[7.] Mortimer. Edward, or Edmond, de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, one of King Edward's ablest leaders. It was by one of his knights that the Welsh prince Llewellyn was slain in December, 1282.
[8.] rock. One of the heights of Snowdon, probably Pen-maen-mawr, the extreme northern point of the range, a few miles from the mouth of the Conway River.
[9.] "The image was taken from a well-known picture of Raphael, representing the Supreme Being in the vision of Ezekiel. There are two of these paintings (both believed originals), one at Florence, the other in the Duke of Orleans's collection at Paris."—Gray.
[10.] Explain the meaning of this line.
[11.] Hoel. A Welsh prince and famous bard, some of whose poems are still extant. Cadwallo and Urien, named below, were other celebrated bards. The name of Modred is not so well known; it is possible that Gray refers to "the famous Myrddin ab Morvyn, called Merlyn the Wild, a disciple of Taliessin—the form of the name being changed for the sake of euphony." It is not entirely clear whether the Llewellyn mentioned here was a bard, or the famous but unfortunate prince who lost his life in the war with King Edward. (See note [7], above.) Is it the lay sung in memory of mild Llewellyn? Or is it the lay which soft Llewellyn sang?
[12.] hushed the stormy main. Shakespeare says:
"The rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music."
—Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii, sc. 1.
[13.] Plinlimmon. A group of lofty mountains in Wales. The name is probably a corruption of Pum-lumon, "the fire-beacons," so-called because there was a beacon on each of the five peaks composing the group.
[14.] Arvon's shore. Caernarvon, or Caer yu Arvon, means the camp in Arvon. The shore referred to is that of Caernarvon, on the mainland, opposite the island of Anglesey.