By
IOLO GOCH.

Fortune having turned against Glendower, he fought many unsuccessful battles, in which all his sons perished, bravely maintaining the cause of their father. His adherents being either slaughtered or dispirited, the Welsh Chieftain retired into concealment—but where, no mortal at the present day can assert with certainty, but it is believed that he died of grief and disappointment in the year 1415, at the house of his daughter, the wife of Sir John Scudamore, of Monington in Herefordshire. The fall of Glendower was a bitter mortification to the Bards, whom he had so long feasted in the watery valley [39] from which he derived his surname; many poetical compositions are still preserved, written with the view of reviving the hopes of his dispirited friends. Amongst these the following by Iolo Goch is perhaps the most remarkable. He hints that the Chieftain has repaired to Rome, from which he will return with a warrant under the seal of the Pope, to take possession of his right. Then he flings out a surmise that he has travelled to the Holy Sepulchre, and will re-appear, with a Danish and Irish fleet to back his cause. Notwithstanding the little regard paid to truth and probability in this piece, and notwithstanding its strange metaphors and obscure allusions, it displays marks of no ordinary poetic talent, and is a convincing proof that the fire and genius of the author had not deserted him at fourscore, to which advanced age he had attained when he wrote it.

Tall man, whom Harry loves but ill,
Thou’st had reverses, breath’st thou still?
If so, with fire-spear seek the fray,
Come, and thy target broad display.
From land of Rome, which glory’s light
Environs, come in armour dight,
With writ, which bears the blest impression
Of Peter’s seal, to take possession.
Big Bull! from eastern climates speed,
Bursting each gate would thee impede.
Flash from thy face shall fiery rays,
On thee shall all with reverence gaze.
Fair Eagle! earl of trenchant brand!
Betake thee to the Lochlin land,
Whose sovereign on his buckler square,
Sign of success, is wont to bear
Three lions blue, through fire to see
Like azure, and steel-fetters three.
We’ll trust, far casting black despair,
Hence in the peacock, hog and bear!
For O the three shall soon unite,
A dread host in the hour of fight.
Launch forth seven ships, do not delay,
Launch forth seven hundred, tall and gay;
From the far north, at Mona’s pray’r,
To verdant Eirin’s shore repair.
To seek O’Neil must be thy task,
And at his hand assistance ask;
Ere feast of John we shall not fail
To hear a rising of the Gael:
Through the wild waste to Dublin town
Shall come a leader of renown.
Prepare a fleet with stout hearts mann’d
From Irishmen’s dear native land.
Come thou who did’st by treachery fall,
Where’er thou art my soul is all.
Yellow and red, before a feast,
The colours are, the Erse love best,
Deck with the same, their hearts to win,
The banner old of Llywellin.
Call Britain’s host (may woe betide
England for treachery!) to thy side;
Come to our land, tough steel, and o’er
The islands rule, an Emperor;
A fire ignite on shore of Mon
Staunch Eagle! ere an hour be flown.
The castles break, retreats of care,
Conquer of Caer Ludd’s dogs the lair!
Mona’s gold horn! the Normans smite,
Kill the mole and his men outright:
A prophecy there stands from old,
That numerous battles thou shalt hold;
Where’er thou’st opportunity
Fight the tame Lion furiously;
Fierce shall thy hands’ work prove, I trow,
Dying and dead shall Merwyg strow;
War shall my Chief through summer wage,
That the wheel turn, my life I’ll gage;
Like to the burst of Derri’s stream
The onset of his war shall seem.
With Mona’s flag through Iaithon’s glen
Shall march a host of armed men:
Nine fights he’ll wage and then have done,
Successful in them every one.
Come heir of Cadwallader blest,
And thy sire’s land from robbers wrest:
Take thou the portion that’s thine own,
Us from the chains ’neath which we groan.