W A L 



W A L 



way to the clnircli, precifely in tlio track that the- funeral 

 will afterwards follow. This is traditionally attributed to 

 the fpecial prayer of St. David, that no one in his diocefe 

 fhould die without this intimation of departure, which is 

 called CanzL'yll corph, or the corpfe candle. 



Language, is'c: — The Welfh language has an undeniable 

 claim to very high antiquity, as a dialeft of the Hebrew, 

 fpoken by the defcendants of Japhet : in its formation, as 

 well as grammatical conflruCtion, it has a near rcfemblance 

 to the original tongue ; and is, perhaps, without exception, 

 the moft primitive and uncorrupt living language in the 

 weftern world. It abounds with original words, more 

 efpecially technical terms, which other languages borrow 

 from the Greek, or exprefs by circumlocution, and is faid 

 to be peculiarly fitted for poetry. The orthoepy of the 

 Welfh is very diflterent from that of the Englidi. In the 

 language of Cambria arc forty-three letters; fixteen of 

 which are radicals, expreflive of the primary foundb ; and 

 the reft may be confidercd as ferviles, becaufe ufed as in- 

 flexions or mutations of the former ; for each of thefe there 

 is an appropriate charafter. But the language is gradually 

 getting into difufe, efpecially in the fouthern part of the prin- 

 cipality. The gentry of the country are principally edu- 

 cated in England, and confequcntly few of them fpeak it, 

 and many with for its extermination. The example of the 

 higher clafles extends, and ere long the language and man- 

 ners of Cambria may coalefce with thofe of the inhabitants 

 to the eaft of the Severn. See grammar attached to Owen's 

 Dictionary of the Welfh Language, which contains an 

 ample critical dilfertatiou, &c. 2 vols. 4to. 1803. 



Poetry was in high ellimation among the ancient Britons : 

 Wales, as their place of refuge, was early the feat of the 

 poetic mufe, and modern eifulions of original genius evince 

 that Ihe has not defcrted her favourite mountains. In no 

 nation, except the Hebrew, was genealogy confidered of fo 

 much importance, or carried to an equal extent, as in 

 Wales. Family dillinftion is purfued fo far, that perhaps it 

 induces the Cambrian to think more highly of himfelf 

 than is rational. Pride of anceflry was a delicate and ef- 

 fential point among th.e ancient Britons, and confequcntly 

 they were more defirous of noble than of rich connections. 

 So deeply was this principle rooted, that even the loweft 

 claffes of the people carefully prtferved the defcents of their 

 families, and were in general able from memory not only to 

 recite the names of their proximate progenitors, but to trace 

 their various relations back through numerous generations. 

 Whoever reads the hillory of tiie moll ancient inhabitants 

 of this ifland, the Cambro Britons, will find innumerable 

 inftances of the reverence which they paid to their poct- 

 muficians, the bards, both of Pagan and ChrilUan times ; 

 and fongs of very high antiquity have been preferved in the 

 Welfli language, though not all the tunes to which they 

 were fung. The harp, with which thefe fongs ufed to be 

 accompanied, was in fuch general favour in Wales, as to be 

 regarded among the pofrelfions neceffary to conllitute a 

 gentleman. ( Leges Wallica:. ) The moll ancient Welfh 

 poetry that is now intelligible was written about the year 

 1 1 00, and fome of the tunes that arc preferved in the late 

 Mr. Morris's MS., which were tranfcribed from the mufic- 

 book of William Penllin, the harper in queen Elizabeth's 

 time, are fuppofed by Dr. Davies (In Prxf. ad Gram. 

 Brit.) to be coeval with the verfes to which they were 

 fung, when he compofed his gramm.ir and catalogue of 

 ancient Cambro. BriliHi fongs. Unluckily the notation, or 

 tablature, in whicii tliele tunes have Ijcen written, is fo un- 

 common and difficult to reduce to modern charaders, that 



though the gravity or acutcnefs of the fevcral notes can he 

 afcertaincd, yet their lengths, or duration, cannot be efta- 

 bliflied with any degree of certainty, by any rule which we 

 have been yet able to dtvife. 



The nortliern annals abound with pompous accounts of 

 the honours conferred on muTic by princes who were them- 

 felves piroficients in the art, and the Cambro-Britifli inftitutes, 

 with laws and privileges in favour of its profLflbrs. As 

 the firft mufician, or bard, was the eighth officer in dignity, 

 at the court of the Wellh king?, and had a place in the 

 royal hall next to the fteward of the houfliold, fo the re- 

 fpeCt and dignity with which bards in general were treated 

 about this time, in all the courts of Europe, were equal to 

 thofe which Homer tells us their predccefTors Demodocus 

 and Phemius enjoyed in Greece. Mufic was now a regal 

 accomplifhment, as we find by all the ancient metrical ro- 

 mances and heroic narrations in the new-formed languages 

 of the tmies ; and to Cng to the harp was neceffary to a 

 perfcc! pnnce and complete hero. 



The firft Greek muficians were gods ; the fecond heroes ; 

 the third bards; the fourth beggars! During the early 

 times of mufic, iu every country, the wonder and affedlions 

 of the people have been gained by Jurpii^i: ; but when 

 muficians became numerous, and the art was regarded of 

 eafier acquirement, they loft their favour, and from being 

 feated at the tables of kings, and helped to the firft cut, 

 they were reduced to the moft abjett ftate, and ranked 

 among rogues and vagabonds. 



For more particular accounts of different parts of Wales, 

 the reader is referred to the names of the twelve counties : 



w's. AnGI.ESEA, BuECKSOCKSlIIKi;, CAEnXAIlVONSHIHE, 

 CAEHMAKTllEXSIliKi;, CARniGANSlUKE, DeMUOIISHIKE, 

 FlINTSIIIUE, GlAMOKGANSIIIRE, MERlONErHSHIUE, 



MoNTooMERysiiiuE, PEMBROKEsiiinE, and Radnorsiiike. 

 — Hoare's Giraldus Cambrenfis, 2 vols. 4to. 1806. Beauties 

 of England and Wales, vol. xvii., North Wales, by Rev. J. 

 Evans, I«i2. Ditto, vol. xviii., by Rev. T. Recs, 1815. 

 Warrington's Hillory of Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1 788. Malkin's 

 Scenery and Antiquities of South Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1807. 

 Aikin's Journal of a Tour through North Wales, 1 2mo. 



1797. Evans's Tour thi 



North Wales, 8vo. 1802. 



Ditto through South Wales, 8vo. 1804. 



Wales, a town of America, in the diftricl of Maine, and 

 county of Lincoln, containing 471 inhabitants; 53' miles 

 N.E. of Portland. 



Wales, New, a name given to a part of Nortli America, 

 fituated to the fouth-eall and fouth-weft of Hudfon's bay, 

 and divided into north and fouth : the former name is loft 

 in the more general term of Labrador. New South Wales 

 is fituated to the north-well of Canada, and extends along 

 the fouth borders of Hudfon's bay 450 miles, from N. lat. 

 54° to 58^ W. long. 85° to 95°. 



Wales, New South, a name given to the eaftern part of 

 New Holland; which fee. 



\Vali:s, in a Ship, an alfemblage of ftroiig planks ex- 

 tending along a Ihip's fide, throughout her whole length, 

 at different heights, and fcrving to reinforce the decks, and 

 form the curves by which the veffel appears light and grace- 

 ful on the water. As tlie wales are framed of planks 

 broader and thicki r tlian the reft, they refemble ranges of 

 hoops encircling the fides and bows. They are ufually dif- 

 tinguiflicd into the main-wale, and the channel-wale. The 

 fituation •f the wales, being afeertained by no invariable 

 rule, is generally fnbmilled to the fancy and judgment of 

 the builder. The politiDii of tlie gun-ports and fcupptrs 

 ought, however, to be particul.irly confidercd on this occa- 



fion, 



