It seems rather strange that so severe a critic as Mr. Nash, who will accept none of the poems which are die subject of his criticism as ancient or genuine, except upon the clearest evidence, should yet assume at once the genuineness and antiquity of the Mabinogi of Taliessin. It is beyond question, that the only text of it before him is written in much more modem Welsh than any.of the poems it is supposed to have given birth to, and yet he makes no difficulty. It is further strange that in founding upon this prose tale as the very basis of his argument throughout, and his most formidable weapon, he should not have taken means to ascertain whether it really is in the Bed Book of Heigest No copy of this tale is to be found in the Bed Book of Heigest at all, and as that valu- able MS. contains all the other prose tales of that period, this of itself is an argument against its authen- ticity.
But, moreover, no copy of it is to be found in any known MS, prior to the eighteenth century. Dr. Owen Pughe, who published it in 1833, says explicitly diat there was but one version of the prose narrative, and that version was frunished by lolo Morganwg. Every notice regarding it upon which Mr. Nash founds emanates from him, and is not to be found elsewhere. Even if we accept the account given by Dr. Owen KECENT CRITICISM OP MYTHOLOGICAL POEMa 193 Pughe, his explicit statement is, that it was composed by Hopkin Thomas Philip, and it cannot be taken farther back than 1590 or 1600, long after eveiy poem we are dealing with had been transcribed; bat its history is so questionable as to lead to the sus- picion that it had no earlier origin than the schod ^ which produced it, and it is quite as necessary for Mr. Nosh, before he can legitimately found upon it» to bridge over the interval between Einion Offeiriad in the thirteenth century, if he lived then, or if he ever lived at all, and Dr. Owen Pughe in tlie nineteentli, as it is for the advocates of the authenticity of tiie poems to bridge over the interval between the sixth century and the Black Book of Caermarthen.
So much for the prose narrative. With regard to the poems imbedded in it, whether naturally or artifi- cially, the text published by Dr. Pughe in 1833 con- trains eleven poems; that published by Lady Charlotte Guest in 1849, fourteen, but in the notes we are informed that four of these poems were added to her edition from the Myvyrian Archoeology, and were not in the MSS. from which she printed. Now, of these eleven poems contained in the MSS. of the prose tale printed by Dr. Owen Pughe and Lady Charlotte Guest^ not one is to be found in the Book of Taliessin; and of the four poems which she added from the Myvyrian ArchiBology, only two are in that Book.
At the time, therefore, when the Book of Taliessin was transcribed, the poems inserted in the prose tale had either not been written, or were known to be VOL L 194 BECfENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS.
sptuiouSy and not to belong to the body of poems at that time attributed to Taliessin. Moreover, several of tliese poems are said to have been in reality the work of Jonas A thraw o Fynyw, or Jonas, the Doctor or Divine of St Davids, of whom, however, and the true period in which he lived, we know really nothing, but one of these poems appears among the poems teanscribed in the end of the Red Book of Hergest in tlie fifteenth century. The poems attributed to Jonas Athraw of St David's are — 1. Hanes Taliessin, beginning ^ Prifardd Cjrfiredin.''
2. Fustl y Veirdd, beginning " Qer o gam."
3. Dyhuddiant Elfin, beginning ^ Grognawd Gyrra."
4. Divregwawd Taliessin, beginning " Groruchel Dduw.' This is the poem contained in the Red Book of Hergest 6. Yr awdl Fraith, beginning with tlie line '* Ef a wnaith Panton.''
It is tlie last of these poems firom which the well- known sentiment has been so often quoted, as a saying of Taliessin — £u ner a volant £a hiaith a gadwant £a tir a goUant Ond gwyllt Walia.
Their God they shall adore. Their language they shall keep, Their country they shall lose, Except Wild Walea Indeed, it is generally considered that the history BEOEin* CRITICISM OF MTTHOLOQICAL POXMfiL 195 of Wales cannot be referred to with any propr i ety without quoting these lines.
None of these poein% howeveri appear in the Book of Taliessin; and a verse in this poem might have shown that it made no claim to being the genuine work of the bard whose name it bears:• — r Joannes the Divine ' i Called me Merddin; At length every king Wm caU me Talieaaia And called Taliessin it has been ever since, and it has ^ been subjected by Mr. Nash, along with the other spurious poem% to one common criticism with those which are to be found in the Book of Taliessin, and the estimate formed of the spurious poems maintained equally to invalidate those professing to be genuine. These poems are all included in Mr. Stephens's third class; and the criticism, so far as based upon them, may now be set aside as having little or no bearing upon the real question.
Having thus disposed of the so-called Mabinogi, or romance of Taliessin, which plays so great and illegi- timate a part in modem criticism, we must now advert to the allusions said to be made to the other prose tales really contained in the Red Book of Hergest, and usually called the Mabinogion, and which it is maintained show that the poems containing such allusions must have been written after these prose tales were composed. It is ad- mitted that these allusions are made to the Mabinogion k" of the oldest class only, and they certainly possess a 196 REGENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS.
considerable antiquity. Here, the first feature in this proposition which startles us is, that if well founded, it inverts the usual sequence in the early litx^raturo of most countries, and supposes that prose tales were first composed, and poems afterwards written from them. We usually find the reverse of this. The literature of most countries commences with lays in which the traditions and knowledge of the j>eople in the infancy of their society are handed down to succeeding generations; and then, as cultivation advances, and the intellect of the nation developes, it passes over into chronicles and prose romances. In Wales we must suppose the progress to be different. If the poems we are dealing with belong to a later age, none others have come down to us, and we must sup- pose that the fancies and dim imaginings of the people in tlieir earlier stages first developed themselves in prose romances. The fallacy which leads to this is the assumption that these tales are so far fictions, in- vented romances^ in which, though the names may be Teal, the incidents are fictitious, and thus that any allu- fiion to them, however slight, or even any mention of the mere names of the heroes of them, infallibly demon- strates a later composition of the poem which contains them. It is in this spirit that Mr. Stephens deals with them, and he sends ruthlessly every poem to a later age in which the mere name of Arthur occurs, as having been composed after the Arthurian romance was introduced from Britanny.
But these tales are, equally with the poems, founded BBOENT O&rriGISH OF UTTHOLOOlCUkL VOKMa 197 to some extent upon older logendfl and tiaditioiifl^ and the germ of their nonative had a prior exuttonoe in the earlier oral tales of the people. It is tmo that there is a marked difference in character betwceii the older legend and the romantic tale foondod upon it The former is part of a more primitiyc literaturOy nm* ning parallel to and in harmony with the history and progress of tlie people. Tales and incidents connected with their histoiy were the subject of lays and pootio narratives, and the early philosophy of the people^ the commouHsense of the nation in the primitive moaning of the term, became crystallised into proverbs. Sym* bolical and figurative language was largely used. Revolutions and invasions were compared to convul* sions of natur%|VKL the ravages of monsters; tyrants were denouj^kosff'liif obscure epithets, sentiments were conveyed in pnq^jrerbs, and firagments of real history were encrusted in them, like the masses of primitive rock protruding through a later formation, or the boulders deposited upon its surface; while the oral transmissionof this early poetic literature was secured by a complicated system of metre and on intricate rhjrme which enabled the writer more readily to employ the right expressions. With a fixed and unalterable number of syllables in the line, a rhjrme recurring in the middle of one line and the end of another, with one stanza commencing with the last word of the preceding stanza, gt with certain words commencing with the same letter, it was difficult for the reciter to misplace a letter or sentence; the. right word must be found, and tiie general sen- 198 BECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOOICAL POEMS.
timents expressed were retained in his mind by tlieir taking the shape of proverbs.
This is what we should expect early poetry of this description to be, and this, to a great extent, charac- terises the poems with which we are dealing; but when the period arrives when prose tales or romances are preferred, the recollection of the real incidents alluded to, tlie real events symbolised^ has passed away; the taste of tlie age soon requires social tales rather than historical romances, the incidents become trivial, the heroes dwindle down to ordinary mortals, the ancient warriors, to private lords of a district^ the sjrmbolic representations become real convulsions of nature and actual wild beasts, and what origi^Aftp sprang from some great internal change or some'^ extjfsmfi invasion, now becomes the hunt of a wild animal J^ a quest after some treasure. The names of the heroes of these l^iends are retained in the prose tales^ but the events in which they figure are changed, and assume a totally different character and aspect This to a great extent characterises the Mabinogion, and if we find evidence in them of the characteristics of this stage in the literature, why are we to presume that the earlier stages had no existence? In point of fact^ we do find traces of the earlier existence of the germs of these tales. Thus, in the tale of Llud and Uefdys^ at the end of the narrative as printed by Lady Charlotte Guest, is this notice— ''And this tale is called the Storjf of Llud and Llevdys, and thus it ends." The expression in the original Welsh, however, is '' Ar REGENT C&rnOISH OF MYTHOLOGICAL F0E1I8. 199 chwedyl hwnn aclwir Ky franc Llud a Llevdya.* The word ** Eyfronc " docs not mean a stoiy, but a quarrel or contention, and the reason of this great alteration is, that there is not a trace throughout the whole tale of any quarrel or contention between the two brothen Llud and Llevelys; on the contrary, they are repre- sented as a perfect model of two affectionate brothen, living in perfect harmony witli and mutually aiding one another. The tale, as it stands, is as old as the first edition of the Bruts where the substance of it occurs, and tiiere must apparently have been an earlier l^end, the fftcts of which had been forgotten while the name was recollected and applied to the later tale. Now, one of the poems attributed to Taliessin (B. T. 54, Ymarwar Lludd Bychan) is condemned because it is supposed to contain an allusion to this tala The whole of the allusion is simply this: ** Before the recondlia- tion of Llud and Llcfclys.'' But there cannot be a reconciliation without a previous contention, and it is ^ obvious that the reference here is to the earlier legend There is, however, one striking difference between the poem and the tale. In the prose tale one of the chief incidents is the invasion of a mysterious people called Corraniad, who use enchantments and possess magic powers; but when we refer to the poem, it is the real invasion of the Romans which forms the chief incidents Another of the Mabinogion supposed to be referred to is that of Kilhwch and Olwen. The chief incident in this curious tale ia the hunt of the Twrch Trwyt, or the Boar Trwyt The poem called the Gorchan Cyn- 200 RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS.
Telyn is supposed to refer to it, but, like the other poem, the allusion is comprised in a few lines: — Stalks like the collar of Twrcb Trwyth, Monstrously savage, bursting and thrusting through, When he was attacked on the river. Before his precious things.
The allusion to the legend is plain enough, but the mere fiict of Arthur and his warriors being represented in the prose tale as finding the boar with seven young pigs in Ireland, and hunting him to Dyfed and through the whole of Wales, and then by the Severn into Corn- wall, whence he was driven into the sea again, shows that this is a tale in which what were originally figu- rative and symboUcal representations of real evente have been converted into realities. Even in its present shape the legend is old, for in the Memorabilia of Nen- nius he mentions a stone bearing the mark of a dog upon it, and explains, ** Quando vcnatus est porcum Trait impressit Cabal, qui erat canis Arthuri militis, vestigium in lapide.''
A poem in the Black Book of Caermarthen (No. 31) is also supposed to refer to it This poem certainly mentions many of the characters in it^ but not one syllable of the plot of the prose tale; neither Eilhwch and Olwen, the hero and heroine, nor the hunt of the boar, the chief incident, are once alluded to. The real allusions are to two of Arthur's battles, and the scenery is in the north — Try-weryd, Mynyd Eiddyn or Edin- boigh, and Manawd or Manau Guotodin.
The other tales supposed to be alluded to, are the RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEM& 201 four which form what is strictly speaking tlie Mabi- nogi, and arc all connected with one another. They are the foUowing: — j The Tale of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed; | The Tale of Branwen, daughter of Uyr; The Tale of Manawyddan, the son of Uyr; The Tale of Math, son of Matlionwy.
The supposed allusions run through a considentUe number of the poems attributed to Taliessin, and foim an important group of these poems. Now there is this peculiarity in these four tales forming the Mafai- nogi proper, that they do not mainly refer to Wales as the country of the Cymry, but to the period when Mona and Arvon were possessed by a Gwyddel popu- lation, and it is the legendary kings of tlie Gwyddd who are the main actors in the tales. These are pro- bably the oldest of the tales, but the previous remarks as to the form in which such legends appear in the prose tales are here equally applicable. The characters which appear in these talcs are, in the first, Pwyll, prince of Dyfed, and Arawn, king of Annwfii or Hell; in the second. Bran and Manawyddan, the sons, and Branwen, the daughter, of Llyr, and Matholwch, king of Ireland; in the third, Manawyddan, son of Llyr, and Pryderi, son of Pwyll; and in the fourth, Math,' son of Mathonwy, king of Arvon and Mona, Gwydyon ap Don, and Arianrod his sister, Llew Law Gyffes and Dylan eil Ton, her sons, the first of whom became king of Gwynedd, and Pryderi, son of Pwyll, king of ^ 202 RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS.
Dyfcd. Pwyll is only mentioned in one poem (B. T. 30, called Preiddeu Annwfn), and it has no reference to the Mabinogi. Arawn is one of the three brothers, Uew, Arawn, and Urien, whom I have already noticed in the historical sketch, and whom we found obtaining lands conquered from the Saxons by Arthur. Arawn is said to have obtained the most northern portion, and fix)m the expressions used he must have been seated almost beyond the limits of the Cymric population. This northern region must always have been viewed by the more southern population as a dreary and barren wilder- ness, and invested with superstitious attributes. Even as early as the time of Procopius, who flourished in the sixth century, he thus describes it: — " In this ide of Britain men of ancient time built a long wall, catting off a great portion of it, for the soil and the men, and all other things, are not alike on both sides; for on the eastern (southern) side of the wall there is a wholesomeness of air, in conformity with the seasons, moderately warm in summer and cool in winter. Many men inhabit here, living much as other men. The treesy with their appropriate fruits, flourish in season, and their corn-lands are as productive as others, and the district appears sufficiently fertilised by streams. But on the western (northern) side all is different, insomuch indeed that it would be impossible for man to live there even half-an-hour. Vipers and serpents innumerable, with all other kinds of wild beasts, infest that place, and what in most strange, the natives affirm that if any one passing ilie tcaU should proceed to the other side^ he would die immediatdy^ unable to endure the unwholesomeness of the atmosphere. Death also, attacking such beasts as go thither, forthwith destroys them. But as I have arrived at this point of my history, it is incumbent on me to record a tradition very nearly allied to fable, which has never appeared to me true in all respects, ihoagh constantly spread abroad by men without number, who BEOENT CfilTIGISM OF MTTHOLOOIGAL POKMS. 203 • asMrt that themaolTes have been agents in the traniacticmi, and also hearen of the words. I most not^ however, pass it bj alto- gether nnnotioedy lest when thus writing eoneeming the isbuMi > Brittia I should bring upon myself an imputation of ignocanoe of certain euncumstances perpetually happening them Tktg aay, v then, IktU the 9imh of umi defalked an alwagi cmkuM i$ ttw And when the Cymric population looked northwards to these mountain-barriers, shrouded often with mist^ from whose bosom poured the wintrj Uasts^ and bom whose recesses issued those fearful bands of Fictish savages, we may well suppose that they n^arded it with awe and terror, and could give Uffern itself no more terrible an epithet than to call it ''A cold heU** Whether Arawn's territory really bore the name of Annw&t as its opposite Dwfiai certainly did enter into that of the Damnonii, who are placed in that part of Scotland \j Ptolemy, we can only conjecture.
The oldest legends connect Manawyddan ap liyr with Manau or Manauid. He is only mentioned in two poems. In one (B. R 31) he is mentioned in con- nection with Arthur's battles in the north: — ' Manawyddan, the son of Llyr, Deep waa his counsel Did not Manauid bring Perforated shields from Trywruidf In the other (B. T. 14 Kerdd am veib Llyr) the references are as follow: — A battle against the sons of Llyr at Eber Henrelen. I have been with Bran in Ywerddon, I saw when was killed Mordwydtyllon, Is it known to Manawyd and IVyderif 204 RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS.
Of Gwydyon ap Don and Uew, the former is asso- ciated with all the legends connected with the settle- ments of the Gwyddyl, and the latter is one of the three brothers in the north. He was placed over Lothian, including part of the county occupied by Pictish tribes, and is the Lothus, king of the Picts, of Scottish tradi- tion. Now throughout these poems we find allusion to a confederacy or union between Brython and Gwyddel, in connection with the names of Uew and Gwydyon.
In one poem (B. T. 14) we have: — I have been in the battle of Grodea with Llew and Gwydion, I hetrd the conference of the Cerddorion (British Bards), And the Gwyddyl, devils, distillers.
Truly Uew and Gwydyon Have been skilful ones.
Thou wilt remember thy old Biython, And the Gwyddyl, furnace distillers.
Again, in the Cad Goddeu — Minstrels were singing, Warriors were hastening, The exaltation to the Biython, Which Gwydion made.
This was the alliance between the Brython repre- sented by Uew, and the Gwyddel by Gwydyon, which resulted in the insurrection of Medraut, son of Llew, against Arthur with his combined army of Picts, Britons, and Saxons^ and which arose from a section of the Britons in the north being drawn over to apostasy by tlie pagan Saxons and semi-pagan Picts.
RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS. 205 These poems then contain, under figuratiye and symbolic language, allusions to leal hcba; but when we come to the Mabinogi all is changed. The heroes mentioned may be the same. The events are of a totally different character. Bran goes to Ireland to resent a slap given by Matholwch to Branwen. There is no battle against tlie sons of Llyr at Eber Henvelen, but they gaze at it from a window after waking from an enchanted sleep. There is no slaughter of Mordwydtyllon. Math, son of Idathonwy, is there the leading figure, and Gwydion is a mere adventurer^ stealing pigs and forcing Arianrod to acknowledge her son Llew by enchantments, while Arawn is placed under the earth as king of Annwfn, which represents the actual region of departed spirits.* Mr. Nash, in his criticism on the Cad Godeu, quotes from the Myvyrian Archaeology a fragment which he thus translates — "ENGLYNION, OR VERSES ON THE CAD GODDEU.
'* These are the Englyns that were sung at the Cad Goddeu, or, as others call it, the Battle of Achren, which was on account of a white roebuck and a whelp; and they came from Annwn, and Amathaon ap Don brought them. And therefore Amathaon ap Don, and Arawn, king of Annwn, fought And there was a man in that battle, unless his name were known he could not be overcome; and there was on the other side a woman called Achren, and unless her name were known her party could not be overcome. And Gwydion ap Don guessed the name of the man, and sang the two Englyns following: — * I do not here notice the poem (B. T. 16, Kadeir Kerritaen), •■ I consider it of later date, and to belong tc a different period and claat of 206 RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS.
^ Sare-hoofed is my steed before the spur, The high sprigs of alder were on thy shield. Bran art thou called of the glittering branches."
''And thas — '' Sure-hoofed is thy steed in the day of battle, The high sprigs of alder are in thy hand, Bran, with the coat of mail and branches with thee, Amathaon the good has pre^led."* and maintains that this is a fragment of a story or romance called Cad Godcu, and that this real. Cad Godeu must not be confounded with the Cad Godeu ascribed to Taliessin, which he adds is one of the very latest of these productions^ and very inferior in style and spirit to the compositions worked up by Thomas abEinion.
I am exactly of the opposite opinion. Mr. Nash, as usual, assumes the genuineness of the prose docu- ment; but there is no indication of where it came from. It exists in no known MS., and I doubt not came from the same workshop as the so-called com- positions of Thomas ab Einion; but assuming it to be a fragment of a prose tale, it truly bears out the remarks I have made. The poem called '' Cad Godeu'' contains no description of a battle; but Godeu is repeatedly men- tioned in other poems, and always in close connection with Regcd, which takes us to the " Gogledd/' as do also the names of Llew and Arawn. It describes in highly figurative language a hateful appearance in Britain, passing before the Guledig, ''like horses in the middle — ^like fleets full of wealth— like a * The translation is Mr. Nash's.
RECENT CRITICISM OF MYTHOLOGICAL POEMS. 207 monster with great jaws and a hundred heads — ^like a toad with black thighs and a hundred daws — ^like a speckled snake/ The word hreith, or ^speckled,* betrays its character. It was the exaltation Owydion gave to the Brython — the alliance with the speckled race of the Picts— which filled the bard with these gloomy pictures, and this idea runs through tlie whole poem.
When we come to the prose tale, if it be one^ it is a battle between Amathaon and Arawn, king of Annwfii, for a whelp and a white roebuck; and which was settled by the device of Owydion guessing the name of a man.
208 REGENT CRITICISM OP HISTORICAL POEMS.
CHAPTER XIL RECENT CRITICISM OP HISTORICAL POEMS EXAMINED.
The objections under the second proposition apply mainly to the poems classed by Mr. Stephens and Mr. Nash as historical Mr. Stephens maintains that there are not only in some of these poems direct allusions to persons and events of a later date than the period when the poems must have been composed, if they are genuine, but also that, in most of the poems, it can be shown that allusions which have been supposed to refer to early events were really intended to apply to those of a later date, and that later persons are indicated under the names of earlier heroes.
Now, here also I go along with the objection, so far as direct allusions are made to later persons and events, but there I stop.
When I find in the Black Book a poem on the death of Howel ap Goronwy, in which he is named, I can have no difficulty in believing it to apply to Howel ap Goronwy, who died in 1103, and that it must have been written after that date. The poems in the Black Book bearing to be the composition of Cynddelw are of course not within the scope of our inquiry. The poem in the Bed Book attributed to Myrddin, which mentions Cock o Narmandi, I can RECENT CRITICISM OF HISTORICAL POEICa 209 have no doubt refers to William Rufus, as I find him called T Brenhyn Coch in the Brut y Tywysogion. The poems referring to Mab Henri, or the son of Henri, I can have equally little doubt proceeded from Glamorgan, and refer to Bobert, Earl of 01ou« ccster, the son of King Henry L; and the Hoianau, which mentions the five chie£9 firom Normandy, and the fifth going to Ireland, must have been composed, either in whole or in part, in the reign of Henry H.
The attempt which Mr. Stephens makes, however, and in which he is followed by Mr. Nash, to show that the greater proportion of these poems contain in- direct allusions to later events, is, in my opinion, unsuccessful, and will not bear eiumiinatioiL It is this criticism which mainly affects a large number of the poems attributed to Taliessin, and it appears to me to be superficial and inconclusive in its reasoning, and based upon fancied resemblances, which have no true foundation in fact. Mr. Stephens, in a series of articles on the poems of Taliessin, which appeared in the Archer ologia Cambriensis subsequent to the publication of the Literature of the Cymry, has, to some extent^ modified the views expressed in the latter work. Of the poems which he there classed as doubtful he now removes three, and, of those in the fifth class, two, to the first class of genuine poems; but the mere fact that he does so on a more careful examination will show how superficial the grounds must have been on which he made that classification.
« VOUL P 210 RECENT CRITICISM OF HISTORICAL FOEMS.
The mode in wliich he has dealt with two of the poems will afford a good illustration of the character of this criticism. Among the poems in the Book of Taliessin is one called Marumad Corroi m. Dayry, or the death-song of Corroi, son of Dayry (B. T. 42). In his Literature of the Kymry Mr. Stephens places this poem in his fifth class of " Predictive pocms^ twelfth and succeeding centuries/ but in a paper in the Archwologia Cambi^ensis (vol. ii. p. 151) he gives his more matured views, and reverses this verdict He now considers it to have been written about 640. The grounds upon which he comes to this conclusion are these. The poem alludes to a contention between CJorroi and Cocholyn {Kyfranc Corroi a Chocholyn). Here is his own account of his process: — ** The name of Corroi's opponent piqued my curiosity. I forthwith went in search of his history in the Anglo-Saxon Annalsy and, much to my delight, the personage whom I sought appeared in good company, being Cuichelm, one of the West Saxon kings.'' He then gives extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the events connected with Cuichelm from a.d. 611 to 626, when he died. He confesses he can make nothing of Corroi, but ho immediately identifies Cocholyn with Cuichelm, and forthwith removes the date of the composition of the poem from the twelfth to the seventh century. This is a good specimen of the mode in which this kind of criticism is made to tell upon the dates of the poems.
If there is any poem in which we can predicate with certainty of the subject of it, it is this; and if Mr.
RECENT CRITICISM OP HISTORICAL POEMS. 211 Stephens, instead of betaking himself to the Saxon Chronicle, had gone to Ireland for his hero^ he would have been more successfuL Cocholyn is no other than the celebrated Ossianic hero Cuchullin, and Oonoi, son of Dayry, was the head of the knights of Mnnster. They are mentioned together in an old Irish tracts which says, ''This was the cause which brou^t Cuchulain and Curoi son of Daire fix>m Alban to Erin."^ The allusions in the poem are to the events of a legendary tale in which these heroes figure, and there are none to any other events. The poem belongs to a period when there was more intercommunion be- tween the different branches of the British Celts^ and when they had a common property in their early myths.