"Minstrels persevere in their false custom,
Immoral ditties are their delight;
Vain and tasteless praise they recite;
Falsehood at all times do they utter;
The innocent persons they ridicule;
Married women they destroy,
Innocent virgins of Mary they corrupt;
As they pass their lives away in vanity;
Poor innocent persons they ridicule;
At night they get drunk, they sleep the day;
In idleness without work they feed themselves;
The Church they hate, and the tavern they frequent;
With thieves and perjured fellows they associate;
At courts they inquire after feasts;
Every senseless word they bring forward;
Every deadly sin they praise;
Every vile course of life they lead;
Through every village, town, and country they stroll;
Concerning the gripe of death they think not;
Neither lodging nor charity do they give;
Indulging in victuals to excess.
Psalms or prayers they do not use,
Tithes or offerings to God they do not pay,
On holidays or Sundays they do not worship;
Vigils or festivals they do not heed.
The birds do fly, the fish do swim,
The bees collect honey, worms do crawl,
Every thing travails to obtain its food,
Except minstrels and lazy useless thieves.
I deride neither song nor minstrelsy,
For they are given by God to lighten thought;
But him who abuses them,
For blaspheming Jesus and his service."
Taliesin having set his master free from prison, and having protected the
innocence of his wife, and silenced the Bards so that not one of them
dared to say a word, now brought Elphin's wife before them, and shewed
that she had not one finger wanting. Right glad was Elphin, right glad
was Taliesin.
Then he bade Elphin wager the king, that he had a horse both better and
swifter than the king's horses. And this Elphin did, and the day, and
the time, and the place were fixed, and the place was that which at this
day is called Morva Rhiannedd; and thither the king went with all his
people, and four and twenty of the swiftest horses he possessed. And
after a long process the course was marked, and the horses were placed
for running. Then came Taliesin with four and twenty twigs of holly,
which he had burnt black, and he caused the youth who was to ride his
master's horse to place them in his belt, and he gave him orders to let
all the king's horses get before him, and as he should overtake one horse
after the other, to take one of the twigs and strike the horse with it
over the crupper, and then let that twig fall; and after that to take
another twig, and do in like manner to every one of the horses, as he
should overtake them, enjoining the horseman strictly to watch when his
own horse should stumble, and to throw down his cap on the spot. All
these things did the youth fulfil, giving a blow to every one of the
king's horses, and throwing down his cap on the spot where his horse
stumbled. And to this spot Taliesin brought his master after his horse
had won the race. And he caused Elphin to put workmen to dig a hole
there; and when they had dug the ground deep enough, they found a large
cauldron full of gold. And then said Taliesin, "Elphin, behold a payment
and reward unto thee, for having taken me out of the weir, and for having
reared me from that time until now." And on this spot stands a pool of
water, which is to this time called Pwllbair.
After all this, the king caused Taliesin to be brought before him, and he
asked him to recite concerning the creation of man from the beginning;
and thereupon he made the poem which is now called "One of the Four
Pillars of Song."
"The Almighty made,
Down the Hebron vale,
With his plastic hands,
Adam's fair form;
And five hundred years,
Void of any help,
There he remained and lay
Without a soul.
He again did form,
In calm paradise,
From a left-side rib,
Bliss-throbbing Eve.
Seven hours they were
The orchard keeping,
Till Satan brought strife,
With wiles from hell.
Thence were they driven,
Cold and shivering,
To gain their living,
Into this world.
To bring forth with pain
Their sons and daughters,
To have possession
Of Asia's land.
Twice five, ten and eight,
She was self-bearing,
The mixed burden
Of man-woman.
And once, not hidden,
She brought forth Abel,
And Cain the forlorn,
The homicide.
To him and his mate
Was given a spade,
To break up the soil,
Thus to get bread.
The wheat pure and white,
Summer tilth to sow,
Every man to feed,
Till great yule feast.
An angelic hand
From the high Father,
Brought seed for growing
That Eve might sow;
But she then did hide
Of the gift a tenth,
And all did not sow
Of what was dug.
Black rye then was found,
And not pure wheat grain,
To show the mischief
Thus of thieving.
For this thievish act,
It is requisite,
That all men should pay
Tithe unto God.
Of the ruddy wine,
Planted on sunny days,
And on new moon nights;
And the white wine.
The wheat rich in grain
And red flowing wine
Christ's pure body make,
Son of Alpha.
The wafer is flesh,
The wine is spilt blood,
The Trinity's words
Sanctify them.
The concealed books
From Emmanuel's hand
Were brought by Raphael
As Adam's gift.
When in his old age,
To his chin immersed
In Jordan's water,
Keeping a fast,
Moses did obtain,
In Jordan's water,
The aid of the three
Most special rods.
Solomon did obtain,
In Babel's tower,
All the sciences
In Asia land.
So did I obtain,
In my bardic books,
All the sciences
Of Europe and Africa.
Their course, their bearing
Their permitted way,
And their fate I know,
Unto the end.
Oh! what misery,
Through extreme of woe,
Prophecy will show
On Troia's race!
A coiling serpent,
Proud and merciless,
On her golden wings,
From Germany.
She will overrun
England and Scotland,
From Lychlyn sea-shore
To the Severn.
Then will the Brython
Be as prisoners,
By strangers swayed,
From Saxony.
Their Lord they will praise,
Their speech they will keep,
Their land they will lose,
Except wild Walia.
Till some change shall come,
After long penance,
When equally rife
The two crimes come.
Britons then shall have
Their land and their crown,
And the strangers swarm
Shall disappear.
All the angel's words,
As to peace and war,
Will be fulfilled
To Britain's race.
He further told the king various prophecies of things that should be in
the world, in songs, as follows.
* * * * *
{Picture: p143.jpg}
Footnotes:
{11a} Diarwya.
{11b} While the day was still young.
{13} Arawn, king of Annwvyn.
{15} And as thou seest.
{17} "It may be that I shall repent for what I have done unto thee. Seek
whom thou wiliest to slay thee, I shall not slay thee."
{26} "If thou wilt ask for a reasonable gift, thou shalt have it
gladly." "A reasonable one, lord," answered he.
{28} Pwyll rose, and caused silence to be proclaimed, to command all
suitors and minstrels to show what they desired, and to tell them that
every one of them would be satisfied according to his wish and desire.
{29} And they summoned him to them.
{30} "Wretched women," said Rhiannon, "for the sake of the God who knows
everything, charge me not falsely. The God who knows everything knows
that that is false."
{31a} Whether she persuaded or pleaded.
{31b} Unbeseeming.
{33} According to the kind of baptism that was then made.
{35} "Oh fair lady," said Teirnon, "it is not very likely to me that any
of these will be carried on thy back." "Let who will do so," said the
son, "I shall not." "Truly, my soul," said Teirnon, "neither shall we
go."
{36a} The Welsh is _vy'm pryder i_ (= my trouble).
{36b} If he will be of gentle bearing.
{37a} And if he is in power, it will be more right for him to maintain
thee than it was even for me.
{37b} After that.
{38} Wallt.
{39a} And splendid wearer of the crown of London.
{39b} Over-looking the sea.
{40} Penordim.
{42} Mane.
{45} And I am not sure it was not there he got it.
{48a} Taunted him openly.
{48b} Bake.
{50a} On the township.
{50b} There were but two rivers, Lli and Archan were they called. After
that the ocean separated the kingdoms.
{52a} Was.
{52b} "Yes," said Bendigeid Vran, "unless I myself can get the
kingship."
{56a} Glivieri.
{56b} Grodyeu.
{59a} At that very moment.
{59b} And from that hour they could not rest.
{62a} Meek.
{62b} Wilt thou follow another counsel?
{62c} And even now thou wilt not be disappointed with her appearance.
{65} Add "and fish."
{71} He furnished gilded clasps for the shoes.
{73} And then, half in guile and half in anger, he rushed into the midst
of the mice. But he could no more keep one of them within sight than he
could gnats or birds in the air, except one, which he saw was heavy with
young, and which he thought could not run.
{79} Knockers and Collars.
{81} Eveyd.
{87} Tyviawc.
{88} A maiden.
{91a} Aranrod _throughout_.
{91b} Infamous.
{93} Sea-weed.
{96} Destiny.
{98a} Add "according to the rite of baptism they then performed."
{98b} "I will give him that one Cantrev that is best for a young man to
have."
{100} Blow.
{111} Add "henceforth."
{118a} Of the books of the magician. [Vergil = Fferyllt = magician or
chemist.]
{118b} Head.
{121} Taliesin
{123} This should be Elphin son of Gwyddno.
{136} Possibly an allusion to the Cave of AEolus.