WALES. 253 



monstrated by Mr. Llhuyd,in his Welch preface to his Archseologia, 

 and is confirmed by various monumental inscriptions of undoubted 

 authority. (See Rowland's Mona Antiqua.) The excellent history 

 of Henry VIII, written by lord Herbert of Cherbury, may be adduced 

 as another production of Welch literature. 



Language. ...The Welch have still preserved their ancient lan- 

 guage, which is a dialect of the Celtic, though very different from the 

 Erse or Irish. The Lord's prayer in Welch is as follows : 



JLin Tad, yr hivn tvyt yn y nefoedd, sancteiddier dy tnio : deued dy 

 deyrnas ; bydded dy envyllys ar y ddaear, megis y mae yn y nefoed z 

 dyro ini heddyiv ein bara beunyddiol ; a madden i ni ein dyledion, fel 

 y maddeuivn ni in dyledivyr ; ac nac arwain ni i brofedigaeth eithr 

 gwared ni rhag drivg : canys eiddot ti yw'r deyrnas, a'r gallu, a'r 

 gogoniant, yn oes oesotdd. Amen. 



Antiquities.... Wales abounds in remains of antiquity. Several of 

 its castles are stupendously large ; and in some, the remains of Roman 

 architecture are plainly discernible. The architecture of others is 

 doubtful ; and some appear to be partly British and partly Roman. In 

 Brecknockshire are some rude sculptures, upon a stone six feet high, 

 called the Maiden-stone ; but the remains of the Druidical institu- 

 tions, and places of worship, are chiefly discernible in the Isle of 

 Anglesey, the ancient Mona, mentioned by Tacitus, who describes it 

 as being the chief seminary of the Druidical rites and religion. 

 Caerphilly-castle in Glamorganshire is said to have been the largest 

 in Great Britain, excepting Windsor ; and the remains of it show it 

 to have been a most beautiful fabric. One half of a round tower has 

 fallen quite down ; but the other overhangs its basis more than nine 

 feet, and is as great a curiosity as the leaning tower of Pisa in 

 Italy. 



History. ...The ancient history of Wales is uncertain, on account 

 of the number of petty princes who governed it. That they were 

 sovereign and independent, appears from the English history. It 

 was formerly inhabited by three different tribes of Britons ; the 

 Silures, the Dimetse, and the Ordovices. These people were never 

 entirely subdued by the Romans, though part of their country, as 

 appears from the ruins of castles, was bridled by garrisons. The 

 Saxons, as has been already observed, conquered the counties of 

 Monmouth and Hereford ; but they never penetrated further, and the 

 Welch remain an independent people, governed by their own princes 

 and their own laws. About the year 870, Roderic, king of Wales, 

 divided his dominions among his three sons ; and the names of these 

 divisions were, Dimetia, or South Wales ; Povesia, or Powis land ; 

 and Venedotia, or North Wales. This division gave a mortal blow 

 to the independency of Wales. About the year 1112, Henry I, of 

 England planted a colony of Flemings on the frontiers of Wales, to 

 serve as a barrier to England. The Welch made many brave at- 

 tempts to maintain their liberties against the Norman kings of Eng- 

 land. In 1237, the crown of England was first supplied with a pre- 

 text for the future conquest of Wales ; their old and infirm prince 

 Llewellin, in order to be safe from the prosecutions of his undutiful 

 son Gryffyn, having put himself under the protection of Henry III, to 

 whom he did homage. 



But no capitulation could satisfy the ambition of Edward I, who 

 resolved to annex Wales to the crown of England ; and Llewellin, 

 prince of Wales, disdaining the subjection to which old Liewellin 



