America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D Part 1

America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.

by Benjamin Franklin Bowen.

PREFACE.

Some time since, J. Sabin, the well-known book antiquarian of New York, related a very amusing story to me of a clergyman from Rhode Island coming into his store and inquiring whether he wished to purchase an Indian Bible. At once Mr. Sabin replied that he did, and that he would pay him five hundred dollars for it. The clergyman was delighted, returned to his home in Rhode Island, and, fearing to intrust so costly a relic to the express, determined to carry it himself to the city. With great eagerness he opened the book in Mr. Sabin's presence, when the latter, equally surprised and amused, exclaimed,--

"Why, sir, that's not an Indian Bible!"

"Not an Indian Bible!"

"Why, no, sir!"

The clergyman at first thought the antiquarian was quizzing him, but, seeing him so serious, asked,--

"Well, Mr. Sabin, what makes you think so?"

"Because it is a _Welsh_ Bible."

The clergyman hastily picked up the volume and disappeared.

The two languages bear a marked resemblance to each other. In the cla.s.sification of the letters, the consonants in particular, including the gutturals, palatals, dentals, and l.a.b.i.als, with their forms and mutations, hold such an ident.i.ty in sound that any person not familiar with either language might take them to be the same, while he who understood both would as readily allow that in many respects they were akin.

The following pages are the result of an earnest desire to settle the question of, and, if possible, to fix the belief in, the voyages of Prince Madoc and his followers in 1170 A.D., and to a.s.sign them their rightful place in American history. Although this recognition has been very tardily given, by the almost utter silence of our historians, and the apparent unconcern of those linked with the Prince by blood, language, and country, the honor will be none the less real if bestowed now. Indeed, in this age of claims, and when every sc.r.a.p of our general and local history is eagerly sought and read, it cannot be otherwise than that what is set forth in his favor will receive some share of attention from an intelligent public. Besides, so much earnest study has been given by those in other countries to the subject of the early discoveries on the American Continent, that it is hoped this contribution to its literature will serve to foster still further the spirit of inquiry, and be at the same time an acknowledgment of our debt to those countries for what they have furnished us in brain, heart, muscle, and life.

At intervals extending through several years, when released from the pressure of my public work, I have been engaged in the collection of the materials, both at home and abroad, from old ma.n.u.scripts, books, pamphlets, magazines, and papers. The subject was not common, neither were the materials. What are the facts? That is the question. Facts of history, experience, observation. Speculative verbiage is avoided, for want of time and s.p.a.ce. Others are made to take my place, for the sake of presenting what _they knew_. Such a method is more convincing than the expression of empty opinions.

B. F. B.

CHAPTER I.

THE MIGRATIONS OF THE WELSH.

The etymology of the names of persons, places, and things is a curious subject of inquiry. It is one of the safest guides in an attempt to distinguish the race-differences of a people whose history reaches back to an immemorial era.

The names of _Wales_ and the _Welsh_ are comparatively of recent origin.

The Welsh have always called themselves Cymru or Cymry,--Romanized into Cambria or Cambrians. This has been the generic name of the race as far back as any trace can be found of their existence. The Romans changed Gal into Gaul; the Welsh sound _u_ as _e_: hence they p.r.o.nounced the Romanized word Gaul as Gael. The Saxons, as was their wont, subst.i.tuted _w_ for _g_: hence, as the people of Cambria were esteemed to be a.n.a.logous to the Gauls, they called their country Waels or Wales, and its people Waelsh or Welsh; and these names have continued to the present time. But this people always have called themselves "Y Cymry,"

of which the strictly literal meaning is _aborigines_. They call their language "Y Cymraeg,"--the primitive tongue. Celt, meaning a covert or shelter, and Gaul, meaning an open plain or country, are terms applied to various subdivisions by which the Cymric race have been known. In this connection it may be appropriate to say that the word "Indian" is one that does not apply or belong to the red race of the American Continent, but was used by Columbus, who, anxious to discover the East Indies by a northwest route, imagined that he had reached that country, and called the inhabitants Indians. Subsequent events have proved his mistake. The primitive races of this continent are more properly designated by the word aborigines, as in the case of the Cymry.

Through the rich and copious language and literature of Wales, the student of history is able to gather a vast store of knowledge respecting its inhabitants and their early ancestors. The substantial result arrived at as to their origin and migrations may be briefly stated as follows:

First. That the inhabitants of Wales, known to Homer as the Cimmerii, migrated thither from the great fountain-head of nations,--the land of the Euphrates and Tigris.

Second. That they went in successive bands, each in a more advanced state of civilization than the former.

Third. That they carried with them a peculiar language, peculiar arts and superst.i.tions, marking their settlement on the Island of Britain at a very early period.

Fourth. That their journey through Europe is marked with the vestiges of tumuli, mounds, skulls, rude utensils, ornaments, and geographical names in their language.

The Welsh language is of a pure radical construction, and remarkably free from admixture with other tongues. It is as copious, flexible, and refined as it was two thousand years ago, when it existed alongside the Greek and Latin, both of which it antedates and survives, for it is not, like them, a dead language, but is in living use at the present day in literature, commerce, home, and worship.

"'Dim Saesenaig! Dim Saesenaig!'" exclaimed the astonished Thomas Carlyle, when visiting the vale of Glamorgan, "'Dim Saesenaig!' (No English! No English!) from every d.y.k.e-side and house comes. The first thing these poor bodies have to do is to learn English."

Thomas Carlyle was greatly mistaken, if he ever believed that the Welsh would tamely surrender their Cymraeg. It has been the symbol of their unconquerable hope, and they watch with jealous care any inroads made upon it. Upon the principle that might is right, nations have been forced from their own soil, but with a most pa.s.sionate tenacity they have still clung to their native tongue. True, there have been languages which have become extinct, like the nations which have spoken them, by conquest; but the Welsh continues to exist, because either the people who speak it have never been conquered, or it has proved itself superior to conquest.

Edward the First is supposed to have directed the final blow towards crushing Welsh independence; and yet there is at present preserved in the cathedral of St. Asaph, North Wales, the celebrated Rhuddlan Parliament Stone, on which is written this inscription:

This Fragment is the Remains Where Edward the First held his Parliament A.D. 1283; in which the Statute of Rhuddlan was enacted Securing to the Princ.i.p.ality of Wales _Its Judicial Rights and Independence_.

The Welsh have a property in the British Isle which no earthly power can wrest from them. Henry the Second once asked a Welsh chieftain, "Think you the rebels can withstand my army?" He replied, "King, your power may to a certain extent harm and enfeeble this nation, but the anger of G.o.d alone can destroy it. Nor do I think in the day of doom any other race than the Cymry will answer for this corner of the earth to the Sovereign Judge."

Many centuries have elapsed since these brave and hopeful words were uttered, and the destiny of Wales is more manifest,--that her nationality will be swallowed up or merged with English laws, customs, and habits: still her language and literature will survive, and the names will continue fixed to a.s.sert the antiquity and greatness of her people. More than half the names borne by the population of England are of Cymric origin or derivation. More than three-fourths of the names in Scotland, and about one-half of those of France, are from the same source. Cambrian names are found all through Europe,--in Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and about the Pyrenees.

The Welsh name for London is _Llundain_. It was Latinized into _Lundinum_, and Anglicized into Lundon or London. Its etymology is from _llyn_, a pool or lake, and _Dain_ or _Tain_ for _Thames_ (the sound of _d_ being like that of _t_): hence, a pool or lake on the Thames. The low flat on the east side of London, known as "The Isle of Dogs," now a part of the mainland, was at one time flooded by the Thames; and hence the name of _Llundain_, or _Thames Lake_. Liverpool came from _Flowing Pool_; that is, the tide flowed in and out.

_Avon_ is the generic Welsh name for river: hence Avon-Clyde, Avon-Conwy, Avon-Stratford. c.u.mberland stands for Cymbri-land; Northumberland for North Cymbri-land. _Aber_ is the mouth of a river, Anglicized into _harbor_: hence there is Aber-Conway, Aberdeen. There is scarcely a river, mountain, or lake in England or in Scotland the etymology of which is not found in the Welsh language at the present day.

The ancient British language, physique, skull, hair, eyes, and flexure of p.r.o.nunciation still preponderate in England, notwithstanding the incessant boasts of the Saxon, who was a barbarous savage when he arrived, and who did not exhibit a single instance of knowledge and learning until after he had come in contact with the Cymric race.

With a view to tracing the migrations of this race throughout Europe, observe the ancient geographical terms, with their strong physical traits.

Caucasus is derived from the two Welsh words _cau_, to shut up, to fence in, and _cas_, separated, insulated. This mountain-chain has borne this name from the earliest human records; and how expressive of their position and character, to inclose Europe from Asia!

The Caspian Sea means, when derived, _cas_, separated, and _pen_, head; literally, a sea with a head or source, but insulated and without an outlet. Any one familiar with this body of water can understand the force of the words.

Crimea comes from the Welsh word _crymu_ (p.r.o.nounced kri'me, the _c_ being sounded as _k_, and the _u_ as _e_), which means to bend or curve; literally, a circular peninsula. The Crimea was the Gwlad yr Haf (summer land) of the Cymry.

Alps is derived from _al_, grand, sublime, and _pen_, head,--a sublime head.

Armorica comes from _ar-y-mor_, upon the sea.

Danube finds its derivation from _dan_, under, below, and _uf_ (p.r.o.nounced _uv_ or _ub_), spreading or diffused. Some of the Cymric bands or colonies, in their migrations westward, halted along the banks of the Danube; others settled on the Elbe, and were called the Wendi, and their descendants speak at the present time a slightly-corrupted Welsh language. Bautzen, in Bavaria, and Glogau, in Prussia, are old Cymric towns; and an eminent German scholar has shown what ancient Cymric relics are to be found in the museums of Dresden and Berlin.

Recently many learned philologists were excited into a sharp discussion to account for the name of the German capital, Berlin. Its origin is plainly Cymric, and is derived from _ber_, a curve, and _lin_, a river.

There is such a striking resemblance between the ancient Cymric laws, as compiled by Dyfnval Moelmud, and the Inst.i.tutes of Menu, that many of the most able Oriental and Welsh scholars have concluded that another branch of the Cymric race must have gone eastward from the Caucasus and penetrated into India. Sir William Jones, a son of a Welshman, translated these Inst.i.tutes of Menu, or Brahminic Laws, and says, "The name '_Menu_' is clearly derived from _menses_, _mens_, or mind, as all the Pandits agree that it means intelligent." _Menw_ in Welsh means the seat of intelligence.

Moreover, it is generally admitted that the Welsh contains a sufficient number of root-words by which the original connection of the Semitic (Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Egyptian, etc.) and the Indo-European languages is distinctly shown. And, as will be subsequently proved, a large number of words have been found in use by the aborigines of the American Continent, whose roots or simplest forms were related to roots of words in the old languages, many of which were directly connected with the Cymric tongue.

The object of this cursory sketch has been to show that, from the very earliest period, the branches of the Cymric race have been extensively spread over the earth, as indicated by the sure testimony of their language; that they moved from east to west, preceding all other races--the Teutonic, Sarmatian, etc.--by long intervals of time. From the certain data of history these things are placed beyond doubt,--by Herodotus, Caesar, and others. Would it be surprising, then, if, in accordance with the same nomadic principle and these westward migrations, together with the fierce persecutions of the northern hordes, some portions of the Cymry were driven still farther westward and were wafted to the American Continent?