Folk-Lore of West and Mid-Wales

by Jonathan Ceredig Davies

MERLIN.

I have in the preceding pages given some instances of modern and mediæval magicians or wizards; but divination astrology and magic in this country are of very ancient date. The names of Idris Gawr, Gwyddion, the Diviner by Trees, and Gwyn, the son of Nud, have come down to us from prehistoric times. So great was these three’s knowledge of the stars, that they could foretell whatever might be desired to know until the day of doom. In Welsh Mythology, several even of the kingly families are represented as playing the role of magicians, especially Rhiannon, the daughter of Heveydd Hen. Math Ap Mathonwy, King of Gwynedd, could form a maiden out of flowers, and transform men into deers and wolves, etc. But, perhaps, the greatest of all the wizards was Myrddin, or Merlin as he is known among English readers, who lived about the beginning of the sixth century. Myrddin was born in the neighbourhood of Carmarthen, or at least so it is believed; and it is also believed that the meaning of Carmarthen is Myrddin’s town, and the people of Carmarthen to this day feel proud of such a famous prophet who was born in their town. Merlin (or Myrddin)’s fame spread throughout all the Western parts of Europe, if not to other parts of the world, and his mighty magic adorned the tales of romance, and in the tenth century one eminent scholar on the Continent, went as far as to write, a commentary on his prophecies or prognostications. But to confine ourselves to Welsh writers, we have some account of Merlin by Nennius in the eighth century, and by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth.

Geoffrey says:—“Vortigern, after the infamous treachery of the long knives, retreated to Mount Erir—which is Eryri, or snowden—and here he ordered the building of a great tower of defence, whose foundations, however, were swallowed up by the earth as fast as they were filled in.” The Magicians, on hearing this, said he must procure the blood of “a youth that never had a father,” and sprinkle it on the stones and mortar. Vortigern, accordingly, sent messengers to different parts of the country in search of such a youth; and “in their travels they came to a city, called, afterwards, Caermerdin, where they saw some young men playing before the gate, and went up to them; but being weary with their journey, they sat them down there.... Towards evening, there happened on a sudden a quarrel between two of the young men, whose names were Merlin and Dalbutius. In the dispute, Dalbutius said to Merlin, ‘As for you, nobody knows what you are, for you never had a father.’ At that word the messengers looked earnestly upon Merlin, and asked who he was. They learnt it was not known who was his father, but that his mother was daughter to the King of Dimetia, and that she lived in St. Peter’s Church, among the nuns of the city.”

Merlin and his mother at the request of the messengers accompanied them from Carmarthen to Snowdon to the presence of King Vortigern; and when the boy was asked who was his father, his mother in reply gave a very peculiar account of the birth of her son, whose father she declared was a supernatural being, and so had no human father. Then the King said to Merlin, “I must have thy blood.” And when the youth asked the King what good could his blood be more than the blood of any other man, he was informed in reply that the twelve wise men or bards had suggested the blood of a youth in order to make the building stand. Then Merlin asked the bards or magicians what was the real cause that the building of the tower was not a success? But they could give no answer. Young Merlin now upraided them for their ignorance and the cruelty of their suggestion. He then gave orders to dig the ground, and when this was done a lake was discovered. Merlin drained this lake, and at the bottom, as he had predicted, a stone chest was discovered in which there were two sleeping dragons. These, whenever they awoke, fought with each other, and their violence shook the ground, thus causing “the work to fall.” When the King commanded the stone chest to be opened the two dragons came out and began a fierce battle. One of these dragons was white and the other red. At first the white dragon drove the red one to the middle of the pool, then the red one, provoked to rage, drove the white one thither in turn. When the King asked what this should signify, Merlin exclaimed as follows:—“Woe to the red dragon for her calamity draws nigh, and the white dragon shall seize on her cells. By the white dragon the Saxons are signified, and the Britons by the red one, which the white shall overcome. Then shall the mountains be made plains, and the glens and rivers flow with blood. The Saxons shall possess almost all the island from sea to sea, and afterwards our nation shall arise, and bravely drive the Saxons beyond the sea.” Nennius, chap. 43.

The old King Vortigern then left the neighbourhood of Snowdon, and removed to South Wales, and built a fort or a Castle on a spot known to this day as Craig Gwrtheyrn, or Vortigern’s Rock, near Llandyssul and Pencader.

The white and the red dragons respectively symbolised the Celtic and Saxon races, and Merlin’s prophecy concerning the final overthrow of the Saxons by the Britons made a deep and lasting impression on the minds of the Welsh people for ages, and even nearly nine hundred years after Merlin’s time. Owen Glyndwr found these prophecies highly instrumental in his favour when fighting against the English. According to a little book which I have in my possession entitled, “Prophwydoliaeth Myrddin Wyllt,” (Merlin’s prophecy), one Owen Lawgoch, who is tarrying in a foreign land, is to drive out the Saxons, and become King under the title of Henry the ninth. Welshmen of the present day, however, believe that Merlin’s prophecy was fulfilled in the year 1485, when Henry VII., a Welshman leading a Welsh army to Bosworth Field, became King of England.

There are also many prophecies here and there attributed to Merlin; some of which have been fulfilled, and others to be fulfilled in the future. He had foretold even of the railway train running along the Vale of Towy, which prediction has proved true:

“Fe ddaw y gath a’r wenci ar hyd Glan Towi i lawr;

Fe ddaw y milgi a’r llwynog i Aberhonddu fawr.”