The Comical Adventures of Twm Shon Catty Part 30

Caradog, the son of Bran, the son of Llyr, checking the oppression of the Caesars;

And Rhitta Gawr, controlling the tyranny and pillage of the tumultary kings.

IX. The three benefactors of the Race of Cymry.

The first, Hu Gadarn, who first showed the Race of the Cymry the method of cultivating the ground, when they were in the land of Hav [namely, where Constantinople now stands] before they came into the Island of Britain.

Coll, the son of Coll-Frewi, who first brought wheat and barley into the island of Britain, where, before, there had only been oats and rye;

And Elldyd the knight, [a holy man of Cor Dewdws,] who improved the manner of cultivating the ground, taught the Cymry a better method than had been known before, and showed the art of ploughing which now prevails. [For before the time of Elldyd, land was cultivated only with a mattock and a spade, after the manner of the Gyddelians.]

X. The three primary Sages of the Race of the Cymry.

Hu Gadarn, who first collected the Race of the Cymry, and disposed them into tribes.

Dyvnwal-Molemud, who first regulated the laws, privileges, and inst.i.tutions of the country and the nation.

And Tydain tad Awen, who first introduced order and method into the memorials and preservation of the Oral art (poetry) and its properties.

And from that order, the privileges and methodical usages of the Bards and Bardism (Druidism) of the Island of Britain, were first devised.

XI. The three primary Bards of the Island of Britain.

Plennydd, Alwan, and Gwron.

These were they who devised the privileges and usages which belong to Bards and Bardism.

[Yet there had been Bards and Bardism before; but they were not completely methodized, and they enjoyed neither privileges nor established customs, but they were obtained through gentleness and civility, and the protection of the country and the nation, before the time of these three.

Some say they were in the time of Prydain, the son of Aedd Mawr, others, that they were in the time of his son, Dyvnwal-Molemud, whom some of the old books call Dyvnvarth, the son of Prydain.

XII. The three elementary masters of Poetry and Memorial, of the Race of the Cymry.

Gwyddon Ganhebon, the first man in the world who composed poetry;

Hu Gadarn, who first adapted poetry to the preservation of records and memorials;

And Tydain Tad Awen, who first developed the art and structure of poetry, and the due disposition of thought.

And, from the labours of these three personages, sprang Bards and Bardism, and the regulation of their privileges and established discipline, by the three primary Bards, Plenvydd, Alwan, and Gwron.

XIII. The three primary baptized (or christian) Bards.

Merddyn Emrys; Taliesin, the chief of the Bards, and Merddin, the son of Madawc Morvyn.

XIV. The three mighty Labours of the Isle of Britain.

Erecting the stone of Ketti. Constructing the work of Emrys. And heaping the pile of _Cyvrangon_.

The three happy astronomers. (_Serenyddion_, _Suronides_) of the _Island_ of _Britain_. _Idris Gawr_. _Gwyddion_ the son of the _Don_.

And _Gwyn_ the son of _Nudd_.

So great was their knowledge of the stars, and of their nature and situations, that they could foretell whatever might be desired to be known to the day of doom.

XVI. The three masters of mysterious and secret science, of the _Island_ of _Britain_.

_Math_, the son of _Mothanwy_, and he disclosed his secret to _Gwyndion_ the son of _Don_.

_Mengw_, the son of _Teiagmaedd_, who taught his secret to _Uthyr Bendragon_.

And _Rhuddlwm Gawr_, and he learned his mystery of _Eddic Gor_ and _Coll_, the son of _Coll Frewi_.

XVII. The three great modellers of the _Island_ of _Britain_.

_Corvinwr_, the Bard of _Ceri Hir_ of _Llyngwyn_, who first made a s.h.i.+p, with a sail and a helm, for the race of the _Cymry_.

_Mozdial Gwr Gweilgi_, the architect of _Ceraint_, the son of _Greidial_, who first taught the race of the _Cymry_, the work of stone and lime, [at the time _Alexander the Great_ was subduing the world.]

And _Coll_, the son of _Cylin_, [the son of _Caradawr_, the son of _Bran_,] who first made a mill with a wheel, for the race of _Cymry_.

W. NICHOLSON AND SONS, LIMITED, PRINTERS, WAKEFIELD.

Footnotes

{9a} The truth against the world.

{9b} The English p.r.o.nunciation of Twm Shon Catty, is Toom Shone Cutty; instead of which the Londoners call it TWIM JOHN KATTY, which seemed doubly ludicrous as the name of a tragedy hero.

{10} A small cup, so called from its contents being able merely to damp the clay of a genuine toper.

{31} In the farce of the Spirit Child.

{50a} The good ale of old Wales.

{50b} Wheat that may have been left out too long unharvested from the prevalence of rain, when found to sprout, is sometimes used in Wales instead of malt in brewing beer.

{55} In addition to the _Gwahoddwr's_ address, there is another mode prevalent in the present day, of inviting to the Bidding, by a printed circular, which in some parts of the princ.i.p.ality supersedes that merry personage altogether, a thing to be regretted, as it deprives the rural Welsh wedding of one of its most pleasing features, and cuts off its alliance with romance, and the manners of _oulden tyme_. The following is a specimen of a Bidding circular.

_October_ 183.

As we intend to enter the matrimonial state, on Sat.u.r.day, the 10th November next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a Bidding on the occasion, the same day, at the young woman's house, called Tynant, at which place, the favour of your agreeable company is most respectfully solicited; and whatever donation you may be pleased to bestow upon us then will be thankfully received, and cheerfully repaid whenever called for on the like occasion.

Your obedient Servants, A. B.