412 



confounded with it by a person who 

 had only known it, as is probable in 

 tliis case, by reputation. Concluding, 

 then, that the harp was the instrument 

 contemplated by the writer I have just 

 quoted, it appears fiom his information 

 that it was customary w itii the bards 

 to adapt to its melodious notes the 

 poetical praises of warriors, and of 

 their valorous deeds.* We also learn 

 from the " Chronicle of the Kings," 

 ( Brut y Brcninoedd,) that Blegwryd, 

 fifty-fifth king of Britain, who lived 

 about a century and a-half before our 

 era, was a celebrated musician, and 

 especially on the harp; a circumstance 

 which may serve in some degree to 

 corroborate the statement of A mmianus 

 as to the general adoption of this in- 

 strument by the bards. 



The next notice of importance on 

 this subject occurs iu the popular ro- 

 mances of Arthur, where it is said, 

 that, while Colgrin was besieged by 

 him in York, his brother Baduiph 

 gained admission in the disguise of a 

 harper. Whatever suspicion may be- 

 long to this notice as a matter of his- 

 tory, it still proves the use of the harp 

 in that age by the Saxons, who had, in 

 ail probabilily, borrowed it from the 

 Britons. But I think it proj)er here 

 to apprise you, that I have no recol- 

 lection of a single allusion to this in- 

 strument in the works of the Welsh 

 poets of the sixth century, who were 

 coteniporary with Arthur. But this 

 nmj, 1 think, be very plausibly ascribed 

 to the particular nature of the topics 

 on which their strains were employed. 

 The ravages of war appear to have 

 been, during the period in question, 

 the chief themes of the muse ; wliile 

 the troubles and fcsuls of that distract- 

 ed age must have been extremely un- 

 ])ropitious to the peacefui custom of 

 singing w itii the harp, so prevalent in 

 after-limes amongst the niountains of 

 Wales. The silence of the poets of 

 the sixth century, then, may be taken to 

 prove only that the strains of the harp 

 were in that age drowned in the louder 

 notes of tumult and war. 



The first authentic recognition of the 

 harp as a national instrument is to be 

 found in the laws of Hywel the Good, 

 compiled in the tenth century. We 

 find from these, thai, among the offi- 

 cers of the royal household, was one 

 denominated the domestic bard, whose 



* "Cum dulcibus lyra> niodiilis caiita" 

 ruDt," are the words of Auiaiiauus. 



Tudor's Letters on IVales. [June 1, 



business it was to entertain the king 

 and his family with the charms of 

 minstrelsy and song, for which purpose 

 he was U) be provided with a harp by 

 the royal boiuity. It was particularly 

 his duty, by his performances, to aui- 

 mate his countrymen on Ihe day of 

 battle ; and the national air of Unhe- 

 naeth Prtjdain (the Monarchy of Bri- 

 tain), was appointed to be played up- 

 on this occasion. It is also recorded 

 in the same ancient laws, that a skilful 

 performance on the harp was consi- 

 dered as an indispensable accomplish, 

 nient of a Welsh gentleman ; and the 

 harps of the king, of the domestic 

 bard, and of a private individual, 

 were in the same code respectively 

 valued ; the two former at 120 pence, 

 and the latter at half the sum. 



From the time of Hywel to that of 

 Gruflydd ab Cynan, prince of North 

 Wales during the close of the clevcntli 

 and the commencement of the twcllth 

 century, we have no distinct notices 

 of the use of this instrument in Wales. 

 But there can be no doubt of its ge- 

 neral prevalence during the interval, 

 from the circumstance of Crnffydd 

 having resolved to reform the national 

 minstrelsy, owing to some abuses, real 

 or imagined, which had crept into it. 

 Tor this purpose he held a Musical 

 Congress in the year 1110, to which 

 he summoned not only the most emi- 

 nent Welsh minstrels, but also those 

 of Ireland and other countries. The 

 twenty-four canons of music, before 

 acknowledged in Wales, w ere revised 

 and corrected at this Congress, and a 

 statute enacted for the future guidance 

 of the musicians. As Gruflydd ab 

 Cynan was born and educated in Ire- 

 land, it is probable enougii that he 

 availed himself of this opportunity to 

 make some innovations on Welsh 

 minstrelsy, agreeably with his foreign 

 prepossessions ; and the Welsh harp 

 may on this occasion have lost some- 

 thing of its primitive character. A copy 

 of Gruffydd's statute is preserved, and 

 the directions it contains are extreme- 

 ly minute, extending even to the pecu- 

 liar management of the fingers in play- 

 ing on the harp. It also records the 

 names of the piincipal musicians that 

 attended the Congress; and is, alto- 

 gether, a document of great curiosity.* 

 From the eleventh century to the 



* A copy of this statute is preserved in 

 the library of the V.'dbh School, in Grays 

 Inn Luuc. 



present 



