BARDDAS

CONTENTS

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Preface

Llwelyn Sion

Symbol

The Origin and Progress of Letters - The Name of God - The Bardic Secret

The First Inventors of Letters - Improvers of the Alphabet - Invention of the Roll & Plagawd - Obligation of a Bard to hold a Chair & Gorsedd

Origin Of Letters

The Inventor of Vocal Song - The 1st Recorders of Bardism - Its 1st Systemizers - Their Regulations - Mode of inscribing the primary Letters - Origin of their Form & Sound - The 3 Menws

The Principle Elements of Various things - The Gogyrvens

The Invention of Letters by Einigan & Menw - The Secret Of Bardism

Cuttings - Foundations of Awen

Origin & Progress of Letters - Einigan the Giant - The Gwyddoniaid - Systems Of Letters

The Origin of Letters & Books - Their Introduction into Britain - The Coelbren

The Primary Letters - Improvement of the Alphabet

Primary Cuttings - Improvement of the Coelbren - Its Restoration

Recovery of the Old Cymraeg

The primary Letters - Their Augmentation - Restoration of the Coelbren

The Bardic Secret

The Sacred Symbol

The primary Letters - Improvement of the Alphabet


Gogyrvens - Writing with Ink

Gogyrvens


The 3 1st Words of the Cymraeg

The primary Letters - Names of the Coelbren

Classification of the Letters

The Bardic Secret - Formation of Letters

The Vowels

The primary Letters

Variations of Letters

Introduction of Letters - Original Country of the Cymry - Their Arrival in Britain - Augmentation of the Alphabet

Coelbren of the Bards, according to the arrangement of Llawdden

The Symbols of Literary Sciences - Improvement of the Coelbren - Metrical Cannons - Dissolution of the Monastery of Pen Rhys

The Pillars of Memory - The Symbols

The Birds of Rhianon

The 5 Ages of Letters

The 3 Symbols of Sciences

The 3 Primitive Symbols - The 3 Coelbren Symbols

Numbers

The 9 Degrees of Numerals

The System Of Numerals

Arithmetic

The System Of Numerals

The Numerals

The Arithmetical Characters of the Ancient Cymry; that is, the Numerals

The 3 Symbols

The Materials of Language & Speech

The 3 Wreathed Bards

Coelbren of the Bards

Peithynen

Coelbren of the Bards

Secret Coelbren - Secret Coelvain - Coelvain of History

Burning the Letters

Coelbren of Simple Letters

Peithyn Coelbren - Palm Coelbren

Peithynvian

Memorials

Plagawd

The 3 principal Materials of Knowledge


The Herald-bard

Dasgubell Rodd

Theology

Druidism

God

Cythraul

Ceugant - Duration - God

The 3 Imperceptibilities of God

The Bard's Enigma

The 12 primary Negatives

Bardic Aphorisms

The Divine Names

Iau

Hu the Mighty

The Circles

The Book of Bardism

Abred - Gwynvyd - Awen

The Three States

Annwn - Life - Death

Abred

The Origins of Man - Jesus Christ - Creation

The Creation - The 1st Man - The primary Letters

The Discipline of Bardism (The Creation)

The Creation - Worship - Vocal Song - Gwyddoniaid

The Material of the World

The Fall in Abred

God in the Sun

God in the Light

Triads of Bardism

God; and the Faculties of the Soul

Sentences of Bardism

The 10 Commandments of the Bards

The Rudiments of Theology

The Triads of St. Paul

The Triads of St. Paul & Bardism

Triads of Bardism & Usages

Triads of Bardism

The Mode of taking Food & Drink

The Gorsedd Prayer

The Prediction of Peredur, the Bard of Prydain

The Stanza of the Gorsedd Chair of the Winter Solstice

Triads of Wisdom

The Elements

Triads of Bardism (The Elements)

The Triads of Bardism, called the Triads of Ionabwy (The Elements)

Bardism, & c. (The Elements)

The Elements

Bardism (The Elements)

The Materials

The Materials of Man

The 8 Materials of Man

The 7 Materials of Man

The 7 primary Materials of the World

The 8 Materials of Man

The Parts of the Human Body in which are the Faculties

The Philosophy of the Blue Bard of the Chair

Particular Triads

Triads of 10 Numbers

Mutual reasoning between a Disciple & his Teacher

The Stars

Astronomy

Chronology

Chronology

The Memorial of Computation - The Memorial of Country

Memorial & Computation

The Cycle of Time

The Months

The Beginning of the Year

The 3 Circles of the Sun

The 4 Quarters of the Year

The Albans

The Divisions of the Year

The Divisions of the Day

Years of the Sun & Moon

Days of Days

BARDDAS

ADVERTISEMENT

In preparing the present work for the press, it has been deemed advisable to place the Welsh and English on opposite pages, as an arrangement more convenient for the scholar, who may wish to test the accuracy of the translation by a reference to the original.

Except to supply some of the headings, no liberty whatever has been taken with the text. Even obvious and glaring errors, whether in the orthography or punctuation have been transferred to our pages exactly as they were found in the manuscript.

The translation has been rendered as literal as possible, short of becoming obscure. This was considered expedient, not only with the view of exhibiting the style and idiom of the original, but in order to guard against any misapprehension of the sense, which a free construction is too apt to produce.

Notes, historical and explanatory, have been added, which, without being cumbersome, it is to be hoped, will prove of considerable service to the reader.

Our thanks are especially due to the Right Honorable Lord and Lady Llanover for their kindness in allowing us free access to the MSS. of Iolo Morganwg, from which the present Collection has been for the most part made.

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The promoters of the National Eisteddvod, which was held at Llangollen, in the autumn of 1858, conscious of the increased attention that was being paid by foreign scholars to the literature and usages of our Cymric ancestors, and desirous, at the same time, of facilitating their inquiries in that direction, as well as of effectually rescuing from a precarious existence the traditions of the Bards, offered a prize of 30 pounds, and a Bardic tiara in gold, for " the fullest illustration, from original sources, of the theology, discipline, and usages of the Bardo-druidic system of the Isle of Britain." Only one compilation was received, which, nevertheless, received a very high encomium, accompanied with a recommendation that it should be published, in the following adjudication, which was read at the meeting by Myvyr Morganwg, one of the three judges appointed for the occasion.

"On this very important and interesting subject only one composition has been received, which bears the feigned signature of PLENNYDD. It is & very extensive collection, for the most part of unpublished MSS., consisting of 287 folio pages, clearly and beautifully written and exhibiting indications of being carefully and accurately copied, for the writer, following herein the example of the late Iolo Morganwg, has suffered even errors, which were obvious in the manuscripts before him, to remain unaltered.

"The compiler has been very diligent, and remarkably successful in obtaining access to such a vast number of ancient MSS bearing Bardism, many of which had seen but little light for several before. With respect to their genuineness, PLENNYDD justly observes,-"though their authors cannot in many instances be named, any more than we can name the authors of the Common Law of England, yet the existence of the peculiar dogmas and usages, which they represent, may be proved from the compositions of the Bards from the era of Taliesin down to the present time."

"This collection contains a great many of the Rules and appertaining to the Gorsedd of the Bards, several valuable fragments on the Natural and Moral philosophy of our ancestors, together with the ingenious Theology of the ancient Bardism of the Cymry; also curious extracts on Astronomy, Arithmetic, the Bardic Coelbren, and a vast quantity of Triads. Every fragment that can thus be made public of what once related to the primitive Gorsedd or Throne of the Bards, is truly valuable, inasmuch as it was this simple, moral, and sublime system, that constituted the very foundation of the primitive worship, legislature, and scholastic institutes of the nation, and was the living means of promoting learning and morality among all classes of the people. in early times. And when we consider that the Gorsedd of the Bards was but a continuation, in the White Island, of the circular temples of patriarchal times, we may feel assured that it is among the remains of Bardism, or the religious system connected with those primitive temples, we may hope to discover, if at all, that Golden Key, concealed and secured, which can open the mysteries, or esoteric doctrine, of ancient nations........

"We had no right to expect that we should find the "Secrets of Bardism," or the "Mysteries of Maen Arch," introduced into a compilation, which was intended to be made public; for such have been, and ought to be a sort of mute tradition, and tradition only, to be communicated solely to such as have proved themselves worthy to receive them......

"Nevertheless, there may be found in this collection, some fragments which contain, as is very clear to every initiated Bard, the remains of that sublime learning, as it existed in the Isle of Britain anterior to Christianity; such as those extracts about the elements- the migration of the soul from the point of extreme evil in Annwn to the point of extreme good in heaven-the mystic Name of God- the nature of Cythraul, & c. In order to prove the genuineness and great antiquity of these particulars to one who is not initiated in the mysteries of Bardism, it may suffice that they are also discoverable, though in a more corrupt form, in the ancient bardism of Hindoostan. They are old dogmas, at present neither preserved nor existing amidst the antiquities of any nation under the sun, except the Indians and the Cymry.

"But we have in the present collection some pieces of mixed Bardism, which may he called Monkish Bardism, or Bardism and Christianity mixed together, which could easily take place after the introduction of Christianity, owing to the remarkable- very remarkable coincidence which exists between the two systems."

"The Compiler assures us that he is in possession of more documents, which would have been added, if time had permitted. We trust that he will hereafter kindly make the addition, and that the whole will be published in one or more volumes. It will make a valuable Book, not only as aid in the management of the Gorsedd of the Bards, but also, and especially, because the time is undoubtedly coming, as proved by certain signs, when every fragment of the primitive Bardism of the Cymry will be treasured as gold, and subjected to the severest criticism by men of learning and research.

"I know not what the literati of the Continent will say, when the Book is published, but I presume that their curiosity will be much excited by its contents, and that they themselves will be highly pleased with the labour and industry of the Compiler......

"The three judges are of opinion that the writer deserves to have the prize presented to him by acclamation, and with the full and joyful approbation of the nation, as represented in this Great Eisteddvod.*

The compilation thus referred to is that, which, with omissions and additious, somewhat rearanged, and accompanied with an English translation, is now offered to the public. With very few exceptions, the; several documents used on the present occasion, have been collected from the manuscripts of the late Iolo Morganwg, Bard according to the privilege and usage of the Bards of the Isle of Britain, and one of the two that constituted the only members of the Bardic institution, when it was revived at the close of the last century.

But though they are thus in his handwriting, if we set aside some brief and unimportant notices, which, whether original or otherwise, may have been couched in his own language, there is every reason to believe that they are transcripts of older manuscripts. In the first place we may remark, that they are interspersed, without method or order" of any kind among the private and casual entries of the Bard, which he made on loose scraps of old letters, bills, and placards-bound together only after his death and that they were thus evidently not intended to be published.

This fact of itself would remove the notion of any design on his part to impose upon the credulity of his countrymen. Moreover, we have had an opportunity of examining fully and carefully those papers, and thus seen the Bard, as it were, in his most private and unguarded moments, and can, as the result of our observation, unhesitatingly pronounce him to be incapable of perpetrating literary deceit or forgery, particularly with the view of upholding a theory.

Integrity of purpose is apparent throughout all his works. Strong feelings, indeed, he had, amounting almost to prejudice, but they were founded in jealous concern for the due preservation of the traditions of the country, and never displayed, except when he beheld a disposition to oppugn or disparage what he considered ancient and national.

It was on this ground, for instance that he so strenuously advocated the claims of Dosparth Morganwg, or the Glamorgan system of versification, in preference to the 24 new canons of poetry, which were sanctioned at the famous Eisteddvod, held at Caermarthen, under the patronage of Gruffydd ab Nicholas, in the 15th cent.

Secondly, the style is in general too archaic for the 18th century, exhibiting occasionally terms of such obsolete character as to baffle the skill of the etymologist. Nor must it be asserted that they were fabricated for a purpose, with a view of imparting to the documents the appearance of antiquity, for even Iolo Morganwg himself professes not to fully understand some of them. Thus, in reference to a Triad entitled, "Tri phrif anaw Beirdd Ynys Prydain," he remarks, "the meaning of this word (anaw) has not hitherto been satisfactorily given," and proposes the query, "whether it may not signify an original genius?" and soon after, "whether anaw may not signify a philosopher?" Again, after an extract, to which the name of Llywelyn Sion is attached, relative to "Cadair Tarannon," he asks, "Tarannon and Teyrnon - were they one and the same thing? Qu. whether Cadair Tarannon in Taliesin be not one and the same thing, and also the same thing as gorsedd gwlad ac arlwydd?" The word obryn is not to be met with in the Dictionaries; it may, and probably does, signify a state in Abred corresponding with man's turpitude at the time of his death, which is the meaning given to it by Iolo Morganwg; but assuredly if he had been driven to coin for himself a compound which should express the above idea, instead of the very unusual prefix ob, he would naturally have adopted cyf, cyd, or cyn, as in the case of cydfil, which occurs in the same Triad.

Sometimes, when the langnage is not obscure, he seems to misunderstand the import of a word, and to suggest an interpretation, which, on due examination of the Bardic doctrine, appears to be erroneous. Thus when, referring to light in the Triad -"There are three cognates: man; liberty.; and light," he observes, "intellectual light is here probably meant," he forgets that it is distinctly stated in other documents that man sprang into existence simultaneously with the resplendent appearance of the triple form of God's Name, which was the first manifestation of material light. These facts clearly prove that Iolo Morganwg had no hand in forging the documents in question.

Thirdly, the different readings, which abound in them, demonstrate that the Bard frequently even more than one manuscript before him, when he made his transcripts - a fact, which shows, moreover, that their contents were then better known than they are in our own day.

Fourth, whilst the general subject is the same, there is a want of uniformity in some of the details, as in the directions given for constructing a Peithynen, and the formation of a Gorsedd-the explanation of the Divine epithet IAU - and the enumeration and names of the elements. This circumstance, whilst it indicates a variety of sources, whence the different expressions of opinion must have been derived, at the same time excludes the idea of a collusion.

Had Iolo and some of his friends entered into a conspiracy to palm upon the public, as an ancient system, a theory of their own invention, they would doubtless have taken care that there should exist an exact agreement between the several parts of their joint production. It is of the essence of forgery to endeavour to avoid varieties in matters of detail -whilst truth; and integrity of purpose, having a greater regard for the main subject, are generally indifferent to these particulars. Lastly, Iolo Morganwg refers to the actual existence of some of the documents, which he alleges to have copied, and gives, with very great minuteness, the address of the owner.

Thus, in relation to certain extracts which he made from "Trioedd Barddas," "Trioedd Braint a Defod," "Trioedd Doethineb," and "Trioedd Pawl," which contain the very essence of Bardism as exhibited in our pages, he remarks;- "The Triades that are here selected are from a manuscript collection, by Llywelyn Sion, a Bard of Glamorgan, about the year 1560. Of this manuscript I have a transcript; the original is in the possession of Mr. Richard Bradford, of Bettws, near Bridgend, in Glamorgan;" and as if this were not sufficiently particular, he adds in a note, "son of the late Mr. John Bradford, who, for skill in ancient British Bardism, left not his equal behind." Nor does this statement occur among the private papers of the Bard, but appears in his published work-his "Poems Lyric and Pastoral," where also the selections alluded to are printed. If the reference had been untrue, it could easily have been refuted, nor would his enemies, of whom he had several, have been slow to take advantage of the circumstance to expose the whole as a tissue of falsehood and deceit. But nothing of the kind took place. It is fair, however, to observe that the existence of the manuscript in question at the present moment is open to doubt- the prize offered at the Eisteddvod failed to bring it forth. Still we are in hopes that it is not irretrievably lost, and it may be in the possession of some person who careth for none of these things."

We trust that these reasons are sufficient to justify us in our conclusion, that Iolo Morganwg had nothing whatever to do with the original compilation of the main documents, which form the present collection, and that he merely transcribed older materials, which from some sources or other had fallen into his hands.

Failing the attempt to convict Iolo Morganwg as a literary impostor, the sceptics of the present day profess to discover the sources in question in the Eisteddvodau, which were held subsequently to the beginning of the 15th century, more especially thoseof 1570, 1580, and 1681. A body of curious matter is found to exist, purporting to have come down to us, through the medium of the Chair of Glamorgan as genuine remains of the theology and usages of the Bards. This is an incontrovertible fact. Again, history notes with equal sternness the authorization, at the above mentioned Congresses successively, of what was likewise called Bardism: and the not unnatural inference is, that they are one and the same.

But, apparently for no other reason than that the code thus promulgated was not formally committed to writing before, a higher origin is denied to it, and of course the Bards of those periods, Ieuan ab Hywel Swrdwal, Gwilym Tew, Lewys Morganwg, Meuig Davydd, Davydd Benwyn, Llywelyn Sion, Davydd llwyd Mathew, Edward Davydd, and others, are boldly charged with being its sole inventors. As they were not all contemporaries, and as they held various positions in life, and were also members of different religious communions, it would be difficult to account for the unanimity with which they adopted the strange and curious system, which these volumes present to our view. To accuse them of being under the influence of that spirit, which led to the overthrow of the monarchy, and to the establishment of the commonwealth on its ruins, merely because their system represents the three orders of Bard, Druid, and Ovate, as co-equal in rank and privilege, is, to say the least, not warranted by facts. History does not point out a single Bard of those times as mixing in any political intrigue. On the contrary they, one and all of whom we have any knowledge, appear to have led quiet lives, paying due and just homage of loyalty to the existing government of the day, without opposition, and without complaint. Besides, it may be interesting to know, why the Bards in question should have selected this particular form, whether as the embodiment of their own creed, or as the representation of ancient Druidism? There was nothing in the prevailing philosophy of the day to suggest it; and to say that they derived it from the traditions of the Brahmins, would be to give them credit for a greater extent of knowledge than their positions in life would warrant.

Could they, then, have compiled the whole system - ingenious, complex, and yet harmonious and symmetrical as it was, out of the mere allusious to it, which are contained in the works of the earlier Poets? The Rev. Edward Davies observes,-"It does not appear, from their own profession, nor from the research of Llwyd, and other antiquaries, that this society possessed a single copy of the works of the ancient Bards, previous to the eighteenth century.? If the inference, evidently intended to be drawn from this guarded form of expression, be well founded, of course a direct negative must be returned to our inquiry. But we are not prepared to endorse the opinion, favourable as it may be to our present argument. We believe that the Bards of the 15th and 16th centuries were, to some extent acquainted with the poetical productions of their predecessors, but at the same time we boldly maintain that. it was next to impossible they should agree upon any system drawn from those sources. And in proof of our assertion, we need only refer to those who are known to have made the trial. What two persons have been found to agree in their views of the mystic allusions of the Bards? What an interminable distance there is between the respective theories of Davies and Nash!

Whilst, however, we deny that the contents of these volumes could have been derived immediately from the metrical compositions of the medieval and early Poets, we believe that they can be abundantly proved by them. There are numerous allusions, which, otherwise obscure and unintelligible, become by means of the light thrown upon them from Bardism, as clear as day. As an example; Rhys Brydydd, between 1450 and 1490, has the following lines on Hu the Mighty :-

The smallest of the small
Is Hu the Mighty, as the world judges;
And the greatest, and a Lord to us,
Let us well believe, and our mysterious God;
Light His courae, and active,
An atom Cf glowing heat is His car;
Great on land and on the seas,
The greatest that I manifestly can have,
Greater than the worlds-Let us beware
Of mean indignity to him who deals in bounty.*

Even supposing Hu the Mighty to signify the Supreme Being, it would be difficult to explain how He can be "the smallest of the small," and at the same time ?the greatest,? or to show how His chariot is composed of "an atom of glowing heat." Accordingly, the interputations given by Davies, Archdeacon William's, and Nash; varied though they be, are extremly vauge and unsatisfactory, leaving us in a greater state of bewilderment than if we had never received them. And yet how simple is the illustration which Bardism affords - "Hu the Mighty - Jesus the Son of God, - the least in respect of His worldly greatness whilst in the flesh, and the greatest in heaven of all visible majesties." Or, which also explains the nature of His car; - "the particles of light are the smallest of all small things; and yet one particle of light is the greatest of all great things, being no less than material for all materiality that can be understood and perceived as within the grasp of the power of God. And in every particle there is a place wholly commensurate with God, for there is not, and cannot be less than God in every particle of light, and God in every particle; nevertheless God is only one in number."

In like manner, there are various allusions to annwn, abred, manred, byd mawr, byd bach, pair Ceridwen, the Coelbren, and many other particulars of a similar kind, which, while they are in themselves insufficient to coustitute an intelligible groundwork on which to raise a superstructure such as our pages contain, bear strong testimony to the fact of its existence from the 16th up to the 6th century. The transmigration related by Taliesin is not identical in detail with that of Bardism, for in the latter the soul is not supposed to enter inanimate objects, such as a sword, a star, a word, a book, a boat, a shield, a tree, an axe, and a grain of wheat, which form some of the gradations in "Cad Goddeu" and "Angar Cyvyndawd;" and we infer from this discrepancy that the Bardic doctrine was not directly founded on the poet's language. Still we may regard it as a valuable testimony to the actual existence among the Cymry, at the time when the poems were written, of a doctrine of metempsychosis, whether believed in, or preserved merely as a matter of curiosity. To notice in detail all the passages, which might be culled out of the works of the Poets, as referring to the principal tenets and usages of Bardism, would swell our Preface to an unnecessary length, especially since many of them are inserted in the body of the work as footnotes; to them, then, we would beg to direct the attention of our readers.

Further, the philosophical features of Bardism may be traced even in the language of the Cymry, and the testimony, which it thus affords, is the more valueable because it is indirect and unexpected. If we allow it possible that the Bards of the 15th and 16th centuries should have actually drawn their system directly from the works of their predecessors, no one can for a moment entertain the thought that they were capable of drawing it from the language, whether solely, or in conjunction with the poetry of different times. Independently of Bardism, it would be difficult to explain why advyd, a term signifying re-world, or a beginning of the world over again, should in common use stand for adversity, but "Rhol Cof a Chyfrif" informs us that it was originally applied to the state of retraversing abred, which, being a punishment for sin, was of course a state of hardship and adversity. Again, we find that the word gwydd means both wood and knowledge, which cannot be accounted for except on the supposition of a common origin, or that there was a mutual connection between the one and the other from the earliest times. This affinity is explained by the Coelbren. In like manner, the doctrine of eneidvaddeu alone can satisfactorily account for the double meaning of maddeu, and show us how a word, which properly means to liberate, or to dismiss, came also to signify to forgive, which is its common import at the present day. Angau, aberth, huan, nefoedd, and a host of other words might be enumerated, which clearly refer to the mythology of the ancient Cymry; hence it is manifest that no Welsh philologist can effectually succeed in his investigations, unless in the first instance he makes himself acquainted with Bardism.

What, then, shall we say? Did the Bards in question model their system according to the description which Julius Caesar, and other foreign writers, have given of Druidism? There is prima facie a wide difference between the two systems. Caesar speaks of a plurality of gods, of an archdruid, who had superior authority over the others, and also of the immolation of human sacrifices; whereas the unity of the Godhead is the very soul and centre of Bardism, which also strongly insists upon the coequality of its orders, and seems to discountenance altogether the notion of the sacrifice of living beings, in the strict acceptation of the term, whether they were men or beasts. This circumstance, therefore, is fatal to the hypothesis which would regard classical Druidism as the groundwork on which the fabric of Bardism has been raised. Still, if the latter is, as it, professes to be, the genuine remains of the primitive worship and philosophy of Britain, there must be a posibility of harmonizing the two systems - they must in principle be identical. To this subject we will now address ourselves.

JULIUS CAESAR, BC. 99-44

It is necessary that we should, at the outset, bear in mind the following observation made by Caesar, as to the comparative merits of the Continental and British systems :-

"The institution is thought to have originated in Britain, and to have been thence introduced into Gaul; and even now those who wish to become more accurately acquainted with it, generally repair thither, for the sake of learning it."

It is clear from this statement that Druidism, in Caesar's time, was not considered as pure and as well understood on the Continent as it was in the British isle, its genuine home; an hypothesis, moreover, exactly in accordance with the traditions of the Bards:-"Bardism originated in the Isle of Britain- no other country ever obtained a proper comprehension of Bardism. Three nations corrupted what they had learned of the Bardism of the Isle of Britain, blending with it heterogeneous principles, by which means they lost it: the Irish; the Cymry of Armorica; and the Germans."

According to this view, we must not expect that the two systems should agree in all matters of detail, but only in principle and substance.

Caesar's description refers solely to the Druidism of Gaul. How he acquired his information, he does not tell us; it might have been in part from personal observation, and in part, if not wholly, from his friend Divitiacus, who was a Druid among the Aedui. It is possible that his narrative in this respect is correct; still his general character for veracity does not bind us to believe implicitly every word that he says. Suetonius tells us, that Asinius Pollio, who was a contemporary of Caesar, was of opinion that his assertions are not altogether worthy of credit;- "Asinius Pollio" he remarks, "thinks that they (the works of Caesar) were composed with but little accuracy, and little truth, since Caesar used to believe rashly respecting the deeds of other men, and also to relate erroneously the things done by himself, either of set purpose, or through failure of memory, and he is of opinion that he intended to re-write and correct them.? We shall not, however, take the benefit of this opinion, but proceed at once to notice the piincipal points of Druidism, as actually related by Caesar himself, and to compare them with the views of the Bards, in order to see how far they may be reconciled one with the other. The whole account, as given by Caesar of the Continental Druids, is as follows:-

"They preside over sacred things, have the charge of public and private sacrifices, and explain their religion. To them a great number of youths have recourse for the sake of acquiring instruction, and they are in great honour among them. For they generally settle all their disputes, hoth public and private; and if there is any trangression perpetrated, any murder committed, or any dispute about inheritance or boundries they decide in respect of them; they appoint rewards and penalties; and if any private or public person abides not by their decree, they restrain him from the sacrifices. This with them is the most severe punishment. Whoever are so interdicted are ranked in the number of the impious and wicked; all forsake them, and shun their company and conversation, lest they should suffer disadvantage from contagion with them: nor is legal right rendered to them when they sue it, nor any honour conferred upon them. But one presides over all these Druids, who possesses the supreme authority among them. At his death, if any one of the others excels in dignity, the same succeeds him: but if several have equal pretensions, the president is elected by the votes of the Druids, sometimes even they contend about the supreme dignity by force of arms. At a certain time of the year, they assemble in session on a consecrated spot in the confines of the Carnutes, which is considered the central region of the whole of Gaul. Thither all, who have any disputes, come together from every side, and acquiesce in their judgements and decisions. The institution is thought to have originated in Britain, and to have been thence introduced into Gaul, and even now, those who wish to become more accurately acquainted with it generally repair thither for the sake of learning it.

"The Druids usually abstain from war, nor do they pay taxes together with the others; they have exemption from warfare, and the free use of all things. Instigated by such advantages, many resort to their school even of their own accord, whilst others are sent by their parents and relations. There they are said to learn thoroughly a great number of verses. On that account, some continue at their education for twenty years. Nor do they deem it lawful to commit these things to writing; though, generally, in other cases, and in their public and private accounts, they use Greek letters. They appear to have, estsblished this custom for two reasons; because they would not have their tenets published, and because they would not have those, who learn them, by trusting to letters, neglect the exercise of memory; since it generally happens, that, owing to the safeguard of letters, they relax their diligence in learning, as well as their memory. In particular they wish to inculcate this idea, that souls do not die, but pass after death from one body to another; and they think that by this means men are very much instigated to the exercise of bravery, the fear of death being despised. They also dispute largely concerning the stars and their motion, the magnitude of the world and the earth, the nature of things, the force and power of the immortal gods, and instruct the youth in their principles.

"The whole nation of the Gauls, is very rnuch given to religious observances, and on that account, those who are afflicted with grievous diseases, and those who are engaged in battles and perils, either immolate men as sacrifices, or vow that they will immolate themselves, and they employ the Druids as ministers of those sacrfices; because they think that, if the life of man is not given for the life of man, the immortal gods cannot be appeased; they have also instituted public sacrifices of the same kind. Some have images of immense size, the limbs of which, interwoven with twigs, they fill with living men, and the same being set on fire, the men, surrounded by the flames, are put to death. They think that the punishment of those who are caught in theft or pillage, or in any other wicked act, is more acceptable to the imortal gods; but when there is a deficiency of such evil doers, they have recourse even to the punishment of the innocent.

"They chiefly worship the god Mercury; of him they have many images, him they consider as the inventor of all arts, as the guide of ways and journeys, and as possessing the greatest power for obtaining money and merchandise. After him, they worship Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Concerning them they have almost the same opinion as other nations, namely: that Apollo wards off diseases; that Minerva instructs them in the principles of works and arts; that Jupiter holds the empire of heaven; and that Mars rules wars. To him, when they have determined to engage in battle, they generally vow those things which they shall have captured in war. When they are victorious, they sacrifice the captured animals; and pile up the other things in one place.

"The Gauls declare that they have all sprung from their father Pluto, and this they say was delivered to them by the Druids."*

The principal topics, which demand our attention in this extract, are:

1 The religious function of the Druids. The two systems are perfectly agreed in this respect, that the priestly office belonged to the Druidic order. Caesar, indeed, does not mention either of the other two orders, but his silence is no proof that they did not exist in Gaul as well as in Britain. It is very probable that the Druids were, in respect of their office, the most conspicuous among the Gauls, and that Caesar's attention was especially draw to their deeds, so as to overlook the Bards and Ovates, or that he considered the functions of these as absorbed in that of the Druids. We have the evilence of Diodorus Siculus and Strabo that there were Bards in Gaul, and the latter says there were Ovates also.

2 The respect in which they were held. The Druids of Britain were, likewise, highly esteemed by the people. According to the laws of Dyvnwal Moelmud, "the Gorsedd of Bards" was "the oldest in its origin" of "the three privileged Gorsedds of the Isle of Britain." Its different functionaries had a right each to five free acres of land in virtue of their office - were entitled to maintenance wherever they went - had freedom from taxes - no person was to bear a naked weapon in their presence - and their word was always paramount. These privileges, as well as others, to which they had a right, are distinctly specified in the present volumes, and they show the great respect, and honour in which they at all times stood in the community. The consequence was that many persons were usually candidates for the office, not only among the nobility and gentry, but also among those of low rank, for the bondsman became free on his assuming the profession of Bardism, though he could not learn it "without the permission of his proprietary lord, and the lord of the teiritory." Caesar regards the Druids and Knights as of a higher rank than the common people, and as being distinct from them, and though he does not say that the former could have arisen, and gained their nobility by means of their office, yet it is not improbable that the teachers of Gaul were, in this respect, similar to the Bards of the Isle of' Britain. At any rate, every Bard among the Cymry was according to his office a free and honourable man, whatever his position might have been previously. In this matter, therefore, we preceive no substantial difference between the Druidism of Britain and the Druidism of Gaul.

3 The arbitration and settlement of disputes. It appears from the Laws of Dyvnwal Moelmud that there were "three Gorsedds according to the privilege of the country and nation of the Cymry," having their respective duties and functions with a view to the improvement of society.

"The first is the Gorsedd of the Bards of the Isle of Britain, and their foundation and privilege rest upon reason, nature, and cogency; or according to other teachers and wise men, upon reason, nature, and circumstance. And the privilege and office of those protected by the Gorsedd of the Bards are to maintain and preserve and diffuse authorized instruction in the sciences of piety, wisdom, and courtesy; and to preserve memorial and record of every thing commendable respecting individuals and kindred; and every event of times; and every natural phenomenon; and wars; and regulations of country and nation; and punishments; and commendable victories; and to preserve a warranted record of genealogies, marriages, nobility, privileges, and customs of the nation of the Cymry; and to attend to the exigencies of other Gorsedds in announcing whnat shall be achieved, and what shall be requisite, under lawful proclamation and warning: and further than this there is nothing either of office or of privilege attached to a Gorsedd of the Bards.....Second, the Gorsedd of the country and common weal; or the Gorsedd of judicature and decision of law, for the right and protection of the country and nation, their refugees, and their aliens. These Gorsedds act severally; that is to say, the Gorsedd of federate support makes a law, where an occasion requires, and confirms it in a country and federate country; and that is not allowed to a country distinct from a federate country. The Gorsedd of judgment and judicature decides upon such as shall transgress the law, and punishes him. And the Gorsedd of the Bards teaches commendable sciences, and decides respecting them, and methodically preserves all the memorials of the nation to insure their authenticity. And it is not right for any one of these Gorsedds to intermeddle with the deliberation of either of the other two, but to confirm them, and to support them regularly. The third Gorsedd, or that of federate support, in its original and determinate purpose, is to effect what may be necessary as to any thing new, and as to the improveneent of the laws of a country and federate country, by a federate jury of chiefs of kindreds, wise men, and sovereign ruler. A sovereign prince, or ruler of paramount right, is the oldest in possessive title of the kings and the princes of a federate community: and he Is to raise the mighty agitation; and his word is superior to every other word in the agitation of the country."

According to the tenor of this extract, it was "the Gorsedd of judgment and judicature" that possessed the special right of determining national and social disputes, in conformity with the law that was enacted in a "Gorsedd of federate support." They were matters of a literary character mainly that came under the supervision of the Bards. Nevertheless, there was some connection between the three institutions - they were "to confirm, and support" each other "regularly." The Bards were required more particularly to register the events that occurred in country and nation, to preserve the records of genealogies, marriages, nobility, privileges and customs, of the nation of the Cymry, and to attend to the exigencies of other Gorsedds in announcing what shall be achieved, and what shall be requisite, under lawful proclamation and warning. So far, then, it might be said that they settled matters appertaining to inheritances and boundaries, as the Druids of Gaul did in the time of Caesar. The Roman captain might easily be mistaken with respect to the extent of the authority and power of the Druids, attributing to them more than in reality they possessed. After all, be does not admit that the entire authority was in their hands - his observation is, "they generally settle all their disputes, both public and private." And even if things were exactly as he relates them, it is not difficult to suppose that this was a natural corruption of the primitive custom. Inasmuch as the Druids generally were possessed of more learning and knowledge than any other class of people in the country, it was quite natural that they should increasce in poiltical and social authority, especially where the other establishments were not as orderly and well defined as they were in Britain. We see this principle at work in relation to the Church, during what is called "the dark ages," when more than necessary of temporal and political authority fell into the hands of ecclesiastics.

Caesar says of the Druids of Gaul that the greatest punishment which was inflicted upon evil doers was, to keep them from the sacrifices. It must be admitted that there was nothing, as far as we know, in the institute of Britain, which altogether answered to this interdict. Perhaps the nearest approach to it was tge refusal of the protection of the Gorsedd to any member of the community, who, for some fault or other, was announced to be exposed to a ?naked weapon.? The Bards, however, had a pecullar mode of degrading their convicted brethren. It took place at a Gorsedd, and the act was called "to bring the assault of warfare against? him who was to be thus disfranchised. After the Bards had agreed in their decision, they covered their heads, and one of them unsheathed the sword, named the person aloud three times, with the sword lifted in his hand, adding when he was last named, "the sword is naked against him." He could never after be re-admitted; and was called "'a man deprived of privilege and exposed to warfare." There is some resemblance in this custom to what Caesar says of the excommunicated, ?that no legal right was rendered to them, nor any honour conferred upon them;? and the resemblance is sufficient to show that the usages of the two countries had sprung from the same root.

4 The Archdruid. Among the Cymry the three orders, Bard, Druid, and Ovate, were co-equal, one with the other, in point of privilege and dignity, whilst they were different in regard to duties. For thus it is stated in "Trioedd Braint a Defod:"-

"The three branches of Bardism: Poetry; Ovatism; and Druidism; that is to say, these three branches are adjudged to be of equal privilege, and equal importance, for there can be no superiority to one of them over another - though they are distinct in purpose, they are not distinct in privilege."

"There are three Bards of equal importance, that is, the three worthy primitive Bards, namely: a licensed native Bard, or a Poet according to privilege and usage; an Ovate-bard, devoted to genial learning; and a Druid-bard, devoted to theology and morality; - and they are aaid to be of equal importance, because one cannot be better than another, or supreme over the rest;- though one is distinct from another in respect of office and movement, still they are equal and of like dignity in respect of obligation, effort, and object, which are learning, truth, and peace."

In this sense, then, it may be said that the system of the Cymry varied from that of the Gauls. Nevertheless, occasionally, that is, when they met in Gorsedd, "one presided," even among the British Bards. He was called chief-Bard, or Gorsedd Bard; and if he were of the Druidic order, he might be easily regarded as an Arch-druid, not only because he presided, but because in doing so he stood on the "maen arch,? in the centre of the sacred circle. Every chief Bard had a right to preside at a Gorsedd, but still nothing could be decided without the consent of the majority of Gorsedd Bards - the former was merely a kind of chairman - primus inter pares, for the time.

Caesar seems to imply that one only presided during life, and when he died, that another was elected in his stead. This is not altogether in unison with the custom of the Cymry. Nevertheless, if such in truth was the usage of Gaul, it might easily have been derived from our own country. Whilst the people of the Continent did not properly understand Bardism, there was nothing to prevent them from falling into a mistake as to the nature of the authority, which the Bard president possessed, deeming it to be personal, and intended to continue for life, whereas it was official only - belonging to several, and to be exercised as occasions required. The Cymry never had recourse to the sword in order to settle the question of supremacy, as we learn from Caesar was the case sometimes on the Continent. This was quite an abuse - and thoroughlu inconsistent with the spirit of Bardism.

5 The Place Of Meeting. According to Caesar, the Druids of Gaul had a fixed place and time for meeting; he mentions not the time, but the place he says was on the confines of the Carnutes, in the middle of the country, as was supposed. ?Thither,? he says, ?all, who have any disputes, come together from every side, and acquiesce in the judgements and decisions.? In like manner, the Bards or Druids of Britain had their appointed times and places for meeting in Gorsedd. Their times were the Albans, namely, Alban Eilir, Alban Hevin, Alban Elved, and Alban Arthan, that is, the equinoxes and solstices, or the commencement of the four seasons of the year. The principal places are recorded in the following Triads: -

"The three prinicpal Gorsedds of the Bards of the Isle of Britain: the Gorsedd of Bryn Gwyddon at Caerleon-upon-Usk; the Gorsedd of Moel Evwr; and the Gorsedd of Beiscawen.

"The three Gorsedds of entire song of the Isle of Britain: the Gorsedd of Beiscawen in Dyvnwal; the Gorsedd of Caer Caradog in Lloegria; and the Gorsedd of Bryn in Cymru."

There was thus one special Gorsedd in each of the three prinicpal provinces, where the native mind chiefly predominated. The Gorsedd was a sort of national temple, to which the majority of perons within the province resorted at the appointed times in order to worship God, and to recieve instruction. All were invited, except such as were ?deprived of privilege, and exposed to warfare,? and no impediments were allowed to be put on their way, as they travelled ?under the protection and peace of God."

"Three common rights of federate country and border country: a principal river; a high road; and a resort of worship; and those are under the protection of God and His peace; since a weapon is not to be unsheathed by such as frequent them against those they may meet and whoever shall do so, whether a native or a stranger, a claim of galanas against him arises on the plaint of the lord of the territory."

6 The derivation of the Druidic system. We have already noticed the coincidence between the notion which prevailed in Gaul on this head and the drift of the Cymric traditions.

7 Memorials. "They are said," observes Caesar, "to learn thoroughly a great number of verses; and on that account, some continue their eduation for twenty years." One of "the three memorials of the Bards of the Isle of Britain," was "the memorial of song." This was one of the oldest vehicles in which events and sciences were handed down among the Bards, and it is supposed that the particular form which they used was the meter called "Triban- Milwr," or the Warrior's Triplet. The name of Tydain, the father of Awen, is especially associated with the memorial of song; and "the poem of Tydain? is prominently alluded to in the account of the establishment of Bardism. He was a contemporary of Prydain.

As time rolled on, accumulating events and sciences, we may easily suppose that "twenty years" not be more than sufficient to enable a man to treasure in his memory the "great number of verses" neccessary to contain and embody them. Generally, however, nine years was the time during which a pupil was required to be under discipline previous to his being graduated as a Chief Bard.

"They do not deem it lawful (fas) to commit those things to writing," i.e. the things appertaining to the system. Neither did the British Bards countenance the habit of writing their traditions. On the contrary, it was their custom to recite them publicly in every Gorsedd, until they became deeply rooted in the memory of the people. This is what they called the "voice of Gorsedd," and it was in this manner that their traditions have come down to us. Caesar's opinion respecting such a practice coincides exactly with the reason which influenced the Bards of Cymru. "They appear to me to have establisbed this custom for two reasons; because they would not have their tenets published, and because they would not have those, who learn them, by trusting to letters, neglect the exercise of memory." The Bards had a "Cyvrinach," or Secret, which they did not consider it lawful for any one to know out of their own order; such were the Name of God, and the Ten Letters. All this secrecy related especially to the institute, and the candidate for admission into it took an awful vow that he would not divulge the cyvrinach to any one, who was not a regular Bard. They likewise considered that the use of writing tended to weaken the memory, not only in respect of the disciples, but also of the people generally; or rather, with regard to the latter; they considered that the voice of Gorsedd was the easiest mode of teaching them, and the most effectual for preventing every kind of falsehood and corruption.

With respect to the voice of Gorsedd, and its connection with the discipline of the Bards themselves we have it thus stated in "the Book of Lewys Morganwg, which he compiled from many of the old Books:"-

"There is no other than the memorial, voice, and usage of Gorsedd belonging to the privileges and usages of the primitive Bards, for they spring from primary and original right, before there was any Book knowledge; therefore, they were submitted only to the memorial of the voice, and usage of Gorsedd; or, as others say, to the memorial of song, voice, and usage. And they have no permanent privilege and authority, but what we know by these means."

Nevertheless, the Bards had a knowledge of letters from the beginning. It is said that Einigan, the first man, ?beheld three pillars of light, having on them all demonstrable sciences, that ever were, or ever will be,? and that ?he took three rods of the quicken tree, and placed on them the forms and siglis of all sciences, so as to be remembere.? People misunderstood these, and "regarded the rods as a God, whereas they only bore His Name. When Einigan saw this, he was greatly annoyed, and in the intensity of his grief he broke the three rods, nor were others found that contained accurate sciences. He was so distressed on that account that from the intensity he burst asunder, and with his [parting] breath he prayed God that there should be accurate sciences among men in the flesh, and there should be a correct understanding for the proper discernment thereof. And at the end of a year and a day, after the decease of Einigan, Menw, son of the Three Shouts, beheld three rods growing out of the mouth of Einigan, which exhibited the sciences of the Ten Letters, and which all the sciences of language and the mode in which all the sciences of language and speech were arranged by thern, and in language and speech all distinguishable sciences. He then took the rods, and taught from them the sciences - all, except the Name of God, which he made a secret, lest the Name should be falsely discerned and hence arose the secret of the Bardism of the Bards of the Isle of Britain.?

The first ten letters were derived from the creative Name of God, /|\, and represented a, p, c, e, t, i, l, r, o, s; and "they had been a secret from the age of ages, among the Bards of the Isle of Britain, for the preservation of memorials of country and nation. Beli the Great made them into sixteen, and divulged that arrangement, and appointed that there should never after be a concealment of the sciences of letters, in respect of the arrangement which he made; but he left the ten cuttings a secret."

According to some authorities, the alphabet of the sixteen letters was formed, and, divulged in the time of Dyvnwal Moelmud. The original Abcedilros, or alphabet of the ten letters, was quite different to that of the sixteen and its augmentations; and whilst these were known to the public, the former was known only to the Bards.

The Druids of Gaul had a knowledge of letters, though they did not commit to writing the things that pertained to their institute. "Generally," says our author, "in other cases, and in their public and private accounts, they use Greek letters." The alphabet of the sixteen was at this time open to the public in Britain; could it have been the one which the Continental Druids used, mistaken by Caesar Greek letters?

The Druids of Gaul had letters of their own, which were similar to the letters of Greece; it is, therefore, not impossible that Caesar confounded one series with the other. Mr. Astle, who is well skilled in ancient letters, gives a series of Gaulish characters, which are somewhat similar to those of Greece. They were taken from the monumental inscription of Gordian, the messenger of the Gauls, who suffered martyrdom, in the third century, with all his family. "These characters,? he says, "were generally used by the people, before the conquest of Gaul by Caesar."

Another author remarks:-" There are those who think the Druids had ancient characters, which were both elegant, and similar to those of the Greeks. For according to the testimony of Xenophon, and Archilochus, the figures of those letters, which Cadmus brought out of Phoenicia into Greece, resembled Gaulish, rather than Punic, or Phoenician characters.?

He who compares the ancient Greek Alphabet with the Bardic Coelbren, will find a remarkable similarity between them, so that a stranger might easily mistake the one for the other.

The Druids of Britain as well as those of Gaul, made use of letters under many circumstances. The ?memorial of letters," or the "memorial of Coelbren,? was one of their "three memorials." This is clearly seen in the Laws of Dyvnwal Moelmud. It would, therefore, not be difficult to harmonize Caesar's narrative respecting the "memorial of voice" and the ?memorial of letters" of the Gauls, with what we know to have been the usage of the Bards of Britain in these matters.

8 The transmigration of souls. The Bardic dogma on this head was, that the soul commenced its course in the lowest water animalcule, and passed at death to other bodies of a superior order, successively, and in regular gradation, until it entered that of man. Humanity is a state of liberty, where man can attach himself to either good or evil, as he pleases. If his good qualities preponderate over his evil qualities at the time of his death, his soul passes into Gwynvyd, or a state of bliss, where good necessarily prevails, and from whence it is impossible to fall. But if his evil qualities predominate, his soul descends in Abred, into an animal corresponding in character to the disposition he exhibited just before he died. It will then rise as before, until it again arrives at the point of liberty, where it will have another chance of clinging to the good. But if it fails, it must fall again, and this may happen for ages and ages, until at last its attachment to good preponderates. It was believed, however, that man could not be guilty twice of the same sin; his experience in Abred, whilst undergoing punishment for any particular sin, would prevent him from loving that sin a second time; hence the adage,"Nid eir i Annwn ond unwaith."

The views of the Gaulish Druids, as far as they are expressed by Caesar, do not appear to dffer from the above. "They wish to inculcate this idea, that souls do not die, but pass after death from one body to another." The only thing that may be supposed to be different is the passing from one body to another which, in the original Latin, seems as if it meant from one human body to another human body, "ab aliis - ad alios.? But in reality there is no inconsistency between the two systems, even in this respect; for, though the soul of a good man was considered in general as entering an angelic body in the circle of Gwynvyd, and the soul of a wicked man as entering the body of a beast, a reptile, or a bird, in Abred, yet it was thought that occasionally the good soul returned from Gwynvyd to inhabit a human body, and that the soul of one punished by death, against his will, for an injurious evil, passed to another human body. There is no doubt that this, with the Cymry as well as with the Gauls, acted as a strong incentive to bravery, especially as they considered that to suffer in behalf of truth and justice was one of the greatest virtues, and was sure to bring the soul to everlasting bliss.

9 Astronomy. "They dispute largely concerning the stars and their motion," says Caesar, and herein the Druids of Gaul were similar to those of Britain. We have evidence enough to prove that the latter paid particular attention to the doctrine of the stars. Testimony is borne to their knowledge of the revolution of the stars even by the very word, which they used to denote time, amser, compounded of am, round, and ser, the stars. They themselves, also, not unfrequently went by the name of sywedyddion, that is astronomers, or men versed in the science of the stars.

Talhaiarn y sydd

Mwyaf sywedydd.

It will be seen that the names given by our ancestors to the different constellations, as enumerated in these volumes, are thoroughly Cymric, and radical, thus indicating early and profound knowledge on their part ?concerning the stars and their motion."

10 Cosmology. The Bards believed that all the visibile creation sprang into existance simultaneously with the pronunciation of God?s Name; and this article occupies a very prominent place in their religious creed. From other fragments in this Collection we find that they professed to know something of the laws of nature; why water rises to the surface of the earth, and descends from the clouds, and why the sea is briny. And, if we take Taliesin as a proper representative of Bardism, we may have abundant proof from his poems that they reasoned much in his day ?concerning the world, the earth, and the nature of things.?

11 Theology ?And about the force and power of the immortal gods.? Let God be substituted for ?gods,? and this statement would apply equally to the Cymry, and no difference whatever would exist between the two systems on the subject. Nothing is oftener, and more positively insisted upon in the Bardic creed than the doctrine of one God; and it is rearkable that all the testimonies of archaiological research, though they are for the most part of negative character, tend to confirm the antiquity and genuineness of that creed. The Bards were carefull to inculcate this truth above all, and brought it to bear upon the several rites and ceremonies, which distinguished their national worship. The ideas that had, also, of the nature and attributes of the Druids were truly sublime and eminently magnificent, not to be equalled perhaps by any other race of the Gentile world, prior to its adoption of the more divine religion of Christ.

12 Sacrifices. The views of the Bards on thesubject of "aberthau," or oblations, are clearly and distinctly quoted in these volumes, so that we need not give a summary of them here. What we have to do is to harmonize the account, which Caesar gives of the sacrifices of the Continental Druids with the Bardism of the Cymry. The Roman captain might easily fall into a mistake about those matters. When he saw malefactors being put to death, under the supervision of the priests, he would naturally infer that they were thus dealt with as sacrifices, to propitiate the gods. He saw men, perhaps, giving themselves up voluntarily to suffer the punishment due for their transgressions, and he would reasonably suppose that they were ?vowing to sacrifice themselves.? It is quite possible that he should, also, have seen good men suffer in the cause of truth and justice, and his inference would be, that they were being sacrificed for want of a sufficient number of evil doers to take their place. But, if we grant that Caesar gives a correct account of the sacrifices of the Gaulish Druids, it is very easy to perceive that the rite in question originated in the doctrine of eneidvaddeu, which prevailed among the Cymry. "They think that if the life of man is not given' for the life of man, the immortal gods cannot be appeased." Life for life was required by the laws of the Cymry; but we do not find that our ancestors viewed the retaliator as what would propitiate God, further than (?)to benefit the man himself, who was put to death, might be taken as a sign of his reconciliation with God. If a murderer died a natural death, his soul would descend low in Abred, but the fatal punishment inflicted upon him by the public officers was considered, according to the order of providence, as equivalent to that degradation, and his soul passed simultaneously to another human body. In this sense, then, the punishment of eneidvaddeu propitiated God; that is, God did not, on that account, place man in such a miserable position as He would otherwise have done. Since the Divine Being wishes every man to be saved, it may be said, that whatever is done to facilitate that object, and to bring about its speedy consummation, must be pleasing to Him.

It is very probable that the prisoners of the wicker image were no other than the malefactors who would not surrender themselves voluntarily; we can hardly see the necessity for the scheme in the case of the others. We do not read of anything of the kind in connection with our own island; most likely it was peculiar to the Continent.

Caesar observes that it was the opinion of the Gaulish Druids "that the punishment of those who were caught in theft or pillage, or in any other wicked act, was more acceptable to the immortal gods" than that of the innocent. It is difficult to withstand the supposition that these were the words of the commentator himself, used by him as a reason for the want of proportion, which he observed in the number of the bad and good, that were immolated. If, on the contrary, it was really the opinion of the Druids, then they must in this respect have differed much from their Cymric brethren, who considered that the offenders, who gave themselves up willingly to be punished were more acceptable than those who were punished against their will, and that the good, who suffered in behalf of truth and justice, were still more so. Besides, there was something in the above opinion inconsistent with the idea which mankind in general entertained respecting the qualities of a sacrifice, and which sets forth the immaculate, the obedient, and the innocent, as the one which is most pleasing to God.

It appears from Caesar that the agent, which the Gauls used for consuming their sacrifices, was fire. Fire might in like manner be employed among the Cymry for the punishment of those who were adjudged to be eneidvaddeu. ?There are three eneidvaddeue punishments: beheading; hanging; and burning; and it is for the king, or lord of the territory to order which he willeth to be inflicted.

13. The Names of God. We must again express our conviction that Caesar might have mistaken the several attributes, which belonged to the one true God, for as many distinct and independent divinities, just as it is said that some of the Cymry, in the infancy of the world, deified and worshipped the rods which only bore the Name of God. Not at once did men forget the great and primitive doctrine of the unity of the Godhead, setting up in the imagination of their hearts "gods many, and lords many." Even the names, by which the gods of the Gentiles were designated, had been invented, and were used to denote the several properties of the Deity, before that which was regarded as the natural or physical representative of the Sun of righteousness, or the Supreme God. Wherefore, many of the rites and ceremonies of the Gorsedd were regulated with reference to this luminary. The days for holding the Gorsedd were the four Albans, when the rays of the orient sun converging to the Maen llog delineated the creative Name of God. The Bard thus standing in "the face of the sun, and the eye of light," when he taught the people, literally "spoke in the Name of the Lord?. No Gorsedd could be held except when the sun was above the horizon.

Since it is the property of the sun to warm, cheer and revive, it may well be said to "ward off diseases;? and when deified, the same attribute would of course still belong to it, but in a more eminent degree.

Having lost sight of the true position of the sun in the system of Bardism, it was not difficult to fall into error, and to worship the creature more than the Creator. It would appear that the Gentiles had made gods of ?the heavenly host" sooner than of any other parts of the creation; and if the Gauls were to some extent idolaters in the time of Caesar, we may be sure that they worshipped the Sun.

The next god, whom Caesar says they worshipped was Mars, "the ruler of wars." The British Bards were pre-eminently men of peace; no one was allowed to carry a naked weapon in their presence, nor did they ordinarily unsheath the sword against any one. We say ordinarily, for there were occasions, on which they were required to act in a different manner as may be seen from the following Triad:-

"The three necessary, but reluctant duties, of the Bards of the Isle of Britain: secrecy for the sake of peace and public good; invective lamentation required by justice; and to unsheath the sword against the lawless and depradatory."*

It was not for the purpose of acquiring unlawful possessions, and of oppressing other people and countries, that they "unsheathed the sword;" "they would not have country and lands by fighting and pursuing, but of equity, and in peace." It was evil that they resisted even unto blood. Accordingly, on his way to the Gorsedd, the Bard carried the sword by its point, to signify his own readiness to suffer in the cause of truth; it was sheathed on the maen crair, for the people had been invited to attend, where there would be no, naked weapon against them; but against "a man deprived of privilege, and exposed to warfare," it was unsheathed. It may be that the rite of the sword in Gorsedd had created an opinion in the mind of Caesar, that the Druids were at the time worshipping Mars, the god of war; or it may be tbat the Druids themselves, having forgotten its original import, had come to regard it as referring to the same god, whom, they no doubt had heard of as existing in the religious system of their neighbours. The accompanying offerings and sacrifices seem to have been derived from this view of Mars, since nothing of the kind can be traced to the usages of the Cymry; unless the burying his horse and arms with a warrior had been a sort of foundation for the custom.

After Mars, Jupiter is mentioned, as the god who ?held the empire of heaven?. IAU was one of the names, which the Cymry gave to the supreme God, and it signified the last or most recent manifestation of the Godhead, such as that which occurred in creation as contrasted with the preceding vacuum - after that in the incarnation of His Son. Perhaps the word is the same with /|\, the unutterable Name of God, by which He created all things - the Word of His might. There is, however, another meaning given to the name in question in the traditions of the Bards:-

"Disciple. Why is Iau (yoke) given as a name for God"

"Master. Because the yoke is the measuring rod of country and nation in virtue of the authority of law, and is in the possession of every head of family under the mark of the lord of the territory, and whoever violates it is liable to a penalty. Now, God is the masuring rod of all truth, all justice, and all goodness; therefore He is a yoke on all, and all are under it, and woe to him who shall violate it."

This meaning bears a close relation to the opinion that the owner of the name "held the empire of heaven?. Nevertheless, the name, even in this sense might have been founded upon /|\, or, according to a further development, |/|\\|/, which signifies preservation, creation, and destruction.

The Gauls could not fall into the error of inventing an additional divinity in the person of Jupiter, for he was the principal god, or god in his primary character - though their formation of different gods out of his attributes necessarily encroaches upon, and abbreviates his greatness and authority.

Minerva. The Druids of Gaul, according toCaesar, were of opinion that it was this goddess who ?instructed them in the principles of works and arts?. It is very likely that she was the same originally with the Awen, (A wen, /|\,) the Word of God, that proceeded out of His mouth, even as Minerva is said to have sprung out of the brain of Jupiter. It was from the Awen that all knowledge was derived - in like manner Minerva was considered as the goddess of wisdom. One of the objects of Awen is to produce peace - Minerva produced the olive, the symbol of peace. In several other respects, also, a remarkable similarity between the characteristics of the Bardic Awen and the goddess Minerva, may be pointed out, though in matters of detail this is not necessary, because Caesar observes that the opinion of the Gauls was but almost the same as that of the other nations concerning the above divinities.

14. Origin of the people. "The Gauls declare that they have all sprung from their father Pluto, and this they say was delivered to them by the Druids?. There can be no doubt that this sentiment is perfectly identical with that of the Bards relative to the procession of man from Annwn.

"Whence didst thou proceed? and what is thy beginning?"
"I came from the Great World, having my beginning in Annwn."

We have thus gone through the testimony of Caesar, the principal classical authority on the subject of Druidism; we will now proceed to examine the statements of the other ancient authors, who have touched upon the same point, though not so largely and minutely; namely, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Cicero, Pliny; Pomponius Mela, Tacitus, Diogenes Laertius, and Ammianus Marcellinus.

STRABO, B.C. 54.

The description, which this author gives of Druidism, refers entirely, like that of Caesar, to Gaul; and is as follows:-

"And among whole of them (the Gauls) three classes more espeically are held in distinguished veneration, the Bards, the Ovates, and the Druids. The Bards are chaunters and poets. The Ovates are sacrificers and physiologists. The Druids, in addition to physiology, practise ethic philosophy. They are deemed to be most upright and, in consequence, to them are committed both public and private controversies, insomuch that on some occasions they decide on battles and stop the combatants on the eve of engaging. Matters pertaining to murder are more especially entrusted to their decision, and when profit accrues from these, they think fertility will attend their country. These and others say that souls are immortal, mid that the world is so too; yet that ultimately fire and water will prevail. To their simplicity and ferocity are superadded much stupidity, vain boasting and love of ornament. They wear gold, having collars thereof on their necks, and bracelets on their arms mid wrists; and dignified persons are clad in dyed garments embroidered with gold......

"Having stricken the man destined for sacrifice on the back with a sword, they augur from the palpitation. They never sacrifice without the Druids. Other kinds of human immolation are spoken of: some victims they slay with arrows, or crucify for their offerings; and having prepared a colossus of hay, and thrown wood upon it, they burn together oxen, all sorts of wild beasts, and men."*

Strabo and Caesar both agree with respect to some things, such as, 1stly, that the Druids were in great esteem among the people; 2ndly, that they decided disputes; 3rdly, that their presence at ,the sacrifices was necessary; 4thly, the immortality of the soul; 5htly, human sacrifices. There is no occasion, therefore, that we should make any further observation on these subjects in the main. We will only notice the variations and additions made by Strabo, and compare them with the Bardism of the Cymry.

1. The thrree degrees. These, according to the privilege and usage of the Isle of Britain, were the Chief Bard, the Ovate, and the Druid, the three being co-equal in dignity, though their offices were distinct. Strabo calls his three classes exactly by the same names, but he does not ascribe to them their respective functions quite in accordance with Bardism, at least, as regards the Ovate, who, he says, was the sacrificer, though he says again that they never sacrificed without the Druids. It was not difficult to incur misapprehension with reference to the duties of the several orders, for on special occasions one might enter upon the office of another.

2. The justice of the Druids. Justice was a virtue greatly inculcated by the members of the Bardic College.

"The three foundations of Bardism: peace; love; and justice.
"For three reasons ought a man to hazard his life, and to lose it, if necessary: in seeking for truth; in clinging to justice; and in performing mercy."*

3. Their influence in war. The Bard, in his blue robe, was the herald of peace. He was privileged to pass from one country to another in safety and unharmed, for not only it was the law of Bardism, but also the law of nations, that no person was to unsheath a sword against him. He was a man of peace, according to his office, and if he thus went between two armies on the field of battle, they immediately ceased from fighting. The privilege of protection belonged in the same manner to the Druid and Ovate.

4. Sacrifices. It is very probable that Strabo refers to the rites of eneidvaddeu, when he speaks of murder being entrusted to the decision of the Druids. The Bardic traditions contain no record of what is here said concerning ?the fertility of the country,? or of the particular mode of stabbing or slaughtering the men who were sentenced to death, unless it was done in a manner similar to that which the lord of the territory had recourse, when he drew blood from a degraded Bard, namely, ?from his forehead, his bosom, and his groin, that is, from the seats of life and soul.?

5. Vaticinations. Our ancestors very generally professed to foretel events, though it is not said that they founded their predictions upon any particular appearance, which to men, whom they put to death, exhibited. Meugant, in the 6th century, observes:-

"Trust to God that the druids will not prophesy,
When the privilege of the hill of legislature shall be broken."

6. The eternal duration of the world. The British Bards, likewise, believed that every existance and form of life would continue for ever - purged from evil. The opinion, which prevailed about the increase of prevalence of fire and water, seems to be founded on the Bardism of the Cymry:-

"There are three things on their increase: fire, or light; understanding, or truth; and the soul, or life; these will prevail over everything, and then Abred will cease."*

Elsewhere it is said, that life proceeds from "a conjunction of water, fire, and nwyvre;? hence, if life is on the increase, it follows that its component elements also acquire continual strength.

7. Ornaments. The several members of the Bardic College wore proper vestments, which were emblematic of their respective offices. The Bard wore a sky blue robe to signify peace; the Druid wore white, denoting holiness; and the Ovate green, which was an emblem of progress. Each colour was also uniform, to signify truth, which is one. Nevertheless, it was lawful for them to introduce silver and gold, which, not being subject to rust and stain, were signs of honor. "Therefore, a gold fringe may be properly added to a Bard's robe, of whichever of the three colours it is, or a gold girdle be put around him, for it is right to honor truth, peace, godliness, and knowledge."

DIODORUS SICULUS, B.C. 44.

His description also is confined to the Druidism of Gaul, and is to the following effect:-

"And there are among them [the Gauls] Composers of verses, whom they call Bards; these, singing to instruments similar to a lyre, applaud some, while they vituperate others. There are also certain philosophers and priests surpassingly esteemed, whom they call Druids. They have also soothsayers, who are held in high estimation; and these, by auguries and the sacrifice of victims, foretel future events and hold the commonalty in complete subjection: and more especially, when they deliberate on matters of moment, they practise a strange and incredible rite; for, having devoted a man for sacrifice, they strike him with a sword on a part above the diaphragm: the victim having fallen, they augur from his mode of falling, the contortion of his limbs, and the flowing of the blood, what may come to pass, giving credence concerning such things to an ancient and long standing observance. They have a custom of performing no sacrifice unattended by a philosopher. For they say that thanksgiving should be offered to the gods by men acquainted with the divine nature and using the same language, and by these they deem it necessary to ask for good things; and not only in the concerns of peace, but even of war, not friends alone, but even enemies also, chiefly defer to them and to the composers of verses. Frequently, during hostilities, when armies are approaching each other with swords drawn and lances extended, these men rushing between them put an end to their contention, taming them as they would tame wild beasts."*

This description is somewhat similar to that which Strabo gives, as the reader will easily perceive. Both authors agree as to the number of the different order - the esteem in which they were held - their custom of predicting events by means of the sacrifice - and the influence of the Bards in restrairing armies from fighting.

1. The names of the orders. Whilst Strabo gives the same names as those used by the Cymry, that is Bards, Ovates, and Druids, Diodorus calls them Bards, Soothsayers, and Druids, making a soothayer and an ovate to be of the same import, and both are of opinion that this functionary had to do with the act of sacrificing. They, likewise, agree as to the office of the Bard, that he was a singer and a poet and in respect of the devotion which was paid the Druid to philosophy, and the necessity of his presence at the sacrifices.

2. Vaticinations. Strabo mentions only one thing from which they augured future events, namely, "the palpitation? of the victim; Diodorus adds two other particulars, namely, "his mode of falling" and "the flowing of the blood." There is no allusion to these matters in the Bardic traditions.

3. The mediation of the Druids. According to the declaration of Diolorus, the common people regarded the Druids as mediators between themselves and the gods, and grounded their competency and fitness for that purpose upon the fact that they were acquainted with the divine nature, and used the same language. We have already seen that the Druids of Britain, as well as those of Gaul, studied and taught much respecting the nature and attributes of God. Using "the same language" seems to imply that the language of divine worship was unchangeable, whatever might be that of the people. And since the acts of the Gorsedd in Britain were to be preformed at all times in Cymraeg, we may reasonably infer that it was in the old Celtic tongue Druidism was administered on the Continent - there was not much difference between the Cymraeg and the native language of Gaul.

CICERO, (slain) B.C. 43.

"This method of divination has not been neglected even amongst barbariousn nations. For there are Druids in Gaul, with one of whom I was acquainted, namely, Divitiacus Aeduus, who enjoyed the hospitality of your house, and spoke of you with admiration. This man not only professed an intimate knowledge of the system of nature, which the Greeks call physiology, but also foretold future events, partly by augury, and partly by conjecture."*

Cicero does not speak here from vague report; but declares the profession of a man who was personally known to him, who had been his guest, and with whom he had familiarly conversed. And all that he says of him coincides almost exactly with the statements of Caesar, Strabo, and Diodorus Siculus. The only new fact that we are made acquainted with is that the Druids sometimes foretold future events ?by conjecture;? but perhaps we should not take the word to mean simply a guess, but as synonymous with inference - to signify that they had some foundation for all their vaticinations.

PLINY, (born) a.d. 23

This philosophic but credulous author speaks of the Druidism of Gaul, in his "Natural Philosophy", as follows:-

"The Druids (so they call their wise men) hold nothing in greater reverence than the misletoe, and the tree on which it grows, so that it be an oak. They choose forests of oaks, for the sake of the tree itself and perform no sacred rites without oak leaves; so that one might fancy they had even been called for this reason, turning the word into Greek, Druids. But whatever grows upon these trees, they hold to have been sent from heaven, and to be a sign that the Deity Himself has chosen the tree for his own. The thing, however, is very rarely found, and when found is gathered with much ceremony; and above all, on the sixth day of the moon, by which these men reckon the beginnings of their months and years, and of their cycle of thirty years, because the moon has then sufficient power, yet has not reached half its size. Addressing it in their own language by the epithet of healing, after duly preparing sacrifices and banquets under the tree, they bring to the spot two white bulls, the horns of which are then for the first time garlanded. The priest clothed in a white dress ascends the tree, and cuts the misletoe with a golden knife; it is caught in a white cloak. Thereupon they slay the victims, with prayer that the Deity may prosper His own gift to them, to whom He has given it. They fancy that, by drinking it, fertility is given to any barren animal, and that it is a remedy against all poisons."*

"Like to this Sabine herb is that called selago. It is gathered, without using a knife, with the right hand wrapped in a tunic, the left being uncovered, as though the man were stealing it ; the gatherer being clothed in a white dress, and with bare feet washed clean, after performing sacrifice before gathering it, with bread and wine. It is to be carried in a new napkin. According to the tradition of the Gaulish Druids, it is to be kept as a remedy against all evil, and the smoke of it is good for all diseases of the eyes. The same Druids have given the name of samolus to a plant that grows in wet places; and this they say must be gathered with the left hand by one who is fasting, as a remedy for diseases of swine and cattle, and that he, who gathers it, must keep his head turned away, and must not lay it down any where except in a channel through which water runs; and there must bruize it for them who are to drink it."

"There is another kind of egg in high repute in Gaul, although the Greeks make no account of it. A great number of snakes in summer time are artificially twisted and rolled together into a mass by the saliva of their jaws and the foam of their bodies. It is called snake's egg. The Druids tell you that it is thrown into the air with hisses; and must be caught in a cloak that it may not touch the ground; that he that catches it must fly on horse-back, for that the snakes pursue him until hindered by the intervention of some river; that the test of it is, if it flows against the stream, even when tied with gold. And, according to the common craft of wizards, shrewd to conceal their cheating, they pronounce that it must be taken up at a particular time of the moon; as though it rested with man's choice, whether that proceeding on the part of the snake should take place or not."

Pliny says that he has seen one of these eggs, and that the Druids used them as a distiuguishing badge.

In the above description there are several new things, that present themselves to our notice, in connection with the Druidism of Gaul.

1. One God. It is remarkable that Pliny speaks of the Gauls as professing one God; for though he had occasion to refer twice to the Deity, he uses the singular number each time. In this matter he differs from Caesar, and we may be allowed to believe that though, much ignorance and error had crept upon the Continent, in later times, relative to the Divine Being, the unity of His nature was to some extent acknowledged. But Pliny, after all, may be only referring to one god in particular, out of many, that is, the one that was interested in the circumstance to which he refers, and therefore names him in the singular number.

2. The oak groves. Though Pliny is undoubtedly mistaken as to the etymology of the name Druid, yet we have the testimony of the Cymric traditions that our remote progenitors did sometimes choose to worship under the oak. This usage they seem to have derived from Seth, who "first made a retreat for worship in the woods of the vale of Hebron, having first searched and investigated the trees, until he found a large oak, being the king of trees, branching wide-spreading, thick-topped, and shady, under which he formed a choir and a place of worship."

3. The mistletoe. All admit that this plant was in great repute among the Ancient Cymry. From remote times it has been used by the Bards to decorate their tribunals on Alban Arthan, and even to this day traces of that custom may be found in the country during the Christmas festivities.

Three persons, Tydai, the Bard of Huon, Rhuvawn the Bard, and Melgin, the son of Einigan the Giant are recored in a Triad as having worn around their heads a garland of misletoe, "darllys awelvar."

One of the names by which the Cymry called this plant was Holliach, which answers completely to the "omnia sanantem" of Pliny.

We know nothing of the rites which attended its gathering in Britain; and therefore we are not in a position to say in what consisted the resemblance or difference, as the case may be, between them and the ceremonies mentioned above.

4. The white garment of the Druids. Of the same description, as we have seen, was the official dress of the British Druids.

5. The offering of bread and wine. This seems to have come down from Patriarchal times - from Melchizedec, who "brought forth bread and wine," type of the Blessed Eucharist, that "pure offering" which was to take place under the Gospel; and though nothing is positively said of such a rite as existing in the Bardism of the Cymry, it is likely enough that it was practised. The reader is referred to the description given in these pages of the sacrifices of the Bards.

6. Adder's stones or beads - glain nadroedd. The three orders used to wear these beads, of a colour uniform with that of their respective robes; and they generally regarded them as possessed of rare virtues. It is questioned whether they are the production of nature or art. Be that as it may, they are always found in great numbers; and there are people who search for them, and from whom they may be had, and they maintain that they are only to be met with one season of the year, and that they are blown by a knot of snakes. "Ai chwythu y glain y maent?", "Are they blowing beads?" is a proverbial inquiry applied to persons who lay their heads together in conversation - an expression involving an opinion similar to that of Pliny.

But our author is not altogether silent respecting the Druidism of Britain, for he says;-

"Britain even now celebrates it (Magism) wonderfully, with so many ceremonies, that it may seem to have imparted it to the Persians."

There is here, however, no mention of any doctine or useage in particular - Pliny merely intimates that there were many ceremonies in connection with the Druidic worship, which view is not inconsistent with the traditions of the Bards. The Persian, as well as the Gaulish system, might have been received from Britain, both of them, however, being greatly degenerated. Or it may be, that the resemblance, which Pliny perceived between the Druidism of Britain and the Magism of Persia had grown from the same root - the patriarchal religion.

POMPONIUS MELA, A.D. 45.His description is as follows:-

"They [the Gauls] have an eloquence of their own, and their Druids are masters of wisdom. These profess to know the magnitude and form of the earth and the world, the motions of the heaven and the stars, and the will of the gods. They teach the most noble of their nation many things privately, and for a long time, even for twenty years, in a cave, or in inaccessible woods. One of their precepts has become public namely, that they should act bravely in war, that souls are immortal, and that there is another life after death. Therefore along with the dead, they burn and bury things which belonged to them while living. Their debtor and creditor accounts were transferred below. Some even went so far as to ascend the funeral pyres of their friends of their own accord, as though about to live with them."*

Mela agrees with Caesar as to the knowledge which the Druids were said to possess concerning the universe, and as to their being in the habit of training their disciples for the long space of twenty years. We may conclude from the only specimen of their precepts, which he succeeded in obtaining, that they were inculcated in the Triadic form:-

"To act bravely in war;
That souls are immortal;
And that there is another life after death."

1. Interment. The remains discovered in ancient sepulchres sufficiently prove that the Cymry in former times buried with their princes and great men those things to which in their life-time they had been particularly attached, such as their steeds and arms.

2. The debt of the deceased