1361.] 
The three principal circles of the ifle of 
Britain, according to a particular triad on 
that point, were Bryn Gwyzon, or 
Avefbury +; Beiscawen, identified in 
the prefent remains at Bofcawen, in 
Cofnwall; and Moer Evor, the fitua- 
tion of whichis not known, unlefs Diz 
Evor Caftle, in South Wales, be built upon 
the fite of it. | 
At fuch meetings, the firft bufinefs 
that took place was the public recital of 
the inftitutional and theological triads ; 
‘which was done three times fucceffively, 
by as many different perfons appointed 
for that office, with a view of guarding 
againit errors and innovations. ‘The re- 
citers were bards regularly admitted into 
the order; and none were ever initiated 
without undergoing a courfe of difcipline, 
which lafted many years, fo as to obtain 
a knowledge of, and'to be able to recite 
viva voce, the whole code relating to the 
inftitution. 
It would exceed the limit of the prefent 
article, were I to enter further into this 
illuftration ; but the curious may refer for 
more information to Williams’s Poems, Ly- 
vic and Pafforal {; and \ikewile to Owen's 
Heroic Elegies of Llywarg Hen, where are 
to be found many details and fpecimens of 
bardilm, or druidifm as it is improperly 
called, in general. I fhall therefore pro- 
ceed to felect a few fuch triads as may 
be thought interefting ; and which, at the 
fame time, are fo unconneéted with the 
general fyftem, as not to fuffer much by 
being given detached from the reft. 
TRIAD f. 
Tri Enw 4 zoded ar Ynys Paypain 
oc y decreuad: cyn ei gyvannezu y doded 
arniCtas MeRzIN; a gwedi ei cyvan- 
nezu y doded arni y VEL YNYs ; a gwedi 
gyru gwladogacth arni, y gan PRypDalIN 
as Atz Mawr, y doded arni Ynys 
Halk Ac nid oes dylyed i neb arni 
* This is one amongft other proofs that 
‘Stonehenge, as we now fee the remains, was 
not erected until the bardic fyftem became 
relaxed, by the introdudtion of chriftianity ; 
that is, as our chronicles affert it, about the 
middle of the fifth century; yet I believe 
that there was a more ancient circle there, 
of which fome traces remain. 
- F One of the grande remains of antiquity 
to be found in any country, which the van- 
dalifm of the proprietors of the land, whereon 
it ftands, has nearly deftroyed within the me- 
tory of people now living. 
. Y Edward Williams the bard has, in the 
courfe of feveral years, made a moft extenfive 
collection of materials for a Hiftory of the 
Britith Bards, which he is now digefting and 
Preparing for the prefs, 
- 
Tranflation of the Triads of the Ancient Britons, 
229 
naimyn i genedyl y Cymry; can ys hwy 
ai gorefgynafant gyntav ;.a cyn no hyn 
nid eez neb o zynion yn byw ynzi; cith¥r 
llawn o eirth, a bleiziau, ac evainc, ac: 
ysgain banawg ydoez. 
Tranflation. : 
Three names were given to the ile of 
Britain trom the beginning: before it was 
inhabited it was denominated the Sea-de= 
fended Region: after it was inhabited it 
was called the Honey Iffand; and after it 
was brought under a political fyRem, by 
Prydain fon of Aez the Great, it,was called 
the IsLe oF PrypDain. And there is 
claim to none upon it except to the nation 
of the Cymry; for they fir poffefled it; 
and before then there was no race of men 
in it; butit was full of bears, and wolves, 
and crocodiles, and moofe deer. 
Obfervations on the above Triad. 
In fome manuicripts ¥ Wen Yays, or the 
White Ifand, is faubfituted for the Howey 
Tflind. 
There are feveral triads wherein Pryd- 
ai is mentioned: the name implies lite- 
rally abounding with fairne[s of afped; 
therefore it'may be ufed either as the ap- 
pellation of a man or of a country; fo 
that Yays Prydaiz implies Fair Ifle. 
‘There are many traditions of the Awanc, 
all making it an amphibious animal of a 
very terrible nature; therefore it is not 
probable that it was the beaver, as it has 
been fuppofed, which is one of the mof 
harmlefs of the animal creation; and be- 
fides, Lloftlydan, or fpattle-tail, is the 
name of the beaver, and made ule of in 
the laws of Hywel. 
diles here ; and it is even propable, accord« 
ing to the account of the late difcovery of 
the fkeleton of fuch an animal near Maef-.. 
richt. : 
The Y¢ain Banawg, or oxen with pro= 
minences, are alfo an extiné race, about 
which we have a variety of curious tradi- 
tions. As the name may be applied either 
to high horns, or to hunches; there is a 
difficulty in faying whether thefe were 
Moofle Deer, Buffaloes, Bifons, or Camels. 
. TRIAD. II, 
Tair Ruacynys gyfevin Ynys Pryd- 
ain: Orc, MaNnaw, a GwyTsh. A 
gwedi hyny y tores y mor y tir, onid aeth 
Mon yn ynys; ac yn unwez ynys ORC Aa 
dored, onid aeth yno liaws o ynyfoz; a 
myned yn ynyfoz A wnaeth manau ereill 
O ALBAN, a thir Cymru. 
Tranflation, ae 
The three original adjoining [lands of 
the Ife of Britain: Orkney, Man, and 
Wight. And afterwards the fea broke the 
land, fo that Anglefey became an ifland; 
and 
It is poffible that 
there might have been a fpecies of croco- © 
