Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth Part 32

"Ceiniadon moch clywid eu govalon: Marchawglu mor daer am Gaer Llion; A dial Idwal ar Aranwynion A gware pelre a phen Saeson." (Myv. Arch. i. p. 73.)

Songsters, soon would their cares be heard; An army of hors.e.m.e.n so hara.s.sing round Caer Llion; And the revenge of Idwal on the Aranwynians; And the playing of ball-buffetting with Saxon heads.

Al. "mab Pel;" Present the son of Pel.

{163e} "Hud:" has this word any reference to "_hud_wg," a racket for ball playing?

{164a} "Ystryng;" from _ys_ and _tryng_ or _trengu_.

{164b} "Adan;" that is _a dan_, will go under. Lit. "under the red-stained warriors go the steeds," &c. "Ymdan march," is a well known phrase for mounting a horse.

{164c} The same, it may be, with Angar, one of the sons of Caw of Cwm Cawlwyd, and brother of Aneurin. A saying of his occurs in the Chwedlau'r Doethion. (Iolo MSS. pp. 256, 554.)

"A glyweist ti chwedl Angar Mab Caw, Catfilwr clodgar?

Bid tonn calon gan alar."

Hast thou heard the saying of Angar, Son of Caw the celebrated warrior?

The heart will break with grief.

{164d} "Raen," from _rha_, which is also the root of _rhain_, spears.

{164e} This pa.s.sage, in another form, occurs three times in the Maelderw version and may be translated as follows;

"Angor, thou scatterer of the brave, Serpent, piercing pike, And immovable stone in the front of the army."

{164f} Al. "Oppressor, dressed in thy s.h.i.+ning white robes."

{165a} "Gwaenawr." Al. "The spears." Al. "The stones."

{165b} That is, the fosse of the Catrail, or that which surrounded one of the camps.

{165c} See lines 386, 524, 534. Al. "like ploughing the furrow."

{165d} The Bard in this stanza evidently plays upon the names of three of the British heroes, showing how appropriately they represented their respective characters; _Cywir_, _enwir_; _Merin_, _mur_; _Madien_, _mad_.

Perhaps it would be better to transpose the two first, and read the line as it occurs in one stanza of the Gorchan Maelderw;

"Enwir ith elwir oth gywir weithred."

Enwir art thou named from thy righteous deed;

for in "Kilhwch and Olwen" we meet with a person bearing the name of Gweir Gwrhyd _Ennwir_, who is said to have been an uncle of Arthur, his mother's brother.

{165e} "Bulwark of every tribe." Al. "of every language." _Gorch.

Maelderw_.

{165f} Merin the son of Merini ab Seithenyn, king of the plain of Gwyddno, whose land was overflowed by the sea. He is said to have been the founder of the church of Llanverin, or Llanvetherin, Monmouths.h.i.+re.

In the Gorchan Maelderw Merin is called the son of Madieith.

{166a} Al. "Gwynedd."

{166b} I.e. the drinking horn. "Dial;" _Gorch. Mael_. "to take vengeance for the contribution of mead." Owain Cyveiliog alludes to this circ.u.mstance in his Poem on the Hirlas Horn;-

"Kigleu am dal met myned dreig Kattraeth." (Myv. Arch. i. 266.)

That this author was acquainted with the G.o.dodin appears further from the following,

"Nid ym hyn dihyll nam hen deheu;"

where he evidently refers to line 290 of our Poem.

{166c} "Cyvyringet," those who met together between the two armies; from cyvrwng, cyd-rhwng.

{166d} "Cibno ced," seems to have been the cup of drink presented to bards and minstrels by their entertainers. (See line 345.) Not even the speech inspiring influence of this cup, could elicit an adequate description of the slaughter which ensued at Cattraeth.

{167a} Or, "the gallantry of the glorious knight of conflict."

{167b} Lit. "Ruddy reaping." Al. "Ruddy reaper, thou pantest for war."

{167c} Al. "Thou man of Gwynedd."

{167d} Lit. "Thou unmanest;" di-mwng.

{167e} "Llain." Al. "lance."

{167f} The expression "until blood flows" is not in the original.

{167g} That gla.s.s vessels were used by the Britons in the sixth century is further proved by the testimony of Llywarch Hen, who speaks of

"Gwyr ni giliynt rhag ovn gwayw, Ac yved gwin o wydr gloyw." (Elegy upon Geraint)

Men who would not flinch from the dread of the spear, And the quaffing of wine out of the bright gla.s.s.

{168a} "Ariant," money contributed towards any thing; thus "ariant cwynos," supper money, was paid by the gentry and freeholders towards the maintenance of the officers of the court; "ariant gwastrodion," money of the equerries, was paid by the king's tenants in villainage once a year, to furnish provender for his horses; "ariant am y vedd" would likewise be a contribution paid towards a banquet of mead. Gwaednerth made his enemies, as it were, pay him this tribute with the gold of their armour.

{168b} His history is unknown.

{168c} Or, "retinue."

{168d} "Dyrraith;" law of fate; death,

{168e} Probably Ayr in Scotland, rather than Aeron in Wales.

{168f} Lit. "the head."

{168g} I.e. the Clyde. Al. "The brown eagles." Llywarch Hen speaks of "the brown eagles" (eryron llwyd) and of "the eagle with the brown beak,"

(eryr pengarn llwyd.)

{169a} Lit. "Without reproach."