1822.] 
which celebrates a warrior named 
Cynon, and is, I think, written with 
much natural feeling. It will, per- 
haps, remind you of some parts of the 
Iliad, in which similar allusions to the 
private qualities of a hero are inter- 
mixed with a commemoration of his 
martial prowess; a peculiarity which 
is also observable throughout the cele- 
brated effusions of the bard of Cona. 
But you must not hence conclude that 
the productions of the Welsh bards 
bear any general resemblance to the 
presumed remains of Ossian. They 
are ofa character quite different, as I 
may hereafter be able to show you, 
and it is only in a few isolated in- 
stances that we find any affinity. But 
it is time I should lay before you the 
last specimen I mean at present to 
offer of the Gododin. The translation 
is not only line for line, but almost 
word for word, that you may be the 
better enabled to form an opinion of 
the character of the original :— 
None made the social hall so free from care 
As gentle Cynon, Clinion’s sovereign lord; 
For highest rank he never proudly strove, 
And whom he once had known he ne’er would slight. 
Yet was his spear keen-pointed, and well knew 
To pierce with truest aim th’ embattled line; 
Swift flew his steed to meet the hostile storm, 
And death was on his blade, as with the dawn 
He rush’d to war in glory’s splendid day. 
The “Odes of the Months,” as the 
other poem ascribed to Aneurin is 
called, is a mere serics of stanzas, 
painting by touches, as it were, the 
more prominent features of the several 
months in the year. ‘The poem might 
therefore more accurately be entitled 
“‘Stanzas on the Months,” which is, in 
fact, the literal translation of the 
Welsh name Englynion y Misoedd. 
You will be satisfied, no doubt, with a 
single specimen of this production, 
though 1 assure you it contains many 
shrewd sentiments and acute observa- 
tions on the distinguishing characte- 
ristics of the respective seasons. The 
following is a literal prose version of 
the poet’s description of the month of 
March:— 
In the month of March great is the vivacity of the 
8, 
And bitterly blows the cold blast over the furrows ; 
Yet fine weather shall outlive the foul, 
As anger is more durable thin grief, 
Every thing living is eager to bring forth, 
Every fow! acknowledges its mate; 
All things shall spring up from the ground, 
Save the dead alone,—for strong is his prison, 
In the same cursory manner are the 
prominent traits of the other months 
described, each stanza terminating, as 
in this instance, with some moral 
axiom; a mode of writing, I should 
Recipe for the Preservation of Shoe»Leather. 
405 
tell you, in particular favour with the 
early Welsh bards. 
I have now done, my dear Frank, at 
least for the present, with the poems 
of Aneurin, and which 1 must beg of 
you to remember are not to be appre= 
ciated by the same standard that has 
established the reputation of the clas- 
sical effusions of Greece and Rome. 
The Gododin is not to be placed by_ 
the side of the renowned master- 
pieces of the Mzeonian and Mantuan 
bards. It was the offspring of an age, 
which, in comparison with those that 
gave birth to the Iliad and Aineid, 
cannot but be deemed barbarous ; and 
you must therefore be prepared to find 
it marked by the irregularity and 
wildness characteristic of such a pe- 
riod. However it has, notwithstand- 
ing, many claims on the attention of 
the scholar,—of him, at least, who de- 
lights to trace the few surviving ves- 
tiges of the manners and history of our 
ancestors, during a season of peculiar 
gloom, in which the bards of the 
‘Cymry afford us almost the only lights 
we possess. You will wonder, per- 
haps, that I thus rank Aneurin 
amongst the luminaries of my native 
country; but you cannot be ignorant, 
that the north of England, as well as 
Cornwall, was in that age inhabited 
by the same race of people that have 
since been exclusively confined to the 
mountains of Wales. These were the 
Cymry, of whom I shall have much to 
say hereafter. I will merely now add, 
that the name implies a first or abori- 
ginal people, as the Welsh have ever 
denominated themselves with respect 
to the other inhabitants of this island. 
Once more, vive et vale, and believe 
me, dear Wilmot, 
Your ever sincere 
Festiniog ; GrirFitH Tupor.’ 
July 12, 1822. 
¢ 
—a— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. — 
SIR, 
ERHAPS the following recipe 
for preserving shoc-leather may 
be found acceptable :— _ 
‘Z pint of drying oil (boiled linseed oil), 
1 02. of bees’ wax. : 
1 oz, of spirits of turpentine, 
» 4 oz. of Burgundy pitch. 
To be melted together, over a slow 
fire, in an earthen vessel. 
If new boots be saturated with the 
above composition, and left to hang 
in a warm place fora weck or ten 
days, they will not only be rendered 
soft 
