Siccome là, dove cometa, o stella Il tuo lodar troppo alto sale; Argo non mai, non vide Cipro, lo Ne tanto insuso il merto nostro arriva. Delo D'abito, o di beltà forme sí care. Her matchless charms the wond'ring bands surprize, Provoke their whispers, and attract their eyes; So mortals, through the midnight fields of air, Observe the blaze of some unusual star. Sudden they throng to view th' approaching dame, Eager to learn her message, and her name. Cosa vedi, signor, non pur mortale, My merits ne'er attain'd a flight so high. Thy eyes, O chief! a mortal wretch survey, To pleasure dead, to grief a living prey! friend.. HOOLE. Truth, O great chief! my artless story frames: A mighty king my filial duty claims. other, that, it may be presumed, they were raised upon the same foundation. But that foundation lies, and will, probably, ever lie, hid in night. In both tales, we may discover the colouring of magic, with which the Saracens of the middle ages, then adepts in chemistry, tinctured all the fables, which sprung from their brilliant and creative imaginations. "Belisarius, having ordered out a detachment of his army, to watch the motions of the enemy, the warriors are met, at the entrance of the camp, by 'Una donzella Tanto leggiadra, e graziosa in vista, "This damsel, who appears sconcolata e mesta,' says, sighing, to the admiring chiefs, Voi mi parete cavalieri eccelsi, Di gran valore, e di pietade adorni: Però prendo ardimento di pregarvi, Che m' ajutate in questo mio bisogno. To fui figliuola già d'una gran donna, Signora del paese di Bitonte, Che maritommi al duca di Crotone, E diedemi per dote un solo anello Di pregio estremo, e di valore immenso: Questo avea tal virtù, che s'io il basciava, E poi toccava ogni qualunque cosa, Quella si convertiva in seta, o in oro, ☎ in tutto quel, ch'i' avea dentr' al pen siero. Or' io tornando al dolce mio terreno, essa; Ond' io, per non lasciar sì ricca gioja, Quì mi rimasi, e vo cercando ajuto Es' alcun mi sarà tanto cortese, "Yielding to her requisition, the chiefs attend her to the lake or fountain, where they find an armed knight, the son of an enchantress, ready to receive them. They engage in combat with him. They are vanquished, and led away prisoners to the palace of the enchantress, under the guard of the two giants mentioned by the artful damsel. It is not necessary, for our present purpose, to relate the adventures which followed; I shall only observe, that the waters of the fountain, into which the damsel pretended she had dropped her ring, were endued with miraculous powers. 'Chiunque beve Di si dolce acqua, tutto si risana; Onde è detta la fonte del Sanajo.' "Let us now turn to the Irish tale. "During a feast, given in the hall of Almhain to the Finian chiefs, Finn steals from the festive board to breathe the fragrant gale. An enchanted doe suddenly appears before him. He calls his dogs, and pursues her to Slieve. Guillin, where she instantly vanishes. Finn, then looking around,discovers, near a small lake, Thy chase, O king, was not my care; I nothing of it know; Far other thoughts my bosom share, The thoughts, alas, of woe! * Alas, my ring, for whose dear sake Let me conjure thee, generous king! "The tale proceeds: Scarce was the soft entreaty made, At the white-h'nded fair's request, But when he sought the blooming maid Her treasure to restore; His powers were gone,-he scarce could wade To reach the distant shore! That form, where strength and beauty met, To conquer or engage, "Finn is soon afterwards found by his chiefs, in the state describ ed by the poet. They draw the enchantress from a cave, in which she had concealed herself, and oblige her, by threats, to disenchant their leader. She presents him with a medicated cup. He drinks, and immediately His former grace, HISTORY OF MONA, or the ISLAND of ANGLESEY. [From Sir RICHARD HOARE'S TRANSLATION of Archbishop BALDWIN'S ITINERARY.] ONA or Anglesey-This could either wish or have expected, "Misland, once the principal from so able, learned, and inge seat of the Druids, and the last asylum to which the distressed Britons fled for succour from the victorious Romans; the residence of the British princes, and the stronghold of their expiring armies; contains many interesting monu ments of the highest antiquity, and coeval with its ancient inhabitants, the Druids. Though a large volume has been dedicated to this little island, yet its parochial and antiquarian history has not been so fully developed as the traveller nious a writer as Mr. Rowlands. "Its sovereignty appears to have been both frequently and sturdily contested for above four centuries, and was the scene on which the last and decisive battle was fought between the Welsh and English; and although prince Lhewelyn here witnessed the total overthrow of his rival king Edward the First, and the discomfiture of his army, with the loss of many of its most illustrious knights and chieftains; yet fortune, on this occasion, seems only only to have glimmered for a moment in his favour, for in the ensuing year he was betrayed, and lost his life near Builth in Brecknock. "The first mention made of this island in the Welsh Chronicle, is in the year 808, when its possession was disputed by Conan Tindaethwy, and Howel, sons of Roderic Molwynoe: victory decided in favour of the latter, who retained possession of it till the year 817, when it was taken from him by his brother Conan. "A. D. 18. In the reign of Mervyn Frych and Esylht, the only daughter of the late Conan, Egbert king of the West Saxons entered Wales with a great army, and destroyed the whole country unto Snowdon hills; and about the same time, there was a sore battle fought in Anglesey, called the battle of Lhaavaes. "About the year 843, at the commencement of the reign of Roderic the Great, Ethelwulph king of the Saxons united his forces with Burchred king of Mercia, and entering North Wales with a great power, destroyed Anglesey, and fought diverse battles with the Welsh. "A. D. 873. The Danes having made peace with king Alfred, and according to the words of the Welsh Chronicle, having abjured England,' bent their force against Wales, and entered Anglesey with a large army, where Roderic the Great gave them two battles; one at a place called Bangole, and another at a place called Menegid. "In the year 876, the English entered the island, and fought a sore battle with the Welsh. "A. D. 900. Igmond, with a great number of soldiers, came to Anglesey, and the Welshmen gave them battle at Molerain. "About the year 915, the men of Dublin destroyed the island. "The modern edition of the Welsh Chronicle records a battle fought in Anglesey betwixt Howel Dha and Conan ap Edward Foel, wherein the latter fell. A. D, 958. Abloic king of Ireland landed in Môn, and hav ing burnt Holyhead, spoiled the country of Lhyn; and in the year 966, Aberfiaw, the royal seat of the princes of North Wales, was de stroyed by the Irishmen. In the year 969, Mactus, the son of Harold, entered Anglesey with an army of Danes, and spoiled Penmon, and shortly afterwards Godfryd, the son of Harold, did subdue to himself the whole isle of Anglesey, which he enjoyed not long. "A. D. 979. At this time, Cus tenyn Dhu, that is, Constantine the Black, son to Iago (who was then prisoner), hired Godfryd, the son of Harold, with his Danes, against his cousin, and they both together destroyed Anglesey and Lhyn; whereupon Howel ap Jevaf gathered his army, and setting upon them at a place called Gwayth Hirbarth, overthrew them, and Constantine was slain; but in the year 986, Godfryd entered Anglesey a third time, and having taken Llywarch, the son of Owen, prisoner, together with two thousand men, he cruelly put out his eyes. In 989, the Danes taking advantage of Meredyth's absence in South Wales, landed in Anglesey, and ravaged the whole island. "A. D. 1973. Gruffyth, son to Conan ap Iago, the rightful inheritor of the principality of North Wales, came over from Ireland with the succour which his brethren Encumalhon king of Ulster had delivered him, and he landed in Anglesey, Anglesey, and brought it to his subjection. In 1096, the island was attacked by Hugh de Mountgomery earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, and by Hugh earl of Chester, the former of whom was killed by Magnus, as related by Giraldus in the text of this chapter. "The island seems to have enjoyed a long period of tranquillity till the year 1151, when Cadwalader, the brother of Owen Gwynedh prince of North Wales escaped out of prison, and subdued part of the isle to himself; but his brother Owen sent an army against him, and chased him thence. In the year 1157, during the war between king Henry the Second and the Welsh, the navy of Owen Gwynedh, under the command of Madoc ap Meredyth prince of Powys, anchored off Anglesey, and put on land some soldiers, who spoiled two churches, and a little of the country thereabouts; but as they returned to their ships, the whole strength of the isle set upon them, and killed them all, so that none of those which robbed within the isle brought tidings how they sped. "A. D. 1174. About this time, David ap Owen Gwynedh, prince of North Wales, made war against his brother Maelgon, who was in possession of the isle of Anglesey, and brought his people over Menai (for so that arm of the sea is called that separateth the island from the main land), and forcing his brother to fly to Ireland, brought all Anglesey to his subjection. "A. D. 1193. Roderic, the son of Owen Gwynedh, by the help of Gothrike king of Man, entered Anglesey and conquered it; but before the end of the same year, the sons of his brother Conan drove him out of the island and got it themselves, "In the year 1237, the death of Joan, daughter of king John, is thus recorded in the Welsh Chronicle. "The next spring died Joan, daughter to king John, princess of Wales, and was buried upon the sea shore within the isle of Anglesey, at Lhanvaes, as her pleasure was, where her husband (prince Lhewelyn ap Jorwerth) did build a house of bare-foot friars over her grave. "A. D. 1245. King Henry III. having failed in his military expedi tion against North Wales, and having lost a great number of his most worthy soldiers and nobility, sent for the Irishmen, who landed in Anglesey, and spoiled a great part thereof, till the inhabitants gathered themselves together, and, meeting with them heavily laden with spoil, drove them back to their ships. "A. D. 1277. Prince Lhewelyn was at length obliged to sue for peace, which king Edward I. granted, upon the following hard conditions: That he should pay to the king, for his favour and goodwill, 50,000 marks; that the cantref Ros, where the king's castle of Teganwy stood; the cantref Ryvonioc, where Denbigh is; the cantref Tegengl, where Ruthlan standeth, and cantref Dyffryn Clywd, where Ruthyn is, should remain to the king and his heirs for ever, and that the prince should pay yearly for the isle of Anglesey, 1000 marks, which payment should begin at Michaelmas next ensuing, and that he should also pay 5000 marks out of hand, and if the prince died without issue, the island should revert to the king and his heirs. The prince was also required to come to England every Christmas to do homage to the king for his lands,' "The historian Carte has recorded |