Page:Chronicles of the Picts, chronicles of the Scots, and other early memorials of Scottish history.djvu/53

 PEEFACE. xlv statement that Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, had a Welsh book which he translated into Latin ; that Geoffrey wrote his history from it, which he then re-translated into Welsh ; and if we add the as- sumption that Geoffrey added additional matter to Walter's Latin text, the existing Welsh versions correspond very well with that statement. But they all differ as to what the original of Walter's text was. The "Eed Book of Hergest" says that it was a MS. written in the Breton language ; the Hengwrt MS., that it was a MS. in the Cymric or Welsh language ; and the Cottonian MS., that the original was a Latin version. Be this as it may, there seems clearly enough to have been a Welsh version prior to the composition of Geoffrey's Latin text, and a Welsh version into which the latter was translated. The AVelsh tradition as to the origin of the races of Britain, and as to the settle- ment of the Picts, is here given from the first Welsh version, and the additions in the latter Welsh version are added in the notes below. They are included in this collection mainly as affording the Welsh form of the Pictish tradition, and the explanation of their Welsh designation of Gwyddyl Ffichti. In the conclusion of Geoffrey's history, he states that he leaves the history of the kings that suc- ceeded in Wales subsequent to his history, which terminates with the reign of Cadwallader, " to Cara- -'f-doc of Llancarvan, my contemporary ;" and, ac- cordingly, most of the MSS. of the Welsh text are followed by a chronicle, which appears in two forms.