Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards Part 24

{34i} Morgant, the name of one of Llewelyn's generals.

{35a} Mechain, a part of Powys.

{35b} Caer Liwelydd, Carlisle.

{36a} Arllechwedd, a part of Carnarvons.h.i.+re.

{36b} Cemmaes, the name of several places is Wales. The Bard means here a cantred of that name in Anglesea.

{37a} Tyganwy, the name of an old castle near the mouth of the river Conway to the east; it was formerly one of the royal palaces of Maelgwn Gwyneld, king of Britain, and was, as our annals relate, burnt by lightning, ann. 811, but was afterwards rebuilt, and won by the Earls of Chester, who held it for a considerable time, but was at last retaken by the princes of North Wales.

{37b} Arfon, the country now called Carnarvons.h.i.+re.

{37c} Beli. This was probably Beli Mawr, to whom our Bards generally trace the pedigree of great men.

{37d} Eryri, Snowdon, which some suppose derived from mynydd eryrod, the hill of eagles, but more probably from mynydd yr eiry, the hill of snow.

Snowdon, in English, signifies literally the hill of snow, from Snow and Down, that being still a common name for a hill in England, as Barham Downs, Oxford Downs, Burford Downs, &c.

{37e} Greidiawl, the name of a hero mentioned by Aneurin Gwawdrydd in his G.o.dodin.

{37f} Teivi, the name of a large river in Cardigans.h.i.+re.

{38a} Bryneich, the men of Bernicia, a province of the Old Saxons in the North of England. The inhabitants of Deira and Bernicia are called by our ancient historians, Gwyr Deifr a Bryneich.

{38b} It was the policy of the British princes to make the Bards foretell their success in war, in order to spirit up their people to brave actions. Upon which account the vulgar supposed them to be real prophets. Hence the great veneration they had for the prophetical Bards, Myrddin Emrys, Taliesin, and Myrddin Wyllt. This accounts for what the English writers say of the Welsh relying so much upon the prophecies of Myrddin. There are many of these pretended prophecies still extant. The custom of prophecying did not cease till Henry the Seventh's time, and the reason is obvious.

{38c} Pwlffordd, is the name of a place in Shrops.h.i.+re. There is a bridge of that name still in that county.

{38d} Cydweli, the name of a town, and Comot, in Carmarthens.h.i.+re.

{39a} Cefn Gelorwydd, is the name of some mountain, but where it is situated I know not.

{39b} Arderydd, is the name of a place somewhere in Scotland; perhaps, Atterith, about six miles from Solway Frith. This battle is mentioned in the Triads, and was fought by Gwenddolau ap Ceidiaw and Aeddan Fradawg, petty princes of the North, against Rhydderch Hael, king of c.u.mbria, who got the battle. Myrddin Wyllt, or Merlin, the Caledonian, was severely handled by Rhydderch Hael, for siding with Gwenddolau, his patron, which he complains of in his poem ent.i.tled Afallenau, or Apple-trees.

{39c} Eiddionydd, now Eifionydd, the name of a Comot, or district, in Carnarvons.h.i.+re.

{39d} Drws Daufynydd, is the name of a pa.s.s between two hills, but where it lies I know not. Drws Daufynydd signifies, literally, the door of the two hills. There are many pa.s.ses in Wales denominated from Drws, as Drws Ardudwy, Drws y Coed, Bwlch Oerddrws, &c.

{39e} Aberffraw, the name of the prince's chief palace in Anglesea.

{40a} Dinefwr, the name of the prince of South Wales's palace, pleasantly situated upon a hill above the river Towy, in Carmarthens.h.i.+re, now in the possession of George Rice, of Newton, Esquire, member of parliament for that county.

{40b} Mathrafal, the seat of the prince of Powys, not far from Pool, in Montgomerys.h.i.+re, now in the possession of the earl of Powys.

{40c} Rhos and Penfro, the names of two Cantreds in Pembrokes.h.i.+re.

{41} Fflamddwyn, the name of a Saxon prince, against whom Urien, king of c.u.mbria, and his son Owain, fought the battle of Argoed Llwyfein.

{46a} Nudd Hael, or the Generous, one of the three liberal heroes of Britain mentioned in the Triads, and celebrated by Taliesin.

{46b} Griffydd Llwyd, the hero of the poem, was the son of Rhys, son of Griffydd, the son of the famous Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal to Llewelyn the great, and a brave warrior. Edward Philipp Pugh, Esq., of Coetmor, in Carnarvons.h.i.+re, is a descendant in a direct line from Ednyfed Fychan, and has in his custody a grant from prince Llewelyn the Great of some lands in Creuddyn given to the said Ednyfed, and his posterity, with the prince's seal in green wax affixed to it. To this worthy gentleman, and his lady, I am much obliged for their civility when I lived in those parts.-The royal family of the Tudors are likewise descended from Ednyfed Fychan, as appears by a commission that was sent to the Bards and Heralds of Wales, to enquire into the pedigree of Owain Tudor, king Henry the Seventh's grandfather.

{46c} The land of the Angles, i.e., England.

{47a} Gwynedd, the name of the country, called by the Romans Venedotia, but by the English North Wales.

{47b} Urien Reged, a famous king of c.u.mbria, who fought valiantly with the Saxons, whose brave actions are celebrated by Taliesin and Llywarch Hen. He is mentioned by Nennius, the ancient British historian, who wrote about A.D. 858. This writer is terribly mangled by his editors, both at home and abroad, from their not being versed in the British language. I have collected some ma.n.u.scripts of his history, but cannot meet a genuine one without the interpolations of Samuel Beulan, otherwise I would publish it. I have in my possession many notes upon this author, collected from ancient British ma.n.u.scripts, as well as English writers, who have treated of our affairs. This I have been enabled to do, chiefly by having access to the curious library at Llannerch, by the kind permission of the late Robert Davies, Esquire, and since by his worthy son, John Davies, Esquire, which I take this opportunity gratefully to acknowledge.

{47c} Cywryd. This Bard is not mentioned either by Mr. Davies or Mr.

Edward Llwyd, in their catalogues of British writers. It seems he flourished in the sixth century, as did all the ancient British Bards we have now extant. Here let me obviate what may be objected to me as mentioning so many facts, and persons who lived in the sixth century, within the course of this performance. It was the last period our kings fought with any success against the Saxons, and it was natural, therefore, for the Bards of those times, to record such gallant acts of their princes, and for their successors to transmit them to posterity.

Every person, though but slightly versed in the British history of that time, knows that Cadwaladr was the last king of Britain. Since his time there are no works of the Bards extant till after the conquest, as I have shewed in my Dissertatio de Bardis.

{47d} Dunawd, the son of Pabo Post Prydain, one of the heroes of the sixth century, who fought valiantly with the Saxons.

{48a} Afan Ferddig, was the Bard of the famous Cadwallon, son of Cadfan king of Britain. I have got a fragment of a poem of his composition on the death of his patron Cadwallon; and as far as I understand it, it is a n.o.ble piece, but very obscure on account of its great antiquity; as are the works of all the Bards who wrote about this time. It is as difficult a task, for a modern Welshman to endeavour to understand those venerable remains, as for a young scholar just entered upon the study of the Greek language to attack Lycophron or Pindar, without the help of a dictionary or scholiast. How Mr. Macpherson has been able to translate the Erse used in the time of Ossian, who lived a whole century at least before the earliest British Bard now extant, I cannot comprehend. I wish some of those that are well versed in the Erse or Irish language, would be so kind to the public, as to clear these matters; for I can hardly believe that the Erse language hath been better preserved than the British.

{48b} Cadwallon, the son of Cadfan, the most victorious king of Britain, fought many battles with the Saxons; and, among the rest, that celebrated one of Meugen, in which he slew Edward king of Mercia, where the men of Powys behaved themselves with distinguished bravery; and had from thence several privileges granted them by that brave prince. These privileges are mentioned by Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, a Powysian Bard, in a poem ent.i.tled "Breintiau Gwyr Powys," or the Privileges of the men of Powys, which is in my custody.

{48c} Mon, the Mona of the Latins, called by the English Anglesea, in which, at a place called Aberffraw, was the palace of the princes of North Wales. The Bard seems here to hint at the loss of Llewelyn-ap-Griffydd, the last prince of Wales of the British line.

{48d} Arfon, the country now called Carnarvons.h.i.+re.

{48e} Rheon, the name of a river in Carnarvons.h.i.+re, often mentioned by the Bards; but it must have altered its name since, for I do not recollect any such river which bears that name at present.

{60a} P. 213. H. Steph. Edit. 1559.

{60b} P. 246. D.

{61} Footnote mark in book, but no corresponding footnote, unless it's a mix-up with the one on page 60.-DP.

{66} Forta.s.se, "Vindictam in Deirorum populum," &c.

{68} Quid sibi vult hic Bardus non mihi constat.

{69} Sc. cruore fuso.

{73} "Qui Harpatorem in manum percusserit, componat ilium quarts parte majori compositione quam alteri ejusdem conditionis homini." Inter Legg.

Ripuariorum et Wesinorum a Lindenbrochio collectas-Unde patet quanto in honore apud exteros etiam Bardus et Harpator (idem enim pleruuque fuit munus) habitus esset. Praeter harpam aliud instrumenti genus sibi peculiare Norwallenses vindicant, quod _Crwth_ vocant-Hinc verb.u.m Anglic.u.m _Crowdero_ apud Hudibrastum pro _Fiddler_, _or Player upon the Violin_, ad quod _Crwth_ principium dedisse videtur. Hoc instrumenti genus fere in desuetudinem abiit, et _violino_ cessit.-Ex s.e.x chordis felinis constat, nec eodem modo quo _violinum_ modulatur, quamvis a figura haud multum abludat: in Sudwallia peintus ignoratur:

"Roma.n.u.sque Lyra plaudat tibi, Barbarus Harpa, Graecus Achilliaca, _Crotta Britanna_ canat."

VENANTIUS. Lib. 7. Carm. 8.

{74} Vid. PRYNNE'S Coll. of Records, Vol. III. p. 1214.

{77} _Dygen Freiddin_, hodie _Craig Freiddin_, est rupes alta et praerupta in agr. _Salopiensi_, non procul a _Sabrina_.

{79} Quaenam sit haec avis mihi non constat.