A GENERAL

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX,

WITH APPROPRIATE

ADDITIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.

BEFORE the use of letters, Philosophy, History, and
Morals were taught by artificial forms of speech com-
mitted to memory; and the Bardic Triads were admi-
rably adapted for this purpose, the remains of which,
under the title of the "Triads of the isle of Britain," are
justly esteemed the most precious relics of antiquity. In
the progress of civilization, and when the use of letters
was introduced, the bards continued to derive their first
knowledge from the memorial forms of their predeces-
sors. Taliesin, in his Poem called "the Appeasing of
Llud," has the following singular passage,—

"Llwyth lliaws, anuaws ei henwerys,
Dygoreseynan Prydain, prif fan ynys,
Gwyr gwlad yr Asia, a gwlad Gafis;
Pobl pwyllad enwir, eu tir ni wys,
Famen gorwyreis herwydd Maris;
Amlaes ei peisiau, pwy ei hefelys?
A phwyllad dyfyner, ober efnis
Egropa."

"A numerous race, fierce they are said to have been,

Were thy original colonists, Britain, first of Isles,

Natives of a country in Asia, and the country of Gafis;

Said to have been a skilful people, but the district is unknown,

Which was mother to these children, warlike adventurers on the sea,
Clad in their long dress, who could equal them?

Their skill is celebrated, they were the dread

Of Europe."

U

Of Hu the Mighty, the Chief who first colonised Bri-
tain, the triads are very particular in their description,
and the high sense of his virtues appears to have deified
him in succeeding ages; an honour suitable to the ideas
of heathenism, and, as such, the highest testimony of his
people's veneration for his memory. Hu the Mighty is
celebrated as having made poetry the vehicle of memory
and record; as having instructed the Cymry in agricul-
ture, before their emigration; as having led them to, and
settled them in Britain; as chief of the three pillars of
the nation, the three institutors of social order, the three
benefactors, the three improvers of song, and chief of
the three guardians against oppression, with Prydain,
the son of Aedd, who first instituted policy and law, and
Rhitta Gawr, who made for himself a robe of the beards
of kings whom he had shaved on account of their tyran-
ny. It is not known what was the fate of this great man
after his arrival in Britain; probably it was he who was
afterwards worshipped by the Celtic, or rather Cimbric
nations, under the name of Heus or Hesus; an ancient
piece of sculpture found in the beginning of the last
century, on which Hesus is represented cutting trees,
seems to confirm this opinion. It is not known when or
where he died. His memorial is in the records of the
nation he founded, where it will remain and be handed
down to future ages, to be venerated as that of a chief
who colonised a country in peace, in justice, and in civil
rights. In the expression of the Triad, "they sought a
settlement which could be obtained, not by war and
bloodshed, but in peace and justice," there is conveyed
the natural sentiment of a colony from a nation already
harrassed by contest with an enemy against whom it were
vain to hazard resistance. Such were at that time the
Cimmerians of Herodotus and the Cymry of the Triads.
Such seems the most probable account of the peopling of
this country: in process of time other colonists arrived,
and a commixture of various tribes during a succession
of ages struggled in fierce contention with each other;
the primordial occupants to the last preserving the iden-
tity of their character, their name, and their language.

A D.

43. Caractacus (i. e. Caradog) opposes the Romans, continuing to check their progress for nine years, cherishing the love of liberty and independence among his countrymen; and would have continued the struggle, if he had not been betrayed by the perfidious queen of the Brigantes; when this hero was delivered up to the Romans, his illustrious father Bran the son of Llyr, with all his family, were carried with him as hostages to Rome; remaining there seven years, on their return they brought with them the christian religion. Caradog, Cynvelyn, and Arthur were the three brave sovereigns of Britain: and his father Bran with Lleirwg and Cadwaladyr were the three blessed sovereigns of Britain. (see p. 2)

Julius Frontinus conquers the Silures. -Julius Agricola reduces Mona.

62. Boadicea defeats the Romans. This heroine was of tall and comely person and dignified aspect, with a shrill commanding voice; her fine yellow hair fell down to her loins, and above a flowing robe she wore a massy gold chain, and harangued her army in animated language.

-Julius Frontinus conquers from the Silures the forest of Dean and the counties of Monmouth and Hereford.

78. Agricola completely subdues Mona.

85. Agricola recalled from Britain, after having successfully laboured to civilize and instruct our ancestors in the arts of peace and good government.

192. The Emperor Severus comes into Britain and dies at York. 298. Constantius dies at York. and in his last moments declares Constautiue his heir and successor. Constantine (called the Great) was the son of Constantius by Elen, a lady of great piety and unrivalled beauty, the daughter of Coel Godebog the 76th king of Britain. This celebrated emperor began his reign at York, and soon afterwards, by removing the imperial seat to Constantinople, paved the way to the destruction of the empire and the desertion of Britain by the Romans.

393. The Picts, Irish, and Saxons unite in the invasion of Britain.— Driven out by Stilicho.

409. The Romans leave Britain.

446. The Saxons came into this island (as we learn from the Triads) "in peace and by the consent of the nation of the Cymry, under the protection of God and his truth, and under the protection of the country and nation; and they made an attack through treachery and outrage on the nation of the Cymry, taking from them what they could of the sovereign dominion of the isle of Britain." This happened in the age of Vortigern. At this period the contest for mastery between the Saxons and Britons commenced, continuing from the departure of the Romans to the 10th of Edward I. a period of 836 years. 472. Massacre of upwards of 300 British noblemen by the Saxons at a feast.

510. The Silurian Prince Uther Pendragon dies by poison on the field of victory.

511. The Saxon chief Cerdic, pursuing his conquests even into Wales, was successfully opposed by the celebrated Arthur, the son of Uther. 520. Arthur defeats the Saxons near Bath.

The first military order established in Britain, whose members were denominated after its founder "the Warriors of Arthur."