Old English Chronicles

Appendix — No. II

Hanes Taliesin, or the History of Taliesin

The primary domestic bard	With Noah and Alpha;
Am I to Elphin,	I beheld the destruction
And my original country	Of Sodoma and Gomorra;
Is the region of Cherubims.	I was in Africa
Joannes the divine	Before Rome was built:
Called me Merddin,	I am come here
At length every king	To the remnants of Troia.
Will call me Taliesin.	I was with my Lord
I was full nine months	In the manger of the she-ass;
In the womb of mother Cyridwen; [726]	I strengthened Moses
I was little Gwion heretofore,	Through the Jordan water.
Taliesin am I now.	I have been in the firmament
I was with my Lord	With Mary Magdalen;
In the superior state,	I have been gifted with genius
When Lucifer did fall	From the Cauldron of Cyridwen.
To the infernal deep.	I have been bard of the harp
I have borne a banner	To the Teon of Lochlyn; [731]
Before Alexander:	I have endured hunger
I know the names of the stars	For the son of the Virgin.
From the north to Auster.	I have been in the White Hill [732]
I have been in the circle of Gwdion	In the court of Cynvelyn,
Tetragammaton; [727]	In stocks and fetters,
I conducted Hean [728]	For a year and a day.
To the depth of Ebron vale,	I have had my abode
I was in Canaan	In the kingdom of the Trinity;
When Absalom was slain,	It is not known what is my body,
I was in the Court of Don [729]	Whether flesh or fish.
Before Gwdion was born,	I have been an instructor
I was an attendant	To the whole universe;
On Eli and Enoc;	I shall remain till the day of doom
I was on the cross-devoting sentence	On the face of the earth,
Of the Son of the merciful God.	I have been in an agitated seat
I have been chief keeper	Above the circle of Sidin, [733]
Of the work of Nimrod’s tower;	And that continues revolving
I have been three revolutions	Between three elements:
In the circle of Arianrod. [730]	Is it not a wonder to the world,
I was in the Ark	That it reflects not a splendour?

[From Meyrick’s History of Cardiganshire, p. 65, 2 vols. London, 1806.]

Footnotes

⁷²⁶ Venus.

⁷²⁷ The Galaxy.

⁷²⁸ The Divine Spirit.

⁷²⁹ Or Llys Don, i.e. Cassiopeia.

⁷³⁰ The Northern Crown.

⁷³¹ Denmark.

⁷³² Tower of London.

⁷³³ Perhaps Caer Sidin, or the Zodiac.