Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 4, 1893.djvu/78

 70 is mentioned in another of the Englynion of the Graves. It runs thus (i). B. B. fo. 33a):

It is a mere conjecture of mine that diessic is an adjective referring to the people called in Irish Déisi, who invaded Dyfed, and founded there a dynasty represented by King Triphun and his Sons at the time of St. David's birth; later, we find Elen, wife of Howel Dda, to be one of that family. The mention of Peredur of Penweddig raises other questions; but let it suffice here to say that Penweddig was a Cantred consisting of North Cardiganshire, which brings us to the vicinity of Cantre'r Gwaelod. The last name in the final triplet of the poem which I have attempted to translate is Kinran, which is quite inexplicable as a Welsh name; but I am inclined to identify it with that of one of the three who escaped the catastrophe in the Irish legend. The name there is Curnan, which was borne by the idiot of the family, who, like many later idiots, was at the same time a prophet. For he is represented as always prophesying that the waters were going to burst forth, and advising his friends to prepare boats. So he may be set, after a fashion, over against our Seithenhin synwyr wan, 'S. of the feeble mind'. But you will perhaps ask why I do not point out an equivalent in Irish for the Welsh Seithennin, The fact is that no such equivalent occurs in the Irish story in question, nor, so far as I know, in any other.

That is what I wrote when penning these notes; but it has occurred to me since then that there is an Irish name, an important Irish name, which is possibly related to Seithenhin, and that is Setanta, the first name of the Irish hero Cúchulainn. If we put this name back into what may be surmised to have been its early form, we arrive at