As there is a natural curiosity in most people to be brought acquainted
with the works of men, whose names have been conveyed down to us with
applause from very early antiquity, I have been induced to think, that a
translation of some of the Welsh Bards would be no unacceptable present
to the public. It is true they lived in times when all Europe was
enveloped with the dark cloud of bigotry and ignorance; yet, even under
these disadvantageous circumstances, a late instance may convince us,
that poetry shone forth with a light, that seems astonishing to many
readers. They who have perused the works of Ossian, as translated by Mr.
Macpherson, will, I believe, be of my opinion.
I mean not to set the following poems in competition with those just
mentioned; nor did the success which they have met with from the world,
put me upon this undertaking. It was first thought of, and encouraged
some years before the name of Ossian was known in England. I had long
been convinced, that no nation in Europe possesses greater remains of
ancient and genuine pieces of this kind than the Welsh; and therefore was
inclined, in honour to my country, to give a specimen of them in the
English language.
As to the genuineness of these poems, I think there can be no doubt; but
though we may vie with the Scottish nation in this particular, yet there
is another point, in which we must yield to them undoubtedly. The
language of their oldest poets, it seems, is still perfectly
intelligible, which is by no means our case.
The works of Taliesin, Llywarch Hen, Aneurin Gwawdrydd, Myrddin Wyllt,
Avan Verddig, who all flourished about the year 560, a considerable time
after Ossian, are hardly understood by the best critics and antiquarians
in Wales, though our language has not undergone more changes than the
Erse. Nay, the Bards that wrote a long while after, from the time of
William the Conquerer to the death of Prince Llewelyn, are not so easy to
be understood; but that whoever goes about to translate them, will find
numerous obsolete words, not to be found in any Dictionary or Glossary,
either in print or manuscript.
What this difference is owing to, I leave to be determined by others, who
are better acquainted, than I am, with such circumstances of the Scottish
Highlands, as might prove more favourable towards keeping up the perfect
knowledge of their language for so many generations. But, be that as it
may, it is not my intent to enter into the dispute, which has arisen in
relation to the antiquity of Ossian's poems. My concern is only about
the opinion the world may entertain of the intrinsic value of those which
I offer. They seem to me, though not so methodical and regular in their
composition as many poems of other nations, yet not to be wanting in
poetical merit; and if I am not totally deceived in my judgment, I shall
have no reason to repent of the pains I have taken to draw them out of
that state of obscurity, in which they have hitherto been buried, and in
which they run great risk of mouldering away.
It might perhaps be expected, that I should say something of the Bards in
general on this occasion; but as I have treated that subject in my Latin
Dissertation, which I shall annex to these translations, it will be
sufficient to observe here, that the usual subjects of their poems were
the brave feats of their warriors in the field, their hospitality and
generosity, with other commendable qualities in domestic life, and
elegies upon their great men, which were sung to the harp at their
feasts, before a numerous audience of their friends and relations. This
is the account that the Greek and Roman writers have given of them, as I
have shown at large in the above-mentioned treatise, which I intend to
publish.
The following poems, from among many others of greater length, and of
equal merit, were taken from a manuscript of the learned Dr. Davies,
author of the Dictionary, which he had transcribed from an ancient vellom
MS. which was wrote, partly in Edward the Second and Third's time, and
partly in Henry the Fifth's, containing the works of all the Bards from
the Conquest to the death of Llewelyn, the last prince of the British
line. This is a noble treasure, and very rare to be met with; for Edward
the First ordered all our Bards, and their works, to be destroyed, as is
attested by Sir John Wynne of Gwydir, in the history he compiled of his
ancestors at Carnarvon. What remained of their works were conveyed in
his time to the Exchequer, where he complains they lay in great
confusion, when he had occasion to consult them.
As to the translation, I have endeavoured to render the sense of the
Bards faithfully, without confining myself to too servile a version; nor
have I, on the other hand, taken liberty to wander much from the
originals; unless where I saw it absolutely necessary, on account of the
different phraseology and idiom of language.
If this small collection has the good fortune to merit the attention of
the public, I may, in some future time, if God permit me life and health,
proceed to translate other select pieces from the same manuscript. The
poems, in the original, have great merit; and if there is none in the
translation of this specimen, it must be owing entirely to my inability
to do the Bards justice. I am not the only person who admires them: men
of the greatest sense and learning in Wales do the same.
It must be owned, that it is an arduous task to bring them to make any
tolerable figure in a prose translation; but those who have any candour,
will make allowances. What was said of poetry in general by one of the
wits, that _it is but Prose run mad_, may very justly be applied to our
Bards in particular: for there are not such extravagant flights in any
poetic compositions, except it be in the Eastern, to which, as far as I
can judge by the few translated specimens I have seen, they bear a great
resemblance.
I have added a few Notes, to illustrate some historical facts alluded to
in the poems, and a short account of each poem, and the occasion it was
written upon, as far as it could be traced from our ancient manuscripts.
I have been obliged to leave blanks in some places, where I did not
understand the meaning in the original, as I had but one copy by me,
which might be faulty. When I have an opportunity to collate it with
other copies, I may clear these obscure passages.