The following is Davies's translation :— "With solemn festivity round the two lakes; with the lake next my side; with my side moving round the sanctuary; whilst the sanctuary is earnestly invoking the gliding king, before whom the fair one retreats, upon the veil that covers the huge stones, whilst the dragon moves round over the places which contain vessels of drinkoffering; whilst the drink-offering is in the golden horns; whilst the golden horns are in the hand; whilst the hand is upon the knife; whilst the knife is upon the chief victim; sincerely I implore thee, O victorious Beli, son of the sovereign Man-Hogan, that thou wouldest preserve the honours of the HONEY Island of Beli." It must be observed that Dr. Owen Pughe gives a different rendering of the words, and instead of a hymn of adoration or prayer, he gives the piece the character of merely an ode of celebration; but still, in whatever way it may be translated, there is something so mystical in the words, and so little resembling the style of any Christian composition, that we may at least suppose there was a good deal of Druidical superstition remaining at the time of its composition, and also influencing the mind of the author. But as the evidence of these compositions, being of the Druidic period, rests entirely upon their internal character, and as we know of no prose work that is even alleged to be of so ancient a date, we shall leave this division, and proceed to another, where documents exist of a less uncertain description; and, in the meantime, we shall, according to the order already prescribed, review the claims of the other Celtic branches to the possession of the literary remains of this remote period. IRISH LITERATURE.-WELSH LITERATURE. 121 IRISH LITERATURE OF THE Druidic Period. THE Irish, like their neighbours, the Welsh, claim for their = literature a high degree of antiquity, and some antiquarians unhesitatingly produce specimens of Irish composition which they allege to be of the fourth, and even of the third century. Others, more moderate, place these compositions as low down as the fifth or sixth century. After duly weighing the arguments of all parties, the safest conclusion appears to be that which we have adopted with regard to the Welsh remains, and that is, to admit the probability of there being, in the Irish language, certain fragments of a date prior to the sixth century, but that the evidences requisite to prove the fact are so few and unsatisfactory, that until something more decided is produced, this remote antiquity must be abandoned as untenable, and the sixth century taken as that of the commencement of existing Irish literature. WELSH LITERATURE OF THE Second Period. FROM THE SIXTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. POETRY. IN examining the Bardic remains of the Welsh, we cannot fail to notice two different periods of intellectual excitement and poetic cultivation of the language; the one commencing in the sixth century, when the Welsh people were assailed by the Saxon invaders, and the other in the eleventh century, when they sustained a similar assault from the Normans. Each of these two periods may be considered as an Augustan age, and, therefore, these epochs may be taken as the proper divisions of the present investigation. It would be foreign to the subject to enter into an R inquiry respecting the cause of those outbreaks of genius, at those particular periods; whether the people, being roused to action by foreign aggression, were upon each occasion animated by similar sentiments, and gave them utterance by a similar mode of expression: or whether there was, at each of these periods, some general excitement amongst the western nations, which, acting like an epidemic, impelled them to extraordinary exertion of mind and body, I cannot undertake to determine; I will only say that certain phenomena have, from time to time, made their appearance in the moral world which might, with some degree of plausibility, be adduced in support of the latter position. However this may be, the sixth century must be considered, not only as the period at which the earliest authenticated specimens of Welsh composition commence, but also as a time when the fire of poetic genius blazed out with a splendour, equal, if not superior, to that of any subsequent age: for here we find a constellation of Bards shining out all at once, which, from the testimony of succeeding writers, as well as from the specimens of their compositions still extant, were by no means unworthy of the elevated position assigned to them. These Bards were Aneurin, Taliesin, Llywarch Hên, and Myrddin; to which Nennius adds two others, Talhaern and Cian, but of these last no composition is known to be extant. The words of Nennius are these, "Tunc Talhaern Cataguen in poemate claruit et Neirin, et Taliessin, et Bluchbard, et Cian, qui vocatur Guenith Guaut, simul uno tempore in poemate Britanico claruerunt."* To these we may add a few others of minor note, and also some of doubtful date. SIXTH CENTURY. ANEURIN. To Aneurin may not improperly be assigned the first rank amongst the early Bards of the Welsh; and this, not only on account of the genius he evinces, but also of the quantity of matter extant in any single composition: for his celebrated Poem of the Gododin contains upwards of a Stevenson's Nennius. thousand lines; a considerably longer production than has been handed down as the work of any other Bard. This Poem, from the obscurity of its allusions, and the absence of historical documents, has been differently interpreted. According to some, it records a battle fought in the northern portion of the island, and which proved disastrous to the Britons, in consequence of their taking the field in a state of intoxication; whilst the Rev. Edward Davies maintains that it records the massacre of the Britons at Stonehenge, by order of Hengist, at the great national festival. But, whatever the subject of the Gododin may be, the Poem itself has claims upon our notice as possessing very considerable intrinsic merits, some of which even "attracted the lofty muse of GRAY." The piece may be said to be entirely of a Lyric character, the historical facts which are occasionally introduced, being merely alluded to, as matters too familiar and well known to require any further narration or explanation whatever. The Poem opens with a description of a warrior armed and mounted for the field, young, and in the full vigour of life, apparently betrothed, and looking forward to the bridal festival, and he is no sooner thus presented to the reader, than his death and elegy are as transiently touched upon, and the Bard hurries on to other warriors, many of whom are disposed of in a manner equally short and cursory. "Gredyf gwr oed gwas Meirch mwth myngfras Cledyfawr glas glan Ethy aur a phan Ny bi ef a fi Cas y rhof a thi Of manly soul was the youth; Manful was he in battle, A swift thick-maned charger Was under the thigh of the stately youth. A shield light and broad Was on the slender swift flank. A sword blue and bright. Golden spurs and ermine * *Mr. Price's citations are made from the edition of the Gododin published in the Myfyrian Archaiology, 1801. Vol. I. pp. 1-14; and he has generally adopted Mr. Panton's marginal emendations of the text.-EDITOR. It is not by me That hatred shall be shown thee; In poetic eulogy to celebrate thee. Sooner shall the ground be stained with blood, Than thou enjoy the nuptial feast. Sooner shall the ravens have their prey, Than thou again lead on the charge! My beloved companion Euein, Narrow is thy dwelling beneath the stones! [carn] There is sorrow in the land. For the son of Marro slain ! After this short and abrupt opening, the Bard hastens on to another warrior, and, with the subject, also changes the metre. "Caeawc cynhaiawe men y delei, Ny chyliei o gamhawn yn y ferei Waet mal brwyn gomynai gwyr nyt elhei Nys adrawdd Gododin ar lawr mordei Rac pebyll Madawc pan atcorei Namyn un o gant yn y delei." Adorned with his torques, when the chieftain arrived, He would not retire from the combat until he caused Streams of blood; like rushes would he hew down those who would not retreat. Did not the Gododinian relate it, in the land of Mordei, But one out of a hundred came back. The Bard then proceeds with several stanzas, in the same metre, each commencing with the word Caeawc, for instance, The torques-adorned chieftain, the ravager of countries, Like the rushing of the eagle on the sea-beach, when attracted by his prey, &c. Also, The torques-ornamented chieftain of tumult, the wolf of the seamarsh, The twisted amber wreath adorned his brow, &c. After which other headings are introduced to the stanzas, and each is repeated a few times, for instance: The men who went to Gododin, and, The men who went to Cattraeth; the metre continuing the same, but the stanzas varying in length, and the same abrupt Lyric style being maintained throughout, without |