Without dispute of all good things, God has given it to us. It will be in his pleasure. Most beneficent is the Trinity, But very wrathful with the drunkard.1 Of the manners of fishes and the size of their habitations, The sand of the salt sea is in the recital. Of my secret for journeying to them I myself am the guardian. No one shall be possessed of it Without the assistance of the Trinity. They commend the journey In Dyffryn Garant. The mighty ones careless of prudence, Will not the night be a shelter, Who know the secrets of song ? What is the retreat of the Callofydd, Wrapped up in his robe When he rises in the gate? Who took the falsest oath? At the coming again of Caradawg.5 1 Here the "Song of the Ale" properly terminates. The next seven lines belong to some other ballad, and the following form what is sometimes called the "Battle of Dyffryn Garant." 2 As numerous as the sands of the sea. The tale of the Boar's Head, which Caradawg alone was able to carve, is probably alluded to. See the note to stanza 30, in the Rev. J. Williams's translation of the Gododin. 4 In some copies it would appear that this epithet is written Carneddawg, "stone-piled," or "abounding with stones"; but in the Myvyrian Archæology it is "Caerneddawg." Dr. Owen's translation of these lines, beginning with "A wyr cerdd gelfydd," is as follows:- Sad are the men of Menevia, Sad is fair Mona. Very dreadful the perjury Of the long-haired men of Gwent. Who will pay the ransom ?2 Is it Dyfydd of Aeron? Is it Coel, is it Cenau? Is it Gwrweddw and his sons? Not unlaughable his foes, Have I not proclaimed the secret By the waters of Gododin? He is a true diviner, The raven prophesying in the morning. I am an old wanderer, I am a promoter of joyousness, And I am silent through anger, "That knows the ingenious art that is concealed by the discreet Ovate will give me a splendid garment when he ascends from the gate.-Caradawg will purchase Wales abounding with heaps of stones." 1 Worcester. 2 Perhaps it should be "ceinion." Then, At Caer Wyrangon, Who will give the first drink at the feast. 3 The tale to which this passage relates is noticed in the Mabinogion of Kilhwch and Olwen. Glewlwyd Gavaelwawr says, "I was in the battle of Dau Ynyr when the twelve hostages were brought from Llychlyn." If we had a complete collection of the romances of the Welsh, we should have no difficulty in understanding the greater part of the allusions in these poems, which are so obscure, but which must have been perfectly intelligible to those before whom they were recited. 4 Seon. Caer Seiont, near Caernarvon, the Segontium of the Romans, once the most famous city in North Wales. A fierce blood-reaper, Like heart of oak his body. At the battle of Harddnenwys 1 Admitted to a hundred festivals, Sought after by a hundred friends. I saw blood on the ground, From the onset of the swordsmen. The splinters caused anguish to the warrior, In three hundred perfect festivals shall be celebrated, 1 The men of Harddnen, the beautiful roof-probably a castle so called. 2 Or shattered the land of Ynyr. 3 These lines have been very differently translated by Edward Jones, whose version has for the most part been followed by Mr. Stephens. It is : I saw the warriors of dread appearance They tinged with blue the wings of the morning, When they poured forth their ashen messengers of pain. Of Ynyr, whose feats are seen on the crimson-tinted earth. The lines in italics are certainly poetic, but they cannot be accepted as a translation of the original. The word esgyll, no doubt, generally means wings, being the plural of asgell, a wing; but it has also a technical meaning in these descriptions of battle scenes. The root of the word, according to Owen, is asg, a piece split off,” a splinter"; and in this sense it is used in 33 66 a passage of Llywarch Hen, and another of Taliesin. In the poem of Llywarch Hen on the loss of his sons, he says of Pyll, Dychonad ystavell o esgyll ysgwydawr Tra vydded yn sevyll A vriwed ar angad Pyll. A room might be formed from the wings of shields, Which would hold one standing upright, That were broken in the grasp of Pyll. In this instance esgyll, the wings, must be taken to mean some portion of KADEIR TALIESIN. Mydwyf Merwerydd A gwlid Gwenyn Ac elyw tramor Ac aur bib lleu A llon ariant gwiw A rhudd em a grawn Ac ewyn eigiawn Py ddyfrys fynnawn Berwr byryrddawn Py gysswllt gwerin Brecci bonedd llynn A llwyth lloer wehyn Lledaf lloned verbyn A synion synhwyr A sewyd am loer A gofrwy gwedd gwyr Gwrth awel awyr A mall a merin A gwadawl tra merin A chorwg gwydrin Ar llaw pererin A phybyr a phyg Ag urddawl segyrffyg A llyseu Meddyg Lle allwyr Venffyg A Beirdd a blodeu A guddig bertheu A briallu a briwddail A blaen gwydd goddeu A mall ameuedd A mynych adneuedd A gwin tal cibedd a shield; but the context shows that broken shields are meant, and the line should be, A room might be formed with the splinters (broken pieces) of shields. The other instance is in the Elegy on Owain ap Urien : Isgell cerddglyd clodfawr Esgyll gwaywawr Llifeid. : A corpse is the renowned protector of song. Where the rendering "wings" is evidently impossible. Shining with jewels 1 Is the breast of the bard gifted with a knowledge of the stars; When is recited The song in the evening, Or in the fine night of a fine day. Bards of rapid utterance, Your encomiums are not pleasing to me, Passing from point to point With a great appearance of skill. I am not a mute bard.2 Conspicuous among the bards of the land, I hasten on the course of the bold; I rouse the heedless, I keep sleep from the eyes In praising valiant princes. I am not a shallow artist, Conspicuous among my kindred bards. Fitted for the deep waters of the ocean. Whence is the deadly dew That kills the wheat? And the moisture of the bee, And the paste which it stores up, And its abundant provision,3 1 Tywynedig-resplendent. 2 "Mi" must be wrongly written here for "ni." 3 "And frankincense and myrrh, and transmarine aloes."-OWEN's Dict. |