' J-J

C Y M M îl 0 D 0 R,

embodyií:.. the

TRANfoACTIONS

OF THE HONOUBABLE

SOCIETY OF CYMMRODOEION

OF LOXDOX,

ETC.

EDITED BY

THOMAS POWELL, M.A (Oxon.)

^^>%

03J

>^

PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY

BY

T. rJCHAllDS, 37, GEEAT QUEEN STREET, W.C.

1881.

/

g (fTsmmroíior, 1881,

CONTENTS OF VOL. IV.

Observations on the Pronunciation of tlie Sassarese Dialect of Sar-
dinia, and on yarious Points of Resemblance wliicli it presents
with the Celtic Languages. By H.LH. Prince Louis-

LüCIEX BONAPARTE - .... 1

Welsh Books Printed Abroad in the Sixteeuth and Seventeenth

Centuries, and their Authors. By H. W. Lloyd, M.A. - 25

Welsh Anthropology. By F. W. Rudler, F.G.S. - - 70

The Present and Future of Wales. By Lewis Morris, M.A. - 90

Merched y tŷ Talwyn. By the Rev. W. Watkins, M.A. - lol

A Description of the Day of Judgment. With Translation aud

Notes by the Editor - - - - - - 106

The Celtic Languages in Relation to other Aryan Tongues. By

the Rev. John Dayies, M.A. .... 139

The Eisteddfodau of 1880 - - - - - 143

Reviews of Books: —

Y Mabiuogion Cymreig - - - - - 150

Cydymaith y Cymro : neu Lawlyfr i'r Gymraeg. Gan y
Parch E. T. Dayies, B.A. - . . . 152

Notes of a Tour in Brittany. By S. Prideaux Tre-

GELLES, LL.D. ---... 152

The Rebecca Rioter : A Story of Rillay Life. By E. A.
Dillwyn ---... 154

The Folk-]ore of Wales - - - - - - 155

Notes and Queries --..-.. 159

Notices - - - . . . . .IGI

IV CONTENTS.

Welsh Fairy Tales. By Professor Rhys - - - 163

A Celtic-Slavonic Suffix. By M. H. Gaidoz - - - 217

A Cywydd to Sir Edward Stradling and Dr. Jolm David Rhys

upou the publication of the latter's Welsh Grammar - - 221

A Historical Poem by lolo Goch. By H. W. Lloyd, M.A. - 225

The National Eisteddfod of 1881 - - - - - 233

Reviews of Books : —

Who are the Welsh? By James Bonwick, F.R.G.S. - 2-42

St, Paul in Britain, or the Origin of British as opposed to
Papal Christianity. By the Rev. R. W. Morgan - 244

Glossae Hibernicae e codicibus Wirziburgensi Carolisruhen-
sibus aliis adjuvante Academiae Regiae Berolinensis
liberalitate edidit Heinricus Zimmer - - - 245

The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the
Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, and the Ancient
Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd. By J. Y.
W. Lloyd of Clochfaen, Esq., M.A., K.S.G. Vol. I - 247

Descriptive Account of the Incised Slate Tablet and other
Remains lately discovered at Towyn. With plates. By
J. Park Harrison, M.A., Üxon., etc. - - - 248

Caer Pensauelcoit, a long lost Unromanised British Metro-
poUs : A Reassertion, With a Sketch Map - - 249

The Folk-lore of Wales— Riddles. Yerbal Tasks - - 250

^ Cymmrotíor*

JA NUARY 188 1.

OBSERYATIONS ON THE PRONUNCIATION

OF THE SASSARESE DIALECT OF

SARDINIA,

AXD ON YARIOUS POINTS OF RESEMBLAXCE WHICH IT PRESENTS
WITH THE CELTIC LANGUAGES.

By ÍI.I.H. PRINCE LOUIS LUCIEN BONAPARTE.i

Haying made a prolonged stiidy of the singular pronuncia-
tion of this important dialect, I venture to assort that it
involves at least thirty-seven simple sounds. In the ortho-
graphy followed by Canon Spano, in his version of St. Mat-
thew's Gospel, these are represented by thirty-five characters,
whether simple, as c, d, etc, or compound, — ^genuine digrams
— such as ch, gli, gn, and the like.

In entering on a discussion of these characters, I must say
at the outset that they are, unfortunately, by no nieans in
harmony with the number of the sounds ; or even, in some
instances, with their nature. Thus dd, by way of example,
seems but ill-adapted to give us a clear idea either of the
palatal d, unknown to classical Italian, or of the strong d,
which is incorrectly spoken of as a double letter, in the same

' The following obseryations were printed in Italian in the year
18C0, accompanying a version of St. Mattbew's Gospel into Sassarese
by the Rev. Canon Spano. The present translation has been made
from a revised copy of the original issue, at the instance of the iUas-
trious author, by ])r. Isambard Owen.

VOL. IV. B

2 THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

way as that term is improperly applied to tbe otlier digrams
of the Italian language, Ih, ff, II, etc.

That our ears perceive no reduplication in the case of these
so-called double letters when they are spohen correctly, was
said, and not merely said, but proved, by that acute author,
Lionardo Salviati, (^) nearly three centuries ago. Such sounds
should accordingly be regarded as additional modifications,
strong, but nevertheless simple, of the other sounds usually (-)
represented by single consonants, and tlius augraent their
number.

The thirty-five characters are the folowing: — a, b, c, ch,
ci, cl, dd, e,f, g, gh, gi, gl, gli, gn, h, i, j, l, m, n, o, ^), q, r, s, sc,
sci, sg, sgi, t, u, v, z, zz ; and the thirty-seven sounds : —

1. o

14.

i

27.

P

2. h

15.

j

28.

r

3. c hard.

16.

l

29.

s yoiceless.

4. c sibilant

17.

l Yoiceless guttural.

30.

s Yoiced.

5. d

18.

l Yoiced guttural.

31.

sc sibilant.

6. d palatal.

19.

l Yoiceless dental.

32.

sg (Frenchy)

7. e open.

20.

l Yoiced dental.

33.

t

8. e closed.

21.

l sibilant.

34.

u

9./

22.

m

35.

V

10. g hard.

23.

n

36.

z Yoiceless.

11. g sibilant.

24.

n guttural.

37.

z Yoiced.

12. gl liquid.

25.

0 open.

13. gn

26.

0 closed.

EXAMINATION OF THE ChAEACTERS AND OF THE SoUNDS
REPRESENTED BY THEM.

1. a. — Is pronounced as in Italian.

2. h. — When, as in Italian, it should take the sound
of hh (see Note 2), it is pronounced precisely as in that
language ; but when the weak modification is required, the
Sassarese pronunciation of this letter seems to nie of a
Spanish character ; that is to say, less labial than the Tuscan h,
the lips being approximated without actually touching. Thus

DTALF.CT OF SARDINIA. 3

wheii T got a native of Sassari to repeat sereral times over
tlie words " bozi", vocc, "a bozi manna", ad alta voce, '' la
bozi", la voce, " dabboi", dipoi, I invariably heard in the
fìrst, second and fourth examples, tlie strong h, incorrectly
called double, of the Italian language, wliile in the third the
sound of the Spanish h appeared to nie most manifest.

The same niay be said of initial v, when by the influence
of the preceding word it lias to be pronounced as h. In this
case also, it is the Spanish h that is heard. Thus, cun
vinu; lu vi)iu; — the former is pronounced with the Italian
V, the latter with a weak h, but a h of Spanish sound. (See
under letter v) .

In the Logudorese dialect, as the Itev. Canon Spauo observes
in his Grammar, initial h, in circumstances which should call
for its weak sound (the sound that is of h single) is generally
absorbed. Thus, " unu boe", un hue, " su bentu", il vcnto, are
pronounced wuw oc, su entu, while " sos boes" " sos ventos",
i huoi, i veiiti, are sounded with the strong h.

In the languages of the Gaelic and Welsh families, suppres-
sion of the initial consonants by the influence of the pre-
ceding word holds a very frequent place, as will be seen fur-
tlier on.

3. c. — This letter is pronounced with the hard sound when
standing before the vowels a, o, or u, or before any conso-
nant, or as a terminal in proper names. " Cabà", catare,
" cori", cuore, " Criltu" Cristo, " Sadoc", are pronounced, as far
as regards c, precisely as in Italian, as long as the strong
form of that letter is rec[uired in Sassarese. If, on the other
hand, its sound is weakened, Sassarese follows the practice of
Celtic tongues, and changes the hard c into an equally liard g,
Tlius the word cori, and its Welsh equivalent ccdon, pro-
nounced, if isolated, witli c, are transformed into (jori iu
spoken Sassurese, and rjalon, in both spohen and written
Welsli, when the preceding words possess the property of

b2

4 THE PliONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

producing tlie initial cliange of c into g, aS, for instance, in
" lu do' gori", dy galon.

It will be useful to note here, that the Latin or Italian
hard c, which is mostly found in the middle of a word be-
tween two vowels, is very often rendered in Sassarese (never
in Tempiese) by gg; i.e., by a hard strong g, as in the words
poco, dico, fuoco, whicli in Sassarese are written and spoken
foggu, diggu, foggu, in Tempiese ijocu, dicii, focu. The
same exchange of the voiceless sound for the voiced occurs in
the case of ^ and t, as can be observed in the Sassarese words,
" cabbu", " daddu", corresponding to the Italian capo, dato,
and the Tempiese caim, datu.

C takes the Italian sibilant sound before e and i, as in
" ceggu" cieco. In the Cagliaritan dialect only this sound is
susceptible of initial mutation in pronunciation. Celu, in
fact, is spoken in Cagliaritan with tlie Italian c aspirate
when the sound of tliat letter should be strong, while in
" su celu" il cielo, though unseen by tlie eye, the ear dis-
tinctly perceives sgelu, with the French j, or Cagliaritan x.

The Italian c sibilant is very often rendered in Sassarese by
z, as well in pronunciation as iu the orthography followed in
the version of St. Matthew. The Italian words cielo, il ciclo,
pace, croce, luce, corresponding to the Tempiese celi, lu ccli,
paci, griici, luci, appear in Sassarese as zelu, lu zelu, pazi,
crozi, luzi, a strong sound being given to the z in the first
instauce, a weak one in the four last. (See under letter z.)

The letter c, of hard sound, when preceded by l, enjoys the
singular property of transforming both that sound and its
own into the German gutteral cí) ; — otherwise the Spanish j,
or, if preferred, the modern Greek x ; as heard in iiacf)t, hijo,
and 'xa\K6^, but not as in nicí)t and %^'pa, which have the cí)
and X palatalized. Tlms the word " balca" harca, wiU
be pronounced as if it were written 'ba^^f''- (See under
letter /.)

DIALECT OF SAEDINIA. 5

4. ch. — This digram \n Italian represeuts two sounds.
The first is tliat of hard c before e and i, and the second the
palatalized sonnd, as heard in the plund occhi, written by many
occhj and even occhii. This sound, which the rrench would call
" un son mouillé," and which modern phoneticism represents
by " lc ", is expressed in Italian, before any other vowel tlian
i, by chi, as iu occhio, vccchia, recchie, orecchiicto. In these
words, contrary to what is seen in the plural occhi, the i
exists only as a phonetic sign forming part of a trigram.
Neither Sassarese nor Tempiese possesses the sound alluded
to. In the former it is replaced by c sibilant, and in tlie
latter by the peculiar souud siii generis, which is treated of
in the remarts prefixed to the Tempiese version of St.
Matthew. Thus tlie Italian occJii gives place to the Sassarese
occi and the Tempiese oJcci.

In the Sassarese dialect ch raay take not only the sound
of hard c, but even those of hard g and ^, in the circumstances
which rec|uire c to assume thera, provided the vowels e and i
follow. Thus " chedda" {chita in Tempiese) scttimana, " la
chedda", " alclii" archi, " molchi", mosche, are sounded chcclda,
la ghedda, o-yyi, mo^yi.

5. ci. — To represent the c sibilant sound before the vowels
a, 0, and w, in Italian is adopted the digram ci, in wdiich tlie
i has no proper sound of its own, but merely serves, as an
inseparable part of the digram,to express, in union with the c,
the sounds heard in the words hncia, cacia, cucio, for which
in ccnere and ciglio the c alone suffices. The same use is
made of this digram in Sassarese and Tempiese, as may be
readily perceived in the words " faccia" and " cucciucciu",
cagnolino, of the former, aud in "cioccia", chioccia, of the latter.
In Tempiese the peculiar kci sound often corresponds with
the Italian sibilant cc and cci, and sometiraes in Sassarese
the rough z ; though in the latter dialect cc generally survives
unchanged. Thus huccia, Italian and Sassarese, is huhcia in

6 TIIE PRONUNCIATION OF TIiE SASSAllESE

Tempiese ; and zozza in Sassarese corresponds to tlie Italiaii
chioccia.

6. d. — Has always the Italian pronunciation in Sassarese,
at least unless it be reduplicated or preceded by /. In tlie
latter case it lias tlie property of transforming the ordinary 1,
and itself at the same time, into the voiced dental /, which will
be treated of further on. Supposing therefore that -we employ
the underdotted character " 1" as the equivalent of the sound
alhided to in all places where it is to be heard, the words found
written "caldu" caldo, "Lahlu" /o?-í/o, "ihlintiggaddu" sdcntaio,
will have to be pronounced " callu", " hillu'^ " iUintiggaddu".
This sound, a recognised one in the Gaelic dialect of the Isle
of Man, is hnown neither to Tempiese^ nor to Cagliaritan^
iior even to Logudorese, except, as Spano tells us, in some
varieties of this last bordering on Sassarese and not ad-
mitted into the common literary dialect of Logudoro. (See
imder letter l.)

Although in the Sassarese dialect, the single d not pre-
ceded by l never has other than the Italian pronunciation,
it will be well to recall what Spano tells us of the pro-
nunciation of the singie d preceded by n in such Logudorese
■\vords as " nde" nc, " ando" Tado, " cumandu" comando,
" mundu" onondo, and all the gerunds, " mandigande" mcin-
(jiando, " factende" or " faghinde" faccndo, etc. In all these
"words d has a palatal sound, as though it were written dd.
(See just below under dd.) Tbe three other dialects of
Sardiuia never give the palatal pronunciation to the single d.

In the Logudorese dialect (see Spano's Grammar, voL i,
p. 15) initial d is susceptible of absorption, i.c, of being
suppressed in tlie Celtic fashion, by the influence of the
preceding word ; but this actually occurs only in the single
word " dinari" dcnaro. Meda dinari will be pronounced
mcda inari ; as opposed to quantos dinaris, where the d not
only asserts itself but demands the strong sound of the
düuble d for the reasons already explaiiied in note 2.

DIALECT OF SARDINIA. 7

7. dd. — This digrani may convey two sounds, tliat of tlie
strong or double Italian d, and the special palatal sound of
the Cagliaritan, Logudorese, Sassarese, Sicilian, and in part
of the Corsican dialects also. The latter sound I have
already spoken of in the remarks prefixed to the Sicilian
Yersion of St. Matthew ; and I shall confine myself here to
reminding my readers that it almost always corresponds to
an Italian or Latin double /, "calteddu" castello, "beddu"
leUo, " eddu" e(jli, ille, " chiddu" queUo.

The former sound, that of double d Italian, has an entirely
different origin, since it corresponds nearly always to an
Italian or Latin weak t, as may be perceived in " andaddu '
andcäo,"áíLáá\i" dato,"vìzz[hidái\"ricevuto, "laddru" ladro, latro.
The word " fraddeddu" frateUo, presents both sounds ; first
the strong dental, and then the strong palatal ; the one
derivtd from t, the other from U. The palatal sound may
be indicated phonetically by " dd", when strong, and by " d"
W' hen weak, as in the Logudorese nde, pronounced " nde".

8. e. — The Sassarese c, like the Italian, is sometimes open
and sometimes closed. In this particular, the Sassarese
dialect follows the Logudorese pronunciatiou, in preference
to the Italian; while the Tempiese more often agrees with
the latter. Thus mcla, in Italian and Tempiese, is spoken
with e closed, while the open e is heard in tlie same word,
both in Sassarese and in Logudorese. (See Spano's Gi'ammar,
vol. i, p. 7.) When e loses the tonic accent, by reason of
inflexiün or other etymological change, it is, as a rule, con-
verted into i in Sassarese, in Tempiese, and in other southern
dialects. Thus " vèni" viene, gives " vinùddu" vcnuto, in
speaking as w^ell as in writing; and " fabèdda" ^mẃí, "vèlti"
vcste, " vèdi" vede, give fahiddàddu, viUìri, and vidèndi.

9./. — The strong pronunciation of this letter in no respect
differs from that known in Italian; but w^hen the weak
sound is required, it is no longer spoken as f, but as v. Tlie

8 THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

words " figliolu" ^^^ẃío^o, " figga" ^co, " faccia", wbich, whni
isolated, are pronounced as written, viz., with /, are ex-
pressed in speech, though never in writing, as lu viglwlu, la
vigga, la vaccia.

Tlie iaitial mutation of / into v occurs also in the Celtic
tongues, but only in Irish and Manx of the Gaelic group,
and Cornish arnong the Cymric. The Scottisb Gaelic among
tbe former class, and Welsh and Armorican of tbe latter,
are witbout it. Thus, exactly in the sanie \vay as the Sas-
sarese, figlwlu may be converted into vigliolii iu speaking,
the Irish "fuil" {blood), may become vuil (written hJìfuil),the
Manx " feanish" (luitness) veanish, and the Cornisb " for"
(road), vor.

10. g. — Tbis letter takes the hard Italian somid before the
vowels a, o, or u ; or any consonant not forming part of tbe
digrams gl, and gn, of wbicb a word presently ; aud the hard
sound also, as the terminal of a proper name : e.g., "gudi-
mentu" godimcnto, " gràbidda" gravida, " Magog".

Before the vowels e and i, it has the sibilant pronuncia-
tion tbat Italian gives to it in tbe syllables ge, gi, as long as
these are pronounced strong ; — as if written double, tbat is ;
but if the influence of tbe preceding word \\eakens its
sound, initial mutation occurs. Tliis mutation, peculiar to
Sassarese, consists in the transformation of the sibilant
sound of g into that of a j, pronounced as a true consonant
with a palatalized sound ; not, namely, as we bear it in correct
Tuscan speecb in the words aio, baio, etc. ; but just as it is
(improperly) pronounced by the Eomans, and tlie majority
of Italians, viz., ajo, hajo, etc. Tbus tbe word "gesgia"
chiesa, will be sounded Jesgia, if a word capable of producing
the initial mutation precede, as it does in tbe case of
la gesgia. Tbis is pronounced la jcsgia, though npver
written so.

Tbe !Manx and Scottish Gaelic also change the sound of g

DIALECT OF SARDINIA. 9

aspirate into that of / Tliiis, in the former Jee, God
(pronounced as Italian Gi) is converted into Yee (pronounced
as Eoman Ji) in dty Yee, Thy God.

The hard g, preceded by /, is converted, in pronunciation,
into the hard guttnral Greek 7, as heard in 'yá\a, íiot as in
7eVoç, while the antecedent l nndergoes the same trans-
formation. Thus, the words "alga" spazzatura, "lalgu"
largo, " ilgabbaddu" sgarbato, are spoken as ayya, la<yju,
i'yyahhaddu. (See under letter Z.)

11. gh. — Eeceives no other souuds in Sassarese than those
of which the hard g is susceptible. Thus, " alghi", spazzature,
" Lalghi", larghi, "inghirià", andare ingiro, are pronounced, the
hast as written, the two first as lay<yi, ar/ji.

Gh, in Italian, serves to express a sound called "schiacciato",
(palatalized) which is wanting in Sassarese and Temj^iese, and
which would be termed niouillé in French. It is, in fact,
nothing else than the voiced sound corresponding to the ch iu
occhi, whicli modern phoneticism usually represents by "g'". It
is indicated in Italian, sometimes by the digram gh, and sonie-
times by the trigram ghi, as in ragghi and ghianda. In the
latter word it is easy to see that the three letters g, h, i, all
concur to form the single palatalized sound, the i having no
existence apart ; while, in the former, the same effect is
produced by gh alone, and the i pronounced separately.

12. gi. — Gi represents the sound of g sibilant before the
vowels a, 0, and u, in Sassarese as in Italian, in all cases
where the initial nmtation into j does not take place.
" Giaddu" gaUo, is spohen with the Italian gi, while " lu
giaddu" il gallo, sounds as luj'addu.

To the Italian and Sassarese aspirate g, gg, gi, ggi, corre-
sponds in Tempiese a sound, sui generis, wdiich is treated of
in the remarks prefixed to the version of the Gospel in that
dialect. This sound in the middle of a word is always repre-
sented hj gh, or ghi, in the beginning sometimes by one of these

10 TIIE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSAEESE

characters, sûinetimes, ratlier illogically (as is sliown) Ly g
alone. The following words, however they are íbund printed,
receive the said peculiar sound, for which it might be well
to eniploy a phonetic sign "g", or the like ; "ogghi" oggi,
"ghiaddu" gallo, "gliittà" ^^^/«rí;, " viagghiu" i'iaggio, "giíi'
già/'Gesii' Gesù, "Gerwsalemnú" Gerusalemme, "Giuseppa"
Giusejjpe, etc. In all these words, Sassarese presents to the
ear the Italian sibihmt g or gi, and it writes them oggi,
giacldu, gittà, viaggÌH, già, Gcsu, Gerusalemmi, Giuseppi, etc.
Some simple phonetic sign or other should in the same way
be substituted for the kci sound, which in the Teinpiese ver-
sion referred to, is always represented by cch or cchi.

13. gl. — Before an i which is not succeeded by another
vowel, gl is a true digram, and represents the sound called
by the French " l mouillé". Before all tlie other vowels, the g
has its hard sound, as in Italian in the words glaciale, gleha,
gloria, glutinc, and in the few in which gli occurs followed
by another consonant, as nefjligema. In this particular, Sas-
sarese follows the Italian pronunciation, sounding figliolu,
witli liquid (jl. and gloria with hard g.

In Tempiese, this liquid sound, as well as the Italian
double/, is often rendered by a palatal cl, w^ritten as dd. This
is not the case in Sassarese. Thus, while the latter says
" vogliu" voglio, " megliu" mcglio, "figliolu" Jigliitolo, the for-
mer both writes and pronounces, mecldu , fiddolu and vodda.

15. gn is pronounced as in Italian.

16. h. — The same use is made of this letter as in the
Italian language, where, as well as in Sassarese, it has no
proper value.

17. i. — Italian pronunciation.

18. j. — A true palatalized consonant ; as already said under
letter g. Under Spanish rule, this sound was expressed by
ÿ, according to Spanish practice. Thus, Bcgir, for Dcju.

k. — In the Logudorese dialect this letter is made use of, as

DIALECT OF SARDINIA. 11

in Frencli, by tliose "wlio like an orthograpliy lialf etymo-
logical and half not.

19. l. — This letter in Sassarese bears at least six quite
distinct sounds, which I will call the natural, the voiceless
guttnral, the voiced guttural, the voiceless dental, the voiced
dental, and the sibilant.

Tlie natural sound, that, namely, of the Italian /, obtains
when this letter comes between two vowels, or occurs as aii
initial ; with the strong form if the letter be doubled, the
weak modification in contrary case. Thus, " lu", il, lo,
" milli" viille, " solu" solo, " laddru" ladro, are pronounced
with the Italian l or ìl. It obtains, equally as in Italian,
before z, wheiher the z correspond to the z, the c aspirate, or
the s, and whether the / represent the l or the r of that
tongue. Thus " alza ' ahare, " calzina" calcc, " salza" salsa,
" malzu", rtiarzo.

The A^oiceless guttural x sound, spoken of above under letter
c, is given to l Avhenever a hard c sound follows in the Italian
form of tlie word ; and the latter, too, is converted into ;^,
whatever be the origiu of the / in question, or the character
by whicli the sound of hard c is expressed. " Solcu" solco,
" solchi" solclii, " alcu" arco, " molca" Tìiosca, " molchi"
onosche, " \)íiìca." pasqua, are all pronounced with ^^ ; so)q(^i(,

soxxi, f'XX^', moxxa, '^no^^i P^tXX"-

The voiced guttural sound, which I will represent by 7,

obtains in analogous cases, namely, when /, be it derived

from r or from s, is found followed by any character what-

ever meant to represent hard g, while the latter undergoes

the same metamorphosis, and becomes 7 likewise. " Alga"

spazzatura, " alghi" sjìo.^tature, " lalgo" largo, " lalghi"

lanjhi, " ilgabbaddu" sffaròato, are all spoken wìúi 77

(strong 7) ci'yya, ajyi, hiyyo, layji, i<yjahbaclclu.

The voiceless dental sound occurs when /, be it derived from

/• or from s, is found preceding /, which latter also submits to

12 THE PRONÜNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

a transformation into a voiceless dental l. For the sake of clear-
ness, I wiU indicate this sound by an over-dotted " Ì". The
words ''altu" alto, "palti", iiarte, " baltoni", bastone, wiU
accordingly be pronounced with a double " Ì" (" Ì" strong)
" aÌÌu", " paÌÌi", " baíioni" (^). The sound of this " Ì" though
decidedly dental, differs hardly, if at all, from that of the
letter II, belonging to the "Welsh alone among the Celtic
tongues; the sound that occurs twice in the name Llangollen,
and is heard in every word in that language in which the
character II is found. And true though it is, that the Welsh
produce this sound by striking the upper jaw with the
tonsue to the riííht of the middle line, it is no less true that
this is done simply as a matter of choice, and that they can
produce with very little efíbrt the selfsame sound, by strihing
the jaw either to the left, or, just as the Sassarese do, at the
insertion of the incisor teeth.

The voiced deutal, which might be called the Manx pro-
nunciation, apj)ears in / foUowed by d, the latter beiiig
itself changed at the same time into " 1" (i.c, 1 underdotted, a
character employed here phonetically). " Caldu" caldo,
" laldu" lardo, " ihlintiggaddu" sdentato, are all pronounced
with double " 1"; " callu", " lallu", " iUintiggaddu."

This sound I call Manx, because in Irish and Scottish
Gaelic it is heard in a much more lingual and exaggerated
form tlian in the Isle of Man. In those dialects it seeras to
me that a greater part of the tongue is concerned in its
production, while in the latter attractive island I have always
heard it enunciated in such a manner as to leave no doubt
in my mind of its conformity with the Sassarese soft dental
/. Nor had Sig. Cauglia, a Sassarese gentleman introduced
to me by the Eev. Canon Spano, any more doubt of this
conformity, when he lieard the Iìev. Mr. Drury, a ]\íanx
clergyman, pronounce the said Sassarese words ccddu, lcddu,
etc, in my house in London. This " 1" sound appears also

T)I.\LFX'T ÜF SARDINIA. 1 !*.

when an n follows, but tlie n is not itself changed into "1".
Thus, iliiaturaddib is spoken " ilnaturaddu", not " illatu-
raddu".

The sound of l sibilant, which I will represent by a Greek
\, cannot be better defined linguistically than as a Welsh II
palatalized or " mouillée". Welsh itself does not possess such
a modification of its peculiar II, which belongs specially to
Sassarese. Such a connection at least appears to me to be that
whích exists between the Welsh II sound (voiceless dental l of
Sassarese, or "Ì") and this sibilant l or X, though less de-
cisively so than that which is apparent between the II in
Filli and the gl in figli. This sound, more sibilant than
that of "1", though it originate also from r, or from s, is
noticed when the labials p, h, m, or the semi-labials /, v,
immediately follow. Be it noted, however, that in this case
the said consonants are not themselves transformed, as we
saw happen with '^^, with 7, with 1, and with 1, into tlie
sound that precedes them, but are properly pronounced after
that sound. The words " palpà" paljmre, " colpu" corjjo,
"ilpina" spina, "sulfaru" solfo, "fulfaru" crusca, "ilfattu"
sfatto, "alburu" albcro, "balba" harha, "ilbirru" hirro, "mal-
vasia", "zelvu" cervo, " ilviaddu" sviato, "calma ' calmare,
"velmu" verme, "ilmuzzaddu" smozzato, are all pronounced
witli X: jm^j^à co\pu, i\pina, su\faru, fvXfarU; i\fattu,
a\2>urî(, ha\ha, i\hirru, ma\vasia, zc\vu, i\ciaddu, ca\mà,
ve\mu, i\muzzaddu.

"When the preceding word ends with l, the initial con-
sonant of that which fullows determines the sound to be
given to such final l. So the words " pal basgià" per baciare,
" pal cadì" per cadere, " pal ceggu" per cieco, " pal chiltu" per
questo, "pal ci'dma' per chiamare, "pal àa!' per darc, "pal fa'
per fare, "pal gudì"^er godere, " pal gittà" per gettare, "pal
ghettu" pcr ghetto, " pal giaddu" per gallo, " pal magnà'' per
/?iH?i^mr^, " pal pudè" ^)<T poterr, " -[^iú (iuattoldizi" per (jiuit-

14 TIIE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

tordici, "pal te'' per te, "pal vidè" per vedere, "pal z'úck" pcr
cercarc, "pal zurradda" pcr giornata, are pronounced, some
with l Italian, some with ^ {voiceless guttural), some with 7
(voiced guttural), sorae with "Ì" (voiceless dental l), some with
"1" (voiced dental l), and finally, some with X, (sibilant l), as
phonetically expressed here : pa\basgià, píí%x«<'^ì', palceggu,
'pa')Q(%llu, palciamà, pallà, pnXfà,2Ja'yyudì, ^^^(^giiià, ^Jayyettu,
'palgiaddîi,pa'kmagnà,pu\pudé,pa')Q(_aattoldizi,2')allé, pa\vidé,
pfdzi-)Q(à, imhurradda.

It would seeni to rae, after mature reflection on these
various forms of the Sassarese l, that the sound of the voiced
sibilant l should also be adraitted, as I have included the two
dental and the two guttural sounds, of which oue is voice-
less and the other voiced.

A somewhat delicate and attentive ear may by chance
notice a slight difference between the sound of l before the
voiceless consonants p and/, in the words palpà, colpn, ilpina,
sulfaru, fidfaru, ilfattu, and that which the same letter
takes when followed by a voiced consonant, as in alburu,
balha, ilbirru, mahasia, zelvu, ihiaddu, calmà, velmu, ilmuz-
zaddu. Another very slight difference the Eev. Canon Spano
points out between the sound of l derived froni s and that of
l originating from r, or corresponding to l in Italian, it being
more prolonged in tlie forraer case than in the latter. These
last distinctions must not be denied, but as they are not
such as are generally perceived even by a fairly acute ear, I
do not think I ought to adrait either a phonetic represen-
tation or an increase in the number of the thirty-seven
sounds. Enough that I have noticed them, confining myself
to the sole remark that if such minute differences of sound
are to be treated as of importance, the Sassarese l would be
capable of expressing, not six, but thirteen raore or less
different sounds, and that these niight be methodically
arranged thus —

DIALECT OF SAliDINIA. 1;")

SOÜNDS CORRESPONDING TO l AND r. SOUNDS CORRESPONDING TO S.

1. l Italian ; so/h, laddru, milli.

2. í Yoiceless guttiiral ; solcu., alcu. 8. molca.

3. í yoiced guttural ; alga, lalgu. 9. ilgabbaddu.

4. Z Yoiceless dental ; altu, palti. 10. baltoni.

5. / Yoiced dental ; cahlu, laìdu. 11. ildintiggaddu.

6. / Yoiceless sibilant; prt//jà, ./"(«//«?•«. 12. iìpina, iì/attu.

7. Zvuicedsibilant; a///íí?-M, se/yu, t"e/?H«. 13, ilbirru, ilviaddu, ilmuzzaddu.

Be it noted that neither the Tempiese dialect, nor the
Cagliaritan, nor even the Logudorese, in its literary form at
least, is capable of any but the íirst of all these l's ; and that
in them the character l, wlienever it occurs, is invariably so
pronounced.

In Tempiese, indeed, the conversion of r (never that of s)
into l takes place before gutturals, dentals, and labials, as in
the words " balca" harca, "niolti" morte, " eol])\i" corjjo, ete.;
but such words are spohen as written, with l Italian, and not
as ba;Y%^' molli, coXpu.

20. ììi. — Italian pronunciation.

21. n — Italian pronunciation ; i.e., as dental n, when it is
not foUowed by b or p, or by hard ^ or c ; as m, when b or p
foUows ; and as guttural n (" ii" of the linguists) when a hard
c ox g succeeds. Thus jMue, pan bianco, vengo, are pronounced
" pane", " pambiahco", " vengo".

22. 0. — Italian pronunciation ; i.e., sometimes open, some-
times closed. In this particular Sassarese follows rather
the Logudorese practice, while Tempiese agrees more witli
the Italian. (See Spano's Grammar, vol. i, p. 7). Thus
amòri in Sassarese, and amóri in Tempiese.

0 is very often converted into % by the agency of inflexion
or other-' etymological change, when it has lost the tonic
accent ; as is observed in Tempiese, and other southern
dialects. Thus, while we write and say " inòri" mnore,
" pòni", 2}one, " dròmmi", dorme, we have to speak and write :
" muri" morire, "punarà" porrà, " drumml" dormire.

16 THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

23. 'ŷ. — This letter, thougli it is always written as ^p, re-
presents two sounds, that of f, and that of h. The initial
change of ^ into & takes place in Sassarese as in the Celtic
tongues, but only when the weak pronunciation shouhl
obtain, as has been observed already under letter c. Thus,
" pobbulu" popolo, " lu pobbulu" il pojwlo : — the former is
pronounced jJohhulu, the latter lu hohhulu, exactly as happens
in Welsh in this very same word " pobl" pcople, " y bobl"
the pcople.

P is often transformed into double h, both in writing and
speaking, as the same word pohhulu shows us.

24. q. — Has the same force as in Italian, save in those
cases in which the sound of hard c is susceptible of change,
after the Celtic fashion, into that of hard g ; or by the assimi-
lative influence of l, into tliat of '^^.

Thus, in " c[uattoldizi" qnattordici, it has the Italian pro-
nunciation; in li quattoldizi, li guattoldizi is heard, and in
pal quattoldizi the pronunciation is as fCf^o^ìLattoldi^i.

25. r. — This letter is given with the sound of rr when
the strong pronunciation is required, and as single r when
tlie weak. " Eezza" rcte, " la rezza" la rctc. In Welsh, the
aspirated rli is converted into r, in an analogous manner :
" rhwyd" net, " dy rwyd" thy net. R, moreover, as we have
seen under letter l, is very often converted into l, y^, 7, " Ì",
" 1", or X, according to the letter that follows. It will be
well to add, that in speahing as well as in writing, it fre-
quently undergoes still other changes. lìn is generally
rendered by rr, as in " carri" carnc, "inferru" inferno, " zur-
radda", giornata (*). R preceding j5, though, as a rule, trans-
formed into sibilant / (\), becomes in "ilcappi" scarpe, a p,
by assimilation. FoUowed by s, it is itself transformed by
the same assimilative process into an 5 also (■^), as in " pessu"
perduto, perso ; and whenever it is found in Italian, with an
l succeeding, their union, seemingly Jittle in accord with

DIALECT OF SARDINIA. 17

Sassarese notions, is ruthlessly severed. "Tarulu" tarlo,
" perula" perla, etc.

26. s. — Is pronounced with a strong voiceless sound in all
cases in which other consonants receive a strong pronunciation,
and with a weak voiced sound in contrary cases. Thus,
between two vowels, or at the beginning of a word preceded
by another that demands the initial mutation from voiceless to
Yoiced (in " casa", " cosa", " lu santu" il santo, for instance), the
Sassarese s will be voiced, as in the word sposa in Italian ;
and not as it is given in the first three examples in correct
Tuscan speech, viz., voiceless. In the isolated word, santn,
on the other hand, or in a. santu, e santu, cun santu, the s
is voiceless in Sassarese also. S reduplicated, further, bears
not merely the ordinary voiceless sound, but one still more
forcible, as in the Italian cassa ; — " fossu" fosso, " cussì"
così. The Armorican alone among the Celtic languages
(perhaps the Cornish also), offers us this initial mutation
of the voiceless into the voiced s by the influence of the
word preceding. Thus, giving to the z the sound, which
tliat character bears in Armorican, of the Italian voiced s,
"sac'h" sack is written and pronounced " zac'h" in "da zac'h"
thy sack, exactly as, in Sassarese, the strong s of the word
saccu is converted into the voiced form in lu to' sctccu ;
lu do' zaccu, with the French or Armorican z, being tlie
pronunciation required.

S, as has been seen already under letter l, may give place
to the sounds %, 7, " 1", " 1", and X, always represented in
writiug by /. Be it added here that this letter is regularly
converted into l Italian before another /, as in "illo"oià"
sloggiarc, which is written and pronounoed with two Ts. It
is converted also into r before another r, as in irradizinà"
sradicare (^), and is written so as well as pronounced. In the
word " eddis" eglino or elleno, a synonym of eddi, the s, when
it comes at the end of a period or phrase, presents to the ear,
VOL. IV. c

18 THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSAEESE

after the Logudorese faslìion, a yery faint snbseqiient repe-
tition of tlie preceding i; as it were eddisi. This word
eddis, and lís, in the sense of a eddis, are, I believe, the only
ones in Sassarese that end in s.

27. sc. — These two letters do not, either more or less than
in Italian, form a digram, or, in other words, represent a
simple sound, unless followed by e or i. Before the remain-
ing vowels they are expressed separately ; the s, that is, is
converted into % (voicel^s guttural), and the c assumes that
sound likewise. Thus " cunniscì" conoscere, " molca" mosca,

pronounced Tìw^o^f^-

28. sci. — This is a trigram ; since the i is not pronounced
as sucli (^), but ouly co-o^^erates with the s and c in the forma-
tion of the conventional character by which in Italian and
Sassarese orthography it has been chosen to represent the
" s" sound of the linguists before the vowels a, o, w, as in
"asciuttu" asciutto.

29. sg. — The sound of the Frenchy, known by the linguists
under the form "z", is in Sassarese expressed by this digram
before e and i. The Cagiiaritans make use of x or else of c,
as in su cehi, which they pronounce su xelu, the x having the
force of the Sassarese sg : " basgi" haci. Before the other
vowels the s is changed, as was seen under letter /, into 7
(voiced guttural), and the g takes that sound as well. This
occurs in "ilgabbaddu" sgarlato, which wiU be pronounced
i'yyahhaddu.

30. S(ji. — Eepresents the preceding sound^ the i having nô
proper force, when the vowels a, 0, u follow : " basgia" hacia,
" basgiu" hacio.

31. t. — Sounds as in Italian when the strong form is de-
manded, but when tlie pronunciation has to be weak it is
converted into d. Thus terra is given with t Italian, and so
are a tcrra, e terra, cun tcrra, while la terra, la noltra terra,
are heard as la derra, la noltra derra. The same thintT occurs

DIALECT OF SARDINIA. 19

in the Celtic tongues, except in tlie Scottish Gaelic, which
never admits the initial mutation of a voiceless into a voiced
consonant. Thus in Irisli, "tír" couniry, gives "ár dír" our
country; though it is written ár d-tir, by force of ihe rule
called eclipsis, which requires, in Irish orthography, the conso-
nant sounded to be succeeded by the one which is no longer
heard iu the pronunciation, but retained for etymological
reasons.

So also the Welsh, which, preferring phonetic to etymo-
logical orthography, of "tad" fatlier, makes "dy dad" tliy
fatìicr, and writes it witli t or with d, according to the pro-
nuuciation.

The Sassarese t is susceptible of a third sound yet, viz., of
becoming a vöiceless dental l in pronunciation, when it is
preceded by "Ì" a sound of like character. (See under letter /.)

This letter, fìnally, may be converted into a non-palatal dd,
as has been said already in the section relating to dd.

32. u. — Italian pronunciation.

33. V. — Is pronounced as in Italian when of strong sound;
but when corresponding to the weak pronunciation of other
cousonants, is converted iuto a soft 5 of Spanish character.
(See under letter è.) Thus in vinii, avvizina, lu vinu ; the
two first have the Italian v, as in vino, awicina, but the third
is pronounced ht hinu, with, however, a Spanish h, less labial
than the Italian.

In the Celtic tongues, v does not undergo initial change ;
but even here, the Tempiese dialect, which knows nothing
of the other mutations which occur in Sassarese, Cagliaritan,
Logudorese, and the Celtic languages — the Tempiese dialect,
I repeat, offers the Hnguist a point of encounter with the
last named, in the elimination to which the letter in question
is there subject. This suppression takes place in every case
in which Sassarese transforms it into h, and Logudorese into
h aspirate ; as in su vinu, jyro vendere, which, in the latter

c 2

20 TIIE PRONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

dialect, as Spano sliows us {Grammar, vol. i, p. 12), are
pronounced, tliougli never written, " su hinu" il vino, " pro
liendere'' j^er vendere. Thougli v, in the Celtic tongues, is
never subject to such elimination, it is no less true that this
process is observed in the case of the Welsh and Armorican
hard g ; "gwr" maìi, and " gwerzid" spindle, being reduced to
lüT (^), and íverzid, by the force of the preceding word (^) ;
precisely as occurs in Tempiese in the word vinu, which,
isolated, or in a vinu, e vinu, etc, is spoken with a v ; while
hù vinu, cJiista vinu, on the other hand, are lieard, though
not written, as lu inu, cliistu inu.

In the three Gaelic dialects, too, the letter /, which bears
so close a rehition to v, is similarly affected. " Fuill" blood, is
converted into icill in "dty uiU" thy hlood, in the Manx dialect;
and thouah the word in Irish and Scottish Gaelic is written
fuil when the / is to be sounded ; and fhuil wdien it is to be
sujDpressed, its pronunciation is always the same as in Manx.

In Bitti, further (see Spano's Grammar, vol. i, p. 12), the
/ in the word fizu presents an absolute conformity with the
three Gaelic dialects ; for, while pronounced sos fizos in the
plural, in the singular it is heard as su izu, and not as
su vizu, as in Logudorese in general. In Manx, finally,
initial suppression of b, d, and m, may take place in words
where these cousonauts are followed by iü, as in " mwyllar"
miller, " bwinnican" yolk, " dwoaie" hatred, which are pro-
nounced and written accordingly, " yn wyllar" the 7niller,
" yn winnican" tìie yolk, " e woaie" his hatred. Precisely^
similar is the Logudorese practice (see under h and d) with
regard to the d of dinari, and the b of boe, which are trans-
formed in pronunciation, though not in writing, into su
inari, su oe.

Nor should the similarity be overlooked between the
changes that afíect the letters s and t in the three Gaelic dia-
lects and / in Cornish alone of the Cambrian group ; and the

DIALECT OF SARDINIA. 21

iuitial inutation into li aspirate to wliicli tbe Logudorese v is
subject; for, just as in Logudorese, vendere and vinu are
converted into hendere and hinu ; " sál" hcel, in Irish, and
" íiôli" hoij, in Cornish give place to " a shál" (pron. a hál)
his heel, and "gen hlô" ivith a hoy. So also, to give an
examj)le of the change of t into h aspirate, I will take the
Manx dialect, in which " towse" measnre, becomes " e howse"
his measure.

X. — The letter x is not used either in Sassarese or iu
Tempiese. In Cagliaritan it is pronounced as tlie French
j, i.e., as the Sassarese, Logudorese, and Tempiese digram
sg. In Logudorese it is used, for etymological reasons,
with the force of cs.

y. — The same may be said of y, which is used in Logu-
dorese alone, with the force of i, for the sake of etymology.

z. — According to the use that has been made of it in the
Sassarese version of St. Matthew, a single z, as an initial, will
have, as in Italian, sometimes a voiceless and sometimes a
voiced sound. When of strong voiceless sound, it will become
weak voiced in all cases in which the initial changes of voiceless
sound into voiced take place. Thus in " zelu" cielo, it will be
voiceless, and in " lu zelu" il cielo, voiced. Tn the middle of
words it will always be voiced between two vowels, as in
" giultizia" giustitia. After another consonant it wiU be, as
in Italian, sometimes voiced aud sometimes voicele3s ; but I
believe that of all the words that occur in the version of St.
]\Iatthew the only ones which have a voiced z after a
consonant are " franza" frangia, where the z corresponds to
the ItaHan sibilant y ; and "pazienzia", with both the zs>
voiced.

In " rranza" Francia, z is voiceless, as it corresponds to the
Italian sibilant c; in"monza"?>ionaca,it isvoiced; but,speaking
generally, it will be almost always voiceless after a consonant,
as in "malzu" marzo, "folza"/or2;a, "piniddenzia" jje?iŵ?im, etc.

22 THE PEONUNCIATION OF THE SASSARESE

35. zz. — This digram, according to the orthography adopted
in the Yersion of St. Matthew, wiU have a constantly voiceless
sound. Thus, " rizzibì" riccvcre, " ozziu" ozio, " nigozziu"
ncgozio ; while words such as rozu, muzu, profctizà, etc,
having, unlike their Italian correlatives, only a single z
between two vowels, will be pronounced with that letter
of voiced sound. And be it here noted, that the sound
of zz does not differ from that of single z of voiced pro-
nunciation, merely as any strong letter may differ from its
weak counterpart; that is to say, as Italian t from tt, etc.
The sounds of zz, and of " dd" {clcl palatal), are totally dis-
tinct from those of the voiced z, and of the non-palatal
dd ; as distinct as p and h, t and cl, f and v, voiceless s and
voiced s, are from each other; and as to the Italian dcl, it stands
to the Sassarese " cid", as the Italian / to the Polish palatal
/, or almost as the natural n of vano stands to the guttural
01 of vango, in sounding which the point of the tongue
does not meet the npper teeth, as it does in prououncing the
former.

DIALECT OF SAHDINIA. 23

N 0 T E S.

1. Dogli awertimenti della lingua sopra'l Decaraerone. Yenice,
1584. Vol. i, p. 261.

2. " Usually" I say, because in Italian as well as in Sassarese, a single
coní5onant is pronounced as if written double, as it falls under tbe fol-
lowing general rules :—

a. If, being initial and not followed by a consonant, it stands at
the beginning of a sentence, whether commencinga period or clause
(long or short) or following a comma.

h. If the preceding w^ord, though ending in a vowel, be an
oxytone, or a nionosyllable derived fi'om a Latin word whicli has
dropped its final consonant, or final syllable begiuning with a con-
sonant, in becoming Italian or Sassarese.

Thus the preposition a', derived from the Latin aJ, the conjunction e,
correspondiug to eí, sì derived from s/c, "nè" «ec, and truucated words
like "amò" omcwit, "potè" potuit, have all the property of giving a
strong sound to the iuitial con.<onant of the word fullowing; and though
one sees written a Pietro., e voi, sì girinde, ne guesto ne c/uello, amò molto
potèjwco, one always hears a/>/)îeíro, ewoi, siggrande, necquesto necquello,
amommolto, poteppoco.

The weak souud of the consonants, on the other hand, will obtain
in every case, other than those noted in tlie above rules, in which the
preceding word ends in a vowel. Thus in each of the following
examples: — (Zí JSIaria, i donì, la mente, le donne, mi clice, ti lascia, s^i goJe
ama molto, pote' poco, molto largo, the initial consonant of the second
word is pronounced as written, weak; for either the Latin form of the
preceding word {de, illi, illa, illse, lue, te, se, potui) ends in a vo\vel, or
else, as ania and molto in ama molto and molto largo, the preceding word
has not the tonic accent on its last syllable.

The property which many oxytones and monosyllables posses.=3 of
gÌYÌng a strong sound to succeeding initial consonants, does uot theu
depend, as Salviati would have it, on their oxytonic or niono.«yllabic
nature, but as 1 think I have sufficiently shown, on the final consonaut
of the original Latin form. This Latin final consonant, though it has
disappeared in the derived dialects, retains its effect through the process

' In Sassarese this preposition gives the strong sound to the / of the
article only when the following word comniences with a vo\vel: — a lu
babbu, airanima, cdrHcrihi, a Ici pcddra.

24 PRONUNCIATION OF SASSARESE ÜIALECT OF SARDINIA.

called assimilation, by virtue of which it is trausformed iuto an Italian
or Sassarese initial.

This being admitted, the oxytones and monosyllables which do not
enjoy the property of giving a strong sound to initial consonants, and
which are cited by Salviati as exceptions, cease to be such, and fall ia
with my general rules.

3. The word "altru" altw, is an exception, being pronounced with /
Italian.

4. Except in "eternu" eterno, "eterniddai" eternità, "urna",
" ternu" terno, " incarnaddu" incarnaío, " incarna^ioni" incarnazione,
" turnu" (the " turning-box" of a monks' parlour) and some others.

5. Except in "forsi" forse (also pronounced vulgarly /osíí), "cum-
parsu" comparso, and some others.

6. Except in Israeli.

7. Except in those words in which i receives the tonic accent. In
these the trigram is resolved into the digram sc, and the vowel î, which
last is given its proper value ; as in " pascia" jsascet-a. The same may
be said of any other trigram into which i enters as its third element,
the Sassarese sgi and the Sassarese and Italian (jli for instance. And
just as the trigrams are resolved into digrams and vowels by reason of
the tonic accent falling on the latter, the digrams themselves, such as
ci and (ji, are, under similar circumstances, split up into simple characters
followed by a fully sounded vowel i. Thus, while in the Italian lam-
hagia, (ji exists as a digram possessing altogether merely the sound of
(j sibilant ; in alhagìa, the same purpose is served, not by the digram
(ji, but by the single letter g preceding the i, which latter is distinctly
pronounced with its own proper sound.

8. In Cornish, gwr gives place to wur by mutation of g into lo.

9. I will remark here that one would need to be, if not blind, at
least deaf , to be able to deny the identity in some cases, and the strong
analogy in some others, between the Sardinian and the Celtic initial
mutations, as far as concerns material points; though one should not
for all that assume with absolute certainty the identity of the causes
which produced these changes.

25

WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTH CEN-

TURIES, AND THEIR AUTHORS/

By II. W. LLOYD, M.A.

Persons of a literary taste, wlio may have lived long enough
to remember Paris as it was in the early part of the present
century, will probably not have forgotten M. Marcel, a
learned Orientalist, who was sometime Director of the
Imperial Printing Ofìice under the first Napoleon. M. Marcel
was by profession a publisher, and to his other pursuits,
added that of bibliographical research. It was he who first
brought to the notice of Prince L. Lucien Bonaparte a
curious volume, printed in the year 1568, in a language
evidently Celtic, but in a type and orthography exhibiting
remarhable peculiarities, unlihe those pertaining to any one
of the existing families of that class of languages, and sup-
posed by that gentleman to bear the nearest resemblance to
the Cornish. Of this book Prince Lucien became the for-
tunate purchaser, and thus found himself the possessor of an
unique copy of the "Athravaeth Gristnogavl", a work which
has just been reprinted as nearly as possible in facsimile
by the Cymmrodorion Society, and which has contributed
largely to the settlement of a curious controversy, as well as
to the elucidation of some material facts in connexion with
the publication of a larger, and to scholars, and, indeed, to
the lovers and students of Celtic literature generally, a more
interesting and important work, the Welsh Grammar of Dr.
Griffith Eoberts. To the Welsh title of this latter book is ap-
pended no press-mark ; but simply the date of the year, and,

1 Read before the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, in London,
on the 30th June, 1880.

26 WELSH BOOIŶS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

in Latin, tlie day of tlie nionth ; — 1567. 1° Martij. We
are told, liowever, by Dr. Jolm Dafydd Ehŷs, in the preface
to liis Welsh Grammar, that Grruffydd Eoberts wrote a Gram-
mar, and " Mediolaiii excudit". A late librarian of the British
Museum, Sir Antonio Panizzi, was unable to bring himself to
believe tliat by ^'Mediolani" the city of Milan, in Italy, could
be intended, because, as he averred, the peculiarities character-
istic of Italian printing were not to be detected in the book.
He, therefore, started an extraordinary theory of his own,
which was that by "Mediolani" must be understood, not Milan,
in Italy, but the place called in the old British Itineraries
" Mediolanum", a Eoman military station, the site of which
antic[uaries have been greatly puzzled to fìx with certainty,
and has been placed by some in Cheshire, by others in
Flintshire, but by others again, and with far greater pro-
bability, in Montgomeryshire. Tlie villages in that county
which haA^e contended for the glory of it, like the seven
cities of old for being the birthplace of Homer, being Llan
St. Ffraid, Llanfair, Llanfechan, Llanfyllin, (from Myllin),
and ]\Ieifod, the two last of wliich, approach the most
nearly in sound at least to Mediolanum. Some months
ago an announcement was made by Priuce L. L. Bonaparte
in the Äcademy, that in the colophon at the end of the preface
to tlie Athraiüaeth, which had proved to be a small Welsh
catechism, printed by Dr. Griffith Eoberts, the author of
the Welsh Grammar, the words were found, " 0 dref, Pylen
nosuyl S. Nicolas.", and in tliat at the end of the l3ook,
" Ymylen. 1568. dyuguyl. S. Mcolas.", words whicli it was
declared, on no less an authority than that of the Eev. D.
Silvan Evans, could be referred to no other place in tlie world
than Milan in Italy ; and tlius no further room was left for
controversy on the question which had been raised by Sir
Antonio Panizzi, as Dr. Eoberts must naturally have printed
the one work at the place where he printed the other. ISTo
serious doubt, indeed, could be entertained ou sucli a matter

SIXTEENTII AND SEVENTEENTII CENTURIES. 27

iu tlie mind of a Welsliman, as otlierwise none could liave
been raised as to the whereabouts of the Eoman station
of Mediolanum, which would in that case readily have
been identified by its very name. But no such place is or
has been known either to historians or to the inhabitants in
modern tinies. But if there were still room left for such a
doubt after this discovery, still further materials are to be
found for its solution in the existence of another work, the
Drycli Cristionogaiül, or Christian Mirror, in the British
Museum, which had been strangely overlooked by Panizzi,
of which Dr. Grifíìth Eoberts is uumistakeab]y the author.
This (which, however, was printed, not by the author himself
at Milan, but by his friend and fellow-worker, Dr. Eoger
Smith, at Eouen), contains, in Dr. Smith's introduction to it,
a direct reference to a Welsh work printed by Dr. Eoberts at
Milan. It is also of great value for the light W'hich it throws
upon some other very interesting questions which have grown
out of the publication of these and other works of a somewhat
similar character, printed to all appearance in a sort of series,
origiuating for the most part in a singie cause, and culmi-
nating in a single object. Why, for example, was the
printing of this series commenced in Italy and continued
afterwards in France ? And secondly, why was the peculiar
orthography and punctuation found in them, and in them
only, that has chiefly led to these perplexities, adopted
in the first instance by Dr. Eoberts, and continued, with
some variations, by his successor in the Avork of printing
theni, Dr. Eoger Smith ? The answ^er to these questions,
interesting alike to the critic of language and to the biblio-
grapher, is fuUy supplied in the preface and in some
supplemental additions to others of the diíferent works ;
and, therefore, tliough somewhat long, I have ventured
here to reproduce them.

Of the Dnjch Cristionogawl I am unable of my own
knowledge to give the full and precise title, as the title-

28 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

page of tlie British Museum copy (the only one now known)

has unhappily been lost. According to the British Museum

Catalogue it runs thus, mutatis mutandis, to adapt it to the

modern orthography: "Y Drych Cristianogawl yn yr hwn

y dichon pob Cristion ganfod gwreiddin a dechreuad pob

daioni sprydawl, sef, gwybod modd i wasanaethu Duw,

drwy ei garu a^i ofni yn fwy na dim, ag i daílu ymaith

beth bynnag ar a fo rwystr i hynny. Y rhan gyntaf yn

peri gwasanaethu Duw drwy ei garu." "The Christian

Mirror, in which every Christian may see the root and

beginning of all spiritual goodness, namely, to know how

to serve God by loving and fearing Him above all things,

and to cast away whatever shall be a hindrance to that.

The First Part, causing to serve God by loving Him. Edited

by Pt, S. [i.e. Rosier Smith ?), B.L. [Apud hseredes I.

ravonis, Ehotomagi, 1585.] 12mo. The work is set dow^n

by Eowlands under the year 1584, who gives the title

correctly as far as the word dim, adding, &c., and " There is

no author's name to this book", showing that he could not

have loohed into it as far as the preface. The preface,

however, commences as foUows : and here I am met, at the

outset, by the bi-lingual difficulty, which has asserted itself

in so marked a manner in the Principality, and which, I

fear, I can meet in no other way than by giving extracts

from the respective works in both languages. The original

has: — "Yr Awdwr neu r Gwr a wnaeth y Lhyfr yma

AT Ei Garedigion Gymry yn erchi phynniant a lhwydhi- '

ANT idhynt." Wrth fedhwl am fraint a bri ^r Cymry gynt,

a' i Ihesced ai diystyred yr owran, mae dolur a chlefyd yn

magu yn fynghallon." Which may be thus translated: —

" The author, or the mau who made this book, to his beloved

Cymry, beseeching success and prosperity for them. On

reflecting on the privilege and honour of the Cymry of old,

and their dispirited and despised condition at present, pain

and sickness are fostered in my heart."

SIXTEENTII ANU SEYENTEi^NTII CENTUIÎIES. 29

On page 11 of tlie Preface, tlie riinnmg title of which is
"At Gymry" (To Welshmen) is tlie following :— " Drych
Cristianogawl jt henwais i y l'yfr yma am fod pob Cristiawn
yn gal'a canfod yndo, os mynn, lun y petheii yssyd ido eu
canlyn neu gochel yn y byd yma, megis y cenfyd dyn mywn
drych o wydr lun gwrthdrych y peth a fo ar gyfeiryd y
drych"; i.e., "I hare uamed this book the Christian Mirror,
because every Christian may see therein, if he will, the form
of the things that he is to follow or to avoid in this world,
as a man sees in a glass-mirror the opposite form of the
object that is presented to the mirror."

The last three paragraphs run thus : — "Hynn o damchwain
0 liw beiau a gasclai rhyw fath ar dynion yn y l'y fr yma ac
erail' ryw eilun beieu o faith aral'; Ond o chaf wybod un
bai nag aral', mi a fydaf barod i yinostwng ag i vfudhau i'r
sawl bynnag ai daghosso, yn enwedig o dihangawd dim o'm
geneu drwy aughof yn y l'yfr yma a fo yn anghytuno mywn
dyal' a medwl a r Eglwj's Gatholic fy Mam sprydol.

" M cheisiaf na thal na diolch am fy mhoen am hewyl'ys
da, ond bod yn gyfranol o wedi pob Cymro phydlon, or a
gapho dim didanwch na l'es yw enaid wrth darl'ain neu
glywed y l'yfr hynn.

" Duw a Mair gyda a chwi ol', ag a drefno i ni fyw yma
ynghorlaii Crist, megis y gal'om i gyd gyt gyfwrd ym Para-
dwys nefawl, a theyrnasu gyd a Duw yn dragy wydawl. Amen."

I. c, " Some persons may gather faults of one kind in
this book, and others some appearance of faults of another
kind. But if I get to know one fault or another, I shall be
ready to submit myself to and obey anyone, who3oever he
may be, that shall point them out, especially if anything has
escaped frorn my lips through forgetfuhress, that is dis-
cordant in understanding and thought with the Catholic
Church, my spiritual motlier.

" I shall seek neither pay nor thanks for my trouble and my
good-will, save to be partaker of the prayer of every faithful

30 WELSH BOÛKS PRINTED ABROAD IN TIIE

Welshman, wlio shall gain any comfort or benefit to his soul
by reading or hearing this book.

" God and INIary be with you all, and order ns so to live
here in the fold of Christ, as that we may be able to meet
together in the heaveuly Paradise, and reign with God for

ever. Amen."

" 0 Fulan, yr eidoch,

"G. E.

(" From Milan, Yours, G. E.") [Griffith Eoberts.]

Then comes a blank page, the next to which begins as
follows : —

" Yr Achos a'r Modh Y
dodwyd y Ihyfr yma mywn Print."

" Y mae blwydhyn bellach a chwaneg er pann dhaeth i
m Ihaw yn Nhir Phreinc lyfr Cymbraeg o w^aith yr Atlu'o
mawr o Dhinas Fulan yngwlad yr Idal. Ewylliys yr Athro
ydoedh dhanfony lliyfr mywn scrifenlaw i blith y Cymry :
Am nad oedh dim modh yw brintio ef yno ac am fod y phord
yn rhy beU rhy faith i dhanfon mawr nifer o Ihyfreu o r
Idal i wlad Gymbry : Ehag torri ar ewylhys yr Athro, mi a
dhanfonais o Phrainc i ynys Brydain vn copi o'r l'yfr mewn
yscrifen law^ ag a gedwais gopi aral' gyd a mi fy hunan yn
Phrainc. Yn y mann ar ol tirio 'r Ihyfr a dyfod yn hoeth
(sic for noeth) ac yn anrhefnus wedi ei wlychu gann fordwy
a heli, idhwylo Cymbry, cafodh (fal y clywais) wdsc yn ei
gylch ai sychu ai ymgledhu yn ewyl'ysgar ag yn chwannog
dhigon. Yna cerdhed a wnaeth dros amser o law i law drwy
aml faneu odir Cymry, yn cael mawrbarch a chroeso ymliob
mann : pawb o r a glywei son amdano yn chwanog i gael
cydnabod arno: rhai yn deisyf ei dharlhain : erailh, yrhai nis
medrët dharlain yn damuno clywed ei dharlhein : y drydedh
rann yn fodhlon yw gopio ai scrifennu, i gael aml gopise i
fyned ar hyd y wdad. Pann dhoeth y gair o hyn i dir Phrainc

SIXTEENT1I AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 31

Ihe yr oedliwn i yn trigo, ef a fu lawen a chynes fynghallon
wrtli glywed chwant ag awydh y Cymru i wrando cyughor
sprydol. Yma y tyfodh gobeilh mawr yn fy medhwl, y
gelhyd achub llawer o eneidiau yn Ghymry i-hag discyn i
yphern, pe y baei fod y dhàgos ydhynt eu peryglon sprydol.
Wrth fedhwl am hyn ny fedrwn i weled vn modh phrwy thlon
gymhwys, ony baei gael gossod dodi i maes y Ihyfr mywn
Print. 0 fywn Deyrnas ny welwn dhim gobaith i gael nag
arian, na gweithwyr, na Ihe cymhwys cyfadhas. Wrth hir
fedhwl, a gweled egni y Saeson phydlon yn printio Ihyfreu
Saesnec o'r tu yma ir mor, mywn gwledydh dieithr, mi a
ganfuum mewn rheswm y galhei i Printwyr o Phrainc brin-
tio Cymbraeg yn gystal a Saesnec, gan fod y dhwy iaith yn
gyfdhieithr idhynt. Ac ynghyferyd y mawr nifer o Ihyfreu
Saesnec a ossoded alhan er pan lygrwyd Phydh a Chrefydh
yn ynys Prydein, drwy boen a thrafael y Saeson Catholic :
rhag cywüydh a cholhed i holh Gymry, cymesur a phyrd-
fertb y gwelwn ossod a dodi alhan vu Ihyfr Cymraec, gan fod
cymeint o eiseu a r Cymbry, mor chwannoc i gael Ihyfreu, a
Duw wedy trefnu Printwyr mywn tref ar fin y mor yn barod
er cyflog i brintio Cymraec cystal a Saesnec. Mi a gymerais
amaf (nid heb gyfarch a chennad yr Athro) ossod mewn
Print y Ehan gyntaf o'r tair. Canys, megis y gelhwch dhealht
wrth lythyr yr Athro o r blaen nid y w 'r holh waith onyd vn
Ihyfr yn cynhwys teir PJiann : Ag os Duw a dheufyn rhwy-
dheb mifì a ossodaf alhan y Ehanneu erailh yn gyntaf a gal-
hwyf, sef yr ail a'r drybydd {sic. for drydydd) pob un yn ei
hordor ai gradh. Lhythrenneu Seisnic a gawson i r gwaith,
ag yn Ihe y D. a r L. dybledigion y rhoesom dh. ag Ih. ar ol
arfer yr hen gymreigwyr gynt, y peth ysydd wedheidhiach
na dyblu'r Ihythrennau. Gan na fedrem gael D. ag L. a
nodse danynt ar ol ordor yr Athrawaeth Gristnogawl a brin-
tied ym Mulan, mewn ymhel' fanneu chwychwi a gewch D.
ag L. wedi eu nodi yn eu penneu : a r rhai hyuny i gyd sy n

32 WELSH BOOKS PPJNTED ABROAD IN TIIE

arwein sain y Iheilli ag yn arbed yr H. Ag os cawn yn ol
liyn dhigon o lionynt wedi nodi yn eu penneu, nyni a beidiwn
yn gwbl a chydiaw r H. gyda D. ag L. Y mae r gost a r
darul (sic by a misprint for draul) a r boen yn fawr iawn ag
yn flin : Am hynny i mae pob Cymbro phydhlon gar bron
Duw yn rhwymedig i roi help a chanhorthwy i r Gwaith
drwy wedhi a modheu erailh, pawb yn ei radh a i alhu. Ag
am fod gwyr äghyfarwydh anghyfiaeth mywu gwlad dierth
heb dhealht yr iaith Gymbraeg yn gelhwg odh daun eu dwylo
fagad 0 feieu drwy gamgymeryd a cham ossod y Ihythrenneu,
a beieu erailh at hynny : rhaid o madheu y fath feieu bychan :
Gan na ellid cael petheu mywn modh gwelh o dan dhwylo
dieithred anghyfarwydh. Yn olaf peth ydh wyf yn deisyf ar
bob Cymro phydhlon fedhwl amdanaf iùeu yn ei wedhi, a
chophau hefyd yn i wedhi pob niath ar dhyn o r a fu o r a
fydh yn helpu r gwaith hynn drwy gost, traul, blinder, neu
fodhion eraüh yn y byd.

" 0 Dref Eoan,

" Eych gwladwr caredig,
E. S."

Translation.
" It is now a year and more since there came into my
hand, in the land of France, a Welsh book, the work of the
great master of the city of JNIilan, in the country of Italy.
It was the master's wish to send the book, in manuscript,
among the Welsh : because there were no meaus to print it
there, and because the way was too far and tedious to send
a great number of books from Italy into the country of
Wales. Not to infringe the master's wish, I sent from
France to the Isle of Britain one copy of the book in
manuscript, and kept another copy with myself in France.
Immediately after travelling, and coming bare aud dis-
ordered, after being wetted by the salt water, into the hands

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 33

of tlie Welsh, it oLtained (as I heard; a cover around it, and
was dried, and lovin«^ly and eagerly cared for. Then, for a
time, it passed from hand to hand through mauy places of
the land of Wales, receiving every\vhere much reverence
and welcome : all who heard of it being desirous of gaining
a knowledge of it; some desiring to read it; otliers, who
knew not liow to read, wishing to hear it read ; a third part
content to copy it, and write it, so as to get a nurnher of
copies to go ahout the country. When the news of this
came to France, where I was residing, my heart was rejoiced
and comforted to hear of the zest and eagerness of the
Welsh to hear spiritual counsel. Then there grew up in my
mind a great hope that many souls in Wales might be saved
from falling into Hell, if there were a way to point out to
them their spiritual perils. In reflecting on this, I could see
no conrenient and fruitful way, unless the book could be
put into and published in print. Within the hingdom I
could see no hope of obtaining either money or worknien,
nor a fit and suitable place. By long reflection, and seeing
the energy of tlie Engiish faithful in printing English books
on this side of the sea in foreign lands, I conceived it within
reason that printers of Erance miglit be able to print Welsh
as well as English, the two tougues being equally strange to
them. And in view of tlie great number of Engiish books
that have been published since Faith and Eeligion were
corrupted in the Island of Britain, through tlie toil and
industry of the CathoHc Engiish : on pain of shame and
loss to all Welshmen, I saw it expedient and honourable to
set fortli and pubUsh one Welsh book, whereof there was so
much need, and the Welsh so eager to get books, and God
having provided printers on the sea-side, ready for hire to
print Welsh as well as Engiish. I have taken it upon me
(not without the favour and leave of the Master; to put iu
print the first part of tlie three. For, as you niay under-
VOL. IV. i>

34 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

stand by tlie l^.Taster's letter, tlie wLole work is but one book
containing three parts.^ And if God sliall send liberty, I
shall put forth the other parts as soon as I can, viz., the
second and third, each in its order and degree, We have
got Euglish letters for the work, aud instead of the doubled
D. and L., we have put dh. and Ih., according to the manner
of the old Welshifiers, which is a more proper tliing than to
double the letters. Since we could not get D. and L. with
marks nnder them, according to the order of the 'Athra-
vaeth Gristnogavr (Christian Instruction), that was printed
at Milan, you will fìnd D. and L. in several places marked
above ; and these all carry the sound of tbe rest, and save
the H. And if we fìnd, hereafter, enough of them marked
above, we shall cease altogether to join the H. with D. and
L. The cost, and expense, and trouble, are very great and
burdensome. Therefore, every faitliful Welshman is bound
to give help and assistance to the Work by prayer and otlier
ways, every one to his power and degree. And as unskil]ed
and unlearned men, iu a foreign country, who understand
not the Welsh language, let slip a heap of errors tlirough
mistaking and mis-setting the letters, and otlier faults be-
sides : since things could not be had in a better way, under
tlie hands of unskilled foreigners, such petty faults must
needs be forgiven. Last of all, I desire every faithful
Welshman to think of me also in his prayer, and to re-
member, too, in his prayer, every sort of person tliat has
been or shall be helping this work by expense, trouble, 'or
other means whatsoever.

From Eouen,

Your affectionate countryman,

E. S.

1 The First Part, whicli alone is printed, or, as far as is now kno\vn,
extaut, is a short treatise on tlie Love of God.

SIXTEENTn AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 35

Doubtless, by the iuitials of E. S., is represented Roger
Smith, a persou whose ideutity would seem to be enveloped
iu not a little mystery. lu the Doiiay Rccords, " Rogerius
Smithe" appears iu a list of " Angli pauperes", matriculated
at that University between 1573 aud 1612. And, iu a
State paper, meution is made by a spy of the Governmeut
in 1601, of a priest then in England, Dr. Eoger Smith, aged
about 35. This person has been confouuded by Eowlands,
the author of the Cam'brian Bíbliogra'phy , with George "W'il-
liams, who, he says^ adopted the name of Smith from his
mother, was made LL.B. and LL.D. in Padua, in 1567: held
several preferments in the diocese of St. Asaph, aud after-
wards was Chaucellor of Llandaíí, and died iu 1608. But,
as has been shown by the Eev. D. Silvan Evaus in his
annotation on page 91 of that work, it is impossible that he
could have been the same person as the Catholic Eoger
Smith, who, as showu iu the same BibKography, published
three works successively, in Welsh, in 1609, 1611, and 1615
(see pp. 84, 86, 88), in the titles of which he is described as
of St. Asaph (Llauelwy), aud as a ]\Iaster aud Doctor in
Theology.

A short descriptiou of these works is to be fouud iu the
Cam'brianBihliography of Eowlauds; but, as these are, iu some
respects, incomplete, and even inaccurate, I propose to give
here au accouut of them, together with such additioual par-
ticulars as I have beeu enabled to gather, not ouly as being
interestiug in themselves, but also in the hope that it may
lead to the discovery of copies of those of the existence of
whicli I have, hitherto, been unable to fiud a trace. Before
doing so, it may, however, be useful to state more particu-
larly, what is the precise nature of the information derived
from the Preface to the Drych Gristionogani, by Dr. Eoger
Smith, and what are the points which had been previously
in controversy, which it satisfactorily clears up. In the first

D 2

36 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

place, as lias been already observed, it had been asserted
laany years ago, by Sir A. Panizzi, the well-known Librarian
of the British Miiseum, that tlie Wdsh Grammar of I)r.
Grifíìth Eoberts could not have been priuted in Italy, chiefly
because, in the opinion of Sir A. Panizzi, himself an Italian,
the type, and general style of the letter-press, differed essen-
tially from the type and style of printing in that country at
the time of its issue. The title of the book runs as follows :
— " Dosparth byrr ar y rhann gyntaf i ramadeg cymraeg Ue
cair llawer o bynciau anhepcor i un a chwennychai na
doedyd y gymraeg yn ddilediaith, nai scrifennu 'n iawn.
A orchfygo yma, a goronir fry. 1567 Primo Martij." ISTow,
Mediolanum — where, as Dr. John Dafydh Ehŷs states, in
the Preface to his Grammar, that this book was printed — is
not only the ancient I.atin name of the city whose appellative
has been modernised into Milan, but was also that of a Eoman
city aud fortress in Wales, the precise site of which has long
been, and stiU is, a matter of interesting dispute among
learned antiquaries. That this was a moot point Sir A.
Panizzi, as a foreigner, would naturally have been ignorant at
the time that he raised the hypothesis ; which, had it been
correct, would have sufficed to establish not only the locality
whence Dr. Eoberts' Grammar would have issued, but also
that of the Eoman station, since it would liave shown that a
place in Wales had been known, to scholars at least, by the
Tiatin appellation of Mediolanura, as late as the reign of
Queen Elizabeth ! The place, too, would have been of
sufficient importauce to have rejoiced in the possession of a
printing-press. Unfortunately for Sir A. Panizzi, no print-
ing-press is known to have existed in Wales for upwards
of a century after the publication of the Grammar: and

1 ]Mr. Richard WiUiams (iu Miiiitgomeryshire Collections^ v, 393) has
given it as his opinion that the earliest document printed in Wales was
that entitled " News from Pembroke and Montgouiery ; or, üxford

SIXTEE.NT1I AND SEYEÌS'TEENTH CENTUlíIES. 37

secoiiflly, 110 town iii Wales is lcnown to lmve been found iii
legal or liistorical documents under the name of Mediolanum
iu tliat country in modern times. Sir A. Paiiizzi, liowever,
inay be entitled to excuse for liis niistake as to tlie locality
in tlie fact of his being a foreigner, though scarcely so much
30, perhaps, for his somewhat extraordinary persistency in
maintaiuing it in the face of the opposition of those who
were not merely well acquainted with, but actvially natives
of the Principality. It seems strange, also, that he should
have been unacquainted M'ith Dr. Gr. Eoberts' other work, the
Dì-ycli Gristnogaiül, edited by Dr. E. Smith, which niust have
been, at that very time, iii tlie museum of which he was
librarian ; or if lie was, that he sliould have found no one to
translate for him so much as the Preface, in which he would
have foiind at once tlie key to the solution of tlie whole of
liis difficulties, in the plaiii, categorical statemeut tliat it was
printed at Milan. And there he would not only have found
full confirmation of the fact wliich he, to do him justice,
rightly suspected, as to tlie foreign characteristics of the
letterpress, but the variation also accounted for in a simple
and natural manner. He would have found that, to meet the
unexampled difììculties of the case, recourse was to be had to
the invention of new expedients. The Italian type-foundries
produced no sucli a letter as w, which was unknown to the
language. The letter h would also probably liave beeu scarce
in type, being in Italian less frequently in use. Dr. Eoberts
hit upon a remedy by recourse to the method of Hebrew,
and of Welsh orthography, which he liad seeii, probably, in
some MSS. of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In those
it had been usual to distinguish certain changes of sounds

Manchester'd by Michael üldsworth and his Lord, who swore he was
Chancellor of Oxford, and proved it in a Speech made to the new
Yiöitors in their new Coiivocation. Printed at Mountgomery, 1G48."
A writer in the "Byegones" coluran of the O.ncestnj Adcertisu- of
January 1877, has suggested that the impriut may be íictitious.

38 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABEOAD IN THE

"by a dot placed imderneatli the simple form of the letter.
Thus, he conceived that the aspirate, or h sound, of //, wonld
be well expressed by a single / dotted below ; and similarly
th, or dd, the derived sounds of /, or d, by a simple dotted
t or d. The Welsh vj was to be represented by an under-
dotted M, or o ; and the ordinary sound of/'by /j/ì. Hereby
a double advantage was secured : the necessity for the use of
the type representing h was done away with, and space was
econoniised by the reduction of the book to a smaller com-
pass. It is proper, however, to mention that Dr. Eoberts
appears also to have been actuated by a further motive, less
admissible, perhaps, than tliat of necessity. He appears to
have been desirous of falling back upon the okl lines, and
substituting the general use of the orthography of okler
MSS. for that Avhicli had become familiar to his countrymen
in his oAvn day. In that it may safely be asserted he was in
error. History does not retrace her steps, although, from
another point of view, it has been rightly said that she
" repeats herself ". The orthography of every pure and un-
mixed language represents the pronunciation of tliat lan-
guage in the stage of advancement in knowledge and refine-

o o o o

ment which it has actually reached at the period of its
adoption, and the attempt to fall back upon it is as imprac-
ticable as to make the widened waters of the Thames or the
Dee to flow back to their source from their estuaries below
London or Chester, as to induce the Engiish or Cymric
peoples to return to the uncouth forms which were in use
during the periods of the gradual progress of transition of
their respectÌYe languages towards the perfectiou of their
final development. If such were the case, it would be
equally proper for the pronunciation to fall back in parallel
lines with the orthography, and to pronounce words now
written with th and dh, as though they were spelt with a /
and a d ; and with a v, as though they Avere written with an

SIXTEENT11 AXD SEYENTEENTH CENTUEIES. 39

/. Instances of signal failure of siieli attempts are to be
found in that of Drs. Hare ancl Thirlwall, to revive old
Englisli spelling in their translation of Niebuhr's History of
Rome, in which, aniong other solecisnis, the final syllable of
the past tense of verbs was spelt with t, instead of ed ; and,
again, in the well-kno\vn example of the orthography adopted
by Dr. Owen Pughe, in his first edition of the Welsli Dic-
tionary, in wliich we are puzzled to recognise syllables
written witli a z as those to wliich we had become familiar-
ized from our childhood as spelt with a dd, pronounced by
us naturally as dh ; and again, in the reversion to the v of
the MSS. of the fifteenth century, in Tegid's edition of the
Worhs of Leiuis Glìjncothi, for the single / of the sixteenth
century, to which the national eye aud ear had become irre-
Yocably and irrecoverably accustomed by the nineteenth.
These learned and indefatigable ^vriters, to whora we of this
generation niust feel ourselves so deeply indebted for the
enlargement of our knowledge in Celtic literature, would
seem to have failed adequately to have imbued their
minds with the conception of the fact that many of the
words which they found in the ancient MSS. written with a
single / were originally pronounced with the hard sound of
that letter, and that the necessity for the double ff was
created by the gradual softening of some words so written
to the pronunciation of v, in order to distinguish the latter
from those in which the original hard sound was retained.
If to this view it be objected that the orthography of the
double /■ for / is to be found in Englisli books and wTÌtings
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and that in writing
English, the single / has gradually, but at length totally
(with, perhaps, the solitary exception of the word of), been
substituted for the double ff, while in Welsh the double /
has iDcen retained to this day, in order to distinguish it from
the single/; the use of which, in that language only, is con-

40 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

fined to representing the sound of v; the answer seems to be
that the unsightliness, approaching often to the grotesque,
when the v form is employed at the end of a word, has
rendered its use too unpalatable for general acceptance, how-
ever plausible, and even scientific, may be deemed the
reasons for its adoption from a different point of view. A
more strihing example, however, of the sheer impracticability
of maintaining such a system of orthography can scarcely
be furnislied than by the fact that the system adopted by
Dr. Griffìth Eoberts himself was, perforce, partially aban-
doned by his immediate successor in the printing of Welsh
worhs abroad, not to say his own devoted friend and adrairer,
Dr. Eoger Sraith, in the edition of the very next publication
to the Athrawaeth, the Drych Cristionogaiol, and in the
apology which, as we have seen, he has offered for it in his
Preface. There he tells us that he has substitated a dot
over, for the dot under, the letters d and / ; because, having
been at the pains to procure English type, he was unable to
obtain a sufficient quantity of the latter. And, moreover,
where his supply fell so far short that he was unable to
carry out his own system of over-dotting the letters in its
entirety, he was fain to introduce an h after d and / ; and
that not only for the reason already given, but also because
to his own judgment, this raetliod appeared preferable to
that of doubling those consonants, which was then coniing
into use, being more agreeable to the practice of the ancient
Welsli writers : " yr hen Gymreigwyr gynt." Despite his
well-raeant efforts, ho\vever, to counteract it, tlie system of
doubling the consonants so " mightily grew and prevailed",
that it quickly superseded every other, and spread so widely,
that in our own day we find it adopted everywhere ; and the
other — save in the cognate dialect of Gaelic, and in the
method of orthography introduced with equal failure of suc-
cess into Edward Lhwyd's Archaeologia Britannica — nowhere :

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTII CENTUIIIES. 41

yet, doiiLtless, tlie soft sonnd of th, as in tlie Englisli
word tìw, is more naturally, as well as scientifically, repre-
sented by the nse of tlie trne syinbol of tlie aspirate h
after d, as dh. The whole story rerainds ns of the protest
made by classical scholars against the introduction of the
nse of the word 'telegram' for a message by electric wire;
.whereas, the true classical usage would have required ' tele-
graphem', as, in fact, was abnndantly proved by very learned
letters, pnblished in the Tẁies and elsewhere. The principle
of ntilitarianism and expediency prevailed over that of
grammatical correctness, to the trinmph of ' telegram' over
' telegraphem', unless, indeed, we ought to call in Professor
Ehŷs to assist ns, who might possibly refer ns, for the true
explanation of the seeming incongruity, to the priuciple of
' phonetic decay'."

To revert, however, to Dr. Eoger Smith's Preface, from
which we gather information on another important point,
namely the original scope of the " Drych". Of this he tells ns
that the MS. sent him by its author, Dr. G. Eoberts, con-
sisted of three parts, the two latter of wliich he purposed to
bring out as soon as he conld ; a purpose, however, which, as
far as we know, lie never was able to effect, as nothing what-
ever, up to this time at least, appears to be hnown of their
existence. The first part consists of about seventy pages,
and is a treatise, as far as I have been able hitherto to ascer-
tain from a cursory examination, on the Love of God. It
is still possible, but scarcely it is to be feared probable, that
the other two should be brought to light at tbis distance of
time, unless, indeed, copies may have providentially been pre-
served in MS. in the public or other library in ]\Iilan.

Of tlie author, Dr. Grifíith Eoberts, it is disappointing to
find tliat so little information is forthcoming. Canon Wil-
liams, in hìs, Didionary of Eminent Welshmcn, tells us that
he was " a learned gramraarian, of whoni nothing further is

42 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IX THE

kuowii tlian tliat he was educated at tlie uuiversity of
Sieuua in Italy, under the patronage of ' William Herbert,
Earl of Pembroke," but gives no authority for the statement.
Eowlands, in the Camhrian Bihliofjraphy, following appa-
rently jNIoses Williaras, calls him, " Grifíìth Eoberts, Esq.,
M.D., i. e. Doctor of Medicine; but this is clearly apocryphaL
Eowlands' editor, the Eev. D. Silvan Evans, aunotating this,
has succeeded in eliciting a ray of light to throw on this dark
subject from a paper in the Harlcian Miscellanij (vii, 132),
where it is said that he was Confessor to Cardinal (St. Charles)
Borromeo at IMilan ; and Dr. E. Smith confirms this bv call-
ing him iu his Preface, " yr Athro niawr o Dhinas Fulan
yngwlad yr Idal", the great Master of the City of ]\Iilan in
the land of Italy, proving the liigh estimation he was held in
for his learning, and also, perhaps, for his piety. On refer-
ence to the Miscellany, the statement appears iu a tract
printed in London in 1590, with a very loug title, headed
" The English Eomayn Life", etc, " Written by A. M., some-
time the Pope's SchoUer in the Seminary among them."
A. M. was a person named Antony Munday, one of those dis-
reputable spies, in which capacity he must have been a scholar,
if at all, in the pay of Elizabeth's ministers, employed to
ferret out information respecting tlie Catholics abroad in
exile for their religion, with the view to found evidence
against tliem upon it in the event of their return to England,
and described, as stated in a note by an opponent of his, as
having been " íìrst a stage-player, after an apprentice, which^
time he wel served with deceaving of his master ; then wan-
dering towards Italy, by his own report became a cosener in
his journey. Coming to Eome, in his short abode there, was
charitably relieved, but never admitted in the seminary (as
he pleaseth to lye in the title of his book)." His narrative
contains (to say the least) monstrous and incredible exagge-
rations, of a character similar to those proved in the case of

SIXTEEXTH AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 43

otliers of liis class to have been invented by tliem for tlie
purpose of pleasing tlieir employers, such as we may well
Lelieve that which he relates of Dr. Grifdth Eoberts, to the
effect that he spoke to him of plots and treasons against the
Queen of Engiand, in language which might " move a heart
of adamant". His statement, therefore, that Dr. Eoberts was
St. Charles' confessor, and lodged in his palace, perhaps may
require confìrmation, but there is nothing improbable in the
short account, at least, which he gives of his reception at
]\Iilan in these words : — " From thence (viz., Lyons) we went
to MiUaine ; where, in the Cardinall Borromeo's palace, we
found the lodging of a Welshman, named doctor Eobert Griffin;
a man there had iu good account, and confessor to the afore-
said cardinall. By him we were very courteously entertained,
and sent to the house of an English priest in the city named
Maister Harries, who likewise bestowed on us very gentle
acceptaunce ; as also three Engiish gentlemen who lay in his
house." In the prefatory notice of another work by Dr.
Eoger Smith, which will be referred to presently, he states
that Dr. Griffith Eoberts was Canon Theologian in the Cathe-
dral Church at Milan, which so far is corroborative of the
probability of Munday's assertion.

ISTow, with regard to the Athrawaeth, it will have been
naturally supposed that, because Dr. Eoger Smith refers to
the work as having been printed and published at Milan,
where Dr. Gr. Eoberts resided, Dr. Eoberts is therefore to be
also accredited with its authorship. This would, however,
be an entirely erroneous supposition ; for, in the fìrst place,
Dr. Smith has himself abstained from malcing any such
assertion ; and, secondly, the authorship is expressly dis-
claimed in his preface to that work, by Dr. Eoberts himself.
It commences with an address to Dr. Morris Clynog, in these
words: — " Gruphyd fab Ehobert yn annerch yr hyparch
brelad, ai dibal {foi- ddibaU) gynheiliad M. Morys Clynoc : ag

44 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABEOAD IN TIIE

yn erclii iJo gaii diiu, gymiyd, ras a deduduch enaid, a chorph."
— " Griffith, son of EoLert, greetinff the Eight Eeverend
Prelate, and his unfailing supporter, jMaster Morys Clynog :
and beseeching for liim l'roni God increase, grace, and hap-
piness of soul and body." And he procceds as foUows, in
words of which it will be necessary to give a translation
only : — " After I had read your book of Christian Indrnction,
and seen therein, as it were, tlie germ of every point that
might be seiwiceable to a Christian, for the saving of his
soul, made by God after His own image and likeness, which
Christ has purchased Avith His precious Blood : my heart
was rejoiced to see so precious a treasure in tlie "Welsh
language ; tlie need being so great of direction in the way of
Clmst generally among our countrymen and the children
crying for bread (as the prophet cries out), with no one
that wiU break and give it to theni, except it be poisoned.
Wherefore, since you have gathered together, and arrauged
so methodically and clearly so many ílowers, and saving
points of doctrine, to direct one who shouhl desire to know
the office and duty of a joerfectly faithful (perpheithgred)
Christian, to learn what wiU gain Heaven, what wiU cast a
man into heU, what wiU please God, and M'hat wiU anger
Him : the filthiness of sin, and the exceUence of virtue ; I
had no heart to do otherwise than to cause it to be printed :
tliat others, who stand in need of such spiritual sustenance,
may be partakers of the banquet which you have prepared
for them. I hope that, wlien it comes into the hands of
reUgious Welshmen, it wiU do them much benefìt, by direct-
ing them to Paradise, and turning them from the road to HeU.
My heart is fiUed with pity wlien I think how many childreu
throughout the land of Wales, of exceUent abiUty, and dis-
position for being exceUent men, faiUng, and taking an
ungodly path for want of being directed in learning from
their childhood, and being brought up iu the practice of

SIXTrKXTII AXD SEVENTEEXTII CEXTURIES. 45

morality. Tlie greatest cause of tliis is tlie waut of books
tliat treat of the like kno\vledge. I3ut now you liave given
theni, in a few pages, assistance and lielp against tliis need.
For in this l)ook of yours they will be tauglit easily, in a
little tinie, and with little help, and at less cost, the things
that are necessary both for old and young to know. For
who is he that shall be able to say that he is a Christian,
unless he knows how he is to believe in Clirist, what he is
to hope from Him, and what He has commanded liini to
keep ; what He has forbidden him to do, what will gain
reward, and what wiU deserve punishment ? So that when
tlie Welshmen who love their souls consider how indis-
pensable these things are, and how easy to learn, l>y reading
this treatise, they will abandon their slothful sitting at ease,
and their embittering obscenity, and their light carousing
(unless they are drowned in the filthiness of sin), and will
devote themselves to learn spiritual things, profitable to the
soul. And this they wiU fínd in no other spot in the world,
so short, so orderly, so clear to be understood, as in tliis book
of yours. For it was impossible to be comprised in fewer
words, and arranged more lucidly, and to have so many
points more appropriately presented, or of so deep a signifi-
cation ; so that the children and the wonien may understaud
them happily throughout Wales, if tliey continue in every
church attending the service, hearing the Mass ; at home,
amidst the family, to divert the time, and in every assembly
to comfort the people, to read these or the like sentences,
and put away old idle tales, and lying, flattering poems.
But freely will the Holy Ghost give grace to them to receive
instruction, as He gave it to you to write to them. I will
send this among them, beseeching God, in every prayer that
I make, to prepare tlieir hearts to receive instruction, and to
give you also strength to write more for profit to Christians,
and glory to God. • .*

(From the town of ^Milan, Eve of St. Nicholas.)"

46 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABEOAD IN THE

The date of tlie year appears in anotlier colophon at the
end of tlie book, " Ymylen. 15G8. dyuguyl. S. Nicolas."
At Milan, 1568, Feast of S. Nicholas.

The author, Dr. jMorris Clynog, was, for a short tinie, the
Eector of the English College at Eome. About the year
1576, Pope Gregory XIII had designed to combine the ancient
English hospital for pilgrims, which liad been founded by
Ethelwolf, one of our Anglo-Saxon kings, and father of
Alfred the Great, with a new college or seminary for
students, destined to work and suffer for the preservation
of the ancient Catholic faith in England ; and in the course
of three years, twenty-two students had been sent to it from
the UnÌYersity at Douai, by Cardinal Allen. In 1578, Dr.
Maurice Clynog was elected warden of the Engiish hospital,
and appointed by the Pope rector of the seminary. Canon
Williams, in his Dictionary of Eminent Wcíslimen, quoting
the Ai]icn[& Oxonienses of Anthony A. Wood, tells us that
he had been admitted B.C.L. of the University of Oxford in
1548 ; " he obtained thesinecure rectory of Corwen, in Meri-
onethshire, in 1556 ; aud was made prebendary of York, and
an oíìfìcer in tlie Prerogative Court, under Cardinal Pole,
Archbishop of Canterbury. Not long after the death of
Dr. AYiUiam Glynn, Bishop of Bangor, who died in May
1558, Queen Mary nominated him to succeed in this See;
but she dying before he was consecrated thereto, he, with
Goldwell, Bishop of St. Asaph, fled beyond the sea". From
the " Historical Introduction", by Dr. Thomas Erancis Ivnox,
of the London Oratory, to the Records of tlic English Catlio-
lics under tlic Penal Laws, published in London in 1878,
" chieíìy from the Archives of the See of Westminster", we
learn that at Christmas, 1578, the Pope issued a brief, com-
manding aU the old chaplaius to depart within íîfteen days,
and assigning all the rents of the hospital to the new college.
On Eebruary 18, 1579, it contained forty-two students.

S1XTEENTII AND SEYENTEENTH CENTÜRIES. 47

" But (proceeds Dr. Knox) tlie prosperity of tliese early days
was soon interrupted by internal dissensions, and the new
foundation was in great danger of perishing in its infancy.
The cause of this was the natioual rivahy and jealousy
of the Enghsh and "Welsh studeuts. To govern a college,
which contained members of these two nations, required the
greatest prudeuce and impartiality. Unfortunately, the
rector, Dr. Maurice Clenoch, was deíìcient in both these
qualities. He was, according to Allen, a very honest and
friendly inan, and a great advancer of the students' and
seminary's cause. But he was a Welshman, and tlie English
students considered that he sliowed undue favour to his own
countrymen. ' He had admitted there', Allen says (in a
letter to Dr. Owen Lewis, another Welshman) 'sent for and

called for two up to tlie seminary sonie of his own

country foll^s and friends, for age, quality and institution,
unfit for the study and the semiuary. Tlie English in the
colleíre were thirtv-three, or more, to seven Welshmeu.
]\Iurmurs and complaints were heard among them, until, at
last, they brohe out in open mutiny, and declared to the
Oardinal, their protector, aud the Pope, that tliey would
leave Rome in a body, and beg their way home, if necessary,
unless some other rector wtre appointed in Dr. 01enock's
place.'"

On April 23rd of that year his successor was appointed.
We are not concerned here to enter into the merits of the
questiou raised by the English students of tlie OoUege,
which certainly bears very niuch the appearance of a " tem-
pest in a teapot", or a molehill exaggerated to the diraensions
of a mountain. It may, however, be observed that Dr.
Maurice would appear to have met with but scant justice,
and this view of the matter would seem to be borne out by that
of the Pope, and the Oardinal Protector of the Oollege, who at
first did all in their power to repress the movement, and

48 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

fiually yielcled oiily when to give way seenied necessary to
preveut its total disruption, for tlie sole reason tliat tbe
Eector had exhibited a by no meaus uuuatural feeling of
lcinduess towards a few of his poor couutrymen, who were in
a suiall minority, aud would scarcely have íelt themselves at
home amoug so many strangers. The Eecords of the Col-
leges at Douay, Eheims, aud elsewhere, exhibit the names of
a A^ery large proportion of Welshmeu, niauy of whom
encouutered bravely the fierce persecution with which they
were met ou their returu to their country, aud eudured the
martyrdom of the rack, the cord, and the disembowelling
knife, iu a spirit of no less uufliucing courage and con-
stancy thau their Euglish brethren. The composition of the
Athrawaeth belongs to a date some ten years prior to the
iucideut iu questiou, aud is therefore historically importaut
as proviug the 2eal aud capacity of its author for the im-
portant post for which he was selected. The two iucideuts
taken together teud to show how naturally it would have
occurred to liim to forward the little work to Dr. Eoberts
from his resideuce at Eome, where its publicatiou would be
obviously less easy thau at ]\Iilau, where tlie Grammar most
likely had been priuted already. The circumstauces point
as naturally to the suggestion to the mind of Dr. Eoberts of
the compositiou of the Drych Cristioîwgawl, or Christian
Mirror, as a sequel to the Äthrawaeth, or Catechism. The
oue is elementary and catechetical, the other spiritual aud
contemplative : the one lays the fouudation in the doctrines
of the Faith ; the other builds up the superstructure as au
iucentive to piety aud devotion.

Dr. Eoberts theu set himself cheerfully to the task ; it
was a labour of love — of Christian charity, and of patriot-
ism; aud, so far as the composition went, it was speedily
aud successfuUy acconiplished. But a difficulty — and that
the greatest one, remained — ho^v was tlie book to be printed ?

SIXTEEXT1I ANU SEYENTEENTII CENTUlílES. 49

and when printed, liow to be circulated among those for
whose good it was designed ? The labour and cost of print-
ing in Italy had proved an over-match for the author's
resources, in the case of comparatively so sraall a work as
the Athrawaetli : they would surely prove incommensurate
with the larger proportions of the Drych. In his extremity,
Dr. Eoberts would appear to have resigned himself to what
he deemed to be inevitable ; and to have applied to one who
afterwards showed himself a most able, zealous, and per-
severing coadjutor, in the work of supplying books of reli-
gious instruction to their suffering countrymen. This was
Dr. Eoger Smith, a priest, and Doctor in Divinity, then in
France. His first idea seems to have been to provide for
the transmission of his work, in MS., across the Channel, and
its being thus providentially preserved for the benefit of his
poor countrymen in Wales. This was accordingly done ; and
the volurae became so much prized among them, that it was
at length absolutely worn away by the friction it had to
undergo in passing from hand to hand. A multiplication of
copies was, therefore, of urgent necessity. " Necessity is the
mother of invention"; and Dr. Smith hit upon the expe-
dient — not, indeed, of setting up a printing-press for himself,
but of availing himself of the services of men skilled in the
art nearer home. From the manner in which he refers to
this, there can be little doubt he must ]iave had the help of
one, to whom he seems to allude indirectly when he speaks
of Englishmen abroad who had Engiish books printed for
their countryraen, and wliose energy and devotion to the
work would have equalled, if not exceeded, his own. A
printing-press had been established at Rouen, specially for
this purpose, by the celebrated Father Parsons, whose
famous work, Tlie Booh of the Resolutíon, or TJie Christian
Directory, was printed there, possibly in 1583 or 1584, but
certainly not later than 1591 ; and has gone through at

VOL. IV. E

50 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

least eleven editions in English down to the year 1842, of
which five were printed in fifteen years, from 1583 to 1598.
And here I regret that truth, and the natiire of my subject,
compel me to advert to a proceeding on the part of the
learned author of the Lexicon Lingum Cambro-BritannicíB,
Dr. Davies of Mallwyd, which appears scarcely defensible
in respect of either justice or ingenuousness, or becoming
to the character for piety and learning, with which he has
been commonly, and to a great extent, doubtless justly
credited. It is now more than thirty years ago that, having
seen in the catalogue of a London Welsh bookseller, among
other rare volumes, one entitled Llìjfr y Resolusion, I rushed
to the conclusion that this could be no other than the work
of Father Parsons in a Welsh dress, and I hastened to pos-
sess myself, at considerable cost, of the volume. But great
was my disappointment to discover, on comparing this Welsh
translation with the original, that, although the titles were
partly identical,^ at least in substance, the form and matter
of the body of the work were essentially diíîerent: con-
taining a certain groundwork of the original, of which it
is to a certain extent a compendium and a paraphrase, but
on the whole a very different composition from that to which
its first conception was entirely due. Nor does it contain
the slightest reference to, or acknowledgment of its original

1 The title of the Welsh (so-called Translation) is, when done into
English, " The Book of the Resohition, which teaches us all to do our
best, and to give our whole minds and thoughts to the being true
Christians, that is, on forsaking our evil life, and turning to goodness
and godliness. Translated into Welsh by J. D., for the benefit of his
parishioners. And printed in London at the house of John Beale, for
the same J. D., 1632". The title of the original work is " The
Christian Directory, Guiding Men to their Eternal Salvation. In Two
Parts : The First whereof appertains to Resolution : The Second treat-
ing of the Obstacles and Impediments which hinder it, and How they
may be removed. To which is prefixed a brief method for its use. By
the Ilev. Robert Parsons, Priest of the Society of Jesus."

SIXTEENTII AND SEYENTEENTII CENTLlíIES. ftl

autlior, Tlie writer merely says, in his Preface addressed to
his dear parishioners, " Although I hav'e been absent frora
you but seldom, and this most freiiuently on business per-
taining to the salvation of yourselves und others of God's
people ; still, in order to make you some compensation for
this neglect, I have translated for you iuto Welsh tliis book
that foUows, which, in my opinion, is one of the best books
to teach men to abandon their evil life, and turn to God".
" One of the best books", he says, and yet he gives not the
honour to whom honour is due, but hides from theni tlie
name of the real author. He did not thus treat Dr. Thomas
Williams, to whom he candidly acknowledges himself in-
debted for the principal part of his Dictionary, printed in
the very same year : to what, then, are \ve to attribute the
diíference ? It seems difficult to escape the conclusion that
he intended thereby to conceal the Catholic authorship of
this "excellent" work from those of his countrymen who
were ignorant of its existence ; while, by adopting a part of
the title of the original, he lioped to induce those Catholics
who might be already acquaiuted witli it, to accept tlie book
in the ready confidence that it emanated from one of their
own faitli. This, it seems to me, is the only inference to
be drawn from the foot-note to the learned annotation to the
notice of the work in the Camhnan Bihliography, by Mr.
Silvan Evans, wlio says, " There is no disputing that Dr.
John Davies of ÌMallwyd \\as the translator. It appears
that he took the edition of Edmuud Buny to translate from,
who was a Protestant, and who made many alterations in
tlie original work of Parsons, in order to accommodate it to
Protestant use. There is now before me an impression of
the original work, published after the appearance of the
altered impression of Buny, in the preface to which tlie
author (Father Parsons) rates this man in a very extra-
ordinary manner for liis audacity in altering, and, as he says,

e2

52 WELSII BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

injuring his work." Wliy Mr. Evans shoiüd call F. Parsons'
rating " extraordinary" does not very readily appear, as
from his description of the work, a niore impudent fabri-
cation than tliis (which was dedicated to Sandys, the Pro-
testant Archbishop of York) seems never to have been con-
cocted by any man, notwithstanding that was by no means
an uncommon method in those days, as it unhappily is still,
and by those who should know better, of dealing with ca-
tholic books. r. Parsons says, " I found the booke so much
altered and mangled, both in wordes, phrase, sentence, and
substance, as scarcely could I know it to be mine". He
then goes on to show "how poore and barren these new
doctors are of all spirituall doctrine, tending to good life and
reformation of manners, seeing they are content to use and
pervert our boohes for some shew thereof '. Then he exposes
Luther, and Zuinglius, and Beza, who charged each otlier
with " the wiched fraud", as Luther himself terms it, " of
corrupting other men's books"; and also the many wretched
devices used by Buny to falsify the text of his books, by
mistranslating the Fathers, by shipping, inserting, misre-
presenting, all of which occupies several pages of the pre-
face; ending with a commentary of the " pacifìcation"
tacked on by Buny to the Besolution, which he complains of
as being the reverse of " pacifìcatory", as did Dr. ISÍewman
of Dr. Pusey^s Eirenicon, that his olive-branch was " shot
from a catapult'^

" The Welsh translation does not at all accord," says Mr.
Evans, " with this Popish impression. It is probable that
Dr. Davies saw this book through the press when he was in
London for the purpose of printing the DictionarT/ ; for it is
seen that the two works appeared within the same year."

But it appears further from Eowlands' Annotation (and
this constitutes my main reason for alluding here to the
subject) that the work of F. Parsons had been previously

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTII CENTÜIÍIES. 53

translated into Welsh, and tliat by a Catliolic. "It appears",
lie says, " to have been translated also in 1591 by oue Robert
Gwinn, or Gwynn, of whom it is said that he was a native, or
a friar, of Wales, and that he was educated at Oxford, where
he graduated as B.A.in 15G8; and on leaving the University he
went to Douay, and "was admitted a inember of the college
there, distinguishing himself in divinity. After this he came
to Wales, and settled as a münkish priest, and wrote several
Welsh books. It is possible that an old translation of this
man's work may have come into Dr. Davies' hands, and tliat
he, according to his own fancy, made such improvements and
alterations in it, that, as in the case of the Dictionary, he
thought he might call it a new translation of his own."
This priest, the Itev. Eobert Gwyn, is not to be confounded
with the Eobert Gwyn, or White, as he is more commonly
called, who was born at Llanidloes, in Älontgomeryshire, and
was afterwards a schoolmaster, and on false testimony, after
a long imprisonment at Euthin, was condemned and cruelly
executed at Wrexham, in 1586, for his constancy in main-
taining the Catholic faith. On turning to the Douai
Becords, I find that, in the year 1571, were immediately
admitted into this college, on comiug from England, two
graduates of Oxford, spruug from the nation of ancient
Britous, who devoted themselves here to the study of sacred
tlieology. " Statim iu hoc Collegium admissi suut ex Angliâ
venientes alii duo graduati Oxouienses ex antiquorum Bri-
tonum uatiüue oriundi, qui hic S. Theologiöe studio se dede-
runt : — Thomas Crotherus Herefordensis (he afterwards died
iu prison) ; Eobertus Gwinus, Bangoreusis." In 1575 lie was
ordained priest, aud seut " to the English harvest" {in mes-
sem Auglicanum) in Eugland on Jauuary 16th, 1576 ; in July
of which year we have the followiug interesting uotice of
hini in Latiu : — " It has been signified to us that in Wales
nianv niost religious and dcvüut women, who hud bceu

54 WELSH BOOIÍS PIUNTED ABEOAD IN THE

reconciled to tlie Catbolic faith by tbe Rev. E. Gwin, a
priest and bacbelor in sacred tbeology/ sent to England
from bence by ns, were so greatly inflanied witb an ad-
mirable zeal for tbe Catbolic piety and religion tbat were
known to tbem already, tbat wben tbeir beresiarch and
false bisbop bad come himself to rout oiit tbeir priest from
those parts, he was straightway put to fligbt by tbe terror he
conceived from the threats of those most religious women.'*
And in tbe appendix of Ineditrd Documents ì\\ tbat collection
(p. 288), it is said of him tbat " he rendered tbe greatest
assistance, both by his labours and writings, to his most
afflicted country ; and tbat is all that we know of him". Now
what it concerns us to learn in reference to our particular
subject is not so mucb wbat afterwards became of the Rev,
Eobert Gwyn — though that would be extremely interesting
in itself — as wbat has become of his writings. Mr. lîowlands
has omitted to tell us the source of his information, and so
we are left at a loss. He seems wrong, however, in saying
that he was, as he contemptuously expresses it, •' a monldsb
priest", as tbe Douai Records, which clearly imply a knüw-
ledge in tbe chronicler of liis later life, know nothing of his
being a monk. Perhaps bis authority may have mentioned
the titles of others of bis writings, besides tbe Rcsolution ;
also, wbetber they were printed, or circulated only in mann-
script. If the former, they M^ere probably printed abroad, as
clearly no means existed at that time for printing them in
Wales ; and if so, no place presents itself as a more lilcely
locality for tbeir publication, especially tbe Resolution, tban
Rouen, witb its priuting-press, established by tbe zealous
foretbougbt of F. l'arsons, for the express purpose of pro-
viding for tbe want of such works. I feel tbe more disposed

1 He made his first act in this degree ou the 19th February, 1575,
under the presidency of Cardinal, then Dr. AUen. His third and last
act on 2\h(\ December in that year. — D. R., p. 273.

SIXTEENTII AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 55

to dwell upoii tliis point, in the hope of indiicing all who
niay have opportunity to make every enquiry possible in
continental libraries, and of foreign boolcsellers, in whose
possession sonie of these precious remains may yet be
mouhlering away, unvalued and forgotten.

It has been said that no evidence appears to exist that
Dr. Roger Sniith ever carried out his purpose of printing the
second and third parts of Dr. Gr. Eoberts' Bnjcìi Christiono-
gawl, or Christian Mirror. It does not, however, follow from
this that he may not actually have done so. The existence
even of his edition of the first part was unknown to the
author of the Camhrian Bihliography, nor, though duly
entered on the British Museum catalogue, does its value
appear to have been recognised by Welsh bibliographers
until, by a happy accident, it was unearthed in the course of
the researches made there in connection with the Welsh
Gì'ammar, for the complete edition of which we are now
so greatly indebted to the labours and scholarship of Mr.
Silvan Evans. It certainly does seem to me that Dr. Smith
must either have accomplished his purpose of printing these
works, or that it must have been forestalled by the destruction
of the MSS. by some untoward accident, such as very pos-
sibly their being intercepted, on their being landed at some
seaport in England, by ofÊcers of the Government, whose
vigilance in the search for suspected persons, and objects
introduced for the purpose of preserving to their countrymen
their ancient faith, was constant and unflasTo;inçr. And I

* oo o

have been led to this conclusion by reflecting on the great
improbabiüty that he would liave undertaken any other work
of the kind before he had completed this one. If, as is probable
(and, iu default of a date in the body of the work itself, we are
on this poiut left to conjecture), the fìrst part of the Brych
was printed before the close of the sixteenth century, his
design may have been frustrated by the abrupt termination

56 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

of his residence at Eouen. For alDOiit that time he was cer-
tainly absent in England, since mention is made in a State
paper by a spy of the Government of " a priest in England",
Dr. Eoger Smith, aged about thirty-fìve, a Welshman, in 1601.
Between that year and 1611 appears, in the Cam'brian Bíb-
liography, another work from his pen, entitled, " Crynhodeb
o addysg Cristionogawl, a Dosparth Catholic ar ddeuddeg
pwnc y Phydd a elwir y Gredo, hefyd ar weddi yr
Arglwydd, sef y Pater ar Gyfarchiad yr Angel, a elwir
Ave Maria, yn ddiweddaf ar y Deg gair Deddf a elwir
y deg gorchymyn. Gwedi ei gyfieithn o'r Lladin i 'r
Gymeraeg, drwy ddyfal astudiaetli a llafur D. Eosier Smith
o dref Llan Elwy, Athraw o Theologyddiaeth, megis ym-
ddiddan ne ddialogiaeth rhwng y discibil a'r athraw"; i.e., " A
Compendium of Christian Doctrine and Catholic Disquisition
on the twelve articles of tlie Eaith that is called the Creed ;
also on the Lord's Prayer, or Pater, and the Angelical Salu-
tation, called the Ave Maria ; lastly on the ten words of the
Law, called the Ten Commandments. Translated from the
Latin into the Welsh by the earnest study and labour of
Master Eoger Smith, of St. Asaph, Master in Theology, as a
conversation or dialogue between the disciple and his master."
Tlie date of this work is fixed by Eowlands to 1609, but, as
far as appears, from no other authority than his own con-
jecture ; and as to the place of publication also, and whether
he liad seen a copy of the book, or had derived his informa-
tion regarding it elsewhere, its size, and the number of pages,
we are left entirely in the dark. I can, therefore, do no more
than offer a conjecture at hap-hazard respecting it, which is,
that as it was translated from the Latin, it may have been a
corapendium, or a first edition, of the next boolc published by
him in 1611, respecting which we are happily left in no
uncertainty whatever, there being a copy to be seen in the
libi'ary of the Ijritish Museum. There is also a third hypo-

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 57

tbesis open to iis, whicli, iipon fuller consideration, I think
most likely to be the true one. It is that the work which
he describes as of 1609 is in reality identical with that of
1611, and that, by some accident, Eowlands has divided
the title into two parts. I ara led to this belief by the
consideration that Eowlands is in more than one instance
inaccurate in his titles, and that his version of this one differs
greatly from that of the original, as we see it in the British
Museum copy, The title, as he gives it, is " Catechisni
Petrus Canisius, yr hwn a gyíieithiwyd yn Gymraeg gann D.
Eosier Smyth, S. Th. D. o Dref Lanelweu, 1611, ac a brintiwyd
yn ninas Paris" ; " The Catechism of Peter Canisius, which
was translated into Welsh by D. Eoger Smith, Doctor in
Sacred Theology, of St. Asaj^h, 1611, and was printed in the
city of Paris." Now, the true title runs thus : — " Opus
Catechisticum D. Petri Canisii Theologi ex Societate Jesu.
Sef yu : Svm ne grynodeb o adysc Gristionogawl, a dosparth
Catholic, ar hol bunciaur Phyd hun a yscrifenod yr hy
barchus a'r arderchaug athrau uchod yn gynta yn ladin ag a
gyfiaithuyd o'r ladin i'r gymeraeg drwy dyfal lafur ag astu-
diaeth D. Eosier Smyth o dref lanelwy ath[r]au o Theology-
diaeth, megis dialogiaeth ne 'mdidan rhwng y discibl a'r
athrau un yn holi a'r lal yn atteb, ag a breintiwyd yn ninas
Paris." The Catechetical Work of Dominus Peter Canisius
of the Society of Jesus. That is to say : A Sum or Compen-
dium of Christian Doctrine, and a Catholic Disquisition on
all the points of Faith. This the above very reverend and
distinguished Master wrote 6rst in Latin, and was translated
frorn the Latin into Welsh through the earnest labour and
study of D. Eoger Smith, of S. Asaph, Master in Theology,
as a dialogue or conversation between the disciple and his
master, tlie one questioning and the other answering, and
was printed in the city of Paris. It will be readily seen
that there is so little variation in the substance of the titles

58 WELSH BOOKS PEINTED ABROAD IN THE

of the two works, as given by Eowlands, as to leave but little

difíìculty in amving at the conclusion that they were really

one and the same. On the title-page is a monogram, con-

sisting of the Crucifix drawn within a circle, and below it

the Three Nails, encircled by the Crown of Thorns and a

circle surrounded by a Glory within a shaded circle. On

one side of this is the name of the printer, " Joanis Laquehay",

and on the other the words "Ex Officinâ Tupographicâ",

followed by an epigram in verse on the use of the crucifix.

Yr Anuiol Phol a Phy (/ e.., ffy)
Poen alaeth Pen welo Jessy
Linied os gueloed hyuy
Lun diaul ymhol le yn i dŷ.

which may be thus paraphrased —

The godless fool feels it no loss,

To fly from Christ's pains on the Cross :

Let him fill then, he'U think it less evil,
His house with foul forms of the deviL

The title-page is slightly cut off at the foot by the binder.
The work consists of 585 pages, and is prefaced by an
elegant Latin letter addressed " Illustrissimo et Pteverend-
issimo Domino Jacobo David, S.E.E. Cardinali Perronio,
Archiprsesuli Senonensi, Galliarum et Germanise Primati,
necnon Cliristianissimi Eegis Eleemosynario, Msecenati suo
munificentissimo", and ending " D. V. IllustrissimaB et
Eeverendissini8e observantissimus, Eogerus Smithíeus, Cam-
bro-Britannus". This letter, which occupies nearly six
pages, solves the question which naturally presents itself —
why Dr. Smith should have transferred the scene of his
labours in printing books for the use of his suffering fellow-
countrymen from Eouen to Paris, He intimates in his
preface that the work was brought out at the exj)ense of
Cardinal Perron, wliom, as we have seen, he calls his
" Maecenas", and we may w^ell believe that he would enjoy

.SIXTEENT1I AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 59

fíicilities for its execiitioii under tlie eye of liis patron, wlio
probaljly resided tliere, wliich would have been wanting at
Eouen.

Then follows a Welsh Address to the Eeader : " Anherchion
at y Darleur haudgar dedfawl", beginning " Gwedi mi ys-
tyrio cyflur ag ystad egiuys (hiu y dyd hediu, a gueled yr
aneirif o sectau heretigaid a gau athrauyaeth a oyscarod ag
a danod y gelyn", etc, which ends on page 6, with " 0 Dinas
Paris y dyd cyntaf o fís Maurth. Sef yn dyd guyl Deui
Sant, 1611. Dy gyduladur a 'th gar, Eosier Smyth. Heb
duu heb dini".

In his annotation on Eowlands' notice of this book in the
Camhrian Bi'blmjro.'pliy, Mr. Silvan Evans remarhs on
the fact that it is printed in the same character as
Dr. Gr. Eoberts' Grammar ; and he is puzzled to know
whether the latter may not also have been printed at Paris
rather than at Milan. His ditìiculty was undoubtedly caused
by the incompleteness of an extract sent him by the late
Eev. John Jones, Precentor of Christchurch (better known
in the Principality by his P^ardic appellation of " Tegid"),
from a " Caution to the Eeader" (rybid i'r darleur), which,
by an afterthought, as it would seem, appears at the end of
the book, instead of its more appropriate place at the com-
mencement. It begins, " Na ryfeda dim (darleur haudgar)
diaingc lauer o faiau urth brintio y lyfryma". As it is too
long for quotation in the original as well as in English, yet
remarkable for the curious and valuable information it sup-
plies, as to the reasons for the adoption of tlie singular or-
thography and punctuation of the several works, I may,
perhaps, Ije pardoned if I venture to offer a translation of it.

" Wonder not (charitable reader) that many errors have
escaped in the printing of this book, for the printer under-
stood neither the language nor the letters, nor the characters.
He was also so stubljorn and obstinate, nay, so pig-headed

60 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

(bencliuiban), after tlie nature of his country, that he would
endure neither rebuke nor correction of his faults. More-
over, considering that there are several modes of ortho-
graphy customary among us, especially as to doubling the
consonants, some using dd, II, sonie too often avoiding their
use, joining h to each one of these, instead of doubling
them: and because, to my thinking, the above custom is
ugly and unseemly, I have seen good to follow the very
Eeverend and eminent Master, Gryffyth Eobert, Canon
Theologian of the mother-church of the city of Milan
(" Canon theologaid o fam-Eglwys Dinas Mylen"), a man
who deserves eternal praise and fame, not only because of
his many virtues, but also for his learning and kno\vledge,
and particularly (yn bendifadeu) in tbe Welsíi language.
He, in his book on correct writing (yn ei lyfr o iawn ysgrif-
enydiaeth) teaches, instead of doubling the letters, to put
a prick, or tittle, under each, in this manner, d dd, 1 II, u îm>

• • •

ph instead of íf, by following the Hebrews, who use the
same prick, instead of doubling the letters, which they
call dages. And wonder not, besides, that I do not double
the n, as in these words, tìjn, hyn, guyn, and the like,
for it seemed better (to my judgment) to put an accent
(acen) over it, when it might be necessary to lengthen,
or double it. Lastly, wonder not that I sometimes
borrow words (when they are wanted) from the Latin, for
the old Welsh were wont to do the same thing, as it may
be easily seen that the greater part of our language has be'en
derived from the Latin (tynu'r rhan o^n iaith ni alan o'r
ladin) which the above master shows in liis book of Ety-
mology (cyfìachyddiaeth) ."

As this last reference is to the second Part of Dr. Gryfíytli
Eoberts' G^rammar, of which Eowlands speahs as consisting
of 112 pages, it follows that the " Llyfr o iawn ysgrifen-
yddiaeth", ubove referred to, is thc Eirst Part, with the title

SIXTEKNT1I AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. Gl

abbreviated. A second edition of this work was supposed to
have been printed in 1657, under the title of Y DisfjyU ar
Athraio o .ncu'ijdd. Of this I have a copy, printed with
other works by Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd in 1765, in a note
to Eowhands' Notice of which it is stated, however, that he,
and not Eoger Smith, was the author. And a third, in 1683,
nnder that of Dosparth Catholic ar holl hyiiciau'r ffydd, mcgis
dialogncth rhwnfj y Discehcl cci Athraw. If this be so, and
the title be printed correctly, the orthography and punctua-
tion of the original must have been abandoned, and with it
the system of Welsh wTÌting, adopted by Dr. Gr. Eoberts
and his pupil, departed for ever !

The labours of Dr. Eoger Smith did not end here, for it
appears from the Camhricm BiUiograŷhy, that he printed at
Paris, in 1615, another book, in 24mo, containing about 300
pages, as conjectured by Rowlands, who had in his hands
a copy reaching only to p. 276. The title is " Theater du
Mond sef iw Gorsedd y Byd, Ue i gellir gweled trueni a
Llaseni Dyn o ran y Corph ai Odidawgrwydd o ran yr
Enaid ; a Scrifenwyd gynt yn y Frangaeg, ag a gyfieithwyd
ir Gymraeg drwy lafyr Rosier Smyth o Dref Lan Elwy
Athraw o Theologyddiaeth. Psal. 48. Homo cum in honore
esset, non inteUexit, Comparatus est iumentis insipientibus
& simUis factus est üs, Dyn pan oedd mewn anrhydedd
heb ddeall a gyffiybwyd ir anifeiHaid di wybodus, ag ai
gwnaeth i hun yn debyg iddynt hwy".

Then foUows a monogram, in a sort of stanza of four Hnes,
arranged in a square : —

Dyrachwel yma, Mae yma Ddelw Darluniad
Dymchwel yna Nid oes or Byd
ünd Dymchwelyd.

Rowlands teUs us that the work is divided into three
books, and that the book was translated into EngUsh twenty-
eight years after its pubUcation in Welsh, but witli a dif-

62 WELSH BOOKS PEINTED ABROAD IN THE

ferent title-page. It professed to be "translated out of
French into Spanish by ye ]\Iaster Baltazar Peres del Cas-
tello, & lastly translated out of Castilian into English by
Francis Fayrer, Merchant. London, 1663."

My search in the British Museum has failed to discover
either of these translations, but I came upon one by John
Ahlay, printed in 1574 and 1582, iu octavo. The title-page
has on it : — " Theatrum j\Iundi, the theatre or rule of the
world, whereiu may be sene the running race and course of
every man's life as touching miserie and felicitie, wherin be
contained wonderfuU examples and learned devises to the
overthrow of vice, and exalting of virtue. Whereunto is
added a learned and pithie work of the excellence of man-
kynd. Writlen in the French and Latiu tongues by Peter
Boaystuan, Englished by John Alday. Imprinted at London
by Henry Bynneman, for Thomas Hacket : and are to be
solde at his shop at the Eoyal Exchange, at the signe of
the Greene Dragon. Anno 1574 (16mo, 287 jDp.), in black
letter. The " Table" is in Eoman characters. I also found
the French work, entitled " Le Théatre du Monde, où il est
faict un ample discours des misères humaines co[m]posé en
Latin par P. (Pierre) Boaystuan surnommé Launay, natif
de Bretagne, par luy-mesme, puis traduict en Français."
The book, it must be confessed, would seem scarcely worthy,
in the present day at least, of the reputation it must have
attained, or of the pains taken in turning it into so many
languages. The author, a good and religious man, was
greatly addicted to the collection of marvellous stories, as
appears from the titles of several other works of his, which
he delighted to intervveave with " wise saws and modern
instances". The book, however, is a great curiosity in its
way. The remarkable point, as to the Welsh translation, is
that, if Eowlands has correctly printed the long extract he
has given from the Welsh translation, it will follow that

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. 63

Dr. Smyth liad already, in 1615, abandoned his punctuated
and abbreviated orthography : for here \ve find the Is and ds
doubled in ordinary nioderu fashion; and nothing peculiar
about it, save tlie printing of the w with two sejoarate v's.
If so, we can but exclaim, Sic traìisit gloria mundi ! But
its verification is stiU a desideratum, on better authority than
that of the not always accurate Eowlands, from a sight of
the work itself. Nor can I feel that these remarks will
have been without their use, if the fact of their having
been made should bring to light the existence of a copy.

Two other works still remain to be noticed, respecting
which, curious and interesting as they are, the space neces-
sarily devoted to the foregoing compels me to be brief, The
title of the former of these is correctly given by Eowlands,
as far as it goes, as follows : — " Eglurhad Helaethlawn o'r
Athrawiaeth Gristnogawl, a gyfansodhwyd y tro cyntaf yn
Italaeg, trwy waith yr Ardderchoccaf a'r Hybarchaf Gar-
dinal Ehobert Bellarrain, o Gymdeithas yr Jesv. Ag o'r
Italaeg a gymreigwyd er budh Ysprydol i'r Cymru, drwy
ddiwydrwydh a dyfal gymmorth y pendefig canmoladwyV.E."
"A full and copious exposition of the Christiau doctrine,
which was composed first in Italian, being the work of the
most eminent and most Eeverend Cardinal Eobert Bellar-
mine, of the Society of Jesus. And was done into Welsh,
from the Italian, for tlie spiritual benefit of the Cymry,
through the assiduity and zealous assistance of the praise-
worthy nobleman, V.E." Then follows the monogram,
found on the title-page of many of the publications of the
Society, viz., the letters I.H.S., surmounted by a Latin cross
with three crosslets, the three nails of the Crucifixion below,
all within a square of four lines, surrounded by a dotted
border. After which are the words, " Permissu Superiorum",
and the date in Eoman numerals, ]\I.D.CXVIII. On the top of
the title-page, in ]\IS., are the abbreviated words, " Bibl. Coll.,

64 WELSII BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

Angloruin, S. J. Andomari", in the copy in tlie King's
Library at Brussels, where I first met with the work about
eight years ago, showing that it once belonged to the library
of the Jesuits^ College at St. Omer. It is only a few months
ago that I found a perfect copy of the work in the library
of the British Museum. It is in 16mo, and consists of
348 pages, but is wrongly described in the catalogue as
printed at Louvain in 1618. It ends thus : " Moliant i'r
Jesu, ag i'w Fam Fendigedig Mair bur-forwyn; ar Gyfar-
chiad yr hon, y gorphenned hyn o gyfieithiad o'r Italaeg.
25 Martii, 1618. Finis." " Praise be to Jesus, and to His
Blessed Mother, the pure Yirgin Mary : with the Salutation
to whom this translation was finished from the Italian, on
the 25th March 1618. The end." It concludes with a
table of errata of three pages. The whole, excepting tlie
foregoing, is printed in italic, each page within double
lines, of about an inch apart. The letters II and dd are
not doubled in this work, but are printed, like the Scotch
Gaelic, with Ih, and dh. The work exists also in Latin,
with the title " Card. Eoberti Bellarmini, S. J. Uberior
Explicatio doctrinse Christianaì." The AVelsh translation
was made in tlie Cardinal's life-time, for he died in 1620.
A learned member of the Society, to whom we are greatly
indebted for his share in the recent publication of the
Becords of the English Province of thc Society of Jcsus, in
six vols., has kindly furnished me with the following in-
formation respecting tlie author. He states that "Fatlier
John Salisbury translated Card. Bellarmine's larger Catcchism
into Welsh in 1618. He was a native of Merionethshire,
born 1575, educated abroad, and, having been ordained priest,
was seut upon the English Mission. After labouring in it
for a long tinie, and successfuUy, he entered the Society of
Jesus in 1605, and was professed of the four solemn vows
in London in 1618. Upon the deatli of Father Eobert

SIXTEENTII AND SEYENTEENTH CENTURIES. G5

Jones, tlie Superior of the North and South District, S. J.,
in 1G15, r. John Salisbury succeeded him in that office,
residing at Raglan Castle, where he was Chaplain to the
Lady Florence Sornerset, a convert of F. Eobert Jones. F.
John Salisbury was the founder of the coUege or district of
the English proviuce S. J. called the College of S. Francis
Xavier, and the Xorth and South Wales Mission in 1622,
and he died Supcrior of it in 1625. His transLation of
Card. Bellarmine's larger CatecMsm into Welsh was printed
at tbe press of the Euglish province, at their College of St.
Omer, in 1618, tacito nomine. He also composed some other
smaller works of piety." The statement that he was a
native of Merionethshire seems to point to his being one of
the Eug branch of the Salisburys of Bachymbyd and Llew-
eni. The only oue I have been able to find of the name
belonging to that family is John, second son of William
Salisbury of Eug, who died iu 1677, and whose elder brother
Owain Salisbury, is said to have married an English lady,
and joined the Catholic Church {Ärch. Camh: for 1878,
p. 289). The statement that he died without issue is, 2>ro
tanto, in favour of his identity with Father John Salisbury,
who, it is natural to suppose, may have beeu iustrumental in
his brother's conversion.

I have now come to the last work on my Jist, and one
which, perliaps, may be felt to have a peculiar interest for
us, inasmuch as a perfect — if I inistahe not, the only perfect
copy known was in the possession of the late lamented
founder of the resuscitated Cymmrodorion Society, the Eev.
Eobert Jones, of Eotherhithe. The title, as given by Eow-
lands, is " Allwydd neu Agoriad Paradwys i'r Cymrv. Hynny
y\v Gweddiau, üevotionau, Cynghorion, ac Athrawiaethau tra
duwiol ac angenrheidiol i bol) Christion yn mynnu agoryd y
I'orth a myned i raewn i'r Nef Wedi eu cyunuU o amryw
lyfrau duwiol, a'i cyfieithu yn Gymraeg : iieu wedi eu

VOL. IV. F

66 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABEOAD IN THE

cyfansoddi, gan J. H. Yn Lvyck. Imprintiwyd yn y
Mwyddyn mdclxx. [12 plyg bychan.]" " A Key, or
Opening of Paradise to tlie Cymry. That is, prayers, devo-
tions, counsels, and instructions, very godly and necessary
for every Christian desiring to open the gate and enter into
Heaven. Gathered out of several godly books, aud trans-
lated into Welsh, or composed by J. H. at Lvyck. Printed
in the year 1670. [Small 12mo.]" The character of the
■work is thus described by Rowlands : " This is a Book of
Devotions, or Popish Missal, in parallel Welsh and Latin, in
478 pp. 12mo., and written in clear and good language.
The top lines and íirst words are in red letters. It is
probable that the compiler was a South Wales man, for he
addresses it, ' To my Brothers and Sisters, and other Faithful
Eelatives in Gwent and Brecheinoc'. And from the initials
of his name, J. H, it is likely that he was one of the
Havards, of Defynog, as there have been families of that
surname there for ages, and, moreover, adhering to the
Popish religion, and one of theni has ever been in the
priesthood. His salutation of his relatives in 'Gwent and
Brecheinoc' is a corroborative proof of this. The place
called ' Lvyck', where the book is said to have been printed,
is said by the Eev. D. S. Evans to be ' Liége', in the present
kingdom of Belgium", with more to the same purpose. And
in a letter from Mr. Evans, quoted in a note, it is added,
" Tliere is no disputing that this book w^as printed in the
town called in Flemish (Isdiraeg) ' Luik' or ' Luyk', in Ger-
man Lüttich, and in French 'Liége'." But, alas for con-
jecture, which, however learned, reasonable, or iuherently or
extrinsically probable, till fact comes forth to prove or dis-
prove it, is finally stiU but conjecture. Eowlands, in the
first place, has missed the mark in calling the book a Catholic
Missal. It is rather a volume of miscellaneous and general
iustruetions and devotions for tlie use of the laity at church

SIXTEENTn AND SEYENTEENTII CENTUBIES. G7

and elsewhere. At the end is a little treatise, partly in
Euglish and partly in AVelsh, intended to teach the Welsh
that, if they pronounce Latin like their own language, they
■\vill certaiuly pronounce it aright ; and that Englishmen wiU
do well to take a lesson from the Welsh if they wish to pro-
nounce Latin so as to be understood on the Continent. Tlie
book commences with a calendar, and is followed by a
chapter entitled " Athrawaeth Cristionogawl", not, however,
as one might be led to conjecture, theidentical"Athrawaeth",
reprinted, of Dr. Maurice Clynog.

And again, both Mr. Eowlands and his editor, Mr. Silvan
Evans, though rightly identifying Lvyck with Liége, have
missed the mark together in ascribing, on grounds however
apparently well-founded, the composition of this work to a
Havard. Having been informed by Arthur W. K. jMiller,
Esq., of the British INIuseum, to whom I feel gratefully
indebted for much valuable assistance in tlie prosecution of
this enquiry, tliat it appears from Cotton's Topographical
Gazetteer that " At Liége, a colleoe of Euolish Jesuits was

o ^ o o

founded, in 1616, by George Talbot, afterwards Earl of
Shrewsbury, which was destroyed in 1794", I applied yet
again to the same kind informant as before respecting the
translation of Bdlarmines Catechism, from whom I have
been gratified to obtain the solution of this long-hidden
mystery. The Key (Allwydd) was published in London in
1670, but must have been " imprinted" at Liége. The
author was Father Jolm Hugh Owen, who usually passed
by the name of John Hughes. He was born in Anglesey in
1615, and died at Holywell, December 28th, lG8ö. The
Rccords of thc Encjlish Province of the Societij of Jcsus con-
tain the foUowing notice of this pious and learned Welsli-
man: — "The diary of the English College, Eome, says tliat
hc was admitted, under the name of John Hughes, an
olummis of that college, December 25th, 163G, oät. twenty-one

F 2

68 WELSH BOOKS PRINTED ABROAD IN THE

years, and left Eome for England, September 28th, 1643.
Vir patientiéB singularis egreyie se gcssit is the character
written of him in the Diary. He entered the English
ProYÌnce in 1648, while a missionary priest in England.
In a Catalogue for 1655, he is mentioned as then serving in
the College or District of S. Francis Xavier and the Welsh
Mission. It appears that some months previously to his
death he had fallen off his horse on returning from Mr.
Salisbury's, a recent convert to the Catholic Faith, whither
he had gone to administer the Sacraments to his family.
Besides the ordinary fast every Friday, when he took a
moderate collation at night, he used to abstain from aU food
until Sunday at noon. He never went from home for the
purpose of recreation, and never played at cards, or similar
games. He had practised fasting from his youth. He was
the author of a MS. Eeport in Welsh, dated July 6th,
1668, describing the cure of Eoger Whetstone, then about
sixty years of age, from inveterate lameness, on August
20th, 1667, by drinhing the water of St. Winifred's Well.
This poor man came from Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire,
and after being a Quaker and an Anabaptist, became a good
Catholic. His son, about eleven years of age, was christened
in the Catholic Church, after full instruction, unto whom
the greatest personages (says a ]\IS. at Stonyhurst CoUege)
were pleased to be patrons.

" Father Owen published some treatises, tacito nomine,
'On the grievousness of mortal sin, especially of heresy',
London, 1668; also a Catechism in Welsh, London, 1668,
and the Prayer Book called ' The Key of Heaven'."

It is to be regretted that the information here given
respecting the last work, which appears to be identical witli
tlie object of our inquiry_, is incomplete, inasmuch as the
title is giyen in Euglish, as if the Prayer Book were com-
posed in that language. This is probably the case, and the

SIXTEENTH AND SEYENTEENTÍI CENTUllIES. 69

Welsh work a translation or paraphrase of the former, in-
teuded by the learned Father to be adapted to the special
needs of his own countrymen. The former may have been
priuted ìn London, and the hitter at Liége ; while the
destruction of the CoUege in 1794 may account for the
ignorance that has existed relative to this work and its
author.

There is another "work, which, from its title, was clearly
written by a Catholic, and as it appears to have the name of
neither place nor author on the title-page, was probably
printed abroad. It appears in the Camh'ian Bibliography as
No. 2 of the year 16G1, with this title: "Drych Cydwybod,
sef modd cymmwys a ífrwy thlawn i ddwyn pob math ar ddyn
i gael gwybodaeth o'i bechodau, a megis ei gweled ger bron
ei lygaid, gan ddangos iddo pa fodd i gwneiíî ei CyfFes (sic)
i'w Dad enaid, a'r modd i gael meddyginiaeth am danynt.
12 plyg." " A Mirror of Conscience, or a suitable and fruitful
method of briuging every sort of person to a knowledge of
his sins, and to see them as it were before his eyes, showing
him how he shall make his Confession to his spiritual Father,
and the way to get a cure for them. 12mo."

There was, to my knowledge, a copy of this \vork in the
possession of a poor person in Caernarvonshire in 1848.
Whether it is still in existence, I am unable at present
to ascertain.

YO

WELSH ANTHHOPOLOGY.
By f. w. rudler.

When it was clecided tliat the Britisli Association for the
Advancement of Science should hold its Fiftieth Annual
Meeting in Wales, those members of the Association who
are interested in the Principality trusted that the occasion
would be used for the discussion of many scientific questions
of local interest. Upwards of thirty years had passed since
the previous visit of this scientific body to Wales, and during
that period — a period which represents the lifetime of a
generation — many branches of science had undergone un-
paralleled development. Take, for example, the science of
Anthropology. When the Association met at Swansea in
1848, tlie term " anthropology", in its modern biological
sense, was scarcely known to men of science. Such papers
as might be written on anthropological subjects were, iu those
days, sent to the geographical section, where they were
received by the " sub-section of ethnology". But ctlinology,
the study of races, is a much narrower and less appropriate
term thau anthropology , the study of Man in his entirety.
Moreover, the relations of anthropology lie obviously in the
direction of biology, the science of life, rather tlian in thàt of
geography. The British Association Iias, therefore, since
1871, recognised anthropology as an important department
of the great science of biology.

Having acted for seven years as Secretary to the Anthro-
pological Department, I had undertahen to continue tlie
duties of this offìce at Swansea. But as the time of raeeting
approached, the Council desired me to act as Vice-President

WELSII ANTIIIÎOrOLOGY. 71

of tlie Section, witli cliarge of tlie Antliropological Depart-
ment. It thus became my diity to open the proceedings of
the Departnieut with an address. Naturally anxious to give
local colour to these proceedings, I fe.lt bound to deal with
thequestion of Welshanthropology — a (piestionwhich bristles
witl\ such forniidable difüculties that I approached it with
diffidence, and handled it but lightly. Notwithstanding the
crudeness and the defects of the address, the editors of Y
Cymmrodor have been so courteous as to suggest its repro-
duction in these pages.

On looking at the essay, it became evident that in order
to íìt it for its new setting it would require some modifica-
tion. I have, therefore, with the editors' permission, abridged
it in one place and expanded it in another, so as to make it
more appropriate to its present position. The early part has
been altogether omitted, since it dealt with questions of
purely local interest, The discourse was opened, in fact, by
a reference to tlie difficulties which have been iniported into
the ethnology of Glamorganshire by the inílux, of late years,
of Engiish and Irish imraigrants, and formerly of Flemings,
Norsemen, and yet earlier colonists. But if we could strip
off all extraneous elements which have been introduced by
the modern settler and the mediseval Fleming, possibly also
by the Norman baron, and even the Eoman soldier, we
might eventually lay bare for anthropological study the
deep-lying stratum of the population — the original Welsh
element. AYliat, tlien, are the ethnical relations of the
typical man of South Wales ?

Nine people out of every ten to whom this question might
be addressed would unhesitatingly answer that the true
AYelsh are Celts or Kelts.^ And they would seek to justify

^ Wliother this word should be writteu Cdt or Kdt seems to be a
iiuitter of scientitic indifference. Probably the bahauce of opiniou
uniouíí ethnulu<iistö is in thc dircction of thc formcr i*endcriug. Ncver-

^o'

72 WELSII ANTIIROPOLOGY,

their answer by a confident appeal to the Welsh language.
ISTo philologist has any doubt about the position of this
language as a member of the Keltic family. The Welsh
and the Breton fall naturally together as living members of
a group of languages, to which Professor Ehys applies the
term Bfytlionic, a group which also includes such dead
tongues as the old Cornish, the speech of the Strathclyde
Britons, and possibly the language of the Picts and of the
Gauls. On tlie other hand, the Gaelic of Scotland, the
Irish, and the Manx, arrange themselves as naturally in
another group, which Professor Ehys distinguishes as the
Goiclelic branch of the Keltic stock.^ But does it necessarily

theless it must be borne in mind that the word " celt" is so commonly
used now-a-days by writers ou prehistoric anthropology to desiguate an
axe-head, or some such weapou, whether of metal or of stone, that it is
obviously desirable to make the difference between the archíeological
word and the ethnological term as clear as possible. If ethnologists
persist iu writing " Celt", the two words differ only in the magnitude of
an initial, and when spoken are absolutely indistinguishable. I shall
therefore write, as a matter of expediency, " Kelt". It is curious to uote
how the Avord ceìt originally came to be used as the name of a weapon
or instrument. The pojíular notion that it was because such weapons
were used by the people called Celts is, I need hardly say, wholly base-
less. The sole wrilten warranty for usiug such a word appears to be a
passage iu the Vulgate versiou of Job, where the patriarch says (xix,
24) that he wishes his words to be graven on the rock with a chisel —
celte. Hence it has been supposed that there was a Low Latin word,
celtis or celtes^ siguifying a chisel, and conuected with ccelo, to engrave.
But Mr. Knight Watson has poiuted out that the word celte, in the
Latin MSS., is a bluuder for certe. All the MSS. earlier than the
twelfth centiiry give the latter reading. The words of Job are there-
fore to be graven ou the rock for surety — cei'te. It tluis ajjpears
that the word cclt, as the name of a sharp-edged tool, has been founded
on an eutirely false reading. But even if all this be true, if we admit
that there was originally uo justificatiou for the use of the term, it is
much too late in the day to attempt to oust so deeply-rooted a word
from the vocabulary of the archEeologists.

1 Lectures on Welsh PhUolotjy. By John Rhŷs, ]\[.A., 2nd edition,
1878, p. 15.

WELSII ANTimOPOLOGY. 73

follow that all tlie peoples who are closely Iinked together
by speaking, or by having at some time spoken, these Keltic
languages, are as closely linked together by ties of blood ?
Cîreat as tlie value of language unquestionably is as an aid to
ethnological classification, are we c[uite safe in concluding
that all the Keltic-speaking peoples are one in race — that
they are true Kelts ?

The answer to snch a question must needs depend upon
the sense in which the anthropologist uses the word Kelt.
History and tradition, philology and ethnology, archteology
and craniology, have at different times given widely diver-
sent definitions of the term. Sometimes the word has been
used with such elasticity as to cover a multitude of peoples,
who differ so widely one from another in physical character-
istics, that if the hereditary persistence of such qualities
counts for anything, they cannot possibly be referred to a
common stock. Sometimes, on the other hand, the word
has been so restricted in its defìnition, that it has actually
excluded the most typical of all Kelts — the Gaulish Kelts
of Cíesar. According to one authority, the Kelt is short;
according to another, tall: one ethnologist defines him as
being dark, another as fair ; this craniologist finds that he
has a long skull, while that one declares that his skull is
short. It was no doubt this ambiguity that led so keen an
observer as Dr. Beddoe to remark, nearly fifteen years ago,
that " Kelt and Keltic are terms which were useful in their
day, but which have ceased to convey a distinct idea to the
minds of modern students."^

No anthropologist has laboured more persistently in en-
deavouring to evoke order out of this Keltic chaos than the
late Dr. Paul Broca. This distinguished anthroj)ologist

1 Mcm. Aììthrop. Soc. Lon., vol. ii, 1866, p. 348.

2 The following are BrocaV principal contributions to tliisvoxcd qiies-
tion: — " Qii'est-ce que les Celtes?" BuUctins de lu Société írAìtthrojioìoc/ic

74 WELSH ANTHROPOLOGY.

always held tliat tlie name of Kelt slioiüd be strictly limited
to the Kelt of positive history — to the people, or rather
confederation of peoples, actually seen by Caîsar in Keltic
Gaul — and, of course, to their descendants in the same area.
Every schoolboy is familiar with the epitome of Gaulish
ethnology given by Julius in his opening chapter. Nothing
can be clearer than liis description of the tripartite division
of Gaul, and of the separation between the three peoples
who inhabited the country — the BelgcC, the Ac[uitani, and
the Celtíe. Of these three peoples the most important were
tliose whom the Eomans called Galli, but who called them-
selves, as the historian tells us, Celtse. The country occupied
by the Keltic population stretched from the Alps to the
Atlantic in one direction, and from the Seine to the Garonne
in another ; but it is diftìcult to fìnd any direct evidence
tliat the Kelts of this area ever crossed into Britain. Broca
refused to apply the name of Kelt to the old inhabitants of
Belgic Gaul, and, as a matter of course, he denied it to any
of the inhabitants of the British Isles. "Writing as late as
1877, in full view of all the argumeuts which had been
adduced against his opinions, he still said : " Je continue à
soutenir, jusqu'à preuve du contraire, ce que j'ai avancé il y
a douze ans, dans notre première discussion sur les Celtes,
savoir, qu'il n'existe aucune preuve, qu'on ait constaté dans
les Iles-Britanniques l'e^istence d'un peuple portant le nom
de Celtes.^

Nevertheless, in discussing tlie Keltic question witli M.
Henri Martin, he admitted the convenience, almost the pro-

de Paris, t. v. p. 457 ; " Le Nom des Celtes", ihid. 2 sér. t. ix, p. 662 ;
'' Sur les Textes relatifs aux Celtes daus le Grande-Bretagne", ihid.
2 sér. t. xii, p. 5ü9 ; " La Race Celtique, ancienne et moderne", Bevue
d'Anthropologic, t. ii, p. 578 ; and " E.echerclies sur l'Ethnologie de la
France", Mêm. de la Soc. Anthrojì.^ t. i. p. 1.

1 BuUctins de la Socicíé d' Anthropologic de Paris^ 2 súr. t. xii, 1878,
p. 511.

WELSir ANTIIROPOLOGY. 7o

priety, of refcrring to all who spoke Keltic langiiages as
Rcltic peoples, though of course he would not hear of their
being called Kelts. "On peut très-bien les nommer les
peiiples celtiques. Mais il est entièrement faux de les
appeler les Ccltcs, corame on le fait si souvent." ^

Whether we use the word Kelt in its wide linguistic sense,
or in the narrower sense to which it has been reduced by the
French anthropologists, it is important to reniember that tlie
Welsh do not designate, aud never have designated them-
selves by this term or by any similar word. Their national
name is Cymry, the plural of Cymro. My former coUeague,
the Eev. Professor Silvan Evfins, kindly informs me that the
most probable derivation of this word is from cyd- and hro,
" country", the old form of which is hrog, as found in Allo-
lro(jíe, and some other ancient names. The meaning of
Cymry is therefore " fellow-countrymen", or compatriots.
Such a meaning naturally suggests that the name must have
been assumed in consequence of some foreign invasion —
possibly when the Welsh were banded together against
either the Eomans or the English. If this assumption be
correct it must be a word of comparatively late origin, and
helps us but little in our enquiry into the early relatious
of the Welsh. 2

' Bulltüns dc la Sociétí d' Anthropologie de Paris, t. ix, 1874, p. 6G2.

2 It is scarcely necessary to add that the term Welsh was given by
the Teutonic invaders to any people vphom they found to be aliens in
blood and iu speech. On the Continent the same word is seen in the
name of the Walloons ; so, too, \ve find it in such place-names as Wiilsch-
huìd (Italy), Wallachia and Val-lais. lu this country, the English called
the Britons Wcalas, or foreigners, aud their country Weal-ci/nne. What
we now call Wales they termed North Wales, because they recognised
another Wales, and other Welsh, in the promontory of Cornwall and
Devou. That promontory they termcd ]\'cst Wales, aud a relic of this
nomeuclature still lingers in our modern Cormcall — the cornu, or horn of
Wales. Nor should it be forgotten that there is also a French Corn-
•\vall — the narrow peninsula between Brest and Quimper, in Finistère,
being kno\vn as CornouaiUe, or Cornu Gallix. In thc north of Englaud
the greiit kingdom of Strathclyde was inhabited by Welsh.

76 WELSH ANTHEOPOLOGY.

All tlie evidence which the ethnologist is able to glean
from classical writers with respect to the physical characters
and ethnical relations of the ancient inhabitants of this
countryj may be put into a nutshell, with room to spare.
The exceediníT meao-reness of our data from this source will

o o

be admitted by anyone who glances over the passages re-
latins: to Britain, which are collected in the Monumenta
Historica Britannica. As to tlie people in the south, there
is the well-known statement in Cíesar that tlie maritime
parts of Britain, the southern parts which he personally
Yisited, were peopled by those who liad crossed over from
the Belgöe, for what purpose we need not enquire. Of the
Britons of the interior, wliom he never saw, he merely
repeats a popular tradition which represented thern as abori-
gines.^ They may, therefore, have been Keltic tribes, akin
to the Celti of Gaul, though there is nothing in Caìsar's
words to support such a view.

Tacitus, in writing the life of his father-in-law, Agricola,
says that the Britons nearest to Gaul resembled the Gauls.'^
If he refers here to the sea-coast tribes in the south-east of
Britain, the comparison must be with the Belgic and not
with the Keltic Gauls. But his subsequent reference to the
resemblance between the sacred rites of the Britons and
these of the Gauls suggests that his remarhs may be fairly
extended to the inland tribes beyond the liniits of the Belgic
Britons, in which case the resemblance may be rather with
the Gaulish Kelts. Indeed, this inference, apart from the
testimony of language, is the chief evidence upon whicli
ethnologists have based tlieir conclusion as to the ICeltic
origin of the Britons,

1 " Britannife pars interior ab iis incolitur, quos natos in insula ipsi
memoria proditum dicunt : maritima pars ab iis, qui pra^dse ac belli in-
ferendi causa ex Belgis transiorant." — Dc Beìhi (laìlicd^ lib. v, c. 12.

2 " Proximi Gallis ct similcs sunt." — Agricoìa^ c. xi.

WELSII ANTHROPOLOGY. 77

Our data for restoring tlie anthropological cliaracteristics
of the ancient Britons are Lut few and small. It is true
that a description of Bunduica, or Boadicea, has heen left to
ns by Xiphiline, of Trebizond ; but then it wiU be objected
that he did not write until the twelfth century. Yet it must
be remembered that he merely abridged the works of Dion
Cassius, the historian, who wrote a thousand years earlier,
and consequently we have grounds for believing that what
Xiphiline describes is simply a description taken from tlie
lost books of an early historian who is supposed to have
drawn his information from original sources. Now Boadicea
is described in these terms : " She was of the largest size,
most terrible of aspect, most savage of countenance and
harsh of voice, having a profusion of yellow hair which fell
dov/n to lier hips."^ Making due allowance for rhetorical
exaggeration, making allowance, too, for the fact that in con-
sequence of her royal descent she is likely to liave been
above the average stature, and even admitting that she dyed
lier liair — a practice not uncommon among many ancient
tribes — it is yet clear that this British queen must be re-
garded as belonging to the xanthous type — tall and fair.
Tlie tribe of the Iceni, over wliich this blonde amazon ruled,
is generally placed beyond the limits of the Belgic Britons ;
though some authorities have argued in favour of its Belgic
origin. If the latter view be correct, we should expect the
queen to be tall, light-haired, and blue-eyed ; for, from what
we know of the Belgíe, such were tlieir features. Ca3sar
asserts that the majority of the Belgai were derived from
the Germans.2 j>-^^^ notwithstanding this asserfion, most
ethnologists are inclined to ally them with the Celti, with-
out, of course, denying a strong Teutonic admixture. Strabo

1 il/oH. Ilist. Brit., Excerpta, p. ]vi.

2 "Plerosque Belgas csse ortos ab Geriuautó.'' — De BlUo Gull., lib.
ii, c. 4.

78 WELSH ANTHROPOLOGY.

says^ that tlic Eelgffi and Celti liacl the same Gaulish form,
though both diífered widely in physical characters from the
Aquitanians. As to language, Cöesar's statement that the
Belgic and Keltic differed, prohably refers only to dialectical
differences.^ If a close ethnical relationship can be esta-
blished between the Celti and the Belgce, British ethnology
clearly gains in simplification. To what extent the Belgic
settlers in this country resembled the neighbouring British
tribes must remain a moot point. According to Strabo,^
the Britons were taller than the Celti, with hair less yellow,
and they were slighter in build. By the French school of
ethnologists the Belgffi are identified with the Cymry, and
are described as a tall fair people, similar to the Cimbri
already mentioned ; and Dr. Prichard, the founder of English
anthropology, was led long ago to describe the Keltic type
in similar terms.*

Yet, as we pass across Britain westwards, and advance
towards those parts which are reputed to be predomi-
nently Keltic, tlie proportion of tall fair folk, speaking in
general terms, diminishes, while the short and dark element
in the population increases, until it probably attains its
maximum somewhere in South Wales. As popular impres-
sions are apt to lead us astray, let us turn for accuracy to
the valuable mass of statistics coUected in Dr. Beddoe's
well-known paper " On tlie Stature and Bulk of Man in tlie
British Isles",^ a paper to which every student refers with
imfailing confidence, aud which wiU probably remain our

1 Lib. iv, c. i.

2 " Quand César dit: Hi omnes lingua^ institutis^ lef/ibus^ inter se dif-
ferunt^ il faut traduire ici le mot lingna par dialecte.^^ — Les Dernicrs
Bretons. Par Emile Souvestre, vol. i, p. 141.

3 Lib. iv, c. 5.

* Researches into the Physical History of Manlcind. By J. C. Pricliard,
M.D., F.R.S., vol. iii, p. 189.

û Mem. Anfhrop. Soc. Lond., vol. iii, 1870, p. ÖS-i.

WELSII ANTHROPOLOGY. 79

standnrd authority until the labonrs of our Anthropometric
Committee are suíliciently matured for puLlication. Dr.
Beddoe, summing up his observations on the physical clia-
racters of the Welsh as a whole, defines them as of " short
stature, with good weight, and a tendency to darhness of
eyes, hair, and skin". Dr. Beddoe, in another paper.i indi-
cated the tendency to darhness by a numerical expressiou
which he termed the index of nigrescence. " In the coast-
districts and low-lands of Llonmouthshire and Glamorgan,
the ancient seats of Saxon, Norman, and Flemish colonisa-
tion, I find", says this observer, "the indices of hair and
eyes so low as 33.5 and 63 ; while in the interior, excluding
the chihlren of English and Irish immigrants, the fìgures
rise to 57.3 and 109.5 — this last ratio indicating a prevalence
of dark eyes surpassing what I have met with in any other
part of Britain" (p. 43).

Many years ago, Mr. Matthew Moggridge furnished the
authors of the Crania Britannica with notes of the pliysical
characteristics of the AYelsh of Glamorganshire. He defined
the people as having " eyes (long) bright, of dark or hazel
colour, hair generally black, or a very dark brown, lank,
generally late in turning grey."^

There can be no question, then, as to the prevalence of
melanism in this district. Nor does it seem possible to
account for this tendency, as some anthropologists have
suggested, by tlie influence of the surrounding media. Even
those who believe most firmly in the potency of the envi-
ronment will hardly be inclined to accept the opinion
seriously entertained some years ago by the Eev. T. rrice,
that the black eyes of Glamorganshire are due to the pre-

1 " Ou the Testimony of Local Phenomena in the West of England
to the Permanence of Authropological Types." — Ihid., vol. ii, 18C6,
p. 37.

2 Crav. Brit.. vol. i, p. 53.

80 WELSH ANTHUOPOLOGY.

yalence of coal fires.^ Long before coal came into use tliere
was tlie same tendency to nigrescence among tlie Welsli.
This may be seen, as Dr. Nicholas has pointed out, in the
bardic names preserved in ancient Welsli records, where the
cognomen of du, or " black", very frequently occurs. Thiis,
in the Mìjvyrian Archaiology of Wales, between a.d. 1280
and 1330, there are registered four "blacks" to one "red"
and one "grey" — namely, Gwilym Ddu, Llywelyn Ddu,
Goronwy Ddu, and Dafydd Ddur'

The oriüfin of this dark element in the Welsh is to be
explained, as everyone wiU have anticipated, by reference
to the famous passage in Tacitus, wliich has been worn
tlireadbare by ethnologists. Tacitus tells us that the ancient
British tribe of Silures — a tribe inhabiting what is now
Glamorganshire, Monmoutbshire, Herefordshire, and parts at
least of Brecknockshire and Radnor — had a swarthy com-
plexion, mostly with curly hair, and that from their situation
opposite to Spain tliere was reason to believe that the
Iberians had passed over the sea and gained possession
of the coimtry.^ It will be obseiwed that although Tacitus
speaks of their dark complexion, he does not definitely state
that the liair was dark ; but this omission has, curiously
enough, been supplied by Jornandes, a Goth, who, in the
sixth century, wrote a work whicli professes to be an extract
from the lost history of Cassiodorus, wherein the very words
of Tacitus are reproduced with the necessary addition.*

^ Essay on the Physiognomy and Physiology of tlie Present Inhahitants
of Britain, 1829.

2 The Pedigrec nf the EngJish Penpìe, fifth edition, 1878, p. 4G7.

3 " Silurum colorati vultus et torti plerumque crines, et posita contra
Ilispania, Iberos yeteres trajecisse, easc[ue sedes occupasse, fìdem
faciunt." — Agricola^ c. xi.

* " Sylorum ( = Silurum) colorati vultus, torto plerique crine, ct nigro
nascuntur." — Dc Echus Gcticis, c. ii; quoted in il/on. Hist. Brit., Ex-
cerpta, p. lxxxiii. It is coujectured tliat the classical word Siluì-es is

WELSH ANTIIROPOLOGY. 81

Witli these passages before us, can we reasonably doubt
that the swart blood in tlie Welsh of the present day is
a direct legacy from their Silurian ancestors ?

Setting what Tacitus here says about the Silures against
what he says in the next sentence about the Britons nearest
to Gaul (p. 76), it is clearthat we must recognise a duality of
type in the population of Southern Britain in his day. This
fact has been clearly pointed out by Professor Huxley as
one of the few " fìxed points in British ethnology".^ At tlie
dawn of history in this country, eighteen centuries ago,
the population was not homogeueous, but contained repre-
sentatÌYes both of Professor Huxley's Melanochroi and of his
Xantlwchroi. If we have any regard whatever for the per-
sistence of anthropological types, we sliould hesitate to refer
both of these to one and the same elementary stock. We
are led, then, to ask which of these two types, if either, is to
be regarded as Keltic ?

It is because both of these types, in turn, have been called
Keltic that so much confusion has been imported into ethuo-
logical nomenclature. The common-sense conclusion, there-
fore, seems to be that neither type can strictly be termed
Keltic, and that such a term had better be used only in
linguistic anthropology, Tlie Kelt is merely a person who
speaks a Keltic language, quite regardless of his race, though
it necessarily follows that all persons who speak similar
languages, if not actually of one blood, must have been at
some period of their history in close social contact. In this
sense, all the inhaljitants of Britaiu at the period of the Eoman
iuvasion, notwithstanding the distinction between Xanthro-

derÌYcd from the British iiame Essìjllw;/r, the people of Essì/Ihrç, Sce
Nichülass Ilistnrij of (j'lamurijaìishiìr, 1874, p. 1. It is dillicult to detcr-
miue how far aud iu -what respects the Silures resemblcd, or diffcred
from, the other inhaud tribes. Of tlie Caledouiaus and of the Bclgae we
kuo\v somethiug, but of the othcr inhabitauts wc are ç[uite iguorant.
^ Critiqucs and Adürcsÿcs, p. 106.

VOL. IV. G

82 WELSH ANTIIROrOLOGY.

chroi and Melanocliroi, were probaLly to be styled Kelts.
Tbere can be little doiibt tbat tbe xantbous Britons always
spoke a Keltic tongne ; but it is not so easy to decide wbat
was tbe original speecb of tbeir melanocbroic neigbbours.

Tbe existence of two types of population, dark and fair,
side by side, is a pbenomenon wbicb was repeated in ancient
Gaul. As tbe Silures were to Britain, so were tbe Aquitani
to Gaul — tbey were tbe dark Iberian element. Strabo states
tbat wbile tbe natives of Keltic and Belgic Gaul resembled
eacb otlier, tbe Acpiitanians differed in tbeir pbysical cba-
racters from botb of tbese peoples, and resembled tbe Iberians.
But Tacitus bas left on record tbe opinion tbat tbe Silures
also resembled tbe Iberians ; bence tbe conclusion tbat tbe
Silures and tbe Aquitaniaus were more or less alike. Now
it is generally believed tbat tbe relics of tbe old Aquitanian
population are still to be found lingering in tbe neigbbour-
bood of tbe Pyrenees, being represented at tbe present day
by tbe Basques. A popular notion bas tbus got abroad tbat
tbe ancient Silures must bave been remotely afbned to tbe
Basque populations of rrance and Spain. Nevertbeless, tbe
modern Basques are so mixed a race tbat, altbougb retaining
tbeir ancient language, tbeir pbysical cbaracters bave been
so modified tbat we can bardly expect to find in tbem tbe
features of tlie old Silurians. Tbus, according to tbe Eev.
Wentwortb Webster, tbe average colour of tbe Basque bair
at tbe present day is not darker tlmn cbestnut.^

Neitber does language render us any aid towards solving
tbe Basque problem. If tbe Silures were in tbis country
prior to tbe advent of tbe Cymry, and if tliey were cognate
witli tbe Basques, it seems ouly reasonable to suppose tbat
some spoor of tbeir Iberian speecb, bowever scant, migbt
still be lingering amongst us. Yet pbilologists bave sougbt

1 "The Basque and tlie Kelt." — Joiirn. Anthrop. I?isf., vol. v,
1876, p. 5.

■WELSH ANTIIIiOPOLOGY. 83

in vain for the traces of any Euskarian element in the Cym-
raog. Our distinguished member,H.I.H. Prince Louis Lucien
Bonaparte, perhaps the only philologist in this country who
has a right to spealc with authority on such a subject, has
obligingly informed me that he knows of no connexion
"\vhatever between tlie two lauguages, Still, it must be
remembered that tlie Iberian affinity of the Sihires, sug-
gested by the remarh of Tacitus, does not necessarily mean
Bascj[ue affinity. Some philologists have even denied that
the Basc[ues are Tberians.^ All tliat we seelc at present to
establish is this — that the dark Britons, represented by the
tribe of Silures, altliougli they came to be a Keltic-speaking
people, \vere distinct in race from the fair Britons, and,
tlierefore, in all likeliliood were originally distinct in speech.
Nor should it be forgotten that relics of a pre-Keltic non-
Aryan people have been detected in a few place-names in
Wales. Thus, Professor Rliŷs is inclined to refer to this
category such names as Menapia, Mona, and IMynwy ^ — the
last-named being a place (Monmouth) withiii the territory
of the old Silures. On the wliole, it seems to uie safer to
foUow Professor Eolleston in speahing of the dark pre-Keltic
element as Silurian rather than as Basque or as Iberian.^

There is, however, c|uite another quarter to which the
anthropologist who is engaged in this iuvestigation may
turu with fair promise of reward. The late Dr. Tlmrnam,
more than fifteen years ago, wrote a singularly suggestive
paper " On the Two Principal Forms of Ancient British and
Gaulish Slculls".'* The long-continued researches of tliis

1 "La Langue Ibérienne et la Lauguc Basque." Par M. Yan Eys.
Jìíttie de Lui(juistiquc. July 1874.

2 "Lecturos on Welsh Philology," 2ncl ed., p. 181.

3 British Barrows, by Canon GreenwcU aud Professor Rollcstou, p.
630.

* Memoirs o/ the Anthrop. Soc. Loud., vol. i, 1865, p. 120 ; vol. iii,
1870, p. 41.

g2

84 WELSII ANTHROPOLOGY.

eminent archaeological anatoniist led him to the concliision
that the ohlest sepulchres of this country — the chambered
and other long barrows wliicli lie explored in Wilts and
Gloucestershire — invariably contained the remains of a
dolichocephalic people, who were of short stature, and
apparently were unacquainted with the use of metals. The
absence of metal would aloue raise a suspicion that these
elongated tumuli were older than the round, conoidal, or
bell-shaped barrows, M'hich contain ol)jects of bronze, if not
of iron, with or without weapons of stone, and commonly
associated with the remains of a taller brachycephalic
people.^

Even before Dr. Thurnam forcibly pointed attention to
this distinction, it had been independently observed by so
experienced a barrow-opener as the late Mr. Bateman,^
whose researches were conducted in cj[uite another part of
the country — the district of the ancient Cornavii. More-
over, Professor Daniel Wilson's studies in Scotland had led
him to conclude that the earliest population of Britain were
dolichocephalic, and possessed, in fact, a form of skull which,
from its boat-like shape, he termed hiLiìibecephalic.^ Nor
should it be forgotten that as far back as 1844 the late
Sir W. R. Wilde expressed his belief that in Ireland the

1 It may be useful to remark that authropologists speak of people as
doUchocephalic ., or long-headed, if the breadth of their skull bears to its
leugtli a ratio of less than 80 to 100. Ou the other hand, people are
Irachuccjìlialìc, or short-headed, wheu measuremcnt shows that length :
breadth : : 80 (or more) : 100. In spite of the pleouasm, we occasioually
speak of brachycephalic and dolichocephalic skulls. The ternis " long-
headed" and " short-lieaded" are, of course, always used to designate
\ong-slulletl aud ähoTt-sJcuUed people — never to designate a long or short
/ace. It may seem puerile to add such a remark, yet non-anthropolo-
gical people have occasiouully described a man as loug-headed when
they merely meant long-visaged.

2 Ten Years' Digglugs, 18G1, p. 1-16.

3 l'nhistoric Annals of Scotland, 1851.

WELSII ANTIIROPOLOGY. 85

most ancient type of skull is a long skull, wliicli lie held to
beloug to a dark-eomplexionecl people, probably aboriginal,
who were succeeded by a fair, round-headed race.^

But while this succession of races was recognised by
sevéral observers, it remained for Dr. Thurnam to formulate
the relation between the sliape of the skull and that of the
barrow, in a neat aphorism, which has become a standing
dictum iu anthropology : " Long barrows, long shulls ; round
barrows, round skulls ; dolichotaphic barrows, dolicho-
cephalic crania; brachytaphic barrows, brachy-cephalic
crania." N"o doubt exceptional cases may occur in wliich
round shulls have been found in long barrows, but these
have generally been explained as being due to secondary
interments. On the other hand, the occasional presence of
long skulls in round barrows presents no difficulty, since no
one supposes that the early dolichocephali were exterminated
by the brachycephali, and it is, therefore, probable that
during the bronze-using period, when round tumuli were iu
general use, the two peoples may have dwelt side by side,
the older race being, perhaps, in a state of subjugation.

It is not pretended that Thurnam's apophthegm has more
than a local application. " This axiom", its author admitted,
" is evidently not ajîplicable, unless with considerable linii-
tations, to France." Although it is here called an " axiom",
it is by no means a self-evident proposition, the relation
between the shape of the skull and the shape of the burial-
mound being purely arbitrary. The proposition which con-
nects the two is simply the expression of the results of
accumulated observations, and it is, of course, open to doubt
whether the number of observations was sufficiently great to
warrant the generalisation, But the only test of the validity
of any induction lies in its verification when applied to fresh
instances, and it is reràarkablc that when loug barrows and
^ On the Ethìioloíjj of ihe Ancient Irish.

86 WELSH ANTIIROPOLOGY.

chambered tumuli liave siuce been opened in this country
the BYÌdence has tended in the main to confirm Dr. Thurnam's
proposition ; still, we must regard it only as the expression
of a local custom, and not of a general truth.

It is commonly believed that the brachycephali of the
round barrows came in contact with the dolichocephali as an
invading, and ultimately as a conquering, race. Not only
were they armed ^vith superior weapons — supèrior in so far
as a metal axe is a better weapon than a stone axe — but
they were a taller and more powerful people. Thurnam's
measurements of femora led to tlie conclusion tliat the
avcrage lieight of the brachycephali was 5 feet 8.4 inches,
while that of the long-headed men was only 5 feet 5.4
inches.^ ISTot only were they taller, but tliey were probably
a fiercer and more warlihe race. In the slculls from the
round barrows the superciliary ridges are more prominent,
the nasals diverge at a more abrupt angle, the cheek-bones
are high, and the lower jaw projects, giving the face an
aspect of ferocity, which contrasts unfavourably with the
mild features of the earlier stone-using people.

On the whole, then, the researches of archíeological anato-
mists tend to prove tlmt this country was tenanted in ante-
historic or pre-Roman times by two peoples, who were
ethnically distinct from each other. It is difficult to resist
the temptation of applying tliis to the ethnogeny of Wales.
Does it not seem probable that the early short race of long-
shuUed, mild-featured, stone-using people may have been'
the ancestors of the swarthy Silurians of Tacitus ; while
the later tall race of round-skulled, rugged-featured, bronze-
using men may have represented the broad-lieaded, Iveltic-
speahing folk of history ? At any rate, the evidence of
craniology does not run counter to this hypothesis. For
Dr. Beddoe's observations on head-forms in tlie West of
1 Mem. Aììthrop. Soc. Lond., vol. iii, 1870, p. 73.

WELSII ANTIIROPOLOGY. «7

England have shown that " heads which are ordinarily called
brachycephalic belonged for the most part to individuals
Mith light hair", while the short dark-haired people whoin
he exaniined were niarkedly dolichocephalic^ At the same
time, it must be admitted that his observations leud " no sup-
port to the view that the Keltic skull has been, or would ìjc
narrowed by an admixture of the Iberian type". It sliould
not, however, be forgotteu that the same observer, in refer-
ring to a collectiou of crania from the Bascj[ue country, pre-
served in Paris, says " the form of M. Broca's Basque crania
was very much that of some modern Silurian heads".^

According to the view advocated by Thurnam we have
a right to anticipate that tlie oldest skulls found in this
couutry would be of dolichocephaloiis type ; and such I
believe to be actually the case. Dr. Barnard Davis, it is
true, has stated in the Crania Britannica that the ancient
British slaiU must be referred to tlie brachycephalic type ;
and such an induction was perfectly legitimate so long as
the craniologist dealt only with skulls from the round
barrows or from similar interments. But the long-barrow
skulls examined by Professor Ptolleston,^ aud the Cissbury
skulls receutly studied by the same anatomist,^ are decidedly
dolichocephalic, as also are all tlie early prehistoric skulls
which have been found of late years in France.

It raay naturally be asked whether tlie researches of
archaîologists iu Wales lend auy support to Thuruam's
liypothesis. Nothing, I couceive, would be easier than to
show that very material support has come from this c|uarter;
but I have abstained, of set purpose, from iutroduciug into
this papcr any reniarks oii tlie prehistoric archaiology of

» Mcm. Aìiihrop. Soc. Lomi, vol. ii, ISGG, p. 350. 2 //,/,/^ p_ q^q

3 " On the Peoijle of the Long Barrow Period," Journ. Antliroj). /«*•/.,
vol. V, 187G, p. 120.

•» liid., vol. vi, 1877, p. 20 ; vol. viii, 1879, p. 377.

88 WELSH ANTHROPOLOGY.

Wales. For I had an opportunity, only a few months ago,
of lecturing before this Society upon this very suhject, and
1 then submitted to niy fellow-members such evidence as
seemed to me to support the conclusions enunciated above.
In connexion with this subject, I may, however, especially
refer to the valuable researches of my friend, Professor Boyd
Dawhins, more particularly to his discovery of platycnemic,
or ílat-shinned, skeletons in chambered graves in Denbigh-
shire, which may be referred to the neolithic or later stone-
age.^

But, setting aside any archseological evidence derived
from the bone-caves, barrows, or other sepulchres in Wales,
we may fìnally look at the outcome of our inquiry into
Welsh ethnogeny. If we admit, as it seems to me we are
bound to admit, the existence of two distinct ethnical ele-
ments in the Welsh population, one of which is short, dark,
and dolichocephalic — call it Silurian, Atlantean, Iberian,
Basque, or what you will ; and the other of which is tall,
fair, and brachycephalic, such as some term Cymric, and
üthers Lignrian; tlien it follows that by the crossing of
these two races we may obtain not only individuals of inter-
mediate character, but occasionally more complex combi-
nations ; for example, an individual may have the short
stature and long head of the one race, associated with the
lighter hair of the other ; or again, the tall stature of one may
be foimd in association witli the melanism and dolichoce-
phalism of the other race. It is. therefore, no objection to
the views herein expressed if we can point to a living
Welshman who happens to be at once tall and dark, or to
another who is short and fair.

At the same time, I am by no means disposed to admit

1 For Frof. Boyd Dawtins' contributions to the subject see his in-
teresting worlis on Care-lmnthìg, 187.4, and on Early Man in Briiain,

1880.

WELSH ANTIIROrOLOGY. 89

tliat M-hen we have recognised the nnion of the xanthous
and melanic elements in Wales, with a predoniinance of the
latter in the south, we have approached to anything like the
exhausting limit of the subject. StiU earlier races may have
dwelt in the land, and have contributed something to the
composition of the Welsh. In fact, the anthropologist may
say of a Welshman, as a character in " Cymbeline" says of
Posthumus, when doubtful about his pedigree,

" I cacnot delve him to the root."

It Ì3 possible that the roots of the Welsh may reach far
down into some hidden primitive stock, older mayhap than
the Neolithic ancestors of the Silurians ; but of such pristine
people we have no direct evidence. So far, however, as
positive investigation has gone, we may safely conclude that
the Welsh are the representatives, in large proportion, of a
very ancient race or races ; and that they are a composite
peojìle who may perhaps be best defined as Siluro-Cymric.

90

THE PEESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES.

AN ADDRESS

DELIYEllED TO TIIE CYMMEODORION SECTION OF TIIE
NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1880.

By LEWIS MORRIS, M.A., Honorary Fellow of Jesus College,
Oxford ; Presideat of the Section.

Ladies and Gentlemen, — We are met here tliis evening
to re-establisli, if possible, tiie Social Science Section of tlie
National Eisteddfod, wliicli, commencing, I tliink, in tlie year
1862, under the patronage of tlie Conncil of the Eisteddfod,
was discoutinued when tliat Council ceased to exist, some
ten or more years afterwards. From that time to the
National Eisteddfod held at Birlcenliead, in 1878, there was
nothing to answer to the former Social Science Section. In
the last-named year, an attempt was again made to revive
tlie institution, under the excellent presidency of my frieud
Professor Hughes, and papers of great ability and interest
w^ere read by various distinguished men. But whether it
was that the subjects chosen for the papers M'ere not sufli-
ciently interesting to Welshmen as such, or that the hour and
place of meeting were not well chosen, or that at Birheuhead
people only care to be amused, the fact undoubtedly is, that
the attendance was lamentably small — so small, indeed, that
the experiment coUapsed before the Eisteddfod meeting came
to an end. I think it quite possible that if that attempt had
been made at Carnarvon, or in any other real national centre,
the result might have been very diíîerent : and I am inclined
to deprecate the repetition of the experience of an Eisteddfod
lield out of AYales, and attended by a motley assemblage of

THE PRESENT AND FÜTURE OF WALES. 91

people, cliieíly attracted by a vague curiosity. But tlie rcal
lesson of these repeated attempts and failures is to me a very
instructive oue. I do think they point to a conviction, on
the part of the most thoughtful Welshmeu, that tlie Eistedd-
fod as it at present is constituted, interesting and creditaLle
as it undoubtedly is to the tastes and the refinement of tlie
people, is not wholly satisfying, and that many of us, while
recognising with pleasure the large number of valuable
prizes which it has recently become the practice — and espe-
cially on the present occasion — to offer for subjects bearing
upon the moral and physical condition of the people and
their amelioration, for essays on health, food, the condition
of dwellings, the earnings of the labourer and artizan, thrift,
morals, and last, but not least, education (all of which were
treated, as I am informed, by the former Social Science
Section), are yet of opinion that more may be fairly done in
this direction by tlie Eisteddfod than lias been done yet. I
do not, nor, as far as I know, does any one wish to, dethrone
from their supremacy the sister arts of poetry and music,
which now bear rule at the Eisteddfod meetings, but I think
in the future it may well be a niatter for consideration
whether one day of the four, or, possibly, two afternoon
sittings, might not be devoted to discussions proceeding on
the lines of the economical or social subjects for which
prizes are given. I hope no one will suspect me of not
lihing music. On the contrary, I think, and have often
said, that the musical taste, which is so characteristic of the
Welsh nation, should be cultivated to the fullest possible
extent. JMusic speaks with a common and universal lan-
guage, vague indeed, but infinitely tender and solemn,
miglity beyond the power of words, full of yearning, fuU of
the mystery of this wonderful life of ours, full of sublime
echoes, which are to many instead of a complete theology, of
the mighty voice without us, wliose souud is iu the sea, and

92 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES.

in the sky, and in the hiUs, and in the inmost recesses of the
human heart. As to poetry, no one, I am sure, considering
whose descendant I am, will suspect me of disloyalty to that
delightful art. There are some things of which it is impos-
siLle to speak satisfactorily, and of which it is best, therefore,
to be silent. I believe myself that to every one, in his or
her degree, glimpses of an ineffable and supreme beauty and
goodness are vouclisafed from time to time, to some very
rarely, to others more frequently, and that it is only the gift
of expression, granted or denied, which distinguishes the
poet from his fellow-men. But then it unfortunately hap-
pens that there are few who can speak this divine language
with eíîect, and even those wlio can are fiUed with a con-
sciousness that what they are privileged to say might well
have been said better and more fuUy.

The conclusion to which I would come is that, to some of
us, who would like to be frequent attendants at Eisteddfodic
meetings, it would be no diminution of the interest and
pleasure which they excite if we felt that we were not merely
amusing ourselves — undoubtedly, in a very creditable way,
but, still, amusing ourselves — but were doing something
which might leave our fellow-countrymen happier and better.
And this is the real meaning of the revival of our Social
Science Section under a new name — not a better name, by
any means, as it seems to me, but still, one which has not
to struggle against memories of former failure.

As to the good which has been done by the Social Science
Association of England during tlie twenty or more years of
its existence, I believe it would be very difficult to exagge-
rate it. Almost all the reforms in the law during that time
have taken their rise in, and are the direct or indirect result
of the deliberations of the Association. The great practical
difficulties of punishment and of prevention of crime, tlie
treatmcnt of the pitiful race of young criminals, the c[ues-

TIIE PRESENT AND FÜTÜRE OF WALES. 93

tion3 of prison discipline, the mechanics of legislation, the
rehations between laudlord and tenant, the cj[uestions as to
the employnient and social functions of women, the great
problems of education, the laws of health and sanitation;
all these, and niany others, are mattcrs which have heen
ventilated year after year at the annual meetings of the
Association, l)y men and women who, like the late Miss
Carpenter, have devoted their lives to the service of their
fellow creatures, and through them to the service of God.
Surely, we too in Wales, with our strange contrasts of busy
and crowded industries, and sparse agricultural populations ;
of dense and smoky manufacturing towns and lonely moun-
tain sides ; must have questions relating to the happiness of
the people, some common to all the dwellers in these islands,
otliers peculiar to ourselves as Welshmen, which it would
be well to discuss from time to time. Does anyone seriously
think that the question of Welsh Sunday closing, for in-
stance, on whicli such a striking unanimity of opinion has
been evinced, or the Burial Bill, or any other measure which
has come very near to the hearts of Welshmen, would not
have attracted attention long ago, if, year by year, as the
National Eisteddfod came round, they had been discussed and
debated on a common and unsectarian platform, by local men
acquainted with the special needs of their own particular
neighbourhoods. And no one who knows how peculiar, aud
I may add, how defective is the educational coudition of
Wales, how poor and how iU-distributed are her eudow-
ments, and liow noble have been the efforts of the people
to provide themselves with the means of obtaining, wholly
without the State assistance, which is freely bestowed upon
Scotlaud aud Ireland, the blessings of the higher educatiou,
can doubt that this matter of education alone would afford
good aud congenial work for good meu and women, Avho
could never; in our present dividcd religious couditioUj meet

94 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES.

together elsewhere. I say notliing of the pressing need for
sanitary discussions connected with the growth of our great
mannfacturing towns, and the many questions touched by
the Employers' Liability BiU, as suggested by the dreadful
calamities of the Ehondda Yalley, of Abercarne, and of
Eisca, though they are probably at once fuU of social in-
terest, and of features peculiar to our own couutry. I ani
afraid that a Eepression of Crime Section, or a Prisons' Sec-
tion, if one were started among us, would hardly be a
success, for the simple reason that Welsh criminals are
almost like the snahes in Iceland — there are noiie of them ;
and that we are busily engaged in disestablishiug and dis-
endowing our Welsh prisons. But I am sure that we
might deal with advantage with those faults of morals,
which are undoubtedly ours ; which all the zeal of all our
ministers has failed to touch in any appreciable degree ; and
whicli, among a people the most devout, and the most God-
fearing in these islands, confront us Mdth the spectacle,
not unhappily a paradox, of an aniount of illegitimacy
hardly exceeded in any part of Great Britain.

Nor, of course, would it be necessary, or in any way de-
sirable, that we should confine ourselves exclusively to
matters specially bearing upon the condition of Wales. I
certainly think that such questions have distinctly the first
claim upon our attention. But, after all, our country is a
small one ; we are not only Welshmen, but citizens, in-
terested in every great question which affects any part of, or
any class of people in, the great England, and tlie still
greater Empire, of wliich we form part. I do not, for my
own part, hnowing, as I do, how great are the differences
which separate us from our neighbours, think that the stream
of Welsh reforms is, after centuries of neglect and stag-
nation, likely to run dry very soon. But I am sure we
should welcome any distinguished stranger who would

TIIE TRESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES. 95

lionour us hy reading a paper on any matter of wliich he
niiglit have special lcnowleJge, \v*hether economical, social,
scientific, or I suppose I must add archaìological, as this is
the Cymmrodorion section.

I do trust, however, tliat in future years, we shall nf)t
devote an undue measure of our time to loolcing back
towards the irrevocable Past. With all, except the very
young, and ofteu with them, the temptation to look back-
wards, iustead of forwards, is overwhelming, and weinWales
are, as it seems to me, especially liable to it. Every year that
passes takes with it something of hope from oiir lives ; raises
a new tomb-stone over buried longings and aspirations that
breathe no longer the air of earth ; adds something to the
sum of losses which make the familiar streets, or the well-
remembered fields, show like a place of graves. I cannot
help admiring the tendency which makes Welshmen look
back with affectionate exaggeration to heroes and to bards
who have been dead for centuries. I myself owe too much
to the affection with which the name which I bear is stiU
regarded, not to feel it difficult to say what I believe I am
bound to say, in duty. But to me, no time is so full of
fascination as tlie present, unless it be indeed the hidden
future. But it is in the present, and with a view to prepare
the future, which we believe shall, in the good pleasure of
the Creator, be greater than the present, that we who are
here to-day must live and work, and we have not indeed a
moment to lose. " Time is short, and opportunity fleeting,"
as was said of old, and dreams of the past cercainly, and of
the future probably, are nothing else but a waste of in-
valuable time. I believe that the extraordinary and most
calamitous self-effacemeut, by which, up to a very recent
period, Welslnnen were content to stand aloof from practical
politics, sending to Parliament, íbr centuries, for reasons of
feudal attaclmieut, or through entire carelessuess, mcn

96 THE PRESENT AND FÜTÜRE OF "WALE3.

wliolly uufit for their duties, was largely due to this habit of
mind, which has long diverted the national energies into
channels in which they have practically run to waste. I
cheerfully recognise the great improvement which of late
has taken place in this respect, wholly irrespective of
political cousiderations. I have long ago expressed my
belief, that the first thing which Wales had to do was to
find her tongue, as she has since done, indeed, to some ex-
tent, aud might yet do more thoroughly with advantage.
The nation is evidently awaking to a sense of its
responsibilities, which gives promise of even better things
in future. Tor my own part, while the voice of Wales is
still insufficieutly heard, I resent, on behalf of my country,
the local intrigues by which it still too often happens tliat
an unfit Welshman, or an Englishman with no interest in us,
is allowed to supplant a Welshman who could speak for
Wales. And depend upon it, if good men of every reli-
gious deuomination would consent to meet upon the free
and uusectarian platform, which the Eisteddfod alone fur-
nishes, there wouhl be very little danger of its missing its
true end, or of its ever allowiug the people of Wales to
relapse iuto the stagnation and indiffereuce of old.

Aud I think, iudeed, that some such meeting-place, where
party politics might be laid aside, where those religious and
dogmatic differences which enter so largely (uot, as I thiuk,
without advantage) into our natioual life, might for a time be
left behind, if not forgotteu, would be in itself, quite aparfc
froui other good results, a distinct aud permanent gaiu.
Thiuk how seldom it can happen that patriotic Welshmen
belougiug to tlie Church of Eugiaud, or to the Methodist,
Baptist, or Congregational denominatious (and we should
not have far to go from this place to find such persous),
can meet together with a view to the advancement of the
good of their comnion country. Think how few are the

TIIl': PRESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES. \}7

opportunities whicli North Wclshineii aud South Wclslinien
híive of comparing notcs and experiences. They go into
England ])y diííerent routes, they gravitate towards diíîerent
provincial centres — the North to Liverpool, the South to
Bristol — and it takes about twice as long to go from the
good town of Carmartheu to the good town of Carnarvou
as it does to go from either to London. We want to ohli-
terate, as far as may be, all tliese purely local and mis-
chievous divisions, and it would be a very worthy office for
the Eisteddfod if it enabled those of us who are not musicians,
who are not bards, nay, wlio are hardly Welsh-speaking men,
but liave not the less Welsh hearts, to meet togetlier under
tlie shadow of so venerable and mysterious an institution,
and take counsel together for tlie good of Wales.

There are certain matters on which I could have wished
to say sometliing, especially those witli which I am most
conversant — c[uestions of law^ of politics, and of education.
But tliose questions of law, which are burning questions, run
insensibly into politics, and politics, so far as they are interest-
ing, are apt to assume a character of party wliich would be
quite foreign to the traditions of an institution whose motto
is " Peace". In politics there neither can nor should be
peace, but an earnest thougli a generous strife. On the
subject of education, I should have had a good deal to
say, and was prepared to say it, but for an honour whicli
has come to me within the last few days — that of being
nominated to serve on the Commission which will iai-
mediately be issued to inquire into the condition of Higher
and Intermediate Education in Wales. I anticipate the
greatest good results from that Commission, and f ani very
proud to belong to it ; but I tliink it clear tliat for the
present my mouth must be closed on all Welsh educational
questions, because it would be improper to express opinions
on view\s wliich the evidence which will come before the

VOL. IV. II

98 THE PEESENT AND FÜTURE OF WALES.

Commission may teiid to modify or reverse. Otlierwise, I
sliould have liked to say sometliing of tlie University Col-
lege of Wales at Aberystwyth, of which 1 believethe country
is justly proud, and of its future development. I should
have liked to say something of the scheme of your excellent
townsman and my revered friend, Mr. Hugh Owen, who lias
for nearly forty years been connected with Welsh education,
for the establishment of County Scholarships, whicli shall so
unite the primary with the higher grade schools as to pro-
vide for the support of deserving boys and girls, and elicit,
by judicious aid, the immense supply of talent which in
Wales, as I fìrmly believe, more than elsewhere, has some-
how been repressed and lost through poverty and unfa-
vourable surroundings. But the suliject wiU not remain
without discussion, and papers on various aspects of tlie
educational question among us wiU be read dnring our
sittings. And I believe we have the promise of an able
paper on the important question of Eisteddfod reform. I
trust that the Cymmrodorion Council wiU be able iu future
to exercise a supervision over as well the subjects of the
papers as their treatment, and that the length of all contri-
butions may be limited to a reasonable time — a good deal
shorter, for instance, than the present address — and tliat due
provision may be made for those who prefer to express them-
selves in English or Welsh, as the case may be. And when
I have said this, I have said almost all.

But before I conclude, I will ask you to think for a
moment on the lot of the great majority of our countrymen,
whose fate it is to eat the bread of carefulness through the
wliole of their laborious lives. Think of them on a hundred
hiU-sidcs, where the mountain sheep, straying among the
heather, are the only living things visible : or in close and
sunless valleys, under the brooding shadow of great moun-
tains ; or on wind-swept farms, where nothing but sea-bitten

TIIF, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES. ítO

grass will grow, ou tlic coasts oí' Anglesey or of Peml)rokc ;
lÌYÌng from tlie cradle to the grave lonely lives of liealtliy
but wearing toil, with no opportunity of meeting with their
fellows except occasionally at the little market-town or vil-
lage, or at the little chapel, which is set often enough far away
from town or village, in the recesses of the untroddcu hiUs.
Tliink of them iu the dense atmosphere of the great indus-
trial centres, at ]\Ierthyr Tydfìl or at Aberdare, at Ruabon or
Landore; brcathing coal dust, or iron dust^ or copper smoke,
day aud night, in cottages reared upon the cinder-tips or
slag-heaps, of which they seem an excrescence; speudiug the
long days or niglits in the airless depths of the coal mine,
with iuevitable death within a stroke of the pickaxe; or
perched higli up on the perpendicular face of the quarry,
with enormous masses of slate impendiug, and the thuuder
of the blasting-charge resounding and reverberating around.
I know of uothing iu all the world around us so pathetic
as the lives of the poor. From much that makes life
seem precious to us tliey are cut off altogether. All the
pleasures of travel and change of scene, the delight of foreign
manners, the wonder of strauge islands, or capes, risiug vine-
clad out of the azure sea, the marvel of old minsters filled
with the devout thoughts of painters or sculptors who have
been dead for centuries — thoughts which, we may hope,
have aided many a heavy-laden soul on the road to heaven —
the wouder of great Alps, rnany times higher than our own
Eryri, rising clothed iu their everlasting mantles of suow ;
the quickening of the moral aud intellectual powers, which
comes almost in spite of themselves to the cultivated dwellers
in a great metropolis, in which the business of an illimitable
Empire is transacted, and is matter of common talk — from
all these sources of interest and pleasure our poorer country-
men and countrywomen are debarred. Let us be thaul-cfnl
that they havc iu tlicir own tongue the blessing of a pure

H 2

100 THE TRESENT AND FUTURE OF WALES.

and healthy periodical literature, aud tliat they haye the
taste, which is deuied to the strouger Saxon, to appreciate
the highest achievements of music aud of poetry. While
Haudel aud Mozart are sung by them habitually, while
Milton and Goronwy are read, there cau be little fear for
the intellectual future of Wales. The more reason, as it
seems to me, tliat those of us who cau do so, iu however
small a degree, should contribute their share to hasteu the
good time comiug; and by making the Eisteddfod a really
educatioual and social iníiuence, try to lighteu somewhat of
the burden of those lowly and over-laden lives.

101

MERCHED Y TY TALWYN.

The following curious and interesting account is taken froni

one of the unpublislied lolo 3Iorganvjg ÄISS., now in tlie

possession of the Riglìt Hon. Lady Llanover, by whose kind

permission it is copied. It is written in the spoken dialect

of Glamorgan, which was often used by lolo, and no

attempt has been made to alter it. Perhaps some of the

readers of the Cyìnmrodor may be able to add to the informa-

tion here given about these poetesses, and to supply other

verses ascribed to them.

W. Watkixs.
Octoher 1880.

" I heard an old man at Langynwyd sing a curious kind of

song. It consisted of the names of aU the rivers iu Glamor-

gan and their fountain-heads, said to have been written by

one of the Ty Talwyn poetesses, one stanza of which is as

follows :

" Blaen Gwrych, Blaen Gwrach, Blaen Gwrangou,
Blacn Ffrydwyllt, Blaen Cynharyon,

Blaen Afan sy, Blaen Llyíni syw,
Blaen Garw ywT Blaen creulon."

Dywedir am y Brydyddes iddeu Chariad wneuthur rhyw-
beth ausyber yn ei herbyn a'i digio, ac nis ymgymmodai ag
ef er uu cyflwr eithr hynn, sef iddo ymweled a holl afonydd
Morganwg a'u Blaenau a'u dodi ar gân a'i dangos iddi o'i
waith ei hunan. Fe gymmerth hyun arno, ag a dreulwys
lawer mis yn yradeithio ar hyd yr afonydd hyd eu Blaeuau,
onid oedd wedi myned mor wasgedig yn ei gnawd fel uad
oedd braidd dim o houo oud y croen a'r esgyrn. 'Dd oedd

102 MERCHED Y TY TALWYN.

rhywfaint, bydded a fynno, o dynerwcli ynglialon y Gan-
tores, a lii a dosturiwys wrth ei chariad ; a pheth a wnaeth
hi ond ymweled a'r hoU afonydd yn ddiarwybod iddei
Chariad, a'ii dodi ar gan ym mesur Triban ]\Iorganwg. Yr
oedd hi yr hoU amser hynn mewn gwisg Bachgen. Hi a
wyddai yn ddigon da am dŷ Car iddo, Ue 'dd oedd ar droion
arnl yn Uettya. Myned yno a gofyn am letty noswaith,
" Chwi a gewch hanner gwely, os gwna hynny'r tro", ebe
gwraig y tŷ; "nid oes genn;yf ond hynny, am fod gwr ifauc
o ddyn glan i fod yma heno 'n cysgu yn yr hanner araU".

" Fe wna hynny o'r goreu", ebe 'r Bachgen ifanc dierth, a
myned i mewn.

Ymhen ycliydig fe ofynodd ai celai ef fyned i'r gwely, am
ei fod yn flinderus iawn, wedi cerdded ymheU y diwarnod
hynny. " Cewcli," ebe gwraig y tŷ ; a hynny a fu. Ymhen
tro dyna'r Carwr truan yn dyfod iddei letty ; goleuwyd ef i'r
gwely gan wedyd wrtho fod yno lencyn glan iawn i gysgu
gydag ef, ag iddo fyned i'r gwely yn ebrwydd, achos ei fod
wedi bUno 'n fawr, wedi cerdded o beU hyd yno.

" Duw a'i bendithio", ebe'r Carwr, " a gorphwys da iddo.
Gwyn fyd na ddelai awr gorphwys i minnau."

Myned i'r gwely heb gael nemmor iawn o gysgu. Gyda'r
goleu dyma'r Bachgen ifanc dierth yn cwnnu, yn dodi
bendith Duw ar y tŷ a'r tylwyth a'i Uettywys, ac yn myued
i bant. Ond fe adawys bapur ar y gobennydd a'r gân yn
ysgrifenedic arno yn cynnwys enwau hoU afonydd Mor- ,
ganwg a'u Blaenau, ag uwch ben y gân y geirau hynn, y
cyfan mewn Uaw dierth iddo : Cymmer rjynhortìmy gan ath
gâr.

Cymmeryd y papur a'i ddarUain, a'i ddarUain, a'i ddarUain
a wna'r Carwr. Un ennyd yn neidio yn wyUt gan lawenydd,
ennyd araU yn tawhi ei hunan ar y gwely dan lefain ag
wylo; ond o'r diwedd ymdaweUi a myned blaid y traed
gwyUt at dŷ'r fercli y dioddefasai gymmaint er ei henniU.

MElifllED V TV TALWYN. l(Jo

Cael myued atti ; ond nis cai gusau cyuimod ues daugos y
gân. "W'rtli glywed liyuuy tyuuu 'r gâu o'i fyuwes a'i gosod
o'i blaeu.

" Yn awr, ar dy wir", ebe hi, " gwed wrtbof ai ti a wuaeth
y gan hou ?"

Ebe fe 'u atteb, "Mi dreiglais hyd bob afou ymMorganwg
o'r peu isaf iddei blaen, ond afiechyd a ddaeth arnaf o fod
gymmaiut ag y buof i maes yn y tywydd, gwlyb a sych,
rhew ag eira, gwres ag oerfel. Ond er gwneuthur hyd eitha 'n
gallu corph ag enaid i ddodi enwau'r cyfan ar gâu, ui ellais
etto foddloni 'ni hunan mewn un gair bychau. A thyua
itti 'r gwir fal yth attebwyf o flaen Duw. Edrych ar fy
ngwedd a'm lliw lhvyd. Wedi rhoi 'r cyfan i fyuydd o'm
gobaith dau dorr calou, fawr lai na gwallgof, daeth Bachgeu
ifanc glau ar dro i'r ty lle 'dd oeddwu yn llettŷa, ac a edewis
ar y gobenuydd lle (bu) ef yn gorwedd noswaith yn yr uu
gwely a mi y papur a ddodes o'th flaen. Ni chredaf lai nad
angel o'r nef oedd hwnuw. Gwna er ei fwyn ef y peth nis
gwnai er fy mwyn i. Tosturia bellach wrthof. Gwna hynn er
uiwyn yr angel ag er mwyu y Duw a'i danfouwys."

"Gan itti erchi er mwyn Dnw a'i angel", ebe hi, "mi
ymgymmodaf a thi."

Ag felly y bu, a phriodi a wuaethant maes o law wedyu,
ac a fuont fyw yu hir mewn cariad ac happusrwydd, yn dad
a mam Uawer o blaut, ac yn Adda ag yn Efa i holl Bryd-
yddion y wlad, ond y rhai sy'n dywad o'r chwiorydd ereill,
canys uid oes Brydydd yn y sir nad yw 'n dyfod o uu o
ferched y Ty Talwyn (meddir) ; ag o hyun y daeth y ddiareb
gyfli"ediu ym Morganwg hyd heddy.

Beth na wua merch er mwyn ei chariad ? Ni ellais hyd
yn hyn gael un clyw na gwybod.

Digou {sic) amlwg pa bryd neu amser o'r byd ydd oedd
Merched y Ty Talwyu yn byw ; ond y mae rhywfaint o le i
gredu taw yughylch deucaut o tìyuyddau 'n ychydig fwy neu

104 MEECHED Y TY TALWYN.

lai ycld oedden nliw 'n by\v. Wrtli Bennillion y Lhoijn
Uodeuawg, a wedir taw gwaith y merched hynny ydyn nhw,
gallai rhai feddwl taw ynghylch pnmp nen chwechant o flyn-
yddau 'n ol ydd oedden nhw 'n byw. Ond gwyddys o'r
goreu i'r ífordd hynny o ganu, sef ar gynlianedd unodl heb
gynghanedd o gytsain, barhau ym Morganwg hyd yn ddi-

weddar iawn :

y Ferch gyutaf.
Docco Iwyn yn fwyn ei drwsiad
Glasliw glwyslou dirion dyfiad
Yn ochr y maes ai laes gyngheuau
Tew gofleidiog teg ei flodau.

Yr ail Ferch
Docco Iwyn yn fwyn wedi'i drwsio
Gwyu ei fyd a gai fyned dano
Dail mor loyw llwyn hoyw a hyfryil
Gwn fod wrthaw llaw f' auwylyd.

Y drydedd Ferch
Llwyn myllyuog deiliog dulas
Hardd 'i gampau gwyrdd oi gwmpas
Plethiad gwead gwiail irion
Tew gwyn gliad torriad tirion.

Dymma sydd genni o'r saith gair canu a fu ryng y chwech
hwaer a'u brawd i'r llwyn 'spyddaden. G\vyddwn un arall
lawer blwyddyn yn ol, ond y mae wedi myned yn angof. Ydd
wyf yn meddwl ei bod ar gof traddodiad y wlad idd eu cael
etto, a bod dyn ymagocco yn eu gwybod. Ond lled ryfedd
yw un peth genni, hyuny yw, er cymmaint o sou tradd-
odiadol y sydd ym Morganwg am Ferched y Ty Talwyn ni
wehiis i air hyd yn hynu ani danyn nhwy mewn ysgrifeu
erioed. A pheth iawn dda hynod yw hynn, a chymmaint
o ysgrifenadau Prydyddion ag Areithwyr o bob rhyw y sy
gan y ni ym Morganwg yn anad un sir yn neheubarth
Cymru, ag ni wn ni lai n'allwn i wedyd yn anad un sir yn
hoU Gymru, Gwynedd a Delieubarth, ag er amled y pethau
hynn, ni clnrddais erioed a ga r bach yn ysgrifenedig am
Ferched y Ty Talwyn, oddi wrth rhyw beth bach gan Sion

MF.IU'llEI) Y TY TALWYN. 1U5

Bradtbrd o'i gofíliad ei liuuan. Bu'r brawd farw yn wr iefanc
licb fod erioed yn briod. Priodwys bob un o'r raerched, ag,
medd y wlatl, y mae mwy neu lai o awen Prydydduidd
ymliob un o'u lieppil yn parhau hyd heddyw. Mynych y
cly wais wedyd yn ddiarheb fal hyn, " Nid rhyfedd ei fod e'ii
brydydd ; y mae'n dyfod o Ferched y Ty Talwyn". Y mae'r
Ty Talwyn yn Nhu deau Plwyf Llangynwyd yng nghwmwd
Tir larll ag am y fíin a Pldwyf Margam, yn dŷ Ffermwr lled
dda, sef da ymhlith tai Morganwg, y tai goreu yng Nghymru
tu hwnt i bob cymmhariaeth."

lOG

A DESCEIPTION OF THE DAY OF
JUDGMENT.

The following article is taken from tlie Cotton MS. Titus
D. xxii, in the British Museum, whicli contains eight other
articles in Welsh and Latin, and among them the Welsh
Iives of Saints David, Catharine, and Margaret, published
in Eees' Cam'bro-Britisli Saints, pp. 102-116, and 211-231.
In the Catalogue of Cotton MSS., p. 566, the volume is
incorrectly represented to include a chronicle of the Clmrch
of Llandaff, which, however, it does not contain. A cor-
rected table of contents is now prefìxed to the volume from
the pen, and bearing tlie signature, of " T. Price, Carnhua-
nawc, November 4, 1839."

The extract here printed is the first article in the MS.,
extending from folio 1 to folio 19, and containing thirty-six
pages and seven lines. Each page contains fifteen lines.
It is very well written, but the writing has become iUegible
in one or two places.

The MS. dates from the early part of the fifteenth century.

[1] LLynma gyfróythyt achouyon a geir nyr yscriptur
lan 0 iôrtli y trabluthe gouudyon a dolureu adiskynnant
kynn611 kyn teruin byd achos anwir ac angret yrei aossodes
yr vchelargl6yd o neef kyn kymryt kana6d or blayn hyt
ytraythir herwyth dysk y yspryd ef o giudode y profóydi a
gwedy kymryd kna6d y dangosses crist argl6yth yr eilweith
yr vnri6 pynkeu ny gyfreitheu ef yrei aydys yn vynych ny
tray thu my6n gwasnaythe yr egl6ys.^ T[ y trabluthe hyn adoant

1 In tbe MS. these paragraph marks are ia red ink.

A DESClîIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDÜMENT. 107

but tlwì article itself is probably older. Its style is not very
attractive, being marked by some awkward sentences and
iincouth forms. The constant use of adjectives in the phiral,
such as " aruthredigyon", " llithredigyon", etc, is cpiite a
raarked feature in the composition. The writer was a South-
Walian, and apparently a native of the southern part of
Cardif'-anshire, or North Pembrokeshire. Such forms as the
füllowing may be observed, among many others, as charac-
teristic of the dialect of this district : lleisse : gnutliyr (3^)
coi'anu (ib), agilant (ib), lieóhjth (ib), geire (6), neueilieid
gwyllton (6^), wetliel (7), U'ecìied (9), and wimnnuth (15),
which are stiU ujheddel, wheehed, and lühininiiüth : ymhoylant
(8), and ymhoylyd (15), llysewyn, eisîoys (10), dehiiach (11),
ouctn (ll^), iste (ib), cluste (ib), milioyth (12), tayred vo yr
heul (ib), drein (13), gwaòrc, etc The dropping of the final
dental in trws (6) " trwst", trydy and pechcery, point in the
same direction. It is possible that the writer may have
been one of the patriotic monks of the great Abbey of Ystrad
Fflur.

The orthography of the MS. has been scrupulously fol-
lowed, even in its blunders. It wiU be observed that the
scribe occasionally uses the peculiar " 6" for " u", as, for ex-
ample, in gcdló, hcól, Ueóat, i.c, " gallu", " heul'^ " lleuat".

Heee follow the instruction and records which are found in
the Holy Scripture concerning the tronbles, afflictions, and
suíîerings which wìW happen for a season before the end of
the world on account of iniquity and unbelief, and which the
hio'h Lord of Heaven set forth in times past before He took
flesh, as far as they are related through the teaching of His
spirit by the bands of the prophets ; and, after He took flesh,
Christ, thc Lord, revealed the same things a second time in
His Laws, which are frequently rehearsed in tlie serviccs of the

108 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JÜDGMENT.

gyntaf o angiieredigyróyth kynvigen athra tröy geissaö pob
vn [P] ragori ar yllall myón tragrymder galló bydaól. medeant
a maóreth. pandiskynnant o achos sythter kalonneu a aghy-
tundeb y trablutheu maór yrei aedewis crist arglóyth genyni
ynyscriuenedic dan y henwi ny gyssegredic euegil ef. nyd
amgen trabluthe nog y pleid kyuod ynerbyn pleid. tarnas yn
erbyn tarnas. braód yn erbyn braód. taad yn erbyn ymab.
ymab yn erbyn ytaad ac aruthredigyon aróython adiskynnant
0 neef. ac ereill aymdangossant nyr heól. ny syyr. ny lleóat.
tróy gymmysc marówalaytheu. crynnant dayar. anewy-[2]
neu. ac aruthredigyon aróython myón tonneu a lleisseu ymo-
royth. ar llifdyuyreth. agóybythed paóbmedcrist pan diskyn-
nant bod tarnas nef ynagos nyd amgen no dyd braö a teruyn
byd. *a Bellachgwedypandaruythantyraróython hyn hóyhió
ny teruyneu y ymdagossant ereill o newyth. yrei auythant
ynv6y o dolureu a galareu. hyd na bo haód ydyn yn yyó
ydóyn nay diothef. IT y gouudyon hyn herwyth daroganneu a
diskynnant nyr amser ydel melltigedic angcrist yr h6n y syd
reid agotheuus gan dew y dyuod [2"'] y 6ybod gwastad-
r6yth a fyrfder a gaffer my6n dyn ny fyth 6rth y broui.
ir Angcrist beilach herwyd deall rei or doython ac athra6on
yhyluethdodeu aymdegis nyr amser y bo crist yn vyl ped-
warcant atheir blyneth o oydran. ar h6n awetfco geni agcrist
o gyd annyan g6r ag6reic n}Td6yll6yd. acho3 herwyth yr
yscriptur lan ac ymmadra6d leuan abostol ny lyuir a elwyr
apocalipsis nyr amser hynny y datr6ymir y lcuthreul penaf
yny messur ybu datr6ymedic yn amser yr ymmera6dyr
ffrederic pan wnayth llaóer o ouudyon ar yr [3] escob

A DESCRIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 109

Church. These troubles will first come from uncharitable-
uess, envy, and presumption, through each one seeking to
surpass the other in excellence of worldly power, possession,
and greatness, wlien, through hardness of heart and disagree-
ment, there will happen the great troubles which Christ the
Lord has left to us written, mentioning them by name, in
His sacred gospel : such troubles, to wit, as the rising of fac-
tion against faction, kingdom against kingdom, brother
against brother, father against the son, the son against the
father; and amazing signs will appear from heaven, and
others will appear in the sun, in the stars, and iu the moon,
accompanied with deaths, earthquakes, and famines, and
amazing signs in waves and voices of the seas and the íloods.
And let all know, says Christ, when these happen, that the
kingdom of heaven is at hand, that is, the day of judgment
and the end of the world. Now, when these signs have pro-
ceeded in their course to an end, others again wiU appear,
which M'iU be (the cause of) greater sufferings and sorrows,
so that it shall not be easy for living man to bear or endure
them. These afílictions, according to predictions, will happen
at the timewhen the accursed Antichrist shall come,who must,
and is permitted by God to, conie in order to know the con-
stancy and firmness that may be found iu man's faith when
lie is tried.^ Now Antichrist, according to the understand-
ing of some of the wise men and masters of the arts, will
appear at the time when Clnist shall be 1403 years old. And
whoever says that Antichrist is born of the natural union of
man and woman is deceived. For, according to the Holy
Scripture and the statement of John the Apostle in his book,
which is entitled Aiwcalipsis, at that time Satan- will be
unbound in the manner he was unbound in the time of the
Emperor Frederic, when he caused many afflictions to the

1 Lit.^ in man in his faith at his testing.

2 Zi7., the chief devil.

110 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

maór ay dyóolyou bobloytli ac ymdegys ef yg carusalera ac
uyi' ardaloyth y tramóyaótli crist dan pregethu yuaór enó ef.
ac yn tystolauthu may ef y6 gwir crist. ac ef uyd ac auu ac
asyth.

ir Nyr amser hynny y datcloant d6y anfythedolyon geneth-
laeid nyd amgen no Gog a magog yrrei a ydewis yr ymmer-
a6dyr Elisaunder yn gloedigyon my6n ynyssoyth ar ystlysseu
y moroyth hyd ar yramser ydoe Angcrist. yrei liyn adoant
ac aymdangossant yr g6rhau ythau credu a gwethu ythau. ac
yr hydarnhau. kyn6rthau a ma6rhau yuchel[3^]en6 ef
my6n dy6olyayth. 1í yr agcrist li6n tr6y vod dy6 yngothef
aymdëgys yngybelled my6n ma6reth a methyant. aruthter
a creulonder hyd pan varno ef na bo dyn ynvy6 a allo rodi
kyuerbyn y tha6. 11 Ef bellach tr6y vot dy6 yngothef awna ac
adengys yn rith gwyrtheu llawer o anreuethodeu ma6r tr6y
d6yll hudolyayth yrei ni welsit gynt arei herwyth tyb dyn
my6n gwangred na allei neb ygnuthyr onyd gwir dy6 ehun.
1Í Bellachyrynreuethodeu hynachymmysc gwangred adall-[4]
ant synh6yreu ydynnyon hyd pan diskynnant anirif o bobyl
ydayar yr credu a gwethu ytha6. 1í Ar sa61 adrigant my6n
fyrfder ycred tr6y rothi hyuerbyn ytha6 herwyth ygallu
adrewenir ochlethyfeu aedewir my6n ammarch ma6r liyd
he61yth a messyth. at yrrei yhenuyn y gwir dy6 yr ymbarch
ac vynt angylyon yth yhyrchu ay coranu yn verthyryün
kyssegredigyon ny neef kyn ori ygwayd. ^ Ac ereiU a ouyn-
nohahant y greulonder ef agilant yogoueu ycrei[4^]gyth ar
tarrenni ac yna yochuahant ygeni dan dywedud y geireu
hyn ycliwi greigyth ar tarrenni k6yth6ch arnym yr yndi-
uyrru. IT y gouudyon hyn agerthant ac aymdangossant yn
dolurns di'os 6yneb ydayar dan gynnythu apharau hyd teir

A DESCHIPTION <>F TIH-: DAY Ul' JUDOMENT. 111

great bishop^ aiid his godly people, and he \vill nppear in
Jerusalem, and in the districts which Christ traversed,
preaching liis great nanie nnd testifying that lie is very
Christ, and that he wiU be, and was, and is.

At that time wiU be unbound two unbelievin<í nations,
namely Gog and Magog, whom the Emperor Alexander left
locked up in (certain) islands, on the confines of the seas,
until the time wheu Antichrist should come : these wiU come
and will appear in order to do homage to him, to believe in
and submit to him, and in order to strengthen, support, and
magnifyhis high name by deification. This Antichrist, through
the permission of God, wiU appear in greatness, autliority,
awfulness, and cruelty, to such a degree that he will think that
there willbe no man living who shall be able to m.ake opposi-
tion to him. He, moreover, by permission of God, will^ through
the deception of illusion, perform and show forth, in the
guise of miracles, many great wonders which had not been
seen before, and which man, in his feeble faith, m'ÌU tliink
no one could do but tlie true God himself. And now these
wonders, combined with weak faith, will blind the senses of
men, so that numberless hosts of the people of the earth shall
fall down to acknowledge and submit to him.

And those who shall continue in tlie firmness of tlieir faith,
opposing him according to their power, wiU be pierced with
swords, and will Ije left in great di.shonour in the streets and
the fields ; to whom the true God, in order to do honour to
them, will send angels to take them and crowu them as holy
mart}TS in heaven before their blood is cold. And otliers,
who shall fear his cruelty, wiU retire into the caves of the
rocks and tlie cliffs ; and there they Mill lament that they
have been born, saying these words : Ye rocks and cliffs, fall
upon us to destroy us. These afíiictions wiU go on and make
themselves grievously felt over tlie face of the earth, increas-

' /.''., the Pope.

112 A DESCRIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDCtMENT.

blynetli a lianner yrei nyd liaótli ygotlief. gan auethant o
trablutheu. ryueleu. newóneu, a Uathuaeu. nyr araser hynny
haóth vyd gwelet dagreu Uithredigyon hyd gruthyeu y gwyr
ar górageth ar meiboneu disynóyryon. haóth vyd gwelet dyn
yngarthu dóylaó a Ueis tuchan gantaó. ha6thvyd [5] clybod
dyn ynwynnychu y ageu heb ydyuod y thaó. IT Bellach ar
diweth yteir blyned a hanner y hyfFroant deu or profóydi
gynt megys Enoc ac heli yrei yr pan anet ysynt vy6edigyon
arei agyuodassant yr angylyon tr6y w6rtheu dy6 nyr hen
oyssoyth ac aydugassant yparad6ys dayraöl ny lle jnnaynt
yngyrf ac yn eneideu ynymaros ar amser ydel ygelyn agcrist.
acyna ydoant ac y ymdangossant ytha6 ef ar heólyth kay-
russalem dan ymlid ac ymgyuethli6 ac ef ygreulonder yan
[5^] gred ayd6yll hudolyayth tr6y yrei yt6yllassei ef pridwerth
ygwir dy6 yr ycoUi. % ynteu tr6y gymryd ynsor arabu arna6
ef d6yn ruthur ythunt awna my6n ynuydr6yth ygythreulayth
ay Uath dan ado ykyrf yn ammarchus hyd }T.'he61yth tri
dieu atheirnos dan drayd ygelynyon. ac ar diweth ytridiwarnot
tr6y w6rtheu ygwir dy6 ykyuodant o vyir6 yvy6 yg6r nyt
ymedy ay wasnaythgar kywir ar ynerthu my6n gouudyon.
lí Agwedy pan darfo yr angcrist h6n tr6y dy6 yngothef yn hyd
y teir blyneth [6] a hanner tr6y y arsageu ef achreulonder
yglethyf caffel y hynt ar d6ylla6 prydwerth dy6 tr6y

A DESCRIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JLDGMENT. 113

ing and continuing during three years and a half, which it
will not he easy to endure, for the trouhles, wars, famines,
and slaughters they will hring. During that time it will be
easy to see streaming tears on the chceks of men and women
and the unconscious infants : it will he easy to see a raan
wringing his hands witli the voice of lamentation ; it will he
easy to hear a man wishing for death, while it shall not come
to him.

Now, at the end of the three years and a half, two of the
prophets of old will be aroused, namely, Enoch and Elijah,
wlio, ever since they were born, are still living, and whom
the angels took up through the miraculous power of God in
the okl ages, and bore to an earthly paradise, where they are,
body and soul, awaiting the time when the enemy Anti-
christ shall come. And then they shall come and appear to
him in the streets of Jerusalem, expostulating with him and
reproaching him for his cruelty, his unbelief, and false en-
chantment, whereby he had deceived the ransomed people of
the true God to their destructiou. But he, indignant at being
rebuted, will make an assault upon them in the frenzy of
his devilish nature, and will kill them, leaving their bodies
in dishonour in the streets for three days and three nights,
under the feet of the enemy. And at the end of the three
days they will rise from death to life, through the miraculous
working of the true God, who will not fûrsake his faithful
servants so as not to support^ them in aíìflictions. Now, when
this Antichrist, by the permission of God during the tliree-
and-a-half years, shall have, by his spells^ and the cruelty of
his sword, liad free^ course in deceiving the redeemed of God

1 Lit., upon supporting thcm ; wiU not forsake tbem ujion the point
of, in the niatter of, supporting them,

2 Arsaf/eu, i.e.., arsanfjau, fr. ar and sanrj, rt. of sanyn, to troad,
traraple. Perhaps it means here " opprcssion". Davies has " Arsang,
opfì-es.no. Alìjs idem (juod Swyn".

^ Lit., had his course.
VOL. IV. I

114 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

yharwein y agred. 11 yna ardiwed yteruin kyfFroi awna yr
arglöyd oneef dan dangos y va6r allii athan trugarau ny
dyóolyayth 6rth ygwau sucledic annyan my6n dyn 6rth
ybroui diskyn awna oy eistethua ef ny neef dan rodi kyuerbyn
yr gelyn ar doy velltigedic genethlaet megys gog a magog ar
yynyth oliffer. ne lle yd6g yr argl6yd rurthur yr pryf gormyn
my6n kydernid ylit dan ydara6 dyrna6d aruthur o yspryd
[6^] y ene liyd pan syrtho yt6ylla6dyr yn drylle hyd y llaör
megys tr6s pren ma6r yn garthu órth yg6ympo ar eil dyrna6d
ary yr d6y genethlaed hyd pan syrthant 6nteu yngadeu
meir6 liyd ymynyth dan yhada6 yno yn ammarchus ynu6deu
y g6n ac y neueilieid gwyllton. ^ A göybythent pob rei
narannöyd bod gwastad hethôch ny thayar herwyth y daro-
ganneu na gwastad kyredigr6yd na chyd6ybod glan my6n
calonneu ydynnyon ynhyd yr amser y bo yr angcrist heb
dyuod. ac ambellach vyd nyr amser y bo ef ynma[7]ystroli
hyd pan gwedy yteruynner ef y ageu. 11 A gwedy y coj)leir
ydiuyrru ef ny messur ydywespóyd vchod a mynet y geir a
messur ywethel dros óynebeu ynissoyth ybyd. yna yhana-
bythant hoU cryaduryeid ydayar daruod myón hir amser o
oysseu yt6ylla6 ay trossi o iar forth y ia6n gred dan ymmadaó
ay geudyóeu tróy yrei y buasseint la6er o amseroyd my6n
kethiweth kythreuleid. ^ yna y ymhoylant holl bobloyth y byd
at vndy6 ac y vngred nyd amgen noc y gred ycristynogyon
dan reol y gwir dy6 yr h6n ysyth [7-] dechre a gorfen crea6
dyr ycreadurieid taad maab ac yspryd glan. yn vn ri6 dy6
daad yn ri6 dy6 vaab yn ri6 dy6 yspryd glan. teir personyeid
ny drindaód. 1í Ac gwedy pan darfo yr holl vyd athnabod y

A DKSCI{11'TI0X OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, 115

by leading theni to imbelief; then, at the end of the period,
the Lord of Heaven wiU rouse Himself, showing forth His
great might and taking pity iu His divine nature upon the
weak, shaken nature in man when tried. He will come down
from His throne in Heaven, setting an array against the enemy
and the two accnrsed nations, namely, Gog and ]\Iagog, on
the mount of 01ives, where the Lord will attack the chief
oppressor in the might of His wrath, smiting him a great
stroke with the breath of His mouth, so that the deceiver
shall fall broken to the ground, like the sound of a great tree
crashing in its fall. And the second stroke He wiU give to
the two nations, so that they, too, shall fall dead in liosts
npon the hill, leaving tliem thern in dishonour, food for
dogs and wild animals. And let all men know that it
was not decreed, accordiug to the predictions, that there
should be constant peace on the earth, or constant bene-
volence, charity, or clear conscience in men's hearts
duriug the time' preceding the coming of Autichrist ; and
it wiU be rarer during the time when he shall be here
exercising mastery, until he has been appointed to death.
And when his destruction has been completed in the manner
described above, and the word and the whole- tale has passed
over tlie isles of the world, then will all the creatures of the
earth know that through a long period of ages they had been
deceived and turned from the way of the true faith, and
they will forsake their false gods, through which they had
been for many ages in the bondage of devils. Then all the
peoples of the world will turn to one god and one faith,
namely, to the faith of the Christians, under the rule of the
true God, who is the beginning and the end, Creator of the
creatures, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God the Father,
one God the Son, one God the Holy Ghost, three persons in
the Trinity. And when the whole world has known its

1 Lit., in thc timc when Antichrist shall not have come.

- Lit., the measure of thc tale.

I 2

IIG A DESCRIPTIÛN OF THE DAY OF JUDGMEXT.

arglóyd atliroi gwetliu a górliau ythaó or amser hynny y
parahant myón diwadalróyd dan reol ygwir dyó myön
fyrfder y ia6n fyth hyd diwed byd ac hyd na bo racllaó
dros óynebeu ynessoyd y dayar onyd vn bugeil ac vn
buarth. 1í iSryr amser y byth hir hethóch a llonythóch
tyredigróyd achytundeb gwirioned [8] a chydóybod glan
myón calonneu y dynnyon ar bob gweitlired. Ar pynkeu
hyn abarhaant hyd ar pymthec diwarnodeu kyn dyd braó
ny rei herwyth deall agauas sant Jerom myón llyfer
ieith ebreó y dengis ybraódór aruthredigyon aróythou kyn
diskynno y varnu. 1í Nydamgen noc yn ydyd kyutaf y
kyffroant ymoroyth ar llifdyuyreth ac ykyuodant deugeint
cupit 0 vchter o iar óyuebeu yr holl creigyth. ^ yr eil dyd
ygostygant oy huchter dan drio agostóng ved ar dyuynder
hyd pan allo orbreith drem y lly[8-]gad yharganuod. 1í y trydy
dyyd y ymdangossant yr holl dyuyreth ar ymessur ybua-
sseint yr pan furuóyd gyntaf 1í y pedwyry dyd y ymdan-
gossant y pyscaód ac holl cryaduryeid o naturyayth ymoroyth
ar hyd a lled óynebeu y dyuyreth dan dodi garmeu ac aruth-
redigyon wichleisseu hyd pan ouynocahant ynuaór ysaól
auythant ynrodi gostek vthunt ac ystyr ylleiseu hynny nyd
athnabythir o neb onyd orgwir dyó. 1í y pymmed dyyd
dyuereth yrlioU vyd yrei ysynt dan rygedua yrheul yndig-
ylchwynnu y dayar adiflan[9]nant ac aymdoant yndir sych
heb ygweled m6y. % y weched dyd nybyd pren coyd na
Hyssewyn adyffo o annyan ydayar nyd ymrotho ohana6
gl6b6r megys gwlith alli6 gwayd arna6. ^ y seithued dyd
ydinustrir seil yr holl vyd megys kestyll. tei. athreui dan
yhada6 yndrylledigyon hyd ymessyth.

^ yr 6ythued dyyd ykyffroant y kerric o bob ardal yr byd
ac y ymlathant tr6y rodi dyrnodeu yssic pobun yth ygilyth
ynerbyn annyan. ^ y na6ued dyyd ybyd crynuau dayar yn

A DESCRIPTION OF T1IK DAY OF JUDGMENT. 117

Lord, aiid lias turned, subiuitted, and done honiage to Hini,
froni tluit time they will continue in steadfastness under the
rule of the true God in the strength of the true faith unto
the end of the -world, and so that there shall he henceforth
over the isles of the earth but one shepherd and one fold. At
the time there will be long peace and quietness, charity and
unity, truth, and a clear couscience in men's hearts in regard
to every act. And these things will continue until fìfteen
days before the day of judgment, during -which, according to
the uuderstanding which St. Jerome found iu a book in the
Hebrew Lmguage, tlie Judge wiU show forth astonishing
signs before he shall come down to judge. Tliat is to say, on
the first day the seas and the floods wiU be agitated, and will
rise forty cubits in height above the tops of all the rocks.
On the second day they will subside, ebbing and falling to the
depth, so that the gaze of the eye can scarcely perceive them.
On the third day all the waters wiU appear such as they had
been since they were first created. On the fourth day, the
fislies, and all tlie creatures of the nature of the seas, wiU ap-
pear far and wide, on the surface of the waters, uttering cries
and astonishing squeaking yoices, so that those who shall be
listening to them shall fear greatly ; and the import of those
Yoices will not be known to any but the true God. On the
fiftli day tlie waters of the whole world, which are under the
course of the sun encompassing the earth, will vanish and
turn to dry land, being seen no more. On the sixth day
there wiU be neither tree, wood, nor herb out of wliich
shull not issue moisture like dew, having the colour of blood.
On the seventh day wiU be destroyed tlie structures of the
whole world, namely, castles, houses, and towns, leaving
them shattered over the lands. On the eightli day the
stones of every region of tlie world will be stirred up and
will fight, giving each other criishing blows, contrary to
natme. Ou the ninth day earthquakes will be general, so

118 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

oyffredin liyd nachaíîer myón couyon bod ygyffelyb yr pan
f uruóyd byd. [9^] ^ y decued dyd ysyrthant ycreigyth ar tar-
renni y dyuynder ydyfírynnoyth tróy yrei ykyuucheteir yrholl
dayar yn cla6r gwastad. ^ yr ynued dyd ardec ydoant gweth-
illyon ycryaduryeid oy gy^goueó dan rodi rydecuae o le yn Ue
megys ynuydyon na gallu or vn rodi atteb yr Uall. 1 Y deu-
decued dyyd y ymdangossant aruthredigyon aróydon or neef ar
syyr or furuauen agóythant. ^ Y trydy dyd ardec yhyffroant
estyrn y meirô ac yhyuodant odyuynder yprith hyd ar
óynebeu ypylleó. H Y pedwery dyyd ardec ygwethiUyon
aydewir o natu[10]ryayth dyn ynuyó auythant veir6. 1 Y
pymthecued dyyd yda6 taan o arch dy6 ay allu yr h6n alysk
yr lioU dayar hyd ar dyuynder vfíern ac ar diwed hyn y
diskyn dy6 y varnu.

^ Teruyn dyyd bra6 bellach nys g6yr dyn nybyd nac agel
ny neef ac ny 6ybythir ved ar yr amser y dangosser o
geudod ygwir dy6 yhun. eis6ys ymay athra6on y hylueth-
doden bes metrent yn ia6n yn b6r6 tyb y teruynna byd ar
diwed yseithued mil o vlynythoyd yr dechre byd. Llymma
bellach ystyr ytyb herwyth yr crea6dyr ar ydechre furuya6
am[10-]ri6 o pynheu ar yseyth. megys seith diwarnod
ynryoli pob 6ythnos ved ar diwed byd. seith pLanede
yfuruanen o allu dy6 yndigylchunu ac yngoluhau byd heb
orf6wys. ^ ynaturyay th athodes dy6 yndunh6y yssyd ynrodl
yr moroyth gyuod agostóng. ac yn parannu y fr6ytheu
ydayar kynnuthu ac aythuedu. % Ac gwedy y grist gjTnryd
kna6d ygnay th yreilweith amri6 pynheu ar y seith. megys seith
rinwcthe yr ecgl6ys tr6y yrei y ymglynima6d dy6 adyn yr

A DESCIJIPTION OF T1IK DAY OF JUUGMFNT. 119

that it shall not be found on record that the like have hap-
pened since the woiid was foiined. On the tenth duy the
rocks and the clilís w'úì fall to the depths of the valleys,
whereby the whole earth shall be raised up to a level surface.
Ou the eleventh day the reraains of the creatures will come
forth from their caves, running from place to place, madly,
without any being able to answer another. On the twelfth
day there wiU appear astonishing signs from heaven, and the
stars will íiiU from the firmament. On the thirteenth day
the bones of the dead wiU be stirred up, and will arise from
the depth of the earth to the surface of the graves.^ On the
fourteenth day the remnant of human kind left alive will
die. On the fifteenth day, by the command and power of
God, there will come a fire which will burn the whole earth,
even to the depth of hell, and at the end of this God will
eorae do^Ti to judge.

ISTow, the appointed time of the day of judgment no man
in the world knows nor angel in lieaven ; and it will not be
known until the time it shall he shown from the heart of
the true God himself; yet the masters of the arts, did
they riglitly know'^ how, conjecture that the world will
end at the end of the seventh thousand years from the
beííinniníî of the world. This now is the reason for this
opinion, that the Creator at tlie beginning formed several
things in sevens, namely, seven days regiüarly forming every
week unto the end of the world ; the seven planets of the
firraament, by God's power encompassing and enlightening
the world without ceasing : the nature that God implanted
in thera gives to tlie seas the rise and fall (of the tide) and
causes tlie fruits of the earth to increase and rijDcn. And
after Christ becanie incarnate, he again made several things
by sevens, as the seven Sacrarnents of the Church, whereby
God bound himself to man to strengthen him and keep hira
' Lit., pit.s. ^ Lit.. could they hit the uiark.

120 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

ygydyrnhaii ay gadó myón dyóolyaytli. yfyth. seith gwethieu
ypader yr di[ll]fr6ytha6 pechodeu. Seith gwithredoyd ydru-
gareth tr6y yrei 6rth ygnuthur y gobr6ir neef gwedy ageu.

^ Bellach bybeth bynnac adamweino am dyb yr athraóon
ar dyyd bra6 yuod velly ac na bo velly herwyth na mynna6d
dy6 y dyn nac y agel y6ybod ac herwyth na ellir b6r6 tyb
ar hyspysróyd. dehuach ydyu hydymaros a dy6 hyd pan
dangosso ef yn aml6c yrin yssyd cloedic ny ascre.
% Dyyd braó bellach nyr amser y gossodes ygwir dy6
ydyuod. dyuod awna yr h6n auyd pan del ouyna6c a
dolurus [11-] herwyth yr ymmadra6d aydewis sant austin
gennym ynyscriuenedic. ^ A llymma ystyr yr ymmadraód
bybethbynnac awnelof I heb ef. ekysku. egwyla6. 6kyuod.
eiste. egorfówys. ekerthed. rac meint vy ouan vrtli pan del
ydyyd dolurus tybyo awnaf bod lleisseu hynhirieid dyyd
bra6 heb orfo6wys ym cluste ymhyffroi ac ymgwyssa6 dan
dy wedud y geir h6n dabre yr varn. ^ y varn bellach pan del
arodes yruchel taad yd yuaab herwyth yr maab dishyn ac
ymgj'mysku ac annyan dyn adros [12] yr annyan hynny
ymroi awnayth y boyneu. collet oy wayd ac ageu yr yprynu
or kethi6ed. ac or achos hynny yrodes yr uchel taad holl
varneu ybyd y th yuab yr yreoli 6rth y ewyllus. ^ Nyr amser
bellach y diskynno crist vn maab dy6 y varnu ymdangos
gyntaf awna ar cr6ybren wen nyr awyr a milioyth o seint ac
agylyon gyda ac ef. nyr amser hynny yr tayred vo yr heul
ny naturyayth yn tywynnu ny dywynykka hynnu ynuoy
noc nyr vn ansod ygwelir yr heul ynrodi glemd6yll tr6y [12^]
y cr6ybyr ymblayn ka6ad orglaö o iorth ytrama6rder goluer

A DESCRII'TION 0K TIIE ÜAY 01-' JUDGMENT. 121

in the godliness of faitli ; tlie seven petitions of tlie Lord's
l'rayer to overconie sins ; the seven deeds of mercy,
wherehy, through the doing of them, heaven is gained as a
reward after death. Now, whatever may happen as to the
opinion of the doctors about the day of judgment, whether
it may be so or may not be so, since God has not willed that
man or angel should know it, and since no opinion can be
formed upon certain knowledge, it is more becoming to wait
patiently upon God until He shall show clearly tliat which
is locked up in His heart. The day of judgment, then,
will come in the time in which God appointed it should
come; and it will be, when it comes, full of fear and anguish,
in accordance with the saying which St. Augustine has
left us in his writings.^

And this is the import of the saying : " Whatsoever I do,"
says he, " whether (it be) t< sleep or to watch, to rise or to
sit down, to rest or to walk, by reason of the greatness of my
fear of the coming of the grievous day, I imagine that the
dreadful voices of the day of judgment are ceaselessly in my
ears, to rouse and summon me, saying this word, ' Come to
judgment'." Kow, the judgment, when it shall come, has the
High Father given to His Son, because the Son came down
and united Himself with the uature of man, and on behalf
of that nature He gave Hiniself up to suííerings, the loss
of His blood, and death, in order to redeem them from the
captivity ; and on account of this, the High Father gave all
the judgment of the world to His Son, to direct it at His
will. Kuw, in the time when Christ, God's only Son, shall
come down to judge, lie wiU first appear on a white cloud in
the air, and thousands of saints and angels with Him. At
that time, however ardently the sun may be shining in its
nature, that wiU give no brighter liglit than when thc sun is
seen casting a feeble ray through the clouds before a shower

' Lit., left witli us written.

122 A DESCmPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

aymdengys o gorf yr arglóyd órtli edrych arnaó. ^ yna yhenu-
yn y braódór pedwar or agylyon vn y bob kogyl or byd yr
gwyssaó 6rth lleisseu yhyrn hirreid holl creaduryeid neef
dayar ac yffern. ac ystyr y lleisseu vyd hón deóch yr varn.
deóch yr varn. yna 6rth aruthter llef ygeir alleisseu y kyrn
y kyffroant holl cryaduryeid ac ydoant ar ylla6n duth o bob
ardal hyd pan ymdangossant rac bron y bra6d6r llin plant
adaf. agen adoant yn gyrf ac eneideu. [13] aphob dyn ynuy-
chan ac ynua6r nyr oydran ybu crist ac yn hyd a lled ydel6
ef pan diodeua6d yrageu. % yna o arch ybra6d6r yky wynnant
yragylyon ac ydyholant yrei daa oblith yrei drög megys y
deholant ybugelyth ydeueid oblith ygeiuyr ac ygossodant
yrei daa ar yr ystlys dehe yr arglöyth a rei dr6g ar
yrystlys asseu ^ Bellach gwedy pan darfo gossod pob peth
ny lee y ymdengys crist vnmab dy6 yn annyan ni yr
creaduryeid ny del6 ybuassei ef ny byd yngothef lleas yr
yprynu. dan dangos y [13^] archolleu ae welieu ar hoU
deuynnytheu auuasseint ny deruynmi megys croys gway6
hoylon ar goran drein. % yna kyíîroi awna ny dy6olyayth dan
v6r6 golygyon ar y cryaduryeid auythant ar yr ystlys deheu
ytha6 agween la6wen ganta6 dan dywedyd ygeire hyn. De6ch
vendigedigyon veibon ym taad I or neef ymarthel6cli achym-
mer6ch ych ran or darnas abaratoed ychwi o declire byd.
cad6 vygheureitheu awnaythochwi. crymmu ac vthuthau
ydysk vyecgl6ys I ay gwasnaythu oy gouynnyon. trugar [14]
hau awnaythoch 6rth leuein ytylodyon ny agenoctid tr6y rodi
b6yd yrnewyua6c. diod yr sychedic. ran duthed yr kutbya6

A DESCIÎirTION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 123

of rain, by reasoii of the excess of light that shall appear
from the botìy of the Lord when He is gazecl upon. Tlien
the Jiulj^e wili send four of tlie angels, one to each corner of
the worhl, to summon, by tlie voices of their long trumpets,
all the creatures of heaven, earth, and hell ; and the import
of the voices wiU be this, " Come to judgment, come to judg-
ment." Then, at the dread nature of the voice, and the
sound of the trumpets, all creatures will be aroused, and will
come with great speed^ from every region, until they present
themselves before the Judge. The race of Adam's children,
moreover, will come in body and soul, every man, both
small aud great (appearing) of the age and stature of Christ
when He suffered death.

Then, at the command of the Judge, the angels will arise
and separate the good from among the evil ones, as the shep-
herds separate the sheep from among the goats, and will set
the good on the right side of the Lord, and the wicked on
His left side. Now, when everything has been set in its
place, Christ, the only Son of God, will appear to the crea-
tures in our nature in tlie form in whicli He had been in
the world, suífering death to redeem them, showing His
wounds and bruises, and all the implements that had been
(instrumental) in causing His end — namely, tlie cross, the
spear, the nails, and the crown of thorns. Then He will be
moved in His divine nature, casting glances upon the crea-
tures that shall be upon His right side with a joyous smile,
saying these words : " Come, blessed sons of My Father of
heaven, claim and take your share of the kiugdom that is
prepared for you from the beginning of the worhl. My laws
you kept ; you bowed and were obedient to the teaching of
My Church, and served it in its demands ; you pitied the
cry of the poor in their want, giving food to the hungry,
diiiik to the thirsty, clothing to cover their nukcd bodies ;

' Lit., at thcir full trot.

124 A DESCmPTION ÜF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

ykyrf noython. kydg6yiia6 awnaythocli a dithanii y gweinon
cleiuon ar karcharoryon ny gouudyon kyd dohiryo awn-
aythoch ar nieir6 dan yhebr6ng y hir orf6wys tr6y wethieu
achardodeu. torri ymrissoneu r6g gwyr agwyr yr yd6yn y
garyad achytundeb. gothef colli ych gwayd awnaythoch hyd
he61yth athomyth o garyad arnaf. I. hyd ybu well genn6ch
dothef yr ageu ammar^lé^Jchus noc ymaythu ami niy6n
digoueint. IT Minneu hethi6 dros awnaythoch o weithredoyth
daa achyredigr6yth ynii. ac yrsa61 aymardelweint ami yn-
barnu ychwi hethi6 ac ynrodi dragywytha61 istethuae ny neef
ny lle ycaffoch byunyth welet ych argi6yth ny dy6olyayth yn
ymborth ac yn uy6yd ychwi. ac ny lle y kaffoch dragyw-
ytha61 heth6ch llewenyth. a digriu6ch hyd na allo peu na
thauod ydraythu nay amkanu. % yna ardiwed y geir yklywir
ycryaduryeid o nerth ypenneu ac aw6ch y callonneu yn [15]
dodi ga6r lywenyth ac ync6ytha6 liyd ydayar dan rodi diolch
ytha6 dros yua6r rod ay drugared. 1í Bellach gwedy pan darfo
teruynnu barn yr ystlys deheu. yna ymhoylyd yn wimm6th
awna a golygyon aruthur ganta6 yr ystlys asseu ny lle y
yiudangossant yr hoU deuynnytheu a uuasseint 6rth yderu-
ynnu megys ydywesp6yd vch6t yarchoUeu agen ay welieu
aatkyuorant ac aymdinuant o wayt liyd pan weler y dauyne
llithredigyon yn ammal ar hyd ygua6d yna yd6eid ef ygeire
hyn ychwi agheredigyon geneth[15-]laed edrychoch ar adi-
otheueis o poyneu ac ammarch dryssochwi yr ychd6yn
ach rythau o gethiwed yhythreuleid rakko. ychwithe dros
V}'y^gheredicr6yd I bod ynwell genn6ch yr liyd y buocli ny
byd droi ym erbyn tr6y dorri vyghyureitheu am gwaharthon
atlir6y ymherchi ysa61 aymardelweint ami no g6rhau agwe-
tliu yym. or aclios hynuy llymma vi hethi6 yndyuod yr
ynili6 achwi am ych agheredicróyd ac yr gnuthur dial dros
awnathoch oweithredoyd dr6g 1í ycliwi yngyntaf yrei aym-
royssoch ych bod yn argl6ythi heb [IG] ych bod treissa6

A DF.SCHIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUnC.MENT. 125

you sympathised with and comforted the feeble sick ones,
and the prisoners in tlieir sorrows ; you compassionated the
dead, accompanying them to tlieir long rest with prayers and
alms ; you settled strife Letween men and men, in order to
Lring them into love and unity ; you suffered the loss of
your blood in the streets and on dunghills from love to
Me, so tliat ymi preferred to suffer dislionourable death
rather tlian to leave Me in anger, I, this day, in return for
what you did of good deeds and líindness to Me, and to such
as acknowledged jNIe, adjudge and graut you this day eternal
thrones in lieaven, where you shall ever see your Lord in His
Godhead, (to be) food and life to you, and wliere you shall
enjoy eternal peace, joy, and delight, so that neither mouth
nor tongue can declare or conceive it." Then, wheu these
Avords are ended, the creatures will be heard, with loud voice
and ardent heart, uttering a shout of joy, and falling to
the earth, giving thanks to Him for His great grace and
mercy. Now, when the judgment of (those on) the right
side is ended, then He will quickly turn with a dreadful look
to the left side, where shall be shown all the instruments of
His death, as was stated above. His wounds, moreover, and
His bruises wiU flow afresh with blood, until the drops are
seen thickly trickling down His body. Tlien He will say
these words : "Ye uncharitable race, behold what pains
and dishonour I suffered for you, to bring and free you from
the slavery of the devils yonder. But you, in return for My
love, preferred, while you were in the world, to turn against
Me, by breaking JMy laws and prohibitions, and by insulting
those who acknowledged Me, rather than do homage and
submit to Me. ■ On account of that, lo ! I this day am coming
to expostulate with you for your unkindness, and to take
vengeance for what evil deeds you did. You, íìrst, who
strove to be lords, wliile you were none, you oppressed and

126 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JÜDGMENT.

ac yspeilaö ykyffredin bobyl awnaythoch oy gallu tróy ych
kydernid ach maóreth heb y iaónhau. 1í ychwitheu auuoch
vra6dw}T drög tróy droi ykyíreith daa ar ygorthóyneb yr
gwerthe a gwabreu. 11 ychwitheu auuoch sóythogyon dróg
ynyspeilo y hyffredin bobyl yr dóyn daa anwir yr argló-
ythi. ar eil yspeilo j6 tróy ykymmell y rodi gwabre ych-
witheu racych ouan. IT ychwitheu a dorrassocli ych 116e my6n
kyffreitheu tr6y d6yn tiir. dayar adaa yn anwir dros werthe
a gwabre. irych[16^]witheu adreissassoch vyecl6ys oy ia6n
ay dylyed megys oy degemmeu offryngeu. renteu aychyfre-
itheu. 11 ychwitheu yregl6yswyr arothassoch kyflebaythe dr6g
tr6y ybu ha6s gan y bobloyth gyffrediu ymroi y pechod ac
yweithredoyth dr6g. ^ ychwitheu goganu ydynnyon awn
aythocli ay Uysenwá my6n kynuigen tr6y gelwytheu a dech-
mygyon dr6g hyd pan baraoth hynny byth vthunt6y yngy-
wilytli ac ammarch. •[[ ychwitheu adreissassoch ygweinon oy
tiir ay dayar tr6y ykad6 my6n kamwetli hyd ageu heb y
edryd. % ychwitheu [17] adreulassoch ych einoys my6n go-
dineb torri ych priodasse ymgymmaru ach kydwayd ac ym-
galein ach gortherchade my6n ambechr6yd dros waharthon
vyegl6ys. % ychwitheu arodassoch ych daa ar okkyr yr kaffel
yr enniU ma6r oiar y benthic kyuan. ^ì ychwitheu kynll6yn-
wyr vuoch yndienyidio vyra pridwerth yr bychydig o achoss-
yon. ^ ychwitheu Uadron kyffredin vuoch dan d6yn daa y
kywiryon dr6y dreis achydernid ych clethyueu. ^ ychwitheu
creftwyr a masnachwyr feilst vuoch ynt6ylla6 ykyffredin
[17^] bobyl ar ych masnache tr6y li6 116 p6ys a messur.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 127

plundered tlie common people of their property^ by your
power and greatness witliout rendering them right. You,
too, were wicked judges, perverting- righteous laws for
bribes and rewards. And you were unjust officials, robbing
the comnion people in order to bring unrightful gain to your
lords ; and the second (mode of) robbing is by compelling
them to give you bribes through fear of you. And you
Yiolated your oaths in law-suits, taking land, ground, and
goods unjustly for bribes and rewards. And you robbed
My Church of its right and due — that is, of its tithes, its
ofterings, rents, and legal rights. And you, ecclesiastics, set
evil examples, whereby the common people were more ready
to yield themselves to sin and to evil deeds. And you slan-
dered men, and called them evil names, in malice, through
lies and wiched inventions, so that the same continued ever
a shame and a dishonour to them. And you plundered the
weak of their lands and grounds, keeping them wrong-
fully uutil death, without restoring them. And you spent
your life in fornicalion, adultery, marrying with your blood-
relations, and following your concubines in depravity, con-
trary to the prohibitions of My Church. And you put out
your wealth on usury, in order to secure great income from
your capital loan. And you were liers in wait in order
to assassinate my redeemed for little cause. And you were
common tliieves, tahing the property of tlie innocent by
YÌolence and the might of your swords. And you were false
craftsmen and tradesmen, deceiving the common people

^ Strictly^a//w is "power"; but does it not liere mean "property"? One
may compare cyfocth, •which now nieans simply "wealth", but originally
meant " might, power", as is seen by the Irish cimhacht, and by the old
signification of Iloll-gy/oethog, "almighty", Ir., uile-cliunihachtach.

2 Lit., turning guod laws to the contrary, or inside out. Troi ar y
gwrthwyneh is a familiar jilirase in modern colloquial Welsh for " turn-
ing a thing (as a garmeut) inside out"; lit., to turu upon the opposite
face : Gwrth- — anti.

128 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

'f Ychwitheu setwyr aghewnyou vuoch 6rth ymaclo ar meirö
treuló y daa 6rth gardode a gwasnaythe dy6a61 ychwitheu
tr6y d6yllodrayth nydroi yn reid ac yn wassaneth ychwy-
liunein. ^ Achyda hynny anrugaroc vuoch ynlcyffredin 6rth
leuein ynewynoc ynerchi b6yd jr karyad arnaf. 6rth y
sychedic yn erchi dia6d. 6rth ynoyth yn erchi peth yguthya6
ygywilyth ac agharedigyon vuoch 6rth ych kydAvayd ny
cleuydeu ay carchareu heb y hedrych yr y [18] dithanu ny
gouudyon. hyd y bu well gennoch bob amser ymroi y weith-
redoyth dr6g tr6y ryuic y hythreuleid racko hyd angeu noc
ymroi ymkyfreitheu yr dysk a rebuth y6ch y ouynokau y
diwarnod hetlii6. ac yr disk6 a rebuth ychwi y benydyo ac
yttiuaru ac yr ia6nhau ykamweth hyn kyn ageu.

% Bellach gwedy pan darfo ymgeuethli6 ap]m6b ny rath
megys y dywesp6yd Ychot ny byth yr vn a allo rodi gwad
dros yran na dihurdeb. 1í Yna yd6eid ybra6d6r my6n kydernid
ylid ygeire hyn [18^] e6chwi Yelltigedigyon genethlaed yr
taan poenedic paraus yrh6n a baratoed yrkythreul pennaf ay
ygylyon yr dechre byd. ^Ar diweth ygeire hyn yclywir
ycolledigyon. my6n crynuan yn rodi garmeu aruthredigyon '
o nerth ypenneu dan oll6ng dagre ynammyl hyd ygruthie
athan ochuanu yr amser yganned heb orf6wys. % yna heb oir
gwedy rodi yuaín y ymgyffroant y kythreuleid heb 6ybot y
rif ac yymgymyscant ar colledigyon truein dan ytynnu
ayllusko ynammarchus Yed ar ogu6ch [19] ylle y poenir nc

A DESCRIl'TION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 129

in your dealings by means of oath, weight, and measure. And
you were false executors, departing from the will of the dead
that their wealth should be spent in charities and divine
services, you deceitfully turning it to your own need aud
service. And, beside that, you were generally unmerciful to
the cry of the hungry when asking food for h)ve to me, to
the thirsty when afiking drink, to the naked when asking
something to hide his shame ; and you were unkind to your
blood-relations in their sicknesses and imprisonments, not
Yisiting them to comfort them in their sorrows; so that
you always preferred to give yourselves up to evil deeds,
through the presumption of the deyils yonder, eveu until
death, rather than submit yourselves to My laws (set) for
instruction and warning to you to fear this day, aud for
instruction and warning to you to do penance and repent,
and to rectify this iniquity before death."

Now, when He shall have ended expostulating with all in
their degree, as was said above, there will be no one that
shall be able to give denial or excuse on his part. Then the
Judge, in the might of His wrath, will utter these words :
" Go ye, accursed race, to the perpetual penal fire which
is prepared for the devil and his angels from the beginning of
the world." When these words are ended, the lost will be
heard tremblingly to utter dreadful cries in a loud voice,^
shedding frequent tears down their cheeks, and ceaselessly
bewailing the time they were born. Then, without delay,
when the judgment has been given, the devils in unknown
numbers will rouse themselves, and will mingle with the
wretclied lost ones, drawing and haling them in dishonour
over the place where they will be tormented, and thence

1 Lit., with the strength of their heads. The expression is common
in the South : it is often said of one that he cries or shouts nerth 'i hcn,
nerth asgwrn H hen, or nerth 'i' yerj (the streugth of his head, of his throat).
The preposition is generally omitteil, the noun being used absohitely.

VOL. IV. K

130 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JÜDGMENT,

otliyno ytauylu awnahant yn wimmöth ac yndiarbed ydyu-
ynder yffern or lle ny byth eil bryuii nac eil ymhoylyd nac
amgen obeith no thrigo yno dan reol ykythreuleid myón
taan tywyllóch a bryuti. Sim fine.

NOTES.

F. 1. Cìjfrdythrjt—cyfarwìjddyd : not the compd. of cyf and rhiüydd,
meaning " exiDedition", "facility".

Diskynnant : discyn (to descend, to fall) here seems to mean " happen" ; cf.
dyrjioydd (happen), fr. cioyddo (fco fall); the Lat. accidere, with the same rad.
meaning ; Eng. befall; Gev. fall, fallen, zufall, &c.

Kynn6ll is rendered by Davies " sudum et translatitiè opportunitas" .

Ciudode: ciiodod (L. civitat.) usually means "a tribe, a clan".

Myôn gîoasnaythe, etc. The modern rule that meion can only be used with
nouns which are not " distributed", aud that yn must be used when the noun
has the definite article expressed or implied, is not observed in the older
language. The present example may mean, " In the services of the Church",
or, strictly, "In (certain) services", etc. So the foUowing may be translated
either way : myón ynuydrôyth ygythreulayth (5-) ; m. lcydernid ylit (6) ; m.
fyrfd^er y ia6n fyth ( 7^). But m. ialonneu ydynnyon (6^ ) can only be ren
dered "In the hearts of the men", and would now require yn.

l^. Tragrymder, extreme force (fr. tra, " over, very, extreme"; grym,
" force"; and-cZe>', termination of abstract nouns) is not found in the dic-
tionaries.

Sythter strictly means "stiffness"; cf. gioarsyth, " stiff-necked".

Âruthredigyon : aruthredig here is active, "amazing", " astounding",
though in accordance with mod. usage it would mean " amazed, astounded" —
-edig forming generally a kind of passive participle. But the two meanings ^
run into one another : thus caredig now means "loving, kind", more com-
monly than " loved, beloved", its strict meaning. Cf. llithrcd ig yon {tr\ck-
ling) in 4^: byôedigyon (5)="loving". But cloedigyon (3) and drylledigyon
(9) are passive.

Tr6y gymmysc mar6walaythe, lit., "with miugled deaths". This is an
instance of what iu classical grammars is called hypallage, the meaning being
" signs in the moon, combined, accompanied with deaths", etc. It is simi-
larly used in 3^, yrynreuethodeu hyn achymmyse gwangred (lit., these wonders
and commingled weak-faith) = " These wonders combined with weak faith",

Crynnant, a form not in the dictionaries.

A DESCRIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JÜDGMENT. 131

they will quickly and unsparingly liurl tliem to the depth of
liell, whence there wiU be no redemption, nor return, nor
other hope than to remain there, under the rule of the devils,
in fire, darkness, and filth. Sinc fine.

2. Llifdyuyreth, the uncontracted pl. of dwfwr; so în 8' dyuyreth and
dyuereth ; Zeuss notices dyfred (Gram. Celt.^, p. 291).

Bra6 = brawd (judgment), Ir. hrath, etc. In tliLs word the writer regu-
larly drops the final d.

Hóylaô ny teniyneu seems to mean "run-their-course to their termina-
tion". If 30, yn here has the meaning o£ Lat. in with accus. " into", which
in the modern language is i; so o le yn lle (9'') = "from pla.ce to place".
This force of yn survive3 in the Biblical phrases yn tan (a dejlir yn tan,
" shall be cast into the fire", Matth. üi, 10), yn oes oesoedd (vmto the age of
ages), in scccula sceculorum. The same, perhaps, is its original force in the
caaimon e's.^iTPSÚona torri yn yffloìi, " to break into fragments " (so torri yn
ddamau, yn ddrylliau) ; llosgi yn lludw, " taburn to ashes", etc.

Y ymdaijossant. The writer seems to have had no objection to hiatus, aa
this phrase, several times repeated, shows. Witness also yochuahant (4^), y
ymhoylant (7), y ymlathant (9), y ymglymmaòd (10-), y yni'jyffroant, y
ymgymmyscant (18").

2^. Eyluethdodeu (arts), hodie, celfyddydau ; uot found in the diction-
aries.

Awetto geni crist. This construction is that called in classical grammars
the accus. with the infinitive. It is not natural to modern Welsh, being
practically confined to bod and its compounds darfod, dyfod, etc. In the
case of other verbs the subject takes a preposition, — o if it follows the verb,
i if it precedes ; or the verb must be resolved into bod, with one of the par-
ticiples of the verb itself : e.g., Nyni a wyddom lefaru o Dduio îtrrth Moses (we
know that God spake unto M. — John ix, 39) ; or, i Dduw lefaru wrth M.;
or, less elegantly, fod Duw wedi llefaru wrth Moses. Rarely the accus. with
infin. is found with other verbs than bod, e.g., in 1 Thess. iv, 14, Os ydym yn
credu farw lesu (if we believe that Jesus died). Other example8 in the
present article are tr6y geissa6 pob vn ragori (1); cyn ori ygwayd (4); and
gìcedy mynet y geir (7 ).

2^^. Yn y messur, lit. means " in the measure", but is here used of manner
rather than of degree being equivalent to "aa"; so also ny messur y dywesp6yd
vchod (7).

Wnayth lla6er o ouudyon ar yr escob, etc. Mod. Welsh woiild reqnire i
instead of ur.

k2

132 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

3. Yr ardaloì/th y tramóyaôth crist is elliptical, and in the mod. language
would be writteu yr arcl. y tr. C'\ trwyddynt, or yr ard. trwy y rhai y tram. cr.

Anfythedolyon yenethlaeid (uubelieving nations). Two forms not given in
the dictionaries.

Ilyd nr yr amser. Hyd would now be used without ar.
Ydoe is stiUthe common form for y deaai.
Kyn6rthau. Not given in the dictionaries .

3'^. Dyôolynyth. Another uuregistered form.

Yngyhdled. Yn would not now be used with cyhelled.

Aruthter (fr. aruth = aruthi) i.q., a>uthredd. An unregistered form.

Cyuerhyn (opposition). The iise of the word as a uoun is not uoted in
the dictionaries.

Anreuethodeu (great wonders ; an being here intensive). In the third
edition of Dr. Pugh's Dictionary tliis word is rendered simply by "a being
not a wouder. Anrhyfeddodau Alecsauder — the Not-wouders of Alexander".

4. Ochleddyfeu (with swords), so o yspryd y ene(6). Cf. iúso nyd athnahyfhir
o neb onyd orgwir dy6 (8^). 0 is commouly used in the Glamorgau dialect to
denote the instrument. Cf. the Gk. it.

Hef^lyth : hewl, aud heidydd, in the colloquial Dimetiau, are the regular
represeutatives of the literary heol aud heolydd.

Messyth =mensydd, pl. of macs (field).

Ymbarch ac vynt. Pugh (third edition) gives ymSarcAM =respect one's self,
but does not specify the preseut use of the Reflexive to denote mutuality.

Yerthyryon. The writer generally leaves out the i in the pl. endiugs (e.g.,
dolureu for doluriau), but in this word inserts it in opposition to the modern
usage.

Ori { = oeii). So the S. Wallian form of oer is 6r.

Ouynnohahant (fr. ofynocau), of which the dictionaries give ouly the con-
tracted form of ofnocau.

4^. Tarrenni means here, as the context pretty clearly shows, "cliÊfs,
precipices". The dictionaries assign to taren the various meauings — " a spot ;
a tump, knoll ; a brake". It appears iu the place-uame Penâarren or Pcn y
Darren, and is the same as the Ir. taircan, "adesceut". Auother f orm of the
word is te yn, not recorded by the lexicographers, but fouud in the equivalent
place-name Penderyn, and paralleled agaiu by the Ir. teirin, " a descent".

Ochuahant. Ocìifäu," to cr j och", Gk. oi'iuẃfen', is not iu the dictiouaries.

K6yth6ch. Cwyddo (to fall), Bret. koueza, is now used only in its com-
pounds dygwydd (happen, hefaìl), go-gwydd (incliue), etc.

Diuyrru in this sense is uot recorded in the dictionaries, though difyrru
( to divert) and dyfyrru (to shorten) are giveu.

Ryueleu. The usual pl. is rhyfeìoedd.

Meiboneu. Probably the pl. of mahon, which the dictionaries render by
"a youth, a youug hero"; here the epithet " disyuóyryou" fixes the meauing
as " young childreu, infants".

A DESCRiriION OF TllE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 133

Disyii6yryon, usually sigiùfying "Berseless", here = " simple, innocent, un-
conseiuus".

Garthn. The diction.aries give no help in fixing the meaning of this word,
which occurs agaiu on p. 6-. It is possibly connected with Ir. gartìia, " a
shout, cry, noise". On this assumption it would mean here "beating the
hauds with a loud noise", and ou 6'', " crashing in its fall".

5. Ynwynnycku = wkennychu, dialectic for chwennycku.
Mcjys here siguifies " namely", as also on f. 6.

Ysynt. Apparently a form coiiipouuded of ys and ynt. It does not seem to
be uoticed by Zeuss, wLo, however, gives and illustrates ysydynt {Gram.
Celt.-, 553).

Yyóediyyoti : lyic-edi'j (liviug) is not iu the dictionaries.

Ymlid ac ymjyuctkli6. One might conjecture ymlid to be a clerical error
for ymliw (espostulate), but. that ymlidio ac ymjyfetM are found together
elsewhere, e.rj., in the extract under yinyyfetM in Pugh'*.

5". Ârahu. Here again the dictionaries fail us, giving under arab and its
derivatives only " witty, droll", etc. But the peculiar Breton form arabad
in Le (joúidec seems to be connected with this, and to throw light upou it.
There we read : " Je ue conuais ce mot employé que dans cette phrase :
arabad eo, il ce faut pas, il est défendu, il n'est pas permis."

0 vyir6. Yi is, perhaps, on the whole, a more accurate representation of
this diphthongal sound than the common ei.

Wasnaytlujar. This word now meaus " serviceab]e", but here the adj. is
used as a noun in the related sense of " servants".

6. Oliffer. A form derived either fr. oliiartim (in Mons olivarum) or fr.
adj. olivarius. The usual name is mynydd yr Olewydd (the Mouut of 01ive
trees).

Ynjadeu : cadeu here = " hosts". The Corn. cad, later cas, and Arm. lad
(illustrated by Villemarqué only from his own Barzaz-Breiz) have only the
meaning " battle", " conflict". To the Ir. cath O'Reilly gives this meaning
and also " an Irish battalion of 3000 men ; a tribe, descendants".

6''. Ynu6deu. Bwdeu, an unrecorded pl. form of buyd ; old Welsh and
old Corn., buit ; Ir., buadh, biadh ; Arm., botd or bouid, with jil. bocdou.
The usual "Welsh pl. is bicydydd.

]Varann6yd. The meaning here approaches that illustrated iu Pugh' :
Duw a ranodd, nef a rjafodd (God did dispense, heaven he did obtain).

AmbeUach (rarer). An unrecorded comparative form fr. ambdl (sume, few),
which is probably rightly derived from aw '(which strictly means " about,
around"; old Gaulish, ambi ; Lat., ambi ; Gk., ò^^ìi ; but is here only inteu-
8Ìve as in amlwy, amr/en, amryw, etc.) and pell (far) ; ambdl would thus be
cquivalent to Campbell's " fcw and far bctwccu".

134 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

7. Yîoethd, i.e , y chwedl, which still remains in the colloquial speech of
CarcUganshire y wheddel : e.g., Y mae hynna yn hen wheddel (that is an old
tale) ; Ni wyddion i o'r wheddel (I knew nothing of the afifair, the story).
This idiomatic phrase is particularly used of something that happens unex-
pectedly — Ni wyddion i o'r wheddel nes 'dôdd e wedi myn'd (before I had
realised the fact, he was gone).

7. Yhanabythant (wiU recognise, wUl kDow). Âdnabod usually means " to
know a person", and is distinguished from gicyhod (" to know a fact"), some-
what as Ger. hennen fr. wissen, or Fr. connaüre fr. savoir. But in colloquial
speech, as here, nabod or adnabod, is often used with a wider signification,
e.g,, nabod 'i gamsynied, " to kuow, recognise one's mistake".

Rethiweth, i.e., cethiwedd. The usual form is caethiwed, the final d not being
aspirated.

7^. Teir personyeid. This differs from the modern language in iising a pl.
subst. with the numeral ; and in making person fem. lUce the Lat. persona.
We now say tri ^ìherson. The word peí'son has now two plurals with cUstinct
meanings, jìersonau meaning " persons", \\\nìe personiaid siguifies "parsons".

Diivadalr6yd = dyivadalrwydd, fr. gicadal (staunch, firm), di- qv dy- being
intensive not negative.

Buarth (strictly, "a cow-yard"), here, "sheepfold"; the word corlan being
used in this passage in the authorised version of the New Testament.

8. Llyfer, retaining the e of liber, now changed to Uyfyr, Uyfr.
Cupit fr. cubitus, hodie, cufydd.

0 iar = " above"; in (7) o iarfoith it = " from".
Ved = o\äer bet (v. Zeuss2, 691).

8^. Äthnábythir, i.e., addnabyddir with the d of the prefix aspLrated.

Rygedua by transposition for rhedegfa, " running, course". It may be only
a clerical error, as we have further on, rydecuae (9^).

Dìgylchwynnu. An unrecorded form eciuivalent to dygylchynu (to sur-
round, encompass).

9. Ymdoant. Perhaps a clerical error for ymdroant.
Gl6b6r=gwlybwr (a liquid) fr. gwlyb, gwlyp = lT. fiiuch. The present dia-

lectic form is glybivr, the w after the initial g being rejected in the colloquial
language, as in the cognate Corn. glibor, Arm. glébor.

Seil properly = " f oundations" ; but here by meton. for "things founded,
Btructures, buildings".

Yssic is usually passive (" bruised, crushed, shattered" ; e.g., corsen yssig,
"a bruised reed"), but here is used actively, "bruising, crushing".

Crynuau dayar = the modern daear-grynfau. The writer has already used
the phrase crynnant dayar (l^).

9^. Cyfucheteir, a verb f ormed from cyf-uch-ed = cìjfmuch, the equal degree
of uch-el. Neither cyfuched nor cyfuchetau is recorded in the dictionaries,
though cyfuchin (to make of one height) is given.

CZa6r = Ir. clár (a table, board, etc. ) It now commonly means "a lid,
covering" of any YesBel, ''cover" of a book, etc; it is also used in phrases: ar

A DESCEIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 135

glaicr, like ar gacl, " known, extant" : e.g., Dyw e' ddim ar 'jlam' erhyn hyn,
it is no lunger to be found ; so i ijlawr : e.g., y mae e' wedi dôd i glaior eto,
it luis come to light again.

Na gallu, etc. =ac heb ailu. Na here is something like L. nec.

10. Teruyn commonly means "bound, limit"; but here has the same
force as Corn. termyn, "time, season, appointed time": e.g., a ver dermyn, in
a short time. V. Williams' Lex. Cornu-Brit. s. v. termyn.

Ceudod, " cavity, hoUow" ; here, " bosom".

Eisôys (i.e., eisoes, wliich now commonly = "already"), "however, never-
theless".

B616 tyb, lit., cast an ojjinion ; the metaphor is the same as in "conjec-
ture".

Ystyr here seems="reason".

lO^. Pynheu, pl. of pwngc, "subject, point, matter".

Ynryoli ; rheoli strictly = " rule, sway, order".

Goluhau i.q., goleuhau ; so goluer (12^) =goleufer. Cf. dehuach (11) =
deheuach and dihurdeb {18) = dihcurdeb.

Parannu=pariannu, which in Pugh is explained as meaning "to render
causative", but without illustration.

Seith diwarnod. The numeral here takes the sing. as in modern Welsh,
but subsequent examples have the plural — 7 planede, 7 rinwethe, etc. ; so teir
personyeid (7^).

Gwethieu (petitions); gweddi, Ir. guidhe, now means "prayer",

11. Difr6ytha6. Lit., " to render fruitless".

Seith gwithredoyd ydrugareth. In Athrawadh Gristnogawl, p. 57, these are
enumerated : — "Saith weithred y drugaredd gorforawl. Rhoi bwyd i'r tlawd
newnog. Rhoi diod ir tylodion sychedig. Dilladu'r noethion. Rhoi letty i'r
pellennig. Ydrych cleifion. Gof'n'yaw cyrchrorion. Cladu'r meirw". In
an old MS. in the writer's possession, they are versified as follows : —

" Englyn i saith weithred trugaredd.
Dod fwj-d a diod, par dy a dülad,
Diwalla'r carchardy,
GwiHa'r claf yn y gwely,
I'r marw par gael daear dy."

In the same way we find them versified in the Lay Folhs' Catechism (Early
Eng. Text Soc.):—

" The first is to fede tham that er hungry.

That othir, for to gif tham drynk that er thirsty.

The third, for to clethe tham that er clatheless.

The ferthe, is to herber them that er houselesse.

The fifte, for to visite them that ligges in sikenesse.

The sext, is to heli) tham that in prisin er.

Thc seyent, to bcry dude meu that has mister."

13G A DESCRIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

It appears the writer lias not exhausted " the sevens", as the Welsh Catc-
chism quoted gives also " Saith weithred y drugaredd ysprydawl", while the
English one adds " the Seven Yirtues" and the " Seven Yices".

Gobrôi/ir. Gwobricyo usually means " to reward, to recompense" ; but here
= "to give as a reward".

Yuod vdly ac na bo velly. Lit. = "its being so, and that it shall not have
been so".

Ouyna6c=moà. ofnog (timid), but meaning " terrible".

ll^. El-yslcu, etc, e = ai ; eiste, i.e., ai isfe.

Vrth pan del. A peculiar vise o£ lurth, which does not seem to be noticed
by Zeuss.

Eynhirieid is not given in the dictionaries, but seems to be a compd. of
cyn and diriaid, which Davies renders "improbus, nequam". Now, how-
ever, diriaid is used vaguely of anything excessive, somewhat corresponding
to the slaug use of Eng. " awful". Y mae yna le diried, it is an " awful"
place ; yr oedd yno beth diried o bobol, there was an " awful" lot of people
there.

Ym eluste, i.e., yn fy nghlustiau.

12. Crôybren. An unregistered form which evidently means "cloud".
On the next page (12^) the pl. crwybyr occurs. The dictionaries give crwybr
with the meanings " scum, a honeycomb". In parts of S. Wales it has
another meaning — " hoar-frost". The common word is üwyd-reiv (lit., grey-
frost); but crtoybyr is used of the heavier deposit experienced in mountainoua
districts, when the vapour forms in long, feathery crystals on trees, plants,
etc. The N. W. word is barug. Dr. Davies has " Crwybr, Favus, faex
mellis. Älijs cwybr". With the latter coincides the Arm. íoabr, houabr
(nuage), Tcoabren, lcouabren (un seul nuage), pl. hoabrenou. V. Le Gonidec,
s. V.

Glemdôyll. This seems to be the form in the MS., but it is somewhat
indistinct. The word is unknown to the present writer.

12^. 7VaTOrt6rcîer = exceeding greatness. An unrecorded form, but the
equivalent tramaiuredd is given in the dictionaries.

Hirreid, Unrecorded. Apparently a longer form from hir,
Llin (a race, line), L. Ihiea, Corn. linicth, lynneth.

13. Bugelyth, pl. of bugail, hodie bugeiliaid,

Llcas, Lethum, caedes (Dr. D.) Later dictionaries copy him without illus-
tration.

13^. Ythuthau, i.q., tifuddhau. Possibly this is not to be regarded as a
transcriber's blunder : dd and f or v are often interchanged. Thus hwyfcll
(a female salmon) is also written hioydäell; so Caerdydd aud Caerdyf (CardiíF).

Man duthed : tudded =coYermg, vesture.

A DESCIIIPTION OF TIIE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 137

14. T çìccinon cleiuon : pl. in both elements of the compound (not given
in dictiouaries) gu-anìi[/laf, which occurs in Buchedd Beuno Sant in this
same MS. vol. Af i ednjch fijn Tat y sydd yn ■waniì/jlaf [Cambro-Brit.
Saints, p. 14).

Kyd-doluryo, i.e , cyd-ddoluryo. Not in the dictionaries,
Dothef. A shorter form (unrecorded) of dyoddef,

14*. Tmaythu ami. Tmaythu is not in the dictionaries, but it seems to be
the infiuitire of a verb related to ymaith, which is now used only as au
adverb — away, hence. Tmaith itself was also probably origiually an iufinitive.
It is the Ir. imcacht (" s.f. walking, going". — O'Reilly), just as ymdaith is the
Ir. imtheacht ("s.f. progress, departure", etc. — O'R.), and í« /í/t the Ir. íeacÄí
{do theacht, to come). Tmaythu ami, then, would be nearly the same as
ymadael a mi.

Dros aynaythoch. D7-os = " ìn return for", a meaning not instauced by
Zeuss. So ou the uext jjage (15), diolch ythaó dros yuaór rod, etc. ; aud (15^)
dros vyyrfheredicr6yd.

15. Tmhoylyd (to turn oue's self) is the colloquial form of ymchwdyd
or ymchoelyd. But though a reflexive, this verb is commouly used
as a simple transitive verb (see exx. iu Pugh^). Tmhoylyd, 'mhoylu,
are commonly used in Dimetian for " turning over": e.f/., 'mhoylu
teisen, to turn over a cake ; 'mhoylu gwair, llafur, to turn over hay, coru, in
harvestiug. In Carmarthenshire it is also used of "ploughiug": "'Mhoylwr
fjo leio w' i 0 f/rict" (" I am a pretty good ploughman for a lad"), the writer
once heard a Carmarthenshire youth modestly remark.

6rth yderuynnu (in putting him to death). This nse of terfynu (to end) is
not noticed iu the dictionaries .

Aatkyuorant. Atcyforio or adyyforio is an unregistered compouud of ad
(again, re-) and cyforio (to fill to the brim, to make to overflow). Cy-for
seems to be from cy aud mor, i.e., marg. the root of L. margo, etc. (Fick,^
iv. 187), and so would mean "even with the brim".

Aymdinuant, if correct, is a form which the writer does not understand.

Agherediyyon. Angharedig means, passively, "uuloved"; and, actively,
" unloviug, unkind".

15". Tchwithe hod ynwell genn6ch. A somewhat unusual construction,
apparently au imitatiou of the Lat. Historic Iufiuitive so-called.

Gicaharthon, pl. of gwahardd (prohibitiou) of which Pugh' gives only the
pl. gwaharddoedd.

Tmroyssoch ych hod yn argl6ythi. The use of the posses8Ìve pron. here
before hod has some slight analogy to the peculiar Irish constructiou which
uses the poss. pron. with the predicative noun iu such sentences as, " He is a
good mau" — Ir. Tá se 'nn a dhuine mhaith (lit. he is in his good mau).

16. Ia6nhau. An unregistered form = i«îC7ii or iaionu, to render right.
Gwerthe, i.e., gwerthau, a pl. of gwerth, of which the dictionaries give uo

example.

Ll6c, i.c. llu'au, pl. nf Uic ; usual pl. llwon.

138 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

16^. Offryngau. The common forms are offmmi, offrymau.
Kyflebaythe is doubtless the same as cyffehjUaethau (similitudes). The
dictionaries do not notice the present meaning — " examples".
Tr6y yhu haós. Perhaps it should be trwy y rei y bu, etc.

17. Ymgalein (if the right form, thelast four letters are indistinct in MS.)
is doubtless the same as ymganlyn, to foUow mutually.

, Ambechròyth is not in the dictionaries. It is a compoimd of am and fech,
and may here bear its strict meaning — " mutual sinfulness".
Y benthic Tcyuan (the capital), lit. the entire loan.

Tr6y li6 116, etc. (by means of oath, etc.) ; Cf. liiü dydd, liw nos (by day, by
night) ; Arm. liou (" licence, permission, congé").

17^. Setwyr. Qy. a corruption of "esecutor"?

6rth ymado, etc. It seems that something has dropped out here.

6rth gardode (in alms). None of the extracts in Zeuss under %vrth (p. 682)
exactly illustrate this meaning.

D6yllodrayth (deceit). An unrecorded abstract noun corresponding to the
personal noun twyllawdr (deceiver) and the adj. twyllodrus (deceitful).

Ychwyhunein. Zeuss gives no example of this form of the second pers.
plur., though he has ny hunein and ehunein (Gr. Celt.^, p. 408).

18. Ymgeuethli6. The forms of this verb given in Pugh^ are ymgyfethl, to
be striving together ; and ymgyfethlu, to struggle mutually. Neither of these
meanings suits this passage, which demands rather — " upbraid, expostulate
with".

Hodi gwad (give denial). Welsh constantly uses the root form of the verb
in this way as a subst., and especially after ar, exactly corresponding to the
English forms with «-(shortened form of an = on), as a-fishing, etc. So we
had (p. 12-) ar duth (fr. tuthio, to trot), a-trot. Similarly, ar redeg, a-running;
ar wib (fr. gwibio, to rove) e.g., myn'd heibio ar wib, to pass a-flying, on a flying
visit ; ar dan, ar daen (fr. tánu, taenu, to spread), e.g., y niae y gwair ar dán,
the hay is scattered, i.e , not in cocks or mows ; y mae é ar nydd (fr. nyddu,
to twist, spin) i gyd, it is all a-twist ; ar dro, awry : ar dor (fr. tori, to cut), e g.
(a provision dealer says to a customer), y mae gen 'i gosyn da ar dor ynawr,
I have a good cheese a-cutting, in the course of being cut now.

18^. Poenedig ; here active in force.

Ochuanu. Also an unregistered form of the same force as ochfaü, found on
p. 42.

Oir, i.e., ohir, fr. gohir, delay.

139

THE CELTIC LANGUAGES IN RELATION
TO OTIIER AEYAN TONGUES.

By rev. john dayies.

As the paper on the Celtic languages, published in the
last number of the Cymmrodor, has been made the subject of
some unfavourable comments, I wish to ofîer a reply to
them (which shall be as brief as possible), that the disputed
points may be, at least, more clearly understood.

The main argument of the paper has not been assailed.
No reasons have been given, for instance, why the Welsli
words com andZ^m should be classed as borrowed words,while
the Germ. Iwrn and lein are treated as unborrowed. But I am
asked if I hold that words common to the Sanskrit and
Celtic languages may not, in any case, have been borrowed
by the latter from the Latin ? This I have not undertaken
to show. I contend only that such words ought to be re-
garded as derived from a common Aryan stock, unless the
contrary can be proved historically or otherwise. I have
been referred to the eminent German philologist, Windisch,
and I accept the reference. He notices a derivation of the
Irish caille, a veü, from the Lat. ^JttlHum ; and, ai'ter pointing
out that the connection is not probable, he adds, " Why may
not the Ir. caille be a genuine Irisli word ?" (Warum soll ir.
caille nicht ein echt irisches wort sein ? — Kuhn's Beiträge,
etc, viii, 18.) I ask the same question with regard to the
words which I have discussed. Why must they be neces-
sarily treated as borrowed words because they bear a resem-

140 THE CELTIC LANGUAGES IN RELATION TO

blance, often a very remote one, to Latin forms ? Is it sonnd
philology, for instance, to assiime tlmt the W. cimn and the
Bret. coml mnst be borrowed words, and to connect them
with the Lat. concava as their source ?

The main object of Windisch's paper is, however, to prove
that at some nndefined period the letter 2> vanished from the
Celtic languages, and that when it re-appeared, at a later
time, it was used only in borrowed words, or as the represen-
tative of an older k for kv or qv. I read his paper when it
appeared in Kuhn's Bciträge, but was not convinced
by his arguments. It is certainly true that a primitive
^ has disappeared from many Celtic words, and that in
their modern form this letter often represents an older h or
kv, but it does not follow that an Indo-Germanic 'p has not
been retained in any genuine Celtic words. Mr. Whitley
Stokes maintains that it has been retained in some instances.
I have read the paper in the Revue Celtique (vol. ii, p. 337),
in which the writer coutroverts the opinion of Mr. Stokes ;
but I fail to see that the Ir. GaeL 'pailt (plenteous) can be
disposed of by suggesting that it may be borrowed from the
Eng. word ijlcnty, or that if the root ^j'ö'Ä; may be assumed
for the Indo-European mother tongue, yet " for the Italo-
Celtic branch one must postulate qvaqv (kak)''. This is
assuming as true what has not been proved. The German
philologist rick holds a contrary opinion. I quote froni
the Verg. Wört. clcr Indogcrm. Sprachen, 3rd ed., 1874,
"pak, kochen, reifen, .... lat. coquo, sup. coctum, kochen
(fiir poquo durch eine Art Assimilation, wie quinque für
pinque. s. pankan).^' " Corn. peber, pistor, popei, pistrinuni ;
cymrisch popuryes, jjistrix ; ksl. peka, kochen. vgl. skr. pac',
kochen, pac'a, kochend" (i, 133 ; ii, 155). Professor Curtius
thinks it is doubtful whether kak or pak is the original form,
but he adds, " auf die Form ^;«ŵ gehen deutlich die sans-
kritischen und slawischen Formen ziirück, ebenso die ältere

OTIIER ARYAN TONGUES. 141

Priisensfonn 7reWÉt) = 7re/cjû)" {Grundzuge^ 409). Professor
Ascoli suggests tliat botli forms may have existed simultane-
ously from tlie period of original unity {Corsi di Glottoloyia,
p. 78). Professor Fr. Müller maiutains tliat tlie Sans. 'pan-
cau (five, Litli. pe.nlci, W. puìnp) is connected witli Sans.
^Mnldi (series), and was priraarily pancant, standing in a
row, i.e., the five fingers {Beiträge, ii, 898). It must then be
the primitive form.

The results of these different theories may be seen in the

varying explanations of the Lat. jpars, W. parth. Ascoli con-

nects a primitive ^;«í'í with Sans. ^mí, to cleave {Corsi, etc,

p. 80). Fick infers an Aryan j9ar as the source of the Lat.

pars, and refers to the Sans. par (prî) to spend ( lVört.^ 1,G64).

In the Eevue Celtigiie (vol. ii, 333) iheW. parlli is assumed lo

be derived from spart, for sqvart, and to be connected with

an Aryan skard, to break, and Sans. hhad. I will not here

discuss the question whether Ascoli or Fick has chosen the

best Sans. relative, but this may be said, that they have re-

ferred to living words, and that the assumed root, sqvart, is

whoUy imaginary. It may be noted that the letter r is sup-

posed to have fallen from the Sans. words jj'cü/ and hhad, aud

yet a suggestion of this kind on my part, iu another instance,

has been treated as an impossibility. Few philological

changes are more common (compare E. speak and Germ.

sp)rcchen). Professor Pictet has compared the W. pìaUii and

other words with corresponding forms in Irish. For this he

has been assailed by Windisch aud Ebel {Beitr. viii, 25 ; iii,

278), but until it has been proved that pallu is ouly a moderu

form, his conclusions cannot justly, I thinlc, be condemned as

unsound. Windisch states that the Ir. stem alla, in di-all

(declinatio) is from a root palla, whicli he connects with the

Lith. p)ulu (to fall), and Old ìs.^falla (to fall, to fail ; cadere,

deficere, EgiUson. — {Bcitr. viii, 2). This is identical wilh the

W. pallu (deficere, Davies).

142 THE CELTIC LA.NGUAGES.

I can only offer a few remarks on the words ffoll, mal, and
cocw, wliicli have been questioned. I am aware that Dr.
Owen Pughe is not a very safe guide, but " ffoll, a broad
squab/' is found in Pryse's edition of his work and in Spur-
rell's dictionary. It is adopted by Whitley Stokes, or his
friend Professor Siegfried [Bcitr., vii, 398). Davies has
" Ffolen, chmis", and this implies a root ffol or ffoll, with a
similar meaning to hitU in the Eng. huttoch. Mal must have
meant originally small. Eichards (1759) has " mal, the same
as ysmcila, light" (levis, inconstans, Davies). "We may com-
pare the Sans. laghu, light (leger) and small (petit) (Burnouf).
rick infers an Aryan mailu, small, and refers to the Lith.
mailu-s, smallness, and to the 0. Slav. malu, small. Ysmala
denotes inal as its root, and levis in the moral, requires the
primary sense. Cocw. The root here is coc or cocc, and is
found in cogiürn, " a little crab or wilding, a sort of sea-snail,
a shell, as of a snail, etc; also a little stack of corn"
(Eichards). Lhuyd has "kokkos, a cochle'' {Arch^ologia, 285).
(Cf. Bret. hoh, the holly-berry ; and Sans. kucha, the female
breast; both from roundness of form.) Coc or cocc is a
genuine Celtic root^ with a meaning that is clearly indicated,
and this is all that my argument requires.

ERRATA.

Cymmrodor, Vo1. III, Part I.

Page 10, line 4, for — put =.
Page 12, for layäme, read layänii.
Page 14, for wrinfan, read wrin.ijan.
Page 14 (note), for dhuti-m, read dhutim,
Page 16 (note), for net. read nuinher or series.
Pages 19 and 20, îor j^ësF, read pJs'i.
Pages (note), íor patt-Tr-a, read pat-ira.
Page 24, line 10, for ìvitk, read to.
Page 33, for lcarhari, read harharT.
Page 33 (note), for lcashtä, read hashta.
Page 43, for haläs'd, read kalaíâ.

143

THE EISTEDÜFODAU OF 1880.

TíiE year 1880 was a memorable one in the histoiy of Eis-
teddfodau. The National Eisteddfod was held at Carnarvon
on a scale unprecedented for many years, and a second, of no
inconsiderable dimensions, was celebrated by South Wales on
its own account.

The latter was opened at Swansea, on the 4th of August,
under the presidency of the Yenerable Archdeacon Grifíiths ;
and continued, on the fifth, under that of Mr. J. Jones
Jenkins, the Mayor of Swansea ; and, on the sixth, under
that of j\Ir. Gwilym Williams, of Mishin ]Manor ; Mr. Hussey
YÌYÌan, M.P., who had been expected to preside on the first
day, being detained in London by the sitting of Parliament.
Over tlie Gorsedd ceremonies, which were carried out with
due completeness, Gurnos (Ptev. J. Gurnos Jones), the Eev.
Gwilym Glanffrwd Thomas, and loan Arfon (John 0.
Grififìths, Esq.) presided. The conductors in the Pavilion
were Llew Llwyfo, the Piev. E. Edmunds, of Swansea, and
the Rev. J. Ossian Davies.

The chair of Glamorgan, with a prize of £20, was offered
for the best ode in commemoration of Sir Rowland Hill, and
honourably won by Mr. Thomas E. Davies of Pontypridd
(Dewi Wyn o Essyllt). The chief choral prize of £100 was
not awarded in its entirety, but one of half the amount was
conferred on the best of the three competing choirs, that of
Hirwaun, under the direction of Gwilym Cynon. A lesser
choral prize, of £20 and a gold medal, fell to the choir of the
Tabernacle, INIorriston, who were led by Mr. D. Franks ; and
Tredegar, under the leadership of Mr. Tom Hardy, carried off

144 THE EISTEDDFODAU OF 1880.

tlie prize in tlie brass-band competition. Eos Dyfed and Lis
party were successfiil in tlie contest in quartette singing;
Thomas Eicliards and party in the execution of a trio ; the
" Maesteg Minstrels" and a party from Ystalyfera gained
each a prize of fìve guineas in part-singing.

Two prizes, of £25 and of £10, were awarded to Mr. Beriah
Evans of Gwynfe, Llangadoc, for the two best serial stories,
iUustrating Welsli life and character. It wiU be remembered
tliat Mr. Evans was successful in a similar competition at
Cardiff in 1879. Mr. Grifûth Jones of Glanmenai, Carnarvon-
shire, gained a prize of £20 for his essay on "Eminent Welsh-
men of this Century" ; Mr. W. T. Rees of Llanelly (Alaw
ddu) one of similar amount for an anthem in memory of
the late Ambrose Lloyd. A prize of five guineas was con-
ferred on Miss Parry of Blaenportli, Cardigan, for her Welsh
essay on the " Advantages of Eeady Money" ; one of similar
value (the Mayor's prize) awarded to Mr. John Howells of
Cowbridge for an English essay on the origin and progress of
free libraries ; and a third, of equal amount, to a competitor
whose real name did not appear, for one on the cultivation
of the soils of Glamorgan. Gwilym Gwent, who stiU dates
from America, again carried off a prize of five guineas for the
composition of a glee ; while the well-known composer Mr.
E. S. Hughes, of London, gained the three guinea prize
offered by Eos Morlais for a tenor song, and the similar one
proposed by Mr. Lncas Williams for a scena for a bass voice.
The successful scena was rendered on the spot by jNIr. Lucas
Williams with much applause.

A prize of fìve guineas was awarded to Mr. D. C. Harris
for an elegiac poem to the late Mrs. Eosser of Pontypridd,
and one of three guineas to the Eev. T. J. Morgau for ten
Welsh satirical verses, " Diraddwyr y Cymry".

Eor two important prizes, amongst otliers, no competitors
appeared. The committee had offered £25 for an essay on

THE EISTEDDFODAU OF 1880. 1-15

" Tlie Etymology of Place-names, in its Relation to Etlino-
logy, iîi so far as it iUustrates the Preliistoric Migrations of
the Kelts", and ]\Ir. Hussey Vivian ten guineas for a " His-
tory of tbe Literature of Monmouthshire and Glamorgan."
We would venture to suggest the desirability of a longer
notice being given when subjects which require such wide
research for their adequate treatment are proposed. A prize
of £10 and a gohl medal had also been offered for a Welsh
poem to lolo Morganwg, Lut the adjudicators declined to
niake tbe award. These three competitions, it was announced
at the concluding Gorsedd, will be proposed again, at Merthyr
Tydfil, in 1881, and it is to be hoped not again in vain.

No Eisteddfod is now complete without an address in
Welsh by the Oxford Professor of Celtic. Professor Ehŷs took
for his subject on this occasion, the origin of the musical
mode of expression. Passing on to discuss the present posi-
tion of the art in Wales, he earnestly urged the rising poets of
the country to turn their attention to the legends of their
native land, and, by dressiug them in appropriate verse, to
afford composers a national basis for their music. For these
addresses of the learned professor's, Wales is much indebted,
as well for the originality and suggestiveness of their matter,
as for the standard of correct and vigorous Welsh which they
embody.

The audience at Swansea had also the pleasure of hearing
the animated speech in whicli the veteran composer, Mr.
Brinley Richards, pointed out tlie advantages which the
Eisteddfod had been the means of conferring on the art he
represented, and a stirriug oration in Welsh by the presi-
dent of the Gorsedd, besides the excellent presidential
addresses.

The attendance at the Eisteddfod left nuthing to be desired.
On the first day it was reported that nearly 24,000 persons
had passed the turnstiles ; and the greatest interest pre-

VOL. IV. L

146 THE înSTEDDFODAU OF 1880.

vailed from first to last. Tlie Swansea Orchestral and Choral
societies were a promiuent feature in the evening concerts.
Handel's " Samsou" was rendered ou the second evening.

Tlie ISrational Eisteddfod was opened in the permanent
pavilion lately erected in Carnarvon, on the 24th of August,
and continued through the three succeeding days. The court-
yard of the castle added impressiveness to the rites of the
Gorsedd, which, under Clwydfardd's auspices, was held there
each morning, the president of the day being subsequently
conducted thence in state to the pavilion. On the opening
day, Sir Wathin WiUiams Wynn, " Prince in Wales", appro-
priately occupied the president's seat. On the subsequent
days it was filled by Major Cornwallis West, by Mr. Watkin
Williams (now Sir Watlcin Williams), and by Sir Llewellyn
Turner. Mr. J. H. Puleston, wdio had been expected to
preside, was unable to attend. Llew Llwyfo and Tanymariau
by turns wielded the conductor's lâton.

The Bardic Chair, witli a prize of £20 attached, proposed
for the best mudl on " Athrylith," was conferred on the Eev.
B. Joseph of Colwyn Bay. In the chief remaining poetical
competitions, Mr. H. T. Davies of Brynllaeth gained the
prize (£5 and a silver medal) for a cyyjydcl on " Health" ;
the Eev. Mr. Eoberts, rector of Llangwm (Elis Wyn o Wyr-
fai), £20 and a silver crown, for a poem on " The Triumph of
the Cross" ; the Eev. J. Ceulanydd Williams of Talysarn,
£10 and a silver medal, for a poem, " The Two Patriots", in
memory of the late Eev. Eobert Jones and tlie late Eev.
T. James, F.S.A. ; and the Eev. J. 0. Grifíìth (loan Arfon)
four guineas and a silver medal for a pastoral poem.

For his glee, " Exile from Cambria", the prize of £5 and a
silver medal was awarded to Mr. C. H. Eenshaw of Eochferry ;
and to Prof, 0. H. Evans of Tanlan, Newborough, Anglesea,
one of seven-and-a-half guineas and a silver medal for his
quintett for string instruments.

THE EISTEDDFODAU OF 1880. 147

The great clioral prize, of £150 and a gold niedal, was
carried off by Birkenhead from the two choirs of Llan-
golleu and Acrefair, tliemselves of unexceptionable merit,
and higlily praised by the adjudicators. The pieces selected
for the competition were, " See from his post" (Handel) and
" While everlasting ages roll" (lìossini). In pronouncing the
award, Dr. Stainer took occasion to express his definite con-
clusiou that abundance of real musical talent existed in
Wales, and liis hope that opportunities for its full develop-
ment would soon be provided. ]Mr. W. Parry was the leader
of the successful choir.

In the brass band competition, Llanrug was successful,
and gained the prize of £20 and a gold medal. The excellent
playing of their leader, ]\Ir. J. E. Tidswell, was much com-
mended. Carnarvon won the ten guineas and silver medal
offered for string bands, The triple harp contest derived a
sad interest from the fact that the victor, ]\Ir. Owen Jones
of Arthog, is blind. Miss Griffith, daughter of Mr. W. Ll.
Griffith, won the harmonium offered for pianoforte playiug by
competitors ünder twenty years of age, and extra prizes were
given by Mr. Love Jones Parry to two other young ladies,
Miss Richards and Miss Grace Owen, of lîhyl. Miss Welton,
a granddaughter of Owain Gwyrfai, the antif[uarian, gained
a prize of 3 guineas for a contralto solo. Mr. E. T. Price of
Llanidloes bore the palm for harmonium-playing ; aud j\Ir.
Martin Sullivan of Carnarvon excelled on the cornet.

Some important subjects had been proposed for prose
compositions. For a translation of Gwalchmai's poems into
English, a prize of £10 and a silver medal was conferred on
Mr. Eeynolds, son of Nalhan Dyfed. Thirty guineas and a
silver medal were offered by gentlemen coimected with the
mining intere.st for an essay on "The Metalliferous Deposits
of Flint and Denbigh", and awarded by the adjudicators to
Mr. D. C. Davies, F.G.S., of Oswestry. For a Welsh essay

148 THE EISTEDDFODAU OF 1880.

on the question, " Is the Enthusiasm connected with Music
in Wales conducive to the Mental Development of the
Nation?" £5 and a silver medal to Mr. W. E. Owen of
Liverpool. For one in the same language, on "The Folhlore
of Carnarvonshire", £10 and a silver medal to Mr. Evan
Williams of Carnarvon ; and for a Welsh handbook on " The
Chemistry of Common Things", a similar prize to Mr. Eichard
Morgan of Aberystwith. The £20 prize proposed for an
essay on "Education in Wales" was not adjudicated, but
half that sum, with a medal, awarded to Mr. M. E. jNIorris of
Minffordd.

Mr, W. G. Shrubsoll of Bangor gained the prize of fifteen
guineas and a silver medal for a water-colour drawing,
Mr. R. Lloyd Joues of Pisgah that for architectural drawing,
and Miss Doidge of Aberdyfi that for crayon drawing.

In a slate-splitting contest, Mr. J. R. Jones and Mr. R. W.
Rowlands, of Llanberis, divided the two first prizes of seven
guineas and three guineas.

Besides the able speeches delivered by the presidents in
opening each day's proceedings, an interesting address on
the triple harp was given by Mr. John Tliomas (Pencerdd
Gwalia) ; Mr. Lewis Morris spoke briefly on the merits of the
Eisteddfod ; and the iudefatigable Professor Phŷs, on the
legends and mythology of Carnarvonshire, was no less in-
structive and suggestive than in the Pavilion at Swansea.

Pererin, Alltud Eifion, and the Eev. Eowland Williams
(Hwfa Môn) also delivered addresses.

In the course of the first day's proceedings, a handsome
enamelled slate table, the work and gift of Mr. Owen
of Carnarvon, was presented by Mr. Love Jones Parry, in
the name of the committee, to Captain Moger, of H.ÄI. train-
ing ship Clio.

A concert was held, as usual, eacli eveuing. In that on
the 26th, the Swansea Yalley Orpheus Society formed the
conspicuous feature.

THE EISTEDDFODAU OF 1880. 149

Proclamation of ^Merthyr Tyclfil as the place of the Eistedd-
fod of 1881 was made at the Gorsedd oii the conclading day.

TiiE Cymmrodorion Section.

Under this title a series of meetings were held by the
Society of Cymmrodorion in the Giiildhall, Carnarvon, in
counectiou with the National Eisteddfod, on the evenin£r of
August 23rd, and on the tliree following days.

In the unavoidabl6 absence of Mr. Lewis IMorris, the presi-
dent of the section, the chair was occupied by ]\Ir. Hugh
Owen.

The following papers were read and discussed :

" On the Present and Future of Wales" (President's
Inaugural Address). By Mr. Lewis Morris.^

" On Higher and Intermediate Education in Wales."
By Mr. Hugh Owen.

"On Music in Wales." By Mr. David Jenkins,
Mus. Bac.

" On Eisteddfod Pteform." By Mr. Hugh Owen, and
by Mrs. Thomas of Llandegai.^

" On Jesus College and the Meyrick Fund." By Mr.
Owen Owen of Oswestry.

" On Temperance Public-houses in Xürth Wales." By
Mr. Henry Lewis.

" On Higher Education of Girls." By Mrs. Peters of
Bala.

" On the Design for the Cymmrodorion Medal." By
Mr. Joseph Edwards.

1 This addre.ss is printed in an earlier portion of the present number
of Y Cymnirodor.

2 Discussion on these papers was taken at great length, and resulted
in the appointment of a joint committee of Bards and Cymmrodorion,
and ultimately in tlie formation of the "National Eisteddfol Associa-
tion".

150

Eeln'eUiö of ^SooIiö,

Y Mabinogion Cymreig : sef chwedlau rhamantus yr hen
Gymry. Yn yr hen Gymraeg a'r Gymraeg bresenol.
Liverpool : Cylioeddwyd gan Isaac Foulees, 18, Bruns-
wick Street. 1880. [First vol.]

We have here to call the attention of our readers to what
\ve have long earnestly desired to see — an edition of tlie
Mabinogion specially adapted for the Welsh " general
reader". Mr. Foulhes has already deserved well of his
countrymen hy his efforts to place within tlie reach of all
the works of some of our best writers. We may instance
his cheap, but neat and handy, editions of the works of
GoronM-y Owen, Alun, Dafydd ab Gwilym, and others. He
has not been a prolific publisher, but in everything that he
has issued he has supplied a want. The present is his most
ambitious and, we are told, his last venture, and it is to be
hoped that his enterprise may be rewarded with the encour-
agement it deserves.

The history of these remarhable tales has been a strange
one. Standing apart as the one work in our literature that
has powerfully influenced European thought, it niight
reasonably have been expected that they would have enjoyed
a popularity proportionate to their worth, and have been in
everybody's hands, studied and prized by all as the rarest
treasure iu the language. Unhappily their fate lias been far
different. For many a long year they remained known only
to a few scholars, and entrusted to the precarious heeping of
a manuscript. Something over fifty years ago Carnhuanawc
mournfully expressed his apprehension that they might

liEYIEWÖ OF BOOKS. 151

never see tlie liglit, biit niiglit at any moment, through some
accident, be lost to the world for ever. Fortunately the fears
of that distiiiguished scholar and thorough patriot were not
fulfilled. At last — thanks to the taste, learning, and munifi-
cence of Lady Guest — they were issued fi'om the Llandovery
press in a form that reflected equal credit upon the editor
and the publisher, and went far to make amends for centuries
of neglect. Further honour awaited them : taken up by
Zeuss, they formed a great storehouse of illustration for his
work, the Welsh portion of which may be not unaptly de-
scribed as a Grammar of the Mabinogion.

Still the tales remained, with one or two exceptions, inac-
cessible to the Welsh reader, and a popular edition was
urgently needed. The present issue is intended to meet that
want. The plan of the work is indicated by the title. We
have first a reprint of the text, and then^ witli a separate
j)aginatiou, a modernised version accompanied with notes.
The first volume contains five of the tales, viz., those
bearing the names of Math vab jMathonwy, Peredur ab
Efrawc, larlles y Ffynnawn, Geraint ab Erbin, and Rulhwch
ac Olwen.

It is right to say that this edition will not be of much
value for critical purposes, as the text is not printed with
suíficient accuracy in minor matters. We should also have
been glad if a more systematic attempt had been made to
explain tlie language in all its details to the modern reader.
Finally, the work is issued in 4to., to which we should have
preferred crown 8vo. or 12mo. as more handy; but this is a
matter of individual taste of no moment.

We are often reminded that the works of a certaiu Ensrlish

O

author have been styled the " well of English undefiled'^;
with much more appropriateness might the Mabinofjion be
called " the Aven of uiidefiled Cymraeg", and as such we
would most strongly recommend them to the patient study

152 REYIEWS OF BOOKS.

of all wlio wish to cultivate a pure and idioiuatic Welsh
style.

Cydymaith y Cymro: neu Lawlyfr i'r Gymraeg. Gan y
Parch E. T. Dayies, B.A., Ficer Eglwys Dewi Sant,
Llynlleifiad, etc, etc.

This little work is inteuded as a guide to young writers, and
the fact that the present is the third edition seems to imply
that it has been found useful. It was compiled originally
for some Eisteddfod, and the haste with which all composi-
tions for these competitions have to be written, must
probably account for that absence of a definite plan in the
work, which has rendered necessary the addition of a chapter
of IMiscellanea, another of Addenda, and two Appendices.
But the little book contains a large amount of useful informa-
tion ; the writer's judgment is generally sound ; and we
should be glad to find the " Cydymaitli" extensively used by
that not too well-informed class who write to our newspapers
and cheaper magazines to the grievous disfìgurement of our
old language. It would have been better, however, if the
author had not undertaken the responsibility of perpetuat-
ing the notion that the Welsh eto is derived from Latin etiam.

NoTES OF A TouR IN Brittany. By S. Prideaux Tregelles,
LL.D. Edinburgh : Johnstone, Hunter, and Co.

This unpretending little volume — tlie scope and character of
which are suffìciently indicated by its title — will be read
with great pleasure by anyone interested in things Cymric
generally, or in Brittany particularly. The author is knovvn
to the world at large as a distinguished biblical scholar and
editor of the Greek Testament ; but to many of our readers
he will be further known as a Cornishman, who during a
temporary residence in South Wales became an enthusiastic

REYIEWtí Oí" BOOKS. 15

Q

student of Welsli, wliich he learnt with a thoroughness
equalled by very few, foreigners or natives. Eeaders of the
Brython especially wiU remeniber with pleasure his interest-
ing letters iu that periodical.

The " Notes" are quite plain and simple, and very different
from the work of a professional bookmaker ; hence they are
much more satisfactory than similar works of a more pre-
tentious character which we have read. Dr. Tregelles did
Dot go to Brittany in order that he might write a book
about it on his return ; he went to see a country and a people
that had long interested him, and with whose history he was
already familiar. He simply tells us the way he and his
sister, who accompanied him, went, and wliat they saw,
adding as much of historical detail as is required to make
his references intelligible to the general reader. He gives
an interesting shetch of the early close connection between
tlie Continental Britons and their cousins in Wales and
Cornwall, and has an occasional happy note iUustrating
points of contact in the dialects.

Two characteristics of the author come out very clearly in
the " Notes" — his strong yet sober enthusiasm for everything
Celtic (or perhaps we sliould rather say Cymric, as it is in
Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany that he shows himself chieíly
interested), and his uncompromising Protestantism. He
appears to have been quite pleased to íìnd that the in-
habitants of Eennes were not content with saying that they
were Bretons, but would add " et non pas Français", to
prevent any possible misconception. But the religious state
of " our cousins" pained him greatly. Of the strong feeling
against Protestantism he gives some striking illustrations.
In a Breton book, published at Landerneau in 1846, the
author speahs " of a great heavy Huguenot book, called the
Bible" (p. 118) ; and in another book, the passage in Mark x,
33, is rendered, " And they shall deliver him into the hands

154 EEYIEWS OF BOOKS.

of tlie Hugueìiots' (p. 139). But altogether be declares
Liiuself to have beeu greatly pleased with the people of
whom he Avas so sympathetic and appreciative an observer.

The Eebecca Eioter : a Stoey of Killay Life. By
E. A. DiLLWYN. 2 vols. Loudoü, Macmülau and Co.
1880.

The period of negiect and distress iu which " Eebecca" made
ber rough protest against the anomalies of the existiug
Turnj)ike Act, has been selected by Miss Dillwyn for illustra-
tiou. The hero of her little shetch, dying in Australia uuder
senteuce for homicide connected with the riots, tells tlie
pathetic story of a life begun in poverty and iguorance, and
wreched in early manhood for lack of better guides, to a
fellow countrymau, the surgeon of the prison. It needs a
certain effort, so rapid have beeu the changes of the last
forty years, to realize the existence in South AYales, only so
far back as 1843, of a state of society such as Miss Dillwyn
depicts. Neither chapel, nor school, nor eisteddfod extends
its influeuce to soften the manners or traiu the moral seuse
of the youth of Upper Killay, w^ho grow up, on their bleak
billside, a wild aud lawless set, regarding the policeman
as a commou enemy, and an unprotected traveller as legiti-
mate prey. From such surroundiugs, modified in slight
degree by the accideut which briugs him for a time under
the tutelage of Gwenllian Tudor, the embryo rioter forms '
bis views of human life, until in the natural course of things
be becomes enrolled among " Eebecca's" children, and in-
volved in the course of events which lead to his crime and
trausportation, and form the plot of the tale,

In the filling in of this simple plan^ Miss Dillwyn finds
an opportunity of exhibiting talents of no mean order. In
the central figure of Evan Williams, she has succeeded in

THE FOLK-LORE OF WALES. 155

placiiig before us a carefully studied and tlioroughly Imman
portrait of a typical Welsliman, — a Welsliman, tliat is, of
tbe rudimentary stage of civilization indicated above. The
subordiuate characters are of necessity little more than
outlines, but they are well delineated in a few bold and
skilful strokes, and seldom fail to possess distinct individu-
ality. The homeliuess of the speaher's narrative, and tlie
cliaracteristic threads of humour interwoven with its pathos,
are preserved without sacrificing the grace of an accurate
Engiish style, and the more stirring scenes are depicted in
language which retaius its simplicity while becoming emi-
nently descriptive. The attach on the gate, the struggle
with the police, the escape of the fugitives, the hero's remorse
ou learning his victim's name, and the details of his appre-
hension, form a contiuuous series of vivid pictures, the sus-
tained interest of which is never marred by strain after effect.
The whole work, in short, conveys the impression that the
authoress is writing well within her strength, and on sub-
jects which slie thoroughly understauds. To say even so
much is to attribute to " the Eebecca Pàoter" a high place
among contemporary fiction.

Cîje J^olk^ìLare of Sllaleö,

The desirability of establishing a Welsh Dialect Society has
several times, within the last ten years, been dwelt upon;
and quite recently, it has been proposed that a Welsh Dialect
Section be formed in ccnnection with our own Society. A
suggestion has also been made, that the study of the Folh-
lore of the Principality might with advantage be included
in the programme of such society or section. AMiatever
may be done to carry out these suggestions, we wish, by
way oí initiatiye, to take this opportunity of urging our

156 THE FOLK-LORE OF WALES.

readers, wlio are resident in Wales, to do all in their power
to coUect and secure what stiU remains of the popular litera-
ture of the country. And under this terin we would coni-
prehend all the unwritten literature (if such an expression
be permissible) of the peasant — the tales and legends that
constitute his History ; the songs, verses, and ballads, that
form his Music and his Poetry, the proverbs that embody
his Philosophy, as well as all those observances, beliefs, and
ideas which are more strictly included in the term rolk-lore.
As might have been expected, in the case of a people of
such strong imagination, the various Celtic peoples are, or
have been, singularly wealthy in such popular literature.
Very much has been lost for ever, and much more will be
lost, unless some special efforts be speedily made to secure
what remains, before those powerful influences, which are so
rapidly deceltising these lands, shall have made it too late.
Of what Cornwall possessed, while it was yet Celtic in lan-
guage, we can now only surmise ; and in Wales, the day for
oathering a rich harvest has long since passed. In Ireland
also, it is rapidly passing ; and passing, alas ! to a great ex-
tent, if not entirely, unimproved. ]S"o adeçLuate effort, so
far as we are aware, is being made to secure the immense
mass of songs and tales, which are stiU sung and told
by tlie winter fìreside in the cabins of Connemara. And
very soon it will be too late there, too. Every year carries
away some of the old people, whose sole literature has been
of this class ; and every year makes the newspaper, the great
rival and foe of the story-teller, more and more common.
Tn the Highlands of Scotland, Mr. Campbell has done good
service by the collection of his Poimlar Tales. But it is
Brittany that has been fortunate, beyond almost any other
country in Europe. In the person of M. Luzel, it possesses
a collector who may fairly be described as unrivaUed. Of
what he has done, aud how he has doue it, our readers may

TIIK folk-loi;e of wales. 157

form an opinion by glancing tlnongli the two volumes of his
Gwerziou Breiz-Izcl, liis Veillées Bretonnes, and the pages of
Mélusine. If he lives (and we devoutly hope that he will)
to give to the world his complete collection of songs and
tales, the popular literature of Brittany will be presented
to the student witli a completeness that shall leave little to
be desired.

As already observed, the tinie for gathering such a rich
harvest in Wales has passed for ever : it had passed, indeed,
long before students of language and ethnology had per-
ceived the value of these treasures. To have secured the
fuU wealth of song and tale, that once circulated in the
Principality, measures should have been taken at least a
hundred and fifty years ago, while this traditional lore stiU
constituted the sole mental wealth of the peasant. Still,
much remaius to be gieaned in out-of-tlie-way corners ; very
much more tlian a casual observer would expect to fìnd.
But, like ghost stories, these remains must be sought, and
sought in a sympathetic spirit, ere they can be found. And
we would urge tliose of our readers, wdio have the oppor-
tunity, to engage in the quest con amore, ere it is too late.
For another generation of elementary schools, newspapers,
and cheap novels, with the change of language which these
agencies are so rapidly effecting, will have swept away most
of what yet remains. As deserving objects of the collector's
pious care, might be specified : —

1. Tales, legends, and traditions of all kinds.

2. Songs, and poetic fragments of all kinds, not forgetting,
especially as being rare, Welsli nursery rhymes, lullabys, or
shoheens.

3. Old airs.

4. Folk-lore, strictly so-called, comprising old observances
and customs, the superstitions, ideas, and prejudices of the
common people.

158 NOTES AND QUERIES.

5. Eiddles, puzzles, and verbal tasks.

6. Formnlíe used in games, witli description of tlie games,
if necessary.

In orderthat anytliing thiis coUected mayhaA^e a scientific
value, it must be authentic. The song or tale may be crude
and inelegant, imperfect, or even uuintelligible, yet it should
be recorded with scrupulous fidelity, as it was sung or told
by the peasant, from whom it has been obtained ; if it is
tinkered to suit the narrator's ideas of literary excellence, or
to satisfy any of his preconceived ideas, notions, or theories,
it becomes worthless. We have already referred to M. Lu^el's
labours, and we would specify his Gwerziou Breiz-Izel as a
model of what a coUection of popular songs should be. We
might instance, again, a work dealing with the same subject,
and contaming, to a certain extent, the same matter, —
Yillemarqué's Barzaz Breiz, as a type of what such a collection
should not be. The songs in tbe former are often imperfect,
rugged, and partially unÌDtelligible; while those in the latter
are finished and elegant, and possess much literary beauty ;
yet it does not require that one should be a specialist in this
department, in order to know to which of the two a Lieb-
recht, or a Köhler would turn for a representation of what
the popular -poetrj of Brittany really is. In saying this, we
do not in the least wish to pronounce an opinion on the
matter in dispute between M. de La Villemarqué and his
critics : it is enough for us that the authenticity of the Barzaz
Breiz can, with some show of reason (not to put it more
strongly) be denied. A coUection of the kind, to have any
scientific value, must be above suspicion.

Any readers who may feel anxious to become collectors,
should observe the following rules : —

1. Whatever is recorded, should be given with absolute
fidelitv, as it fell from the narrator's mouth.

NOTES ANI) Qri:iìIKS. 159

2. Il sliould be stated wliere, when, and from wliom, eacli
tale, song, etc, was obtained: and if the narrator is known to
be a native of another district than that in wliich he is found,
it slioidd be mentioned.

3. The collector should generally go to the oldest and
most iUiterate peasants, as these naturally preserve their
traditional lore with the greatest fidelity, both as to matter
and form. Such persons also speak the dialects with the
greatest purity.

4. Fragments of tales, etc, sliould be carefully recorded ;
and also difîerent versions should be given, if the variation is
at all considerable.

We shall be glad to give a place in the Cymmrodor to
such gleanings as we may from time to time be favoured by
our fellow-members.

Boteö anîi auertcö.

A YERY learned and active member of the Society has sug-
gested that it might be well to devote some space in every
number of Y Cymmroclor to " N"otes and Queries". This
suggestion it gives us great pleasure to act upon, aud we
hope our readers wiU give their help, and send us any fact
worth recording in connection with " Cymru, Cymry, a Chyni-
raeg", which they may at any time " make a note of".

(Diieríeö.

Blodeüwedd as a Name for the Owl. — In the Mahinorji
of ^lath ab Mathonwy, an account is given of the transform-
ation of the faithless Flower-aspect into an owl, and it is
added : " Xow Ijlodeuwedd is an owl in the language of tliis

present time And even now the owl is called Blodeu-

wedd" (Guest's MaUnogion, iii, 214, 249). In the note on

160 NOTES AND QUERIES,

p. 258, reference is made to Davydd ab Gwilym's poera on
the subject. Silvan Evans, in liis Eng.-Welsh Dicty. s.v.
" owl", gives " blodeuwedd" as a rendering. Wliat other
references (if any) are there in Welsh literature to this
metamorphosis ? And is the name hlodeuwedd still given to
the owl in any district of Wales ? Glanikvon.

A Description of the Day of Judgment. — The Welsh
article under this heading in the present number appears to
be a translation, probably from the Latin. Can any of our
readers direct us to the original ? Editor.

Gloucester and its Intonicants. — Years ago I heard

from a native of Carmarthenshire, resident in Breconshire,

the foUowÌÄg doggerel verse :

" Yn nhre' Llyndeu mae cyfi'eth gywren,
Yn Rhydychen mae gwyr o ddysg ;
Yng Ngharloyw mae gwin a chwrw,
A dynion meddw yn eu mysg."

Why should Gloucester have been selected as the place par
excellence of " î'.mie ancl heer"? Was that city at any time
famous or infamous in that respect ? Glanirvon.

Welsh Phrases. — It is niuch to be desired that some
competent person would give us a Dictionary of Welsh
Phrase and Fahle : it would be an interesting and, wliat dic-
tionaries generally are not, an amusing work. Pending the
appearance of such a work, can any reader of Y Cymmrodor
throw light on the origin of the following phrases ?

1. BrathiCr cjaseg wen. I have often heard this expression
used to describe the conduct of a person who breaks in upon
conversation wàth some stupid or irrelevant remark, or some
foolish explanation or answer : e.g., Dyna fe 'n hrathu'r gascg
wen (or, more fully, yn hrathîi'r gaseg wen yn rhyiole), There
lie goes with his wild and thoughtless answer.

^ NOTICES. 161

2. Bod ym Wiciiboir =to be a fool. I liave heard it said
of a maii, Oh, y mae llawer o hono fe ym Mheiiboir yto : OIi,
he has a good deal of the fool about him yet. Penboir is iii
Carmarthenshire, but why is it thus libelled ?

3. Flaìit Sion Gnoc=z'' íools, noodles". This expression 1
have heard in the Western part of Breconshire. A foolish
young woman is sometimes humorously designated Uîi o
ferched Sion Cnoc ; or it will be said of one, Oh, un o blant
Sion Cnoc yw ynte. I never could learn who Sion was, but
it seems to be generally acknowledged that his family is a
numerous one. Is he known to any Cymmrodor otherwise
than throuíîli his descendants ?

4. GodreW Rhiio dyimjll=dX a safe distance. This, I
believe, comes from Cardiganshire. It is used of a person
who loudly denounces another in his absence, and implies
the belief tliat the blusterer would be discreetly silent in
that other's presence : e.g., le, ie, yng ngodre'r Rhiw dywyll y
mae e'n cymhenu bob amser : He always scolds at a safe dis-
tance, when the person reproved is far enough out of hear-
ing.

5. Giuerthu'r hwrdd=to mutter sulkily, said of a person
who mumbles indistinctly some reply which he dare not, or
does not care to give openly : e.g., Dyna lle'r o'dd e'ngicerthu'r
hwrdd : There he stood, muttering and grumbling. Some-
times I have heard the phrase expanded into gioerthu'r
hwrdd am lai nag a dalaife (to sell the ram for less than its
value). Who made the bargain that originated the saying ?

Glanirvon.

SoMETiME ago a leading London Eeview gave us the interest-
ing information that I'rof lihŷs was engaged upon a History
of the Brcton Celts. This, hoM'ever, was a misconception :

VOL. IV. M

1G2 NOTICES.

tlìe work referred to wiU treat not of Brittany and its
people, biit of Early Britain, Celtic, ancl Prc-Ccltic. It is
to form tlie íirst of a series dealing with tlie early history of
the islandj to be issued by the S.P.C.K., and will be followed
by others on Eoman, Saxon, and Scandinavian Britain. AVe
understand that a part of the work has been written, and
that it wiU be completed as soon as the Professor's labours
in connection with the Education Commission permit him to
resume his pen.

It has also been announced that Mr. Pihŷs has undertaken
to edit Pennanfs Tours for Mr. Humphreys of Carnarvon.

Still more gratifying is the hope held out that the same
scholar wiU soon be called upon to prepare a new edition of
the Mcibinogion, to be issued by the Clarendon Press.

While on the subject of Prof. Ehŷs's literary engagements,
actual and prospective, we are glad to be able to announce
that our next number will contain a paper of some length
from his pen.

WiTH regard to the long-expected Wclsh Dictionary of Prof.
Silvan Evans, the Cymmroclor has already made announce-
ments giving rise to hopes which have proved to be of that
kind which "maketh the heart sick", Mr. Evans has
loohed in vain for a publisher in the principality ; the mantle
of Owain Myfyr has not rested on the shouhlers of any of '
his countrymen. However, there is good ground for hope
that the same press which promises a new edition of our
great romances, wiU lay us under further obUgations by
giving to the worhl the new Geiriadur. The author hopes
"that at no distant date he will be able to see his way
clearly to the press".

Cymmroîíor*

OCTOBEE 1881.

WELSH FAIRY TALES.

By Professor RHYS.

The main object tlie writer of this paper has in view, is to
place on record all tlie matter he can fìnd on the subject of the
lake legends of Wales : what he may have to say of them is
merely by the way and sporadic, and he would feel well paid
for his trouble if the present coUection should stimulate
others to communicate to the public bits of similar legends,
which, it may be, stiU linger unrecorded among the moun-
tains of the Principality. For it should be clearly under-
stood that all such things bear on the history of the Celts
of Wales, as the history of no people can be said to have
been written so long as its superstitions and beliefs in past
times have not been studied ; and those who may thiuk that
the legends here recorded are childish and frivolous, may
rest assured that they bear on questions wliich themselves
could be called neither childish nor frivolous. So, however
siUy they may think a legend, let them communicate it to
somebody who will place it on record ; they wiU then, pro-
bably, find out that it has more meaning and interest tlian
they had anticipated.

I. The Myddvai Legend — Little Yax Lake.

I find it best to begin by reproducing a story whicli has
already been recorded ; this I think desirable on account of
VOL. IV. N

164 WELSH FAIIIY TALES.

its beìng the best tolcl, tbe most complete of its kind, ancl the
one with which shorter ones can most readily be compared.
I aUude to the legend of the Lady of the Lake of the Little
Van in Carmarthenshire, which I take the liberty of copying
from Mr. Eees of Tonn's version of it, in the introduction
to Thc Physicians of Myclchai, published by the Welsh
Manuscript Society at Llandovery, iu 1861. There he says
that he wrote it down from the oral recitations, which I sup-
pose were in Welsh, of John Evans, tiler, of Myddvai,
David WiUiams, Morva, near Myddvai, who was about ninety
years ohl at the time, and Elizabeth Morgan, of Henllys
Lodge, near Llandovery, who was a native of the same vil-
lage of Myddvai ; to this it niay be added that he achuow-
ledges obligations also to J. Joseph, Esq., E.S.A., Brecon,
for collecting particulars from the old inhabitants of the
parish of Llanddeusant. The legend, as given by Mr. Rees
iu English, runs as foUows : —

" When the eventful striiggle made by the Princes of South
Wales to preserve the independence of their country was
drawing to its close in the twelfth century, tliere lived at
Blaensawdde^ near Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire, a widowed
woman, the relict of a farmer who had falleu in those disas-
trous troubles.

" The widow had an only son to bring up, and Providence
smiled upon her, and, despite her forlorn condition, her live
stock had so increased in course of time that she could not
well depasture them upon her farm, so she sent a portion of
her cattle to graze on the adjoining Black Mountain, and
their niost favourite place was near the small lake called

1 "Blaensawdde, or the upper end of the river Sawdde— is situate about
three-quarters of a mile S.E. from the yillage of Llanddeusant. It gives
its name to one of the hamlets of that parish. Tlie Sawdde has its source
in Llyn-y-Van-Vach, which is nearly two miles distant from Blaen-
sawdde house."

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 1G5

Llyn-y-Van-Vacli, on tlie north-western side of the Carmar-
thensliire Vans.

" Tlie son grew up to manhood, and was generally sent by
his mother to look after the cattle on the mountain. One
day, in his peregrinations along the margin of the lake, to his
great astonishment, he beheld, sitting on the unruffled surface
of the water, a Lady; one of the most beautiful creatures
that mortal eyes ever beheld, her hair flowed gracefully in
ringlets over her shoulders, the tresses of which she arranged
with a comb, whilst the glassy surface of her watery couch
served for the purpose of a niirror, reflecting back her own
image. Suddenly she belield the young man standing on the
brink of the lake, with his eyes rivetted on her, and uncon-
sciously offering to herself the provision of barley bread and
cheese with which he had been provided when he left his
home.

"Bewildered by a feeling of love and admiration for the
object before him, he continued to hold out his hand towards
the lady, who imperceptibly glided near to liirn, but gently
refused the offer of his provisions. He attempted to touch
her, but she eluded his grasp, saying

' Cras dy fara ;
Nid hawdd fy nala.'

' Hard baked is thy bread !
'Tis not easy to catch me ;'

and immediately dived under the water, and disappeared,
leaving the love-strickeu youtli to return home, a prey to
disappointment and regret that lie had been unable to make
furtlier acquaintance with one, in comparison witli wliom tlie
whcle of the fair maidens of Llauddeusant and Myddrai,^
whom he had ever seen were as nothing.

1 "Myddvai parish was, in fornier times, celebrated for its fair maidens,
but whether they were descendants of the Lady of the Lake or othLU-

n2

166 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

" On his retiirn liome tlie yoiing man commimicated to his
mother tlie extraordinary vision lie had behehl. She advised
him to take some unbahed dough or ' toes' the next time in
his pocket, as there must have been some spell connected
AYÌth the hard baked bread, or ' Bara cras', which prevented
his catchiug tlie lady,

" Next morning, before the sun had gihled with its rays the
peaks of the Vans, the young man was at the lake, not for
the purpose of looking after his mother's cattle, but seehing
for the same enchanting vision he had witnessed the day
before ; but all in vain did he anxiously strain his eye-balls
and glance over the surface of the lake, as only the ripples
occasioned by a stiff breeze met his view, and a cloud hung
heavily on tlie summit of the Van, which imparted an addi-
tional gloom to his already distracted mind.

" Hours passed on, the wind was hushed, and the clouds
which had enveloped the mountaiu had vanished into thin
air, before the powerful beams of the sun, when the youth
w^as startled by seeing some of his mother's cattle on the pre-
cipitous side of the acclivity, nearly on the opposite side of
the lake. lîis duty impelled him to attempt to rescue them

wise cannot be determined, An old pennill records the fact of their

beauty thus : —

' Mae eira gwyn

Ar ben y bryu,

A'r glasgoed yn y Ferdre,

Mae bedw mân

Ynghoed Cwm-brân,

A merched glâu yn Myddfe.'

Which may be trauslated,

' There is white snow
On the mouutain's brow,
And greenwood at the Yerdre,
Youug birch so good
In Cwmbrâu Avood,
And lovely girls in Myddve,' "

WELSH FAIRY TALES. 1G7

fi'oni their perilous position, for wliich purpose he was hasten-
ing away, wheu, to his inexpressible clelight, the object of his
search agaiu appeared to hiui as before, and seeuied much
more beautiful than when he first beheld her. His hand was
again held out to her, fuU of unbaked bread, which he offered
with an urgent proffer of his heart also, and vows of eterual
attachnient. All of which were refused by her, sayiug

' Llaith dy fara !
Ti ni fynna'.'

' Unbaked is thy bread !
I wiU not have thee.'

But the smiles that played upon her features as the lady
Yanished beneath the waters raised within the young man a
hope that forbade him to despair by her refusal of him, and
the recollection of which cheered him on his way home. His
aged parent was made acquainted with liis iU-success, and
she suggested that his bread should next time be but slightly
baked, as most likely to please the mysterious being, of whom
he had become enamoured.

*' Impelled by an irresistible feeling, the youth left his
mother's house early next moruing, and with rapid steps he
passed over the mountain. He was soon near the margin of
the lake, and with all tlie impatience of an ardeut lover did
he wait witli a feverish anxiety for the reappearance of the
mysterious lady.

" The sheep and goats browsed on the precipitous sides of
the Van ; the cattle strayed amongst the rocks and large
stones, some of which were occasioually loosened from their
beds and suddenly rolled down iuto the lake ; raiu and sun-
shine alike came and passed away, but all were unheeded by
the youth, so wrapped up was he in looking for the appear-
ance of the lady.

" Tlie freshness of the early morning had disappeared before
the sultry rays of the noon-day sun, wliicli in its turn was

168 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

fast verging towards tlie west as tlie evening was dying away
and making room for the shades of night, and hope had well
uigh abated of beholding once more the Lady of the Lake.
The young man cast a sad and last farewell look over the
waters, and, to his astonishment, beheld several cows walhing
along its surface. The sight of these animals caused hope to
revive that they would be followed by another object far
more pleasing; nor was he disappointed, for the maiden re-
appeared, and to his enraptured sight, even lovelier than
ever. She approached the land, and he rushed to meet her
in the water. A smile encouraged liim to seize her hand ;
neither did she refuse the moderately baked bread he offered
her; and after some persuasion, she consented to become his
bride, ou condition tliat they should only live together until
she received from him three blows without a cause,

' Tri ergyd diaclios.'

' Three causeless blows.'

And if lie ever should happen to strihe her three such blows,
she would leave him for ever. To such conditions he readily
consented, and would have consented to any other stipu-
lation, had it been proposed, as he was only intent on then
securing such a lovely creature for his wife.

" Thus the Lady of the Lake engaged to become the young
man's Avife, and having loosed her hand for a moment, she
darted away and dived into tlie lake. His cliagrin and grief
were such that he determiued to cast himself headlong into
the deepest w^ater, so as to end liis life in the element that
had contained in its unfathomed depths the only one for
whom he cared to live on earth. As he was on the point of
committino- this rash act, there emerged out of the lake two
most beautiful ladies, accompanied by a hoary-headed man
of noble mien and extraordinary stature, but having other-
wise all the force and strength of youth. This man addressed

WELSH FAIRY TALES. 109

the almost bewilderecl youth iu íiccents calculated to soothe
his troubled miud, saying that as he proposed to marry one
of his daughters, he conseuted to the union, provided the
young man couhl distinguish which of the two ladies before
him was the object of his affections. This was no easy task,
as the maidens were sucli perfect counterjoarts of each other
that it seemed quite impossible for him to choose his bride,
and if perchance he fixed upon the wrong one, all would be
for ever lost.

" Whilst the young man narrowly S'^anned the two ladies,
he could not perceire tlie least difference betwixt the two,
and was íilmost giving up the task in despair, wlien one of
them thrust her foot a sh'ght degree forward. The motion,
simple as it was, did not escape the observation of the youth,
and he discovered a triHing variation in the mode with which
their sandals were tied. This at once put an eud to the
dilemma, for he, who had on previous occasions beeu so
taken up with the general appearance of the Lady of the
Lake, had also noticed the beauty of her feet and ankles, and
on now recognising the peculiarity of her shoe-tie he boldly
took hold of her hand.

" ' Thou hast chosen rightly,' said her father, ' be to her a
kind and faitliful husband, and I will give her, as a dowry,
as many sheep, cattle, goats, and horses, as she can count of
each without heaving or drawing in her breath. But re-
member, that if you prove unkind to her at any time, and
strike her three times without a cause, she shall retiirn to
me, and shall bring all her stock back with her.'

" Such was the verbal marriage settlement, to which tlie
young man gladly assented, and his bride was desired to
count the number of sheep she was to have. She imnie-
diately adopted the niode of counting by Jivcs, thus : — One,
two, three, four, five — One, two, three, four, five ; as many
times as possible in rapid succession, till her breatli was ex-

170 WELSH FAIliY TALES.

hausted. Tlie same process of reckoning had to determine
the nimiber of goats, cattle, and horses respectively ; and in
an instant the full number of each came out of the lake
when called upon by the Father.

" The young couple were then married, by what ceremony
was not stated, and afterwards went to reside ata farm called
Esgair Llaethdy, somewhat more than a mile from the yillage
of Myddvai, where they lived in prosperity and happiness
for several years, and became the parents of three sons, who
were beautiful children,

" Once upon a time there was a christening to take place
in the neighbourhood, to which the parents were specially
invited. When the day arrived, the wife appeared very re-
luctant to attend the christening, alleging that the distance
was too £>reat for her to walk. Her husband told her to fetch
one of the horses which were grazing in an adjoining field.
' I will/ said she, ' if you will briug me my gioves wliich I
left in our house.' He went to the house and returned with
the gloves, and finding that slie had not gone for the horse,
jocularly slapped her shoulder with one of them, saying, 'go!
go !' (dos, dos) when she reminded him of tlie understanding
upon which slie consented to marry him : — That he was not
to strike her without a cause ; and warned liim to be more
cautious for the future.

" On another occasion, when they were together at a wed-
ding, in the midst of the mirth and hilarity of the assembled
guests, who had gathered together from all the surrounding
country, she burst into tears and sobbed most piteously. Her
husband touched her on her shoulder and enquired the cause
of her weeping : she said, ' No w people are entering into trouble,
and your troubles are likely to comnience, as you have the
second time strichen me without a cause.'

" Years passed on, and their children had grown up, and
were particularly clever young men. In the midst of so niany

WELSH FAIUY TALES. 171

worldly Uessings at home the husband almost forgot that

there remained ouly one causeless blow to be given to destroy

the whole of his prosperity. Still he was watchful lest any

trÌYÌal occurrence should take place, which his wife must re-

gard as a breach of their marriage contract. She tokl him,

as her affection for him was unabated, to be careful that he

would not, through some inadvertence, give the last and only

blow, which, by an unalterable destiny, over wliich she had

no control, would separate them for ever.

" It, however, so happened that one day they were together

at a funeral, where, in tlie midst of the mourning and grief

at the house of the deceased, she appeared iu the highest and

gayest spirits, and indulged iu immoderate fits of laughter,

which so shoched her husband that he touched her saying,

' Hush ! hush ! don't laugh.' She said that she laughed ' be-

cause people wheu they die go out of trouble,' and, rising up,

she went out of ' the house, saying, ' The last blow has beeu

struck, our marriage contract is brokeu, aud at an end ! Fare-

well ! ' Then she started oíî towards Esgair Llaethdy, where

she called her cattle and other stock together, each by name.

The cattle she called thus : —

' Mu -wlfrech, Äloelfrech,
Mu olfrech, Gwyufrech,
Pedair cae touu-frech,
Yr hen wynebwen.
A'r las Geigeu,
Gyda'r Tarw Gwyn
O lys y Breuiu ;
A'r llo tlu bach,
Sydd ar y bach,
Dere dithau, yn iach adre ! '

* Briudled cow, white speclcled,
Spotted cow, bold freckled,
The four field sward uiottled,
The ohl white-faced,
And the grcy Geingen,
Wilh thc white Bull,

172 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

From the conrt of the King ;

And the little black calf

Tho' susiJended on the hook,
Come thou also, quite well home ! '

Tliey all immecTiately obeyed tlie summons of their mistress,
the ' little black calf', although it had been slaughtered, be-
came alive again, and \valked off with the rest of the stock
at tbe command of the Lady. Tliis happened iu the spring
of the year, and there were four oxen ploughing in one of the
fìelds, to these she cried,

' Pedwar eidiou glas
Sydd ar y maes,
Deuwch chwithau
Yn iach adre ! '

' The four grey oxen,
That are on the field,
Come you also.
Quite well home ! '

Away the whole of the live stock went with the Lady across
Myddvai Mountain, towards the lake from whence they came,
a distance of above six miles, where they disappeared beneath
its waters, leaving no trace behind except a well marhed fur-
row, wliich was made by the plough the oxen drew after them
into the lake, and which remains to this day as a testimony
to the truth of this story.

" A\liat became of the affrighted ploughman — whether he
was left on the field when the oxen set off, or whether he
foUowed them to the lake, lias not been handed down to tra-
dition ; neither has the fate of the disconsolate and half-
ruined husbanà been kej)t in remembrance. But of the sons
it is stated that they often w^andered about the lake and its
vicinity, hoping that their mother might be piermitted to
visit the face of the earth once more, as they had been
apprised of her mysterious origiu, her first appearance to

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 173

their fatlier, and tlie untoward circiimstances whicli so iin-
happily deprived them of her maternal care.

" In one of tlieir rarnbles, at a place near Dôl Howel, at
the Mountain Gate, still called 'Llidiad y Meddygon', The
Physicians' Gate, the mother appeared suddenly, and accosted
her eldest son, whose name was Ehiwallon, and told him that
his mission on earth was to be a benefactor to niankind Ijy
relieving them from pain and niisery, through healing all
manner of their diseases ; for which purpose she furnished
him with a bag full of medical prescriptions and instructions
for the preservation of health. That by strict attention
thereto, he and his family would become for many gene-
rations the most skilful physicians in the country. Then
promising to meet him when her counsel was most needed,
she Yanished. But on several occasions she met her sons
near tlie banks of the lake, and once she even accompauied
them on their return home as far as a place stiU called 'Pant-
y-Meddygon', The dingle of the Physicians, where she pointed
out to them the various plants and herbs which grew in the
dingle, and revealed to them their medicinal qualities or
virtues ; and the knowledge she imparted to tliem, together
with their unrivalled skill, soon caused them to attain such
celebrity that none ever possessed before them. And in
order that their knowledge should not be lost, they wisely
committed the same to writing^ for the benefit of mankind
tliroughout all ages."

To the legend Mr. Rees added the foUowing notes, which
W'e reproduce also at fiUl length : —

"And so euds the story of the Physicians of Myddrai,

whicli has been handed down from one generation to another,

thus : —

' Yr hên wr Uwyd o'r cornel,
Gan ei dad a glywodd cliwedel,
A chan ei dad fe glywodd yntau
Ac ar ei ôl lui goüais iunau.'

174 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

' Tlie grey old mau iu the corner
üf liis father heard a story,
Which from his father he had heard,
And after them 1 have remembered.'

As stated in the introduction of the present work [i.c, the

Physicians of Myddvai], Ehiwallon and his sons became

Physicians to Ehys Gryg, Lord of Llandovery and Dynevor

Castles, ' who gave them rank, lands, and privileges at

Myddvai for their maintenance in the practice of their

art and science, and the healing and benefit of those

who should seek their help,' thus affording to those who

could not afford to pay, the best medical advice and treat-

ment, gratuitously. Such a truly Eoyal foundation could not

fail to produce corresponding effects. So the fame of the

Physicians of Myddvai was soon established over the whole

country, and continued for centuries among their descendants.

" The celebrated Welsh Bard, Dafydd ap Gwilym, who

ílourished in the foUowing century, and was buried at the

Abbey of Tal-y-Uychau,^ in Caermarthenshire, about the year

1368, says in one of his poems, as quoted in Dr. Davies'

dictionary.

' Meddyg ni wnai modd y gwnaeth
Myddfai, o chai ddyn meddfaeth.'

' A Physician he woiüd not make
As Myddyai made, if he had a mead fostered man.'

Of the above lands bestowed upon the Meddygon, there are
two farms in Myddvai parish still called ' Llwyn Ifan Feddyg'
the Grove of Evan the Physician ; and ' Llwyn Meredydd
Feddyg' the Grove of Meredith the Physician. Esgaer Lla-
ethdy, mentioned in the foregoing legend, was formerly in
the possession of the above descendants, and so was Ty
newydd, near Myddvai, which was purchased by Mr. Holford,
of Cilgwyn, from the Eev. Charles Lloyd, vicar of Llande-
falle, Breconshire, who married a daughter of one of the

1 There is, I belieye, no reason to think that thls statement is correct.

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 175

]\Iedflygon, and liad the living of Llandefalle from a lsív.
Yaughan, who presented him to the same out of gratitude,
because Mr. Lloyd's wife's father had cured him of a
disease in the eye. As ^NIr. Lloyd succeeded to the above
living in 1748, and died in 1800, it is probable that the skil-
ful oculist was John Jones, who is mentioned in the follow-
ing inscription on a tombstone at present fixed against the
west end of Myddvai Church.

' HERE

Lieth the body of Mr. David Jones, of Mothvey, Surgeon,

who was an honest, charitable, aud skilful man.

He died September lith, Anno Dom' 1719, aged 61.

JOHN JONES, Surgeon,

Eldest son of the said David Jones, departed this life

the 25th of No^ember, 1739, in the 41th year

of his Age, aud also lyes interred hereuuder.'

These appear to have been the last of tlie Physicians who
practised at Myddvai. The above John Jones resided for
some time at Llandovery, and w^as a very eminent surgeon.
One of his descendants, named John Lewis, lived at Cwmbran,
Myddvai, at which place his great grandson Mr. John Jones,
now resides.

" Dr. Morgan Owen, Bishop of Llandaff, wdio died at Glas-
allt, parish of Myddvai, in 1645, was a descendant of the
Meddygon, and an inheritor of much of their landed property
in that parish, the bulk of which he bequeathed to his nephew,
Morgan Owen, who died in 1G67, and w^as succeeded by his
son Henry Owen; and at the decease of the last of whose
descendants, Eobert Lewis, Esq., the estates became, through
the will of one of the family, the property of the late D. A. S.
Davies, Esq., M.P., for Caermarthenshire.

" Bishop Owen bequeathed to another nephew, Morgan ap
Ptees, son of Piees ap John, a descendant of the Meddygon,
the farm of Ehyl)lid, and some other property. INIorgan ap

176 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

Eees' son, Samuel Eice, resided at Longhor, in Gower, Gla-
morgansliire, and had a son, Morgan Eice, who was a mer-
chant in London, and became TiOrd of the Ätanor of Tootinír
Graveney, and High Sheriff" in the year 1772, and Deputy
Lieutenant of the county of Surrey, 1776. He resided at
Hill House, which he built. At his death, the whole of his
property passed to his only child, John Eice, Esq., whose
eldest son, the Eev. John Morgan Eice, inherited the greater
portion of his estates. The head of the family is now the
Eev. Horatio Morgan Eice, rector of South Hill, with Cal-
lington, Cornwall, and J.P. for the cou.nty, who inherited,
with other property, a small estate at Loughor. The above
Morgan Eice had landed property in Llanmadock and Llan-
genith, as well as Loughor, in Gower, but whether he had
any connexion with Howel the Physician (ap Ehys ap Lly-
welyn ap Philip the Physician, and lineal descendant from
Einion ap Ehiwallon), wdio resided at Cilgwryd in Gower, is
not known.

" Amongst other families who claim descent from the Phy-
sicians were the Bo wens of C wmydw, Myddvai ; and Jones of
DoUgarreg and Penrhock, in the same parish ; the latter of
whom are represented by Charles Bishop, of Dollgarreg, Esq.,
Clerk of the Peace for Caermarthenshire, and Thomas Bishop,
of Brecon, Esq.

" Eees Williams of Myddvai is recorded as one of the
Meddygon. His great grandson was the late Eice Williams,
M.D., of Aberystwyth, who died May 16th, 1842, aged 85,
and appears to hav6 been the last, although not the least
eminent, of the Physicians descended frora tlie mysterious
Lady of Llyn-y-Van."^

This brings the legend of the Lady of the Van Lake into
connection with a widely spread family. There is another

1 This is not quite correct, as I believe that Dr. C. Rice \\'illiams who
lives at Aberystwyth is one o£ the Meddygon.

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 177

connectiori between it and modern times, as will be seen
from tlie following statement kindly made to me by the Rev.
A. G. Edwards, Warden of the Welsh College at Llando-
very : " An old woman from Myddvai, who is now, that is to
say, in January 1881, aboiit eighty years of age, tells me
that slie remembers ' thoiisands and thousands' of people
visiting the Lake of the Little Vaii on the first Sunday or
Monday in August, and when she was young she often heard
old men declare that at that time a commotion took place in
the lake, and that its waters boiled, which was taken to
herald the approach of the Lake Lady and her oxen." The
custom of going up to the lake on the first Sunday in August
was a very well known one in years gone by, as I have
learned from a good many people, aud it is corroborated
by Mr. Joseph, wlio kindly writes as foUows, in reply to
some queries of mine : " On the first Sunday in the month
of August, Llyn y Van Vach is supposed to be boiling
(herìüi). I have seen scores of people going up to see it (not
boiling though) on that day. I do not reniember that any
of them expected to see the Lady of the Lake." As to the
boiling of the lake I have nothiug to say, and I am not sure
that there is anything in the following, which was offered
to Mr. A. G. Edwards, as an explanation of the yearly visit
to tlie lake, by an old fìsherwoman from Llandovery : " The
best time for eels is in August, when the north-east wind
blows on the lake, and makes huge waves in it. The eels
can then be seen floating on the waves."

Last summer I went myself to the vi]lage of Myddvai, to
see if I could pick up any variants of the legend ; but I was
hardly successful ; for though several of the farmers I ques-
tioned could repeat bits of the legend, including tlie Lake
Lady's call to her cattle as she went away, I got nothing
new, except that one of them said that the youth, when he
fìrst saw the Lake Lady at a distauce, thought she was a

178 WELSH FAIRY TALE3.

goose — he did not even rise to the conception of a swan —
but that by degrees he approached her, and discovered that
she was a lady in white, and that in due time they were
married, and so on. My friend, Mr. A. G. Edwards, seems,
however, to have got a bit of a version which may have been
still inore unlike the one recorded by Mr. Eees of Tonn : it
was from an old man at Myddvai last year, from whom he
was, nevertheless, only able to extract the statelnent " that the
Lake Lady got somehow entangied in a farmer's ' gambo', and
that ever after his farm was very fertile" : a ' gambo' is a kind
of a cart without sides, used in Soutli Wales, and both the
name and the thing seem to have come from England,
though I cannot find such a word as gambo or gamhcau iu
the ordinary dictionaries.

Among other legends about lake fairies, in the third chapter
of Mr. Sikes' British Goblins, there are two versions of this
story : the first of them only slightly differs from Mr. Eees',
in that the farmer used to go near the lake to see some lambs
he had bouglit in a fair, and that whenever he did so, three
beautiful damsels appeared to him from the lake; they
always eluded his attempts to catch them ; they ran away
into the lake, saying, " Cras dy fara", etc. But one day, a
piece of moist bread came floating ashore, which he ate, and
the next day he had a chat with the Lake Maidens. He pro-
posed marriage to one of them, to which she consented, pro-
vided he could distinguish her from lier sisters the day after.
The story, then, so far as I can make out, from the brief
version Mr. Sikes gives of it, went on like that of Mr. Eees.
He gives another version, with mucli more interesting varia-
tions, which omit all reference, however, to the physicians
of ]\Iyddvai, and relate how a young farmer had heard of
the Lake INIaiden rowing up and down the lake in a golden
boat with a golden oar. He went to the lake on New Year's
Eve, saw her, was fascinated by her, and left in despair at

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 179

her Yanisliiüg out of sigbt, although he cried out to her to
stay and be his wife : she faintly replied, and went her way,
after he had gazed on her long yellow liair and pale melan-
choly face. He continued to visit the lake, and grew thin
and negligent of his person, owing to his longing. But a
wise man, wlio lived on the mountain, advised hini to tempt
her witli gifts of bread and cheese, wliich he undertook to
do on Midsummer Eve, when he dropped into tlie lake a
large cheese and a loaf of bread. This lie did repeatedly,
when at last his hopes were fulfîlled on New Year's Eve.
This time he had gone to the lake clad in his best suit, and
at midnight dropped seven white loaves and liis biggest and
finest cheese into the lake. The Lake Lady by and by came
in her skiff where he was, and gracefully stepped ashore.
The scene need not be further described : Mr. Sikes gives a
picture of it, aud the story then proceeds as in the other
version.

II. Geirionydd.

On returning from South Wales to Carnarvonshire, last
summer, I tried to discover sirnilar legends in connectiou
with the lakes of North Wales, beginning with Geirionydd,
the waters of which form a stream emptying itself into the
Conwy, near Trefriw, a little below Llanrwst. I only suc-
ceeded, however, in finding an old man of the nanie of Pierce
Williams, about seventy years of age, wlio was very anxious
to talk about " Bony's" wars, but not about lake ladies. I
was oljliged, in trying to make him nnderstand what I
wanted, to use the word morfoncyn, that is to say in Eng-
lish, a mernuiid ; he then told me, that in his younger days,
he liad lieard people say tliat somebody had seen such beings
iu the Trefriw river. But as my questions were leading
ones, his evidence is not wortli much ; however, I feel pretty
sure that onr who kuL'w tlio iiciglibdiirliood better, such for
VOL. IV. 0

180 WELSH FAIlíY TALES.

instance íis the l)artl Gwilym Cowlyd, would be able to find
some fragments of interesting legends still existing in tliat
weird district.

III. Llanberis — Llyn Du'ií Arddu, etc.

I was more successful at Llanberis, tliougli what I found,
at first, was not much ; but it was genuine, and to tìie point.
This is the substance of it : — An old woman, called Sian
Dafydd, lived at Helfa Fawr, in the dingle called Cwm
Brwynog, along the left side of which you ascend as you go
to the top of Snowdon, from the village of lower Llanberis,
or Coed y Ddol, as it is there called. She was a curious old
person, who made nice distinctions between the respective
YÌrtues of the waters of that district ; thus, no otlier would
do for her to cure her of the defaid gv)ylltion or warts, she
fancied she had in her niouth, than that of the spring of
Tai Bacli, near the lake called ' Llyn Ffynhon y Gwas,'
though she seldom found it out, wdien she was deceived by
a servant who cherished a convenient opinion of his own,
that a drop fronr a nearer spring would do quite as well.
Old Sian has been dead over thirty-five years, but I haA^e
it, on the testimony of two highly trustworthy brothers, who
are of her family, and now between sixty and seventy
years of age, that she used to relate to them how a shepherd,
once on a time, saw a fairy maiden {un or Tylwyth Teg) on
the surface of the tarn called ' Llyn Du'r Arddu,' and how, ,
from bantering and playing, their acquaintance ripened into
courtship, wlien the father and mother of the Lake Maiden
appeared to give tlieir sanction, and to arrange the marriage
settlement. This was to the effect that he was never to
strike her with iron, and that she was to bring lier great
wealth with her, consisting of stock of all kinds for his
mountain farm. AU duly took place, and they lived happily
together, until one dny, when trying to catch a pony, the

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 181

Imsband llir(.í\v ;i lìriillc to liis wife, and tlie iroii in tliat
striick lier. It was then all over with him, and she luirried
away with her property into the lake, so that nothing niore
was seen or heard of her. Here I may as well explain that
the Llanberis side of the steep, near the top of Snowdon, is
called ' Clogwyn du'r Arddu,' or the bLack cliff of the Arddu,
at the bottom of which lies the tarn alhided to, or the l:)lack
lake of the Arddu, and near it stands a huge boulder, called
' Maen du'r Arddu,' or the black stone of the Arddu, all of
which names are curious, as involving the word du, black,
although 'Arddu' itself seems to have nearly the sarae mean-
ing, in allusion, probably, to the dark shadow cast by that
terrible stretch of precipices. One of the brothers, I ought
to have said, doubts that the lake here mentioned was the
one in old Sian's tale ; but he has forgotten which it was of
the many in the neighbourhood. Both, however, remem-
bered another short story about the Fairies, wdiich they
had lieard another old woman relate, namely, Mary
Domos Sion, who died some thirty years ago : it was merely
to the effect that a shepherd had once lost his way in the
mist on the mountain on tlie land of Caeau Gwynion,
towards Cwellyn lake, and got into a ring where the TjjìinìifJb
Tcg were dancing : it was only after a very hard struggle,
that he was able, at length, to get away from them.

Tü this I may add the testimony of a lady, for whose
veracity 1 can vouch, to the effect that, when she was a
child in Cwm lìrwynog, from tliirty to forty years ago, she
and lier brothers and sisters used to be frec[uently wnrned liy
tlieir mother not to go far away from the house when tliere
happened to be thick mist on the ground, lest they should
come across tlie TylMyth Tccj dancing, and be carried away
by them into their abode beneath the lake; tliey were alwaj^s,
she says, supposed to live in the lakes; and the one here
alluded to was Llyn Twythwch, which is one of those

o2

182 WELSH FAIKY TALES.

fainous for its torgochiaid or cliars. The motlier is stiU
living, but slie seems to liave long since, like others, lost her
belief in tlie Fairies.

After writing the above, I heard that a brother to the fore-
goiiig brothers, namely, Mr. Thomas Davies of Mar Mawr,
Llanberis, rememberecl a similar tale. Mr. Davies is now
sixty-four, and the persons he heard the tale from were the
same Sian Dafydd of Helfa Fawr, and Mary Domos Sion of
Ty'n Gadlas, Llanljeris; they were about seventy years of age
when he heard it from them, and this, he thinks, would now
be about sixty years ago. At my rec|uest, a friencl of mine,
Mr. Hugh D. Jones of Ty'n Gadlas, who is also a member of
this family, wliich is one of the oldest perhaps in the place,
has taken down from Mr. Davies's mouth all lie could re-
member, word for word, as follows —

"Yn perthyn i ffarm Bron y Fedw yr oedd dyn ifangc
wedi cael ei fagu, nis gwyddent faint cyn eu hamser liwy.
Arferai pan yn hogyn fyud i'r mynydd yn Cwm Drywenydd a
Mynydd y Fedw ar ochr orllewinol y Wyddfa i fugeilio, a
byddai yn taro ar liogan yn y mynydd; ac wrth fynychu
gweled eu gilydd aethant yn ffrindiau mawr. Arferent gyf-
arfod eu gilydcl mewn lle neillduol yn Cwm Drywenydd, lle yr
oedd yr hogan a'r teulu yn byw, lle y byddai pob danteithion,
chwareuyddiaethau a chanu dihafal ; ond ni fyddai yr hogyn
yn gwneyd i fyny a neb ohonynt ond yr liogan.

"Diwedd y fírindiaeth fu carwriaeth, a phan soniodd yr
hogyn am iddi briodi, ni wnai ond ar un ammod, sef y bywiai
hi hefo fo hyd nes y tarawai ef hi a haiarn.

"Priodwyd hwy, a buont byw gyda'u gilydd am nifer o
flynyddoedd, a bu iddynt blant ; ac ar ddydd marchnad yn
Caernarfou yr oedd y gAvr a'r wraig yn medd^d myned i'r
farchnad ar gefn merlod, fel pob ffarmwr yr amser hwnw,
Awd i'r mynydd i ddal merlyn bob un.

" Ar waelod Mynydd y Fedw mae llyn o ryw GO neu gan

WELSH FAIRY TALES. 183

llatli 0 hyd ac 20 neii 30 llatli o led, ac y mae ar un oclir iddo
le têg, ffordd y byddai y ceffylau yn rhedeg.

" Daliodd y gŵr ferlyu a rhoes ef i'r wraig i'w ddal heb ffrwyn,
tra byddai ef yn dal nierlyn arall. Ar ol rhoi ffrwyn yn
mhen ei ferlyn ei hun, taílodd un arall i'r wraig i roi yn mhen
ei merlyn hithau, ac wrth ei thafiu tarawodd hit y ffrwyn hi
yn ei Uaw. Gollyngodd y wräig y merlyn, ac aeth ar ei phen
i'r llyn, a dyna ddiwedd y briodas."

" To the farm of Bron y Fedw there belonged a son, who
grew up to be a young man, they knew not how long before
their time, He was in the habit of going up the smountain
to Cwm Drywenydd and Mynydd y Fedw, on the west side
of Snowdon, to do the shepherding, and there he was wont
to come across a lass on the mountain; so that by frequently
meeting one another, they became great friends. They
usually met at a particular spot in Cwm Drywenydd, where
the girl and her family lived, and where there were all kinds
of nice things to eat, of amusements and of incomparable
music ; but he did not cultivate the acquaintance of anybody
there except the girl's. The friendship ended in courtship ;
but when the boy mentioned that she should be married to
him, she would only do so on one condition, namely, that
she should live with him untü he sliould strike her with
iron. They were wedded, and they lived together for a
number of years, and had children. Once on a time
it happened to be market day at Carnarvon, w^hither the
husband and wife thought of going on their ponies, like all
the farmers of the time. So they %vent to the mountain to
catch a pony each. At the bottom of Mynydd y Fedw, tliere
is a pool some sixty or one hundred yards long by twenty or
thirty broad, and on the one side of it there is a level space
along which the horses used to run. Tlie husband cauírht a

o o

pony, and gave it to the wife to hold fast without a bridle,
Mhile he should catch another. When hc had bridled liis

184 WELSH FAIRY TALES,

own pony, lie tlirew anotlier bridle to his wife for her to
secure hers ; but as he threw it, the bit of the bridle struck
her on one of her hands. The wife let go the pony, and
went headlong into the pool, and that was the end of their
wedded life."

The foUowing is a later tale, which Mr. Davies heard
froni his mother, who died in 1832, and who would be now
ninety years of age had she been still living.

" Pan oedd hi yn hogan yn yr Hafod, Llanberis, yr oedd
hogan at ei lioed yn cael ei magu yn Cwmglas, Llanberis, a
arferai ddweyd, pan yn hogan, a thra y bu byw, y byddai yn
cael arian gan y Tylwyth Teg yn Cwm Cwmglas.

" Yr oedd yn dweyd y byddai ar foreuau niwliog, tywyll, yn
myned i le penodol yn Cwm Cwmglas gyda jugiad o lefrith
o'r fuches a thywel glan, ac yn ei roddi ar gareg; ac yn myned
yno drachefn, ac yn cael y Uestr yn wâg, gyda darn dau-
swUt neu lianer coron ac weithiau fwy wrth ei ochr.'^

"When she was a girl, living at Yr Hafod, Llanberis,
there was a girl of her age being brought up at Cwmglas, in
the same parish. The latter was in the habit of saying,
when she was a girl, and so long as she lived, that
she used to have money from the Tylwyth Teg, in the
cwni of Cwmgias. Her account was, that on misty
mornings she used to go to a particular spot in that
cwm with a jng fuU of sweet milk from the niilking place,
and a clean towel, and theu place them on a stone. She
would return, and find the jug empty, with a piece of nioney
placed by its side ; that is, two sldUings or half-a-crown, or
at times even more."

A daughter of this woman lives now at a farni, J\Tr. Davies
observes, called Flas Pennant, in the parish of Llanfihangel
yn Mhennant, in Carnarvonshire ; and he adds, that it was
a tale of a kind that was commou enough wlien he was a
boy ; but many laughed at it, thongh the old people beUeved

WHLSII 1-AIliY TALES. 185

it to be a fact. To this I may as well append anotlier talo,
which was brouglit to the memory of an old man M'ho hap-
pened to be present when Mr. Jones and Älr. Davies were
busy with the foregoing. His name is John lioberts, and
liis age is seventy-five : his present home is at Capel Sion,
in the neighbouring parish of Llanddeiniolen : —

" Yr oedd ef pan yn hogyn yu gweini yn Towyn Trewern,
yn agos i Gaergybi, gyda heu wr o'r enw Owen Oweus, yr
hwn oedd yr adeg hono at ei oed ef yn bresenuol.

" Yr oeddynt uuwaith mewu heu adeilad ar y ffarm ; a
dywedodd yr heu wr ei fod ef wedi cael llawer o ariau yu y
lle hwnw pau yu hogyn, a buasai wedi cael ychwaueg oui
bai ei dad.

" Yr oedd wedi cuddio yr ariau yu y ty, oud daeth ei fam o
hyd iddynt, a dywedodd yr haues wrth ei dad. Ofuai ei fod yu
fachgeu drwg, mai eu lladratta yr oedd. Dywedai ei dâd y
gwuai iddo ddweyd yn mha le yr oedd yu eu cael, ueu y tyuai
ei groen tros ei ben ; ac aeth allan a thorodd wialeu bwrpasol
at orchwyl o'r fath.

" Yr oedd y bachgeu yu gwraudo jr ymddiddan rhwng ei dad
a'i fam, ac yr oedd yn benderfynol o gadw y peth yu ddir-
gelwch fel yr oedd wedi ei rybuddio gau y Tylwyth Teg.

" Aeth i'r tŷ, a dechrenodd y tâd ei holi, ac yutau yn
gwrthod atteb ; jTiibiliai a'i dâd, a dywedai eu bod yu
berffaith ouest iddo ef, ac y cai ef ychwaneg os cadwai y petli
yn ddirgelwch ; ond os dywedai uad oedd dim ychwaneg Pw
gael. Modd bynnag ni wrandawai y tâd ar ei esgusion na'i
resymau, a'r wialen a orfu ; dywedodd y bachgen mai gan y
Tylwy th Teg yr oedd yu eu cael, a hyuy ar yr ammod nad oedd
i ddweyd wrth neb. Mawr oedd edifeirwch yr hen bobl am
* ladd yr wydd oedd yn dodwy'.

" Aeth y bachgen i'r hen adeilad lawer gwaitli ar ol hyn,
ond ui chafodd byth ychwaueg o ariau yuo."

"When a lad, hu was servaut at Towvu Trewern, near

186 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

Holyhead, to aii old man about liis own age at present. They
were one day in an old building on tlie farm, and the old
man told him, that he liad had much money in that place
wdien he was a lad, and that he wonld have had more had
it uot been for his father. He had hidden tlie money at
home, when his mother found it and told his father of the
affair : she feared he was a bad boy, and that it was by
theft he got it. His father said that he would make him say
where he got it, or else that he would strip him of the skin
of his back, at the same time that he went out and cut a rod
fit for effecting a purpose of the kind. The boy heard all
this talk between his father and motlier, and felt determined
to keep the matter a secret, as he had been warned by the
Tylwyth Teg. He w^ent into the house, and his father began
to question him, while he refused to answer. He suppli-
catingly protested that the money was honestly got, and that
he should get more if he kept it a secret, but that, if he did
not, there would be no more to be got. However, the father
would give no ear to his excuses or his reasons, and the rod
prevailed; so that the boy said that it was from the Tylwyth
Teg he used to get it, and that on condition of his not telling
anybüdy. Greatly did the old folks regret having killed
the goose that laid the eggs. The boy went many a time
afterwards to tlie old building, but he never had any more
money there."

IV. Bettws and Waenfawr Yeesions.

Through the Eev. Daniel Lewis, incumbent of Bettws
Garmon, I was directed to Mr. Samuel Ehys Williams, of the
Post Offìce of that place, who has hindly given me tlie results
of his inquiries when writing on the subject of the anti-
quities of the neighbourhood for a competitiou at a literary
nieeting lield there a few years ago. He tells me that he got

WELSII FAIUY TALES. 187

tlie following sliort tale froni a native of Drws y Coed, whose
name is ]Vrargaret Williams. Slie lias been living at Bettws
Garmon for mauy years, and is now over eighty. He does
not know whether the story is in priut or not, Lut he is cer-
taiu that Margaret AYilliams uever saw it, if it bc. He
further thiuks he has heard it froni auother person, a man
over seveuty-seven years of age, who has always lived at
Drws y Coed, in the parish of Beddgelert : —

" Y mae hanes am fab i amaethwr a breswyliai yn yr Ystrad,
Bettws Garmou, pau yn dycliwelyd adref o daith ar awr hwyr
un noswaith, ddarfod iddo weled cwmni o'r Tylwythion Teg
yughauol eu hafiaeth a'u gloddest. Syfrdauwyd y llanc yu y
fau gan degwch anghymarol uu o'r rhiauod hyn, fel y beidd-
iudd neidio i gauol y cylch, a chymeryd ei eiluu gydag ef.
AVedi iddi fod yn trigo gydag ef yu ei gartref am ysbaid,
cafodd ganddi addaw bod yn wraig iddo ar ammodau neillduol.
Un o^r ammodau hyu ydoedd, na byddai iddo gyffwrdd ynddi
ag un math o haiarn. Bu yu wraig iddo, a gauwyd iddyut
ddau 0 blaut. Uu diwrnod, yr oedd y gwr yu y maes yn
ceisio dal y ceffyl ; wrth ei weled yn ffaelu, aeth y wraig atto
i'w gynnorthwyo, a phau oedd y march yu carlamu heibio
gollyngodd yntau y fí'rwyn o^i law, er mwyn ceisio ei attal
heibio ; a phwy a darawodd oud ei wraig, yr hou a ddiflanodd
yn y fan allau o'i olwg ?"

" The story goes, that the son of a farmer, who lived at
Ystrad, Bettws Garmon, when returuiug liome from a jouruey,
late in the evening, beheld a company of fairies in the middle
of their mirth aud jollity. The youth was at once bewildered
by tlie iuconiparable beauty of onc of these ladies, so that
he ventured to leap iuto the circle aud take his idol away
with hiui. After she had tarried a while with him at his
home, he prevailed ou lier to become his wife on special con-
ditious. One of these couditious was that lie should not
touch her with irou of uuy descriptiou. She became his

188 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

wife, and two cliildren were born to them. One day tlie
husband was in the field trying to catch the horse ; seeing
him nnsuccessful, the wife went to him to help him, and,
when the horse was galloping past him, he let go the bridle
at him in order to prevent him from passing ; but whom
should he strike but his wife, who vanished out of his siíîht
on the spot."

Just in time a correspondent sends me a copy of the
Ystrad tale as published by the late bard and antiquary,
Glasynys, in the Brython for 1863, p. 193. I will not
attempt to translate Glasynys' poetic prose with all its com-
pound adjectives, but it comes to this in a few words. One
fìne sunny morning, as the young heir of Ystrad was busied
with his sheep on the side of Moel Eilio, he met a very
pretty girl, and when he got home he told the folks there of
it. A few days afterwards he met her again, and this happened
several times, when he mentioned it to his father, who
advised him to seize her when he next met her. The next
time he met her he proceeded to do so, but before he could
take her away, a little fat old man came to them and begged
hini to give her back to him, to which the youtli would not
listen. The little man uttered terrible threats, but he
would not yield, so an agreement was made between them,
that he was to have her to wife until lie touched her skin
with iron, and great was tlie joy both of the sou and liis
parents in consequence. They lived together for many
years, but once on a time on the evening of the Bettws
Fair, the wife's horse got restive, and somehow, as the hus-
band was attending to the horse, the stirrup touched tlie
skin of her bare leg, and that very night she was taken
away from him. She had three or four children, and more
than one of their descendants, as Glasynys maintains, were
known to him at tlie time he wrote in 18G3. Glasynys
regards this as the same tale which is given by WiUiams of

\VKLSI1 FAIUY TALES. 18'J

Llaiidegai, to wliom we shall refer later ; and lie says tliat lic
liad lieard it scores of tiiiies when he was a lad.

Lastly, I happened to mention these legends last summer
among others to the Iîev. üwen Davies, curate of Llanberis,
a man who is well versed in Welsh literature, and thoroughly
in sympathy with everything "Welsh. Mr. Davies told me
that he knew a tale of the sort from his youth, as current in
the parishes of Lhmllechid and Llandegai, near Bangor.
Not long afterwards he visited his motlier at his native
phice, in Llanllechid, in order to have his niemory of it
refreshed ; and he also went to Waenfawr, on the other side
of Carnarvon, where he had the same legend told him with
different localities specifìed. The following is the Waen-
fawr version, of which I give the Welsh as I have had it
from j\Ir. Davies, and as it was related, according to him,
some furty years ago in the valley of Nant y Bettws, near
Carnarvon.

" Ar brydnawugwaith hyfryd yn Heíìn, aeth llangc ieuangc
gwrol-ddewr ac anturiaethus, sef etifedd a pherchenog yr
Ystrad, i lan afon Gwyrfai, heb fod yn neppell o'i chychwyn-
iad o lyn Cawellyn, ac a ymguddiodd yno mewn dyryslwyn,
sef ger y fan y byddai poblach y cotiau cochion — y Tylicyth
têíj, yn arfer dawnsio. Yr ydoedd yn noswaith hyfryd
loerganog, heb un cwmwl i gau llygaid y Lloer, ac anian yn
ddistaw dawedog, oddigerth murmuriad lleddf y Wyrfai, a
swn yr awel ysgafndroed yn rhodio brigau deiliog y coed.
Ni bu yn ei ymguddfa ond dros ychydig amser, cyn cael
difyru o honno ei olygon â dawns y teulu dedwydd. Wrth
syllu ar gywreinrwydd y ddawns, y chwim droadau cyflynij yr
ymgyniweiriad ysgafn-droediog, tarawodd ei lygaid ar lâs lodes
ieuangc, dlysaf, harddaf, a'r lunieiddiaf a welodd er ei febyd.
Yr oedd ei chwim droadau a lledneisrwydd ei hagweddion
wedi tanio ei serch tu ag atti i'r fath raddau, fel ag yr oedd yu
barod i unrhyw anturiaeth er niw\n ei hennill yn gydymailh

190 WELSII FAIRY TALES.

idJo ei liim. O'i ymguddfa dywyll, yr oedd yii gwylio pob
ysgogiad er mwyu ei gyfleustra ei liuu, fel y Beujaminiaid
gynt. Mewn mynud, yn ddisymwtli ddigon, rhwng pryder ac
ofn, llamneidiodd fel llew gwrol i ganol cylcli y Tylwytli teg,
ac ymafaelodd â dwylaw cariad yn y fun luniaidd a daniodd ei
serch, a hynny, pan oedd y Tylwyth dedwydd yn nghanol
nwyfìant eu dawns. Cofleidiodd hi yn dyner garedig yn ei
fynwes wresog, ac aeth a hi i'w gartref — i'r Ystrad. Ond
diflanodd ei chyd-ddawnsyddion fel anadl Gorphenaf, er ei
chroch ddolefau am gael ei rhyddhau, a'i hymegnion diflino i
ddiangc o afael yr hwn a'i hofíbdd. Mewn anwylder mawr,
ymddygodd y llangc yn dyner odiaethol tu ag at y fun dêg, ac
yr oedd yn orawyddus i'w chadw yn ei olwg acyn ei feddiant.
Llwyddodd drwy ei dynerwch tu ag ati i gael ganddi addaw
dyfod yn forwyn iddo yn yr Ystrad. A morwyn ragorol
oedd hi. Godrai deirgwaith y swm arf erol o laeth oddiar
bob buwch, ac yr oedd yr ymenyn heb bwys arno. Ond er
ei holl daerni, nis gallai mewn un modd gael ganddi ddyweud
ei henw wrtho. Gwnaeth lawer cais, ond yn gwbl ofer.
Yn ddamweiuiol ryw dro, wrth yru

Brithen a'r Benweu i'r borfa,
a hi yn noswaith loergan, efe a aeth i'r man lle yr arferai
y Tylwyth teg fyned drwy eu camipau yng ngoleuni y Lloer
wen. Y tro hwn etto, efe a ymguddiodd mewn dyryslwyn, a
chlywodd y Tylwyth teg yn dywedyd y naiU wrth y llall —
' Pan oeddym ni yn y lle hwn y tro diweddaf, dygwyd ein
chwaer Penelope oddiarnom gan un o'r marwolion'. Ar
hynny, dychwelodd y Uengcyn adref, a^i fynwes yn Uawn o
falchder cariad, o herwydd iddo gael gwybod enw ei hoff
forwyn, yr hon a synodd yn aruthr, pan glywodd ei meistr
ieuaugc yn ei galw wrth ei henw. Ac am ei bod yn odiaeth-
ol dlos, a Uuniaidd, yn fywiog-weithgar, a medrus ar bob
gwaith, a bod poppeth yn Uwyddo dan ei Uaw, cynnygiodd ei
hun iddi yn wr— y cehii íbd yn feistres yr Ystrad, yn Ue bod

WELSII FAIIíY TALES. 191

yn forwyn. Ond ni chydsyniai lii a'i gais ar nn cyfrif ; ond
bod braidd yn bendrist oherwydd iddo wybod ei henw. Fodd
bynnag, gwedi maith amser, a thrwy ei daerineb diílino,
cydsyniodd, ond yn ammodol. Addawodd ddyfod yn M'raig
iddo, ar yr ammod canlynol, sef, ' Pa bryd bynnag y tarawai ef
hi â haiarn, yr ehai ymaith oddi wrtho, ac na ddychwelai byth
atto mwy'. Sicrhawyd yr ammod o'i du yntau gyd a pharod-
rwydd cariad. Buont yn cyd-fyw a'u gilydd yn hapus a
chysurus, lav>^er o flynyddoedd, a ganwyd iddynt fab a merch,
y rhai oeddynt dlysaf a Ihmeiddiaf yn yr holl froydd. Ac yn
rhinwedd ei medrusrwyd a'i deheurwydd fel gwraig gall, rin-
weddol,aethantyn gyfoethog iawn — yn gyfoethocach na neb yn
yr holl wlad. Heblaw ei etifeddiaeth ei hun — Yr Ystrad, yr
oedd yn ftarmio hoU ogledd-barth ISTant y Bettws, ac oddi yno
i ben yr AYyddfa, ynghyd a holl Gwmbrwynog, yn mhlwyf
Llanberis. Ond, ryw ddiwrnod, yn anífortunus ddigon aeth
y ddau i'r ddôl i ddal y ceffyl, a chan fod y ceffylyn braidd yn
wyllt ac annof, yn rhedeg oddi arnynt, taflodd y gwr y ffrwyn
mewn gwj^lltineb yn ei erbyn, er ei attal, ac ar bwy y dis-
gynodd y ffrwyn, ond ar Penelope,y wraig ! Diflanodd Penelope
yn y fan, ac ni welodd byth mo honi. Ond ryw noswaith,
a'r gwynt yn chwythu yn oer o'r gogledd, daeth Penelope at
ffenestr ei ystafell-wely, a dywedodd wrtho am gymmeryd
gofal o'r plaut yn y geiriau hyn :

' Rhag bod anwyd ar fy mab,
Yn rhodd rhowch arno gôb ei dad ;
Ilhag bod anwyd ar liw 'r can,
Rhoddwch arni bais ei niham.'

Ac yna ciliodd, ac ni chlywwyd na siw na miw byth yn ei
cliylch."

For the sake of tliose readers of the Cymmrodor wlio do

not happcn to know Welsh, I add a sumraary of it in English.

One fine evening in tho nionth of Jime a brave, adven-

192 WELSH FAIIÍY TALES.

turous youth, tlie heir of Ystrad, weiit to the baiiks of the
Gwyrfai, not far from where it leaves Cwellyn Lake, ancl hid
himself in the bushes near the spot where the folks of the Eed
Coats, or the Fairies, were woiit to dance. The moon shone
forth brightly without a cloud to intercept her light ; all was
quiet save that the Gwyrfai gently murmured on its bed, and
it was not long before the young man had the satisfaction of
seeing the Fair Family dancing in full swing. As he gazed on
the subtle course of the dance, his eyes rested on a damsel,
the most shapely and beautiful he had seen from his boy-
hood. Her agile movements and the charm of her looks in-
flamed him with love for her to such a degree that he felt
ready for any encounter in order to secure lier to be his own.
From his hiding-place he watched every move for his oppor-
tunity ; at last, with feelings of anxiety and dread, he leaped
suddenly into the middle of the circle of the Fairies. There,
while their enjoyment of the dance was at its height, he
seized her in his arms and carried her away to his home at
Ystrad. But, as she screamed for help to free her from the
grasp of him who had fallen in love with her, the dancing
party disappeared like a breath in July. He treated her
with the utmost kindness, and was ever anxious to keep her
within his sight and in his possession. By dint of tender-
ness he succeeded so far as to get her to consent to be his
servant at Ystrad. And such a servant she turned out to be !
Why, she was wont to milk the cows thrice a day, and to
have tlie usual quantity of milk each time, so that the butter
was so plentiful that nobody thought of weighing it. As to
her name, iii spite of all his endeavours to ascertain it, she
would never tell it liim. Accidentally, how"ever, one moonlight
night, when driving two of his cows to the s})ot where they
should graze, he came to the place where the fairies were
wont to enjoy their games in the light of the moon. This
time also lie hid himself in a thicket, when he overheard

WEÎ.SII FAIIIY TAI.ES. 193

one fairy saying to anotlier, " Wlien we were Irist here our
sister Penelope was stolen from us by a man." As soon as
he heard that, off he went home, full of joy because hc had
discoYered the name of the maid that was so dear to him.
She, on the other hand, was greatly astonished to hear him call
her by her own name. As she was so charmingly pretty, so
industrious, so skilled in every work, and so attended by luck
in everything she put her haud to, he ofîered to make her his
M'ife instead of being his servant. At first she would in no-
wise consent, but rather give way to grief at his having found
her name out. However his importunity at lengtli brought
her to consent, but on the condition that he should not strike
her with iron ; if that should happen, she would quit him
never to come again. The agreeraent was made on his side with
the readiness of love, and after tliis they lived in happiness
and comfort together for many years, and tliere were born to
them a son aud a daughter, who were the liandsomest chil-
dren in the whole country. Owing, also, to the skill and
good qualities of the woman, as a shrewd and virtuous wife,
they became very rich — richer, indeed, than anybody else in
the country around ; for, besides the husband's own inherit-
ance of Ystrad, he held all tlie northern part of Nant y
Bettws, and all from there to tlie top of Snowdon, together
with Cwm Brwynog, in the parish of Llanberis. But one
day, as bad luck would have it, they went out together to
catch a horse in the field, and, as the animal was somewhat
wild and untamed, they had no easy work before them. Tn
his rashne.ss the man threw a bridle at hira as he was
rushing past him, but, alas ! on whom should tlie bridle fall
but on the wife ! JSTo sooner had tliis liappened than she
disappeared, and nothing raore was ever seen of her. But
one cold night, when there was a cliiUing wind blowing from
the north, she canie near the M'iiidow of his bedroom, and
told hira in t1ie.se words to take care of tlie children : —

194 WELSII FATRY TALES.

" Lest my son sliould find it cold,
Place on him his father's coat ;
Lest the fair one find it cold,
Place on her my petticoat."

Then slie withdrew, and nothing more was heard of her.

In reply to some queries of mine, Mr. 0. Davies tells
me that Penelope was pronounced in three syllables
Pènelôp — so he heard it froni his grandfather: he goes
on to say that the offspring of the Lake Lady is
supposed to be represented by a family called Pdlings,
which was once a highly respected name in those parts,
and that there was a Lady Bulheley who was of this
descent, not to mention that several people of a lower rank,
both in Anglesey and Arvon, claimed to be of tlie same
origin. I am not very clear as to how the narae got into
this tale, nor have I been able to learn anything about the
Pellings ; but, as the word appears to have been regarded as
a corrupt derivative from Penelope, that is, perhaps, all the
connection, so that it may be that it has really nothing
whatever to do Avith the legend. This is a point, however,
which the antiquaries of North "Wales ought to be able to
clear up satisfactorily.

Mr. 0. Davies^ has hindly called my attention to a volume

1 To meet the Editor's rule I have applied to Mr. Davies for a little of
the history of the legend in bis family ; he is a native of Llanllechid,
where he was brought up, and writes to the following effect : — I am now
(June 1881) over fifty-two years of age, and I can assure you that I
have heard the legend forty years ago. I do not remember my father,
as he died when I was young, but my grandfather was remarkable for
his delight in tales and legends, and it was his favourite pastime during
the winter nights, after getting his short black pipe ready, to relate
stories about struggles with robbers, about bogies, and above all about
the TijliL-ytli Tcrj ; for they were his chief delight. He has been dead
twenty-six years, and he had reached within a little of eighty years of
age. His father before him, who was born about the year 1740, was
also famous for his stories, and my grandfathcr often mentioned liim a-^
liis authority in the course of his narration of the tales. Ijoth he aud

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 19.J

entitlecl Obsewations on the Snoiudon Mountains, by Mr. Wil-
liani William.s of Llandegai, published in London in 1802,
where this tale is given somewhat less fully than by Mr.
Davies's informant. There the author makes the following
remarks with regard to it (pp. 37, 40) : — " A race of people
inhabiting the districts about the foot of Snowdon, were for-
merly distiuguished and known by the nick-name of Pellings,
which is not yet extinct. There are several persons and
even families who are reputed to be descended from these

people These children [Penelope's] and their descend-

ants, they say, were caUed Pellings, a word corrupted from
their mother's name, Penelope. The late Thomas Eowlands,
Esq., of Caerau, in Anglesey, the father of the late Lady
Bulkeley, was a descendant of this lady, if it be true that
the name Pellings came from her ; and there are stiU living
several opulent and respectable people who are known to
have sprung from the Pellings. The best blood in my own
veins is this fairy's."

Lastly, it wiU be noticed that this version does not dis-
tinctly suggest that the Lake Lady ran into the lake, that is
into CweUyn, but rather that slie disappeared in the same
way as the dancing party by simply becoming invisible like
one's breath in July. The Fairies are caUed in Welsh, Y
Tyliijyth Teg, or the Fair Family ; but the people of Arvon
have been so familiarised with the particular one I have
termed the Lake Lady, that, according to one of my inform-
ants, they have made the term Y Dylwythes Dcg or even
Y Dylwythen Deg to denote her; but it is unknown to the
others, so that the extent of its use is stiU not very considerable.

the rest of the faniily used to look at Corwrion as a sacred spot. When
I was a lad and happened to be reluctaut to leave off playing at dusk,
my mother or grandfathcr had only to say that "the Pellings were
coming", in order to induce me to come into the house at once : indeed,
this announcement had the same effect on persons of a much riper age
than mine then was.

VOL. IV. P

196 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

This is, perliaps, the place to give another tale, according
to which the man goes to the Lake Maiden's country instead
of her settling with him at his home. I owe it to the kind-
ness of Mr. William Jones of Eegent Place, LlangoUen, who
is a native of Beddgelert. He heard it from an old man
hefore he left Beddgelert, but when he sent a friend to
inquire some time afterwards, he was gone to his long home.
The details of the tale are, for that reason, imperfect, Mr.
Jones says, as the incidents have faded from his memory;
but such as he can still remember the tale, it is here given
in his own words : —

" Eyw noson lawn lloer ac mi o feibion Llwyn On yn
Nant y Bettws yn myned i garu i Glogwyn y Gwin, efe
a welodd y Tylwyth yn ymloddestu a dawnsio ei hochr hi ar
weirgloddwrth lan Llyn Cawellyn. Efe a nesaodd tuag attynt;
ac o dipyu i beth fe'i llitbiwyd gan bereiddra swynol eu canu
a hoender a bywiogrwyd eu chwareu, nes myned o huno tu
fewn i'r cylch ; ac yn fuan fe ddaeth rhyw^ hud drosto, fel y
collodd adnabyddiaeth o bobman ; a chafodd ei hun mew^n
gwlad harddaf a welodd erioed, lle yr oedd paw^b yn treulio
eu hamser mewn afiaeth a gorfoledd. Yr oedd wedi bod yno
am saith mlynedd,ac etto nid oedd ddim ond megys breuddwyd
nos ; ond daeth adgof ì'w feddwl am ei neges, a hiraeth
ynddo am weled ei anwylyd. Felly efe a ofynodd ganiatad i
ddychwelyd adref, yr hyn a roddwyd ynghyd a Uu o gym-
deithion i'w arwain tua'i wlad ; ac yn ddisymwth cafodd ei^
hun fel yn deffro o freuddwyd ar y ddol, Ue gwelodd y Tylwyth
Teg yn chwareu. Trodd ei wyneb tuag adref ; ond wedi myned
yno yr oedd poppeth wedi newid, ei rieni wedi meirw, ei
frodyr yn ffaelu ei adnabod, a'i gariad wedi priodi un araU. —
Ar ol y fath gyfnewidiadau efe a dorodd ei galon, ac a fu farw
mewn Uai nag wythnos ar ol ei ddychweUad."

" One bright moonUght night, as one of the sous of the
farmer who Uved at Llwyn On in Nant y Bettws was goiug

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 197

to pay his adJresses to a girl at Clogwyn y Gwin, he beheld
the Tylwyth enjoying theniselves in full swing on a meadow
close to Cwellyn Lake. He approached them, and little by
little he was led on by the enchanting sweetness of their
mnsic and the liveliiiess of their playing until he had got
witliin their circle. Soon some kind of spell passed over
him, so that he lost his knowledge of every place, and foiind
himself in a country, the most beautiful he had ever seen,
where everybody spent his time in mirth and rejoicing. He
liad been there seven years, and yet it seemed to him but a
night's dream ; but a faint recollection came to his mind of
the business on which he had left home, and he felt a longing
to see his beloved one. So he went and asked for permission
to return home, which was granted him, together with a
host of attendants to lead him to his country ; and, suddenly,
he found himself, as if waking from a dream, on the bank
where he had seen the Fair Family amusing themselves.
He turned towards home, but there he found everything
changed: his pareuts were dead, his brothers could not
recognise him, and liis sweetheart was married to another
nian. Tn consequence of such changes, he broke his heart,
and died in less than a week after coming back."

V. TiiE Llanlleciiid and Llandegai Yersions —

CORWRION LaKE.

The Piev. 0. Davies regarded the Llanllechid legend as so
very like the one he got about Cwellyu Lake at Waeufawr,
that he has not written the former out at length, but merely
pointed out the foUowing differences : 1. Instead of Cwellyn,
the lake in the former is that of Corwrion, in the parish of
Llandegai, near Bangor. 2. What the Lake Lady was struck
with was not a bridle but an iron fetter : the word used is
llyfdhcr, wliich probably mcans a fetter connecting a fore-

i' 2

198 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

foot and a liind-foot of a horse together. In Arvon, the word
is applied also to a cord tying the two fore-feet together, but
in Cardiganshire this would be called a hual, the other word,
there pronounced lloiücthir, being confined to the long fetter.
In boohs, the word is written llywethair, llefcthair, llyffethair,
llyffcthar, and it is possibly so pronounced in parts of North
Wales, though I cannot recall it. This is an interesting word,
as it is no other tban the English term " long fetter", borrowed
into Welsh ; as in fact, it was also into Irish early enough to
call for an article on it in Cormac's Irish Glossary, where
langfiter is described as an English word for a fetter between
the fore and the hind-legs. 3. The field in which they were
trying to catch the horse is, in the Llanllechid version, speci-
fied as that called ]\Iaes Madog, at the foot of the Llefn. 4.
When shC; after that, ran away, it was headlong into the
lake of Corwrion, calling after her all her milch cows, which
followed her with the ntmost readiness. 5. Before going on
to mention bits of information I have received from others
about the LlanUechid legend, I thinh it liest here to finish
with that sent me by Mr. 0. Davies, whom I cannot too
cordially thanh for his readiness to answer my auestions.
Aniong other things, he expresses himself to the following
effect : — " It is to this day a tradition, and I have heard it a
hnndred times, tliat the dairy of Corwrion excelled all other
dairies in those parts, that the milh was better and more
plentiful, and that the cheese and butter were better there,
than in all the country around, the reason assigned being
that the cattle on the farm of Corwrion had mixed witli the
breed belonging to the Fairy, who had run away after being
struck with the iron fetter. lIowever that may be, I remem-
ber perfectly well tlie high terms of praise in which the cows
üf Corwrion used to be spohen of as being remarkable for
their milk and the profit they yielded ; and, when I was a
bov, I used to liear people talk of Tarin Penwyn Corwrion or

■\VELSH FAITÍY TALES. 199

' tlie white-lieaded h\ú\ of Corwrion', as derived írom the breed
of cattle whicli had formed the Fairy Maiden's dowry."

jMy next informant is Mr. Hugh Derfel Hughes,^ of Pen-
dinas, Llandegai, who has been kind enough to give me the
Ycrsion, of which I here give the substance in English, pre-
mising that Mr. Hughes says that he has lived about thirty-
four years within a mile of the pool and farmhouse called
Corwrion, and that he has refreshed his memory of the legend
by f[uestioning separately no less than three old people, who
had been bred and born at or near that spot. He is a native
of ]\lerioneth, but has lived at Llandegai for the last thirty-
seven years, his age now being sixty-six : —

" In old times, when the fairies showed themselves much
oftener to men than they do now, they made their home in
the bottomless pool of Corwrion, in Upper Arllechwedd, in
that wild portion of Gwynedd called Arvon. On fine
mornings in the month of June these diminutive and nimble
folk niight be seen in a regular line vigorously engaged in
mowing hay, with their cattle in herds busily grazing in the

1 Mr. Hughes is a local antiquary of great industry and zeal. In the
year 1866 he published a book on the antiquities of the district, uuder
the title of Ilynajìacthau Lhnidef/ai a Lìanllechid ; but it is out of print,
and I have ueycr scen a copy. I may add that at present he is engaged
on a key to a larger \vork, which he has speut some ten yeare in com-
piHng, on Welsh names, under the title of Casgliad o Enwau Cymreig,
which is to be published as soou as the Welsh pubUc has given the author
sufhcient encouragemant to undcrtake the expense of printing. I haye
not seen the manuscript, but, according to what the autlior tells me, it
■would be of great value and interest to the Welsh reading public,
Mr. Ilughes has supplied me with such a quantity of notes relative to
Corwriou and the neighbourhood, that I can only publish extracts from
them, remarking as to the lcgend, that he, bcing a Christian, does not wish
to be supposed, as he kin(lly hints, to harboiu- any liking for such vani-
ties, and 1 most wiUingly bear hiiu testimony that it is only the belief
that possibly I may be able to draw some edification from it, that he
has written to me so fully about it. I caiuiot adequately express my
obligations to him for the diäinterested manner in which he has given me
his help.

200 WELSH FAIKY TALES.

fìelds near Corwrion. This was a siglit wliich often met
the eyes of the people on the sides of the hills aronnd, even
on Sundays ; but when they hurried down to them they
found the fields empty, with the sham workmen and their cows
gone, all gone. At other times they raight be heard hamm.er-
ing away like miners^ shovelling rubbish aside, or emptying
their carts of stones. At times they took to singing all the
night long, greatly to the delight of the people about, who
dearly loved to liear them ; and, besides singing so charm-
inglyj they sometimes formed into companies for dancing,
and their movements were marvellously graceful and attrac-
tive. But it was not safe to go too near the lake late at
night, for once a brave girl, who was tronbled with tooth-
ache, got up at midnight and went to the brink of the water
in search of the root of a plant that grows there fuU of the
power to kill all pain in the teeth. But, as she was plucking
up a bit of it, there burst on her ear^ from the depths of the
lake, such a shriek as drove her back into the house, breath-
less with fear and trembling ; but whether this was not the
doing of a stray fairy^ who had been frightened out of her
wits at being suddenly overtaken by a damsel in her night-
dress, or the ordinary fairy way of curing the toothache,
tradition does not tell. For sometimes, at any rate, the
fairies busied themselves in doing good to the men and
women who were tlieir neighbours, as when t]iev tried to
teach theni to keep all promises and covenants to whicli they ^
pledged themselves. A certain man and his wife, to w'hom
they wished to teach this good habit have never been forgotten.
The husband had been behaving as he ought, until one day,
as lie held the plough, with the wife guiding his team, he
brolce his covenant towards her by treating her harshly and
imhindly. No sooner had he done so, than he was suatclied
through the air and plunged in the lake. When the wife
"\\ent to the brink of the water to ask for him back, thc

WELSH FAIRY TALES. 201

reply she had ^vas, that he was there, and that there he
shouUl be.

" The fairies when engaged in daucing allowed theniselves
to be gazed at, a sight which was wont greatly to attract the
youug men of the neighbourhood, and once on a time the son
and heir of the owner of Corwrion fell deeply in love with
one of the graceful maideus who danced in the fairy ring,
for she was wondrously beautiful and pretty beyond compare.
His passion for her ere long resulted in courtship, and soon
in their being married, which took place on the distinct
understanding, that fìrstly the husband was not to know her
name, though he might give her any name he chose; and,
secondly, that he might now and then beat her witli a rod, if
she chanced to misbehave towards him ; but he was not to
strike her with iron on pain of her leaving him at once.
This covenant was kept for some years, so that they lived
happily together and had four childreu, of whom the two
youngest were a boy and a girl. But one day as they went
to one of the fields of Bryn Twrw in the direction of Penardd
Gron, to catch a pony, the fairy wife being so mucli nimbler
than her husband, ran before him and had her hand in the
pony's mane in no time. She called out to her husband to
throw her a halter, but instead of that he threw towards her
a bridle with an iron bit, which, as bad luck would have it,
struck her. The wife at once flew through thc air, aud
plunged headlong into Corwrion Lake. The husband re-
turned sighing and weeping towards Bryn Twrw (Noise Hill),
and when he liad reached it, the twrw (noise) there was greater
than had ever been heard before, namely that of weeping
after " Belene" ; and it was then, after he had struck her
with iron, that he first learnt what his wife's name was,
Belene never came back to her husband, but the feelinrrs of
a mother once brought her to the window of liis bedroom,
where she gave him the following order : —

202 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

" Os bydd anwyd ar fy mab,
Rho'wch am dano gob ei dad ;
Os anwydog a fydd can,i
Rho'wch am dani bais ei mara."

" If my son should feel it cold,
Let him wear his father's coat ;
If the fair one feel the cold,
Let her wear my petticoat."

" As years and years rolled on a grandson of Belene's fell
in love witli a beautiful damsel wlio lived at a neiglibouring
farm-house called Tai Teulwriaid, and against the will of his
father aud mother they married, but tliey had nothing to stock
their land with. So one morning what was their astonish-
ment, when they got up, to see grazing quietly in the field six
black cows and a white-headed bull, which had come up out
of the lake as stock for them from old grannie Belene ? They
served them well with milk and butter for many a long year,
but on the day the last of the family died, the six black
cows and the Avhite-headed bull disappeared into the lake,
never more to be seen."

j\Tr. Hughes refers to no less than three other versions,
as follows. (1) According to one account, the husband was
ploughing, with the wife leading the team, Avhen he acci-
dentally came across her and the accident with the iron
happened. The wife then tìew away like a wood hen {iar
(jucd) into the lahe. (2) Another says tliat it was in a stable
they were trying to bridle one of the horses when the mis- ,
fortune took place through inadvertence. (3) A third speci-
fies the field in front of the house at Corwrion as the place
where the final accident took place, when they were busied
with the cows and horses.

To these I would add the foUowiug traditious, which Mr.
Hughes further gives. Sometimes the inhabitants, who seem

1 For can they now usually put Ann^ and Mr. Hughes remembers hear-
ing it so many ycars ago.

"WELSII FAIUY TALES. 203

to liave been on tlie wliole on good terms with tlie fairies,
used to warm water ancl leave it in a vessel on tlie liearth
over night for the fairies to wash their children with it. This
they considered sncli a kindness that they always left behind
them on the hearth a handful of their money. Some pieces
are said to liave been sometimes found in tlie fields near
Corwrion, and that they consisted of coins which were smaller
tlian our halfpenuies, but bigger than farthings, and had a harp
on one side. But the tradition is not very definite ou these
points. Here also 1 may as well refer to a similar tale which
I got last year at Llanberis from a man who is a native of
the Llanllechid side of the mountain, though he now lives at
Llanberis. He is about fifty-five years of age, and remem-
bers hearing in his youth a tale connected with a house called
Hafoty'r Famaeth, in a very lonely situation on Llanllechid
IMountain, and now represented by some old ruined walls
only ; it was to the effect that one night when the man
who lived there was away from home, liis wife, who had a
youngish baby, washed him on the hearth, left the water
there, and went to bed with her little one ; she woke up in the
night to find that the Tylwyth Teg were in possession of the
hearth, and busily engaged in washing their children. Tliat
is all I got of this tale of a well-known type,

To return to j\Tr. Hughes' communications, I would select
from them some remarks on the topography of the teeming
home of the Fairies. He estimates the lake or pool of Corwrion
to be about 120 yards long, and adds that it is nearly round;
but he thinks it was formerly considerably larger, as a cutting
was made some eighty or a hundred years ago to lead water
from it to Penrhyn Castle ; but even then its size would not
approach that ascribed to it by popular belief, according to
which it was no less than three miles loníT. Tn fact there
was once a town of Corwrion which was swallowed up by
the lake, a sort of idea which one meets with in many parts

204 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

of Wales, and some of tlie natiyes are said to be able to dis-
cern the houses under the water. This must have been near
the end which is not bottomless, the latter being indicated by
a spot which is said never to freeze even in hard winters.
Old men remember it the resort of herons, cormorants, and
the water-hen (liohi wcii)\ near the banks there grew, besides
the water lily, various kinds of rushes and sedges, which were
formerly much used for making mats and other useful articles.
It was also once famous for eels of a large size, but it is not
supposed to have contained fish until Lord Penrhyn placed
some there in recent years ; it teemed, however, with leeches
of three difíerent kinds so recently that an old man still
living describes to Mr. Hughes his simple way of catching
them when he was a boy, namely, by walking bare-legged in
the water ; in a few minutes he landed with nine or ten
leeches sticking to his legs, some of which fetched a shilling
each from the medical men of those days. Corwrion is now
a farm-house occupied by Mr. William Grif&ths, a grandson
of the late bard Gutyn Peris. When Mr. Hughes called to
make enquiries about the legend, he found there the founda-
tions of several old buildings, and several piecesof old querns
about the place. He thinks that there belonged to Corwrion
in former times, a mill and a fuller's house, which he seems
to infer from the names of two neighbouring houses called
'Y Felin Hen' and 'Pandy Tregarth' respectively ; and he
mentions a gcfail or smithy there, in which one Ehys ap Eobert ,
used to work, not to mention that a great quantity of ashes,
such as come from a smithy, are found at the end of the lake
furthest from the house of Corwrion. The opot, on which
Corwrion stands, is part of the ground between the Ogwen
and another stream which bears the name of ' Afon Cegiu
Arthur' or tlie river of Artliur's kitchen, and most of the
houses and fields about have names whicli have sugges.ted
yarious things to the people there : such are the farms called

WELSII FAIIÍY TALES. 205

' Coecl Howel', wliciice tlie belief in tlie neighbourliood that
Howel tlie Good, King of Wales, lived here. About liiui
Mr. Hughes has a great deal to say ; among other things,
that he had boats on Corwrion Lake, and that he was wont to
present the citizens of Bangor yearly with 300 fat geese
reared on the waters of the same. I am referred by another
gentlenian to a lecture delivered in the neighbourhood on
these and similar things by the late bard and antiquary the
Itev. Eobert Ellis, Cynddelw, but I have not yet been able to
íînd it in print. A fìeld near Corwrion is called ' Cae Stabl', or
the Field of the Stable, which contains the remains of a row of
stables, as it is supposed, and of a number of mangers where
Howel's horses once were fed. In a neighbouring wood,
called ' Parc y Gelli' or ' Hopiar y Gelli', my iuformant goes on
to say, there are to be seen the foundations of seventeen or
eighteen old hut-circles, and near them some think they see
the site of an old church. About a mile to the south-east of
Corwrion is Pendinas, which he describes as an old triangular
Welsh fortress ou the bank of the Ogwen; and within tw^o
stone's-throws or so of Corwrion on the south side of it, and a
little to the west of Brvn Twrw mentioned in the lecrend, is
situated Penardd Gron, a caer or fort, wliicli he describes as
being, before it was erased in his time, .42 yards long by 32
wide, and defended by a sort of rampart of earth and stoue
several yards wide at the base. It used to be the resort of the
country people for dancing, cock-figliting, and other amuse-
ments on Sundays. Near it was a cairn, which, when it was
dug into, was found to cover a kistvaen, a pot, and a C[uern :
a variety of tales attach to this caer about ghosts, caves, and
hidden treasures of money. Altogether Mr. Hughes is strongly
of opinion tliat Corwriou and its immediate surroundings
represent a spot M'hich liad great importance at one time;
and I see no reason to doubt the correctness of that conclu-
sion, l)ut it would bc interesting to know whether Penrhyu

206 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

iised, as Mr. Hnglies siiggests, to be called Penrliyn Corwrion;
there ought, perhaps, to be no great dif&culty in ascertaining
this, as a good deal of the estate appears to have heen the
suhject of sharp litigation in times gone by.

Possibly, the so-called Cyfraith Coriorion may turn out to
have some bearing on the question of the importance of
Corwrion in ohl times. Under this heading Mr. Hughes
writes to the foUowing effect : — " There was formerly a law
called Cyfraith Corwrion, together with lawyers called
Cyfreitluüyr Corwrion, and the old people sometimes chose
to settle their quarrels according to Cyfraith Corwrion.
Here is an instance of it. About 150 years ago there was
such a flood in the Ogwen, that it carried away a valuable
tree from the land of Grâs ych Huw of Cilgeraint, and left
it on the land of Madam Puw of Coetmor. The servants of
tlie latter were eager to take possession of it, but Madam
Puw would have nothing to do witli it until Grâs had been
sent for from Cilgeraint to see it. Down came Grâs on her
horse, and rather than go to law aboiit the tree, they agreed
that Grâs was to have the trunk and Madam Puw the branches.
So they parted in peace, when Grâs went home, and died not
long afterwards, in the process of making oatmeal cakes, at
the age of 103, as testified by an inscription to be seen in
Llandegai Church until it was restored." I am by no means
clear as to why the above is called Cyfraith Corwrion, and
whether the term may not have some other significatiou. The
word cyfraith may mean either a law or a lawsuit, aud I learn
from my informant that the latter is the one attributed to it
in this instance by the old people about him. I have re-
corded it simply in hopes that if the term has any historical
significance, light may be thrown on it by somebody more
shilled in Welsh law than I am.

Before leaving Mr. Hughes's notes, I must here give liis
too brief account of another thing connected with Corwrion,

WELSII FAIUY TALES. 207

tliniioli, perhaps, iiôt with the legends here in question. I

allude to what he calls the Lantern Ghost {Yshryd y Lantar).

" There used to be fornierly," he says, " and there is still at

Corwrion, a good sized, sour apple-tree, wliich during the

winter half of the year used to be lit up by fire. It began

slowly and grew greater and greater until the whole seemed

to be in a blaze. He was told by an old woman that she

formerly knew old people who declared they had seen it.

In the same Avay the trees in Hopiar y Gelli appeared, ac-

cording to them, to be also lit up with fire.^' This reminds

me of Mr. Fitzíîerald's account of the Irisli Bile-Tineadh in

the Revue Celtique (vol. iv, p. 193).

After communicatinfî to me the notes of which thc fore-

going are abstracts, Mr. Hughes kindly got me a version of

the legend from Mr. David Thomas of Pontywern, in the

same neighbourhood, but as it contains nothing which I have

not already given from Mr. Hughes's own, I pass it by. Mr.

Thomas, however, has heard that tlie number of the houses

malcing up the town of Corwrion some six or seven centuries

ago was about seventy-five ; but they were exactly seventy-

three according to my next informant, Mr. David Evan

Davies of Treflvs, Bethesda. Both these o;entlemen have

also heard the tradition that there was a church at Corwrion,

where there used to be every Sunday a single service, after

which the people went to a spot not far off to amuse them-

selves, and at niglit to watch the Fairies dancing, or to mix

with them \vhile they danced in a ring around a glow-worm.

According tu Mr. D. E. Davies, the spot was called ' Pen y

Bongc', which means that they cliose the top of a rising

ground. Tliis is referred to in a modorn rhyme, wliich runs

tlius —

" A'r Tylwyth Teg yn dawnsio 'n siongc
O gylch niagíen Peu y Bongc."

'• With nimble Fairies dancing round
The glow-worm on the rising ground."

208 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

Mr. D. E. Davies lias kinclly gone to tlie trouble of giving
me a brief, bnt complete, version of the legend as he has
heard it. This is the snbstance of it in Engiish : — " At one
of the dances at Pen y Bongc, the heir of Corwrion's eyes
fell on one of the damsels of the Fair Eamily, and he was
fiUed with love for lier. Courtship and marriage in due time
ensued, but he had to agree to two conditions, namely, that
lie was neither to know her name nor to strilce her with
iron. By and by they had children, and when the husband
happened to go, during his wife's confinement, to a merry-
making at Pen y Bongc, the Fairies talked together of his
wife, and in expressing their feelings of sympathy for her,
they inadvertently betrayed the mystery of her name by
mentioning it wdthin liis hearingi Years went by, when
they one day went out together to catch a colt of theirs that
liad not been broken in, with the view of going to Conwy
Fair. Now, as she was swifter of foot tlian her husband,
she got hold of the colt by the mane, and called out to him
to throw her a halter, but instead of throwing her the one
she asked for, he threw another with iron in it, wdiich struck
her. Off she went into the lake. A grandson of this fairy
many years afterwards married one of the girls of Corwrion.
They had a large jDÌece of land, but no means of stoclàng it,
so that they felt ratlier distressed in their minds. But lo
and beliold ! one day a white-headed buU came out of the
lake, bringing with him six black cows to their land. There
never were the like of those cows for milk, and great was
the prosperity of their owners, as well as the envy it kin-
dled in their neighbours' breasts. But when they both grew
old and died, the bull and the cows went back into the lake."

Now I add the other sayings about the Tylwytli Teg, which
Mr. D. E. Davies has kindly coUected for me, beginning with
a common story about changelings : —

" Once on a time, in tlie fourteenth ceutury, the wife of a

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 209

man at Corwrion liad twins, and she complained one day to
the witch, wlio lived close by, at Tyddyn y Barcut, that the
chihh'cn were not getting on, hut that they were always cry-
ing day and night. ' Aro you sure that they are your chil-
dren ?' asked the witch, adding that it did not seem to her
that tliey were like hers. ' I have niy doubts also,' said the
mother. ' I wonder if somebody has changed children with
you,' said the witch. ' I do not know,' said the mother. ' But
why do you not seek to know V asked the otlier. ' But how am
I to go about it?' said the mother. The witch replied, 'Go
and do something rather strange before their eyes and watch
what they will say to one another.' ' Well, I do not know
what I should do,' said tlie mother. ' Oh/ said the other, ' take
an egg-shell, and proceed to brew beer in it in a chamber aside,
and come here to tell nie what the children wiU say about it.'
She went home and did as the witch had directed her, wlien
the two children lifted their heads out of the cradle to see what
slie was doing, to watch, and to listen. Then one observed
to the other, 'I remember seeing an oak having an acorn,'
to which the other replied, ' And I remember seeing a lien
having an egg ;' and one of the two added, ' But I do not re-
member before seeing anybody brew beer into the shell of a
hen's ecT'î.' The mother then went to the witch and told her
what the twins had said one to the other ; and she directed
her to go to a small wooden bridge, not far oíf, with one of
the strange children under each arm, and tliere to drop them
frora the bridge into the river beneath. The mother went
back home again and did as she had been directed. AVhen
she reached home this time, to her astonishment she found
that her own children had been brought back."

Next comes a story about a midwife who lived at Cor-
wrion. " One of the fairies came to ask her to come and
attend on his wife. Oíf she went with him, and she was as-
tonished to be taken into a splendid palace. Tliere she con-

210 WELSH FAIEY TALES.

tinued to go niglit and morning to dress the baby for some
time, until one day ihe husband asked her to rub her eyes
with a certain ointment he offered her. She did so, and
found herself sitting on a tuft of rushes, and not iu a palace.
There was no baby and all had disappeared. Some time
afterwards she happened to go to the town, and whom should
she there see busily buying various wares, but the fairy on
whose wife she had been attending. She addressed him with
the question, ' How are you, to-day X Instead of answering
her, he asked, ' How do you see me ?' ' With my eyes,' was
the prompt reply. ' Which eye ?' he asked. ' This one/ said
the woman, pointing to it ; aud instantly he disappeared,
never more to be seen by her." This tale is incomplete, but
it can be made up from another version I have seen in print
somewhere, though I cannot now lay my hand on it. It was
possibly in Mr. Sihes' book.

" One day Guto, the farmer of Corwrion, complained to
his wife that he was in need of men to mow his hay, and
she answered, ' Why fret about it ? look yonder ! There you
have a field full of them at it, and stripped to their shirt
sleeves {yn lleioys eu crysau). When he went to the spot the
sham worhmen of the Fairy Family had disappeared. This
same Guto, or somebody else, happened, another time, to be
ploughing, when he heard some person lie could not see call-
ing out to him, ' I have got the Mns (that is the vice) of my
plough broken.' ' Bring it to me,' said the driver of Guto's
team, ' that I may mend it.' When they brought the furrow
to its end, there they found the broken vice, witli a barrel of
beer placed near it. One of the men sat down and mended it.
Then they made another furrow, and when they returned to
the spot they found there a two-eared dish, fiUed to the brim
w4th harct a chwrw, or bread and beer." The vice, I may ob-
serve, is an Engiish term, which is applied in Carnarvonshire
to a certain part of the plougli ; it is otherwise called hins,

WELSII FAIHY TALF.S. 211

but neitlier does that seem to be a Welsli wordj uor liave I
heard either used iu South Wales.

At times the wif'e of one of the Fairies was in the habit of
cominj]; out of the hxke of Corwrion with her spinning-wlieel
(tì'ocll hnch) on fine summer days, and betaking herself to spin-
ning. While at that work she miglit be heard constantly sing-
ing or humming, in a sort of round tune, the words s\li ffrit.
So that " Sili ífrit Leisa Bèla" may now be heard from the
mouths of the children in that neighbourhood. But I have
not been successfid in finding out what Liza BeUa's " silly
frit" exactly means, thougli I am, on the whole, inclined to
think the words are other than of Welsh origin : tlie last of
them, ffrit, is usually applied in Cardiganshire to anything
worthless or insignificant, and the derivative, ffrityn, means
one who has no go or perseverance in hini ; the feminine is
ffritcn. In Carnarvonshire my wife has heard ffrityn and
ffritan applied to a small man and a sniall woman respectively,
Mr. Ilughes says that in Merioneth and parts of Powys sìli
ffrit is a term applied to a small woman or a female dwarf
who happens to be proud, vain, and fond of the attentions of
the other sex (bcnyio fctch, ncu goraches falch a hunanol a
fycldai hoff o garu) ; but he thinlis he has heard it made use
of with regard to the Gipsies, and possibly also to the Tylwyth
Teg. The Piev. 0. Davies thinks the words " sìli ííiit Leisa
Bèla" to be very modern, and that they refer to a young
woman who lived at a place in the neighbourhood, called
Bryn Bòla, or Brymbèla, BeUa's Hill, who was ahead, in her
time, of all tlie girls in those parts in matters of taste and
fashion. This however does not seem to go far enough back,
and it is possible still, that in Bèla (that is, in English spelling,
BeUa) we have merely a shortening of some such a name as
Isabella or ArabeUa, which were once much more popular in
the Principality than they are now; in fact, I do not feel sure
tliat Lcisa Bèla is not bodily a corruption of Isabella. As U)

YOL. IV. Q

212 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

s\li ffrit, one miglit at first have been inclined to render it by
small fry, especially in the sense of tbe French " de la friture"
as applied to young men and boys, and to connect it with the
Welsh sîl and nlod, which mean small fish; but the pro-
nunciation of slli being that of the English word siUy, it
appears, on the whole, to belong to the host of English words
to be found in coUoquial Welsh, though they seldom get into
books. Students of EngUsh philology ought to be able to
teU us whether frit had the meaning here suggested in any
part of EngLand, and how lately; also, whether there was
such a phrase as '' siUy frit" in use. After penning this,
I receiyed the foUowing interesting communication from
Mr. WüUam Jones of LlangoUen : — The term sìli ffrit
was in use at Beddgelert, and what was thereby meant
was a child of the Tyhmjth Tcg. It is stiU used for
any creature that is smaUer than ordinary. "Pooh, a
siUy frit Uke that !" {Pw, rhyw sili ffrit fd yna !). " Mrs.
So-and-so has a fine chihl." " Hah, do you caU a siUy frit
Uke that a fine child ?" {Mac gan hon a hon blentyn hraf.
Ho, a yclych chwi yn gaho rliyw süi ffrit fcl hwna yn hrafT)
But to return to Leisa Bèla and Belene, it may be that the
same person was meant by both these names, but I am in no
hurry to identify them, as none of my correspondents knows
the latter except Mr. Hughes, who gives it on the authority
of Gutyn Peris, the bard, and nothiug further so far as I can
understand, whereas Bèla wiU come before us in another story,
as it is the same name, T presume, which Glasynys has
speUed Bclla in " Cyraru Eu".

These tales are brought into connection with the present
day in more ways than one, for besides the various accounts
of the hwganod ur bogies of Corwrion frightening people
when out late at night, Mr. D. E. Davies knows a man, who
is stUl Uving, and who weU remembers the time when the
sound of working used to be heard in thc hike, and the

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 213

Yoices of cliildrcn crying there somewhere in its depths, but
that when people rushed there to see what the matter was,
all was found profoundly quiet and still. ]\Ioreover, there is
a family or two, now numerously represented in the parishes
of Llandegai and Llanllechid, who used to be taunted with
being the offspring of fairy ancestors. One of these families
was nicknamed "Smychiaid" or " Simychiaid" ; and my infor-
mant, who is not yet quite forty, says that he heard his mother
repeat scores of times that the old people used to say that the
Smychiaid, who were very numerous in the neighbourhood,
were descended from fairies, and that they came from Cor-
wrion Lake. At all this the Smychiaid were wont to grow
mightily angry, Another tradition, he says, about them was
that it was a wandering family that arrived in the district
from the direction of Conwy, and that the father's name was
Simwch, or rather that was his nickname, based on the
proper name Simwnt, which appears to have once been
the prevalent name in Llandegai. The order of these words
would in that case have been Simwnt, Simwch, Simychiaid,
Smychiaid. Now " Sim\vnt" seems to be merely the Welsh
form given to some such English nam.e as Simond, just as
Edmund or Edmond becomes in North Wales " Emwnt". The
objection to the nickname seems to lie in the fact, which one
of my correspoudents points out to me, that " Simwch" is un-
derstood to mean a monkey, a point on which I sliould like
to have further information. Pughe gives Simach, it is true,
as having that meaning. A brancli of the same family is
said to be called "y Cowperiaid" or the Coopers, from an
ancestor who was either by name or by trade a cooper. Mr.
Hughes's account of the Smychiaid is, that they are the de-
scendants of one Simonds, wlio came to be a bailiíf at Bodye-
gallan, and moved from there to Coetmor in the same neigh-
bourhood. Simonds was obnoxious to the bards, he goes on
to say, and thcy described the Smychiaid as having arrived

q2

214 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

in the parisli at tlie bottom of a cawell or basket carried on

tlie l)ack, when chance would have it that the cawcll broke

just in that neiglilìourhood, at a place called Pont y LLan.

Tliat accident is described, says Mr. Hughes, in the folhny-

ing doggerel, tlie origin of which I do not know —

" E dorai 'r arwest, edc wan,
Brwnt y lle, ar Bont y Llan."

Curiously enough, the same caiücll story used to be said of
a widely-spread family in North Cardiganshire, whose sur-
name was pronounced Massn and written Mason or Mazon ;
as my mother was of this family, I have often heard it. Tlie
cawell, if I remember rightly, was said, in this instance, to have
come from Scotland, to which were traced three men who
settled in Nortli Cardiganshire. One had no.descendants,
biit the other two, Mason and Peel (I think his name was
Peel, but I am not sure about it, only that it was not Welsli),
had so many, that the Masons, at any rate, are exceedingly
numerous tliere ; but a great many of them, owing to some
extent, probably, to the cawell story, have been silly enough
to change their surname into that of Jones within my know-
ledge. I have never heard it suggested that they were of
aquatic origin, but, tahing the cawcll into consideration, and
the popular account of the Smychiaid, I should be inclined
to think that the caiücll originally referred to some such a
supposed descent. I only hope that somebody will help us
with another and a longer ccmell tale, which wiU make up for
the brevity of these allusions. We may, however, assume, I
think, that there was a tendency at one time in Arvon, if not
in other parts of the Principality, to believe or pretend to
believe, that the descendants of an Englishman or Scotch-
man, who settled among the okI inhabitants, were of fairy
origin, and that their history was somehow uncanny, which
was all, of course, duly resented. This helps, to some extent,
tc) explain how such names of doubtful origin have got

WELSII FAIRY TALES. 215

iiito tbese tales as Sìnychiaid, Gow^jcriaid, Pellings, Penelope,
Leisa BUa or Isahella, and tlie like. This association oí'
the lake legends with intruders from without is what has,
perhaps, to a great measure served to rescue them from
oblÌYÌon.

As to a church at Corwrion, the tradition does not seem
to be an old one, and it appears founded on one of the popu-
lar etymologies of the word Corwrion, which treats the first
syllable as cor in the sense of a choir ; but the word has other
meanings, including among them that of an ox-stall or enclo-
sure for cattle. Taking this as coming near the true explana-
tion, it at once suggests itself that Creuwyryon in tlie Mahinogi
of j\Iath ab ]\Iathonwy is the same place, for creu or crcm also
meant an enclosure for animals, not even excluding swine. In
Irish the word is cró, an enclosure, a hut or hovel. The pas-
sage in the Mahinogi relates to Gwydion returning with the
swine he had got by dint of magic and deceit from Pryderi
prince of Dyfed, and runs thus in Lady Charlotte Guest's
translation : " So they journeyed on to the highest town of
Arllechwedd, and there they made a sty (creu) for the swine,
and therefore was the name of Creuwyryon givén to that town."
As to wyrion or i'jyryon, which we find made into wrion in
Corwrion according to the modern habit, it would seem to be
no other word than the usual plural of wyr, a grandson,
formerly also any descendant in the direct line. If so, the
name of an ancestor must have originally followed, just as
one of the places called Bettws was once " Bettws Wyrion
Iddon"; butit is possiblethaf'Wyrion" inCreu- or Cor-Wyrion
■\\as itself a man's name, though I have never met with it.
It is right to add that the name appears in the record of Car-
narvon as Creweryon, wliich carries us back to the first half
of the fourteenth century. There it occurs as the name of a
township containing eight gavels, and tlie particulars about
it might, in tlie hand oí" a nuui familiar with tlic tenures

216 WELSH FAIRY TALES.

of that time, perhaps give us valnable information as to what
may have been its status at a still earlier date.

In the next number I hope to be able to say something of
the versions of the lake legends which are extant at Drws
y Coed and elsewhere, and I should be exceedingly thanhful
for any correction or any scrap of information bearing on this
subject from any other part of the Principality. Nothing
will be published without duly acknowledging whence it
comes. If space should allow of it, some remarks will be
added at the end on the general character of this kind of
folk-lore, its place in Celtic mythology, and what it has in
common with the legends of other nations. But I expect
that the legends, when brought together, will to a great ex-
tent explain one another, and leave me little to do by way
of explaining them.

217

A CELTO-SLAVONIC SUFFIX.

The Britannic languages — Welsli, Cornisli, and Breton — liave

aiuong their substantives some which Welsh grammarians

call Collectives and Singulatives. As the reader knows, Col-

lectives are suhstantives which have a plural force without a

plural ending ; and the Singulatives, i.e., those forms which

are employed to designate a single object, have this pecu-

liarity — they appear to be formed from the Collective. These

Singulatives end in -Ì7i (now written -yn) for the masculine,

and in -cn for the feminine.

Examples : Welsh : —

Adar, birds ; aderyn., a bird.
Plant., children ; lüentyn, a child.
Derw, oaks ; derwcn, an oak.
Gwenyn, bees ; gwenynen, a bee.'

Cornish : —

Breton

Gicytliy arbores ; guidcn, arbor.
Deyl, folia ; delen., folium.*

Kaol, des choux ; lcaolen, un chou.
Stered, des étoiles ; stereden., une étoile.
Faô, des hêtres ; faôen, un hêtre.
Gwenan, des abeilles ; gwenanen, une abeille.^

Most Welsh grammarians record these facts under the
heading, " Formation of the Singular from the Plural", and

1 líowlaud's Wehh Grammar, 4th edit., p. 83. - Zcuss-, p. 297.

3 Le Gonidec, Grammaire bretonne, ed. La Villemarquó (prefixed to
the Dict. hreton-français), p. 17. It wiU be seen that Cornish and
Bretou have ouly the sufíix -en ; in Breton, singulatiyes in -en are always
fcminine. Hiugaut, Elénienls de la grammaire brelonnc, p. 12, n

218 A CELTO-SLAYONIC SUFFIX.

the Breton gramniarians express tliemselves in tlie same way.
The enormity of this theory does not strihe them, and they
look for no historic or organic explanation of this curioiis
parallelism. However, an old Welsh grammarian, J. Davies,
in his Anfiqnae Lingnae Britannicae Rudimcnta} had (as we
are reminded by Zenss,2 p. 295) caught a glimpse of, and for-
mulated, a perfectly natural explanation, which we proceed
to develop here.^

The explanation of these forms in -yn and -en is very
simple ; and that it did not present itself to the mind of the
Welsh and Breton grammarians (J. Davies excepted), is due to
the fact that the language has no longer auy consciousness
that these forms are diminutives. It is what has occurred,
for instance, in French, in the case of such words as soleil from
*"soliculus", sommeil from * "somniculus", aheille from
"apicula", grenouille from "ranuncula", aiguille from "acicula",
etc. It isthe case in German as regards mädchen,veilchen,ete.
— diminutives of which the primitive has hecome almost or en-
tirely ohsolete, and which have hy usage acquired the full force
of the primitive which they have displaced. The same pheno-
menon occurred in Latin, as is seen by such words as annulus,
oculus, puella, etc. The simple term is readily supplanted by
the diminutive, especiaUy when the former is a monosyllable ;
and then the language uses the derivative — originally dimi-
nutive — without any recoUection of the particular significa-
tion it bore Mdien first formed.

1 Pp. 6L-2 of the Oxford reprint in 12mo., 1809.

2 It is scarcely worth obserying that to tliis class of nouns must be
aflded those which, ending in -yn, masc. ; aud -en, fem. ; "throw off
these terminations when the plural termination is added" (Rowlands, p.
32), Example —

Merlyn, pony (masc.)
Merlen, pony (fem.) ; pl., mcrlod.
Mcddiryn, a drvmkard ; pl., meddwon.
Llijsií'cn, an cel ; pl., ìhjsú-od^ etc.

A CELTO-SLAVONIC SUFFIX. 219

Now Welsli lias among its suffixes of diminiition -yn for
the masc. and -en for tlie fem. Tliese euable us to under-
stand the nature and the origin of the so-called Singulatives.

Bachgciìi/n, a littlo boy ; from hachgen, a boy.
Merlyn^ a little horse ; from ine?-!, a pony.
Miaren, a little bramble ; from miar, a bramble.

The su{Iìx -eìi, which forms feminine nouns, is the feminine
form that regularly corresponds to -yn masc, as is seen by the
adjectives which admit of internal flexion ; e.g., gyjyn m.,
gioen f., white, etc. Cornish and Breton have lost this dimi-
nutive suffix.

It is by this suffix Ihat the " Singulative" is most satisfac-
torily explained. It is easy to see that the "Collectives" are
old plurals preserved in the language, while the Singulative is
the singular strengthened by the suffix of diminution. The
forms of the singular, the endings of which were not so
heavy as those of the plural, were found too light, when these
very endings had been worn away. The language felt the
necessity of giving them ballast, and the example of otlier
languages (compare the French, German, and Latin words
quoted above) shows that the diminutive endings are fre-
quently used for this purpose. The hypocoristic tendency,
the instinct which leads to the formation of familiar names
and terms of endearment, aids greatlyin tliis work of regene-
ration of the simple substantive. These diminutives once
created, the language had a sufficiently clear consciousness
of the difference between the singular and tlie plural to make
it necessary, for the most part, to add the new plural euding to
these old plurals, which had become, in a manner, petrified
as collectives.

An analogous phenomenon, in which the suffix, too, is thc
same, appears in the Slavonic languages ; and of the origin
of this, again, tlie Slavonic grammarians (such of theni, at

220 A CELTO-SLAVONIC SUFFIX.

least, as we have consulted) give no explanation. Thus, in
Eussian, the nouns which form the fifth paradigm of the
declension in the grammar of Eeiff,^ i.e., nouns ending in
-ianine, -anine, -iarine, and -arine, and denoting origin or
state, " do not take in the plural the suffìx -me". Ex : —

SING. PLUR.

Rossianine, a Russian. Rossiané, Russians.

Sélanine, a yillager. Sélianê, yiUagers.

Boiarine, a lorcl. Boiaré, lords.

Grazdanine, a citizen. Grazdane, citizens, etc.

" These words," says M. Eeiff, " have two stems, the one
sélanine, containing a pronominal suffix -in, the other
séliané." A pronominal suf&x ! That is more easily said
than proved. The learned M. Leskien, in his grammar of
old Slavonic, confìnes himself to a statement of the fact
without seehing any explanation of it.^

It appears to us certain that this suffix i-n- is a secondary
form of the Indo-European suffix NA. It is curious to find
it localised, with the same force, at the two extremities of
the European branch, in the Slavonic and in the Britannic

languages.

H. Gaidoz.

1 Grammaire française-russe^ par Reiff, 4e ed., revue par M. Leger,
Paris, 1878, p. 40.

2 Leskien, Handbuch der aît-huhjarischen Sprache, Weimar, 1871,
p. 36.

221

A CYWYDD

TO

SIR EDWARD STRADLTNG AND DR. JOHN DAVID RHYS

UPON THE
PUBLICATION OF THE LATTER'S WELSH GRAMMAR,

From a 3IS. in thc possession of Mr. Ll. Reynolds, B.A., o/ Merthyr

Tydvil.

Of the writer of this Cywydd, Meirig Davydd, not much
is recorded. Williams, in his Eminent Welshmen, says he
was " an eminent poet of Glamorgan, who presided in the
Gorsedd Morganwg in the year 1560, and died in 1600".
As Dr. Rhys's Grammar, Camhrobrytannic^ Cymraemve
Lingii^ Institutiones et Budimenta, published at the sole
expense of Sir Edward Stradling, appeared in 1592, it fol-
lows that this composition was written between that year
and 1600.

Sir Edward Stradling was born in 1529, and died in his
eiglitieth year, 1609.

Llyma Gywydd I Syr Edwar Ystradling ag ir Docrdor
Dayydd am y Gramer Kymraeg.

Y marchog rywiog benn raith,
jor syth waew a wyr saithjaith,
Syr Edwart mewn hasart jng
js di radlafn ystradling :
ef yw'r hydd penn Uywydd Uwyd
jawn son dawn yn sain Dynwyd.

222 A CYWYDD TO SIR EDWARD STRADLING

oes Addaf hynaf yw hwnn,

a brav ytiw ir brytwn.

nidoes vn brigyn or brig

mawr vwyn hawdd mor vonheddig ; lo

vn vodd yw'r marchog jawnfwyn

ar bymtheg llin teg or Uwyn;

Uyna Iwyn llawn olaini

llawn glod oll nerth yn gwlad ni :

roes nerth yn jor grasvwyn hv 10

rann rag kamran ir kymrv

i gael Gramer goel grymiaith

brauYwyn jor i bryvo n jaith,

val na bo i sais 0 drais draw

vn bawaidd mwy yn baiaw, 20

na baio gwaith na bywyd

yn hawen vairdd, na n hen vyd.

mae gwarant penn voliant per

orav grym ar y gramer

dockdor por gwyddor ir gwaith — 25

dyn yw a wyr daunawjaith;

kymro gwych or kymry gwiw,

klennig dysgedig ydiw ;

gwr yw aü jpo gywrain,

gorav swydd mewn gair a sain ; 30

kyviaithydd dedwydd didwyll

jaith harddj ny vynn bai na thwyll.

naddoedd ysgryvenyddiaeth,

yn Uawn ag yn jawn i gwnaeth:

kyviaithyddiaeth oedd gaeth gynt, 35

kair i bo gair i gerynt:

kystrawaeth kost ar awen

kywir byth i kair oi benn:

tonyddiaeth halaeth hylawn

a gair mewn llevair yn llawn. 10

AND DK. JOIIN DAYID HIIYS, 223

mewn y Gramer per heb hjTin

m\vyv\\y i kair y movyn

athrawiaeth prydyddiaeth prin

osod oedd waith Taliesin.

well well, tra vo bwyell byd, 45

y w kael vydd pob helfyddyd ;

ag waeth-waeth, o sywaeth son,

i doniav \^dd y dynion.

kann gwell waithon mewn ton teg

kam ryw a vydd kymraueg ; 50

Sion a roes ym synwyr j

liynt aurnod warant erni ;

Gric Uadin di brin yn brynt

gradd addysc grjaidd yddynt ;

fyr he]n geh^ddyd wiw rwydd 55

[o] gerddwriaeth gardd arwydd,

a phob kolfen hen ddwfn ddysg

[u]niawn hoewddawn yn hyddysg,

[pob] mesurav saraplav son

holl jawn oll a pheuillon, 60

a phob kynghanedd hoff hynt

hyno a pha le henynt,

au henwav hoff rywiav ffraeth

hwynt herwydd i naturiaeth :

mae baiav anavav want r.5

mal llygod aml i Uwygant

yny gerdd rai enwog ynt

adwyth ag anardd ydynt.

mae statvs weddvs wiwddawn

yw gweled oll galed jawn 70

ar gerddwyr or gywirddysg,

ar rai na bai divai dysg.

gwae brydydd or dydd, or daw

dyrnod eisteddfod arnaw.

224 A CYWYDD.

ony wyr yn Uwyr holl jaith 75

y llyfr hwnii llavar henjaith.

da vy r marchog pwyllog pell

a gostawdd hwnn oi gastell ;

da vy r dockdor kyngor kaU

o dduw a vy ny ddeaU ; so

da duw jr gwyr daidiau gwaith,'

duw dalo i daed eUwaith.

Maieig Davydd aì hant.

ITie preceding composition is printed exactly as it appears in the MS.,
•with only the addition of the bracketed letters in lines 55, 56, and 58,
suggested by Mr. Reynolds ; the word " pob", in line 59 ; and the
punctuation, there being no stops in the MS. copy.

It will be seen that the transcriber's orthography is not consistent :
thus he uses v for the present m, and for the consonantal sound of the
English i', for which he also uses/, as we now do. Again the sound of
i consonans he variously represents by i, and by y, while he uses the
latter occasionally as a pure vowel also, as in liues 29, 51, etc.

In this cyu-ydd the author has " enriched" the lauguage with a number
of unrecorded words. These are sytJi-waew (1. 2), rhadlafn (1. 4),
maiowicyn (1. 10), iawnfwyn (1. 11), grasfwyn (1. 15), grymiaith (1. 17),
lrauvwyn (1. 18), clennig (1. 28), cerynt (1. 36 : this word appears in
Pugh's Dict., 3rd edition, in a quotation of the present couplet under
cyfachyddiaeth, but is not recorded in its proper place in the body of the
work), aurnod (1. 52), hoewddaicn (1. 58), hoUjawn (1. 60), giviivddawn
(1. 69), cytcirddysg (1. 71), dned (1. 82).

L. 6, Sain I)ymcyd=St. Donat's, the residence of the Stradlings.

L. 29, jpo doubtless means Hipjjocrates, with whom the grammarian,
as a Doctor of Medicine of Sienna, and a very able physician, îs
naturally compared.

L. 30, gorac is for gormi, not goraf, as the alliteration proves.

L. 35, lcyciaithyddiaeth. The reading in Pugh's JJict. is cyfachyddiaeth.

L. 36, tair i bo, etc, Bo is a clerical error for hob.

L. 41, mewn is here used before the defiuite article contrary to the
rule set down by modern grammarians, who would say " yu y graraer".

L. 82, daed is probably a noun, " God repay them their goodness".

225

A HISTORICAL POEM BY lOLO GOCIL

In the year 1877, the publication of "The Works of lolo
Goch", with a sketch of his life, was commenced in the first
Yoliime of the Cymmrodor, by its first able and lamented
editor, the Eeyerend Eobert Jones, Yicar of All Saints,
Piotherhithe, and was subsequently continued in the
second vohime, when the work was interrupted by the
necessity for the introduction of more urgent matter
after the completion of thirteen of the poems. It is
greatly to be hoped that the undertaking, thus auspi-
ciously begun, may not, for lack of means or opportunity, be
eventually allowed to drop. In the brief outliue of the
poet's life, by the late Canon Eobert Williams, in that most
useful work, the Didionary of Emincnt Welshmcn, it is said
that more than fifty of his poems are still extant in manu-
script, and obviously the publication of these in their entirety
will be needed to enable the present generation to form an
adequate judgment of the genius and capacity of the bard,
and to appreciate to the full the value of the allusions they
contain to the important historical events which were pass-
ing around him, and in some of which, in his capacity of a
vates sacer, he would appear to have borne personally no in-
significant a part. The compositions may be classified roughly
under the headings of 1. Eeligious; 2. Historical; 3. Encom-
iastic. Of these, those comprised under the second must
naturally attract the first attention ; while the third class
wiU be looked to by those who would view society in those
troublous times in its more private and social relations ; and
the state of religious hnowlcdge and practice can scarcely

226 A HISTOmCAL POEM BY lOLO GOCH.

fail to derive poiut and iUustration from the quaint and
often obscure language of the íirst. To the philologist, the
frequent occurrence of terms and forms of speech, current in
the poet's day, but scarcely intelligible now, cannot but
prove highly instructive ; a remark for the truth of which
suf&cient evidence has been furnished by the poems abeady
in our hands. In the form as well as the matter of Cymric
poetry, the worhs of lolo may be said to bridge over the
period between the ruder, if more majestic, metrical produc-
tions of his predecessors, and the more finished performances
of those who came after him. During his acme, comprising
the earlier half of the fourteenth century, the form of verse
known as the " Cywydd" became more recognised as a legi-
timate expression of poetical feeling than heretofore, when,
speaking generaUy, it had been for some time but sparsely
introduced, or was worhing its way very gradually into use ;
while in Davydd ab Gwilym, w^ho so prominently occupied
the public attention in Wales during the last part of the
century, it attained to an ease, a grace, and a perfection,
never reached before, and certainly never since surpassed.

lolo Goch, then, may be said to have occupied as a poet
an intermediate position between the last of the " Gogyn-
feirdd", properly so called, and Dafydd ab Gwilym and the
bards who adopted the more modern style, metre, and dic-
tion of the Cywydd and Awdl writers of the fifteenth and
subsequent centuries, with little or no intermission, down to
our own day. Nor was this aU. He made his mark also às
a man of letters, whose attainments in classical, historical,
and general learning w^ere at least equal to, and probably far
superior to those of most of his lay contemporaries. To his
knowledge of Latin, a Dialoguc hetween the Soul and the Bocly,
translated from that language, and extant among his works
in MS., wiU testify. Possessed of independent means, and
born of a good family, and maternally of Euglish blood, his

A IIISTORICAL rOEM BY lOLO GOCII. 227

motlier, it is said, being Countess of Lincoln,i he received an
excellent education, and took the degree of Master of Arts at
one of the Universities. As Lord of Llechryd, and residing
at his own mansion of Coed Pantwn in Llannefydd, and, in
later life, at Sychartli, that of his royal patron Owain Glyn-
dower, he had ample opportunity for the cultivation of liis
favourite studies. Not only, therefore, in his ofíìcial cha-
racter as bard, but also from his own social position, lie had
ready access to intercourse with the highest in the land, and
might have attained to any height of eminence and court
favour, had his patriotism permitted him, for the sake of
private advancement, to choose the winning side. Of this
there is ample testimony in the poem perhaps best known
of all his compositions to modern readers, through its publi-
cation in the coUection entitled " Gorchestion Beirdd Cymru",
of Cymric chef-d'oeuvres, as they appeared to be in the judg-
ment of their spirited editor, Ehys Jones, printed in 1773,
and paraphrased in his book, called Wilcl Wales, by the late
Mr. Borrow. That poem, with another from the same collec-
tion, has been reproduced in tlie present year, in the History of
Pow7/s Fadog, by J. Y. W. Lloyd, Esq. of Clochfaen, an
esteemed member of our Cymmrodorion Society ; but unac-
companied with any translation. This, in the case of the
latter of the two poems, tlie following is an attempt to supply,
so far as that may be possible, througli the medium of a
metrical interpretation, by adhering as closely as may be to
the diction as well as spirit of the original. It is entitled
"An Ode to Owain Glyndwr after his Disappearance", aud
is couched in a strain of lamentation for his absence, and of
invitatiou to return with forces gathered from among the
nations of Europe, and restore their sovereignty, together
with their laws and liberty, to the Cymry. The immediate
occasion of the poem is probably an episode iii tlie story of

' Query, a De Lacy ?
VOL. IV. K

228 A HISTORICAL POEM BY lOLO GOCH.

tlie Cymric hero, wliich has been involved in some obscnrity,
and on which it appears to throw no inconsiderable reflection
of light.

The battle of Shrewsbury was fought on the 21st of June
1403, in which the first division only of Glendower^s army
was defeated in his absence. Detained by the siege of Kid-
weli, he had marched no nearer to the scene of tliat famous
conflict than Oswestry. He then confined his operations to
devastating the English borders, and possessing himself of
the enemy's castles, among them tliose of Caermarthen and
Emlyn. In 1404, he entered into a treaty with the Erench
King, Charles VI, then at war with Henry IV, and defeated
an English army at Craig y Dorth, near Monmouth. This
was his last success. The next year his partizans sustained
two defeats in Monmouthshire and Brechnochshire. In the
latter conflict his brother Tudor, Lord of Gwyddelwern, was
slain. All Glamorgan submitted to the King, Owain's fol-
lowers were dispersed, and himself obliged to hide in caves
and other retreats.

The rest shall b.e told in the words of the historian of
Powys Fadog. " A cavern near the seaside in the parish of
Llangelynen in Merionethshire is still called ' Ogof Owain',
in which he was supported by Ednyfed ab Aaron. King
Heury again entered Wales with an army of 37,000 men,
but, owing to the tempestuous weather, he was obliged
to make a hasty retreat with considerable loss. Owaiç's
affairs were again improved by the aid of his ally, the King
of France, who sent a fleet to MiLford Haven with an army
of 12,000 men, wliom Owain joined with 10,000 more at
Tenby ; and the combined armies marched into Worcester-
shire, where they encamped, and were opposed by the English
King. For eight days they respectively presented them-
selves in order of battle, but, beyond shirmishes, in which
many were slain, nothing more decisive occurred, and the

A HigTORICAL POEM BY lOLO GOCH. 229

King liaving cut off tlie mcans of supply, tlie Welsli aud
French secretly (?) retreated to "Wales, and the latter re-
turned to France without making any further attempt."^

We doubt much whether many readers of English history
have fully realised the fact that the French and Welsh in-
vasion of England, iu 1485, was preceded by another of
exceedingly similar character eighty years before, iu which
tlie enemy peuetrated, if uot so far as Bosworth, at least
into the very heart of the country, unopposed till they
reached Worcester; an expedition which, had it succeeded
in its object, would have probably been followed by a more
serious consequence even than the transfer of the Crown
from one dynasty to another — the dismemberment of the
kingdom. By the treaty entered into a few years before by
Mortimer, Percy, and Glendower, at the house of Davydd
Daron, Dean of Bangor, it had been agreed that ]\Iortimer
was to possess all the land from Trent and Severn to the
east and south of the island ; Percy, all north of the Trent ;
and Glendower all west of the Severn. France also, in
return for its valuable aid, w^ould certainly have claimed a
share, and that not improbably the share appropriated by
the lion in the distribution of the conquered country.

Be that as it may, those momentous issues liave happily
long since passed out of the range of human speculation,
It remains but to add that it is to this portentous time of
concealment, when the landing of tlie French force was
being anxiously loohed for in the Principality, that the poem
is in all probability to be referred. And tlie more so, be-
cause among tlie several countries specified by name as those
wlience Owain's return might be looked for, care seenis
studiously to have been taken to pass over entirely in silencc
the one country, namely France, froni wliich tlie expected
military aid afterwards actually came, from wliich a moun-

1 Page 210.

lî L'

230 A HISTORTCAL POEM BY lOLO GOCH.

tain of glorious eventualities was looked for tlirougliout
Wales with lieart-beating anxiety. rrom all tliis travail,
alas ! as in so many other projects of human design or am-
hition, nothing at last was seen to issue but a poor insignifi-
cant mouse.

AN ODE TO OWEN GLENDOWEE, AFTEE HIS
DISAPPEAEANCE.

By Iolo Goch.

Tall man, thou mark for Harry's hate,
Art lÌYÌng stiU ? is past thy fate ?
If thus it be, with fiery spear
Come, show thy shield, say, " I am here !"
Thou gold-girt Warrior, seek thine home,
Come well begirt witli arms of Eome.
Coming possest of Peter's Seal,
EuU just thy cause will God reveal.
Come from the East ! so shall o'erthrown,
Thou BuU of strength, be tow'rs of stone.
Before thee rays of fire be shed,^
And gifts by all be freely spread.
Erom Lochlyn,^ Earl of keen-edged sword,
Come ! of the Glyn thou gen'rous Lord,
Who bearest, for thy shield's contents
A fair escutcheon, four descents ;
Tbree Lions, as the empyrean, blue f
Three steel frets seen the wildfire through.
Set we the stainless Peacock o'er,
Set you a Chief o'er Bear and Boar :^

^ /.e., " May you be met by a torch-light procession."

2 Norway. ^ Heraldic azure.

^ Thc bear, the badgc of Warvvick, the boar of Lovell.

A HISTORICAL POEM BY lOLO GOCII, 231

So, there conjoined are axes three,
A mighty host ^vhere strifc shall be.
Let go sev'n nohle ships from shore
Full soon, and then sev'n hundred more.
Come from the North — 'tis Mona's will,
To Erin, and her hope fulfilh
Call also — may God grant her thee !
Xeeds must thou have her— Italy !
Pure Galahad,^ rise ! 'we'll hear thy call,
Ere fall the Baptist's festival.
Thy beacon raise, brisk Cldeftain, haste
In Dublin yonder, o'er the waste ;
Raise a fair fleet of seamen's power,
In confines of the Gael, and Gower.
Come, Hero of my heart ! betray'd
From Man, and be not long delay'd.
To Gwyddyl,2 best of signals sped
For fight is ever Gold and Eed f
Lly welyn's^ Standard consecrate !
Those colours will thy men elate.
Parade before thee Britain^s host !
Lo ! Ensland ^s for her treason lost !
Of temper true thy weapon bring,^
And reign o^er all the isles a king !
Eagle of might ! one moment more,
And light a flame on Mona's shore.
Beat down the castles, forts of woe,
And London, lair of dogs, lay low.

1 The Knight of King Arthur's Table, -who for his purity of character,
•was permitted to seethe Sangraal, is here compared to Glendower.

2 Irishmen. ^ The royal colours of Wales.
^ The last reigning monarch of Wales.

5 Lit., " A dagger of true temper thou".

232 A HISTORICAL POEM BY lOLO GOCH.

Strike, strike and slay ! let JSTormans ken
That liorns of gold^ liave Mona's men.

Needs must thou — 'tis of prophecy —
Full many a bout of battle ply ;
Do battle, and the foe shall flee ;
StiU thou, at wiU, canst gentle be ;
But, if thine arm with wrath be sped,
In distant Berwick see the dead !
Thy fortune's turn'd, I know fuU weU ;
Thro' summer fight with conflict feU ;
Like oaks, thy foes shaU faU fuU fast,
Not Yochno's^ fight did longer Last.
March through the ford of leithon's^ glcn,
With Mona's banner, throngs of men ;
Be nine* the number of thy fights :
Their own, nor less, nor more requites.
Sword of Cadwalader the Blest '^
Take aU thy Grandsire e'er possess'd !
Take back for aU thy kin their share !
From us take bondage hard to bear.

H. W. L.

> Of stfengtli so solid, as to tlirust back their enemies, like that of
bulls, animals to which the bards loved to compare their warriors.

2 The battle of Cors Yochno in Cardiganshire, whereby Maelgwn
Gwynedd gained his crown. 3 ij, Radnorshire.

■* The mystic number of the Druidic system, symbolising perfection.

^' The last Cymric King of Britain, whose vcry existence, liowever,
would seem to be uot only romantic, but mythical.

233

THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881.
August 30th to Septcmher 2nd.

Many conditions of interest attaclied to the Eisteddfod lield
at Merthyr Tydfil in 1881. Frunkly accepted by North and
South, it could show an indisputable title to the name of
" national". Celebrated in the metropolis of a busy indus-
trial district, it typified the cordial union of old and new
in a race which needs not to break with ancient traditions
in order to progress with the time. Held while the report
of Lord Aberdare's committee was stiU a recent topic, it
was marked by the especially hopeful tone in which the
national sentiment expressed itself, and by the fresh interest
imparted to the somewhat time-worn themes that form the
traditional text of Eisteddfodic addresses.

The ungrudging exertions of the committee, and the share
of favour shown on the part of the weather, laid the founda-
tions of the success which was achieved; and the material
of the competitions was, on the whole, not unworthy of the
machinery. Evidences of real genius and of painstaking
study were not wanting, and the ominous words, "no award",
appear less often in the record of the literary contests than
has sometimes been the case of late.

The arts of painting and sculpture were, as usual, ill-re-
presented ; though one genuine work of art became, in an
undisputed contest, the property of the committee. The few
prizes offered in musical composition elicited some creditable
minor productions, but the most valuable of aìl, the judges
declined to confer. On thc uther hand, thc (|uulity of the

234 THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881.

prose-writing showed a marked improvement, and the en-
comiums of the adjudicators were merited by not a few of
tlie pieces of verse submitted. Six choirs of undoubted
merit competed for the great clioral prize, a respectable
number came into the arena for those of lesser note, and no
falling off was evinced by the vocal niusic generally; but
Dr. Parry felt constrained to remark on the unfavourable
comparison which the instrumental execution of the Prin-
cipality bore to that he had witnessed in the North of Eng-
hmd. The orchestral competition instituted by the com-
mittee is a return to former practice that, it may be- hoped,
will be generally followed. What the Eisteddfod has done
in the past for vocal, it may be trusted to do in the future
for instrumental music.

A noticeable feature of the Eisteddfod was the strictly
appropriate character impressed on the eveniug concerts.
In place of the well known pieces usually selected, two out of
the four evenings were devoted to the performance of im-
portant new works by Welsh composers : the " Emmanuel" of
Dr. Parry, and Mr. David Jenkins' Cantata, " David and Saul",
written expressly for the occasion. A more questionable
exercise of patriotism restricted the execution of the concerts
to purely Cymric artistes ; a bold measure, the best defence
of which must be found in its success.

To our readers a matter of no less interest is the position
occupied at Merthyr by the meetings of the Cymmrodorion
Section. These meetings, held tentatively at Carnarvon in
1S80, were at Merthyr made an integral part of the proceedings
of the Eisteddfod, and announced as such in its programmes.
The evident appreciation on the part of visitors of the pro-
ceedings in the Temperance liall, and the ready response
given to tlie Archdeacon of Llandaff, when, in the pavilion,
lie called for a popular verdict on the Cymmrodorion's ex-
periment, would seem to indicate that the Society has niet a

THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881. 235

real want iu iiistituting tliis Section, and talcen a measure
frauglit with beneficial results. Thougli education and social
science have hitherto formed the staple of the Section's pro-
ceedings, and probably will always prove the most attractive
topics, it is to be hoped that philology and archfeology will
not fail to prefer an early claiui to its attention. It must
not be forgotten, how large a share of the success of this
year's " Section" was due to Mr. Wm. Davies (Mynorydd),
and Mr. W. Cadwaladr Davies, of Bangor, wlio acted as its
secretaries and managers.

An innovation introduced into the Gorsedd ceremony is
worthy of note. Tlie repetition of the Gorsedd prayer by
the whole circle of bards, instead of, as heretofore, by the
Arch-Druid alone, gave additional impressiveness to the rite
which has now at least the prescription of a hundred years'
continuous nsage, whatever may be its remote origin. The
scene of the Gorsedd was the Market-place of Merthyr, and
Clwydfardd presided.

In spite of the singular fatality which deprived the Eis-
teddfod of three out of its four expected presidents, the com-
mittee were fortunate in the presence of geutlemen so well
qualified to fiU the vacaut chair as Mr. Lewis Monis, the
Ilector of Merthyr, and the Ven. Archdeacon Griffiths. Mr.
Lewis Morris, who occupied it on the first day, in the stead
of Sir Hugh Owen, paid an appropriate tribute to the self-
denying labours of the venerable patriot whom his country-
men had hoped that morning to honour in person. It was
to be expected that educational prospects should occupy a
large share of ]\Ir. Morris' address ; and nothing could well
have been more to the purpose than the lucid sketch which
he presenfced of the educational status of the country, as re-
vealed by the investigation which he had recently been
associated in carrying out. ]\Ir. Lewis Morris' example Avas
not foUowed by his late colleaguc on the Committee, Mr.

236 THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881.

Henry Eichard, the president of the third session, whose ex-
cellent address, delivered in " yr hen iaith", ranged over a
much greater variety of topics. Conld anything reconcile a
Welsh audience to the absence of Sir Watkin Wynn, the
speech of the Eector of Merthyr, who presided in his room
on the second day of the Eisteddfod, would have gone far to
do so. The theme of his address was the Eisteddfod itself,
which he handled with his usual vigour and practical sense.
The Eector would look at the institution in the lioht, neither
of the historical past, nor of the ideal future, but in that of the
actual present. It is not^ in his view, a thing to be explained
or justified by its traditions or possibilities, which are dwelt
upon, perhaps, unduly in presidential addresses, but by the
tastes and habits of the working men of modern Wales, from
wdiich it has in reality grown, and upon whicli it in reality
rests.

The Ven. Archdeacon Griffiths, who had already contributed
a long and able address in his caj^acity as chairman of
the Cymmrodorion Section, perhaps considered it a matter
of congratulation that the length of the programme pre-
cluded a formal presidential speech on the last day of the
Eisteddfod, when the absence of Sir Edward Eeed called him
to the chair. A few well-chosen words, mainly in reference
to the newly introduced department over which he had lately
presided, alone prefaced the business of the meeting. The
expression of popular approbation which his remarks op
the Cymmrcdorion Section called fortli, has been already
alluded to.

Of incidental speeches, other than those delivered in the
course of adjudications, but few were inserted in the pro-
grannne. The most noticeable was that of Mr. C. W. Jones,
the well knoMm Secretary of the Society of Cymmrodorion,
upon the permanence of the Welsh language, an historical
phenomenon that well deserves the attention which the

THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881. 237

speaker demanded for it. Ilwfa Môn delivered the address
upon the occasion of the chairing of the Bard.

The following prizes were awarded diiring the four days of
the Eisteddfod : —

In tiie Department of Poetey.

Five guineas and a gold medal for a Wclsli operatic
lihretto, divided between the Rev. D. 0. Harris (Caeron\vy),
and jNIr. T. D. Thomas (Tydíìlfab). Two guineas (given by the
Heralcl Cymraeg), for a descriptive song, "The Newspaper",
to Dyfedfab (Mr. Evan Eees). Ten guineas and a gold medal
for an epic poem, " The Duke of Wellington", to Mr. Morgan
Rees WiUiams, of Cefncoedycymer. Two guineas for a trans-
lation into Welsh of the " Prisoner of ChiUon", to loan Ddu
(Mr. J. S. Joues, of CoedUai,Mold). Two guineas and a silver
medal for an eclogue, to the R&v. D. C. Harris (Caeronwy).
Two guineas and a silver medal for a song, " Tydfil the
Martyr", to Miss Parry, of Llaududno. The Chair Pkize,
twenty guineas and an oak chair, for an " Ode on Love", to
Dyfedfab (Mr. Evan Eees, of Cardiff, late of Aberdare). Five
guineas and a silver medal for a cyioydd " Iron", divided be-
twcen j\Ir. John Jones, of Bangor, and Mr. R, Parry, of Bangor.
Six guineas (given by Madame Wynne), for a Welsh ode,
"The Chairing of the Bard", to Mr. John Jones (Ogwenydd),
of Bangor. Five guineas and a silver medal for an aiodl
hryddcst, "loan Emlyn", to the Piev. J. C. Williams, of
]\Iertliyr. Two guineas for satirical verses, " The Persecutors
of Eisteddfodau", to Dyfedfab. A gold medal and £3 lOs.
for a poem, " lolo Morganwg", to the Piev. D. C. Harris
(Caeronwy) ; and £7 to Mr. Onllwyn Brace, of Ystalyfera.
Twenty guineas and a gold medal for a poem on " Life", to
" Watcyn Wyn", of Brynaman.

In two cases the judges refused award.

238 the national eisteddfod of 1881,

In the Depaetment of Prose Composition.

Ten giiineas for an essay on "Tlie Histoiy of Eeligion
in Wales, from a.d. 500 to 1280", to Gweirydd ap Eliys (E.
J. Pryse of Holyhead). Three guineas for an essay on " The
Life, Character, and Achievements of Sir WiUiam Jones"
(given by Mr. Aviet Agabeg) to Mr. William Evans, bar-
rister-at-law, of Merthyr. Sixteen guineas (given by Mr. D.
AVilliams), for an essay on "' The Advantages of lucorpo-
rating Merthyr Tydfil", to Mr. D. J. Eowlands of Merthyr.
Ten guineas for a Welsli essay on " Tlie Cause, or Causes, of
Periodical Panics, etc", divided between ap Tydfil (Eev. J.
E. Thomas of Narberth) ; and Peel (Eev. Owen Jones of
Newtown). Three guineas (given by Mr. Walter Lloyd of
Aberdare), for a Welsh novel, to Mr. Isaac Evans (Craigfryn)
of Quaker's Yard. Twenty guineas and a gold medal, for a
" History of the Literature of Monmouthshire and Glamor-
gan", to Mr. Charles Wilhins, of Merth}T. rive guineas for
a Welsh essay on " The Etymology of Place-names", to Mr,
EdAvard Hughes of Swansea. Ten guineas (given by Mr,
Frank James, and Mr. W. Harries, of Merthyr) for an essay
on " The Adaptability of Merthyr to other Trades than those
already carried on there", divided between Mr. John Howells
of St, Athan (who wrote in English), and the Eev. William
Thomas of Gwylfa, whose essay was in Welsh,

Three important prizes the judges refused to award,

In the Department of Musical Composition,

Three guineas (given by Mr. Lucas Williams) and a silver
medal, for a song to English and Welsh words, to Mr, R. S.
Hughes of London, Five guineas for a string quartette, to
Mr. W. C. Lewis of Workington. Ten guineas (given by
]\lr. B. Evans of Swansea) for three four-part songs, to
the well known composer, Gwilym Gwent, who is still

TIIE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881. 239

resident in America. rive guineas (given by ]\Iiss jNIary
Davies) and a silver medal (by Mr. Eees Jones of Landore)
for a soprano song, to Mr. E. S. Hughes of London.

The prize for a cantata with pianoforte accompaniment,
offered by the London Welsh choir, was not awarded.

In tiie Depaetment of Musical Enecution.

Two guineas for singing a contralto solo, divided between
Daniel Prothero of Ystradgynlais, and Miss Annie Jones of
Carmarthen. Three guineas (given by Madame Wynne) for
a soprano and tenor duet, to Miss M. Lewis of Pontlottyn, and
Mr. D. Howells of Aberdare. Three guineas and a silver
medal for pianoforte playing, to Mr. F. J. Lyons of New-
port. Six guineas for quartette singing (given by Signor
Foli) to Mr. Wigley and party, of Tredegar. Seven guineas
for orchestral performance, to the Merthyr band, led by Mr.
Scott. Two guineas for penillion singing, to Mr. Wm. Jones
Davies, of Bethesda, Carnarvonshire. A violin, value five
guineas, for violin playing, to Mr. Wm. Evans of Swansea.
Twenty-five pounds and a gold medal for a rendering of part
of " Habakkuk's Prayer" (J. A. Lloyd), to the Tabernacle
Choir of Morriston, led by Mr. David Evans. Two guineas
and one guinea (given by Messrs. Wright and Eound of
Liverpool) for cornet playing, to Mr. W. Berry of Merthyr,
and Mr. John Erancis of Swansea. Two guineas for a bari-
tone song, divided between Gwilym Thomas of Caerphilly,
and Mr. Dan. Price of Dowlais. Three guineas for pedal-
harp playing to Mr. Wm. Morgan of Bargoed ; two guineas
(given by Mrs. Crawshay) to Mr. John Evans of Troedyrhiw,
ono guinea (by Mr. Lewis Morris) to Charles Pearce, aged
six, of Treherbert. Two guineas for a soprano solo (given
by Mrs. Cozens of Ynys y plwm), to Miss Mary Morgan of
Llantrissant. Eive guineas, and twenty-five volumes of
"The Standard Coursc" (givcn by Messrs. Curwcn of London),

240 THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881.

for part singing, divided between the Taibacli and Aberanian
Glee-party, led by Mr. Leysbon Davies, and tbe Maesteg
Minstrels, led by Mr. Evan Jenkins. Ten giiineas and a
silver medal to tbe Tredegar cboir (Mr. Davis Jones, leader),
for congregational choir singing. Two gnineas for a soprano
solo, by young ladies under S6venteen, divided between Miss
Maggie Beynon, and Miss Amy Eyan. Two guineas (given
by Mr. E. Biddle), for harmonium playing, to Miss Mary
Jessie Lloyd. Two guineas for a tenor solo, divided be-
tween Mr. David Davies of Treberbert, Mr. Tom Eelix of
Treorky, and Mr. David Howells of Aberaman. Five gaiineas
and a silver medal, for drum and fife playing, divided be-
tween the Penydarren and Llantrissant bands. Five guineas
for trio singing, to a party from the Ehondda Yalley. Tbree
guineas for pedal harp playing, by lads under eighteen (given
by Mr. T. T. James of Mountain Ash) to Walter Thomas
Barker of Caerphilly, a pupil of the Eoyal Academy of Music.
Five guineas and twenty-five vols. of the " Standard Course"
for singing, by male voices only, to the Morriston Glee-party,
led by JMr. D. Francis. Two guineas for penillion singing,
to Mr. Daniel Lloyd, of the Ehondda Yalley. Twenty
guineas and a gold medal, to the Cyfarthfa brass band, led
by Mr. G. Livesey. A trombone, of the value of eighteen
guineas, to the Corris brass band, led by Mr. Tidsbury. Five
guineas for pedal harp playing, divided betw^een Miss Annie
Jones of Carmarthen, and Mr. Thomas Barher of Caer<-
philly. Two guineas for piccolo playing by lads under six-
teen, to Fred. Grifiiths of Swansea. Two guineas for a bass
solo, to Gwilym Thomas of Tynewydd. Two guiueas for
soprano singing, to Miss Nellie Jones. The great prize of
£100 and a gold medal, for rendering " Ye Natious" (Men-
delssohn), and "Hallelujah, Amen" (Emlyn Evans), to the
Ehondda Philharmonic Society, 250 in number, led by Mr.
D. Prosser (Eos Cynlais). Four guineas, for a duet, to Mr.

THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF 1881. 241

W. Thonias of Xeath and Mr. Davi(l Phillips of Aherdare.
Two YÌolins, YÌola, and violoncello, for a quartette of stringed
instruments, to a party from ]\íerthyr.

The conductor's bâton was wielded on tlie four successive
days by Dafydd Morganwg, the Rev. W. Glanfîrwd Thomas,
the Eev. A. J. Parry, and the Eev. D. F. Evans (Ednyfed).

Five guineas w^ere awarded for an original bust, to Mr.
Alberti of Manchester. Five guineas (given by Mr. W.
Merchant of Pontypridd) for an original painting, to Mr. J.
C. Fairburn of Aberdare.

In wood-carving, for which a prize of two guineas was
offered by Mr. Wm. Jones of Cyfarthfa, there was no com-
petition.

The Cymmrodoeion Section.

The Cymmrodorion Section held its meetings in the Tem-
perance Hall on August 29th and 31st, and September 2nd,
under the Presidency of the Ven. the Archdeacon of Llandaff.
The proceedings were opened on August 29th by an address
from the Presideut, dealing with the history, the work, and
the position of the Cymmrodorion Society.

At the second meeting, on August 31 st, Mr. Gwilym James,
High Constable of Merthyr, in the chair, a paper on " The
Home Life of the Collier" was read by the Rev. T. D. Jones
of Tonyrefail. A second paper, on " The Peport of the De-
partmental Committee", by Mr. T. Marchant Williams, B.A.

At the concluding meeting, on September 2nd, the Eev.
W. B. Joseph (Y Myfyr) of Colwyn Bay, in the chair, a
paper on " Wasted Energy and jNIaterial in Wales", was read
by Dr. Humpidge, of the University CoUege of Wales. A
second paper, on " Education in Merthyr", by Mr. T. C.
Fawcett, ]\Í.A., of the Merthyr Proprietary School, was read
iu his absence liy the Secretary of the Section.

242

îaebíeinö of Mohô.

Who are the Welsh ? By James Bonwice, F.E.G-.S., etc,
etc. London: David Bogue. 1881. Price One Shilling.

The plan of tliis little boük is an exceUent one. A work,
gÌYÌng within a small compass the principal facts which
archíBology and history furnish as data for the ethnologist in
determiniug the composition of the Welsh people, together
with the inferences which competent scholars have dra\^n
from those facts, is a desideratum. In preparing himself to
answer his own question, the author has not been sparing of
labour ; he has read very extensively, and gleaned in all sorts
of fields, from the ponderous folios of the past oénturies to
the magazine and newspaper articles of to-day.

But Mr. Bonwick has unfortunately used his authorities far
too indiscriminately. His net, like that in the parable, has
" gathered of every kind", but he seems to have utterly for-
gotten to " cast the bad away". A book of this kind, if of
any use at all, is for popular use, and should serve as a guide ;
and to quote in it all the outrageous notions which foolish
people have, with the courage of ignorance, thought fit to pro-
pound from time to time, is worse than useless. This the
author has done much too freely, the result being a most
incongruous combination of " authorities", Myfyr Morganwg
and Professor Ehys, Zeuss and Margoliouth, Ptichard of
Cirencester and Dr. Preeman, etc, etc In this way we find
on one page (113) Eobert Yaughan, Twm Sion Catti, Morien,
Nash, Stephens, Sharon Turner, Herbert, lolo Morganwg, G.
D. Barber, Äb Itliel, and Myfyr Morganwg, coUected in one
happy family ! This utter absence of selection makes the

REYIEWS OF BOOKS. 243

book rather disappointing, not to say exasperatiug reading,
and detracts very largely from any value it miglit otherwise
have.

Among points of detail it is to be observed that Welsh words
and proper names are not unfrequently sadly tortured. What
does the author mean by saying that " The Welsh of a few
hundred years old is so very different from that now
spoken' (p. 8), and again that " Even MSS. of tlie twelfth
century can hardly be deciphered now by Gaelic scholars"
(p. 58) ?

Again, " It is admitted that the Welsh of the day is far
more unlike old Welsh than modern English is unlike tlie
old English" (p. 78). By whom is this remarkable admission
made ?

On p. 26 "Llyn Savathan of Brecon" and " Lake Llangorse
of Brecon" are spoken of in different paragraphs, much as if
the writer thought them two distinct lakes.

Such expressions as " Cymry-speaking" and " C}Txiry-
tongue" do not commend themselve3 to eye or ear.

If the author had exercised more discrimination in the
choice of authorities, and taken more pains to separate the
wheat from the chaff, his wide reading should have enabled
him to produce something more satisfactory than this tanta-
lising little volume.

But in parting, none of our readers will feel disposed to
quarrel with him on the conclusion of his preface, where he
says that — " For those elements of character constituting a
prudeut, orderly, virtuous, and happy nation, the Welsh may
boldly challenge the whole world in competition".

VOL. IV.

244 REYIEWS OF BOOKS.

St, PaUL IN BrITAIN ; OR, THE ORIGIN OF BrITISH AS OPPOSED

TO Papal Christianity. By tlie Rev. E. W. Morgan.
Oxford and London : James Parker and Co. 1880.

After an interval of twenty years, a second edition of tliis
work ig issued. The fact may not be regarded as altogether
encouraging to tliose who wish to promote the scientific study
of history among us ; but it points to a clear conviction in
the minds of the publishers that the faith of " true believers"
in the Historical Triads and " Barddas" has not grown feeble
nnder the assaults of heretics like the late Mr. Stephens.
Properly to enjoy this book the reader must be gifted with
an ardent patriotism and an abounding faith. Por ourselves
we claim the patriotism, but alas ! are forced to feel that the
necessary faith is not ours. But anyone possessed of these
qualifications will feel infinite satisfaction in following the
author as he sketches in glowing colours the past greatne s
and glory of the Cymry. He wiU learn, for example, that
Druidism was founded in Asia by Gwyddon Ganhebon on
the Ist of May (the author lias unfortunately neglected to
state the hour, but we may reasonably assume it was at sun-
rise) B.G. 3903, 181 years after the creation of man, and 50
years after the birth of Seth ; that its symbol, the milkwhite
astral bull, superseding, as usual in the East, the thing signi-
fìed, Druidism thus corrupted became the religion of Mithras
in Persia, of Baal in Assyria, of Brahma in India, of Astarte
in Syria, etc. ; and in iUustration of aU this he will find the
" symbol" in Crete was designated in good Welsh " the Menw-
tarw", which the Greeks barbarously changed into " the
Mino-taur"! He wiU, however, learn to his comfort that
Druidism was carried into Britain in all its purity by Hu
Gadarn, who also founded Stonehenge, b.g. c. 1800 ; that as
taught here it recognised an Infinite Being whose essence is
" pure, mental light", and who is therefore called Duw, i.e.,

REYIEWS OF BOOKS. 245

Du-w, " the one without any darkness" ; and that in its cor-
rupted form of Buddhism it is " still the religion of nearly
one-half of mankind". It would be unfair to reveal any fur-
ther the mysteries the reader will find in this wonderful
Yolume, so we will only add that when he has learnt these
marvellous things and many more, he "will be no further from
tlie truth, nay we will venture to say, will be on tlie whole
somewhat nearer to it than are those who believe that our
ancestors were no better than the savages of the South Sea
Islands.

Glossae Hibeenicae e codicibus Wirziburgexsi Carolis-

EUHENSIBUS ALIIS ADJUYANTE ACADEMIAE EeGIAE BeROL-

iNENSis liberalitate edidit Heinricus Zimmer. Bero-
LiNi APUD Weidmannos, mdccclxxxi. London : Williams
and Norgate. (Price Eight jMarks.)

In a previous number we noticed some very able papers by
Herr Zimmer, which had appeared in the Ecitsclirift für
Yergleiclunde Spi'achforschung ; and now we have the plea-
sure of calling our readers' attention to a more important
work by the same profound scholar. This is a complete edi-
tion of the Irish Glosses hitherto discovered in continental
libraries, with the exception of the important ones at St.
Gall (the Priscian Codex) and j\Iilan, which had been taken
in hand by another scholar, Ascoli. In tliis volurae, there-
fore, we have the glosses already given to the world, fuUy or
in part, by various leading Celtists, and also some hitherto
unpublished ones ; while in those previously edited, numer-
ous corrections have been effected. Prefixed to the body of
the work are fifty pages of interesting " Prolegomena" in
which the editor gives an account (1) of the various codices
containing the glosses, and (2) of the abbreviations used by
the Irish scribes. The production of the volume, even with

246 EEYIEWS OE BOOES.

all the assistance to be derived from the labours of his pre-
decessors, must have cost the editor much painful toil. Of
this any one may convince himself by going carefully through
the appended fac-simile of a page of the Wirzburgh Codex.
Careful inspection of this will also show that, as Herr Zimmer
has found occasional errors in the work of those who have
gone before him, so his own work, with all the care and learn-
ing brought to bear upon it, is not absolutely perfect. The
slight deviations from the orthography of the scribe, which are
observed on comparison of the photograph with the printed
text (the only mode of testing the work open to most readers),
are, doubtless, intentional, but Noli for Nolo in the fìrst line is
one of those maculae guas hiimana parum cavit natura. We
would suggest that the name euchil merdach, on \). 213, pro-
bably means, not " Ahihail fratris Mardochae", but Evil-Mero-
clach, tlie son and successor of ]Srebuchadnezzar, whose name
the writer, by a natural slip, substituted for that of Belshazzar,
to whom Daniel's words were addressed, and whom he calls, in
accordance with the loose Hebrew usage, the son of the same
ISrebuchadnezzar. Valuable as this volume is, the editor, in
the preface, promises us something very much more valuable,
viz., a " Thesaurus linguae Hibernicae veteris atque mediae
aetatis", which we are told he intends to publish " cjuam bre-
vissimo tempore". The fulfilment of this promise we shall
await with something of the same eagerness with which we
have been looking for the appearance of a long-promisçd
Welsh Dictionary. It is some satisfaction to think (however
discreditable the thought may be to the Principality) that
Herr Zimmer will not in Germany experience the same difíi-
culty in finding a publisher as Mr. Silvan Evans has met
with here.

EEYIEWS OF BOOKS. 247

TlIE HlSTORY OF THE PPJNCES, TIIE LOEDS MaRCHER, AND TIIE

Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, and the Ancient
LoRDS OF Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd. By
J. Y. W. Lloyd of Clochfaen, Esq., M.A., K.S.G. Vol. L
London: T. Eichards. 1881. (xvi-416 pp. 8vo.)

In his Preface the author modestly states that " this work is
merely a compilation and lays claim to no originality", but it
is not necessarily less valuable on that account, or to be less
heartily welcomed. We have far too few men wlio are con-
tent, like the writer of this very handsome volume, to work
patiently among " ancient records, charters, and MSS."; and
we should be glad to see the Eisteddfod do very much more
to encourage sucli research, even if we had in consequence
to do with somewhat less of the so-called " original" work
which that institution now periodically calls forth.

Tlie author opens his narrative with the election of Vorti-
gern, King of Britain, in 446, and carries it in the present
volume down to the thirtieth year of King Henry the
Eighth, 1539. With rauch care and patience he traces the
varying fortunes of the province during the long interval,
bringing together from a great variety of sources an immense
mass of information relative to the personal and family his-
tory of kings, princes, and lords innumerable. We would
specially notice, as one excellent feature in the work, the fre-
quent use made of the ^yritings of the medÌ8eval bards. For
example, after a brief account of Tyssilio, we find " Can
Tyssilyaw" by Cynddelw ; in this case a translation by
H. W. Lloyd, Esq., is also given. In the same way a number
of other historical poems by Cynddelw, Gwalchmai, Prydydd
y Moch, etc, are incorporated in the work in their proper
places, in connection with the princes whom tliey celebrate.
Most of these compositions are unaccompanied by any trans-
lation, for whicli the author in his preface to the volume

248 REYÍEWS OF BO0KS.

offers an apology. A more serious defect in the opinion of
many will be that the Welsh text is not quite free from
errors. In general, the reader will, no doubt, be able to cor-
rect these slips for himself, but there wiU probably be cases
in which he will find it difficult to decide whether a given
peculiarity of diction or orthography is due to the original
scribe or to the printer.

A number of well-chosen iUustrations, sketches from
nature, and fac-similes from the Harleian MSS., form a very
interesting addition to the value of this fine volume.

D£SCKIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE InCISED SlATE TaBLET AND

OTHER Eemains lately discovered at Towyn. With
plates. By J. Park Harrison, M.A. Oxon., etc. Lon-
don: B. Quaritch. 1881.

The slate tablet here described was discovered in the autumn
of 1879 amidst the ruins of an old buildiug, near the sea, at
Towyn in Merionethshú-e. It is a smaU piece of irregularly
brohen slate about 9^ in. by 6f in. in its greatest length and
breadth. On one side it is marked with some twenty-eight
outline figures, which are now supposed to represent primi-
tive articles of dress and household utensils. Some time
after it was discovered, the fragment was sent for inspection
to Professor Phŷs, who, findiug no written characters upon
it, recommended that it should be forwarded to Mr. Park
Harrison. That accomplished archseologist submitted the
figures to a careful and detailed examination, the results of
which are given at length iu the present " account". He
inclines to adopt the view " that the tablet may coutain a
funereal list of objects required by a deceased chief", and
suggests that it may be " perhaps the latest instance that
has been met with of the Celtic funeral custom of burying
objects for use in another state. The change had been

REYIEWS OF BOOKS. 249

gradual from tlie sacrifìce of the raost valiied ornaments or
weapons, to tliat of inferior and even miniature articles, and
tlie practice may liere and there have died out in outline
representations of the objects required". For determining
the date of the tablet, Mr. Harrison finds no decisive evi-
dence.

On a subject of this kind only the opinions of experts can
have any value. But to the uninitiated Mr. Harrison's pages
will be interesting as illustrating the method on which a
skilled archaeologist proceeds in endeavouring to work out
the solution of his problems.

Caer Pensauelcoit, a long lost Unromanised British
Metropolis : A Eeasseiítion. "With a Sketch Map.
London : Eeeves and Turner. 1882.

In 1877, the author of this interesting Beassertion, Thomas
Kerslake, Esq., of Bristol, printed a small pamphlet entitled,
A FrimíBval British Metropolis, in which he maintained with
much ingenuity and cogency of argument, that the little vil-
lage of Penselwood in East Somerset represents the " Caer
Pensauelcoit" of Nennius, and the " Kaerpeu-Huelgoit" of
Brut Tyssilio {Mijv. Ärch., ii, 193 ; pp. 451, 452 of Gee's edn.),
the British stronghold besieged by Yespasian. Mr, Kerslake
argued very convincingly that Fenhuelgoit is merely a later
form of Fensauelcoit, and that " PenselîüoofZ " is again simply
" Pensauelcot^ " with the last element translated. He further
maintained that the famous Pen Pits, which had puzzled
generations of antiquaries, are — or were, as they have now
mostly been " improved" away — the sites of the old dwell-
ings which constituted the " primae^al British metropolis",
Pensauelcoit. After reading Mr. Kerslake's pamphlet, we
felt that few archa^ological questions had been so fairly
cleared up. Not so, however, thought some members of the

250 THE FOLK-LOIíE OF WALES.

Somersetsliire Archseological Society, a learned body, whicli
appointed an Exploration Committee to inquire into the
matter and presumably settle it for ever. The investigations
of this Committee appear to have been carried on in a some-
what desultory manner, and the results were not very con-
clusive. But the majority seem to have been unable to
accept Mr. Kerslake's view, hence the present pamphlet, in
which the author handles rather severely one of his oppo-
nents. Mr, Kerslake writes with vigour, aud enlivens his
argument with a good deal of dry humour. His paper is at
once sound archseology and amusing reading.

Cî)e 5olli=iLare of mnlt^.

Many of our readers will be aware that there appeared some
three or four years ago a periodical named Mélusine, devoted
exclusively to rolk-lore, and edited by MM. Eoland and
Gaidoz, the latter the well-known accomplished editor of the
Bevue Celtigue, and a contributor to our present number. A
correspondent has been good enough to call our attention to
the fact that our rough sketch of the fìeld of popular litera-
ture in the last number of the Cymmrodor so closely resembles
the plan on which Mélusine was conducted as to lay us open
to the charge, or at least the suspicion, of having derived jn-
spiration from that most interestiiig periodical, without any
acknowledgment of our obligation. To this we can only say
in answer that we were not consciously plagiarising, and that
the solfì and simple reason why Mélusine was not mentioned
in the article is that it did not occur to our mind while
writing. Now, however, we are glad to say that any of our
readers who may feel disposed to become coUectors, and may
be fortunate enough to possess or acquire (we think it can

Tiir. i'olk-loi;e of wales. 251

still be obtained) a copy of Mélusiìie, cannot do better tlian
adopt it as a niodel.

Possibly, sonie readers niay be disposed to consider the
collection of such things as riddles, etc, a proof of extreme
cliildi.shness. Be it so ; they will, however, reraember that
a l'lato did not thiuk it derogatory to represent "the wisest
of the Greeks" as using riddles — and not very brilliant ones
either — to illustrate his"divine philosophy"; and that riddles
are found even in the Bible. And what would these critics
not give to know the riddles — for such, doubtless, her " hard
questions" were — with which the Queen of Sheba tested the
wisdom of Solomon ? Our Cymric riddles are not destined
to take such an honoured place in the world's literature ; but
we should not, therefore, despise them. To us they should be
valuable as helping in their measure to fill in the picture of
that past, the traces of which are disappearing all too rapidly.
Besides, these scraps have a certain philological value, and
not unfrequently contain words and expressions not found in
the literary language. Cared doeth yr encilion.

Our appeal for the co-operation of members has met with
no very encouraging response hitherto. We have no obliga-
tions to achnowledge, except to one member, the Eev. Grif-
fith Ellis, M.A., of Bootle, who has sent the foUowing version
of a well-known and widely-spread legend. It is very im-
perfect, as wiU be observed, but it has at least the merit of
being given as it dropped from the narrator, without any of
that literary tinkering which has spoiled most of what has
been attempted in this field hitherto. A version of tlie story
is given in Sike's British Goblins, p. 92.

" Hen wr oedd yn byw mewn crefydd,
Ac yn gweddio'n ddyfal beunydd,
Ac yn ei woddi yr oedd dei.syíiad
Am un rodd o"r wlad refol cyn
ei ddiweddiad.

VOL. IV. T

252 THE FOLK-LOEE OF WALES.

Ar foreu teg fe aeth i rodio 5

At Iwyn o goed yn agos ato ;
Ar frig y pren fe glywai ganu
O lais aderyn yn Uawenychu,

• ■ • •

Ac yno bu nes tewi o hono

Ac wedi ei dewi trodd tua'i gartref, lo

Ond yno nid oedd dim ond pobl ddieithr.

Gyna yn myn'd o'r ty yma allan,
A'r fath gyfnewid sy yma 'rwan ;

Y tai a'r cloddiau wedi newid mewn

modd arall.
Fy enw i yw Racher William, 15

Ac enw'm gwraig yw Marged Morgan.
Atebai heu wr Uwyd o'r cornel, —
' Gan fy nhad y clywais chwedel,
A chan ei daid y clywsai yntau,
Ac ar ei ol y coíìais innau, 20

Fyned henwr o'r ty yma allan,

O'r un enw a'r un oedran,

Na chlywyd gair gan neb am dano,

Na gwybodaeth byth o hono.'
Ac erbyn casglu llyfrau a chwilio, 25

Tri chant a deg a deugain o íiynyddau,
Buasai'n gwrando'r miwsig nefol.
Ac wrth hir ddal sylw arno,
Aeth fel dyrnaid bach o ludw."

Ysgrifenwyd Awst 25, 1881, o enau hen wraig sydd yn
ymyl 91 mlwydd oed, yr hon a'i dysgasai gan ei mam. Yr
oedd ei mam yn enedigol o Landudno. G. E.

The expression " byw mewn crefydd" is noticeable, and seems to mean
" live as a religieux", the hero of the story being generally a monk.

" Racher", in line 15, appears to be for " Roger".

In lines 17 to 20 we have an adaptation of one of the regular formulse
with which the couteur iutroduced or closed his tale.

TllE FOLK-LORE OF WALES. 253

ElDDLES.

1 . lîeth sy'n dringaJ y graig.
Nid gwr, nid gwraig,
Nid marcli pedolog,

Nid \leryn asgellog ?

Atch. Niwl.

What climbs the rock — uot man, iiot woman, not shod steed, uot
wiiiged bird ?

Ans. Mist.

2. Beth â yn gynt na'r gwynt, yn gynt na'r g'law,
O'r fan ynia i'r fan draw ?

Äteb. Y Meddwl.

What goes swifter than the \vind, swifter than the rain, from this
place to yonder place ?

Ans. The Miud.

3. Beth sy'n niyn'd hwy hwy wrth dori 'i ddoupen ?

Atcb. Pwll Mawn.

What becomes longer aud longer by the cutting of both ends ?

A71S. A Peat Fit.

4. Beth sy dip, dip, yn y ty, gnoc gnoc yn y có'd, Jo ho ar
y mynydd ?

Ateb. Gwagar Sycan.

What goes drip, drip in the house, knock, knock in the wood, gee ho
on tlie mountain? A?is. A strainer (lit. a flummery sieve), the riddle
hinting at the wood and horsehair of which it is made, and the sound
accompanying the use of it.

5. Beth sy'n cysgu a'i fys yn 'i lygad ?

Atcb. Eirw' {i.e., Aerwy).

What sleeps with its finger in its eye?

Ans. A cow collar.

6. Pwy fii farw cyn i i* dad gâl i eni ?

Aicb. Abel, neu unrhyw un o bhint Adda.

254 THE FOLK-LORE OF WALES.

Who died before his father was born ?

Ans. Abel, or any other of Adam's children.

Of this the following is a more elaborate forra.
7. Pwy gâs i eni o ílân i dad, fu farw o íiân i fam, gâs i
gladdu ym mola 'i famgu ?

Ateh. Abel.

Yeebal Tasks.
AU lansuages have a number of these. In manv, some
of the difíìcult sounds of the language are brought together
for the patriotic purpose of perplexing foreigners. One in
which a succession of guttural aspirates occurs,

Hwch goch fach a chwech o berchyll cochion bach,

is familiar to most of our readers. The foUowing we had
given us in childhood by an old shepherd on Epynt in
Breconshire. The task is to pronounce it rapidly without
any confusion of the sounds :

" Mae gen i ddwy wydd Iwyd radlon

Yn pori ar lan yr af on ;
Mae'n nwy wydd Iwyd radlon i

'N rhadlouach dwy wydd Iwyd radlon
Na dy ddwy wydd radlon di."

From the same source we derived the foUowing, which re-
sembles the EngUsh one, " Peter Piper piched a peck of
pickled pepper, etc". The task was to repeat, nine times
without pausing to take breath, the words :

" Barcutan Uwyd cwta 'n pigo pypyr o'r cwpa."

As oiir last slieet was passing througli tlie
press, news came of the great loss the Society, and
the whole Welsh people, have sustained in the death
of Sir Hugh Owen. As none of his countrymen
ever turned to him for sympathy and help in vain,
so there are but few who will not feel his removal
as a personal loss. A ready and earnest supporter
of every philanthropic movement, he lahoured with
especial zeal and devotion to promote tlie cause of
education in ^\"ales, a cause for M'hicli he did more
than any other man during the present century. The
shortness of time precludes our offering any adequate
obituary notice in the present number, but we liope
to give in the next a sliort biographical sketcli of
one in whom all that had the privilege of lcnowing
him, recognised a true patriot, an enlightened philan-
thropist, and a consistent Christian.

'•

t

ta«l

DA
700
C9
v,4-

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