Page:The Mabinogion.djvu/527

498 time of Maelgwn Gwynedd, when he was disposaessed of that property, for which he pronounced his corse on Maelgwn, and all his possessions; whereupon the Yad Yelen came to Rhos, and whoever witnessed it became doomed to certain death. Maelgwn saw the Yad Yelen through the keyhole, in Rhos church, and died in consequence. Taliesin, in his old age, returned to Caer-Gwyroswydd, to Riwallon, the son of Urien; after which he visited Oedig, the son of Ceredig, the son of Cunnedav Wledig, where he died, and waa buried with high honours, such as should always be shown to a man who ranked among the principal wise men of the Cymric nation; and Taliesin, Chief of the Bards, was the highest of the most exalted class, either in literature, wisdom, the science of vocal song, or any other attainment, whether sacred or profane. Thus terminates the information respecting the chief bards of the chair of Caerlleon upon Usk, called now the chair of Glamorgan."

It is probable that Taliesin waa educated, or completed his education, at the school of the celebrated Cattwg, at Llanveithin, in Glamorgan. In after life he became the bard of Urien Rheged, to whom, and to his son Owain, his principal poems are addressed. In the opinion of the most judicious critics these poems are undoubtedly genuine. They certainly contain passages of exquisite beauty, and are far superior to many of the other compositions attributed to him, of which some rest on very questionable authority, and some are evidently Middle Age productions. Indeed, the last of the poems translated in the text bears in some MSS. the name of Ionas Athraw o Fynyw.

The name of Taliesin is thus commemorated in the Triads:—

"The three Baptismal Bards of the Isle of Britain:—Merddin Emrys, Taliesin, Chief of Bards, and Merddin, son of Madoc Morviyn."—Tr. 125.

This Triad is more fully explained in an extract from MS. Triads of the Hound Table, given in the lolo MSS., p. 468.

"The Nine Impulsive Stocks of the Baptismal Bards of Britain.—The three primitive baptismal bards of the Cambro-Britons: Madog, the son of Morvryn, of Caerlleon upon Usk; Taliesin, the son of Saint Henwg, of Caerlleon upon Usk; and Merddin Emrys, of Maesaleg, in Glywysyg; after whom came Saint Talhaiam, the father of Tangwyn, Merddin, the son of Madog Morvryn, and Meugant Hdn, of Caerlleon upon Usk; who were succeeded by Balchnoe, the bard of Teilo, at Uandaff; Saint Cattwg; and Cynddylan, the bard. These nine were called the Impulsive Stocks