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MEMOIRS OF OWAIN GLYNDWR *.

WE hail with pleasure the appearance of this work, for although its title is as clumsily constructed, and its contents as awkwardly arranged, as it is possible for them to be, still we are inclined to look upon it as an introduction to better things on the part of the Welsh Literati. Of matters of literature, the Welsh have been hitherto lamentably neglectful; and we cannot censure, in terms too peremptory and severe, the very culpable and discouraging inattention which characterises their conduct in this respect. Nobody can admire more than we do the general character of the Cambro-British it is replete with loyalty, generosity, frank and open-hearted hospitality; but the exercise of these good qualities does not extend either to the fostering of living talent, or to the rescuing from oblivion the genius of past ages. It is to the Welsh gentleman-we speak in general terms-a matter of very small moment whether his country becomes celebrated for the production of learned men ; at all events, he does not deem it requisite to make the smallest exertion in furtherance of such an object; forit is sad to say--he possesses none of that intellectual ambition which is at once such an ornament to the possessor, and so extensive a source of

utility to mankind in general. He is sufficiently contented and happy in the enjoyment of the more humble and tangible pleasures of a country life, and delights to mingle with those individuals whose habits and inclinations are similar to his own. To his dull and clouded perception, the labours of the learned can be attended with no earthly advantage. Nay, we know of more than one instance, wherein the productions of highly-gifted individuals have been treated with ridicule, because they were unintelligible; and considered puerile, because they were unprofitable.

But this indolent carelessness is by no means a virtue; nor must it be accounted one of the blessings of a pastoral life. Wales is a secluded, but not an uncivilized country; and this inattention to the benefits of learning is a disgraceful, if not a dangerous evil. It was, in fact, this discouraging apathy which nipped in the bud the expanding genius of a Goronwy Owen, which chilled the glowing spirit of an Evan Evans, and which permitted that noble monument of Cymric literature-the Archaiology of Wales-to be collected and printed at the sole expence of Owen Jones, "the Thames-Street furrier t."

Memoirs of Owen Glendower, (Owain Glyndwr,) with a Sketch of the History of the Ancient Britons, from the Conquest of Wales, by Edward the First, to the present time; illustrated with various Notes, Genealogical and Topographical. By the Rev. Thomas Thomas, Rector of Abesporth, Perpetual Curate of Llanddewi Aberarth, and Author of the St. David's Prize Essay for 1810, on the Study of the Hebrew Language. Haverfordwest. 1822. 8vo. pp. 240.

+ In a spirited Letter now before us, addressed, by the Editor of the Cambro-Briton, (on the demise of his work, for want of due encouragement,) to the Editor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle, a large portion of this reprehensible heedlessness is attributed to the withering influence of Sectarianism. "It may now be worth while," says the writer, "shortly to advert to the actual indifference with which (notwithstanding all that has been pretended to the contrary) the Welsh regard the cause of their national literature; of that literature, I mean, in its highest and most interesting associations, as exhibiting, to our view, the fast-fleeting traces of all that was anciently of worth in the genius, in the exploits, and in the character of the Cymry. I have already incidentally attributed this indifference to natural causes; and, as far as national habits and prejudices become a second nature, I have been right;-for it is too probable that the apathy in question has its root in those peculiar religious propensities to which Wales has, for a long series of years, been proverbially subject, and which have established their exclusive dominion over the mind, at the expence of those more unconstrained feelings which belong to the cultivation of refined literature and of general science. Hence, as a natural consequence, a taste for the litera humaniores-for the more polished learning of the world-has been too often obscured by the gloom of fanaticism,

But while Welshmen, in general, are thus inattentive to the interests and encouragement of literature, there are a few spirited individuals whose utmost efforts have been exerted to counteract the effects of this reproachful indifference; and these are the patriotic members of the different societies, which have been established by Welshmen for the purpose of rescuing their country from the disgraceful gloom in which it has hitherto been shrouded. Of these societies, the principal are the Gwyneddigion, or North Walesinen; and the Cymmrodorion, or Fellowcountrymen each being particularly devoted to the purpose above mentioned. The first of these institutions was founded in the year 1771, by Owen Jones, the collector of the Archaiology, whose whole life was dedicated to the preservation of the literary treasures of his country. This excellent man, with a perseverance as ardent as it was inflexible, employed his time and his purse in the collection of all the ancient manuscripts relating to the history, poetry, and antiquities of Wales; and, in addition to those of which the Archaiology consists, he succeeded in obtaining nearly one hundred quarto volumes of Welsh poetry, which have been lately purchased by the Cymmrodorion Society. There is one event relating to the beneficence of this generous Welshman, which cannot be too highly estimated. A few years after the establish ment of the Gwyneddigion Society, the author of a celebrated Welsh Essay, to which one of the Society's prizes had been awarded, attracted, in consequence, the notice of its liberal founder. A correspondence between them was the result, in the

course of which this Welsh Mecenas urged his new friend to give his talents the benefit of an academical education, using, in his letter on the occasion, these characteristic words: "I will bear your expences: draw upon me for any sum of money you may be in need of whilst at College. And the condition of the obligation is this: that if, by any reverse of fortune, I should become poor, and you in a state of affluence, then you must maintain me." No stronger proof of his generosity can be required. It is proper to add, however, that the gentleman here alluded to was only once under the necessity of trespassing on his patron's munificence, and he then found him true to his benevolent promise; yet it takes nothing from the merit of his intention that it was not more fully executed. It should also be remembered, that, by his judicious discernment in this instance, and by his encouraging instigation, he was the means of bringing into public notice an individual, moving in the lowest ranks of life, who has since proved himself a distinguished proficient in the national literature of his country".

The Cymmrodorion Society-of which, we are happy to observe, Sir Walter Scott and Mr Southey are honorary members--has been estab lished little more than two years t. It was founded by some of the leading members of the Gwyneddigion, and is more likely to prove beneficial to the literary interests of the Principality than any other Society with which we are acquainted. Its avowed object is, "to preserve and illustrate the remains of ancient British literature, and to promote its future cultivation by every means in its power." If the members will be

or lost in the baneful vortex of theological controversy. I do not state this, however, as a universal position; but that it is the general case, every man of candour will grant. Even with those of the most liberal attainments, whatever knowledge they possess of the Welsh tongue, is, in most cases, devoted rather to the objects I have briefly alluded to, than to the more classical purpose of illustrating those valuable treasures which antiquity has to reveal. Whatever be the grounds upon which this peculiarity, in the character of the Welsh, is to be defended, it is no less true, that it is the main cause of their general disrelish for those literary pursuits in which other nations are known to exult."

• Cambro-Briton, Vol. I. p. 22.

+ Properly speaking, this Institution was originally formed in the year 1751, but, during the late protracted war, it sunk into inaction, and, in fact, ceased to exist. Its present revival, under the sanction and patronage of our most gracious Majesty, may be considered, in every respect, as an original formation. Esto perpetua!

active and vigilant, much good will undoubtedly accrue from their proceedings; and we rejoice to find that the preparations for their first volume of Transactions afford such good earnest of their future operations. But they must not relax in their exertions; the utmost activity and perseverance must be exercised, if they wish to achieve those ends which their Society is so well calculated to accomplish ;-and, if they will exert themselves, we shall not be without hope, that

Learning once more shall round high Snowdon rise,

Beam o'er his head, and blossom to the skies

On Truth's bright wings to Fame eternal

soar,

Till time shall fail, and record be no more.

The existence of this Institution does not, by any means, invalidate the truth of our assertions respecting the indolence and inattention of the Welsh. On the contrary, it renders our position the more apparent; for, although this Society has been now established more than two years, yet we regret to say, that a very small proportion only of the gentlemen resident in Wales have condescended to afford it support by becoming members. This apathy is, indeed, a reproach to a people so ancient and generous as the Welsh; and happy should we be if the censure which we have thus ventured to apply should have the effect of awakening, in their bosoms, some sparks of that patriotic fire which is so congenial to the manners of an honourable nation. But this, we confess-and we confess it with sorrow-is nearly hopeless; and we have prefaced our article with these remarks, more for the purpose of offering some apology for the apparent idleness of Welsh scholars, than with the hope of stimulating the Welsh, in general, to exertion. And having, to the best of our power, accomplished our purpose in this respect, we will now proceed to the more immediate object of our Essay, namely, the Memoirs of Owain Glyndwr.

The conquest of Wales, by Edward the First, reduced the Welsh to a state of bondage, as severe as it was unmerited; and, notwithstand

ing all the persevering efforts of the Conqueror, the Cambro-British were by no means disposed to submit tranquilly to the domination of the English Justinian. Several circumstances contributed to render them thus discontented and contumacious. In the first place, the rigorous severities which Edward was compelled to exercise towards them, for the purpose of breaking down and taming their fiery and unbending spirit, were by no means calculated to impress them with any very favourable opinion of the clemency of their conqueror. Edward perhaps treated the Welsh with too much rigour. He does not appear to have sufficiently considered the natural warmth and ardour of their character; nor does he seem to have paid sufficient attention to the manner in which this impetuous character had been fostered by freedom, and by all the ordinary occupations incident to a nation of untutored warriors.

His treatment of Dafydd, the rightful successor to the sovereignty of Wales, was cruel and horrible in the extreme. This prince, instigated by some private quarrel, had, in the early part of his life, deserted his brother Llewelyn, the last-crowned monarch of Wales, and entered into the service of the King of England. Edward, well aware of the importance of cultivating the goodwill of his new ally, created him a Knight, and subsequently conferred upon him the dignity of a Baron; and by these, and other marks of distinction, he won the regard of the Welsh Prince. About a year, however, before the death of Llewelyn, Dafydd became reconciled to his brother, and returned to Wales to fight under his standard, and to cooperate with the Welsh, in their struggle with the English. All their patriotic efforts were, however, ineffectual. Llewelyn was slain at the Battle of Buellt,-his countrymen were conquered,-and his brother Dafydd, a short time afterwards, fell into the hands of his enemies, by whom he was formally tried and condemned, for swerving from his allegiance to the King of England. This proceeding was, it is true, perfectly consistent with the principles of justice and of monarchical right; but

we question whether it was altogether politic. There can be no doubt, that the subsequent execution of this prince, attended, as it was, with such horrid and deliberate barbarity, roused most effectually the indignation of the Welsh, and excited them, in after times, to vengeance and re. bellion. Attached, as this people had always been, to their native princes, and strengthened, as their attachment had become, by the calamities in which both prince and peasant were involved, during their warfare with England, it is not to be supposed that they could behold with apathy, or regard with any other feelings than those of hatred and horror, the indignities which were so relentlessly heaped upon the head of their unfortunate Sovereign. But Edward's sternness did not

stop here. There was another deed of wrong and cruelty to be performed, and that was the persecution of the bards, and the destruction, by measures neither mild nor justifiable, of the influence which they possessed over their countrymen f. Amongst a nation of such rude and untractable warriors as the Welsh, the bards filled a very high and conspicuous station. We must not consider them merely as poets,-as the reciters of the heroic achievements of `their chieftains, or as the inventors of pleasing fictions, to soothe, in the hour of relaxation from battle or the chace, the rough and irritable minds of the people. We must look upon them as the performers of more useful actions, as the annalists of the age, and as the inspiriting encouragers of all that was noble, valiant,

The ancient punishment for treason was inflicted, to the very letter, upon the person of this unfortunate prince. He was executed at Shrewsbury; and “such," says the historian," was the pleasure which the death of Dafydd gave to the English, that the citizens of York and Winchester contended, with savage eagerness, for the right shoulder of this unhappy prince. That honour was decided in favour of Winchester; and the remaining quarters were sent, with the utmost dispatch, to York, Bristol, and Northampton. To feast, still more, the eyes of the people, his head was sent to the Tower of London, and, being fixed on a pole, was placed near that of his brother Llewelyn. Every generous idea and liberal sentiment seem to have been extinguished in national hatred, and in the frenzy of joy which had seized upon the English." Warrington's History of Wales, Vol. II. 288-9. +Notwithstanding the assent given, by historians in general, to the massacre of the bards by Edward, we are inclined to believe that such an event never occurred. None of the numerous bardic productions, since the time of Edward, make the slightest allusion to the massacre-an omission which certainly would not have happened, had there been a good foundation for the report. Besides, the event becomes more than doubtful, when we consider the authority upon which it is founded; and this authority, it appears, is a casual expression in the History of the Gwedir Family. The passage is as follows: speaking of a poem he has just transcribed, Sir John Wynn, the historian, remarks: “This is the most ancient song I can find extant, which is addressed to any of mine ancestors, since the reign of Edward the First, who caused all our bards to be hanged by martial-law, as stirrers of the people to sedition." Upon this very slender testimony, then, (for Sir John made this assertion merely on the current tradition of the country,) is founded the occurrence of an event, certainly interesting in an historical point of view; and it is not unreasonable to suppose, that it chiefly owes its origin to the exaggeration, prompted by that fierce hatred which the Welsh, for a long time, entertained towards their conqueror. Another writer, the Rev. Evan Evans, in his learned "Dissertatio de Bardis," adopts the general opinion, which he supports, by asking if it be all wonderful that such a deed should be perpetrated by one who had persecuted, with so much rigour, the Princes Llewelyn and Dafydd?"Cum Cambriam," he writes, "in suam potestatem redegerat Edwardus, in bardos sæviit tyrannum instar, ET MULTOS SUSPENDI FECIT. Quid mirum," he continues, " cum ipsum Leolinum principem, et Davidem fratrem tam inhumaniter tractaverit ?" Our author, as he wrote his Dissertation many years sub. sequent to the compilation of the Gwedir History, most likely relied upon the authority of that work, (which, indeed, he quotes,) and chronicled the event accordingly. If Edward, however, did not actually destroy the bards, he adopted measures to prevent them from exercising their office, and the detestation, occasioned by this circumstance, most probably contributed to the origin of an opinion so generally entertained.

and honourable, in the Aborigines of our island. They related and preserved, in their poems and songs, the great events of the State; and, like the Scalds of the Northern Nations, retained the remembrance of numberless occurrences, which would otherwise have been lost in utter oblivion. But they possessed another talent, which, probably, more than all the others, endeared them to the hearts of the Cambrian Nobility, namely, that of being most accomplished genealogists. This, in the estimation of a nation so tenacious of hereditary distinctions, was no trifling attainment: it served to knit more closely to the bard the interests and affections of the people, and to render him, not merely an object of reverence to the community at large, but to every individual member of that community *.

Under these circumstances, then, the persecution of the bards was even, of itself, an act the very reverse of conciliating. But when we also consider that these highly-honoured individuals were incapacitated from pursuing their customary avocations, and, consequently, from administering to the delight of their countrymen, we can be at no loss, particu

larly if we bear in mind the events which we have already adverted to, to account for the cause of that detestation with which the Welsh regarded their conqueror. These rigorous proceedings were, doubtless, intended to awe the enthusiastic spirit of the Cymry into subjection, and to deprive them of the means, or, at least, of some of the means, of rebellion and revenge. But, in this respect, they proved not only futile, but prejudicial. They paralyzed their energies for a while, it is true, but they eventually served to increase that ferocious hatred, which a long period of mutual hostility had already rendered so destructive and terrible +.

But in order to counteract the baneful effects of these transactions, and for the purpose of establishing his conquest on a firmer foundation, Edward at length turned his attention to the improvement of the Cambro-British; and this he endeavoured to accomplish, by such judicious measures as his superior sagacity suggested. The laws of Wales, however effective they might have been, when originally framed by Hywel Dda, in the tenth century, had, by the moral and political changes

The provisions made, in the national laws, for the encouragement and protection of the bards, evince the very high estimation in which they were held by their countrymen. "The domestic bard (says the law) shall receive a beast out of every spoil, at the taking of which he is present, besides a man's share, according to his rank in the household. Therefore, if there be fighting, he shall sing the Monarchy of Britain (unbenaeth y Prydein) in front of the battle. When a bard shall ask a gift of a prince, let him sing one piece; when he asks of a baron, let him sing three pieces; and should he ask of a villain, let him sing till he falls asleep. His land shall be free; and he shall have a horse in attendance from the King. The chief of song shall begin the singing in the common hall. He shall be next but one to the patron of the family. He shall have a harp from the King, and a gold ring from the Queen, when his office is secured to him. The harp he shall never part with." That the bards sometimes presumed upon their sacred and privileged character, is naturally to be expected; but so highly were they venerated, that their audacity was never punished. The prediction of the oracular Merlin, to the profligate Vortigern, affords one instance of this presumption; but Taliesin's imprecation on Maelgwyn Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, affords a more striking proof of the boldness of the bard. The prince, it seems, had offended him, and Taliesin invoked the following curse: "Be neither blessing nor success to Maelgwyn Gwynedd! May vengeance overtake him for the wrongs, the treachery, and the cruelty, he has shewn to the race of Arthur! Waste lie his lands, short be his life, extensive be vengeance on Maelgwyn Gwynedd! A strange animal shall come from Morfa Rhianedd, shaggy, long-toothed, and fire-eyed. This shall be vengeance on Maelgwyn Gwynedd."

Roberts's Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, p. 121. + In addition to the provocations already mentioned, one was given by the English, previous to the conquest of Wales, which could never have been forgotten or forgiven, by a people so proud and irritable as the Welsh. In the year 1277, the Barons of Snowden, with others of the Welsh Nobility, accompanied Llewelyn to London, to do

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