Endnotes

1. A highly Rabelaisian phrase is omitted. ↩

2. Translated from the Welsh verses quoted in the notebook. ↩

3. The following translation of these verses appeared in Poems from the Old Bards, by Taliesin, Bristol, 1812:

   “In Soar’s sweet valley, where the sound
   Of holy anthems once was heard
   From many a saint, the hills prolong
   Only the music of the bird.

   In Soar’s sweet valley, where the brook
   With many a ripple flows along,
   Delicious prospects meet the eye,
   The ear is charmed with Phil’mel’s song.

   In Soar’s sweet valley once a Maid,
   Despising worldly prospects gay,
   Resigned her note in earthly choirs
   Which now in Heaven must sound alway.

   In Soar’s sweet valley David preached;
   His Gospel accents so beguiled
   The savage Britons, that they turned
   Their fiercest cries to music mild.

   In Soar’s sweet valley Cybi taught
   To haughty Prince the Holy Law,
   The way to Heaven he showed, and then
   The subject tribes inspired with awe.

   In Soar’s sweet valley still the song
   Of Phil’mel sounds and checks alarms.
   But when shall I once more renew
   Those heavenly hours in Gladys’ arms?”

   “Taliesin” was the pseudonym of an amiable clergyman, the Reverend Owen Thomas, for many years curate of Llantrisant. He died in 1820, at the great age of eighty-four. His original poetry in Welsh was reputed as far superior to his translations, and he made a very valuable and curious collection of “Cymric Antiquities,” which remains in manuscript in the keeping of his descendants. ↩

4. A diamond. ↩