Pedwar Nudd-Pedr i'w noddi Poed ar awr dda mawr i mi! Pedwar-maib-pwy a'u dirmyg? Gwynedd pedwar cydwedd ced. Plant Tudyr, fy eryr fu, Peunod haelion pen teulu; Aerfa9 'r llu ar for lliant, Aur dorllwyth yw 'r blaenffrwyth blant; Terydr2 aer taer ar y drin.3 due prominence to any particular one, mingles the names of the four sons promiscuously. 2 Rhun. There were several distinguished men of this name. The principal were Rhun, a son of Maelgwn Gwynedd, who succeeded his father; Rhun, the son of Peredur, who was restored to the sovereignty on the death of Idwal; and Rhun Baladr Bras (of the thick shaft), who succeeded his father, Lleon Gawr. 3 Alun, here the river Alun'. The rush of Gwilym was like that of the stream or torrent. ♦ Gwaladr, 'a disposer'; hence, 'the head' or 'leader of a people'. Pedroglion, men to form a D Cymmrodor. JULY 1878. DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE BARD AND THE CUCKOO, FROM THE WELSH OF OWAIN GRUFFYDD. BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD ABERDARE. THE following translation of the Welsh Poem The Bard and the Cuckoo appeared in the columns of the Merthyr Guardian in 1835, with the signature H. A. Bruce (now Lord Aberdare). The freshness of thought with which the original poem teems has been admirably conveyed into English by this elegant translation. It demands, therefore, a place and perpetuation in the Cymmrodor on grounds independent of the eminence the translator has attained as statesman, and of his connection as President with the University College of Wales. The author of the Welsh poem was born in 1643, and died in 1730. He was a native of Llanystumdwy, in Carnarvonshire, where he appears to have officiated as parish clerk. Despite his humble origin and occupation, he was not only a poet of genuine merit, but is said to have acquired much curious learning, especially archæological, according to the lights of that age, and even some knowledge of Greek and Latin. The reference to the age at which the Virgin VOL. II. H Mary died, might appear to have proceeded from a Roman Catholic pen. But this supposition would not only be inconsistent with Owain's office of parish clerk, but the reference itself is quite in keeping with the character of the religious belief then prevailing in many parts of the Principality. In the words of Mr. Lecky's excellent synopsis of the religious condition of Wales in the eighteenth century,1 before the great outburst of Methodism :-"The Welsh were passionately musical, passionately wedded to tradition, and, like the Highlanders of Scotland, they preserved many relics of Catholicism, and even of Paganism. They crossed themselves in sign of horror; they blessed their beds in the name of the four Evangelists. When a dead man was lowered into his grave, his relations knelt upon its border, and prayed that he might soon reach heaven. Many poetic legends were handed down from generation to generation, and were looked upon as almost as sacred as Scripture." The Bard. Goodmorrow to thee, sweet and beauteous bird! The genial Sun rolls through the cloudless skies, The Cuckoo. Thou gentle Bard! oh! why should I obey The voice that chides me for my lingering lay, 1 England in the Eighteenth Century, vol. ii, pp. 602-3. |