THE
MYTHOLOGY AND RITES
OF THE
British Druids
ASCERTAINED BY

NATIONAL DOCUMENTS;

AND COMPARED WITH THE

GENERAL TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS OF HEATHENISM,
AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE MOST EMINENT
ANTIQUARIES OF OUR AGE.

WITH AN

APPENDIX,

CONTAINING

ANCIENT POEMS AND EXTRACTS,

WITH SOME

REMARKS ON ANCIENT BRITISH COINS.

By EDWARD DAVIES,

RECTOR OF BISHOPSTON, IN THE COUNTY OF GLAMORGAN,
AND AUTHOR OF CELTIC RESEARCHES.

London

PRINTED FOR J. BOOTH, DUKE-STREET, PORTLAND-PLACE.

1809

TO THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
RICHARD, LORD BISHOP OF LANDAFF.

MY LORD,

THE noble frankness with which your Lordship grants a favour, encourages me to hope that you will pardon the liberty I now take, in prefixing your name to an Essay upon the Mythology and Rites of the Heathen Britons.

It is with diffidence I lay this subject before a man of your Lordships distinguished character; whether in reference to private worth, to reputation in the world of letters, to rank in society, or to that zeal and ability which you have so successfully displayed in the defence of our holy religion.

But whatever the merits of this Work may be, I eagerly embrace the opportunity which it affords me, of acknowledging a debt of gratitude, in the audience of the Public.

When Mr. Hardinge, amongst his other acts of generosity, which it is impossible for me to enumerate or to forget, pointed me out to your Lordship's notice, under the character of his friend, it was your good pleasure to place me in a respectable station in the Church, and thus confer upon me the comfort of independence.

Your Lordship's manner of bestowing a benefit, is a great addition to its value; and whilst I am offering my humble tribute of thanks, it emboldens me to aspire to the preservation of your good opinion,

I have the honour to remain.

Your Lordship's much obliged and devoted humble servant,

E. DAVIES.

PREFACE.

THE first section of the ensuing Essay, effects the principal objects of a Preface; yet the Author has not the confidence to intrude upon his Reader, without premising a few pages, to bespeak his attention, and conciliate his esteem without offering some apology for the nature of his subject, and the manner in which it has been treated.

To some persons, the utility of such a work may not be obvious. It may be asked What interest has the present age, in a mew of the errors and prejudices of the Pagan Britons?

To obviate this, and similar inquiries, I would suggest the reflection, that the history of mankind is, in a great measure, the history of errors and prejudices that the superstition we have now to contemplate, however absurd in itself, affected the general tone of thinking in several districts of Britain 'that its influence continued to recent times, and has scarcely vanished at the present day. To an age of general inquiry, an investigation of the form and principles of this superstition, must surely be a subject of interest.

In our times, a split of research, which few are so unjust as to impute to idle curiosity, embraces all the regions of the known world: and is our own country the only spot that must be deemed unworthy of our attention?

Ancient and authentic documents, of the opinions and customs of the old Britons, have been preserved, though long concealed by the shades of a difficult and obsolete language. And can a dispassionate examination of their contents, which are totally un- [vi] known to the Public, be deemed a subject of no interest or utility.

These documents are found, upon investigation, to develope a system of religion, which, for many ages, influenced the affairs of the human race, not only in these islands, but also in the adjacent regions of Europe: and are we not to inquire in what this religion consisted, and what hold it took of the mind of man? Or is it an useless task, to expose the origin of some absurd customs and prejudices, which are still cherished in certain corners of our land? But it will be said—The state of society amongst the ancient Britons was rude and unpolished; and their very religion opposed the progress of science and of letters.

Be this admitted: yet the Britons, with all their barbarism and absurdities, constituted a link in the great chain of history. In addition to this, their affairs derive some importance from their rank amongst our own progenitors, their connection with our native country, and the remains of their monuments, which still appear in our fields. A prospect of the few advantages which they enjoyed, may furnish no unpleasant subject of comparison with our own times. A candid exposure of that mass of error under which they groaned, may inspire us with more lively gratitude for the knowledge of the true religion, and, perhaps, suggest a seasonable caution against the indulgence of vain speculation upon sacred subjects a weakness to which the human mind is prone in every age.

Upon the whole, then, I humbly conceive, that an examination of our national reliques has been hitherto a desideratum in British literature; that the individual who has now attempted to draw them out of obscurity, is entitled to the candid attention of the Public; and that the time of the Reader, who [vii] may honour this volume with a candid perusal, will not have been spent in vain.

But of the manner in which this examination is conducted in the following Essay, I must speak with less confidence. As far as I know my own heart, truth, without favour or prejudice to the memory of our misguided ancestors, has been my object. Touching the light in which I view their ancient superstition, I must confess that I have not been the first in representing the druidical, as having had some connection with the patriarchal religion; but I know of no work already before the Public, which has unravelled the very slender threads by which that connection was maintained.

This difficult task I have attempted, by the aid of those Bards who were professed votaries of Druidism; and the undertaking was greatly facilitated by the labours of Mr. Bryant, which present a master-key to the mythology of the ancient world. That I cannot give my assent to the whole of this great man's opinion, has been already acknowledged:¹ but whilst I allow myself to object against the slipper, I contemplate the masterly outlines of the statue, with respect and admiration.

It is to be regretted, that this eminent mythologist was wholly unacquainted with the written documents of Druidism, preserved in this country. Had they been open to his investigation, he would have exhibited them to peculiar advantage, and he would have found them as strong in support of his general principles, as any remains of antiquity whatsoever.

I must here endeavour to obviate another objection. In the British poems, which treat of heathenish superstition, a sentence is often inserted, containing the name of Christ, or some allusion to his religion, and having no connection with the matter which precedes or follows. Some of [viii] these sentences I have omitted, for obvious reasons, I have been not a little puzzled to account for their admission into the text: but as all our remaining poems were composed or altered, subsequent to the first introduction of Christianity, it is probable that St Augustin supplies us with the true reason of such admixture.

"Qui seducunt per ligaturas, per precantationes, per machinamenta inimici, inserunt praecantationibus suis nomen Christi: quia jam non possunt seducere Christianos, ut dent venenum, addunt mellis aliquantum, ut per id quod dulce est, lateat quod amarum est, et bibatur ad perniciem."²

In the selection of matter, the author has endeavoured to observe a medium, between that fastidious abruptness, which leaves many of the great outlines of a subject unmarked, and a minute prolixity, which scrutinizes every obscure corner of heathen abomination.

To future inquiry he leaves an open field, where some more handfuls may be gleaned, and approaches the reader with a consciousness, that as far as he has proceeded, his steps have been guided by integrity.

The subject of this volume having an intimate connection with that of the Celtic Researches, a short Index of this book is introduced. It is also to be had separate, and respectfully offered to my Subscribers, as a small tribute of gratitude for their liberal support, and as an acknowledgement of the favourable opinion with which I have been honoured, by some of the most distinguished characters, in that illustrious catalogue men whose learning and talents are acknowledged, and whose judgment will be respected.

[ix] As to the animadversions of professed critics, some of them were avowedly hostile. But their elaborate prolixity, which is no mark of contempt, affords some consolation for the malignity of their efforts. The work, and the strictures which it occasioned, are before the Public, which is of no party. To this upright and competent judge I appeal, with humble submission, neither vainly pleading an immunity from just censure, nor dreading the effects of those sarcasms, which arose from gross misrepresentation of my opinions, and perversion of my principles.

Upon one solitary occasion, I must beg leave to defend my own cause. The passage which I am about to quote, is not singled out as unworthy of the learning or candour of its author, but as involving a point, in which the Public may want an interpreter. It also affords me an opportunity of stating my reasons, for understanding the works of Taliesin somewhat differently from the Critical Reviewer.

"Let us now," says the critic, "compare this description of the Aborigines of Britain with that of Taliesin, a name before which every Welshman must bow; who was himself a Bard, perhaps a Druid, but converted from his Druidical idolatry to Christianity, and who is reported to have flourished in the sixth century of the Christian æra; consequently, about six hundred years before these Triads were ever attempted to be collected.³ The poem we cite from is denominated the Pacification of Lludd."'

The critic then gives his original, with the following translation:

"A numerous race, and fierce, as fame reports them,
Were thy first colonists, Britain, chief of isles;
        [10]
Natives of a country in Asia, and of the region of Gafis;
A people said to have been skilful ; but the district is unknown,
That was mother to this progeny, these warlike adventurers on the sea.
Clad in their long dress, who could equal them?
Celebrated is their skill: they were the dread of Europe."

"Here," adds the triumphant critic, "instead of being men of quiet dispositions, and abhorrent of war, they are expressly declared to have been fierce and warlike adventurers unequalled, and the dread of Europe: instead of coming from Constantinople, and crossing the German haze, or ocean, they are said to have wandered from the region of Gafis, in Asia. Is it possible to imagine a stronger contrast?" (Vide Critical Review, August, 1804, p. 374.)

The contrast, as here drawn, is strong enough: but I must take the liberty to hint, that the critic, or his prompter, has perverted the whole of this vaunted passage, in consequence of having mistaken the meaning of a single word—Dygorescynan, which he renders were the first colonists, simply implies, will again invade, or, according to Mr. Owen, will subjugate, or overcome: so that the Bard does not describe the Aborigines of Britain, but a hostile race, who invaded or subdued the country.

The title of the poem. Pacification of Lludd, and a line, which informs us it was the pacification of Lludd and Llefelis, may furnish a clue to the æra of these invaders. Lludd and Llefelis are represented, by the Welsh chronicles, as brothers of Cassivellaunus, who fought with Cæsar, though it is pretty clear that, in simple fact, they were no other than those princes of the Trinobantes, whom the Roman historian mentions by the names of Imanuentius and Mandubrasius. Hence it appears, that [xi] these first colonists of Britain arrived in the age of Julius Cæsar.⁴

Let us now try to identify this warlike race. In the passage quoted by the critic, they are said to have sprung from a country in Asia, and the region of Gafis, or rather Gafys. Whoever has Welsh enough to translate Taliesin, must be fully aware, that it is the genius of that language to change c into g, and p into f. Let us then replace the original letters, and we shall have the region of Capys, a Trojan prince, who was the father of Anchises, and reputed ancestor of the Romans. Hence it may be conjectured, that these were the very people whom the Bard describes as having invaded Britain, in the time of Lludd and Llefelis; that is, in the age of Julius Cæsar.

But Critics must not be supposed to write at random, without some knowledge of their subject. As they claim respect from the Public, they must respect their own characters. And as our author has positively pronounced his warlike race the first colonists of Britain, it may be presumed, that his assertion has some adequate support in other parts of the poem. In order to determine this point, I shall exhibit the whole, for it is not long, with a translation as close and as faithful, to say the least of it, as that which we have in the preceding critique.

YMARWAR LLVDD.—Bychan:

Yn enw Duw Trindawd, cardawd cyfnvys!
Llwyth lliaws, anuaws eu henwerys,
Dygorescynnaa Prydain, prif fan ynys;
Gwyr gwlad yr Asia, a gwlad Gafys;
        [xii]
Pobl pwyllad enwir : eu tir ni wys
Famen : gorwyreis herwydd maris.
Amlaes eu peisseu ; pwy ei hefelis!
A pliwyllad dyvyner, ober efnis,
Europin, Arafin, Arafanis.
Cristiavvn difryt, diryd dilis,
Cyn ymanvar Lludd a Llefelis..
Dysgogettaur perchen y Wen Ynys,
Rac pennaeth o Ryfein, cein ei echrj's.
Nid rys, nid cyfrwys, Ri: rwyf ei araith
(A rywelei a ryweleis o angbytteith)
Dullator pedrygvvern, llugyrn ymdaith,
Rac Rhyuonig cynran baran goddeith.
Rytalas mab Grat, rwyf ei areith.
Cymry yn danhyal: rhyvel ar geith.
Pryderaf, pwyllaf pwy y hymdeith
Brythonig ynivvis rydderchefis.

PACIFICATION OF LLUDD.—Little song.

In the name of the God Trinity,⁵ exhibit thy charity!
A numerous race, of ungentle manners,
Repeat their invasion of Britain, chief of isles:⁶
Men from a country in Asia, and the region of Capys;⁷
A people of iniquitous design: the land is not known
That was their mother.⁸ They made a devious course by sea.
In their flowing garments,⁹ who can equal them?
With design are they called in,¹⁰ with their short spears,¹¹ those foes
                    [xiii]
Of the Europeans, the Aramites, and Armenians.¹²
O thoughtless Christian, there was oppressive toil,
Before the pacification of Lludd and Llefelis,¹³
The proprietor of the fair island¹⁴ is roused
Against the Roman leader, splendid and terrible.
The King¹⁵ is not ensnared, as inexpert; he directs with his speech
(Having seen all the foreigners that were to be seen).
That the quadrangular swamp¹⁶ should be set in order, by wayfaring torches,
Against the arrogant leader, in whose presence there was a spreading flame.¹⁷
The son of Graid,¹⁸ with his voice, directs the retaliation.
The Cymry burst into a flame—there is war upon the slaves.¹⁹
With deliberate thought will I declare the stroke that made them decamp.
It was the great exaltation of British energy.²⁰

[xiv]

By this time, I trust, I have made a convert of the critic. He will agree with me in thinking, that this little poem relates only to the invasion of Britain by Julius Cæsar; and that it contains not the most distant hint of its first colonists. The strong contrast has changed its position: but I abstain from farther remarks.

Criticism may be useful to the author who undergoes its chastisement, as well as to the Public. To the censor whose representation is just, whose reproof is liberal, who so far respects himself, as to preserve the character of a scholar and a gentleman, I shall attend with due regard. But if any professed judge of books can descend so low, as wilfully to pervert my words and meaning, to twist them into absurdity, and extract silly witticisms from his own conceits, I must be allowed to consider his strictures as foreign to myself and my work, and as little calculated to influence those readers whom I wish to engage.

THE CONTENTS.

SECTION I.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE WRITTEN MONUMENTS OF THE EARLY BRITONS THEIR AUTHENTICITY PROVED, BY THE TEST OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY ----------- Page 1-84

SECTION II.

GENERAL VIEW OF DRUIDICAL THEOLOGY CHARACTER AND RITES OF HU, THE HELlO-ARKITE GOD THE BACCHUS OF THE HEATHEN BRITONS, ----------- Page 85-182

SECTION III.

THE CHARACTER, CONNEXIONS, AND MYSTICAL RITES OF KED, OR CERIDWEN, THE ARKITE GODDESS OF THE DRUIDS HER IDENTITY WITH THE CERES OF ANTIQUITY, -------- Page 183-290

SECTION IV.

THE DESIGN OF THE CIRCULAR TEMPLES AND CROMLECHS OF THE DRUIDS ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE CELEBRATED STRUCTURE OF STONEHENGE, ----------- Page 291-410

(THE GODODIN, Page 326-383.)

[xvi]

SECTION V.

TRADITIONS RELATING TO THE PROGRESS, REVOLUTIONS, AND SUPPRESSION OF THE BRITISH SUPERSTITION, ----------- Page 411-500
APPENDIX, CONSISTING OF ANCIENT POEMS AN EXTRACTS, --------- Page 501-588
REMARKS UPON ANCIENT BRITISH COINS, Page 589-624
INDEX, ----------- Page 625-642
ERRATA, ----------- Page 643
PLATE, ----------- End.

[1]

THE
MYTHOLOGY AND RITES
OF THE
BRITISH DRUIDS

SECTION I.

Preliminary Observations on the written Monuments of the early Britons.
Their Authenticity proved, by the Test of classical Antiquity.

IN a retrospect of the state of society, which formerly prevailed in our country, the contemplative mind is not more agreeably, than usefully employed. Hence many writers, of distinguished eminence, have undertaken to elucidate the modes of thinking, and the customs of the early Britons, together with their religious opinions and superstitious rites. Upon this subject, many notices are scattered amongst the remains of Greek and Roman learning. These have been collected with diligence, arranged and appreciated with ingenuity. But here the research of our antiquaries has been checked, by the compass of their own studies, rather than by the defect of other existing monuments: whereas, upon a topic that claims investigation, every pertinent document ought to be considered; and [2] especially, those documents which lead to a more intimate knowledge of the matter in hand.

What has hitherto remained undone, I have already hinted, in a volume which I lately published, under the most respectable and liberal patronage. I there stated, that certain ancient writings, which are preserved in the Welsh language, contain many new and curious particulars relative to the ancient religion and customs of Britain; and that, in this point of view, they would reward the research of the temperate and unprejudiced antiquary.

At that time, I had no thoughts of pursuing the investigation; but I have since taken up a fresh resolution, and it is the business of the present Essay to evince the truth of my assertion.

To this end, I shall employ an introductory section, in pointing out the particular writings of the Britons, upon which I ground my opinion; in shewing that those writings have been regarded as druidical; and in ascertaining, by historical tests, the authenticity of their pretensions.²¹

The British documents, to which I principally refer, are the poems of Taliesin, Aneurin, and Merddin the Caledonian, Bards who lived in the sixth century of the Christian [3] æra. With these works, my acquaintance is not recent. I have possessed a good collated copy of them, in MS. since the year 1792. I have also the London edition of the same works, which appeared in the first volume of the; Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, in 1801.

To the primitive Bards, I add the historical and mythological notices, called Triads, published in the second volume of the same work; and though their compilers are not known, I shall use them freely, as far as I find their authority supported by general tradition, ancient manuscripts, and internal evidence.

Modern criticism having suggested some doubts as to the genuineness of the works ascribed to our ancient Bards, it may be expected, that I should offer something in their defence upon this score. But from the greatest part of this task I may fairly excuse myself, by a general reference to the Vindication, lately published by the learned and accurate Mr. Turner, who, in answer to all their adversaries, has stated, and fully substantiated the following proposition; namely,

"That there are poems, now existing in the Welsh, or ancient British language, which were written by Aneurin. Taliesin, Llywarch Hen, and Merddin, who flourished between the years 500 and 600."

This subject, the able advocate of our Bards has not handled slightly, or superficially. He carries them through every question of external and internal evidence, refutes all the main objections which have been urged against the works of the Bards, and concludes his Vindication by shewing, that there is nothing extraordinary in the fact, [4] which his Essay is directed to substantiate; that these poems are attested by an unvaried stream of national belief; and that any suspicion about them has been of recent origin.²²

The author of the Anglo-Saxon history, being interested only in the credit of the historical poems of these Bards, has directed his Vindication, principally, to the support of their cause; but as my subject leads me, more immediately, to examine certain pieces of another kind, which, from their mythological and mysterious allusions, have obtained the general appellation of mystical poems, candour requires, that I should state this gentleman's opinion of the latter, and plead something in their defence, where he seems to have deserted them.

Of these mystical pieces, Mr. Turner thus declares his sentiments. "Some (of Taliesin's poems) are unintelligible, because full of Bardic, or Druidical allusions."²³

And again: "Of Taliesin's poetry, we may say, in general, that his historical pieces are valuable; his others are obscure: but, as they contain much old mythology and Bardic imagery, they are worth attention, because some parts may be illustrated, and made intelligible.^"24

I have quoted these passages, at length, in order to shew my reader, that the author's censure is not directed against the pretensions of these poems to genuineness, or authent- [5] ticity, but merely, against that degree of obscurity which they must, necessarily, present to every man who has not studied their subjects. And Mr. Turner's declared opinion, that they are worth attention, as containing much old mythology, certainly supposes, that they are ancient and authentic; I mean so far authentic, as to be real documents of British mythology.

That a critic, so candid, and so well informed, should have pronounced these poems, which peculiarly treat of Druidism, absolutely unintelligible; and especially, as he acknowledges the assistance of Mr. Owen and Mr. Williams, men who claim an exclusive acquaintance with the whole system of Bardic lore, may seem rather extraordinary: but the wonder will cease, when we shall have seen, that the information of these ingenious writers is drawn from another source; from a document which will appear to be, in many respects, irreconcilable with the works of the ancient Bards, or with the authority of the classical page,

Mr. Turner's censure, as we have seen, regards only the obscurity of the mystical poems: but as it is possible, that the candid zeal of criticism may mistake obscure, for spurious, it may be proper to produce some farther evidence in their favour. And here I may remark, that Mr. Turner was the first critic, who made a public distinction between the credit of the mystical, and the historical poems. The external evidence, in favour of both, is just the same. They are preserved in the same manuscripts; and an unvaried stream of national belief ascribes them, without distinction, to the authors whose names they bear.

Here I might rest the cause of these old poems, till they prove their own authenticity, by internal evidence, in the [6] course of my Essay; did I not deem it requisite, to adduce some testimonies of the real existence of Druidism, amongst the Welsh, in the times of the native princes. These testimonies are collected from a series of Bards, who wrote in succession, from before the twelfth, to the middle of the fourteenth century. The genuineness of their works has never been disputed; and they, pointedly, allude to the mystical strains of Taliesin, and establish their credit, as derived from the source of Druidism.

Meugant, a Bard who lived in the seventh century, writes thus.

Cred i Dduw nad Derwjddon darogant
Pan torrer Din Breon braint.²⁵

"Trust in God, that those are no Druids, who prophesy, that the privilege of Din Breon will be violated."

Din Breon, the Hill of Legislature, was the sacred mount, where the Bards, the ancient judges of the land, assembled, to decide causes. The author here alludes to the certain predictions, that the privilege of this court would be violated; but, at the same time, suggests a hope, that the prophets were not real Druids, and, consequently, that their forebodings might never be accomplished. This, surely, supposes, that Druidical predictions were known, in the days of Meugant, and that they were regarded as oracles of truth.

[7]

Golyddan, a Bard of the same century, asserts the existence of Druidical prophecies, and considers the destiny of Britain, as absolutely involved in their sentence.

Dysgogan Derwyddon maint a ddervydd:
O Vynaw hyd Lydaw yn eu Haw a vydd:
O Ddyved hyd Ddanet huz biduvydd, &c.²⁶

"Druids vaticinate a multitude shall arrive: from Menevia to Armorica shall be in their hand: from Dernetia to Thanet shall they possess."

Such passages bear testimony to the existence of certain, pretended, vaticinations, which were expressly ascribed to the Druids; and which the Britons, of the seventh century, contemplated with respect. It is also worthy of note, that Golyddan enrols Merddin the Caledonian in the list of his infallible Druids.

Dysgogan Merddin cy vervydd hyn!

"It is Merddin who predicts this will come to pass!"

Let us now hear the acknowledgment of a Bard, who was less favourable to the Druidical strain; or who, at least, did not think it meet to be employed in a Christian's address to his Creator.

Cuhelyn wrote, according to the table of the Welsh Archaiology, in the latter part of the eighth century.²⁷ A [8] religious ode, which bears the name of this Bard, has the following passage:

Deus Rhisen rhymavy Awen.
Amen, fiat!

Fynedig wawd frwjthlawn draethawd
Rymibyddad,

Herwydd urdden awdyl Keridwen,
Ogyrwen amhad,

Amhad anaw areith awyrllaw
Y Caw ceiniad,

Cuhelyn Bardd Cymraeg hardd
Cyd wrthodiad

Certh cymmwynas, Ked cyweithas,
Ni vaintimad.

Cathyl cyvystrawd cyvan volawd,
Clutawd attad

"God the Creator! Inspire my genius! Amen be it done! A prosperous song of praise, a fruitful discourse, may I obtain. For the venerated song of Ceridwen, the Goddess of various seeds, of various seeds of Genius, the eloquence of the airy hand of the chaunter of Caw, Cuhelyn, the elegant Welsh Bard would utterly reject.  The awful enjoyment of the society of Ked could not be maintained. A song of direct course, of unmixed praise, has been offered to thee."²⁸

[9]

The songs of Ceridwen of the chaunters of Caw, and of the society of Kid, as I shall make appear, are precisely the mystical strains ascribed to Taliesin, and the lore of the British Druids. And the Bard, by making a merit of not imitating this kind of poetry, in his address to the Creator, furnishes an undeniable evidence, that such composition was known in his time; that it was in high esteem amongst his countrymen; and that he deemed it unsuitable to the purity of Christian devotion.

Thus we find, that the mystic lore of the Druids, and those songs, which are full of their old mythology, were extant, and in repute, during the ages immediately, subsequent to the times of Aneurin, Taliesin, and Merddin. Let us examine whether they were forgotten, in the ages of the more recent Welsh Princes.

The works of several Bards, who flourished in Wales during the interval, from the beginning of the twelfth, to the close of the fourteenth century, have been well preserved. They are now printed in the first volume of the Welsh Archaiology.

So far was Druidism from being either forgotten or neglected in this period, that one of the most curious subjects of observation, which present themselves upon the perusal of these works, is the constant allusion to certain ancient and genuine remains of the Druids, which had descended to the times of the respective authors. The principals amongst the Bards of these ages, appear very anxious to distinguish themselves from mere poets. They assert their own pretensions to the honour of the Druidical character, upon the plea of an accurate institution into the mysteries, and discipline, of those ancient sages; or upon a direct [10] descent from their venerated blood. The reader shall have an opportunity of judging for himself.

Meilyr, a distinguished Bard, who flourished between the years 1120 and 1160, composed an elegy upon the death of two princes of his country, the first line of which runs thus.

Gwolychav i'm Rheen, Rex Awyr.²⁹

"I will address myself to my sovereign, the King of the Air."

This is an evident imitation of the first line of the Chair of Ceridwen—Rheen rym Awyr³⁰—"O Sovereign of the power of the Air." This piece, therefore, which is one of the principal of Taliesin's mystical poems, was known to Meilyr the Bard.

Gwalchmai, the son of Meilyr, wrote between the years 1150 and 1190.

In a poem, entitled Gorhofedd, or The Boast, he thus imitates the Gorwynion, a poem ascribed to Llywarch Hen, upon the subject of the mystical sprigs.

Gorwyn blaen avail, bloden vagwy,
Balch caen coed
Bryd pawb parth yd garwy.³¹

[11]

"The point of the apple tree, supporting blossoms, proud covering of the wood, declares Every one's desire tends to the place of his affections."

In his elegy upon the death of Madawc, Prince of Powys, the same Bard exclaims,

Och Duw na dodyw
Dydd brawd, can deryw
Dervvyddon weini nad
Diwreiddiws Py wys peleidriad rhy vel!³²

"Would to God the day of doom were arrived, since Druids are come, attending the outcry The gleaming spears of war have eradicated Powys."

The Bard had heard a report of the fall of his Prince; but he hoped it might be only a false rumour, till the news was brought by Druids. Here, then, we find the existence of Druids, in the middle of the twelfth century, positively asserted.

Cynddelw, the great presiding Bard, and Gwalchmai's contemporary, has many remarkable passages, which imply the same fact. I shall select a few of the most obvious.

In his panegyric upon the celebrated Prince, Omen Gwynedd, we find the Bardic and the Druidical character thus united, and our author himself placed at the head of the order.

Beirnaid araregyd Beirdd am ragor:
        [12]
Ath volant Veirddion, Derwyddon Dor
O bedeiriaith dyvyn, o bedeir or.
Ath gyvarwyre bardd bre breudor,
Cynddehv, cynhelw yn y cyiinor.

"Bards are constituted the judges of excellence: and Bards will praise thee, even Druids of the circle, of four dialects, coming from the four regions. A Bard of the steep mount will celebrate thee, even Cynddelw, the first object in the gate."

In his elegy upon the death of the same Prince, Cynddelw mentions a prophecy of Gwron whom the Triads represent as one of the first founders of Druidism.

Am eurglawr mwynvawr Mon
Nid gair gau ev goreu Gwron.

"Of the golden protector, the most courteous Prince of Mona, no vain prophecy did Gwron deliver."

The same Cynddelw maintained a poetic contest for the? Bardic chair of Madawc, Prince of Powys, against another Bard, named Scisyll, who asserts his claim to the honour, in virtue of his direct descent from the primitive Bards, or Druids of Britain, a distinction which his adversary could not boast,

Mi biau bod yn bencerdd
O iawnllin o iawnlhvyth Culvardd;
A hen Cynddelw vawr, cawr cyrdd,
O hon ni henyw beirdd.³³

[13]

"It is my right to be master of song being in a direct line, of the true tribe, a Bard of the inclosure; but Cynddelw the great, the giant of song, is born of a race, which has produced no Bards."

In his reply, Cynddelw makes light of this argument of his opponent, alledging that he himself was acknowledged to be distinguished by the discipline, the education, and the spirit of a primitive Bard.

Notwithstanding this, we find, by a poem addressed to the same Prince, that he was ready to allow the superior dignity of the Druidical line: and he speaks of this illustrious order as still in being,

Nis gwyr namyn Duw a dewinion byd,
A diwyd Derwyddion
O eurdorv, eurdorchogion,
Ein rhiv yn rhyveirth avon.³⁴

"Excepting God alone, and the diviners of the land, and sedulous Druids, of the splendid race, wearers of gold chains, there is none who knows our number, in the billows of the stream."

These billows, as it will appear in the third section, allude to their initiation into the mysteries of the Druids.

The elegy on the death of Cadwallawn, the son of Madawc, assimilates the character of this Prince to that of Menwy or Menyw, recorded in the Triads is one of the .first instructors and legislators of the Cymry. Here we [14] have also a discrimination of some of the honours, which the Princes usually conferred upon the ancient Bards.

Agored ei lys i les cerddorion byd:
Eithyd i esbyd ei esborthion.
Ym myw Menw aches buches beirddion:
Ym butchedd gwledig gwlad orchorddion,
Grorddyvnas uddud budd a berthion
Gorwyddon tuthvawr tu hir gleision.³⁵

"His hall was open for the benefit of the singers of the land: for his guests he made provision. Whilst Menw lived the memorials of Bards were, in request: whilst he lived, the sovereign of the land of heroes, it was his custom to bestow benefits and honour, and fleet coursers, on the wearers of long blue robes."

In a poem addressed to Owen Cyveiliawg, Prince of Powys, who was himself a distinguished Bard, Cynddelw makes repeated mention of the Druids, and their cerdd Ogyrven, or songs of the Goddess; that is, the mystical strains of Taliesin. The piece opens thus.

Dj'sgogan Derwyddon dewrwlad y esgar,
Y wysgwyd weiniviad:
DrIis ysgweinid C'rdd cydneid cydnad,
Cyd voliant gvvr gormant gormeisiad.

"It is commanded by Druids of the land, which displays valour to the foe even by those administrators in flowing robes let songs be prepared, of equal move- [15] ment and corresponding sound, the harmonious praise of the hero, who subdues the ravager."

In the next page, we find the Bard imitating the Druidical lore, or the mystical strains of Taliesin, and representing his hero as having made no contemptible progress in the circle of transmigration.

Mynw ehovyn colovyn cyvwyrein,
Mur meddgyrn mechdeyrn Mechein,
Mwyn Ovydd i veirdd y vaith goelvain raa
Meirch mygyrvan cynghan cein.
Yn rhith rhyn ysgwyd
Rhag ysgwn blymnwyd
Ar ysgwydd yn arwain
Yn rhith Hew rhag llyw goradain;
Yn rhith llavyn anwar llachar llain;
Yn rhith cleddyv claer clod ysgain yn aer
Yn aroloedd cyngrain;
Yn rhith draig rhag dragon Prydain;
Yn rhith blaidd blaengar vu Ywain.

"This intrepid hero, like a rising column, like a bulwark, round the mead-horns of the rulers of Mechain, as a gentle ovate to the bards of the ample lot, imparts the fair, lofty coursers, and the harmonious song.

"In the form of a vibrating shield, before the rising tumult, borne aloft on the shoulder of the leader in the form of a lion, before the chief with the mighty wings in the form of a terrible spear, with a glittering blade in the form of a bright sword, spreading fame in the conflict, and overwhelming the levelled ranks in [16]  he form of a dragon, before the sovereign of Britain and in the form of a daring wolf, has Owen appeared."

After a few more sentences, the Bard presents us with a curious glimpse of the mystic dance of the Druids.

Drud awyrdwyth,'amnwyth, amniver,
Drudion a Beirddion
A vawl neb dragon.

"Rapidly moving, in the course of the sky, in circles, in uneven numbers, Druids and Bards unite, in celebrating the leader."

The passages already cited, abundantly prove, not only that there were avowed professors of Druidism in North Wales and Powys, during the twelfth century, and that they regarded the same mystical lore, which is ascribed to Taliesin, as the standard of their system; but also, that their profession was. tolerated, and even patronized, by the Princes of those districts.

That the case was nearly the same in South Wales, appears from several passages; and particularly, from a conciliatory address to Rhys, the Prince of that country; in which Cynddelw makes a general intercession for the cause, the mysteries, and the worship of the primitive Bards. He even introduces the sacred cauldron which makes principal figure in the mystical strains of Taliesin.

Corv eurdorv can do hwyv i adrey
Ith edryd ith adrawdd is nev
Par eurglawr erglyw vy marddlevj
        [17]
Pair Prydain provwn yn nhangnev.
Tungnevedd am nawdd amniverwch riv,
Riallu dyheiddwch.
Nid achar llachar llavarwch;
Nid achles avles aravwch;
Nid achludd eurgudd argelwch;
Argel earth cerddorion wolwch.
Dor ysgor ysgvvyddeu amdrwcli.
Doeth a drud am dud am degwch ;
Tarv aergawdd, aergwl gadarnwch.

"O thou, consolidator of the comely tribe! since I am returned home into thy dominion, to celebrate thee under heaven O thou, with the golden, protecting spear, hear my Bardic petition! In peace, let us taste the cauldron of Prydain. Tranquillity round the sanctuary of the uneven number with sovereign power extend! It (die Bardic sanctuary) loves not vehement loquacity; it is no cherisher of useless sloth; it opposes no precious, concealed mysteries (Christianity): disgrace alone is excluded from Bardic worship. It is the guardian bulwark of the breaker of shields. It is wise and zealous for the defence of the country, and for decent manners; a foe to hostile aggression, but the supporter of the faint in battle."

In the elegy on the death of Rhiryd, as well as in the passage just cited, Cynddelw seems disposed to reconcile the mystical fables and heathen rites of Druidism, with the profession of Christianity; for, immediately after an invocation of the Trinity, he proceeds thus.

Mor wyv hygleu vardd o veird Ogyrven!
Mor wyv gwyn gyvrwy v nidwyv gyvyrwen
        [18]
Mor oedd gyvrin fyrdd cyrdd Kyrridwen:
Mor eisiau eu dwyn }ii eu dyrwcn!³⁶

"How strictly conformable a Bard am I, with the Bards of the mystic Goddess! How just a director, but no impeder! How mysterious were the ways of the songs of Ceridwen! How necessary to understand them in their true sense!"

Here is a direct testimony in favour of those mystical songs, which deduce their origin from the cauldron of Ceridwen, and which the Bard regards as the standard of his own fanatical system. He professes to have understood them in their true sense; and that they were the genuine works of Taliesin, is declared in the same poem.

O ben Taliesin barddrin beirddring;
Barddair o'm cyvair ni bydd cyving.

"From the month of Taliesin is the Bardic mystery concealed by the Bards; the Bardic lore, by my direction, shall be set at large."

Pliny's account of the Ovum Anguinnm is sufficiently known: but it may be conjectured, from the language of Cynddelw, that the ungues, or serpents, which produced these eggs, were the Druids themselves.

Tysiliaw terwyn gywrysed
Parth a'm nawdd adrawdd adrysedd
Peris Ner or niver nadredd,
Praf wiber wibiad amrysedd.³⁷

[19]

"Tysilio, ardent in controversy, respecting my sanctuary, declares too much. Nir (the God of the ocean) produced, out of the number of vipers, one huge viper, with excess of windings."

Tysilio, the son of Brochrsel, Prince of Powys, in the seventh century, wrote an ecclesiastical history of Britain, which is now lost. It is probable, from this passage, that an explanation and exposure of Druidical mythology, constituted part of his subject; and that the story of the huge serpent, was one of the fables which he ascribed to them.

These specimens may suffice to ascertain Cynddelw's opinion of the Druids, and their mystical lore. It is clear, this great Bard was, in profession, half a Pagan, and so he was regarded. Hence, the monks of Ystrad Marchell sent him notice, that they could not grant him the hospitality of their house whilst living, nor Christian burial when dead.³⁸

Llywarch ab Llywelyn, was another cathedral Bard, who wrote between the years 1160 and 1220. He thus speaks of the privileges of his office, and his connectioa with the Druidical order.

Vy nhavawd yn vrawd ar Vrython
O vor Ut hyd vor Iwerddon.
Mi i'm deddv wyv diamiyson,
O'r priv veirdd, vy mhrlv gyveillion.³⁹

"My tongue pronounces judgment upon Britons, from [20] the British channel to the Irish sea. By my institute, I am an enemy to contention of the order of the primitive Bards, who have been my early companions."

He admits the power and efficacy of the mystical cauldron.

Duw Dovydd dym rydd reitun Awen ber
Val o bair Kyrridwen.⁴⁰

"God, the Ruler, gives me a ray of melodious song, a if it were from the cauldron of Ceridwen."

And, again, in his address to Llywelyn the son of Iorwerth, he acknowledges Taliesin as the publisher of the mystical train.

Cyvarchav i'ni Rhen cyvarchvawr Awen,,
Cyvreu Kyrridwen, Rhwyv Barddoni,
Yn dull Taliesin yn dillwng Elphin,
Yn dyllest Barddrin Beirdd vanieri.

"I will address my Lord, with the greatly greeting muse, with the dowry of Kyrridwen, the Ruler of Bardism, in the manner of Taliesin, when he liberated Elphin, when he overshaded the Bardic mystery with the banners of the Bards."⁴¹

In the same poem, the Bard speaks of Druidical vaticinations, as known in his time.

[21]

Darogan Merddin dyvod Brcyenhin
O Gymry werin, o gamhwri:
Dywawd Dervvyddon dadeni haelon,
O hil eryron o Eryri.

"Merddin prophesied, that a King should come, from the Cymry nation, out of the oppressed. Druids have declared, that liberal ones should be born anew, from the progeny of the eagles of Snowdon."

Such is the testimony of this venerable Bard, as to the genuineness of those mystical poems, which bore the name of Taliesin and Merddin; and in which the lore of the Druids was communicated to the Britons of his age.

Elidyr Sais, the contemporary of Llywarch, deduces the melody of his lines from the mystic cauldron, which had been the source of inspiration to Merddin, as well as to Taliesin.

Llethraid vy marddair wedi Merddia
Llethrid a berid o bair Awen.⁴²

"Flowing is my bardic lay, after the model of Merddin: a smootlmess produced from the cauldron of the Awen."

Philip Brydydd was another Bard, who enjoyed the privilege of the chair of presidency, and wrote between the years 1200 and 1250. This author, alluding to a dispute, in which he had been engaged with certain pretended [22] Bards, or mere poets, in the court of Rhys, Prince of South Wales, thus expresses his sentiments.

Cadair Vaelgwn hir a huberid i Veirdd;
Ac nid i'r goveirdd yd gyverchid:
Ac am y gadair honno heddiw bei heiddid:
Bod se ynt hervvydd gvvir a braint yd ymbrovid;
Byddynt Derwyddon pruddion Prydain;
Nis gvvaew yn adain nid attygid.⁴³

"The chair of the great Maelgwn was publicly prepared for Bards; and not to poetasters was it given in compliment: and if, at this day, they were to aspire to that chair, they would be proved, by truth and privilege, to be what they really are: the grave Druids of Britain would be there, nor could these attain the honour, though their wing should ach with fluttering."

The chair of Maelgwn, it is known, was filled by the mystical Taliesin; and the Bard declares, that grave Druids, whose prerogative it was to determine the merit of candidates for this chair, were still in being. In the same poem, he asserts the dignity of the Druidical order, and ridicules some popular errors respecting their scanty means of subsistence.

Ar y lien valchwen ni vylchidy braint
Yd ysgamwd henaint ag ieuenctid.
Rhvvng y pren frvvythlawn
A'r tair priv fynawn,
Nid oedd ar irgrawn
Yd ymborthid.

[23]

"Of the proud white garment (the Druidical robe) which separated the elders from the youth, the privilege might not be infringed. Between the fruit-bearing tree, and the three primary fountains, it was not upon berries that they subsisted."

The fruit-bearing tree was the same as the arbor frugifera of Tacitus, and Merddin's Avallen Beren the means of divining by lots, as will be seen hereafter. The three mystical fountains are the theme of Taliesin, in a poem which treats of the formation of the world. The Bard, therefore, implies, that religious mystery, and the profession of physiology, were, sources from which the Druids derived a comfortable support.

Hywel Voel wrote between 1240 and 1280. In an ode, addressed to Owen, the son of Gruffudd, he compares his hero to Gwron, one of the three founders of Druidism, and acknowledges him as protector of the city, or community of Bards.

Digabyl wawr, gwriawr val Gwron,
Gwraidd blaid bliant arwyddon
Dinam hael, o hil eryron,
Dinag draig dinas Cerddorian.⁴⁴

"Fairly dawning, manly-like Gwron, the root whence sprung the pliable tokens (the mystical sprigs or lots) blameless and liberal, of the race of eagles, undoubted dragon (guardian) of the city of Bards."

[24]

We shall find, that eagles and dragons are conspicuous figures in Bardic mythology.

Madawg Dwygraig lived at the period when the Welsh government was finally ruined, and wrote between the years 1290 and 1340. He thus laments the death of his patron, Gruffudd ab Madawg.

Yn nhair llys y gwys gwaisg ddygnedd,
Nad byw llun teyrnaidd Uyw, llin teyrnedd
Balch y beirdd, bobl heirdd harddedd h u ysgwr
Bryn, hynavwalch gwr brenhineidd wedd.
Yn nhrevgoed i'n rhoed anrhydedd Digeirdd
Ym, ac virein veirdd am overedd,
Yn gynt no'r lluchwynt arllechwedd Ystrad.⁴⁵

"In three halls is felt the oppression of anguish, that he lives not, the chief of princely form, of the royal and proud line of the Bards, a dignified race, the ornament of Hu, darting on the mount, most ancient of heroes, of kingly presence. In the dwelling of the wood (the sacred grove) honour was awarded to its: whilst uninstituted, though elegant Bards, were pursuing vanity swifter than the sudden gale, that skims over the sloping shore."

It will be seen hereafter that Hu, to whom the Bards were devoted in their hallowed wood, was the great dæmon-god of the British Druids.

We are now come down to the age of Edward the First, [25] the reputed assassinator of the Bards, the tale of whose cruelty has been immortalized by the pen of Grey.

But here, fame has certainly calumniated the English King; for there is not the name of a single Bard upon record, who suffered, either by his hand, or by his orders. His real act was the removal of that patronage, under which the Bards had hitherto cherished the heathenish superstition of their ancestors, to the disgrace of our native Princes.

A threefold addition to such extracts as the preceding, might easily be made from the writers of this period; but, I trust, what is here produced, will be deemed an ample foundation for the following inferences:

1. That the ancient superstition of Druidism, or, at least, some part of it, was considered as having been preserved in Wales without interruption, and cherished by the Bards, to the very last period of the Welsh Princes.
2. That these Princes were so far from discouraging this superstition, that, on the contrary, they honoured its professors with their public patronage.
3. That the Bards who flourished under these Princes, specially those who enjoyed the rank of Bardd Cadair, or filled the chair of presidency, avowed themselves true discipless of the ancient Druids.

[26]

4. That they professed to have derived their knowledge of Druidical lore, from the works of certain ancient and primitive Bards, which constituted their principal study, and which were regarded as genuine, and of good authority.
5. That amongst these masters, they mention, with eminent respect, the names of Taliesin and Merddin; and particularly extol that mystical lore, which was derived from the cauldron of Ceridwen, and published by the former of those Bards.
6. That they describe the matter contained in their sacred poems, as precisely the same which we still find in the mystical pieces, preserved under the names of Taliesin and Merddin; so that there can be no doubt as to the identity of those pieces.
And, 7. That upon the subject of genuine British tradition, they specifically refer to no writers which are now extant, as of higher authority than Taliesin and Merddin.

I therefore conclude, that the poems of the ancient Bards, here specified, however their value, as composition, may be appreciated, are to be ranked amongst the most authentic documents which the Welsh possess, upon the subject of British Druidism.

A diligent attention to the works of those Bards, will enable us to bring forward some other ancient documents, which have been drawn up in a concise and singular form, for the purpose of assisting the memory; which are evidently derived from the sources of primitive Bardic lore, [27] and therefore are undoubted repositories of genuine British tradition.

The documents I mean, are those which are generally called the historical Triads, though many of them, strictly speaking, are purely mythological.

These documents have lately been treated with much affected and unmerited contempt.

It is admitted, that the notices contained in some few of the Triads, appear, upon a superficial view, to be either absurd or trifling; and it may be inferred, from one or two others, that the Welsh had not wholly relinquished this mode of composition, till a short period before the dissolution of their national government.

It is also acknowledged, that the testimony of copyists, as to the antiquity of the MSS. which they consulted, goes no higher than to the tenth century.

But these circumstances will hardly justify some modern critics in the assertion, that the Triads are altogether futile; that they are modern; that there is no proof of their containing genuine Welsh tradition; and that they were never collected in writing before the date of those MSS. which are expressly recorded.

Hardy assertion and dogmatical judgment are soon pronounced; but the candid and consistent antiquary, who shall refuse any degree of credit to the British Triads, will find many things to prove, as well as to assert, before he comes to his conclusion.

[28]

I know of no peculiarity in the habits of the Celtic nations more prevalent, or which can be traced to higher antiquity, than their propensity to make ternary arrangements to describe one thing under three distinct heads, or to bring three distinct objects under one point of view.

This feature presents itself in their geographical and political schemes. The nations of Gaul were divided into three great confederacies; the Belgæ the Aquitani, and the proper Celtæ: and these were united in one body, by the Consilium totius Galliæ, in which we find that the members of each confederacy had equally their seat.⁴⁶

Again: we are told, that m omni Gallia, or throughout these three confederacies, the inhabitants were distributed into three ranks the Druids, the Equites, and the Plebes; and that the priesthood was subdivided into Druids, Bards, and Ovates.

The Britons, in like manner, divided their island into Lloeger, Cymru ag Alban: and when they were shut up in Wales, that district, without regard to the actual number of their reigning Princes, constituted three regions, called Gwyneddy Pywys a Deheubarth; and each of these was distributed into a number of Cantrevs, Cwmmuds, and Trevs.

That this humour of ternary classification pervaded the druidical school, I have already shewn from ancient authority; which presents us with the only maxims of the Druids, which had become public, in the identical form of Welsh Triads.

[29]

The ancient Welsh laws, which were revised by Howel Dda in the former part of the tenth century, present us with a long book of Triads, and these are called Trioedd Cyvraith, Triades Forenses,⁴⁷ by way of distinction from the well-known Trioedd Ynys Prydain,

Will it be said, that this national partiality to Triads had been forgotten for ages, and was afterwards renewed by the Welsh of the tenth century? Or, if a dashing critic were to hazard the assertion, how is he to support it?

Mr. Turner has demonstrated, that the Gododin of Aneurin is a genuine composition of the sixth century. But so fond were the Britons of the ternary arrangement, in the days of Aneurin, that in one single page of that work, he distinctly recites the titles of ten Triads, and that merely in the description of an army.

Taliesin, the contemporary of this Bard, is full of allusion to Triads, which had existed from remote antiquity, and which he cites with respect, by way of authority.

For example:

1. Tair fynawn y sydd. W. Archaiol. p. 20,
2. Trydydd par yngnad, p. 55.
3. Tri thri nodded.
4. Tri cham avlawg, p. 44.
5. Tri Uoneid Prydwen, p. 45.
6. Tri wyr nod, p. 48.
7. Tair blynedd dihedd, p. 49.
8. Tri dillyn diachor.
        [30]
9. Tair llynges yn aches.
10. Tri divvedydd cad.
11. Tri phriawd Gwlad, p. 64.
12. Tiy'dedd dovn doethur.
13. Tri chynweisad.
14. Tri chyvai-wydd, p. 65, 8cc. &c.

That Triads were perfectly familiar to the age of Aneurin and Taliesin, is a fact which needs no farther proof: and I know of no reason to surmise, that they had not been committed to writing before that period.

Some of the identical Triads, mentioned by the oldest Bards, are still preserved; others have been lost. We do not possess a complete collection⁴⁸ of these scraps of antiquity. The respectable antiquary, Thomas Jones, of Tregaron, informs us, that in the year 1601, he could recover only 126 out of the three hundred, a definite number of which he had some particular account. The research of later times has not been competent to make up the deficiency.⁴⁹

As the authority of the Triads was quoted, with eminent respect, by the most ancient Bards now extant, we may fairly infer, that the matter contained in them was analogous to the doctrine of those Bards, and that it is the genuine remains of more ancient Bards, who had professed the same religion. I shall make it appear, in the course of the Essay, that such was the real state of the affair.

[31]

Gut of the catalogue of Triads, I shall therefore only strike out about half a dozen, which refer to more recent facts in history, or else betray a tincture of the cloister; and the remainder I shall freely use, when occasion requires, in conjunction with Taliesin, Aneurin, and Merddin, as genuine repositories of British tradition: and to these I shall add some mythological tales, which appear, from internal evidence and correspondent imagery, to have been derived from the same source.

From the general persuasion of the Welsh, and the known state of literature in the country, I had formed an opinion, that no documents, materially differing from those already mentioned, could have an equal claim to authenticity, as Cambro-British tradition: and that the early Bards and the Triads were, in fact, the great sources of information upon this subject.

Other records, however, in some respects irreconcileable with the former, have been pointed out of late years by Mr. Owen, the author of the Welsh-English Dictionary, and Mr. Williams, author of two volumes of ingenious poems.

In order to estimate the value of such novel claimants as these records, I shall, first all, consider their pretensions, as stated by those writers who have announced them to the Public.

Mr, Owen's edition of Llywareh Hen appeared in the [32] year 1792. The introduction contains a long account of Bardism, drawn up by the assistance of Mr. Williams, and from his communications. This account states, that the British constitution of Bardism, or Druidism, having continued in Wales, without interruption, to the dissolution of the Cambro-British government, was, in consequence of that event, in danger of becoming extinct. But that within twenty years after the death of the last Llewelyn, certain members of the order established a chairs a kind of Bardic college, in Glamorganshire, which has continued to this day. A catalogue is given of the presidents and members of this chair, from Trahaeam Brydydd Mawr, the first president, or founder, in 1300, down to the present Mr. Ed. Williams.

We are also told, that certain members, in the sixteenth century, began to collect the learning, laws, and traditions of the order into books; that these collections were revised and ratified in the seventeenth century; and that they are still received as the fundamental rules of the society.⁵⁰

From the passages to which I refer, it appears, that Mr. Owen derives his information from Mr. Williams; and the latter from the acts, traditions, and usages of the Chair of Glamorgan, as contained in their ratified documents of the seventeenth century.

It may fairly be pleaded, that the acts of a society of Bards, which was incorporated within twenty years after the [33] deprivation of the Welsh Princes, the undoubted patrons of Bards and Bardism; and which has continued, without interruption, for five hundred years, must contain many curious and important particulars relative to this ancient and national order of men.

But a slight inquiry into the credentials of the society itself, will discover some marks of gross misrepresentation, if not of absolute forgery; and, consequently, suggest the necessity of great caution in admitting its traditions.

1. Trahaeam Brydydd Mawr is recorded as having presided in the year 1300;⁵¹ and several of his successors, between that date and 1370, are also mentioned. But the learned antiquary, Ed. Llwyd, gives the area of the same Trahaeam, An. 1380;⁵² and this from the Red Book of Hergest, a MS. written about the close of the fourteenth century, when the age of our Bard must have been accurately known. He could not, therefore, have presided in the year 1300, nor be succeeded by the persons who are recorded as his successors ; and thus the ratified account of the establishment of the chair, betrays a combination of fraud and ignorance.
2. But in whatever manner this chair arose, its acts record a schism, which dissolved the union of the order, and occasioned the chair of Glamorgan to separate from that of Carmarthen, in the middle of the fifteenth century,⁵³ It would therefore become a question, which party preserved, [34] the genuine usages of their predecessors; for in such dissentions, the right cause is always pleaded by both sides.
3. The celebrity and respectable support of the chair of Glamorgan, will go but a little way in the assertion of its cause. Such was its obscurity, that the Welsh nation, far from receiving its acts as the genuine tradition of the country, had scarcely any knowledge or tradition of the existence of such a society. The few rustics by whom the members were noticed in their fanatical meetings, generally supposed them to be infidels, conjurors, and we know not what.⁵⁴
4. It does not appear, from their own profession, nor from the research of Llwyd, and other antiquaries, that this society possessed a single copy of the works of the ancient Bards, previous to the eighteenth century: and they had not begun writing and digesting their own laws and institutes, till more than two centuries and a half after the pretended sera of their establishment.

The late collection of their acts, which was begun about the year 1060, and repeatedly altered, from that time to the year 1681, together with the avowed obscurity of the society in preceding times, may excite a suspicion, that in all instances, genuine tradition was not within their reach, however fair their pretensions to candour might have been ; for these were not of the illustrious line of primitive Bards, wearers of gold chains.

And a defect of information actually appears, in an instance where we should, least of all, have expected to find it.

[35]

Trahaearn is brought forward as the founder of the chair, or the first president; and yet the members have neither document nor certain tradition, by which they can identify the genuine composition of this father of the society. He is only supposed to be the same person, who distinguished himself under the assumed name of Casnodyn.⁵⁵

5. But most of all, the information which Mr. Owen communicates, from the authority of the chair itself, advises some suspension of confidence in the acts of this society.

"In this respect (of religion) the Bards adhered to, or departed from, their original traditions, only according to the evidence that might be acquired, from time to time, in their search after truth."⁵⁶

And again "The continuation of the institution did not depend upon the promulgation of certain articles of faith, but upon its separate principles of social compact."

This is surely a very compliant system, totally different from the idea which I had formed of the primitive Bards or Druids, as sticklers for inveterate opinions, and superstitious rites. We must not ask the chair of Glamorgan, what were the opinions of the Bards a thousand years ago; but what opinions do they choose to adopt at present?

A pretended search after truth leads men into the inextricable mazes of new philosophy and new politics, as well as of new religions, just as they are conducted by the various [36] fancies of their guides, or by their own; and if a society avowedly departs from its original principles, to pursue on new path, I see no reason why it should be incapable of doing the same, to follow another.

It may be wise for men to despise exploded errors, and addict themselves to a candid search after truth; but if, at the same time that they take this salutary course, they pretend to be the sole and infallible repositories of ancient tradition, ancient opinions, and ancient usages, they may surely be charged with inconsistency.

For the reasons which I have now stated, I must take the liberty to search after facts, rather than adopt, with implicit confidence, the dogmas of this newly-discovered society.

Mr. Williams, whether he sty1es himself president, of sole surviving member, values himself highly upon his superior collection of Welsh manuscripts. Whatever he has, that can bear the light, 1 should be glad to see it produced to the Public; and I would cheerfully contribute my mite to facilitate its appearance. But he has no copy of a single British writer, more ancient, or better accredited, than those which I adduce in the course of my inquiry, and which the light, held forth from his chair, haft certainly misrepresented.

I therefore appeal, from his whole library, to the authority of documents, which have been known for ages to exist; which are now accessible to every man who understands the language; and which, as I have already shewn, have been regarded as authentically derived from the Druidical school.

[37]

In order to ascertain, as nearly as I can, that degree of credit which is due to the ancient Bards, it is part of my plan to confront them with a few historical facts relative to the Druids.

Mr. Williams cannot object to the candour of my proceeding, if, occasionally, I bring the dogmas of his society to the same impartial test. The result I shall submit, without hesitation, to the judgment of the reader.

In the first place, then, it is well known, that amongst the subjects in which the Druids were conversant, the profession of magic made a prominent figure. Dr. Borlase has a whole chapter, well supported with authorities—"Of their divinations, charms, and incantations;" and another—"Of the great resemblance betwixt the Druid and Persian  superstition."⁵⁷ Pliny calls the Druids, the Magi of the Gauls and Britons:⁵⁸ and of our island he says expressly—"Britannia hodie eam (sc. Magiam) attonite celebrat, tantis cajremoftiis ut earn Persis dedisse videri possit."

Such authorities, together with the general voice of the Bards, as it reached my ear, I regarded as a sufficient justification for having denominated the lots of the Druids magical lots. But this, it seems, has given umbrage to the present representative of Taliesin. In an unprovoked attack upon my book, he asks—"Why did Mr. Davies impute magic to the British Bards, or Druids? In the many thousands of ancient poems still extant, there is not a syllable that mentions, or even alludes to any such thing."

[38]

This assertion, coming from a man who has, for many years, been an adept in the mysteries of Bardism; who possesses and has read more Welsh MSS. than any other man in the principality; and has made the works of the Bards his particular study for more than fifty years, seems to bear hard, not only upon the propriety of my expression, but upon the claim of the Bards themselves to the lore of the Druids. If this assertion be correct, in vain shall the Bards of the twelfth and thirteenth century, ascribe to Taliesin; and in vain shall he acknowledge the Druidical character.

But the precipitate use which this writer occasionally makes of his extensive information, emboldens me to examine his accuracy in the present instance.

I find it is a settled maxim with the chair of Glamorgan, that the British Bards were no conjurors. In a note upon his Poems,⁵⁹ which were published in the year 1794, the President having stated, upon the authority of Edmund Prys, that Meugant lived about the close of the fourth century, and was preceptor to the celebrated Merlin, subjoins the following information, as from himself:

"There are still extant some poems of Meugant, as well as of his disciple Merhn; and from these pieces, we clearly perceive that they were neither prophets nor conjurors, though said to have been such, by some who were certainly no great conjurors themselves: they were honest Welsh Bards, who recorded, in verse, the occurrences of their own times, never troubling themselves with futurity."

[39]

As to the æras of Meuganf and Merlin (or Merddin), it may be observed, that there are no remains of the former, but an elegy upon the death of Cynddylan, a Prince of Powys, in the sixth century; and another little piece, which mentions Cadvan, who died about the year 630.⁶⁰ The only Mervin, or Merddin, of whom any thing is extant, was Merddin Wyllt, the Caledonian, who was present at the battle of Arderydd, near the close of the sixth century, and survived that event by many years.

And how can these Bards be said never to have troubled themselves with futurity? The first of Meugant's poems opens in the high prophetic style Dydd dyvydd. "The day will come;" and speaks of the Druids as true prophets. And, under the name of Merddin, we have scarcely any thing, either genuine or spurious, but descriptions of magical lots, auguries by birds, and strings of pretended vaticinations.

So much for the integrity of this dictatorial chair. And, if the recollection of the President deserted him, upon a subject so notorious, may we not surmise the possibility of a few passages, which contain some allusion to magic, having escaped his memory.

Before I adduce proofs of the first here suggested, I must premise, that I do not understand the term magic, when applied to the Druids and their disciples, as restricted to the profession of necromancy, or conjuring; but as including the practice of mysterious rites, under pretence of producing extraordinary effects, from natural causes. Such, I [40] apprehend, was the magic of Britain, which Pliny contemplated with astonishment. If, therefore, it be true, that the ancient British Bards neither mentioned nor alluded to magical rites, in this or any other sense, it is an unanswerable objection to the authenticity of their pretensions, as preservers of Druidical lore. But this is by no means the case.

In the passages which I have extracted, from the Bards of the middle centuries, we have had frequent mention of the mystical cauldron, which was viewed as the source of inspiration.

Taliesin acknowledges the same cauldron as the fountain of his genius; and, in a mythological tale, describing the initiation of that Bard, we find the Goddess. Ceridwen preparing the water of this sacred vase, which contained a decoction of potent herbs, collected with due observation of the planetary hours. So efficacious was this medicated water, that no sooner had three drops of it touched the lips of the Bard, than all futurity was displayed to his view.⁶¹

As I shall have occasion hereafter to introduce this curious tale, I shall not enlarge upon it at present, or upon Taliesin's account of the various ingredients of the cauldron, in the poem called his Chair. I only submit to the reader's judgment, that this is absolute magic, as understood [41] by the ancients. But lest this should not come up to the idea which has heen conceived of the mysterious art, I must endeavour to produce allusions to something that looks more like conjuring.

In the Welsh Archaiology, there is a remarkable song ascribed to Taliesin, which begins thus.

Duw difer nevwy rhag Uanw lied ovrwy !
Cyntav attarwy atreis tros vordwy.
Py bren a vo mwy noc ev Daronwy,
Nid vu am noddwy, amgylch balch Nevwy.
Yssid rin y sydd mwy, gwawr gwyr Goronwy,
Odid a'i gwypwy ; hudlath Vathonwy,
Ynghoed pan dyvwy frwythau mwy Cjnnrwy
Ar Ian Gwyllionwy: Kynan a'i cafwy
Pryd pan wledychwy.⁶²

"May the heavenly God protect us from a general overflowing! The first surging billow has rolled beyond the sea beach. A greater tree than he, Taronw there has not been, to afford us a sanctuary, round the proud celestial circle.

"There is a greater secret, the dawn of the men of Goronwy, though known to few the magic wand of Mathonwy, which grows in the wood, with more exuberant fruit, on the hank of the river of spectres: Kynan shall obtain it at the time when he governs."

[42]

This wand surely carries some allusion to the profession of magic, an art which is openly avowed in the Incantation of Cynvelyn.⁶³

But lest the accuracy of my translation should be disputed, I shall exhibit a few passages of that remarkable poem, in Mr. Owen's own version.

"Were I to compose the strain were I to sing magic spells would spring, like those produced by the circle and wand of Twrch Trwyth."

"Cynvelyn the enricher of the divining magician, whose spell shall be as powerful as the form of Morien under the thighs of the generous, in equal pace shall run, the sprites of the gloom, skimming along the pleasant hills."

"The superior of the prize-contending songs is the guardian spell of Cynvelyn, the beloved chiefs from whom blessings flow."

"The guardian spell of Cynvel3m on the plains of Gododin shall it not prevail over Odin!"⁶⁴

Such are the poems, in which it has been asserted, there is not a syllable that mentions magic, or even alludes to any such thing. And such is the candid translation, with which our ingenious lexicographer gratified the curious, only two years before he published his Llywarch Hen, and announced the principles of the chair of Glamorgan.

[43]

Thus it appears, that the Druidical profession of the Bards is not discredited by an abhorrence of magic, an art which antiquity positively ascribes to their predecessors, both in Gaul and Britain. Let the recent code make good its own assertions.

That the Druids did use sortilege, or divination by lots, which seems to have been a branch of magic, is another historical fact, ascertained by the testimony of Pliny, who says, that they exhibited the Vervain in the exercise of that superstitious rite. It may be added, that the use of tallies, or Sprigs, cut from a fruit-bearing, tree, which Tacitus ascribes to the Germans, was probably common to them with the Druids, because we still find allusions to the same subject in the British Bards.⁶⁵

In my late volume, I stated what appeared to me the genuine tradition of the Britons, relative to these lots; and with them I connected the letters, which are called Coelbreni, Omen-sticks, Lots, or Tallies.⁶⁶

My opinion, I thought, was innocent at least; but it produced from Mr. Williams a severe philippic, together with an exposition of some curious mythology, upon the origin of letters and language, which is not to be found in any ancient British writer. This was put into the hands of my best friends: but I shall not take farther notice of manuscript or oral criticism. I only wish the author to publish it; when I see it in print, my answer shall be ready.

[44]

I now go on to consider the character of the ancient Bards, as natural philosophers. With what success the Druids, their avowed preceptors, cultivated the study of nature, and what system of physiology they taught to their disciples, may be matter of curious inquiry, which I must leave to others. But as to the fact, that they addicted themselves to studies of this kind, we have many express testimonies in the ancients, I select the following;

⁶⁷"Ea divinationum ratio, ne, in barbaris quidem gendem gentibus neglecta est: siquidem, et in Gallia, 0ruides sunt, e quibus ipse Divitiacum Aeduum, hospitem  tuum laudatoremque, cognovi: qui et natum rationem,. quam physiologiam Graeci appellant, notam esse sibi prolitetur, et, partim auguriis, partim conjectura, quae essen futura dicebat."⁶⁸

Upon this passage I would remark, that Cicero does not speak from vague report: he declares the profession of a man who was personally known to him, who bad been his guest, and with whom he had familiarly conversed. He also gives unequivocal testimony, that Divitiacus Aeduus was a Druid, and well versed in the various studies of his order.

It must be recollected, that this same Prince of the Aedui was the intimate friend and companion of Cæsar [45] and that he enjoyed the confidence of that great man, at the very time he drew up his valuable account of the Druids. It is more than barely probable, that this account was collected from the actual communications of Divitiacus; for it is immediately subjoined to the relation of his embassy to the senate of Rome, and the acknowledgment of the preeminent rank of his countrymen, the Aedui. From hence I would infer, that Cæsar had procured the most accurate information upon the subject of the Druids, and consequently, that every circumstance in his memorial has a claim to the highest respect.

This competent historian, therefore, having stated the tradition, that the discipline of these ancient priests had been first established in Britain; and the fact, that at the time when he wrote, those who wished to be more accurately instructed in the Druid lore, generally went into Britain for their education; proceeds to specify, amongst the topics of their study—⁶⁹Multa praeterea de rerum naturs, disputant et juventuti tradunt.⁷⁰

We have, then, abundant authority to assert, that the Druids aspired to the character of natural philosophers: and it would be reasonable to demand of the Bards, their professed disciples, some pretensions of the same kind.

The poems of Taliesin furnish several passages, which may be classed under this head. Of these, the following cosmograph, may be given as a curious specimen.

[46]

Os ywch briv veirddion
Cyrwyv celvyddon,
Traethwch orchuddion.
O'r Mundi maon
Ymae pryv atgas,
O gaer Satanas,
A oresgynas
Rhwng dw\Ti a has.
XUyvled yw ei enau
A mynydd Mynnau :
Nys gorvydd angau
Na Haw na llavnau.
Mae Uwyth naw can maen
Yn rhazcn dwy bawen;
Un llygad yn ei ben
Gwyrdd val glas iaen.
Tair fynawn y sydd
Yn ei wegorlydd ;
Mor vryched arnaw
A noviant trwyddaw
Bu laith bualawn
Deivr ddonwy dyvr ddawn.
Henwau'r tair fynawn
ganol eigiawn:
Un Uwydd belt
Pan vo yn corini
1 ediyd lliant
Dros moroedd divoalv
Yr ail yn ddinam
A ddygwydd arnam
        [47]
Pan vo'r glaw allan
Drwy awyr ddylan.
Y drydedd a ddawedd
Trwy wythi mynyddedd
Val callestig wledd
O waith rex rexedd.⁷¹

If ye are primitive Bards,
According to the discipline of qualified instructors,
Relate the great secrets
Of the world which we inhabit.
There is a formidable animal,
From the city of Satan,
Which has made an inroad
Between the deep and the shallows.
His mouth is as wide
As the mountain of Mynnau:
Neither death can vanquish him.
Nor hand, nor swords.
There is a load of nine hundred rocks
Between his two paws:
There is one eye in his head,
Vivid as the blue ice.
Three fountains there are.
In his receptacles;
So thick about him.
And flowing through him,
Have been the moistening horns
Of Deivr Donwy, the giver of waters.
        [48]
The names of the three fountains, that spring
From the middle of the deep.
One is the increase of salt water,
When it mounts aloft,
Over the fluctuating seas,
To replenish the streams.
The second is that which, innocently,
Descends upon us,
When it rains without,
Through the boundless atmosphere.
 The third is that which springs
Through the veins of the mountains,
As a banquet from the flinty rock,
Furnished by the King of Kings."

Though the Bard has introduced the foreign terms, Satanas, Mundi, and Rex, yet it is evident, that he intends the doctrine contained in this passage, as a select piece of Druidical lore: hence he proposes the question, as a touchstone, to prove the qualifications of those who professed themselves instructors in primitive Bardism.

The Druids, therefore, represented the visible world, not as formed by the word of a wise and beneficent Creator, but as an enormous animal, ascending out of the abyss, and from the abode of an evil principle. The same subject is touched upon in another passage, where we discover, that the British name of this evil principle was Gwarthuawn

Yssid teir fynai
Ym mynydd Fuawn:
        [49]
Yssid Gaer Gwarthawn
A dan don eigiawn.

"There are three fountains
In the mountain of Fuawn:
The city of Gwarthawn
Is beneath the wave of the deep."'⁷²

I might have compared another passage with the above had it not been for the want of curiosity in the transcribers of our old manuscripts. Mr. Morris has consigned great part of an ancient poem to oblivion, because it contained an odd sort of philosophy, about the origin of salt water, rain, and springs.⁷³

The absurd and monstrous idea of the formation of the world, which we have been now considering, is certainly from the very lowest school of heathenism. It is utterly irreconcilable with Mr. Williams's new British Mythology, and with his story of Enigat the Great; though not much dissimilar to the genuine doctrine of his chair, exhibited at the conclusion of his poetical works.

The reader may not be displeased with a few more Questiones Druidicæ, as proposed by the same Taliesin. The Bard has not, indeed, added the solutions of his problems, but they may serve to point out the subjects of his study, and his ambition to be esteemed a general physiologist.

In a, poem, which is called Mabgyvreu, or Elements of Instruction, he demands of his disciple—

[50]

Py dadwrith mwg;
Pyd echenis mwg?

"What is it which decomposes smoke;
And from what element does smoke arise?"

Py fynawn a ddiwg,
Uch argel tywyllwg,
Pan yw calav can
Pan ynos lloergan?

"What fountain is that, which bursts forth,
Over the covert of darkness,
When the reed is white,
And the night is illuminated by the moon?"

A wyddosti beth wyd
Pan vyth yn cysgwyd:
Ai corph ai enaid,
Ai argel cannwyd?

"Knowest thou what thou art,
In the hour of sleep
A mere body a mere soul
Or a secret retreat of light?"

Eilewydd celvydd,
Py'r na'm dyweid?
A wyddosti cwdd vydd
Nos yn aros dydd?
A wyddosti arwydd
Pet deilen y sydd?
Py drychevis mynydd
Cyn rhewiniaw elvydd?
            [51]
Py gynneil magwyi'
Daear yn breswyl.
Enaid pwy gwynawr
Pwy gwelas ev Pwy gwyr?

"O skilful son of harmony,
Why wilt thou not answer me?
Knowest thou where the night awaits
For the passing of the day?
Knowest thou the token (mark or character)
Of every leaf which grows?
What is it which heaves up the mountain
Before the convulsion of elements?
Or what supports the fabric
Of the habitable earth?
Who is the illuminator of the soul
Who has seen who knows him!"

The following seems to be a reflection upon the teachers of another system.

Rhyveddav yn Uyrrau
Na wyddant yn ddiau
Enaid pwy ei hadnau;
Pwy bryd ei haelodau:
Py barth pan ddinau;
Py wynt a py frau.

"I marvel that, in their books,
They know not, with certainty,
What are the properties of the soul:
Of what form are its members:
 In what part, and when, it takes up its abode;
By what wind, or what stream it is supplied."

[52]

In the Angar Cyvynilawd, of which I have inserted the beginning in the Celtic Researches, we have several questions of the same kind proposed; as,

"At what time, and to what extent, will land be productive?"—"What is the extent and diameter of the earth?"—"Who is the Regulator, between heaven and earth?"—"What brings forth the clear gem (glain) from the working of stones?"—"Where do the cuckoos, which visit us in the summer, retire during the winter?"

"From the deep I bring forth the strain—let a river be specified I know its qualities when it ebbs or flows, swells or subsides.

"I know what foundations there are beneath the sea: I mark their counterparts, each in its sloping plane."—Osgor.

"Who carried the measuring line of the Lord of causes what scale was used, when the heavens were reared  aloft; and who supported the curtain, from the earth to the skies?"

Of these, and a multitude of similar questions, Taliesin professes, that he could teach the true solution. In his own opinion, therefore, he was as great a physiologist as Divitiacus Aeduus, or any other Druid of the hallowed grove.

[53]

Amongst the studies of the Druids, Caesar enumerates astronomy and geography; but the remaining works of the Bards scarcely afford us an opportunity of judging, as to their proficiency in these sciences.

If the poem called Canu y hyd mawr, "The great song of the world," contains any thing of Druidism, we must acknowledge at least, that it is mixed with a large proportion of foreign matter.

The subject is man and the universe. The soul is said to be seated in the head of man, who is composed of seven elements. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Vapour, Blossom (the fructifying principle), and the mud of purposes (q. whether the soul or the passions?) He is endowed with seven senses, appetite and aversion being admitted into the number. Hence, perhaps, the vulgar phrase, of being frightened out of one's seven senses. There are seven skies or spheres over the head of the diviner.

There are three divisions of the sea, answering to the like number of shores.

Thus far, for aught I know, the Bard may have drawn, from the source of Druidism: but he proceeds to reckon up the seven planets, by names which are borrowed or corrupted from the Latin Sola, Luna, Mavca, Marcarucia, Venus, Sevebus, Saturuus,

Of the five zones of the earth, two are cold, one is hot and uninhabited, the fourth contains the inhabitants of pa- [54] radise, and the fifth is the dwelling-place of mortals, divided into three parts, Asia, Africa, and Europe.⁷⁴

In the little song of the world, the Bard brings forward a national system, differing from that which was taught by the Bards of the world, or the instructors of other nations. This little piece deserves attention. It is not mythological, but philosophical, and seems, in some respects, to correspond with the system of Pythagoras, who had many ideas in common with the Druids, and is expressly recorded to have studied in the Gaulish school,

Kein geneis canav
Byd undydd mwyav;
Lliaws a bwyllav
Ac a hryderav.
Cyvarchav veirdd byd
Pryd na'm d'weid!
Py gynheil y byd
Na seirth yn eissywyd;
Jfeu'r byd pei syrthiei
Py &r yd gwyddei?
!Pwy a'i gogynhaliei?
Byd mor yw advant
Pan syrth yn divant
Etwa yn geugant.
Byd mor yw rhyvedd
Na syrth yn unwedd.
Byd mor yw odid
Mor vawr yd sethrid,

Though I have sung already, I will sing of the world [55] one day more: much will I reason and meditate. I will demand of the Bards of the world why will they not answer me! What upholds the world, that it falls not, destitute of support: or, if it were to fall, which way would it go? Who would sustain it? How great a wanderer is the world! Whilst it glides on, without resting, it is still within its hollow orbit. How wonderful its frame, that it does not fall off in one direction! How strange, that it is not disturbed by the multitude of tramplings!"

Some idle Rhymer has added to the conclusion, that the four evangelists support the world, through the grace of the spirit: but Giraldus Cambrensis complains, that in his age the simple works of the Bards had been disfigured by such modern and ill-placed flourishes.

I have now endeavoured to catch a glimpse of our early Bards as natural philosophers, and have shewn, that they were not less ambitious of the character, than their venerated preceptors, the Druids, are recorded to have been.

Hence I proceed to contemplate the same Bards, and their instructors, in a political light. Through this maze of inquiry, the chair of Glamorgan kindly offers its torch of direction. One of the leading maxims of its Druidical code, as announced to the Public, is a political principle, frequently touched upon, both by Mr, Williams and Mr. Owen, but more fully detailed by the latter.

"Superiority of individual power is what none, but [56] God, can possibly be entitled to; for the power that gave existence to all, is the only power that has a claim of right to rule over all. A man cannot assume authority over another; for if he may over one, by the same reason he may rule over a million, or over a world. All men are necessarily equal: the four elements, in their natural state, or every thing not manufactured by art, is the common property of all."⁷⁵

The merit of the doctrine which is here held forth, it is not my province duly to appreciate. I have nothing to do with it, any farther than as it purports to be a principle drawn from the source of Druidism, through the channel of the British Bards.

At the time when this book first appeared, I was not absolutely a novice in the remaining accounts of the Druids, or in the works of the British Bards; yet I must own, that all this was perfectly new to me. I am now, upon farther acquaintance with the works of our Cambrian progenitors, fully convinced, that they never might any such thing.

I would therefore advise the partizans of the oracular 'chair, to reconsider this code of laws, and search, whether this doctrine is to be found in the first copy, which was compiled in the sixteenth century, or only in that copy, which was revised, rectified, and ratified during the great rebellion in the middle of the seventeenth. And if it be found only in the latter, I would ask, was not Druidism, as far as this goes, very popular amongst Britons and Saxons in the age of Cromwell? Perhaps I wrong that age.

[57]

The principles here announced, seem to go rather beyond the levellers of the seventeenth century, and to savour strongly of a Druidism which originated in Gaul, and was from thence transplanted into some corners of Britain, not many ages before the year 1792, when the memorial of Bardism made its appearance. It were well, if the sages who prepared that memorial, would revise their extracts, and recal any accidental inaccuracy, that might otherwise mislead future antiquaries. They must know, as well as I do, that this is not the Druidism of history, nor of the British Bards.

Let us hear Caesar's testimony. The Druids of Gaul, with whom he was intimately acquainted, were supreme Judges in all causes, public and private. Every thing bent to their decree. The sacred order, therefore, possessed a pre-eminence of authority over the people, whom they did not acknowledge as their necessary equals. Nor were the Druids upon a level amongst themselves; for we are farther told—"His omnibus Druidibus praest unus, qui summam inter eos habet auctoritatem."^75a

Nor did they deem it unlawful for even temporal princes to enjoy pre-eminence of power. Divitiacus, an accredited Druid, complains of the ingratitude of his brother, Dumnorix, who had been advanced to great authority by the exertion of his influence.

But as the Druids and the princes were generally relations, it may be argued, that they connived at a trifling dereliction of principle in their own families, and contented [58] themselves with moulding the people into a state of perfect equality; which they might have done, had they been so disposed; as the whole community of the nation was formed under their control.

Here, then, if any where, we may expect to discover the operation of the great levelling scheme. But here we are farther from the point than ever.—⁷⁶ "Plebes poene servorum habetur loco, quae, per se, nihil audet, et nulh adhibetur concilio. Plerique cum, aut aere alieno, aut magnitudine tributorum, aut injuria potentium premuntur, sese in servitutem dicant nobilibus. In hos eadera oimiia sunt jura, quae dominis in servos."⁷⁷

When the Romans came into Britain, where Druidism had also an establishment, they found the insular tribes subject to their respective princes, who had authority, not only to govern during their lives, but also to bequeath their dominions.

It is therefore evident, that individual authority and private property were countenanced under the auspices of Druidism. But was this the case in the times of those Bards, who still exist in their works, and to whom the levelling system has been imputed? Let us ask Taliesin, whose poems (according to Mr. Williams) exhibit a complete system of Druidism."⁷⁸

[59]

This venerable Bard thus speaks of the Prince of Reged.⁷⁹

"There is superior happiness for the illustrious in fame; for the liberal in praise there is superior glory, that Urien and his children exist, and that he reigns supreme the sovereign Lord."⁸⁰

But why should I select quotations? Who, amongst the ancient Bards, was not patronized by princes, whom he has celebrated, not less for the greatness of their power, than for the eminence of their virtues? If either historical authority, or the testimony of the Bards, can have any weight in deciding this question, this curious dogma of the pretended chair has nothing at all to do with Druidism or Bardism. That it is not even countenanced by the ancient Bards, must be known to every man who is conversant is their works.

It therefore rests with the advocates of this chair, to inform us, whether it was introduced into their code by the levellers of the seventeenth century, or fabricated during the late anarchy of France, as a new engine, fit for immediate execution.

I am far from professing myself the general advocate of the Bards, or the Druids; I only wish to exhibit them in their true colours; but I find it impossible to write upon this subject, without vindicating their character from an imputation, as groundless as it is infamous.

[60]

Another particular in the traditions of the dictatorial chair, which does not perfectly correspond with the testimony of the ancients relative to the Druids, or with the sentiments and practice of the Bards, is that inviolable attachment to peace, which is ascribed to the whole order.⁸¹

"It is necessary to remark (says Mr. Owen), that Llywarch was not a member of the regular order of Bards, for the whole tenor of his life militated against the leading maxims of that system; the groundwork of which was, universal peace, and perfect equality. For a Bard was not to bear arms, nor even to espouse a cause by any other active means; neither was a naked weapon to be held in his presence; he being deemed the sacred character of a herald of peace. And in any of these cases, where the rules were transgressed, whether by his own will, or by the act of another, against him, he was degraded, and no longer deemed one of the order."

Here again I suspect, that the president of the chair has not been quite accurate in his notes. I do not recollect to have seen this doctrine, in its full extent, promulgated by any code, before a certain period of the French Revolution, when the meek republicans of Gaul, and their modest partizans in other countries, joined the indefeasible right of equality with the inviolable duty of peace, and impressed them upon the orderly subjects of every state; whilst they themselves were preparing for every species of injury to civil society. But whencesoever this fallacious principle took its rise, it certainly did not belong to the Druids, or to the Bards, without great limitation.

[61]

That the former were friends of peace, and seldom engaged in war, is a point which must be admitted. But there were occasions, upon which even the Druids deemed war lawful, and encouraged their disciples to contemn death, and act bravely in the field. Cæsar observes, that an immunity from military service, was amongst the privileges of the Druids; and that it was their general custom to keep aloof from the field of battle. But was this custom grafted upon an inviolable principle? Let us hear. Having mentioned the supreme authority of the Arch-Druid, the historian adds this information.⁸² "Hoc mortuo, si qui exreliquis excellit dignitate, succedit. At si sint plures pares, suffragio Druidum adlegitur: nonnunquam etiara armis de principatu contendunt."

In these cases, what becomes of their perfect equality? and, in the latter case, of their unconquerable abhorrence of war? Was the whole body of Druids degraded, in consequence of having espoused a cause, and that by the sentence of the president, who owed his elevation to the number and zeal of his party, and to the length of his sword?

If we turn our attention to the British order, we shall find them in the same predicament with their brethren in Gaul. The Druids, who opposed Suetonius on the shores of Mona, and terrified his soldiers with their direful imprecations, not only endured the sight of naked weapons, but vigorously espoused a cause; and it was the same cause foe which, as we are told, the venerable Llywarch is [62] to be degraded, namely, the defence of the country against foreign invaders.

When we descend to those British Bards, who professed themselves disciples of the Druids, we find a caveat entered against the aged prince above named. He is not to be acknowledged by the order, because he made a noble stand in defence of his patrimony. But what are we to do with Merddin and Aneurin? The former fought manfully in the battle of Arderydd, and the latter saw a multitude of blood-stained weapons in the fatal day of Cattraeth.

Even Taliesin, with his "Complete System of Druidism," was a decided partizan in the cause of the gallant Urien. He celebrated his victories, and encouraged his military ardour. So far was he from abhorring the sight of a naked sword, when he considered it as justly drawn, that he could deliberately contemplate, and minutely record, the circumstances of the destructive conflict.

Of this, I shall produce a pretty convincing proof in Mr. Owen's own translation, with which he favoured the public only two years before the appearance of his Llywarch Hen.

"I saw the fierce contending tumult; where wild destruction raged, and swift flowing streams of blood ran, amidst the half surviving ranks I saw men, whose path was desolation, with their garments entangled with clotted gore: quick and furious were their thrusts in the long maintained conflict; the rear of the battle had no room to fly, when the chief of Reged urged on the pursuit. I am astonished at his daringness," &c. And with what sentiment does the Bard conclude his [63] gong, after having witnessed this dreadful spectacle? He recommends the pursuit of military glory, even to a lady and declares his resolution to praise the magnanimous Urien.

"Mayst thou pant for conflict, O Euronwy! And till I fail with age, and through cruel fate must die, may I not smile with joy, if I sing not the praise of Urien!"⁸³

If Cynvelyn's Incantation does not rather belong to Aneurin, the same Bard justifies the destruction of the foe; nor does he think his hand polluted, either with the cup or the spear, that carries the mark of slaughter.

"Fury, in a torrent, shall flow against the Angles. Slaughter is just! The raven's due is our heaps of slain! Before the man who is naturally endowed with song, light unfolds the mystery and, bearing woe, he shall return, his glittering yellow cup, besmeared with gore, hiding the froth of the yellow mead. Satiated with enterprise, his heavy spear, with gold adorned, he bestowed on me. Be it for a benefit to his soul."⁸⁴

Such is the genuine language of the Bards; and, agreeable to this language, is the decision of the learned and candid historian, who has done us the honour of vindicating their cause.

"These Bards were warriors. Their songs commemo- [64] rate warriors; and their feelings and sentiments are wholly martial."⁸⁵

But is it true, that an abhorrence of weapons, and an inviolate attachment to peace, were established principles, even in the chair of Glamorgan? There are circumstances which seem to imply the contrary.

According to Mr. Owen's list, David ah Gwilym presided in the year 1360.⁸⁶ In a foolish quarrel with Gruffudd Gryg, this Bard challenges his adversary to decide their dispute with the sword. Gruffudd accepts the challenge, and bids him defiance. Then, indeed, but not till then, the worthy president manifests a disposition for peace.⁸⁷

If the Bards, according to the code of this chair, were never to espouse even a just cause, what becomes of the "Necessary, but reluctant duty of the Bards of the island of Britain, to unsheath the sword against the lawless and depredatory?"⁸⁸

Or how can the chair reconcile this inviolate principle, with its own practice, of bringing the assault of warfare against a degraded member, unsheathing the sword, calling to him three times, and proclaiming, that the sword was naked [65] against him?⁸⁹ Surely this manifests a disposition as hostile, as can well be tolerated by the present laws of society.

The few observations upon the novel maxims, and dictatorial tone, of the chair of Glamorgan, which the principle of self-defence have extorted from me, may supply a useful hint to future inquirers into Welsh antiquities. It is not, however, my aim, to pass a general censure upon the traditions of that society. I am willing to suppose, that they would reflect light upon many subjects which are now obscure, were they brought forward, unmixed with modern speculation.

That the particulars here selected, have neither support nor countenance amongst the ancient Bards, or their preceptors, the Druids, I have already shewn. It remains for me to inquire, whether they correspond with the personal character and sentiments of Trahaearn Brydydd Mawr, who is announced as the first president; and consequently, whether it is probable, that he established a society upon such principles.

Under the name of this bold and turbulent genius, we have only two pieces preserved: but they are highly characteristical, and furnish us with some important anecdotes.

Trahaearn appears to have been a free guest in the mansion of Howel of Llan Dingad, in the vale of Towy, about [66] a hundred years after Wales had finally submitted to the English government. Howel's peace establishment, as described by the muse of his Bard, was much in the style of Sir Patrick Rackrent; and, in his heroical capacity, he made some local efforts to assert the independence of his country, in an age when such patriotism could be no longer a virtue.

This gentleman's Bard made a Christmas visit to Cadwgan, vicar of Llan Gynog, where, it seems, he met with a scanty and very homely entertainment. His resentment dictated a furious lampoon upon the vicar, his daughter and his son-in-law; in which he declared, that if the house were burnt upon the eve of the new year, it would be a good riddance; and any shabby wretch might perform a meritorious act, by killing the alien son-in-law with the sword.

Such an outrage might have been treated with merited contempt, had not the vicar's house been actually burnt, and his son-in-law killed upon that very new-year's eve.

This, I presume, was the notorious circumstance which marked the æra of our Bard in the year 1380. Whether Trahaearn himself was, or was not, personally engaged in this atrocious act, does not appear: but his efforts to clear himself in the subsequent poem, prove, at least, the existence of suspicion.

In just abhorrence of his conduct, the incendiary and assassin was disowned by the family of Llan Dingad, and became a necessitous wanderer for a long period. During this season of disgrace, if ever, he presided in the chair of Glamorgan.

[67]

In the following poem, we find him labouring to effect a reconciliation with the grandsons of his patron; but with what success, is unknown at present. The reader will pardon my giving a translation of the whole piece, as it constitutes no unfavourable specimen of the Bardism of the fourteenth century.

Sung, by Trahaeam the great poet, in praise of Howel of Llan Dingad, in the vale of Towy, 1350.⁹⁰

l.⁹¹

A dauntless leader in the conflict, the very energy of heroism, was the valiant Howel; eminently severe in the work of violence; proud and bright as a dragon, directing the death of the foe: and this dragon, I know, will be illustrious in the memorials of his country.

2.

A dismal carnage was seen amongst the people, when the daring hawk gave battle. In equal pace rushed the cataracts of blood, and the incessant spears, during the shock. Woe's my heart, that I remained silent for a single night!

3.

Wider and wider did the groans of nature extend, when [68] the vessel of racking poison poured the pangs of destiny,⁹² whilst he was encouraging his host to protect the vale of Towy, a place which is now desolate, without a chief. To be silent henceforth, is not the act of manhood.

4.

For the Lion, of shivered spears; for the shield of bravery, there is now crying and lamentation, because our hope is removed the chief with the huge clarions, whose whelming course was like the raging sea. The afflicted host of Lloegr⁹³ did he consume in his descent, like the tumultuous flame in the mountain heath.⁹⁴

5.

Though fierce in his valour, like Lleon, with a violent, irresistible assault, he vaulted into battle, to plunder the King of Bernicia;⁹⁵ yet the hero of the race of Twedor, the ravager of thrice seven dominions, was a placid and liberal-handed chief, when he entertained the Bards at his magnificent table.

6.

With the rage of Ocean, he raised aloft the shield of the three provinces. His hand was upon the sword, spotted with crimson, and the scabbard adorned with gold. Then had the severe Lion uninterrupted success, in the deadly battle of Caew: the area was filled with terror, and the [69] buildings reduced to ashes, as with the wrath of Llyr Liediaith, and the conduct of Cai.⁹⁶

7.

But the drugs of Myddvai caused the mead banquets to cease within those gates, where energy was cherished by the assiduous friend of Genius, the ruler of battle, the benefactor of strangers, in his ever-open hall so that now he lives no more the leader of spearmen, of illustrious race, the arbiter of all the South.

8.

A thousand strains of praise are preparing, as a viaticum, for this gem of heroes, this mighty eagle, by my golden muse: a prudent, a fortunate, an irresistible chief was he, in the tumults of his principality: his spear dispossessed the aliens; for he was the foe of slavery.

9.

To him be awarded, by the righteous Judge, the patrimony of paradise, in the land of the blessed a portion which has been prepared (and the only portion which violence cannot remove) by the favour of him, who presides over the pure, and the perfect in faith!

10.

And may the God who beholds secrets, the supreme supporter of princes, and the all-knowing Son of Mary, cause, by his pure good will, by the visible and speedy endowment of his sincere favour, that Howel's chief Bard, after his being long disowned.

[70]

11.

May remain with his generous grandsons, the objects of the wanderer's vows! Though dreadful in battle, was the blade of Einion the judge? yet was he a golden president in his district, an entertainer of the Muses, in the great sanctuary of the children of panegyric the supporter of thousands.

12.

I will not dissemble. As it is my privilege to judge, I will declare my sentiment, that no wayward lampoon shall sport with the great renown of the hero; and, that I shall not he found in the company, or in the form of an outlaw, or without a pledge of inviolable faith towards the clergy.

13.

I am blameless, and entitled to the peace of the plough, the general and free boon of the warrior, according to the established and sincere decree of the great, unerring Father, the love-diffusing Lord, the supreme dispenser of light.

14.

I will relate (and the tribute of love will I send forth) a golden tale, a canon of the natural delineation of the muse for my tribe: and this with joy will I do, to prevent the colouring of falsehood, till the spring of my genius be gone, with the messenger that calls me hence.

15.

For want of the discretion to compose good words, I have lost the incessant invitation to the cauldrons, and the munificent banquets of the land of eloquence, and generous [71] horns of delicious liquor, amongst the mighty pillars of battle, whose hands brandish the glittering sword.

16.

Wretched is he, whose lot it has been to lose the mead and the wine, that flow to the frequenters of those halls, which are liberal to every claimant; and the frank invitations, and the presents, of those Dragon chiefs, who pour forth thy precious showers, O vale of Towy!

17.

Every night is my grief renewed with the thought, that by the violence of one rash transgression, I have forfeited the valuable privilege, and lost the protecting power of the supporter of the splendid host, the hero, of the seed of Mervin. Of his sparkling wine, and his scarlet, I partake no more!

18.

Yet still, with due .and lasting praise, shall be celebrated the munificent shower of the hawks of Hirvryn, the last of that warlike race, which derives its blood from the line of the slaughterer; and my eagle, the leader of the embattled spearmen, of the district of Dingad.

He who peruses this poem, must be immediately convinced, that the feelings and sentiments of Trahaearn are utterly irreconcileable with the principles, which he is represented as having taught. The Bard is neither shocked at the exertion of military spirit, nor backward in espousing the cause of his country and his patron, as well as of his own appetite. And here is not a syllable that countenances the doctrine of perfect equality.

[72]

As I shall have occasion to mention the nocturnal mysteries of the Bards, I must just take notice of another dogma of the boasted chair, which asserts, that the Bards did every thing in the eye of the light, and in the face of the sun; and, that none of their meetings could be holden, but in a conspicuous place, whilst the sun was above the horizon.⁹⁷

As this unqualified publicity is referred to the principles and practice of the Druids, it must stagger the confidence of those who have been accustomed to contemplate the awful secrets of the grove, and the veil of mystery which was thrown over the whole institution.

The annual, or quarterly sessions of the Druids, where they sat,⁹⁸ in loco consecrato, to hear and decide causes, may have been held in a conspicuous place, and by day: and thus much may be inferred, from their mounts of assembly; but what regarded their internal discipline, and the mysteries of their religion, was certainly conducted with greater privacy,

"⁹⁹Docent multa, nobilissimos gentis," says P. Mela, "¹⁰⁰clam, et diu, vicenis annis, in specu, aut in abditis saltibus.¹⁰¹ And their effectual regard to secrecy, is forcibly pointed out, by what the author immediately adds [75] —"¹⁰²Unum ex iis, quae praecipiunt, in vutgus effluxit."—The attentive ear of curiosity had been able to catch but owe of their institutional Triads.

Cæsar also mentions the solicitude of the Druids, lest their discipline should be exposed to public view: and their religious meetings, though covered by the inaccessible grove, were holden in the night, as well as at noon.

"¹⁰³Medio cum Phoebus in axe est,
Aut Coelum nox atra tenet."¹⁰⁴

With all this, the celebration of the nightly mysteries, described in the chair of Taliesin, his Ogov Gorddewin, Cave, or Specus of the Arch-Diviner, the torches of Ceridwen, which flamed at midnight, and at the dawn, together with Merddin's concealment in the Caledonian forest, perfectly accord.

I shall close my preliminary section, when I have brought the Bards into one more point of comparison with their venerable instructors, the Druids.

This ancient order of men does not recommend itself to our notice, merely as teachers of a false philosophy, or presidents of a gloomy superstition.

[74]

"The Druids were remarkable for justice, moral and religious doctrines, and skill in the laws of their country: for which reason, all disputes were referred to their arbitration: and their decision, whether relating to private and domestic, or public and civil affairs, was final."¹⁰⁵

Mela, speaking of the three nations of Gallia Comata, says "¹⁰⁶Habent facundiam suam, magistrosque sapientiae, Druidas."¹⁰⁷

Sotion, in Libro successionum, confirmat, Druidas, divini, humanique Juris, peritissimos fuisse.¹⁰⁸

The learned Mr. Whitaker regards the three first books of the Laws of Howel, as comprising the Laws of the Ancient Britons. And the Manksmen ascribe to the Druids, those excellent laws, by which the Isle of Man has always been governed.¹⁰⁹

Whether these decisions be allowed in a full, or only in a qualified sense, they seem utterly incompatible with the doctrine of that chair, which admits of a continual lapse in religious principles, the only real foundation of laws and its morals; which disallows the existence of human authority, and insists upon an equality so absolute, as to preclude 'all just subordination, and established order in society.

[75]

That admirable Triad, recorded by Diogenes Laertius, as a leading principle of the Druids, is of a complexion very different from this. It recommends piety towards the Deity, innocence in our intercourse with mankind, and the exercise of fortitude in the personal character: and hence it prepares us to look for something of value in their moral instructions.

And as the Bards profess to have drawn all their doctrines from the Druidical fountain, I think, there is no subject which ascertains the authenticity of their pretensions better, than that of moral instruction, and the study of human nature. Their lessons of this kind, however, are generally comprised in short and pithy aphorisms.

Amongst the most curious remains of the old Bards, we may class those metrical sentences, called tribanau, or triplets. Each of these is divided into three short verses, which are again united by the final rhymes.

The most singular fixture of these versicles is, that the sense of the two first verses has no obvious connection with that of the last. The first line contains some trivial remark, suggested by the state of the air, the season of the year, the accidental meeting of some animal, or the like. To this is frequently subjoined, something that savours more of reflection; then the third line comes home to the heart, with a weighty moral precept, or a pertinent remark upon men and manners. My meaning will be best explained by a few examples.

Eiry mynydd gwangcus lar
Gochwiban gwynt ar dalar
Yn yr ing gorau yw'r Cif.

[76]

"Snow of the mountain! the bird is ravenous for food—Keen whistles the blast on the headland In distress, the friend is most valuable!"

'Glaw allan, yngan clydwr
Melyn eithin! crin evwr!
Duw Rheen, py beraist lyvwr!

"It rains without, and here is a shelter What! the yellow furze, or the rotten hedge! Creating God! why hast thou formed the slothful!"

Y ddeilen a drevyd Gwynt¹¹⁰—
Gwae hi o'i thynged—
Hen hi ! eleni y ganed!

"The leaf is tossed about by the wind
Alas, how wretched is fate!
It is old! But, this year was it born!"

I seem already to perceive a smile upon the countenance of the critical reader. The force of the concluding maxim, or the depth of reflection, and accuracy of remark, which it evinces, will hardly protect our Druidical lectures from the charge of puerile conceit. I do not bring forward our British Doctors as men of the highest polish, or most accurate taste. But let us consider, if any thing can be said in their defence.

Some praise must be due to the ingenuity of a device, which was calculated, through the rudeness of ancient [77] British society, to lead the mind, imperceptibly, from a trivial remark upon the screaming of hungry birds, the state of the weather, or a dry leaf tossed about by the wind, to the contemplation of moral truth, or to pertinent reflection upon the state of man. And these triplets, which the people learned by rote, were peculiarly adapted to produce such a salutary effect.

For the introductory objects of remark, being of the most familiar kind, were daily before their eyes : and their very occurrence would naturally suggest those maxims and reflections, which the memory had already connected with them. A nation wholly unrefined, and which, at best, had but a scanty supply of books, and those in few hands, must have found the benefit of this mode of instruction. Whatever page of nature was presented to their view, their teachers had contrived to make it a page of wisdom.

Let us apply this observation to the examples which I have given. The appearance of snow upon the hills, or of hungry and screaming birds, suggests the remark—"There is snow upon the mountain; the bird screams for food." With this, the memory connects the second clause, describing a cold and dreary season, in which man, as well as the wild fowl, probably felt distress. "Keen whistles the blast on the headland." Then the third clause, drawn by the chain of memory, comes home to the bosom, and excites a feeling suitable to such a season. "In distress, the friend is most valuable." As if his heart had commanded him "Now go, and perform the most sacred of social duties relieve thy distressed friend."

So, in the second triplet, a man who has neglected his duty or his business, to indulge an indolent habit, is re- [78] minded, by a sprinkling shower, of the trivial remark—"It rains without, but here is a shelter." He then recollects "What, the yellow furze, or the rotten hedge!" And is ashamed of his indolence. This feeling is immediately strengthened by the emphatical reflection—"Creating God! why hast thou formed the slothful!"

The emblem of the shortness and frailty of human life, in the third example, is sufficiently obvious.

I shall subjoin a few more translated specimens of Celtic ethics.

"It is the eve of winter social converse is pleasant—The gale and the storm keep equal pace—To preserve a secret, is the part of the skilful (Gelvydd)."

"It is the eve of winter—The stags are lean the tops of the birch are yellow: deserted is the summer dwelling—Woe to him who, for a trifling advantage, merits disgrace."

"Though it be small, yet ingenious is the bird's fabric in the skirt of the wood—The virtuous and the happy are of equal age."

"Chill and wet is the mountain Cold is the grey ice—Trust in God; he will not deceive thee; nor will persevering patience leave thee long in affliction."

"It rains without; the brake is drenched with the shower—The sand of the sea is white with its crown of foam—Patience is the fairest light for man."

[79]

"Snow of the mountain! bare is the top of the reed—The man of discretion cannot associate with the silly—Where nothing has been learned, there can be no genius."

"Snow of the mountain! the fish are in the shallow stream—The lean, crouching stag seeks the shady glen—God will prosper the industry of man."

"Snow of the mountain! the birds are tame—The discreetly happy needs only to be born—God himself cannot procure good for the wicked."

Though it be admitted, that this method of teaching moral wisdom, was continued by the Britons for some time after the introduction of Christianity, yet I think, for several reasons, that this singular mode of classing the ideas, was derived from the school of the Druids; and that several of the triplets, still extant, have descended from their times.

The sentences are divided into three members each; and three was a sacred and mystical number amongst the Druids.

The metre is also the most ancient, of which the Welsh have any tradition. And it does not appear from history, that the Britons could have borrowed the model of such composition from any nation with which they were connected, since the period of the Roman conquest.

The plan of these triplets has that mixture of rude simplicity, and accurate observation, which history ascribes to [80] the Druids. Here, the barbaric muse appears in her rustic dress, without a single ornament of cultivated taste.

This sententious way of writing has, for many centuries become obsolete amongst the Welsh. Nothing of this character is found in those Bards who have written since the Norman conquest. Even the metre has scarcely been used since the time of Llywarch Hen, in the sixth century, Taliesin and Aneurin seem to have rejected it as antiquated, and too simple and unadorned.

The introduction of this style of philosophizing, was certainly long before the time of any known Bard, whose works are now extant. For in our oldest poems, we find several of these maxims detached from their connection, and used as common-place aphorisms. And moreover, the very same aphorisms, as being now public property, are employed, without scruple, by several contemporary Bards, though the simple form of the triplet had been generally laid aside.

Beside the triplets here described, there are certain moral stanzas, of six or eight lines each, consisting of detached sentences, connected only by the final rhymes, and each stanza beginning with Eiry Mynydd, Snow of the Mountain. These seem to be nothing more than metrical arrangements of aphorisms, taken from ancient triplets. The two first are as follows:¹¹¹

"Snow of the mountain! troublesome is the world! [81] No man can foretel the accidents to which wealth is exposed. Arrogance will not arrive at a state of security. Prosperity often comes after adversity. Nothing endures but for a season. To deceive the innocent, is utterly disgraceful. No man will ever thrive by vice. On God alone let us place our dependence."

"Snow of the mountain! white is the horn of smoke. The thief is in love with darkness. Happy is the man who has done no evil. The froward is easily allured to do mischief. No good befals the lascivious person. An old grudge often ends in a massacre. A fault is most conspicuous in a prince. Give less heed to the ear, than to the eye."

The following are amongst the aphorisms of the other stanzas.

"A noble descent is the most desolate of widows, unless it be wedded to some eminent virtue."

"In contending with direful events, great is the resource of human reason."

"The most painful of diseases, is that of the heart."

''The leader of the populace is seldom long in office."

"For the ambitious, the limits of a kingdom are too narrow."

"'The blessing of competency is not inferior to that of abundance."

[82]

"When the hour of extravagance is spent, that of indigence succeeds."

"Many are the friends of the golden tongue."

"Beware of treating any thing with contempt."

"Obstruct not the prospect of futurity, to provide for the present."

"Pride is unseemly in a ruler."

"The virgin's best robe is her modesty; but confidence is graceful in a man."

"Freely acknowledge the excellence of thy betters."

"A useful calling is more valuable than a treasure."

"Like a ship in the midst of the sea, without rope, or  sail or anchor, is the young man who despises advice."

The stanzas of the months, ascribed to Aneurin, are entitled to some notice, as containing a singular mixture of moral and physical remarks. Thus, for example.

"In the month of April, thin is the air upon the heights. The oxen are weary. Bare is the surface of the ground. The guest is entertained, though he be not invited. The  stag looks dejected. Playful is the hare. Many are the faults of him who is not beloved.¹¹² Idleness is unworthy of the healthy. Shame has no place on the cheek [83] of the upright. Desolation awaits the children of the unjust. After arrogance, comes a long abasement."

The Viaticum of Llevoed, a Bard of the tenth century, is the most modern production of any known author in this aphoristical style. I give the following specimens.

"Wealth of the world! let it go; let it come! Be it disposed of as it may. A state of anxiety is upon a level with real penury. Serenity will succeed, when the rain is over."

"Amongst the children of the same nursery, equality is seldom found: the brave will play, whilst his blood is flowing about him: the submissive will be trampled  upon: the fierce will be avoided: the discreet is in covenant with prosperity; to him, God pours forth his bounty."

"Confidence in noble blood, is like the billow that meets the shore: whilst we are calling out—Lo there!' it has already subsided."

"Incurious is the man who observes not who, though he regard it unmoved, does not consider what may happen hereafter."

"Woe to the land where there is no religion!"

"The man who disbelieves a God, is incapable of reason."

"The man who breaks the unity of society, is the blemish of the assembly, the affliction of the womb that bare him, the detestation of the country."

[84]

"Even in an act of profusion, have regard to economy."

"A profession is calculated for society; a treasure-bag for banishment."

"The founding of a city, is the ruin of a desert."

A complete collection of the adages and moral maxims, preserved in the Welsh language, would fill a considerable volume. Hence it appears, that the application of the Bards to moral science, as well as the other pursuits of their genius, justifies their pretensions to the lore of the ancient Druids.

[85]

SECTION II.

General View of Druidical Theology Character and Rites of Hu, the Helio-Arkite God-^the Bacchus of the heathen Britons.

IN the introductory section of this Essay, I have brought home the profession of Druidism to the ancient Welsh Bards; and, by a collation of several of the topics upon which they expiate, with classical authorities, have proved the justice of their claim to that character which they assume. I have also shewn, that the mythological Triads are founded in genuine British tradition; and that the notices which these documents present, are, for the most part, consistent with the works of those Bards, who profess themselves disciples of the Druids.

From these authentic remains of British lore, I shall now endeavour to deduce such a general view of the theology and rites of our heathen ancestors, as the nature and extent of these documents will admit of. To attempt a complete investigation of every minute part of this subject, and to prepare myself to answer every question that may be asked, is not in my contemplation. This would be imposing upon myself a task, difficult in execution, and, perhaps, not very gratifying to the Public in its accomplishment. The hardy antiquary, who shall dare to penetrate far into the labyrinth of British mythology, will have frequent occasion to complain of the interruption of his clue, and the defect of [86] monuments, amongst our half Christian Bards. Yet the same Bards furnish hints abundantly sufficient, to point out in what the Druidical superstition chiefly consisted, and from what foundation it arose. And this seems to be all that can be interesting or important in the subject before us.

As I would willingly qualify my reader, to satisfy his own curiosity, and form his own opinion, independent of mine, I shall suffer no assertion of moment to intrude upon him, without a full exhibition of the passage upon which it is grounded. This seems requisite in the present case. Were my evidence to be drawn from the writers of Greece and Home, or from well-known authors of modern times, it might be sufficient to cite books, chapters, and verses. But as Cambro-British documents are less accessible to the learned, I deem it expedient to produce the original words of my authors, with close English translations. Such authorities will be occasionally introduced, where the subject calls for them. As several of the ancient poems, however, are of a miscellaneous nature, upon which various remarks will arise, I have thrown a collection of them together, as as Appendix, and I shall refer to then\ as they are numbered.

Before I enter upon the discussion, it may be proper to apprize my reader, of the general deductions I make from these documents, respecting the nature and source of the Druidical superstition, that he may have a clear prospect of the point at which I mean to arrive, and be better enable4 to judge of my progress towards it.

Druidism, then, as we find it in British documents, was ft system of superstition, composed of heterogeneous prin- [87] ciples. It acknowledges certain divinities, under a great variety of names and attributes. These divinities were, originally, nothing more than deified mortals, and material objects; mostly connected with the history of the deluge: but in the progress of error, they were regarded as symbolized by the sun, moon, and certain stars, which, in consequence of this confusion, were venerated with divine honours.

And this superstition apparently arose, from the gradual or accidental corruption of the patriarchal religion, by the abuse of certain commemorative honours, which were paid to the ancestors of the human race, and by the admixture of Sabian idolatry.

Such is the general impression, that the study of ancient British writings leaves upon my mind. This view, I am aware, differs from the opinion maintained by some respectable authors, that the Druids acknowledged the unity of God.¹¹³

If ever they made such a profession, they must be understood in the sense of other heathens, who occasionally declared, that their multitude of false gods really constituted but one character; and not as implying, that they worshipped the true God, and him alone.

That they had no knowledge or recollection of the great FIRST CAUSE, I will not venture to assert. I have some reason to conclude, that they did acknowledge his existence, and his providence; but they saw him faintly, through the thick veil of superstition, and their homage and ado- [88] ration were almost wholly engrossed by certain supposed agents; of a subordinate nature.

And the view of this subject, presented by the Bards, is consistent with history. Caesar, in his deliberate and circumstantial account of the Druids, gives us this information. "Multa—¹¹⁴de Deorum immortaliwn vi, ac potestate, disputant, et juventuti tradunt. Deum maxime Mercurium colunt hunc omnium inventorem artium ferunt post hunc, Apolliiiem, et Martem, et Jovem, et Minervam. De his eandem fere, quam reliquae gentes, habent opinionem," &c.

This memorial was drawn up, after the historian had enjoyed a long and intimate acquaintance with Divitiacus, one of the principal of the order in Gaul; and after his repeated expeditions into Britain, where the institution was affirmed to have originated, and where it was observed with superior accuracy in his time. Testimonies so precise and minute, coming from a writer thus circumstanced, must imply a considerable degree of publicity in this part of the Druidical doctrine. The priests of Gaul and Britain acknowledged a plurality of divinities, and maintained opinions respecting them, which were the same, in substance, with those of the Greeks and Romans.

The gravity and dignity of our author's character, the pointed precision of his language, together with the peculiar access to accurate information, which his situation of- [89] fered, must place his testimony above the reach of critical objection.

Some allowance, however, may be demanded, for the force of the qualifying particle, ferè; and the whole passage may be understood as implying, that the similarity between the Celtic and the Roman superstition, was such, as to give Caesar a general impression of their identity; and such as may furnish us with an argument, that they originally sprung from the same source; though the gods of the Druids may not have exactly corresponded with those of the Greeks or Romans, in their pedigree, their names, or their attributes.

The Druidical corresponded with the general superstition, not only in its theology, but also in the ceremonies by which the gods were worshipped. Dionysius informs us, that the rites of Bacchus were duly celebrated in the British islands:¹¹⁵ and Strabo cites the authority of Artemidorus, that, "In an island close to Britain, Ceres and Proserpine are venerated, with rites similar to the orgies of Samothrace."¹¹⁶

As it is, then, an historical fact, that the mythology and the rites of the Druids were the same, in substance, with those of the Greeks and Romans, and of other nations which came under their observation, it must follow, that these superstitions are reducible to the same principles, and that they proceeded from the same source.

And here our British documents point, with clearness and [90] energy, to the very same conclusions, which have been drawn by the best scholars, and most able antiquaries, who have treated of general mythology.

Mr. Bryant, the great analyzer of heathen tradition, has, with luminous ability, traced the superstition of the Gentiles to the deification of Noah, his ark, and his immediate progeny, joined with the idolatrous worship of the host of heaven.

With a dutiful regard to his illustrious master, though superior to servile imitation, Mr. Faber pursues the investigation still farther, and discovers, that Noah was worshipped in conjunction with the sun, and the ark in conjunction with the moon; and that these were the principal divinities of the heathens. With this author's mysteries of the Cabiri, I was wholly unacquainted, at the time when I drew up the present Essay; but I found in this book so many points of coincidence with my previous observations, that I determined to revise the whole, to alter a few paragraphs, and add occasional notes.

That the opinion of the Public is not uniformly favourable to these authors, I am fully aware.

Some critics, taking a distant and prospective view of the subject, pronounce it an improbable hypothesis, that all antiquity should be so mad after Noah and the ark; whilst others, finding that the authors indulge in a fanciful system of etymology, coldly remark upon the fallacy of such a principle, and toss the books aside, as unworthy of farther notice. But surely it may be presumed, that those who thus condemn them in the mass, had either too much prejudice, or too little patience, to go step by step over the [91] ground. Men of learning and genius may have been seduced, by a favourite system, into minute and particular errors and absurdities; and yet, the main scope of their argument may be perfectly just, and their general conclusions founded in truth.

In the supposition, that Noah was a principal object of superstition to the Gentile world, I can discover no absurdity a priori. It is admitted, that some, at least, of the heathen gods were nothing more than deified mortals, and that the worship of such gods was introduced very soon after the age of Noah. It is then natural to presume, that this distinguished person must have been the first object of selection, in consequence of his relative situation, as the universal king of the world, and the great patriarch of all the infant nations. To this, some weight may be added, from his character and history, as the Just Man, whose integrity preserved himself and his family amidst the ruins of a perishing world. And this superstition being once set on foot, would naturally extend its honours to his sons and immediate descendants, as the founders of their respective nations.

So again it is easy to conceive, that even in the age of Noah, the ark was commemorated with great respect, as, the means of miraculous preservation; and that a growing superstition soon seized upon it, as an object of idolatrous worship; or else, represented that Providence, which had guided it in safety, through the tumult of a boundless deluge, as a benign goddess, the Genius of the sacred vessel.

Just so the brazen serpent, set up by Moses in the wil- [92] derness, was adored by the idolatrous Israelites¹¹⁷ just so, the Cross and the Virgin Mary are at this day abused by the church of Rome.

There is, therefore, no absurdity in the grounds of the hypothesis, which can be allowed to militate against the clear deduction of facts.

The scheme of etymology, it must be owned, has been carried to great lengths by these learned authors: and here, I think, they often lay themselves open to the censure of men, whose genius and attainments are greatly inferior to their own.

The Greeks having admitted, that many of the terms connected with their superstition were of foreign origin, and some writers having asserted, that the language of the mysteries was that of Egypt, or of Assyria, these mythologists undertake to retrace the sacred terms of heathenism, to the fountain from whence they sprung. With this view, each of them has selected a list of ancient primitives from various languages, but chiefly from the Hebrew and its dialects. Into these primitives, they resolve the sacred terms of all nations. The names of gods, heroes, &c. which, to the ordinary scholar, appear nothing more than plain Greek or Latin, are all referred to this mystic vocabulary. Hence arises an occasion of charging the Greeks with the gross perversion of sacred titles and symbols, and the puerile corruption of foreign words, into something of similar sound in their own idiom, but of very different import from the original tradition; and hence the magisterial [93] practice of carrying them back, in disjointed syllables, to their supposed originals.

This has given offence to many critical readers, who maintain, that by such a mode of proceeding, any common word may be forced into whatever meaning the author pleases. How far such a scheme of etymology may be allowed, I shall not pretend to determine. At the same time, I must acknowledge that, in my apprehension, these gentlemen have made an injudicious, as well as an intemperate use of it. Proofs of this kind seldom amount to demonstration. They give the reader too many occasions of hesitating, or of differing in opinion from his author; and thus tend to lessen that confidence, which might otherwise have been preserved by the legitimate argument, and the candid exposition of recorded facts, which are to be found in the works before us.

Could I give an unqualified assent to the justice of these etymologies, yet, in my present subject, I should not be able to reduce them to general practice. For though most of the sacred terms, employed in the British documents, have meanings appropriate to the business in hand, and should therefore be translated, yet by far the greatest part of them are native terms of the British language, and have the same import with the corresponding terms in Greek mythology.

Were I then to admit, that the Greek terms are nothing more than etymological blunders, I must also infer that the Britons, who furnish us with the very same blunders in their own dialect, derived their mythology immediately from the Greeks: but I have some reason to believe that this was not the case.

[94]

In the mystic Bards and tales, I find certain terms which evidently pertain to the Hebrew language, or to some dialect of near affinity; as Adonai, the Lord; Al Adonai, the Glorious God; Arawn, the Arkite, and the like.

Taliesin, the chief Bard, declares, that his lore had been detailed in Hebraic;¹¹⁸ and in a song, the substance of which he professes to have derived from the sacred Ogdoad, or Arkites, there are several lines together in some foreign dialect, apparently of great affinity with the Hebrew, though obscured by British orthography.¹¹⁹ Hence I think it probable, that the Britons once had certain mystic poems, composed in some dialect of Asia; that this is a fragment of those poems; and that those parts of their superstition, which were not properly Celtic, were derived from that quarter of the globe. And if so, our ancestors could not have obtained their sacred vocabulary, by adopting the mere grammatical blunders of the Greeks.

Thus I am compelled to decline any general assistance from the derivations of our learned mythologists. At the same time, I shall not scruple to remark occasional coincidences between British terms, and those which appear in their works. This, I trust, I may do with impunity. If some of their etymologies are forced or doubtful, others may be natural, and well founded.

Thus far I have deemed it prudent to meet the objections of criticism. Should this compromise prove unsatisfactory, I must farther declare, that the basis of my argument does [95] not rest upon the works of these authors. I cite them only for collateral proof, or elucidation of the evidence which I draw from another source; and, for the purpose of verifying the report of history, that the superstition of the Druids was radically the same with that of other nations: In my attempt to establish my main proposition, I mean to stand or fall upon my own ground.

And to this end I must, first of all, produce evidence, that the people who professed Druidism, retained some memorials of the deluge, and of the patriarch of the new world.

The subject has already been touched upon in the volume which I lately published. I there remarked a curious record in the British Triads, of an awful event, namely. The bursting forth of the Lake of Llioh, and the overwhelming of the face of all lands; so that all mankind were drowned, excepting Dwyvan and Dwyvach, who escaped in a naked vessel (or a vessel without sails), and by whom the island of Britain was repeopled.

To this I subjoined a tradition, taken from the same documents, of the Master-works, or great achievements of the Island of Britain. The first of these was. Building the ship of Nevydd Nav Neivion, which carried in it a male and a female of every animal species, when the Lake of Llion, burst forth: and the second was, The drawing of the Avanc to land, out of the lake, by the oxen of Hu Gadam, so that the lake burst no more.¹²⁰

These are evident traditions of the deluge; and their; [96] locality, as well as their other peculiarities, furnishes sufficient proof, that they must have been ancient national traditions. Such memorials as these cannot be supposed to have originated in the perversion of the sacred records, during any age subsequent to the introduction of Christianity. The contrary appears, from their whimsical discrepancy with historical fact.

The Britons, then, had a tradition of a deluge, which had overwhelmed all lands ; but this deluge, according to them, was occasioned by the sudden bursting of a lake. One vessel had escaped the catastrophe: in this a single man and woman were preserved; and as Britain and its inhabitants were, in their estimation, the most important objects in the world, so we are told, that this island, in an especial manner, was repeopled by the man and woman who had escaped. This has no appearance of having been drawn from the record of Moses: it is a mere mutilated tradition, such as was common to most heathen nations.

So again, the Britons had a tradition, that a vessel had been provided, somewhere or other, to preserve a single family, and the race of animals, from the destruction of a deluge; but they possessed only a mutilated part of the real history : and, as tradition positively affirmed, that their own ancestors were concerned in the building of this vessel, they naturally ascribed the achievement to that country, in which their progenitors had been settled from remote antiquity. And lastly, they had a tradition, that some great operating cause protected the world from a repetition of the deluge. They had lost sight of the true history, which rests this security upon the promise of the Supreme Being, and ascribed it to the feat of a yoke of oxen, which drew the avanc, or beaver, out of the lake.

And the want of more accurate information gave them an opportunity of placing this ideal achievement in the island of Britain.

In such tales as these, we have only the vestiges of heathenism. Even the locality of British tradition is exactly similar to that of other heathen reports. To give one instance.

The flood of Deucalion was undoubtedly the flood of Noah. It is described by Greek and Latin writers, with circumstances which apply exclusively' to this event. There never has been another deluge, which could have home a vessel to the top of a lofty mountain, and which destroyed the whole human race, excepting those who were preserved in that vessel. Yet the Thessalians represented Deucalion, the person preserved, as one of their own princes, and affirmed, that the vessel which escaped the deluge, rested upon the top of Parnassus, a mountain of their own country.

It may be remarked, .that upon their popular tradition of the deluge, the Britons grounded another national error. They represented the Cymry as having descended from one mother (the woman who disembarked from the sacred ship), within this island, or, in other words, that this was the cradle of the Cymry nation. And it appears from Caesar, that the Britons of his age, in the interior of this island, had the very same ancient tradition or memorial. Britannias pars interior ab iis incolitur, quos natos in insula ipsa, MEMORIA PRODITUM dicunt.¹²¹

[98]

But the mass of heathen tradition is always found to have some degree of inconsistency with itself. Some circumstance of true history, which is disguised in one tale, is frequently let out in another. Thus I have remarked a tradition in the same Triads, which brings the Cymry under the conduct of Hu, from a place called Defrobani, in the land of Hav; and this is understood to imply the neighbourhood of Constantinople, in the eastern part of Thrace. The former may have been the popular tradition of the interior Britons, or what their teachers thought proper to inculcate to the multitude; whilst the latter belonged to those who had preserved a few more vestiges of ancient history. And that this had been the route of the Cymry, in their progress out of Asia into Britain, is incidentally confirmed by the popular tradition of the Britons respecting the deluge. For though the memory of this event was almost universal, yet the traditions of every people upon this subject, had some circumstances which were local, or nationally discriminative. And the tradition of Britons, and of the Samothracians, as to the cause of the deluge, were precisely the same.

The British tradition tells us, that the waters of a lake bunt forth, and the inundation covered the face of all lands. The same tale was told in the ancient Samos, which was, perhaps, the S'Ham of British mythology.

"Samothrace is famous for a deluge which inundated the country, and reached the very top of the mountains. This inundation, which happened before the age of the Argonauts, was owing to the sudden overflow of the waters of the Euxine, which the ancients considered merely as a lake."¹²²

[99]

That the perversion of real history, in both these accounts, is precisely the same, must be obvious to every one. Such a peculiar coincidence could not have happened, without direct communication: and the tradition could not have become national, without having been brought by a colony from one nation to another, and preserved without interruption. But the mythology of Samothrace mounts up to a very remote æra of antiquity, and the Euxine, in its neighbourhood, with its wide extent, and narrow outlet, furnishes a more probable occasion for such a tale, than any lake in the neighbourhood of Britain. Hence the supposition, that this mythological story came with a colony from the region contiguous to the ancient Samos into Britain, agreeably to the memorial of our ancestors, and the tale of Hu, seems much more plausible, than the converse of that proposition. And here the testimony of Artemidorus, that the mysteries of Ceres and Proserpine were celebrated in one of the British islands, with the same rites as in Samothrace, tends to corroborate the inference which I draw from our national tradition.

The allusions to the deluge, in British mythology, come under various points of view. On a former occasion,¹²³ I referred the history of Dylan Ail Mor, Dylan, Son of the Sea, or Ail Ton, Son of the Wave, to this event. But in looking over Mr. Owen's Cambrian Biography, a volume which appeared whilst my book was in the press, I observe, that the author is of a different opinion, which he thus expresses.

"Dylan ail Ton, a chieftain who lived about the begin- [100] ning of the sixth century, whose elegy, composed by Taliesin, is preserved in the Welsh Archaiology."

As Mr. Owen grounds his opinion upon this elegy, I shall examine its contents. In the mean time, I may be allowed, in support of my own assertion, to bring forward a few passages, in which this name occurs. I shall leave the result with the reader.

Taliesin, in his Cad Goddeu,¹²⁴ speaks thus of Dylan

"Truly I was in the ship
With Dylan, Son of the Sea,
Embraced in the centre,
Between the Royal knees,
When, like the rushing of hostile spears,
The floods came forth,
From Heaven, to the great deep."

This passage surely has an evident allusion to the deluge. The Bard, therefore, must have regarded Dylan as no other than the patriarch who survived that catastrophe, and whom he justly styles Teyrnedd, or Royal, as being the universal monarch of the new world.

So again, in his Mabgyvreu,¹²⁵ the same Bard alludes to the British tradition of the deluge, and speaks of the day of Dylan, as a peculiar theme of his muse.

Arall ui chan wyd
Dy ysgwyd allan,
Pan yw gofaran twrvv
Tonneu wrth Ian,
Yn nial Dylan;
Dydd a haedd attan.

"No other Bard will sing the violence
Of convulsive throes,
When forth proceeded with thundering din,
The billows against the shore,
In Dylan's day of vengeance
A day which extend to us."

The last line of this passage, as I shall shew hereafter, alludes to certain mystic rites, which the Druids celebrated in commemoration of the deluge.

Casnodyn, an eminent Bard of the fourteenth century, in speaking of the future judgment, alludes to this passage of Taliesin, and copies several of his words: at the same time, he introduces certain images, which may remind us of the Druidical opinion, that Jive and water would, at some period, prevail over the world.¹²⁶

"He whom we know, will suddenly prepare the field of judgment: to us will he come, and will not keep silence. When God shall reveal his countenance, the house of earth will uplift itself over us: a panic of the noise of legions in the conflict, will urge on the flight: harshly; the loud-voiced wind will call: the variegated wave will dash around the shore: the glancing flame will take to itself the vengeance of justice, recruited by the heat of contending fires, ever bursting forth."¹²⁷

[102]

In the same poem, the Bard thus expresses himself, is an address to the Supreme Being—

Trevnaist syr a myr morawl Dylan.

"Thou didst set in order the stars, and the seas, of the sea-faring Dylan."

Hence it is clear, that the ancient and modern Bards regarded Dylan, the son of the sea, as no other personage than the patriarch, whose history is connected with that of the deluge.

It is now time to look for the elegy, which Taliesin composed for this venerable character. This little piece is not to be found in the Archaiology; but, from a copy in my possession, I am led to conclude that the title is erroneous, and that, instead of being called Marrenad Dylan, the Elegy of Dylan, it ought to have been, Cerdd am Dylan, a Song respecting Dylan. The argument is simply this.

A certain plain having been inundated in the age of our Bard, he expostulates with the Deity upon the occasion of this event. He then makes a natural transition to the mythology of the flood of Dylan, or the deluge, which had been occasioned by the profligacy of mankind, and concludes with a prayer for the deliverance of his countrymen from the existing calamity.

Some of the lines are imperfect in my copy; but with the correction of a few syllables, as suggested equally by the sense, by the measure, and by the alliteration which that measure requires, it stands as follows—

Un Duw uchav.
Dew in doethav,
Mwyav o vael.
Py delis maes,
Pwy ai swynas
Yn lluw traliael?
Neu gynt nog ev
Pwy oedd tangnev,
Ar reddv gavael?
Gwrthriv gwastradth
GvVenwjTi a wnaeth
Gwaith gwythloesedd.
Gwenyg Dylan
Adwythig Ian,
Gwaith yn hydredd.
Ton Iwerddon,
Ton Vanawon
A thon Ogledd.
A thon Prydain
Torvoedd virain
Yn beddirwedd
Golychav i D^d,
Duw, Dovydd Diid,
Gvvlad heb omedd;
Creawdr Celi
A'n cynnwys ni
Yn drugaredd

Which may be thus translated—

"O sole, supreme God, most wise unfolder of secrets, most beneficent! What has befallen the plain, who has enchanted it in the hands of the most generous! In for- [104] mer times, what has been more peaceful than this district, as a natural possession!

"It was the counter-reckoning of profligacy, which produced the bane in the laborious pang of wrath—the billows of Dylan furiously attacked the shore: forth, impetuously, rushed the wave of Ireland, the wave of the Manks, the Northern wave, and the wave of Britain nurse of the fair tribes, in four orders.

"I will pray to the Father, God, the Ruler, the Father who reigns without control, that he, the Creator, the Mysterious One, would embrace us with his mercy!"

This little ode, I think, cannot supply the slightest shade of authority, for ranking Dylan ail Ton amongst the British chieftains of the sixth century. The name merely occurs in the recital of a few circumstances of the national and local tradition of our ancestors, respecting the deluge; and thus it connects the character of Dylan with that of Dwyvan, and Nevydd, Nav Neivion, recorded, in the Triads.

Dylan, the Declan of Irish tradition, sounds like a contraction of Deucalion; and the people who preserved this name, affirm, that they derived this origin; from the neighbourhood of Thessaly, where the story gf Deucalion was told. But not to insist upon these .circumstances, I may be allowed to remark, that the sea, the waves, or even the streams of Dylan, are used; in the Welsh language, to denote the main ocean, or a boundless expanse of water; and that the metaphor evidently refers to the deluge.

Having now produced, some evidence, that the Britons did retain certain memorials of the deluge, and of the pa- [105] triarch who survived that catastrophe, I will, in the next place, consider their representation of that patriarch's character, that we may discover how far their notions respecting him, and the incidents of his days, affected their national religion.

This venerable personage has already been introduced by a variety of names, as Dwyvan, Nevydd, Nav Neivion, and Dylan; but we have had no positive evidence that he received divine honours.

Were I permitted to lay stress upon obvious etymologies, I might say, that some of those names are remarkable, and import that proposition. Thus Dwy, cause, origin, the existent. Dwy-van, the high or lofty cause—the father of mankind. His wife's name was Dwy-vach, the lesser cause—the mother of mankind. These names seem analogous to the Pangenetor and Magna Mater of antiquity, which were objects of worship.

So again: Nevydd, as a derivative of Nev, Heaven, implies the celestial. Nav, a Lord, the Creator: like many other terms of ancient British mythology, it is still used as a name of the Supreme Being. Neivion, in the Bards, is a name of God, "Also the name of a person in the British mythology, probably the same with Neptune." So that Nevydd Nav Neivion is the Celestial Lord Neivion.¹²⁸

Under these consecrated characters, we may infer, that the patriarch Noah received divine honours; and consequently, that he constituted one of the principal divinities acknowledged by the Druids.

[106]

This fact admits of absolute proof, when we contemplate the character of the same patriarch, as delineated under the name of Hu (pron. Hee), who secured the world from a repetition of the deluge, and whom the Cymry acknowledged as their remote progenitor, as the great founder of their sacred and civil institutes, and as their God.

In order to elucidate this subject, I shall, first of all, revise some of the evidence which I adduced upon a former occasion.

In a Triad already cited, after the account of the sacred ship which preserved the human and brute species, when the lake burst forth and drowned the world, is subjoined. The drafting of the avanc to land out of the lake, by the oxen of Hu Gadam, so that the lake burst no more. Here his history is expressly referred to the age of the deluge. But what character did he support in that age? The mythological Triads represent him only as a human patriarch, and a lawgiver. The following particulars are recorded of him.

1. He lived in the time of the flood; and
2. With his oxen, he performed some achievement, which prevented the repetition of that calamity. Triad 97.¹²⁹
3. He first collected together, or carried the primitive race; and
4. Formed them into communities or families. Triad 57.

[107]

5. He first gave traditional laws, for the regulation and government of society. Triad 92.
6. He was eminently distinguished for his regard to justice, equity, and peace. Triad 5.
7. He conducted the several families of the first race to their respective settlements in the various regions. Triad 4.
8. But he had instructed this race in the art of husbandry previous to their removal and separation. Triad 56.

Such are the particulars which I find recorded in those Triads, respecting Hu the Mighty, If characteristics like these determined my opinion, that the picture exclusively represented the patriarch Noah, I hope they have not led me to transgress the laws of criticism, which have been allowed in similar cases.

The great Mr. Bryant is satisfied with such marks as these: and he points out a delineation of the progenitor of all nations, in nearly the same words.

"The patriarch, under whatever title he may come, is generally represented as the father of Gods and men ; but in the character of Phoroneus, (for in this he is plainly alluded to) he seems to be described merely, as the first of mortals. The outlines of his history are so strongly marked, that we cannot mistake to whom the mythology relates. He lived in the time of the flood: He first built an altar: He first collected men together, and formed them into communities: He first gave Law and distributed [108] of justice: He divided mankind by their families and nations over the face of the earth."¹³⁰

If the learned be authorized by sound criticism, to refer the traditions of the Greeks to the incidents of primitive history, there can be no just reason for denying the like privilege to the Britons, in behalf of their national mythology, when they find it has recorded the very same circumstances. The character of Hu is, then, as justly referable to the patriarch Noah, as that of Phoroneus.

Before I trace the character of this personage, as delineated by the ancient Bards, it may be proper to hear what was said and thought of him in the middle ages. Iolo Goch, a learned Bard, who wrote in the fourteenth century, thus draws the portrait of Hu, as a patriarch.

Hu gadarn, por, hoewgeidwawd
Brenin a roe'r gwin a'r gwawd
Emherawdr tir a moroedd
A bywyd oil o'r byd oedd.
Ai dalioedd gwedy diliw
Aradr gwaisg arnoddgadr gwiw:
Er dangos ein ior dawngoeth
Vt dyn balch, a'r divalch doeth
Vod yn orau, nid gau gair,
Ungreft, gan y td iawngrair.

"Hu the Mighty, the sovereign, the ready protector, a king, the giver of wine and renown, the emperor of the  land and the seas, and the life of all that are in the world was he.

[109]

"After the deluge, he held the strong-beamed plough active and excellent; this did our Lord of stimulating genius, that he might shew to the proud man, and to the humbly wise, the art which was most approved by the faithful father; nor is this sentiment false."

It is scarcely possible, that the character of Noah should be drawn in stronger colours, or with touches more exclusively appropriate. The picture can be ascribed to no other mortal.

Yet this patriarch was actually deified and worshipped, by the ancient Britons.—Sion Cent, an illustrious poet, of the fifteenth century, complains of the relics of the old superstition, and thus characterizes the religion of the votaries of Hu, as distinguished from that of Christ.

Dwy ryw awen dioer ewybr
Y sy'n y byd, loewbryd Iwybr:
Awen gan Grist, ddidrist ddadl
O iawn dro, awen drwyadl;
Awen arall, nid call cant
Ar gelwydd, vudr argoeliant!
Yr hon a gavas gwyr Hu,
Carnrwysg prydyddion Cymru.

"Two active impulses truly, there are in the world; and their course is manifest; an impulse from Christ joyful is the theme of a right tendency: an energetic principle.

"Another impulse there is (indiscreetly sung) of falshood and base omens: this has been obtained by the men of Hu, the usurping Bards of Wales."

[110]

Here, the Welsh are charged with their devotion to Hu, as a Heathen God; nor was this complaint of the Christian Bard wholly out of season; for, however, strange it may appear in the present age, some of his contemporaries were not ashamed to avow themselves the votaries of this Pagan divinity. Of this, the following lines of Rhys Brydydd furnish a glaring proof.

Bychanav or bychenyd
Yw Hu Gadarn, ve i barn byd;
A Alwyav a Nav i ni.
Da Coeliwn, a'n Duw Celi.
Ysgawn ei daith ag esgud:
Mymryn tes gloewyn ei glud.
A mawr ar dir a moroedd
A mwyav a gav ar goedd,
Mwy no'r bybodd! 'marbedwn
Amharch gwael i'r mawr hael hwn!

"The smallest of the small is Hu the Mighty, in the world's judgment; yet he is the greatest, and Lord over us, sincerely believe, and our God of mystery. Light is his  course, and swift: a particle of lucid sunshine is his car. He is great on land and seas the greatest whom I shall behold greater than the worlds! Let us beware of offering mean indignity to him, the Great and the Bountiful."

Here we find that Hu the Mighty, whose history as a patriarch, is precisely that of Noah, was promoted to the rank of the principal Demon God amongst the Britons; and as his chariot was composed of the rays of the sun, it may be presumed that he was worshipped, in conjunction with that [111] luminary: and to the same superstition, we may refer what is said of his light and swift course.

Nor was Hu alone, elevated to the heavens, but even the sacred oxen, his constant attribute, were contemplated, as bellowing in the thunder, and glaring in the lightning, upon which subject we have the following lines, by Llwcelyn Moel.

Ychain yn' o ch3Tihenid
Hu Gadarn, a darn o'i did
A'i bum angel, a welwch,
A pheirian aur flamdan flwch.

"Should it be disputed, I assert—These are the oxen of Hu the Mighty, with a part of his chain, and his five angels (or attendants) which ye now behold, with a  golden harness of active flame."

The chain and the harness allude to the mythological achievement of Hu and his oxen the drawing of the Avanc out of the lake, so as to prevent the repetition of the deluge.

Thus we find, that Hu Gadam, to whom the Triads, evidently ascribe the exclusive history of Noah, is recognized in the same view precisely, by the Bards of the fourteenth century.

He is acknowledged as a ready protector or preserver; thus, the peculiar righteousness of Noah made him the preserver of the human race.

He is the giver of wine and renown: so Noah was the first [112] who planted a vineyard, taught mankind the method of preparing wine, and pronounced a prophetic eulogy upon his dutiful sons.

Hu was the Emperor of the land and seas: so Noah was the chief personage in the ark, the only vessel which preserved life amidst the universal sea; and after: that sea had subsided, he became the emperor of the whole earth.

Hu was the life of all that are in the world ; thus, Noah was the common parent of all nations, and of every individual.

And lest we should retain any doubt as to the age in which he lived, we are told, that immediately after the deluge, he first taught mankind t\ie. practice of agriculture: this is, exclusively, the history of the patriarch Noah.

Yet we are assured, with equal clearness, that from the traditional character of this same patriarch, sprung a religion of falshood and base omens or a heathen religion, which was directly contrary to Christianity. Nay, the same deified patriarch was regarded, as the greatest God, and viewed as riding on the sun-beams, or personified in the great luminary, and operating in the clouds and meteors of heaven.

That such a superstition should have been fabricated by the Bards in the middle ages of Christianity, is a supposition utterly irreconcileable with probability. We must, therefore, regard it as a relic of the old heathen superstition of the country, which some individual Britons, with their proverbial predilection for antiquated notions and customs, no less impiously than absurdly retained.

[113]

But if this be genuine British heathenism, it will be expected, that the vestiges of it should be discovered in the oldest Bards, which are now extant. And here, in fact, they present themselves in horrid profusion. The first instances I shall produce, are taken from Aneurin's Gododin, of which the reader will find a translation in the fourth section of this Essay

The Bard is lamenting a dreadful massacre, which happened in the fifth century, near a celebrated heathen temple, which he describes in these words:

"It is an imperative duty to sing the complete associates, the cheerful ones of the ark of the world. Hu was not without his selection in the circle of the world; it was his choice to have Eidiol the Harmonicus."¹³¹

Mere we find, that the selection of a priest to preside in this temple, was peculiarly the act and privilege of Hu, who, therefore, must have been the chief God, to whom the sacred building was dedicated. And, as we have already seen, that Hu was emphatically styled Emperor of the hand and Seas, the world was, properly speaking, his temple. Hence the fabric erected to his honour, is denominated the Ark of the world, alluding to the vessel in which he had presided over the world of waters; and the circle of the world, in reference both to the form of the building, and to the circle in which his luminous emblem, the sun, expatiated in the heavens.

With Hu, I find a goddess associated, in the Gododin, [114] by the name of Ked—the Ceto of antiquity, whom Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber pronounce to be no other than Ceres or Isis.

But let us look for these divinities under other names.

The Bard, when speaking of the same great temple, has the following remarkable passage.

"A structure was not formed, so eminently perfect, so great, so magnificent, for the strife of swords. In the place where Morien preserved the merited fire, it cannot be denied, that corpses were seen by the wearer of scaly mail, who was harnessed and armed with a piercing weapon, but covered with the skin of a beast. His sword resounded on the head of the chief singer of Noe and Eseye, at the great stone fence of their common sanctuary. Nevermore did the child of Teithan move."¹³²

As the Bard has informed us, that this structure was sacred to the god Hu, and the goddess Ked, and as he now tells us, that it was the common sanctuary of Noe and Eseye, it must follow, that Noe and Eseye were the same characters as Hu and Ked.

Here, then, we have an express authority for the assertion, that Hu was, originally no other than the great patriarch. Not that 1 suppose the heathen Britons had actually preserved the name of Noah; but that our Bard, who lived in the latter part of the fifth, and beginning of the sixth century, had some knowledge of the sacred records, where he found the name and actions of Noah; and did not want sufficient [115] sagacity to discover the absolute identity of Noah and Hu, in history and character. Thus we find the ground-work of this superstition expressly ascertained. It may, therefore, he proper to examine a little further, the titles and attributes which this Bard assigns to the deified patriarch.

In the passage before us, we find Morien preserving the merited fire. Whether this is a title of the god or his priest, or of both, I leave others to determine. The name seems to be equivalent to Janus Marinus, In another place, the Bard ascribes the building of the temple to him. This hall would not have been made so impregnable, had not Morien been equal to Caradoc. He was also its protector.

"Morien defended the blessed sanctuary, the basis and the chief place of distribution of the source of energy of the most powerful and the most ancient."¹³³

In the passage first cited, Hu is styled Teithan; for his chief singer is the child of Teithan: and this name seems to be no other than the Titin of the Hiberno-Celtæ, the Tydain of Taliesin and the Triads, and the Titan of antiquity a known title of the sun.

With allusion to this divinity, Aneurin says "And now the lofty leader, Huan, (the sun) is about to ascend: the sovereign most glorious the lord of the British isle."¹³³

[116]

It scarcely needs to be remarked, that Huan is a derivative of Hu, to whom the sovereignty of the British Isle is; expressly attributed by Taliesin.

We have seen that the ox or bull is the appropriate attribute of Hu, and accordingly, Aneurin styles his chosen priest, the radiant bull of battle. This is, properly, a title of the god himself, and conferred, as usual, upon his minister. But the host who fought under the conduct of this priest, are denominated Biw Beli bloeddvawr, the herd of the roaring Beli.¹³⁵ Hence it appears, that Hu and Beli constituted but one character. Yet the latter is certainly, the Celtic god Belimis, mentioned by Ausonius, and expressly identified with Apollo, the solar divinity.

In allusion to the sun's progress in the ecliptic, Aneurin styles this god, the lion of the greatest course. He has also the name of Budd, Victory, and Buddugre, the "god of victory, the king who rises in light, and ascends the sky."¹³⁶

Hu, or his mythological son, is called Angor, the producer of good, the serpent who pierces the sullen ones. Angor implies undeviating: and this Angor has the name of Merin, Marine, and is the son of Mad-ien, Bonus Janus, who is also called Seithenin, a little of Saturn, as I shall shew hereafter. Saturn and Janus are the same, and the character is referred by mythologists, to the patriarch Noah.

Again it is said of the chosen priest of Hu, "The placid Eidiol felt the heat of the splendid Grannaw."¹³⁷ This title, as well as Granwyn, in the poems of Taliesin, is re- [117] ferable to Apollo or the Sun, whose attributes are, therefore, ascribed to the British Hu.

Upon the whole, it appears from this Bard, that Hu the Mighty, the Diluvian god of the heathen Britons, was no other than the patriarch Noah, deified by his apostate descendants, and regarded by a wild superstition, as some way connected with the sun, or symbolized by the great luminary of the material heavens. Hence the bull, the lion, the serpent, and other general emblems of the Heliodamoniac worship, became his representatives upon earth.

But Taliesin is universally acknowledged by the Welsh, as the most profound teacher of their ancient superstition. This Bard avows himself of the order of the Druids, and expressly characterizes the mystical effusions of his muse, by the name of Dawn y Derwyddon, Lore of the Druids. It may, therefore, be of importance to our subject, to consider his representation of the character of Hu.

In the first place, then, I shall remark a few particulars, in an elegy which he composed on the death of a priest of Hu, whom he calls Aeddon, which I think, was a title of the god himself. This priest had presided in Mona, as appeals from the opening of the poem.¹³⁸

"Disturbed is the island of the praise of Hu, the island of the severe remunerator; even Mona of the generous bowls, which animate vigour the island whose barrier is the Menai."

Mona was a well-known seat of the Druids. Many have [118] regarded it as the great centre of their superstition. Yet this sacred spot, we find, was eminently dedicated to the honour of Hu, as the principal object of adoration. To this severe remunerator the island belonged; and here his votaries quaffed the generous bowl, in his sacred festivals: they must, therefore, have regarded him as the god who presided over drinking.

Taliesin, one of the chief of his votaries, in the beginning of the sixth century, cannot be supposed to have devised, either the character or the honours of this god. What he has delivered to us, must have been what he learned from his predecessors in superstition; and Hit must have been the great god of Mona, in the earlier ages of Druidism

It appears by the sequel of this poem, that the priest of Hu had the charge of a sacred Ark, and that Aeddon, that is, the god himself, had come from the land of Gwydion, (Hermes) into the strong island of Seon, at the time of the deluge, and had brought his friends safe through that dreadful calamity. Here we have a curious mythological account of the flood, which shews, that the original history of Hu was purely Diluvian,

Hu, the lord of Mona, is again styled the severe inspector. He has the title of Buddicas, the dispenser of good, the dragon chief, the proprietor, and the rightful claimant of Britain.

The Bard then proceeds to recite the long toil, of the just ones, upon the sea which had no shore, and their ultimate deliverance, as the reward of their integrity; where it is clearly intimated, that Hu, or Aeddon, was the leader of this righteous band.

[119]

In another poem,¹³⁹ Taliesin introduces this Diluvian god by the name of Deon, the distributer, who had bestowed upon him, as his chief priest and vicegerent, the sovereignty of Britain. In the age of our Bard, this could have been nothing more than conferring an empty title: but we may hence infer, that the chief Druid, during the high day of his authority, had claimed and exercised the power implied by this title; and that the god who invested him with this high privilege, was the chief object of his homage.

In this poem, the honours of Hu are connected with those of a goddess, named Ked, or Ceridwen, of whom I shall say more hereafter.

We next find the ox, the attribute of Hu, stationed before a lake, at the time of a solemn procession : an eagle, another of his symbols, is carried aloft in the air, in the path of Granwyn, the pervading sovereign (the sun). This divinity is styled Hewr Eirian, the splendid mover. The descriptions throughout this poem, are full of allusions to the deluge; and the draining of the generous bowl is eminently conspicuous amongst the rites of the sacred festival.¹⁴⁰

Another poem mentions Pen Annnwn, the ruler of the deep, who is evidently the same as Hu, the emperor of the seas. This piece is full of the mythology of the deluge; and the Bard or Druid who violated his oath, after having drank out of the cauldron of this ruler of the deep, was doomed to destruction.¹⁴¹

[120]

The poem called Cadair Teyrn On¹⁴² brings the solar divinity, or Celtic Apollo, upon the stage: and we find, by the extract which I have subjoined,¹⁴³ that he was actually worshipped under the character of Fire. Yet this ardent god boasts, that he could protect his chair of presidency in the midst of a general deluge. He is, therefore, the same character as the Diluvian Hu, or the patriarch symbolized by the sun.

The divinity who presides in the sacred ox-stall, and is personified in the bull, Beer Lied, is styled the supreme proprietor, and has his sanctuary in an island surrounded by the tide.¹⁴⁴ Supreme proprietor is the title of Hu, and the ox or bull is his symbol.

In the former part of the poem, called the Elegy of Uthr Pendragon,¹⁴⁵ that is, wonderful supreme leader, or wonderful chief dragon, this god is introduced in pageantry, and describes himself as the god of rear, the ætherial, having the rainbow for his girdle. He is a protector in darkness, a ploughman, a defender of his sanctuary, and a vanquisher of giants. It is he who imparts to heroes a portion of his own prowess. He is an enchanter, and the president of Haearndor, the vessel with the iron door, which toiled to the top of the hill. He was yoked as an ox, he was patient in affliction he became the father of all the tribes of the earth. He was a Bard and a musician.

Such are the impertinencies with which superstition con- [121] contaminated the history and character of the venerable patriarch.

In the second part of this poem, a sacrificing priest invokes this god with a prayer for the prosperity of Britain. He styles him Hu, with the expanded wings Father, and King of Bards Father Deon, presiding in the mundane circle of stones.

He is again named Prydain the glancing Hu the sovereign of heaven the gliding king the dragon, and the victorious Beli, Lord of the Honey Island, or Britain,

In the song called Gwawd Lludd y Mawr, the praise of the great leader, the Bard professes to have derived his mystic lore from the traditions of the distinguished Ogdoad, by which he means the Arkites, or eight persons who had been preserved in the sacred ship. This piece contains the mythology of the deluge, together with some pretende4 vaticinations relating to subsequent times.

The chief of the Diluvians, and therefore Hu the Mighty, is styled Cadwaladr, the supreme disposer of battle, and described as a Druid. He is attended by a spotted cow, which procured blessings. On a serene day she bellowed, I suppose as a warning presage of the deluge; and afterwards, she was boiled, or sacrificed, on May eve, the season in which British mythology commemorated the egress from the ark. The spot where she was sacrificed, afforded rest to the deified patriarch, who is here styled Yssadawr, the consumer or sacrificer.

[122]

The same personage has the name of Gwarthmor, ruler of the sea, Menwyd the blessed, and the dragon ruler of the world. He was the constructor of Ked, the ark, which passed the grievous waters, stored with corn, and was borne aloft by serpents.

Hence the symbolical ape, the stall of the cow, and the mundane rampart, or circular temple, are consecrated to the Diluvian god, and his vessel ; and the season of their festive dance, is proclaimed by the cuckoo.

The Arkite god is called the father of Ked, the ark, which is represented as an animal, I suppose [Greek], the whale, investing the Bard with the sovereignty of Britain. We have already seen this prerogative exercised by Hu, the Diluvian god: Ked must therefore have acted in conjunction with the mystical father.

The same god is the sovereign of boundless dominion, in whose presence our priest trembles before the covering stone, in order to escape the quagmire of hell.

Another poem¹⁴⁶ styles this Diluvian god the reaper, in allusion to the patriarch's character as a husbandman. His priest has the name of Aedd, a title of the god himself. He had died and lived alternately; and it was his privilege to carry the ivy branch, with which, Dionysius says, the Britons covered themselves in celebrating the rites of Bacchus.

To the particulars here recited, the mythological reader. If he takes the pains to peruse the passages to which I [123] refer, will be able to add many circumstances equally pertinent. But what I have here produced may suffice to shew, that our ancestors paid an idolatrous homage to a great patriarch, who had been preserved from a general deluge; that they regarded this deified mortal as symbolized by the sun, or in some manner identified with him; and that this compound divinity was regarded as their chief god.

But as Cæsar has informed us, that the opinion of the Druids corresponded in the main with that of other nations, respecting the nature and attributes of the Gods, it will be asked, with which of the gods of antiquity is this helio-patriarchal divinity to be identified?

To those who have studied mythology only in a common school pantheon, in the works of Homer, or in the Latin poets, my answer to such a question may not prove perfectly satisfactory.

The mythology of the Britons was of a character somewhat more antique than that of the Greeks and Romans, as we find it in their best writers. The poets and sculptors of these nations refined upon Gentile superstition, and represented each of their gods with his own appropriate figure, and with a character elegantly distinct: whereas the old religion of the nations contemplated the objects of adoration as referable to one history, and represented them as grouped in one compound body, marking the various relations, operations, and attributes of their divinity, by a multitude of heads, arms, and ornaments, with which they graced their principal idol. Thus the Helio-Arkite god of the Britons comprehended, in his own person, most of the gods which pertained to their superstition.

[124]

Upon this subject, I shall produce the opinion of Mr. Bryant—

"The first writers," says this great mythologist, "were the poets; and the mischief (of polytheism) began with them: for they first infected tradition, and mixed it with allegory and fable. The greatest abuses (says Anaxaoras, Legat.) of true knowledge came from them. I insist, that we owe to Orpheus, Homer, and Hesiod, the fictitious names and genealogies of the pagan daemons, whom they are pleased to call gods: and I can produce Herodotus to witness what I assert. He informs us (L. II. c. 53.) that Homer and Hesiod were about 400 years before himself, and not more. These," says he, "were the persons who first framed the theogony of the Greeks, and gave appellations to their deities, and distinguished them, according to their several ranks and departments. They, at the same time, described them under different appearances: for, till their time, there was not in Greece any representation of the gods, either in sculpture or painting; nor any specimen of the statuary's art exhibited: no such substitutes were in those times thought of."¹⁴⁷

Again—

"The blindness of the Greeks, in regard to their own theology, and to that of the countries from whence they borrowed, led them to multiply the terms which they had received, and to make a god out of every title. But however they may have separated and distinguished them under different personages, they are all plainly resolvable into one deity, the sun. The same is to be observed, as to the gods of the Romans."

[I25]

"There was by no means, originally, that diversity of gods which is imagined, as Sir John Marsham has very justly observed. Neque enim tanta [Greek] Gentium, quanta fuit Deorum [Greek]."—"Pluto, amongst the best theologists, was esteemed the same as Jupiter; and indeed the same as every other deity."—"Porphyry (ap. Euseb.) acknowledged, that Festa, Rhea, Ceres, Themis, Priapus, Proserpitie, Bacchus, Attis Adonis, Silenus, and the Satyrs, were all one and the same. Nobody had examined the theology of the ancients more deeply than Porphyry: he was a determined pagan: and his evidence in this point is unexceptionable."¹⁴⁸

To these passages I shall subjoin the following, from Mr. Faber. "Osiris, Bacchus, Cronus, Pluto, Adonis, and Hercules, taken in one point of view, as will be shewn at large hereafter, are all equally the sun; but if we examine their respective histories, and attentively consider the actions which are ascribed to them, we shall be convinced, that in their human capacity, they can each be  no other than the great patriarch."¹⁴⁹

"If the several histories of the principal deities, revered by most of the ancient nations, be considered, we shall find them at once allusive to the Sabian idolatry, and to the catastrophe of the deluge. Thus the account which is given of Osiris and Isis, if taken in one point of view, directs our attention to the sun and moon; but if in another, it places immediately before our eyes the great patriarch, and the vessel in which he was preserved.

"Accordingly, we learn from Plutarch, that Osiris was a [126] husbandman, a legislator, and a zealous advocate for the worship of the gods; that Typhon, or the sea, conspired against him, and compelled him to enter into an ark," &c.¹⁵⁰

Such being the result of the most elaborate inquiries which have been made into the theology of the Gentiles, I may be allowed to assert, that the Helio-Arkite god of the Britons was a Pantheos, who, under his several titles and attributes, comprehended the group of superior gods, which the Greeks and other refined nations separated and arranged as distinct personages.

As inventor of the few arts with which the Druids were acquainted, and as the conductor of the primitive race to their respective settlements, he was their Mercury.

As the solar divinity, and god of light, he was their Beli, or Apollo.

As King of Heaven, he was their Jupiter.

As supreme disposer of battle, he was their Mars: and as ruler of the waters, he was their Neptune. And thus Caesar might discover, in the superstition of the Druids, all the gods of his own pantheon, with their distinct attributes.

But as giver of wine and generous liquor, and as president of festive carousals, which is his favourite picture amongst the Bards, he was certainly that Bacchus, whose rites, according to Dyonisius, were duly celebrated in the British islands. Under this character, he appropriates the title of [127] Hu, which is precisely the [Greek], or [Greek] of antiquity, without the termination. His two great symbols, the bull and the dragon, so often introduced, come under the same point of view.

"I have observed," says Mr, Faber, "that Bacchus, or Dionusus, was one of the many titles of the Helio-Arkite Noah: accordingly, in his person, the two emblems at present under consideration (the bull and the dragon) will be found to be eminently united. The Athenians, as we learn from Arrian, worshipped him as the son of Jupiter and Proserpine. Jupiter, however, accomplished the rape of Proserpine, under the figure of a dragon; and Bacchus is universally described as bearing some resemblance to a bull. Hence we shall see the reason why, in the Bacchic mysteries, the bull was celebrated as the parent of the dragon, and the dragon as the parent of the bull.

"The whole history, indeed, of Bacchus, is full of allusions to the symbols of the bull and the serpent.

"Thus Euripides introduces a chorus of Bacchantes, inviting him to appear in the shape of a bull, a dragon, or a lion. And thus the author of the Orphic hymns styles him, the deity with two horns, having the head of a bull, even Mars-Dionusus, reverenced in a double form, and adored, in conjunction with a beautiful star. For the same reason, Plutarch inquires, why the women of Elis were accustomed to invoke Bacchus, in the words of the following hymn:

"Come, hero Dionusus, to thy holy temple on the shore; come, heifer-footed deity, to thy sacrifice, and [128] bring the graces in thy train! Hear us, O bull, worthy of our veneration; hear us, O illustrious bull."

"After attempting to solve this question, in a variety of different ways, he concludes with asking, whether the title of bull might not be given to Bacchus, on account of his being the inventor and patron of agriculture."¹⁵¹

It appears, then, that the bull and the dragon were symbols, eminently conspicuous in the worship and rites of Bacchus; and it may hence be presumed, that the very frequent introduction of them in the British Bards, alludes to the worship of their Helio-Arkite god, considered in that character.

To the British rites of this divinity, I think the tradition, respecting the oxen of Hu, drawing the Avanc out of the lake, has a marked reference. It will therefore be proper, in order to catch a glimpse of those rites, to consider the British mythology of oxen, lakes, and islands, embosomed in takes.

Of all the objects of ancient superstition, there is none which has taken such hold of the populace of Wales, as the celebrated oxen of Hu. Their fame is still vigorous in every corner of the principality, as far, at least, as the Welsh language has maintained its ground. Few indeed pretend to tell us precisely, what the Ychen Banawg were, or what the Avanc was, which they drew out of the lake.

Mr. Owen explains Banawg—prominent, conspicuous, notable. And tradition tells us, that the oxen, which appro- [129] priated this epithet, were of an extraordinary size, and that they were subjected to the sacred yoke. I have also several reasons to suppose, that m Pagan Britain, some rites in commemoration of the deluge, and in which the agency of sacred oxen was employed, were periodically celebrated, on the borders of several lakes.

In replying to a tale, which seems utterly impossible, we use an old adage, which says, The Ychen Banawg cannot draw the Avanc out of deep waters. This imports, that they could draw him out of waters of a certain depth. And popular and local traditions of such an achievement, are current all over Wales. There is hardly a lake in the principality which is not asserted in the, neighbourhood, to be that where this feat was performed. Such general traditions of the populace must have arisen from some ceremony, which was familiar to their ancestors. And this ceremony seems to have been performed with several heathenish rites. Mr. Owen tells us there is a strange piece of music, still known to a few persons, called Cainc yr Ychain Banawg, which was intended as an imitation of the lowing of the oxen, and the rattling of the chains, in drawing the Avanc out of the lake.¹⁵²

The beasts which the Druids employed in this rite, were probably bulls of the finest breed which the country afforded, but distinguished, either by the size of their horns, or by some peculiar mark, and set apart for sacred use.

By Avanc, we generally understand the beaver, though in the present instance, tradition makes it an animal of pro- [130] digious bulk and force. In this druidical fable, the Avanc seems to be, ultimately referable to the patriarch himself, or to the ark, considered as his shrine, and supposed to have been extricated from the waters of the deluge, by the aid of the sacred oxen.

I once thought the story contained only a mythological allusion to the sacrifice of oxen offered by Noah, when he obtained a promise, that the waters should no more return to cover the earth. And this idea seems to be countenanced, by a passage of Taliesin, already cited, and importing, that the diluvian patriarch found rest upon the spot, where the spotted cow teas boiled or sacrificed. But it appears, by the various notices respecting these oxen, and by general analogy, that our superstitious ancestors had some further allusions. Let us hear what is said of the animals, by mythologists.

Mr. Bryant was decidedly of opinion, that the bulls and oxen of mythology had constant reference to Noah, to the ark, or to the history of the deluge.

"It is said of the patriarch, after the deluge, that he became an husbandman. This circumstance was religiously recorded in all the ancient histories of Egypt. An ox so useful in husbandry, was, I imagine upon this account, made an emblem of the patriarch. Hence, upon many pieces of ancient sculpture, are seen the ox's head, with the Egyptian modius between his horns; and not only so, but the living animal was in many places, held sacred, and revered as a deity."¹⁵³

[131]

The author then proceeds to shew, that the sacred bulls, Apis and Mnevis, referred to the history of the same patriarch.

Again—

"Bulls were sacred to Osiris (who was Noah) the great husbandman. They were looked upon as living oracles, and real deities, and to be in a manner, animated by the soul of the personage, whom they represented."¹⁵⁴

"Symbolical imagery, observes Mr. Faber, was very much in use among the ancients, and will be found to provide (q. pervade?) the whole of their heterogeneous mythology. A heifer seems to have been adopted, as perhaps, the most usual emblem of the ark, and a serpent as that of the sun; while the great patriarch himself was sometimes worshipped under the form of a bull, and sometimes, in consequence of his union with the sun, hieroglyphically described as a serpent, having the head of a bull."¹⁵⁵

And this superstition comes into contact with the Celtic nations, and is brought near to our British ancestors.

"With regard to the devotion of the Hyperboreans, to the arkite mysteries, we are plainly informed by Dionysius, that the rites of Bacchus, or Noah, were duly celebrated in Britain. Hence arose their veneration for the bull, the constant symbol of the deity of the ark.

"By this god, made of brass, says Dr. Borlase, the Cimbri, Tentones, and Ambrones, swore to observe the [132] articles of capitulation, granted to the Romans, who defended the Adige against them. After their defeat, Catulus ordered this bull to be carried to his own house, there to remain, as the most glorious monument of his victory. This god is ranked with Jupiter, Esus, and Vulcan, being called Tarvos Trigaramis, from the three cranes perching, one on his head, one on the middle of his back, and the third on his hinder parts."¹⁵⁶

I cannot help thinking, that the people who named this bull, spoke a language very similar to our Cambro-British: for Tarw Trigaranus is Welsh for a bull with three cranes. And the idol itself seems to be connected with British superstition, as I shall shew hereafter, that the chief priest, who attended the arkite mysteries, was styled Garanhir, the lofty crane. Hence the three cranes may have represented three officiating priests.

We have already seen, that certain oxen or bulls, were assigned to Hu, the Diluvian god of the Britons, as his ministers or attendants.

I shall now examine whether there are any traces of evidence in the documents left us by our ancestors, that the god himself was venerated under the form of this animal.

And first of all, I shall consider a few notices, which are scattered ia the mythological Triads.

We are here informed of three primary oxen of Britain: the first of which was, Melyn Gwanwyn, the yellow ox of the spring; the next was Gwineu, Ych Gwlwlydd, the brown [133] ox, which stopped the channel, and the third Ych Brych, bras ei benrhwy, the brindled ox with the thick headband.¹⁵⁷

The yellow ox of the spring, I make no doubt is the sign Taurus, into which the sun entered at the season when the Druids celebrated their great arkite mysteries. Mr. Faber has shewn, that the bull of the sphere, in general mythology, was the god of the ark.158 And the mythology of Britain did not differ essentially from that of other nations.

The ox which stopped the channel, seems to have some reference to the oxen of Hu, which prevented the repetition of the deluge. Of the third notice, I shall have occasion to speak hereafter.¹⁵⁹

That the oxen and bulls of mythology implied the same thing, will be granted: and I find that the Triads mention three bulls of battle.¹⁶⁰ The first of them is styled Cynvawr Cad Gaddug, mab Cynvyd Cynvydion: that is, the primordial great one, of the contest of mystery, son of the prior world, of former inhabitants. This elaborate title, evidently points to that personage, who was son of the antediluvians, an inhabitant of the former world, and the great patriarch of the new. He was the bull, Mars-Dionusus of the Orphic poet. And, as the great one of the mystery, he was no other than the Mighty Hu of the Britons. The introduction of Cad, Gaddug into his title, brings forward his other great symbol. Prydydd Bychan, an eminent Bard of the thirteenth century, says—Dragon gyrchiad Cad Gaddug. The dragon repairs to the battle of mystery.

[134]

If I am not mistaken, this bull of battle is recognized upon some of the ancient altars remaining in Britain. The Bards sometimes introduce Mohyn or Moyn, for Tarw, a bull.¹⁶¹ Therefore Moyn Cad is synonymous with Tarw Cad, bull of battle: and Camden has copied two inscriptions, Deo Mogonti Cad, and Deo Mouno Cad.¹⁶² It should appear from hence, that our bull of battle was publicly acknowledged as a god, in the ages when the Romans occupied Briton: and consequently, that the Helio-arkite god of the Britons was venerated, under the title and form of a bull.

The two other bulls of battle, mentioned in this Triad, are said to have been British princes, in the sixth century; but I must observe, that the priest of the god, or the prince who eminently patronizes his worship, is often dignified with one or other of his titles. Thus Aneurin styles the solar deity, Beli Bloeddvawr, the loud roaring Beli, that is, the bull Beli, and then calls his priest. Taw Trin, bull of battle.

Again, the Triads speak of the three bull sovereigns of Britain,¹⁶² one of whom is named Elmur mab Cadeir. The firm or established spirit, son of the Chair; in another copy, the son of Cibddar, the Mystic. This seems to be a description of Hu, the god of mystery. The second, a mere duplicate of the same personage under a different title, is Cynhaval mab Argat, prototype, son of the ark. This can be no other than the patriarch, who issued from the ark, and presented the first specimen of man to the new world. [135] The third bull sovereign was Avaon or Adaon, son of Taliesin; but it appears, that Avaon is one of the cardinal points in the sun's course; and Taliesin, radiant front is a title of solar deity, though conferred on his chief priest.

The mythological bulls of Britain, whether warriors or sovereigns, still pertain to the Helio-arkite superstition. Let us consider their character, as Dæmons.

The three bull dæmons of Britain were Ellyll Gwidawl, the dæmon of the whirling stream; Ellyll Llyr Merini, the dæmon of the flowing sea; and Ellyll Gurthmwl Wledig, the dæmon of the sovereign, of the equiponderate mass (q. the earth?)¹⁶³ All this seems referable to him, who was acknowledged as emperor of the land and seas, and worshipped as chief dæmon god of pagan Britain. And we are told, that of the three daemons which were recognized in this island, the first was Ellyll Banawg: but this was the epethet of the oxen of Hu. To him therefore, the symbolical ox or bull chiefly pertains. The other daemons, in this Triad, are not said to have been in the form of this animal. One of them is called Ellyll Ednyvedawg Drythyll, the daemon of wanton animation, and seems to allude to a symbol which disgraced, even paganism itself; the last was Ellyll Malen, the dæmon Malen, the Minerva or Bollona of Britain.¹⁶⁴

In these notices we find the Helio-arkite god identified with an ox or bull, whether as the leader in battle, as supreme ruler of the land, or as the great object of daemon worship. It may, therefore, be presumed that the Druids adored him in the image of a bull; or that they kept the [136] living animal as his representative. But let us hear what the ancient Bards have said upon this subject.

That Aneurin calls the Helio-arkite god the roaring belly and gives his priest the title of bull of battle, has been observed. So Taliesin, who, in the poem called Buarth Bardd, the Oxpen of the Bards, or Bardic stall of the ox, professes to deliver the lore of his order, with superior accuracy, pronounces a kind of curse upon the pretended Bard, who was not acquainted with this sacred stall. This enclosure was situated in a small island, or rock, beyond the billows. The rock displayed the countenance of him who receives the exile into his sanctuary, that is, of the deified patriarch, who admitted his friends, banished from the old world, into his ark.

It was also the rock of the supreme proprietor, that is, of His the Mighty, who is repeatedly called the supreme proprietor of the British islands, and the emperor of the land and seas: and he was evidently the Bacchus of the Britons: for not to insist at present upon other proofs, we find his priests throughout this poem, hastening to the jolly carousal, and making a free indulgence in the mead feast, a principal rite in the worship of their god.

If then, the sanctuary of Hu, the Helio-arkite patriarch, and Bacchus of the Druids, was an ox-stall, it must be inferred, that the god presided in his temple, either in the image of a hull, or under the representation of the living animal.

Accordingly, we find the priest, who gives the mead-feast, and introduces the votaries into the temple, making proclamation in the name of the sacred edifice, and of the god [137] himself—I am the cell—I am the opening chasm—I am "the Bull, Becr-Lled." This title has no meaning in the British language. It seems to consist of two Hebrew terms, implying the bull of flame.¹⁶⁵ And the idea, presented by such a derivation, perfectly harmonizes with the general tenor of British mythology.

For, as those oxen, which were merely the attendants and ministers of Hu, roared in thundery and blazed in lightning, we must suppose that the supreme bull himself, had an essence still brighter, and displayed his form in the solar fire.

Hu was therefore worshipped in the form of a bull. But this bull, upon a great occasion, had submitted to the sacred yoke, and dragged the chain of affliction.

The patriarch god, who, amongst his other titles, is addressed by the name of Hu, thus speaks, by the mouth of his priest—"I was subjected to the yoke, for my affliction; but commensurate was my confidence; the world had no existence, were it not for my progeny."¹⁶⁶

Here it seems to be implied, that our mythologists regarded an oar, submitting to the yoke, as an apt symbol of the patriarch, in his afflicted state during the deluge. And this explains the meaning of the Bard, when he says of the Diluvian patriarch. "The heavy blue chain didst thou, O just, man endure; and for the spoils of the deep (the ravages of the deluge) doleful is thy song."¹⁶⁷

[138]

In the same poem, the Bard says of certain persons, who were not admitted into the society of the patiarch, and into the mysteries of his own order—"They knew not on what day the stroke would be given, nor what hour of the splendid day Cwy (the agitated person) would be born, or who prevented his going into the dales of Devwy (the possession of the waters). They know not the brindled ox with the thick head-band, having seven score knobs in his collar."

This brindled ox is the same tauriform god, whom the Triads mention as one of the primary oxen of Britain. A few lines lower down, we have a hint, that the Druids kept an ox as the representative of their god. The Bard says "They know not what animal it is, which the silver-headed ones (the hoary Druids) protect." This animal must have been the bundled ox mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

Indeed, the keeping of sacred oxen seems to have been essential to the establishment of these fanatical priests. Thus, Taliesin and Merddin are introduced, bewailing the destruction of their temples and idols in the sixth century.

"It was Maelgwn whom I saw, with piercing weapons: before the master of the fair ox-herd (ter y vulu), his household will not be silent. Before the two personages, they land in the celestial circle before the passing form and the fixed form, over the pale white boundary. The grey stones they actually remove. Soon is Elgan (the supremely fair) and his retinue discovered for his slaughter, alas, how great the vengeance that ensued!"¹⁶⁸ This [139] Elegan, master of the fair herd, seems to have been the symbol of Hit, and he was a living animal, as appears from the fate which befel him.

Upon the whole, it appears that the Helio-arkite god was represented by a bull. I do not think, however, that he is to be identified with the Ychain Banawg, or oxen which he employed in drawing the avanc out of the lake. These animals were subjected to his control. It appears by a passage which I shall presently exhibit, that they were originally three in number; but that one of them failed in the office assigned to him and his companions, which was, to draw the shrine or car of their master in a sacred procession. To account for the selection of these animals for this use, it may be observed, that as mythology represented the god himself as a bull, it might be deemed meet, that he should have ministers of the same species. But the original and historical Hu, was no other than the patriarch Noah. So his original Ychain Banawg may have had human existence. And it may be conjectured that, in reality, they were the three sons of the patriarch, who attended upon him, with the title of אילמיס, which implies both leaders, princes, and oxen. And tradition, whilst unsophisticated, may have reported, that they assisted their aged father in his debarkation.¹⁶⁹

The oxen of Hu were concerned in the event of the deluge; therefore, connected with the Arkite mythology of the Britons. Yet popular tradition recites the following tale of them. One of these oxen overstrained himself, in drawing forth the avanc, so that his eyes started from their [140] sockets, and he dropped down dead, as soon as the feat was achieved. The other, pining for the loss of his companion, refused food, and wandered about disconsolate, till he died in Cardiganshire, at a place which is called Brevi, that is, the bellowing, from the dismal moans of the sacred animal. Some such incident may have happened during the commemorative rites of the Britains; and the locality of the tale implies a probability, that this spot was sacred to the rites of Hit, and his oxen.

In this instance, as well as in many others, the early Christians selected the sanctuary of their heathen predecessors, for the place of a religious establishment. Perhaps this was done with the view of diverting the attention of the people from the objects of idolatrous superstition, which they had been used to contemplate in those places; but it had generally a contrary effect. Dewi, first Bishop of St. David's, founded a church and a religious seminary at Brevi. But so far was this from obliterating the memory of the old superstition, that the history of the Christian bishop seems to have been confounded with that of a heathen god; and the Bards transferred to him the mythological oxen of the votaries of Hu. Thus Guynvardd Brecheiniog, a Bard who wrote in the former part of the twelfth century.

Deu ychen Dewi deu odidawc
Dodyssant hwy en gwarr dan garr kynawe,
Deu ychen Dewi arterchawc oetynt.
Deu gam a gertynt yn gyd preinyawc:
I bebrwng anrec yn redegawc
Y Lasgwm, nyd oet trwm tri urtassawc.
Edewid Bangu gu gadwynawc;
A'r deu creill urcisc y Vrycheinyawc,
        [141]
Ban del gofyn arnam ny ryb3twn ofnawe
Jlac gonnes kedciru cad dybrunawc.
At Duw a Dewi deu niuerawc
Yd galwn bressen brcsswyl uodawc.

"The two oxen of Dewi, two of distinguished honour, but their necks under the car of the lofty one. The two oxen of Dewi, majestic were they. With equal pace they moved to the festival. When they hastened, in conducting the sacred boon to Glascwm (the green valley), the THREE dignified ones were not sluggish. The amiable Bangu was left behind, bearing his chain; and the two others, with their huge bulk, arrived in Brechinia. We shall not be terrified for the intrusion of the mighty ones, meritorious in battle. Let us call upon God and Dewi, the two leaders of hosts, who, at this hour, willingly sojourn amongst us."

Throughout this curious poem, which is of considerable length, the Bard intermixes a large proportion of mythological imagery and description, with the popish legends of Dewi. We need not, then, be surprised, that he assigns to his patron saint those celebrated oxen, which were the ascertained property of Hu, to whom all that is said in the passage before us must be referred. Here, then, we may remark the following particulars of the Ychain Bonawg. They were, originally, three in number, but, by the failure of one, reduced to a pair. Their office, in the commemorative ceremony of the Britons, was to draw the car of the lofty one, or of Hu, the patriarch god, to whom the oxen were consecrated in solemn procession. And if this was the meaning of the memorial, the avanc of mythology, which the sacred oxen drew out of the lake, and which gave [142] rise to the ceremony, must imply the identical shrine, or vehicle, which inclosed the Diluvian patriarch.

Such ceremonies were not peculiar to the Britons; and, perhaps, did not originate in these islands. Mr. Faber has proved, by just reasoning, that that Phœnician Agruerus, the patron of agriculture, was no other than the deified patriarch Noah. But, as the author observes—"Sanchoniatho informs us, that his statue was greatly revered by the Phoenicians, that his shrine was drawn from place to place by a yoke of oxen, and that, amongst the Byblians, he was esteemed even the greatest of gods!"¹⁷⁰

Here we have the avanc, and the Ythain Banawg of Hu Gadam; but the Phoenician historian does not tell us, that this shrine was drawn out of a lake, which was an essential circumstance in the mythology of the Britons. It may therefore be proper to consider their opinion concerning certain lakes, and the phænomena which they presented.

The Druids represented the deluge under the figure of a lake, called Llyn Llion, the waters of which burst forth, and overwhelmed the face of the whole earth. Hence they regarded a lake as the just symbol of the deluge. But the deluge itself was viewed, not merely as an instrument of punishment to destroy the wicked inhabitants of the globe, but also as a divine lustration, which washed away the bane of corruption, and purified the earth for the reception of the just ones, or of the deified patriarch and his family. Consequently, it was deemed peculiarly sacred, and communicated its distinguishing character to those lakes and bays, by which it was locally represented.

[143]

As a relict of this superstition of our ancestors, I may adduce the names of certain lakes amongst the Cambrian mountains; as, Llyn Creini, the lake of adoration, upon Cevn Creini, the hill of adoration: and Llyn Urddyn, the lake of consecration, in Meirionethshire; and Uyn Grvydd Ior, the lake of the grove of Ior, or God, in Montgomeryshire.¹⁷¹ Such names evidently imply, that some religious ideas were anciently connected with these lakes. And that this kind of superstition was prevalent amongst the ancient Druids, may be inferred from the testimony of Gildas, who informs us that they worshipped mountains and rivers.¹⁷²

And, that the veneration for lakes was referable to the deluge, appears from the Welsh chronicles of Walter de Mapes, and Geoffrey of Monmouth. These writers, in the mass of their romance, involve a few genuine national traditions; which they would fain pass upon the world for sober history. Thus they introduce Arthur, as saying "There is a lake near the Severn, called Llyn Llion, which swallows all the water that flows into it at the tide of flood, without any visible increase: but at the tide of ebb, it swells up like a mountain, and pours its waters over the banks, so that whoever stands near it at this time, must run the risk of being overwhelmed."¹⁷³

The Llyn Llion of these writers preserves the name of that mythological lake, which occasioned the deluge; of which it was, therefore, a local symbol. The peculiarity here assigned to it, may allude to some such natural phenomenon as the Hygre, or Severn Boar; a high and roar- [144] ing surge, which leads the flood to the inland parts of the channel, whilst the river is actually ebbing in its æstuary. This circumstance the Druids may have remarked, and improved upon it, for the purposes of superstition.

The reference of the sacred lakes of the Britons to the deluge, is so clear in the mystical poems, that I need not cite particular passages. The reader is referred to the Appendix in general.

And not only the Britons, but the continental Celtae also, are remarked in history for their superstitious veneration of lakes.

Strabo says, that the Gauls consecrated their gold in certain lakes; and adds, that lakes furnished them with their most inviolate sanctuaries. [Greek]. Here we must understand, certain islets, or rafts, inclosed within these lakes; as will be seen in the sequel.

We also learn from Justin, that in a time of public calamity, the priests of the Gauls, that is, the Druids, declared to the people, that they should not be free from the pestilential distemper which then raged among them, till they should have dipped the gold and silver, gotten by war and sacrilege, in the lake of Thoulouse.¹⁷⁴

Hence the author of Rel. des Gaules supposes, that the Gauls of Thoulouse had no other temple than a sacred lake.

[145]

The same author presents us with this curious account:

"Many persons resorted to a lake, at the foot of the Gevaudan mountain, consecrated to the moon, under the name of Helantus, and thither cast in, some, the human habits, linen, cloth, and entire fleeces; others cast in cheese, wax, bread, and other things, every one according to his ability; then sacrificed animals, and feasted for three days."¹⁷⁵

This seems to be perfectly consonant with British superstition, in regard to the Diluvian lakes.

But the deluge overwhelmed the world, and this catastrophe was figured out in the traditional history of several of our sacred lakes.

The annotator upon Camden mentions the names of six lakes, in which ancient cities are reported to have been drowned.¹⁷⁶

I could add several others to this list, but I observe, that tradition generally adds, that some person or small family escaped upon a piece of timber, or by other means. Though I think it improbable that such submersions actually happened, I refer the tales in which they are reported, to those lessons which our ancestors learned from their heathen instructors, whilst inculcating the mythology of the deluge.

The principal lake mentioned by our author is Llyn Sa- [146] vaddan, in Brecknockshire. The old story of its formation is not totally forgotten. I recollect some of its incidents, as related by an old man in the town of Hay.

"The scite of the present lake was formerly occupied by a large city; but the inhabitants were reported to be very wicked. The king of the country sent his servant to examine into the truth of this rumour, adding a threat, that in case it should prove to be well founded, he would destroy the place, as an example to his other subjects. The minister arrived at the town in the evening. All the inhabitants were engaged in riotous festivity, and wallowing in excess. Not one of them regarded the stranger, or offered him the rites of hospitality. At last, he saw the open door of a mean habitation, into which he entered. The family had deserted it to repair to the scene of tumult, all but one infant, who lay weeping in the cradle. The royal favourite sat down by the side of this cradle, soothed the little innocent, and was grieved at the thought, that he must perish in the destruction of his abandoned neighbours. In this situation the stranger passed the night; and whilst he was diverting the child, he accidentally dropped his glove into the cradle. The next morning he departed before it was light, to carry his melancholy tidings to the king.

"He had but just left the town when he heard a noise behind him, like a tremendous crack of thunder mixed with dismal shrieks and lamentations. He stopped  to listen. Now it sounded like the dashing of waves: and presently all was dead silence. He could not see what had happened, as it was still dark, and he felt no inclination to return into the city; so he pursued his journey till sunrise. The morning was cold. He searched for his gloves, and finding but one of them, he presently [147] recollected where lie had left the other. These gloves had been a present from his sovereign. He determined to return for that which he had left behind. When he was come near to the scite of the town, he observed with surprize, that none of the buildings presented themselves to his view, as on the preceding day. He proceeded a few steps The whole plain was covered with a lake. Whilst he was gazing at this novel and terrific scene, he remarked a little spot in the middle of the water: the wind gently wafted it towards the bank where he stood; as it drew near, he recognized the identical cradle in which he had left his glove. His joy on receiving this pledge of royal favour was only heightened by the discovery, that the little object of his compassion had reached the shore alive and unhurt. He carried the infant to the king, and told his majesty, that this was all which he had been able to save out of that wretched place."

This little narrative evidently contains the substance of one of those tales, which we call Mabinogion, that is, tales for the instruction of youth, in the principles of Bardic mythology. And it seems to have for its object, a local and impressive commemoration of the destruction of a profligate race, by the waters of the deluge.

Such traditions of the submersion of cities, in the lakes, of the country, or of populous districts, by the intrusion of the sea, are current all over Wales. They were not unfrequent in other heathenish countries; and I observe, Mr. Faber uniformly refers them to the history of the deluge.

Thus "Phlegyas and his children, the Phlegyse, were said to have come from the land of Mintas, and in the pride of their heart, to have quitted the city of the Orehome- [148] nians or Arkites. This desertion from the Minyae or Noachida, proved the cause of their destruction; for it was in reality, the separation of the antediluvian giants, or Titans, from the family of Noah. They refused to imitate the piety of that patriarch, and were consequently excluded from the ark by their own wickedness. Accordingly Nonnus represents them as being overwhelmed by Neptune, with the waters of the ocean.

From its deep rooted base, the Phlegyan isle
Stern Neptune shook, and plung'd beneath the waves,
Its impious inhabitants."¹⁷⁷

"I am persuaded, says our author, that the tradition of the sinking of the Phlegyaniste, is the very same as that of the sinking of the island Atlantis. They both appear to me to allude to one great event, the sinking of the old world beneath the waters of the deluge, or if we suppose  the arch of the earth to have remained in its original position, the rising of the central waters above it. The force of truth leads him (M. Baily) unguardedly to maintain, for he doubtless did not perceive the consequences of such a position, that the Atlantians were the same as the Titans and the giants; and he even cites an ancient tradition, preserved by Cosmas Indico-Pleustes, that Noah formerly inhabited the island Atlantis; but that, at the time of the deluge, he was carried in an ark to that continent, which has ever since been occupied by his posterity. These particulars unequivocally point out to us, the proper mode of explaining the history of the Atlantians."¹⁷⁸

[149]

As a further elucidation of our prevalent traditions, of the submersion of cities and regions, I must take the liberty to transcribe the following curious passage.

"As the sinking of the Phlegyan isle, and the submersion of the island Atlantis, equally relate to the events of the flood; so the Chinese have preserved a precisely similar tradition, respecting the preservation of the pious Peirnum, and the fate of the island Maurigasima, the Atlantis of the eastern world.

"Maurigasima, says Kæmpfer, was an island famous in former ages, for the excellency and fruitfulness of its soil, which afforded among the rest, a particular clay, exceedingly proper for the making of those vessels, which now go by the name of Porcelain, or China ware. The inhabitants very much enriched themselves by the manufacture; but their increasing wealth gave birth to luxury and contempt of religion, which incensed the gods to that degree, that by an irrevocable decree, they determined to sink the whole island. However, the then reigning king 'and sovereign of the island, whose name was Peirmm, being a very virtuous and religious prince, no ways guilty of the crimes of his subjects, this decree of the gods was revealed to him in a dream; wherein he was commanded, as he valued the security of his person, to retire on board his ships, and to flee from the island, as soon as he should observe, that the faces of the two idols which stood at the entry of the temple turned red. So pressing a danger, impending over the heads of his subjects, and the signs whereby they might know its approach, in order to save their lives by a speedy flight, he caused forthwith to be made public; but he was only ridiculed for his zeal and care, and grew contemptible to his subjects. Some time [150] after, a loose idle fellow, further to expose the king's superstitious fears, went one night, nobody observing him, and painted the faces of both idols red. The next morning notice was given to the king, that the idols' faces were red: upon which, little imagining it to be done by such wicked hands, but looking upon it as a miraculous event, and undoubted sign of the island's destruction being now at hand; he went forthwith on board his ships with his family, and all that would follow him; and with crowded sails, hastened from the fatal shores, towards the coasts of the province Foktsju, in China. After the king's departure, the island sunk; and the scoffer, with his accomplices, not apprehensive that their frolic would be attended with so dangerous a consequence; were swallowed up by the waves, with all the unfaithful that remained in the island, and an immense quantity of porcelain ware.

"The king and his people got safe to China, where the memory of his arrival is still celebrated by a yearly festival, on which the Chinese, particularly the inhabitants of the southern maritime provinces, divert themselves on the water, rowing up and down in their boats, as if they were preparing for a flight, and sometimes crying with a loud voice, Peirmin, which was the name of that prince. The same festival hath been, by the Chinese, introduced into Japan; and is now celebrated there, chiefly upon the western coasts of this empire."

"It is easy to see, continues Mr. Faber, that this tradition, respecting the island Maurigasima, is a mere adaptation of the fable of the Atlantis, to the manners and habits of the Chinese. The same local appropriation which fixed the one island in the western, fixed the other [151] in the eastern ocean; and, while the Greeks and Phœnicians worshipped the great solar patriarch, under the name of Atlas; the Chinese revered the common progenitor of mankind, under the title of Peiruun, or P'Arun' the Arkite."¹⁷⁹

To the same general conclusion, to which Mr, Faber is led by a view of universal mythology, I had arrived by the contemplation of British tradition. This coincidence furnishes a presumption, that we are both right, and that these local tales of people so widely separated in time and situation, must allude to some great event, in which the ancestors of all nations were concerned. This event could be no other than the deluge.

And as the tales of the submersion of towns and provinces, presented our rude ancestors with local commemorations of the destruction of mankind, by the deluge; so, on the other hand, we find the country full of tradition, which must be referred to the preservation of the patriarch and his family through the midst of that awful calamity. To this class pertain the rivers which are represented as passing uncorrupted and unmixed through the waters of certain lakes. Let it suffice to mention two instances.

Camden, speaking of Llyn Savaddan, already described, says—

"Lheweni, a small river, having entered this lake, still retains its own colour, and as it were, disdaining a mix- [152] ture, is thought to carry out no more, nor other water, than what it brought in."¹⁸⁰

Again—

"In the East part of the county (Meirioneth) the river Dee springs from two fountains. This river, after a very short course, is said to pass entire and unmixed, through a large lake, called Llyn Tegid, in English, Pemble Mear—carrying out the same quantity of water that it brought in.''¹⁸¹

As the lakes themselves were symbols of the deluge, so these incorriptible rivers were the stream of life, which passed, whole and uninjured, through those destructive waters.

Here it is to be remarked, that the fountains of the Dee are distinguished by the names of Dwyvawr, and Dwyvach: and these are the very names of the mythological pair already mentioned, who were preserved in the sacred ship when the lake burst forth and drowned the world. Hence it must be inferred, that these united and immaculate streams, were regarded as symbols of those distinguished personages. Such as the sacred rivers reported by Gildas, to have been worshipped by the Pagan Britons.

The honours of the Dee may be inferred, not only from the consecrated spots and temples which adorn its banks, but from its very names. It was called Dvyrdwy, the divine water, Dyvrdonwy, the water conferring virtue or grace; [153] and Peryddoon, a divine stream, or, the stream of the great causes or commanders.¹⁸²

The Dee was then worshipped as the image of the deified patriarch, and his supposed consort. Nor were even these conceits peculiar to our Celtic ancestors. Mr. Faber has shewn by a variety of arguments and deductions, that Styx, the river or lake of hell, like our British lakes, was a personification of the flood.¹⁸³

"Accordingly, adds our author, the Scholiast upon Hesiod declares, that Styx was the water which proceeded from the lowest parts of the earth, and occasioned the phænomenon of the rainbow." This passage brings to view the great deep, and the sacred sign given to Noah upon the subsiding of the deluge, Yet Homer records a tale of the Titaresius, a stream which flows forth from the Styx, precisely analogous to the British mythology of the Dee.

"Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides,
And into Peneus, rolls his easy tides;
Yet o'er the silver surface, pure they flow,
The sacred stream, unmixed with streams below,
Sacred and awful ! from the dark abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of gods."¹⁸⁴

This ænigma being precisely the same in Greece and Britain, it is probable, that if it were duly investigated, it would be found to admit of the same solution.

[154]

But I must go on to consider another circumstance of tradition, connected with the lakes and bays of Britain; and by which our ancestors commemorated the vessel in which their deified patriarch overcame the deluge.

This vessel is denominated a caer, that is, a fenced, inclosure, and the same caer is described as an island.¹⁸⁵ Hence the sanctuaries of the Druids, which were intended as representatives of this prototype, are often styled caers and islands, and were frequently constructed within small islands, which were considered as having once floated upon the surface of the water. And where these were wanting, our hierophants seem to have constructed a kind of rafts or floats, in imitation of such islands.

Thus the British Apollo, speaking through his priest, asks the names of the three caers, between the high and the low water mark, and boasts, that in case of a general deluge, he would preserve his seat of presidency safe and inviolate: intimating, that the sacred spot would mount on the surface of the waters.¹⁸⁶ Such is the representation which we have of the great sanctuary of Sidi.

"The inundation will surround us, the chief priests of Ked: yet complete is my chair, in Caer Sidi, neither disorder nor age will oppress him that is within it. Three loud strains, round the fire, will be sung before it, whilst the currents of the sea are round its borders, and the copious fountain is open from above."¹⁸⁷

[155]

Taliesin describes his holy sanctuary as wandering about from place to place. He first mentions it, as being upon the surface of the ocean: the billows assail it, and with speed it removes before them. It now appears on the wide lake, a city not protected with walls; the sea surrounds it. Again we perceive it on the ninth wave, and presently it is arrived within the gulph, or bend of the shore; there it lifts itself on high, and at last, fixes on the margin of the flood. After all, it appears that this holy sanctuary was nothing more than the little island of Dinbych, in Dyved, or that insulated spot, upon which the town of Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, stands at present.¹⁸⁸

What can all this mean, unless it be, that this was a sacred island of the Druids, and that it was congenial to their arkite mythology, to devise the fable, that it had once floated on the surface of the ocean?

In the mountains near Brecknock, there is a small lake, to which tradition assigns some of the properties of the fabulous Avernus. I recollect a Mabinogi, or mythological tale, respecting this piece of water, which seems to imply, that it had once a floating raft, for here is no island.

"In ancient times, it is said, a door in a rock near this lake, was found open upon a certain day every year. I think it was May day. Those who had the curiosity and resolution to enter, were conducted by a secret passage, which terminated in a small island, in the centre of the lake. Here the visitors were surprized with the prospect of a most enchanting garden, stored with the choicest [156] fruits and flowers, and inhabited by the Tylwyth Teg, or fair family, a kind of fairies, whose beauty could be equalled only by the courtesy and affability which they exhibited to those who pleased them. They gathered fruit and flowers for each of their guests, entertained them with the most exquisite music, disclosed to them many events of futurity, and invited them to stay, as long as they should find their situation agreeable. But the island was sacred, and nothing of its produce must be carried away."

"The whole of this scene was invisible to those who stood without the margin of the lake. Only an indistinct mass was seen in the middle; and it was observed, that no bird would fly over the water, and that a soft strain of music, at times, breathed with rapturous sweetness in the breeze of the mountain.

"It happened upon one of these annual visits, that a sacrilegious wretch, when he was about to leave the garden, put a flower, with which he had been presented, into his pocket; but the theft boded him no good. As soon as he had touched unhallowed ground, the flour vanished, and he lost his senses.

"Of this injury, the fair family took no notice at the time. They dismissed their guests with their accustomed courtesy, and the door was closed as usual. But their resentment ran high. For though, as the tale goes, like Tylwyth Teg and their garden undoubtedly occupy the spot to this day though the birds still keep at a respectful distance from the lake, and some broken strains of music are still heard at times, yet the door which led to the island has never re-appeared; and, from the date [157] of this sacrilegious act, the Cymry have been unfortunate."

It is added, that "Some time after this, an adventurous person attempted to draw off the water, in order to discover its contents, when a terrific form arose from the midst of the lake, commanding him to desist, or otherwise he would drown the country."

I have endeavoured to render this tale tolerable, by compressing its language, without altering or adding to its circumstances. Its connection with British mythology may be inferred, from a passage of Taliesin, where he says, that the deluge was presaged by the Druid, who earnestly attended, in the æthereal temple of Geirionydd, to the songs that were chaunted by the Gwyllion, children of the evening, in the bosoms of lakes.¹⁸⁹

The floating island of this lake was evidently an Arkite sanctuary.

Giraldus Cambrensis, speaking of the lakes amongst the mountains of Snowdon, mentions one which was remarkable for a wandering island, concerning which some traditional stories were related. Camden thinks this lake is to be recognized in "A small pond, called Llyn y DywaTcheri (i.e. Lacus Cespitis), from a little green moveable patch, which is all the occasion of the fable of the wandering island."¹⁹⁰

This great antiquary was but little inquisitive, as to the [158] nature and tendency of popular tradition; otherwise he would have recorded some curious particulars of the islands in the celebrated lake of Lomond. He only observes, that "It hath several islands in it, concerning which there are many traditional stories amongst the ordinary sort of people. As for the floating island here, I shall not call the truth of it in question; for what should hinder a body from swimming, that is dry and hollow, like a pinnace, and very light? And so Pliny tells us, that certain green islands, covered with reeds and rushes, float up and down in the lake of Vadimon."¹⁹¹

Pliny's description of the lake of Vadimon is minute and curious. Many incredible stories were told of it; but the following particulars, amongst others, he observed as an eye witness.

The lake is perfectly round, the banks even, regular, and of equal height; so that it appears as if scooped out, and formed by the hand of an artist. The water is of a bluish or greenish colour, it smells of sulphur, and has the quality of consolidating things that had been broken. There is no vessel upon this lake, because it is sacred; but it has several fertile, wandering islands, of equal height and lightness, and formed like the keels or hulks of ships.

The same lake sends forth a stream, which, after flowing a short space, is buried in a cave, and runs deep under the earth. If any thing is cast into this stream, before it enters the cave, it is carried forth to the place where it reappears.¹⁹²

[159]

As this lake of Vadimon, or Vandimon, with its floating islands, was sacred, there can be little doubt, that it was accommodated by art to the commemoration of Arkite superstition; and consecrated to the Etruscan Janus, whose name it bore. But this divinity, as we are informed by a very curious relic of Etruscan antiquity, was no other than the Noah of Scripture.

Magnus pater Vandimon, qui a Latinis Janus, a Syria Noa vocatur, advenit in banc regionem (scil. Hetruriam) cum secundo filio Japeto, et illius filiis; et cum venissent super hunc montem, sibi commodum, posteris jucundum putavit. Quare, in superiori parte, quae salubrior esset, civitatem aedificavit, et Cethem appellavit.¹⁹³

The arrival of Noah in Italy, is probably as fabulous as the settlement of Hu in Britain; but gods and deified persons are generally represented as having settled in those places, where their worship was established. All I would infer from the testimony of Pliny, connected with this passage, is, that the Helio-arkite patriarch was commemorated in his sacred lakes and floating islands in Italy, as well as in Britain; and consequently, that the tales of the Britons, respecting such lakes and islands, are authentically derived from heathen mythology.

And such floating islands, or rafts, substituted for islands, seem to have been generally viewed as symbols. of the ark.

Mr. Faber remarks, that "Herodotus mentions a deep and broad lake, near Buto, in which, according to the Egyptians, there was a floating island On this island [160] was a large temple, dedicated to Apollo, and furnished with three altars. It was not supposed, however, to have been always in a floating state, but to have lost its original firmness, in consequence of the following circumstance. When Typhon, or the ocean, was roaming through the world, in quest of Horus, or Apollo, the mythological son of Osiris, Latona, who was one of the primitive eight gods, and who dwelt in the city Buto, having received him in trust from Isis, concealed him from the rage of that destructive monster in this sacred island, which then first began to float."¹⁹⁴—"As for the floating island mentioned by Herodotus," continues Mr. Faber, "it was probably only a large raft, constructed in imitation of the ark; while Horus, whose temple was built upon it, was the same person as his supposed father Osiris, or Noah, worshipped in conjunction with the sun."

Again: "This mode of representing the ark by a floating island, was not exclusively confined to Egypt. As Latona and Apollo were two of the great gods worshipped at Buto, so we find the same traditions prevalent at Delos, both with respect to its having once been a floating island, and to the various dangers by which Latona was assailed,"¹⁹⁵

Delos, any more than our Dinbych, never wandered but in fable; and that, for the same reason, because it was consecrated to the Helio-arkite god; who, in his human capacity, had wandered upon the face of the deluge.

[161]

The same author adduces many more instances in the course of his work, and then remarks in general. "All these lakes contained small sacred islands, which seem to have been considered as emblematical of the ark; whence  those in the lakes of Buto and Cotyle, were supposed to have once floated."¹⁹⁶ Thus he solves the problem of M.  Bailly, who, noticing the extreme veneration of the ancients for islands, demands—¹⁹⁷"Ne trouvez-vous pas, Monsieur, quelque chose de singulier, dans cet amour des anciens pour les isles? Tout ce qu'il y a de sacrc, de grand, et d'antique s'y est passe: pourquoi les habitant du continent ont-ils donne cet avantage aux isles, sur le continent meme?"¹⁹⁸

But the sacred islands of the Druids are not always to be regarded as merely symbolical of the ark. I find that certain islands, and rocky promontories, whether in the sacred lakes, æstuaries of rivers, or bays of the sea, represented the mount upon which the deified patriarch landed, from the waters of the deluge,

This fact is particularly evident, in the story of Gwyddnaze Garanhir, the lofty crane, priest of the ship, a hierophant, whose office it was to conduct the noviciates through a scenic representation of the patriarch's adventures. To this end, he inclosed the persons to be initiated in coracles, covered with the skins of beasts, launched them from the [162] shore in Cardigan bay, and, after they had weathered the mimic deluge, received them safe upon a reef of rocks, I suppose, Sam Badrig, or Patuck's Causeway, which represented the landing-place of the patriarch.

In a curious poem, which I shall have occasion to insert in the next section, this scene is presented to view. The probationer standing upon the shore, and about to enter the mystic coracle, but observing that the waves were rough, and the rock at a considerable distance, exclaims—

"Though I love the sea beach, I dread the open sea ; a billow may come, undulating over the stone."

To this the hierophant replies—

"To the brave, to the magnanimous, to the amiable, to the generous, who boldly embarks, the landing-stone of the Bards will prove the harbour of life: it has asserted the praise of Heilyn, the mysterious impeller of the sky; and till the doom shall its symbol be continued."

As this scene was to typify the passage through the deluge, it is evident, that the landing-stone which terminated that passage, and proved a harbour of life, stood for the rock or mount upon which the patriarch arrived safe, from the midst of the waters; the same upon which he built the altar, and obtained the gracious promise, that the deluge should return no more. The Druids then regarded certain islands, or rocks, contiguous to the water, as symbols of this mount.

In this sense, I regard the sacred rock which inclosed the [163] stall of the ox¹⁹⁹—"Boldly swells the stream to its high limit let the rock beyond the billow be set in order at the dawn, displaying the countenance of him who receives the exile into his sanctuary the rock; of the supreme proprietory the chief place of tranquillity." In the name of this rock, the mystic priest proclaims—"I am the cell, I  am the opening chasm I am the place of re-animation!"

This was then the landing-stone, the harbour of life, where the patriarch and his children were restored to light and animation, after having passed through the symbolical death of the deluge.

In allusion to this, the mystical Bard says "Existing of yore, in the great seas, from the time when the shout was heard, we were put forth whilst smiling at the side of the rock, Nir remained in calm tranquillity."²⁰⁰

Ner was the Nereus of the Greeks and Romans, the great abyss, which was now retiring in calm serenity, when the patriarch and his family had reached the sacred rock.

To this mythology, the stories of the sacred islands in the lake of Lomond may have alluded. The Welsh romantic chronicles of the twelfth century inform us, that this lake receives sixty streams from the neighbouring hills, which it unites, and puts forth in the form of one river, named Leven that it contains sixty islands, each of which has a rock or petra, with an eagle's nest on its top that these eagles assemble annually at a central petra, on May- [164] day, and by their concert of screams, vaticinate the fates of countries and kingdoms for the ensuing year.²⁰¹

If, by these eagles, we understand fraternities of heathen priests, who often appear under that name, the story may have been authentically derived from the mythology of the country.

The island of Bardsea, so illustrious in Bardic and popish lore, seems to have been one of the rocks of the supreme proprietor, or places of re-animation, which commemorated the landing of the patriarch. Meilyr, a celebrated Bard of the twelfth century, says of it—

Ynys glan yglain
Gwrthrych dadwyrain
Ys cain iddi,

"The holy island of the Glain (adder-stone), to which pertains a splendid representation of re-exaltation."

I might extend my remarks to several other islands, as that of Hu, Iona or Icolmkil, where popish superstition adopted the prejudice of its pagan ancestor; and even to the name of the great hierophant, Merddin Vardd, which implies priest of the sea-girt hill. But as this appellation has something of an obsolete sound, it is familiarized to our countrymen, by making him the son of Morvryn, mount in the sea. In all this, the reader may perceive the predilection of our ancestors for certain small insular spots, whether embosomed in lakes, bays, or æstuaries of rivers, The same feature of superstition has presented itself to the [165] researches of modern antiquaries, Thus Dr. Borlase remarks some huge remains of monuments, which are deemed Druidical, in the islets of Scilly, more particularly in Trescaw, which was anciently called Inis Caw, the island of confederacy, whence a graduate in the Druidical school was styled Bardd Caw.

It is not easy to determine with precision, which of our sacred islands symbolized the wandering ark, and which the stable mount, upon whose firm base the patriarch rested from his toils. But they had an intimate relation one to the other; and to some such sacred island, our mystical Bards refer the ultimate origin of their Diluvian lore.

In the poem called the Spoils of the Deep,²⁰² Taliesin treats of the deepest mysteries of his Arkite theology.

"Am I not contending," says the Bard, "for the fame of that song which was four times reviewed in the quadrangular Caer, or sanctuary! As the first sentence, was it uttered from the cauldron, which began to be warmed by the breath of the nine damsels. Is not this the cauldron of the ruler of the deep." That is, the cauldron of Hu, the emperor of the seas. And again: "Am not I contending for the honour of a song which deserves attention! In the quadrangular inclosure, in the island of the strong door or barrier, the twilight and the pitchy darkness are mixed together, whilst bright wine is the beverage of the narrow circle!"

The cauldron here mentioned, as will be seen in the ensuing section, implies the whole system of Druidical lore; [166] and we are here told that the mythology of the deluge was the first of its mystical productions. This cauldron was attended and originally prepared by nine damsels, in a quadrangular sanctuary, without a sacred island. These damsels are commemorated in the monuments of Cornwall.

"On the downs, leading from Wadebridge to St. Columb, and about two miles distant from it, is a line of  stones, bearing N. E. and S. W. This monument is generally called the nine maids."²⁰³ These maids, in whom the Diluvian lore originated, must be ultimately referred to the Gwyllion, certain prophetesses of mythology, who gave the first presage of the deluge, by their nightly songs, in the bosoms of lakes; that is, in their sacred islands.²⁰⁴ From these fabulous models, a sisterhood of priestesses and pretended prophetesses seem to have been established early, and to have continued down to the sixth century.

Taliesin mentions four damsels, who attended to lament the death of the priest of Hu, or perhaps the mystical death of the god himself.²⁰⁵

Gwyllion, the name of these damsels, is the plural of Gwyll, which, in its present acceptation, is a night wanderer, a fairy, a witch, &c. They are represented as children of the evening, probably because it was their office to celebrate certain nightly orgies.

[167]

But what was their island with the strong door? I think it must be recognized in the Seon with the strong door, mentioned in the poem last cited. At this spot, Hu, or Aeddon, is fabled to have arrived at the time of the deluge, from the land of Gwydion.

That this was an island, appears from another mystical poem.²⁰⁶ Taliesin, in his approach to it, goes to the mouth of a river, where he is met by Mugnach, the mysterious, the son of Mydnaw, mover of the ship, or of the nine, who presided as a sovereign in his sacred Caer, and was acknowledged as the teacher of liberality and honour, and the giver of mead and wine (these are the endowments of Hu). He invites the Bard to a booth, which the latter seems to avoid with dread and apprehension.

Seon, however, was not properly the appellative of the island, but of certain mystical personages, who communicated their own name to it, and who seem to have been no other than the Gwyllion, or prophetic maids above mentioned. Like the muses of old, they were the patronesses of poetry and music. Taliesin says—

Ef cyrch cerddorion Se syberw Seon

"The tuneful tribe will resort to the magnificent Se of the Seon,"²⁰⁷

There was some signal disaster attendant upon the fall of one of these ladies: hence the Bards use the simile, in illustrating a hopeless calamity. Thus—

[168]

Astnis chwedl ry chweiris i Gymry
Ystryw chwervv, nid chweriau ryle
Ail yrth, ail syrth Se
Ail diliw dilain draig erhy.

"A doleful tale to the Cymry, sports about Of bitter stratagem, not fair contention for superiority; like the concussion, like the fall of a Se—like the deluge that afflicted the intrepid dragon."²⁰⁸

Druidism, then, is asserted to have originated in the sacred island of the 5eow, where the mysteries of Hu, the Helio-arkite god, considered in the character of Bacchus, were celebrated by nine priestesses, who had the title of Gwyllion. This brings our Bardic mythology again into contact with classical authority. For our ^eon corresponds with the Sena and our Gwyllion with the Gallicena of Pomponius Mela.

"Sena," says that geographer, "situated in the British sea, over against the land of the Osismii, is famous for the oracle of a Gaulish deity, whose priestesses, devoted to perpetual virginity, are said to be nine in number. They are called Gallicenæ, supposed to be of great genius, and rare endowments; capable of raising storms by their incantations, of transforming themselves into what animals they please, of curing ailments, reckoned by others beyond the reach of medicine; quick at discerning, and able to foretel what is to come; but easy of address only to sailors, and to those who come into this island on purpose to consult them.²⁰⁹

[169]

This spot must have been near the Land's-end, or amongst the Scilly islands; but as the different Celtic tribes had, probably, several Caer Seons, with establishments somewhat differing from each other, I find a Sena in the British seas, mentioned by Strabo, which in some particulars comes nearer to our Bardic mythology.

Men never landed here, but the women, passing over in ships, and having conversed with their husbands, returned again to the island, and to their charge, which was to worship Bacchus, the god to whom they were consecrated, with rites and sacrifices. Every year it was their custom to unroof their temple, and to renew the covering the same day, before sunset, by the united labours of all the women; of whom, if any one dropped or lost the burden she was carrying, to complete the sacred work, she was torn in pieces by the rest, and the several limbs of this unhappy companion they carried round their temple, with, rejoicings proper to the solemnities of Bacchus, until their fury abated. Of this cruel rite, Strabo says, there always happened some instance, whenever the annual solemnity of uncovering the temple was celebrated.²¹⁰

The Gallicenæ of Mela were evidently priestesses of Ked or Ceridwen, the mythological consort of the Arkite god; and to her, the singular qualities ascribed to them properly appertained. It will be seen in the ensuing section, that her knowledge and genius were very extraordinary. She was an enchantress she could assume the form of whatsoever animal she pleased. She was eminently skilled in medicine, and both possessed herself, and could communicate to her priests, a view of all future events.

[170]

Strabo's priestesses were immediately consecrated to Hu, the British Bacchus, whose cell, quadrangular inclosure, or stall of the ox, they covered annually with branches. The geographer's narrative fully illustrates the meaning of our Bards, when they allude to the calamitous slip of one of this sisterhood.

Agreeably to the Helio-arkite superstition, these personages exercised their sacred function in the bosoms of lakes or bays, which represented the deluge, and within the verge of consecrated islands, the symbols either of the floating ark, or of the spot upon which the patriarch disembarked.

As, then, the deified patriarch, or his representative, was supposed to have his usual residence in such situations, and as the office of the sacred oxen was to submit their necks to the car of the lofty one, we may perceive what is meant by that important rite, of drawing the avanc out of the lake. It could imply nothing more, than drawing the shrine of the Diluvian god from his symbolical ark, to the rock of debarkation, preparatory to his periodical visits to his temples and sanctuaries, upon firm ground; or investing him with the empire of the recovered earth.

The Bards supply many curious hints respecting the rites used upon this occasion.

The usual residence of this tauriform god, was in his consecrated cell, or ox-stall, on a rock surrounded with the billow's, the rock of the supreme proprietor, the chief place of tranquillity. At a certain season, his festival commences with the adorning of the rock and the cell; then a solemn proclamation is issued, the bacchanals hasten to the jolly carousal, and, amongst other extravagances, pierce [171] their thighs, so as to cause an effusion of blood.²¹¹ This was at the season of May, or when the song of the Cuckoo convenes the appointed dance over the green.²¹²

"Eminent is the virtue of the free course, when this dance is performed; loud is the horn of the lustrator, when the kine move in the evening."²¹³

And the dance is performed with solemn festivity about the lakes, round which and the sanctuary the priests move sideways, whilst the sanctuary is earnestly invoking the gliding king (the dragon, Bacchus), before whom the fair one retreats, upon the veil that covers the huge stones. This is also the time of libation, and of slaying the victim.²¹⁴

This sanctuary is in the island which had floated on the wide lake, but was now fixed on the margin of the flood. Here the sacred ox, the Ych Banawg, is stationed before the lake, to draw the shrine through the shallow water to dry ground. There is the retinue of the god, there is the procession, there the eagle waves aloft in the air, marking the path of Granwyn, the solar deity, the pervading and invincible sovereign.²¹⁵

Aneurin, as an eye witness, thus describes the solemnities of this ceremony, and an accident, or mystical incident, which attended its celebration.

[172]

"In the presence of the blessed ones, before the great assembly, before the occupiers of the holme (the priests of the sacred island), when the house (shrine of the god) was recovered from the swamp (drawn out of the shallow water) surrounded with crooked horns and crooked  swords, in honour of the mighty king of the plains, the king of open countenance (Bacchus); I saw dark gore (from the frantic gashes of the bacchanals) arising on the stalks of plants, on the clasp of the chain (of the oxen), on the bunches (ornaments of their collars), on the sovereign (the god himself) on the bush and the spear (the thyrsus). Ruddy was the sea beach, whilst the circular revolution was performed by the attendants, and the white bands, in graceful extravagance.

"The assembled train were dancing after the manner, and singing in cadence, with garlands on their brows: loud was the clattering of shields round the ancient cauldron, in frantic mirth; and lively was the countenance of him who, in his prowess, had snatched over the ford that involved ball, which casts its rays to a distance, the splendid product of the adder, shot forth by serpents."

(This was a priest, who was fabled to have obtained the Anguinum, in the manner described by Pliny: the acquisition seems to have procured him the privilege of personifying the god.)

"But," continues the Bard, "wounded art thou, severely wounded, thou delight of princesses, thou who lovedst the living herd! It was my earnest wish that thou mightest live, thou of victorious energy! Ah, thou bull, wrongfully oppressed, thy death I deplore thou hast been a friend to tranquillity! In view of the sea, in the [173] front of assembled men, and near the pit of conflict, the raven has pierced thee in wrath."²¹⁶

Whether the wounding of this bull who represented the taurine god, was an unforeseen accident, or a customary mystical incident, I am not mythologist enough to ascertain. But, upon the whole, it may be asserted, that in the solemnities here described, the ancients may have perceived legitimate rites of the orgies of Bacchus; and we may conclude, that it was something of this kind that Strabo and Dionysius had in view, when they ascribed the worship of that god to the British islands.

The similarity of these rites with those of other heathens, might be proved in almost every particular; but I shall only produce three or four passages, as bearing generally upon the subject.

Sophocles thus invokes the Bacchus of the Greeks.²¹⁷

"Immortal leader of the maddening choir,
Whose torches blaze with unextinguish'd fire,
Great son of Jove, who guid'st the tuneful throng,
Thou who presid'st over the nightly song,
Come, with thy Naxian maids, a festive train,
Who, wild with joy, and raging o'er the plain,
For thee the dance prepare, to thee devote the strain."²¹⁸

Here, as well as amongst the Britons, this god has his residence in a small island, Naxos, where he is attended by [174] his frantic priestesses, and from whence he begins his progress, with the nightly song and extravagant dance. Another band of his priestesses welcome him to land at Elis, in the hymn recorded by Plutarch.

"Come, hero Dionusus, to thy temple on the sea shore; come, heifer-footed deity, to thy sacrifice, and bring the graces in thy train! Hear us, O bull, worthy of our  veneration; hear us, O illustrious bull!"²¹⁹

The following passages of Euripides, preserved by Strabo,²²⁰ represent the rites of this god much in the same manner as our British Bards, allowing for the homeliness of the Celtic muse.

"Happy the man who, crown'd with ivy wreaths,
And brandishing his thyrsus,
The mystic rites of Cuba understands,
And worships mighty Dionusus.
Haste, ye Bacchae!
Haste, bring our god, Sabazian Bromus,
From Phrygia's mountains to the realms of Greece."

"On Ida's summit, with his mighty mother,
Young Bacchus leads the frantic train,
And through the echoing woods the rattling timbrels sound."

[175]

"Then the Curetes clashed their sounding arms,
And raised, without full voice, the song

To Bacchus, ever young;
While the shrill pipe

Resounded to the praise of Cybele,
And the gay Satyrs tripp'd in jocund dance,
Such dance as Bacchus loves."²²¹

These descriptions correspond with the rites of the British Bacchus; but the reader will, perhaps, inquire for the mighty mother of the god, who makes so conspicuous a figure in the Grecian Bard.

I have already mentioned, incidentally, a female character, as connected with the Helio-arkite god of the Britons. This goddess, who is, at one time, represented as the mother of that deity, and, at other times, as his consort or his daughter, participates in all his honours and prerogatives; so that, what is now attributed to the one, is again presently ascribed to the other. She comes under a variety of names, as Ked, Ceridwen, Lladd, Awen, and many others; and she has a daughter, named Creiwey or Uywy, whose attributes are not easily distinguished from those of her mother. At present, I shall only touch upon few particulars of this character, and note some of its analogies with general mythology, reserving what I have farther to say upon the subject to another section, Kyd, or Ceridwen, presides in the same floating sanctuary which was sacred to the Arkite god.²²² She, as well [176] as that god, is proprietor of the mystic cauldron.²²³ In conjunction with Hu, she has the title of ruler of the British tribes.²²⁴ Consequently, the privilege of investing the chief Bard, or priest, with the dominion of Britain, pertains to her, conjointly with the Arkite god.²²⁵

In order to discover what is meant by this character, it may be remarked, that her symbol, or distinguishing attribute, was a sacred boat.²²⁶ And she is even identified with the boat, or vessel, which was fabricated by the Diluvian patriarch. "Let truth be ascribed to Menwyd, the dragon chief of the world, who formed the curvatures of Kyd  (the ark), which passed the dale of grievous waters, having the fore part stored with com, and mounted aloft, with the connected serpents."²²⁷ Hence she is represented in this poem, as the daughter of that god. "Then shall the great ones be broken: they shall have their feeble wanderings beyond the effusion (deluge) of the father of Ked." And as the deified patriarch was symbolized by the sun, so the goddess of the boat and the cauldron was venerated in conjunction with the moon.²²⁸

Hence it appears, that this goddess, by whatever name she was distinguished, may be regarded as a personification of the ark; or else as an imaginary genius, supposed to preside over that sacred vessel; and therefore connected [177] with the Arkite god, and dignified, like him, with a celestial symbol.

But the god Hu was represented by a bull, and presided in his sacred stall. It is also probable, that the female deity was sometimes viewed under the emblem of a cow, and had animals of this species set apart for the sacred office of drawing her shrine.

The Triads mention three mythological cows, one of which, I suppose, was the symbol of this goddess, whilst the other two were devoted to her service.²²⁹ And in the poem of the Ogdoad,²³⁰ we find the spotted cow, which at the era of the flood procured a blessing. On the serene day (before the commencement of the storm) she bellowed: on the eve of May she was boiled (tossed about by the deluge), and on the spot where her boiling was completed, the Diluvian patriarch found rest. Great must have been the honours conferred upon this cow, when the preservation of her sacred stall was deemed of such importance, that, without it, the world would become desolate, not requiring the song of the cuckoo to convene the appointed dance over the green. The cow being the symbol of this goddess, furnishes a probable reason why that island, in which her worship eminently prevailed, was called Ynys Mon, the island of the cow.

Such fantastical commemorations of that sacred ark, in which the Divine Providence saved an expiring world, were not peculiar to the pagan Britons.

[178]

"The various goddesses of paganism," says Mr. Faber, "seem to be all one and the same mythological character; though they sometimes represent the moon, sometime the ark, and sometimes the globe of the earthy emerging from the waters of the deluge."²³¹

Again—

"Most, indeed, of the ancient goddesses are so far the same, that their several mythological histories appear almost universally to relate, partly to the catastrophe of the deluge, and partly to the worship of the heavenly bodies. The worlds rising from the midst of the waters, the ark, wandering over their surface, and upon the introduction of Sabianism, the lunar crescent, seem to be alike described in the diversified characters of all and each of them. Their names, moreover, are perpetually interchanged, so that one goddess is not uniformly a personification of the ark, another of the moon, and a third of the earth; but, on the contrary, all these various objects of worship are frequently symbolized, upon different occasions, by one and the same deity. Thus Venus, Derceto, Isis, Ceres, Proserpine, and Latona, are severally and equally the moon, the renovated globe, and the ark of Noah."²³²

The same author remarks, that the deified ark was sometimes considered as the mother, sometimes as the daughter, and sometimes as the consort of its builder:²³³ and that a cow, or heifer, was the most usual emblem of the ark.²³⁴

[179]

Mr. Faber also takes notice of a rite mentioned by Tacitus, as prevalent amongst the Germans (the neighbours of our Celts), "In which we behold the great goddess connected, as in the mysteries of Egypt (and Britain), with the small lake, the consecrated island, and the symbolical ox."

"In an island in the ocean (says the historian) is a sacred grove, and in it a chariot, covered with a garment (the Lien of our Bards), which the priest alone can lawfully touch. At particular seasons, the goddess is supposed to be present in this sanctuary; she is then drawn in her car by heifers, with much reverence, and followed by the priests. During this period, unhounded festivity prevails, and all wars are at an end, till the priest restores the deity to the temple, satiated with the conversation of mortals. Immediately the chariot, the garments, and even the goddess herself, are plunged beneath the waters of a secret lake."

Upon this passage, our author observes, that this portable shrine, drawn by oxen, was one of the same nature as that of Agruerus or Noah, mentioned by Sanohoniatho; and that it is not improbable, that the mode which the Philistines adopted, of sending home the ark of God, was borrowed from this very superstition. Willing to pay it all possible honour, they conveyed it, like the shrine of the great Phœnician deity, Agruerus, in a cart drawn by cows.

"Now, therefore, make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;  and take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a [180] trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go."²³⁵

Thus it appears, that the symbols and rites by which our ancestors commemorated the patriarch and his sacred vessel, had a close analogy with the superstition of the ancient Gentiles.

And now, having ascertained these facts, let me take a brief retrospect of the ground over which I have gone.

In the course of the present section, I have produced a mass of evidence, that the mythology and rites of the Druids have a reference to the history of the deluge, combined with Sabian idolatry: that this people had preserved many heathen traditions respecting the deluge; that they recognized the character of the patriarch Noah, whom they worshipped as a god, in conjunction with the sun; that this Helio-arkite deity was their chief god, appropriating the attributes of most of the principal gods of the Gentiles, but more particularly corresponding in character with Bacchus; that his symbols and titles point out his identity with this deity; that the rites by which he was honoured, were connected with the superstitious veneration of certain sacred lakes, rivers, islands, and rocks; that these rites were appropriate to the orgies of Bacchus; that the worship of this god was connected with that of a goddess, who represented the ark; and that all this corresponds, as history requires it should correspond, with the general superstition of other nations, and is therefore derived from the same source.

We are, indeed, furnished with several hints, some of [181] which I shall produce in the sequel, that the worship of the sun was an adventitious branch, grafted at some remote period into the religion of our ancestors. But as for the Arkite superstition, and the idolatrous veneration of the great patriarch, we have seen, that the country of the Cambro-Britons, even in the present age, is full of traditions, which must be referred, exclusively, to certain local and national commemorations of the deluge. And the same traditions are recognized by the poets of the middle ages, who add a strong confirmation to them, by the positive assertion, that the patriarch who survived the deluge, had been acknowledged as a great god by the ancient Bards, or Druids of Britain.

It also appears, that the mythological Triads, which we regard as the most venerable memorials of our progenitors, describe Hu, the great deified patriarch and legislator, with certain characteristical traits, which can only be verified in the history of Noah.

And that Aneurin, the contemporary of Hengist, and Taliesin, the president of the Bards in the sixth century; that great repository of tradition, which was ancient in his days; that bigot to the religion of his forefathers, which he was not ashamed openly to profess, acknowledged the same Hu as the mystical ruler of Britain, and as the god of ancient Mono, the accredited seat of the Druids. In that consecrated spot, this Diluvian god had no avowed superior; for Mona was the island of the praise of Hu the island of Hu, the severe remunerator.

This could have been no new superstition in the days of Taliesin. For the fabrication of such an idolatrous system [182] by that Bard, no adequate motives can be assigned. Such a fabrication, if attempted, could not have been rendered permanent and national; nor would the learning of his age have carried him through the task of devising a system, which could tally with the remotest traditions of the heathen nations, and with the elucidation of those traditions by the best scholars of our own times, in so many minute particulars. What Taliesin has given us is, then, the genuine opinion of the Druids of the sixth century, respecting the religion of their remote predecessors : and we have sufficient reason to conclude, that the chain which connected them with those predecessors, was neither slack nor feeble.

It is, then, a certain fact, that the Druids did pay an idolatrous homage to the patriarch Noah, and to the vessel which carried him safe through the waters of the deluge. In this superstition, they had almost lost sight of the one supreme God, whose providence alone had protected the righteous man, and his tottering ark.

And I cannot account for their ascending thus high in their traditions, and there stopping at once; nor for their retaining just ideas of the patriarchal character, viewed as a man, in the midst of the grossest superstition and errors, without supposing that their ancestors, at some period of their history, had respected the righteous laws of Noah, and professed his pure religion, notwithstanding the depth to which they had fallen in the course of ages. However this may have been, I shall keep hold of the facts developed in this section, and apply them as a clue, in tracing out some of the hidden recesses of this ancient superstition.

[183]

SECTION III.

The Character, Connexions, and mystical Kites of Ked, or Ceridwen,
the Arkite Goddess of the Druids. Her Identity with the Ceres of Antiquity.

THE detection of those divine honours, which the British sage awarded to the patriarch Noah, under whatever title; the magnificent mention of the ship of Nevydd; and the commemorations of the deluge upon the borders of the lakes of Cambria, encourage me to search for some farther vestiges of that kind of superstition, and of those mystic rites, which Mr. Bryant terms Arkite; which he considers at large in the second volume of his Analysis; and which he finds widely diffused over the Gentile world.

According to this very eminent writer, all the mysteries of the heathen nation seem to have been memorials of the deluge, and of the events which immediately succeeded. He remarks, that those mysteries consisted, for the most part, of a melancholy process, and were celebrated by night with torches, in commemoration of that state of darkness, in which the patriarch and his family had been involved.²³⁶

To be more particular; he remarks, that in these mystic [184] rites, the ark of Noah was an object of superstitious veneration, over which a divinity was represented as presiding; and that this character was known by the several names of Selene, Isis, Ceres, Rhea, Vesta, Cyhele, Archia, Niobep and Melissa, which were the same: these being only titles, by which that female personage was described, who was supposed to be the genius of the ark, and the mother of mankind.²³⁷

And as this personage was the genius of the ark, so our author takes notice, that the celebration of her mysteries in the British islands, stands upon ancient record. Having quoted the authority of Artemidorus upon this subject, Mr. Bryant thus declares his own opinion. "I make no doubt but that this history was true, and that the Arkite rites prevailed in many parts of Britain."²³⁸

Holding in my hand the clue presented to me in the preceding section of this Essay, and walking in the shade of this giant of erudition, who clears the way before me, I shall now proceed to the Druidical precinct, in search of the British Ceres: and I think I distinguish her character and history in the celebrated goddess Ked, or Ceridwen, whom I have already remarked in close connection with the Arkite god.

Mr. Owen, in his Cambrian Biography, describes Ceridwen as "A female personage, in the mythology of the Britons, considered as the first of Womankind, having; nearly the same attributes with Venus, in whom are personified the generative powers."

[185]

In this description, she is evidently acknowledged as the great mother: and Mr. Bryant says of Ceres, that she was named da mater, or the mother, because she was esteemed (as representative of the ark) the common parent, the mother of all mankind.²³⁹

In the introductory section of this Essay, I quoted several passages from those Bards who lived under the Welsh princes, in which Ceridvven is mentioned. They uniformly represent this character, as having pertained to the superstition of the primitive Bards, or Druids. They describe her, as having presided over the most hidden mysteries of that ancient superstition; and as a personage, from whom alone the secrets of their fanatical priesthood were to be obtained in purity and perfection. They also intimate, that it was requisite for those who aspired to the chair of presidency, to have tasted the waters of inspiration from her sacred cauldron, or, in other words, to have been initiated into her mysteries.

All this clearly points towards some solemn rites of our remote progenitors: and, for such rites, we can find no parallel amongst the heathen priesthood of other nations, if we except the celebrated mysteries of Ceres, Isis, or Cybele, all which names Mr. Bryant refers to the same history and character.

But it may be asked, if Ceridwen has the attributes of Venus, why should I labour to connect her more particularly with the character of Ceres?

I must observe, in reply, that this station seems to be [186] pointed out for her by the most obvious mythological analogy. The most familiar idea which was entertained of Ceres, presented her as the goddess of corn; as having introduced the art of tillage, and taught mankind to sow the land, and cultivate the various species of grain.

The reader may recollect a passage of Cuhelyn, a Bard of he sixth or eighth century, which I have already quoted, and which delineates the character of Ceridwen by one impressive epithet she is styled Ogyrven Anihady the goddess of various seeds. Thus Ceres and Ceridwen unite by a single touch. And our British Ceres, agreeably to Mr. Bryant's observation, was the genius of the ark. Her attribute was a boat, and she was even identified with that vessel, which was formed by the Diluvian patriarch; which carried its store of corn over the grievous waters, and, like the car of Ceres, mounted aloft with its harnessed serpents.²⁴⁰

The history and character of Ceridwen are exhibited in a very curious mythological tale, called Hanes Taliesin, the History of Taliesin. It is prefixed to the works of that Bard, and has been supposed to contain some romantic account of his birth; but, in reality, it has nothing to do with the history of a private individual, or with romance, in the common acceptation of that term. It is a mythological allegory, upon the subject of initiation into the mystical rites of Ceridwen. And though the reader of cultivated taste may be offended at its seeming extravagance, I cannot but esteem it one of the most precious morsels of British antiquity, which is now extant.

Before I exhibit the tale itself, it may be proper to ob- [187] viate an objection to the era of the incidents which it recites. Ceridwen is represented as living in the time of Arthur. Hence it may be argued, that she could neither have been the great mother, nor have belonged at all to the ancient superstition of the Druids.

But the Arthur here introduced, is a traditional character, totally distinct from the prince who assumed that name in the beginning of the sixth century.

He is placed, as Mr. Owen remarks, high in the mythological ages, and far beyond the reach of authentic, profane history. The great hear is his representative in the heavens, and the constellation, Lyra, is his harp. He is the son of Uthyr Pendragon, the wonderful supreme leader, and Eigyr, the generative power. His adventures, as related in the mythological tales, had evidently, according to my author, a common origin with those of Hercules, the Argonauts, &c.

Mr. Owen, with some hesitation, refers this character to the history of Nimrod.²⁴¹ I rather think that Arthur was one of the titles of the deified patriarch Noah. And with this idea, the account which we have of him in the Bards and the Triads, perfectly accord.

He is represented as having had three wives, the daughters of mythological personages: each of these wives had the name of Gwenhwyvar,'²⁴² that is, the lady of the summit of the water. These three wives of Arthur are only so many copies of the same mystical character, the import of which may be perceived in the construction of the name.

[188]

And as for Arthur himself, Taliesin's Spoils of the Deep²⁴³ a poem which treats wholly of Diluvian mythology, represents this prince as presiding in the ship which brought himself, and seven friends, safe to land, when that deep swallowed up the rest of the human race. This has no connection with the history of the sixth century. It relates entirely to the deluge; and the personage here commemorated, was the same as his mystical parent, Uthyr Pendragon, or the deified patriarch Noah.

It appears from Taliesin, that Ceridwen also was esteemed a character of the most remote antiquity: for the Bard places the origin of her mysteries very remote in
the primitive ages.

Cyvarchav i'm Rhen
Ystyriaw Awen
Py ddyddwg Anghen
Cyn no Cheridwen!
Cyssevin ym Myd
A vu ei Sywyd.

"I implore my sovereign, to consider the inspiring muse (a title of this goddess) what did necessity produce, more early than Ceridwen! The primary order in the world was that of her priests."²⁴⁴

These mystical characters, it must be acknowledged, were still regarded as existing in the sixth century; and so they would have been to this day, had they been still personified [189] in their priests, and had the superstition which upheld them continued to prevail.²⁴⁵

To this short defence of the antiquity of the British mysteries, or rather of the characters to which they were consecrated, I must add, that I have thought it convenient to divide the story of Hanes Taliesin into chapters, in order to place the long annotations which it may require, as near as possible to the subject from which they arise. I have also translated the names of men and places: for this I need but little apology. Though many of these name's occur in history, yet in the present, and in similar cases, they are evidently selected for the purpose of carrying on the allegory, without wholly removing the mystic veil: their import, therefore, ought to be known to the reader.

HANES TALIESIN. Chap. I.

"In former times, there was a man of noble descent in Penllyriy the end of the lake. His name was Tegid Voel, bald serenity, and his paternal estate was in the middle of the lake of Tegid, or Pemble meer.

"His espoused wife was named Ceridwen. By this wife he had a son, named Morvran ap Tegid, raven of the sea, the son of serenity, and a daughter called Creirvyw,²⁴⁶ the [190] sacred token of life. She was the most beautiful damsel in the world

"But these children had a brother, named Avagddu, utter darkness, or black accumulation, the most hideous of beings. Ceridwen, the mother of this deformed son, concluded in her mind, that he would have but little chance of being admitted into respectable company, unless he were endowed with some honourable accomplishments, or sciences ; for this was in the first period of Arthur, and the round table."

This opening of the tale carries us at once into mythological ground. In the situation of Tegid's paternal estate, in the figure presented by that personage, and in the names and characters of his children, we have the history of the deluge presented to our view; and that history is sketched upon British canvas.

The Britons, as we have seen in the preceding section, represented the deluge as having been occasioned by the bursting forth of the waters of a lake. Hence they consecrated certain lakes, as symbols of the deluge; whilst the little islands which rose to the surface, and were fabled to have floated, or else artificial rafts, representing such floating islands, were viewed as emblems of the ark, and as mystical sanctuaries. They also regarded certain rocks, or mounts, attached to such lakes, as typifying the place of the patriarch's debarkation; and in the midst of these hallowed scenes, they celebrated the memorials of the deluge by some periodical rites. We are therefore told, that the paternal estate of Tegid Voel, the husband of Ceridwen, [191] was in the centre of Pemble meer, the largest of the Welsh lakes. This estate must have been limited to the space of a raft, ship, or boat, which could have floated in such a situation; or else it must be supposed to have suffered that kind of submersion, by which our ancestors commemorated the destruction of the ancient world.

But the selection of Pemble meer, in this tale, is not made at random. That lake, and its vicinity, are deeply impressed with mythological memorials of the deluge. Camden favours us with the description of it by an antiquarian poet, in which several circumstances exactly correspond with the British accounts of Llyn Llion, their Diluvian lake, and justify the choice of our mythologists, in making the one a type of the other.

"Hispida qua tellus Mervinia respicit Eurum,
Est Lacus, antiquo Penlinum nomine dictus.
Hie Lacus illimis, in valle Tegeius aM,
Late expandit aquas, et vastum conficit orbem,
Excipiens gremio latices, qui, fonte perenni,
Vicinis recidunt de montibus, atque sonoris
Illecebris captas, demulcent suaviter aures.
lUud habet certe Lacus admirabile dictu,
Quantumvis magna pluvia non csstuat; atqui,

"Where Eastern storms disturb the peaceful skies,
In Merioneth famous Penlin lies.
Here a vast lake, which deepest vales surround,
His wat'ry globe rolls on the yielding ground, 
Increas'd with constant springs, that gently run
From the rough hills with pleasing murninrs down ;
This wond'rous property the waters boast,
The greatest rams are in its channels lost,
Nor raise the flood ; but when the tempests roar,
The rising waves with sudden rage boil o'er,
And conqu'ring billows scorn th' unequal shore."
        [192]
"Aere turbato, si ventus murmura tollat,
Excrescit subito, rapidis violeittior undis,
Bt tiunido superat contemptasjiwnme ripas."

It is here that the sacred Dee rises, from two fountains which retain the names of the god and goddess of the ark here these fountains unite their venerated stream, which they roll, uncorrupted, through the midst of the Diluviau lake, till they arrive at the sacred mount of the debarkation.

And here we find one or two objects, which connect the terms of British mythology with those employed by other heathens.

Mr. Bryant observes from Josephus, that the place of descent from the ark, on Mount Ararat, was called [Greek]; and from Pausanias, that the place where Danaus made his first descent in Argolis, was called [Greek]. And that Danaus (whose sole history is referred to the deluge, and to Arkite superstition) is supposed to have brought with him the Amphiprumnon, or sacred model of the ark, which he lodged in the Acropolis of Argos, called Larissa.²⁴⁷

Hence our mythologist infers, that the place where the ark, or its representative, came to land, was distinguished by a name, which implied a descent, or going forth.

Agreeably to this idea, in the spot where Dwyvarw and Dwyvach, or the incorruptible Dee, emerges safe from the waters of the lake, we find the Bafa, or going forth. The term is applied to the shouting, or coming forth of leaves [193] and flowers, from the opening buds of plants; and at this Bala there is a large artificial mount, called Tomeny Bala; the tumulus of the Egress, which seems to have been dedicated to the honour of this sacred stream.

In the neighbourhood of this tumulus, rises the hill of Aren. But Mr. Bryant tells us, that Aren and Arene, are names of the ark, and that the city Arena is literally, the city of the ark.²⁴⁸

Our British Aren was sacred to Tydain Tad Awen, Titan, the father of the inspiring muse, or Apollo,²⁴⁹ who, as we have already seen, was the Helio-arkite patriarch.

Thebards speak of the sanctuaries of their gods, and canonized personages, by the name of Beddau, Graves, or resting places; just as the temples of Osiris, in Egypt, were regarded as the sepulchres of that god. And it is remarkable, that Taliesin joins the Bedd of Tidain, in the same stanza with that of Dylan, whom I have already proved to have been no other than the Diluvian patriarch.

Bed Tidain, Tad Awen
Yg godir Bron Aren:
Yn yd wna ton tolo.
Bed Dilan Llan Beuno.²⁵⁰

[194]

"The resting place of Tydain, the father of the inspiring muse, is in the border of the mount of Aren: whilst the wave makes an overwhelming din, the resting place of  Dylan is in the fane of Beuno,²⁵¹ the ox of the ship."

Of Beunaw, the ox of the ship, that is, the arkite patriarch, venerated under the shape of that animal; the Welsh Heralds and Monks have made a celebrated saint a descendant of Tegid, and a founder of several churches. If ever there was such a saint, he must have borrowed his name from the mythology of his pagan ancestors.

That the name of Aren has an ancient mythological meaning, and probably the same which Mr. Bryant assigns to it, may be inferred from the singular coincidence, that as our Welsh Aren had a Bedd of Tydain or Apollo, so, on the top of the Arenes, in the borders of Britany, there are the ruins of an old fabric, which is positively decided to have been a temple of the same god.²⁵² From its situation, in the skirt of Armorica, and in the neighbourhood of Balein, it may be conjectured that this was that identical temple of Belen, or u4 polio, in which Attius Patera the friend of Ausonius had presided. For that professor is called Bagocassis, and is said to have been Stirpe satus Druidum Gentis Aremoricæ.²⁵³

The Arenh of Britany, like that of Wales, may also have furnished their Druids with a local opportunity of [195] commemorating the deluge, as they contain a natural phænomenon, which must just have suited their purpose. We are told, that a league West from this town, (Falaise) lies the mountain of Arenees. In the village of Arnes, belonging to this town, there is a lake, fed by subterranean channels, which sometimes dries up, and is suddenly filled again.'²⁵⁴

But, to return lo the lake of Tegid We may infer from these coincident circumstances, that this lake and its neighbourhood were deeply impressed with the characters of arkite superstition; and that our mythological narrator was fully aware of this fact, when he placed the paternal estate of Tegid, the husband of Ceridwen, in the bosom of Pemble Meer.

Let us, therefore, take a brief view of the proprietor of this estate.

Tegid Vohel, bald serenity, presents himself at once to our fancy. The painter would find no embarrassment in sketching the portrait of this sedate, venerable personage, whose crown is partly stripped of its hoary honours. But of all the gods of antiquity, none could with propriety, sit for this picture, excepting Saturn, the acknowledged representative of Noah, and the husband of Rhea, which was but another name for Ceres, the genius of the ark.

As consort of the arkite goddess, Tegid was evidently the deified patriarch: it has, however, been observed, that this deity was a Pantheos, comprehending in his own person, [196] most of the superior gods of the heathens; here then, we contemplate him in the character of Saturn. The particulars of Tegid's appropriate history have disappeared; but by a little mythological deduction, we shall discover him under another name.

Tegid, as we have already seen, was the father of Creirwy, the token of the egg, or the British Proserpine; and Creirwy was the same personage as Llywy, the putting forth of the egg, mentioned by Aneurin and Taliesin, in conjunction with Hu or Aeddon,

This identity appears from the poems of Hywel, son of Owen, prince of North Wales, who styles Llywy his sister, and that, in consequence of his matriculation into the mysteries of Ceridwen.²⁵⁵ She could not have become the mystical sister of Hywell by this means, had she not been the daughter of that goddess.

The same princely Bard says, that Llywy had stolen his soul, as she had stolen that of Ganvy; but the mistress oi Garwy was Creirwy, the daughter of Ceridwen.

Neud wyv dihunwyv hoen Greirwy—hoyvv—deg A'in hudoedd val Garwy.²⁵⁶

"Am I not deprived of spirit! I am enchanted like Garwy, by her who equals Creirwy, sprightly and fair."

Creirwy and Llywy being thus the same personage, it [197] follows, that the father of Creirwy was also the father of Llywy; but the parent of the latter is mentioned in the Triads, by the name of Seithwedd Saldi.²⁵⁷ And here it must be remarked of the lady, that, notwithstanding her exquisite beauty and delicacy, she is classed with two other mythological personages, under the character of Gwrvonwyn, a man-maid, which must imply a virago at least, if not something still less attractive.

From these premises it is clear, that Seithwedd Saidi was a name of Tegid, the father of this mystical lady; and this name, as well as Tegid, must be referred to the character of Saturn.

We shall now have an opportunity of investigating his mythology.²⁵⁸ Seithwedd is an epithet, implying either septiform, or else, having seven courses. This may allude to the multitude of his names and functions, or to the annual feasts of Saturn, which were continued for the space of seven days. If Saidi be a British term, it must be derived from Sad, firm, or just. From this word, and Wrn, a covered vessel, Mr. Owen deduces the Welsh name of Saturn; so that Sad-wrn is the just man of the vessel. This description is not inapplicable to the patriarch Noah, and to his history, the character of Saturn is referred by mythologists in general, and particularly by Mr. Bryant, who takes notice, that Dagon, a representative of the same patriarch, was called Said-on,²⁵⁹ which comes near to our Saidi. Seithwedd, or as he is sometimes called Seithin Saidi, [198] is represented as king of Dyved, Demetia; but this leads us again into the regions of mythology.

Dyved was the patrimony of Pwyll, reason or patience, who embarked in the vale of Cwch, the boat, for Annum, the great deep, which he governed for the space of a complete year, whilst Arawn, ארון the Arkite, styled also Pendaran, lord of the thunder, superintended his paternal dominions. Upon a future occasion I shall produce more of this tale. In the mean time, I may be allowed to suggest, that from the specimen here exhibited, Mr. Bryant would have pronounced it genuine arkite mythology.

The district of Dyved was so entirely devoted to the mysteries of Druidism, that it was said to have been anciently enveloped in Lletigel, a concealing veil: and it was by way of eminence, denominated Gnidd Yr Hud, the land, of mystery.

There is a story recorded in the triads, of Seithenin, the son of Seithwedd Saidi, which states, that upon a certain time, this prince was intoxicated, and that in his liquor, he let in the sea over the country, so as to overwhelm a large and populace district. This tale, which I must consider hereafter, is of the same origin with those local relations of the submersion of cities in the lakes of Britain, which I have remarked in the preceding section,

But Seithenin is nothing more than Septimianus, a title which the Romans conferred upon Saturn: so that Seithenin, and his mythological father, Seitlmedd, are in reality, the same character.

[199]

I find a son of this Saidi under another name, which, together with his rank and connexions, is very remarkable. He is acknowledged as one of three sovereigns in the court of the mythological Arthur, that is, Noah, by the title of Cadeiriaith, the language of the chair, the son of Saidi; and Cadraith, the law of the inclosure, the son of Porthawr Godo, the doorkeeper of the partial covering, that is, the ark, or its representative.²⁶⁰

This doorkeeper was therefore, the same person with Saidi, and with Tegid, the husband of Ceridwen; and his name, and the office implied by that name, must be referred to Janus, the deity of the door or gate, whose character has been identified with that of Saturn.

Cadeiriaith, the son of Saidi, holds his dignity in conjunction with Goronwy, great lord of the water, the son of Echel, with the pierced thigh; and with a third character, named Fleidwr Flam, the incloser of fame, son of Godo, the arkite cell.

As one of three amiable knights, in the court of the same Arthur, this personage is recognized under the name of Cadair, the chair or presidency, and as the son of Seithin Saidi; he is here classed with Gwalchmai, the hawk of May, the son of Gwyar, clotted gore; and with Garwy, waters edge, son of Geraint, the vessel, son of Erbyn, the lofty chiefs.²⁶¹

This Cadair, or presidency of Saturn, was also named [200] Cibddar, the Mystic, and he had a son styled Elmur, the fixed or established spirit, ranked as one of the sovereign Bulls.²⁶² Here we come round to the history of the Tauriform, Helio-arkite god, and his sacred animals. The royal bull before us, as I have already observed, is connected with Cynhaval prototype, the son of Argat, the ark; and with Avaon, the cardinal point, in the Ecliptic, son of Taliesin, radiant front, which is a title of the solar deity, and hence, assumed by his priest and representative in the mysteries.

This little excursion in mythological ground, exhibits the various avenues, as pointing to one prominent object. The scattered notices in the mythological Triads, are so many parts of one connected system, and the mystical pedigrees are only intended to shew the relation of those parts amongst themselves. This is only the same story told in the British language, which Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber analyzed in the Greek, and resolved entirely into the mythology of the Diluvian age, mixed with Sabian idolatry. We find then, that Tegid, the husband of Ceridwen, Seithwedd Saidi, and the doorkeeper of Godo, were one and the same personage, in whom we may have the features of the Saturn, or Janus, of classical antiquity.

But what our Druids intended, by their personification of the language of the chair, or laze of the inclosure of Saturn; and by elevating this character to the dignity of a sovereign, it is difficult to say, unless by this figure, they meant to enforce the authority of their Bardd Cadair, presiding Bard [201] or Druid, and to intimate that, he taught and governed by the maxims and laws of the Diluvian patriarch.

Such may have been their meaning; for to this august personage, the character of Saturn, or Janus, is pointedly referred, by our great mythologist, Mr. Bryant; who observes, that amongst all the various representations of the patriarch, there are none, wherein his history is delineated more plainly, than in those of Saturn and Janus, the latter of whom carried about him many emblems to denote his different departments. There was particularly, a staff in one hand, with which he pointed to a rock, from whence issued a profusion of water; in the other hand, he held a key. He had generally near him, some resemblance of a ship, and like our Tegid, he had the title of [Greek], or the deity of the door or passage.²⁶³

Mr. Bryant also remarks, that though the Romans made a distinction between Janus and Saturn, they were only two titles of the same person; hence many of their emblems were the same. Saturn, like Janus, had keys in his hand, and his coins had the figure of a ship. He had the name of Septimianus; and the Saturnalia, which were days set apart for his rites in December, were in number seven. These rites are said to have been of great antiquity, far prior to the foundation of Rome.²⁶⁴

As our British Saturn was named Saidi, so his mystical spouse seems to have had a title of nearly the same sound; for her chair or sanctuary was called Caer Sidi, the sanc- [202] tuary of Sidi; but according to Mr. Bryant, Sidee, was a legitimate title of Ceres.²⁶⁵

The consideration of this subject I must defer for the present, and go on to examine, whether the children of Tegid and Ceridwen have any similar relation to the history of the deluge.

Their first born was named Morvran, raven of the sea. Of this personage, a few particulars are recorded. He was dark and hideous in his person; he was Ysgipnmydd Aerau, addicted to contention; and he escaped from the army of the mythological Arthur, or the deified patriarch.

From these hints I conjecture, that the character of Morvran represents the raven which Noah sent forth. This was the first animal that proceeded from the ark: hence mythology might regard him as her first-born son. And the short account which we have of him, is perfectly consistent with what Mr. Bryant has collected from the ancient mythology of other nations, upon the subject of Noah's raven.

It is remarked, that Noah sent the raven out of the ark, by way of experiment; but that it disappointed him and never returned hence a tradition is mentioned, that the raven was once sent out upon a message by Apollo, but deserted him, and did not return when he was expected.²⁶⁶

But this faithless messenger was for the most part, es- [203] teemed a bird of ill omen. His very croaking would put a stop to the process of matrimony. But like Morvran, he was also personified by a human character. The mythologists, observes Mr. Bryant, out of every circumstance and title, formed a personage. Hence Pausanias speaks of the raven, as an ancient hero, and mentions his family.²⁶⁷

Morvran may then be regarded as the representative of Noah's raven; but what are we to understand by the forlorn condition of Avagddu, titter darkness, or black accumulation, whose misfortune was the grief of his mother; and who could not be relieved, as we learn from the sequel of the tale, till the renovating cauldron of the deluge had boiled for a year and a day. And what are we to think of his subsequent illuminated state, when he became the pride of Ceridwen, and if I mistake not, married the rainbow?²⁶⁸

Avagddu is made a son of Tegid; but as mythological genealogy is mere allegory, and the father and son are frequently the same person under different points of view; this character, in his abject state, may be referred to the patriarch himself, during his confinement in the internal gloom of the ark, where he was surrounded with utter darkness, a circumstance which was commemorated in all the mysteries of the gentile world. If this be granted, then the son of Ceridwen, or the ark in his renovated state, is the same patriarch, born anew to light and life, at the close of the deluge.

[204]

And as our complex mythology identified the character of the patriarch, with that of the sun; so Avagddu may also have been viewed as a type of that luminary, in his veil of darkness and gloom, during the melancholy period of the deluge. This gloom was afterwards changed into light and cheerfulness; and thus the son of Ceridwen may be recognized, in his illuminated state, under the titles of Elphin and Rhuvawn Bevyr, which implies bursting forth with radiancy, and seems to be an epithet of the Helio-arkite god.

The chair of Ceridwen represents Gwydion, or Hermes, in the act of forming the Iris, as a consort for the renovated sun; and the allegory is as just as it is beautiful: for what was the secondary cause of this sacred token, but the rays of the sun just bursting forth from the gloom, and mixing with the humid air?

Avagddu, thus considered as a type of the Helio-arkite god in his afflicted and renovated state, has a striking coincidence of character with Eros, the blind god of the Greeks, who was a distinguished agent in the Arkite mysteries, whose name, in the course of those mysteries, was changed into Phanes,²⁶⁹ a title of the sun, not dissimilar to our Elphin; and whose symbol was the bow, which, as well as the bow of Apollo, alluded lo the Iris.²⁷⁰

I am not sure, however, that the character of Avagddu had not a secondary allusion, in his forlorn state, to the uninitiated, and in his renovation, to the adept in the mysteries of Druidism: as the former w as regarded as living in [205] darkness, whereas the latter was illuminated and endowed with all knowledge.

Creirwy, the token, or sacred symbol of the egg, otherwise called Llywyy the manifestation, or putting forth of the egg, is not the least remarkable of Ceridwen's children.

As it will appear presently, that the mother is described as a hen, or female bird of some species, there seems to be an analogous propriety in the names of the daughter, who, though a Gwrvorwyn, or virago, was esteemed a paragon of beauty: and, as such, she is classed with Arianrod merch Don, the lady of the silver wheel, the daughter of Jove; whom Ceridwen represents as conducting the rainbow, of which she was, therefore, the appropriate genius; and with Gwen, Venus, the daughter of Cy-wryd, Crydon, the manhood of Crodon, or Saturn.²⁷¹

Creiwy, as daughter of Ceridwen, or Ceres, was the Proserpine of the British Druids. The attributes of the mother and daughter, in the Bardic mythology, as well as in that of other heathens, are so much confounded together, as not to be easily distinguished. Mr. Bryant pronounces them to have been the same mystical personage.²⁷²

All the difference which I can perceive in their character, is this. Ceridwen was the genius of the ark throughout its whole history; hence she was viewed as a severe matron, [206] supposed to preside in those public sanctuaries, where the Arkite rites were celebrated: whilst Creirwy, on the other hand, was regarded as the genius of the same sacred vessel, only during its perilous conflict with the waters of the deluge; and therefore represented as a helpless virgin, exposed to dreadful calamities, from which she was at length delivered. She did not preside in the Arkite temples, though she was occasionally associated with her mother; but the private and portable tokens delivered to the initiated, and the wand or branch, which was a badge of the Bardic office, were regarded as her gift.

This mystical lady is also called Creirddylad, the token of the flowing or floating, and described as the daughter of Lludd Llaw Eraint, the chief who governed the vessel, or of Llyr, the margin of the sea: and here she is an old acquaintance of the English nation, being no less a personage than Cordelia, the daughter of King Lear.

In an old poem, in which Gwyn ab Ntidd, King of Annwn, is introduced as a speaker, this potentate describes himself as

Gordderch Creirddylad merch Lludd,²⁷³

"The paramour of Creirddylad, the daughter of Lludd."

Here we have a hint of a British tradition upon the subject of the rape of Proserpine. Gwyn ab Nudd was the Pluto of the Britons. Annwn, the kingdom of that god, in its popular acceptation, is hell, or the infernal regions; but in the mystical poems and tales, Annun seems to be no [207] other than that deep or abyss, the waters of which burst forth at the deluge. Gwyn, the King of Annwn, was therefore the genius of the deluge; and the fable means nothing more, than that the ark was forcibly carried away by the flood.

But the more general name of the daughter of Ceridwen was Creirwy, the token or symbol of the egg; and under this symbol, the ark was represented in the general mythology of the heathens.

This assertion it may be necessary to support by the authority of Mr. Bryant, who observes, that in many hieroglyphical descriptions, the dove, Oinas, was represented as hovering over the mundane egg, which was exposed to the fury of Typhon, or the deluge; and that this egg was, doubtless, an emblem of the ark, whence proceeded that benign person, the preacher of righteousness, who brought mankind to a more mild kind of life. Having quoted, from Lucius Ampelius, a passage to this effect—Dicitur et Euphratis fluvio, Ovum piscis columbam assedisse dies plurimos, et exclusisse Deam benignam, et misericordem hominibus, ad vitam bonam; he thus accounts for the topography of the fable. The ark rested upon mount Baris, in Armenia, the Ararat of Moses; and in this country are the fountains of the Euphrates.

An egg, adds our author, as it contained the elements of life, was thought no improper emblem of the ark, in which were preserved the rudiments of the future world. Hence in the Dionusiaca, and in other mysteries, one part of the nocturnal ceremony consisted in the consecration of an egg. By this, we are informed by Porphyry, was signified the world. This world, says Mr. Bryant, was Noah and his [208] family; even all mankind, inclosed and preserved in the ark. This seems to have been a favourite symbol, very ancient, and adopted among many nations. The Persians said of Oromasdes, that he formed mankind, and inclosed them in an egg. The Syrians used to speak of their ancestors, the gods, as the progeny of eggs.²⁷⁴

The same learned writer remarks, that in the the temple of the Dioscouri, in Laconia, there was suspended a large hieroglyphical egg, which was sometimes attributed to Leda, and sometimes to Nemesis, the deity of justice. It was sometimes described as surrounded by a serpent, either as an emblem of that providence, by which mankind was preserved, or else to signify a renewal of life, from a state of death; as the serpent, by casting his skin, seems to renew his life. By the bursting of the egg, was denoted the opening of the ark, and the disclosing to light whatever was within contained.²⁷⁵

From the contemplation of this symbol of foreign superstition, we naturally turn to the celebrated Ovum Anguinam, or serpent's egg, of the Celtic priesthood, as described by Pliny.

This was, by way of eminence, regarded as Insigne Druidis, the Insigne, or distinguishing mark of a Druid. Having already seen so much of the Arkite superstition amongst this order of men, we may easily conceive, that this sacred egg had a reference to the same subject, and that, like the mundane, egg of other pagans, it was, in some sense, an emblem of the ark. We are told by Pliny, Experimen- [209] tum ejus esse, si contra aquas fluitet, vel auro vinctum. That the test of its genuineness, was its floating against the water, even with its setting of gold. I suppose the author means, that it would keep upon the surface, when drawn against the stream; and that, in this passage, he gives us a hint of its mystical import and character, as an emblem of a floating vessel.

It must also be procured, we ate told, Certa Luna, at a certain time of the moon. This information exhibits the connexion of mythological ideas; for the moon was a symbol of Ceridwen, and of the ark.

The efficacy of the Anguinura, ad victorias litium, et Regum aditus, may easily be conceived. The Druids, who were the supreme judges in all litigated causes, may be supposed to have lent a favourable ear to those who produced this credential of their order; and even kings, who stood in awe of their tribunal, would seldom close their gates against them.

The natural historian recites at large the fabulous story of the production of this trinket Angues innmneri, astute, convoluti, &c.

The same mummery is repeated by the ancient Bards. "Lively was the aspect of him who, in his prowess, had snatched over the ford that involved ball, which casts its rays to a distance, the splendid product of the adder, shot forth by serpents."²⁷⁶

[210]

But this was merely so much dust thrown into the eyes of the profane multitude.

The Druids themselves are called Nadredd, adders, by the Welsh Bards. This title they owed, I suppose, to their regenerative system of transmigration. The serpent, which annually casts his skin, and seems to return to a second youth, may have been regarded by them, as well as by other heathens, as a symbol of renovation: and the renovation of mankind was the great doctrine set forth by the Arkite mysteries, and by the symbolical egg.

The Druids, therefore, were the serpents which assembled, at a stated time in the summer, to prepare these emblems of Creirwy, and to conceal within them certain discriminative tokens, which probably were kept as a profound secret from the persons who received them.

Pliny saw one of these eggs, but he had not the curiosity to examine it any farther than its cartilaginous integument; otherwise he would probably have discovered, that it contained either a lunette of glass, or small ring of the same material; such as those which the Welsh call Gleiniau Nadredd. These were certainly insignia of a very sacred character amongst our ancestors; and they seem to have been intimately connected with the Angumim: for the annotator upon Camden remarks, that in most parts of Wales, all over Scotland, and in Cornwall, the vulgar still retain the same superstitious notions respecting the origin and virtues of the former, which Pliny records of the latter.²⁷⁷ And the Glain was viewed as an emblem of renovation: hence [211] Meilyr calls Bardsey—"The holy island of the Glain, in which there is a fair representation of a resurrection."²⁷⁸

That these Glains were artificial, can hardly admit of a doubt; though some have hastily confounded them with certain productions of nature. We find some of them blue, some white, a third sort green, and a fourth regularly variegated with all these sorts of colours; but still preserving the appearance of glass: whilst others again were composed of earth, and only glazed over.²⁷⁹

It seems most likely, that the secret of manufacturing these Glains was totally unknown in Britain, excepting to the Druids:²⁸⁰ and it may be collected from some passages, that these priests carried about them certain trinkets of vitrified matter, and that this custom had a view to their Arkite mysteries.

Thus, in the poem called the chair of Taliesin, we find the stranger admitted to the ceremonies of lunar worship, upon his exhibiting the Cwrwg Gwydryn, or boat of glass, a symbol which certainly commemorated the sacred vessel, and probably displayed the figure of a small lunette; as the ark was sometimes described under that figure, and called Selene, the moon.²⁸¹

[212]

I suppose that it was from the material, of which this symbol was composed, that even the vessel, in which the patriarch and his family were preserved, was denominated Caer Wydyr, the inclosure, or circle of glass.²⁸² And Merddin Emrys, and his nine Bards, are represented as having put to sea in the Ty Gwydrin,²⁸³ or house of glass; which could have been no other than a ship or vessel consecrated to Bardic mysteries.

The portable trinket which I have mentioned, whatever its form may have been, was the Crair, or Insignè of the Druids; and when made or dressed up in the figure of an egg, it became Crelr-wy, the 'Insign' or token of the egg, the sacred emblem of the British Proserpine. From the pre-eminent estimation in which this emblem was held, both in Gaul and in our own island, we may draw a reasonable inference, that the Arkite mysteries were the most sacred arcana of the Celtic priesthood.

In the short chapter which gave rise to these remarks, our mythological narrator appears, with a master's hand, to have directed our attention to the history of the deluge, and to the local notions of the Britons relative to that event. We shall now observe his dexterity in delineating the character and operations of Ceridwen herself.

[213]

HANES TALIESIN. Chap. II.

"Then she (Ceridwen) determined, agreeably to the mystery of the books of Pheryllt, to prepare for her son a cauldron of Awen a Gwybodeu, water of inspiration and sciences, that he might be more readily admitted into honourable society, upon account of his knowledge, and his skill in regard to futurity.

"The cauldron began to boil, and it was requisite that the boiling should be continued, without interruption, for the period of a year and a day; and till three blessed drops of the endowment of the spirit could be obtained.

"She had stationed Gwion the Little, the son of Gwreang the Herald, of Llanvalr, the fane of the lady, in Caer Einiawn, the city of the just, in Powys, the land of rest, to superintend the preparation of the cauldron: and she had appointed a blind man, [Greek], named Morda, ruler of the sea, to kindle the fire under the cauldron, with a strict injunction that he should not suffer the boiling to be interrupted, before the completion of the year and the day.

"In the mean time Ceridwen, with due attention to the books of astronomy, and to the hours of the planets, employed herself daily in botanizing, and in collecting plants of every species, which possessed any rare virtues.

"On a certain day, about the completion of the yean, whilst she was thus,, botanizing and muttering .to herself [214] three drops of the efficacious water happened to fly out of the cauldron, and alight upon the finger of Gwion the Little. The heat of the water occasioned his putting his finger into his mouth, As soon as these precious drops had touched his lips, every event of futurity was opened to his view: and he clearly perceived, that his greatest concern was to beware of the stratagems of Ceridwen, whose knowledge was very great, with extreme terror he fled towards his native country. As for the cauldron, it divided into two halves; for the whole of the water which it contained, excepting the three efficacious drops, was poisonous; so that it poisoned the horses of Gwyddno Garanhir, which drank out of the channel into which the cauldron had emptied itself. Hence that channel was afterwards called. The poison of Gwyddno's horses."

The most remarkable subject brought forward in this chapter is the preparation of the cauldron of inspiration and science; but before I consider the import of this mystical vase, I must make a few short remarks.

Ceridwen employs a minister, who is described as the son of a herald, and it may be implied that he himself held that office. It is observed by antiquaries, that of four priests who officiated in the celebration of the mysteries of Ceres, one was distinguished by the title of Kerw the Herald. Another was named Hydranus, from water: and his title, though perhaps not his function, corresponded with that of Morda in the present tale.

The keeping up of a continual fire, for the period of a year and a day, in a ceremony which was repeated annually, amounts to the same tiling as maintaining a perpetual fire. And this was a solemn rite in the temples of Ceres.

Ceridwen, like Ceres and Isis, appears to have been a great botanist, and well skilled in the virtues of plants. The Pheryllt, according to whose ritual she proceeds in her selection, are often mentioned by the Bards, as well as by the prose writers of Wales. The poet Virgil, whose sixth Æneid treats so largely of the mysteries of heathenism, has been dignified with this title; and an old chronicle, quoted by Dr. Thomas Williams, asserts that the Pheryllt had an establishment at Oxford, prior to the founding of the university by Alfred.

These Pheryllt are deemed to have been the first teachers of all curious arts and sciences; and, more particularly, are thought to have been skilled in every thing that required the operation of fire. Hence some have supposed, that the term implies chymists or metallurgists. But chymistry and metallurgy seem rather to have taken their British name from these ancient priests, being called Celvyddydau Pheryllt, the arts of the Pheryllt, or some of those mysteries in which they were eminently conversant.

As primary instructors in the rites of Ceridwen, or Ceres, I regard the Pheryllt as priests of the Pharaon, or higher powers, who had a city or temple amongst the mountains of Snowdon, called also Dinas Emrys, or the ambrosial [216] city. And, therefore, they were the same, in effect, as the priests of the Cabiri.

Mr. Bryant assures us, that the supposed genius of the ark was worshipped under several titles, and that the principal of her priests were the Cabiri, whose office and rites were esteemed particularly sacred, and of great antiquity. They were the same as the Curetes, Corybantes, Telchines, and Idaei Dactyli of Crete. In treating of these, continues my author, much confusion has ensued, from not considering, that both the deity and the priests were comprehended under the same title. The original Cabiritic divinity was no other than the patriarch, who was of so great repute for his piety and justice. Hence, the other Cabiri, his immediate offspring, are said to be the sons of Sadyc, by which is signified the just man. This is the very title given to Noah. All science, and every useful art, was attributed to him, and through his sons transmitted to posterity.²⁸³

The Telchinian and Cabiritic rites, we are told by the same author, consisted in arkite memorials. They passed from Egypt and Syria into Phrygia and Pontus, from thence into Thrace, and the cities of Greece, They were carried into Hetruria, and into the regions of the Celta.²⁸⁴

Whatever route these ancient priests may have pursued; and whether they belonged to the original establishment of the nations here mentioned, or were imported from other people; their rites, as described by the learned author, are clearly to be distinguished amongst the Celtae of Britain; [217] and with those Pheryllt or Druids, who directed the mysteries of Ceridwen.

The tale before us also mentions, books of astronomy. Whether the Druids actually had such books or not, it is certain that Caesar enumerates astronomy amongst the sciences which they professed; and that they not only remarked the periodical return of their festivals, but also mixed with their arkite superstition, an idolatrous veneration of the heavenly bodies, and paid a religious regard in their influence.

I come now to the cauldron of Ceridwen, which make a very conspicuous figure in the works of the mystical Bards, from the beginning of the sixth, to the close of the twelfth century. In these authors, we find the term pair or cauldron used metaphorically to imply the whole mass of doctrine and discipline, together with the confined circle pf arts and sciences, which pertained to the ancient priesthood of Britain. The preparation of this vase being a necessary preliminary, to the celebration of their most sacre4 mysteries, it stands as a symbol of the mysteries themselves, and of all the benefits supposed to result from them.

Hence it becomes a subject of some importance in British antiquities, to inquire into the meaning of this mystical vessel, and to determine the question, whether the ancient superstition of other heathens present us with any thing analogous to it.

From the best information which I can collect upon the subject, it does not appear that this cauldron implies one identical vessel, or at least, that its content, were designed [218] for one simple purpose. In the tale before us it is described, as used in the preparation of a decoction of various select plants, which was to constitute the water of inspiration and science. A few drops of this water fall upon the finger of the attendant, he puts it into his mouth, and immediately all futurity is open to his view. Such knowledge, however, must not be regarded as the result of merely tasting the water, or of any single ceremony whatever; but of a complete course of initiation, of which the tasting of this water was an essential rite.''

The poem called Taliesin's Chair, enumerates a multitude of ingredients, which entered into the mystical decoction, and seems to describe it as designed, for purification by sprinkling, then, for the preparation of a bath, and again, is used in the rite of libation, and lastly, as constituting a particular kind of drink for the aspirants. The sacred vessel is there called Pair Pumwydd, the cauldron of the five trees or plants, alluding, I suppose, to five particular species of plants, which were deemed essentially requisite in the preparation.

Some of the mythological tales represent this pair, as constituting a bath, which conferred immortality or restored dead persons to life, but deprived them of utterance:²⁸⁵ alluding to the oath of secrecy, which was administered previous to initiation.

In the poem called Preiddeu Annwn,²⁸⁶ Taliesin styles it [219] the cauldron of the ruler of the deep, (the arkite god) which first began to he warmed, by the breath of nine damsels (the Gwyllion, or Gallicene).²⁸⁷ He describes it as having a ridge of pearls round its border, and says, that it will not boil the food of the coward, who is not bound by his oath.

Yet the author of Hanes Taliesin, speaks of the residue of the water, after the efficacious drops had been separated, as a deadly poison.

From these various accounts, it may be inferred, that the pair, was a vessel employed by the Druids, in preparing a decoction of potent herbs and other ingredients, to which superstition attributed some extraordinary virtues; that this preparation was a preliminary to the mysteries of the arkite goddess; that in those mysteries, part of the decoction was used for the purpose of purification by sprinkling; that another part was applied to the consecration of the mystic hath: that a small portion of the same decoction, was infused into the vessels which contained the liquor, exhibited in the great festival, for the purpose of libation, or for the use of the priests and aspirants, which liquor, is described as consisting of Gwyn a Bragawd, that is, wine with mead, and wort, fermented together: that all the sacred vessels employed in the mysteries of Ceridwen, being thus purified and consecrated by the pair, passed under its name; and that, in these appropriations, the water of the cauldron was deemed the water of inspiration, science, and immortality, as conducing to the due celebration of mysteries, which were supposed to confer these benefits upon the votaries.

[220]

But it seems that the residue of the water, being now supposed to have washed away the mental impurities of the initiated, with which impurities, of course it became impregnated, was now deemed deleterious, and accursed. It was therefore emptied into a deep pit or channel in the earth, which swallowed it up, together with the sins of the regenerate.

If we look for something analogous to this in the ancient mysteries of Ceres, we shall find, that the first ceremony was that of purification by water, that this rite was performed, both by sprinkling and immersion; and that the water used for this purpose, underwent a certain degree of preparation, similar to that of the cauldron of Ceridwen.

In the ceremony of purification, says M. De Gebelin, they used laurel, salt, barley, sea-water, and crowns flowers. They even passed through the fire, and were at last, plunged into the water, whence the hierophant, who was charged with this office, had the name of Hydranos, or the Baptist.²⁸⁸

The sacred vessel which contained this mixture of salty barley, sea-water, and other ingredients not specified, must have corresponded with the mystical cauldron of the Britons, amongst the contents of which I find certain berries, the foam of the ocean, cresses of a purifying qualify, wort, and chearful, placid vervain, which had been borne aloft, and kept apart from the Moon."²⁸⁹

[221]

Thus Far, the analogy between the purifying water of the Greeks and Britons, may be traced. But the mystical cauldron of Ceridwen was also employed in preparing the liquor of those magnanimous aspirants, who took and kept the oath. It was one of its functions to boil that beverage, or else a certain portion of its contents was added, by way of consecration to the Gwin a Bragawd, or composition of wine, honey, water, and the extract of malt, or barley.

However this consecration may have been effected, the correspondence between the mystical beverage of the Greeks and Britons, will appear still more close.

We are told by Clemens Alexandrinus, that as a prelude to initiation, the aspirant was asked, if he had eaten of the fruits of Ceres, to which he answered [Greek].—"I have eaten out of the drum, I have drunk out of the cymbal, I have carried the kernos, I have been covered in the bed."

M. De Gebelin explains the cymbal, as signifying a vessel, in the form of a large goblet, out of which the aspirants drank a liquor, called kykeon, which was a mixture of wine, honey, water, and meal; precisely the Gwin a Bragawd of the British Bards.

The ancients and mythologists, as my author observes, tell us, that these symbols were intended as memorials of what had happened to Ceres, who, upon her arrival in Attica, when she was wandering in search of her daughter, [222] received this liquor from a woman named Baubo,²⁹⁰ and drank it off at a single draught.²⁹¹

The vessel used in the preparation of this mixture, which was presented to Ceres, is described by Antoninus Liberalis as [Greek] a deep kettle or boiler; this might, with propriety, be denominated the cauldron of that goddess.

But we are told, the residue of the water in Ceridwen's vessel, was of a poisonous quality. It now contained the sins and pollutions of the noviciates: the cauldron was therefore divided into two equal parts, and the water ran out of it into a certain. terrestrial channel.

This dividing of the water, and pouring of it into a channel in the earth, was a solemn rite, perfectly analogous to the practice of the ancients in the mysteries of Ceres.

The ninth and last day of the celebration of the greater mysteries, when all the ablutions and purifications had been completed, was called Plemochoe, from the name of a large earthen vessel, of considerable depth, and widening from the bottom upwards.

On this day, the last of the feast, as we are informed by Athenæus,²⁹² they filled two of these vessels with water, and having placed one of them towards the East, and the other towards the West, they moved them sideways successively, reciting certain prayers. When these were concluded, they poured the water into a kind of pit, or channel, pro- [223] nouncing this prayer, which is contained in the Pirithous of Euripides—

"May we be able, auspiciously, to pour the water of these vessels into the terrestrial sink."²⁹³

Thus it appears that the cauldron of Ceridwen, which was, properly speaking, a vessel used in preparing a kind of purifying and consecrating water, is to be understood, in a figurative sense, as corresponding with the several sacred vessels employed in the mysteries of Ceres: and that genius, science, and immortality, the benefits supposed to be derived from that cauldron, are to be considered as the imaginary result of initiation into those mysteries.

But it has already been observed, that Taliesin describes this cauldron as having been warmed, for the first time, by the breath of nine damsels. This must imply, that the mysteries connected with the cauldron, were supposed to have been originally instituted by certain female hierophants. These were undoubtedly the Gwyllion, from whose songs the patriarch is fabled to have derived his presage of the deluge, and who continued to be represented by fanatical priestesses, bearing the same title, and styled Gallicencæ by Pomponius Mela.

Here it will probably occur to the reader, that these nine mystical damsels allude to the nine muses; or that they were merely their representatives in British mythology.

The muses, indeed, were regarded as promoters of genius, as the patronesses of science, and as conferring a kind [224] of immortality: their sacred fountain was the fountain of inspiration; but what had they to do with the mysteries of Ceres?

As I wish to point out the general analogy between British fable, and that mass of superstition which pervaded other heathen countries, I must be allowed to suggest, that the muses were originally nothing more than priestesses of Arkite temples, or attendants on those deified characters, whose history is decisively referred, both by Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber, to that of the ark, and the Diluvian age.

The first songs which the muses inspired, were in the form of sacred hymns, containing the titles and actions of the gods, and describing the rites with which they were worshipped: if therefore, those gods, and those rites, were Arkite, the songs of the muses must have been the same Deucalion's vessel, which was evidently the ark of Noah, or its representative in a Thessalian temple, is said to have rested upon Mount Parnassus: and the favourite haunt of the muses was about the Castalian spring, upon that mountain.

Mr. Bryant remarks, that when the Athenians sent their first colony into Ionia, the muses led the way in the form of bees Melissa: and adds, that the Melissæ were certainly female attendants in the Arkite temples.²⁹⁴

In the next page, the learned author tells us, that as the priestesses of Damater (Ceres), who sung the sacred hymns, were called Melissa, so that goddess and Persephone, [225] had the title of Melittodes, from the songs made in their honour.

The Melissæ, or muses, were therefore the priestesses of Ceres.

Osiris was an avowed representative of the Diluvian patriarch; and his consort, Isis, was the same character as Ceres, the genius of the ark: accordingly, we find the same nine damsels amongst their establishment in Egyptian mythology. Diodorus tells us, that Osiris was always attended by a company of musicians, amongst whom were nine damsels, accomplished in every art relative to music; that this was the reason why the Greeks called them the nine muses, and that their president was Apollo, the king's brother.

Taliesin is not, therefore, unclassical, when he represents the nine damsels as having first warmed the mystical cauldron of the ruler of the deep, and the Arkite goddess. And this circumstance adds another link of connexion between the mythology of Britain, and that of Greece and Egypt.

But whence came the original idea of the purifying water, prepared in this celebrated cauldron?

In the tradition of our ancestors, we find that the mystical vase was peculiarly sacred to the god and goddess of the ark. It must then be referred to something in the history of the deluge; for the discovery of which, it may be proper to take a brief view of the ideas which the Britons entertained respecting that awful event.

[226]

The following circumstances may be verified by passages in the Bards and the Triads.

The profligacy of mankind had provoked the great Supreme to send a pestilential wind upon the earth. A pure poison descended every blast was death. At this time the patriarch, distinguished for his integrity, was shut up together with his select company, in the inclosure with the strong door. Here the just ones were safe from injury. Presently, a tempest of fire arose. It split the earth asunder, to the great deep. The lake Llion burst its bounds; the waves of the sea lift themselves on high, round the borders of Britain; the rain poured down from heaven, and the water covered the earth. But that water was intended as a lustration, to purify the polluted globe, to render it meet for the renewal of life, and to wash away the contagion of its former inhabitants into the chasms of the abyss. The flood, which swept from the surface of the earth the expiring remains of the patriarch's contemporaries, raised his vessel, or inclosure, on high, from the ground, bore it safe upon the summit of the waves, and proved to him and his associates the water of life and renovation.

Agreeably to these ideas, the cauldron which was kept boiling for a year and a day; which purified the sacred utensils, and the company assembled at the mystic festival; and with its dregs washed away the sins of the regenerate into the terrestrial channel, may have been regarded as an emblem of the deluge itself.

This comes very near to the view which the learned and indefatigable Mr. Maurice has taken of some ancient Hindoo traditions.

[227]

But how are we to account for such a coincidence in the mythology of nations, so widely separated? Perhaps it would not be an unreasonable supposition, that the rudiments of those fanciful systems, which prevailed over the Gentile world, whatever changes they may have afterwards undergone from local corruption and mutual intercourse, were laid before the nations separated from the patriarchal stock. How are we otherwise to account for the prevalence of the same fabulous relations, and commemorative symbols, in the East of Asia, and amongst a sequestered people in the West of Europe? I am aware that this difficulty has generally been resolved by the supposition, that certain Eastern sages, in some distant age, found their way into these remote regions. But the experience of our countrymen and neighbours, for the last three hundred years, may serve to convince us, that a new religion, essentially different from that of an established society, whether polished or barbarous, is not easily introduced. However this may have been, it is curious to observe, in .the old poems and tales of the Britons, and in the ancient books of the Hindoos, the same train of superstitious ideas.

The author of the Indian antiquities having told us, that the Soors, being assembled in solemn consultation, were meditating the discovery of the Amreeta, or water of immortality; remarks, that under this allegory is shadowed out the re-animation of nature, after the general desolation made by the deluge. The sea was to be deeply agitated by the impetuous rotation of the mountain Mandar.

The author then recites the gigantic fable, which concludes thus. "And now, a heterogeneous stream, of the concocted juice of various trees and plants, ran down into the briny flood. It was from this milk-like stream of [228] juices, produced from those streams, trees, and plant, and a mixture of melted gold, that the Soors obtained their immortality."

"Concerning these extravagant mythological details of the Hindoos (continues Mr. Maurice), I must remark, that however mysterious the allegory, and however wild and romantic the language in which it is clothed, this fact may be depended upon, that there in general lies  concealed at the bottom some physical meaning, or deep theological truth. What can this general and stupendous convulsion of nature shadow out, except the desolation of the earth, during the period of the universal deluge! Who is that physician, so renowned in ancient Sanscrit histories, the great Dew Danwantaree, who at length rose from' the churned ocean, the white foam of which resembled milk, bearing in his hand a sacred vase, full of the water of life unless it be the venerable sage, who rose from the ocean, who gave new life to his expiring species, and in his family upheld the human race? That great botanist, who first planted the vine, and returned to the ground that infinite variety of medical herbs, and innumerable seeds, which Menu is represented, as taking into the ark, for the express purpose of renovating decayed vegetation after the deluge. Such is the true meaning of this Avatar; and such is the true Danwantaree of India, who sprung from the foam of the churned ocean, bearing the Amreeta, or vital ambrosia, to the renovated world."²⁹⁵

To the reader, who is not furnished with the Indian antiquities, I need not apologize for the length of these ex- [229] tracts; and, I trust, the learned author will excuse me making so free with his labours, in consideration of the light which they reflect upon the renovating cauldron of Ceridwen, and the ruler of the deep, and perhaps also upon the [Greek], or sacred mixture of the Arkite goddess, and her renovating mysteries. But to return to the British story.

HANES TALIESIN. Chap. III.

"Ceridwen entering just at this moment, and perceiving that her whole year's labour was entirely lost, seized an oar, and struck the blind Morda upon his head, so that one of his eyes dropped upon his cheek.

"Thou hast disfigured me wrongfully, exclaimed Morda, seeing I am innocent: thy loss has not been occasioned by any fault of mine."

"True, replied Ceridwen, it was Gwion the Little who  robbed me. Having pronounced these words, she began to run in pursuit of him.

"Gwion perceiving her at a distance, transformed himself into a hare, and doubled his speed: but Ceridwen instantly becoming a greyhound bitchy turned him, and chased him towards a river.

"Leaping into the stream, he assumed the form of a fish: but his resentful enemy, who was now become an [230] otter bitch, traced him through the stream; so that he was obliged to take the form of a bird, and mount into the air.

"That element afforded him no refuge; for the lady, in the form of a sparrow hawk was gaining upon him she was just in the act of pouncing him.

"Shuddering with the dread of death, he perceived a heap of clean wheat upon a floor, dropped into the midst of it, and assumed the form of a single grain.

"Ceridwen took the form of a black, high-crested hen, descended into the wheat, scratched him out, distinguished and swallowed him. And, as the history relates, she was pregnant of him nine months, and when delivered of him, she found him so lovely a babe, that she had not resolution to put him to death.

"She placed him, however, in a coracle, covered with a skin, and, by the instigation of her husband, cast him into the sea on the twenty-ninth of April."

Through the fabulous wildness of this chapter, we may discover constant allusions to the history of Ceres, and her mystical rites. Ceridwen here assumes the character of a fury. Under that idea, she is elsewhere represented. Taliesin says of himself, that he had been nine months in the womb of Ceridwen Wrach, the hag, or fury. This fury was the goddess of death. The death of Arthur is implied, by his contending with the fury in the hall of Glaston- [231] bury.²⁹⁶ And, as Ceridwen was the genius of a sacred ship, to death, of which she was the goddess, is represented under the character of the ship of the earth.

Pawb a ddaw iW Ddaear Long,²⁹⁷ says the Bard "Every one will come into the ship of the earth;" that is, all men must die.

All this is strictly applicable to Ceres, considered as the genius of the ark. She was sometimes enrolled in the list of the Furies.²⁹⁸ Under this character she seems to have represented the terror and consternation, to which the patriarch and his family were exposed during the deluge.

She was also the goddess of death. When the ark was constructed, Noah made a door in its side; a circumstance continually commemorated by the Gentile writers. The entrance through this door, they esteemed a passage to death and darkness.²⁹⁹ Hence the aspirants, in the mysteries of Ceres and Isis, as well as Gwion, in our British tale, were terrified with the image of death.

"Nothing can be conceived more solemn, than the rites of initiation into the greater mysteries, as described by Apuleius and Dion Chrysostom, who had gone through the awful ceremony: nothing more tremendous and appalling, than the scenery exhibited before the eyes of the terrified aspirant. It was a rude and fearful march, through night and darkness and now, arrived on the verge of [232] death and initiation, every thing wears a dreadful aspect; it is all horror, trembling, and astonishment:³⁰⁰ Accessi confinium mortis, says Apuleius, et calcato proserpinæ limine, per omnia vectus elementa remeavi."³⁰¹

But let us proceed to consider the incidents of the story Ceridwen seizes an oar, and strikes the Damon of the sea upon his head.

The instrument was a proper symbol to be employed by the genius of a floating vessel, and the action an emblem of her triumph over the watery element.

The goddess then transforms herself into a hitch. However degrading the symbol, these animals seem to have had a particular connexion with the mysteries of Ceres and Isis.

Virgil, in the sixth book of his Æneid, describes all that it was lawful to reveal of the Eleusinian mysteries; and we find that the first terrific objects which presented themselves to the senses of his hero, whilst the priestess was conducting him towards the mystic river, were in the form of hitches.—³⁰²Visæque canes ululare per umbras.³⁰³

Upon this passage, M. De Gebelin remarks—³⁰⁴Plethon [233] (Scholies sur les oracles magiques de Zoroastre) parle anssi des chiens, dont Virgile fait mention. Cest la contume, dit il, dans la celebration des mysteres, de^aire paroitre devant les inities, des fantomes, sous la figure des chiens, et plugieurs autres spectres et visions monstreuses."³⁰⁵

In the sculpture which, according to this author, represents the Eleusinian cave, Ceres is attended by a dog, and the aspirant in the form of a child, is brought into the cave by another dog.³⁰⁶

Plutarch tells us, that Isis was assisted by certain dogs, in the discovery of Anubis, the child of Osiris, whom his mother had exposed, because she dreaded the anger of Typhon.

This child, the goddess adopted and educated; he became her companion and faithful guard. He had the name of Anubis, because he displayed the same vigilance in the cause of the gods, which dogs manifested in behalf of their human masters.

The tale, as here related, can only be regarded as the history of an aspirant, who was initiated into the mysteries of Isis, instructed in the rites and discipline of her temple, and afterwards became her priest.

Mr. Bryant quotes the authority of Diodorus, who informs us, that at the grand celebration of Isis, the whole solemnity was preceded by dogs. This author indeed, produces many instances of gods, and their representatives, the [234] priests being termed Kvm, dogs; but he attributes this title to the ignorance of the Greeks, who, according to him, mistook the Hebrew and Egyptian term, cohen, a priest, for Kvm, which in their own language, implies a dog.³⁰⁷

But, as the mythology of other nations, not intimately connected with the Greeks, and who did not use their vocabulary, furnishes us with a similar application of equivalent titles; and as gods and priests, with dogs' heads, appear in Egyptian, and other foreign monuments; it may be suspected, that there was something more in these titles, than a mere blunder of the Greeks.

Agreeably to Plutarch's hint, there may have been some allusion to the fidelity, vigilance, and sagacity of the animal. And whatever served to keep aloof profane intrusion, and defend the awful sanctity of the temple, may have been symbolized by the guardian dog. Thus the dog of Gwyn ab Nudd, the British Pluto, is named Dor-Marth,³⁰⁸ the gate of sorrow: this was no real dog, but probably the same as the Proserpinæ Limen, which Apuleius approached in the course of initiation.

These particulars may suffice to account for the device of our British mythologist, in transforming Ceridwen, the Ceres or Isis of the Druids, into a bitch; whilst the aspirant was converted into a hare. This animal, as we learn from Caesar, was deemed sacred by the Britons; at the same time it was an emblem of timidity, intimating the great terror to which the noviciate was exposed, during the mystical process.

[235]

This hare is turned, and driven towards a river. But he is still in the road to initiation. After the preparation of the consecrated water, and the [Greek], the first ceremony in the mysteries of the Greeks, was that of purification, which was celebrated, upon the banks of rivers. The Athenians performed this ceremony at Agra, on the Hissus, a river of Attica. Hence the banks of that river were called the mystic banks, and the stream itself had the name of [Greek], the divine.

Here our noviciate takes the form of a fish, whilst the goddess herself, or rather her priest, assumes the character [Greek], dogs, represented heathen priests in general, and especially those of Ceres and Isis; the otter, or water dog, may very aptly typify the priest, called Hydranos, who always attended those mysteries, and whose place it was to plunge the aspirant into the stream.

The next change of the aspirant was into a bird. The species is not named. It was probably the Dryw, which implies both a wren and a Druid; and Taliesin tells us that he had been in that form. His adversary became a hawk; but we are told, that the hawk was a known symbol of Isis.³⁰⁹

At last, the novitiate becomes a grain of pure wheat, and mixes with an assemblage of the same species and character. He was now cleansed from all his impurities, and he had assumed a form, which was eminently sacred to Ceres. In this form, therefore, the goddess receives him into her bosom. In order to accomplish this design, she transforms [236] herself into a dew, which was deemed a sacred animal by the Britons, in the days of Caesar.³¹⁰

The singular representation of Ceridwen, as swallowing the aspirant; and of the latter, as continuing for a considerable time imprisoned in her womb, must imply something more than his mere introduction into the sanctuary. This aspirant was intended for the priesthood: and we have here the history of his inclosure, in some ship, cell, or cave, which more immediately symbolized the person of the mystical goddess. In this inclosure, he was subjected to a rigid course of discipline. Here he studied the fanatical rites, and imbibed the sacred doctrines of Ceridwen.

This is consonant with the practice of other heathens. Porphyry, in his treatise, De Antro Nympharum, tells us, that Zoroaster consecrated a natural cell, adorned with flowers, and watered with fountains, in honour of Mithra, the father of the universe: and that the Persians, intending mystically, to represent the descent of the soul into an inferior nature, and its subsequent ascent, into the intellectual world, initiated the priest, in caverns, or places so fabricated as to resemble them.³¹¹

I shall return to this subject in a future section, when I inquire into the nature of some of the monuments of Druidism. But I must now remark, that as the completion of the initiatory rites was deemed by the Gentiles a regeneration, or new birth, and distinguished by that name; so our aspirant is represented as having been born again, of the mystical Ceridwen.

[237]

As yet, however, we seem to have been only contemplating the lesser mysteries the greater are still to succeed.

After the aspirant had completed his course of discipline in the cell, had gone through the ceremonies of the lesser mysteries, and had been born again of Ceridwen; we are told, that this goddess inclosed him in a small boat, covered with skin, and cast him into the sea.

This will be best explained by the Greek solemnities.

The first day of the greater mysteries of Ceres, was called Agyrme, the convocation, being destined to the reception, ablution, and purification of the candidates.

The second day had the name of [Greek], "Noviciates to the sea:" this being the form by which the herald summoned those who had passed through the lesser mysteries, to the sea shore, for the purpose, as some have supposed, of completing their purification; but the ceremony seems to have had a further meaning, and it is probable, that on this day, the noviciates embarked upon the sea in certain vessels, commemorative of the real history of Ceres, as genius of the floating ark: for, in these mysteries, the whole truth was to be revealed. Accordingly we are told, that Phocion, the Athenian general, taking advantage of this day's solemnity, put to sea, and engaged the enemy in a naval combat.³¹² But let us observe the progress of the British ceremony.

[238]

HANES TALIESIN. Chap. IV.

"In those times, Gwyddno's wear stood out in the beach, between Dyvi and Aberystwyth, near his own castle. And in that weary, it was usual to take fish, to the value of a hundred pounds, every year, upon the eve of the first of May.

"Gwyddno had an only son, named Elphin, who had been a most unfortunate and necessitous young man. This was a great affliction to his father, who began to think that he had been born in an evil hour.

"His counsellors, however, persuaded the father to let this son have the drawing of the wear on that year, by way of experiment; in order to prove whether any good fortune would ever attend him, and that he might have something to begin the world.

"The next day, being May-eve, Elphin examined the wear, and found nothing: but as he was going away, he perceived the coracle, covered with a skin, resting upon the pole of the dam.

"Then one of the wear-men said to him, Thou hast never been completely unfortunate before this night; for now thou hast destroyed the virtue of the wear, in which the value of a hundred pounds was always taken upon the eve of May-day.

"How so? replied Elphin that coracle may possibly contain the value of a hundred pounds.

[239] "The skin was opened, and the opener perceiving the forehead of an infant, said to Elphin Behold Taliesin, radiant front!

"Radiant front be his name, replied the prince, who now lifted the infant in his arms, commiserating his own misfortune, and placed him behind him upon his own horse, as if it had been in the most easy chair.

"Immediately after this, the babe composed for Elphin a song of consolation and praise; at the same time, he prophesied of his future renown. The consolation was the first hymn which Taliesin sung, in order to comfort Elphin, who was grieved for his disappointment in the draught of the wear; and still more so, at the thought that the world would impute the fault and misfortune wholly to himself."

Elphin carries the new-born babe to the castle, and presents him to his father, who demands whether he was a human being or a spirit; and is answered in a mystical song, in which he professes himself a general primary Bard, who had existed in all ages, and identifies his own character with that of the sun.

Gvvyddno, astonished at his proficiency, demands another song, and is answered as follows:

Ar y dwr mae cyfiwr, &c.³¹³

[240]

"Water has the property of conferring a blessing. It is meet to think rightly of God. It is meet to pray earnestly to God; because the benefits which proceed from him, cannot be impeded.

"Thrice have I been born. I know how to meditate. It is woeful that men will not come to seek all the sciences of the world, which are treasured in my bosom; for I know all that has been, and all that will be hereafter," &c.

Let us now make a few observations upon our mythologist's account of those mystic rites, to their final completion.

I have already taken notice that Taliesin, radiant front, was properly a title of the sun, and thence transferred to his priest. This priest had now, for a complete year, attended the preparation of the mystical cauldron: he had received the water of inspiration, and with it the sacred lessons of Ceridwen: he had been received and swallowed up by that goddess, and had remained for some time in her womb, or had been subjected to a course of discipline in the mystical cell, and at length he had been born again.

But after this, we find him inclosed in a coracle, or small boat, cast into the sea, and consigned into the hands of Gwyddno Garanhir, and his son Elphin.

The very process here described, evidently relates to a connected series of mystical rites, allusive to one history: and the character and connexions of Ceridwen, the great [241] agent, compared with the import of the mysteries of Ceres, as elucidated by Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber, abundantly prove, that the reference must be made to the history of the deluge.

According to this tale, therefore, the Britons celebrated the commemoration of the deliverance out of the ark upon the eve of May-day. And if they supposed the deluge to have continued for a year and a day, the period which was employed in preparing the mystical cauldron, the anniversary of its commencement would fall, of course, upon the twenty-ninth of April.

As Ceridwen threw the coracle into the sea upon that day, so opportune for the drawing of Gwddno's wear on the morrow, it may be inferred, that Gwyddno and his son were intimately connected with the family of Ceridwen. Taking ail circumstances into account, we may even presume, that they were the same as her husband Tegid, and her unfortunate son Avagddu.

Tegid, indeed, is said to have had two sons, whereas Gwyddno is described as having but one at this time: but it may be replied, that Morvran, the raven of the sea, had deserted his family, previous to the debarkation from the ark.

The idea here suggested respecting Gwyddno, differs from the received opinion of the Welsh, which Mr. Owen thus details in his Cambrian Biography.

"Gwyddno Garanhir, or Dewrarth Wledig, was a Prince of Cantrev y Gwaelod, and also a poet, some of whose composition is in the Welsh Archaiology. He flourished [242] from about A. D. 460, to 520. The whole of his territory was inundated by the sea in his life-time, and it forms the present Cardigan Bay."

The whole of this account, though literally understood m the country, appears to me nothing more than a piece of local mythology, of the same kind as those tales, which assert the submersion of cities in the lakes of Wales. But let us hear the record of the catastrophe, as preserved in the Triads.

"Seithinin the Drunkard, the son of Seithin Saidi, King of Dyved, in his liquor let in the sea, over Cantre'r Gwaelod, so as to destroy all the houses and lands of the place, where, prior to that event, there had been sixteen cities, the best of all the towns and cities of Wales, excepting Caerleon upon Usk. This district was the dominion of Gwyddnaw Garanhir, King of Caredigiawn. The event happened in the time of Emrys, the sovereign. The men who escaped the inundation, came to land in Ardudwy, in the regions of Arvon, and in the mountains of Snowdon, and other places which had hitherto been uninhabited."³¹⁴

This is, undoubtedly, the substance of an old Mabinogi, or mythological tale, and ought not to be received as authentic history. For, in the first place, Cardigan Bay did exist in the time of Ptolemy, who marks the promontories by which it is circumscribed, and the mouths of the rivers which it receives, in nearly the same relative situations which they retain at present. But neither Ptolemy, nor [243] any other ancient geographer, takes notice of one of those sixteen cities, which are said to have been lost there in the sixth century.

In the next place, we know enough of the geography of Wales, both ancient and modern, to form a decisive conclusion, that a single Cantrev, or hundred, never did contain sixteen towns, which would bear the slightest comparison with Caerleon, such as it was in the supposed age of Gwyddno.

Again: the incident is generally represented as having happened, in consequence of having neglected to close a sluice; a cause inadequate, surely, to the alleged effect. And the omission is imputed to a son of Seithin Saidi, King of Dyved, a character whom we have already traced into the regions of mythology. We have marked his intimate connexion with the history of the deluge, and the mystic rites by which it was commemorated, and have ascertained his identity with Tegidj the husband of Ceridwen.

The landing of those who escaped from this drowned country, upon the mountains of Snowdon, is like the landing of Deucalion upon Mount Parnassus. It is not history, but mythology. The district of Snowdon, from the remotest period of British mythology, was famous for its Arkite memorials. Here was the city of Emys, or the ambrosial city this was also called the city of Pharaon, or the higher powers; that is, the Baym, or Arkite patriarchs. Here the dragons were concealed in the time of Beli³¹⁵ (the solar deity), and in the time of Prydain, the son of Aedd [244] the Great,³¹⁶ a mystical personage of the same family. As dragons were harnessed in the car of the British Ked, as well as in that of Ceres, the concealing of these animals, in a city of the higher powers, must simply an establishment of her mysteries.

The land of Gwyddno is said to have been inundated in the time of Emrys, the sovereign. This is the personage from whom the temple of Stonehenge, as well as the sacred city in Snowden, derived its name. If the Britons of the fifth century had a monarch who bore this title, we can only say, that like his successors Uthyr and Arthur, he was complimented with a name out of the vocabulary of the Druids; and that the age of Emrys was any age, which acknowledged the Helio-arkite superstition.

Let us then return to the dominions of Gwyddnaw. We are told that his castle stood near the shore, between Dyti and Aberystwyth: and that his wear, in which a valuable capture was annually made, upon the eve of May-day, was near that castle, in the opposite beach. This gives the same topography of the coast which we find at present; and the stated period of the capture points to some mystical meaning. It connects the tale of Gwyddnaw with that of Ceridwen, who chose the time and place, in the exposure of the coracle, so conveniently for its recovery in the mystical wear, upon the sacred eve. Hence we may expect to find, that Gwyddnaw was the same character as Seithinin, or Serthin, who introduced the sea over the land, and conse- [245] quently the same as Tegid; or a representative of the great patriarch.

His name seems to imply priest of the ship, from Gwydd, presence, attendance, and Nav, an old term for a ship, which is retained by Taliesin and Meugant.³¹⁷

This prince had the surname or title of Garanhir, which literally means, the long or high crane. As to the propriety of this title, it has been already seen, that the tauriform god, of the continental Celtæ, was styled Tri-garanos, from the circumstance of his carrying three cranes; and I may add, that Mr. Bryant has remarked the same symbolical bird, in the Helio-arkite superstition of other nations. The Egyptian crane, Abis or Ibis, he tells us, for its great services to mankind, was held in high honour, being sacred to the god of light. He adds that Geranos, the Greek name of this bird, was a title of the sun himself, and that the priest of Cybele, the same character as our Ceridwen, was styled Camas, which was a title of the deity whom he served, and of the same purport as the former.³¹⁸

The names Gwyddnaw and Garanhir appear, therefore, to have had a marked reference to Arkite superstition, and to the character of Ceres, or Cybele.

But, as the mythological personages of the Britons, [246] though few in reality, are honoured with a multiplicity of titles, importing the various functions which they filled, or alluding to the several circumstances of their history; so the same Gwyddnaw is distinguished by the name of Dewrarth Wledig. The first of these terms implies the mighty bear and is nearly synonymous with Arthur, the mythological representative of the patriarch: whilst Wledig is a title of such eminent dignity, that it is only applied to sovereigns of the highest order.

Elphim, the son of this personage, is represented as having been a most forlorn and unfortunate character, previous to the opening of the coracle, or mystical ark; but afterwards he became illustrious. As the preparation of the cauldron was designed for the benefit of Avagddu, and the drawing of the wear, for that of Elphin, and as these mystical rites had a mutual connexion and dependence, I think it highly probable, that under these two names, we have a description of the same personage.

The mystical poems represent Maelgwn, as having confined Elphin in a strong stone tower. This may be mere mythology, or it may imply, that the Venedotian king of that name, prohibited some of the heathenish rites of the Britons.

Be this as it may, we find that Taliesin, the great president of the Bards, devotes himself intirely to the interest of Elphin, styles him his sovereign, and drops many hints, which evidently place him in the connexion of the British Ceres. Thus "I came to Teganwy, to maintain the contest with Maelgwn, the greatest of delinquents: in the even [247] presence of the Distributor, I liberated my lord, Elphin, the sovereign of those who carry ears of corn."³²⁰

The chief of the Bards seldom assumes the character of a prophet, without adverting to this great achievement of liberating Elphin; it was his most brilliant enterprize, in which he was assisted, even by a train of radiant Seraphim. In short, he always speaks of this act, with as much self-importance, as if he were delivering an oracle, or interpreting the will of a present god.

Taliesin himself was honoured with a title of the sun: he presided in Caer Sidi, which, as I shall shew hereafter, was a type of the Zodiac, and he claimed the viceroyalty of the British island, by the investiture of the Helio-arkite god, the acknowledged emperor of the earth and seas. We may therefore be sure, that when he speaks of Elphin, not only as his lord, but as the sovereign of all the disciples of Druidism, he regarded him, as in some sense, identified with that splendid divinity. The same thing may be inferred from another title of Elphin, namely, Rhuvawn Bevyr, he who radiantly shines forth.

The son of Gwyddnaw, distinguished by this appellation, is styled Gwyndeyrn, the blessed or illustrious sovereign.³²¹ He is also called Eurgelain, the golden body, and ranked with Madawc mab Brwyn, the beneficent son of Sprigs, and Ceugant Beilliawg, searcher of certain truth; two ideal personages who seem to have presided over the art of divination, or oracular mystery. And we are told, that Elphin had [248] this name, because he was redeemed, at his weight in gold, when he had fallen into the hand of the enemy.³²²

Hywel, the son of Owen, prince of Noith Wales, says of this personage—

Ton wen orewyn orwlych bedd,
Gwyddfa Ruvawn Bevyr, Ben Teyrnedd.³²³

"The white wave, with its foamy edge, sprinkles the grave; even the mount of the presence of Rhuvawn Bevyr, the chief of sovereigns."

These and similar titles, which the Triads and mystical; Bards confer upon Gwyddnaw and his son, are surely inapplicable to the lords of a single Cantred, which was now lying in the bottom of Cardigan bay. Their story has been misunderstood; and the titles which primarily belonged to the Helio-arkite patriarch, were transferred to those priests who supplied his place, in certain departments of the mystic rites; and particularly, in the finishing scene, where the truth was to be revealed.

Here the noviciate was committed to the sea, which represented the deluge, in a close coracle, the symbol of the ark; and after the example of the just patriarch, was to be saved from this image of the flood, at Gwyddnaw's wear, the type of the mount of debarkation.

This wear, I conjecture, from its marked topography, [249] was no other than the natural causeway, or reef of rocks; in Cardigan bay, which the Welsh call Sam Badrig.

With these ideas, the poems ascribed to Gwyddnaw, exactly correspond. They seem to be nothing more than old songs, designed to be chaunted at these mystical representations; but their style and orthography are so very uncouth, that it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of some passages.

One of them is said to have been sung at the time, when the sea covered the land of Gwyddnaw. It contains an imprecation upon some damsel who poured the sea over the land.

This Nereid or Fury, is described as—

Fynnawn wenestyr mor terwyn—

"The attendant on the fountain of the raging sea."

The calamity, as usual, is ascribed to the prevalence of pride and excess. The water covers the plains. They call, in their extreme distress, upon God, who had provided the chair of Kedawl, the Beneficent, which is a title of the Arkite goddess, as a place of refuge. Here Gwyddnaw, the priest of the ship, confines himself in his chamber, and is preserved from the calamity.

The subject of another of these poems is a contention, between Gwyddnaw and Gwyn ab Nudd, the Demon who presided over Annwn, the deep, or abyss.

I shall attempt the translation of another little poem, ascribed to Gwyddnaw, as it throws considerable light upon [250] his character and office. It is evidently a formula in the celebration of the mystical rites. It pertains to the ceremony of inclosing the aspirant in the coracle, and launching him into the water, as described in Hanes Taliesin, and the reputed author supports the dignity of Hierophant.

The Probationer, seeing the wear, or Sarn Badrig, at a prodigious distance, and trembling at the thought of the perilous adventure, exclaims,

"Though I love the sea beach, I dread the open sea: a billow may come, undulating over the stone."

To this, the solemn Hierophant replies—

"To the brave, to the magnanimous, to the amiable, to  the generous, who boldly embarks, the ascending stone of the Bards will prove the harbour of life! It has asserted the praise of Heilyn, the mysterious impeller of the sky; and, till the doom shall its symbol be continued."

PROBATIONER.

"Though I love the strand, I dread the wave: great has been its violence dismal the overwhelming stroke. Even to him who survives, it will be the subject of lamentation."

GWYDDNAW.

"It is a pleasant act, to wash on the bosom of the fair water. Though it fill the receptacle, it will not disturb the heart. My associated train regard not its overwhelming:

"As for him who repented of his enterprize, the lofty [251] (wave) has hurried the babler far away to his death; but the brave, the magnanimous will find his compensation, in arriving safe at the stones. The conduct of the water will declare thy merit."

(The Hierophant then addresses the timid or rejected candidate.)

"Thy coming without external purity, is a pledge that I will not receive thee. Take out the gloomy one! From my territory have I alienated the rueful steed my revenge, upon the shoal of earth-worms, is their hopeless longing, for the pleasant allotment. Out of the receptacle which is thy aversion, did I obtain the rainbow.''³²⁴

This little piece throws more light upon the character and office of Gwyddnaw, than half a volume of hypothetical reasoning could have done.

He performs that very ceremony, which Hanes Taliesin ascribes to Ceridwen, the Arkite goddess, upon the instigation of her husband. He w as then, that husband; or he was a priest, who personally represented the deified patriarch: and upon certain stated days, exhibited an emblem of the deluge, by turning his noviciates a drift in Cardigan bay, at the mouth of the Ystiayth, Styctuis, or Styx, of the Druids, and in covered coracles, which were manifest symbols of the ark. The worthy candidate was encouraged to adventure in this hardy probation, with the prospect of being fished up again at the landing place of the Bards, when the tide, or pretended deluge had subsided.

[252]

Gwyddnaw and his assistants, ought to have been well acquainted with the setting of the currents, though it be fairly admitted, that occasionally, they made a sacrifice to the deep.

The doctrine inculcated by this perilous ceremony, is sufficiently obvious. The same superintending providence, which had protected the magnanimous and amiable patriarch, from the waters of the deluge, would likewise distinguish his worthy descendants; and by conducting them safely to the sacred landing place, ascertain their due admission to the privileges of the Bardic religion. At the same time, the very form and condition of this ceremony must have deterred the pusillanimous candidate, as well as Mm that was conscious of secret crimes.

Fortunately, this was the last hazardous scene in the initiatory rites of the Druids. For we find, that as soon as Elphin had extricated the aspirant from his coracle, he received him in his arms, gently lifted him upon his steed, or into his skip, for such were the mythological steeds of the Britons, conducted him to his father, and acknowledged him a complete Bard of the highest order.

The old Bards speak in magnificent terms, of the benefits which were derived from these mysterious rites. They were viewed as most important, to the happiness of human life. They imparted sacred science in its greatest purity and perfection; and he who had completed his probation, m as called Dedwydd, one who has recovered intelligence, or rather, has been brought back into the presence. It is nearly equivalent to the Greek term, [Greek], which describes a person who had been initiated into the greater mysteries [253] upon this subject, the little poem said to have been recited by Taliesin, immediately after he had gone through the concluding ceremony, is worthy of remark. He describes himself as thrice born, that is, once of his natural parent, once of Ceridwen, and lastly of the mystical coracle. As a consequence of this regeneration, he knew how to think rightly of God; he perceived that the benefits derived from him could not be impeded. All the sacred science of the world was treasured in his bosom; he knew all that had been, and all that would be hereafter.

This epilogue to the mysteries in its present form, has two stanzas more than what I have translated: in one of these, the Bard acknowledges a Divine Providence; but he introduces a christian idea, representing the son of Mary as the pledge of his happiness.

He then tells us, that God, the the Creator of heaven, with whom he had a sure refuge, had been his instructor, and his guardian, and that he would finally take him to himself.

Thus the author, whoever he was, mixes his Bardism with some reference to the Christian system. But, as his elections result from the celebration of rites, which were certainly heathenish, we cannot doubt, but that they were of the same kind with the formula which had been used by his heathen predecessors, upon the same occasion. And how exactly his sentiments, making allowance for his christian allusions, corresponded with those which resulted from the mysteries of Ceres, may be learned from the great Bishop Warburton.

[254]

His lordship, having remarked the division of the Eleusinian mysteries, into the less and the greater; and having stated, that in the former, was inculcated the general belief of a Providence, and a future state, and that they were only preparatory to the greater thus proceeds

"But there was one insuperable obstacle in paganism, to a life of purity and holiness, which was the vicious examples of their gods."—"There was a necessity therefore of remedying this evil, which could only be done by striking at the root of it; so that such of the initiated, as were judged capable, were made acquainted with the whole delusion, the mystagogue taught them, that Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the whole rabble of licentious deities, were indeed, only dead mortals, subject in life, to the same passions and vices with themselves; but having been, in several instances benefactors to mankind, grateful posterity had deified them, and with their virtues, had indiscreetly canonized their vices. The fabulous gods being thus routed, the supreme cause of all things of course, took their place: him they were taught to consider, as the Creator of the universe, who pervaded all things by his virtue, and governed all things by his providence. From this time, the initiated had the title of [Greek], or, one that sees things as they are, without disguise; whereas, before he was called [Greek], which has a contrary signification."³²⁵

[255]

I have now considered the whole of that singular story, called Hanes Taliesin: I have shewn, that it relates to a succession of ceremonies, by which the ancient Britons commemorated the history of the deluge; and that these ceremonies had a constant analogy with the mystical rites of Ceres and Isis, which our best mythologists regard as memorials of the same event.

The narrator seems to have abridged his tale from a larger history, or tradition, to which he refers; and, perhaps, he has added a few touches of his own. But the main incidents are derived from the genuine superstition of the Britons, as appears by several passages of the mystical poems.

Thus, in the piece which immediately follows the tale in the Welsh Archaiology, Taliesin gives this account of himself.

Kyntaf i'm Uuniwyd, ar lun dyn glwys,
Yn llys Ceridwen a'm penydiwys.
Cyd bum bach o'm gwled, gwyl fy nghynnwys;
Oeddwn fauT, uwch Uawr, Han a'm tywys.
Pryd fum parwyden, per Awen parwys;
Ag ynghyfraith, heb iaith, a'm ryddryllwys
Hen Widdon ddulon, pan lidiwys:
Anghuriawl ei hawl, pan hwyliwys.

"I was first modelled into the form of a pure man, in the hall of Ceridwen, who subjected me to penance. Though small within my chest, and modest in my deportment, I was great, A sanctuary carried me above the surface of the earth.

[256]

"Whilst I was inclosed within its ribs, the sweet Aw en rendered me complete: and my law, without audible language, was imparted to me by the old giantess, darkly smiling in her wrath; but her claim was not regretted when she set sails."

The Bard then enumerates the various forms which he had assumed, in order to elude the grasp of Ceridwen. These changes do not seem to relate to the Druidical doctrine of transmigration; they rather express the several characters, under which the aspirant was viewed in the successive stages of initiation.

The piece concludes thus.

Fibes yn ronyn gwyn, gwenith Iwysy
Ar ael lien earthen i'm carfaglwys.
Cyramaint oedd ei gweled, a chyfeb Rewys,
A fai yn lleawi, fal Hong ar ddyfrwys:
Mewn holy ty wyll i'm tywalltwys:
Mewn mor Dj/lati, i'm dychwelwys:
Bu goelfain i'm, pan i'm cain fygwys;
Duw Arglwydd, yu rhydd, a'm rhyddhawys;

"I fled in the form of a fair grain of pure wheat : upon the edge of a covering cloth, she caught me in her fangs. In appearance, she was as large as a proud marc, which she also resembled then was she swelling out, like a ship upon the waters. Into a dark receptacle she cast me. She carried me back into the sea of Dylan. It was an auspicious omen to me, when she happily suffocated me. God the Lord freely set me at large."

In these remarkable lines, the Bard treats of a course of [257] penance, discipline, and mystical instruction, which had contributed to purify, complete, and exalt his character, and to liberate him from the ills of mortality.

These mystical lessons must have consisted in scenical or symbolical representation; for his law was imparted to him, without the intervention of language.

And they commenced in the hall of Ceridwen, who is represented as an old giantess, as a hen, as a mare, and as a ship, which set sail, lifted the Bard from the earth, and swelled out like a ship upon the waters. It was also a sacred ship, for it is called Llan, a sanctuary, or temple; and it was the Diluvian ark, for it inclosed the noviciate, and carried him back into the sea of Dylan, or Noah. Ceridwen was, therefore, what Mr. Bryant pronounces Ceres to have been, the genius of the ark; and her mystic rites represented the memorials of the deluge.

From the language of the Bard, it should seem that this goddess was represented by a series of emblems, each of which was regarded as her image: or else, that she was depicted under one compound symbolical figure, in the same manner as Diana or Hecate, the lunar ark, which is described by the author of the Orphic Argonautics, as having the heads of a dog, a horse, and a lion.³²⁶

And that the ancient Britons actually did pourtray this character in the grotesque manner suggested by our Bard, appears by several ancient British coins, where we find a figure, compounded of a bird, a boat, and a mare.

[258]

It may be thought a whimsical conceit in our British Bard, to describe his Arkite goddess under the character of a mare. But Taliesin is still classical. Mr. Bryant takes notice, that Ceres was not only styled Hippa, the mare, but that she was represented as having been changed into the form of that animal.³²⁷

The same learned author refers to the patriarch Noah, the character of Dionusus,³²⁸ who was supposed to have been twice born, and thence was styled [Greek]. Sometimes the intermediate state is taken into account, and he is represented as having experienced three different lives. Here the authority of the Orphic hymns is quoted, in which this deity has the titles of [Greek], of three natures, and [Greek], thrice born. Just so, we have heard Taliesin, in the poem before us, declare—Teirgzcaith a'm ganed—Thrice was I born. The last birth of Dionusus, adds Mr. Bryant, was from Hippa, the mare, certainly the ark, at which time nature herself was renewed.³²⁹

That the representations which we have in this poem of Taliesin, are authentically derived from the mythology of the heathen Britons, will not admit of a reasonable doubt. What Bard of the sixth century, unless he were conducted by such a genuine clue, could have traced the connexion between the character of Ceres, under the strange symbol of a mare, and the vessel of the Diluvian patriarch? What scholar, in modem and enlightened times, could have developed the system which our Bard supports, before the [259] genius and erudition of Mr. Bryant demonstrated, that Ceres or Isis was in reality a female character, supposed to preside over the ark, and that the mare was a symbol of this goddess?

The same connexion between the history of the deluge, and the character of Ceridwen, represented as a hen, appears in other ancient poems, so as to authenticate the incidents of Hanes Taliesin. Thus the president of the Bards, having enumerated several of his mystical transmigrations, proceeds in this strain.

"I have been a grain of the Arkites, which vegetated upon a hill: and then the reaper placed me in a smoky recess, that I might be compelled freely to yield my corn, when subjected to tribulation. I was received by the hen with red fangs, and a divided crest. I remained nine nights, an infant in her womb. I have been Aedd, returning to my former state I have died, I have revived Again was I instructed by the cherisher (hen), with red fangs. Of what she gave me, scarcely can I express the great praise that is due. I am now Taliesin. I will compose a just string, which shall remain to the end of time, as a chief model of Elphin."³³⁰

The reaper, mentioned in this passage, is Tegid, Gwyddnaw, or Seithwedd Saidi, a character referable to Noah, the great husbandman, and the same at Saturn, who is furnished with a sickle, or scythe.

The period of the aspirant's imprisonment in the womb [260] of Ceridwen, is variously represented. Here, it is limited to nine nights; but elsewhere, we are told, it was nine months.

Mi a fum naw mis hayach,
Ym mol Geridwen Wrach:
Mi a fum g}'nt Wion bach;
Taliesin ydwy bellach.³³¹

"I have been, for the space of nine months, in the belly of Ceridwen the Fury: I was formerly Gwion the Little; henceforth I am Taliesin."

Amongst the ancient poems relative to this mystical personage, I must distinguish one, which is entitled Cadair Ceridwen;³³² in which she is brought forward to speak for herself: or rather, her minister and representative speaks in her name, and touches upon some curious topics of her history. The piece begins thus.³³³

Rheen rym awyr! tithau
Cereifant o'm correddeu:
Yn newaint, ym mhlygeineu,
Llewychawd yn Ueufereu.
Mynawg hoedl, Minawg ap Lieu,
A wdais i yma gynneu;
        [261]
Diwedd yn Uechwedd Lieu:
Bu gwrdd ei hwrdd ynghadeu.

"Sovereign of the power of the air! even thou puttest an end to my wanderings. In the dead of night, and at the dawns, have our lights been shining Decreed is the continuance of life to Minawc, the son of Lieu, whom I saw here awhile ago, and for the last time, upon the slope of the hill of Lieu: dreadfully has he been assaulted in the conflicts."

The sovereign of the power of the air seems to be the same character as Heilyn, the most mysterious impeller of the sky, mentioned in the poem of Gwyddnaw. By this title, it might be thought that the Bards meant to describe the Supreme Being, who put an end to the calamity of the deluge: but I observe, that in the poem, called the Chair of Teyrn On,³³⁴ Apollo, or the solar divinity, is styled, Heilyn Pasgadwr Heilyn the Feeder.

As the ark had wandered upon the surface of the waters, so Ceres, the genius of the ark, is represented as having lighted torches, and wandered over the whole earth in search of her daughter, who had been carried away by the king of the deep. To these torches, or to those which were carried in the celebration of the nocturnal mysteries, and in commemoration of the state of darkness, in which the patriarch and his family had been involved,³³⁵ we have a manifest allusion in the verses before us.

Minawc, the son of Lieu, to whom a continuance of life [262] had been decreed, and who had taken his departure from the ARK, upon the slope of the hill, was clearly a representative of the patriarch Noah. And his British title seems to have had more than an accidental similarity to one which was conferred upon him by other heathens.

Mr. Bryant tells us, that Meen, Menes, Menon, and the like, were titles by which the Deus Luneus, that in Noah, was distinguished in different countries:³³⁶ that the votaries of the patriarch, who was called Meen and Menes, were styled Minyee; which name was given them, from the object of their worship ;f that the Mentzi, in Sicily, were situated upon the river Menais; that they had traditions of n deluge, and a notion that Deucalion was saved upon Mount Ætna, near which was the city Noa; that there were of old Minyæ in Elis, upon the river Minyas; and that the chief title of the Argonauts was that of Minya.³³⁷

It is a remarkable coincidence, that the same patriarch was worshipped by the name of Minauc, in the island Mona, and upon the river Menai.

It may also deserve notice, that the sentimental picture exhibited in this British passage, has a striking coincidence with the concluding ceremonies in the nocturnal mysteries of the just person, and those of the Arkite Athene, mentioned in the Orphic Argonautics, and thus described by Mr. Bryant.

"By [Greek] was meant Arkite providence; in other [263] words, divine wisdom, by which the world was preserved. In these mysteries, after the people had for a long time bewailed the loss of a particular person, he was at length supposed to be restored to life. Upon this, the priest used to address the people in these memorable terms. Comfort yourselves, all ye who have been partakers of the mysteries of the Deity, thus preserved: for we shall now enjoy some respite from our labours. To these were added the following remarkable words—I have escaped a great calamity, and my lot is greatly mended."³³⁹

Ceridwen thus proceeds.

Afagddu, fy mab inneu,
Dedwydd Dofydd rhwy goreu:
Ynghyf amryson kerddeu,
Oedd gwell ei synwyr no'r fau:
Celfyddaf gwr a gigleu.
Gwydion ap Don, dygnfertheu,

A hudwys gwraig o flodeu:
A dyddwg moch o ddeheu
(Can ni bu iddaw disgoreu)
Drud ymyd, a gwryd pletheu:
A rhithwys gorwyddawd, y ar plagawd lys,
Ac enwerys cyfrwyeu.

"As to Avagddu, my own son, the correcting god formed him anew for happiness. In the contention of mysteries, his wisdom has exceeded mine. The most accomplished of beings is he. Gwydion, the son of Don, by his exquisite art, charmed [264] forth a woman composed of flowers; and early did he conduct to the right side (as he wanted a protecting rampart) the bold curves, and the virtue of the various folds: and he formed a steed upon the springing plants, with illustrious trappings."

Ceridwen, having spoken of the conclusion of her wanderings, and the continuance of life, which was decreed to Minauc, adverts to the history of Avagddu, utter darkness, or black accumulation, her late unfortunate son. He was now become Dedwydd, or [Greek], and formed for happiness. This felicity he seems to have attained by means of the lady, whom Gwydion composed of flowers, adorned with the hold curves and various folds, and graced with a stately steed. This personage could have been no other than the Genius of the Rainbow, whom we shall presently find introduced by her proper name, and whose province it was to constitute a protecting fence.

Gwydion, the son of Don, is a great agent in these mystical poems. In another piece of Taliesin's,³⁴⁰ we find him counselling Hu, or Aeddon, the patriarch, to impress the front of his shield with an irresistible form, by means of which, both he and his chosen rank, triumphed over the demon of the waters.

This Gwydion ab Don, was the same character as Mercury the son of Jove, or Hermes, the counsellor of Cronus or Saturn, mentioned in the fragment of Sanchoniathon.

[265]

Ceridvven, in the next place, touches upon her own endowments and privileges.

Pan farmer y cadeiriau,
Arbennig uddun y fau:
Fynghadair, a'm pair, a'm deddfon,
A'm araith drwyadl, gadair gysson.
Rym gelwir gyfrwys, yn llys Don
Mi, ag Euronwy ag Euron.

"When the merit of the presidencies shall he adjudged, mine will be found the superior amongst them my chair, my cauldron, and my lazes, and my pervading eloquence, meet for the presidency. I am accounted skilful in the court of Don (Jove) and with me, Euronwy and Euron."

The cauldron of Ceridwen has already engaged our notice. Her chair or presidency, must imply her sanctuary, together with its due establishment, and all the rites and laws pertaining to it. She here speaks of those laws, and Taliesin has told us, in a passage which I have produced, that without audible language, she had imparted to him the laws by which he was to be governed.

It must be recollected, that Ceres and Isis were esteemed, and styled lawgivers.

The poem concludes thus

Gweleis ymladd taer, yn Nant Ffrancon,
Duw Sul, pryd plygeint,
Khwng Wythaint a Gwydion.
Dyfieu, yn geugant, ydd aethant Fon,
        [266]
I geissaw yscut, a hudolion.
Arianrhod, drem clod, a gwawr hinon,
Mwyaf gwarth y marth, o barth Brython,
Dybrys am ei' lys, Enfys Avon:
Afon a'i hechrys gurys, gwrth terra.
Gwenwyn ei chynbyd, cylch byd, eda.
Nid wy dywaid geu llyfreu Breda:
Cadair Gedwidedd yssydd yma;
A, hyd frawd, parawd yn Europa.

"I saw a fierce conflict in the vale of Beaver, on the day of the Sun, at the hour of dawn, between the birds of Wrath and Gwydion. On the day of Jove, they (the birds of Wrath) securely went to Mona, to demand a sudden shower of the sorcerers: but the goddess of the silver wheel, of auspicious mien, the dawn of serenity, the greatest restrainer of sadness, in behalf of the Britons, speedily throws round his hall, the stream of the Rainbow, a stream which scares away violence from the earth, and causes the bane of its former state, round the circle of the world to subside. The books of the Ruler of the Mount, record no falsehood. The Chair of the Preserver³⁴¹ remains here; and till the doom, shall it continue in Europe."

I would recommend the whole of this passage to the attention of the learned, as a subject of importance in British [267] antiquities. It furnishes a proof, beyond doubt or contradiction, of the establishment of Arkite memorials in this island, and sets forth to view some singular traits of British tradition, upon the subject of the deluge.

In the first place, Ceridwen, the Ark, witnesses a fierce conflict in the vale of the Beaver. That animal, under the name of Avanc, is constantly introduced into the British account of the deluge; and the drawing of him out of the lake, as we have already seen, is represented as a great act, which was conducive to the removing of that calamity. Our ancestors seem to have regarded the Beaver as an emblem of the patriarch himself. To this symbolical honour, this creature may have been promoted, by a peculiarity in his natural history. The patriarch had built himself a vessel or house, in which he had lived in the midst of the waters; and which had deposited that, venerable personage and his family, safe upon dry ground. So the Beaver is not only an amphibious animal, but also a distinguished architect. He is said to build a house of two stories, one of which is in the water, and the other above the water ; and out of the latter, he has an egress to dry ground. The fanciful genius of heathenism could not have demanded or discovered a more happy coincidence, with the history of the Diluvian patriarch.

The conflict here mentioned, was between Gwydion, the great agent in the preservation of mankind, and the Gwythaint, some feigned, winged creatures, which derive their name from Gwyth, Wrath, or Fury. These may be considered as the ministers of wrath, or the demons of destruction, let loose at the deluge. When foiled by Gwydion or Hermes, they are represented as hastening to Mona, to procure assistance of certain sorcerers. These were, un- [268] doubtedly the same, which are introduced in Taliesin's elegy, upon the priest of Mona,³⁴² by the names of Math and Eumydd, and described, as introducing the confusion of nature, at the deluge.

Math ag Eunydd, hudwydd gelfydd Rydd elfinor.

"Math and Eunydd, masters of the magic wand, let loose the elements."

From these agents of desolation, the birds of wrath now demand a sudden shower, evidently for the purpose of producing a second deluge, that they might triumph over Gvvydion.

This new calamity was prevented by Arianrod, the goddess of the silver wheel, whom Gwydion produced from a combination of flowers. This lady, who was the dawn of serenity, poured fourth the stream of the rainbow; a stream, which not only scared away violence from the earth, but also removed the bane, or poison of the deluge, to which the mystical bards have frequent allusions.

This representation is clearly derived from the history of Noah, and of the bow in the cloud, that sacred token of the covenant which God made with man, and of the promise, that the waters should no more become a food to destroy all flesh. But the incidents which this poem blends with the truth of sacred history, furnish a convincing proof, [269] that the Bardic account was derived through the channel of heathenism.

In the conclusion, we are told, that the Chair or presidency of the Presever, namely, Ceridwen, was established here, and so firmly, that it is confidently added, it should continue to the end of time.

This poem was evidently intended to be sung or recited, in the ceremonies of a heathen solemnity, by a priest or priestess, who personated Ceridwen; but some paltry and mendicant minstrel, who only chaunted it as an old song, has tacked on three lines, in a style and measure, totally different from the preceding verses.

An rhothwy y Drindawd.
Trugaredd Dyddbrawd
Cein gardawd gan wyrda!

"May the Trinity grant us mercy in the day of judgment! A liberal donation, good gentlemen."

The old poem, called the Chair of Taliesin, furnishes a long list of the various apparatus, requisite for the due celebration of the feast of Ceridwen: and particularly, enumerates several of the ingredients of the mystical cauldron.

As the curious might wish to compare this British account, with the hints which ancient authors have thrown out, respecting the superstition of the Druids, and with [270] what has been recorded of the mystical rites of other countries; I shall insert the whole of this obscure piece, with the best translation, and explanatory notes which I can supply.

We here find the character of the Arkite goddess identified with that of the Moon. Of this circumstance, I have already taken some notice, and have shewn, from Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber, that such confusion of characters was not peculiar to British mythology.

KADEIR TALIESIN.³⁴³

Mydwyf merwerydd
Molawd Duw Dofydd,
Llwrw cyfranc cewydd
Cyfreu dyfnwedydd.
Bardd, bron Sywedydd,
Ban adleferydd
Awen Cudd Echwydd
At feinoeth feinydd.

Beirdd llafar lluc de,
Eu gwawd nym gre
Ar ystrawd ar ystre:
Ystryw mawr mire.

Ac mi wyf cerdd fud
Gogyfarch feirdd tud:
        [271]
Rydebrwyddaf drud;
Ky talmaf ehud;
Ryddyhunaf dremud
Teyrn terwyu vvolud.

Nid mi wyf cerdd fas
Gogyfarch feirdd tras
Bath fadawl iddas
Dofn eigiawn addas!

"I am he who animates the fire, to the honour of the  god Dovyddy in behalf of the assembly of associates, qualified to treat of mysteries a Bard, with the knowledge of a Syreedydd, when he deliberately recites the inspired song of the Western Cudd, on a serene night amongst the stones.

"As to loquacious, glittering bards, their encomium attracts me not, when moving in the course: admiration. is their great object.

"And I am a silent proficient, who address the Bards of the land: it is mine to animate the hero; to persuade the unadvised; to awaken the silent beholder the bold illuminator of kings!

"I am no shallow artist, greeting the Bards of a household, like a subtle parasite the ocean has a due profundity!"

These lines are merely prefatory. As the Bard lived in an age when Druidism was upon the decline, he found it expedient to assert the importance of his own pontifical character as distinguished from the mere poet, and even [272] from the Bard of the household, who was an officer of no mean rank, in the British court, as we learn from the laws of Howel. It was his privilege to be entertained at the king's table, to be endowed with free land, to have his wardrobe furnished, and his steed provided at the king's expence; yet, he was to give place to the Cathedral Bard, or priest, of the ancient national order.

Though I must leave several things in this poem unexplained, it may seem proper to take notice of other particulars, and throw what light I can upon them.

Merwerydd, in the first line, comes from Marwor, embers, or hot coals. It seems to have denoted a person who had the charge of keeping up a fire. The term at present, implies that kind of madness ox enthusiasm, which we suppose to have possessed the heathen prophets. Dovydd (line 2) is literally, the Tamer, Domitor. Cewydd, in the next line, an associate, from Caw, a band or circumscription. Hence Pryduin, Dyvnwal, and Bidn are styled Ban-Cercyddion Teymedd, consolidating sovereigns.³⁴⁴ Syztedydd (line 5) a mystagogue, or revealer of mysteries. Ys-yw-wedydd, a declarer of what is. We find Syw, pl. Sywed, and Sywion, in the same sense. Cudd, (line 7) the dark repository the Ark.

To proceed with our Bard—

Pwy amlenwis cws
Camp ymhob noethass
Pan yw Dien gwlith
A Had gwenith
        [273]
A gwlid gvvenyn
A glud ac ystor
Ac elyw tramor
Ac eurbibeu Lieu
A Hon ariant gwiw
A rhudd em a grawn
Ag ewyn eigiawn
Py ddyfrys ffynnawn
Berwr byr yr ddawn
Py gysswUt gwerin
Brecci bonedd llyn
A llwyth Lloer wehyn
Lleddf Honed Verbyn.

"The man of complete discipline has obtained the meed of honour, in every nightly celebration, when Dien is propitiated with an offering of wheat, and the suavity of bees and incense and myrrh, and aloes, from beyond the seas, and the gold pipes of Lleuy and cheerful, precious, silver, and the ruddy gem, and the berries, and the foam of the ocean, and cresses of a purifying quality, laved in the fountain, and a joint contribution of wort, the founder of liquor, supplied by the assembly, and a raised load secluded from the moon, of placid, cheerful Vervain."

This passage, without an atom of poetical merit, and consisting of a mere list of trifles, derives some importance, from the high consideration which those trifles once obtained in our native country. Upon this score, I would ground my apology for lengthening the paragraph, with some attempts at elucidation.

Noethas, (line 24) a mighty, solemnity; from the old term [274] Noeth, the night: whence we have He-noeth, this night: Mei-noetk, a serene night, or May-eve; Peu-noeth, every night, and Tra-noeth, the morrow, or beyond the night: Noethas also implies an unveiling, or uncovering; and the priest of Ceridwen, or the moon, may have selected this term, either because the night disclosed the object of his veneration, or because her mysteries were unveiled only in the light.

In my translation of the 25th line, 1 have rendered Cwlith, as a verb, to attract, to persuade gently, to propitiate. It had such a meaning formerly; hence we read in the Gododin, Gwlith Eryr, the eagle's allurer.³⁴⁵ Gwlith, in the modern Welsh, only means dew; and the line might be rendered when the Divine dew descends; but the context seems to require the meaning which I have given to it, and in rendering particular passages in poems, which relate to the Druidical superstition, and which have been obscure for a thousand years, it is necessary to keep in view the general subject, and to compare part with part.

Llad, (line 26) a benefit, gift or offering: in the printed copy, the orthography is improperly modernized into Lladd, to cut, reap, or mow. The Briallu, or primroses, mentioned in a subsequent line, were not to be procured at the season of cutting wheat.

Gwlid or Gwlydd, (line 27) I am not certain whether he means honey, or the plant Samolus, which was called Gwlydd; but I rather think, the latter is here intended. Dr. Borlase remarks, that "the Druids experienced great [275] virtue in, or at least, ascribed it to the Samolus, and gathered it in a ritual, religious manner. He that was to perform this office of gathering it, was to do it fasting, with his left hand," &c.³⁴⁶

Aurhiheu, (line 30) the mineral, Orpiment, is so called; but I rather think the gold pipes was some plant with a yellow flower, and hollow stem. So Ariant, in the next line, may imply the Fluxwort, which is called Ariant Gwion, Gwion's silver, a certain proof that the Druids held it in esteem; for Gwion was the superintendant of the mystical cauldron.

Em, (line 32) probably the red gem, or bud of some tree Grvawn, (ib.) the wild Nep, or white vine, is called Gravny Perthi, hedge berries, and also Eirin Gwion, the Borues of Gwion see the last note.

Berwr, (line 35) Cresses. The Faharia is called Berwr Taliesin, Taliesin's cresses, and is therefore, the plant here intended.

Verhyn, (line 39) Vervain, In the British Botanology, this plant has also the following appropriated titles, expressive of its high esteem amongst our ancestors—Cas gan Oythraul, the Fiend's aversion; Y Dderwen Vendigaid, the blessed oak; and Llysiaur Hudol, the Inchanter's plants.

The Druids, we are told, were excessively fond of the Vervain; they used it in casting lots and foretelling events.

[276]

Anointing with this, they thought the readiest way, to obtain all that the heart could desire, to keep off fevers, to procure friendships, and the like. It was to be gathered at the rise of the dog star, without being looked upon, either by the sun or moon. In order to which, the earth was to be propitiated by a libation of honey. In digging it up, the left hand was to be used. It was then to be waved aloft, and the leaves, stalk, and roots, were to be dried separately in the shade.

The couches at feasts, were sprinkled with water, in which this plant had been infused.³⁴⁷

Most of the ingredients enumerated in this passage, seem to have been used in the preparation of the mystical cauldron; and they may be regarded as the simples, which Ceridwen was fabled to have selected, with so much care and ceremony. But let us go on with the catalogue.

A Sywion synhwyr
A sewyd am Loer
A gofrwy gwedd gwyr
Gwrth awel awyr
A mall a merin
A gwadawl tra merin
A chwrvvg gvvydrin
Ar Haw pererin
A phybyr a phyg
Ag urddawl Segyrffyg
A llyseu meddyg
Lie allwyr Venffyg.

[277]

"With priests of intelligence, to officiate in behalf of the moon, and the concourse of associated men, under the open breeze of the sky, with the maceration and sprinkling, and the portion after the sprinkling, and the boat of glass in the hand of the stranger, and the stout youth with pitch, and the honoured Segyrffyg, and medical plants, from an exorcised spot."

The boat of glass (line 46) was a token of the same import as the Anguinum, or Glain, as I have already remarked. In the second volume of Mountfaucon's Antiquities,³⁴⁸ there is a sculpture which illustrates this passage. It is a bass-relief, found at Autun, and represents the chief Druid, bearing his sceptre, as head of his order, and crowned with a garland of oak leaves; with another Druid, not thus decorated, approaching him, and displaying in his right hand a crescent, of the size of the moon, when six days old.

The pitch (line 48) was, I suppose, for the facula or torches, which were carried during the celebration of the nocturnal mysteries.

Segyrffug means protecting from illusion. I imagine it was the name of some plant. The populace of Wales ascribe the virtue implied by this name, to a species of trefoil.

The literal translation of the fiftieth line, is a place cleared from the illusion of the witch. The practice of ex- [278] orcising the ground was common to the Druids, with other ancient priests. The iron instrument used in this rite of exorcising, was to describe a circle round the plant, and then dig it up.³⁴⁹

The piece concludes thus—

A Beirdd a blodeu
A guddig bertheu
A briallu a brivvddail
A blaen gwydd goddeu
A mall ameuedd
A mynych adneuedd
A gwin tal cibedd
O Ryfain hyd Rossedd
A dwfn ddwfr echwydd
Pawn ei lif Dofydd
Neu pren puraur fydd
Ffrwythlawn ei gynnydd
Rei ias berwidydd
Oedd uch pair pumwydd
A Gwion afon
A gofwy hinon
A mel a meillion
A meddgyrn meddwon
Addwyn i Ddragon
Ddaway Dergrddon.

"And Bards with flowers, and perfect convolutions, and primroses, and leaves of the Briw, with the points of the trees of purposes, and solution of doubts, and fre- [279] quent mutual pledges; and with wine which flows to the brim, from Rome to Rosedd, and deep standing water, a flood which has the gift of Dovydd, or the tree of pure gold, which becomes of a fructifying quality, when that Brewer gives it a boiling, who presided over the cauldron of the five plants.

"Hence the stream of Gwion, and the reign of serenity, and honey and trefoil, and horns forcing with mead Meet for a sovereign is the lore of the Druids."

We have now seen the end of this curious poem, if it deserves the name; but a few more remarks may be proper Primroses ranked highly amongst the mystical apparatus, if we may judge from their name, which is a compound of Bri, dignity, and Gallu, power.

The leaves of the Briw, which we find introduced with the symbolical sprigs, or lots, are probably those of the Vervain, which is known by the name of Briw'r March. Pliny has told us, that the Druids used this plant in casting lots, and foretelling events.

The same rite of libation is described, as prevaihng from Rome to Rosedd. This seems to fix the date of the composition, long before the sixth century in an age when the Britons were acquainted with the Romans, but whilst Rome itself, as yet was Pagan. It may also be remarked, that here is not a single Christian idea introduced; on the contrary, we find an open profession of worshipping the moon, [280] in a general concourse of men, and the lore of the Druids is declared to be meet for sovereign princes. Hence I think it probable, that no part of this poem, excepting the introduction, belongs to the Taliesin of the sixth century.

The deep water seems to imply the bath, for immersion; and the gift of Dovydd, was the Selago, or hedge hyssop, which has a synonymous appellative, in modern Welsh, being called Gras Duw, Gratia Dei.

"With great care and superstition did the Druids gather the Selago. Nothing of iron was to touch, or cut it, nor was the bare hand thought worthy of that honour, but a peculiar vesture, or sagus, applied by means of the right hand; the vesture must have been holy, and taken off from some sacred person privately, and with the left hand only. The gatherer was to be clothed in white, namely, a Druid, whose garment was white, his feet naked, and washed in pure water. He was first to offer a sacrifice of bread and wine, before he proceeded to gather the Selago, which was carried-'from the place of its nativity, in a clean new napkin. This was preserved by the Druids, as a charm against all misfortunes."³⁵⁰

Pren Purour, (line 62) the tree of pure gold the misseltoe Virgil's Aurum frondens, and Ramus aureus, which the Arch-Druid gathered with a golden hook. Amongst the extraordinary reputed virtues of this plant, was that mentioned by our Bard, of promoting the increase of the species, or preventing sterility. The names of the misseltoe, in [281] the Welsh language, preserve the memorial of its ancient dignity. It is called Pren Awyr, the Æthereal tree; Pren Uchelvar, the tree of the high summit; and has four other names, derived from Uchel, lofty.

We find, by the conclusion of the poem, that this, and the other select plants, were amongst the ingredients of the mystical cauldron, which had been contrived by Ceridwen, the British Ceres. This produced the stream of Gwion, to which were ascribed, not only genius, and the power of inspiration, but also the reign of serenity, which, as we have been told, in the chair of Ceridwen, immediately commenced upon the display of the celestial bow, at the conclusion of the deluge.

This cauldron, in short, purified the votaries of Druidism, for the celebration of certain mystical rites, which commemorated the preservation of mankind in the ark, and the great renovation of nature.

That a people so strongly attached to their national customs, as the ancient Britons are known to have been, should have pertinaciously adhered to the religion of their ancestors; that the British Ceres should have maintained her honours in the obscure corners of the country, as late as the sixth century; and that her votaries should have appeared in public during that age, or in the interval, between the dominion of the Romans and that of the Saxons, is not greatly to be wondered at. There seems to have been several parts of Wales into which Christianity, as yet, had [282] scarcely penetrated; or where, at least, it had not prevailed. Hence Brychan is commended for bringing up his children and grand-children in learning, so as to be able to shew the faith in Christ, to the Cymry, where they were without the faith."³⁵¹

But that the Welsh princes, to the latest period of their government, should not only tolerate, but patronize the old superstition; and that the mysteries of Ceres should be celebrated in South Britain, as late as the middle of the twelfth century, are facts, as singular as they are indisputable.

Many of the most offensive ceremonies must, of course, have been either retrenched or concealed; but there is authentic proof, that the honours and the mysteries of Ceridwen did remain. Some of the paragraphs which authenticate this fact, I have produced in the first section of this essay, to which I refer the reader.

Before I look for additional evidence, I shall offer a few hints, with a view of accounting for the fact itself.

The commemorations of the deluge were so pointed and clear, in the mystical rites of the Britons, that when the Bards became acquainted with scripture history, they perceived, and frequently alluded to, the connection between their own national traditions, and the sacred records, respecting Noah and his family. Hence they considered their own as a genuine descendant of the patriarchal religion, [283] and therefore, as not absolutely irreconcileable with Christianity.

The Roman laws and edicts, had for some ages, restrained the more cruel customs, and the bloody sacrifices of the Druids; what now remained was their code of mystical doctrines, together with their symbolical rites.

The Bards were influenced by their profession, and the princes, who from their infancy, had been accustomed to hear and admire the songs of the Bards, were induced, by national prejudice, to regard these as innocent, at least, if not meritorious: and to fancy, that they might be good Christians enough, without wholly relinquishing their heathenish superstitions.

The ministers of Christianity thought otherwise, and sometimes refused Christian burial to these Gentile priests: and there are many instances of the Bards themselves, promising a kind of recantation, sometime before their death.

Conscience being soothed by these palliatives, gave way to a cogent argument, in favour of the Bardic institution, which was supposed to give strong support to personal fortitude; and to animate the spirit of national independence, during times, the most difficult and disastrous.

Such appears to have been the feeling of Hywel, the son of Owen Gwynedd, who succeeded his father, in the principality of North Wales, and died in the year 1171.

We may infer from the following poem, that this prince had been initiated into the lesser mysteries of Ceridwen, and [284] that he eagerly longed for admittance to the greater, namely those of the covered coracle, which were conducted by Gwyddnaw and his son: for I shall shew hereafter, that, by the Steed, in the mystical lore of the Bards, is meant a boat, or vessel upon the water; and here we find the meaning ascertained by other circumstances.

Song by Hywell, the son of Owen.³⁵²

''I love in the summer season, the prancing steed of the placid smiling chief, in the presence of the gallant lord, who rules the foam-covered, nimbly-moving wave. But another has worn the token of the apple spray³⁵³ of my shield remains white upon my shoulder; the wished for achievement have I not obtained, though great was my desire.

"Ceridwen, lofty and fair slow and delicate in her descending course her complexion is formed of the mild light, in the evening hour:³⁵⁴ the splendid, graceful, bright, and gentle lady of the mystic song even in bending a rush would she totter so small, so delicate, so feebly descending!

[285]

"But though small, she is older than the youth of ten years. She is the modeller of our tender age, full of meekness; her juvenile discipline has she freely bestowed. Yet, a a heroine, she would rather impede her own prosperity, than utter one sentence of unseemly import.

"Attend thou my worship in the mystical grove: and whilst I adore thee, maintain thy own jurisdiction."

If we may judge from Hywel's description, Ceridwen had greatly improved in her person and her manners, since the sixth century; but still, she is the same object of idolatrous veneration: she still communicates her mystical laws to the devoted aspirant.

Upon a subsequent application, our princely Bard seems to have been more successful; for thus he sings of Llywy, who, as we have already seen, was the daughter of Ceridwen, and was now become the mystical sister of Hywel.

"I love the Caer of the illustrious lady, near the pleasant shore: and to the place where the modest fair one loves to behold the sea mew; to the place where I am greatly beloved, I would gladly go.

"I will vow a visit to the serenely fair that I may behold my sister gently smiling that I may avow the love which fate has allotted me, in the home of her, who tranquillizes my breast with her mild influence; in the home of Llywy, whose hue is like Dylan's wave.

"From her dominion, an over/lowing deluge has extended [286] to us. Fair is she, as the snow, which the cold has polished upon the lofty peak.

"For the severe discipline which I experienced in the hall of the mysterious god, I have obtained her promise a treasure of high privilege,

"She has stolen my soul I am become weak my spirit is like that of Garwy Hir I am detained for the fair one, in the hall of the mysterious god."

And again—

"I shall long for the proud-wrought Caer of the Gyvylchi, till my exulting person has gained admittance. Renowned and enterprizing is the man who enters there,

"It is the chosen place of Llywy, with her splendid endowments. Bright gleaming, she ascends from the margin of the sea: and the lady shines this present year, in the desert of Arvon, in Eryri.

"A pavilion will not he regarded, nor costly robes admired, by her whose merit I fondly wish to delineate: but if she would bestow the privilege for any strain of Bardism, I would enjoy this night in her society."

If we may judge from these strains of Hywel, and from many similar passages in the works of his contemporaries, the Cambrian Bards were as zealously devoted to the worship of Ceridwen and Llywy, or Ceres and Proserpine, in the twelfth century, as they had been in the sixth, or in any earlier age of heathen superstition.

[287]

We have already seen some hints of a solemn oath, that as administered to the aspirants, before they were admitted to the mystical rites of these characters: accordingly, the Welsh Archaiology supplies us with an old formulary of introduction in very obscure language, and uncouth orthography, which seems to have been used upon these occasion.

Arthur and Cai are represented, as approaching the gate of the sanctuary, which was guarded by the hierophant, and commencing the following dialogue—

ARTHUR.

"What man is he that guards the gate?"

HIEROPHANT.

"The severe hoary one, with the wide dominion—Who is the man that demands it?"

ARTHUR.

"Arthur and the blessed Cai."

HIEROPHANT.

"What good attends thee, thou blessed one, thou best man in the world! Into my house thou canst not enter, unless thou wilt preserve "

CAI.

"I will preserve it, and that thou shalt behold; though the birds of wrath should go forth, and the three attendant ministers should fall asleep, namely, the son of the Creator, of Mabon the son of Mydron, attendant upon the wonder- [288] ful supreme Ruler, and Gwyn, the Lord of those who descend from above."

HIEROPHANT.

"Severe have my servants been, in preserving their institutes. Manawydan, the son of Llyr, was grave in his counsel. Manawyd truly brought a perforated shield, from Trevryd; and Mabon, the son of Lightning, stained the straw with clotted gore: and Anwas, the winged, and Llwch Llawinawgy (the ruler of the lake) were firm guardians of the incircled mount. Their Lord preserved them, and I rendered them complete.

"Cai! I solemnly announce though all three should be slain; when the privilege of the grove is violated, danger shall be found!"

The remainder of this obscure piece, describes the different characters which were supported by Arthur and Cai, after their initiation, and the different fates which attended them. The passage before us may be understood, as involving a very solemn oath. The Aspirant engages, in the presence of the Hierophant, who personates his god, to preserve the laws of the sanctuary, however he may be assaulted by enemies, or deserted by his friends; whilst the chief priest denounces in awful obscurity, the inevitable ruin which will attend the violation of this sacred engagement.

Here we also find, that during the performance of the mystical rites, the Hierophant was attended by three priests, [289] each of whom personated a god. This is in perfect conformity with the usage of the Greeks. For, we are told, that in the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries, four priests officiated. The Hierophant, who represented the Great Creator: the torch-bearer, who personated the sun; the herald, who was regarded as a type of Mercury, and the minister of the altar who was venerated as the symbol of the moon.

Having now taken a considerable range in the grounds of British superstition, I shall dismiss the present subject, with the persuasion, that the facts which I have brought forward in this, and the preceding section, will furnish a master-key to the stores of British mythology.

It has been proved, that the great secret of the ancient Bards, who professed themselves disciples of the Druids, and consequently of the Druids themselves, resolves itself into the mystical rites of Hu and Ceridwen; that these characters were no other than the Bacchus and Ceres of antiquity, whose mysteries are acknowledged to have been duly celebrated in the British islands; and that the ceremonies and traditions of the Britons, had evident analogy with the superstitions of the Greeks, and of some of the Eastern nations.

It has also been seen, that the British mysteries commemorate the deluge, and those characters which are connected with its history; and thus furnish an undeniable confirmation of Mr. Bryant's opinion, that Ceres was an imaginary genius of the Ark, from whence the post-diluvian world derived their being, their laws, and their sciences [290] whilst on the other hand, that opinion supplies a lucid solution of the great Bardic ænigma, that every thing sacred, pure, and primitive, was derived from the cauldron of Ceridwen.

In British antiquities, the subject is new, and upon that, account alone, may be deemed curious by many readers; but I regard it in a more important light, as in connexion with the discoveries of Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber, affording a demonstration to the candid philosopher, that heathenism had no foundation of its own to rest upon, and that its tottering fabric merely leaned against the great historical truths, which are recorded in the sacred volume.

[291]

SECTION IV

The Design of the circular Temples and Cromlechs of the Druids.
Original Documents relative to the celebrated Structure of STONEHENGE.

THE superstition of the Britons, as we find it delineated in the ancient Bards, and probably, as it existed for many Centuries, before the time of any of those Bards which are now extant, appears to have been a heterogeneous system, in which the memorials of the patriarch, and of the deluge, and some of the true principles of the patriarchal religion, were blended with a mass of absurdity, and an idolatrous worship of the host of heaven.

Thus, whilst Ceridwen is the genius of the Ark, we observe, that at the same time, the moon is her representative in the heavens. Her husband, Tegid or Saidi, commemorates Noah; but he is also viewed in the planet Saturn; and by the name of Hu, he even takes possession of the solar orb. Avagddu, the black accumulation, which appalled the world at the deluge, has brightened into Rhuvawn Bevry or the splendor of the regenerated sun.

Hence we must expect to find, that the temples which were sacred to this motley superstition, had some reference to the celestial f as well as to the terrestrial objects of adoration."

[292]

It has been already remarked, that Cadeiriath Saidi, or the language of the chair of Saidi, was personified; and that he constituted an important character in British mythology.

But such an ideal personage as this, could have been nothing more than a representative of the sacred ceremonies, doctrine, laws, and institutes of Druidism: as exhibited and taught, in the temple or sanctuary of Ceridwen, and of the other mythological group.

This temple was named Caer Sidi, the circle, or sanctuary of Sidi; and Taliesin's presidency, as high priest in that temple, was styled Cadair Caer Sidi, the chair of Caer Sidi. The doctrine and the law which he pronounced from that chair, were therefore, the Cadeiriaith, or language of the chair. Let us now inquire, why the name of Caer Sidi was appropriated to the Druidical temples.

I might cut this matter short, by asserting upon the authority of Mr Bryant, that Sidi, was one of the names of Ceres,

"As the Ark, says that great mythologist, was looked upon as the mother of mankind, and stiled Da-Mater so it was figured under the resemblance of the Poia, Pomegranate, since abounding with seeds, it was thought no improper emblem of the Ark, which contained the rudiments of the future world. Hence the deity of the Ark was named Rhoia, and was the Rhea of the Greeks. Another name of the pomegranate was Sidè (Sidee) of which name there was a city in Pamphylia, and another in Boeotia, which was said to have been built by Side, the daughter of Danaus, which may be in a [293] great measure true: for by a daughter of Danaus, is meant a priestess of Da-Naus, the Ark, the same as Da-Mater."³⁵⁵

According to this deduction, Sidee must have been as legitimate a name as Rhea, for the genius of the Ark; and it must have represented that sacred vessel, as hitherto impregnated with its seeds; or, as containing the patriarch and his family, who became objects of superstitious veneration to succeeding ages.

But the British Caer Sidi was derived through another channel. It appears from the spoils of the deep, one of the principal of the mystical poems of Taliesin,³⁵⁶ that the original Caer Sidi, and the prototype of that sanctuary, in which our Bard presided, was no other than the sacred vessel, in which the mythological Arthur and his seven friends escaped the general deluge. Thus the Britons regarded Caer Sidi as a name of the Ark.

But as the Britons, like many other heathens, had blended their commemorations of the patriarch and his family, with the worship of the host of heaven; as the sun, moon, and planets, were now viewed as emblems of their consecrated progenitors, and of their sacred ship, and probably had engrossed the greatest part of popular veneration; so we find that the name of Caer Sidi, or Sidin, was transferred from the sacred ship, to that great circle, in which those luminous emblems of their gods presided and expatiated. In British astronomy, it was become the name of the Zodiac.

[294]

Agreeably to the idiom of the Welsh language, the words Caer Sidi, or Sidin, imply the circle, or inclosed-place of the revolution. We may, therefore, admire the dexterity with which the genius of mythology appropriated the title, first, to the vessel in which all the surviving inhabitants of the world performed the greatest revolution recorded in history; secondly, to that celestial circle, in which the luminaries of the world perpetually revolve; and lastly, to the Druidical temples, which appear from the works of the Bards, to have had a marked reference, both to the sacred ship, and to the Zodiac.

Their reference to the former may be proved, not only from the spoils of the deep, but also from Taliesin's poem upon the sons of Llyr,³⁵⁷ where he tells us, that his chair, or presidency, was sacred to Cerldwen.

Neud amug ynghadeir o heir Ceridwen!
Handid rydd fy nhafawd,
Yn addawd gwawd Ogyrwen.

"Is not my chair protected by the cauldron of Ceridwen? Therefore, let my tongue be free, in the sanctuary of the praise of the goddess."

And again, in the same poem, he names and describes this presidency

Ys cyweir fy nghadeir ynghaer Sidi
Nis plawdd haint a henaint a fo yndt
Ys gwyr Manawyd a Phryderi
Tair Orian y am dan a gan rhegddi
        [295]
Acam ei bannau ffrydieu gweilgi
A'rffynawn fFrwythlawn yssydd odducliti
Ys whegach nor' gwin gwyn y llyn yndi.

"Complete is my chair in Caer Sidi: neither disorder nor age will oppress him that is within it. It is known to Manawyd and Pryderi, that three loud strains round the fire, will be sung before it; whilst the currents of the sea are round its borders, and the copious fountain is open from above, the liquor within it is sweeter than delicious wine."

It is clear, from these remarkable passages, that the name of Caer Sidi was given to the sanctuary, in which the rites of Ceridwen were celebrated: for the presidency which was protected by the cauldron of Ceridwen, and the presidency of Caer Sidi, imply one and the same thing. And the sanctuary of that presidency is described with circumstances, which can be referred only to the history of a ship, and which evidently allude to the Ark.

The currents of the deep compass it about, and the copious fountain is open from above; still there is safety, tranquillity, and comfortable subsistence within. All this is the literal history of the Ark, and there can be little doubt, but that it is also the history of some rites, which the Britons observed in commemoration of it.

That the same sanctuary had its allusion to the great circle of the Zodiac, may be inferred from the language of the same Taliesin, who vaunting of the high importance of his pontifical office, assimilates his own character with that of polio, or the sun.

Having informed us, in the poem which is called his his- [296] tory, that he had received the Awen, or inspiration, from the cauldron of Ceridwen, he concludes in this manner.

Mi a fum ynghadair flin
Uwch Caer Sidin
A honno yn troi fydd
Rhwng tri elfydd
Pand rhyfedd ir byd
Nas argennvd.³⁵⁸

"I have presided in a toilsome chair, over the circle of Sidin, whilst that is continually revolving between three elements; is it not a wonder to the world, that men are not enlightened?'

Here the Bard, as usual, blends the description of celestial objects with that of their representatives on earth. These Caer Sidin, which continually revolves in the midst of the universe, is the circle of the zodiac. Here the sun, the great luminary of the world, is the visible president. Our Bard could not pretend to have presided in this Caer Sidin; but as his own assumed name, Taliesin, radiant font, was a mere title of the sun, so, as chief Druid of his age, he was the priest and representative of the great luminary upon earth; and his vicegerent in that sanctuary, which typified the abode of the gods.

In the subject of British antiquities, it might be deemed of some importance to ascertain the form of those Caer Sidis, or sanctuaries, in which our ancestors celebrated the rites of their Ceridwen or Ceres, and performed other acts of worship to determine whether those sanctuaries con- [297] sisted merely of caves, glades in the sacred groves, islets in the lakes or margin of the sea, and the like; or whether they are to be recognised in those round trenches and circles of stones, which still remain in various parts of these island, and have been deemed Druidical temples. I shall therefore offer such hints upon the subject as occur to me, and leave them to the consideration of mythologists and antiquaries.

As the Britons distinguished the zodiac and the temples, or sanctuaries of their gods, by the same name of Caer Sidi, and as their great Bard, Taliesin, blends the heavenly and the terrestrial Sidi in one description, we may presume, that they regarded the latter as a type or representation of the former.

The two great objects of their superstitious regard, as we have already seen, were the patriarch and the ark; but under the names of Hu and Ceridwen, these were figured or represented by the two great luminaries, which revolve in the celestial zone. And this conceit was analogous to the mythology of other nations. For Liber Pater was the same as Dionusus, who, according to Mr. Bryant, was the patriarch Noah; and Ceres was the genius of the ark: yet we find that Virgil, the most learned of the poets, unites their characters with those of the sun and moon,

------------³⁵⁹Vos, O clarissima mundi
Lumina, lahantem ccelo qui ducitis annum
Liber, et alma Ceres!

Were a representation of this idea of the poet, to be [298] made in sculpture, we should see the two great mythological characters moving in their proper orbits amongst the sign of the zodiac, which mark the different seasons of the revolving year, and which the Egyptians style the grand assemble, or senate of the twelve gods.³⁶⁰

In Mons. de Gebelin's Monde Primitif,³⁶¹ I observe a curious antique design, taken from the zone of a statue, supposed to be that of Venus, which is highly illustrative of this subject. Here, the story of Ceres and Proserpine is beautifully told. The former goddess is mounted upon a car, formed like a boat or half moon, and drawn by dragons; holding lighted torches in her hands, she flies in search of her daughter, who is violently carried away in Pluto's chariot. Hercules, or the sun, leads the procession, and the group is hastening into the presence of Jupiter, who appears enthroned on a cloud. The whole is surrounded with twelve oblong tablets, or short pillars, upon which are depicted the twelve signs of the zodiac, in an erect posture; intimating evidently, that the mythology of those personages was connected with an exact observation of the stars, and of the return of the seasons. And, agreeably to this hint, we find that the mystical Bards, and tales of the Britons, constantly allude to the completion of the year, and the return of a particular day, when they treat of the history and the rites of Ceridwen.

Were a pantheon, or temple of the assembled gods, to be designed after the model of this sculpture, we should have the principal figures stationed in the central area, and the pillars of the constellations ranged about them in a circle.

[299]

And were this to be undertaken, by a people who abhorred covered temples f and either disallowed the use of sculpture or else were ignorant of the art; the central figures would be represented by rude masses of wood or stone, and the rude pillars of the constellations would occupy the outward circle, as in the British monuments, delineated by Dr. Borlase and other antiquaries.

That the Druidical temples were generally of a round form, appears by the appellative terms which the Bards Constantly use in describing them, as Caer Sidi, the circle of revolution; Cor, a round or circle, Cylch, a circle; and Cylch Byd, the circle of the world, which occurs m Aneurin and Taliesin.³⁶²

It is also evident, that they were composed of stone: for Aneurin, Taliesin, and Merddin, speak of the stones which composed these circles. But let us endeavour to identify one of their circular temples, that we may have some rule to judge of the rest.

In the poems of Hywel, the son of Owen, which I have already quoted, that prince says expressly, that the proud wrought inclosure in the Gyvylchi, in the desert of Arvan, in Eryri, or Snowden, and towards the shore, was the Caer, or sanctuary of the mystical goddess, and the chosen place of her daughter Llywy, or the British Proserpine.

The topography of this temple is so minutely pointed [300] out, that the spot cannot be mistaken: and if we find here a monument which has any appearance of representing the Zodiac, or Celestial Caer Sidi, it may serve as a guide, in distinguishing other British monuments of the same kind.

Dwy-Gyvylchi is still known, as the name of a parish, in the very spot where the Cambrian prince fixes his Caer Wen Glaer, or sanctuary of the illustrious Lady, in the deserts of Arvon, in Eryri, and towards the sea: and here the remains of the Caer are still to be found.

The annotator upon Camden, having described a strong fortress, seated on the top of one of the highest mountains, of that part of Snowden, which lies towards the sea; gives the following account of this ancient temple.

"About a mile from this fortification, stands the most remarkable monument in all Snowden, called Y Meineu Hirion, upon the plain mountain, within the parish of Dwy-Gyvycheu, above Gwddw Glas. It is a circular entrenchment, about twenty-six ya