of nonsense, have no difficulty in producing a translation which amply bears out that character.

The work of the editor must, however, precede that of the critic. An essential preliminary is to give the text of these poems in the oldest form in which it is to be found, and in the precise orthography of the oldest MSS., and to present a translation which shall give as accurate and faithful a representation of the meaning of the poems as is now possible as the basis of the work of the critic. The object of the present work is to accomplish this. The contents of the four MSS., here called the Four Ancient Books of Wales, are printed as accurately as possible,-those of the first three completely, and as much of the last as contains any of these poems. It is in these four MSS. that the oldest known texts are to be found; and in order to secure a faithful and impartial translation, I resolved, in order to avoid any risk of its being coloured by my own views, to refrain from attempting the translation myself, and to obtain it, if possible, from the most eminent living Welsh scholars. With this view, I applied to the Reverend· D. Silvan Evans of Llanymawddwy, the author of the English and Welsh Dictionary and other works, and the Reverend Robert Williams of Rhydycroesau, author of the Biography of Eminent Welshmen and the Cornish Dictionary, both distinguished Welsh scholars, who most kindly acceded to my request. Mr. Evans has translated for me the poems in the Black Book of Caermarthen, the Book of Aneurin, and the Red Book

But while these

of Hergest, and accompanied them with valuable notes. Mr. Williams has translated for me the poems in the Book of Taliessin; and I beg to record my sense of the deep obligation under which they have laid me by the valuable assistance thus afforded. eminent scholars are so far answerable for the translations, it is due to them to add that they are not responsible for any opinions expressed in this work except those contained in their own notes; and that, by permitting their names to be connected with this work, they must not be held as sanctioning the views entertained by myself, and to which I have given expression in the following chapters, or in the notes I have added.*

* The Welsh text has been printed for some years. It was put in type as 300n as the collation of the manuscript copy of the poems with the original MSS. was completed, and again collated in proof, and then thrown off, in order to facilitate the work of translation. The only request made to the translators was to make their version as literal and accurate as possible, even though the meaning might be obscured thereby; and the care and time requisite to prepare such a translation deliberately has delayed the appearance of the work since then. While engaged in the preliminary investigations, I from time to time communicated fragments of what was intended to appear in the Introduction and Notes in occasional papers to the Archæologia Cambrensis.

CHAPTER II.

THE LITERATURE OF WALES SUBSEQUENT TO THE
TWELFTH CENTURY.

PRIOR to the twelfth century there are not many
poems which claim to belong to the literature of that how should
period, besides those attributed to Taliessin, Aneurin,
Llywarch Hen, and Myrddin. The Black Book of Caer-
marthen contains a few attributed to Cuhelyn, Elaeth,
and Meigant; and the Red Book of Hergest, one to
Tyssilio, son of Brochwael Yscythrog; but the number
of such poems is so small, that, if the poems attributed
to the bards of the sixth century really belong to that
period, there is an interval of several centuries, during
which such a literature either never existed or has
perished, till the twelfth century, from which period a
mass of poetic literature existed in Wales, and has been
preserved to us. Of the genuine character of that
poetry there seems to be no doubt.

In order, then, to estimate rightly the place which the poems attributed to the bards of the sixth century ought truly to occupy in the literature of Wales, it will be necessary to form a just conception of the character of her later literature subsequent to the twelfth century, as well as to grasp the leading facts of her

history during the previous centuries in their true aspect.

In the eleventh century two events happened which seem to have had a material influence on the literature of Wales. The one was the return of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the true heir to the throne of South Wales, in 1077, and the other was the landing of Gruffyd ap Cynan, the true heir to the throne of North Wales, in 1080.

On the death of Edwal, the last of the direct line of the Welsh kings, in 994, leaving an only son in minority; and of Meredith, Prince of South Wales, in 994, leaving an only daughter, the government of both provinces of Wales fell into the hands of usurpers. Cynan, who represented the North Wales line, fled to Ireland in 1041, where he married a daughter of the Danish king of Dublin, and after two fruitless attempts to recover his inheritance by the assistance of the Irish, died in Ireland, leaving a son Gruffyd. Rhys ap Tewdwr, the representative of the South Wales line, took refuge in Armorica, whence he returned in 1077; and, laying claim to the throne of South Wales, was unanimously elected by the people.. Gruffyd ap Cynan invaded Anglesea with a body of troops obtained in Ireland, and having been joined by Rhys ap Tewdwr, their combined forces defeated the army of Trahacarn, then King of Wales, their opponent, at the battle of Carno in 1080, where that prince was slain, and Rhys ap Tewdwr and Gruffyd ap Cynan were confirmed on the thrones of their ancestors.

The return of these two princes to Wales-the one

from Ireland, where he had been born and must have been familiar with the Irish school of poetry, and the other from Armorica, where he probably became acquainted with Armoric traditions, created a new era in Welsh literature, and a great outburst of literary energy took place, which in North Wales manifested itself in a very remarkable revival of poetry, while in South Wales it took more the shape of prose literature. Between 1080 and 1400, Stephens enumerates no fewer than seventy-nine bards, many of whose works are preserved, and the Red Book of Hergest, concludes with a body of poetry transcribed apparently by Lewis Glyn Cothi, and attributed to bards, forty-five in number, who lived in a period ranging from 1100 to 1450. One of the earliest of these bards was Cynddelw, commonly called Prydydd Mawr, or the great bard. He was bard to Madog ap Meredyth, Prince of Powis, who died in 1159, and two elegies on his death, by Cynddelw, are contained in the Black Book of Caermarthen. There is every reason to believe that the latter part at least of this MS. was transcribed by him.

The influence produced upon Welsh literature by the return of Rhys ap Tewdwr to South Wales was of a different description; and it is probably from this period that the introduction into Wales of Armoric traditions may be dated. The appearance of the History of the Britons, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, was the first open manifestation of it. This work, which is written in Latin, at once attained great popularity,

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