WELSH BARDS AND MUSIC. JI^ 



religion devolved. The perfons who filled this clafs 

 were in a kind of noviciate to the higher and more 

 important offices of bard and druid. They had the 

 care of the facrifices, and principally occupied their 

 time in the ftudy of natural philofophy. — ^In the 

 tragedy of Caraftacus all thefe orders are recogr 

 nized : Vellinus, having fpoken of the arch-druid, 

 fays. 



His brotherhood 

 Poflefs the neighbouring clifTs. 



On the left 

 Refide the fages flcilled in nature's lore : 

 The changeful univerfe, its numbers, powers. 

 Studious they meafure, fave when meditation 

 Gives place to holy rites : then in the grove 

 Each has his rank and fun6lion. — Yonder grots 

 Are tenanted by bards, who nightly thence> 

 Robed in their flowing veils of innocent white, 

 Defcend, with harps that glitter to the moon. 

 Hymning immortal ftrains. 



The druids and the bards were the divines, the 

 legiflators, and the phyficians of the ancient in- 

 habitants of this country. They compofed hymns 

 for their facred temples, and thefe they accom- 

 panied with their harps. In later periods, when 

 the druidical orders had fuffered from the encroach- 

 ments of the Roman power, they were employed 

 in recording the defcent of famihes, in embla- 

 zoning their arms, and compofmg fongs on the 

 valiant aftions of illuftrious warriors, which they 

 chanted to the mufic of their harps. Thus, con* 



fequently. 



