Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards

by Evan Evans

[40c] Rhos and Penfro, the names of two Cantreds in Pembrokeshire.

[41] Fflamddwyn, the name of a Saxon prince, against whom Urien, king of Cumbria, and his son Owain, fought the battle of Argoed Llwyfein.

[46a] Nudd Hael, or the Generous, one of the three liberal heroes of Britain mentioned in the Triads, and celebrated by Taliesin.

[46b] Griffydd Llwyd, the hero of the poem, was the son of Rhys, son of Griffydd, the son of the famous Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal to Llewelyn the great, and a brave warrior. Edward Philipp Pugh, Esq., of Coetmor, in Carnarvonshire, is a descendant in a direct line from Ednyfed Fychan, and has in his custody a grant from prince Llewelyn the Great of some lands in Creuddyn given to the said Ednyfed, and his posterity, with the prince’s seal in green wax affixed to it. To this worthy gentleman, and his lady, I am much obliged for their civility when I lived in those parts.—The royal family of the Tudors are likewise descended from Ednyfed Fychan, as appears by a commission that was sent to the Bards and Heralds of Wales, to enquire into the pedigree of Owain Tudor, king Henry the Seventh’s grandfather.

[46c] The land of the Angles, i.e., England.

[47a] Gwynedd, the name of the country, called by the Romans Venedotia, but by the English North Wales.

[47b] Urien Reged, a famous king of Cumbria, who fought valiantly with the Saxons, whose brave actions are celebrated by Taliesin and Llywarch Hen. He is mentioned by Nennius, the ancient British historian, who wrote about a.d. 858. This writer is terribly mangled by his editors, both at home and abroad, from their not being versed in the British language. I have collected some manuscripts of his history, but cannot meet a genuine one without the interpolations of Samuel Beulan, otherwise I would publish it. I have in my possession many notes upon this author, collected from ancient British manuscripts, as well as English writers, who have treated of our affairs. This I have been enabled to do, chiefly by having access to the curious library at Llannerch, by the kind permission of the late Robert Davies, Esquire, and since by his worthy son, John Davies, Esquire, which I take this opportunity gratefully to acknowledge.

[47c] Cywryd. This Bard is not mentioned either by Mr. Davies or Mr. Edward Llwyd, in their catalogues of British writers. It seems he flourished in the sixth century, as did all the ancient British Bards we have now extant. Here let me obviate what may be objected to me as mentioning so many facts, and persons who lived in the sixth century, within the course of this performance. It was the last period our kings fought with any success against the Saxons, and it was natural, therefore, for the Bards of those times, to record such gallant acts of their princes, and for their successors to transmit them to posterity. Every person, though but slightly versed in the British history of that time, knows that Cadwaladr was the last king of Britain. Since his time there are no works of the Bards extant till after the conquest, as I have shewed in my Dissertatio de Bardis.

[47d] Dunawd, the son of Pabo Post Prydain, one of the heroes of the sixth century, who fought valiantly with the Saxons.

[48a] Afan Ferddig, was the Bard of the famous Cadwallon, son of Cadfan king of Britain. I have got a fragment of a poem of his composition on the death of his patron Cadwallon; and as far as I understand it, it is a noble piece, but very obscure on account of its great antiquity; as are the works of all the Bards who wrote about this time. It is as difficult a task, for a modern Welshman to endeavour to understand those venerable remains, as for a young scholar just entered upon the study of the Greek language to attack Lycophron or Pindar, without the help of a dictionary or scholiast. How Mr. Macpherson has been able to translate the Erse used in the time of Ossian, who lived a whole century at least before the earliest British Bard now extant, I cannot comprehend. I wish some of those that are well versed in the Erse or Irish language, would be so kind to the public, as to clear these matters; for I can hardly believe that the Erse language hath been better preserved than the British.