The deified Patriarch spouse, elevated to the She appears under the The symbol of Hu was an Having reached this point, the subject easily and appropriately branches out into three divisions: first, the religious ideas and doctrines of Bardism; secondly, the sacred orders; thirdly, the rites and ceremonies. was not left alone in his glory; his rank of a goddess, shared his rule. name Ked (Ark), Ceridwen, &c. ox; that of Ceridwen, a cow and a boat. The Oriental worship of the heavenly bodies was superadded: but to stay dreadful jealousies from celestial minds, Hu the Mighty received the homage paid to the sun, and Ceridwen that addressed to the moon. There were subordinate deities. For instance, there were three Bull Demons of Britain; Ellyll Gwidawl, the demon of the whirling stream; Ellyll Llyr Merini, the demon of the flowing sea; Ellyll Gurthmwl Wledig, the demon of the sovereign of the equiponderate mass (the earth). With these poetical and superstitious fancies were blended many striking and lofty conceptions of the Divine nature. As "God cannot be matter, what is not matter must be God. There are three primary unities, and more than one of each cannot exist: one God, one truth, and one point of liberty; and this is where all opposites equally equipreponderate. Three things it is impossible God should not be,-whatever perfect goodness should be, whatever perfect goodness would desire to be, whatever perfect goodness is able to perform. Three things it is impossible God should not perform, what is most beneficial, what is most wanted, and what is most beautiful of all things." * Bardism taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Cæsar finds the origin of this belief in an astute design to lead men to cast away the fear of death, and become more courageous. The Bardic philosophers and moralists looked further than that. "They taught that this world was to be of permanent duration, but subject to a succession of violent revolutions, which would be produced sometimes by the predominating power of the element of water, and sometimes by that of fire. The whole animated creation, they said, originated in the lowest point of existence, evil in * Smith's Religion of Ancient Britain, p. 37. : the extreme; and arrived by a regular train of gradations at the probationary state of humanity. Those gradations were necessarily evil, but more or less so as they were removed from the first source. In the state of humanity, good and evil were equally balanced; and consequently it was a state of liberty, in which, if the actions and conduct of the agent preponderated to evil, death gave but an awful passage by which he returned to animal life, in a condition below humanity, equal to the degree of turpitude he had debased himself with in his former state of probation and if his life then was desperately wicked, it was possible for him to fall to his original vileness, or the lowest point of existence, and a renewal of his former progression through brutal existence took place; and this was his destiny as often as evil had its ascendancy in his state of trial. If, on the other hand, good was predominant in the heart of man, death was deemed a welcome messenger to conduct him to a more exalted condition, where he was still progressive; but he was then removed into a state necessarily good, and therefore beyond the influence of evil, or the danger of falling. To relieve the otherwise insupportable tedium of eternity, he there undergoes the most delightful renovations in endless succession, without being deprived of the consciousness of his former conditions. "He may even return to a state of second manhood, yet without the possibility of evil having again the ascendancy; consequently the return of such a benign soul was considered a blessing to the world."* Where Bardism prevailed, there was also a belief that the souls of the dead returned to animate other bodies, after the lapse of a certain number of years. In the meantime, it seems to have been thought that they lived with similarly disembodied spirits in another world. The ancient Britons gave a cogent proof of this conviction, which, much as modes of thought have altered since, would find admirers even at the present day ;-they put off the settlement of accounts and exaction of debts till they should meet in the world to come. + After the doctrines, the sacred orders of Bardism claim * Owen, in Richards' Cambro-British Biography, Preface, p. 32. Pictorial History of England, vol. i. p. 66. 66 our attention. The sources of information on this interesting subject are the classical writers, Cæsar, Diodorus, Strabo, Mela, Pliny the Younger, and Ammianus. These speak as intelligent observers, or diligent compilers: a greatly inferior class, yet, I would fain hope, not without their use. Independent of their testimony, we have the native ore in the rich mines of Welsh archaiology. The statements of the classical authorities relate, without exception, to French Druidism; but Cæsar, the best guide, writes, The Druidical system is thought to have had its origin in Britain, from whence it was introduced into Gaul; and it is still customary for those who wish to study it more thoroughly to pass over into Britain for that purpose. With this agrees the Institutional Triad :"The three reasons why the Bards are entitled Bards, according to the rights and institutes of the Bards of the Isle of Britain: First, because Bardism originated in Britain; secondly, because pure Bardism was never well understood in any other country; thirdly, because pure Bardism can never be maintained but by means of the Institutes and conventional voice of the Bards of the Isle of Britain.”† Our scholars and antiquaries have hence assumed, that in their chief features the Bardism of France and that of England were identical, and what is said of the one may be taken as a correct account of the other. Cæsar states:-"The Druids act in all sacred matters, attend to the sacrifices which are offered, either by the state in general or by private individuals, and answer all questions concerning their religion. They always have about them a large number of young men as pupils, who treat them with the greatest respect. For it is they who decide in all controversies, whether public or private, and they judge all causes, whether of murder, of a contested inheritance, or of the boundaries of estates. They assign both rewards and punishments; and whoever does not abide by their sentence, whether he be in a public or private station, is forbidden to be present at the sacrifices to the gods. This is, in fact, their most severe mode of punishment; and those who have been thus excommunicated are held as impious and profane; all avoid them; no one will either meet them or speak to them, lest they should receive detriment from their contagion. *Cæsar, Comment. vi. 13. + Camb. Brit. March 1821. Every species of honour is withheld from them; and if they are plaintiffs in a court of law, justice is denied them. All the Druids are subject to one chief, who enjoys the greatest authority among them. Upon the death of the chief Druid, the next in dignity is appointed to succeed him; and if there are two whose merits are equal, the election is made by the votes of the whole body. But sometimes they dispute for pre-eminence with the sword. At a certain period of the year, the Druids assemble in a consecrated grove in the country of the Carnuti (Chartres), which they consider to be the centre of Gaul. Here they are met by all who are at variance with one another, and who come here to have their quarrels decided." I omit the passage before cited relating to the British origin of Druidism. "The Druids enjoy peculiar privileges. They are exempted from service in war, and from the payment of taxes. They have also many other immunities, which cause their order to become numerous and influential, and young persons are gladly placed with them to learn their doctrines, by their parents and relations. In their schools the pupils are said to learn by heart a large number of verses; and in this way some of their scholars pass twenty years in completing their education, for it is unlawful to commit their doctrines to writing. It seems to me that they have two motives to this conduct; in the first place, they are unwilling that their tenets should become known to the vulgar; and, secondly, they are afraid that the pupils will be less apt to cultivate their memories if they trust to written characters, which often have the effect of checking diligent study. Among their most important tenets is the Immortality of the Soul, which they believe passes after death into other bodies; they hold this to be a great inducement to the practice of virtue, as the mind becomes relieved from the fear of death. Their other doctrines concern the motions of the heavenly bodies, the magnitude of the earth and the universe, the nature of things, the powers and attributes of the Immortal Gods."* Diodorus, speaking of the Druids, says, 'Frequently, during hostilities, when armies are approaching each other, with swords drawn and lances extended, these men, rushing between them, put an end to their contentions, taming them as they would tame wild beasts." + Strabo * Cæsar, vi. 13. &c. + Diod. Sic. v. 31. writes,66 Among the Gauls three classes are more especially held in veneration: the Bards, Vates, and Druids. They consider the soul to be immortal, and also the world, but that ultimately fire and water will prevail."* The three orders then were, Bards, Druids, Ovates. The Bards were poets; and since the inspirations of genius survive change and revolution, the wreck and extinction of dynasties, it is as Bardism that their old national faith is dear to the hearts of Welshmen. The Druids were priests and judges, august functions, filling to the eye of the stranger the whole field of vision; hence the second order gave a name to the whole three. The Ovates were a mixed class, replenished from the ranks of the people. The cultivators of science and art: these occupied no mean position, though, from the nature of their employments, they drew to themselves less observation. To begin at the lowest step: a Bardic student bore a distinctive title, Awenydd. † The indispensable qualifications for a scholar were noble birth and unimpeachable morals. On matriculation, he bound himself by oath not to reveal the mysteries into which he was about to be initiated. He was, however, seldom initiated into anything of importance, until his understanding, affections, morals, and general character, had undergone severe trials. He was closely observed when he was least aware of it; there was an eye, to him invisible, continually fixed upon him; and from the knowledge thus obtained an estimate was formed of his principles and abilities. According to the approbation given, and in the manner and degree thought proper, he was instructed in the doctrines of Bardism. During his probationary state of discipline he was to learn such verses and adages as contained the maxims of the Institution, and to compose others himself on any relative subject, doctrinal or moral. An Awenydd wore a plaid dress of the Bardic colours, blue, green, and white. He constantly resided with his teachers, and was strictly forbidden to converse with any strangers so long as he continued in the college. The candidate who had passed the ordeal was not imme * Dr. Giles's History of the Ancient Britons, vol. i. p. 172. + Meyrick's Costumes of Ancient Britons, p. 25. British Church, p. 43. Wood's Ancient |