Where is the annominatio? In the real line which I have quoted, we see it in the two similar letters of pwyll and paraut, and in the similar sounds of amhwyll and pwyll. Let us not then be told that Giraldus is evidence that rhyme was not used by the Welsh bards.P What is it then, which Giraldus really says, in the passage so ostentatiously, but so mistakingly quoted? It is this: that the Welsh bards in their rhymed songs had those ornaments which he calls of wonderful and exquisite invention in the words and in their sentences; and of which he particularizes the annominatio; he does not say, that they had these ornaments without rhyme, but that in their rhymed songs they cultivated these ornaments. Now this statement is precisely the real truth. The Welsh poems of all ages are rhymed, but have also those alliterative ornaments of which Giraldus was so fond. It was not poems with rhyme, which Giraldus called rude and rustic, but it was the poetry which was without alliteration. The alliteration was the beauty which no poems omitted, but such as were rude and rustic. Therefore, besides the misconstruction of the cantilenis rythmicis, the critic has clearly mistaken the sense of the passage. Giraldus was speaking of alliteration-he quotes Welsh passages which have it, an old English line that has it, and he proceeds to quote two passages of Virgil which have also alliteration. Now, if it had been true, that the old bards had not used alliteration, then the epithets "rude and rustic" would have applied to them. But the fact is, that the old bards abound with alliteration, though not so frequently as the poets of the following ages, in whose works it is almost incessant. I will now adduce instances in Taliesin and others, of that annominatio which Giraldus so much esteemed. Creadur cadarn cyn dilyw Ar meirch mawr modur mirein eu gwedd— These occur with several others in one page. P It is curious to observe, how much stress has been laid on the fancied ignorance of Giraldus of rhyme in Welsh verse. Mr. Malcolm Laing, in his Dissertation on Ossian's Poems, annexed to his History of Scotland, very decisively says, vol. ii. p. 436, speaking of rhyme, “In Welsh poetry, it was unknown to Giraldus Cambrensis in the twelfth century a sufficient proof that the rhymes of Taliesin and the Welsh bards are a more recent forgery." I am much surprised, that any gentleman of character, should speak so positively upon Welsh poetry without knowing any thing about it. Independent of the above proofs from Giraldus himself that he knew of rhyme; how could it be unknown to him, when Meilyr, Gwalchmai, Cynddelw, Owain Cyveiliawg, Lly warch P. Moch, David Benvras, and Elidyr Sais; all men of great genius and reputation, were using it in all their poems in Giraldus's lifetime? So Llywarch Hen. In his first elegy are, A gwedy gawr garw bwylliad— With several more. Merddin also uses it, though more sparingly, Yn gyfoed gyfuch gyhyd gymmaint Trwy fron trugaredd y tyseddaint. Thus we find the ancient bards actually exhibit not only rhyme, but also these ornaments which Giraldus so much applauded. Of course the passage of Giraldus, which has been so much relied upon, is, in no respect, hostile to their genuineness. I pass by the objection that Nennius, Jeffrey, and Caradoc, do not mention these bards, because I have already shown, that Nennius and Jeffrey, and many Welsh writers of the age of Caradoc expressly mention them. I know but of one more objection, which requires to be answered, and I approach it with respect, because it has been also urged by men of candour and judgment. It is in substance this; we find these poems placed in the sixth century, and we find none occurring before the twelfth century. This leaves an interval so suspicious, as to operate very strongly against the genuineness of any poetry earlier than the twelfth century. This objection is a fair one and calls for a satisfactory answer. I hope to give such a one by proving these things. 1. That there are some few poems of the centuries between the sixth and twelfth yet in being. 2. That many bards are recorded to have existed during this interval. 3. That the ravages of time are capricious, and that similar chasms occur in the literary history of other countries. 1. Of the seventh century we have the small poems preserved to us of Meigant," Elaeth, and Tysilio. Of the eighth century, there is one poem of Golyddan," and two of Cuhelyn. There is also a little piece of the Llevoed of the tenth century, and there are some anonymous pieces which seem to belong to the tenth and eleventh.* 4 See Monthly Review of the Welsh Archaiology. "The Destiny of Britain, p. 156. Welsh Arch. p. 159, 160. A Religious Dialogue, p. 162. The Journey of Life, a Moral Piece, p. 154. As the Dialogue between Arthur Cai and Glewwyld, Welsh Arch. p. 167. The Englynion y Clyweit, or a collection of the sayings of the earlier bards, p. 172, The Dialogue between Arthur and Gwenhwyfar, p. 175. The Dialogue between Arthur and Eliwlod, p. 176. The Dialogue between Trystan and Gwalchmai, p. 178. 2. The laws of Howel Dha show a regular and much-respected establishment of bards in the tenth century, as I have already mentioned. This is a proof, which cannot be controverted, that bards did flourish during the interval which has been thought so unfavourable. But other documents furnish us with the names of several of these bards. A triad mentions Avan Verddig, the bard of Cadwallon, the son of Cadvan2 and Dygnnelw, the bard of Owain, the son of Urien. Of the other bards who lived in the sixth century, the aphorisms of six have been preserved: Idloes, Ysgafnell, Ciwg, Ystyfan, Heinin, and Cennyd. The son of Dysgyvundod, the impulse of battle? "The poor will not be presented with gifts from afar." Hast thou heard what Ciwg sang, The completely wise bard of Gwynhylwg: "Who possesses discretion has a long sight."c Hast thou heard the saying of Ystyfan (or Stephen), The bard of Teilo of quick reply: "Man covets, but God distributes."d Hast thou heard the saying of Heinin, The bard of the Bangor of Llanveithin: The saying of Cennydd, the son of Aneurin, has been already given. y See before, p. 542. a Archaiol. vol. ii. p. 64. A glyweisti a gant Idloes Gwr gwar, hygar ei einoes: "Goreu cynneddy cadw moes." Cited by Mr. Owen in his Cambrian Biography, p. 194, and his Dictionary, voce Moes. In the ninth century were Cynllwg and Geraint the Blue Bard, who have left these aphorisms: Hast thou heard the saying of Cynllwg, A hoary bard of extensive sight: "He enjoys good, who has not evil."s Hast thou heard the saying of the Blue Bard, "Better the favour of a dog than his hate." In the tenth century several bards have had their observations on life preserved to us. Hast thou heard the saying of Myvenydd, A bard with a genius fond of books, Hast thou heard the saying of Divwg, Didst thou hear the saying of Idwallon, 3. Nothing is more remarkable and often more lamentable in literary history, than the apparent capriciousness with which the ravages of time appear to have been exerted on ancient MSS. Many valuable works have perished, and some worthless ones have escaped. The books of some periods and of some countries have disappeared and others have survived, without any adequate reason for either event. No argument can therefore have less force than this. We may as well interrogate Time, why his production of human genius is so irregular as to exact critical demonstration why his ravages upon its labours have been so inconstant and partial. In every country this partial destruction of literature is appa rent. What a chasm exists in the works of Grecian genius before Homer and after him. Such a perfect exhibition of human talent must have been preceded by many productions of the poetic art. But where are they? and what has become of the works which followed? Homer stands sublime, like a towering island in an expansive ocean. Hesiod is a little islet near him, but there is scarce any thing else to connect him with his ancestors or successors. But because Homer and Hesiod shone in one age, and Eschylus, Sophocles, and Pindar, in a later period, we are not so unjust as to brand the Iliad of the one, or the Works and Days of the others as surreptitious productions. In Judea, David, Solomon, and Isaiah, shone with excelling merit. But what a darkness between Moses and David, and Solomon and Isaiah? Another interval of gloom succeeded after the prophets, and the author of Ecclesiasticus appeared. After another interruption, came Josephus and Philo, and what a Cimmerian midnight since! Where are the historians and poets of Phenicia, Carthage, and Egypt? We know that many existed and wrote; we know that two of these nations were the tutors of Greece, and the other of Rome; and yet all their literary compositions, however curious, or however meritorious, have passed away from human knowledge, like the clouds which dropped their treasures on their fields; like the myriads of population which swarmed in their cities, and established their fame. We have the Frankish poetry of Otfrid in 850, and we scarcely know the names of any other Frankish poets, who came after him in the centuries immediately following. Shall he be therefore discredited? What chasms exist in the literature of Persia, Arabia, and Hindustan? The ebbs and flows of intellect and literature in every nation appear very capricious, and obey no fixed rules. The Our own country has abounded with these vicissitudes. While the Romans were with us, the national mind must have been ameliorated. The Saxons came, and mental darkness followed. The sun of intellect streaked the gloom of its orient rays, and Bede, Alcuin, and others adorned the Saxon name. furies of the north shrouded the hemisphere with their tempests, and priests even forgot to read their services. ALFRED reigned, and in glorious beam burst through the stormy cloud, called forth by his magic voice, and irradiating his paths. A premature evening succeeded; the faint light which glimmered afterwards soon disappeared in the Norman midnight. But the dawn of reason again returned; it struggled with the interposing clouds; it increased; it diminished; it burst forth at last with new fervour, and a settled radiance has now spread around, which every century augments, and which the course of nature promises to perpetuate. |