The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through
Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Book I
Chapter VIII
Passage of the rivers Avon and Neth - and of
Abertawe and Goer
Continuing our journey,89
not far from Margan, where the alternate vicissitudes of a
sandy shore and the tide commence, we forded over the river
Avon, having been considerably delayed by the ebbing of the
sea; and under the guidance of Morgan, eldest son of
Caradoc, proceeded along the sea-shore towards the river
Neth, which, on account of its quicksands, is the most
dangerous and inaccessible river in South Wales. A
pack-horse belonging to the author, which had proceeded by
the lower way near the sea, although in the midst of many
others, was the only one which sunk down into the abyss, but
he was at last, with great difficulty, extricated, and not
without some damage done to the baggage and books. Yet,
although we had Morgan, the prince of that country, as our
conductor, we did not reach the river without great peril,
and some severe falls; for the alarm occasioned by this
unusual kind of road, made us hasten our steps over the
quicksands, in opposition to the advice of our guide, and
fear quickened our pace; whereas, through these difficult
passages, as we there learned, the mode of proceeding should
be with moderate speed. But as the fords of that river
experience a change by every monthly tide, and cannot be
found after violent rains and floods, we did not attempt the
ford, but passed the river in a boat, leaving the monastery
of Neth90
on our right hand, approaching again to the district of St.
David's, and leaving the diocese of Landaf (which we had
entered at Abergevenny) behind us.
It happened in our days that David II., bishop of St.
David's, passing this way, and finding the ford agitated by
a recent storm, a chaplain of those parts, named Rotherch
Falcus, being conversant in the proper method of crossing
these rivers, undertook, at the desire of the bishop, the
dangerous task of trying the ford. Having mounted a large
and powerful horse, which had been selected from the whole
train for this purpose, he immediately crossed the ford, and
fled with great rapidity to the neighbouring woods, nor
could he be induced to return until the suspension which he
had lately incurred was removed, and a full promise of
security and indemnity obtained; the horse was then restored
to one party, and his service to the other.
Entering the province called
Goer,91
we spent the night at the castle of Sweynsei,92
which in Welsh is called Abertawe, or the fall of the river
Tawe into the sea. The next morning, the people being
assembled after mass, and many having been induced to take
the cross, an aged man of that district, named Cador, thus
addressed the archbishop: "My lord, if I now enjoyed my
former strength, and the vigour of youth, no alms should
ransom me, no desire of inactivity restrain me, from
engaging in the laudable undertaking you preach; but since
my weak age and the injuries of time deprive me of this
desirable benefit (for approaching years bring with them
many comforts, which those that are passed take away), if I
cannot, owing to the infirmity of my body, attain a full
merit, yet suffer me, by giving a tenth of all I possess, to
attain a half." Then falling down at the feet of the
archbishop, he deposited in his hands, for the service of
the cross, the tenth of his estate, weeping bitterly, and
intreating from him the remission of one half of the
enjoined penance. After a short time he returned, and thus
continued: "My lord, if the will directs the action, and is
itself, for the most part, considered as the act, and as I
have a full and firm inclination to undertake this journey,
I request a remission of the remaining part of the penance,
and in addition to my former gift, I will equal the sum from
the residue of my tenths." The archbishop, smiling at his
devout ingenuity, embraced him with admiration.
On the same night, two monks, who waited in the
archbishop's chamber, conversing about the occurrences of
their journey, and the dangers of the road, one of them said
(alluding to the wildness of the country), "This is a hard
province;" the other (alluding to the quicksands), wittily
replied, "Yet yesterday it was found too soft."
A short time before our days, a circumstance worthy of
note occurred in these parts, which Elidorus, a priest, most
strenuously affirmed had befallen himself. When a youth of
twelve years, and learning his letters, since, as Solomon
says, "The root of learning is bitter, although the fruit is
sweet," in order to avoid the discipline and frequent
stripes inflicted on him by his preceptor, he ran away, and
concealed himself under the hollow bank of a river. After
fasting in that situation for two days, two little men of
pigmy stature appeared to him, saying, "If you will come
with us, we will lead you into a country full of delights
and sports." Assenting and rising up, he followed his guides
through a path, at first subterraneous and dark, into a most
beautiful country, adorned with rivers and meadows, woods
and plains, but obscure, and not illuminated with the full
light of the sun. All the days were cloudy, and the nights
extremely dark, on account of the absence of the moon and
stars. The boy was brought before the king, and introduced
to him in the presence of the court; who, having examined
him for a long time, delivered him to his son, who was then
a boy. These men were of the smallest stature, but very well
proportioned in their make; they were all of a fair
complexion, with luxuriant hair falling over their shoulders
like that of women. They had horses and greyhounds adapted
to their size. They neither ate flesh nor fish, but lived on
milk diet, made up into messes with saffron. They never took
an oath, for they detested nothing so much as lies. As often
as they returned from our upper hemisphere, they reprobated
our ambition, infidelities, and inconstancies; they had no
form of public worship, being strict lovers and reverers, as
it seemed, of truth.
The boy frequently returned to our hemisphere, sometimes
by the way he had first gone, sometimes by another: at first
in company with other persons, and afterwards alone, and
made himself known only to his mother, declaring to her the
manners, nature, and state of that people. Being desired by
her to bring a present of gold, with which that region
abounded, he stole, while at play with the king's son, the
golden ball with which he used to divert himself, and
brought it to his mother in great haste; and when he reached
the door of his father's house, but not unpursued, and was
entering it in a great hurry, his foot stumbled on the
threshold, and falling down into the room where his mother
was sitting, the two pigmies seized the ball which had
dropped from his hand, and departed, shewing the boy every
mark of contempt and derision. On recovering from his fall,
confounded with shame, and execrating the evil counsel of
his mother, he returned by the usual track to the
subterraneous road, but found no appearance of any passage,
though he searched for it on the banks of the river for
nearly the space of a year. But since those calamities are
often alleviated by time, which reason cannot mitigate, and
length of time alone blunts the edge of our afflictions, and
puts an end to many evils, the youth having been brought
back by his friends and mother, and restored to his right
way of thinking, and to his learning, in process of time
attained the rank of priesthood. Whenever David II., bishop
of St. David's, talked to him in his advanced state of life
concerning this event, he could never relate the particulars
without shedding tears. He had made himself acquainted with
the language of that nation, the words of which, in his
younger days, he used to recite, which, as the bishop often
had informed me, were very conformable to the Greek idiom.
When they asked for water, they said Ydor ydorum, which
meant bring water, for Ydor in their language, as well as in
the Greek, signifies water, from whence vessels for water
are called {Greek text which cannot be reproduced}; and Dur
also, in the British language, signifies water. When they
wanted salt they said, Halgein ydorum, bring salt: salt is
called {Greek text} in Greek, and Halen in British, for that
language, from the length of time which the Britons (then
called Trojans, and afterwards Britons, from Brito, their
leader) remained in Greece after the destruction of Troy,
became, in many instances, similar to the Greek.
It is remarkable that so many languages should correspond
in one word, {Greek} in Greek, Halen in British, and Halgein
in the Irish tongue, the g being inserted; Sal in Latin,
because, as Priscian says, "the s is placed in some words
instead of an aspirate," as {Greek} in Greek is called Sal
in Latin, {Greek} - semi - {Greek} - septem - Sel in French
- the A being changed into E - Salt in English, by the
addition of T to the Latin; Sout, in the Teutonic language:
there are therefore seven or eight languages agreeing in
this one word. If a scrupulous inquirer should ask my
opinion of the relation here inserted, I answer with
Augustine, "that the divine miracles are to be admired, not
discussed." Nor do I, by denial, place bounds to the divine
power, nor, by assent, insolently extend what cannot be
extended. But I always call to mind the saying of St.
Jerome; "You will find," says he, "many things incredible
and improbable, which nevertheless are true; for nature
cannot in any respect prevail against the lord of nature."
These things, therefore, and similar contingencies, I should
place, according to the opinion of Augustine, among those
particulars which are neither to be affirmed, nor too
positively denied.
The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through
Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Chapter VII
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