Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth Part 17

Beware of taking to thyself a wife for the sake of her portion.

(Cato Gymraeg.)

In that case, the pa.s.sage should be rendered,-

Ere thou didst obtain thy nuptial dowry;

which reading would be supported by the allusion to the nuptial feast in the preceding pa.s.sage. Nevertheless the term "argynrein," occurring in three other copies, would certainly point to the signification given in the text; "argyvrein" being capable of the same meaning, whilst "argynrein" has no reference whatever to the nuptial dowry.

{81a} The manner in which the person here commemorated is a.s.sociated with the ravens, leads us to suspect that he was none other than Owain ab Urien, who is traditionally reported to have had an army of ravens in his service, by which, however, we are probably to understand an army of men with those birds emblazoned on their standard, even as his descendants still bear them in their coats of arms. Not only do the Welsh Romances and Bards of the middle ages allude to these ravens, but even Taliesin and Llywarch Hen, seem pointedly to connect them with Urien or his son.

Thus the former in an Ode on the battle of Argoed Llwyvaen, (Myv. Arch.

vol. i. p. 53) in which Owain commanded the c.u.mbrian forces, under his father against Ida, says,-

"A rhag gwaith Argoed Llwyfain Bu llawer celain Rhuddei frain rhag rhyfel gwyr."

Because of the battle of Argoed Llwyvain, There happened many a dead carcase, And the ravens were coloured with the war of men.

And Llywarch Hen in his "Elegy on Urien Rheged" has the following expressions;-

"Pen a borthav ar vy nhu; Pen Urien, Llary, llyw ei lu; Ac ar ei vron wen vran ddu.

Pen a borthav mywn vy nghrys; pen Urien, Llary llywiai lys: Ac ar ei vron wen vran ai hys."

I bear by my side a head; the head of Urien, The mild leader of his army; And on his white bosom the sable raven is perched.

I bear in my shirt a head; the head of Urien, That governed a court with mildness; And on his white bosom the sable raven doth glut. (Owen's Ll. Hen.

p. 24.)

This supposition would considerably enhance the point and beauty of the pa.s.sage in the text; for a sad or unbecoming thing, indeed, ("cwl," _a fault_) would it be that one who fought by the aid of ravens should himself be eventually devoured by them.

Moreover, a tradition prevails, that Owain the son of Urien was actually engaged in the battle of Cattraeth. Thus Lewis Glyn Cothi, a poet of the fifteenth century, observes;-

"Bwriodd Owain ab Urien Y tri thwr yn Nghattraeth hen.

Ovnodd Arthur val G.o.ddaith Owain, ei vrain a'i fon vraith." (I. 140.)

Owain son of Urien overthrew The three towers of Cattraeth of old; Arthur dreaded, as the flames, Owain, his ravens, and his parti-coloured staff.

But to the view which would identify our hero with the son of Urien there is this objection, that the poem describes the former as the son of Marro or Marco; nor can the difficulty be got over, without supposing that this was another name of Urien. Or if that be inadmissible, the line, in which Owain's name occurs, may be translated,-

Alas, the beloved friend of Owain;

an alteration, which will do no great violence to the allusion about the ravens.

{82a} Al. "March," as if addressing the horse of the slain;-

O steed, in what spot Was slaughtered, &c.

{82b} "Cynhaiawc," (cyn-taiawg.) Adopting this version for the sake of variety, and under the impression that all the different readings of this poem are not the mere result of orthographical accident, but that the forms of obscure or illegible words were sometimes determined by tradition, we must believe that the _taiogion_, who composed the army of Madog, were simply his own tenants or dependants.

{83a} "Diffun," (di-ffun.) _Ffun_ is any thing united together, and is used at line 803 for a band of men. Some read "diffyn," (protection or defence) and in that case the sense of the pa.s.sage would seem to be,

He brought protection to women, and mead he distributed.

The former reading is preferred, inasmuch as it exhibits in a more natural and consistent manner the twofold character of Madog, as a soldier and a courtier, which appears to be the object of the Bard to delineate. Our inference on this point is moreover supported by more obvious pa.s.sages of that description, which occur again in the Poem, such as,-

"Ragorei veirch racvuan En trin lletvegin gwin o bann."

He surpa.s.sed the fleetest steeds In war, but was a tame animal when he poured the wine from the goblet.

The epithet "cynhaiawc," a.s.suming it to be the proper term, would also, by reason of its contrasting effect, considerably enhance the value of our hero's domestic and social courtesy.

{83b} "Twll tal y rodawr." Dr. Owen Pughe translates this "the front opening of his chariot;" "twll ar ysgwyd," however, in the lx.x.xvii stanza, evidently refers to a shield, and this sense is, moreover, supported by "tyllant tal ysgwydawr," in Taliesin's Ode on Gwallawg, as well as "rac twll y gylchwy," used by Cynddelw. The meaning therefore appears to be that wherever the battle raged, there would the chief be found, so boldly and _directly_ fighting as to have the very boss of his shield perforated by the spears of his enemy.

{83c} "Brwyn." From the practice which the Welsh Bards commonly had of adapting their descriptive similes to the names, armorial bearings, or some other peculiarities of their heroes, we may infer that the chieftain, who is celebrated in this stanza, is none other than Madog ab Brwyn. Indeed one copy reads "mab brwyn," the son of Brwyn, rather than _mal_ brwyn, as above. He is distinguished in the Triads with Ceugant Beilliog and Rhuvon, under the appellation of the "three golden corpses,"

because their weight in gold was given by their families to have their bodies delivered up by the enemy. (Myv. Arch. vol. ii. p. 69.) Madog ab Brwyn was the grandson of Cunedda Wledig, lord of G.o.dodin.

{84a} A maritime region in the north, as we infer, not only from the works of Aneurin, but also from those of Taliesin and Merddin.

{84b} The rest having been slain.

{84c} "Erwyt" (erwyd) a pole, or a staff to mete with, and, like the _gwialen_, an emblem of authority. "I will-mete out the valley of Succoth." (Psalm lx. 6.) A similar expression occurs in Llywarch Hen's Poems with reference to Urien Rheged, viz.

"Oedd cledyr cywlad rhwydd."

which W. Owen has translated,-

"That was the prompt defender of his neighbourhood."

{84d} Llywarch Hen says in like manner of his own son Gwen,-

"Rhythr eryr yn ebyr oeddyd."

In the a.s.sault like the eagle at the fall of rivers thou wert.

The eagle was probably the armorial badge of the hero of this stanza.

{84e} Al. "y lyr," to our sh.o.r.e. We have here an instance of the kindred signification of some of the different readings found in the Poem. Both words are used in juxtaposition in the following extracts;-

"Gwelais ar vorwyn- Lliw golau tonau taenverw gwenyg Llanw _ebyr_ ar _llyr_, lle ni mawr-drig." (Cynddelw.)

I beheld on a maiden The bright hue of the spreading ebullition of the breakers of the waves, Of the flood of the effluxes of rivers, on the strand, where it tarries not long.

"Oedd ei var- Megys twrv _ebyr_ yn _llyr_ llawn." (Cynddelw.)

His rage Was like the tumult of the mouths of rivers with a full margin.

"Calan hyddvrev, tymp dydd yn edwi, Cynhwrv yn _ebyr_, _llyr_ yn llenwi." (Ll P. Moch.)

The beginning of October, the period of the falling off of day, There is tumult in the mouths of rivers, filling up the sh.o.r.e.