Tri Gwaywruddion Feirdd Ynys Prydain: Taliefin, ben beirdd; Afan Ferddig; ac Aneurin ab y Caw. Yn amfer Brenin Penbeirdd, yr aethant i eistedd ac i farnu ar Gerddorion o bôb gradd; a Thri rhyw Gerddor a raddwyd yn ogyfuch: y sef, Telynior, am ei fod yn moli Duw ar gerdd dant; a Bardd Cywydd, am ei fod yn moli Duw ar gerdd Dafawd; ac. Arwyddfardd, am ei fod yn moli Duw drwy gadw The Three bloody-fpear'd 22 Bards, of the Inland of Britain: Taliefin, the head of the Bards 23; Avan Verddig, (Bard to King Cadwallon, the fon of Cadvan, about A. D. 640;) and Aneurin, the fon of Câw. In the time of Brenin Penbeirdd, (or King, the Supreme of the Bards,) they went to fit, and to decide on Bards of every degree; and Three orders of Songfters were selected, and adjudged to be preferable, and of a superior kind; that is, the Harper, because he praised God on a Stringed Inftrument **; the Ode Bard, because he praifed God in Vocal Songs25; and the Heraldic Bard, for praifing the Deity in preferving the memorable Actions of Warriors; and other excellences worthy of commendation, for the good of the world 26. The following additional documents refpecting the early Bards are extracted from a copy of The Ancient British Triads of the Island of Britain. 22 Gwaewruddelyn implies a fpear dipped in the enemy's blood. 23 Of Taliefin, fee the firft Volume, page 18. 24" The fons of Jeduthun prophefied with Harps, to give thanks, and to praife the Lord." ft Chronicles, chap. xxv. ver. 3. 25 See Acts xv11. v. 28.-Pfalms 1x. ver. 1. and 2.-Deuteronomy, chap. xxx11.-Judges, chap. v. 26 Nature, by a divine inspiration only, can acquire the Awen, or Mufe; and therefore Ennius called the mufical poets holy, becaufe they were, by a special prerogative, commanded to fing the praife of God to us. The Bard, Taliefin fays, "Rhygorug fy Awen "I foli fy Rheen." The powerful Mufe inspires me And the fublime Milton has the following lines: Memorial of Letters 29. 20 30 The Three One-head 3°, or Supremacy of Song Is, to compofe poetry; To play on the harp; and be Skilled in hiftories, or recitative fongs. 25 Tair Chef fydd ar Gerdd Dafod; Achau, Arfau, a Rhandiroedd: Three memorials, are contained in vocal fong: pedigrees, arms, and divifion of lands. See more in the firft Volume of this Work, page 56. 29 Coalbren y Beirdd, or The Wood Memorial of the Bards, is what they formerly ufed to cut their memorandums upon; fuch as the ancient wooden Almanacks were; or Staffordshire Clogg*, or Log. Hence originated the Log book, which is ufed by the failors. Alfo, there is a fimilar thing called a tally, or a piece of wood cut with indentures, or notches, in two correfponding parts; of which, one was kept by the creditor, and the other by the debtor, as was formerly the common way of keeping all accounts; (and is ftill ufed by the brewers, and the milk-fellers). Hence, likewife, is derived, The Tally-Office, (of the Exchequer, in London ;) and a teller; and probably, a Talisman: from the Welsh word, talu, to pay; or from the French word, taille. See Kennet's Gloffary to his Parochial Antiquities; and Plot's Hiftory of Staffordshire, page 418, and 420. 30 In the primitive ages, it was the province of the Bard to be fkilled in three arts: That is, Poetry, Mufic, and general knowledge. The Staffordshire clogg feems to be a corruption of the Welsh word, cyflog; that is, wages, or hire; which is ftill customary among the labourers in Wales, to mark every day's work upon a flick. Trioedd 92. Trioedd 92. Tri Deifnogion Cerdd a Cheudawd Cenedl y Cymry: Gwyddon Ganbebon a wnaeth Gerdd Dafawd gyntaf o'r Byd; Hû Gadarn a ddodes gyntaf ar Gerdd Dafawd gynnal Cóf, a Cheudawd; a Thydain Tâd Awen, a ddodes gelfyddyd gyntaf ar Gerdd Dafawd, a Dofbarth ar Geudawd; ac o'r a wnaethant y Tri-wýr hynny, y cafad Beirdd, a Barddoniaeth; a dodi yn nosbarth Braint a Defawd y pethau hynny y gan y tri Beirdd cyntefigion; nid amgen, Plennydd, ac Alawn, a Gwron. Trioedd 58. Tri Chyntefigion Beirdd Ynys Prydain: Plennydd; Alawn; a Gwron: Jef oeddynt y rhai hynny, a ddychymmygafant y Breiniau a'r Defodau y fydd ar Feirdd, a Barddoniaeth; ac am hynny eu gelwir y Tri Chyntefigion: bagen ydd oedd cyn no hynny Beirdd, a Barddoniaeth ; ac nid oedd arnynt Ddofbarth drwyddedawg; ac nid oedd iddynt na Breiniau, na Defodau, namyn a gaid o addwynder a fyberwyd, yn nawdd Gwlad a Chenedl cyn nog amfer ytri hyn a rhai a ddywedant mai yn amfer Prydain ab Aedd Mawr y buant; ac eraill a ddywedant mai yn amfer Dyfnwal Moel-Mud, ei fab ef y buant; ac yn rhai o'r hen Lyfrau y gelwir ef Dyfnfarth ab Prydain. Triad 92. The Three Minifters of Song, and Confervators of the Tribe of the Cambrians : Gwyddon Ganbebon, who was the firft in the world that made vocal fong: and Hû3, the Mighty, was the firft that applied vocal fong to preferve Memory and Thought: and Tydain, the Father of the Mufe 32, was the first that reduced vocal fong to a fcience, and formed rules of compofition. And from the progrefs which thefe three men had made, were derived Bards, and Bardifm; and thofe things were afterwards put under privilege, and custom, by the three principal, or fundamental Bards; namely, Plennydd, Alawn, and Gwron 33. Triad 58. The Three Primeval Bards of the Ifland of Bri tain; (which in another Copy of the Triads are called, the Three Primitive Inftitutional Bards ;) Plennydd; Alawn; and Gwron: and they were thofe who introduced the privileges and cuftoms, which regulate the Bards, and Bardifm; and therefore, are called the Three Primeval Bards: yet, there were Bards, and Bardifm prior to them, though they were not under any liberal diftinction nor had they either privileges, or customs, except what was obtained through civility and courtesy, under the protection of the Government and the Nation, before the time of these three. Some fay, that they lived in the time of Prydain 3, the son of Aedd Mawr, (or Aedd the Great ;) and others fay, they flourished in the time of Dyfnwal Moel-Müd3, his fon, and who, in fome of the old manuscripts, is called Dyfnfarth ab Prydain. Trioedd 57. much eafe, and was fo happy in the choice of good words, that he charmed all his hearers, and always feemed to enter the lift against Plato, to contend with him for the glory of the beauty of diction, and depth of thought." There is alfo an island in the Ebudes, or Hebrides, which has been eminent for its fanctity from the earliest times, called Hy, (Hu,) or Iona; and probably had its name from the above Hu, who, perhaps, was Lord thereof. Hu, in Welsh, is a cap; and may imply epifcopal. In the fixth century there was an ancient feminary; and alfo a monaftery in that Ifland, Picts, was Abbot. It was famous for the refort of holy men, and efteemed the queen of all the monafteries of Ireland and Scotland; and the place of interment of the Scottish kings. Bede's Eccles. Hift. 1. 3, c. 4. and lib. 1, c. 13. Gibson's Camden; and Lewis's Hiftory. 31 Antiquity furnishes us with feveral eminent men, of the name of Hu, or Hierocles. The first is, Hicrocles, the brother of Menecles; who was the first of the Afiatic orators, in the time of Cicero. The fecond Hierocles, (is cited by Stephanus,) who wrote of the most remarkable things he had feen; and speaks of a nation of Hyperboreans; a people addicted to philofophy, and who eat no manner of flesh. Alfo, Diodorus, the Sicilian, Book II. chap. 3, corroborates this account; and fays, the Hyperboreans inhabit an Ifland over againft Gaul, who are renowned for stately groves, and temples, and Apollo's priests, &c. ; and that fome of the Gre-called St. Columb's Cell; of which Columba, the Apostle of the cians paffed over to them: likewise, that Abaris, a Hyperborean, travelled into Greece. See the firft Volume of the Bards, p. 93. The third, Hu Gadarn, or Hierocles the Mighty, is mentioned by the Bard, lolo Goch, who informs us that he was Emperor of Conftantinople, and that he held the plow, and would eat no bread but from corn of his own raifing.-Probably this was Hierocles the grammarian, who has given a Treatife of the Empire of Conftantinople. But the above Hu, or Hierocles, mentioned in the text, poffibly was the Philofopher, and author of the Commentaries on the Golden Verfes of Pythagoras; a Treatife on Providence and Fate, &c. who flourished about A. D. 480. Suidas fays, " The Philofopher Hierocles, he who, by his fublimity of ftyle, and by his eloquence, has rendered fo famous the School of Alexandria, joined to conftancy and greatnefs of foul, a beauty of wit, and Auency of expreflion beyond all imagination. He spoke with fo this was the fame with Titan, or Tytán, a Celtic prince, and ne32 Tydain bwys, Tâd Awen bûr. Huw Ddd.-Query, Whether phew of Sadwrn? The fignification of the word in the British, is, the house of fire; i. e. Ty-tan: for which reafon he is taken, by the Romans, for Hyperion, or the fun. Celtic Remains, by Lewis Morris ; a manufcript. See more on the fubject in page 10, where his tomb is mentioned. 33 There is a place called Oran's Chapel, in the Isle of ManSir William Glynn, a poet of the middle ages, fpeaks of two C of Triad 57. Trioedd 57. Tydain Tad Awen, a wnaeth Drefn a Dosbarth gyntaf ar Gof, a Chadw Cerdd Dafawd, a'i pherthynafau; ac o'r drefn honno, y dychymmygwyd Breiniau, a Defodau dosbarthus ar Feirdd, a Barddoniaeth Ynys Prydain gyntaf. Tydain Tad Awen, (or Tudain, the Father of the Mufe ;) who firft established fyftem, and order, respecting the tradition, and record of vocal fong, and things appertaining thereto and out of that system were invented the regular privileges, and customs relative to the Bards, and Bardifm of the Inland of Britain. Trioedd 93. Tri Chyn-febydd Ynys Prydain: of the before-mentioned Bards in a forcible manner, thus: "Plennydd, ag Oron plannant "O'i plavy ddyfgeidiaeth i'w plant !"-i. e. Plennydd and Oron implanted, in their progeny, learning; and that again defcended to their offspring.-Thefe Bards flourished before Chrift, according to Bale. Of Alawn, I can find no account; but it implies, to abound, or the power of flowing; and perhaps he was of the Hierarchal order; for there is a place, in Anglefey, called Alaw'r Beirdd. 34 The names of Plennydd, and Oron, are not only unknown to the vulgar, but are almoft unheard of. fhould fuppofe, the great deftruction of all monuments of antiquity The cause must be, I by the Picts, Scots, Saxons, &c. evil, is, a diligent fearch into the few libraries now left us. The only remedy for such an was making this fearch, I met with Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus, FerAs I rarienfis, the great Antiquarian, a man well versed in every art and language that can adorn a fcholar. In the fecond part of his poetical hiftory, he allows much praise and glory to Britain, in the following words: 86 "Britain, although divided from the rest of the world, has always been partial to Bards; among the most celebrated of "whom are to be reckoned, Plennydd, Oron, and Gildas." raldus has done well in mentioning thus much of them, although, Gy. I wish he had thrown more light on each feparate author.Leland's Scriptoribus Britannicis, chap. x. Vol. I.; allo, Ponticus Virunnius. lib. 1, makes mention of these three celebrated Bards. And fee the firft Volume of the Bards, page 13. 35 Prydain is mentioned in one of the hiftorical Triads, which is a very curious fragment, that records the three most ancient names of Britain; therefore I fhall give it here at length: "Tri henw yr Ynys hon : Y Cyntaf, cyn ei chyfanneddu y gelwid bi Clas Merddin, (Meitin :) Wedi ei chyfanneddu y gelwid hi y Fêl Ynys: A gwedi ei gorefgyn o Brydain, mab Aedd Mawr, y dodes arni Ynys i, e. The three names of this island: The first, before it was inhabited, it was called the fea-girted verdant Spot: after it was inhabited, it was called the Honey Island: and after its fubjection to Prydain, the fon of Acdd Mawr, he gave it the name of The land of Prydain. 35 Dyfnwal Mcel-mud was chief Monarch of Britain about 430 years before Chrift; and he is faid to have been the first King of Britain that wore a crown of gold. This Dyfnwal was the great legiflator and author of the Moelmutian larus, which were tranflated by Gildas, into Latin. This King began four public ways across the Island of Britain, and gave them privileges; and his fon Beli afterwards prefcribed the bounds, and perfected them. Dyfrwal gave privileges to temples, cities, and ploughs, and to Allo, highways leading to the fame, that whofoever had need thereof, might repair thither and be fafe. (To this period, in all probability, we may date the origin of the Bardic privileges, which are fo often mentioned in the Triads.) Silas Taylor's Hiftory of Gavelkind, p. 154; and Lewis's Hift. of Great Britain, p. 39. 37 Cyn-febydd probably implies the first-born fon of the mother; or, the fon of a firft fon: (and perhaps the above were Bards from their earliest infancy, and by inheritance, as the Levites were in the patriarchal time.) See Genefis, chap. xlviii. v. 18; Deuteronomy, xxi. v. 17; and Hebrews, chap. i. of St. David's, in Pembrokeshire, was called Menew, or Mynyw, 38 Menyw, the Aged, I can find no account of: but the See and fometimes Menew hên, (or Old Menew;) and in Latin, Menevia; which originally was a famous nursery of learning, where Affer Menevenfis, John de Erigena, and many others were educated: and it is not improbable but this Menyw was the founder of that ancient Seminary of Menevia, about the fifth century. The lfle of Man, likewife, is called, by the Welsh, Menaw; which was one of the famed feats of the Druids, and where fome of their cuftoms are still retained by the legiflators in that island; which are fo remarkable, that I cannot refrain introducing here the ancient mode of promulging the law to the people, which originally was done in the fame manner in the Ifland of Britain. This Court is held fub Dio, after the ancient manner of all the northern nations, where the Lord is placed on the top of a circular mount, or barrow, furrounded by his people, who, with an awful filence, wait the future fate of their nation in the promulgation of their laws, which, from the birth of time, had been locked up in the breafts of their magiftrates. First, therefore, they declare to him the orders of the affembly, which I fhall give you from the original record in the ancient English of that age. "Our doughtful and gracious Lord, this is the constitution of old time, the which we have given in our days, how ye fhould be govern'd on their Tynwald day. First you fhall come thither in your royal array, as a King ought to do by the prerogatives and royalties of the Land of Man, and upon the hill of Tynwald fit in a upward; your Barons in the third degree fitting befide you, and Chair, covered with a royal cloth and Cushions, and your visage unto the Eaft, and your fword before you, holden with the point your Beneficed men, and your Deemfers before you fitting; and your Clerks, your Knights, Efquires, and Yeomen about you in the third degree, and the worthieft men in your land to be called in before your Deemfters, if you will afk any thing of them; and to hear the government of your land, and your will, and the Commons to stand without the Circle of the hill, with three Clerks in their furplices; and your Decmfters fhall make call in your coroner of Glanfaba, and he fhall call in all the coroners of Man, and their yardes in their hands, with their weapons upon them, either fword, or ax; and the Moars, that is to wit, of every fheading: then the chief coroner, that is, the coroner of Glanfaba, fhall make a fence pain of life, or lymme, that no man make any diflurbance, or stir upon prefence, upon pain of hanging and drawing: and then shall let in the time of Tynwald, or any murmur, or rifing in the King's your Barons, and all other, know you to be King, and Lord; and what time you were here, you receiv'd the land as heir thieft men, and Commons, did you faith and fealtie; and in as your father's days, and all your Barons of Man, with your worapparent much as you are, by the grace of God, now King, and Lord of Man, ye will now that your Commons come unto you, and fhew their charters how they hold of you, and your Barons that made no faith in OF EARLY LEARNING AMONG THE ANCIENT BRITONS. Trioedd 89. Tri Gwynn Seronyddion Ynys Prydain : Idris Gawr; a Gwydion mab Dón; a Gwyn ab Nudd: a chan faint eu gwybodau am y Sér a'u hanianau a'u banfoddau, y darogenynt a chwennychid ei wybod hyd yn nydd brawd. faith nor fealty unto you, that they make now; and if any of your Barons be out of the land, they fhall have space of forty days, after that they are called in to come and fhew whereby they hold and claim lands, and tenements within your land of Man, and to make faith and fealty, if wind and weather ferve them; or else to feize their temporalities into your hands; and then to proceed in your matters whatfoever you have there to do in fellony, or treason, or other matters that touch the government of your land of Man." Tinwald, or Din'-wald, is the name of the hill, on which their laws are promulged on Midfummer-day, &c. which is raifed, or encircled with feveral afcents, for the different orders of the people, and is a great curiofity. N. B. The Deemfters, or Doomfters, I prefume, were originally the Druids, or Bards, who fat as Judges, with the four-andtwenty Keys, to advise with, in-cafe any new matter arofe; who were the reprefentatives of the country, and in fome cafes, ferved as the grand-inqueft of the nation. The Isle of Man was never in poffeffion of the Romans; and its inhabitants retained their primitive fimplicity. Their original government was Druidical, admirably adapted to the good of mankind; and fo mixed with the prince and prieft, that the State and religion had but one united intereft. This was the patriarchal government, to which virtue, not birth, was the best title, and is fuppofed to have continued here until the end of the fourth century. Sacheverell's Account of the Isle of Man. Triad 89. The Three white, or profound Aftrologers of the Inland of Britain: Idris, the Champion; Gwydion", the fon of Dôn; and Gwyn, the fon of Nudd: and on account of their great knowledge concerning the stars, and their nature, they were able to foretell whatever was wanted to be known, until the day of judgment. mentioned thus: "Gwrfawr ab Cadien, ab Cynan; y Gwas Teilaw, o Went." 40" Cawr ar wyr, Carw arr-wraidd!" T. Aled. i, e. The Champion of Men, and Stag of Heroism ! Caernarvonshire, and an eminent Philofopher of the fifth century. 41 Gwydion, the fon of Don, was a Prince of Ar-Gonwy, in "Gwdion mab Dón ar Gonwy, "Hûd lath ni bu o'i fath fwy!" Ddd. ab Gwilim. Gwydion, the fon of Don, of the banks of Conway, Of magic wand-there never was his equal! Pliny alfo affures us, that the Britons were famous for the art of the Bards, page 13, & 79. Magic. Gibfon's Camden, firfted. page 70; and the first Volume In the time of King Vortigern, and that of his fon Vortimer, lived Meugant, or Meugantius, a famous Philofopher, and Mathematician of the University of Caerlleon, in Monmouthshire, where there was 200 Students in Philpíophy, who studied Aftrology, and diligently obferved the courfe of the stars, and prognofticated the deftinies of men ; in which fcience Meugant excelled all others: he flourished about A. D. 460. Leland's Scriptoribus Britannicis, cap. xxviii; and Lewis's Hiftory of Britain. There was one Meugan, a Bishop of Silchefter, in Hampshire, in King Arthur's time; and Llanrhudd church, in Denbighshire, is dedicated to this Saint. Meugan ab Cyndaf, gwr or Ifrael."-Achau Saint. Proba$9 Gwrhir, implies a tall man. In a MS. pedigree, I find him bly, a man from Palestine, or of the order of Palestine. OF EARLY LEARNING AMONG THE ANCIENT BRITONS. Saren, fon of Magus, the third king over the Britons and Celts, | who reigned about the year of the world, 2006. He loved learning; and to restrain the fiercenefs of his people, he is faid to have been the first who founded public schools, or feminaries among the Britons; and of this Saren, the ancient town of Sarum, or Salisbury, had its name, as we are informed by Camden, and Lewis's British Hiflory, page 6, and 25. p. 123; and Mona Antiqua, p. 163; Uber de Primord. Eccles. Brit. c. 8. and Ponticus Verunnius. Elvan, and Meddvin, men of high reputation, would have paffed totally unknown to us, had not mere chance fnatched them from oblivion. About three years ago, or more, at the request of a friend, I went to an auction of old books, where I found treafures upon treasures. Among the rest, a British History of GalCaius records, that Britain (as witneffeth Cafar, De Bello Gal.fredus Monumetenfis fell into my hands; to that was added another lico, lib. 6,) produced the first musicians; whom, in time paff, little book, without any mention of the author's name, in which Ithey called Beirdd, or Bards of the Cymbri, (or Aborigines,) yet read thefe words: fo called them, of one Bardus, the fifth king of Britain, about the year of the world, 2082; a man famous in invention of verses, and mufic, as Berofus allegeth. Cubelyn, fon of Gurgant, the twenty-third king of Britain, is alfo celebrated by Caius, for his great skill in mufic, and learning in Greek, and Latin. He flourished about 348 years before Chrift; and from his queen, Martia, who reigned after him, we may date the origin of the Mertian Lars, which Gildas afterwards tranflated into Latin; and again, in the reign of Alfred, they were tranflated into the Saxon tongue. Leavis's Hift. of Brit. p. 56. Blegywryd ap Seifyllt, a king of Britain, about 190 years before Chrift, who is faid to have excelled all that lived before him, in the fcience of mufic, both as a finger, and a performer; and therefore he was called the God of Games. British History. It is recorded that Coel Godbebog, Duke of Colchester, and afterwards King of Britain, had an only daughter, who was esteemed the fairest woman of her time, and very fkilful in mufic, and in other liberal arts. She was called, by the Britons, Elen Luyddawc; that is, Helen with the great Army; which the led out of Britain on an expedition to Jerufalem, where fhe is faid to have found the holy cross on which Chrift fuffered. She was afterwards married to Conftantius Clorus, who, by her, had iffue, that famous emperor, Conftantine the Great, about A. D. 306. There are places that ftill retain this lady's name, fuch as Sarn Elen, or Elen's Caufeway, in Merionyddfhire; and a place called Saint-Helen; alfo a church in Monmouthshire, and another in Cornwall, are dedicated to St. Helen. Lewis's Hift. of Britain, "A. D. 156, Lucius, King of Britain, fent Elvan, and Medd"vin, Embaffadors to Eleutherius, the Roman Pontiff, that they "might be converted to Christianity. After having fworn to "the Catholic Faith, Elvan was ordained a Bifhop, (he was the "fecond Archbishop of London;) and Meddvin a Doctor." This paffage has much weight with me, both on account of its great antiquity, and its apparent truth, Leland's Script. chap. xiii. Vol. I. "In days of Yore, Melchin, or Melgin, was much renowned for his wifdom and learning. But his fame, like that of all other Britifh writers, is, from the Saxon devaftations, fo obfcured, that I defpair of ever finding fuch an account of it, as will do him juftice. That he may not, however, be left entirely in darkness, the little I know concerning him is fubjoined; it may ferve to give a faint. idea of him to the prefent age. "Melchin was born and educated in Wales; like many more of his time, he pursued the ftudies of the Vates, or Bards. He wrote a fmall Hiftory of Britain, (De Arthurii Menfa Rotunda,) replete, after the manner of his country, with prophecies. I fhall do right to admonish my reader that this Melchin is frequently called Mevin, in the English Poetical Hiftory, which John Harding wrote and publifhed in the reign of Henry the Sixth. I remember nothing more of him now, than that he lived before the time of Merlin." Leland's Script. chap. xxv. Vol. I. See also the firft Volume of the Bards, pages 11. 13, 14. & 88. Leland farther fays, that he met with a fragment of Melkin's, in the Library at Glaftonbury. A paffage 8 OF EARLY LEARNING AMONG THE ANCIENT BRITONS. A pastage in Aerius Menevenfis, de Geftu Alfred, printed by Camden, fays, that St. German ftayed half a year at Oxford, and approved of the order, which had been made by Gildas, Melkin, Nennius, and Kentigern. Gibson's Camden, p. 457• Allo, Bede (lib. ii. ch. 2.) fays, that the monastery of Bangor is y-Coed, near Wrexham, Denbighshire, was furnished with learned men, as early as Auguftine's coming into Britain, in the fifth century. See more in the first Volume of the Bards, page 11, note 7. Charlemagne who was the most diftinguished king of the Franks, as Arthur was among the Britons, both for heroism, and magnificence: therefore, I cannot help introducing here an interesting fketch of him, as defcribed by Turpin, the Archbishop of Rheims; who fays, "that he was eight feet high, and his face was a span and a half long, and his forehead one foot in breadth, and that his body and limbs were well proportioned." He had a great propensity to learning, having had fome of the most celebrated cholars of the age in which he was born for his tutors; and it is to the honour of this country, that Alcuin, a Briton, and a difciple of Bede, was his inftructor in Rhetoric, Logic, Aftronomy, Mufic, and other liberal arts. It appears that Alcuin was highly verfed in the liberal sciences, particularly in Mufic, as appears by a Tract of his on the ufe of Palms; and by the preface to Caffiodorus De Septem Difciplinis, first printed in Garetius's Edition of that Author, and which is exprefsly faid by Du Pin, Fabricius, and others, to have been written by Alcuin. It was at the inftance of Alcuin that Charlemagne, in the year 790, founded the Univerfity of Paris. Alcuin is alfo commemorated among the lives of the Saints; which fays, that he was a difciple of St. Egbert, Archbishop of York; from whom he received the clerical tonfure, and by whom he was ordained Deacon. He fucceeded that holy Prelate in the charge of the famous fchool he had opened at York; and from whence he was invited to France by the Emperor Charlemagne ; Let this to Britain's lafling fame be said, And trembling fuperftition own'd thy power, and ficd. And all the learning he engrofs'd furvive. } And Peter Ramus farther adds, that Britain was twice fchool-miftrefs to France; alluding first to the Druids; (as witneffeth Cafar's Commentaries, book vi. 13;) and then to Alcuin, who was the chief caufe of Charlemagne's erecting an Univerfity at Paris. Gibson's Camden, clxvi. OF ANCIENT BRITISH POEST. The following is extracted from an old British manufcript, intitled, "Grammatical Rules of Welsh Poetry;" and as it gives much information refpecting the period, and the inventors of various Welsh metres, I thought it worthy to be given here literally tranflated. "This is the way to know, and to understand the measures of fong, fome of which were improved from the Latin, through the learning of Einion the Prieft; and Dr. Dafydd Ddû gave authority to the metres, fo formed by him, and by others before, who had begun to praife GOD, from the time of ENos, fon of SETH, the fon of ADAM; the first man who praised God, and invented figure, which in Latin is called FIGURA. The time when this began, was about 600 years after the time of Adam; and from that time, to the birth of Chrift, the prophets carried it on, improving it, in prophefying of Jesus. We obtained it through the Holy Ghoft, in our language, when we received the faith in Chrift; and calling on the Holy Spirit, promoted the Mufe; which vanishes through the commiffion of fins, and flourishes through the guidance of fciences, and holiness. * Second Book of Peter, chap. i. ver. 21; and Ecclefiafticus, chap. xliv. "Yr oedd am wawd arwydd mawl, Ed. Prýs. "Yn Adda yn Awen yddawl." "Concerning the pillars, or canons of poefy, and their number: The fhort metre-and its meafure is four fyllables. The white metre-and its measure is five fyllables. The blue metre-and its measure is fix fyllables. The confined metre-and its measure is feven fyllables. The cross metre-and its measure is eight fyllables. The rough metre-and its measure is nine fyllables. The long and equal metre-and its measure is ten fyllables. "From these seven canons were formed the twenty-four metres of vocal fong, which are used and compofed upon by the Bards of the Ifle of Britain. There were five metres in general use, and most approved of for Odes, compofed by Taliefin; which were formerly denominated the Five Pillars, or Canons, of the Song of Taliefin: namely, |