{18c}  Craig Vreiddin, is a high hill in Montgomeryshire.

{18d}  I know not where this country is.

{18e}  Some lines are wanting in the original.

{19a}  Knocking, I suppose, is somewhere near Offa’s ditch.

{19b}  Porth Ysgewin is near Chepstow, in Monmouthshire or
Glamorganshire.

{19c}  Taliesin Ben Beirdd, or the chief of Bards, flourished about the
year 560, or thereabout, under Maelgwn Gwynedd king of Britain, called by
Gildas Maglocunus.  Many of Taliesin’s poems are extant, but on account
of their great antiquity are very obscure, as the work of his
contemporaries are.  There is a great deal of the Druidical Cabbala
intermixed in his works, especially about the transmigration of souls.

{20a}  Rheidol is the name of a large river in Cardiganshire, and
Glasgrug, one of the palaces of the princes of South Wales, is very near
it, about a measured mile from Aberystwith, and at present the property
of the Rev. Mr. William Powel, of Nanteos.

{20b}  Lleision was one of the palaces of the princes of Powys, corruptly
now called Llysin; and the park about it is called Llysin-park, the
patrimony of Lord Powys.

{21a}  The battle of Llwyvein was fought by Urien Reged and his son
Owain, against Ida king of the Northumbrians.  It is celebrated by
Taliesin in a poem, entitled Gwaith Argoed Llwyvein, i.e. the battle of
Argoed Llwyvein.

{21b}  Eurgain, Northop in Flintshire, so called from Eurgain, the
daughter of Maelgwn Gwynedd.

{21c}  Demetia.  This expedition of Llewelyn-ap-Iorwerth was against the
Flemings and Normans, of which there is an account in Powel’s History of
Wales, p. 277, 278.

{22a}  Llan Huadain, the name of a place in Pembrokeshire.

{22b}  Cilgeran, the name of another place in the same county, near the
river Teivi.

{22c}  Llywarch Hen, the son of Elidir Lydanwyn a nobleman of North
Britain, and cousin german to Urien Reged king of Cumbria; he was a great
warrior, and fought successful against the Saxons; but fortune at last
favouring the Saxons, he was obliged in his old age to retire to Wales.
He had twenty-four sons, who wore golden chains, and were all killed in
battles against the Saxons.  Llywarch Hen was a noted Bard, his works are
extant, wherein he celebrates the noble feats of his sons, and bewails
his misfortunes, and the troubles of old age, especially in distress.

{22d}  Tanad is the name of a river in Montgomeryshire, which emptieth
itself into the Severn.

{22e}  Nudd Hael, or the Generous, was a nobleman of North Britain
remarkable for his liberality.

{22f}  Huail was a brother of Gildas, the son of Caw, and a noted
warrior.  His brother Gildas was the author of the Epistle De excidio
Britanniæ.

{22g}  Rhydderch Hael, or the Generous, was another nobleman of the
North, noted for his liberality.

{23a}  Rhun, the son of Maelgwn Gwynedd king of Britain, a great warrior.

{23b}  As an hand, &c., i.e. I am as necessary to him as one of those
members to the body, to celebrate his martial feats.

{23c}  Gwriad is the name of a hero mentioned in the Gododin.

{23d}  Hunydd, the name of a woman, probably the prince’s mistress.  The
Bards had no great affection for Joan the princess, daughter of king
John, because she was an Englishwoman, and not faithful to the prince’s
bed.

{23e}  Arvon, the county of Carnarvon, so called, because situated
opposite to Môn, or Anglesea.  Arvon, literally Supra Monam, from the
particle Ar, super, and Môn, Mona.

{25a}  Owain Gwynedd, prince of North Wales, was descended in a direct
line from Roderic the Great, prince of all Wales, who divided his
principality amongst his three sons.

{25b}  Iwerddon, the British name of Ireland, hence the Hibernia of the
Latins, and Ἱέρνη and Ἱθέρνια of the Greeks, probably called from the
British Y Werdd Ynys, i.e. the Green Island.

{25c}  Lochlynians, the Danes, so called from the Baltic, which our
ancestors called Llychlyn.  Llychlyn is the name of Denmark and Norway,
and all those northern regions mentioned in the works of our bards.

{25d}  Normans.  Moses Williams, in his notes on the Æræ Cambro
Brittanicæ, gives the following account of this battle.

    “Normanni, qui in hoc loco Frainc appellantur, erant copiæ quas
    Henricus Secundus in Monam misit A.D. MCLVII. duce Madoco filio
    Maredudii Powisiæ principe.  Hi ecclesias SS. Mariæ et Petri (ut
    annales nostri referunt) spoliavere.  Istæ vero ecclesiæ in orientali
    Monæ plaga sunt, unde liquet locum Tal Moelvre dictum alicubi in Mona
    esse, fortasse etiam haud procul ab ecclesiis praedictis: omnes vero
    qui navibus egrediebantur a Monæ incolis interfecti sunt.”  Vide
    Annales a Powelo editos, p. 206, 207.

It seems by Gwalchmai’s poem to have been a very large fleet, which came
partly from Ireland, partly from the Baltic, and the rest from Normandy,
to invade the principality.  It is plain that its forces were numerous,
as they came from so many countries; but it seems they met with a very
warm reception from the prince and his sons, and that they were glad to
sail away as soon as possible.

{26a}  Owain Gwynedd had many sons noted for their valour, especially
Howel, who was born of Finnog, an Irish lady.  He was one of his father’s
generals in his wars against the English, Flemings, and Normans, in South
Wales, and was a noted Bard, as several of his poems, now extant,
testify.

{26b}  It seems that the fleet landed in some part of the firth of Menai,
and that it was a kind of a mixed engagement, some fighting on shore,
others from the ships.  And probably the great slaughter was owing to its
being low water, and that they could not set sail: otherwise I see no
reason why, when they were worsted on land, they should continue the
fight in their ships.  It is very plain that they were in great distress,
and that there was a great havoc made of them, as appears from the
remainder of this very spirited poem.

{27a}  Who this lady was is not known at present.

{27b}  What country this is I cannot recollect.

{27c}  Teivi, the name of a large river in Cardiganshire.

{27d}  Elivri, the name of a woman; but who she was, or when she lived,
is not clear.

{27e}  Cadvan is the saint of Towyn Meirionydd.

{27f}  Dysynni is the name of a river that runs by Towyn.

{28a}  I cannot recollect at present who this person is, nor the occasion
of his grief, though it is mentioned in some of our manuscripts.

{28b}  Eryri, Snowdon, called Creigiau Eryri and Mynydd Eryri, i.e. the
rocks and mountains of snow, from Eiry, which signifies snow.  As
Niphates, the name of a mountain, from a word of the same signification
in Greek.

{28c}  Dewi, St. David, a bishop in the time of king Arthur, and the
patron saint of Wales.

{30a}  Iorwerth, surnamed Drwyndwn, or with the broken nose, the father
of Llewelyn, was the eldest son of Owain Gwynedd, but was not suffered to
enjoy his right on account of that blemish.

{30b}  Owain Gwynedd, prince of North Wales.

{30c}  Llewelyn was the lawful heir of the principality of North Wales,
in right of his father Iorwerth, and accordingly put in his claim for it,
and got it from his uncles David and Rodri, when he was very young.

{30d}  David, the son of Owain Gwynedd, who succeeded his father as
prince of Wales.

{30e}  This battle is not mentioned by any of our historians.  The
description is very animated in the original, and very expressive of such
a scene.  It was fought near Porth Aethwy.  The steeds of the main is a
poetical expression for ships.

{31a}  Alun, the name of a river in Flintshire, where there was a battle
fought by Llewelyn against the English.

{31b}  Caeawg Cynnorawg is the name of a hero celebrated by Aneurin
Gwawdrydd in the Gododin.

{31c}  Deudraeth Dryfan is the name of some place near the sea.  There
are many places in Wales called Deudraeth; but where this in particular
is situated I cannot guess.

{31d}  Ogrfan Gawr, an ancient British prince, cotemporary with king
Aurthur.

{32a}  Camlan, the name of a place somewhere in Cornwall, where the
decisive battle between king Arthur, and his treacherous nephew Medrod
happened, who had usurped the sovereignty while he was absent on a
foreign expedition.  King Arthur, according to our ancient historians,
slew Medrod with his own hand; but received his death-wound himself, and
retired to Ynys Afallon or Glastenbury, where he soon afterwards died.
His death was politically concealed, lest it should dispirit the Britons.
Hence arose so many fabulous stories about it.

{32b}  Cadwallon, the son of Cadfan, is that victorious king of Britain,
who was a terrible scourge to the Saxons.  Beda, in his ecclesiastical
history, calls him tyrannum sævientem, an outrageous tyrant.

{32c}  Caer Lleon, Chester, so called, as our historians relate, from
Lleon Gawr, or king Lleon, and not from Castra legionum, as modern
writers will have it.  Cawr anciently signified a king, as Benlli Gawr,
is called by Nennius, cap. 30, Rex Benlli; but now it signifies a giant,
or a man of an extraordinary strength and stature.  It is not improbable
but that the Ancient Britons chose such for their kings.

{33a}  Gwyddgrug, Mold, in Flintshire, so called from Gwydd, high, and
Crug, a hill.  Mold is a corruption of Mons altus.

{33b}  Elsmere, the name of a town in Shropshire.

{33c}  Mochnant is a part of Powys.

{33d}  Argoedwys, the men of Powys, from Ar, above, Coed, wood.  The
Powysians are called by Llywarch Hen, gwyr Argoed.  As, “Gwyr Argoed
erioed a’m porthant,” i.e. I was ever maintained by the men of Argoed.

{33e}  The princes of Powys adhered to the kings of England, and the
lords Marchers, against their natural Prince, to whom they were to pay
homage and obedience, according to the division made by Rhodri Mawr, as
appears from the Welsh History.

{34a}  Coed Aneu, the name of a place near Llanerchymedd, in Anglesea.

{34b}  Dygen Ddyfnant, another place whose situation I am ignorant of,
where another battle was fought.

{34c}  Bryn yr Erw, another place unknown.

{34d}  Celyddon, the British name of that part of North Britain, called
Caledonia by the Romans.

{34e}  Dinbych, Denbigh.

{34f}  Foelas, or Y Foel las, i.e. the green summit, which is the name of
a place in Denbighshire, where there is an old fort, now in the
possession of Watkyn Wynn, Esq., colonel of the Denbighshire militia,
whose seat is near it.

{34g}  Gronant, the name of a fort or castle in Flintshire.

{34h}  Dinas Emreis or Emrys, the name of a place in Snowdon, near Bedd
Gelert, where Gwrtheyrn, or Vortigern, attempted to build a castle.

{34i}  Morgant, the name of one of Llewelyn’s generals.

{35a}  Mechain, a part of Powys.

{35b}  Caer Liwelydd, Carlisle.

{36a}  Arllechwedd, a part of Carnarvonshire.

{36b}  Cemmaes, the name of several places is Wales.  The Bard means here
a cantred of that name in Anglesea.

{37a}  Tyganwy, the name of an old castle near the mouth of the river
Conway to the east; it was formerly one of the royal palaces of Maelgwn
Gwyneld, king of Britain, and was, as our annals relate, burnt by
lightning, ann. 811, but was afterwards rebuilt, and won by the Earls of
Chester, who held it for a considerable time, but was at last retaken by
the princes of North Wales.

{37b}  Arfon, the country now called Carnarvonshire.

{37c}  Beli.  This was probably Beli Mawr, to whom our Bards generally
trace the pedigree of great men.

{37d}  Eryri, Snowdon, which some suppose derived from mynydd eryrod, the
hill of eagles, but more probably from mynydd yr eiry, the hill of snow.
Snowdon, in English, signifies literally the hill of snow, from Snow and
Down, that being still a common name for a hill in England, as Barham
Downs, Oxford Downs, Burford Downs, &c.

{37e}  Greidiawl, the name of a hero mentioned by Aneurin Gwawdrydd in
his Gododin.

{37f}  Teivi, the name of a large river in Cardiganshire.

{38a}  Bryneich, the men of Bernicia, a province of the Old Saxons in the
North of England.  The inhabitants of Deira and Bernicia are called by
our ancient historians, Gwyr Deifr a Bryneich.

{38b}  It was the policy of the British princes to make the Bards
foretell their success in war, in order to spirit up their people to
brave actions.  Upon which account the vulgar supposed them to be real
prophets.  Hence the great veneration they had for the prophetical Bards,
Myrddin Emrys, Taliesin, and Myrddin Wyllt.  This accounts for what the
English writers say of the Welsh relying so much upon the prophecies of
Myrddin.  There are many of these pretended prophecies still extant.  The
custom of prophecying did not cease till Henry the Seventh’s time, and
the reason is obvious.

{38c}  Pwlffordd, is the name of a place in Shropshire.  There is a
bridge of that name still in that county.

{38d}  Cydweli, the name of a town, and Comot, in Carmarthenshire.

{39a}  Cefn Gelorwydd, is the name of some mountain, but where it is
situated I know not.

{39b}  Arderydd, is the name of a place somewhere in Scotland; perhaps,
Atterith, about six miles from Solway Frith.  This battle is mentioned in
the Triads, and was fought by Gwenddolau ap Ceidiaw and Aeddan Fradawg,
petty princes of the North, against Rhydderch Hael, king of Cumbria, who
got the battle.  Myrddin Wyllt, or Merlin, the Caledonian, was severely
handled by Rhydderch Hael, for siding with Gwenddolau, his patron, which
he complains of in his poem entitled Afallenau, or Apple-trees.

{39c}  Eiddionydd, now Eifionydd, the name of a Comot, or district, in
Carnarvonshire.

{39d}  Drws Daufynydd, is the name of a pass between two hills, but where
it lies I know not.  Drws Daufynydd signifies, literally, the door of the
two hills.  There are many passes in Wales denominated from Drws, as Drws
Ardudwy, Drws y Coed, Bwlch Oerddrws, &c.

{39e}  Aberffraw, the name of the prince’s chief palace in Anglesea.

{40a}  Dinefwr, the name of the prince of South Wales’s palace,
pleasantly situated upon a hill above the river Towy, in Carmarthenshire,
now in the possession of George Rice, of Newton, Esquire, member of
parliament for that county.

{40b}  Mathrafal, the seat of the prince of Powys, not far from Pool, in
Montgomeryshire, now in the possession of the earl of Powys.

{40c}  Rhos and Penfro, the names of two Cantreds in Pembrokeshire.

{41}  Fflamddwyn, the name of a Saxon prince, against whom Urien, king of
Cumbria, and his son Owain, fought the battle of Argoed Llwyfein.

{46a}  Nudd Hael, or the Generous, one of the three liberal heroes of
Britain mentioned in the Triads, and celebrated by Taliesin.

{46b}  Griffydd Llwyd, the hero of the poem, was the son of Rhys, son of
Griffydd, the son of the famous Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal to Llewelyn the
great, and a brave warrior.  Edward Philipp Pugh, Esq., of Coetmor, in
Carnarvonshire, is a descendant in a direct line from Ednyfed Fychan, and
has in his custody a grant from prince Llewelyn the Great of some lands
in Creuddyn given to the said Ednyfed, and his posterity, with the
prince’s seal in green wax affixed to it.  To this worthy gentleman, and
his lady, I am much obliged for their civility when I lived in those
parts.—The royal family of the Tudors are likewise descended from Ednyfed
Fychan, as appears by a commission that was sent to the Bards and Heralds
of Wales, to enquire into the pedigree of Owain Tudor, king Henry the
Seventh’s grandfather.

{46c}  The land of the Angles, i.e., England.

{47a}  Gwynedd, the name of the country, called by the Romans Venedotia,
but by the English North Wales.

{47b}  Urien Reged, a famous king of Cumbria, who fought valiantly with
the Saxons, whose brave actions are celebrated by Taliesin and Llywarch
Hen.  He is mentioned by Nennius, the ancient British historian, who
wrote about A.D. 858.  This writer is terribly mangled by his editors,
both at home and abroad, from their not being versed in the British
language.  I have collected some manuscripts of his history, but cannot
meet a genuine one without the interpolations of Samuel Beulan, otherwise
I would publish it.  I have in my possession many notes upon this author,
collected from ancient British manuscripts, as well as English writers,
who have treated of our affairs.  This I have been enabled to do, chiefly
by having access to the curious library at Llannerch, by the kind
permission of the late Robert Davies, Esquire, and since by his worthy
son, John Davies, Esquire, which I take this opportunity gratefully to
acknowledge.

{47c}  Cywryd.  This Bard is not mentioned either by Mr. Davies or Mr.
Edward Llwyd, in their catalogues of British writers.  It seems he
flourished in the sixth century, as did all the ancient British Bards we
have now extant.  Here let me obviate what may be objected to me as
mentioning so many facts, and persons who lived in the sixth century,
within the course of this performance.  It was the last period our kings
fought with any success against the Saxons, and it was natural,
therefore, for the Bards of those times, to record such gallant acts of
their princes, and for their successors to transmit them to posterity.
Every person, though but slightly versed in the British history of that
time, knows that Cadwaladr was the last king of Britain.  Since his time
there are no works of the Bards extant till after the conquest, as I have
shewed in my Dissertatio de Bardis.

{47d}  Dunawd, the son of Pabo Post Prydain, one of the heroes of the
sixth century, who fought valiantly with the Saxons.

{48a}  Afan Ferddig, was the Bard of the famous Cadwallon, son of Cadfan
king of Britain.  I have got a fragment of a poem of his composition on
the death of his patron Cadwallon; and as far as I understand it, it is a
noble piece, but very obscure on account of its great antiquity; as are
the works of all the Bards who wrote about this time.  It is as difficult
a task, for a modern Welshman to endeavour to understand those venerable
remains, as for a young scholar just entered upon the study of the Greek
language to attack Lycophron or Pindar, without the help of a dictionary
or scholiast.  How Mr. Macpherson has been able to translate the Erse
used in the time of Ossian, who lived a whole century at least before the
earliest British Bard now extant, I cannot comprehend.  I wish some of
those that are well versed in the Erse or Irish language, would be so
kind to the public, as to clear these matters; for I can hardly believe
that the Erse language hath been better preserved than the British.

{48b}  Cadwallon, the son of Cadfan, the most victorious king of Britain,
fought many battles with the Saxons; and, among the rest, that celebrated
one of Meugen, in which he slew Edward king of Mercia, where the men of
Powys behaved themselves with distinguished bravery; and had from thence
several privileges granted them by that brave prince.  These privileges
are mentioned by Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, a Powysian Bard, in a poem
entitled “Breintiau Gwyr Powys,” or the Privileges of the men of Powys,
which is in my custody.

{48c}  Môn, the Mona of the Latins, called by the English Anglesea, in
which, at a place called Aberffraw, was the palace of the princes of
North Wales.  The Bard seems here to hint at the loss of
Llewelyn-ap-Griffydd, the last prince of Wales of the British line.

{48d}  Arfon, the country now called Carnarvonshire.

{48e}  Rheon, the name of a river in Carnarvonshire, often mentioned by
the Bards; but it must have altered its name since, for I do not
recollect any such river which bears that name at present.

{60a}  P. 213.  H. Steph. Edit. 1559.

{60b}  P. 246. D.

{61}  Footnote mark in book, but no corresponding footnote, unless it’s a
mix-up with the one on page 60.—DP.

{66}  Fortasse, “Vindictam in Deirorum populum,” &c.

{68}  Quid sibi vult hic Bardus non mihi constat.

{69}  Sc. cruore fuso.

{73}  “Qui Harpatorem in manum percusserit, componat ilium quarts parte
majori compositione quam alteri ejusdem conditionis homini.”  Inter Legg.
Ripuariorum et Wesinorum a Lindenbrochio collectas—Unde patet quanto in
honore apud exteros etiam Bardus et Harpator (idem enim pleruuque fuit
munus) habitus esset.  Præter harpam aliud instrumenti genus sibi
peculiare Norwallenses vindicant, quod _Crwth_ vocant—Hinc verbum
Anglicum _Crowdero_ apud Hudibrastum pro _Fiddler_, _or Player upon the
Violin_, ad quod _Crwth_ principium dedisse videtur.  Hoc instrumenti
genus ferè in desuetudinem abiit, et _violino_ cessit.—Ex sex chordis
felinis constat, nec eodem modo quo _violinum_ modulatur, quamvis a
figurâ haud multùm abludat: in Sudwalliâ peintus ignoratur:

    “Romanusque Lyrâ plaudat tibi, Barbarus Harpâ,
    Græcus Achilliaca, _Crotta Britanna_ canat.”

                                              VENANTIUS.  Lib. 7. Carm. 8.

{74}  Vid. PRYNNE’S Coll. of Records, Vol. III. p. 1214.

{77}  _Dygen Freiddin_, hodie _Craig Freiddin_, est rupes alta et
prærupta in agr.  _Salopiensi_, non procul a _Sabrina_.

{79}  Quaenam sit hæc avis mihi non constat.

{80}  Potûs genus apud veteres Britannos.