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xxxviii so prominent a feature of the ecclesiastical allusions of Davyth ap Gwilym. In this respect, also, he bears a close resemblance to Chaucer. In their religious sentiments both these poets are in fact to be regarded rather as representatives of the views of the more enlightened men of their age, than in the light of original and independent thinkers. I may here remark that the similarity that so frequently occurs between the ideas and imagery of the Cambrian bard and the great father of English poetry, constitutes one of the chief attractions of the remains of Davyth ap Gwilym.

I shall now briefly notice those objects and customs peculiar to his native principality by which the genius of the bard must have been chiefly influenced.

In the habits of the Welsh bard of those days there was much that tended to improve and elevate the mind, and to enrich the fancy. The privilege he enjoyed of roving from mansion to mansion familiarized him with all the most romantic features of his beautiful native country; while the hospitable reception that he everywhere experienced, enlarged his knowledge of life and manners, and frequently brought him into the society of the most distinguished men of his time and country. The beneficial influence of this continual change of scene is very perceptible in the productions of our bard, whose excitable mind appears to have been thus repeatedly roused and invigorated. Without the animating spur of novelty, Davyth ap Gwilym, like