University of Virginia Library

A Title of Phoebus, or Apollo, the fabled God of Poetry, given to Him by Homer, and other Poets. —He was worship'd under that Name, at Tenedos, and Chrysa, near Troy; in a Temple, wherein his Statue was placed, having a Mouse at his Feet: The Reason whereof was this, according to Callinous an antient elegiac Poet; A Colony from Crete, going to Troas, receiv'd an Oracle from Apollo, ordering them to settle in the Place, where the Children of the Earth should attack them; and one Night, an infinite Number of Rats and Mice gnaw'd to Pieces all their Bucklers and other Leathern Utensils; and this they took for an Accomplishment of the Oracle.—

It may be supposed that Apollo destroyed these Rats and Mice, for Smyntheus, according to Eustathius, seems to be derived from σμινθος a Mouse, q. d. μυοκλονθ i. e. the Mouse-killer; which shews the propriety of the Epithet in this Place.

Wales, so called from Camber King of that Country; the Son of Brutus who built London, and called it Troja-nova or new Troy, in Remembrance of old Troy; from whence his Grand-father Æneas came: He died 1139 Years before Christ.—

A Mountain, dedicated to Apollo and the Muses; supposed to be the Residence of the former, lying in Epirus in Greece; now called Lower Albany, a Sea Province under the Turks.

It may be thought that this Julius, whose Conquests are said to be so Extensive, was Julius Caesar: But though he made two Expeditions into Britain, about 53 Years before Christ, yet the Glory, rather than the Dominion of Rome was encreased thereby; for notwithstanding his own Account of them, several Writers speak very doubtfully of his British Victories, and that in plain Terms, He was driven from the Island; as Lucan, in this noted Verse;

Horace, in a Compliment to Augustus says, The Britains were at that time untouch'd;

And Tacitus, a grave Historian, says, That Julius Caesar did not conquer Britain, but only shewed it to the Romans. So that our Julius, must be Agricola; who in the Time of Domitian, about 80 Years after Christ, subdued almost the whole British Nation; and among others, many of the Cambrians inhabiting Herefordshire; the rest fled into the Mountains and preserved themselves. The Words— Orbe Subacto,—must be read with Allowance for the Poetic License of putting the Whole for a Part.

As the Cambrians are said to be the true Britains unmix'd with other People, their Families, and Language, are doubtless very antient.—They remain'd unconquered by the Romans;—Tacitus, and Pliny, say they were a hardy, stout, warlike People; averse to Servitude, of great Boldness, and Resolution; called by the Romans Obstinacy, and Stubbornness, not to be won by Threats or Kindness.— After the Romans had abandon'd Britain, and withdrawn their Forces; the other Britons, were miserably harrassed by the Saxons, but the Cambrians were secure, and free among their prodigious Rocks;—and confiding as well in their Strength and Courage, as in the Roughness and Scituation of their Country, which may seem, in a manner, as if Nature had design'd it for Ambuscades, and prolonging of War; they resisted all their Enemies, and preserved their Liberty; 'till the reign of Edw. I, when, (as he writes it of himself) the Kingdom of Wales was subjected to him: But in the next Age, nothing could induce them to endure this Servitude, nor could they be reconciled to the English Government, 'till Hen. VII, descended from the Welsh, was favourable and easy to them; and Hen. VIII, admitted them to the same Laws, and Liberties with the English; since that, and some Time before, the Kings of England, have found them of untainted Loyalty, and Obedience.—

St. David's lies in the more Westerly Parts of Pembrokeshire, on a Promontory, extended far into the Irish Sea. W. Rufus, seeing Ireland from hence, said He could easily make a Bridge of Ships, whereby he might pass from Kingdom to Kingdom. Dewi, a most religious Bishop, translated the Archiepiscopal Seat from Kaer-Leion hither; which from him was afterwards call'd Ty Dewi, i. e. David's House, And by the Moderns, St. Davids. It had its Archbishops for a long Time, but the Plague raging very much here, the Pall was translated to Dôll in Little-Britain, which was the End of this Archiepiscopal Dignity: The Britains in Latter Times, to regain it, commenced an Action against the A. B. of Canterbury, Metropolitan of England and Wales, but were cast.— What kind of City it was formerly, is hard to guess, seeing it has been frequently spoil'd by the Danes, Norwegians and other Pyrates; at present it is a very mean Place. Camd. Mr. Ed. Lhywd. Heyl.

Cadwallader is said to have been the last King of the Britains, who having been thrown out by Faction, returned from Banishment, and invaded Kentwin the West Saxon; who had chased the Welch Britains, as is chronicled, tho' without Circumstance, to the very Sea Shore, about the Year 683; he proved victorious, then conquering the Isle of Wight, he gave the fourth Part of it to pious Uses; and being warned (as he thought) by an Angel, to go to Rome, he went thither; was baptized by—Pope Sergius, and called Peter; he put on a religious Habit, died 5 Weeks after his Baptism, in the Thirtieth Year of his Age, and was buried in St. Peter's Church: His Successors were no longer called Kings of Britain, but Kings, or Princes of Wales.—This Account of Cadwallader is collected from Heylin's Cosm. and Baker's Chron. But Milton says, that He, whom the Britains will have to be Cadwallader, their last King, was Kedwalla a Saxon of the Royal Line, and Samme's in his Britannia, says, That the Britons, mistaken by Similitude of Name, ascribe the Actions of the one to the other.—But the British King Kedwalla, or Kadwallon, was, perhaps, the famous Cadwallader, who with a great Army of Britains, joyning Penda, the Mercian; destroyed Edwin, the greatest King of all the Saxons, and a Christian, in Battle; and broke the Monarchy of the Northumbrians, which was chief in Britain. Cadwallon was a Christian, and Penda a Pagan; but the Christian King, is said (by Milton) to be more bloody than the Heathen; for he threaten'd to root out the whole Nation, tho' then newly Christian, and omitting nothing of barbarous Cruelty in the Slaughter of Sex or Age, ravaged the Province at his Pleasure, 'till at last, he was cut off by Oswald (Brother to Eanfrid, who being of the Royal Line, had been banished to Scotland by Edwin; and learn'd the Christian Religion there,) with a small Christian Army; and He, and his boasted invincible Forces, were destroyed at a Place call'd Heavenfield or Hatfield in Yorkshire, near the antient Roman Wall.

Pallas, was the Heathen Goddess of Arts and Sciences,—The Original, exactly translated, would be—At length he builds a Mouse-Trap, by the Divine Art of Pallas: But as the Author has made Use of Virgil's Words, wherein he mentions the building of the Horse, which proved so fatal to the Trojans; the Translator presumed that it would appear more ludicrous to make the Simile, which is not injurious to the Author's Sense, who without doubt, had that famous Machine in View, when he applied Virgil's Expression on that Subject, to his Mouse-Trap.

The Parcae, or Fates, according to Ovid in the Story of Meleager, pronounce the Fate of every one that is born; they were supposed to be three Sisters, their Names Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.—To them was intrusted the Thread of Life: Clotho, draws the Thread between her Fingers:—Lachesis, turns the Wheel;—and Atropos, the most fatal of the Three, cuts the Thread which is spun, with a pair of Sheers. Serv. in Virg. Æn. I.

Marsya, a Part of old Italy, was famous for having a Breed of wild Boars, of a vast Size, and great Fierceness: The Hunters, with their Dogs, drove them into the Toiles which they spread for them; and when they were intangled in the Nets, destroyed them.

The chief Town of Pembrokeshire, the most pleasant County of all Wales. It is one direct Street, on a narrow Point of Land, all Rock; close to the Walls, on both Sides, ebbs and flows a forked Arm of Milfordhaven, which contains sixteen Creeks, five Bays, thirteen Roads, and is the most spacious and secure Harbour in Europe.—

Meirionydhshire, in North Wales; of which Giraldus Cambrensis, quoted by Camden p. 655, saith, “That it is the roughest and most unpleasant County of all Wales, For the Hills are extraordinary high, and yet very narrow, and terminating in sharp Peaks; nor are they thin scatter'd, but placed very close; and so even in height, that the Shepherds frequently converse from the Tops of them, who yet in case they should wrangle, and appoint a Meeting, can scarce come together from Morning 'till Night.” But in the Add. to Camden, p. 657, Giraldus is confuted.

according to Camd. it lies in Flintshire, an eminent City in the Time of Antoninus, and afterwards a famous Monastery, in which saith Bede, “There were so many Monks, that when they were divided into seven Parts, having each their distinct Ruler appointed them; every one of those particular Societies, consisted of three hundred Men at least, who all lived by the Labour of their own Hands.—

Caer-mardhin, is so called by Ptolemy, the chief Town in West-Wales; here Merlin was born, said to be the son of an Incubus, (or Devil who deluded his Mother in human Shape) who has the Reputation of an eminent Prophet, among the Vulgar. Ninnius mentions him first, but says, that Merlin confess'd to King Vortigern, that his Father was a Roman, which his Mother was afraid to own, lest she should be put to Death for it. All the Monkish Writers who mention him, call him either a Prophet, or Magician; they relate Wonders of him, and have preserved many Prophesies, pretended to be his: But H. Lhwyd, a judicious Author, says, he was a Man of extraordinary Learning, and Prudence; and that for some Skill in the Mathematicks, many Fables were invented of him by the Vulgar, which being afterwards put in Writing, were handed down to Posterity. Camd. p. 622, and the Add. to him.

The Original is—Veniunt foecunda Glamorgan quos alit,—They came, whom fruitful Glamorgan nourishes.—Glamorganshire, is wash'd by the Severn Sea, on the South; on the North it is very rugged with Mountains, which inclining towards the South, become by Degrees more tillable, and spread into a spacious Plain, open to the South Sun, which is exceeding pleasant, for the Fertility of its Soil, and the Number of Towns and Villages there.

Vaga,—the River Wye; runs Southward from Monmouth, with many Windings and Turnings, (says Camd. p. 596.) which may justify the Epithet, winding, in English, though it is not expressed in the Latin; unless the Name Vaga, imports its winding Course. It's now the Limit between Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, but was formerly the Boundary between the Welsh and English,—near Chepstow it falls into the Severn Sea.

In the Latin, rigidusq; Colonus Gomerici Montis. Montigomery, tho' it be a mountainous, yet is it in general a very fertile Country; having fruitful Vales, as well for Pasture, as arable Land. Camd. The Inhabitants, are an industrious and laborious People.

This seems to be a Mountain, but I find none of the Name in Camd. He says that Brecknock, the Chief Town of the Shire, derives its Name from Prince Brechanius, of whom Giraldus gives this remarkable Account,—That he had 24 Daughters, and that they were all Saints.—Two Miles to the East of Brecknock, is a large Lake, which Giraldus calls Clamosum, from the terrible Noice it makes like a Clap of Thunder, at the Cracking of the Ice. It was this Lake, perhaps, that resounded the Shouts of the Victors.

The Mountains of this Name lie in Caernarvonshire, Camd. calls them the British Alps. They are vastly high, and no less inaccessible than the Alps themselves; and do all of them, encompass one Hill, which far exceeding all the rest in height, seems, I shall not say to threaten the Sky, but even to thrust its Head into it. Camd. p. 663. Such as have not seen Mountains of this kind, are not able to frame any Idea of them, from the Hills of lower Countreys: For whereas such Hills are but single Heights, or Stories; these are heap'd upon one another; so that having climbed up one Hill, we come to a Valley, and most commonly to a Lake, and passing by that, we ascend another, and sometimes a Third and Fourth, before we arrive at its highest Peaks. Add. to Camd. 667. The Height of Snowdon, measur'd exactly by Mr. Adams, is 1247 Yards.

Plinlimmon rises to a great Height, and on that Side where it limits Montgomeryshire, sends out the River Severn; next to Thames the most noted River of Britain: It takes its Name, according to the Monkish Writers, from Sabra, who was thrown into it by Guendoler, Daughter of Corineus Duke of Cornwal;—Her Story may be found in a wretched Play, called Locrine; falsely attributed to Shakespeare.)— Remurmur to the Sound.—The Word Remurmur, is frequently used by Mr. Dryden; and by Mr. Pope, in these fine Lines, describing the Noise of an Army in their March.

Offa, the Eleventh King of the Mercians, was the most valiant and powerful of all the English Saxons; he proved victorious in many Battles; but in the Year 776, all the Britains both of N. and S. Wales, joyning together, invaded the Kingdom of Mercia; and made terrible Devastation in many Parts of the Country, wasting all with Fire and Sword: Whereupon Offa was constrained to make a Peace with the other Saxon Kings; and to turn all his Forces against the Welsh, who, unable to resist so great a Power, were obliged to abandon all the plain Country, between Wye and Severn, and retire to the Mountainous Parts, upon which Advantage, Offa immediately seized all the plain Country, planted it with Saxon inhabitants, annexed it to his own Kingdom, and caused a Ditch, or Intrenchment, to be made from Sea to Sea between his Kingdom, and Wales, to defend his Country from future Invasion. Ech. p. 28. This Dyke extended from the Mouth of Dee, to that of the River Wye, for the Space of about 90 Miles; many Parts of it are still to be seen. Joan. Salibur, in Polyerat. writes, that Harold established a Law, that whatever Welsh-Man should be found arm'd, on this Side the Limit he had set them, to wit, Offa's Dyke, his right Hand should be cut off by the King's Officers. Camd. p. 585. The Author of the Addition to Camd. says, that this Limit was not well maintained by the English; for the antient British Customs, and Names of Men, and Places, remain still, for some Space on the English Side, almost the whole Length of it.

It is said, That the Custom of wearing Leeks on St. David's Day, had this Original: The Welsh gain'd a great Victory on that Day; the Battle was fought near a Place where many Leeks grew, which they pull'd up, and wore in their Monmouth Caps, to distinguish themselves from others, and they continue to wear them on that Anniversary, as an honourable Badge of their Bravery.

Whether the first of March was consecrated to the Memory of Dewy, or St. David, in the Note (g) who is thought to have suffered Martyrdom on that Day, or to David, the General in this Battle, I shall not determine, but leave it to the Criticks.

It may, in the Opinion of some Readers, who are unacquainted with the different Structure of Latin and English Verse, be thought a Fault in this Translation, that it contains more Lines than the Original; For their Satisfaction herein, I quote the following Passage, from the last Note, on the 23d Book of Mr. Pope's Odyssey, with a little necessary Variation.

Mr. Broome, the Author of that Note, having observed that there are but few Lines more in the Translation of the 23d Book, than in Homer, proceeds thus, “I speak it not as if this were a Beauty, it may as well be a Fault; Our Heroic Verse consists but of Ten Syllables, the Latin of Fifteen; as in this Verse,—Monticolam Britonem qui primus vincula Muri. We therefore write with the Disadvantage of Five Syllables; which makes it generally impossible to comprehend the Sense of One Line in the Original, within the Compass of One Line in a Translation, with any tolerable Beauty; but in some Parts where the Subject seemed to hang heavy, this has been attempted; with what Success must be left to the judicious Reader.”—From hence it appears, that Two Lines of the Latin, contain as many Syllables as Three in English Verse; which will, I hope, justify me on this Account.