"Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song."
33. _Modred_. This name is not found in the lists of the old bards.
It may have been borrowed from the Arthurian legends; or, as Mitford
suggests, it may refer to "the famous Myrddin ab Morvyn, called
Merlyn the Wild, a disciple of Taliessin, the form of the name being
changed for the sake of euphony."
34. _Plinlimmon_. One of the loftiest of the Welsh mountains, being
2463 feet in height. It is really a group of mountains, three of
which tower high above the others, and on each of these is a
_carnedd_, or pile of stones. The highest of the three is further
divided into two peaks, and on these, as well as on another prominent
part of the same height, are other piles of stones. These five piles,
according to the common tradition, mark the graves of slain warriors,
and serve as memorials of their exploits; but some believe that they
were intended as landmarks or military signals, and that from them
the mountain was called _Pump-lumon_ or _Pum-lumon_, "the five
beacons"--a name somehow corrupted into _Plinlimmon_. Five rivers
take their rise in the recesses of Plinlimmon--the Wye, the Severn,
the Rheidol, the Llyfnant, and the Clywedog.
35. _Arvon's shore_. "The shores of Caernarvonshire, opposite the
isle of Anglesey" (Gray). _Caernarvon_, or _Caer yn Arvon_, means the
camp in Arvon.
38. "Camden and others observe that eagles used annually to build
their aerie among the rocks of Snowdon, which from thence (as some
think) were named by the Welsh _Craigian-eryri_, or the crags of the
eagles. At this day (I am told) the highest point of Snowdon is
called _the Eagle's Nest_. That bird is certainly no stranger to this
island, as the Scots, and the people of Cumberland, Westmoreland,
etc., can testify; it even has built its nest in the peak of
Derbyshire [see Willoughby's Ornithology, published by Ray]" (Gray).
40. _Dear as the light_. Cf. Virgil, _Æn._ iv. 31: "O luce magis
dilecta sorori."