THEIR LOVE OF HIGH BIRTH AND ANCIENT GENEALOGY
THE Welsh esteem noble birth and generous descent above all things, {183}
and are, therefore, more desirous of marrying into noble than rich
families. Even the common people retain their genealogy, and can not
only readily recount the names of their grandfathers and
great-grandfathers, but even refer back to the sixth or seventh
generation, or beyond them, in this manner: Rhys, son of Gruffydd, son of
Rhys, son of Tewdwr, son of Eineon, son of Owen, son of Howel, son of
Cadell, son of Roderic Mawr, and so on.
Being particularly attached to family descent, they revenge with
vehemence the injuries which may tend to the disgrace of their blood; and
being naturally of a vindictive and passionate disposition, they are ever
ready to avenge not only recent but ancient affronts; they neither
inhabit towns, villages, nor castles, but lead a solitary life in the
woods, on the borders of which they do not erect sumptuous palaces, nor
lofty stone buildings, but content themselves with small huts made of the
boughs of trees twisted together, constructed with little labour and
expense, and sufficient to endure throughout the year. They have neither
orchards nor gardens, but gladly eat the fruit of both when given to
them. The greater part of their land is laid down to pasturage; little
is cultivated, a very small quantity is ornamented with flowers, and a
still smaller is sown. They seldom yoke less than four oxen to their
ploughs; the driver walks before, but backwards, and when he falls down,
is frequently exposed to danger from the refractory oxen. Instead of
small sickles in mowing, they make use of a moderate-sized piece of iron
formed like a knife, with two pieces of wood fixed loosely and flexibly
to the head, which they think a more expeditious instrument; but since
“Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,
Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus,”
their mode of using it will be better known by inspection than by any
description. The boats {184} which they employ in fishing or in crossing
the rivers are made of twigs, not oblong nor pointed, but almost round,
or rather triangular, covered both within and without with raw hides.
When a salmon thrown into one of these boats strikes it hard with his
tail, he often oversets it, and endangers both the vessel and its
navigator. The fishermen, according to the custom of the country, in
going to and from the rivers, carry these boats on their shoulders; on
which occasion that famous dealer in fables, Bleddercus, who lived a
little before our time, thus mysteriously said: “There is amongst us a
people who, when they go out in search of prey, carry their horses on
their backs to the place of plunder; in order to catch their prey, they
leap upon their horses, and when it is taken, carry their horses home
again upon their shoulders.”