The White Goddess (21 page)

‘The evidence of this poem is extremely valuable, as it shows us conclusively that, by this time, at any rate, the lower order of bards had won for themselves the privilege of appearing at a Welsh court, and of being allowed to compete with the members of the closer corporation. It is exceedingly difficult to make out with certainty the meaning of the poem, but the bard seems to lament the relaxation or abandonment of the ancient custom of the court of the house of Tewdwr [afterwards the English House of Tudor], where formerly, after a battle, none were without recompense, and where frequently he had himself been presented with gifts. If praise were the pledge of bravery, then his desert should have been to receive liquor, rather than to become an ‘ermid’. The bard also mentions a certain Bleiddriw, who would not have given him his due, and seems to imply that this person was guilty of versifying untruth, as well as to apply to him the epithet
twyll
i
gwndid
[sc. perverter of poetic practice]. The suggestion in this poem, therefore, is that the person referred to was the author of a broken or irregular song. We are further told by Phylip that the Chair of Maelgwn Hir was meant for bards, not for the irregular rhymesters, and that if that chair in his day were deserved, it should be contended for by the consent of
saints and in accordance with truth and privilege. A Penkerdd [privileged bard] could not be made of a man without art. In a second poem, the poet’s patron, probably also of the house of Tewdwr, is asked to pay heed to the contention of the bards and the rhymesters, and the appearance of Elffin in the contentions of Maelgwn is referred to. The bard says that, since then, mere chattering had caused long unpleasantness, and the speech of strangers, the vices of women and many a foolish tale had come to Gwynedd [North Wales], through the songs of false bards whose grammar was bad and who had no honour. Phylip solemnly states that it is not for man to destroy the privilege of the gift of God. He laments the fall of the office of the bards, and describes his own song as “the ancient song of Taliesin” which, he says – and this is significant – “was itself new for nine times seven years”. “And”, he adds finally, “though I be placed in a foul grave in the earth, before the violent upheaval of judgement, the muse shall not cease from deserving recognition while the sun and moon remain in their circles; and unless untruth shall overcome truth, or the gift of God shall cease in the end, it is they who shall be disgraced in the contention: He will remove from the vulgar bards their vain delight.”

‘It will be observed that these poems supply a very interesting account of the points of contention. We see that the song of Taliesin and the contentions of Maelgwn Hir are set up as standards; that those standards were believed to have been regulated in agreement with the will of saints and in accordance with truth and privilege; that the contentions were not open to the lower order of bards; and that a man without art could not become a Penkerdd. It is alleged that the speech of strangers, the vices of women, and numerous foolish tales had come to Gwynedd – even to Gwynedd, where the contentions of Maelgwn had been held – by means of the songs of false bards whose grammar was faulty. We see that the song of the official or traditional bards is claimed to be the gift of God; that its essence was truth, compared with the untruth of the newer song; and that Phylip Brydydd was prepared, as it were, to die in the last ditch, fighting for the privilege of the true gift of poesy. We observe that, in spite of all this, the rhymesters were allowed to tender a song on Christmas Day at the court of Rhys Ieuanc.

‘It will have been observed that the first poem of Phylip Brydydd mentions a Bleiddriw who refused to acknowledge him, and whose own song, as I interpret the extremely compressed syntax of the poem, Phylip describes as broken and irregular. It is not improbable that we have here a reference to the much discussed Bledri of Giraldus Cambrensis, “that famous dealer in fables, who lived a little before our time”. The probability is that, in this Bledri, we
have one of the men who recited Welsh stories in French, and so assisted their passage into other languages. Gaston Paris, so long ago as 1879, identified him with the Breri, to whom Thomas, the author of the French poem of Tristan, acknowledges his debt, describing him as having known “
les
histoires
et
les
contes
de
tous
les
rois
et
comtes
qui
avaient
vécu
en
Bretagne
”
.
Phylip Brydydd is said to have flourished between 1200 and 1250. As Rhys Ieuanc, his patron, died about 1220, probably Phylip was born before 1200. Giraldus himself died in 1220. This brings them sufficiently near to allow of the possibility of their both referring to the same Bledri. At any rate, this is the only case known to me in Welsh of a contemporary reference to a Bledri corresponding to the person mentioned by Giraldus. But I would base no argument upon this possible identity. If the Bleiddri of Phylip’s poem be another Bleiddri, the fact still remains that he was regarded as being of the lower order of bards, and that Phylip, the traditional bard, charged his class, at any rate, with debasing the poetic diction of the bards and with making untruth the subject of poetry.

‘What then could be the meaning of untruth as the subject of song? Considering the word in the light of the Codes, and of the contents of the poems of the court-bards themselves, I submit that it simply means tales of imagination. The official bards were prohibited from writing imaginative narrative and material for representation; they were enjoined to celebrate the praise of God and of brave or good men. This they did, as we have seen, in epithetical verse of which the style is remarkably and intentionally archaic.’

Am I not a candidate for fame, to be heard in song?…

A vaunt, you boastful bards….

 

Primary
chief
bard
am
I
to
Elphin,

And
my
original
country
is
the
region
of
the
summer
stars;

Idno
and
Heinin
called
me
Merddin,

At
length
every
king
will
call
me
Taliesin.

5
I
was
with
my
Lord
in
the
highest
sphere,

On
the
fall
of
Lucifer
into
the
depth
of
hell

I
have
borne
a
banner
before
Alexander;

I
know
the
names
of
the
stars
from
north
to
south;

I
have
been
on
the
Galaxy
at
the
throne
of
the
Distributor;

10
I
was
in
Canaan
when
Absalom
was
slain;

I
conveyed
Awen
[the
Divine
Spirit]
to
the
level
of
the
vale
of
Hebron;

I
was
in
the
court
of
Dôn
before
the
birth
of Gwydion.

I
was
instructor
to
Eli
and
Enoch;

I
have
been
winged
by
the
genius
of
the
splendid
crozier;

15
I
have
been
loquacious
prior
to
being
gifted
with
speech;

I
was
at
the
place
of
the
crucifixion
of
the
merciful
son
of
God;

I
have
been
three
periods
in
the
prison
of Arianrhod;

I
have
been
the
chief
director
of
the
work
of
the
tower
of
Nimrod.

I
am
a
wonder
whose
origin
is
not
known.

20
I
have
been
in
Asia
with
Noah
in
the
Ark,

I
have
witnessed
the
destruction
of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah;

I
have
been
in
India
when
Roma
was
built;

I
am
now
come
here
to
the
remnant
of Troia.

I
have
been
with
my
Lord
in
the
manger
of
the
ass;

25
I
strengthened
Moses
through
the
water
of
Jordan;

I
have
been
in
the
firmament
with
Mary
Magdalene;

I
have
obtained
the
muse
from
the
Cauldron
of Caridwen;

I
have
been
bard
of
the
harp
to
Lleon
of Lochlin.

I
have
been
on
the
White
Hill,
in
the
court
of Cynvelyn,

30
For
a
day
and
a
year
in
stocks
and
fetters,

I
have
suffered
hunger
for
the
Son
of
the
Virgin,

I
have
been
fostered
in
the
land
of
the
Deity,

I have
been
teacher
to
all
intelligences,

I
am
able
to
instruct
the
whole
universe.

35
I
shall
be
until
the
day
of
doom
on
the
face
of
the
earth;

And
it
is
not
known
whether
my
body
is
flesh
or
fish.

         Then
I
was
for
nine
months

         In
the
womb
of
the
hag
Caridwen;

         I
was
originally
little
Gwion,

40
       
And
at
length
I
am
Taliesin.