Y Gododin: A Poem of the Battle of Cattraeth - 1

Y GODODIN

* * * * *
A Poem
ON
THE BATTLE OF CATTRAETH,
BY
ANEURIN,
A WELSH BARD OF THE SIXTH CENTURY,
WITH AN
English Translation,
AND NUMEROUS HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ANNOTATIONS;
* * * * *
BY
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS AB ITHEL, M.A.
RECTOR OF LLANYMOWDDWY, MERIONETHSHIRE.
* * * * *
LLANDOVERY:
PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM REES; LONDON,
LONGMAN, AND CO.
* * * * *
MDCCCLII.
* * * * *
WILLIAM REES, PRINTER, LLANDOVERY.


PREFACE

Aneurin, the author of this poem, was the son of Caw, lord of Cwm
Cawlwyd, or Cowllwg, a region in the North, which, as we learn from a
Life of Gildas in the monastery of Fleury published by Johannes a Bosco,
comprehended Arecluta or Strath Clyde. {0a} Several of his brothers seem
to have emigrated from Prydyn in company with their father before the
battle of Cattraeth, and, under the royal protection of Maelgwn Gwynedd,
to have settled in Wales, where they professed religious lives, and
became founders of churches. He himself, however, remained behind, and
having been initiated into the mysteries of Bardism, formed an intimate
acquaintance with Owen, Cian, Llywarch Hen, and Taliesin, all likewise
disciples of the Awen. By the rules of his order a Bard was not
permitted ordinarily to bear arms, {0b} and though the exceptional case,
in which he might act differently, may be said to have arisen from “the
lawlessness and depredation” {0c} of the Saxons, Aneurin does not appear
to have been present at Cattraeth in any other capacity than that of a
herald Bard. Besides the absence of any intimation to the contrary, we
think the passages where he compares Owen to himself, and where he makes
proposals at the conference, and above all where he attributes his safety
to his “gwenwawd,” conclusive on the subject. His heraldic character
would be recognised by all nations, according to the universal law of
warfare, whereas it is very improbable that any poetic effusion which he
might have delivered, could have influence upon a people whose language
differed so materially from his own.
The Gododin was evidently composed when the various occurrences that it
records were as yet fresh in the author’s mind and recollection. It is
divided into stanzas, which, though they now amount to only ninety-seven,
are supposed to have originally corresponded in point of number with the
chieftains that went to Cattraeth. This is strongly intimated in the
declaration subjoined to Gorchan Cynvelyn, and cited in the notes at page
86, and thence would we infer that the Gorchanau themselves are portions
of the Gododin, having for their object the commemoration of the persons
whose names they bear. Of course all of them, with the exception of the
short one of Adebon, contain passages that have been transposed from
other stanzas, which may account for their disproportionate lengths.
This is especially the case with Gorchan Maelderw, the latter, and by far
the greater portion whereof, is in the Carnhuanawc MS. detached from the
former, and separately entitled “Fragments of the Gododin and other
pieces of the sixth century.” That they were “incantations,” cannot be
admitted; and if the word “gorchan,” or “gwarchan” mean here anything
except simply “a canon, or fundamental part of song,” we should be
inclined to consider it as synonymous with “gwarthan,” and to suppose
that the poems in question referred to the camps of Adebon, Maelderw, and
Cynvelyn:—
“Gwarchan Cynvelyn ar Ododin.” {0d}
According to the tenor of the Cynvelyn statement, every stanza would
bring before us a fresh hero. This principle we have not overlooked in
the discrimination and arrangements of proper names, though owing to
evident omissions and interpolations, an irregularity in this respect
occasionally and of necessity occurs.
Aneurin, like a true poet of nature, abstains from all artful
introduction or invocation, and launches at once into his subject. His
eye follows the gorgeously and distinctively armed chiefs, as they move
at the head of their respective companies, and perform deeds of valour on
the bloody field. He delights to enhance by contrast their domestic and
warlike habits, and frequently recurs to the pang of sorrow, which the
absence of the warriors must have caused to their friends and relatives
at home, and reflects with much genuine feeling upon the disastrous
consequences, that the loss of the battle would entail upon these and
their dear native land. And though he sets forth his subject in the
ornamental language of poetry, yet he is careful not to transgress the
bounds of truth. This is strikingly instanced in the manner in which he
names no less than four witnesses as vouchers for the correctness of his
description of Caradawg. Herein he produces one of the “three agreements
that ought to be in a song,” viz. an agreement “between truth and the
marvellous.” {0e}
He also gives “relish to his song,” {0f} by adopting “a diversity of
structure in the metre;” for the lyric comes in occasionally to relieve
the solemnity of the heroic, whilst at the same time the latter is
frequently capable of being divided into a shorter verse, a plan which
has been observed in one of the MSS. used on the present occasion; e. g.
the twelfth stanza is thus arranged,—
Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth gan ddydd
Neus goreu } gywilydd
O gadeu }
Wy gwnaethant } gelorwydd
Yn geugant }
A llafn aur llawn anawdd ym bedydd
Goreu yw hyn cyn cystlwn carennydd
Ennaint creu } oe henydd
Ac angeu }
Rhag byddin } pan fu ddydd
Wawdodyn }
Neus goreu dan bwylliad neirthiad gwychydd.
But though Aneurin survived the battle of Cattraeth to celebrate the
memory of his less fortunate countrymen in this noble composition, he
also ultimately met with a violent death. The Triads relate that he was
killed by the blow of an axe, inflicted upon his head by Eiddin son of
Einigan, which event was in consequence branded as one of “the three
accursed deeds of the Isle of Britain.” {0g}
His memory, however, lived in the Gododin, and the estimation in which
the poem was held by his successors has earned for him the title of
“medeyrn beirdd,” the king of Bards. Davydd Benvras 1190–1240, prays for
that genius which would enable him
“To sing praises as Aneurin of yore,
The day he sang the Gododin.” {0h}
Risserdyn 1290–1340 in an Ode to Hywel ab Gruffydd speaks of
“A tongue with the eloquence of Aneurin of splendid song.” {0i}
And Sevnyn 1320–1378 asserts that
“The praise of Aneurin is proclaimed by thousands.” {0j}
Such is the language in which the mediæval Bards were accustomed to talk
of the author of the Gododin.
The basis of the present translation is a MS. on vellum apparently of
about the year 1200. In that MS. the lines are all written out to the
margin, without any regard to the measure. Capital letters are never
introduced but at the beginning of paragraphs, where they are ornamented
and coloured alternately red and green. At page 20 Gwilym Tew and Rhys
Nanmor {0k} are mentioned as the owners of the Book, but the names are
written in a hand, and with letters more modern than the MS. It at one
time belonged to Mr. Jones the Historian of Brecknockshire, and came
latterly into the possession of the late Rev. T. Price, with whose
Executrix, Mrs. E. Powell of Abergavenny, it now remains. The author of
the Celtic Researches took a transcript of it, which he communicated to
the Rev. W. J. Rees, of Cascob, who had previously copied the said
transcript by the permission of the Rev. E. Davies. Mr. Rees’s copy was
afterwards collated by Dr. Meyer with Mr. Davies’s transcript, and the
only inaccuracy which had crept in was by him carefully corrected. Dr.
Meyer again transcribed Mr. Rees’s copy for the use of the present work,
and that version in its turn has been collated by Mr. Rees, during the
progress of the work through the press, with the transcript in his
possession. To these two gentlemen the translator is under deep
obligations.
Also to Mr. Owen Williams of Waunfawr, for the loan of three other
manuscript copies of the Gododin. Two of them occur in the same book,
which purports to have been a transcript made by the Rev. David Ellis,
the first part, A.D. 1775 of an old book, the second part, June 7, 1777,
of a book supposed to have been written by Sion Brwynog about the year
1550. In these versions the stanzas are not divided. The third version
appears in a book containing a variety of poems and articles in prose, of
which, however, the writer or copyist is not known, though one “Davydd
Thomas” is mentioned in a poor modern hand as being the owner. Our poem
is therein headed “Y Gododin. Aneurin ae cant. Gydâ nodau y Parchedig
Evan Evans.” These “nodau” are marginal notes, and evidently the
different readings of another version.
The different copies or versions used are distinguished as follow;—
Myvyrian 1 E. Evans 5
D. Ellis 2 P. Panton 6
Ditto 3 E. Davies 7
D. Thomas 4 Dr. Meyer 8
Nos 1 and 6 are those which are printed in the Archaiology of Wales, vol.
i. All words that differ in form or meaning, though not in orthography,
from those of No. 7, are duly arranged at the foot of the page {0l}, from
which it will be seen that 1, 2, 3, 5, generally agree one with the
other, whilst 4 and 6 also for the most part go together.
It is to be observed, moreover, that though we have taken No. 7 as our
text, we have not servilely confined ourself to it, but that wherever any
of the other versions have been considered preferable, we have
unhesitatingly adopted them. The different meanings, however, are
generally inserted in the notes.


INTRODUCTION

The country situate between the Humber and the Clyde in North Britain
was, for the most part, originally occupied by the Cymry, who here, as
well as in the west, displayed no mean valour in opposition to the Roman
arms. The latter certainly prevailed; nevertheless it is to be noticed
that they did not finally destroy, nor indeed to any material extent
alter the national features of Prydyn. This is evident from the manner
in which the conquerors thought fit to incorporate into their own
geographical vocabulary many of the local names, which they found already
in use; and above all from the purely ancestral character which the
native chieftains exhibited on emerging from the Roman ruins in the fifth
century. Indeed to permit the defeated princes, under certain
restrictions, to enjoy their former rights and jurisdictions, was
perfectly in accordance with the usual policy of the Romans, as we may
learn from the testimony of Tacitus, who remarks, in reference to the
British king Cogidunus, that they granted to him certain states according
to ancient custom, and the reason assigned is that they might have even
kings as instruments of slavery. {1a} The homage of the subjugated
provinces seems to have consisted principally in the payment of a tribute
of money, and the furnishing of soldiers for foreign service.
Such, no doubt, was the position of Cunedda Wledig, who “began to reign
about A.D. 328, and died in 389”; {1b} and who, according to the Historia
Britonum attributed to Nennius, “venerat de parte sinistrali, id est, de
regione quæ vocatur Manau Guotodin,” {1c} the heights of Gododin, and the
same apparently with the territory of the Ottadeni.
In the Myvyrian Archaiology, v. 1, p. 71, is printed an Elegy on Cunedda,
the work of one who had actually partaken of his royal munificence, who
had received from him “milch cows, horses, wine, oil, and a host of
slaves.” The writer with respect to the martial prowess of his patron,
observes,
“Trembling with fear of Cunedda,
Will be Caer Weir and Caer Liwelydd.”
And again,
“A hundred times ere his shield was shattered in battle,
Bryneich obeyed his commands in the conflict.”
The modern names of the localities, mentioned in these extracts, are
respectively Warwick, Carlisle {2a} and Bernicia. The two latter are in
the immediate vicinity of the Ottadeni; the former, being further
removed, would indicate the direction and extent of his arms.
From other sources we learn that Cunedda was the son of Edeyrn ab Padarn
Peisrudd, by Gwawl, daughter of Coel Godebog, and that he was entitled,
in right of his mother, to certain territories in Wales. When these were
invaded by the Gwyddyl, his sons, twelve in number, left their northern
home for the purpose of recovering the same, in which they were
successful, though the enemy was not finally extirpated until the battle
at Cerrig y Gwyddyl, in the succeeding generation. It is asserted by
some that Cunedda accompanied his sons in this expedition, and that it
was undertaken as much through inability to retain possession of their
more immediate dominions, as from the desire of acquiring or regaining
other lands. However, though the sons settled in Wales and on its
borders, it is more accordant with the drift of the Poem, already cited,
to suppose that Cunedda himself died in the North. Nevertheless, it is
undoubted that the native chieftains began to suffer in that part of the
island from barbarian incursions even before the departure of the Romans.
Thus Ammianus Marcellinus, with reference to the year 364, bears
testimony, that “the Picts and Saxons and Scots and Attacots harassed the
Britons with continual oppressions.” {2b}
The final abandonment of the island by the Romans occurred, according to
Zosimus, about A.D. 408 or 409, at which time the native princes arose to
the full enjoyment of feudal dignity and power. In the North, among
others, we find Pabo Post Prydain, a descendant of Coel Godebog in the
4th degree, and Cynvarch Oer, a member of another branch of the same
family; both of whom, however, were compelled by the inroads of the
predatory hordes, to leave their territories and seek refuge in Wales,
though it would appear that Urien, son of the latter, succeeded
subsequently in recovering his paternal dominion.
The struggle continued, and the enemies had gradually extended themselves
along the coasts, when in 547 they received an important reinforcement by
the arrival of Ida with forty ships. Gododin, Deivyr, and Bryneich,
being situated on the eastern shore, would be especially exposed to the
ravages of these marauders. Indeed it does not appear that Gododin ever
recovered its pristine independence after the death of Cunedda, at least
we do not hear that any of his sons subsequently asserted their claims to
it, or had anything to do with the administration of its government: they
all seem to have ended their days in their western dominions. Deivyr and
Bryneich, however, were more fortunate, for we find that they were ruled
as late as the 6th century by British monarchs, among whom are named
Gall, Diffedell, and Disgyrnin, the sons of Disgyvyndawd; {3a} though
there is reason to believe that at that time they were in treacherous
alliance with the Saxons. A Triad positively affirms, that “there were
none of the Lloegrwys who did not coalesce with the Saxons, save such as
were found in Cornwall, and in the Commot of Carnoban in Deivyr and
Bryneich.” {3b} And it is a remarkable fact, as corroborative of this
statement, that the Cymry ever after, as may be seen in the works of the
Bards, applied the term Bryneich to such of their kindred as joined with
the enemies of their country.
Certain it is, that, at the period of our Poem, the people of the three
provinces in question were open enemies of the Cymry, as appears from
stanzas iii, v, and ix. When we see there how the Bard commends one hero
for not yielding to the army of Gododin, and celebrates the praise of
another who committed an immense slaughter amongst the men of Deivyr and
Bryneich, and threatens, in the case of a third party, that if they were
suspected of leaning to the Bernician interest, he would himself raise
his hand against them, we can come to no other conclusion than that those
countries were arrayed against the Cymry when the battle of Cattraeth
took place.
Ida had to encounter a powerful opponent in the person of Urien, king of
Rheged, a district in or near which Cattraeth lay, as we infer from two
poems of Taliesin. Thus, one entitled “Gwaith Gwenystrad,” commences
with the words,
“Extol the men of Cattraeth, who, with the dawn,
Went with their victorious leader
Urien, a renowned elder.” {3c}
In the other, called “Yspail Taliesin,” Urien is styled “Glyw Cattraeth,”
the ruler of Cattraeth. {4a} At the same time he is generally spoken of
under the title of Rheged’s chief.
The leader of the hostile forces in the battle of Gwenystrad is not
named, but in the battle of Argoed Llwyvein we find him to be Flamddwyn
or the Torch bearer, a name by which the Britons delighted to designate
the formidable Ida. Flamddwyn’s army on this occasion consisted of four
legions, which reached from Argoed to Arvynydd, and against them were
arrayed the men of Goddeu and Rheged, under the command of Ceneu ab Coel,
and Owain, and “Urien the prince.”
Argoed, bordering on Deivyr and Bryneich, was ruled by Llywarch Hen, who
after his abdication and flight into Powys, pathetically records the
loyal attachment of his former subjects,—
“The men of Argoed have ever supported me.” {4b}
The Historia Britonum enumerates three other kings, who with Urien fought
against the Saxons in the North, viz., Rhydderch, Gwallawg, and Morgant,
though the latter, under the impulse of envy, procured the assassination
of Urien, in the Isle of Lindisfarne.
After the Saxons had finally established themselves on the eastern coast,
in the forementioned countries, an immense rampart, extending nearly from
the Solway to the Frith of Forth, was erected, either with the view of
checking their further progress westward, or else by mutual consent of
the two nations, as a mere line of demarcation between their respective
dominions. This wall cannot have an earlier date, for it runs through
the middle of the country originally occupied by the Gadeni, and could
not of course have been constructed as a boundary by them; nor can it be
referred to a more recent period, as there could be no reason for forming
such a fence after the Saxons had intruded upon the whole country which
it divides. This was the famous CATRAIL, which we presume to be
identical with CATTRAETH, where the disastrous battle of that name, as
sung by Aneurin, was fought.
Catrail means literally “the war fence” (cad-rhail), but on the
supposition that it is synonymous with Cattraeth, the rhyme in the
Gododin would determine the latter to be the correct term, or that by
which Aneurin distinguished the line. The meaning of Cattraeth would be
either “the war tract” (cad-traeth), or “the legal war fence”
(cad-rhaith); the latter of which would give some countenance to the idea
that it was formed by mutual agreement.
The whole course of the Catrail, which may be traced from the vicinity of
Galashiels to Peel-fell, is upwards of forty five miles. The most entire
parts of it show that it was originally a broad and deep fosse; having on
each side a rampart, which was formed of the natural soil, that was
thrown from the ditch, intermixed with some stones. Its dimensions vary
in different places, which may be owing to its remains being more or less
perfect. In those parts where it is pretty entire, the fosse is twenty
seven, twenty six, and twenty five feet broad. But in those places where
the rampart has been most demolished the fosse only measures twenty two
and a half feet, twenty and eighteen, and in one place only sixteen feet
wide. As the ramparts sloped on the inside, it is obvious that in
proportion as they were demolished, the width of the fosse within would
be diminished. In some of the most entire parts the ramparts are from
six to seven, and even nine or ten feet high, and from eight to ten and
twelve feet thick. They are, no doubt, less now than they were
originally, owing to the effects of time and tillage. {5a}
Such is the Catrail, and were it identical with Cattraeth, we should
naturally expect to meet with some allusions to a work of that
description in the body of the Poem. Nor are we herein disappointed, for
the expressions “ffosawd,” {5b} “clawdd,” {5c} “ffin,” {5d} “cladd
clodvawr,” {5e} “goglawdd,” {5f} “clawdd gwernin,” {5g} and “gorffin
Gododin,” {5h} are undoubtedly such allusions, though we readily admit
that some of them may, and probably do, refer to the ordinary circular
forts of the Britons, of whom there are several along the line. It may
be added here that Taliesin in his description of the battle of
Gwenystrad, where the men of Cattraeth fought under Urien, speaks of a
“govwr” or an intrenchment, that was “assailed by the laborious toil of
warriors.”
Having thus satisfied ourselves as to the nature and locality of
Cattraeth; the general subject of the Poem becomes apparent. It was a
battle fought at the barrier in question between the Cymry and the
Saxons, the most extended in its design and operations on the part of the
former, as it proved to them the most disastrous in its results, of all
that had hitherto taken place between the two people in that part of the
island.
The details of this bloody encounter, as we gather them from the Poem,
were as follow: At the call of Mynyddawg, lord of Eiddin, whose dominions
lay peculiarly exposed, both by sea and land, to the attack of the enemy,
the native chieftains of Prydyn, aided by many of their relatives and
friends from Gwynedd and Cernyw, entered into a mutual alliance in behalf
of their common country. {6a} In one place the daughter of Eudav {6b} is
joined with Mynyddawg, as one upon whose errand the expedition was
undertaken, but whether she was his wife, or ruled over a territory
adjacent to, or equally threatened with his own, does not appear. The
troops under their respective leaders arrived at Eiddin, where they were
sumptuously entertained by Mynyddawg, {6c} and where they established
their head quarters. The generals named in the Poem amount in number to
about ninety, but this was not the third part of the whole, which
consisted of “three hundred and sixty three chieftains wearing the golden
torques.” {6d} The aggregate number of men that followed these
illustrious leaders is not told, but if an average may be formed from
what we know respecting a few cases, it will appear to have been immense.
Mynyddawg’s retinue consisted of “three hundred;” {6e} there were “five
battalions of five hundred men each,” “three levies of three hundred
each;” “three bold knights” had each “three hundred of equal quality;”
{6f} thus averaging about four hundred for each commander, which,
multiplied by three hundred and sixty three, would exhibit an
overwhelming army of a hundred and forty five thousand, and two hundred
men! Yet the Poet describes the numerical advantages possessed by the
enemy as greatly superior.
These forces, being all placed on the western side of the dyke, would
approach the land of their enemies as they marched to the field of
battle, hence the reason why Aneurin uses the expressions “Gwyr a aeth
Gattraeth,” and “Gwyr a aeth Gododin,” as synonymous.
The enemies, as before observed, were the Saxons, aided on this occasion
by many of the Lloegrians, namely, such of the natives as had submitted
to their sway in the provinces they had already conquered. They
concentrated their forces in Gododin, and marched westward in the
direction of the great fence, where the Britons were awaiting them.
Aneurin has not thought fit to record the names of any of their generals,
with the single exception of Dyvnwal Vrych, {7a} who, to entitle him to
that distinction, must have figured prominently on the field of battle.
The engagement commenced on a Tuesday, and continued for a whole week,
the last four days being the most bloody. {7b} For some time both
parties fought gallantly, and with almost equal success; fortune perhaps
upon the whole appearing to favour the Cymry, who not only slew a vast
number of their adversaries, but partially succeeded in recovering their
lost dominions. {7c} At this critical juncture a dwarfish herald arrived
at the fence, proposing on the part of the Saxons a truce or compact,
which, however, was indignantly rejected by the natives, and the action
renewed. {7d} The scales now rapidly turned. In one part of the field
such a terrible carnage ensued, that there was but one man left to scare
away the birds of prey, which hovered over the carcases of the slain.
{7e} In another, where our Bard was stationed, a portion of the allied
army, owing to the absence of its general, became panic stricken. {7f}
Aneurin was taken prisoner, hurried off to a cave or dungeon, and loaded
with chains. {7g} At length a conference was submitted to, which was
held at a place called Llanveithin, at which Aneurin, who had been
forcibly liberated by one of the sons of Llywarch Hen, insisted upon the
restoration of part of Gododin, or the alternative of continuing the
fight. The Saxon herald met the proposal by killing the British Bard
Owain, who was of course unarmed. {7h} Such a violation of privilege
excited then the whole energies of the Cymry, who rose as one man, and
gave the entire scene a more bloody character than it had yet presented.
Victory, however, at length proclaimed in favour of the usurpers, and so
decisively, that out of the three hundred and sixty three chieftains that
went to the field of Cattraeth, three only returned alive, Cynon, and
Cadreith, and Cadlew of Cadnant, besides Aneurin himself. {7i} The
number of common soldiers that fell must be conjectured.
We have said that the battle commenced on a Tuesday; it would appear from
two passages, namely, where the meeting of reapers in the hall of Eiddin,
{7j} and the employment of Gwynwydd in protecting the corn on the
highlands, {8a} are spoken of, that the time of year in which it occurred
was the harvest.
It is not, however, so easy to determine the exact year when all this
happened. Neither Arthur nor Urien are mentioned as being present, and
though the stanzas containing their names may have been lost, it must be
admitted that in the case of such distinguished warriors reason will not
warrant the supposition: the fair inference would be that they were dead
at the time. This view is, moreover, supported by readings of the
Gododin, where certain heroes are compared to the said chiefs
respectively, “of Arthur,” “un Urien,” which would hardly have been done
had these latter been alive. The death of Arthur is placed in the year
542; Owain, who died at Cattraeth, slew Ida, A.D. 560, and Urien is said
to have been assassinated about 567; the battle under consideration must
have happened subsequently, probably about the year usually assigned it,
viz., 570. This was in the reign of Rhun, a descendant in the 4th degree
of Cunedda Wledig, King of Gododin!
The vulgar opinion is that the Britons lost the battle in consequence of
having marched to the field in a state of intoxication; and it must be
admitted that there are many passages in the Poem, which, simply