in contemplation, if the gentleman who proposes it meet with due encouragement. The history of Monmouthshire and Brecknockshire we have from able hands; and the Historical Tour through Pembrokeshire, by Mr. Fenton, is no mean performance, any more than the History of Cardiganshire by Mr. Meyrick. But when shall we have a history of the interesting county of Glamorgan? I am, Sir, your's truly,

IEUAN AP BRYCHAN.

THE MISCELLANIST.-No. XIII.

MODERN STATE OF WALES.

To the EDITOR of the CAMBRO-Briton.

Sir,--In a work, like your Miscellany, devoted to the promotion of Cambrian Literature, it will not be deemed, I presume, inappropriate to offer some remarks on the present state of the Principality. The crude notions, advanced too frequently respecting poor Cambria even by men of some emience, it is hoped, are now pretty well exploded, and that her sons in general are not now to be treated with such contempt, as to make a respectable Cambrian “ hide his diminished head" at the mention of this country's name, when he finds himself at a distance from home. An Anglo-Saxon friend of mine once observed, as he thought very shrewdly, that, as the Welsh are made little of by other people, they take care to make the most they can of themselves. I wish there were more truth in the remark, as it has respect to those of the sons of Cambria, who are capable of doing honour to their native land. There are certain views of the subject, that would induce us to wish all distinctions done away and to blend in one all the inhabitants of the British Isles in matters of general literature as well as politics and civilization. But why should not Wales as well as Scotland have some institutions of her own, to distinguish her sons, by calling forth their talent and genius, and embodying whatever may give dignity to the descendants of the primordial Britons ? There can be no doubt that many

will fol. low, if spirited individuals continue to lead the way; and what more auspicious names can there be, than Bishop Burgess, Lord Dynevor, and Sir Watkin William Wynn ? The ancient institutions, recently revived, will soon afford convincing proofs, hat the genius of former days is not extinguished, while we

a

done may

endeavour both to cherish a regard for the institutions of our ancestors, and to cultivate compositions in the modern language of the British empire relative to our national traditions and remains. Let all ancient prejudices of a hostile nature be buried in eternal oblivion, while the Cambrian is gratified in preserving the historical and poetical relics of his ancestors, and encourag. ing modern genius and native talent. We may thus emancipate ourselves, and enforce our claims to the respect due to the country of Pennant, and of Johnes. The project of a Cambrian Plutarch is in connexion with my subject, and, it is hoped, will not be abandoned. But it is not the literary cultivation of Wales only that I plead for, but the efforts of native genius in every shape and form that can conduce either to ornament or utility. Let the agriculture and the mechanic arts of Cambria meet with due encouragement, and iet the advantages of our interesting country be duly improved. What has been already

. be extended to other instances. The iron works of Glamorgan are now become the most celebrated perhaps in the world, and in that county, as well as in the counties contiguous to it, the manufacture of coarse woollens and blankets might be carried on to a great extent, as they have been long since upon a small scale. If the capital of our gentry were embarked in speculations of this nature, though perhaps some loss might be sustained in the first instance, the use of machinery, which might all he had at home, would prove as productive upon the streams of our vallies as in other parts of the island. One branch of manufactures, that of flannels, has been carried on with spirit in Montgomeryshire, and some good specimens of home-made cloth have been produced in Glamorgan, Brecknock, Radnor, and Merionethshire. In point of weaving and milling, the Welsh makers would soon improve, and, if capital were employed, they would also improve in the finishing of their fabrics.

The improvements in many of the Welsh towns have been very great within the last thirty years. The progress of education has also been considerable. New or improved roads, train-ways, and navigations are numerous in South Wales ; and the ports of the Bristol Channel, in consequence of the collieries, iron and copper works, are frequented by a great number of vessels, as are the ports of Caernarvon, Bangor, and Amlwch, in North Wales. The importance of Milford and the celebrity of Tenby and Abeyrstwith, as bathing places, are well known. J. H.

VOL. II.

3 N

HU GADARN. The following wood-cut is the copy of a Bas Relief found under the Church of Notre Dame, in Paris, in the year 1711, and which was first published by Montfaucon, in his “ L'Antiquité Expliquée,” from whence it was copied, in the “Early History of the Cymry," by the Rev. Peter Roberts, who considers the Hesus of Gaul, and the Hu of the Cymry, to have been one person, and that the attitude, in which he is here represented, “denotes either clearing the ground or pruning, either of which is,” according to the Triads, “suitable to the character of Hu Gadarn."

AWEN CYMRU.

'th rodd yw athrwydd Awen.-EDM. PRYS.

ARWYRAIN MADAWG MAB MAREDUDD.
GWALCHMAI AI CANT*.

Arddwyrëav deyrn eurgyrn addawd,
Eisor cor cwblddawn, estrawn drallawd,
Ystryw dramesur,

Ysgawl pybl pobl-ddur,

Present benadur,

ENGLISH POETRY.

THE PRAISE OF MADAWG.

A TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING POEM BY GWALCHMAI.

A PRINCE I sing, whose teeming boards contain
Rich horns of gold, who lives the foeman's bane,

In skill supremely bright,
His people's shield and might,
The age's proud delight,

With steel of furious flame!
Yes, Britain owns thy sway,
Friend of the bardic lay,
And blended e'er be they-

Thy country and thy fame!
To farthest climes hath flown
Thy worth, thy high renown;
Thy might, as Arthur's grown,

With Medrawd's skill arrayed !
Madawg, of mind so fair,
Maredudd's splendid heir,
Let cowards, with despair,

Crouch to thy matchless blade.
Never shone fitter charms than grace thyself,
Thou, who as dross e'er deem'st the hoarded pelf!

Madawg, of eagle-course,

Who of thy ample lands
Ne'er gavest aught to force,

Nor fear of hostile bands!
Sooner thy foes a sandless shore may see
Than from thy chastning arm and vengeance flee :

Nor rival e'er may claim
To match thy generous fame,
'Mong those of Christian name,

With faith and fortune bless'd.

* This poem by Gwalchmai, of whom notices have appeared in the former pages of this work, was addressed to Madawg ab Maredudd ab Bleddyn, Prince of Powys from 1133 to 1159. It evidently wants the fire, that pervades the poet's other productions, but is not without its merit as an encomiastic ode.-ED.