NOTES TO GERAINT THE SON OF ERBIN.

EASTER-CHRISTMAS-WHITSUNTIDE.-PAGE 67.

RITSON, in a note to his "Metrical Romancëes," mentions, that our early historians, as Roger Hoveden, Matthew Paris, &c. often advert to the custom of the ancient monarchs of France and England, of holding a cour pleniere, or plenary court, at the three principal feasts of Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas. On those occasions "they were attended by the earls and barons of the kingdom, their ladys, and children; who dine'd at the royal table with great pomp and eclat; minstrels flocking thither from all parts; justs and tournaments being perform'd, and various other kinds of divertisements, which lasted several days."-III. 235.

These three principal festivals, or prifwyl, "Pasc, Nadolic, a Sulgwyn," are commemorated as such in one of the Triads, lvii.

CHURCHES WERE SET APART FOR MASS.-PAGE 68.

In another part of this work, the word Offeren is rendered offering; but here it has been thought advisable to use the more general term Mass, although the former seems to correspond best with the language of the day.

Thus Chaucer, in his description of the Wif of Bathe, tells us, that

"In all the parish wif ne was ther non,
That to the offring before hire shulde gon,
And if ther did, certain so wroth was she,
That she was out of alle charitee."

Pro. v. 451-4.

STEWARD OF THE HOUSEHOLD.-PAGE 68.

He was the chief of all the officers of the Court, who had each to pay him a fee of twenty-four pence upon their installation. On him devolved the important care of providing food for the kitchen, and liquor for the mead-cellar; and he had the charge of the king's share of booty, until the king desired to dispose of it, when he was allowed to chuse from it a steer, as his own share. It was his particular duty "to swear for the king." Besides his clothes, and four horse shoes, and various perquisites of the skins of beasts, he was entitled to a "male hawk, from the master of the hawks, every feast of St. Michael."-Welsh Laws.

MASTER OF THE HOUSEHOLD.-PAGE 68.

THE post of Master of the Household was one of much honour and distinction; and in the Laws of Howel Dda, it is ordained that it should be filled by the king's son or nephew, or one of dignity sufficient for so high a situation. Gwalchmai was therefore peculiarly eligible to it from the relation in which he stood to King Arthur.

The privileges attached to this office were important, while its duties do not appear to have been of a very arduous nature; one of them consisted in giving the harp into the hands of the domestic bard, at the three great festivals.

The Master of the Household had the largest and most central house in the town for his lodging. He was entitled to the second most honourable dish in the Court, and to be served first after the king; and his allowance was three dishes and three hornfuls of the best liquor in the Court. Besides other perquisites, some of which were in money, he claimed his clothes at the three great festivals, and also his horses, his dogs, his hawks, and his arms, from the king; and from the smith of the Court he had four horse shoes once a year, with their complement of nails.

GRYNN, AND PEN PIGHON, &c.-PAGE 68.

THESE personages appear to have received their names altogether from the office which they held; and we cannot expect to find any very

authentic records concerning "Sight the son of Seer," and "Ear the son of Hearer," which is the interpretation of Drem vab Dremhitid, and Clust vab Clustveinyd.

To these two worthies, however, the following allusion is made in a composition attributed to Iolo Goch, 1400.

"When will that be?

"When Bleuddyn Rabi Rhol is as quick sighted as Tremydd ap Tremhidydd, the man who could discern a mote in the sunbeam, in the four corners of the world.

"When the ears of deaf Deicin Fongam of Machynlleth are as good as those of Clustfain ap Clustfeinydd, the man who could hear the sound of the dewdrop in June falling from the grass stalk, in the four corners of the world."

It may be well to remark in this place, that several of the characters which are incidentally introduced in Geraint ab Erbin, appear again in others of the Mabinogion, where they will be more particularly noticed.

DIAPERED SATIN.-PAGE 69.

I HAVE ventured thus to translate the words "Pali caerawg," though the strict meaning of "caerawg" is "mural;" and Dr. O. Pughe, in his Dictionary, gives it the signification of "kersey-woven," as applied to a particular kind of cloth, and says that the epithet is derived "from the similitude of its texture to the work in stone walls." In speaking of satin, it seemed, however, more appropriate to use the term diapered, which Warton, who has a long note upon the subject, (Eng. Poe. II. 9, 1824,) believes, properly, to signify "embroidering on a rich ground, as tissue, cloth of gold," &c. Thus, in the Squire of Low Degree, the King of Hungary promises his daughter "clothes of fyne golde" for her head.

"With damaske whyte and asure blewe
Well dyaperd with lyllyes newe."

THE history of the Forest of Dean is much too interesting and important to be compressed within the limits of a note; the very derivation of its name having alone afforded materials for very lengthened discussion. Many suppose that it was so called in consequence of the Danes having taken up their residence there; aud Giraldus Cambrensis appears to have inclined to this opinion, at least if we may judge from the name by which he designates it, Danubiæ Sylva, and which is similar to that used by Asser Menevensis, in speaking of Denmark.* It argues, however, greatly against this etymology, that Dean was a common name in forests among the Celts, both of Britain and Gaul. Besides Ardennes in France, and Arden in Warwickshire, many forest towns still bear the appellation, as Dean in Rockingham Forest, Dean in the New Forest, &c. From this circumstance, it has occured to me, that the name was very probably derived from the Welsh or Celtic word DIN, which signifies "a fortified mount, or fort. For Sharon Turner informs us, on the authority of Cæsar, Strabo, and Diodorus Siculus, that the Britons "cleared a space in the wood, on which they built their huts and folded their cattle; and they fenced the avenues by ditches and barriers of trees. Such a collection of houses formed one of their towns." Ang. Sax. B. I. c. v. Din is the root of Dinas, the Welsh word in actual use for a City.

The Rev. T. Price, in his History of Wales, gives it as his opinion, that the Forest of Dean was the original Feryllwg, or land betwixt the Wye and the Severn, which at one time formed a part of one of the five divisions of Wales. The name of Feryllwg, corrupted into Ferleg and Ferreg, he supposes to have been given to this district from the iron works, with which it abounded. The word Feryll,

* Asser Menevensis speaks of a great fleet of Pagans coming to Britain, "de Danubio." Annales, de rebus gestis Ælfredi.

signifying "a worker in metal." It appears also to have been considered as one of the three Gwents, and to have borne the appellation of "Gwent Coch yn y Dena," or the Red Gwent in the Deans, for which epithet it is most likely indebted to the colour of its ferruginous soil.

In the time of Giraldus Cambrensis, this district "amply supplied Gloucester with iron and venison." The renowned Spanish Armada was strictly charged to destroy its noble oaks, which were then considered of the highest importance to our naval pre-eminence.

I will not here enter into detail upon the Mining history of the Forest of Dean, as I shall, probably, have occasion again to allude to it. It is said that the peculiar and extensive mining privileges of its inhabitants were confirmed to them by the grant of one of our Sovereigns, in acknowledgement for the good service done him by its archers against the Scots; for, like most foresters, they were skilful bowmen. The Yew tree, sacred to archers, which is still seen to mark the site of almost every ancient mine in the forest, might seem to have a fanciful allusion to the nature of the grant, and a lingering desire to perpetuate the recollection of its origin.

CHIEF HUNTSMAN.-PAGE 70.

IN the Laws of Howel Dda, this important personage ranks as the tenth officer of the Court, and his duties and immunities are very clearly defined. From Christmas to February he was to be with the king when required, and took the seat appointed for him in the palace, which was "about the recess with the domestic chaplain." After the eighth of February, he was to go with his dogs, his horns, and his greyhounds, to hunt the young stags until the feast of St. John, which is in the middle of Summer; and during that time he was not bound to make compensation (that is, in a Court of Law) to any one who had a claim upon him, except it were one of his fellow officers. He was to hunt deer from the feast of St. John till the ninth day of Winter; and unless he could be taken before he had risen from his bed, and put on his boots, he was not obliged to render compensation to any who had a claim upon him during all that period. From the ninth day of Winter to the first of December, he went to hunt badgers, and was not accountable for his conduct to any except his