BOOK because he wanted power to pursue. III. 530. How mer.tioned in bards. Arthur was, therefore, not the warrior of irresistible strength; he permitted Cerdic to retain his settlements in Wessex; and such an acquiescence accords with the Chronicle, which asserts, that after many fierce conflicts, he conceded to the Saxon the counties of Southampton and Somerset.28 The latter was however still contested. THIS state of moderate greatness suits the chathe Welsh racter in which the Welsh bards exhibit Arthur. They commemorate him; but it is not with that excelling glory with which he has been surrounded by subsequent traditions. On the contrary, Urien of Reged seems to have employed the harp more than Arthur. Llywarch the aged, who lived through the whole period of slaughter, and had been one of the guests and counsellors of Arthur29, never displays him in transcendent majesty. In the battle of Llongborth, which Arthur directed, it was the valour of Geraint that arrested the bard's notice; and his elegy, though long, scarcely mentions the commander, whose merit, in the frenzy of later fables, clouds every other. As an effusion of real feeling, this poem may be supposed to possess less of flattery and more of truth in its panegyric. It speaks of Arthur with respect, but not with wonder. Arthur is simply mentioned as the commander and the conductor of the toil of war; but 28 Rad. quoted by Polychronica, says, in quibusdam chronicis legitur, quod tandem Arthurus extædiatus, post 26 annum adventus Cerdici fidelitate sibi jurata dedit ei Hamptershiram et Somersetham, p. 224.-The Chronicle of Ricardi Divisionensis, in MSS. at Cambridge affirms the same. It is quoted by Langhorn. Chron. Rer. Anglorum, p. 70. 29 Trioedd 116. p. 74. Geraint is profusely celebrated with dignified peri- CHAP. phrasis. 30 In the same manner Arthur appears in the Afallenau of Myrddin; and in Taliesin he is mentioned as a character well known and reverenced, but not idolised; yet he was then dead, and all the actions of his patriotism and valour had been performed. Not a single epithet is added, from which we can discern him to have been that whirlwind of war which swept away in its course all the skill and armies of Europe. That he was a courageous warrior is unquestionable; but that he was the miraculous Mars of the British history, from whom kings and nations sunk in panic, is completely disproved by the temperate encomiums of his contemporary bards. ONE fact is sufficient to refute all the hyperboles of Jeffry, whose work has made him so extravagantly great. Though Arthur lived and fought, yet the Anglo-Saxons were not driven from the island, but gradually advanced their conquest, with progressive dominion, whether he was alive or whether he was dead. Reflecting on this unquestionable fact, we may hesitate to believe that Arthur was victorious in all his battles 32, because, if he wielded the whole force of Britain, and only fought 30 As "the glory of Britain - the terrifier of the foe- -the molester of the enemy-the great son of Erbin-the strenuous warrior of Dyvnaint." Llywarch, p. 3-7. 31 Myrddin styles him modur tyrfa, king of a multitude. Afall. 1. W. A. 153. 32 Nennius, c. 62., says, this, "in omnibus bellis victor extitit." But the author quoted by Higden, p. 224., says more probably of Cerdic, who often fought with Arthur, "si semel vinceretur, alia vice acrior surrexit ad pugnam." — Gildas, s. 26., implies an alternation of victory previous to the battle of Bath.-The MS. Chron. Divis. cited by Langhorn, 70., affirms it. III. 530. BOOK 530. His death. to conquer, what rescued Cerdic, Ella, the son of Hengist, and the invaders of Essex and East-Anglia from absolute destruction? THE Welsh triads notice many of Arthur's friends and warriors; and mention one stanza as his composition. But this must be mere tradition. ARTHUR perished at last ingloriously, in a civil feud with Medrawd his nephew, who is said to have engrossed the affections of Gwenhyfar, his wife. But as the blow of Arthur on Medrawd is mentioned as one of the most mischievous blows in Britain, this may have been the immediate cause of Medrawd's hostility. THE character of Medrawd has been branded with much reproach by the Welsh, because their favourite Arthur perished in the war which he excited. But there is a triad, which records his gentleness, good nature, and engaging conversation; and declares that it was difficult to deny him any request. He must have been powerfully supported, to have raised an army capable of confronting Arthur in the field. Maelgwn, who reigned in Gwynedd, seems to have been one of Medrawd's allies; for Gildas inculpates him for having destroyed the king his uncle, with his bravest soldiers. 33 Trioedd 29. p. 62. 35 Trioedd 83. p. 18. 36 34 Trioedd 51. p. 13. IIL 542. THE Conflict took place at Camlan, where both CHAP. Arthur and Medrawd fell: Arthur, mortally wounded, was carried out of the field. From the coast of Cornwall he was conveyed into Somersetshire. Sailing along the shore they reached the Uzella, which they ascended, and the king was committed to the care of his friends in Glastonbury 38, but their skill could not avert the fatal hour. concealed. THE death of Arthur was long concealed, and a His death wild tale was diffused among the populace, that he had withdrawn from the world into some magical region; from which at a future crisis he was to reappear, and to lead the Cymry in triumph through the island. Why this fiction was invented, we may now in vain inquire. It could not repress the ambition of the Saxons, because the temporary absence of Arthur was sufficient to favour their wishes; and if his living authority could not prevent British insurrection, was it probable that his residence in another region would avail? Yet Taliesin industriously sang that Morgana promised, if he remained a long time with her, to heal his wounds; and it is notorious that the return of Arthur was a fond hope of the people for many ages. Perhaps it was an illusion devised to avert the popular vengeance from those who, by aiding Medrawd, had contributed to produce the lamented event; or perhaps some, 37 This battle is placed in 542, by the Annals in Wharton's Anglia Sacra, vol. ii. p. 648.; by many authors cited by Usher, Ant. p. 521.; and by Jeffry and the Welch Brut ab Arthur. 38 See Jeffry's curious poem, his best work, MSS. Cott. Lib. Vesp. See also Giraldus Spec. Eccles. dist. ii. c. 9. cited apud Usher, E. 4. p. 523. 39 Matth. Westm., p. 192., declares that the king voluntarily concealed himself while dying, that his enemies might not triumph, nor his friends be molested. III. BOOK affecting to reign in trust for Arthur, conciliated the public prejudice in favour of their government, by thus representing that they governed only for him. 542. His family. His remains dis 1189. Of the family of Arthur we know little. We hear of Noe in Caermarthenshire, reputed to be his son; another son, Llechau, is celebrated as an accomplished warrior. 40 His sister Anna married Llew, brother of the famous Urien, and son of Cynvarch; Medrawd was her son. The marriage of Anna united the kings of the northern Britons in consanguinity with Arthur. 41 BUT though the friends of Arthur concealed the covered in place of his interment, a future age discovered it. In the year 1189, when romance had begun to magnify his fame, his body was diligently sought for in the abbey of Glastonbury. The circumstances attending this search give us the first clear and historical certainty about this celebrated man, and are therefore worth detailing. They have been transmitted to us by Giraldus Cambrensis, who saw both the bones and the inscription, as well as by a monk of the abbey; and the same facts are alluded to by William of Malmsbury, a contemporary, and by others. THE substance of the account of Giraldus is this. 42 Henry the Second, who twice visited Wales, had heard from an ancient British bard, that Arthur was interred at Glastonbury, and that 40 MSS. Vesp. A. 14. p. 57. Trioedd 10. p. 3. 41 See the genealogy in Mr. Owen's Life of Llywarch. 42 This account of Giraldus corresponds with that of the monk of Glastonbury, which Leland has extracted in his Assert. Art. p. 50. ; and Usher in his Antiq. p.117. Malmsbury more briefly alludes to it, De Ant. Glast. |