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Untitled Article
and f the Danes , induced them , by degrees , to adopt the Roman alphabet ; but as th ? $ jiatt ^ r was totally incompetent } £ o eypiress the sounds of the bardic charcLcterS ) various , methods were indented by ingenious men , at different times , to supply the defect . By some writers the initial characters of words alone were expressed , leaving it to the skill of the reader to account for the mutations : —by others , vowels and consonants were interchanged : —whilst others ran one word into another , or separated those which should have
been connected . * In consequence of these things , it requires a profound knowledge of the language to read the works of our oldest bards with ease and accuracy . IV . Though the late Iolo Morganwg ( E . Williams ) was not regularly educated yet he was a scholar , and one of no mean acquirements . His assertion , that the quotation from Taliesin was not Welsh , nor any thing like Welsh , would be deemed extraordinary , were we not acquainted with the
exuberant fancies and singular excentricities of the man . As an illustration ; a few years ago he published a copious prospectus towards a History of Wales , in which he censured , in no measured terms , the very learned , laborious , and patriotic Editors of the Archaiology of Wales , though he himself was one of the honourable and illustrious trio who gave publicity to that most' useful work ! This is not mentioned with the slightest intention of
disrespect to his memory , but as affording proof that the greatest men are liable to err , and when they do so , they generally err to absurdity * Having attentively examined the quotation in question , I am satisfied that it is like Welsh—that it is genuine Welsh , though disguised by an orthography foreign to its genius . . „ ' , , „ V . As the poem of Taliesin , headed Gwawd Llu % y M&W ; , lias been twice mentioned in the Repository , I send you the whole of it ; for insertion ,
in the orthography of Dr . Pughe ' s most luminous and herculean dictionary , accompanied with a literal translation , which you will please to print opposite the original , and on the same page . The language of the original , its abrupt transitions , and its predictive allusions , stamp it as the unquestionable production of Taliesin , though his name , as Mr . Dyer remarks , is not appended to it . Respecting this Lluz the Great I am ignorant , as I know of no other of that name in British history besides Lluz , the son of Beli , the
eldest brother of Caswallawn , the Casivelaunus of the Romans . It is not improbable but that the title , though ancient , is spurious , something similar to several Hebrew titles in the book of Psalms . The poem itself is imperfect , as there are some words wanting , and in other places the rhyme is defective . It is far from being the best of Taliesin ' s productions , though it possesses some corruscations of true poetic genius ; and , upon the whole , it may probably amuse some of your numerous and learned readers .
Gwmvd Lluz y Mawr . Cathyl gorau gogant , Wyth niver nodant . Dyw Hun dybyzant Peithiawg , yz ant . Dyw mawrth yd ranant Owyth yn ysgarant . Dyw hiercjyr mezant Ryodres rycjwant . Dyw rau esgorant Eu zioluz am ; want . Dyw gwener , dyz gormant ,
The Praise of Lluz the Great * The finest hymn of presage , eight hosts will distinguish . On Monday there will be a devastating , forward they will go . On Tuesday they will form divisions in wrath against the fee . On Wednesday they wiU possess $ ie utmost bounds of pomp . On Thursday they will dismiss their opposition of inappetency . On Friday , a day of profusion , the heroes will approximate in blood . On Saturday ......
* Vide Dr . Owcti Pughe ' s Grammar , pp , 6—8 ,
Untitled Article
Talfeeiri ' s Poems . 887
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1827, page 887, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1803/page/31/
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