A TOUR ROUND NORTH WALES. 275 



of thefe were covered with leather, 

 fewed extremely tight at the back, over 

 the wood, and the pegs which the firings 

 were fcrewed with, were made of bone 

 or ivory. 



A Minflrel of the latter period has 

 left us this defcription of himfelf, and 

 his harp : 



If I have my harp, I care for no more, 



It is my treafure, I keep it in (lore ; 



For my harp is made of a good mare's (kin, 



The firings be of horfe-hair, it maketh good din. 



My fong, and ray voice, and my harp doth agree. 



Much like the buzzing of an humble bee ; 



Yet in my country I do make paftime, 



In telling of prophecy which be not in rhyme.* 



Dafydd ap Gwilym/f a Welfh bard, 

 who flourifhed about the end of the 

 fourteenth century, in his Cowydd y 

 Dclyn Ledr, or Poem, on the leathern 



* The firft book of the Introduction of Knowledge, by 

 Andrew Borde. 



i Or Dafydd Morganwg, Bard to Iror Hael, (Lord of 

 Maefalog, in Monmouthmire) and to the Monaftery of Strata 

 Florida. See his works, publifhed by E. Williams, in the 

 Strand, London. 



U 2 harp, 



