BOOK I. Kimme rians and Cymry in Britain. Baltic 22; and are more briefly alluded to by Pliny. 23 Both these writers represent them on the northwestern shores of Europe, or on those coasts of the German Ocean, from which the Saxons and Danes made afterwards expeditions into Britain. In the days of Tacitus, this ancient nation had almost ceased to exist on the continent of Europe; but his expressions imply their former power and celebrity. When he mentions the Kimbri who, in his time, remained in the peninsula of Jutland, he says, "A small state now, but great in glory; the marks of their ancient fame yet remain, far and wide, about the Elbe; by whose extent you may measure the power and greatness of this people, and accredit the reported numbers of their army.' They were existing, or their fame continued in those parts, in the days of Claudian. 24 Thus far we have proceeded upon the authentic authorities, which remain to us in the classical writers, of the primeval population of Europe. From these it is manifest that the earliest inhabitants of the north of Europe were the Kimmerians or Kimbri; and that they spread over it from the Kimmerian Bosphorus, to the Kimbric Chersonesus; that is from Thrace and its vicinity, to Jutland and the German Ocean; to that ocean from which the passage is direct to Britain; - the regular voyage in our times from Hamburgh to England or Scotland. The habit of moveable nations in the uncivilised or nomadic state, would lead us to infer, as these Kimmerii or Kimbri are characterised as a wandering 22 He remarks that, in his time, Kimbri continued to inhabit their former settlements on the Baltic, and had sent a present of one of their sacred cauldrons to Augustus. Lib. vii. p. 449. 23 Nat. Hist. lib. iv. c. 27. and 28. The latter passage intimates Inland Cimbri near the Rhine, as well as the Cimbri in the peninsula. In lib. vi. c. 14. he mentions Cimmerii in Asia, near the Caspian. 24 Tacitus de Morib. Germ. Claudian calls the Northern Ocean by their name, "Cimbrica Thetis." Cons. Hon. lib. iv. nation, and are shown by all that remains of their history to have been so, that at some early period, after they reached the shores of the German ocean, they crossed it in their rude vessels to Great Britain. This reasonable supposition, analogous to all that we know of the customs of such nations, and of the colonisation of other parts of the world, has a remarkable support in the name and traditions of the Welsh, and their ancient British literature. It is agreed by the British antiquaries, that the most ancient inhabitants of our island were called Cymry (pronounced Kumri): they are so named in all that remains of the ancient British literature. The Welsh, who are their descendants, have always called themselves Cymry; and have given the same appellation to the earliest colonists of our island; and as the authorities already referred to, prove, that the Kiμuspio or Kimbri were the ancient possessors of the northern coasts of the Germanic Ocean, and attempted foreign enterprises, it seems to be a safe and reasonable inference, that the Cymry of Britain originated from the continental Kimmerians. 25 That a district, in the northern part of England, was inhabited by a part of the ancient British nation, and called Cumbria, whence the present Cumberland, is a fact favourable to this presumption. The Danish traditions of expeditions and conquests in Britain, from Jutland and its vicinity, long before our Saviour's birth, which Saxo Grammaticus has incorporated into his history, may here be noticed. He is an authority too vague to be trusted alone; but he is evidence of the traditions of his countrymen, and these may claim that attention, when they coin 25 Tacitus mentions a circumstance favourable to this deduction. He says of the Estii on the Baltic, that their language resembled the British, "lingua Britannicæ proprior." De Mor. Germ. If the opinion maintained in the text be true, the Estii must have been a Kimmerian tribe. CHAP. II. cide with those of the ancient British, which they would not otherwise deserve. They add something to the probability of early migrations, or expeditions from these regions into our islands, although they must not be confounded with historical facts. The historical triads of the Welsh connect themselves with these suppositions in a very striking manner. 26 They state that the Cymry were the first inhabitants of Britain, before whose arrival it was occupied by bears, wolves, beavers, and oxen with large protuberances. 27 They add, that Hu Cadarn, or Hu the Strong, or Mighty, led the nation of the Kymry through the Hazy, or German Ocean, into Britain, and to Llydaw, or Armorica, in France; and that the Kymry came from the eastern parts of Europe, or the regions where Constantinople now stands. 28 Though we would not convert Welsh traditions into history, where they stand alone, it cannot be unreasonable to remember them, when they coincide with the classical authorities. In the In the present case the agreement is striking. The Kimmerians, according to the authorities already stated, proceeded from the vicinity of the Kimmerian Bosphorus to the 26 The Welsh have several collections of historical triads; which are three events coupled together, that were thought by the collector to have some mutual analogy. It is the strange form into which their bards, or ancient writers, chose to arrange the early circumstances of their history. One of the most complete series of their triads has been printed in the Archaiology of Wales, vol. ii. p. 57-75. It was printed from a MS. dated 1601, and the writer of it states that he had taken them out of the books of Caradoc of Llancarvan, and of John Breckfa. Caradoc lived in the twelfth century. Breckfa was much later. 27 It may not be uninteresting to translate the whole triad. "Three names have been given to the isle of Britain since the beginning. Before it was inhabited, it was called Clas Merddin (literally the country with sea cliffs), and afterwards Fel Ynis (the island of honey). When government had been imposed upon it by Prydain, the son of Aedd the Great, it was called Ynys Prydain (the island of Prydain); and there was no tribute to any but to the race of the Kymry, because they first obtained it; and before them, there were no more men alive in it, nor any thing else but bears, wolves, beavers, and the oxen with the high prominence." Triad 1. Arch. v. ii. p. 57. The three pillars of the nation of the isle of Britain. First, Hu Gadarn, who led the nation of the Cymry first to the isle of Britain; and from the country of Summer, which is called Deffrobani, they came; this is where Constantinople is and through the hazy ocean they came to the island of Britain, and to Llydaw, where they have remained." Triad 4. p. 57. II. German Ocean; and the Welsh deduce their ancestors, СНАР. the Cymry, from the regions south of the Bosphorus. The Welsh indeed add the name of their chieftain, and that a division of the same people settled in Armorica. But if the memory of Lygdamis, who led the Kimmerian emigration to Asia, and of Brennus, who marched with the Kelts against Greece, were preserved in the countries which they overran ; so might the name of Hu Cadarn, who conducted some part of the western emigrations, be remembered in the island which he colonised. 29 That Armorica, or Bretagne, was peopled by a race of men similar to those who inhabited Britain, is verified by the close resemblance of the languages of the two countries. of the Cimbri. As we have traced the probable identity of the Manners Kymry with the Kimmerii, and the actual identity Kimmeof these with the Kimbri; it will be right to add the rians and few circumstances, as to the manners of these ancient people, which the classical writers have transmitted. They appear to have been such as might be expected from the earliest emigrants of the civilised stock, who diverged the farthest from their primitive seats. of civilisation. But as no Tacitus took the trouble to study their internal customs, we know nothing of their polity or national institutions. The repulsive features that most struck the attention of their enemies are nearly all that is recorded about them. They were too much dreaded or hated, to be carefully inspected or favourably delineated. Ephorus said of the Kimmerians, that they dwelt in subterraneous habitations, which they called argillas, communicating by trenches.30 It is certainly a curious analogy of language, that argel, in the 29 Pausanias has preserved the names of many of the kings of the Kelts who invaded Greece. So, Livy has transmitted to us those of the Keltic leaders, who attacked Italy in the time of the first Tarquin. BOOK I. language of the Cymry, or British, means a covert, a place covered over.31 This mode of habitation seems to have been the primitive state of barbaric life. The Troglodytes of Asia are said to have lived in caves; and Tacitus describes some of the ruder German tribes as dwelling under ground. The practice of several animals which burrow in the earth may have suggested the custom; and it suits that savage state into which even the emigrants from civilised society may lapse, among woods and marshes, want and warfare, if they lose the knowledge of the mechanic arts, or the tools which these require. Ephorus added, that they had an oracle deep under ground. The Kimbri swore by a brazen bull, which they carried with them. In battle they appeared with helmets representing fierce beasts gaping, or some strange figures; and added a high floating crest to make them look taller. They used white shining shields, and iron mail, and either the battle-axe, or long and heavy swords. They thought it base to die of a disease, and exulted in a military death, as a glorious and happy end.32 Callimachus applies to these people the epithet horse-milkers.33 This incident corresponds with the preceding accounts. The attachment to mare's milk has been common to most nations in their uncivilised state. Most rude and poor nations drink the milk of the animals they ride: as the Arabs of the desert use 31 The word occurs in the ancient Welsh poetry, as in the Afallenau of Merddhin, a dyf yn argel yn argoedydd, will come in the covert in the lofty woods. 1 W. Archaiol. p. 152. It is also used in the Englynion Beddaw of Taliessin : Bet Llia Gwitel in argel ardudwy The grave of Llia the Gwyddelian in the covert of Ardudwy, under the grass and withered leaves. 1 Archaiol. p. 80. 32 Plut. in Mario. Val. Max. 1. ii. c. 6. 33 Callim. Hym. in Dian, v. 252. |