THE WELSH BARDS
The authors to whom the oldest Welsh poems are attributed are
Aneurin, who is supposed to have lived A.D. 500 to 550, and
Taliesin, Llywarch Hen (Llywarch the Aged), and Myrddin or Merlin,
who were a few years later. The authenticity of the poems which
bear their names has been assailed, and it is still an open
question how many and which of them are authentic, though it is
hardly to be doubted that some are so. The poem of Aneurin
entitled the "Gododin" bears very strong marks of authenticity.
Aneurin was one of the Northern Britons of Strath-Clyde, who have
left to that part of the district they inhabited the name of
Cumberland, or Land of the Cymri. In this poem he laments the
defeat of his countrymen by the Saxons at the battle of Cattraeth,
in consequence of having partaken too freely of the mead before
joining in combat. The bard himself and two of his fellow-warriors
were all who escaped from the field. A portion of this poem has
been translated by Gray, of which the following is an extract:
"To Cattraeth's vale, in glittering row,
Twice two hundred warriors go;
Every warrior's manly neck
Chains of regal honor deck,
Wreathed in many a golden link;
From the golden cup they drink
Nectar that the bees produce,
Or the grape's exalted juice.
Flushed with mirth and hope they burn,
But none to Cattraeth's vale return,
Save Aeron brave, and Conan strong,
Bursting through the bloody throng,
And I, the meanest of them all,
That live to weep, and sing their fall.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251