The student who confines himself to a single question, may fairly expect
a prompt and precise answer. To ask for general information on a
particular subject, may be a less successful experiment. Who undertakes
extensive research except for an especial purpose? Who can so far
confide in his memory as to append his name to a list of authorities
without seeming to prove his own superficiality? I throw out these ideas
for consideration, just as they arise; but neither wish to repress the
curiosity of _querists_, nor to prescribe bounds to the communicative
disposition of _respondents_.
Did Madoc, son of Owen Gwynedd, prince of Wales, discover America?
Stimulated by the importance of the question, and accustomed to admire
the spirit of maritime enterprise, at whatever period it may have been
called into action, I have sometimes reflected on this debatable
point--but can neither affirm nor deny it.
I advise the _student_, as a preliminary step to the inquiry, to attempt
a collection of all the accessible evidence, historical and
ethnographic, and to place the materials which pertain to each class in
the order of time. The historical evidence exists, I believe
exclusively, in the works of the chroniclers and bards of Wales; and the
ethnographic evidence in the narratives of travellers in America. The
opinions of modern writers, the gifted author of _Madoc_ not excepted,
he is at liberty to consider as _hors-d'oeuere_--to be passed on, or
tasted, _à plaisir_. As an exemplification of this plan, I submit some
short extracts, with critical remarks:--
"Madoc another of Owen Gwyneth his sonnes left the land
[North-Wales] in contention betwixt his brethren, and prepared
certaine ships with men and munition, and sought adventures by
seas, sailing west, and leaving the coast of Ireland so far
north, that he came to a land unknowen, where he saw manie
strange things."--CARADOC OF LLANCARVAN, _continued--The
historie of Cambria_, 1584. 4º. p. 227.
[The history of Caradoc ends with A.D. 1156. The continuation,
to the year 1270, is ascribed by Powel, the editor of the
volume, to the monks of Conway and Stratflur.]
Carmina Meredith filii Rhesi [Meredydd ab Rhys] mentionem
facientia de Madoco filio Oweni Gwynedd, et de suâ navigatione
in terras incognitas. Vixit hic Meredith circiter annum Domini
1477.
Madoc wyf, mwyedic wedd,
Iawn genau, Owen Gwynedd;
Ni fynnum dir, fy enaid oedd,
Na da mawr, ond y moroedd.
_The same in English._
Madoc I am the sonne of Owen Gwynedd
With stature large, and comely grace adorned;
No lands at home nor store of wealth me please,
My minde was whole to searche the ocean seas.
"These verses I received of my learned friend M. William
Camden." _Richard Hakluyt_, 1589.
[The eulogy of Meredydd ab Rhys is very indefinite, but deserves
notice on account of its early date. He "flourished," says W.
Owen, "between A.D. 1430 and 1460."]
"This land must needs be some part of that countrie of which the
Spaniardes affirme themselves to be the first finders sith
Hannos time; ... Whereupon it is manifest, that that countrie
was long before by Brytaines discouered, afore either Columbus
or Americus Vespatius lead anie Spaniardes thither. Of the viage
and returne of this Madoc there be _manie fables fained_, as the
common people doo use in distance of place {57} and length of
time rather to augment than to diminish: but sure it is, that
there he was."--HUMFREY LHOYD, _Additions to the Historie of
Cambria_, p. 228.
[Lhoyd, who translated the history of Caradoc, and made
considerable additions to it, died in 1568. He mentions the
second voyage of Madoc, but cites no authority.]
"This Madoc arriving in that westerne countrie, unto the which
he came, in the year 1170, left most of his people there: and
returning backe for more of his owne nation, acquaintance and
freends, to inhabite that faire and large countrie: went thither
againe with ten sailes, as I find noted by Gutyn Owen. I am of
opinion that the land, wherevnto he came, was some part of
Mexico:" etc.--David Powel, S.T.P., note in _The historie of
Cambria_, 1584. 4°. p. 229.
[The learned Powel relies on the authority of the poet Gutyn
Owen. "He wrote," says W. Owen, "between A.D. 1460 and
1490"--three centuries after the event in question!]
_Ethnographic evidence._
"They came [anno 1536] to part of the West Indies about Cape
Breton, shaping their course thence north-eastwards, vntill they
camme to the Island of Penguin," etc.--The voyage of master
Hore, in _The principall navigations_, etc. 1589. Fol.
[Antiquaries consider the mention of _Cape Breton_ and _Penguin
Island_ as evidence. It cannot prove much, as the particulars
were not committed to writing till about half-a-century after
the voyage.]
"There is also another kinde of foule in that countrey [between
the Gulf of Mexico and Cape Breton] ... they have white heads,
and therefore the country men call them _penguins_ (which
seemeth to be a Welsh nanme). And _they have also in use divers
other Welsh words, a matter worthy the noting_."--The relation
of David Ingram, 1568. in _The principall navigations_, etc.
1589. Fol.
[This narrative was compiled from answers to certain
_queries_--perhaps twenty years after the events related.]
"Afterwards [anno 1669] they [The Doeg Indians] carried us to
their town, and entertained us civilly for four months; and I
did converse with them of many things in the British tongue, and
_did preach to them three times a week in the British tongue_,"
etc. Rev. Morgan Jones, 1686.--_British Remains_, 1777. 8°.
[The editor omits to state how he procured the manuscript. The
paper whence the above is extracted is either decisive of the
question at issue, or a forgery.]
The _student_ may infer, even from these imperfect hints, that I
consider the subject which he proposes to himself as one which deserves
a strict investigation--provided the collections hereafter described
have ceased to be in existence.
"With respect to this extraordinary occurence in the history of
Wales, I have collected a multitude of evidences, in conjunction
with Edward Williams, the bard, to prove that Madog must have
reached the American continent; for the descendants of him and
his followers exist there as a nation to this day; and the
present position of which is on the southern branches of the
Missouri river, under the appellations of Padoucas, White
Indians, Civilized Indians, and Welsh Indians."--_William Owen_,
F.A.S. 1803.
The title prefixed to this paper would be a misnomer, if I did not add a
list of books which it may be desirable to consult:--
_On the Scandinavian discoveries._--Mémoires de la société
royale des antiquaires du Nord. 1836-1839. _Copenhague._ 8°. p.
27.--Historia Vinlandiæ Antiquæ, seu partis Americæ
septentrionalis--per Thormodum Terfæum. _Haviniæ_, 1705. 8°.
1715. 8°--Antiquitates Americanæ, sive scriptores
septentrionales rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America. _Hafniæ_,
1837. 4°.
_On the Welsh discoveries._--The historie of Cambria, now called
Wales--continued by David Powel. _London_, 1584. 4°. The
Myvyrian archaiology of Wales, _London_, 1801-7. 8°. 3 vol.
British remains, by the Rev. N. Owen, A.M. _London_, 1777. 8°.
The Cambrian biography, by William Owen, F.A.S. _London_, 1803.
8°. Biblithèque Américaine, par H. Ternaux. _Paris_, 1837. 8°.
The principall navigations, voiages and discoveries of the
English nation--by Richard Hakluyt, M.A. _London_, 1589. fol.