AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF

THE WELSH BARDS;

AND

THEIR MUSIC AND POETRY.

Due to the Roman invasion and the even more brutal raids of the Saxons, the Danes, and the Normans, as well as the migration of the Britons to Brittany original: "Armorica"^a; and through the frequent destruction of manuscripts^b and the massacres of the clergy^c and the Bards^d, the poetry and music of Wales have suffered a loss that has cast a dark cloud over the history of these native arts. For a long time, this threatened their total extinction. Yet, from the records still in existence and the poetical and musical compositions that time has spared, we are often able to produce unquestionable evidence—and always to form a probable theory—concerning their rise and progress among us. There is no living nation that can produce works of such great antiquity and, at the same time, of such undisputed authority as the Welsh.

Our historians, always desiring to trace their subject back to the furthest point of ancient times, have derived the name and profession of the Bards from Bardus, the fifth king of Britain, who began his reign in the year of the world 2082 This refers to the Anno Mundi calendar, which dates years from the biblical creation of the world.. Berosus says he reigned over the Celts and was famous for inventing poetry and music. Perizonius, as Vitus asserts, called the music of Bardus "not just any music, but that which is poetic" original Latin: "non omnem musicam, sed eam quae poetica est"^e. Bardus, however, if other accounts are to be believed, was not the first to cultivate these sister arts on this island. Blegored, a king of Britain who died in the year of the world 2069, was called "the god of harmony" for his extraordinary skill in vocal and instrumental music^f.

The Bards were originally a constitutional part of the Druidic hierarchy, which was divided into three classes: priests, philosophers, and poets^g. At Llanidan in Anglesey—formerly inhabited by Druidic communal societies—we still find remains of Tre'r Dryw (the Arch-Druid’s mansion) and, near it, Tre'r Beirdd (the hamlet of the Bards)^h. In his work Caractacus, Mr. Mason adopted the ancient distinction of the three orders of Druids. Having spoken of the Arch-Druid, he continues:

His brotherhood

Possess the neighboring cliffs:

On the left

Reside the wise Euvates: yonder grottos

Are tenanted by Bards, who nightly from there,

Robed in their flowing vests of innocent white,

Descend, with harps that glitter to the moon,

Singing immortal strains.

^a Around the year 383, one hundred thousand Britons, in addition to a large army of soldiers, followed the Emperor Maximus to Brittany original: "Armorica" (now Bretagne in France), which he conquered. He placed Conan Meriadoc, a British lord and general, on the throne. See Geoffrey of Monmouth, book 5, chapters 12, 13, and 14. Also see A Mirror of the First Ages original: "Drych y Prif Oesoedd" by Theophilus Evans; Wynne’s History of Wales, page 8; and further details in Owen’s History of the Ancient Britons, page 100, volume 1.

^b The Welsh nobles who were held captive in the Tower of London (formerly called the White Tower, a name part of it still carries) were allowed to have the contents of their libraries sent from Wales to entertain them during their isolation and imprisonment. This was a common practice, so over time the Tower became the primary storehouse of Welsh literature. Unfortunately for our history and poetry, all the manuscripts collected there were burned through the malice of a man named Scolan, about whom nothing else is known. Gutto’r Glyn, a famous Bard of the 15th century, wrote the following in one of his poems:

The books of Wales and their villainous destroyer
Were hidden in the White Tower.
Wicked was the deed of Scolan,
Who threw the heap of books into the fire.
original Welsh: "Llyfrau Cymru au llofrudd / I’r Twr Gwyn aethant ar gudd / Ysceler oedd Yscolan / Fwrw’r twrr lyfrau i’r tan."

Also, during the uprisings of Owen Glyndwr, the surviving manuscripts of ancient British learning and poetry were so scattered

and destroyed "that not one escaped (as William Salisbury relates) that was not incurably damaged and hopelessly torn and mangled." See Evans’s Specimens, page 160.

^c "The University of Bangor-on-Dee original: "Bangor-is-Coed", founded by Lucius, King of Britain, was famous for its valuable library. It lasted 350 years and produced many learned men. Congellus, a holy man who died in 530 AD, changed the university into a monastery containing 2,100 monks. At the prompting of Augustine the Monk, Ethelfred, King of Northumberland, massacred twelve hundred of the British clergy from this monastery; nine hundred who escaped were later killed by pirates. This happened in the year 603. See Humphrey Llwyd’s Brief Commentary on the Description of Britain original: "Britanniæ Descriptionis Commentariolum"; Lewis’s History of Great Britain, folio edition, London, 1729, book 5, chapter 1; and Rowland’s Ancient Anglesey original: "Mona Antiqua", 2nd edition, page 151.

^d See Guthrie’s Historical Grammar, and the continuation of this history.

^e Lewis’s History, book 2, chapter 6.

^f "And in his time Blegored became king, and there was never a singer as good as he in the art of music, nor a player as good as he of the lute original: "budol"; likely a stringed instrument like a lute or harp, and for that he was called the God of Playing original: "Duw y Gwareu". He ruled over the Isle of Britain for 28 years and then died; this was 2069 years after the flood." original Welsh: "Ac yn ei Seifill y daeth Blegywryd yn frenhin, ac ni bu erioed Gantor cystal ag ef o Gelfyddyd Music na chwarydd cystal ag ef o budol ac am hynny y gelwid ef Duw y Gwareu, A hwn a wladychawdd ar Ynys Prydein 28 mlynedd, ag yna a bu farw: sef oedd hynny wedi diliw 2069 o flynyddoedd." From Tysilio’s British History, manuscript. Fabian also, speaking of Blegored, calls him "a cunning musician, called by the Britons the God of Gleemen." Chronicle, folio 32, 1533 edition. See also Lewis’s History, book 3, chapter 35.

^g Ancient Anglesey original: "Mona Antiqua", 2nd edition, page 65. Owen’s History of the Ancient Britons, London, 1743, volume 1, Introduction, page 16. And the 4th book of the Geography of Strabo, who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius.

^h Ancient Anglesey, pages 236, 239.