happiness, and all the focial virtues: and thus eminently contributed to enliven the leifure of their patrons. It was also their province to request prefents in a familiar, eafy vein, without importunity. The third class, though laft, was probably not least in esteem, were the Arwyddveirdd, which confifted of Herald Bards, who were the national chroniclers, and were also well verfed in pedigrees and blazonry of arms, and the works of the primary Bards, fuch as Taliefin Pen Beirdd, Myrddin Emrys, and Myrddin ab Morvryn. According to the account of them which Giraldus has given in the fucceeding century, they were admirably qualified for Poetry, if invention be one of its principal requifites: for he affirms that they could trace back the defcents of their princes and nobles, not only to Roderic, but to Beli, Sylvius, Eneas, and even to Adam himself. But their Poetry was of an humbler kind: it was ufually confined to fubjects of jocularity and mimickry, invective and reproach. Of the mufical Bards, the first class was appropriated to the performers on the Harp. Athraw, a Doctor or Master of Music, fhould know the 3 excellent Mwchwl, which were deemed equal to 4 Coloun; and each Coloun was equivalent to 10 Cwlwm. The 3 new Mwchwl were ranked equal to 4 Cadair; and the 4 Cadair were 5 Cwlwm each. Concerning the musicians, the reader may collect further information in page 32 of this history, and from an account of the Welsh mufical inftruments further on in this volume. The second contained performers on the fix-ftringed Crêth; concerning whom also I refer the reader to the fame places for information. The third confifted of fingers, whofe employment was to fing to the harps of others the compofitions of the poetical Bards; but from whom a variety of other qualifications were expected. "A finger, faid the Laws, fhould know how to tune a Harp, or Cruth, and to play feveral effays and embellishments, two preludes, a cælum, a caniad, and the 13 principal tunes, with all their flats and sharps. He fhould understand likewife the 13 principal ftyles of expreffion, and accenting them with his voice to feveral tunes; he should know the 24 metres of Poetry, and 24 measures of Mufic, and be capable of compofing in two of the Englyn metres, and one of the Cywydd metres. He fhould read Welsh with propriety, and write it with exactness, and be skilful in correcting and restoring any old poem or fong that has been corrupted by transcribers." and one of the chief lords to confult with upon all emergen cies. He had a Bard to celebrate the praifes of his ancestors; a Chronicler to regifter his own actions; a Phyfician to take care of his health; and a Musician to entertain him. These were obliged to be always prefent, and to attend the King whitherfoever he went. Befides thefe, there were a certain number of heroic men called Milwyr, who attended him, when he went on his progrefs, or marched out with his army, and were refolved to stand by him, even at the expence of their lives." Owen's Hiftory of the Ancient Britons, p. 21 and 22. Cler-wr, Arwyddvardd: Itinerant or Circuit Bard, or Herald. s Cambria Defcriptio, cap. 3. These technical terms of Welsh mufic are very obfcure, and are too unintelligible to admit of a pofitive tranflation. If I fhould hereafter be able to decypher the notation of the ancient and very curious mufical MS. which I have quoted before, much ? Y Pedwar Mefur ar bugain Cerdd Davod. Unodl union Unodl gyrch Engyln. Unodl grwcca Proft cyvnewidiog Proft cadwynodl Deuair birion At light would be thrown on this dark subject. Till that desirable Cwlwm, a congruous piece of mufic, with words. Gofteg, a prelude, or overture. Deivr, a diverting air, or divertisement. Query, whether this was a fpecies of National Melody, fo called from the county of Durham? Mwcbwl, this famous piece of mufic, it feems, was acquired only by a pencerdd, or Doctor of Mufic of the Harp. Clofe Metre. 31 At the nuptials of the prince, or any of the princely blood, the finger waited upon the illuftrious Bride, and at thofe entertainments was expected to carve dextrously every kind of fowl that might come before him, Such, and fo various, were the regular Bards, who by a noviciate and probation of an appointed term of years, and the performance of poetical and mufical exercises, acquired degrees in the Eifteddvod. As that venerable affembly existed long before the period I am defcribing, a description of it ought, perhaps, to have been already exhibited: but I chose to wait till, under the auspices of a prince to whom our Poetry and Mufic are for ever obliged, I am enabled to display it to the eyes of the curious in its most perfect form. The Efteddvod was a triennial affembly of the Bards, (usually held at Aberffraw, the royal feat of the Princes of North-Wales formerly, fituated in Anglefey; likewife Dinevawr, the royal caftle of the Princes of South-Wales, in Caermarthenshire; and Mathravael, the royal palace of the Princes of Powis, in Montgomeryfhire;) for the regulation of Poetry and Mufic, for the purpose of conferring degrees, and of advancing to the chair of the Eisteddvod, by the decifion of a poetical and mufical conteft, fome of the rival candidates; or establishing in that honourable feat the Chief Bard who already occupied it. Wishing to convey to my readers a clear idea of this important fubject, I annex an extract, faithfully tranflated, from the statute of Prince Gruffudd ap Cynan, concerning the manner of holding an Eisteddvod. "When the congrefs hath affembled, according to notice and fummons previously iffued, at the place appointed, they fhall choose as umpires twelve perfons skilled in the Welsh Language, Poetry, Mufic, and Heraldry; who fhall give to the Bards a subject to fing upon, in any of the 24 metres; but not in amæbean carols, or any fuch frivolous compofitions. The umpires fhall fee that the candidates do not defcend to fatire or personal invective, and shall allow to each a fufficient interval for compofing his Englyn or Cywydd, Mufic, or other task that they fhall affign. present intending to exhibit, that every one may be called by his name, in order, to the chair to perform his They fhall moreover take down the names of the feveral Bards compofition. The unfuccefsful candidates fhall acknowledge in writing that they are overcome, and shall deliver their acknowledgment to the chief Bard, that is, to him who fhall win the chair: and they all fhall drink health to the chief Bard, and all fhall pay him fees: and he shall govern them till he is overcome in a future Eisteddfod"." From this injunction it appears, that the duties which upon this occafion, in the reign of Howel, belonged to the judge of the palace, were afterwards held in commiffion. What served greatly to heighten the emulation of the Bards, if they wanted any additional incitement, was the prefence of the prince, who ufually prefided in these contefts. Their compofitions delivered upon these occafions are frequently upon historical fubjects, and are valuable for their authenticity; for it was the business of the Eisteddvod, not only to give laws to Poetry and Mufic, but to extinguish falfehood, and establish certainty in the relation of events. "ciously observed, truth of story had not been fo uncertain: for there was, we fuppofe, a correction of "A custom so good (fays Drayton) that, had it been judi"what was faulty in form or matter, or at least a cenfure of the hearers upon what was recited. Of which "course some have wifhed a recontinuance, that either amendment of opinion, or change of purpose in publishing, might prevent blazoned errors 10" Before any perfon could be enrolled in the Eifteddvod, the permiffion of the prince or lord, within whose jurifdiction he lived, was necessary. If he defired to proceed to degrees in Poetry, he was obliged at his presentation to explain the five Englyn Metres, and to fing them in fuch a manner, that one of the principal Bards would declare upon his confcience that he was Of all these metres, fpecimens are exhibited by Dr. Rhys, John Rhydderch, and the Rev. Mr. Gron-w Owen (fee Beirdd Mon, by Hugh Jones, 18mo. Loudon, 1763) alfo in the conftitutions of the Society of Cymmrodorion, reprinted 1778. There are other metres, now accounted obfolete and irregular; fuch as Triban or Englyn Milwr, the Warrior's Song; Englyn or hen ganiad, the Song of the Ancient Strain; Englyn gar-hír, the Song of the Long Thigh; Englŷn cildwrn, the Song of the Clinched Fik. The 24 Metres were probably antecedent to the 24 measures of Mufic, for the latter feein to have been adapted to, and founded upon them. "The Cambro British Mufe hath, at the inftance of her votaries, condefcended to put on various other garbs wherein the hath appeared not only not ungraceful, but even with fome degree of dignity and eafe; yet the robes the hath ever gloried in, are the Twenty-four celebrated antient British Metres, unknown to every Mule belides, and wherein the hath always fhone with competent to be admitted. He then became the pupil unrivalled luftre." Walter's Differt. on the Welsh Language, p. 51. 9 John Rhydderch's Welsh Grammar, p. 188, 189. of of fome one of the principal Bards, whom he was obliged to attend annually in Lent, and without whofe approbation he could make no compofition public; and during three years, that is, till the next Eifteddvod, remained a non-graduate, and was called Difgybl Yfpas cerdd davod, a probationary ftudent of Poetry. At the next Eifteddvod, three years having expired, Difgybl Yspas was examined for the degree of Difgybl Difgyblaidd, or Bachelor of the Art of Poetry, and was required to be versed in the five Englyn Metres. the four Cywydd Metres, and three Awdl Metres; and to produce, in a scholar-like manner, compofitions of his own, free from the 15 common errors. After the fame interval, the Bard took the degree of Disgybl Penceirddiaidd, or Master of the Art of Poetry, for which he was required to understand the rules of Grammar and Rhetoric, and analize and explain the alliterative concatenations of the language; to escape all the errors; and to fing melodiously, in parts, 21 of the metres. To the Pencerdd, or Profeffor of Poetry, who obtained his degree at the end of the fame period, belonged the whole mystery of the art. He knew to fing in harmony, or concord, and was well versed in transposed alliteration. Among his qualifications are enumerated, fertility in poetical fubjects, a ftore of matter and invention, authority of decifion, and a facility in compofing in praise of the great, what would be heard or read with most delight, and longeft retained in memory. If a Difgybl, or difciple of any degree, was discovered in taverns or fecret places playing for money at dice, or any other game, any perfon was authorised to take from him whatever money was found in his purse. For mockery and derifion, and the invention or propagation of falfehood, the Disgyblion were also punished with fines and imprisonment. For, fay the laws, the Bards shall be easy and peaceful in their manners, friendly in their difpofitions, and humble in their services to the prince and his adherents. Those Bards alone who had acquired the degree of Pencerdd were authorised to teach: nor were more than a fingle pupil allowed to each Pencerdd. The pupils were exprefsly enjoined to refrain from ridiculing their teachers, for that abfence and inattention which is natural to a contemplative mind. But the most valued privilege of the Penceirddiaid was their exclufive right to the chair of the Eisteddvod. All those among them who afpired to the honour of prefiding over the Bards, came forward (as the statute prescribes) at the triennial affembly, and contefted it with each other, and with the Chief Bard who already poffeffed it. The successful candidate was seated in a magnificent chair, and was hence called Bardd Cadeiriog, the Chair-Bard. He was at the fame time invested with a little filver or gold chair, which he wore on his breaft as the badge of his office. As his rank was high, his emoluments were confiderable: they arose from the Difgyblion, or ftudents, when they laid afide the hair-ftrung harp, at the expiration of three years ftudy, and were admitted to the practice of their art; from brides on their nuptials; and the marriage-fine of the daughters of all the Bards within his jurisdiction, &c. Whoever defired to proceed to degrees in Mufic, was presented to the Eisteddvod by a mufical Pencerdd, who vouched for his capacity. During his noviciate of three years, he was called Difgybl Yfpås heb râdd, a probationary student of Mufic without a degree: and, if he learnt to play the harp, was only fuffered to use that inftrument ftrung with horfe-hair, that he might not (as I conjecture) by his rude attempt at harmony, torment the ears of the principality, and might purfue his ftudies with greater diligence, incited by the hope of relinquishing it for one furnished with strings of a more audible and pleafing found. His next step, after three years study, was to the degree of Disgybl Yfpás graddol, a graduate proba tionary ftudent of Mufic, for which he was obliged to know ten cwlwm, one coloun, five cwlwm.cydgerdd, one cadair, and eight caniad. His fecond degree, after fix years ftudy, was Difgybl Difgyblaidd, or Bachelor of Mufic, but was pre-. viously required to be master of twenty cwlwm, two colovn, ten cwlwm cydgerdd, two cadair, fixteen caniad, and the twenty-four measures of Mufic; and to play them with facility and correctness. At the expiration of nine years he became Difgybl Penceirddiaidd, or Master of Mufic, a degree which implied a preparatory knowledge of thirty cwlwm, three colovn, fifteen cwlwm cydgerdd, three cadair, twenty four caniad, and four gofteg; and skill in defining them properly and diftinctly. The fourth degree he was admitted Percerdd, Athraw, or Doctor of Mufic, and was obliged to know forty cwlwm, four colovn, twenty cwlwm cydgerdd, four cadair, thirty-two caniadau, and four gofteg; to understand all the laws and modifications of harmony, efpecially the twenty-four Measures of Mufic, and 4 to to explain them as they were written in the book of mufical divifion: to compofe a caniad pronounced faultless by the proficient Bards, and to fhow all its properties, its divifions and fubdivifions, its licenfes and rests, its diatonic notes, all the flats and sharps, and every change of movement through the feveral keys. If the Pencerdd was a Harper, he was required to know the three famous Muchwl, which were equal to the four colovn; and the three new Mwchwl were equal to the four cadair. All this he was obliged to know and perform in a masterly manner, fo that Doctors fhould declare him competent to be an author and a teacher of his art. The Eisteddvod was a rigid fchool. The poetical, or the mufical difciple, who at the expiration of his. triennial term could not obtain a higher degree, was condemned to lose that which he already poffeffed. Every chief Bard, or Bardd Cadeiriog, who had acquired the honours of the chair, wore a gold or filver chair, pendent on his breaft, as a badge of his fuperior dignity; but after the time of Gruffydd ab Cynan, the mufical Bards wore a separate order. In Mr. Pennant's Tour in Wales, p. 464, there is an engraving of the filver Harp in poffeffion of Sir Roger Moftyn, "which has been from time immemorial in the gift of his ancestors, to bestów on the chief of the faculty. This badge of honour is about fix inches and a half long, and furnished with ftrings equal to the number of the Muses." Which was worn by the chief Musician, as the filver chair was by the chief Poet. The revenues of the Bards arofe from prefents at princely and other nuptials, and from fees in their annual circuits at Christmas, Eafter, and Whitfuntide, and in their triennial Clera, or grand circuit. Their fees and presents were regulated with proportion to their degrees: and the number of vifitants to the condition of the person that received them. Likewise, in order to encourage the clerwyr to keep up the language, and the memory of the exploits and pedigrees of the Britons, they were allowed à certain fum out of every plough-land, and in proportion out of every half plough-land of their district. A month before each festival, the pupils enquired of their teachers what routs they should take in their approaching circuit, left too many should refort to the fame part of the country. A Pencerdd was not licensed to vifit the commonalty, unless he chose to accept a fee beneath his ftation and dignity: nor could any Bard of an inferior degree appear before the gentry and nobles. The Bards were not fuffered to requeft prefents beyond a certain value, under penalty of being deprived of their musical instruments and practice for three years: when this happened, the prefent illegally requested became forfeit to the prince. The Eifteddvod was followed by the grand triennial Clera, which was not limited, as the circuits of the feftivals, to commots and cantreds, but extended through all Wales. Such was the benevolence of the Welsh institutions, that Bards afflicted with blindness, or any such natural defect, were indulged with the privilege of Clera, as well as the four poetical, and the five mufical graduates. At a wake or feftival a circuiting Bard, was not fuffered, during its continuance, to depart from the house he first vifited, without the confent of the master of the house, or invitation given him by another. If he rambled from house to house, or became intoxicated, he was deprived of his Clera fees, which were applied to the uses of the church. If he offered any indecency to mistress or maid, he was fined and imprisoned, and forfeited his Clera for feven years. Every art has its fubordinate profeffors. Befides the four claffes of regular or graduated Bards I have recounted, there were four other claffes of inferior and unlicensed Bards, (if that name may be given them without profanation,) which were called Cler y dom, or the meaner and more unskilful fort of muficians and poets; also, they were called Bón y Gler, or the lowest class; but properly termed in English, Minstrels. These were Pipers, Players on the three-ftringed Crwth, Taborers, and Buffoons. Of the pipe, the three-ftring Crwth, and the tabor, the reader will find fome mention near the trophy of the mufical instruments of the Welsh. The performers who used them, were looked upon among Bards, as weeds among flowers; they had no connexion with the Eisteddvod; and their eftimation and their profits were equally inconfiderable. One of their number, the Datceiniad Pen Paftwn, was a minstrel who rehearsed only, and played no inftrument: on occafions of feftivity, he stood in the middle of the hall where the company was affembled, and beating time with his ftaff, fung a poem to the found. When any of the regular Bards were present, he attended them as a fervant, and did not prefume to fing, unless they fignified their affent. This MS. called Llyvr Dofparth, I fear is not now extant. particularly the French term Fongleur, is a corruption from 2 The English word Bungler, is derived from Bón y Glér; and | Bồn-y-Glir. The ་ The only connexion that existed between the Bards, and the lower order or Minstrels, we difcover in the appointment of Cyff Cler*, at the marriage of a prince, or any perfon of princely extraction. A year and a day before the celebration of the nuptials, notice was given to a Pencerdd or Doctor of the Art, to prepare himself to support that character. When the time came, He appeared in the hall; and a facetious subject being propofed, the Rhapfodifts furrounded him, and attacked him with their ridicule. In thefe extempore fatirical effufions they were restrained from any personal allufion or real affront. The Cff Clêr fat in a chair in the midst of them, and filently fuffered them to say whatever they chofe, that could tend to the diverfion of the affembly. For this unpleafing service he received a confiderable fee. The next day he appeared again in the hall, and answered his revilers, and provoked the laughter and gained the applause of all who were prefent, by expofing them in their turn, and retorting all their ridicule upon themselves 3. At Christmas, in the year 1177, Rhys ab Gruffydd, Prince of South Wales, gave a magnificent entertainment with deeds of arms, and other shows, in his new castle of Cardigan or Aberteivi, to a great number of illuftrious natives and foreigners; notice of which had been given a year and a day before by proclamation through all Britain and Ireland. The mufical Bards of North Wales and South Wales, who had been expressly invited to the festival, and a mufical and poetical conteft, were feated in chairs with much ceremony in the middle of the great hall of the caftle. Animated with their ufual emulation, the prefence of their noble audience, and expectation of the rich rewards promifed to the victors, they pursued to a great length their generous ftrife, which terminated with honour to both parties, the pre-eminence in Poetry being adjudged to the poetical Bards of North Wales; and in mufic to the domestic Muficians of Prince Rhys. In thus regaling his guests with poetry, and mufic, the Welsh prince (as Lord Lyttelton remarks in his Hiftory of Henry II.) kept up the ancient custom of his country, and, by the number and skill of the Poets and Muficians he affembled together, did undoubtedly much excel what Henry could exhibit in the fame way to him, and to the other chiefs of Wales, when he entertained them in his royal caftle of Oxford. At this feaft, the Bards were confirmed by the prince's authority in the franchifes and privileges granted them by former statutes. They were also recompenfed with fees, fettled by prescription, and proportioned to the order of their profeffion, and the degree they had obtained in it. Though the age of Rhys was thus propitious to the Bards, we fhould have remained unacquainted with the nature of the poetry and mufic, for which they were so highly valued, if they had not found in Giraldus Cambrenfis, an hiftorian worthy of their fame. He was a native of the country, and traveled in it in search of information with fuch an induftrious and philofopical fpirit of learned curiofity, as very rarely occurs in those early times. The manner in which the subject of Welsh Mufic is treated, in the following quotation from his Defcription of Wales, will fufficiently justify its length. "By the sweetness of their mufical inftruments they foothe and delight the ear: they are rapid, yet delicate in their modulation; and by the astonishing execution of their fingers, and their swift transitions from discord to concord, produce the most pleafing harmony. This cannot be better explained than by what I have faid in my Topography of Ireland concerning the mufical inftruments of the three nations. It is remarkable, that in all their hafte of performance they never forget time and mufical proportion; and such is their art, that with all their inflexion of tones, the variety of their inftruments, and the intricacy of their harmony, they attain the perfection of confonance and melody, by a sweet velocity, an equable disparity, and a difcordant concord, as if the ftrings founded together fourths, or fifths: they always begin with B flat, and afterwards return to it, that the whole may be completed under the sweetness of a grand and pleafing found. They enter into a movement, and conclude it in fo delicate a manner, and play the little notes so sportively under the blunter found of the bafe ftrings, enlivening with wanton levity, or communicating a deeper internal fenfation of pleasure, that the perfection of their art appears in the concealment of it. For, Art profits when conceal'd, Cyff Cler, is the Butt of the Clér; and Clér, are Muficians, 3 Dr. Rhys's Inftitutes of the Welsh Language, p. 256, &c. Rhydderch's Grammar, p. 179, &c. and Caradoc's History of Wales, augmented by Wynne, p. 205. History of Henry II. 4to. vol. III. p. 302. Powel's Hiftory of Wales, p. 205. Dr. J. D. Rhys's Welf Poetical Grammar, p. 296. Sylvester Giraldus, or Giraldus Cambrenfis, of a noble Flemish family near Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, was born in 1115. He was fecretary to Henry II. tutor to King John, and Bishop of St. David's. In 1187 he accompanied Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, into Wales, to preach the Crufade. He wrote an Irish and Welsh Itinerary, and other works. He died and was buried at St. David's, about the age of 79. Here |