Which to Grufydd thou shalt bear,
Hero of the crimson spear:

Arwystli's princely chief, who shields
From plundering foes her fertile fields,
Pour out the horn,-for oh, how sweet
With fellow-warriors 'tis to meet,
And to the banquet of my hall
Their country's brave deliverers call!
To dauntless Selyv Gwygyrs stay,
The boon, so well-deserved, convey.
Next, Madoc's only son demands
The grateful tribute at thy hands.
Then fill again, and let the horn
To Ynyr's warlike sons be borne,
Who still are found where danger's nigh,
The first to bleed the last to fly.
Then fill again, the cup prepare,
And to Morreiddig give his share ;
Patron of the song and Bard,
Liberal source of rich reward.

That groan was death. Alas! the pain,
Sudden to change the festive strain!
Much-loved Morreidig, how shall I
Forget thee or thy loss supply?
Pour out, and let the horn be filled
With choicest liquor sweet distilled;
Mead of spear-impelling power
In the battle's deathful hour;

Crown the proud cup, with gold o'erlaid,
And be the grateful tribute paid,
In honour of the mighty dead,
Who for their country's glory bled.
The men I honour here to-day
I owe them more than I can pay :
Then let no stint of mead be known,
Or partial distribution shown.
So may we live that we may prove
Guests worthy of the courts above,
And when this little life is o'er
Meet again to part no more;
To live for ever in the sight

Of the Supreme, the Lord of light;
With whom alone the truth is found,
And joys that know no end abound." *

* Sir R. C. Hoare's Giraldus, vol. ii. p. 217-231.

CHAPTER IV.

THE KINGS OF WALES.

The Cymry the primitive Settlers in Wales-State of Civilization-Archdeacon Williams's "Claudia and Pudens" quoted-Dyvnwal Moelmud - His Character-Actions-Laws-Caractacus - His heroic Defence -His noble Speech before the Emperor Claudius- Dunraven, residence of Caractacus - Carausius-Native of St. David's-Early Distinctions-Admiral of the Fleet-Assumes the title of AugustusDefeat of Maximinian-Glorious Reign of Carausius-His Assassination-King Arthur - Birthplace-Elected King of Britain - His Coronation-Battle of Badon-Arthur's Court-Loses and recovers his Queen-Treachery of Medrod-Death of Arthur-Discovery of his Tomb at Glastonbury.

THE Athenians asserted that their first forefathers sprang from the soil of Attica, and, whether they did or not, the claim was simple and straightforward, and, once admitted, saved a world of trouble. The Welsh do not bring their ancestors upon the stage of existence by this summary process. It is allowed, that they came at some time from some place; but the exact time when, and the identical place whence, have not been certainly ascertained, and so remain open questions. The most popular, if not the most probable, opinion is, that, in a remote antiquity, there was a great movement from the East westward; that this migratory people reached in their progress several uninhabited portions of our globe, among others, the country now called Wales, then the lair of wild beasts, on the occupation of which they successively entered, and hence derived their names, Cimbri, Cimmerii, Cymry-Cym or Cyn, in Welsh, signifying "first;" and so the word Cymry denoting a first, or primitive people. The preservation of this ancient name solely in the mountains of Wales is considered as a cogent proof that the inhabitants of North Wales, at all events, are the true and pure

descendants of the Cymry, to whom, as the first colonisers, the land may, if so high a claim can be put in for anything terrestrial, be said to belong by Divine right. The Rev. William Jones, Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, in a learned and interesting paper communicated to the Cambrian Archæological Society, and since published in a more extended form, under the title, "Vestiges of the Gael in Gwynnedd,” on, as he asserts, "the authority of the best historians and ethnologists, assumes, that the Gael preceded the Cymry in the possession of the whole of Britain, and was afterwards driven by them into the Highlands of Scotland, and the neighbouring islands of Ireland, Man, and the Hebrides."* As the first-mentioned opinion, that the present Welsh are the lineal descendants of the ancient Cymry, is maintained by some of the ablest scholars and antiquaries of the Principality, I must be permitted to give that solution the preference.

The high degree of mental civilization to which, under the institutions of Bardism, the ancient Britons had attained, was not in so striking a contrast as some have imagined with their contracted acquaintance with the arts of life. They manufactured cloth, first of the hair and wool of animals, and afterwards of vegetable fibre; they also knew how to bleach linen; the ashes of the fern, supposed to have been employed, are still used by the Welsh peasantry for the same purpose. They also excelled in the art of dyeing purple, scarlet, and other colours, and possessed some valuable secrets unknown to other nations. The insignia of the Arch-Druid, the tiara, breastplate, serpent's stone, &c., show a knowledge of the working of metals. The light boats or coracles with which they navigated their rivers Cæsar did not disdain to adopt. Their cars were admired by the Romans, taken into use by private persons for their journeys, and introduced into the public races. There is extant a picture of one of them, sketched by a British hand, and engraved upon a British coin. The mere existence of a metallic currency shows a state of society raised very far above barbarism. In the laws of Moelmud, B.c. 440, "coined money is mentioned as one of the things impossible to be identified, "be

cause each is so perfectly like and similar; and there can be no claim respecting it, except by testimony, or by the confession of the thief." Julius Cæsar, in his account of Britain, deceived by the single-roomed hovels of the poor, represented whole families as living incestuously. The learned and talented Archdeacon of Cardigan, the Venerable J. Williams, suggests the following ingenious explanation. The inheritance of a sept or tribe was called the Gwely Cenedl, lectus gentis, bed of that tribe. The children of a chief, dividing between them the inheritance on the decease of their parent, shared, technically speaking, one bed; and hence the misconception.* I should very much like to present to my reader a digest of Welsh history within my prescribed limits, but as that is hardly possible, I crave his indulgence while there pass before him a few of those distinguished sovereigns who at various intervals swayed the Cambrian sceptre, and shed blessings on their land and people.

One of the earliest names of which we have any authentic information, though very scanty, is that of Dyvnwal Moelmud. In the translation of a Welsh document, compiled from "the Chronicles of Kings," we have, 66 B.C. 441, Dyvnwal Moclmud, son of Cludno, earl of Cornwall, was a powerful and praiseworthy king, and he made a survey of the island, its mountains, its rivers, its forests, and its chief harbours. He also erected on the banks of the Severn a city, and it was called Caer Odor, because the small river which runs through the town is called Odor Nant y Badd; and this town is called to this day, in both languages, Brysto (Bristol)." Dyvnwal Moelmud is enumerated in the Triads, as one of the three national pillars of the Isle of Britain," because "he reduced to a system the laws, customs, maxims, and privileges appertaining to a country and nation." He is also, probably for the same reason, described as one "of the three system-formers of royalty in the Isle of Britain." Geoffry of Monmouth gives a fuller account, which, taken in connexion with the preceding, will bear to be produced. "When he had made an entire reduction of the whole island, he prepared for himself a crown of gold, and restored the kingdom to its ancient state. This prince established what

66

* Claudia and Pudens, p. 34.

† Camb. Brit. April 1822.

the Britons call the Moelmutine laws, which are among the English to this day. In these, among other things, of which St. Gildas wrote a long time after, he enacted that the temples of the gods, as also cities, should have the privilege of giving sanctuary and protection to any fugitive or criminal that should flee to them from the enemy. He likewise enacted that the ways leading to these temples and cities, as also husbandmen's ploughs, should be allowed the same privileges; so that in his day the murders and cruelties committed by robbers were prevented, and everybody passed safe, without any violence offered to him."* The law Triads, cited in the first chapter of this essay, were composed by Moelmud, to whom belongs also the following constitutional maxim: "The three pillars of the commonwealth of the Isle of Britain, the jury of a country, the kingly office, and the functions of a judge." The laws of Moelmud give a very favourable idea of the civilization to which Cambria had then attained, and of the good sense and liberality of the legislator. "There are three common rights of the neighbouring country and bordering kingdom,-a large river, a high road, and a place of meeting for religious adoration; and these are under the protection of God and His tranquillity, so long as those who frequent them do not unsheath their arms against those whom they meet. He that offends in this respect, whether he may be a citizen or a stranger, shall be visited with the fine of murder, upon application to the lord of the district. There are three privileged persons of the family, who are exempt from manual labour, work, and office, the infant, the aged, and the family teacher; for these are not to bear arms, attend to the horn, nor cultivate the soil. There are three things which strengthen the tranquillity of the neighbouring country,-equal privileges, a common form of government, and the sciences of wisdom, under the mutual protection of the neighbouring country, emanating from union and natural right. There are three leading objects of the neighbouring country,-common and perfect defence, equal protection of the arts and sciences, and the cherishing of domestication and peaceable customs. There are three family arts,-agriculture, or the cultivation

* Bohn's Six Chronicles, p. 122.