I "fl o o ^OKALIF0% .^.OF-CALIFORfe, "^hhainihW^ ^Aavnaii-^ ^Ayvaam^ -j$HIBRARYQ? .^E-DNIVERS/a .^•U)S'ANGEl£j> o %JIW3-J0^ o ^Aavaan-i^ c ez o "%HAINfl-3tV* UFORjk ^.OFCAIIFO% *lOS-ANCElfj> POEMS. POEMS. TALES, ODES, SONNETS, TRANSLATIONS THE BRITISH, &c. &c. I N i u i) vols. JiY RICHARD LLWYD, Author of Beaumaris Bay, Gaijton Wake, <$c. LABOR IPSE VOLUPTAS. CHESTER, PRINTED BY J. FLETCHER; And sold in London by E. Williams, No. II, Strand, Bookseller to the Duke and Duchess of York, AND BOOKSELLER Of WALES. 1804. ©nte«D at "Stetiomr'sf l?aU, fR TO THE READER. Unknown and uneducated, I published, in the Spring of 1800, the Poem o/" Beau- maris Day — the pleasure of composition, the reception it has met zcith, and even the cri- ticism which it has given rise to, are noxo sources of satisfaction to me ; thus grati- fied, and thus encouraged, it will excite no surprise that I continue to pursue the paths which I love (those of Literature) ; nor that I entertain a hope that my Country will behold these pages and those of Gay- ton Wake, with the same favorable eye with which it regards those which are already before it. Beau .maris, Oct. 15, 1804. 765765 COJVTEJYTS. *&■<■*- Sonnet to the Muse --------- 1 Hymn to Temperance ----_____ 2 Lines to the Thrush, at Pcnrhos ------ 7 Broken Bottle, a Sonnet -------- 15 Gilbert, of Buxton --------- - i(J Elegy on the Thatcher --------- Q2 Sonnet to Content -- _30 Kate of Cymmau ---------- 31 Ode to Winter ----------- 30 Sonnet to E. Thomas, the Bone-setter - - - - 44 Ode of the Months - - _ 46* The Contrast, a Sonnet ----____ (j$ The Kiss, from the British _ Cj Owen, of Llangocd ---------- (Jg Isle of the Mighty -----____- 03 Address to the Inhabitants of Liverpool - - - - g(j The Scarecrow, a Talc -------- io(> The Bird ------,«----- H§ Lines written in Colebrooke-dale - - - - - up The Birch ----------- 122 Sonnet to Mr. Warrington ------- 134, Vision of Talicsin 1,3k' VIII Sonnet to Resignation -------- 145 The Castle of Harlech - - - 146' Bamborough Castle, a Sonnet - - - - - - lO'j Ode to Freedom - - l6"8 Porthaethwy Fair, a Sonnet ------ 172 Ode of Triumph --------- 1J5 Address of the Bard of Snowdon - - - - 1S4 The Maids of Meirion 201 Lines written at Capel Curig ------ 200' 1 SONNET TO THE MUSE. O, thou, in every form by Fancy drawn, Still at my pillow, when descends the dawn ; Still round ray head, in blissful visions roll, Thou breath divine — thou seraph of my soul. I saw thee distant, even in infant years, When Life's sad morn commenced in clouds and tears ; When sorrow's tide o'erwhelm'd parental worth, And stern Affliction press'd us to the earth. To thee 'twas given, to bring the lyre the lay, That sooth'd Depression's long and lingering day; In Gratitude's dear voice, I own 'twas given, To form within my breast— a little Heaven ! Still bring celestial guest, thy hours of glee, Till hence in thy blest home, I visit thee ! HYMN TEMPERANCE. Virtue, Reason's favor'd child, The calm is thine, and not the storm; Blest Temperance* of aspect mild, I love, dear fair, thy Heavenly form : Tho' few thy tranquil joys have sung, Tho' few to thee the lyre have strung ; Yet, Goddess of unalter'd charms, I bless the hour that brought thee to my arms. * Though Horace has pronounced the incompatibility of poetry and sobriety, though Aristophanes and Alcssus, as Athcn- Parent of blessings, these are thine, (And poor to thee Potosi's mine) Thy lasting, thy unenvicd Wealth, Thy offspring Industry and Health. While slowly up Lite's trying steeps, Another — Independence creeps ; She that with calm and stead) eye Sees bloated Pride, when crested high ; And seated on a borrow 'd throne, Is vain of merits — not her own. And is not thine th* unrufd'd day, TIil* eve serene, and slumbers sweet; The grateful hymn — the spirits gay, The morning's earliest dawn to meet ; The day-renewing dawn that's bliss When Nature, with exulting voice, Awakes to share it, and rejoice ; Who would nut love thee ev'n for this I nseus tells us, wrote the bcH poems when drunk; and though Herinagoras was banished from Epbcsus for his extreme teroper- — yet, in defiance of these high,- cluneal, and ol other authority, I gratulale with pleasure, this seldom addrewed Uciiv, tlii* parent ol Peace, Comfort, and Couteuliuent. And more, to me, the morning brings, From Worlds unknown on Cherub wings ; The Muse that loves her welcome seat, Partakes with thee of Reason's treat; Not she, the Maid, of Latian line, That silent seeks th' inflaming vine ; A baneful season's blighted fruit, Can bid her borrow'd voice be mute. What though Riot's torches gay, Glare and dare the eye of Day, And Dissipation's vot'ries laugh, Awhile defy intruding Care : With maniac roar, as down they quaff, The draught that gives the sick'ning stare. What is it ? but the transient bliss, That brings the worse than serpent hiss ; Reflection's heart-corroding train, And all the sequent host of Penury and Pain. To thee unknown the noisy joy, Unlike thee, for thou lov'st to bring, Th' asbuaging cup from Reason's spring ; Tis thine to comfort, not to cloy, Tis thine to cherish, not destroy : The honey'd stream is thine that flows without a sting. Dear Fair, through Life's uneven day, (A thorny path by ills o'erspread) TwM thine to clear its tangl'd way, And plant the placid Primrose in their stead. And though to cheer Depression's child, No generous chief, no Grafton' 5 smil'd, No Moira that, with virtuous voice, Would wish to bid a world rejoice ; Nor led the lov'd, the good Glencairn, Gay Hope to Cambria's genial bairn; Yet, thine to sooth his sunless doom, Thou star serene in gather'd gloom. To thee blest Temperance I bend, Thy altars let me still attend, My only patrox, earliest friend; * A perusal of tiie lives of our coteraporary and humbly born J!.ird> — Bums, Dermoiiy, and Bloomficld. A tuneful trio com- posed of natives of each of the United Kingdoms, will explain Without thy guiding precepts plain, Without thy smile the sweetest strain, The Muse's hallow'd voice had all been vain ; Cling source of blessings closer to my heart, And never, never, while on earth depart. this allusion to these truly noble, and beneficent characters— Pa- trons of their Compatriot Poets. LINES ADDRESSED TO THE THRUSH,. IN THE GARDEN AT PENRHOSE, 121 ANGLESEY, The Residence of Lady Stanley, Fa ryw ddim a vu berach, Biethiad ei chwibaniad bach, Adwaen ev, o 'i vedw nwyvoedd, Awdwr cerdd adar y coed. V'hat can be sweeter than thy note, The warblings in thy little throat; Shrill from the birch I hear the strain, Uiou teacher of the fcather'd train. D. ip Gwilim. Dear, sweetest Eos,* of the speckled breast, High on the pliant bough, or grassy blade, Or hopping gay, on beds by Flora drest, Or rustling in the currant's humbler shade. Oft have I heard thee hail the dawning day, Delighted listen'd to thy matin theme j As blaz'd on Arvon'sf top, the orient ray, Or Evening, westward, led the lingering beam. * The word Eos (Nightingale) has always been used by the Bards, as the organ of harmony i.n the language of Metaphor, thus Rhys G6ch of Glyndwrdwy, in the Ode in which he in- vokes the sun to shine genially on Glamorgan, for sheltering Owen Glyudwr, in the decline of his power, and last years says— • " A minna sydd yn nydd a nos, " I nai Owen yn Eos." I, that am night and day, To Owen's nephew a Nightingale. And Owen Gryffydd, in his Elegy on Hugh Morris (the Can> brian Butler) calls bin Eos Awen, the Poetic Nightingale ; and another has the beautiful line — " Eos a llinos y llwyn, Nightingale and Goldfiuch of the Grove. t Mountains east of Tenrhos. To cheer the hidden partner of thy heart, As o'er her care the wings* maternal bend ; Or teach thy infant brood th' enchanting art, With all a parent's pride thy carols tend. And pleasure riots in thy radiant eye, As shrill in air the dulcet triumph floats ; How beats thy little heart, with raptures high, When Stanley listens to thy grateful notes. Still when her bounty brings the hoarded crumbs, Where o'er thy nest the glossy ivy's curl'd ; Does Fancy hear thee chirrup sweet — " she comes " With looks that wish the welfare of a world." By thee unheard the Raven's f hated scream, That wrung cf yore the poet's boding breast ; " * Ai phlu yn gysgod iw phlant." Her children sheltered by her feathers. « " t Fy nghalon a gryn rhag erchlais y vran." p b.ible from this line, that Evan Gcthin had seen the prophetic words of Merddyn Wyllt (Malinus Sylcaticus) which occur in a dialogue ascribed to him and I aliesin, about 570, " Pan dorrlr y deri, " Yng oror y 'Ryri ; " A throi 'r cerrig yn vara, " Yn agos i 'r Wyddva. The two first lines were fully accomplished in the denudation of the Country by Edward the first ; and the fulfilling of the two last, seems to have been reserved for Lord Penrliyn, who, by opening and working the slate-quarries, and the spirit which his exemplary and successful exertions has excited, bids fair to con- vert, in the language of Mcrddvn, " the rocks of Eryri into bread ;" and Evan Gcthin would doubtless now be surprised to see the humble though useful ability of Evan Dowr (whose loss he so pathetically deplores) so much and so extensively improved Upon-, and it was perhaps, far beyond even the prophetic powers of Merddyn, to foresee, that, after an interval of fourteen centu- ries, the rocks of his country would, by an union of ability and perseverance in this publick spirited nobleman, be converted into an elegant and durable covering, not for the dwellings of Medi- ocrity only, but for the palaces of Princes, and this also in transat- lantic regions, a world of which, Europeans, for many ages after that of Merddyn, and for some years after that of Evan Gethin, 27 Ye mice to other regions hie, Away — ye iecks of epwrcma fly ; .ling bees* who love to store, 'J'lic cells you've often HUM before, Now keep from human haunts aloof, You all will miss the malted r Yet, will the tale that makes Bid every hazle grove be glad ; had no idea, unless indeed we except the impression made in Wales by the return of Madog ap Owen Gwyncdd, in the reign of his brother David, Prince of Xorth Wales, from a voyage which the troubles in hi-iown country iuduccil him to attempt, and from which he successfully returned, as some of the bards inform us, to prevail on his fa .:es to follow his example, and exchange the Cambrian Chris for the fertility of Mexico. * Before the discovery of the West Indies, and the introduc- tion of sugar, the straggling, as well as hived bees, were an arti- cle of considerable importance in a country where Mead or Me- n was one of its favorite and original beverage! ; where it had sparkled forages in the cup of Hospitality, and sliil lives in unnumbered songs ; and Drayton addressing himself to Cambria, in hi* Poly-olbion, says, Fill me a bowl of Mcallt, my working «pirit to i And ere seven Bookes have end, Tie stiike w Thy Bards sliall stand aiuiu'd with wonder, whilst I 28 And sedgy* tufts will rustle— play, When Zephyrs tell the tidings gay, That Death has laid our Evan low, And thatch'd in earth their direst foe. And latcf though Nature claim'd her debt, We all regard it with regret ; And it ought not to be forgot, that Burton, the English historian, in his remarks upon Wales, gravely discovers the Etymon of Me- iheglin, in the name of Mathew Glin, a Welshman, first inventor. The places peculiarly propitious to these valuable insects are still known to us in their names, Gwenynog, the Beestons of Wales ; the most prominent of these now is, that near Denbigh* which has been long the property and residence of a family de- scended from Itirid Vlaidd, of Ilhiwaedog, Lord of Penllyn, whose allusive coat— Argent, on a bend vert, three wolves heads erased of the field — they paternally bear : this branch as well as that of Chirk Castle (now exlinct in the male line) assumed this name upon the marriage of an ancestor with the heiress of the .Aliddleton's, a Shropshire family. This race and name has since been highly honoured by the public spirit of Sir Hugh Middleton, who, in 1608, brought the new river to London, a blessing, when the national health is considered, of incalculable value. * Hazle rods and sedges — materials in thatching with straw;. t Evan died at a very advanced age. 29 Shall long recount his various care, And name him with a grateful prayer ; Yet know that to the sons of worth, Life's close is but a second birth, For those blest realms that roof the earth } SONNET TO CONTENT. Fair of the ruddy cheek, and russet vest, With eye that beams the sunshine of thy breast, That tripping light yon heathy cliffs among,. Pour'st to the source of good, thine artless song. Yet, thou canst quit awhile the leafy glen, Thy thoughts of solitude's still charms divest, To wander, playfuk thro' the haunts of men, And revel in the busy, blameless, breast ! Where'er thou art, associate of the good, Unheard, where vacant Mirth is laughing loud ; Or calm, amidst a city's noisy crowd, Or list'ning to the warblers of the wood : Spread o'er the guiltless cheek thy brightest glow, Nor ask a boon that Reason can't bestow. KATE OF CYMMA U. rp Q ***** ******* ♦ **** £ S q # To him under whose friendly protection the evening sun of a temporary* parent decends Kith serenity ; her merits in the Muse's measured voice cannot but be acceptable. Whore rolls Cegidog.f highly bom, With hasty stops to meet • Gxxj tells us, that Paramana, more endearing and expre«>ive than tKe ancient word, signifies, among the Modern Grecians, Nurse, or Second Mother.— Travels in Greece, Tom 1. ♦ A mountain stream, which, passing C) mnaau, and uniting 52 ■ r - ' ... _ .... i _■ ^ The Alyn, Terrig, sister waves, It washes Cymmau's feet.* Astonish'd by a world of charms, By every rural grace ; The Naiads twist and curl its course, As loth to leave the places The stubborn oak, the forest's pride, In love with scenes like this, Leans from the rocky cliff, and bends, The playful stream to kiss. The alders wave, the willows twine, The ash ambitious towers, with the Alyn (lesser river) and the Terrig (rippler) fall into the Dee, near Eaton, in Cheshire. — Thus Drayton .— Then Alen makes approach (to Dee mas' inly deere) Taking Cegidog in ; who, earnest to be there, Tor haste, twice under earth her crystal! head doth runne. • Pronounced Cumma, the plural of Cwm, a Dingle, the name of a house and township in the parish and manor of Hope (or Estyn, in Flintshire. 33 While laughing Satyrs bend the boughs, And braid them into bowers. And he, who, with poetic eye, Explores this blest retreat, Will, unforeseen, a Cottage find, And in it — good old Kate. The worthy dame, of snowy locks, The kindest welcome gives ; Her smiles declare the peace within, And Neatness with her lives. Fortune, a lass of boundless whim, Whose views no man can tell, Decreed, that in this little cot Th' industrious Kate should dwell. Hall, parlour, kitchen, tea-room, one, And yet minutely nice ; A clock she boasts, a cupboard too, That once conceal'd the spice. 34 In rank ami fide, her crockery's plac'd, Her Buckley ware,* her Delf ; So well the tidy soul has learnt The tactics of the shelf. Her chair, the wheel that's seldom stilly Half fill her little floor ; And Toby, trotting to and fro, Yet -watching still the door. The hearth so neat, her pitchers clean, The Fairies Come with glee To hold their gay nocturnal feasts, And leave the morning fec.f * Buckley* in the parish of Hawarden, where coarse earthen- ware is made. t In Wales, as in other pastoral district?, the fairy tales are not yet erased from the traditional tablet ; and age seldom neglects to inform youth, that if, on retiring to rest, the hearth is made clean, the floor swept, and the pails left full of water, the Fairies will come at midnight, continue their revels till day-break, sing the well-known strain of Torriudd y Dydd, or the Dawn, leave a piece of money upon the hob, and disappear : the suggestions of intellect, and the precautions of prudence, are easily discernible 3a Her 1<<( ks a temp' rate lesson give, That's seldom learnt by Wealth, For cheerful Kate, at eighty-two, Can still shake hands with Health. Ye fair, who swell the crowd of Courts, And Windsor's terrace grace ; Who, haunted by ennui, pursue An endless change of place : Would Fate in some good humour'd hour, Design your minds a treat, Twould be to bring you quickly down To drink your tea with Kate. The Muse herself, however grave, Could wish this freak to share- To see such folk a cottage fill, The dear old damsel stare. under this fiction ; a safety from fire, in the neatness of the hearth ; a provision for its extinction, in replenished pails ; and a motive to perseverencc, iu the promised boon. 36 Kate visits Cymmau s worthy Dame, 9U4A By every landless led ; They smile and curtsey, curtsey, smile, But not a word is said. We seldom find such meetings now, For gossips meet to speak ; The Ladies' tongues to English tun'd, But Kate's to mountain Greek.* The case is this, that Cymmau's Dame Descends of Saxon blood, And Kate, of Cambrian parents born, Can trace them to the flood. She has them all, a thousand Aps,f In story strait and clear — The flood — 'tis well a Briton born Will deign to stop even here. To no one spot in ample space, To no one race confln'd ; * The British language, t Mab (son) abbreviated, as Dafydd ap Gwilim, &c. 37 Content is every where at home — That home's the worthy mind. So Kate, whose independent soul, O'er half an acre reigns, Is truly great, compar'd to him Who sighs for large domains. WiA Ix^.is and sage" her garden blooms, They hide the teeming hives; Surrounded by the sweets they love, The busy Nation thrives. In this— a world of good and ill— In vain, even poeis preach ; For Pit>till,i though in tenfold shades, Is yet in Rapine's reach. Enwrapt within a midnight cloud, The prowling robber creeps ; • Both favorites with these industrious insects, and Kale knows it well. t PutiU — or the cascade, the name of the cottage. D 39 Fur, watchful Guilt is wide awake, While Virtue soundly sleeps. Poor Kate possess'd, as evening fell, A Hybla all her own ; Ere morn, on Brymbo's* summits broke, Her every hive was gone ! Yet, Kate, the day shall surely come. The hours are on the wing, When all the honey shall be thine, And his th' eternal stiag ! * Eminences East and South of Cvmman, and the residence of Tiiom;;s Jones, E=q. ODE TO WINTER. Fierce from Hyperborean eaves, Loud, and wild, lo ! Winter raves, Affrighted, as she wings her way, Rolls the agitated sea ; And rushing on resisting shores, The desolating tempest roars; Wh'.en'd by her boisterous breath, Gape the briny jaws of Death, That pour, while many a vietim dies, Heart-rending shrieks, and dying cries. Yes, rifler of the fruitful year, With all thy horrors thou art here; 40 Say, wilt thou, while thy wrath is hurl'd, And either hand at random throws, Insulting o'er a suffering world, Thy frigid fetters and thy snows : While floating in thy flaky air, Wilt thou hear the wanderer's pray'r ; Ah ! no, thy feelings all are froze, In vain the trackless waste he knows, In vain implores inclement skies, Fair Hope deserts the sullen gloom, Despair, dread rolls her maniac eyes, And drags him to his doom. Thou too, as many a tale can tell', Hast heedless heard the sorrowing yell, Hast seen the constant dog attend, In death itself, his long-lov'd friend ; Fix'd to his side his faithful guardian lie, And to that faith, with martyr firmness die I While o'er Hiraethog,*" Bcrwyn,f tast, Thy all-involving clouds are cast, * A lofty and extensive mountain, in Merionethshire. t An upland district of great extent, in Denbighshire. 41 O ! let the rage that marks thy reign, Pass o'er the huts of Want and Tain ; From scenes of agravated woe, Turn thy frightful lace and go ; Go where Grandeur's columns rise, And Art illumes her stucco'd skies ; Go where Riot's train resorts, And selfish Pride unfeeling sports, Where Mirth's, gay group, thy frowns d And Folly waves her feathers high ; And ere her race nocturnal's run, Lights the Mora's intruding sun. Yet annual scourge, even thou hast charms, For while thy steril will prevails, Contagion shuns thy gelid gfl And Health comes swinging both her arms ; And Vegetation slowly creeps, To thy maternal lap and sleeps ; But rests to ope her dewy i And shew her tints to milder skies. If rough Deformity was fled, Beauty, in vain, might rear her head ; 42 Without thee every season's foil, (Sapping Autumn's mealy spoil) The flowers that deck the brows of Spring, Or shed their sweets from Summer's wing j The leafy grove, the choral strain, Th' unvaried year, would laugh in vain. Stern, though thy petrifying face Unform'd in Stanhope's* school of Grace ; Thy figure tall, disgusting, thin, Thy mind, without a ;vish to win ; Yet cold and chilling as thou art, Thou know'st to warm the social heart ; Thou know'st that some even thee beguile, Bid even thy features boast a smile ; These are the Good, and they alone, Can sooth thee on thy icy throne. * It is possible that this Ode may be read by some persons who do not know that a series of letters from a Nobleman (Lord Ches- terfield) to his son, were published a few years ago, the object ef which was, the polish of high life aud the " Graces." 43 Yes, breasts benign, to Pity known, To you the (iodlike boon is given, To soften sorrows, not your own, And antedate, even here, your Heaven ; This is Virtue's ballow'd glee, This is PUSEY*— copying thee ! * Who the beneficent possessor of this name is I Ho not know, but this I J ^ TO SUE T* MOSTYN, BAJRT. M. P. For the County of Flint. Tins attempt to renovate, in the language of Modern Britain, the plaintive a fid grate- ful notes of Gwilim Ddu, the subject of which, is the magnanimity, patriotism, and beneficence of that Wallace of hk Country, Sir Gryffydd Llwyd, his patron, and your illustrious ancestor. Is respectfully inscribed By R. XL S3 -W'ud cyn nechrcu Mai mau anrhydedd." My days were bright, my hours wore gay, Ere Cambria saw the sun of May ; Tiiat erst dispel'd the winter's gloom, And bless'd the world with love and bloom. How heavy on this suffering land, Almighty Father,* falls thy hand ; Inflictive falls, as when of old, The Saviour of the world was sold : 'Tis ours, in these disastrous times, To suffer as if curst with crimes ; To see the ruiu widely rage, And Havoc seize the locks of age; While slaughter'd vigour loads the earth, And Vice, triumphant, treads on Worth : To Heaven, in vain, even Virtue calls, The foe exults— my Country falls L * It was not unusual among the Bard?, to invoke the Supreme Being in their Ode*, and there arc instances a»uong tin.- unuei-.'s of other nation.", though to inferior deities. 54 ! thou, decreed a world to save, Where can I rest, but in the grave, Where can I pass the hours of pain, Forbid even sorrow's soothing strain ; Forbid* by foes, whose breasts are steel, To pour, to Heaven, the pangs we feel. Can Bards who fill'd the rolls of fame, Live bnt to hold an empty name ; Can I, that long, with grateful tongue, Tregarnedd'sf warlike-lord have sung, Live, and in inglorious rest, Behold my princely Chief deprest. * To repress those who were the Ueing records of their country and their forefat hers ; those to whom their cotemporaries looked up for lame and immortality, was not new even then in the an- nals of Tyranny, even so Jate as 1180, Davydd Llwyd of.Ma- thuvarn, in an Ode to Owen Tudur, of feuniyuydd, says — Gwyddom dewi a goddev. "We know to sutler, and to be silent. t Tre 'r garnedd (the tumulus farm) in Anglesey, was in 1220, th.e property and occasional residence of Ednyved Vychan ; from him.it descended to his great grandson, Sir Gryffydd Llwyd, who, when he revolted; fortified this house with a foss, 8 yards wide 5.5 Like DunawdV Bard, whose plaintive tongue, The woes of other times has sung ; So I, on recent sorrows dwell, And sad, my Country's troubles tell ; To me how glooms the chearful day, That spreads around the sweets of May ;f .And June, gay Summer's pride and care, But feeds the horrors of Despair; .Mass! if GryiYydd does not live, 'What joy can varying seasons, give ; What pleasure to the breast of pain, The World itself— exists in vain ! There are — who hear, unmov'd the strain, By Verse and Virtue rous'd in vain, and 4 deep, and, at tliesame time, formed another strong-hold, at a short distance from it, in the Morass of Malldraetb, intended as a retreat, in the last extremity ; this he insulated by drawing round it the deep waters of the river Cevni ; and sufficient ves- tiges of both still remain to ascertain their relative strength and situation. * Son of Pabo Post Brydain, a Bard of the 6th Century. t The propriety of the title of the poem, " Ode of the Months," does net cl'-urlv u;>jv ir, two of them only being mentioned. Whose breasts resist the patriot glow, Unncrv'd the arm, unstrung the bow ; 'Who crouch beneath the foes controul, And bear the lash, that tears the soul ; Be theirs, Depression's abject life, But mine, the war's eventful strife I Where is the Hawk* whose wings were spread, Whose beak, with Saxon blood, was red, That proudly perch'd on triumph's car, With England's Marches wag'd the war; Our prowess prov'd, aveng'd our wrongs, And tun'd to joy, unnumber'd tongues I Where is the Sword of crimson hue r That gleam' d upon the warrior's view, A thousand feats record its strength, And terror long shall tell its length ; And well th' indented edge will show, To days unborn, its deathful blow ? * This is probabry an allusion to Carwed, Lord of Twr celyn, •whose crest it was. — The exploits of that Chieftain in the war with Henry the Second, being yet fresh in the public voice. 57 Where's the red Lance that led the way, When Gryffydd won the doubtful day, That, torch-like, blazing in his hand, To conquest led his Country's band ; When foes, invading, fought and fled, And England's bravest blood was shed ? Heroic band — a people's pride, That stem'd invasion's threal'ning tide, That stay'd awhile, your Country's fall, Illustrious Shades : on you I call ; As bending o'er the soil I weep, Where now your peaceful spirits sleep : Heavenly slumbers bless the brave, And Cambria's tears bedew the grave ; With flowers,* unfading, decks the sod, And gives your happier souls to God ! * " Unfading blooms on the grave of the hero, the garland prepared by his country." Such also, was tin- sentiment engraved on the pedestal of a co- l'liiin of Norwegian marble, and placed by the gratitude of (lie Danish nation, on the grave of her brave joms who fell in the boat* burdment of Copenhagen, by the British fleet, April 2, 1801 ; and that breast can have little of liberality that would coafiuy the Virtues to the limits of his Count! y. 58 Yc scenes, where still my footsteps tend, Where still umvean'd my wishes bend, Ye domes, where now, I pensive gaze, Were bright, when beam'd, the social blaze, "When Gryffydd, from a princely store, Abundance to the banquet bore : Ye storied walls, where Time shall trace, High Bryn* Euryn's, trophicd race; That rich in glory's proudest lore, The deeds of other days restore ; Ye roofs that long responsive rung, When Bards the trying conflict sung, When Joy's exulting voice was high, When songs of triumph reach'd the sky, * Bryn Euryn, is in the parish of Llandrillo, near Conway, and of thirteen residences in the possession of Ednyved Vyshan, in North Wales, this is said to be the favorite, and to have been " royaly adorned with turrets and garrets." — Sir Tudur ap Ed- nyved was one of the Commissioners for negotiating a peace between Edward the first and Llewelyn ap Gryffydd > and 1ms decendants, resident at this place, afterwards assumed and bore the name of Conway ; and an English family resident at Bod Ilhuddlan, also assumed this name, upon a marriage with a Lady of this house; both fainil'yfs are now extinct in the male line.. 59 And horns* from Hybla's sweetest stream, Were fill'd to Gryffydd's glorious name; Alas, the poor no more repair, His bounty and his smiles to share; Heart-rending sighs to Heaven ascend, They mourn, like me, their common friend : * These were the mead horns of ancient hospitality, and called the Ilirlas ; that of Owen Gyvciliog, Prince of Powis, has been the subject of a beautiful Ode, for the appearance of which, in English, the public are indebted to the peu of an accomplished scholar. An elegant specimen of the antient Hirlas is still preserved at Lord Penrhvn's teat in Carnarvonshire. Fill with Mead the IUrtas high, It t ■ soul this day be dry ; 'J he hall resounds— the triumph rings— And every bard the conflict I'tliiiil'cd's trophicd shield displays Themes of glory — themes of praise— A lion, in the tented field — A lamb, when vanquished heroes yield. Kdmiftd ! bravest of the brave ! His name shall live beyond the grave } Mb left eo Chill as the cells that hold the dead, The festive halls where crowds were fed, Where Gryftydd grae'd the frequent treat, And led the stranger to his seat: Like generous Nudd,* in days of yore, So Gryffydd gave — but gives no more ! Dismay and terror seiz'd our foes, "When Arvon's towering eagle rose ; Achilles like, with helmet high, And fury flashing in his eye, As Urienf bold, the battle's boast, A nation's hope — his arm, an host; * Xudil Had (or the generous) ont of the three liberal Princes «: Britain, mentioned in the triades, and sung by v J.aliesin. X t A Cumbrian or Cumberland Prince, often mentioned by the Bards of the Sixth Century, the pretendtd assumption of this name (Fitx-Urien) was one of the reasons given by Henry the Eighth, for executing that hopeful and accomplished youth Sir Griffith Rice, at twenty-three ; the son of Sir Rhyl ap Thomas, of South Wales, who had been so instrumental in placing his father, Henry the Seventh, on the throne of England ; and a si- milar reason (quartering the arms of their Ancestor, Thomas dc Brotherton, fifth son of Edward the tirst) was found for the des- tfl He rush'd, as torrents roll along, No flattery stains a Gwilhm song; It flows, like Avtih's* dulcet stream, Wlien brare Cadwallon fill'd the theme. At length the fell, vindictive foe, Has laid Dinorwig'sf lion low; And now with haughty crest relates, His happier, and our adverse fates; fraction of that Mecaenas of his da}' — the Young Earl of Surrey, .the Scholar and the Soldier ; but the death of Henry, fortunately saved his father, the Duke of Norfolk. * Avan Verddig, the bard of Cadwallon ap Cadvan, King of Biitain, and, in the Tiiades, is described as one of the three bloody-speared bards of Britain ; his patron, Cadwallon, slew Edwin, King of Mercia, in the battle of Meigin, where the men of Powis behaved so well, that they were distinguished with peculiar privileges, mentioned by Cynddelw, in an ode called Breuuau gwyr Powys. — Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History, des- cribes this Prini^hTrthe words Tyr annum sciknUm. t Situate on the "4fcc of the Arvonian ridge, in the parish of Llunddeiiiiulrn, ami within a few miles of Bangor, was one of the many teinpora^B|HRf in tli< se tumultuous times, necessarily so) residencies of the Princes of Wales ; the -itualion k most invit- iiig, m\d though the ruins are nearly removed, the dimensions of £ While Cambria shrinks, with boding fear, And dreads the tale, she's doom'd to hear, To hear that Rhuddlan towers restrain, The man, by Virtue, rear'd to reign ; In chains, my chief, of graceful form, Smiles at insult, braves their scorn, And bleeding, crown'd with honour's wreath, Awaits, and courts the dart of death ; While now, on every breeze 'tis borne, With every pang my breast is tornej the great hall, the hospitality of which) Gwilim Ddu so feel sings, and which was twenty-four yards long, are still ascertain- able. — One of the many favors bestowed upon Sir GryfTydd, by the King, was Dinorwig, and the continuation of this, and his ether property, in his descendants, shows that Edward, hi this in- stance, did not extend the rapacity of Uraiuiv to its siczure, on the revolt of the proprietor. This division continued in that great and leading branch of his family, residing at Penrhyn and Coch- v.illan, till William Williams, Esq. transfered it to his third son, Thomas Williams, oi Yaenol, ancestor to Sir William Williams, Bart, who, d\ing without issue, left his estates to King William, who granted them to Mr. Smith, Speaker of the House of Com- mons, in whose decendant Thomas Ashton Smith, Esq. of Vaenol, they now are. (.: I sink to earth, to hear his name, ^Yith all th:U mans, and warms my frame ; Vet Fame, to other times shall tell. How Griffith fought, how Griffith fell ; And ages yet to come, shall hear, As downward rolls, the pitying tear ! Misfortunes throng on even Fallen is Mona's strength and pride, And lofty Aivon, Gwyncdd's* tower, Falls, and feels, the unequal power ; Tier sons by Saxon hosts assail 'd, At Rheor/s fordf — have fought and fail'd ; In vain the phalanx firmly tt<;od, Till Rheon roll'd a tide of blood ; They fell, o'erwheUa'd a nation fall*, And Saxon power my Piince enthralls; Oppression's plan, at length succeed*, At every pore, my Country bleeds; No ray of hope pervades our woes, No trait of mercy, marks our foes; • North Wale?, the Venedotia of the Romans. t A river in Carnarvonshire, now unknown, having probably change 1 ill v.muv, 64 And Britain's sons, in vain, are brave > Immur'd within a living-grave ! Affliction wild, with piercing cry, And dark Despair, with downcast eye ; The manly Mind, that scorns to speak, The indignant Heart, that swells to break ; All agonize my breast to close, Al once — existence aud its woes ! CONTRAST, A SONNET, /( 'ritiai on seeing a tall and corpulent Lady in a Phitton and four, passing a short thin Woman, with a Pitcher of Water on her Head, a Basket of Potatoes in one Hand, a Child in the other, nnd fol- io-iced by Three more. SONNET, How widely different is life's varied way, One leans on silken sophas from the birth, Another, toiling, through its trying day, Is, by incessant burthens, press'd to earth. Wealth gayly rolls, on gaudy rapid wheels, Or lightly ambles, on the graceful steed ; And flashing on the broad-way, seldom feels, What humbler folk, in narrower paths, may need. The Proud thus passing, with averted eyes,. May read where Inspiration's precepts glow ; That these are sometimes creeping to the skies, While guilty greatness gallops but to woe. And, patient toiler, loaded and depress'd, Content may be an inmate in thy breast ! KISS* from the BRITISH. Y Cusan. Moos gusan by'chan dibcchod, digriv Mai degryii o wirod, Medrusaidd medru osod, Er mwyn Daw, ar vy min dod ! Give mo the playful harmless kiss, That little boon, melifiuous bliss, Thou well canst lay it on my lip, The drop, for God sake, let me sip ! OWEN ^ OF LLANGOED. founded on fact. To Fleetwood Williams, Esq. OF LIVERPOOL. Where is the Muse that loves the good, The plaintive strain to offer ; But to the bright benignant breast, That feels for all that suffer. 'Tis this that prompts her now to bring, To thee, a noiseless story ; For Fame confines her brazen trump. To deeds of martial glory. €9 She flics on every breeze that blows, To spread her loud narration, •Nor Seas resist, nor Alps repel, The true, or false, inflation. To her, the Muse consigns the names, That court Ambition's bubbles ; And sings the hamlet's humbler cares, A peasant's joys and troubi "Where Courda* once, in days of yore, Tftttght Faith a cell to rear; A cottage stands, beneath the cliff, To Owen's feeling's dear. To every heart, how dear is home, (If worth that heart possesses) It still renews our earliest joys, A parent's fond caresses. * Llangocd, or more properly Llan Oourda, from ('ourda, one of the antient Collide**, or Culdeys (so called from Colcndo Deo) its patron Saiut ; a parish situutw in the wjHuii extremity of Aiifc, 70 A brother, sister's, dear embrace, The love-increasing battle, The. little play-things, still preserved. The first-engaging prattle.* Six Olive branches gather'd round, This crowded Cottage table, Till Time declar'd, that Owen, now, To guard the flocks was able. The Muse records the sorrowing day When Owen went, though willing, To earn his bread, a little man, A ticw importance feeling. The tears ran down his mother's cheek?, His father saw them — sighing; His play-mates shook his little hands, And all the group — were crying ! The rushy cap now crown'd his pate, The nvystic* crook, his sceptre j. The flocks uiul fields, his people) realms, And Nature sole preceptor. With pastoral pipe,* this infant Pan, Commenced his new vocation ; •Completed soon, his present views, A shepherd's education. The linnets lov'd his dulcet voice, The larks drew near in numbers, And thought they wak'd the morning sun, From night's protracted slumbers. They met at noon his brightest blaze, They join'd their grateful voices ; Thus Nature, in the sweetest strain, Through all her realms rejorces. * In possession of the Fib gorti, or pastoTal-pipe— a crook co- vered with characters intelligible only to themselves — a conick cap, made o( HMibci — and the Ilia ro or CfyUlicqoircd — ■ Skep- herd is completely such. In Anglesey and Other parts of Walts, this is still the employment of the children of labourers, till they are capable vi becoming husbandry servants. 72 'Twas thus when Day's decending boons, On western waters rested ; They knew their little nests were safe. By Owen unmolested. And if he had, the Virtues, Muse, Even Heaven itself had hated ; The impious hand, that touch'd their hopes, The future son" frustrated. Second Part. Thus Owen daily kept his flock, On Marian's* summits seated, And distant saw, the passing sails, By every breeze inflated. Now saw on Llangoed's fertile shores, The placid waters waving, And now beheld, on rocky steeps, The billowy rollers raving. • Rocky eminences in Llangoed, and the adjoining parish of Dan Ddona.— One of these is the site of the British encamp- ment, calhd Bwrdd Arthur, or the round table— anciently called Diu Sylwy, or the exploratory fort. V 74 A novel wish, in Owen's thoughts, Intruded now, was growing ; The place they came from, where they went, The curious itch of knowing. He'd heard indeed, from Mona's sons, From regions far returning, That northern seas were lock'd in ice, That Afric's sands were burning. He'd also heard, though undetcr'd, From parents still deploring, Of lads that left them, for the deep, No tidings yet restoring. He'd heard of Mersey's* crowded shores, The Dee's triumphant neighbour ; Where Commerce, with a smile beheld, Success reward her labour. * A river of Lancashire, upon the shore of which, stands the young, though large and populous town, of Liverpool ; this place, so lately as the beginning of the last century, was described in the custom-house patent, as a " Creek of the Port of Chester," To That there she saw, her useful stores, From every climate swelling, That all the Virtues, Arts were there, And pleas'd, had found a dwelling. And Charity* their Heavenly chief, Her every view revealing ; That every woe, that Misery wears, Her hallow'd hand was healing 1 from wliicli, and the estuary of tbe Dee, it is divided by that part of Cheshire, culled Wirral. • The Asylum for the blind poor.— The Philanthropist contem- plates with true pleasure, «n institution so novel in its nature, so beneftent in its design, and so honorable to the place which has pivea it birth; to relieve the tadium. of sightless solitude, to r*a> det happy and useful to society , those who had hitherto been unavoidably it* incumbrances, had icing been a dtsiileratum m the breast of Charity ; and to add this chapiet to her benign brows, was reserved for the inhabitants cl the town of Liverpool. It is impossible for ?. Cambrian not to wish that it were cousi*- tent with the regulatinus of this Charity, and within the pale of ;•- power, to entertain a Preceptor for the purpose of teaching some of its obj•! surely no common MMM : and may his youthful bosom glow as grat-fully as ttwt of his iutlttTj wlio> iu Lis kites- to l>r. 78 That even the Nine, by Virtue led, (Whose voice they all revere) Dese'rt, at times, their sweetest shades- Delight to loiter there. Entic'd by Rcscoe's tuneful voice, They leave their fav'rite fountains ; And cliffs that echo, love the lay, Now miss them in the mountains. Delightful warbler, Mersey's own, Thy lot be Lengthened years ; To charm with Arno's* classic themes, Thy Country's list'ning ears. That Cambria, from adjacent cliffs, With eye of glee locks down — Exulting sees, a valued youth, Her hopes, maternal, crown. Moore, speaking of liis Patron, that "noblest of men, Lord Glen- cairn," adds the following emphatic line :— " Oublie moi, grand Dieu, si jamais je 1' oublie ! " * Never has the Ausonian Lv re produced sweeter tones than en the shores of the Mersey. 79 Beholds him with a parent's care, Her hapless orphans seek ; And lead, lor them, the feeling tear, Down many a manly cheek. Williams,' while Britain's grateful voice, Applauds thy efforts !)!■ She gives her native Muse to wait Her blessing to thy breast ! * On the first of March, 1801, a day annually devoted to con- viviality by the natives of Cambria, Mr. Fleetwood Williams, with a feeling, not very common in youthful ujjlueuce, introduced Beneficence to the festive board. " Then Pleasure Cr'd her torch at Virtue's flame, And Mirth took Charity's celestial name ! " Hi then proposed to the company, the establishment of a School for the Education of Poor Children, born of parents natives of Wales, and resident in Liverpool; upon such a plan as would enable them to begin lift with advantage, and to attain, by their good conduct, respectable situations. This proposal was immediately adopted, and Mr. Williams li- berally led a subscription in which he was most cheerfully second- ed by the company present ; and, it is to be hoped, that the uobi- lity and gentry in North Wales, particularly, will consider tins 80 He now left iiangoed's pastoral banks, And Dw\ nwon's region, Dona,* Exchang'd for Mersey's busy scores* His dear maternal Mods* infant institution, as having (from the proximity of Liverpool, and the consequent number of their compatriot residents) pecu- liar claims to their favor and fostering protection. * Llan Ddona (so called from Dona, fourth in descent from the celebrated Broehwell, Prince of Powis, who built a cell there, upon the sea shore, in the ninth century) a parish adjoining Llangoed, on the north west : the fair damsels of this district have, for time immemorial, borne the same addition as those of Lancashire, both having probably been peculiarly favored by Dwynwen, the Venus of Anticnt Britain. The parish dedicated to this Goddess (Llanddwyn) on the western shore of the island, has been, for some ages, overflow'd by the sea, determined, as it would seem, to verify the fable in the Heathen Mythology, " that she should rise out of the waves." Richard Kvtnn, Dean of Bangor, was rector of' Llanddwyn, in 1485, from this place he corresponded with Henry the Seventh, then an exile in Britanny, and took a very active part in North Wales, in conjunction with Sir Rhys ap Thomas, who led South Wales, in bringing about his restoration. Davydd ap Gwilim, the British Ovid, invokes D-wynwen, in favor of Morvydd, the object of his adoration then on her pit— 81 He soon beheld the turrets tall, The crowded town* denoting ; And saw, with wonder's widest eye, A peopl'd forest floating. There— though in a constant crowd, He found his footsteps lonely ; For Owen's tongue, as yet, was tun'd, To antient British only. To any language, on its want, At sea there's no demurring ; The men of trade meet every tongue, Earth's every voice occurring. grimagc to the shrine of St. David ; and this beautiful production has appeared in English, in the Volumes published by Mr. Ed- ward Williams, the intelligent Bard of South Wales. * Liverpool (within the recollection of a life) little more than ;i village.— This Emporium of Western Britain, and of the British rranean, is an ample exemplification of wliat Industry, Exertion, and Enterprise, are capable of producing ; that they are rewarded in the attainment of their object, and that the Vir- iu<1 the Arts participate in their pruspeiity, the lover of ins Country delights to contemplate.. 82 Now Commerce in her active crew, Our youth till shepherd immber'd ; While Owen, on the trackless waves, Nor novel features ponder 'd. Each clime that met tV exploring praw, With thoughtful eye inspected ; So well had Nature stor'd his mind, Though Art her aid nedected. The winds, the waves, the current tides, That ocean's surface varied, The passing ships from cv'ry shore, The colours that they carried. O'er these young Owen saw with pridey His Country's crosses* leading ; With pleasure pass'd his youthful day, A modern Tyrian — trading. * The flag called the Union, is composed of the Cross Saltier, Argent, ol St. Andrew, for Scotland, surmounted by the Eng- li*h, or Red Cross of St. George. 83 Till Mars — who now — a little while, Had brooded o'er his thunder, Awak'd to waste, the social world, And tear its ties asunder. Third Part. And sudden on his comrade crew, Rush'd bands of ruffian sailors ; What once were Britain's gen'rous tars, Were now — degraded jailors. O ! Britain, sure no parent thou, If thus thy sons are treated ; Thou, that on ocean's proudest car, By their brave arms art seated ! 85 Repentant, clasp them to thy heart, With warmth maternal cherish ; Let Power the guilty* only grasp, Let Justice only punish ! Thy fires shall then, with filial force, On all thy foes be hurl'd ; They'll bid thee, with intrepid front, Defy an adverse world. He soon forgot the ruffian gang, When Britain's foes drew near, I lis bosom caught the patriot blaze, Her every field grew dear. And when the conflict fierce began, Her every right defended, As if, on his brave arm alone, Her every claim depended. • Xulla pan a sine crimine, is a maxim in our law, and the just and generous sentiment was not unknown to our remote ancestors. *' A vydd ddicuog, a vydd ddiovu." G 8(5 Not Blake, who chcck'd Batavian pride, On Britain's seas parading ; Nor Russell, when La Hogue beheld— Her naval Victors leading. Nor those that with her Hawkes and Howes, Her sceptred seas contested ; Nor when her welfare and her fame, On Rodney's efforts rested. Nor yet, when fell infuriate Fiance, In seas of blood, though wading; Fled, vanquish'd, when her Nelson fought- St. Vincent — Duncan — dreading. Not these, nor Valour's stoutest sons, In Time's transmitted story, Enjoy'd their Country's triumph more, Than Owen— Britain's glory. Now Peace came down, her healing wings, O'er warring world's extended, 87 •And Discord, for a while, at least, To Death's dark caves descended ! When Britain's warriors left the waves, Unnumber'd breasts were burning; A flection, Love, and Hope, and Joy, To hail her Youth returning. Fourth Part. By distance, absence, Home in view, Its every charm was heighten'd, Though Winter, with a silver vest, Its lordlv cliffs had whiten'd. Now Prudence, who, with precepts blest, Had Owen's days directed ; To cheer his friends, and gladden lion*, Her little hoards collected. 89 And Memory, too, was all alive, Her every cell exploring ; Friends, Parents, Play-mates, even his flock* With masyc touch restoring. They all, on recollection rtish'd, Their temper, form, and feature ; The mental tablet well retains, Tit-' impressive lines of Nature* Even little Tcgan* liv'd anew, His various freaks and notions ; The faithful cur, whose voice confin'd, The fleecy nation's motions. * Literally, a toy or play-thing ; but here, the name of Owen** little cur, and former companion, when a Shepherd. Once, when passing a farm-house, in the open champaign dis- trict of T£il, in Denbighshire, five of these little animals ran out to bark at us— a gentleman in company asked a neat well-looking woman, whom this uproar had brought to the door, why she kept so many ? she sensibly replied, " they are my fences, Sir." 90 And Jane, who fill'd his waking thoughts, Of Jane he dreamt, when sleeping ; With him, her heart had left its home, And she, had his in keeping. He saw, even now, her greeting arms, The welcome kiss, caresses ; He top-knots bought, of every hue, To tie her auburn tresses. Young Owen's bosom now beat high, A world of bliss was forming ; 'Tis thus, we sometimes paint at night, The sunshine of the morning. At length, in sight of home arriv'd, His eyes on Llangoed feasting ; The bliss which Absence only gives, Her treasur'd joys was tasting ! In fatal hour, a Fair he met, And pilgrim-like, enquir'd 91 What tale cmploy'd the public voice— Of what it last grew tn'd. " On Monday last, a dreadful day, " (May Heaven avert another) " At once, in Llangoed, Death entomb' J " A father and a mother. " Ye orphans poor ? ye faithful pair ! " So Heaven's high will decided, " That they who in their lives were one, " Should, dead, be undivided." Unnam'd, in Owen's boding breast, The truth terrific thunder' d ; And he, who brav'd the red broadside, By one dread word— was murder'd, Ne'er yet WSfl Sorrow's pointed dart, With heavier I.nnd inflicted ; That moment, Hope, in happiest hues, Had joys in view depicted. 92 • Thus fell on Owen's suffering soul, Woe's full o'erw helming measure; Thus fell, from Joy's exulting lips, The sparkling cup of Pleasure* SONNET, YNYS Y CEDEIRN; on, THE ISLE of the MIGHTY MEN. SONNET, My Country * first upon the rolls of fame, I love thee ! glory in thy envied name ! Isle of the Mighty ! * to thy warlike shores The patriot Muse, the pristine theme restores : * In those ancient and curious documents, called Trioedd ynys Brydain (Triades of the Isle of Britain) this island is named Clas Merddyn (the Green Isle) after the arrival of tiy Gadarn, or (Hesus the potent) the first settler, y vel ynys (the Honey Island) but afterwards Prydain, of which Britain is the echo (the Fair or Beautiful Isle.) In the British tales, called Mabinogi, the poetical denomination of Ynys y Cedti^n (Isle of the Mighty) is given to it ; and every Briton will join me in opinion, that the appellation was never more appropriate than at this proud period. Edred, the tenth King of England, of the Saxon race, in 946, assumed the title of King of Great Britain, but James the First of England, and Sixth of Scotland, that pacific conqueror, that cement of jarring nations, with much more propriety, resum- ed it.— This Prince, says Speed, hath broken down the partition of this great Lland, and made the extremities of two kingdom* the very midst of his united empire. 95 I see thee towering from the ambient tides, That pour earth's every produce in thy lap, Proud of the power that on their surface rides, On which the Nations lean as on a prop : While He, that o'er submitting Europe strides, And every tie of Heav'n and Earth derides, Beholds thy form erect in Glory's gap, Hears from thy voice alone, " Fell Monster, stop !" Britain ! let Justice still thy annals date, And Time, in Truth's blest voice, shall call thee great. ABBRESS to the GENEROUS INHABITANTS of LIVERPOOL; in BEH*A1LF of a WIDOW and FOUR FATHERLESS CHILDREN. 1i ii LIVERPOOL. The particular and peculiar circumstances under which the Family, for whose Benefit the Entertain- ments of the Evening are advertised, being in the most extreme degree distressing, the public are most respect- fully informed, that Mr. Bettertox, at the solicita- tion of those who know their distresses, has generously offered his assistance and that of his company for their advantage — and therefore, AT THE EXHIBITION-ROOM, GOLDEN-LION, Dale-street, On Tuesday the 6th of December, 1791, will be presented A Course of Entertainments both Serious and Comic. part first : AN ADDRESS To the Generous Inhabitants of Liverpool, Written by ;* FRIEND, and to be spoken by Mr. BetCerton. THE Offspring of Isles, in whom Old Ocean prides That rolls to you its wealth on all its tides, That bears ycta hence, to every shore it greets, And tells your triumphs where it wafts your fleets} Still plcas'd returning, from your trackless way;?, Where home, dear home ! its every charm displays- Love, Hope, Affection, Joy, a blissful train, Expecting, crowd the margin of the main ; You come— and here, awhile, the sails are furl'd, That nurse a new Emporium for the world ; Where'er your anchor holds, yolii" smile prevails, The scenic canvass swells with prosperous gales: Our ship is mann'd to greet our friend's return, From seas of ice, or where the Indies burn : 99 Keas'd from your toils, hero gen'rous tars repair, Aad softly whisper, " Lic—t/ Collected, chatter'd, peck'd, and hiss'd, And fearing, that some plot was hatching, Stippos'd the farmer daily watching; By caution led, they ey'd him round, And each some striking feature found ; So ready is Imagination, To furnish traits of self-creation ; But whether it was so or not, They call'd a meeting on the spot ? 108 Decreed, the Magpies all proclaim, From distant Idris* eagles came ; The Daws set out from Edward'sf towers, And Cranes came down in feathery showers ; SeiriolJ and Ormus§ were deserted, And Swans from Cevni's shores departed ; * Cader Idris, a well known mountain in Merionethshire, the apex of which, appears iike the crater of a volcano : the word cadet, in common language, signiiies a chair, but here, it is syno- nymous with observatory. Idris being like Don of Arvou, a shep- herd, and like him also an Astronomer. — The flocks of remote ages, in these rocky regions, are described as consisting of many thousands, the shepherds must necessarily be numerous ; and the chief might probably be elevated by a superior sagacity — in holy writ, and the antiquity of nations, a knowledge of the stars appears to be the natural and concomitant produce of die leisure of pastoral life. t The ruins of the fortresses built by Edward the first, are now immense Aviaries, and chiefly occupied by the Daw tribe. % A small island at the eastern extremity of Anglesey, and a favorite resort of migratory and other sea birds. § Ormc's head, a huge promontory in Carnarvonshire, and one of the horn-works to the Bay of Beaumaris j the sailors call it 109 Even Gulls, that love the ocean's roar, To learn the issue, left the shore ; Such screams and fluttering fill 'd the air, Astonish'd Mona stood to stare ; Whole flocks, that came not to he led, By love of news, this day were led ; The Linnets left their homes and hay-ricks, And not a Crow was seen at Meyrick's ; * The birds that haunt our ploughs and harrows, And every thatch had lost its Sparrows ; (Save Ducks and Geese, who rarely roam, And almost always dine at home) ; death's head, from an imaginary similitude in its profile, from some points at sea, and the idea is not a little confirmed b) its dangerous vicinity.— Its British name is Gogarth, the projecting cliff; aquatic birds are here also to be found in great numler-. * In a country denuded U Anglesey now is, the regular evening return of vast nights of these birds to the woods about Bodorgau, •he seat of O. P. .Meyrick, Esq. is an interesting spectacle. I 110 All came in crowds, to join the cour.cil, Even those that feed on grubs and groundsel ; The day involv'd the weal of feather, And Hawks and Pigeons came together ; Sedition's grumblers durst not squeak, Corn peas, and seeds, were all at stake ; The world of wing, was staunch and hearty, For this, to them, was Bonaparte ! A Jay first rising, chatter'd loud, And mute attention still'd the crowd ; u Such strokes of art, such light and shade, u No exhibition e'er display'd ; •' No Reynold's closer copied features, " Besides, the drapery — is Nature's ; " In every point so very like, " T would even a buzzard's blindness strike." An Owl, at once both wise and witty, Propos'd that a select committee Ill Should watch the scarecrow, never stir, And then report— what might occur ; To this proposal, safe, though slow, The great majority said — no. The Meeting, after much conjecture, Sapient speeches, many a lecture, Was breaking up, though unobtain'd The point, which such a crowd conven'd ; Exhausted by the long debate, Their roosting thoughts declar'd it late ; For though they had sat from sun to sun, 'Twas empty craws, and nothing done ; For here — this every bird can tell yc, No shelf display'd a sandwich, jelly ; No welcome waiter, came with cake, The morning's lengthen'd fast to break ; Nor Members left the deep debate, To prowl about for Plenty's plate. 118 At length a Crow, whose wealth was knowledge, (Although he had never seen a college) An humble motion meant to make, Which Wisdom might reject or take ; " I move — that we attempt to dine, (And all that heard him thought it time) " To eat — one general effort try, " At all events, we can but fly ; " If this will no attention win, t* Then rest assur'd — it is not him ; They did — unmov'd remain' tl the Miser, The field was rob'd, the birds were wiser ! A Landlord — not the best of men, Had little tenants, nine or ten ; Among them, though his rent was rack'il, Industrious Griffith never lack'd ; 11. Honest, frugal, sober, steady, Till now — his rent was always ready : This year, alass ! had teem'd with harm, A thoughtless boy had burnt his barn ; His hay had suffer'd by the flood, Misfortunes sometimes meet the good ; But then, they lighter fall on him, Whose waistcoat holds the llcaten within , Foor Griffith now a week had spent. In turning every stone for rent ; At last set out, with aching heart. To pay a pacifying part ; It happen'd, that his straightest way, Near this Form, terrific lay ; And having heard much talk before, Surveyed the scarecrow o'er and o'er; When glittering, to his great surprise, A guinea met his ravisL'd eyes ; Ill And sure enough, th' unthought of store, Ne'er yet arriv'd, when wanted more ; No one, as yet, has money found,. That did not search the lucky ground ; A straggling brother coin to gain, But Griffith's prying, prov'd in vain; The figure pass'd — a second thought, To Griffith's mind, inspection brought; He knew the piece must leave the pocket, And therefore he resolv'd to rock it ; And having mov'd it twice or more, Down fell guineas — near a score ; Exulting Griffith onward went, A Hippy man, and paid his rent ; Yet Griffith, in a future hour, When Heaven had bless'd his will with power. To pay the Miser's cash took care, He knew mistake had left it there ; \15 For well to men and birds 'twas known, The Scarecrow's cloathes were long his own; But hear it, Scandal's offspring hear, Who see a Miser/** crimes so clear ; • To forego sensuar gratifications, and even suffer privations, in order to create that which is to lesson the affliction of others, for the mental felicity of hlessing posteri'y to the end of time, has occasionally been the intellectual luxury of a Miser: it was for this divine enjoyment that a Guy eat his frugal meal upon a sheet of waste paper, to snre a table-cloth, and built, in his life time (and endowed with an income of 15,000/. a year) the hos- pital known by his name.— That a person unknown, in the true spirit of charity, has lately given the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge, in the Highlands of Scotland, the- sum of 12,000*. ; that we see the name of Mrs. Fell, in the list of sub- scribers foi building the Sheffield Infirmary, placed against 1000/. tbat our public papers teem with eleemosynary bequests and do- nations ; it is for this that these emanations of the Deity "go about doing good," perhaps in the garb of Poverty, and dropping into the poor-boxes of churches and hospitals, the lank-notes of of 100/. diid upward., that are frequently found in them ; and, indeed, such is the prevailing propensity in this country, that when our portion of existence is past, it will probably be denomi- nated the a^c of Btiitjicvnce } for, in a period of extraordinary 116 But never, with ingenuous spirit, Even -whisper deeds that mark his merit : And know, that even faultless you, The Miser without hate may view ; Who, hearing how his gold was us'd, To take a penny back— refus'd ! " No honest friend, I plainly see, " That Heaven design'd that hoard for thee i And be the Bard, for once, adviser, With Mercy's language, treat the Miser; He only forms a dcstin'd feature, A varying note in human nature ; difficulty, exertion, and exaction, if Charity breathes but a sigh she is heard, if she whispers, the world of affluence is awake, and the Angersteins, Thorntons, Eardleys, Barings, Goldsruids, and a ho;t of names that do honor to their country and human nature, crowd to alleviate, to relieve, and to bless :— and if I sometimes shudder as an individual of the species that has pro- duced a Lewis the fourteenth, a Suw arrow, and a Robespierre ; I, on the other hand, enjoy my approximation to the Divinity as the fellow-creature of a Cotatone, a Guy, and a Howard. 117 Delightful Octave, this and others, Tis social concord — men and brothers. And yc — the Muse your Merit saves, Misers who bless us from your graves ; Whose lives were one divine endeavour, To heal the world, and heal for ever ; Whate'er of frailty some partake, May Heaven forgive them for your sake. This tale a pleasing precept gives,. To every worthy soul that lives ; 'Tis this — that Virtue ne'er despairs, A Scarecrow may disperse our cares, BIRB,. from the BRITISH. Gwyn i vydk 'r aderyn, Ki hail ni vcd un gronyn, Ni vedd orchwyl yn y byd, Ond canu ar hycl y vhvycidyn. The happy bird nor reaps nor sows, One only care his bosom knows, In Summer, Autumn, ^Yinter, Spring, The business of his life— to sing. LINES, Written at the Tuckies in Coalbrook Dale, the occasional residence of the late William Reynolds, of Ketley, Esq. on seeing in the Breakfast Parlour, a Parcel, containing warm Bala Stockings, and Silk Handker- chiefs, a Birth-day Boon from the family, in ISO I to **** Palmer, a blind fidlcr, andan excellent singer. Around the smoaking Urn we meet, Thy Natal Morn, with pleasure, greet J And ask, with hope's uplifted eyes, That fifty more for thee may rise ; Nor only hope— to aid this prayer, Thy faithful friends employ their care $ To guard thee from invading colds, They wrap thy feet in fleecy folds ; That Health may tune thy every note, In wreaths of silk — secure thy throit; So Mirth, who loves thee, loves the dance, Shall long behold thy Bow advance To lead the maze, or song — the choice* That liavren,* charm'd, may hear thy voice . * The river Severn, of which Havren is the root with ys prefixt, runs below the Tuckits. 101 Havren, that vales Powisian laves, And wafts a moral* on her waves. O ! Palmer, could the Muse attend, To hear thy grateful suit ascend ; To hear thee beg at Bounty's throne, The blessings thou wilt wish their own ; Inspir'd, she knows them, joins thee, prays For health, peace, plenty, length of days ! * " Ni pheru Havren i avrad." Waste will exhaust a Severn. BIRCH, Wi ittea on hearing a Cottager's Wife regret- ing that a Birch-broom had Cost her Three-pence ; when, a few years ago, she could buy Two for Three-halfpence. BIEC3EI. Why father of the forest Pan, Neglect thy ancient care ; Resume, as when thy reign began, Nor let our cliifs be bare. O ! nurse thy Britain's native plant,* Its stems of silver rear ; Nor let her sons, in future, want, The streams f that once were dear. * Among our indigenous forest trees, the Birch is one ; ami peculiar to this Inland. t A wine drawn by making incision? in the trunk ofthu was formerly much in use.— A Gentleman icsident near Nant Franca, in Carnarvonshire, when lie trcatcJ his friends with this native beverage, called it his Franconian ; and, had he bei favor with the Nine, would probably have been as warm praise a* Horace was in that ot his FuUrnian, 124 Her birchen shades, in days of yore, Were seats of sages* — knowledge; Where Britons heard the oral lore, Ere yet was known a college. \ et vanish'd now the vocal groves, The scenes of song and pleasure, Where Gwilimf met- the Muses, Loves, Our Ovid's onlv treasure. * Marclnciail bedw (bircli) briglas. — This line, which is an in- vocation of the Birchen groves, begins a series of triplets, each ending with a moral sentiment; they are called t lie Warrior's 'triplet (Eiighpi milwr) a measure peculiar to Llowarch hen, and as old as the Sixth Century. t David np Cwilirn, was the Ovid of Britain, and died about 1400 ; Bir h must have been in great abundance in his time, as one of his favorite subjects is Cariatl yn y Lluyn bedw (love in the birchen groves) bis Amatory Odes to the beautiful Morvydd, amount to £5.- ; every thing written by this genuine son of Na- ture and the Muse, thiit could be found, were collected and pub- lished, in 1789, by Messrs. Jones and Owen, of London. — The Elegy on this Bard n-nlatns the following uncommon thought :-■» Bellach, naw llawenach Nef. Heaven is now a happier Heaven 125 His Morvydd now, in vain would seek, For birch to braid with flowers ; To form the wreath, • that silent speaks, Where Love exerts his powers. And Scotia too, indignant views, The beams meridian play ; Where erst in shades, her Mountain Muse, Sang " Birksf of Invermav." * I* cat bedw (the birchen wreath or chaplct); it is still the custom in Wales to adorn a mixture of Birch and Criavol, or quicken (opulus arbor) with flowers, tie it with ribbon, and leave it where it is likely to be found, by the person intended, on Majj morning. D. ap Gwilim, addressing a chaplct, given by -Mor- vydd, has the following beautiful line ;— " Vy medw rhwym, vy niyd ai rhocs." My world, my all, by Morvydd given. " Y vun Iwys a 'm cynhwysai, " StewQ bedw, a chyll, ment^ll Mai,"' In groves my Fair and I were gay, Of Hazle, Birch, thy garments May. t The Birks (Birch) of Invermay, a well-known Scotch S Alass ! they droop'd, they died an iy, Adieu the Birks of Iuvcrnrty. 10(5 Plant on ye Gwydirs,* Filesf proceed, A tyrant's plans revoke ; Undo what Edward* once decreed, And crown our cliffs with oak. * The Wynnes of Gwydir, long eminently known (as Tylwylli Sion ap Meredydd) were, for centuries, the Chiefs of an exten- sive district in Southern Snowdonin, an intermixture of rocky and sylvan scenery ; but, the shelter which the woods afforded to the perturbed spirits who were let loose upon the country ; when the accession of Henry the seventh put an end to the Wars of the Roses, rendered it necessary to cut them down. Mary Wynne, Duchess of Anca*:er, the last of this great race, conveyed this property into that family, and Lord Gwydir, who now possesses it in right of his Lady (Willoughby) ; is planting, to a great ex- tent, the eminences that tower above this venerable mansion. J The Earls of Fife, Finlater, and others, have also planted in Scotland, upon a large scale. $ It was one of the politic acts of this prince to cut down the woods in the forest of Snowdon, the trunks of them are still frequently found in the turberies, and hazles with nuts attached, which ascertains the time of fru.tification to have been that of destruction. * In this act EdwaTd only copied the Emperor Severus, who died at York, and who is said to have lost 50,000 Romans by the re- peated excursions made by the Britons, from their woods and ambushes. l'J7 Adorn your Country's upland plains, Revive the patriot Arts; From Essex bring {he groining brains,' Renew our groves of Hearts, \ * Brain-tree, corruptly Braintry, a town in Essex : tliis word, J.ke ail oilier local denominations, must have its etymon, and tliis is to be found in the ire*, probably, originally abounding m its vicinity ; and tliis must have been either the Vine or the Birch, fur I know of no other so forcibly operative on thatsensorium, the brain, but the Fiiu, being an exotic, and the Birch a native ; I ait) compelled to conclude that Brain-tree must, figuratively, mean Birch-tree, illiberal jocularity has indeed proceeded so far as to IWrt, that this tret was an object of uncommon attention in this lieiuhbourliood, and that it was cultivated with a view of counter- acting a supposed deficiency in this peculiarly and emphatically denominated (Essex calves) division of John Bull's family ; and, thai I am right in nty conjectures upon this subject, is, in a great measure, confirmed by the following paragraph, which appeared in a I'rMviniial Taper in July t'P, 1791 : — Physical "Refinement. — A School-master has lately invented a recipe for the cure of stupidity, which, he says, removes that de- cease by a few dressings ; the name of it we have not heard, though it may perhaps be nothing more than the genuine Balsam of Birch. t There ere few to whom the patriotic and metaphorical song of 128 And Science when, in future days, She o'er your ashes bends, Will own, and in a strain of praise, You, forcibly, her friends. And Britain, while her rising boys, In floating* forests hearty, Be grateful, when the band destroys A future Bonaparte. " Hearts of Oak are our Ships, " Hearts of Oak are our Men," is not known. * Among those who have adorned and benefited this part of Britain by planting, the Jate Bennet Williams, Esq. at Bod lewyddan ; the late Sir S. Glynne, at Hawardcn ; ^Yilliam Oak- ley, Esq. at Tan y bwlch ; and Maddox, Esq. at Dol y Mehjidlyn ; are conspicuous, the former Gentlemen having plant- ed at least 20 acres ; but, in this way', none have exceeded the late Sir Edward Lloyd, of Ptugiuern, who, for the last 40 years of his life, planted annually from 20 to 30,000 trees, his exten- sive and thriving woods in the counties of Flint, Denbigh, Me- rioneth, and Carnarvon, and the plantations, of near four miles in extent, upon the shores of the Conway, the Mac'tw, and the FAdda, will be lasting monuments to his fame. Shadeless Slona has now also a liope, a nursery having lately been formed IC9 The Fates will foster, such employ For Physic, Law, the Church ; Unite then — nor our views destroy, If Learning's born of Birch.* in its center, by Mr. Vickers, where tlie yonng forresters will be " tempered" to their climate. And it ought not to be omiited, that the woor's of Band, the seat of Thomas Johnes, Esq. arc (he pride and boast of South Wales. To render productive, tracts which the indolence of ages hai consigned to sterility, is, in the true meaning of the words, to " deserve well of our Country."— It is to render it independent upon others, for an article, in the obtaining of which, its Glory, its Welfare, and even its very Existence is involved. Aware of this, Sir William Dolben, like a true patriot, gave notice in the House of Commons, in July last, of his intention to move for the introduction of planting clauses into future inclo- aing-biils. • The Birch was the Bay of the Bards, and this idea is not ill expressed in a copy of gratulatory verses addressed by Mr. Henry Bulkeley, brother of Robert, the second Vtaeoool Bulkeley, to his tutor, the Rev. Gronwy Davies, on his promotion to the Mas- tership of Beaumaris School, in 1550. * *' But if you (hance the rod to me, " For to quicken our dull Muse, 130 The boy* by parents both design'd, To rival Newton, Pope, May have, if birch can give it, mind, Or far — perhaps, is hope. A little salt,f the sage declares, Insipid youth will season ; ■"Pis Prudence lifts the rod, or spares, " In roasting eggs — there's reason." But Minds there are, too rich to own, The rod's dominion o'er 'em ; While others, hate the hand alone, That holds it in terrorem. " I know your Birch, another day, " 'Will prove unto our heads a Kay." * " Gwyn y gwOl y vran ei chiw, " Boed aruo 'r lliw a vynno " 'Where, yet, was ever found a mother. Who'd give her booby for another. Gay could not have given the spirit of these expressive line 5 better if lie had been a British Scholar. t Atlick. 131 Yet Art in vain, from summits dark, Will Nature's clouds erase ; Nor hardships damp the genial spark, Which Heaven designs to blaze. Hail, happier youths, now roar and run, The rolling hoop outstrip ; Unlearnt the lesson, task undone, We cant afford — to Whip. The Orchard's treasure, Gardener's care, With secret ardour sieze ; Yet stay — to hear Pomona's prayer, O ! do not tear her trees. On Sundays urge your bouncing balls, Even slyly leave the church ; In vain the Beadle hoarsely calls, For dead is Madame Birch. Proceed my lads, nor heed the charge,. Gay Frolick's range increases, 132 The frenum fling, you are all— at large, The reign of Whipping ceases. ' Had learned Busby liv'd to-day, (That friend of flagellation) * He'd pin'd, for want of Birch, away, And died of mecr vexation. And thank jour stars, my truant boys, You did not live at Farn,f For Masters there, had clipp'd your joys, And kept your jackets warm. * Dr. Busby, tlie celebrated Master of Westminster School, in 1640, and remarkable for his predilection for this amusement. t A Village near Chester : there appears in Handle Holme's MS. No. 2173, in the British Museum, a petition signed by 155 inhabitants of this place, addressed to the Magistrates of Chester, in favor of Mr. Howard, their School-master, who solicited a place in their gift, about 16o7, in which the propriety of his con- duct is greatly extolled. " After that, others had so misused their Children, that they were in danger of losing their senses, life, and limbs,"— this was cultivating the mind at the expence of of the body with a vengeance. 133 And now, if bless'd, beyond compare, By Birchen twigs uncross'd ; To rue its want, alass ! there are, Whose souls* will now be lost. Vet since to every good on earth, Some small alloy will creep ; One mischief will, in this, have birth, Our sluts will cease to sweep. * NerPticks in the xiiith Century, who preferred Whipping to M.irtyrdora, and held that Scourging one another, was the chief Virtue in Christianity. SONNET, REV TV. WARRINGTON, Author of the HISTORY OF WALES. SONNET. Yes, gcu'rous Saxon,* in a kinder age, My Country looks, with pleasure, on thy page ; Where manly thoughts, in Candour'* language drest, Denotes the worth, that dwells within thy breast ! Expatriated Fair, in earliest youth, Thy Cambria fore'd to Western rocks to flee ; lias seldom seen, th' impartial pen of Truth, Her years, her tears, retrace, on thy side Dee. Yet saw the drop, that issu'd from thy sou!, Bedew the tome of Time, of Crime the roll; Hears thee, with healing voice, her wrongs regret, And bid her happier hours, the past — forget. Let, Warrington, her native Mountain Bard, Lead, to thy liberal eye — tins m:.\K Ulvvaho ! ♦ A native of England is still known in Wales u»u Saxon, o: - > i TISION TA LI ES UN. Non omnis mortar.' " Talie.-in teulu oesoedil." Taiiesin of the family of agej. W. Myn. The honor'd scene, by song's blest Sire approved, The cliffs that heard him, and the meads he lov'd ; I lis dear Geirionydd,* and the streams that throng, To pour, on Arvon's vales, a flood of song ; * Llyn (Lake) of Gtirionyihi, is situate in the parish of L!an ; Rhychv yn, ia Carnarvonshire, and near the tcmn of XJunrwsW 137 Entranced I stood, the tuneful waters wav'd, They wrote Taliesin, on the sands they lav'd j The name repeated, on the rippling shore, The rocks are records, and the lake is lore ; Enchanting spot — with glowing eye I gaz'd, The spark divine, through all my bosom blaz'd ; O'er ages past, the mental radiance ran, When first, in Elphin's* arms the strain began, it appears from a line of the Bard's, that he had a dwelling near this Jake. " Mvfi yw Taliesin, ar Ian llyn Geiiionydd." I am Taliesin, on the shore of the Jake Geirionydd. * Gwyddno garanhir (the long headed) was, in 540, Lord of Cantre 'r gwaelod, a district on the sea shore, in the counts of Jle- iioneth, and soon afterwards overflowed ; he gave liis son Elphin, for his maintenance, the produce of a wear : in this wear, the in- fant Bard, Taliesin, was found (like Moses) wrapt in a leathern wallet, which Mercdydd ap Rhys describes as the casket which contained a treasure. " Y tlws He caed Taliesin." The beautiful moral Ode, Dyhuddiant Elphin (Elphin's Con- solation) and supposed to have been addressed by the infant Bard, to young Elphin, afterwards his PatroD, may be seeu iu tlie Volumes of Mr. Pennant. 138 When listening Britain, on his accents hung, And aged Llowarch's,* though: herself but young. Ilush'd were on Cambria's tops, th' aspiring gales, The humbler breezes, breathing in the vales ; Even Zephyr's wings, that flutter in the glades, Then lightly floated o'er unbending blades. Ilush'd was the torrent's roar, the tinkling rill, . Even foaming Lligwy'sf thundering sounds were still ;. And Conway's self, that heaves th' incessant sigh, O'er Griffith's J urn, look'd on with dewy eye. * Lligwy, -.his rapid river rising in the interior of Snowdonia, forms, in its passage to the Conwy, the water-fall called Ilhaiadr y weunol, the (Cataract of the Swallow,) t Llowarch hen (or the aged) a Bard and Prince of the Cum- brian Britons, his twenty- four sons fell in the field, defending their Country against the Saxons,— The heroic Elegies and other Poems of this Bard, were published in 1792, with literal transla- tions, by Mr. William Owen. t The late Rev. Hugh Davies Griffith, of Cacr Khun ; his 139 Ilubh'd were the herds, the flocks responsive low, The bleating nations, on the mountain's brow ; i The buzzing millions, that the sun-beams fill, The birds of Heaven, and every voice was still ; Still was the world, while in the pause profound, I trod with holy awe, that hallow'd ground. Amid cerulean gleams, by Angels led, His sainted spirit hover'd o'er my head ; His blest approach, a choir symphonious told, Bright, through my soil, his eye of rapture roll'd ; In spotless silver, song's blest father came, In vests of azure, other sons of Fame ; published thoughts on the crecrioa of bridges over the Mcnai, and the Conway ; his history in MS. of the latter river ; Sugges- tions on the improvement of the harbours on the coast of North Wales ; and an Essay on the Cambrian population ; now only ex- cite regret, that a life so hkcly to be useful to hia Country, was terminated so early. 140 The Muse's train, in other times inspir'd, When Britain's race, to Cambrian rocks retir'd j Their harps suspended, and the strain unsung, While o'er their hoary heads, Oppression* hung; And those that since, beneath a milder power, The pastoral pipe have held in happier hour ; When Concord bade the nations cease to bleed, And led the voice, that long, was Honor's meed j To give its modulations to the groves, To sing the softer virtues, and the loves ; And they, who now, the powers of song partake, Whose words, untaught, in measur'd warblings break ', My tuneful Brothers, of the passing day, Who pour, in Britain's infant voice, the lay ; * A Poet of this period thus pathetically deplores the suffer- ings of his Compatriots. " Y rhai ydoedd mewn rhyddid, " Aethon yn caethion i gyd." Those that Freedom's blessings knevv Now— an iron bondage rue. 141 To these he gave, a Father's fondest smiles, Then nam'd, lamented^-BurnSjthe living Giles ;* And He,f who still, with liberal hand explo; The storied hoard, Poetic page restores ; * Mr. Bloomfield's *• Farmer's Boy." t .Mr. Owen Jones, of London, founder of tlie Gwyneddigion t or North Wales Society ; to this Gentleman, his Country is in- debted for the two copious volumes of the Archaiolvgy of II j ; a hat weed b to be given to that Merit, which, born in a .-ituatuui where industry was nc- , to existence, has liberally given ot its produce tu i the neglected Literature of his Country, from the destruction that d it; to munificence thus cuhunced, the voice oi Praia** 142 Unfolds the Volumes, to his Country's view, And bids her Chiefs and Sages, breathe anew ; To him, the Bard, the kindest words addrest, And clasp'd the generous patron to his breast; Look'd on the cliffs he lov'd, with patriot fire, The roll of ages held — his Country's Lyre ; And, as the Gift, with parent hand was given, Struck on its dulcet chords, the strains of Heaven ! Then said, with Angel voice, " thy boon be this," And soar'd, to re-assume, the Lyre of bli'ss. the lyre, and the lay, are alike unequal, but the reward which tha bosom of worth invariably pants for, is to be found in the iuture. " Some there are of nobler aim, " Who spurn the inglorious lot, ;md feel within, " The generous hope of well deserved praise." Yof Harlech, and buried on the banks of the river Akuv, (water lily) in Anglesey. \ V blow most ungallantly given to this Fair, by Mathohvch 149 Now no Duenna guards the door, Where Beauty, Love, reposes ; No Argus, with unnumbcr'd eyes, The jealous portal closes. No knight in fam'd'La Mancha born, With addled pate and goty, Now takes a windmill's wings by storm, . For one Gazette of Glory ! No caves are haunted, woods cxplor'd, For Damsels* undefended ; And say our teachers what they will, The social world is mended. a native of Ireland ; is described in the 51st Triade, as one of the three luckless blows of Britain, each of tltciu having been the cause of civil commotions. * Chivalry, in the feudal ages, superseded even the Amor Patritf • for Gastan de Foix, a famous French General, rode through the ranks at the battle of ltavenna, calling on his officers, and even privates, and, after recommending to them their Coun- try 's Honor, added " that he should sec what they would per- form for love of their Mistresses." 150 Yet, some there are, whose twisted Pates, For feudal days have fretted ; And they alone, of all mankind, Have happier times regretted. "With Meirion's daughters,* matchless Maids, No Country, yet, contended ; Not all . Circassians countless charms, To beauty's palm pretended. Nor less her Sons in virtue's race, The palm of praise inherit ; The Muse, delighted, pours the strain, The meed to living merit. * Mr. Camden, says Burton, takes special notice of the beauty and comeliness of the inhabitants of this shire; and the late ingenious and learned Mr. Lewis Morris, confirms it in such be- witching words, as set all translation at defiance : " Pwy sy 'n ymyl dwyn vy nglio, " Morwynion bro Meirionydd." And thus, another Bard :— Fair they are, this Cambria knows, Fair as Ephynt's spotless snows. 151 Myvyr,* Meirion,t lasting names, Which nothing hence c;m sever ; Even now their Country weaves the wreath, That lives and blooms lor ever. * The Bardic addition of Mr. Owen Jones, from Glyn My- vyr (valley of contemplation) his birth-place.— 77. is, when his patronage of the literature of his Country is considered, is :m extraordinary coincidence, and similar to that in which the late Duke of Bridvtuatir's title described his avocations. t This is the poetic addition of Mr. William Owen, as a native ol Merionethshire. The Dictionary compiled from the Laws, His- tory .'Toetry, and Manners, of the Ancient Britons, and their de- scendants ; a Biographical Dictionary of Remarkable Persons in the early history of Britain ; and other works in the language of his Country, will be lasting proofs of the learning, persever- ance, and ability, of Mr. Owen.— lie has also given the English world, the Poems of Taliesin and Llowerch Hen. It is to be hoped, that much will yet be done by such superior intelligence — such powers of investigation, in a language, rarely at this day, well understood, and more especially as it is the only resource with respect to the early history, the infancy of Britain, a period of impenetrable obscurity to general scholars; and the possessors of MSS. would deserve well of their country and posterity, to embrace the opportunity of elucidation, now happily offering in the united ability of Messrs. Jones 6c Owen. l$2 The Muses, Meirion, love thy voice, Thy form,* thy flocks, and fountains, And pleas'd will name, in other times, Thy Miltonf of the mountains. * Camden, speaking of this County, says, it is shaped like ar Harp ; this favorite instrument, this trait in native character, is nearly extinct even in this retired county; on the other hand, it is gratifying to read in the public Papers, of the exertion made, 'and the inducements held out, at public rnee'^s in Scotland, for the preservation of their national Music ; yet so intensely glows- the Natule Solum, a love of their flocks and fountains, in humble life, in these rocky regions, " that the torrents roar, " But binds them to their native rocks the more." A native Bard goes still farther :-— • " Del yra o r} T m Duw ai rad, " Ddwyn lie 'r dyn yn y Lleuad ; " Oddiyno cawn lwyddlawn les, " Weled Gwynedd wild gj-nnes." O ! was it mine the happier doom, To change with him, whose home's the Moon„ From thence my glad and glutted eye, Could Gwynedd's fertile fields descry. t Mr. David Richards, a native, author of Cowijdd y DrindoiJ, one of the first production of modern times, in this language, 153 'Twas here Ardudwy's* princely chief, In later times retir'd, To find the calm, which active youth, In life's decline, requir'd. And here, when Justice yet unarm'd, Saw Law, unleagu'd with Power; Beheld the hardy Fairf confine, Her kin in Coilwyn's tower. and full of the divine Aiveu, the lit Ma vis ainmi ; but, like the ud mired Epic of Milton, the produce of a period unworthy of i'. ; and the Author, like him also, may look forward to a day when its merits will, doubtles, be appreciated. 1 his Bard should adopt, as hii addition, the placid sounds of Disynni ; this would alsvays give local knowledge, thai oi Juuawr is unmeaning. • This was CoIIwyn ap Tangno, or (fire eater) founder of one of the Fifteen Tribes; his descendant! are distinguished by a Chev- ron, between three flowers de liz Argent, in ■ field Sable. t Ilawys (jadarn, or (the hardy) heiress of Powis, succeeded her father; but one of her uncles wishing to set her asidi claimed, " give a girl a little gold, and marry her, Ciod Slid Na- ture made land for men to Manage." — Hawja, upon this cun- »itigly appealed to the King, £d»vardlhe II. !^r protection, who« 154 The massy gates were since unclos'd, Its walls, awhile, befriended ; And Safety saw her friendly shield,. O'er Henry's Queen* extended. Intrepid Anjou ! faithful Fair, By ceaseless Faction haunted ; In Conquest's day compos'd and calm, In dire defeat — undaunted. glad of an opportunity to depress the Cambriart Chieftains, gave her in marriage to John Charlton, of Appley, in Shropshire, styled Yalectus domini Regis ; and, says Burton, " a vigorous Knight :''.' afterwards, in her right, created Baron of Powis. — Charlton, as- sisted by the King's forces, took three of her uncles prisoners, brought the fourth to composition, and compelled them to settle their estates on her issue by Charlton; lo give effect to this deed, her uncles were shut up in the fortress of Harlech. * The walls of Harlech, were, for a time, in 1460, the refuge of that Amazon, Margaret of Anjou, the heroic Queen of the pa- cific and unfortunate Henry the 6th, after her defeat at North- ampton. She quitted this place for the North of England, where she rallied her scattered adherents, and once more successfully met her opponent, York, at Wakefield. The magnificent Mar- garet, kept a public table in her progresses with the " Meek 155 Even here to Harlech's crested cliffs, Came civil broils, distention ; The garden's ruddy, silver boastj Mere symbols* of contention. Usurper," and bestowed little silver swans, the badge of the young prince, on the leading men who favored her cause. • The contention of the rival Houses of York and Lancaster, or the desolating war of the Roses, reached even this remote part of the kingdom. Second Part. When Britain saw her maniac sons, Devote her fields to ravage, And Discord led her hosts to deeds, That lessen even a savage. Even Conway* check/ d his sea-ward course, Look'd on with consternation ; And groans, even now, when Memory paints, The fiends of desolation. • Drayton, speaking of the Severn, says— " Shut up in narrower bounds, the Hygra wildly raves," so does the Hygra of the Conway, when the river is repelled by the influx of the sea, at the narrow passage called the Arw, near the Roman Conovium (Caer BJiun) ; but the popular idea is, that the river (personified) still groans over the desolation committed by the Earl of Pembroke, who burnt the Vale of Conway, as Sir John Wynne of Gwydir says, " to cold Ashes." 157 -Sir Richard* came, his Legion led, To bid the Quel' surrender ; Tor well he knew, that Einion's son, Was Harlech's! brave defender. * Sir Richard Herbert, brother to William, tlie first Earl of Pembroke, a man of unusual stature; he is said to have killed 140 men at the battle of Banbury, with his baltle-axe. The Bards of his time are full not only of his prowess, but his merits. t It appears from the Elegy of Robert Wynne, of Maes y Neu- add, Esq. written in 1G91, by Sion Davydd Laes, the Bard of Nanney :— " Osbwm waed syber iawn wedd ;" tliat Davydd ap Icuan ap Einion, the hero of Harlech, was of the tribe called Tylwyth Einion, the possessors of a large district in the county of Merioneth, the founder cf which was Osbwrn, whose progeny is distinguished at this day by a Saltier Gules, charged with a Crescent Or, in a/ield Ermine. — And his fidelity to the house of Lancaster is beautifully alluded to by the Bard of Mathavarn, in the simile of the Cuckoo :— • " Ni bu erioed, ai Ear Onn, Wr gy wirach i 'r goron ; Un gair a geir gan y ( i Ynteu wr, nid dau euriog." Ne'er yet was truer to.his care, Than lie thaf holds the aslu'n spear ; 158 With brazen voice, \yas Einion call'd, To quit the post of Glory ; With brazen voice, the chief replied, That Fame* could tell his story. But hef who led the phalanx was, As Einion, such another ; If War, whose language breathes but woe, Had such a word — a brother. For Einion, like the Cuckoo's throat, Knows only one unvaried note. Einion was, maternally, from Owen Erogyrttyn, the L)id of Edeirnkm ; and those whose shield is Parted per fess, Argent and Sable, a Lion rampant counterchanged, are thus descended. * His reply to Sir Richard's summons to surrender, was " that he had kept a Castle in France, till every body in Wales talked of him ; and that he would keep the Castle of Harlech till every body in France should hear of it." -t A compliment high in sentiment, and beautiful in words, was paid to Herbert by a Bard of his day :— Gwrol tragwrol, trugarog wrol, Ni vu tragwrol na vai drugarog. The manly mind, the truly brave, " Loves mercy, and delights to save." 159 Each breast was Honor's brightest dome, A model each exterior; They prie'ti their lame beyond their life, In this* they'd no superior. The conflict fierce and fiercer grew, Each day improv'd resistance ; Each Day, ere Night her curtain spread) Plac'd conquest at a distance. An,d well they might— the leaders brave, As yet no arm had fear'd ; The sudden sally— firm assault, The generous chiefs endear'd. At length came Famine, fcllest foe, That ever fae'il a hero; She came, to Herbert, as a friend, On Einion, frown'd a Xero. • Tlic Herberts, according to their motto Uttg je Hrdray, ac- knowledge but one iupcrior (the King; ; but, in this instance, he happened to be very much the inferior yf Sir llithurd. 160 This Fiend* within, the foe without, The arm, unwearied, wielded ; Even Fortitude gave up the place — Unvanquish'd, Einion yeilded. Yet Einion,-|- though the fortress fell, Was still of soul undaunted, And held it, till his generous foe, Life, Fame, and Fortune, granted. * The siege of Harlech, and the hardships suffered by its brave garrison, was so much the subject of conversation in the country, that it gave rise to a malediction, still living in the voice of the neighbourhood.—" Yn Ha' lech y bo chw'h" t It appears that Davydd ap Jeuan ap Einion, to whom I have, through this Poem, applied the latter and mare Poetical name of Einion, had four brothers in Harlech during the siege, these Jive and Reynallt ap Gryffydd ap Bleddyn, were called the six defenders of Harlech. — This llcynallt, afterwards, dwelt at the Tower, near Mold, but was always at vaiian.ee with the Citizens of Chester; a great number of tho-e being at Mold fair, in 14G5, a scuffle ensued, and much slaughter, in which Reynallt succeed- ed, and taking Robert Byrne, Mayor of Chester in 1461, among the prisoners, hung him on the staple, still remaining, in the hall of his house, at Tower : 200 tall men afterwards sallied from Chester to besiege Reynallt's house, upon which, retiring ta * 161 But Edward's baser— moaner soul, Tore Honor's ties asunder ; To sully Richard's* spotless shield, His brave opponent — murder. wood, he permitted them, in part, to enter it, when, rushing from his covert, he degraded himself, and sallied his former triumphs, by burning them in it, and pursued the remainder into the Dee, in which they perished. Llewis Glyn Cothi, a- cotemporary of Reynallt's, celebrates his exploits, and uncharitably descriles Chester, " as thu habitation of the seven deadly sins." * William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, whose outrages still live in Wales, on the tongue of tradition, and his brother, Sir Richard, whose merits on the contrary are frequently the theme of song, were sons of William ap Thomas, of Ragland Castle ; and, after the subjugation of Harlech, went into Anglesey, where they apprehended seven brothe'rs, who bad committed many rob- beries, and ordered them to be hanged, but their mother, with u set of woollen beads on her arm, begged, upon her knees, of the Earl, the life of two of them in vain ; she thereupon cursed him, praying, " that God's mischief might befall him in the first battle he should be in."— The Earl, when arranging bis battalia before that of Edgcot, seeing his brother Sir Richard leaning thought- fully on his battle-axe, asked what his great body (being very tali) was thinking of, " of the Woman with the woollen beads, in Anglesey „" and, that ll.cy fell in br.ttlc the superstition* will 162 The faithful Herbert, heard, appal'd, A soldier's honor slighted ; Foresaw, by this disgraceful act, His well-earn'd Laurels blighted. With manly mind, and virtuous voice, The base resolve resisted ; And back in Harlech's stately towers,* To place Ids foe persisted. not be surprised to hear : and, it ought not to be omitted-, that Thomas, one of the sons of the family of Cochwillan, was be- headed at Conway by this Earl, on pretence of his having followed the Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry the ~th into France. * The Poets, to whom no historical event was unknown, dcr scribe Harlech as the Calais of their Country : •' Calais Cymry rhag Huoedd, " Caer gall a wnai Collwyu oe-dd." Cambria's strength, the fortress fair, Her Calais proves, her Collwyn's carr. Ilowel, the Bard of the Herberts of Dolgiog and Rag land, says, that there were seven thousand men slain during the siege, but it is incredible. — " Saethu 'm mol porth, saWi mil pen. We are, however, indebted to this siege, for the spirited strain, called the " March of the Men of Harlech." 1G3 He sav'd his Glory, Einion sav'd, Though this his race retarded ;* Vet Fame- — his own approving breast, The heroic act rewarded. How little is the Chief, though crown'd, Unread — in Honor's beauty, Compar'd to him, of upiright heart, The Man xvho decs his duty. Had wealth, or favor, warp'd his soul, These transient things had perish 'd ; Even now his chaplet blooms anew, By dews celestial cherish'd, Fair Virtue, from her blest abode, Beheld this trying hour ; And saw him, with intrepid front, ^t degraded power. * After Sir Richard Herbert's manly rcsiitancc to tbc King's will) as to the honorable performance ol" the articles of capitu- lation, be was never afterwards beheld with the c\c of favor. 1(54 Beheld him, even life itself, On her blest altars placing ; And saw her own, eternal tints, The wreath of warfare gracing. Offspring of Meirion's pastoral hills, Ye breasts, whom Worth inspires ; Look back to Einion's patriot band, And plcas'd — behold your Sires. SONNET, Written on seeing some beautiful Lines, on BAMBO ROUGH CASTLE, IN RICHARDS'S POEMS. SONNET, Richards, I love the hallow'd line, That blazons worth— the deed divine; And when thy Durham owns the lays, The world approves the voice of praise. Yet, though he views, with eye benign, The tidal tumult— war of waves ; 'Tis Crewe,* that on the cliff sublime, On Bamborough'sf summit saves. * Of the family of Crewc-liall, in the county of Chester. t Once the residence of the ancient King's of Northumber- land ; and, after passing through a variety of hands, John For- ster obtained a grant of the Castle and Manor, from James the First, but it was forfeited by his descendant Thomas, in the rebel- lion of 1715, when his maternal uncle, Nathaniel Crewe, Bishop of Durham, son of Lord Crewe, "purchased and bequeathed them to charitable uses ; in 1757', the trustees appointed by his Lord- ship, began to repair the Castle, and fulfil the donor's henevolent views ; among these, Dr. Sharp, Archdeacon of Durham, took the lead, entering into Dr. Crewe's design with the tiue spirit of cha- rity ; the attic part of the building is a great granary, from which corn is sold to the poor, in dear times, at -Is. per bushel, but its principal object is, the safety of mariners on its dangerous coast ^ for this purpose, regulated signals are appointed, and two men on horseback, in stormy weather, patrolc the coast all day, and 167 Spirit of Heaven ! I see thee slowly treat!, The boisterous beach, by Mercy, Pity, led ; And pausing, listen, to the piercing shriek, Float on the foaming surge— the sufferers seek ! And save, they live, I hear the Anthem rise, The sweetest incense to accepting skies. give immediate notice at the Castle, and rewards paid for the earliest intelligence of distress : by these means the lives of many Crews have been and will be saved to the end of time, who ■would have been lost, but for the beneficent efforts of out immortal Crewe. — Nor does the divine plan stop here, the distressed objects find a comfortable asylum in the Castle, till they are ena- bled to depart, and to complete ilie work of mercy, the dead bodies found on the shore arc decently interred. There are alsf», warehouses for saving ship-wrecked goods for their owners ; and every article ready which may be necessary for raising and preserving damaged Vessels. TO FREEDOM. The tome that wasting time defies, And Fancy's retrospective eyes, Pourtray the Phalanx firm and free; "When listening on the rock's rough side, As Britain's Bard prophetic spoke, From Inspiration's hallow'd Oak ; And loud on the aerial tide, 169 ■ - ' — - — ~~ *"— ^~ ~~ ~ The voice was heard — a dulcet strain, €reat gift of Heaven, the dear decree, That bade them and their isle be Free, (And hoard it not in vain) To spurn proud Rome's tyrannic chain, Each mad attempt, resist, repel, llowe'er the suffering nations fell, And then, as now, in independence great, Surrounding seas amid — in sovereign state. Twas then that o'er the trackless heath, Unharrass'd yet, in fields of Death, Unfetter'd Freedom ran ; I'.rc yet the moated rampart knew, Oppression's, callous, steel-clad, crew, Her foes, and those of man. She now, by dread Contention drest, Reluctant bore the hostile crest, 170 The pointed spear, the shield ; Now taught the generous breast to glow, Assert its right, direct the blow, And dare the tented field. # ft Awhile to desolation doom'd, As either Rose alternate bloom'd, In Discord's hated hue ; Freedom, and Britain, pining saw, Progressive Slaughter's iron-paw, The fatal field bestrew. Blest Peace again her reign renews, And Commerce op'd her boundless views ; Hence the blissful union broke, The feudal Despot's galling yoke ; Fair Freedom's dome Britannia's offspring grace, And hail a Chieftain from her genuine race. 171 Hence the glorious theme was sung, Hence ber hills and rallies rung, 'J'he sound her torrents still retain, And tell it to the listening main, Triumphant Thames, proclaims it far, Responsive roars the Delawar; Old Ocean chaunts las favorite iu Where'er his fluted* Chariot floats, Repeats it, with parental glee, That now, as erst — his isle is free ; Towers, from his guardian \va\es, erect, elate, The Trident Sceptre owns in Sovereign state, In Freedom's blessings rich, in Glory — great * An E» slop. SONNET, Written at Port haethuy fair, the Common Feny between the Counties of Anglesey and Carnarvon. These are the features of the ferrying Fair,* And those that doat on Discord may go there. * That it is perfectly feasible to " Entice the infant to the parent isle" Beaumaris Bay. r>y a series of arches, that will not impede the navigation, ap- pears to he the opinion of every engineer who has considered the subject ; and, that that which will so materially improve the insular produce, circumscribe suffering, accomodate the County, and facilitate national intercourse ; and, which will be done, is not already done, must be matter of regret to every rational mifcd. The idea of n bridge across the Mcnai, is nearly as old as our annals j and had the Romans made a considerable stay in this part of the kingdom, the shore* would, probably, have been con- nected by them ; they landed at a place still calied Paul yr YigTaffric (inlet of the ferry-boats) : Edward the Fir^t afterwards;. Crowed ii bjf a bridge ti bottife ai Moely don, but with .•;: ws The tides, contending with the toiling boats, The horny forest, * that on Menai float*., The brutes inferior,! but in human form, The echoes, wearied with the wordy storm, The thing beach, where bellowing droves depart, And the last low, that rends the buffering heart. that several of his leaders furnished inmates for the tombs in the Friery of Llanvaes : it appears, that a lew ^ears past, the Fre- tum was fordable near Porthaml :— " Av i dir iJ6n, er dwr AJ[enai, " Tros y traeth ; oad aros trai." I'll pass into Anglesey at low water, Notwithstanding the ileuai. So said Robin Leiav. — The moral and prophetic Bard of Matha- varn, in 1473, says also :— " Coed crai, portt at Venai vydd." And Davydd Gorllecl),.*in 1550, in very sweet lines, describes. the manner and time when the undertaking should be begun. * TJus host of horns, when tfye bodies are concealed by the water, have a very extraordinary appearance-— it is an odd and unnoticed feature in Natural History. t There are, unfortunately,' minds to whom torture is a gratifi- cation, and whether it is obtained by hunting bullocks through the streets of London, driving them into the Mcuui, or baiting at a bull-ring, is immaterial. m Laugh, if ye will, ye breasts that cannot feel, At those, whose different bosoms, are not steel ; At those, who, when a groan* on Zephyr rolls, Still find it echoed in their inmost souls ! Ily to the mountain tops, ye tuneful Nine, These are not scenes for you — such minds as mine. * The drove, after leaving the water, ascend the cliff, then, a» if actuated by one impulse, look back seemingly conscious of its being the last ; a look perfectly intelligible to sensibility— -but »ore obtuse minds, are, perhaps, happily impervious. (QBE of TRIUMP IT, BY LLYGAD GWR, Bard to Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, THE LAST PRINCE OF WALES; WRITTEN In the prosperous days of his Patron. REV. RICHARD DAVIS, A. M. Hector of Llan Tri Saint, ANGLESEY ; Who, to the general acquisitions of the Scholar, has added the erudition of An- tient Britain ; and posterity will recog- nise, among the valued names of those who have contributed to its preservation, that of Mr. Davis. THE OBE. God,* to whom my voice I raise, Grant my tongue the power to praise, To praise as princely deeds require, For such demand the Poet's lyre ; Arvon's strength, and Mona's tower, Even proud Deganwy,f owns his power, * It wa? common with the Bards of past times, to begin th< ir performances with invoc.Uing the Deify ; it was so, also, in the days < each like a horrid rainc." (7) The invasion of the Xormans— the decisive battle of Hase- ings— and the immediate and disgraceful submission of the Saxon or English people, was looked upon by the Britons, as a ■war between two strange nations— -a quarrel with which they had nothing to do. (3) An ancient historian says, that the hearts and hills of the Ordevicean and Silurian Britons, kept them free for a long time, hoth from the Roman and Saxon yoke, opposing themselves to the former, till the reign of Doiuitian — and to the latter, till that of Edward the First. (9) The restoration of the British Dynasty, in the house of Q 1.94 Tudor.— -This revolution, was doubtless alluded to by Taliesin, in the sixth century. " I Vrython Dymbi, " Gwarcd, gwnedd ovri." There will be to the Britons, A deliverance of exalted power. As this event was the first that had any tendency to heal the lace- ration of ages — to conciliate inveterate foes — and to foften and humanize the nations, it was no wonder, therefore, that Sion Tudor, in the Ode addressed to Queen Elizabeth, thus exultingly exclaims — " I ITarri Ian, hir lavvenydd, " Yr luvn a 'n rhoes ninnau 'n rhydd, " I Gymru, da vy hyd vedd ; " Goroni 'r gwr o Wynedd." Our Henry, happy may lie be, The chief, that set his country free; Blest be the day, of blissful d.ite, That saw him jtlac'd on Empire's seat. And if the battle of Bos worth, which effected this happy change, was the last and the least of the thirteen, which had desolated the Kingdom, and destroyed at least One Hundred Thousand of its Inhabitants, during the contention of the Houses of York and Lancaster, it was the first, and the greatest in its consequences; 1&5 by the marriage of this Prince with the Heiress of York, it unit- ed the rival houses: by that of liis daughter, with James the 4th> of Scotland, it united the rival nations — it associated the Rose of the South, with the Northern Thistle, in this instance (the Car- tir.tu [km- diet us) and formed a great National Bouquet, that pro- a perennial verdure; and, finally it eventually placed, un- der one head, ihe British Isles, and in that head, aboriginal rig!;!-> — the claims of onncxion — and the pretensions of conquest, are happily concentred. (10) Cambria shall rejoice, and Cornwall (Britons also) shall he glad, the Isle shall resume its ancient Xante, and that of Stran- gers shall perish : so said Merlin, and Time has verified it. (11) Our historians agree, that King Arthur bore upon his helm, a Red Biagon, it was also, the cognizance of his father Uther, thence called Ven-drug'ti ; Henry the 7ih knew this, and sensi- bly appealing to that uuio.i of local attachment — innate honor— and, perhaps prejudice, which constitutes what is called Nation- ality, displayed a red dragon upon a standard of green and while silk, at Bosworth ; this when Sir William Brandon, his standard- bearer, fell, in a per.-o lal rencontre with King Richard, Henry judiciously gave to UIiijs ap Mcrtdydd, of Hirtlcthog, a nun of great personal Strength and pro«e>.-, wbott tomb is still to he tttij Evan, in Denbighshire ; and those of mv couu- :i who correctly bear Quiet, a lion rampart Urgent, will 196 find tliis hero of THratthog, among their forefathers ; of these, the Wynnes of Voelas, and the Prices of fthiwlas, are leaders. The Red Dragon was borne as one of the supporters to the .Royal Arms, from the accession of the Tudors, to that of the .Stuarts, when it gave place to the Unicorn, as now depicted ; it also gave rise to a department in the College of Anns, called Rouse Dragon. Upon a late rc-arrangement of the National quarterings, Taste, science, and Conciliation, would have pointed out the adoption of this ancient Symbol — would have allotted one compartment in the Kegal Escutcheon, to that Charge which originally occu- pied the whole, and the omission is the more apparent in its induc- ing a repetition (of what is erroneously called, the Arms of Eng- land, the Lions, or Leopards, as an English Bard calls them, '• Our Leopards, they so long and bravely did advance, " Above the Flower-delice, even in the heart of France." m the first quarter, being those of Normandy, Guienne, and Aquitaine) and in the appearance of a paucity which does not fxist in an Empire composed of four Nations. (12) The Snxons in 617, under Ethelred, King of Northum- berland, made war upon the Britons, and invited to their assist- m an e from Ireland, where lie had committed great ravages Gar- inoml, a Pagan and Norwegian pirate, being instigated thereto by Augustine the Monk, wlio persecuted the Christians of Brit ..in, ise they would not conform to the Romish regulations; to Bvdchwelt, Prince of Powis, and Earl of Chester (who re- sided at Pttigwent /Wis, or Shrewsbury, upon tl»e site of the old Church of St. Chad) opposed himself : Brock-welt v/aa twice de- feated near Chester, and more than a thousand of the Religious of the oldest Monastery in Britain (the neighbouring one of Bail' gor is y Coed, upon the Dee, who had come to pray lor his suc- cess, barbarously murdered.) After th.s, to prevent their entering Wall's, BrocltweU. retired over the Dee, and defended the pas- sage, till he was joined by Cad van, Prince of N. Wales, Mere- dydd, Prince of S. Wal.-s, and Blaiddrvs, of Cornwall, and gfr- ing the ferocious enemy battle, routed them with great slaughter. Those Pou-hiam, whose paternal Shield is Sable, three A"»;''s hcadi, erased argent, will find the intrepid and patriotic Brorh. ictll, among their ancestors — of these, the Loid lilaney (Blacnau) of Ireland, is one. (13) Egbert, the powerful King of the West Saxons, who re- duced to his obedience all the Princes ot the Saxon Heptarchy, invaded Wales " even unto Snow don," and crossing into .Angle- sey, committed great devastation, but Mirvi/n Vrych, (or the freckled) who had married V.si/Ut, Heiress of N. ated 198 him, in the " sore battle" of Llanvaes, upon which he evacuated the country. (14) In 8?~, the Danes and Saxons united to make war upon W.iles, but were met at Camryd, near Conway, by Anarawd, Prince of N. Wales, and routed. This battle is sometimes called by historians, that of Camryd, and sometimes Dud Rodri (or Rodri's revenge) — Anarawd's father, llodri, having a short time before, fallen in battle in Anglesey, called Gwaith dydd-sul yn Mon, the work of Sunday. (15) and (16) In the forests of Euloe, in Flintshire, and on the mountain of Berwyn, in Merionethshire, the fortunes of Heniy ■the 2d, the Power of England, aided by a diversicn from Ire- land, upon the coasts of Wales, and a full exertion of the old maxim, Divide et impera, gave wav to a combination of elemental warfare, an inaccessible country, and the prowess of Owen Gwynedd. Gray, with his usual spirit and ability, has verified the translu* tion of a British Ode, called Arwyrain, or triumphs of Owen. (17) Note omitted to Shields, in last line, page 191. In the ages of contention and discord, before the incorpo- ration by which we became one great and happy people, the now- neglected language of Shields, of Chivalry, and Arms, was that which symbolically recorded the actions of those to whom their 199 country was indebted tor safety in the liour of danger : whose names it is grateful to recollect, and whose exploits ii is glorious to emulate. Of these, those of Gwtryd ap Rhys Goch, Edityved Vychau, Canced of Twrcelyn, Mcurig, from Hidd Mod icy nog, Howel y Ywyall, Davydd Gam (see History, battle of Agincourt) and that of the family of Bod Idris in Idl, are particular! y instructing and interesting. (18) Note omiited to meed, first line, page 192, To incite to Patriotism and to Glory, by reciting the virtues i.nd the exploits of their ancestors— " To sing the shades of Chiefs in battle slain, " And burn to join them on th' etherial plain ; " F'>r Warrior's souls, they sung, would deathless bloom, " When their cold limbs lay mould'ring in the tomb." To raise, in the hour of danger, the " Exclamatur ad arma," and to announce the moment of battle, by singing the Uubtnnaeth Brydaiu, was the sacred— the inspiring duty of the Bards— and theirs also, the immortal Meed — the wreath of everlasting ver- dure— -the trump of Fame ; without thi*, the heroes of Marathon, Satamis, and Plattca, might indeed hare saved their country, but their exemplary efforts would have been unknown, and their God-like actions unconstcratcd by the voice of ages. GOO" (jy) Xote omitted to gvave, the last word of the Poem. Such was the determination of Grydneu, Henven, and Aedenai recorded in the 27th Triade. " Nad eynt o gad, namyn ar euhclorau." To leave the battle, only on their biers. Upon t'.ie subject of these ancient and curious documents, the Ti hides, which record so many otherwise-unknown events in the infancy of Britain, much light has lately been thrown by the Rev. Peter Roberts, in his intelligent " Sketch of the early His- tory of the Cymry." The Levy En masse, so much talked of lately, is not new ; for I find a Commission issued the second of Edward the fell), directed to Sir Rhys ap GrvfTydd, of Penrhyn, and the Bishop of Banszor, ti train all the Men in Carnarvonshire, above the age of sixteen. FAIR DAUGHTERS OF MEIRION, Attempt to translate, from the beautiful British Of the late worthy and ingenious LEWIS MORRIS, ESQ. Strains inspired by their Charms, and those of their COUNTRY, Is, with pleasure, inscribed. MORWYXIOX GLAX MEIRIOXYDD; <:.-.. t.:e FAIR MAIDS OF MEIRIOX. " Er a welai* dan •* O rwjnder glcwdex gwledydd.'* Whatc'er beneath the arch of heaven Of festive glee is found, Whate'er of good— of blessings given In other climes abound j United here, I fondly teil That Mirth with Mcirion loves to dwell. £03 And though thy rough aspiring ro» Stern Winter wraps in snow, And drives awhile thy fleecy flocks To seek the vales helow ; Yet here, the Cuckoo's earliest voice, Delights to bid thy swains rejoice. Not sweeter blooms the fragrant bean, That leads the Bee to sip, Nor yet more dear the milky stream, That meets the infant lip; Than thou, thy fertile vales and fie The matchless charms that Meirion yields. Unsullied foam thy silver streams, As down thy rocks they rush ; And loudly ring the glowing themes, That cheer thy every bush ; \ 1 1 sweeter sing — the spotl The girls that here engross my care. 204 Ye Youths in Pleasure's paths that range, By no restraint confin'd, That seek amid the charms of change, The Maid that meets your mind ; 'Tis vain ! Ye roving swains return, Or still with Passion's ardour burn. Here, too, the Harp* — sweet hoard of sound, My Country's choice and care, Still bids the voice of song abound — Gives sordid thoughts to air: And thus renew'd, 'tis heaven to hear The strains to Cambria's Offspring dear. * The interior of this county (Merioneth) is now, probably, the only district where the unmixed manners, the remaining traits and features which distinguished the British character, are to be found ; of these, the Oral hoard of stanzas (PennilUbn) sung al- ternately and in succession to the harp, at their rural meetings, and in times past, in the mansions of affluence and hospitality, is a very ancient and leading one.— I give the following, the subject of which is this very County, as a specimen ;— 205 And when, with all that wealth can boast, In other realms I roam, Though Nature's kind, on every coast, My heart is still at home ; To thee I come, from every clime, Pear Meirion 1 all my soul* is thine. Yn y Mor y byddo 'r Mynydd, Sydd yn cuddio Sir Veirionydd, Xe chawn unwaith olwg ami ; Cyn i 'an Calon diriou dori. Low ye lulls in Ocean lie, That hide fair Meirion from my e}-e ; One distant view, Oh ! let me take. Ere yet my longing heart shall break. • " Mae 'r Enaid yn Meirionydd. And when Musick and Meirionydd are the associated subjects, I speak the sentiments of all those who lot* the sweet plaintive tones— the native notes of Britain ; by adding, that in this parti- cular, we are much indebted to Mr. Edward Jones. Tl unsay Written on a View of Snow don* FROM THE NEW INN At CAP EL CURIG. £3* The Chapel of.Curig— one of the ancient Culdees, in the Arvonian ridge of Mountains. Fathcr of hills ! I greet thy friendly face, The last best shelter of thy Country's race ; * That the pass of JVn/it Ffrauco was known and made use of at a very early period, by the Sons of War and Rapine, is plain from our annals, and the watch towers which guarded its entrance ; and that it has been so long unthought of as the happier path of peaceful intercourse, is now matter of surprise to superficial obser- 207 The smile, that led them to thy sinewy arms, Where XaLure revels in unvarnish'd charms; . vers who do not consider the tardy approaches to improvement in past times — and who do not know that Chester was one of the most considerable stations of the Romans in this Island, that the intercourse between that place and the dpital, of course, created a road which was continued to the inferior stations of \ (BOdvarri) Conovium, (Caer Khun) and Segoutiu.n, (Carnarvon) long before any communication took place between the Kingdoms ; thi» road, therefore, having been originally made in that direction, is the reason why our ancestors, tu subsequent ages, have continued to travel the beaten track — have waited the recession of tides, under the projecting, and nearly impassable Cliffof l'cnmatn-mawr ; and at length, in 177 1, by a national effort, " To lead the terrace o'er the stubborn bill*" a sort of Antelope's path over the forbidding preci rough, staring, and steep, That braves like a bully, the North and the deep, while the pass of Kunt Ffranco, this Dries Bryirfain (Vestibule of Britain) this Via I'atvhyn, which Nature so pointedly, though silently, hinted i:.id bf.f.n i.ifi ion raft VVV.Vdrl, • r.dly overlooked, and an angle made to Chester, which, palpably unnecessary deviation, has always given the coumn.t.i- 208 Stretch'd, for their safety, all thy realms of rock, Repell'd invading hosts' repeated shock, Heard her inspired Sons, in torture tell Where suff'ring Freedom with their fathers fell. Now hear, from heights sublime, the happier lay, Enjoy the Social Triumph of To-day ! cation with Ireland the appearance of a secondary object, while Chester, as it really wai at first, still seemed to be the primary ; in our days, however, this pass became the property of a Noble- man, who, to benefit his country, happily possesses both the Mind and the Means; and a line of road is now by his unremitting endeavours opened, the first and leading objects of which are the two Capitals ; the second, the acceleration of intercourse, by shor- tening, very materially, the distance — avoiding several impeding eminences, and a ferry ; and the third, is leading the world of Science, Affluence, and Curios'ty, into a region perfectly new to them — a terra incognita — an immense serrated ridge, stretching from the bay of Cardigan to the estuary of the Conway, the teeth of which, have happily for centuries ceased to be hostile and terrible, while the Inns which have risen in the inden- • itions which form it, have within, accommodations little in- ferior to those on the long-frequented roads of England, and 209 Behold, again, thy harrass'd Country blest, Internal Peace lean laughing on her breast ; SccPexrhyn plant thy cliffs — adorn thy meads, And chearful Plenty follow where he leads, While grateful Industry, with ceaseless hands, Is weaving for his brows unfading bands. the scenery, without, is a perfect contrast ; there, Nature is the mild, fertile, educated, and adorned Dame of polished life ; here, she is the sinewy, sterile, majestic, but not less lovely fair, in hoxnely, though flowing, robes and primitive tresses. To desolate Nations, to violate social institutes, and to in- crease the mass of human misery for selfish purposes, or for what is falsely called glury and greatness, is the ambition of the Bad; — to accommodate, to cultivate, and adorn, to bid Industry lead Penury to Plenty, and to enlarge the limits of happiness, is the ambition of the Good; and ihe ample and lasting pages that now do, and will continue to teach my Countrymen these Patriot Arts, extend from Capel Curig — from the ceutre of Snowdonia to the Shores of the Menai ; and it is with pleasure as a Briton, and with pride, as a Cambrian, I add, that their bem-ikent author is Lord Penrhyn. 210 And, now ! may Heaven accept the Patriot voice, That bids thee and thy kindred rocks rejoice ; Bids thy loud torrents tell — repeat the strain, And waft the welcome tidings to the Main ; That tranquil here, thy tuneful son can meet United Nations crowding to thy feet ! w»- ERRATA. / P. 12 1. 2 in some sheets, for grave, read grove. y 36 2 for kindltss, read kindness. — 6 for Ladies' tongues, read Lady's tongue's. SO 3 for Fatter, read tnu;r. 61 3 for Avon, read .4iun. 71 Note, read Ria rn, or cry acquired. y 82 4 for nor, read her. — 5 for praw, read prom. / 99 |2 for Lie — thee— to, read Lie- t'/ec-fc— Sea phrase. / 118 1 for fydrf, read Vyd. / 141 2 Transpose the Comma from lamented, to Burns. Just published, by the same Author, GAYTON WAKE; or, Marv Dod, and her List of Merits : a Poem, with Notes.— Dedicated to the Poor. Price 2s. 6d. ALSO, BEAUMARIS BAY i a Poem, with Notes. Price 2s. 6d. V t) 1 SflB XtBRART HSBVBRSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES -^ ■**-■ V University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. MW-RHflMBLE JUN 3 DUE 2 WKS FROM 1995 m BECEIVEfl — i r~/"\. . OCK , w ? 15^1 |5©l !^! [R% ^OHAURMfe AvlOS-ANCElfn, 'Or <£5 J ^IDS-ANCEL^u £ 3 6 UnwwKy pi CiHofTO. 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