Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/118

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. m. FEB. n,

hwyfar." The triad as given by that invalu- able historical collection is as follows :

"Tair Gwragedd Arthur, sef oeddent, ei Dair Prif Riain, nid amgen Gwenhwyfar ferch Gwythyr fab Greidiawl ; a Gwenhwyfar ferch Gawrwyd Ceint ; a Gwenhwyfar ferch Ogyfran Gawr." Triad 109 of ' Trioedd Ynys Prydain 3 (p. 410).

I may venture (subject to correction from your learned Welsh readers) to translate this triad as follows :

"Arthur had to wife (in succession) these three ladies, and none other ; that is to say, the Empress or Supreme Queen (Gwenhwyfar) daughter of Gwy- thyr fab Greidiawl ; the Empress or Supreme Queen (Gwenhwyfar) daughter of Gawrwyd Ceint (gwent) ; and the Empress or Supreme Queen (Gwenhwyfar) daughter of Ogyfran the Great." It will be noticed that I have in each case translated the word "Gwenhwyfar" as "Em- press or Supreme Queen." My reasons for doing so are :

1. Arthur was Emperor or Supreme King of the British confederation of sovereign states ; and it is unreasonable to suppose that the wife of the Emperor would not have a distinctive title or would have the same title as the wife of a petty provincial king.

2. The first syllable, "Gwen," is, I take it, from the Greek yw-rj or the Sanskrit jana, from which also come the High German and Gothic Quena, Queins, Quens, Quon, Quen. The second syllable, "hwyfar," I might (subject to the correction of your Welsh readers) write in English "hooffer," the w in Welsh being a vowel and having the power of oo in " soon," the y in some words being pronounced like i in "third," in others like o in "honey," and again in others as the u in "mud," "must." "Hwyfar" would, I think, come from the same root and derivation as our English " upper," the German ober and hober, and, I would submit, in the triad is used in a similar manner to the word Beher in Beherrscherin, which (from beherrscken, " to rule ") is a Ger- man word for "Empress," Kaiserin, the feminine form of Kaiser or Caesar, being also used in that meaning, although improperly, for it really means the female Caesar, and is not, I think, properly a term of honour, for I am sure that no one who has an intimate knowledge of the old Caesars would be over- anxious to be called by their name.

One of these three empresses or "gwen- hwyfars" was buried with Arthur in the most sacred place of Britain the churchyard of Glastonbury Abbey. From this grave her remains, with those of Arthur, were in medi- aeval times removed to a magnificent shrine in the principal church (that of St. Mary) in Glastonbury Abbey. Here they remained undisturbed until the time of the so-called

Reformation. But where are these relics now 1 Possibly some of the readers of ' N. & O.' may be able to answer this query. I can hardly think that King Henry VIII., whatever his feeling may have been towards what I, Pro- testant as I am, may be excused for regard- ing as the truly precious relics of our saints and martyrs, could have wished the remains of Arthur and of one of his empresses to have been treated with neglect or disrespect.

King Henry VIII. was a Tudor, and proud of his British ancestry. The Order of the Garter, of which he was the head, was based upon the Institutions of the Round Table of Arthur. The Honourable Artillery Company had a similar origin. We know also (from the Rolls series) that a parchment roll con- taining what purported to be a copy of the inscription upon the coffin of Arthur was produced in King Henry VIII.'s time, by King Henry's order, to the ambassador of the Emperor Charles V., who, referring to the imperial titles of Arthur therein contained, which included Russia and Dacia, mockingly said : " I wonder ' Asise Imperator ' was not added "a somewhat prophetic jest when we consider that Arthur's successor on the throne of Britain, her present Majesty, now happily reigning, bears the proud title of Empress of India, whilst her granddaughter is Em- press of Russia and her grandson German Emperor.

It is known that some of the relics even of our greater saints and martyrs were saved from the spoiler's hand by the loving and courageous care of their monastic guardians. The relics of our proto-martyr, St. Alban, were thus removed, in time, to Rome, and thence to their present resting-place in the stately tomb of the martyr at Cologne.

SHACKLETON HALLETT.

23, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn.

MR. HALLETT should examine the account of Arthur, King of Britain, in Enderbie's ' Cambria Triumphans'(Lond., 1661, rep. 1810). Of Lucius he says : " Also he overcame the Romans in the country about Paris, with their captain Lucius," &c. The dates given seem to be authentic, and it was evidently the intention of the author to ignore the mythical accounts related of King Arthur, and only give information from (what he considers) reliable writers.

JOHN RADCLIFFE.

As a strong believer in the historical exist- ence of Arthur, Pendragon or Over-king of Britain, I am glad to find ME. HALLETT sup- porting my views. I think, however, that he will find it very difficult to identify the Lucius