[20] "Maxen Wledig" is the Emperor Maximus, A.D. 383, who was in Britain with his army when he obtained the throne. Many Welsh stories are told about him.
[21] Taliesin is the greatest of Welsh poets, and is called by his countrymen "the Prince of Song." He became bard at the court of King Arthur, and was one of the brightest in that glorious assemblage. The actual man Taliesin appears to have lived in the sixth century, and poems remain which are believed to be his genuine works. A curious story of his life appears among the publications of the Welsh Manuscript Society, which I give here as quoted by Lady Guest:—
"Taliesin, Chief of the Bards, the son of Saint Henwg of Caerlleon-upon-Usk, was invited to the court of Urien Rheged, at Aberllychwr. He, with Elffin the son of Urien, being once fishing at sea in a skin coracle, an Irish pirate-ship seized him and his coracle, and bore him away towards Ireland; but while the pirates were at the height of their drunken mirth, Taliesin pushed his coracle to the sea, and got into it himself, with a shield in his hand which he found in the ship, and with which he rowed the coracle until it verged the land; but, the waves breaking then in wild foam, he lost his hold on the shield, so that he had no alternative but to be driven at the mercy of the sea, in which state he continued for a short time, when the coracle stuck to the point of a pole in the weir of Gwyddno, Lord of Ceredigion, in Aberdyvi; and in that position he was found, at the ebb, by Gwyddno's fishermen, by whom he was interrogated. And when it was ascertained that he was a bard, and the tutor of Elffin the son of Urien Rheged, the son of Cynvarch, 'I, too, have a son named Elffin,' said Gwyddno, 'be thou a bard and teacher to him also, and I will give thee lands in free tenure.' The terms were accepted, and for several successive years he spent his time between the courts of Urien Rheged and Gwyddno, called Gwyddno Garanhir, Lord of the Lowland Cantred. But after the territory of Gwyddno had become overwhelmed by the sea, Taliesin was invited by the Emperor Arthur to his court at Caerlleon-upon-Usk, where he became highly celebrated for poetic genius, and useful, meritorious sciences. After Arthur's death he retired to the estate given to him by Gwyddno, taking Elffin, the son of that prince, under his protection. It was from this account that Thomas the son of Einion Offeiriad, descended from Gruffydd Gwyr, formed his romance of Taliesin the son of Cariadwen, Elffin the son of Goddnou, Rhun the son of Maelgwn Gwynedd, and the operations of the Caldron of Ceridwen."
I think it interesting to add in this connection that the old Welsh bard was not a mere versifier, but was a true, wise man, and knew all human learning. Hereby hangs a little Welsh story, which has always seemed to me of great significance. A certain Einigan Gawr saw three rays of light, on which were inscribed all knowledge and science. And he took three rods of mountain-ash, and inscribed all the sciences upon them, as it should seem in imitation of the three rays of light. And those who saw them deified the rods, which so grieved Einigan, that he broke the rods, and died.
It may seem, by the way, absurd to speak of inscribing sciences upon rods of ash, until one knows that the Bardic alphabet, which I believe is now generally regarded genuine, would seem to have originated in the three rays of light seen by Einigan Gawr,—as /|\ for example; being formed entirely of such lines, which, as easily seen, are easily cut on wood, since they involve no curves, and are capable of being made with a single stroke of the knife.
[22] "Taliesin" means "radiant brow."
[23] This song, as well as several others, I have taken the liberty of omitting, save enough to give a fair idea of it.
[24] Known as the "Yellow Plague of Rhos," of which Maelgwn is said to have died in the sixth century. The pestilence originated, according to Welsh tradition, in the unburied bodies of the slain of Maelgwn's wars.
BY SIDNEY LANIER