OF THE ANTIQUITY OF THEIR FAITH, THEIR LOVE OF CHRISTIANITY AND DEVOTION
IN ancient times, and about two hundred years before the overthrow of
Britain, the Welsh were instructed and confirmed in the faith by Faganus
and Damianus, sent into the island at the request of king Lucius by pope
Eleutherius, and from that period when Germanus of Auxerre, and Lupus of
Troyes, came over on account of the corruption which had crept into the
island by the invasion of the Saxons, but particularly with a view of
expelling the Pelagian heresy, nothing heretical or contrary to the true
faith was to be found amongst the natives. But it is said that some
parts of the ardent doctrines are still retained. They give the first
piece broken off from every loaf of bread to the poor; they sit down to
dinner by three to a dish, in honour of the Trinity. With extended arms
and bowing head, they ask a blessing of every monk or priest, or of every
person wearing a religious habit. But they desire, above all other
nations, the episcopal ordination and unction, by which the grace of the
spirit is given. They give a tenth of all their property, animals,
cattle, and sheep, either when they marry, or go on a pilgrimage, or, by
the counsel of the church, are persuaded to amend their lives. This
partition of their effects they call the great tithe, two parts of which
they give to the church where they were baptised, and the third to the
bishop of the diocese. But of all pilgrimages they prefer that to Rome,
where they pay the most fervent adoration to the apostolic see. We
observe that they show a greater respect than other nations to churches
and ecclesiastical persons, to the relics of saints, bells, holy books,
and the cross, which they devoutly revere; and hence their churches enjoy
more than common tranquillity. For peace is not only preserved towards
all animals feeding in churchyards, but at a great distance beyond them,
where certain boundaries and ditches have been appointed by the bishops,
in order to maintain the security of the sanctuary. But the principal
churches to which antiquity has annexed the greater reverence extend
their protection to the herds as far as they can go to feed in the
morning and return at night. If, therefore, any person has incurred the
enmity of his prince, on applying to the church for protection, he and
his family will continue to live unmolested; but many persons abuse this
indemnity, far exceeding the indulgence of the canon, which in such cases
grants only personal safety; and from the places of refuge even make
hostile irruptions, and more severely harass the country than the prince
himself. Hermits and anchorites more strictly abstinent and more
spiritual can nowhere be found; for this nation is earnest in all its
pursuits, and neither worse men than the bad, nor better than the good,
can be met with.
Happy and fortunate indeed would this nation be, nay, completely blessed,
if it had good prelates and pastors, and but one prince, and that prince
a good one.
BOOK II
PREFACE
HAVING in the former book clearly set forth the character, manners, and
customs of the British nation, and having collected and explained
everything which could redound to its credit or glory; an attention to
order now requires that, in this second part, we should employ our pen in
pointing out those particulars in which it seems to transgress the line
of virtue and commendation; having first obtained leave to speak the
truth, without which history not only loses its authority, but becomes
undeserving of its very name. For the painter who professes to imitate
nature, loses his reputation, if, by indulging his fancy, he represents
only those parts of the subject which best suit him.
Since, therefore, no man is born without faults, and he is esteemed the
best whose errors are the least, let the wise man consider everything
human as connected with himself; for in worldly affairs there is no
perfect happiness under heaven. Evil borders upon good, and vices are
confounded with virtues; as the report of good qualities is delightful to
a well-disposed mind, so the relation of the contrary should not be
offensive. The natural disposition of this nation might have been
corrupted and perverted by long exile and poverty; for as poverty
extinguisheth many faults, so it often generates failings that are
contrary to virtue.
CHAPTER I
OF THE INCONSTANCY AND INSTABILITY OF THIS NATION, AND THEIR WANT OF
REVERENCE FOR GOOD FAITH AND OATHS
THESE people are no less light in mind than in body, and are by no means
to be relied upon. They are easily urged to undertake any action, and
are as easily checked from prosecuting it—a people quick in action, but
more stubborn in a bad than in a good cause, and constant only in acts of
inconstancy. They pay no respect to oaths, faith, or truth; and so
lightly do they esteem the covenant of faith, held so inviolable by other
nations, that it is usual to sacrifice their faith for nothing, by
holding forth the right hand, not only in serious and important concerns,
but even on every trifling occasion, and for the confirmation of almost
every common assertion. They never scruple at taking a false oath for
the sake of any temporary emolument or advantage; so that in civil and
ecclesiastical causes, each party, being ready to swear whatever seems
expedient to its purpose, endeavours both to prove and defend, although
the venerable laws, by which oaths are deemed sacred, and truth is
honoured and respected, by favouring the accused and throwing an odium
upon the accuser, impose the burden of bringing proofs upon the latter.
But to a people so cunning and crafty, this yoke is pleasant, and this
burden is light.
CHAPTER II
THEIR LIVING BY PLUNDER, AND DISREGARD OF THE BONDS OF PEACE AND
FRIENDSHIP
THIS nation conceives it right to commit acts of plunder, theft, and
robbery, not only against foreigners and hostile nations, but even
against their own countrymen. When an opportunity of attacking the enemy
with advantage occurs, they respect not the leagues of peace and
friendship, preferring base lucre to the solemn obligations of oaths and
good faith; to which circumstance Gildas alludes in his book concerning
the overthrow of the Britons, actuated by the love of truth, and
according to the rules of history, not suppressing the vices of his
countrymen. “They are neither brave in war, nor faithful in peace.” But
when Julius Cæsar, great as the world itself,
“Territa quæsitis ostendit terga Britannis,”
were they not brave under their leader Cassivellaunus? And when Belinus
and Brennus added the Roman empire to their conquests? What were they in
the time of Constantine, son of our Helen? What, in the reign of
Aurelius Ambrosius, whom even Eutropius commends? What were they in the
time of our famous prince Arthur? I will not say fabulous. On the
contrary, they, who were almost subdued by the Scots and Picts, often
harassed with success the auxiliary Roman legions, and exclaimed, as we
learn from Gildas, “The barbarians drove us to the sea, the sea drove us
again back to the barbarians; on one side we were subdued, on the other
drowned, and here we were put to death. Were they not,” says he, “at
that time brave and praiseworthy?” When attacked and conquered by the
Saxons, who originally had been called in as stipendiaries to their
assistance, were they not brave? But the strongest argument made use of
by those who accuse this nation of cowardice, is, that Gildas, a holy
man, and a Briton by birth, has handed down to posterity nothing
remarkable concerning them, in any of his historical works. We promise,
however, a solution of the contrary in our British Topography, if God
grants us a continuance of life.
As a further proof, it may be necessary to add, that from the time when
that illustrious prince of the Britons, mentioned at the beginning of
this book, totally exhausted the strength of the country, by transporting
the whole armed force beyond the seas; that island, which had before been
so highly illustrious for its incomparable valour, remained for many
subsequent years destitute of men and arms, and exposed to the predatory
attacks of pirates and robbers. So distinguished, indeed, were the
natives of this island for their bravery, that, by their prowess, that
king subdued almost all Cisalpine Gaul, and dared even to make an attack
on the Roman empire.
In process of time, the Britons, recovering their long-lost population
and knowledge of the use of arms, re-acquired their high and ancient
character. Let the different æras be therefore marked, and the
historical accounts will accord. With regard to Gildas, who inveighs so
bitterly against his own nation, the Britons affirm that, highly
irritated at the death of his brother, the prince of Albania, whom king
Arthur had slain, he wrote these invectives, and upon the same occasion
threw into the sea many excellent books, in which he had described the
actions of Arthur, and the celebrated deeds of his countrymen; from which
cause it arises, that no authentic account of so great a prince is any
where to be found.
CHAPTER III
OF THEIR DEFICIENCY IN BATTLE, AND BASE AND DISHONOURABLE FLIGHT
IN war this nation is very severe in the first attack, terrible by their
clamour and looks, filling the air with horrid shouts and the deep-toned
clangour of very long trumpets; swift and rapid in their advances and
frequent throwing of darts. Bold in the first onset, they cannot bear a
repulse, being easily thrown into confusion as soon as they turn their
backs; and they trust to flight for safety, without attempting to rally,
which the poet thought reprehensible in martial conflicts:
“Ignavum scelus est tantum fuga;”
and elsewhere—
“In vitium culpæ ducit fuga, si caret arte.”
The character given to the Teutones in the Roman History, may be applied
to this people. “In their first attack they are more than men, in the
second, less than women.” Their courage manifests itself chiefly in the
retreat, when they frequently return, and, like the Parthians, shoot
their arrows behind them; and, as after success and victory in battle,
even cowards boast of their courage, so, after a reverse of fortune, even
the bravest men are not allowed their due claims of merit. Their mode of
fighting consists in chasing the enemy or in retreating. This
light-armed people, relying more on their activity than on their
strength, cannot struggle for the field of battle, enter into close
engagement, or endure long and severe actions, such as the poet
describes:
“Jam clypeo clypeus, umbone repellitur umbo,
Ense minax ensis, pede pes, et cuspide cuspis.”
Though defeated and put to flight on one day, they are ready to resume
the combat on the next, neither dejected by their loss, nor by their
dishonour; and although, perhaps, they do not display great fortitude in
open engagements and regular conflicts, yet they harass the enemy by
ambuscades and nightly sallies. Hence, neither oppressed by hunger or
cold, nor fatigued by martial labours, nor despondent in adversity, but
ready, after a defeat, to return immediately to action, and again endure
the dangers of war; they are as easy to overcome in a single battle, as
difficult to subdue in a protracted war. The poet Claudian thus speaks
of a people similar in disposition:—
“Dum percunt, meminêre mali: si corda parumper
Respirare sinas, nullo tot funera censu
Prætercunt, tantique levis jactura cruoris.”
CHAPTER IV
THEIR AMBITIOUS SEIZURE OF LANDS, AND DISSENSIONS AMONG BROTHERS
THIS nation is, above all others, addicted to the digging up of boundary
ditches, removing the limits, transgressing landmarks, and extending
their territory by every possible means. So great is their disposition
towards this common violence, that they scruple not to claim as their
hereditary right, those lands which are held under lease, or at will, on
condition of planting, or by any other title, even although indemnity had
been publicly secured on oath to the tenant by the lord proprietor of the
soil. Hence arise suits and contentions, murders and conflagrations, and
frequent fratricides, increased, perhaps, by the ancient national custom
of brothers dividing their property amongst each other. Another heavy
grievance also prevails; the princes entrust the education of their
children to the care of the principal men of their country, each of whom,
after the death of his father, endeavours, by every possible means, to
exalt his own charge above his neighbours. From which cause great
disturbances have frequently arisen amongst brothers, and terminated in
the most cruel and unjust murders; and on which account friendships are
found to be more sincere between foster-brothers, than between those who
are connected by the natural ties of brotherhood. It is also remarkable,
that brothers shew more affection to one another when dead, than when
living; for they persecute the living even unto death, but revenge the
deceased with all their power.
CHAPTER V
THEIR GREAT EXACTION, AND WANT OF MODERATION
WHERE they find plenty, and can exercise their power, they levy the most
unjust exactions. Immoderate in their love of food and intoxicating
drink, they say with the Apostle, “We are instructed both to abound, and
to suffer need;” but do not add with him, “becoming all things to all
men, that I might by all means save some.” As in times of scarcity their
abstinence and parsimony are too severe, so, when seated at another man’s
table, after a long fasting, (like wolves and eagles, who, like them,
live by plunder, and are rarely satisfied,) their appetite is immoderate.
They are therefore penurious in times of scarcity, and extravagant in
times of plenty; but no man, as in England, mortgages his property for
the gluttonous gratification of his own appetite. They wish, however,
that all people would join with them in their bad habits and expenses; as
the commission of crimes reduces to a level all those who are concerned
in the perpetration of them.
CHAPTER VI
CONCERNING THE CRIME OF INCEST, AND THE ABUSE OF CHURCHES BY SUCCESSION
AND PARTICIPATION
THE crime of incest hath so much prevailed, not only among the higher,
but among the lower orders of this people, that, not having the fear of
God before their eyes, they are not ashamed of intermarrying with their
relations, even in the third degree of consanguinity. They generally
abuse these dispensations with a view of appeasing those enmities which
so often subsist between them, because “their feet are swift to shed
blood;” and from their love of high descent, which they so ardently
affect and covet, they unite themselves to their own people, refusing to
intermarry with strangers, and arrogantly presuming on their own
superiority of blood and family. They do not engage in marriage, until
they have tried, by previous cohabitation, the disposition, and
particularly the fecundity, of the person with whom they are engaged. An
ancient custom also prevails of hiring girls from their parents at a
certain price, and a stipulated penalty, in case of relinquishing their
connection.
Their churches have almost as many parsons and sharers as there are
principal men in the parish. The sons, after the decease of their
fathers, succeed to the ecclesiastical benefices, not by election, but by
hereditary right possessing and polluting the sanctuary of God. And if a
prelate should by chance presume to appoint or institute any other
person, the people would certainly revenge the injury upon the institutor
and the instituted. With respect to these two excesses of incest and
succession, which took root formerly in Armorica, and are not yet
eradicated, Ildebert, bishop of Le Mans, in one of his epistles, says,
“that he was present with a British priest at a council summoned with a
view of putting an end to the enormities of this nation:” hence it
appears that these vices have for a long time prevailed both in Britany
and Britain. The words of the Psalmist may not inaptly be applied to
them; “They are corrupt and become abominable in their doings, there is
none that doeth good, no, not one: they are all gone out of the way, they
are altogether become abominable,” etc.
CHAPTER VII
OF THEIR SINS, AND THE CONSEQUENT LOSS OF BRITAIN AND OF TROY
MOREOVER, through their sins, and particularly that detestable and wicked
vice of Sodom, as well as by divine vengeance, they lost Britain as they
formerly lost Troy. For we read in the Roman history, that the emperor
Constantine having resigned the city and the Western empire to the
blessed Sylvester and his successors, with an intention of rebuilding
Troy, and there establishing the chief seat of the Eastern Empire, heard
a voice, saying, “Dost thou go to rebuild Sodom?” upon which, he altered
his intention, turned his ships and standards towards Byzantium, and
there fixing his seat of empire, gave his own propitious name to the
city. The British history informs us, that Mailgon, king of the Britons,
and many others, were addicted to this vice; that enormity, however, had
entirely ceased for so long a time, that the recollection of it was
nearly worn out. But since that, as if the time of repentance was almost
expired, and because the nation, by its warlike successes and acquisition
of territory, has in our times unusually increased in population and
strength, they boast in their turn, and most confidently and unanimously
affirm, that in a short time their countrymen shall return to the island,
and, according to the prophecies of Merlin, the nation, and even the
name, of foreigners, shall be extinguished in the island, and the Britons
shall exult again in their ancient name and privileges. But to me it
appears far otherwise; for since
“Luxuriant animi rebus plerumque secundis,
Nec facile est æqua commoda mente pati;”
And because
“Non habet unde suum paupertas pascat amorem, . . .
Divitiis alitur luxuriosus amor.”
So that their abstinence from that vice, which in their prosperity they
could not resist, may be attributed more justly to their poverty and
state of exile than to their sense of virtue. For they cannot be said to
have repented, when we see them involved in such an abyss of vices,
perjury, theft, robbery, rapine, murders, fratricides, adultery, and
incest, and become every day more entangled and ensnared in evil-doing;
so that the words of the prophet Hosea may be truly applied to them,
“There is no truth, nor mercy,” etc.
Other matters of which they boast are more properly to be attributed to
the diligence and activity of the Norman kings than to their own merits
or power. For previous to the coming of the Normans, when the English
kings contented themselves with the sovereignty of Britain alone, and
employed their whole military force in the subjugation of this people,
they almost wholly extirpated them; as did king Offa, who by a long and
extensive dyke separated the British from the English; Ethelfrid also,
who demolished the noble city of Legions, {197} and put to death the
monks of the celebrated monastery at Banchor, who had been called in to
promote the success of the Britons by their prayers; and lastly Harold,
who himself on foot, with an army of light-armed infantry, and conforming
to the customary diet of the country, so bravely penetrated through every
part of Wales, that he scarcely left a man alive in it; and as a memorial
of his signal victories many stones may be found in Wales bearing this
inscription:—“HIC VICTOR FUIT HAROLDUS”—“HERE HAROLD CONQUERED.” {198}
To these bloody and recent victories of the English may be attributed the
peaceable state of Wales during the reigns of the three first Norman
kings; when the nation increased in population, and being taught the use
of arms and the management of horses by the English and Normans (with
whom they had much intercourse, by following the court, or by being sent
as hostages), took advantage of the necessary attention which the three
succeeding kings were obliged to pay to their foreign possessions, and
once more lifting up their crests, recovered their lands, and spurned the
yoke that had formerly been imposed upon them.
CHAPTER VIII
IN WHAT MANNER THIS NATION IS TO BE OVERCOME
THE prince who would wish to subdue this nation, and govern it peaceably,
must use this method. He must be determined to apply a diligent and
constant attention to this purpose for one year at least; for a people
who with a collected force will not openly attack the enemy in the field,
nor wait to be besieged in castles, is not to be overcome at the first
onset, but to be worn out by prudent delay and patience. Let him divide
their strength, and by bribes and promises endeavour to stir up one
against the other, knowing the spirit of hatred and envy which generally
prevails amongst them; and in the autumn let not only the marches, but
also the interior part of the country be strongly fortified with castles,
provisions, and confidential families. In the meantime the purchase of
corn, cloth, and salt, with which they are usually supplied from England,
should be strictly interdicted; and well-manned ships placed as a guard
on the coast, to prevent their importation of these articles from Ireland
or the Severn sea, and to facilitate the supply of his own army.
Afterwards, when the severity of winter approaches, when the trees are
void of leaves, and the mountains no longer afford pasturage—when they
are deprived of any hopes of plunder, and harassed on every side by the
repeated attacks of the enemy—let a body of light-armed infantry
penetrate into their woody and mountainous retreats, and let these troops
be supported and relieved by others; and thus by frequent changes, and
replacing the men who are either fatigued or slain in battle, this nation
may be ultimately subdued; nor can it be overcome without the above
precautions, nor without great danger and loss of men. Though many of
the English hired troops may perish in a day of battle, money will
procure as many or more on the morrow for the same service; but to the
Welsh, who have neither foreign nor stipendiary troops, the loss is for
the time irreparable. In these matters, therefore, as an artificer is to
be trusted in his trade, so attention is to be paid to the counsel of
those who, having been long conversant in similar concerns, are become
acquainted with the manners and customs of their country, and whom it
greatly interests, that an enemy, for whom during long and frequent
conflicts they have contracted an implacable hatred, should by their
assistance be either weakened or destroyed. Happy should I have termed
the borders of Wales inhabited by the English, if their kings, in the
government of these parts, and in their military operations against the
enemy, had rather employed the marchers and barons of the country, than
adopted the counsels and policy of the people of Anjou and the Normans.
In this, as well as in every other military expedition, either in Ireland
or in Wales, the natives of the marches, from the constant state of
warfare in which they are engaged, and whose manners are formed from the
habits of war, are bold and active, skilful on horseback, quick on foot,
not nice as to their diet, and ever prepared when necessity requires to
abstain both from corn and wine. By such men were the first hostile
attacks made upon Wales as well as Ireland, and by such men alone can
their final conquest be accomplished. For the Flemings, Normans,
Coterells, and Bragmans, are good and well-disciplined soldiers in their
own country; but the Gallic soldiery is known to differ much from the
Welsh and Irish. In their country the battle is on level, here on rough
ground; there in an open field, here in forests; there they consider
their armour as an honour, here as a burden; there soldiers are taken
prisoners, here they are beheaded; there they are ransomed, here they are
put to death. Where, therefore, the armies engage in a flat country, a
heavy and complex armour, made of cloth and iron, both protects and
decorates the soldier; but when the engagement is in narrow defiles, in
woods or marshes, where the infantry have the advantage over the cavalry,
a light armour is preferable. For light arms afford sufficient
protection against unarmed men, by whom victory is either lost or won at
the first onset; where it is necessary that an active and retreating
enemy should be overcome by a certain proportional quantity of moderate
armour; whereas with a more complex sort, and with high and curved
saddles, it is difficult to dismount, more so to mount, and with the
greatest difficulty can such troops march, if required, with the
infantry. In order, therefore, that
“Singula quæque locum teneant sortita decenter,”
we maintain it is necessary to employ heavy-armed and strong troops
against men heavily armed, depending entirely upon their natural
strength, and accustomed to fight in an open plain; but against
light-armed and active troops, who prefer rough ground, men accustomed to
such conflicts, and armed in a similar manner, must be employed. But let
the cities and fortresses on the Severn, and the whole territory on its
western banks towards Wales, occupied by the English, as well as the
provinces of Shropshire and Cheshire, which are protected by powerful
armies, or by any other special privileges and honourable independence,
rejoice in the provident bounty of their prince. There should be a
yearly examination of the warlike stores, of the arms, and horses, by
good and discreet men deputed for that purpose, and who, not intent on
its plunder and ruin, interest themselves in the defence and protection
of their country. By these salutary measures, the soldiers, citizens,
and the whole mass of the people, being instructed and accustomed to the
use of arms, liberty may be opposed by liberty, and pride be checked by
pride. For the Welsh, who are neither worn out by laborious burdens, nor
molested by the exactions of their lords, are ever prompt to avenge an
injury. Hence arise their distinguished bravery in the defence of their
country; hence their readiness to take up arms and to rebel. Nothing so
much excites, encourages, and invites the hearts of men to probity as the
cheerfulness of liberty; nothing so much dejects and dispirits them as
the oppression of servitude. This portion of the kingdom, protected by
arms and courage, might be of great use to the prince, not only in these
or the adjacent parts, but, if necessity required, in more remote
regions; and although the public treasury might receive a smaller annual
revenue from these provinces, yet the deficiency would be abundantly
compensated by the peace of the kingdom and the honour of its sovereign;
especially as the heavy and dangerous expenses of one military expedition
into Wales usually amount to the whole income among from the revenues of
the province.
CHAPTER IX
IN WHAT MANNER WALES, WHEN CONQUERED, SHOULD BE GOVERNED
AS therefore this nation is to be subdued by resolution in the manner
proposed, so when subdued, its government must be directed by moderation,
according to the following plan. Let the care of it be committed to a
man of a firm and determined mind; who during the time of peace, by
paying due obedience to the laws, and respect to the government, may
render it firm and stable. For like other nations in a barbarous state,
this people, although they are strangers to the principles of honour, yet
above all things desire to be honoured; and approve and respect in others
that truth which they themselves do not profess. Whenever the natural
inconstancy of their indisposition shall induce them to revolt, let
punishment instantly follow the offence; but when they shall have
submitted themselves again to order, and made proper amends for their
faults (as it is the custom of bad men to remember wrath after quarrels),
let their former transgression be overlooked, and let them enjoy security
and respect, as long as they continue faithful. Thus, by mild treatment
they will be invited to obedience and the love of peace, and the thought
of certain punishment will deter them from rash attempts. We have often
observed persons who, confounding these matters, by complaining of
faults, depressing for services, flattering in war, plundering in peace,
despoiling the weak, paying respect to revolters, by thus rendering all
things confused, have at length been confounded themselves. Besides, as
circumstances which are foreseen do less mischief, and as that state is
happy which thinks of war in the time of peace, let the wise man be upon
his guard, and prepared against the approaching inconveniences of war, by
the construction of forts, the widening of passes through woods, and the
providing of a trusty household. For those who are cherished and
sustained during the time of peace, are more ready to come forward in
times of danger, and are more confidently to be depended upon; and as a
nation unsubdued ever meditates plots under the disguise of friendship,
let not the prince or his governor entrust the protection of his camp or
capital to their fidelity. By the examples of many remarkable men, some
of whom have been cruelly put to death, and others deprived of their
castles and dignities, through their own neglect and want of care, we may
see, that the artifices of a crafty and subdued nation are much more to
be dreaded than their open warfare; their good-will than their anger,
their honey than their gall, their malice than their attack, their
treachery than their aggression, and their pretended friendship more than
their open enmity. A prudent and provident man therefore should
contemplate in the misfortune of others what he ought himself to avoid;
correction taught by example is harmless, as Ennodius {203} says: “The
ruin of predecessors instructs those who succeed; and a former
miscarriage becomes a future caution.” If a well-disposed prince should
wish these great designs to be accomplished without the effusion of
blood, the marches, as we before mentioned, must be put into a state of
defence on all sides, and all intercourse by sea and land interdicted;
some of the Welsh may be stirred up to deadly feuds, by means of
stipends, and by transferring the property of one person to another; and
thus worn out with hunger, and a want of the necessaries of life, and
harassed by frequent murders and implacable enmities, they will at last
be compelled to surrender.
There are three things which ruin this nation, and prevent its enjoying
the satisfaction of a fruitful progeny. First, because both the natural
and legitimate sons endeavour to divide the paternal inheritance amongst
themselves; from which cause, as we have before observed, continual
fratricides take place. Secondly, because the education of their sons is
committed to the care of the high-born people of the country, who, on the
death of their fathers, endeavour by all possible means to exalt their
pupil; from whence arise murders, conflagrations, and almost a total
destruction of the country. And, thirdly, because from the pride and
obstinacy of their disposition, they will not (like other nations)
subject themselves to the dominion of one lord and king.
CHAPTER X
IN WHAT MANNER THIS NATION MAY RESIST AND REVOLT
HAVING hitherto so partially and elaborately spoken in favour of the
English, and being equally connected by birth with each nation, justice
demands that we should argue on both sides; let us therefore, at the
close of our work, turn our attention towards the Welsh, and briefly, but
effectually, instruct them in the art of resistance. If the Welsh were
more commonly accustomed to the Gallic mode of arming, and depended more
on steady fighting than on their agility; if their princes were unanimous
and inseparable in their defence; or rather, if they had only one prince,
and that a good one; this nation situated in so powerful, strong, and
inaccessible a country, could hardly ever be completely overcome. If,
therefore, they would be inseparable, they would become insuperable,
being assisted by these three circumstances; a country well defended by
nature, a people both contented and accustomed to live upon little, a
community whose nobles as well as privates are instructed in the use of
arms; and especially as the English fight for power, the Welsh for
liberty; the one to procure gain, the other to avoid loss; the English
hirelings for money, the Welsh patriots for their country. The English,
I say, fight in order to expel the natural inhabitants from the island,
and secure to themselves the possession of the whole; but the Welsh
maintain the conflict, that they, who have so long enjoyed the
sovereignty of the whole kingdom, may at least find a hiding place in the
worst corner of it, amongst woods and marshes; and, banished, as it were,
for their offences, may there in a state of poverty, for a limited time,
perform penance for the excesses they committed in the days of their
prosperity. For the perpetual remembrance of their former greatness, the
recollection of their Trojan descent, and the high and continued majesty
of the kingdom of Britain, may draw forth many a latent spark of
animosity, and encourage the daring spirit of rebellion. Hence during
the military expedition which king Henry II. made in our days against
South Wales, an old Welshman at Pencadair, who had faithfully adhered to
him, being desired to give his opinion about the royal army, and whether
he thought that of the rebels would make resistance, and what would be
the final event of this war, replied, “This nation, O king, may now, as
in former times, be harassed, and in a great measure weakened and
destroyed by your and other powers, and it will often prevail by its
laudable exertions; but it can never be totally subdued through the wrath
of man, unless the wrath of God shall concur. Nor do I think, that any
other nation than this of Wales, or any other language, whatever may
hereafter come to pass, shall, in the day of severe examination before
the Supreme Judge, answer for this corner of the earth.”
FOOTNOTES
{155a} Port Gordber, written _Gordwr_ by Humphrey Lhwyd in his Breviary
of Britain, probably a corruption from Gorddyar, a roaring, applied to
the sea, as Gorddyar môr, the roaring of the sea.
{155b} The harbour, now known by the name of Portscwit, (and recorded in
the Triads as one of the three passages or ferries in the Isle of
Britain), is situated on the Welsh side of the Bristol channel, at a
short distance from the lower passage.
{155c} Port Mawr, or the large port, is thus mentioned by Leland in his
Itinerary, tom. v. pp. 28, 29:—“About a mile of is Port Mawre, where is a
great sande with a shorte estuary into the lande. And sum say that there
hath beene a castel at or aboute Port Mawr, but the tokens be not very
evidente.”
{155d} Rhyd-helyg, or the Ford of the Willow.—I imagine this place is
Walford in Herefordshire, near the banks of the river Wye.
{156} Brutus, according to the fable, in his way to Britain, met with a
company of Trojans, who had fled from Troy with Antenor and Corinæus at
their head, who submitted themselves to Brutus, and joined his company;
which Corinæus, being a very valiant man, rendered great service to
Brutus during his wars in Gaul and Britain; in return for which, Brutus,
having subdued the island, and divided it amongst his people, gave
Cornwall to Corinæus, who, as it is said, called it after his own name,
Cernyw.
{157a} Uchelwyr, so called from _Uchel_, high, and _gwr_, a man.
{157b} This assertion is unfounded, if we give credit to the Welsh
Chronicle, which dates the death of Cadell in 907, and that of Anarawdin
in 913. [Howell Dda, the son of Cadell, reunited Wales under one
sovereign.]
{158a} B.M.—This abbreviation, which in every manuscript I have seen of
Giraldus has been construed into _Beatam Mariam_, and in many of them is
written _Beatam Virginem_, may with much greater propriety be applied to
_Belinus Magnus_, or Beli the Great, a distinguished British King, to
whom most of the British pedigrees ascended; and because his name
occurred so frequently in them it was often written short, B.M., which
some men, by mistake, interpret _Beata Maria_.—(Sir R. C. H.)
{158b} Aberfraw, a small town at the conflux of the river Fraw and the
sea, on the S.W. part of the isle of Anglesey, and twelve miles S.E. of
Holyhead.
{159a} A great lordship in Herefordshire, including the district between
Hereford and Monmouth, bordering on the river Wye.
{159b} Book ii. chapter i.
{162a} Book ii. c. 4.
{162b} If by the mountains of Eryri we are to understand the Snowdonian
range of hills, our author has not been quite accurate in fixing the
source of the river Dovy, which rises between Dynas-y-mowddu and Bala
Lake, to the southward of Mount Arran: from whence it pursues its course
to Mallwyd, and Machynlleth, below which place it becomes an estuary, and
the boundary between North and South Wales.
{162c} Our author is again incorrect in stating that the river Maw
forms, by its course, the two tracts of sands called Traeth Mawr and
Traeth Bychan. This river, from which Barmouth derives the name of
Abermaw, and to which Giraldus, in the fifth chapter of the second book
of his Itinerary, has given the epithet of _bifurcus_, runs far to the
southward of either of the Traeths. The Traeth Mawr, or large sands, are
formed by the impetuous torrents which descend from Snowdon by
Beddgelert, and pass under the Devil’s Bridge at Pont Aberglasllyn, so
called from the river Glasllyn; and the Traeth Bychan, or little sands,
are formed by numerous streams which unite themselves in the vale of
Festiniog, and become an æstuary near the village of Maentwrog.
{165a} Better known as Geoffrey of Monmouth.
{165b} The Anglo-Saxons called the Britons _Wealhas_, from a word in
their own language, which signified literally foreigners; and hence we
derive the modern name Welsh.
{168} The Peak, in Derbyshire.
{169a} Sir R. C. Hoare has altogether misunderstood the original here.
It was the custom in the middle ages to place the guests at table in
pairs, and each two persons ate out of one plate. Each couple was a
_mess_. At a later period, among the great the mess consisted of four
persons; but it appears that in Wales, at this time, it was formed of
three guests.
{169b} “Bread, called _Lagana_, was, I suppose, the sort of household
bread, or thin cake baked on an iron plate, called a griddle (_gradell_),
still common in Caermarthenshire, and called _Bara Llech_ and _Bara
Llechan_, or griddle bread, from being so baked.”—Owen. “_Laganum_, a
fritter or pancake, _Baranyiod_.”—_Lluyd_, _Archaiology_, p. 75.
{170} _Brychan_, in Lhuyd’s Archaiology and Cornish Grammar, is spelt
Bryccan, and interpreted a blanket.
{171} “Omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod cæruleum efficit
colorem, atque hoc horridore sunt in pugna adspectu; capilloque sunt
promisso, atque omni parte corporis rasa, præter caput et labrum
superius.”—_Cæsar de Bello Gallico_, cap. 13, 14.
{172} This instrument is generally supposed to have been the origin of
the violin, which was not commonly known in England till the reign of
Charles I. Before this time the crwth was not probably confined to the
Principality, from the name of _Crowdero_ in Hudibras; as also from a
fiddler being still called a _crowder_ in some parts of England, though
he now plays on a violin instead of a crwth.
{173} These Welsh lines quoted by Giraldus are selected from two
different stanzas of moral verses, called Eglynion y Clywed, the
composition of some anonymous bard; or probably the work of several:
“A glyweisti a gant Dywyneg,
Milwr doeth detholedig;
Digawn Duw da i unig?
“Hast thou heard what was sung by Dywynic?
A wise and chosen warrior;
God will effect solace to the orphan.
“A glyweisti a gant Anarawd?
Milwr doniawg did lawd;
Rhaid wrth anmhwyll pwyll parawd.
“Hast thou heard what was sung by Anarawd?
A warrior endowed with many gifts;
With want of sense ready wit is necessary.”
Or, as Giraldus quotes it,
“Wrth bob crybwll rhaid pwyll parawd.”
“With every hint ready wit is necessary.”
_Myvyvrian Archaiology_, page 172.
{179} Awenydhion, in a literal sense, means persons inspired by the
Muse, and is derived from Awen and Awenydd, a poetical rapture, or the
gift of poetry. It was the appellation of the disciples, or candidates
for the Bardic Order; but the most general acceptation of the word was,
Poets, or Bards.
{183} Genealogies were preserved as a principle of necessity under the
ancient British constitution. A man’s pedigree was in reality his title
deed, by which he claimed his birthright in the country. Every one was
obliged to show his descent through nine generations, in order to be
acknowledged a free native, and by this right he claimed his portion of
land in the community. He was affected with respect to legal process in
his collateral affinities through nine degrees. For instance, every
murder committed had a fine levied on the relations of the murderer,
divided into nine degrees; his brother paying the greatest, and the ninth
in affinity the least. This fine was distributed in the same way among
the relatives of the victim. A person past the ninth descent formed a
new family. Every family was represented by its elder; and these elders
from every family were delegates to the national council.—_Owen_.
{184} The _naviculæ_ mentioned by Giraldus bear the modern name of
_coracles_, and are much used on the Welsh rivers for the taking of
salmon. Their name is derived probably from the Celtic word _corawg_,
which signifies a _ship_. They are mentioned by the ancient writers.
{197} By the city of Legions Chester is here meant, not Caerleon.
{198} Of the stones inscribed “HIC VICTOR FUIT HAROLDUS”—“HERE HAROLD
CONQUERED,” no original, I believe, remains extant; but at the village of
Trelech, in Monmouthshire, there is a modern pedestal bearing the above
inscription.—See the description and engraving in Coxe’s Monmouthshire,
p. 234.
{203} In one MS. of Giraldus in the British Museum, this name is written
Ovidius.