APPENDIX.

It may not be improper to inform the Reader that theOrthographyused in these Poems is theOrthographyof theMSS.and not that of theWelsh Bible.

1. A method how to retrieve the ancient British language, in order that the Bards of the sixth century may be understood, and that the genuineness of Tyssilio’s British History, which was translated from the Armoric language into Latin by Galfridus Arturius of Monmouth may be decided; and concerning a new edition of Gildas Nennius’s Eulogium Brittanniæ, with notes, from ancient British MSS. This old British writer has been shamefully mangled by Dr. Gale, his editor, in the Scriptores Brittannici; and not much mended by Mr. Bertram in his late edition of it at Copenhagen.

Whether the ancient British language can be so far recovered as to understand the most ancient British writings now extant, is, I think, a consideration by no means beneath the notice of a society of Antiquarians, and of all learned men in general. There has been, it is true, an attempt of this nature made by the very learned Mr. Edward Llwyd, of the Museum, and in part laudably executed in his Archæologia Britannica, which reflects honour on those worthy persons who supported him in his five years travels into Ireland, Scotland, Cornwal, Basse Bretagne, and Wales. But as his plan was too extensive to bring every branch of what he undertook to perfection, I think a continuation of the same, restrained within certain limits, might still be useful.—Natural history is itself a province sufficient to engross a man’s whole attention; but it was only a part of this great man’s undertaking: and the learned world is abundantly convinced of the uncommon proficiency he made in natural philosophy; and how industrious he was in tracing the dialects of the ancient Celtic language. But still it must be acknowledged that he did very little towards the thorough understanding the ancient British Bards and historians. And indeed he owns himself that he was not encouraged in this part of his intended work, as appears by his proposals. Far be it from me to censure those very learned men who generously contributed to support the ingenious author in his travels, and dictated the method he was to persue. But, after all, I cannot help lamenting that he did not pay more attention to the old MSS. and compile a glossary to understand them. What he has done of this nature is very imperfect, few words being added to what there are in Dr. Davies’s Dictionary, and those chiefly from writings of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Indeed it appears he had not seen the works but of one of the Bards of the sixth century, and that in the red book of Hergest, in the Archives of Jesus’s College, Oxon. He complainshe could not procure access to the collections at Hengwrt and Llan Fordaf, and without perusing those venerable remains, and leisure to collate them with other copies, it was impossible for him to do anything effectual.—Now the method I would propose to a person that would carry this project into execution, is, that as soon as he is become master of the ancient British language, as far as it can be learned, by the assistance of Dr. Davies’s dictionary, and Moses Williams’s glossary at the end of Dr. Wotton’s translation of Howel Dda’s laws, he should endeavour to procure access to the great collections of ancient British MSS. in the libraries of the Earl of Macclesfield, Lady Wynne of Wynstay, the Duke of Ancaster, Sir Roger Mostyn at Gloddaith, John Davies, Esquire, at Llannerch, Miss Wynne of Bod Yscallen, William Vaughan, Esquire, at Cors y Gedol, and in other places both in South and North Wales in private hands. By this means he would be enabled in time to ascertain the true reading in many MSS. that have been altered and mangled by the ignorance of transcribers. I am satisfied there are not many copies of the Bards of the sixth century extant, nor indeed of those from the conquest to the death of Llewelyn. But two or three ancient copies on vellom, if such can be met with, will be sufficient; for in some transcripts by good hands that I have seen, they are imperfect in some copies. This would in a great measure enable our traveller to fill up the blanks, and help him to understand what, for want of this, must remain obscure, if not altogether unintelligible. We should by the means of such a person have a great many monuments of genius brought to light, that are now mouldering away with age, and a great many passages in history illustrated and confirmed that are now dark and dubious. Whole poems of great length and merit might be retrieved, not inferior, perhaps, to Ossian’s productions, if indeed those extraordinary poems are of so ancient date, as his translator avers them to be. The Gododin of Aneurin Gwawdrydd is a noble heroic poem. So are likewise the works of Llywarch Hen about his battles with the Saxons, in which he lost twenty-four sons, who all were distinguished for their bravery with golden torques’s.Aurdorchogion.

Taliesin’s poems to Maelgwn Gwynedd, to Elphin ap Gwyddno, to Gwynn ap Nudd, and Urien Reged, and other great personages of his time, are great curiosities. We have, besides these, some remains of the works of Merddin ap Morfryn, to his patron Gwenddolau ap Ceidis, and of Afan Ferddig to Cadwallon ap Cadfan; and, perhaps, there may be in those collections some besides that we have not heard of. All these treasures might be brought to light, by a person well qualified for the undertaking, properly recommended by men of character and learning: and I think, in an age wherein all parts of literature are cultivated, it would be a pity to lose the few remaining monuments now left of the ancient British Bards, some ofwhich are by their very antiquity become venerable. Aneurin Gwawdrydd above-mentioned is said, by Mr. Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, to be brother to Gildas ap Caw, author of theEpistle de excidio Britanniæwhich is the most ancient account of Great Britain extant in Latin by a native.—No manner of estimate can be made of the works of our Bards and Historians that have been destroyed from time to time; nay some very curious ones have been lost within this century and a half. I think, therefore, it would be an act becoming the Antiquarian Society, and all patrons of learning in general, to encourage and support such an undertaking, which would redound much to their honour, and be a fund of a rational and instructive amusement.—Nor would those benefits alone accrue from a thorough knowledge of our Bards, but still more solid and substantial ones. For who would be better qualified than such a person to decide the controversy about the genuineness of the British History, by Tyssilio, from the oldest copies of it now extant, which differ in a great many particulars from the Latin translation of Galfrid, who owns that he received his copy from a person who brought it from Armorica; and why may there not be some copies of it still behind in some monasteries of that country, and of other works still more valuable? Mr. Llwyd, of the Museum, intended to visit them all, in order to get a catalogue of them to be printed in his Archæologia Britannica; but he was prevented by the war which then broke out, of which he gives an account in a letter to Mr. Rowlands, author of Mona Antiqua restaurata, and which is published at the end of that treatise. Who can be better qualified to succeed in such an undertaking than a person that is thoroughly well versed in all the old MSS. now extant in Wales. I find that the Armoric historians, particularly Father Lobineau, quote some of their ancient Bards to confirm historical facts. This is demonstration that some of their oldest Bards are still extant; and who knows but that some of the books they took with them when they first went to settle in Gaul, under Maximus and Conau Meiriadoc, may be still extant, at least transcripts of some of them; for that some were carried over is plain, by what Gildas himself says, “quæ vel si qua fuerint, aut ignibus hostium exusta, aut civium exulum classe longins deportata non compareant.” So that I would have our traveller pass two years at least in Basse Bretagne, in order to make enquiry after such ancient monuments, and I make no doubt but he would make great discoveries.—Thus furnished, he might proceed to the British Museum, the Bodleian library, and the library of the two Universities, and elsewhere, where any ancient British MSS. are preserved. We might then have better editions of British authors than we have had from the English antiquaries, though in other respects very learned men; but, being unacquainted with our language, Bards, and antiquities, they have nothing but bare conjectures, and some scraps from the Roman writers to produce. No onelikewise would be better qualified to fix the ancient Roman stations in Britain, as they are set down in Antoninus’s intinerary, and their ancient British names.—I wish learned men would think of this ere it be too late; for one century makes a great havoc of old MSS. especially such as are in the hands of private persons, who understand not their true value, or are suffered to rot in such libraries, where nobody is permitted to have access to them.

2.The following curious Commission published and inserted in some of the copies of Dr. Brown’s Dissertation on the Union &c.,of Poetry and Music,and communicated from a Manuscript Copy in my possession,having so near a Relation to the Family of the noble Patron of these Poems,I thought it right to reprint it on this occasion.

“By theQueen,“Elizabeth, by the Grace ofGod, of England, France, and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c. To our trusty and right well beloved Sir Richard Bulkely, Knight, Sir Rees Griffith, Knight, Ellis Price, Esq. Dr. in Civil Law, and one of our Council in the Marchesse of Wales, William Mostyn, Ieuan Lloyd of Yale, John Salisbury of Rhug, Rice Thomas, Maurice Wynne, William Lewis, Pierce Mostyn, Owen John ap Howel Fychan, John William ap John, John Lewis Owen, Morris Griffith, Symwd Thelwal, John Griffith, Ellis ap William Lloyd, Robert Puleston, Harri ap Harri, William Glynn, and Rees Hughes, Esqrs. and to every of them Greeting.“Whereas it is come to the Knowledg of the Lord President, and other our Council in our Marchesse of Wales, that vagrant and idle Persons naming themselvesMinstrels,Rythmers, andBards, are lately grown into suchintolerable Multitudewithin the Principality of North Wales, that not only Gentlemen and others by theirshameless Disordersare oftentimes disquieted in their Habitations, but also the expertMinstrelsandMusiciansinTongeandCunyngethereby much discouraged to travaile in the Exercise and Practice of their Knowledg, and also not a little hindred (of) Livings and Preferment; the Reformation whereof, and the putting these People in Order, the said Lord President andCouncil have thought very necessary: And knowing you to be Men of both Wisdom and upright Dealing, and also of Experience and good Knowledg in the Scyence, have appointed and authorised You to be Commissioners for that Purpose: And forasmuch as our said Council, of late travailing in some Part of the said Principality, had perfect Understanding by credible Report, that the accustomed Place for the Execution of the like Commission hath been heretofore at Cayroes in our County of Flynt, and that William Mostyn, Esq. and his Ancestors have had the Gift and bestowing of theSylver Harpappertaining to theChief of that Faculty, and that aYear’s Warning(at least) hath been accustomed to be given of theAssemblyand Execution of the like Commission; Our said Council have therefore appointed the Execution of this Commission to be at the said Town of Cayroes, the Monday next after the Feast of the Blessed Trinity which shall be in the Year of our Lord 1568. And therefore we require and command You by the Authority of these Presents, not only to causeopen Proclamationto be made in allFairs,Market-Towns, and otherPlaces of Assemblywithin our Counties of Aglere, Carnarvon, Meryonydd, Denbigh and Flynt, that all and every Person and Persons that intend tomaintaintheirLivingby name or Colour ofMinstrels,Rythmers, orBards, within the Talaith of Aberffraw, comprehending the said five Shires, shall be and appear before You the said Day and Place toshewtheirLearningsaccordingly: But also, that You, twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, or six of you, whereof You the said Sir Richard Bulkely, Sir Rees Griffith, Ellis Price, and William Mostyn, Esqs. or three or two of you, to be of the number; to repair to the said Place the Days aforesaid, and calling to you suchexpert menin the saidFacultyof theWelsh Musicas to You shall be thought convenient, to proceed to the Executionof the Premises, and to admit such and so many, as by your Wisdoms and Knowledges you shall findworthy, into and under theDegreesheretofore (in Use) in semblable Sort touse,exercise, andfollowtheSciencesandFacultiesof theirProfessions, in such decent Order as shall appertain to each of their Degrees, and as your Discretions and Wisdoms shall prescribe unto them: Giving streight Monition and Commandment in our Name and on our Behalf to the rest not worthy, that they return to some honest Labour, and due Exercise, such as they be most apt unto for Maintenance of their Living, upon Pain to be taken as sturdy and idle Vagabonds, and to be used according to the Laws and Statutes provided in that Behalf; letting You with our said Council look for Advertisement, by Certificate at your Hands, of your Doings in the Execution of the said Premises; foreseeing in any wise, that upon the said Assembly the Peace and good Order be observed and kept accordingly; ascertaining you that the said William Mostyn hath promised to see Furniture and Things necessary provided for that Assembly, at the Place aforesaid.“Given under our Signet at our City of Chester, the twenty third of October in the ninth Year of out Reign, 1567.“SignedHer Highness’s Counsailin the Marchesse of Wales.”“N.B.This Commission was copied exactly from the original now at Mostyn,a.d.1693: where theSilver Harpalso is.”

“By theQueen,

“Elizabeth, by the Grace ofGod, of England, France, and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c. To our trusty and right well beloved Sir Richard Bulkely, Knight, Sir Rees Griffith, Knight, Ellis Price, Esq. Dr. in Civil Law, and one of our Council in the Marchesse of Wales, William Mostyn, Ieuan Lloyd of Yale, John Salisbury of Rhug, Rice Thomas, Maurice Wynne, William Lewis, Pierce Mostyn, Owen John ap Howel Fychan, John William ap John, John Lewis Owen, Morris Griffith, Symwd Thelwal, John Griffith, Ellis ap William Lloyd, Robert Puleston, Harri ap Harri, William Glynn, and Rees Hughes, Esqrs. and to every of them Greeting.

“Whereas it is come to the Knowledg of the Lord President, and other our Council in our Marchesse of Wales, that vagrant and idle Persons naming themselvesMinstrels,Rythmers, andBards, are lately grown into suchintolerable Multitudewithin the Principality of North Wales, that not only Gentlemen and others by theirshameless Disordersare oftentimes disquieted in their Habitations, but also the expertMinstrelsandMusiciansinTongeandCunyngethereby much discouraged to travaile in the Exercise and Practice of their Knowledg, and also not a little hindred (of) Livings and Preferment; the Reformation whereof, and the putting these People in Order, the said Lord President andCouncil have thought very necessary: And knowing you to be Men of both Wisdom and upright Dealing, and also of Experience and good Knowledg in the Scyence, have appointed and authorised You to be Commissioners for that Purpose: And forasmuch as our said Council, of late travailing in some Part of the said Principality, had perfect Understanding by credible Report, that the accustomed Place for the Execution of the like Commission hath been heretofore at Cayroes in our County of Flynt, and that William Mostyn, Esq. and his Ancestors have had the Gift and bestowing of theSylver Harpappertaining to theChief of that Faculty, and that aYear’s Warning(at least) hath been accustomed to be given of theAssemblyand Execution of the like Commission; Our said Council have therefore appointed the Execution of this Commission to be at the said Town of Cayroes, the Monday next after the Feast of the Blessed Trinity which shall be in the Year of our Lord 1568. And therefore we require and command You by the Authority of these Presents, not only to causeopen Proclamationto be made in allFairs,Market-Towns, and otherPlaces of Assemblywithin our Counties of Aglere, Carnarvon, Meryonydd, Denbigh and Flynt, that all and every Person and Persons that intend tomaintaintheirLivingby name or Colour ofMinstrels,Rythmers, orBards, within the Talaith of Aberffraw, comprehending the said five Shires, shall be and appear before You the said Day and Place toshewtheirLearningsaccordingly: But also, that You, twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, or six of you, whereof You the said Sir Richard Bulkely, Sir Rees Griffith, Ellis Price, and William Mostyn, Esqs. or three or two of you, to be of the number; to repair to the said Place the Days aforesaid, and calling to you suchexpert menin the saidFacultyof theWelsh Musicas to You shall be thought convenient, to proceed to the Executionof the Premises, and to admit such and so many, as by your Wisdoms and Knowledges you shall findworthy, into and under theDegreesheretofore (in Use) in semblable Sort touse,exercise, andfollowtheSciencesandFacultiesof theirProfessions, in such decent Order as shall appertain to each of their Degrees, and as your Discretions and Wisdoms shall prescribe unto them: Giving streight Monition and Commandment in our Name and on our Behalf to the rest not worthy, that they return to some honest Labour, and due Exercise, such as they be most apt unto for Maintenance of their Living, upon Pain to be taken as sturdy and idle Vagabonds, and to be used according to the Laws and Statutes provided in that Behalf; letting You with our said Council look for Advertisement, by Certificate at your Hands, of your Doings in the Execution of the said Premises; foreseeing in any wise, that upon the said Assembly the Peace and good Order be observed and kept accordingly; ascertaining you that the said William Mostyn hath promised to see Furniture and Things necessary provided for that Assembly, at the Place aforesaid.

“Given under our Signet at our City of Chester, the twenty third of October in the ninth Year of out Reign, 1567.

“SignedHer Highness’s Counsailin the Marchesse of Wales.”

“N.B.This Commission was copied exactly from the original now at Mostyn,a.d.1693: where theSilver Harpalso is.”

3.Since this Commission has been in the Press,the Author has had an opportunity to see the following Account of what has been done in consequence of such a Commission in the tenth Year of the Reign of QueenElizabeth.This is translated from the Original inWelsh.

Know all Men, by these Presents, that there is a Congress of Bards, and Musicians, to be held in the Town of Caerwys, in the County of Flint, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the tenth Year of the Reign of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, before Ellis Price, Esquire, Doctor of the Civil Law, and one of her Majesty’s Council in the Marches of Wales, and before William Mostyn, Peres Mostyn, Owen John ap Hywel Vaughan, John William ap John, John Lewis Owen, Morris Griffith, Simon Thelwat, John Griffith Serjeant, Robert Pulesdon, Evan Lloyd of Iâl, and William Glyn, Esquires.

And that we the said Commissioners, by virtue of the said Commission, being her Majesty’s Council, do give and grant to Simwnt Vychan, Bard, the degree of Pencerdd; and do order that Persons receive and hospitably entertain him in all Places fit for him to go and come to receive his Perquisites according to the Princely Statutes in that Case made and provided. Given under our Hands, in the Year 1568.

“In the church-yard of Llanfihangel Lledrod, situated at some distance from Crosswood, on the other side of Ystwyth, are deposited, without stone or epitaph, the remains of the Rev. Evan Evans, the author of ‘Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards,’ &c., and equally distinguished for his genius as a poet, and his knowledge of the British language and antiquities. He was born at Cynhawdref in this parish, about the year 1730, and received the first part of his education at the Grammar School at Ystrad Meirig, then under the care of the celebrated Mr. Richards. Hence he removed to Jesus College, Oxford, towards the beginning of 1751. He afterwards took orders, and served successively several churches in the capacity of curate, but was never fortunate enough to hold a living of his own. His disappointment in his profession preyed considerably on his mind, and led him to seek an oblivion to his vexation in excesses which impaired his health and greatly limited his usefulness. He devoted considerable attention in early life to the study of his native language, in which he composed several poetical pieces. Some of these, as appears from a correspondence inserted in the ‘Cambrian Register,’ were submitted to the criticism, and received the corrections of Mr. Lewis Morris, who speaks highly of Mr. Evans’s talents and promise of future excellence. His chief literary productions are the ‘Specimens,’ above mentioned, which were published in 4to. in 1764. In these he has given a literal prose version of the writings of some of the earlier Welsh bards. For the copy-right he received thirty pounds. He wrote also several English poems, and a great number of short poems in Welsh, (some of which are inserted in the following pages,) and a translation into Welsh of two volumes of sermons, selected out of Tillotson and other eminent divines. A great part of his life was spent in collecting and transcribing ancient Welsh manuscripts. He was admitted to the collection of Sir Roger Mostyn, which preserves a very great number of ancient manuscripts, of great value: he likewise copied the works of the oldest bards, from a very large vellum manuscript, called ‘Y Llyfr Coch,’ in the library of Jesus College, Oxford. He thence also copied several valuable historical tracts of the 12th century. He, besides what has been mentioned, explored every corner of Wales, in quest of manuscripts, and met with considerable success; but the neccessary encouragement, which was solicited towards putting a part of what he had thus collected to press was withheld from him.”—Partly extracted from Rees’s Historical description of South Wales.

We are told that the ancient Welsh MSS. which our industrious author collected and transcribed, occupy upwards of eighty volumes. They were purchased by the late Paul Panton Esq., of Plasgwyn, Anglesea.

Mr. Evans had a lengthy correspondence with Bishop Percy and other eminent antiquaries; the most interesting portions of which will be found in the following pages together with selections from his poetical works. He was of tall stature,—hence his Bardic name of Prydydd Hir, (the tall poet.) He was very benevolently disposed, and highly national and patriotic, and as might be expected, was most averse to the appointment of English prelates to Welsh dioceses. That will partly account for his stationary position in the Establishment. His excessive love of the ‘wine cup’ may also have had something to do in preventing his appointment to a more lucrative position in the Church. Mr Evans died suddenly in the month of May 1789; some say that he perished on a mountain;otherssay that he died at, or near his native home; butnonedeny that poverty and sorrow hastened the death of our talented but unfortunate author.

On the Death of the Rev. E. Evans, (Ieuan Prydydd Hir,)by the Rev. R. Williams, (Companion to Mr. Pennant in his Welsh tours.)

On Snowdon’s haughty brow I stood,And view’d afar old Menai’s flood;Carnarvon Castle, eagle crownedAnd all the beauteous prospect round;But soon each gay idea fled,For Snowdon’s favourite bard was dead.Poor bard accept one genuine tear,And read thy true eulogium here;Here in my heart, that rues the day,Which stole Eryri’s pride away.But, lo, where seen by Fancy’s eyeHis visionary form glides by,Pale, ghastly pale, that hollow cheek,That frantic look does more than speak,And tells a tale so full of woe,My bosom swells, my eyes o’erflow.On Snowdon’s rocks, unhomed, unfed,The tempest howling round his head;Far from the haunts of men, alone,Unheard, unpitied, and unknown,To want and to despair a prey,He pined and sighed his soul away.Ungrateful countrymen, your pride,Your glory, wanted bread, and died!Whilst ignorance and vice are fed,Shall wit and genius droop their head?Shall fawning sycophants be paid,For flattering fools? while thou art laidOn thy sick bed, the mountain heath,Waiting the slow approach of death,Beneath inhospitable skies,Without a friend to close thine eyes.Thus shall the chief of bards expire,The master of the British lyre;And shall thy hapless reliques rot,Unwept, unhallowed, and forgot?No! while one grateful muse remains,And Pity dwells on Cambria’s plains,Thy mournful story shall be told,And wept, till time itself grows old.

Alluding to the captivity and treatment of the Welsh Bards by King Edward I.

Sad near the willowy Thames we stood,And curs’d the inhospitable flood;Tears such as patients weep, ’gan flow,The silent eloquence of woe,When Cambria rushed into our mind,And pity with just vengeance joined;Vengeance to injured Cambria due,And pity, O ye Bards, to you.Silent, neglected, and unstrung,Our harps upon the willows hung,That, softly sweet in Cambrian measures,Used to sooth our souls to pleasures,When, lo, the insulting foe appears,And bid us dry our useless tears.

“Resume your harps,” the Saxons cry,“And change your grief to songs of joy;Such strains as old Taliesin sang,What time your native mountains rangWith his wild notes, and all aroundSeas, rivers, woods return’d the sound.”

What!—shall the Saxons hear us sing,Or their dull vales with Cambrian music ring?No—let old Conway cease to flow,Back to her source Sabrina go:Let huge Plinlimmon hide his head,Or let the tyrant strike me dead,If I attempt to raise a songUnmindful of my country’s wrong.What!—shall a haughty king commandCambrians’ free strain on Saxon land?May this right arm first wither’d be,Ere I may touch one string to thee,Proud monarch; nay, may instant deathArrest my tongue and stop my breath,If I attempt to weave a song,Regardless of my country’s wrong!

Thou God of vengeance, dost thou sleep,When thy insulted Druids weep,The Victor’s jest the Saxon’s scorn,Unheard, unpitied, and forlorn?Bare thy right arm, thou God of ire,And set their vaunted towers on fire.Remember our inhuman foes,When the first Edward furious rose,And, like a whirlwind’s rapid sway,Swept armies, cities, Bards away.

“High on a rock o’er Conway’s flood”The last surviving poet stood,And curs’d the tyrant, as he pass’dWith cruel pomp and murderous haste.What now avail our tuneful strains,Midst savage taunts and galling chains?Say, will the lark imprison’d singSo sweet, as when, on towering wing,He wakes the songsters of the sky,And tunes his notes to liberty?Ah no, the Cambrian lyre no moreShall sweetly sound on Arvon’s shore,No more the silver harp be won,Ye Muses, by your favourite son;Or I, even I, by glory fir’d,Had to the honour’d prize aspir’d.No more shall Mona’s oaks be spar’dOr Druid circle be rever’d.On Conway’s banks, and Menai’s streamsThe solitary bittern screams;And, where was erst Llewelyn’s court,Ill-omened birds and wolves resort.There oft at midnight’s silent hour,Near yon ivy-mantled tower,By the glow-worm’s twinkling fire,Tuning his romantic lyre,Gray’s pale spectre seems to sing,“Ruin seize thee, ruthless King.”

A pensive Shepherd, on a summer’s day,Unto a neighb’ring mountain bent his way,And solitary mus’d, with thoughts profound,Whilst ev’ry thing was silent all around;The firmament was clear, the sky serene,And not a cloud eclips’d the rural scene.Not so the Shepherd, all was storm within,He mourn’d his frailty, and bewail’d his sin;His soul alone engross’d his utmost care,Decoy’d by cursed Satan to his snare;(Alas! with what success he tempts mankind,And leads them to their ruin with the blind!)Awhile he stood, as one in woeful pain;At last, he broke in melancholy strain,And cried,—

“O great Creator, ever good and wise,I dare not lift to thee mine eyes—Thy violated laws for vengeance call,And on offenders heavy judgment fall;Which hurl them flaming to eternal pains,To suffer ever on infernal plains.The terrors of thy justice make me fear,For who can everlasting torment bear?My soul with grief is rent, Oh! stop thy hand,Shivering before thy Majesty I stand;Long have I trod the ’luring path of vice,And tire thy patience, and thy grace despise.Before thy throne I bow with suppliant knee,Grant gracious God, thy pardon unto me:In solitude my follies I repent,The life so long, so viciously, I spent,O God! I wish undone my wicked deeds,My contrite heart with inward sorrows bleeds.Thou, O my God! art witness of my grief,And thou alone canst grant me a relief.I promise faithfully to sin no more,(I sue for mercy, and thy grace implore,)And spend my life, for ever, in thy fear,Thy laws to keep, thy holy name revere.”Thus plain’d the pensive Shepherd, and his moan,Christ, his Mediator, brought before the throne!Him graciously answer’d God to Sire,His face resplendent with a globe of fire:—“My Son hath paid thy ransom, go in peace,Eternal justice bids thee be at ease!”He said, and all the choir of angels sung,Harmonious melody, their harps they strung,And heaven’s Empyreum to their music rung,Such is the joy when a poor sinner turns,That with uncommon glow each seraph burns.Thus I may compare small things with great,The Prodigal his tender father met;Such as the Gospel paints in tatter’d weed,Willing with husks to satisfy his need:And none would give them, though the hungry roam,Till he returned unto his Father’s home;Who kill’d the fatted calf, and spread the feast,Where wine and minstrelsy his joy exprest.The Shepherd thus refresh’d with heavenly grace,Return’d with joy eternal in his face;The Saviour’s wond’rous love to man he prais’d,And thus his voice with gratitude he rais’d:—

“All glory to the graciousSonofGod,Who hast alone the grevious wine-press trod,To satisfy his justice, and for meHast wrought endless salvation on the tree;Who hast redeem’d us, and destroyed our foes,That neither death nor grave can work our woes:Hast overthrown the dragon, and no moreHell, nor its gates have terrors left in store!”

Thus did the Shepherd testify his joy,A theme that might an angel’s tongue employ;He praised Christ, who for mankind did die;His praise let all resound, to all eternity.

On seeing the Ruins of Ivor Hael’s Palace.

Amidst its aldersIvor’spalace lies,In heaps of ruins to my wondering eyes;Where greatness dwelt in pomp, now thistles reign,And prickly thorns assert their wide domain.

No longer Bards inspired, thy tables grace.Nor hospitable deeds adorn the place;No more the generous owner gives his goldTo modest merit, as to Bards of old.

In plaintive verse hisIvor—Gwilymmoans,His Patron lost the pensive Poet groans;What mighty loss, thatIvor’slofty hall,Should now with schreeching owls rehearse its fall!

Attend, ye great, and hear the solemn sound,How short your greatness this proclaims around,Strange that such pride should fill the human breast,Yon mouldering walls the vanity attest.

Dear Sir,

I cannot sufficiently acknowledge Sir Thomas Mostyn’s kindness, in the trouble he has taken, of sending up the catalogue of his historical MSS. and in his obliging offer of communicating them to me. Those which I am desirous to see more than the rest, are these, viz.—

“The Annals of the Abbey of Chester, toa.d.1297.

“Beda de Gestis Anglorum, if it be a different work from his Chronicon and Ecclesiastical History. It is the same.

“History of England, from William the Conqueror to the 6th of Edward the 6th.

“Annales Cambriæ ignoti autoris, et Chronica Cambriæ; both which seem to be in the same volume, which begins with a Welsh history of the Kings of the Britons and Saxons, and Princes of Wales, to the time of Edward 4th.

“A chronology from Vortigern downwards, supposed to be collected by Robert Vaughan, of Hengwrt, Esquire, which seems to be in the volume beginning with Sir John Wynne’s pedigree of the family of Gwydir.

“Treatises concerning the courts of wards and chancery.”

As Sir Thomas proposes to come to town soon, I hope he will be so good as to bring those MSS. with him (as Sir W. W. Wynne will several others, that he has found at Llanvorda) because they will be very useful to me as I conceive, for my first volume.

There are some others I should be glad to look over, but shall have more time for it. Were I on the spot, I should be very curious to consult the MS. of Froissart, though that author’s history, so favourable to the English, is printed. My edition of it is that of Paris, 1520, which I take to be the last of any: but there is a MS. finely wrote and illuminated of this author, in the monastery called Elizabeth, at Breslaw, in Silesia, which contains a third part more than any printed edition. Count Bicklar, a Silesian nobleman, who was at Paris,a.d.1727, promised me to get a printed edition of Froissart collated with that MS. but he could find no monk in the monastery, or any about the place, capable of doing it. I desired him to buy a MS. that seemeth useless to the convent, at the price of 200 ducats, but my offer made them fancy it the more valuable, and they would not sell it. I have seen a MS. in the king’s library at Paris, and that of the capuchins at Rouen, but they contained no more than my edition: I should be glad to know if Sir Thomas’s does. I gave the Benedictine, who has the care of the new collections of French historians, notice of the MS. at Breslaw, that he might make use of it in his new edition of Froissart; but I have not heard whether he has got the MS. collated, and the supplement copied.

Adredus Rievallensis, Robert of Gloucester, Caradoc of Llancarvan, and Geoffry of Monmouth, are printed; and I have examined several MSS. of the case in the Cotton, Oxford and Cambridge libraries; so are the MSS. of Giraldus Cambrensis; but if Sir Thomas’s MSS. contain more than the printed editions, I shall be extremely glad to see them, as also Trussel’s original of cities, and antiquities of Westminster, as also the digression left out of Milton’s history. The tracts of state in the times of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. I shall be very glad to see: but they, as well as some others, I can the better stay for, because they relate to more modern times.

Pray make my humble service and acknowledgments acceptable to Sir Thomas; which will oblige me to be more, if possible, than I am,

Dear Sir,

Your affectionate, and obedient servant,Thos. Carte.

Gray’s Inn,Nov.14, 1744.

Dear Bard,

I received your’s last post, without date, with aCowydd Merch, for which I am very much obliged to you. I cannot see why you should be afraid of that subject being the favourite of yourAwen. It is the most copious subject under heaven, and takes in all others; and, for a fruitful fancy, is certainly the best field to play in, during the poet’s tender years. Descriptions of wars, strife, and the blustering part of man’s life, require the greatest ripeness of understanding, and knowledge of the world; and is not to be undertaken but by strong and solid heads, after all the experience they can come at.

Is it not odd, that you will find no mention made ofVenusandCupidamongst our Britons, though they were very well acquainted with the Roman and Greek writers? That god and his mother are implements that modern poets can hardly write a love-poem without them: but the Britons scorned such poor machines. They have theirEssyllt,Nyf,Enid,Bronwen,Dwynwen, of their own nation, which excelled all the Roman and Greek goddesses.—I am now, at my leisure hours, collecting the names of these famous men and women, mentioned by our poets, (as Mr. Edward Llwyd once intended,) with a short history of them; as we have in our common Latin dictionaries, of those of the Romans and Grecians. And I find great pleasure in comparing theTriades,Beddau,Milwyr Ynys Prydain, and other old records, with the poets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; which is the time when our Britons wrote most and best.

Let me have a shortCowyddfrom you now and then; and I will send you my observations upon them, which may be of no disservice to you. That sent in your last letter, I here return to you; with a few corrections. It doth not want many: use them, or throw them in the fire, which you please. Do not swallow them without examination. The authority of good poets must determine all.

Y forwyn gynt, fawr iawn gais,Deg aruthr erioed a gerais.

The wordAruthr, though much used, in the sense you take it, seems not proper here; yet Dr. Davies translates itMirus. I cannot think but the original import of the word isterrible; and they cannot say in English of a woman, she isterribly fair.Rhuthr, from whenceAruthris compounded, I dare say had that sense, at least:—

“Y cythraul accw ruthrwas.”W. Lleyn.Deg wawr erioed a gerais,

“Y cythraul accw ruthrwas.”

W. Lleyn.

Deg wawr erioed a gerais,

may do as well, and sounds better.

A roist ofal i’m calon,A brâth o hiraeth i’m bron:Ni wyr un ar a anwydA roist o gur, os teg wyd;Enwa anhunedd yn henaintA yr wyn fyth yr un faint.

The first line of the last couplet is too long, and I should write both thus:

Enwa’n hunedd yn henaintE yr wyn fyth yr un faint.

Again:

Cyrchaf, ac ni fynnaf au,I dir angov drwy angau.

The last couplet is a beautiful expression; but it hath too much sweet in it; what our poets callEisiau Cyfnewid Bogail.Ang,ang, is a fault, which our musicians termtoo manyconcords; and therefore they mix discords in music, to make it more agreeable to the ear. So the rhetoricians call the same fault in their science,Caniad y gôg. Therefore, suppose you would turn it thus:

O dîr ing af drwy angau.

Again:

Lle bo dyfnaf yr afon,Ar fy hynt yr af i hon,Oni roi, Gwen eurog wedd,Drwy gariad ryw drugaredd.

Eurog weddis no great compliment to a fair woman; forGwen, a Flavia, loves to be called white; and the last line hathgar—gar, therefore I would write thus, or the like:

Oni roi, Gwen îr ei gwedd,Yn gywrain, ryw drugaredd.

But I do not likeîr ei gwedd.

Af i graig fwyaf o grêdY môr, i gael ymwared,Ag o’r graig fawr i’r eigionDygaf gyrch i dyrch y dòn—

An excellent expression—

Ag o’r dòn egr hyd annwfnAf ar y dafl i fôr dwfn.

Here is a charming opening for you, to describe the country you go to, and the wonders of the deep; and something like the following lines might be inserted:

Lle mae’r morfil friwfil fron,A’r enwogfôrforwynian,

To proceed:

A fynno Gwen ysplennyddYn ddiau o’m rhwymau ’n rhydd,Ni chaf gur, ni chaf garuNa phoen gwn, na hoffi ’n gu;Ni roddaf gam i dramwy,I gred i’th ymweled mwy:Dyna’r modd dan wir i mi,A dyr unwaith drueni.

The expressionDanwir, is too local, and is not understood all over Wales. Local expressions must be avoided as much as possible. Suppose you said then,

Oni chaf heb warafunDy fodd fyth difeiwedd fun.

After all these corrections, which are not very material, you have this comfort, (and I mention it that you may not be discouraged,) that I do not know a man in our country who can write a poem which shall want as few corrections. So make poetry and antiquity (when you can come at materials) branches of your study; and, depend upon it, you will make a figure in the world. There are flights and turns in this poem, which even David ab Gwilym would not have been ashamed of.

I would have you write to my brother, and let him know the reason of your not going to London, and that you are alive. If you send him this poem, he will be pleased with it.

Is there any hopes of your seeing the Llyfr Coch o Hergest? Who is keeper, or under-keeper, of Jesus-College Library? And who is principal; and who are the fellows? perhaps I may know some of them; or can make interest some way or other for you to get the use of those MSS.

But it ought to be considered, that you are to mind the main chance of reading the classics, in order to come to a tolerable being, before you launch too far into any other studies; and you must only take a snatch by the bye, which will serve to whet your genius;oblegid mae newid gwaith cystal a gorphwyso.

When you can come at Llyfr Coch o Hergest, or any other ancient MSS., I will send you directions to read it, and understand it: the chief difficulty being in the orthography: the language of all Britain (even Scotland) was the same as it is now in Wales, 1200 years ago.

I wrote to you lately, which I suppose you had not received when you sent your dateless letter. I desire your answer when convenient.

Yours sincerely,Lewis Morris.

Galltvadog,July14, 1751.

Dear Evan,

Your letter of the second instant, I received this day; and I was very glad to hear that you had procured leave to go to the private library in Jesus College. It is charming to get into conversation withLlywarch Hen,Aneurin,Merddin, &c. They are most pleasing old companions.

I understand that my copy ofBrut y Brenhinoeddis not the same with that inLlyfr Coch o Hergest. Mine was copied out of five MSS. three of them upon vellum, very ancient; but the transcriber, not understanding the occasion of the difference between the copies, stuffed all into this, that he could find in all the MSS. Had he known that some of those MSS. were from Walter the Archdeacon’s original translation of the history, out of the Armoric; and some again from his second translation from Galfrid’s Latin, he would have kept the copies separate. The transcriber of my copy mentions sometimes—“thus in such a MS. and thus in such a MS.,” but it is impossible to find which is which.

Brut y Tywysogionis only the history of Caradoc of Llancarvan, which was Englished by Humphrey Lloyd, and published by Dr. Powell; and afterwards a very bad edition by Mr. W. Wynne. I would not have you take the trouble upon you to transcribe that; for there are many copies of it. What is most worth your care is the works of the poets; especially that part of them that is historical, as some of Taliesin, Merddin, Llywarch Hen’s are. Merddin mentions the war in Scotland, between Rhydderch Hael, Aeddan ab Gafran, Gwenddolau ab Ceidio, &c., and Taliesin mentions several battles, that none of our historians ever so much as heard of. These are matters of great curiosity—Llywarch Hen in one of his Elegies, mentionsEglwysau Bassa, that was destroyed by the Saxons. Nennius says, that one of the twelve battles fought by Arthur against the Saxons, was upon the riverBassas. Who is that great Apollo among our historians who knows anything of these affairs?—Is there ever a MS. of Nennius, which you can come at? I wish that book was translated into English: it is but small. However, since you are now about the Llyfr Coch, I would have you first to write an index of the contents of it, and send it me, sheet by sheet, and I will give you my opinion what is best to transcribe, and is most uncommon or curious. I do not remember whether the book is paged; let it be as it will, you cannot be long in making such an index, with the first line of each piece. There are some other curious MSS. there; someBucheddau(Lives) as far as I recollect. But the silly copy ofBrut y Brenhinoedd, in a modern hand there, is not worth talking of.—How do you know it is the same with the Bodleian? I presume, that theBrut y Brenhinoedd, inLlyfr Coch, is not the original translation from the Bretonic copy; for I think it mentions Galfrid’s translation in the conclusion of it.—But it is many years since I saw it. I shall ask some questions about certain passages in it, when I have leisure to look into my own copy. I have written abundance of notes, in defence of mine, since you saw it; and the more I examine into it, the better I like it. I had at first but a poor opinion of it; being prepossessed with the character given if by English writers; but when I find the poets, and our genealogies, and ancient inscriptionsand coins agree with it; and some foreign writers, I do not wonder that the inveteracy of the old Saxons should still remain against it, as long as Bede is in being. I shall only ask you now,—whether the son of Ascanius is calledSiliusorSilvius, in Llyfr Coch? It is in the beginning of my copy, which begins—Eneas gwedi ymladd Troya, &c. Mine is not divided into chapters or books. I have time to write no more, but that

I am,Yours sincerely,Lewis Morris.

Galltvadog,Oct.13, 1751.

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