II.One day in August of the same year, I arrived at Dinas Station, and walked down to Ỻandwrog in order to see Dinas Dinỻe, and to ascertain what traditions still existed there respecting Caer Arianrhod, Ỻew Ỻawgyffes, Dylan Eilton, and other names that figure in theMabinogiof Math ab Mathonwy. I called first on the schoolmaster, and he kindly took me to the clerk, Hugh Evans, a native of the neighbourhood of Ỻangefni, in Anglesey. He had often heard people talk of some women having once on a time come from Tregar Anthreg to Cae’r ’Loda’, a place near the shore, to fetch food or water, and that when they looked back they beheld the town overflowed by the sea: the walls can still be seen at low water. Gwennan was the name of one of the women, and she was buried at the place now called Beđ Gwennan, or Gwennan’s Grave. He had also heard the fairy tales of Waen Fawr and Nant y Bettws, narrated by the antiquary, Owen Williams of the former place. For instance, he had related to him the tale of the man who slept on a clump of rushes, and thought he was all the while in a magnificent mansion; see p. 100, above. Now I should explain that Tregar Anthreg is to be seen at low water from Dinas Dinỻe as a rock not far from the shore. The Caranthreg which it implies is one of the modern forms to which Caer Arianrhod has been reduced; and to this has been prefixed a synonym ofcaer, namely,tref, reduced totre’, just as Carmarthen is frequently calledTre’ Gaerfyrđin. Cae’r ’Loda’ is explained as Cae’r Aelodau’, ‘The Field of the Limbs’; but I am sorry to say that I forgot tonote the story explanatory of the name. It is given, I think, to a farm, and so is Beđ Gwennan likewise the name of a farm house. The tenant of the latter, William Roberts, was at home when I visited the spot. He told me the same story, but with a variation: three sisters had come from Tregan Anrheg to fetch provisions, when their city was overflowed. Gwen fled to the spot now called Beđ Gwennan, Elan to Tyđyn Elan, or Elan’s Holding, and Maelan to Rhos Maelan, or Maelan’s Moor; all three are names of places in the immediate neighbourhood.From Dinas Dinỻe I was directed across Lord Newborough’s grounds at Glynỻifon to Pen y Groes Station; but on my way I had an opportunity of questioning several of the men employed at Glynỻifon. One of these was called William Thomas Solomon, an intelligent middle-aged man, who works in the garden there. He said that the three women who escaped from the submerged city were sisters, and that he had learned in his infancy to call them Gwennan bi Dôn, Elan bi Dôn, and Maelan bi Dôn. Lastly, the name of the city, according to him, was Tregan Anthrod. I had the following forms of the name that day:—Tregar Anrheg, Tregar Anthreg, Tregan Anrheg, Tregan Anthreg, and Tregan Anthrod. All these are attempts to reproduce what might be written Tre’-Gaer-Arianrhod. The modification ofnrhintonthris very common in North Wales, and Tregar Anrheg seems to have been fashioned on the supposition that the name had something to do withanrheg, ‘a gift.’ Tregan Anthrod is undoubtedly the Caer Arianrhod, or ‘fortress of Arianrhod,’ in theMabinogi, and it is duly marked as such in a map of Speede’s at the spot where it should be. Now the Arianrhod of theMabinogiof Math could hardly be called a lady of rude virtue, and it is the idea in theneighbourhood that the place was inundated on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants. So it would appear that Gwennan, Elan, and Maelan, Arianrhod’s sisters, were the just ones allowed to escape. Arianrhod was probably drowned as the principal sinner in possession; but I did not find, as I expected, that the crime which called for such an expiation was in this instance that of playing cards on Sunday. In fact, this part of the legend does not seem to have been duly elaborated as yet.I must now come back to Solomon’sbi Dôn, which puzzles me not a little. Arianrhod was daughter of Dôn, and so several other characters in the sameMabinogiwere children of Dôn. But what isbi Dôn? I have noticed that all the Welsh antiquaries who take Don out of books invariably call that personage Dòn or Donn with a shorto, which is wrong, and this has saved me from being deceived once or twice: so I take it thatbi Dônis, as Solomon asserted, a local expression of which he did not know the meaning. I can only add, in default of a better explanation, thatbi Dônrecalled to my mind what I had shortly before heard on my trip from Aberdaron to Bardsey Island. My wife and I, together with two friends, engaged, after much eloquent haggling, a boat at the former place, but one of the men who were to row us insinuated a boy of his, aged four, into the boat, an addition which did not exactly add to the pleasures of that somewhat perilous trip amidst incomprehensible currents. But the Aberdaron boatmen always called that childbi Donn, which I took to have been a sort of imitation of an infantile pronunciation of ‘baby John,’ for his name was John, which Welsh infants as a rule first pronounce Donn: I can well remember the time when I did. This, applied toGwennan bi Dôn, would imply that Solomon heard it as a piece of nursery lore when he was a child,and that it meant simply—Gwennan, baby or child of Dôn. Lastly, the only trace of Dylan I could find was in the name of a small promontory, called variously by the Glynỻifon men Pwynt Maen Tylen, which was Solomon’s pronunciation, and Pwynt Maen Dulan. It is also known, as I was given to understand, as Pwynt y Wig: I believe I have seen it given in maps as Maen Dylan Point.Solomon told me the following fairy tale, and he was afterwards kind enough to have it written out for me. I give it in his own words, as it is peculiar in some respects:—Mi’r oeđ gwr a gwraig yn byw yn y Garth Dorwen7ryw gyfnod maith yn ol, ag aethant i Gaer’narfon i gyflogi morwyn ar đyđ ffair G’langaeaf, ag yr oeđ yn arferiad gan feibion a merched y pryd hynny i’r rhai oeđ yn sefyỻ aỻan am lefyđ aros yn top y maes presennol wrth boncan las oeđ yn y fan y ỻe saif y Post-office presennol; aeth yr hen wr a’r hen wraig at y fan yma a gwelent eneth lan a gwaỻt melyn yn sefyỻ ’chydig o’r neiỻdu i bawb araỻ; aeth yr hen wraig ati a gofynnođ i’r eneth oeđ arni eisiau ỻe. Atebođ fod, ag feỻy cyflogwyd yr eneth yn đioed a daeth i’w ỻe i’r amser penodedig. Mi fyđai yn arferiad yr adeg hynny o nyđu ar ol swper yn hirnos y gauaf, ag fe fyđai y forwyn yn myn’d i’r weirglođ i nyđu wrth oleu y ỻoer; ag fe fyđai tylwyth teg yn dwad ati hi i’r weirglođ i ganu a dawnsio. A ryw bryd yn y gwanwyn pan esdynnođ y dyđ diangođ Eilian gyd a’r tylwythion teg i ffwrđ, ag ni welwyd ’mo’ni mwyach. Mae y cae y gwelwyd hi điwethaf yn cael ei alw hyd y dyđ heđyw yn Gae Eilian a’r weirglođ yn Weirglođ y Forwyn. Mi’r oeđ henwraig y Garth Dorwen yn arfer rhoi gwrageđ yn eu gwlâu, a byđai pawb yn cyrchu am dani o bob cyfeiriad; a rhyw bryd dyma wr boneđig ar ei geffyl at y drws ar noswaith loergan ỻeuad, a hithau yn glawio ’chydig ag yn niwl braiđ, i ’nol yr hen wreigan at ei wraig; ag feỻy aeth yn sgil y gwr dïarth ar gefn y march i Ros y Cowrt. Ar ganol y Rhos pryd hynny ’r oeđ poncan ỻed uchel yn debyg i hen amđiffynfa a ỻawer o gerrig mawrion ar ei phen a charneđ fawr o gerrig yn yr ochor ogleđol iđi, ag mae hi i’w gwel’d hyd y dyđ heđyw dan yr enw Bryn y Pibion. Pan gyrhaeđasan’ y ỻe aethan’ i ogo’ fawr ag aethan’ i ’stafeỻ ỻe’r oeđ y wraig yn ei gwely, a’r ỻe crandia’ a welođ yr hen wraig yrioed. Ag fe roth y wraig yn ei gwely ag aeth at y tan i drin y babi; ag ar ol iđi orphen dyna y gwr yn dod a photel i’r hen wraig i hiro ỻygaid y babi ag erfyn arni beidio a’i gyffwr’ a’i ỻygaid ei hun. Ond ryw fođ ar ol rhoi y botel heibio fe đaeth cosfa ar lygaid yr hen wraig a rhwbiođ ei ỻygaid â’r un bys ag oeđ wedi bod yn rhwbio ỻygaid y baban a gwelođ hefo ’r ỻygad hwnnw y wraig yn gorfeđ ar docyn o frwyn a rhedyn crinion mewn ogo’ fawr o gerrig mawr o bob tu iđi a ’chydig bach o dan mewn rhiw gornel, a gwelođ mai Eilian oeđ hi, ei hen forwyn, ag hefo’r ỻygad araỻ yn gwel’d y ỻe crandia’ a welođ yrioed. Ag yn mhen ychydig ar ol hynny aeth i’r farchnad i Gaer’narfon a gwelođ y gwr a gofynnođ iđo—‘Pa sud mae Eilian?’ ‘O y mae hi yn bur đa,’ međai wrth yr hen wraig: ‘a pha lygad yr ydych yn fy ngwel’d?’ ‘Hefo hwn,’ međai hithau. Cymerođ babwyren ag a’i tynođ aỻan ar unwaith.‘An old man and his wife lived at the Garth Dorwen in some period a long while ago. They went to Carnarvon to hire a servant maid at the Allhallows’8fair;and it was the custom then for young men and women who stood out for places to station themselves at the top of the presentMaes, by a little green eminence which was where the present Post-office stands. The old man and his wife went to that spot, and saw there a lass with yellow hair, standing a little apart from all the others; the old woman went to her and asked her if she wanted a place. She replied that she did, and so she hired herself at once and came to her place at the time fixed. In those times it was customary during the long winter nights that spinning should be done after supper. Now the maid servant would go to the meadow to spin by the light of the moon, and theTylwyth Tegused to come to her to sing and dance. But some time in the spring, when the days had grown longer, Eilian escaped with theTylwyth Teg, so that she was seen no more. The field where she was last seen is to this day called Eilian’s Field, and the meadow is known as the Maid’s Meadow. The old woman of Garth Dorwen was in the habit of putting women to bed, and she was in great request far and wide. Some time after Eilian’s escape there came a gentleman on horseback to the door one night when the moon was full, while there was a slight rain and just a little mist, to fetch the old woman to his wife. So she rode off behind the stranger on his horse, and came to Rhos y Cowrt. Now there was at that time, in the centre of therhos, somewhat of a rising ground that looked like an old fortification, with many big stones on the top, and a large cairn of stones on the northern side: it is to be seen there to this day, and it goes by the name of Bryn y Pibion, but I have never visited the spot. When theyreached the spot, they entered a large cave, and they went into a room where the wife lay in her bed; it was the finest place the old woman had seen in her life. When she had successfully brought the wife to bed, she went near the fire to dress the baby; and when she had done, the husband came to the old woman with a bottle of ointment9that she might anoint the baby’s eyes; but he entreated her not to touch her own eyes with it. Somehow after putting the bottle by, one of the old woman’s eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed it with the same finger that she had used to rub the baby’s eyes. Then she saw with that eye how the wife lay on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her, and with a little fire in one corner; and she saw also that the lady was only Eilian, her former servant girl, whilst, with the other eye, she beheld the finest place she had ever seen. Not long afterwards the old midwife went to Carnarvon to market, when she saw the husband, and said to him, “How is Eilian?” “She is pretty well,” said he to the old woman, “but with what eye do you see me?” “With this one,” was the reply; and he took a bulrush and put her eye out at once.’That is exactly the tale, my informant tells me, as he heard it from his mother, who heard it from an old woman who lived at Garth Dorwen when his mother was a girl, about eighty-four years ago, as he guessed it to have been; but in his written version he has omitted one thing which he told me at Glynỻifon, namely, that, when the servant girl went out to the fairies to spin, an enormous amount of spinning used to be done.I mention this as it reminds me of the tales of other nations, where the girl who cannot spin straw into gold is assisted by a fairy, on certain conditions which are afterwards found very inconvenient. It may be guessed that in the case of Eilian the conditions involved her becoming a fairy’s wife, and that she kept to them. Lastly, I should like the archæologists of Carnarvonshire to direct their attention to Bryn y Pibion; for they might be expected to come across the remains there of a barrow or of a fort.
II.One day in August of the same year, I arrived at Dinas Station, and walked down to Ỻandwrog in order to see Dinas Dinỻe, and to ascertain what traditions still existed there respecting Caer Arianrhod, Ỻew Ỻawgyffes, Dylan Eilton, and other names that figure in theMabinogiof Math ab Mathonwy. I called first on the schoolmaster, and he kindly took me to the clerk, Hugh Evans, a native of the neighbourhood of Ỻangefni, in Anglesey. He had often heard people talk of some women having once on a time come from Tregar Anthreg to Cae’r ’Loda’, a place near the shore, to fetch food or water, and that when they looked back they beheld the town overflowed by the sea: the walls can still be seen at low water. Gwennan was the name of one of the women, and she was buried at the place now called Beđ Gwennan, or Gwennan’s Grave. He had also heard the fairy tales of Waen Fawr and Nant y Bettws, narrated by the antiquary, Owen Williams of the former place. For instance, he had related to him the tale of the man who slept on a clump of rushes, and thought he was all the while in a magnificent mansion; see p. 100, above. Now I should explain that Tregar Anthreg is to be seen at low water from Dinas Dinỻe as a rock not far from the shore. The Caranthreg which it implies is one of the modern forms to which Caer Arianrhod has been reduced; and to this has been prefixed a synonym ofcaer, namely,tref, reduced totre’, just as Carmarthen is frequently calledTre’ Gaerfyrđin. Cae’r ’Loda’ is explained as Cae’r Aelodau’, ‘The Field of the Limbs’; but I am sorry to say that I forgot tonote the story explanatory of the name. It is given, I think, to a farm, and so is Beđ Gwennan likewise the name of a farm house. The tenant of the latter, William Roberts, was at home when I visited the spot. He told me the same story, but with a variation: three sisters had come from Tregan Anrheg to fetch provisions, when their city was overflowed. Gwen fled to the spot now called Beđ Gwennan, Elan to Tyđyn Elan, or Elan’s Holding, and Maelan to Rhos Maelan, or Maelan’s Moor; all three are names of places in the immediate neighbourhood.From Dinas Dinỻe I was directed across Lord Newborough’s grounds at Glynỻifon to Pen y Groes Station; but on my way I had an opportunity of questioning several of the men employed at Glynỻifon. One of these was called William Thomas Solomon, an intelligent middle-aged man, who works in the garden there. He said that the three women who escaped from the submerged city were sisters, and that he had learned in his infancy to call them Gwennan bi Dôn, Elan bi Dôn, and Maelan bi Dôn. Lastly, the name of the city, according to him, was Tregan Anthrod. I had the following forms of the name that day:—Tregar Anrheg, Tregar Anthreg, Tregan Anrheg, Tregan Anthreg, and Tregan Anthrod. All these are attempts to reproduce what might be written Tre’-Gaer-Arianrhod. The modification ofnrhintonthris very common in North Wales, and Tregar Anrheg seems to have been fashioned on the supposition that the name had something to do withanrheg, ‘a gift.’ Tregan Anthrod is undoubtedly the Caer Arianrhod, or ‘fortress of Arianrhod,’ in theMabinogi, and it is duly marked as such in a map of Speede’s at the spot where it should be. Now the Arianrhod of theMabinogiof Math could hardly be called a lady of rude virtue, and it is the idea in theneighbourhood that the place was inundated on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants. So it would appear that Gwennan, Elan, and Maelan, Arianrhod’s sisters, were the just ones allowed to escape. Arianrhod was probably drowned as the principal sinner in possession; but I did not find, as I expected, that the crime which called for such an expiation was in this instance that of playing cards on Sunday. In fact, this part of the legend does not seem to have been duly elaborated as yet.I must now come back to Solomon’sbi Dôn, which puzzles me not a little. Arianrhod was daughter of Dôn, and so several other characters in the sameMabinogiwere children of Dôn. But what isbi Dôn? I have noticed that all the Welsh antiquaries who take Don out of books invariably call that personage Dòn or Donn with a shorto, which is wrong, and this has saved me from being deceived once or twice: so I take it thatbi Dônis, as Solomon asserted, a local expression of which he did not know the meaning. I can only add, in default of a better explanation, thatbi Dônrecalled to my mind what I had shortly before heard on my trip from Aberdaron to Bardsey Island. My wife and I, together with two friends, engaged, after much eloquent haggling, a boat at the former place, but one of the men who were to row us insinuated a boy of his, aged four, into the boat, an addition which did not exactly add to the pleasures of that somewhat perilous trip amidst incomprehensible currents. But the Aberdaron boatmen always called that childbi Donn, which I took to have been a sort of imitation of an infantile pronunciation of ‘baby John,’ for his name was John, which Welsh infants as a rule first pronounce Donn: I can well remember the time when I did. This, applied toGwennan bi Dôn, would imply that Solomon heard it as a piece of nursery lore when he was a child,and that it meant simply—Gwennan, baby or child of Dôn. Lastly, the only trace of Dylan I could find was in the name of a small promontory, called variously by the Glynỻifon men Pwynt Maen Tylen, which was Solomon’s pronunciation, and Pwynt Maen Dulan. It is also known, as I was given to understand, as Pwynt y Wig: I believe I have seen it given in maps as Maen Dylan Point.Solomon told me the following fairy tale, and he was afterwards kind enough to have it written out for me. I give it in his own words, as it is peculiar in some respects:—Mi’r oeđ gwr a gwraig yn byw yn y Garth Dorwen7ryw gyfnod maith yn ol, ag aethant i Gaer’narfon i gyflogi morwyn ar đyđ ffair G’langaeaf, ag yr oeđ yn arferiad gan feibion a merched y pryd hynny i’r rhai oeđ yn sefyỻ aỻan am lefyđ aros yn top y maes presennol wrth boncan las oeđ yn y fan y ỻe saif y Post-office presennol; aeth yr hen wr a’r hen wraig at y fan yma a gwelent eneth lan a gwaỻt melyn yn sefyỻ ’chydig o’r neiỻdu i bawb araỻ; aeth yr hen wraig ati a gofynnođ i’r eneth oeđ arni eisiau ỻe. Atebođ fod, ag feỻy cyflogwyd yr eneth yn đioed a daeth i’w ỻe i’r amser penodedig. Mi fyđai yn arferiad yr adeg hynny o nyđu ar ol swper yn hirnos y gauaf, ag fe fyđai y forwyn yn myn’d i’r weirglođ i nyđu wrth oleu y ỻoer; ag fe fyđai tylwyth teg yn dwad ati hi i’r weirglođ i ganu a dawnsio. A ryw bryd yn y gwanwyn pan esdynnođ y dyđ diangođ Eilian gyd a’r tylwythion teg i ffwrđ, ag ni welwyd ’mo’ni mwyach. Mae y cae y gwelwyd hi điwethaf yn cael ei alw hyd y dyđ heđyw yn Gae Eilian a’r weirglođ yn Weirglođ y Forwyn. Mi’r oeđ henwraig y Garth Dorwen yn arfer rhoi gwrageđ yn eu gwlâu, a byđai pawb yn cyrchu am dani o bob cyfeiriad; a rhyw bryd dyma wr boneđig ar ei geffyl at y drws ar noswaith loergan ỻeuad, a hithau yn glawio ’chydig ag yn niwl braiđ, i ’nol yr hen wreigan at ei wraig; ag feỻy aeth yn sgil y gwr dïarth ar gefn y march i Ros y Cowrt. Ar ganol y Rhos pryd hynny ’r oeđ poncan ỻed uchel yn debyg i hen amđiffynfa a ỻawer o gerrig mawrion ar ei phen a charneđ fawr o gerrig yn yr ochor ogleđol iđi, ag mae hi i’w gwel’d hyd y dyđ heđyw dan yr enw Bryn y Pibion. Pan gyrhaeđasan’ y ỻe aethan’ i ogo’ fawr ag aethan’ i ’stafeỻ ỻe’r oeđ y wraig yn ei gwely, a’r ỻe crandia’ a welođ yr hen wraig yrioed. Ag fe roth y wraig yn ei gwely ag aeth at y tan i drin y babi; ag ar ol iđi orphen dyna y gwr yn dod a photel i’r hen wraig i hiro ỻygaid y babi ag erfyn arni beidio a’i gyffwr’ a’i ỻygaid ei hun. Ond ryw fođ ar ol rhoi y botel heibio fe đaeth cosfa ar lygaid yr hen wraig a rhwbiođ ei ỻygaid â’r un bys ag oeđ wedi bod yn rhwbio ỻygaid y baban a gwelođ hefo ’r ỻygad hwnnw y wraig yn gorfeđ ar docyn o frwyn a rhedyn crinion mewn ogo’ fawr o gerrig mawr o bob tu iđi a ’chydig bach o dan mewn rhiw gornel, a gwelođ mai Eilian oeđ hi, ei hen forwyn, ag hefo’r ỻygad araỻ yn gwel’d y ỻe crandia’ a welođ yrioed. Ag yn mhen ychydig ar ol hynny aeth i’r farchnad i Gaer’narfon a gwelođ y gwr a gofynnođ iđo—‘Pa sud mae Eilian?’ ‘O y mae hi yn bur đa,’ međai wrth yr hen wraig: ‘a pha lygad yr ydych yn fy ngwel’d?’ ‘Hefo hwn,’ međai hithau. Cymerođ babwyren ag a’i tynođ aỻan ar unwaith.‘An old man and his wife lived at the Garth Dorwen in some period a long while ago. They went to Carnarvon to hire a servant maid at the Allhallows’8fair;and it was the custom then for young men and women who stood out for places to station themselves at the top of the presentMaes, by a little green eminence which was where the present Post-office stands. The old man and his wife went to that spot, and saw there a lass with yellow hair, standing a little apart from all the others; the old woman went to her and asked her if she wanted a place. She replied that she did, and so she hired herself at once and came to her place at the time fixed. In those times it was customary during the long winter nights that spinning should be done after supper. Now the maid servant would go to the meadow to spin by the light of the moon, and theTylwyth Tegused to come to her to sing and dance. But some time in the spring, when the days had grown longer, Eilian escaped with theTylwyth Teg, so that she was seen no more. The field where she was last seen is to this day called Eilian’s Field, and the meadow is known as the Maid’s Meadow. The old woman of Garth Dorwen was in the habit of putting women to bed, and she was in great request far and wide. Some time after Eilian’s escape there came a gentleman on horseback to the door one night when the moon was full, while there was a slight rain and just a little mist, to fetch the old woman to his wife. So she rode off behind the stranger on his horse, and came to Rhos y Cowrt. Now there was at that time, in the centre of therhos, somewhat of a rising ground that looked like an old fortification, with many big stones on the top, and a large cairn of stones on the northern side: it is to be seen there to this day, and it goes by the name of Bryn y Pibion, but I have never visited the spot. When theyreached the spot, they entered a large cave, and they went into a room where the wife lay in her bed; it was the finest place the old woman had seen in her life. When she had successfully brought the wife to bed, she went near the fire to dress the baby; and when she had done, the husband came to the old woman with a bottle of ointment9that she might anoint the baby’s eyes; but he entreated her not to touch her own eyes with it. Somehow after putting the bottle by, one of the old woman’s eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed it with the same finger that she had used to rub the baby’s eyes. Then she saw with that eye how the wife lay on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her, and with a little fire in one corner; and she saw also that the lady was only Eilian, her former servant girl, whilst, with the other eye, she beheld the finest place she had ever seen. Not long afterwards the old midwife went to Carnarvon to market, when she saw the husband, and said to him, “How is Eilian?” “She is pretty well,” said he to the old woman, “but with what eye do you see me?” “With this one,” was the reply; and he took a bulrush and put her eye out at once.’That is exactly the tale, my informant tells me, as he heard it from his mother, who heard it from an old woman who lived at Garth Dorwen when his mother was a girl, about eighty-four years ago, as he guessed it to have been; but in his written version he has omitted one thing which he told me at Glynỻifon, namely, that, when the servant girl went out to the fairies to spin, an enormous amount of spinning used to be done.I mention this as it reminds me of the tales of other nations, where the girl who cannot spin straw into gold is assisted by a fairy, on certain conditions which are afterwards found very inconvenient. It may be guessed that in the case of Eilian the conditions involved her becoming a fairy’s wife, and that she kept to them. Lastly, I should like the archæologists of Carnarvonshire to direct their attention to Bryn y Pibion; for they might be expected to come across the remains there of a barrow or of a fort.
II.One day in August of the same year, I arrived at Dinas Station, and walked down to Ỻandwrog in order to see Dinas Dinỻe, and to ascertain what traditions still existed there respecting Caer Arianrhod, Ỻew Ỻawgyffes, Dylan Eilton, and other names that figure in theMabinogiof Math ab Mathonwy. I called first on the schoolmaster, and he kindly took me to the clerk, Hugh Evans, a native of the neighbourhood of Ỻangefni, in Anglesey. He had often heard people talk of some women having once on a time come from Tregar Anthreg to Cae’r ’Loda’, a place near the shore, to fetch food or water, and that when they looked back they beheld the town overflowed by the sea: the walls can still be seen at low water. Gwennan was the name of one of the women, and she was buried at the place now called Beđ Gwennan, or Gwennan’s Grave. He had also heard the fairy tales of Waen Fawr and Nant y Bettws, narrated by the antiquary, Owen Williams of the former place. For instance, he had related to him the tale of the man who slept on a clump of rushes, and thought he was all the while in a magnificent mansion; see p. 100, above. Now I should explain that Tregar Anthreg is to be seen at low water from Dinas Dinỻe as a rock not far from the shore. The Caranthreg which it implies is one of the modern forms to which Caer Arianrhod has been reduced; and to this has been prefixed a synonym ofcaer, namely,tref, reduced totre’, just as Carmarthen is frequently calledTre’ Gaerfyrđin. Cae’r ’Loda’ is explained as Cae’r Aelodau’, ‘The Field of the Limbs’; but I am sorry to say that I forgot tonote the story explanatory of the name. It is given, I think, to a farm, and so is Beđ Gwennan likewise the name of a farm house. The tenant of the latter, William Roberts, was at home when I visited the spot. He told me the same story, but with a variation: three sisters had come from Tregan Anrheg to fetch provisions, when their city was overflowed. Gwen fled to the spot now called Beđ Gwennan, Elan to Tyđyn Elan, or Elan’s Holding, and Maelan to Rhos Maelan, or Maelan’s Moor; all three are names of places in the immediate neighbourhood.From Dinas Dinỻe I was directed across Lord Newborough’s grounds at Glynỻifon to Pen y Groes Station; but on my way I had an opportunity of questioning several of the men employed at Glynỻifon. One of these was called William Thomas Solomon, an intelligent middle-aged man, who works in the garden there. He said that the three women who escaped from the submerged city were sisters, and that he had learned in his infancy to call them Gwennan bi Dôn, Elan bi Dôn, and Maelan bi Dôn. Lastly, the name of the city, according to him, was Tregan Anthrod. I had the following forms of the name that day:—Tregar Anrheg, Tregar Anthreg, Tregan Anrheg, Tregan Anthreg, and Tregan Anthrod. All these are attempts to reproduce what might be written Tre’-Gaer-Arianrhod. The modification ofnrhintonthris very common in North Wales, and Tregar Anrheg seems to have been fashioned on the supposition that the name had something to do withanrheg, ‘a gift.’ Tregan Anthrod is undoubtedly the Caer Arianrhod, or ‘fortress of Arianrhod,’ in theMabinogi, and it is duly marked as such in a map of Speede’s at the spot where it should be. Now the Arianrhod of theMabinogiof Math could hardly be called a lady of rude virtue, and it is the idea in theneighbourhood that the place was inundated on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants. So it would appear that Gwennan, Elan, and Maelan, Arianrhod’s sisters, were the just ones allowed to escape. Arianrhod was probably drowned as the principal sinner in possession; but I did not find, as I expected, that the crime which called for such an expiation was in this instance that of playing cards on Sunday. In fact, this part of the legend does not seem to have been duly elaborated as yet.I must now come back to Solomon’sbi Dôn, which puzzles me not a little. Arianrhod was daughter of Dôn, and so several other characters in the sameMabinogiwere children of Dôn. But what isbi Dôn? I have noticed that all the Welsh antiquaries who take Don out of books invariably call that personage Dòn or Donn with a shorto, which is wrong, and this has saved me from being deceived once or twice: so I take it thatbi Dônis, as Solomon asserted, a local expression of which he did not know the meaning. I can only add, in default of a better explanation, thatbi Dônrecalled to my mind what I had shortly before heard on my trip from Aberdaron to Bardsey Island. My wife and I, together with two friends, engaged, after much eloquent haggling, a boat at the former place, but one of the men who were to row us insinuated a boy of his, aged four, into the boat, an addition which did not exactly add to the pleasures of that somewhat perilous trip amidst incomprehensible currents. But the Aberdaron boatmen always called that childbi Donn, which I took to have been a sort of imitation of an infantile pronunciation of ‘baby John,’ for his name was John, which Welsh infants as a rule first pronounce Donn: I can well remember the time when I did. This, applied toGwennan bi Dôn, would imply that Solomon heard it as a piece of nursery lore when he was a child,and that it meant simply—Gwennan, baby or child of Dôn. Lastly, the only trace of Dylan I could find was in the name of a small promontory, called variously by the Glynỻifon men Pwynt Maen Tylen, which was Solomon’s pronunciation, and Pwynt Maen Dulan. It is also known, as I was given to understand, as Pwynt y Wig: I believe I have seen it given in maps as Maen Dylan Point.Solomon told me the following fairy tale, and he was afterwards kind enough to have it written out for me. I give it in his own words, as it is peculiar in some respects:—Mi’r oeđ gwr a gwraig yn byw yn y Garth Dorwen7ryw gyfnod maith yn ol, ag aethant i Gaer’narfon i gyflogi morwyn ar đyđ ffair G’langaeaf, ag yr oeđ yn arferiad gan feibion a merched y pryd hynny i’r rhai oeđ yn sefyỻ aỻan am lefyđ aros yn top y maes presennol wrth boncan las oeđ yn y fan y ỻe saif y Post-office presennol; aeth yr hen wr a’r hen wraig at y fan yma a gwelent eneth lan a gwaỻt melyn yn sefyỻ ’chydig o’r neiỻdu i bawb araỻ; aeth yr hen wraig ati a gofynnođ i’r eneth oeđ arni eisiau ỻe. Atebođ fod, ag feỻy cyflogwyd yr eneth yn đioed a daeth i’w ỻe i’r amser penodedig. Mi fyđai yn arferiad yr adeg hynny o nyđu ar ol swper yn hirnos y gauaf, ag fe fyđai y forwyn yn myn’d i’r weirglođ i nyđu wrth oleu y ỻoer; ag fe fyđai tylwyth teg yn dwad ati hi i’r weirglođ i ganu a dawnsio. A ryw bryd yn y gwanwyn pan esdynnođ y dyđ diangođ Eilian gyd a’r tylwythion teg i ffwrđ, ag ni welwyd ’mo’ni mwyach. Mae y cae y gwelwyd hi điwethaf yn cael ei alw hyd y dyđ heđyw yn Gae Eilian a’r weirglođ yn Weirglođ y Forwyn. Mi’r oeđ henwraig y Garth Dorwen yn arfer rhoi gwrageđ yn eu gwlâu, a byđai pawb yn cyrchu am dani o bob cyfeiriad; a rhyw bryd dyma wr boneđig ar ei geffyl at y drws ar noswaith loergan ỻeuad, a hithau yn glawio ’chydig ag yn niwl braiđ, i ’nol yr hen wreigan at ei wraig; ag feỻy aeth yn sgil y gwr dïarth ar gefn y march i Ros y Cowrt. Ar ganol y Rhos pryd hynny ’r oeđ poncan ỻed uchel yn debyg i hen amđiffynfa a ỻawer o gerrig mawrion ar ei phen a charneđ fawr o gerrig yn yr ochor ogleđol iđi, ag mae hi i’w gwel’d hyd y dyđ heđyw dan yr enw Bryn y Pibion. Pan gyrhaeđasan’ y ỻe aethan’ i ogo’ fawr ag aethan’ i ’stafeỻ ỻe’r oeđ y wraig yn ei gwely, a’r ỻe crandia’ a welođ yr hen wraig yrioed. Ag fe roth y wraig yn ei gwely ag aeth at y tan i drin y babi; ag ar ol iđi orphen dyna y gwr yn dod a photel i’r hen wraig i hiro ỻygaid y babi ag erfyn arni beidio a’i gyffwr’ a’i ỻygaid ei hun. Ond ryw fođ ar ol rhoi y botel heibio fe đaeth cosfa ar lygaid yr hen wraig a rhwbiođ ei ỻygaid â’r un bys ag oeđ wedi bod yn rhwbio ỻygaid y baban a gwelođ hefo ’r ỻygad hwnnw y wraig yn gorfeđ ar docyn o frwyn a rhedyn crinion mewn ogo’ fawr o gerrig mawr o bob tu iđi a ’chydig bach o dan mewn rhiw gornel, a gwelođ mai Eilian oeđ hi, ei hen forwyn, ag hefo’r ỻygad araỻ yn gwel’d y ỻe crandia’ a welođ yrioed. Ag yn mhen ychydig ar ol hynny aeth i’r farchnad i Gaer’narfon a gwelođ y gwr a gofynnođ iđo—‘Pa sud mae Eilian?’ ‘O y mae hi yn bur đa,’ međai wrth yr hen wraig: ‘a pha lygad yr ydych yn fy ngwel’d?’ ‘Hefo hwn,’ međai hithau. Cymerođ babwyren ag a’i tynođ aỻan ar unwaith.‘An old man and his wife lived at the Garth Dorwen in some period a long while ago. They went to Carnarvon to hire a servant maid at the Allhallows’8fair;and it was the custom then for young men and women who stood out for places to station themselves at the top of the presentMaes, by a little green eminence which was where the present Post-office stands. The old man and his wife went to that spot, and saw there a lass with yellow hair, standing a little apart from all the others; the old woman went to her and asked her if she wanted a place. She replied that she did, and so she hired herself at once and came to her place at the time fixed. In those times it was customary during the long winter nights that spinning should be done after supper. Now the maid servant would go to the meadow to spin by the light of the moon, and theTylwyth Tegused to come to her to sing and dance. But some time in the spring, when the days had grown longer, Eilian escaped with theTylwyth Teg, so that she was seen no more. The field where she was last seen is to this day called Eilian’s Field, and the meadow is known as the Maid’s Meadow. The old woman of Garth Dorwen was in the habit of putting women to bed, and she was in great request far and wide. Some time after Eilian’s escape there came a gentleman on horseback to the door one night when the moon was full, while there was a slight rain and just a little mist, to fetch the old woman to his wife. So she rode off behind the stranger on his horse, and came to Rhos y Cowrt. Now there was at that time, in the centre of therhos, somewhat of a rising ground that looked like an old fortification, with many big stones on the top, and a large cairn of stones on the northern side: it is to be seen there to this day, and it goes by the name of Bryn y Pibion, but I have never visited the spot. When theyreached the spot, they entered a large cave, and they went into a room where the wife lay in her bed; it was the finest place the old woman had seen in her life. When she had successfully brought the wife to bed, she went near the fire to dress the baby; and when she had done, the husband came to the old woman with a bottle of ointment9that she might anoint the baby’s eyes; but he entreated her not to touch her own eyes with it. Somehow after putting the bottle by, one of the old woman’s eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed it with the same finger that she had used to rub the baby’s eyes. Then she saw with that eye how the wife lay on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her, and with a little fire in one corner; and she saw also that the lady was only Eilian, her former servant girl, whilst, with the other eye, she beheld the finest place she had ever seen. Not long afterwards the old midwife went to Carnarvon to market, when she saw the husband, and said to him, “How is Eilian?” “She is pretty well,” said he to the old woman, “but with what eye do you see me?” “With this one,” was the reply; and he took a bulrush and put her eye out at once.’That is exactly the tale, my informant tells me, as he heard it from his mother, who heard it from an old woman who lived at Garth Dorwen when his mother was a girl, about eighty-four years ago, as he guessed it to have been; but in his written version he has omitted one thing which he told me at Glynỻifon, namely, that, when the servant girl went out to the fairies to spin, an enormous amount of spinning used to be done.I mention this as it reminds me of the tales of other nations, where the girl who cannot spin straw into gold is assisted by a fairy, on certain conditions which are afterwards found very inconvenient. It may be guessed that in the case of Eilian the conditions involved her becoming a fairy’s wife, and that she kept to them. Lastly, I should like the archæologists of Carnarvonshire to direct their attention to Bryn y Pibion; for they might be expected to come across the remains there of a barrow or of a fort.
II.One day in August of the same year, I arrived at Dinas Station, and walked down to Ỻandwrog in order to see Dinas Dinỻe, and to ascertain what traditions still existed there respecting Caer Arianrhod, Ỻew Ỻawgyffes, Dylan Eilton, and other names that figure in theMabinogiof Math ab Mathonwy. I called first on the schoolmaster, and he kindly took me to the clerk, Hugh Evans, a native of the neighbourhood of Ỻangefni, in Anglesey. He had often heard people talk of some women having once on a time come from Tregar Anthreg to Cae’r ’Loda’, a place near the shore, to fetch food or water, and that when they looked back they beheld the town overflowed by the sea: the walls can still be seen at low water. Gwennan was the name of one of the women, and she was buried at the place now called Beđ Gwennan, or Gwennan’s Grave. He had also heard the fairy tales of Waen Fawr and Nant y Bettws, narrated by the antiquary, Owen Williams of the former place. For instance, he had related to him the tale of the man who slept on a clump of rushes, and thought he was all the while in a magnificent mansion; see p. 100, above. Now I should explain that Tregar Anthreg is to be seen at low water from Dinas Dinỻe as a rock not far from the shore. The Caranthreg which it implies is one of the modern forms to which Caer Arianrhod has been reduced; and to this has been prefixed a synonym ofcaer, namely,tref, reduced totre’, just as Carmarthen is frequently calledTre’ Gaerfyrđin. Cae’r ’Loda’ is explained as Cae’r Aelodau’, ‘The Field of the Limbs’; but I am sorry to say that I forgot tonote the story explanatory of the name. It is given, I think, to a farm, and so is Beđ Gwennan likewise the name of a farm house. The tenant of the latter, William Roberts, was at home when I visited the spot. He told me the same story, but with a variation: three sisters had come from Tregan Anrheg to fetch provisions, when their city was overflowed. Gwen fled to the spot now called Beđ Gwennan, Elan to Tyđyn Elan, or Elan’s Holding, and Maelan to Rhos Maelan, or Maelan’s Moor; all three are names of places in the immediate neighbourhood.From Dinas Dinỻe I was directed across Lord Newborough’s grounds at Glynỻifon to Pen y Groes Station; but on my way I had an opportunity of questioning several of the men employed at Glynỻifon. One of these was called William Thomas Solomon, an intelligent middle-aged man, who works in the garden there. He said that the three women who escaped from the submerged city were sisters, and that he had learned in his infancy to call them Gwennan bi Dôn, Elan bi Dôn, and Maelan bi Dôn. Lastly, the name of the city, according to him, was Tregan Anthrod. I had the following forms of the name that day:—Tregar Anrheg, Tregar Anthreg, Tregan Anrheg, Tregan Anthreg, and Tregan Anthrod. All these are attempts to reproduce what might be written Tre’-Gaer-Arianrhod. The modification ofnrhintonthris very common in North Wales, and Tregar Anrheg seems to have been fashioned on the supposition that the name had something to do withanrheg, ‘a gift.’ Tregan Anthrod is undoubtedly the Caer Arianrhod, or ‘fortress of Arianrhod,’ in theMabinogi, and it is duly marked as such in a map of Speede’s at the spot where it should be. Now the Arianrhod of theMabinogiof Math could hardly be called a lady of rude virtue, and it is the idea in theneighbourhood that the place was inundated on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants. So it would appear that Gwennan, Elan, and Maelan, Arianrhod’s sisters, were the just ones allowed to escape. Arianrhod was probably drowned as the principal sinner in possession; but I did not find, as I expected, that the crime which called for such an expiation was in this instance that of playing cards on Sunday. In fact, this part of the legend does not seem to have been duly elaborated as yet.I must now come back to Solomon’sbi Dôn, which puzzles me not a little. Arianrhod was daughter of Dôn, and so several other characters in the sameMabinogiwere children of Dôn. But what isbi Dôn? I have noticed that all the Welsh antiquaries who take Don out of books invariably call that personage Dòn or Donn with a shorto, which is wrong, and this has saved me from being deceived once or twice: so I take it thatbi Dônis, as Solomon asserted, a local expression of which he did not know the meaning. I can only add, in default of a better explanation, thatbi Dônrecalled to my mind what I had shortly before heard on my trip from Aberdaron to Bardsey Island. My wife and I, together with two friends, engaged, after much eloquent haggling, a boat at the former place, but one of the men who were to row us insinuated a boy of his, aged four, into the boat, an addition which did not exactly add to the pleasures of that somewhat perilous trip amidst incomprehensible currents. But the Aberdaron boatmen always called that childbi Donn, which I took to have been a sort of imitation of an infantile pronunciation of ‘baby John,’ for his name was John, which Welsh infants as a rule first pronounce Donn: I can well remember the time when I did. This, applied toGwennan bi Dôn, would imply that Solomon heard it as a piece of nursery lore when he was a child,and that it meant simply—Gwennan, baby or child of Dôn. Lastly, the only trace of Dylan I could find was in the name of a small promontory, called variously by the Glynỻifon men Pwynt Maen Tylen, which was Solomon’s pronunciation, and Pwynt Maen Dulan. It is also known, as I was given to understand, as Pwynt y Wig: I believe I have seen it given in maps as Maen Dylan Point.Solomon told me the following fairy tale, and he was afterwards kind enough to have it written out for me. I give it in his own words, as it is peculiar in some respects:—Mi’r oeđ gwr a gwraig yn byw yn y Garth Dorwen7ryw gyfnod maith yn ol, ag aethant i Gaer’narfon i gyflogi morwyn ar đyđ ffair G’langaeaf, ag yr oeđ yn arferiad gan feibion a merched y pryd hynny i’r rhai oeđ yn sefyỻ aỻan am lefyđ aros yn top y maes presennol wrth boncan las oeđ yn y fan y ỻe saif y Post-office presennol; aeth yr hen wr a’r hen wraig at y fan yma a gwelent eneth lan a gwaỻt melyn yn sefyỻ ’chydig o’r neiỻdu i bawb araỻ; aeth yr hen wraig ati a gofynnođ i’r eneth oeđ arni eisiau ỻe. Atebođ fod, ag feỻy cyflogwyd yr eneth yn đioed a daeth i’w ỻe i’r amser penodedig. Mi fyđai yn arferiad yr adeg hynny o nyđu ar ol swper yn hirnos y gauaf, ag fe fyđai y forwyn yn myn’d i’r weirglođ i nyđu wrth oleu y ỻoer; ag fe fyđai tylwyth teg yn dwad ati hi i’r weirglođ i ganu a dawnsio. A ryw bryd yn y gwanwyn pan esdynnođ y dyđ diangođ Eilian gyd a’r tylwythion teg i ffwrđ, ag ni welwyd ’mo’ni mwyach. Mae y cae y gwelwyd hi điwethaf yn cael ei alw hyd y dyđ heđyw yn Gae Eilian a’r weirglođ yn Weirglođ y Forwyn. Mi’r oeđ henwraig y Garth Dorwen yn arfer rhoi gwrageđ yn eu gwlâu, a byđai pawb yn cyrchu am dani o bob cyfeiriad; a rhyw bryd dyma wr boneđig ar ei geffyl at y drws ar noswaith loergan ỻeuad, a hithau yn glawio ’chydig ag yn niwl braiđ, i ’nol yr hen wreigan at ei wraig; ag feỻy aeth yn sgil y gwr dïarth ar gefn y march i Ros y Cowrt. Ar ganol y Rhos pryd hynny ’r oeđ poncan ỻed uchel yn debyg i hen amđiffynfa a ỻawer o gerrig mawrion ar ei phen a charneđ fawr o gerrig yn yr ochor ogleđol iđi, ag mae hi i’w gwel’d hyd y dyđ heđyw dan yr enw Bryn y Pibion. Pan gyrhaeđasan’ y ỻe aethan’ i ogo’ fawr ag aethan’ i ’stafeỻ ỻe’r oeđ y wraig yn ei gwely, a’r ỻe crandia’ a welođ yr hen wraig yrioed. Ag fe roth y wraig yn ei gwely ag aeth at y tan i drin y babi; ag ar ol iđi orphen dyna y gwr yn dod a photel i’r hen wraig i hiro ỻygaid y babi ag erfyn arni beidio a’i gyffwr’ a’i ỻygaid ei hun. Ond ryw fođ ar ol rhoi y botel heibio fe đaeth cosfa ar lygaid yr hen wraig a rhwbiođ ei ỻygaid â’r un bys ag oeđ wedi bod yn rhwbio ỻygaid y baban a gwelođ hefo ’r ỻygad hwnnw y wraig yn gorfeđ ar docyn o frwyn a rhedyn crinion mewn ogo’ fawr o gerrig mawr o bob tu iđi a ’chydig bach o dan mewn rhiw gornel, a gwelođ mai Eilian oeđ hi, ei hen forwyn, ag hefo’r ỻygad araỻ yn gwel’d y ỻe crandia’ a welođ yrioed. Ag yn mhen ychydig ar ol hynny aeth i’r farchnad i Gaer’narfon a gwelođ y gwr a gofynnođ iđo—‘Pa sud mae Eilian?’ ‘O y mae hi yn bur đa,’ međai wrth yr hen wraig: ‘a pha lygad yr ydych yn fy ngwel’d?’ ‘Hefo hwn,’ međai hithau. Cymerođ babwyren ag a’i tynođ aỻan ar unwaith.‘An old man and his wife lived at the Garth Dorwen in some period a long while ago. They went to Carnarvon to hire a servant maid at the Allhallows’8fair;and it was the custom then for young men and women who stood out for places to station themselves at the top of the presentMaes, by a little green eminence which was where the present Post-office stands. The old man and his wife went to that spot, and saw there a lass with yellow hair, standing a little apart from all the others; the old woman went to her and asked her if she wanted a place. She replied that she did, and so she hired herself at once and came to her place at the time fixed. In those times it was customary during the long winter nights that spinning should be done after supper. Now the maid servant would go to the meadow to spin by the light of the moon, and theTylwyth Tegused to come to her to sing and dance. But some time in the spring, when the days had grown longer, Eilian escaped with theTylwyth Teg, so that she was seen no more. The field where she was last seen is to this day called Eilian’s Field, and the meadow is known as the Maid’s Meadow. The old woman of Garth Dorwen was in the habit of putting women to bed, and she was in great request far and wide. Some time after Eilian’s escape there came a gentleman on horseback to the door one night when the moon was full, while there was a slight rain and just a little mist, to fetch the old woman to his wife. So she rode off behind the stranger on his horse, and came to Rhos y Cowrt. Now there was at that time, in the centre of therhos, somewhat of a rising ground that looked like an old fortification, with many big stones on the top, and a large cairn of stones on the northern side: it is to be seen there to this day, and it goes by the name of Bryn y Pibion, but I have never visited the spot. When theyreached the spot, they entered a large cave, and they went into a room where the wife lay in her bed; it was the finest place the old woman had seen in her life. When she had successfully brought the wife to bed, she went near the fire to dress the baby; and when she had done, the husband came to the old woman with a bottle of ointment9that she might anoint the baby’s eyes; but he entreated her not to touch her own eyes with it. Somehow after putting the bottle by, one of the old woman’s eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed it with the same finger that she had used to rub the baby’s eyes. Then she saw with that eye how the wife lay on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her, and with a little fire in one corner; and she saw also that the lady was only Eilian, her former servant girl, whilst, with the other eye, she beheld the finest place she had ever seen. Not long afterwards the old midwife went to Carnarvon to market, when she saw the husband, and said to him, “How is Eilian?” “She is pretty well,” said he to the old woman, “but with what eye do you see me?” “With this one,” was the reply; and he took a bulrush and put her eye out at once.’That is exactly the tale, my informant tells me, as he heard it from his mother, who heard it from an old woman who lived at Garth Dorwen when his mother was a girl, about eighty-four years ago, as he guessed it to have been; but in his written version he has omitted one thing which he told me at Glynỻifon, namely, that, when the servant girl went out to the fairies to spin, an enormous amount of spinning used to be done.I mention this as it reminds me of the tales of other nations, where the girl who cannot spin straw into gold is assisted by a fairy, on certain conditions which are afterwards found very inconvenient. It may be guessed that in the case of Eilian the conditions involved her becoming a fairy’s wife, and that she kept to them. Lastly, I should like the archæologists of Carnarvonshire to direct their attention to Bryn y Pibion; for they might be expected to come across the remains there of a barrow or of a fort.
II.
One day in August of the same year, I arrived at Dinas Station, and walked down to Ỻandwrog in order to see Dinas Dinỻe, and to ascertain what traditions still existed there respecting Caer Arianrhod, Ỻew Ỻawgyffes, Dylan Eilton, and other names that figure in theMabinogiof Math ab Mathonwy. I called first on the schoolmaster, and he kindly took me to the clerk, Hugh Evans, a native of the neighbourhood of Ỻangefni, in Anglesey. He had often heard people talk of some women having once on a time come from Tregar Anthreg to Cae’r ’Loda’, a place near the shore, to fetch food or water, and that when they looked back they beheld the town overflowed by the sea: the walls can still be seen at low water. Gwennan was the name of one of the women, and she was buried at the place now called Beđ Gwennan, or Gwennan’s Grave. He had also heard the fairy tales of Waen Fawr and Nant y Bettws, narrated by the antiquary, Owen Williams of the former place. For instance, he had related to him the tale of the man who slept on a clump of rushes, and thought he was all the while in a magnificent mansion; see p. 100, above. Now I should explain that Tregar Anthreg is to be seen at low water from Dinas Dinỻe as a rock not far from the shore. The Caranthreg which it implies is one of the modern forms to which Caer Arianrhod has been reduced; and to this has been prefixed a synonym ofcaer, namely,tref, reduced totre’, just as Carmarthen is frequently calledTre’ Gaerfyrđin. Cae’r ’Loda’ is explained as Cae’r Aelodau’, ‘The Field of the Limbs’; but I am sorry to say that I forgot tonote the story explanatory of the name. It is given, I think, to a farm, and so is Beđ Gwennan likewise the name of a farm house. The tenant of the latter, William Roberts, was at home when I visited the spot. He told me the same story, but with a variation: three sisters had come from Tregan Anrheg to fetch provisions, when their city was overflowed. Gwen fled to the spot now called Beđ Gwennan, Elan to Tyđyn Elan, or Elan’s Holding, and Maelan to Rhos Maelan, or Maelan’s Moor; all three are names of places in the immediate neighbourhood.From Dinas Dinỻe I was directed across Lord Newborough’s grounds at Glynỻifon to Pen y Groes Station; but on my way I had an opportunity of questioning several of the men employed at Glynỻifon. One of these was called William Thomas Solomon, an intelligent middle-aged man, who works in the garden there. He said that the three women who escaped from the submerged city were sisters, and that he had learned in his infancy to call them Gwennan bi Dôn, Elan bi Dôn, and Maelan bi Dôn. Lastly, the name of the city, according to him, was Tregan Anthrod. I had the following forms of the name that day:—Tregar Anrheg, Tregar Anthreg, Tregan Anrheg, Tregan Anthreg, and Tregan Anthrod. All these are attempts to reproduce what might be written Tre’-Gaer-Arianrhod. The modification ofnrhintonthris very common in North Wales, and Tregar Anrheg seems to have been fashioned on the supposition that the name had something to do withanrheg, ‘a gift.’ Tregan Anthrod is undoubtedly the Caer Arianrhod, or ‘fortress of Arianrhod,’ in theMabinogi, and it is duly marked as such in a map of Speede’s at the spot where it should be. Now the Arianrhod of theMabinogiof Math could hardly be called a lady of rude virtue, and it is the idea in theneighbourhood that the place was inundated on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants. So it would appear that Gwennan, Elan, and Maelan, Arianrhod’s sisters, were the just ones allowed to escape. Arianrhod was probably drowned as the principal sinner in possession; but I did not find, as I expected, that the crime which called for such an expiation was in this instance that of playing cards on Sunday. In fact, this part of the legend does not seem to have been duly elaborated as yet.I must now come back to Solomon’sbi Dôn, which puzzles me not a little. Arianrhod was daughter of Dôn, and so several other characters in the sameMabinogiwere children of Dôn. But what isbi Dôn? I have noticed that all the Welsh antiquaries who take Don out of books invariably call that personage Dòn or Donn with a shorto, which is wrong, and this has saved me from being deceived once or twice: so I take it thatbi Dônis, as Solomon asserted, a local expression of which he did not know the meaning. I can only add, in default of a better explanation, thatbi Dônrecalled to my mind what I had shortly before heard on my trip from Aberdaron to Bardsey Island. My wife and I, together with two friends, engaged, after much eloquent haggling, a boat at the former place, but one of the men who were to row us insinuated a boy of his, aged four, into the boat, an addition which did not exactly add to the pleasures of that somewhat perilous trip amidst incomprehensible currents. But the Aberdaron boatmen always called that childbi Donn, which I took to have been a sort of imitation of an infantile pronunciation of ‘baby John,’ for his name was John, which Welsh infants as a rule first pronounce Donn: I can well remember the time when I did. This, applied toGwennan bi Dôn, would imply that Solomon heard it as a piece of nursery lore when he was a child,and that it meant simply—Gwennan, baby or child of Dôn. Lastly, the only trace of Dylan I could find was in the name of a small promontory, called variously by the Glynỻifon men Pwynt Maen Tylen, which was Solomon’s pronunciation, and Pwynt Maen Dulan. It is also known, as I was given to understand, as Pwynt y Wig: I believe I have seen it given in maps as Maen Dylan Point.Solomon told me the following fairy tale, and he was afterwards kind enough to have it written out for me. I give it in his own words, as it is peculiar in some respects:—Mi’r oeđ gwr a gwraig yn byw yn y Garth Dorwen7ryw gyfnod maith yn ol, ag aethant i Gaer’narfon i gyflogi morwyn ar đyđ ffair G’langaeaf, ag yr oeđ yn arferiad gan feibion a merched y pryd hynny i’r rhai oeđ yn sefyỻ aỻan am lefyđ aros yn top y maes presennol wrth boncan las oeđ yn y fan y ỻe saif y Post-office presennol; aeth yr hen wr a’r hen wraig at y fan yma a gwelent eneth lan a gwaỻt melyn yn sefyỻ ’chydig o’r neiỻdu i bawb araỻ; aeth yr hen wraig ati a gofynnođ i’r eneth oeđ arni eisiau ỻe. Atebođ fod, ag feỻy cyflogwyd yr eneth yn đioed a daeth i’w ỻe i’r amser penodedig. Mi fyđai yn arferiad yr adeg hynny o nyđu ar ol swper yn hirnos y gauaf, ag fe fyđai y forwyn yn myn’d i’r weirglođ i nyđu wrth oleu y ỻoer; ag fe fyđai tylwyth teg yn dwad ati hi i’r weirglođ i ganu a dawnsio. A ryw bryd yn y gwanwyn pan esdynnođ y dyđ diangođ Eilian gyd a’r tylwythion teg i ffwrđ, ag ni welwyd ’mo’ni mwyach. Mae y cae y gwelwyd hi điwethaf yn cael ei alw hyd y dyđ heđyw yn Gae Eilian a’r weirglođ yn Weirglođ y Forwyn. Mi’r oeđ henwraig y Garth Dorwen yn arfer rhoi gwrageđ yn eu gwlâu, a byđai pawb yn cyrchu am dani o bob cyfeiriad; a rhyw bryd dyma wr boneđig ar ei geffyl at y drws ar noswaith loergan ỻeuad, a hithau yn glawio ’chydig ag yn niwl braiđ, i ’nol yr hen wreigan at ei wraig; ag feỻy aeth yn sgil y gwr dïarth ar gefn y march i Ros y Cowrt. Ar ganol y Rhos pryd hynny ’r oeđ poncan ỻed uchel yn debyg i hen amđiffynfa a ỻawer o gerrig mawrion ar ei phen a charneđ fawr o gerrig yn yr ochor ogleđol iđi, ag mae hi i’w gwel’d hyd y dyđ heđyw dan yr enw Bryn y Pibion. Pan gyrhaeđasan’ y ỻe aethan’ i ogo’ fawr ag aethan’ i ’stafeỻ ỻe’r oeđ y wraig yn ei gwely, a’r ỻe crandia’ a welođ yr hen wraig yrioed. Ag fe roth y wraig yn ei gwely ag aeth at y tan i drin y babi; ag ar ol iđi orphen dyna y gwr yn dod a photel i’r hen wraig i hiro ỻygaid y babi ag erfyn arni beidio a’i gyffwr’ a’i ỻygaid ei hun. Ond ryw fođ ar ol rhoi y botel heibio fe đaeth cosfa ar lygaid yr hen wraig a rhwbiođ ei ỻygaid â’r un bys ag oeđ wedi bod yn rhwbio ỻygaid y baban a gwelođ hefo ’r ỻygad hwnnw y wraig yn gorfeđ ar docyn o frwyn a rhedyn crinion mewn ogo’ fawr o gerrig mawr o bob tu iđi a ’chydig bach o dan mewn rhiw gornel, a gwelođ mai Eilian oeđ hi, ei hen forwyn, ag hefo’r ỻygad araỻ yn gwel’d y ỻe crandia’ a welođ yrioed. Ag yn mhen ychydig ar ol hynny aeth i’r farchnad i Gaer’narfon a gwelođ y gwr a gofynnođ iđo—‘Pa sud mae Eilian?’ ‘O y mae hi yn bur đa,’ međai wrth yr hen wraig: ‘a pha lygad yr ydych yn fy ngwel’d?’ ‘Hefo hwn,’ međai hithau. Cymerođ babwyren ag a’i tynođ aỻan ar unwaith.‘An old man and his wife lived at the Garth Dorwen in some period a long while ago. They went to Carnarvon to hire a servant maid at the Allhallows’8fair;and it was the custom then for young men and women who stood out for places to station themselves at the top of the presentMaes, by a little green eminence which was where the present Post-office stands. The old man and his wife went to that spot, and saw there a lass with yellow hair, standing a little apart from all the others; the old woman went to her and asked her if she wanted a place. She replied that she did, and so she hired herself at once and came to her place at the time fixed. In those times it was customary during the long winter nights that spinning should be done after supper. Now the maid servant would go to the meadow to spin by the light of the moon, and theTylwyth Tegused to come to her to sing and dance. But some time in the spring, when the days had grown longer, Eilian escaped with theTylwyth Teg, so that she was seen no more. The field where she was last seen is to this day called Eilian’s Field, and the meadow is known as the Maid’s Meadow. The old woman of Garth Dorwen was in the habit of putting women to bed, and she was in great request far and wide. Some time after Eilian’s escape there came a gentleman on horseback to the door one night when the moon was full, while there was a slight rain and just a little mist, to fetch the old woman to his wife. So she rode off behind the stranger on his horse, and came to Rhos y Cowrt. Now there was at that time, in the centre of therhos, somewhat of a rising ground that looked like an old fortification, with many big stones on the top, and a large cairn of stones on the northern side: it is to be seen there to this day, and it goes by the name of Bryn y Pibion, but I have never visited the spot. When theyreached the spot, they entered a large cave, and they went into a room where the wife lay in her bed; it was the finest place the old woman had seen in her life. When she had successfully brought the wife to bed, she went near the fire to dress the baby; and when she had done, the husband came to the old woman with a bottle of ointment9that she might anoint the baby’s eyes; but he entreated her not to touch her own eyes with it. Somehow after putting the bottle by, one of the old woman’s eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed it with the same finger that she had used to rub the baby’s eyes. Then she saw with that eye how the wife lay on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her, and with a little fire in one corner; and she saw also that the lady was only Eilian, her former servant girl, whilst, with the other eye, she beheld the finest place she had ever seen. Not long afterwards the old midwife went to Carnarvon to market, when she saw the husband, and said to him, “How is Eilian?” “She is pretty well,” said he to the old woman, “but with what eye do you see me?” “With this one,” was the reply; and he took a bulrush and put her eye out at once.’That is exactly the tale, my informant tells me, as he heard it from his mother, who heard it from an old woman who lived at Garth Dorwen when his mother was a girl, about eighty-four years ago, as he guessed it to have been; but in his written version he has omitted one thing which he told me at Glynỻifon, namely, that, when the servant girl went out to the fairies to spin, an enormous amount of spinning used to be done.I mention this as it reminds me of the tales of other nations, where the girl who cannot spin straw into gold is assisted by a fairy, on certain conditions which are afterwards found very inconvenient. It may be guessed that in the case of Eilian the conditions involved her becoming a fairy’s wife, and that she kept to them. Lastly, I should like the archæologists of Carnarvonshire to direct their attention to Bryn y Pibion; for they might be expected to come across the remains there of a barrow or of a fort.
One day in August of the same year, I arrived at Dinas Station, and walked down to Ỻandwrog in order to see Dinas Dinỻe, and to ascertain what traditions still existed there respecting Caer Arianrhod, Ỻew Ỻawgyffes, Dylan Eilton, and other names that figure in theMabinogiof Math ab Mathonwy. I called first on the schoolmaster, and he kindly took me to the clerk, Hugh Evans, a native of the neighbourhood of Ỻangefni, in Anglesey. He had often heard people talk of some women having once on a time come from Tregar Anthreg to Cae’r ’Loda’, a place near the shore, to fetch food or water, and that when they looked back they beheld the town overflowed by the sea: the walls can still be seen at low water. Gwennan was the name of one of the women, and she was buried at the place now called Beđ Gwennan, or Gwennan’s Grave. He had also heard the fairy tales of Waen Fawr and Nant y Bettws, narrated by the antiquary, Owen Williams of the former place. For instance, he had related to him the tale of the man who slept on a clump of rushes, and thought he was all the while in a magnificent mansion; see p. 100, above. Now I should explain that Tregar Anthreg is to be seen at low water from Dinas Dinỻe as a rock not far from the shore. The Caranthreg which it implies is one of the modern forms to which Caer Arianrhod has been reduced; and to this has been prefixed a synonym ofcaer, namely,tref, reduced totre’, just as Carmarthen is frequently calledTre’ Gaerfyrđin. Cae’r ’Loda’ is explained as Cae’r Aelodau’, ‘The Field of the Limbs’; but I am sorry to say that I forgot tonote the story explanatory of the name. It is given, I think, to a farm, and so is Beđ Gwennan likewise the name of a farm house. The tenant of the latter, William Roberts, was at home when I visited the spot. He told me the same story, but with a variation: three sisters had come from Tregan Anrheg to fetch provisions, when their city was overflowed. Gwen fled to the spot now called Beđ Gwennan, Elan to Tyđyn Elan, or Elan’s Holding, and Maelan to Rhos Maelan, or Maelan’s Moor; all three are names of places in the immediate neighbourhood.
From Dinas Dinỻe I was directed across Lord Newborough’s grounds at Glynỻifon to Pen y Groes Station; but on my way I had an opportunity of questioning several of the men employed at Glynỻifon. One of these was called William Thomas Solomon, an intelligent middle-aged man, who works in the garden there. He said that the three women who escaped from the submerged city were sisters, and that he had learned in his infancy to call them Gwennan bi Dôn, Elan bi Dôn, and Maelan bi Dôn. Lastly, the name of the city, according to him, was Tregan Anthrod. I had the following forms of the name that day:—Tregar Anrheg, Tregar Anthreg, Tregan Anrheg, Tregan Anthreg, and Tregan Anthrod. All these are attempts to reproduce what might be written Tre’-Gaer-Arianrhod. The modification ofnrhintonthris very common in North Wales, and Tregar Anrheg seems to have been fashioned on the supposition that the name had something to do withanrheg, ‘a gift.’ Tregan Anthrod is undoubtedly the Caer Arianrhod, or ‘fortress of Arianrhod,’ in theMabinogi, and it is duly marked as such in a map of Speede’s at the spot where it should be. Now the Arianrhod of theMabinogiof Math could hardly be called a lady of rude virtue, and it is the idea in theneighbourhood that the place was inundated on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants. So it would appear that Gwennan, Elan, and Maelan, Arianrhod’s sisters, were the just ones allowed to escape. Arianrhod was probably drowned as the principal sinner in possession; but I did not find, as I expected, that the crime which called for such an expiation was in this instance that of playing cards on Sunday. In fact, this part of the legend does not seem to have been duly elaborated as yet.
I must now come back to Solomon’sbi Dôn, which puzzles me not a little. Arianrhod was daughter of Dôn, and so several other characters in the sameMabinogiwere children of Dôn. But what isbi Dôn? I have noticed that all the Welsh antiquaries who take Don out of books invariably call that personage Dòn or Donn with a shorto, which is wrong, and this has saved me from being deceived once or twice: so I take it thatbi Dônis, as Solomon asserted, a local expression of which he did not know the meaning. I can only add, in default of a better explanation, thatbi Dônrecalled to my mind what I had shortly before heard on my trip from Aberdaron to Bardsey Island. My wife and I, together with two friends, engaged, after much eloquent haggling, a boat at the former place, but one of the men who were to row us insinuated a boy of his, aged four, into the boat, an addition which did not exactly add to the pleasures of that somewhat perilous trip amidst incomprehensible currents. But the Aberdaron boatmen always called that childbi Donn, which I took to have been a sort of imitation of an infantile pronunciation of ‘baby John,’ for his name was John, which Welsh infants as a rule first pronounce Donn: I can well remember the time when I did. This, applied toGwennan bi Dôn, would imply that Solomon heard it as a piece of nursery lore when he was a child,and that it meant simply—Gwennan, baby or child of Dôn. Lastly, the only trace of Dylan I could find was in the name of a small promontory, called variously by the Glynỻifon men Pwynt Maen Tylen, which was Solomon’s pronunciation, and Pwynt Maen Dulan. It is also known, as I was given to understand, as Pwynt y Wig: I believe I have seen it given in maps as Maen Dylan Point.
Solomon told me the following fairy tale, and he was afterwards kind enough to have it written out for me. I give it in his own words, as it is peculiar in some respects:—
Mi’r oeđ gwr a gwraig yn byw yn y Garth Dorwen7ryw gyfnod maith yn ol, ag aethant i Gaer’narfon i gyflogi morwyn ar đyđ ffair G’langaeaf, ag yr oeđ yn arferiad gan feibion a merched y pryd hynny i’r rhai oeđ yn sefyỻ aỻan am lefyđ aros yn top y maes presennol wrth boncan las oeđ yn y fan y ỻe saif y Post-office presennol; aeth yr hen wr a’r hen wraig at y fan yma a gwelent eneth lan a gwaỻt melyn yn sefyỻ ’chydig o’r neiỻdu i bawb araỻ; aeth yr hen wraig ati a gofynnođ i’r eneth oeđ arni eisiau ỻe. Atebođ fod, ag feỻy cyflogwyd yr eneth yn đioed a daeth i’w ỻe i’r amser penodedig. Mi fyđai yn arferiad yr adeg hynny o nyđu ar ol swper yn hirnos y gauaf, ag fe fyđai y forwyn yn myn’d i’r weirglođ i nyđu wrth oleu y ỻoer; ag fe fyđai tylwyth teg yn dwad ati hi i’r weirglođ i ganu a dawnsio. A ryw bryd yn y gwanwyn pan esdynnođ y dyđ diangođ Eilian gyd a’r tylwythion teg i ffwrđ, ag ni welwyd ’mo’ni mwyach. Mae y cae y gwelwyd hi điwethaf yn cael ei alw hyd y dyđ heđyw yn Gae Eilian a’r weirglođ yn Weirglođ y Forwyn. Mi’r oeđ henwraig y Garth Dorwen yn arfer rhoi gwrageđ yn eu gwlâu, a byđai pawb yn cyrchu am dani o bob cyfeiriad; a rhyw bryd dyma wr boneđig ar ei geffyl at y drws ar noswaith loergan ỻeuad, a hithau yn glawio ’chydig ag yn niwl braiđ, i ’nol yr hen wreigan at ei wraig; ag feỻy aeth yn sgil y gwr dïarth ar gefn y march i Ros y Cowrt. Ar ganol y Rhos pryd hynny ’r oeđ poncan ỻed uchel yn debyg i hen amđiffynfa a ỻawer o gerrig mawrion ar ei phen a charneđ fawr o gerrig yn yr ochor ogleđol iđi, ag mae hi i’w gwel’d hyd y dyđ heđyw dan yr enw Bryn y Pibion. Pan gyrhaeđasan’ y ỻe aethan’ i ogo’ fawr ag aethan’ i ’stafeỻ ỻe’r oeđ y wraig yn ei gwely, a’r ỻe crandia’ a welođ yr hen wraig yrioed. Ag fe roth y wraig yn ei gwely ag aeth at y tan i drin y babi; ag ar ol iđi orphen dyna y gwr yn dod a photel i’r hen wraig i hiro ỻygaid y babi ag erfyn arni beidio a’i gyffwr’ a’i ỻygaid ei hun. Ond ryw fođ ar ol rhoi y botel heibio fe đaeth cosfa ar lygaid yr hen wraig a rhwbiođ ei ỻygaid â’r un bys ag oeđ wedi bod yn rhwbio ỻygaid y baban a gwelođ hefo ’r ỻygad hwnnw y wraig yn gorfeđ ar docyn o frwyn a rhedyn crinion mewn ogo’ fawr o gerrig mawr o bob tu iđi a ’chydig bach o dan mewn rhiw gornel, a gwelođ mai Eilian oeđ hi, ei hen forwyn, ag hefo’r ỻygad araỻ yn gwel’d y ỻe crandia’ a welođ yrioed. Ag yn mhen ychydig ar ol hynny aeth i’r farchnad i Gaer’narfon a gwelođ y gwr a gofynnođ iđo—‘Pa sud mae Eilian?’ ‘O y mae hi yn bur đa,’ međai wrth yr hen wraig: ‘a pha lygad yr ydych yn fy ngwel’d?’ ‘Hefo hwn,’ međai hithau. Cymerođ babwyren ag a’i tynođ aỻan ar unwaith.
‘An old man and his wife lived at the Garth Dorwen in some period a long while ago. They went to Carnarvon to hire a servant maid at the Allhallows’8fair;and it was the custom then for young men and women who stood out for places to station themselves at the top of the presentMaes, by a little green eminence which was where the present Post-office stands. The old man and his wife went to that spot, and saw there a lass with yellow hair, standing a little apart from all the others; the old woman went to her and asked her if she wanted a place. She replied that she did, and so she hired herself at once and came to her place at the time fixed. In those times it was customary during the long winter nights that spinning should be done after supper. Now the maid servant would go to the meadow to spin by the light of the moon, and theTylwyth Tegused to come to her to sing and dance. But some time in the spring, when the days had grown longer, Eilian escaped with theTylwyth Teg, so that she was seen no more. The field where she was last seen is to this day called Eilian’s Field, and the meadow is known as the Maid’s Meadow. The old woman of Garth Dorwen was in the habit of putting women to bed, and she was in great request far and wide. Some time after Eilian’s escape there came a gentleman on horseback to the door one night when the moon was full, while there was a slight rain and just a little mist, to fetch the old woman to his wife. So she rode off behind the stranger on his horse, and came to Rhos y Cowrt. Now there was at that time, in the centre of therhos, somewhat of a rising ground that looked like an old fortification, with many big stones on the top, and a large cairn of stones on the northern side: it is to be seen there to this day, and it goes by the name of Bryn y Pibion, but I have never visited the spot. When theyreached the spot, they entered a large cave, and they went into a room where the wife lay in her bed; it was the finest place the old woman had seen in her life. When she had successfully brought the wife to bed, she went near the fire to dress the baby; and when she had done, the husband came to the old woman with a bottle of ointment9that she might anoint the baby’s eyes; but he entreated her not to touch her own eyes with it. Somehow after putting the bottle by, one of the old woman’s eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed it with the same finger that she had used to rub the baby’s eyes. Then she saw with that eye how the wife lay on a bundle of rushes and withered ferns in a large cave, with big stones all round her, and with a little fire in one corner; and she saw also that the lady was only Eilian, her former servant girl, whilst, with the other eye, she beheld the finest place she had ever seen. Not long afterwards the old midwife went to Carnarvon to market, when she saw the husband, and said to him, “How is Eilian?” “She is pretty well,” said he to the old woman, “but with what eye do you see me?” “With this one,” was the reply; and he took a bulrush and put her eye out at once.’
That is exactly the tale, my informant tells me, as he heard it from his mother, who heard it from an old woman who lived at Garth Dorwen when his mother was a girl, about eighty-four years ago, as he guessed it to have been; but in his written version he has omitted one thing which he told me at Glynỻifon, namely, that, when the servant girl went out to the fairies to spin, an enormous amount of spinning used to be done.I mention this as it reminds me of the tales of other nations, where the girl who cannot spin straw into gold is assisted by a fairy, on certain conditions which are afterwards found very inconvenient. It may be guessed that in the case of Eilian the conditions involved her becoming a fairy’s wife, and that she kept to them. Lastly, I should like the archæologists of Carnarvonshire to direct their attention to Bryn y Pibion; for they might be expected to come across the remains there of a barrow or of a fort.