The Welsh Nonconformists' memorial; or, Cambro-British biography; containing sketches of the founders of the Protestant dissenting interest in Wales. To which are prefixed, an essay on Druidism, and introduction of the Gospel into Britain. With an Appendix, including the author's minor pieces and his last views of the Christian religion

Front matter

I /a f-

A

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Dedication

work illustrative of the ecclesiastical anti¬ quities of the Principality. The subsequent s Volume shews what had been accomplished.

It is at length, with its final corrections, pre¬ sented to the Public, who will please to re¬ collect, that had Providence permitted him to complete his plan, '(a circumstance which, in humble submission to the will of God, was the subject of prayer during his last illness,) imperfections, at present discernible, would never have appeared. Posthumous productions are received with candour. A discerning Pubdic is not wanting in liberality.

The Essay on Druid ism, the religion of ' bur primitive ancestors, had been written out neatly for the press, and will, my dear Sir, attract attention. Its priests, with their at¬ tendants, are thus picturesquely pourtrayed by a modern poet :

Preface

xix authenticity of certain Welsh Poems. Among other curious specimens take the following, by a princely Bard, Owen CyfeUloc, Prince of Powis, who flou¬ rished in the 12th Century. Shall I be pardoned if I digress awhile,” (says Mr. T.,) to insert the passage in a close translation. To enhance the com¬ pliment which he is going to pay, he threatens death to his Cup-hearer if he execute his ofiice unskil- {” _

Fill, Cup-hearer, seek not death,

Fill the horn of honour at our banquets,

The long blue horn of high privilege of ancient silver.

That covers it not sparingly.

Bear to Tudyr Eagle of slaughter,

A prime beverage of florid wine !

Thy head shall be the forfeit if there come not in The most delicious mead

To the hand of Moreidigg, encourager of songs—

May they become old in fame before they leave us !

Ye blameless brothers of aspiring souls.

Of dauntless ardour that would grasp even fire ;

Heroes, what services ye have achieved for me !

Not old disgustingly but old in skill.

Unwearied rushing wolves of battle !

First in the crimson’d ranks of bleeding pikes.

Brave leaders of the Mochnantians from Powys—

The prompt ones in every need.

Who rescue their borders from violence ;

Praise is your meed most amiable pair !

Ah, the cry of death ! and do I miss them !

Ah ! Christ, how I mourn the catastrophe !

O ! lost Moreidigg, how greatly shall I need thee !

XX

PREFACE.

But there is a long didactic Poem in the third l^olume of a valuable work, the Cambrian Regis¬ ter, to which Dr. Richards wrote the Introduction.* It is the production of Cadog the Wise, who was also styled Saint Cadog, Abbot of Llancarfan, son of Gwynlliw, Lord of Gwynllwg, one of the principa¬ lities of ancient Glamorgan, extending from the Taf to the Usk. He was the eldest son, (one of Prince Arthur’s Knights,) but would not accept of tke government, which was his inheritance, because he chose rather to devote himself to the pursuits of knowledge and religion. The Poem is long, but a few stanzas shall be introduced. It is a literal trans¬ lation from the Welsh language, in which the entire effusion is remarkable for its sentiment and beauty : —

There is nothing easy but to see truth.

Tliere is nothing difficult but to find truth.

ITiere is nothing wise but to love the truth.

There is no man intelligent but he that knows the truth.

There is no man a hero but he that will speak the truth.

There is no man a friend but he that will shew the truth.

There is no man an enemy but he that counterfeits the truth.

There is no wonder but that men should admit the truth.

There is nothing more frequent than for men to praise the truth.

There is nothing more rare than for men to seek the truth.

There is nothing more unusual than to hear the truth.

* Sold by E. Williams, bookseller to the Duke and Duchess of York, in the Strand.

PREFACE.

XXI

It is never too far to go for -what is necessary.

It is never too long to wait for what is good.

It is never too much that you do for God ;

Never too little the trust you put in the world.

Knowledge is never too high to reach to.

Wliat is just can never he done too often.

Mercy can never he shewn too much.

Truth can never he stuck too firmly to.

You can never he too ready to do good.

You can never too carefully guard against pride.

You can never too carefully guard against avaiice.

It is never too hard to die for what is tnie and just.

It is never too late to obey God !

The two next stanzas that shall be transcribed are equally singular, but of a more religious cast : —

There can he no virtue without love.

No love without liking,

No liking without choice.

No choice without heauty.

No heauty without decency,

No decency without nature.

No nature without sense.

No sense without consideration,

No consideration without benefit,

No benefit without good.

No good without God,

Therefore,

No Virtue but from God !

Without feeling — ^without sense,

Without sense — without understanding.

Without understanding — without reflection,

Without reflection — without knowledge.

Without knowledge— without patience.

XXll

PREFACE.

Without patience— without instruction.

Without instruction — without virtue.

Without virtue — without God,

Without God — without every thing !*

This Cambro-British Bard may have derived his sentiments partly from the Book of Proverbs, and partly from his own observations on men and man¬ ners. It indicates a degree of intellectual and moral improvement, honourable to the Principality, Some writers, however, take a pleasure in representing the inhabitants of Wales at this period as sunk in the depths of ignorance and barbarity.

Stonehenge on Salisbury Plains, mentioned in the Essay on Drmdism, (whose vignette by a promising young artist, Mr. Bonner, decorates the title-page,) the Editor hath visited. Indeed his account of that stupendous monument of Druidical superstition, with its appendages, has been published. It is to be found (pp, 123 — 127) in the, fourth edition of his Juvenile Tourist. — It will edify the young reader, and shall be transribed.

‘^We now posted forwards (July 1799) to Salis¬ bury Plain, those immense downs where the stranger without a guide w ould be bewildered. We drove to the spot where stands Stonehenge, the most sin-

* See the Words of Wisdom, or the Beauties of Solomon and others, intended as a Guide for Youth, by Gabriel Watts, It is a judicious selection, adapted to inform the minds and improve the morals of the rising generation.

PREFACE.

xxm gular curiosity in the kingdom. Here quitting the carriage^ we gazed at the pile with astonishment ! Whence these vast stones were brought hither 3 what could be the mode of conveyance, and to what pur¬ poses the structure was appropriated, are questions not easily resolved. Every effect must have an adequate cause — hence the learning employed by antiquarians on the subject.

As to the appearance of Stonehenge, seventeen huge stones are now standing, which, with several others lying on the ground, form the outward circle. The inward circle is about eight feet from the out¬ ward, having eleven stones standing and eight fallen. Between these two circles is a walk about three hun^ dred feet in circumference. The stones are from eighteen to twenty feet in height, from six to seven broad, and about three feet in thickness ! The original structure was encompassed by a trench, over which were three entrances. It is most probably the relic of A Druidical Temple ! In the reign of Henry the Eighth a tin tablet was found here inscribed with strange characters. This has been lost 3 had it been retained and understood it might have elucidated this venerable monument of antiquity.

Dr. Stukely, who, about half a century ago, visited Stonehenge, .in company with Lord Winchelsea, observed half a mile north of it, and across the valley, a hippodrome or horsecourse. It is included between two ditches, running parallel east and >vest 350 feet xxiv

PREFACE.

asunder^ and 100^000 feet long. The Barrotvs round THIS MONUMENT ai’O numerous and remarkable, being generally bell-fashion, yet there is great variety in their diameters and their manner o-f composition. These were single sepulchres, as appeared from many that were opened. On the west side of one was an emtire segment, made from centre to circumference. It was good earth quite through, except a coat of chalk, of about two feet thick, covering it quite over under the turf. Hence appears the manner of making these Barrows, which was to dig up the turf for a great way round till the Barrow was brought to its intended bulk, then with the chalk dug out of the surrounding ditch they powdered it all over ! At the centre was found a skeleton perfect, of a rea¬ sonable size, and with the head lying northward. On opening a double harrow the composition was thus : after the turf was taken off there appeared a layer of chalk, an^ then fine garden mould. About three feet below the surface was a layer of flints humouring the convexity of the barrotc. This, being a foot thick, rested on a layer of soft mould, in which was inclosed an URN full of bones ! The urn was of unbaked clay of a dark reddish colour, and crumbled into pieces. It had been rudely wrought with small mouldings round the verge and other circular channels on the outside. The bones had been burnt, though the collar bone, and one side of the under jaw were entire. There was a large quantity of female orna-

PREFACE.

XXV ments mixed with the bones as beads of divers colours, many of them amber, with holes to string them, and many of the button sort were covered with metal.

Stonehenge has lately undergone an alteration, part of it having about three years ago fallen to the earth. We saw and conversed with some shepherd boys, who were loitering around the pile, and from whom we learnt, that the fall occasioned a concussion of the ground ! This must have been expected, and it excited among persons in its vicinity, no small astonishment. The following sonnet hath interwoven the sentiments of the learned on the subject, written at Stonehenge :

Thou noblest monument of Albion’s isle,

Whether by Merlin's aid from Scythia’s shore.

To Amber’s fatal plain Pendragon bore,

Huge frame of giant-hands, the mighty pile,

'r entomb his Britons slain by Hengist’s guile.

Or Druid priests sprinkled with human gore.

Taught ’mid thy massy maze their mystic lore ;

To victory’s idol vast, an unknown shrine,

Rear’d the rude heap, or in thy hallow’d round Repose the kings of Brutus' genuine line ;

Or here those kings in solemn state were crown’d. Studious to trace thy wondrous origin.

We muse on many an ancient tale renown’d I

Warton.

^ These ruins are in their appearance peculiarly solemn, and their isolated situation in the midst of an

a

XXVl

PREFACE.

immense plain heightens the sensations with which they are contemplated —

Was it a spirit on yon shapeless pile ?

It wore, methought, an ancient Druid’s form,

M using on ancient days ! The dying storm.

Moan’d in his lifted locks — thou night ! the while Dost listen to his sad harp’s wild complaint.

Mother of shadow's, as to thee he pours The broken strain, and plaintively deplores Tlie fall of Druid fame ! Hark ! murmurs faint Breathe on the weary air, and now more loud Swells the deep dirge, accustomed to complain Of holy rites unpaid, and of the crowd Whose careless steps these sacred haunts profane ;

O’er the wild plain the hurrying tempest flies.

And ’mid the storm unheard, the song of sorrow' dies !

Lovell.

The architectural phenomelioti of Stonehenge is confessedly the most interesting relic of antiquity, by by which Britain stands distinguished.”

Dr. E. D.Clarke in his truly classical Travels through various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa, has this paragraph, still further explanatory of the subject. Speaking of Russia, (Vol. I., octavo edition, page 276,) this distinguished traveller says, Throughout the whole of the country are seen dispersed over IMMENSE PLAINS, mounds of earth, covered with a fine turf, the sepulchres of the ancient world common to almost every habitable country 1 If there exist any thing of former times, which may afford monu¬ ments of primeval manners, it is this mode of burial.

PEEFACE. XXvii

They seem to mark the progress of mankind in the first ages after the dispersion^ rising wherever the posterity of Noah came. Whether under the form of a Mound in Scandinavia_, in Russia, or in North America j a Barrow in England 3 a Cairn in Wales, ill Scotland, and in Ireland 3 or of those Heaps which the modern Greeks and Turks call Tepe 3 or, lastly, in the more artificial shape of Pyramid, in Egypt 3 they had universally the same origin. They present the simplest and sublimest monuments that any generation of men could raise over the bodies of their forefathers, being calculated for almost endless duration, and speaking a language more impressive than the most studied epitaph upon Parian marble. When beheld in a distant evening horizon, skirted by the rays of the setting sun, and, as it were, touching the clouds which hover over them — imagi¬ nation represents the spirits of departed Heroes as descending to irradiate a warrior’s grave !” *

The Rev. Mr. Davies, the erudite author of Celtic Researches, and also of the Mythology of the British Druids, is of opinion that Stonehenge and Silbury Hill, are two of three works alluded to in a Welsh Triad, constituting the greatest labours of the island of Britain, viz. Lifting the stone ofKetti3 building

* See the Journal of a Tour into the Territory North- JVest of the Alleghany Mountains, by Thaddeus Mason Harris, Boston, 1805, for a very curious account of the Sepulchral Mounds in America, the history of which is lost, as the Author expresses it, “ in the oblivion of ages !”

XXVlll

PREFACE.

the work of Emrys_, and piling the Mount of the Assemblies !” That Stonehenge is a Druidical structure_, this elaborate inquirer entertains no doubt.

This is evident/’ says he^ from the language in which it was described, and the great veneration in which it was held by the primitive Bards, those immediate descendants aiid avowed disciples of the British Druids. As the great sanctuary of the do^ minion, or metropolitan temple of our Heathen ancestors, so complete in its plan, and constructed upon such a multitude of astronomical calculations, we find it was not exclusively dedicated to the Sun, the Moon, Saturn, or any other individual object of superstition j but it was a kind of Pantheon, in which all the Arkite and Sabian divinities of British Theology were supposed to have been present j for we perceive Noe and Hu, the deified Patriarch 5 Elphin and Rheiddin, the Sun 3 Eseye, Isis 5 Ked Ceres, with the cell of her sacred fire 5 Llyvy, Pro* serpine 3 Gwydien, Hermes 3 Budd, Victory 3 and several others.”

For the various opinions entertained respecting the origin and design of Stonehenge, the reader is referred by the Editor to an account of it in the CvcLOPiEDiA, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sci¬ ences, and Literature, by his friend Dr. Abraham Rees, whose talents and virtues reflect an honour upon his native Principality. The work, just com¬ pleted, is in itself a library ! The article Stonehenge, replete with information, is drawn up by John Britton,

PREFACE.

XXIX

F. A. S., with his accustomed judgment and accu¬ racy. — The young reader will be much gratified by Dr. Thomas Rees’s History of South JVales, an interesting portion of the Principality. It forms a part of the Beauties of England and TV lies, a work of acknowledged celebrity.

The Rev. John Lingard, a Catholic clergyman^ in his new and interesting History of England, (three quarto Volumes,) gives an account . of the Druids and. their Religion, confirmatory of the Sketch presented in the subsequent work. — A modern poet has thus faithfully delineated Stonehenge and the purposes to which it was appropriated : —

Now in the midst they stand of that huge space Long sought, encircled by the tow’ring tree,

Strew’d with tall stones time-mould’ring, some uprais’d To tow’ring eminence erect, some bent By the age-lengthen’d storm, some beam-like thrown With pow’r miraculous from point to point,

Olf ’ring beneath their vast unfolded arms An ample sweep of sky ; ’neath which in years Long past that border’d on the flood, remov’d From periods well defin’d and chronicled.

By watchful man invoking Deity,

With spotless vest the Druid Priest pass’d on.

And his attendant multitudes, to pay ’fheir solemn but mistaken rites to him Who fills the Universe, and hath declar’d,

That his abode is in the upright heart and pure !

Savage of faith, his victim man not else In a benighted world, farthest from night.

a 2

XXX

PREFACE.

Here, in the centre of this hallow’d spot,

With throbbing breast and sore anxiety,

Llyrarch’s return the trembling Bards await.

He hastens, with the falchion steep’d in gore I As the huge host of fierce and warlike men Came from the forest — lo ! the Bards their harps Rais’d, and, one knee on earth, pour’d forth their song ; When such a concert burst into the sky.

Of solemn notes and solemn harmony.

As when Niagara in all his pride.

After a year of storms o’er his huge crags Plunges impetuous, and with warring winds Holds stately concord ! but the crash of sounds That the rade bands made, instantaneous pause ;

Whilst Venables and Talbot wish’d themselves (In the misgivings of a heart unsound)

Far off from scenes of such unfathom’d power.

The person of the Bard is then described, together with the overwhelming energy of his song :

Llyi’arch approach’d with eager confidence Tow’rd the assembled Bards — thus he began :

“ Behold your friends !”— -ere he could utter more.

Old Caradoc, in his exuberant joy

To find that they were friends whom foes he deem’d.

Seiz’d his near harp, and towards hostile bands Hasten’d with heart o’erflowing. ' His white beard In graceful curls hung pendant on his chest.

His tow’ring head was bare, his eye serene.

In conscious dignity ! His furrow’d brow Spake sense matur’d, and thought that div’d profound Into mysterious things ! His shoulder bore A flowing mantle ! Round his loins a cord Bound the loose robe ; and toward the English chief

PREFACE.

XXXI

Sedate he strode, all eyes beholding him !

Full in the general gaze he rais’d his harp.

And those who scorn’d his song, listen’d perforce :

No choice was theirs — dumb, motionless they stand —

Hail, ye sons of valour, hail !

Come and learn our mystic lore ;

Welcome to this forest pale.

Where the Druid dwelt of yore.

Mona’s Bards with harp and song Here have found a peaceful home ;

And ’mid concords loud and long.

They have here a compact made With the harp and woodland shade I

Heroes ! long to glory known.

Late in the tumultuous hour,

Tho’ not to idol terrors prone,

We saw our tranquil zenith lower —

Now disdaining fears that were.

We the peaceful olive wave :

In the moment of despair

We forgot that you were brave !

Welcome to this forest pale.

Sons of war and valour hail ! *

In a Tour round North TValeSy performed during the Summer of 1798, by the Rev. W. Bingley, B. A., F. L. S., of St. Peter’s College, Cambridge, will be found curious particulars respecting the TVelsh Bards and the Welsh Language j — an author of ability and

* The Fall of Cambria^ in Twenty-four Books, by Joseph Cottle. Two Volumes. Second Edition. His Alfred is a pleasing poem, highly interesting to the rising generation.

XXXll

PREFACE.

information. Specimens of Welsh Music are given, whose sweet sounds have for ages rung from side to side,” throughout the ancient Principality !

The Editor will not any longer trespass on the patience of the reader — by detaining him from the perusal of the following pages, where his curiosity will be gratified. Happy, indeed, does the Author of the Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Dk. William Richards esteem himself in having had it in his power to rescue from oblivion a work, which, by its research into the antiquities as well as eccle¬ siastical history of Wales, redounds to the credit of his native land —

On these well-known lines, the declaration of Cicero forms the best comment : — So powerful is the love of one's country, that Ulysses, the wisest of the Greeks, preferred his Ithaca, fixed like a nest upon rocks, to the enjoyment of immortality!”

Islington,

Contents

Page

Dedication . iii

Preface. . xvii