9 Gwydion, the fon of Don, was a prince of Ar-Gonwy, in Caernarvon fhire, and famous Magician of the fifth century. 10 Taliefin feems to retain the idea of tranfmigration of the foul, as the Druids did. So Pythagoras remembered to have been thalides, the fon of Mercury; to have been affifting the Greeks during the Trojan war, in the character of Euphorbus; and that his foul recollected many exploits which had been done while it animated that Trojan's body: he remembered to have been Hermotimus ; afterwards a fisherman; and laft of all, Pythagoras.Life of Pythagoras; and Ovid's Metamorphofes, lib. xv. v. 160.

"The Tower of London; the ancient part of it, called The White Tower, is a fquare irregular building, fituated in the center, on which are the watch towers, and obfervatory; faid to have been originally built by Conftantine the Great.

12 Meirion, the fon of Gridion, after the decease of his father, had all his inheritance in Cambria, and ruled the fame many years." G. Owen Harry's Genealogy.

Gwridwen llawer a gredynt, Gwraig Tegid foel ar goel gynt ;

A nasth garl unwaith Gwen, O goel wiw i gael Aen. William Cynwal.

TALIESIN'S CREED.

A LITERAL TRANSLATION.

Chrift Jefus of heaven, in thee I believe, that thou art Three in One; and am certainly in the right. Worthily art thou called a moft gracious and bountiful Father:-Truly art thou called a Son; the chief Bishop of Adam's posterity :-Really art thou called a Spirit, and my righteous Lord :—Justly art thou denominated a Creator, and highest Emperor :-Defervedly art thou called a Judge, and a moft liberal Benefactor :And verily a true Man, and true God Supreme.

Thou didst arife to life, from the earthy grave:-Thou haft delivered mankind from the bondage of Satan. When thou doft attain to the full age of three tens over and above fifteen hundred, moft virtuous Holy of Holies, thou wilt deliver the Britons from their oppreffed fituation; and wilt replant the Trojan roots in their own gardens. Happy times will come in confequence of this revolution. Then shall the lands in the kingdom of Britain be allotted ;-then let my moft kind Lord be heard:--then shall Britons become wife, and politic. The ftocks of the Germans shall be eradicated and forgotten; the country will be distreffed by treachery and violence. Then fhall that bright gem, Owain", come forth to avenge on the Saxons their long-continued rapine and infolence: then shall the country of Cambria sing Halelujah.

13 Probably Owain ab Urien, a prince of Reged, in the North.

TALIESIN'S COMMINATIONS.

Woe be unto him that is converted and baptized, and leads not a Christian life.
Woe be unto thofe rulers whofe tyrannical inftitutions are full of arrogance.
Woe be unto the dumb priest that does not correct errors, and will not preach.
Woe be unto the fhepherd that does not guard his fold, and tends not his flock.

Woe be unto him that defends not his fheep against Romish wolves, with a clubbed staff.
Woe be unto him that spends his life here in tyranny and oppreffion.

Woe be unto the odious diffembler, that does not fincerely pray and worship God.
Woe be unto that mortal who commits fins, and will not confefs and

Woe be unto him that eats his bread in idleness, and will not work.

repent.

Woe be unto him that spends his life in heaping up riches through oppreffion and injustice.
Woe be unto him at the Day of Judgment that does not repress the lufts of the flesh, and pray.
Woe be unto him that believes not in the Trinity, and is void of charity, and without compaffion.
Woe be unto him that bereaves the widow, and fatherless of their patrimony, without restitution.
Woe be unto him, that shall oppress and rob the helpless, unless he makes fatisfaction.

Woe be unto him that bears malice in his bofom to his friend, and hates him.

Woe be unto the wealthy mifer, that will not pity and clothe the poor, and naked.

Woe be unto the ill-natured man that will not fympathize with the thirfty, and relieve him.

Woe be unto him that will not vifit and relieve the fick, and prifoners.

Woe be unto him that will not supply pilgrims with lodging and victuals.
Woe be to him, that is born, whofe ill deeds fhall bring him to hell.

Woe be to thofe furies who fhall be hereafter confined in eternal torments;

A place, where there are howlings, cries, and multitudes of plagues;

A place where are burnings and groanings, without hopes of any deliverance :
Where there is no expiation by repentance, to all eternity:

Where there is shivering and quaking, for the coldness of froft and fnow:
A place where there are cries and howlings, world without end.

The

The EULOGY of OWAIN GWYNEDD, Prince of North Wales; who fucceeded his Father, GRIFFITH Að CYNAN, about A. D. 1137. This battle was fought in the year 1157.

The original Welsh of the above poem was the compofition of Gwalchmai, the fon of Meilir, immediately after Prince Owen Gwynedd had defeated the combined fleets of Ireland, Denmark, and Norway, which had invaded his territory upon the coast of Anglefey. This fpirited verfification is from the pen of the late Mr. Gray.

There is like wife another poem, which defcribes this famous battle, written by Prince Howel, the fon of Owen Gwynedd; who was a celebrated warrior, as well as a Bard, and who seems to have been in the action. I fhall give it here with a literal translation:

7 The red Dragon was the device of Cadwalader, which all his defcendants bore on their banners.

18 Menai is the name of an arm of the fea, which divides Anglefey from Caernarvonshire.

a fimilar fate with that of the French fleet at Aboukir ;-few returned to tell the tale.

Gorboffedd Hywel, fab Owain Gwynedd; e bûn ai Cânt:

or, The Boaft of Howel, the fon of Owen, Prince of North Wales; compofed by himself.

This princely Bard, Howel, the fon of Owen Gwynedd, who flourished about A. D. 1150, wrote eight pieces of poetry, which are ftill preferved in old Welsh manufcripts, &c.; and as they are fhort, and elegantly defcriptive, I fhall beg leave to infert here, a literal translation by Meirion of four or five of them, as a fpecimen of that Chieftain's mufe; who feems to have been particularly devoted to Love, and War; they convey to us, likewise, some idea of the customs of those times; therefore I esteem them curious. In this first poem the Bard defcribes Wales, and enumerates his favourite lovers, who were then the most celebrated beauties of that country.

Fair foam-crowned wave, fpraying over the facred tomb of Rhuvon the Brave, the chief of princes, behold this day. I hate England, a flat and unenergetic land, with a race involved in every wile. I love the spot that gave me the much-desired gift of mead, where the feas extend in tedious conflict; I love the fociety, and numerous inhabitants therein, who, obedient to their Lord, direct their views to peace; I love its fea-coast, and its mountains, its city bordering on its foreft, its fair landscape, its dales, its waters, and its vales; its white fea-mews, and its beauteous women. I love its warriors, and its well-trained steeds; its woods, its ftrong holds, and its focial domicil. I love its fields, clothed with tender trefoils, where I had the glory of a mighty triumph. I love its cultivated regions, the prerogative of heroism; and its farextended wild; and its sports of the chase, which, Son of God! have been great and wonderful. How fleek the melodious deer, and in what plenty found!

I atchieved, by the push of a spear, an exalted deed, between the chief of Powys and happy Gwynedd; and, upon the pale-hued element of ever-ftruggling motion, may I accomplish a liberation from exile! I will not take breath until my party comes: a dream declares it, and God wills it fo to be, fair foamcrowned wave fpraying over the grave.

Fair foam-crowned wave, impetuous in thy course, like in colour to the hoar when it accumulates, I love the fea-coaft in Meirionydd, where I have had a white arm for a pillow; I love the nightingale upon the privet-brake in Cymmer Deuddwr, a celebrated vale. Lord of heaven and earth, the glory of the bleft, though fo far it is from Ceri to Caerlliwelydd, I mounted the yellow fteed, and from Maelienydd reached the land of Reged between the night and day! Before I am in the grave, may I enjoy a new blessing from the land of Tegyngyl of fairest aspect. Since I am a love-wight, one inured to wander, may God direct my fate! fair foam-crowned wave of impetuous course "9.

I will implore the divine Supreme, the Wonderful in subjugating to his will, as king, to create an excelling muse, for a song of praise to the women, fuch as Merddin fung, who have claimed my bardic lore fo long, who are so tardy in dispensing grace. The most eminent of all in the weft I name, from the gates of Chefter to the port of Ygewin: the first is the nymph, who will be the subject of universal praise, Gwenlliant, whose complexion is like the fummer's day. The fecond is another of high state, far from my embrace, adorned with golden necklace, fair Gweirvyl, from whom nor token nor confidence have I obtained, nor has any of my race; though I might be flain by two-edged blades, fhe, whofe fofter-brother was a king, should be my theme. And next for the handfome Gwladus, the young and modeft virgin, the idol of the multitude-I utter the fecret figh; I will worship her with the yellow bloffoms of the furze. Soon may I fee my vigour roufed to combat, and in my hand my blade, bright Leucu, my companion, laughing, and whose husband laughs not, from anxiety. Great anxiety oppreffes me, makes me fad; and longing, alas! is habitual for fair Neft, for her who is like the apple-tree bloffom; and for Perweur, the centre of my defire; for Generys, the chafte, who grants not a smile for me-may continence not overcome her! For Hunydd, whofe fame will last till the day of doom; for Hawis, who claims my choiceft eulogy. On a memorable day I had a nymph; I had a second-more be their praise! I had a third, and a fourth, with profperity; I had a fifth, of thofe with a fkin white and delicate; I had a fixth, bright and fair, avoiding not the temptation, above the white walls did fhe arreft me; I had a feventh, and this was fatiety of love; I had eight, in recompence for a little of the praise which I fung:-but the teeth must opportunely bar the tongue.

19 This paffage cannot be well underflood, but by fuppofing it to allude to the departure of his brother, Madog, out of Wales, at the time when he is faid to have difcovered land far in the great fea of the weft, which subsequent facts point out to have been America. See more on this subjeɛ in page 37 of the first Volume.

*According to the ancient British Triads, the following were the three principal harbours of the Island of Britain; viz. “ the port of gewyn, in Monmouthshire; the port of Gwyg yr, in Anglefey; and the port of Gwyddno, in North Wales."

The CHOICE; fung by Prince HOWEL, a Son of Owen Gwynedd.

My choice is a lady, elegant, flender, and fair, whofe lengthened white form is feen through the blue thin veil; and my choiceft faculty is to muse on superior female excellence, when fhe with diffidence utters the becoming fentiment; and my choiceft participation is to become united with the maid, and to share mutual confidence, in thoughts, and fortune.-I choose the bright hue of the spreading wave, thou who art the most discreet in thy country, with thy pure Welsh speech.-Chosen by me art thou: what am I without thee? How ! doft thou refrain from speaking, whose filence even is fair!-I have chofen a maid, so that with me there should be no fufpence :—it is right to choose :-choose, fair maid!

An ODE; fung by HowEL, the Son of Owen Gwynedd. Tranflated.

I love the white glittering walls, on the fide of the bank, clothed in fresh verdancy, where bashfulness loves to obferve the modeft fea-mew's courfe. It would be my delight, though I have met with no great return of love, in my much defired vifit, on the fleek white fteed, to behold my fifter, of Alippant fmile; to talk of love, fince it is come to my lot; to restore my ease of mind; and to renew her flighted troth with the nymph as fair as the hue of the shore-beating wave.

From her country, who is bright as the coldly-drifted fnow upon the lofty hill, a cenfure has come to us, that I should be so treated with disdair. in the Hall of Ogyrvan.

Playful, from her promife, was newborn expectation;-fhe is gone with my foul away: I am made wretched! Am I not become, for love, like Garwy Hirt, to the fair one, of whom I am debarred in the Hall of Ogyrvan?

+ Garay Hir was a warrior, who ferved under Arthur, and is often celebrated by the Bards for the conftancy of his love for Creirwy.

A SONG; by HowEL, ab Owen Gwynedd.

A TRANSLATION.

I have harneffed thee to-day, my steed of shining grey; I will traverse on thee the fair region of Cynlas; and I will hold a hard difpute before death fhall cut me off, in obstructing sleep, and thus obftructing health; and on me it has been a fign, no longer being the honoured youth, the complexion is like the pale blue

waves.

Oppreffed with longing is my memory in fociety; regret for her by whom I am hated! Whilft I confer on the maid the honoured eulogy, fhe, to profper pain, deigns not to return the confolation of the flightest grace!

Broken is my heart! My portion is regret, caufed by the form of a flender lady, with a girdle of ruddy gold. My treatment is not deferved: fhe is not this day where my appointed place was fixed.-Son of the God of heaven! if, before a promise of forbearance she goes away, woe to me that I am not slain !

30 Cynlas, is in the parish of Llanddervel, in Merioneth fhire.

VERSES compofed by HOWEL, the Son of Owen Gwynedd.

A TRANSLATION.

I love the time of the fummer; then the gladly-exulting fteed of the warrior prances before a gallant chief; the wave is crowned with foam; the limb of the active more quickly moves; the apple-tree has arrayed itself in another livery; bordered with white is my fhield on my shoulder, prepared for violence. I HAVE LOVED, with ardency of defire, the object whom I have not obtained!

-CERIDWEN,