parry, William, Esq. Noyaddfan, Breconshire 
 
 Parry, William, Esq. Ttetower Court, Crickhowel, South Wales 
 
 Patten, Mrs. Wilson, 9, Lowndes Square, London 2 Copies 
 
 Penson, Richard Kyrke, Esq. C.E. Oswestry 
 
 Phillipps, Ambrose Lisle, F.S.A. &c. Esq. Grace Dieu Manor 
 
 Phillipps, F. Lloyd, Esq. Havodneddin, Caermarthenshirc 
 
 Phillipps, John Walters, Esq. Aberglasny 2 copies. 
 
 Phillipps, J. B. Lloyd, Esq. Pentypark, Haverfordwest 
 
 Phillips, Rev. E. O.", M A. Warden, Welsh Institution, Llandovery 
 
 Phillips, Rev. Thomas, Castle Street, Hereford 
 
 Phillips, Mr. Andrew, Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, South Wales 
 
 Pierce, Mrs., Navigation House, Llanelly, Breconshire 
 
 Port, Rev. Bernard, 11am, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire 
 
 Powell, Mrs. Ann, Dyffryii Inn, Victoria Works 
 
 Powell, Miss Gwenllian, Royal Oak Inn, Nantyglo 
 
 Powell, Launcelot, Esq. Clydach Works, Breconshire 
 
 Price, Rev. David, M.A. All Saints, St. John's Wood, London 
 
 Price, George Prytherch, Esq. Solicitor, Llandeilo- 
 
 Price, H. T., Esq. 1, Bath Villas, Cheltenham 
 
 Price, Rev. Thomas, Baptist Minister, Aberdare 
 
 Price, Mr. Thomas Price {Cuhelyn,) Beaufort Iron Works 
 
 Price, William, Esq. Llanffoist, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Protheroe, David, Esq. M.D. Llandeilo 
 
 Protheroe, Mr. John, Timber Merchant, Brecon 
 
 Pryce, John Bruce, Esq. Dyffryn, Cardiff 
 
 Pryce, Rev. Mostyn, M.A. Gunley, Montgomeryshire 
 
 Pryse, Mr. R. J. {Gweirydd ap Rhys,) Llanrhyddlad 
 
 Pughe, Rev. J., Llanfihangel y Traethau, Harlech 
 
 Pughe, Mrs., Craigydon, Aberdovey 
 
 Pusey, Phillip, Esq. Pusey, Farringdon, Berkshire 
 
 Quin, Frederick, Esq. M.D. Ill, Mount Street, London 
 
 Raikes, Robert, Esq. Treberfydd, Crickhowel, South Wales 
 
 Rees, Rev. Wm. Jenkins, M.A. F.S.A. Cascob, Radnorshire 
 
 Rees, David Rice, Esq. Llandovery 
 
 Rees, Rev. Richard, Marsden, Burnley, Lancashire 
 
 Rees, Theophilus, Esq. Cwm, Caermarthen 
 
 Rees, John Hughes, Esq. Cilymaenllwyd, Llanelly 
 
 Reynolds, Mr. J. ( Nathan Dyfed) Mer thy v TydvU, South Wales 
 
 Richards, Rev. Richard, M.A. Meifod, Welshpool, 
 
 Richards, E. T. Esq. Judge of Local Courts, Holywell 
 
 Richards, John, Esq. (locyn Ddu,) Treiorwerth, Anglesey 
 
 Roberts, Rev. Samuel, Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire 
 
 Roberts, Rev. W., Baptist Minister, Blaenau, Monmouthshire 
 
 Robson, Mr. Joseph, 3, Victoria Street, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Roche, J. Webb, Esq. Rochemont, Co. Cork, Ireland 
 
 Roche, Mrs. J. W. 
 
 Rogers, Mr. Ebenezer, Abercarn, Monmouthshire 2 copies 
 
 Rolls, J. W., Esq. Yr Hendre, Monmouthshire 
 
 Rosser^ Mr. Isaac, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Rowlands, Rev. Thomas, Llansantffraid, Corwen 
 
 Rowlands, Rev. William, Merthyr Tydvil 
 
 Rumsey, Mr. William, Penallt, Llangattock, Crickhowel 
 
 Salisbury, E. Gibbon, Esq. Temple, London 
 
 Salusbury, Miss, of Llanwern, Monmouthshire, South Wales 
 
 Sandys, Colonel G., 3, York Gate, Regent's Park, London 
 
 Saunders, Mr. James, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Saunders, Mr. William, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Sauerwein, G. J. J., Esq. Llanover, Abergavenny, South Wales 
 
 Shelley, Mrs., of Avington, 40, Belgrave Square, London 
 
 Skene, W. F,, Esq. F.R.S.E. &c. &c. Edinburgh 
 
400 
 
 SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 Smith, Mr. Robert, Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, South Wales 
 
 Stephens, Mr. Thomas, Merthyr Tydvil 
 
 Stratton, Mrs., Bernard's Green, Malvern 
 
 Talhaiarn, Men»more, Leighton, Bucks 
 
 Tate, Anthony Temple, Esq. Llaneily 
 
 Thomas, Rev. Robert, Rhydymeirch, Abergavenny 
 
 Thomas, David, Esq. Brecon 
 
 Thomas, Mrs. Edward, 49, Upper Baker St., Regent's Park, London 
 Thomas, H., Esq., Summer Villa, Seacombe, Cheshire 
 Thomas, Mr. John, Clydach, Abergavenny 
 Thomas, Mr. John, Post Office, Glyn Nedd 
 Thomas, Mr. John, Ynyscynon, Cilypebyll, Nealh 
 Thomas, J., Esq. F.S.A., Belgrave Place, Pimlico, London 
 Thomas, Mr. Llewelyn, Talybont, Breconshire 
 Thomas, Mrs., Abernant, Glyn Nedd 
 ■ Thomas, R. Goring, Esq. Iscoed, Caermarthenshire 
 Thomas, Mr. Richard, Llangeney, Breconshire 
 Thomas, Mr. William, Somerset Cottage, Abergavenny 
 Vaughan, Rev. Thomas, Bulwark, Brecon 
 Vaughan, John, Esq. Penmaen Dyfi, Machynlleth 
 Vaughan, Mrs., Felin Newydd, Llandefalle, Brecun 
 Vaughan, Mr. Benjamin, Blaenau 
 Verity, Mr. Charles, 15, Victoria Place, Clifton 
 Vulliamy, Mrs. Lewis, Highgate, Middlesex 
 
 Waddington, Miss Clara, 39, York Place, Portman Square, London 
 Wakeman, R., Esq. Crickhowel 
 ^ Walford, John Berry, Esq. Newport, Monmouthshire 
 Waring, Elijah, Esq. 11, Dowry Parade, Clifton 
 Watkins, Mr. John, Shoemaker, Crickhowel 
 Watkins, Mr. T. E , ( Eiddil Ifor,) Blaenau, Monmouthshire 
 Webb, Miss, Norton Court, near Gloucester 
 Williams, Rev. D., D.D., Warden of New College, Oxon 
 Williams, Rev. David, Rector of Llanfachraith, Holyhead 
 Williams Ab Ithel, Rev. John, M.A. Llanymowddwy 
 Williams, Rev. E. Osborne, Barmouth 
 Williams, Rev. John David, Cardiff 
 Williams, Rev John, Cadoxton juxta Neath 
 Williams, Rev. John, M.A. Yeovil, Somerset 
 Williams, Rev. J. H,, M.A. Heavytree House, Exeter 
 Williams, Rev Robert, M.A. Llangadwaladr, Oswestry 
 Williams, David, Esq. of Bron Eryri 
 Williams, Edward, Esq. Clerk of the Peace, Brecon 
 Williams, Mr. Evan Griffith, Brewery, Brynmawi" 
 Williams, H., Esq. Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, London 
 Williams, Ignatius, Esq. Bodfary, Denbigh 
 Williams, James, Esq. Brecon 
 
 Williams, Mr. John, Company's Shop, Blaenau, Abergavenny 
 
 Williams, Mr. J. J , Ironmonger, Nantyglo, Monmouthshire 
 
 Williams, Mr. John Prytherch, ( Rhydderch o Fan,) Rhyl 
 
 Williams, Mrs. Philip, Llanwenarth, Abergavenny 
 
 Williams, Mr. Thomas, Printer, Crickhowel 
 
 Williams, William, Esq. of Aberpergwm, Glamorganshire 
 
 Williams, Miss, of Aberpergwm 
 
 Williams, Miss Jane M., of Aberpergwm 
 
 Williams, Mr. W., {Creuddynfdb^) Staleybridge, Lancashire 
 
 Wilson, Mr. Charles Thomas, Wind Street, Swansea 
 
 Wyatt, M. Digby, Esq. 54, Guildford Street, London 
 
 Wood, Colonel, Littleton, Staines, Middlesex 
 
 Wynn, C. W. Williams, Esq. 2, Lower Berkeley Street, London 
 
 WILLIAM REES, TRINTER. LLANDOVERY. 
 
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