The country situate between the Humber and the Clyde in North Britain was, for the most part, originally occupied by the Cymry, who here, as well as in the west, displayed no mean valour in opposition to the Roman arms. The latter certainly prevailed; nevertheless it is to be noticed that they did not finally destroy, nor indeed to any material extent alter the national features of Prydyn. This is evident from the manner in which the conquerors thought fit to incorporate into their own geographical vocabulary many of the local names, which they found already in use; and above all from the purely ancestral character which the native chieftains exhibited on emerging from the Roman ruins in the fifth century. Indeed to permit the defeated princes, under certain restrictions, to enjoy their former rights and jurisdictions, was perfectly in accordance with the usual policy of the Romans, as we may learn from the testimony of Tacitus, who remarks, in reference to the British king Cogidunus, that they granted to him certain states according to ancient custom, and the reason assigned is that they might have even kings as instruments of slavery. [1a] The homage of the subjugated provinces seems to have consisted principally in the payment of a tribute of money, and the furnishing of soldiers for foreign service.

Such, no doubt, was the position of Cunedda Wledig, who “began to reign about A.D. 328, and died in 389”; [1b] and who, according to the Historia Britonum attributed to Nennius, “venerat de parte sinistrali, id est, de regione quÆ vocatur Manau Guotodin,” [1c] the heights of Gododin, and the same apparently with the territory of the Ottadeni.

In the Myvyrian Archaiology, v. 1, p. 71, is printed an Elegy on Cunedda, the work of one who had actually partaken of his royal munificence, who had received from him “milch cows, horses, wine, oil, and a host of slaves.” The writer with respect to the martial prowess of his patron, observes,

“Trembling with fear of Cunedda,
Will be Caer Weir and Caer Liwelydd.”

And again,

“A hundred times ere his shield was shattered in battle,
Bryneich obeyed his commands in the conflict.”

The modern names of the localities, mentioned in these extracts, are respectively Warwick, Carlisle [2a] and Bernicia. The two latter are in the immediate vicinity of the Ottadeni; the former, being further removed, would indicate the direction and extent of his arms.

From other sources we learn that Cunedda was the son of Edeyrn ab Padarn Peisrudd, by Gwawl, daughter of Coel Godebog, and that he was entitled, in right of his mother, to certain territories in Wales. When these were invaded by the Gwyddyl, his sons, twelve in number, left their northern home for the purpose of recovering the same, in which they were successful, though the enemy was not finally extirpated until the battle at Cerrig y Gwyddyl, in the succeeding generation. It is asserted by some that Cunedda accompanied his sons in this expedition, and that it was undertaken as much through inability to retain possession of their more immediate dominions, as from the desire of acquiring or regaining other lands. However, though the sons settled in Wales and on its borders, it is more accordant with the drift of the Poem, already cited, to suppose that Cunedda himself died in the North. Nevertheless, it is undoubted that the native chieftains began to suffer in that part of the island from barbarian incursions even before the departure of the Romans. Thus Ammianus Marcellinus, with reference to the year 364, bears testimony, that “the Picts and Saxons and Scots and Attacots harassed the Britons with continual oppressions.” [2b]

The final abandonment of the island by the Romans occurred, according to Zosimus, about A.D. 408 or 409, at which time the native princes arose to the full enjoyment of feudal dignity and power. In the North, among others, we find Pabo Post Prydain, a descendant of Coel Godebog in the 4th degree, and Cynvarch Oer, a member of another branch of the same family; both of whom, however, were compelled by the inroads of the predatory hordes, to leave their territories and seek refuge in Wales, though it would appear that Urien, son of the latter, succeeded subsequently in recovering his paternal dominion.

The struggle continued, and the enemies had gradually extended themselves along the coasts, when in 547 they received an important reinforcement by the arrival of Ida with forty ships. Gododin, Deivyr, and Bryneich, being situated on the eastern shore, would be especially exposed to the ravages of these marauders. Indeed it does not appear that Gododin ever recovered its pristine independence after the death of Cunedda, at least we do not hear that any of his sons subsequently asserted their claims to it, or had anything to do with the administration of its government: they all seem to have ended their days in their western dominions. Deivyr and Bryneich, however, were more fortunate, for we find that they were ruled as late as the 6th century by British monarchs, among whom are named Gall, Diffedell, and Disgyrnin, the sons of Disgyvyndawd; [3a] though there is reason to believe that at that time they were in treacherous alliance with the Saxons. A Triad positively affirms, that “there were none of the Lloegrwys who did not coalesce with the Saxons, save such as were found in Cornwall, and in the Commot of Carnoban in Deivyr and Bryneich.” [3b] And it is a remarkable fact, as corroborative of this statement, that the Cymry ever after, as may be seen in the works of the Bards, applied the term Bryneich to such of their kindred as joined with the enemies of their country.

Certain it is, that, at the period of our Poem, the people of the three provinces in question were open enemies of the Cymry, as appears from stanzas iii, v, and ix. When we see there how the Bard commends one hero for not yielding to the army of Gododin, and celebrates the praise of another who committed an immense slaughter amongst the men of Deivyr and Bryneich, and threatens, in the case of a third party, that if they were suspected of leaning to the Bernician interest, he would himself raise his hand against them, we can come to no other conclusion than that those countries were arrayed against the Cymry when the battle of Cattraeth took place.

Ida had to encounter a powerful opponent in the person of Urien, king of Rheged, a district in or near which Cattraeth lay, as we infer from two poems of Taliesin. Thus, one entitled “Gwaith Gwenystrad,” commences with the words,

“Extol the men of Cattraeth, who, with the dawn,
Went with their victorious leader
Urien, a renowned elder.” [3c]

In the other, called “Yspail Taliesin,” Urien is styled “Glyw Cattraeth,” the ruler of Cattraeth. [4a] At the same time he is generally spoken of under the title of Rheged’s chief.

The leader of the hostile forces in the battle of Gwenystrad is not named, but in the battle of Argoed Llwyvein we find him to be Flamddwyn or the Torch bearer, a name by which the Britons delighted to designate the formidable Ida. Flamddwyn’s army on this occasion consisted of four legions, which reached from Argoed to Arvynydd, and against them were arrayed the men of Goddeu and Rheged, under the command of Ceneu ab Coel, and Owain, and “Urien the prince.”

Argoed, bordering on Deivyr and Bryneich, was ruled by Llywarch Hen, who after his abdication and flight into Powys, pathetically records the loyal attachment of his former subjects,—

“The men of Argoed have ever supported me.” [4b]

The Historia Britonum enumerates three other kings, who with Urien fought against the Saxons in the North, viz., Rhydderch, Gwallawg, and Morgant, though the latter, under the impulse of envy, procured the assassination of Urien, in the Isle of Lindisfarne.

After the Saxons had finally established themselves on the eastern coast, in the forementioned countries, an immense rampart, extending nearly from the Solway to the Frith of Forth, was erected, either with the view of checking their further progress westward, or else by mutual consent of the two nations, as a mere line of demarcation between their respective dominions. This wall cannot have an earlier date, for it runs through the middle of the country originally occupied by the Gadeni, and could not of course have been constructed as a boundary by them; nor can it be referred to a more recent period, as there could be no reason for forming such a fence after the Saxons had intruded upon the whole country which it divides. This was the famous Catrail, which we presume to be identical with Cattraeth, where the disastrous battle of that name, as sung by Aneurin, was fought.

Catrail means literally “the war fence” (cad-rhail), but on the supposition that it is synonymous with Cattraeth, the rhyme in the Gododin would determine the latter to be the correct term, or that by which Aneurin distinguished the line. The meaning of Cattraeth would be either “the war tract” (cad-traeth), or “the legal war fence” (cad-rhaith); the latter of which would give some countenance to the idea that it was formed by mutual agreement.

The whole course of the Catrail, which may be traced from the vicinity of Galashiels to Peel-fell, is upwards of forty five miles. The most entire parts of it show that it was originally a broad and deep fosse; having on each side a rampart, which was formed of the natural soil, that was thrown from the ditch, intermixed with some stones. Its dimensions vary in different places, which may be owing to its remains being more or less perfect. In those parts where it is pretty entire, the fosse is twenty seven, twenty six, and twenty five feet broad. But in those places where the rampart has been most demolished the fosse only measures twenty two and a half feet, twenty and eighteen, and in one place only sixteen feet wide. As the ramparts sloped on the inside, it is obvious that in proportion as they were demolished, the width of the fosse within would be diminished. In some of the most entire parts the ramparts are from six to seven, and even nine or ten feet high, and from eight to ten and twelve feet thick. They are, no doubt, less now than they were originally, owing to the effects of time and tillage. [5a]

Such is the Catrail, and were it identical with Cattraeth, we should naturally expect to meet with some allusions to a work of that description in the body of the Poem. Nor are we herein disappointed, for the expressions “ffosawd,” [5b] “clawdd,” [5c] “ffin,” [5d] “cladd clodvawr,” [5e] “goglawdd,” [5f] “clawdd gwernin,” [5g] and “gorffin Gododin,” [5h] are undoubtedly such allusions, though we readily admit that some of them may, and probably do, refer to the ordinary circular forts of the Britons, of whom there are several along the line. It may be added here that Taliesin in his description of the battle of Gwenystrad, where the men of Cattraeth fought under Urien, speaks of a “govwr” or an intrenchment, that was “assailed by the laborious toil of warriors.”

Having thus satisfied ourselves as to the nature and locality of Cattraeth; the general subject of the Poem becomes apparent. It was a battle fought at the barrier in question between the Cymry and the Saxons, the most extended in its design and operations on the part of the former, as it proved to them the most disastrous in its results, of all that had hitherto taken place between the two people in that part of the island.

The details of this bloody encounter, as we gather them from the Poem, were as follow: At the call of Mynyddawg, lord of Eiddin, whose dominions lay peculiarly exposed, both by sea and land, to the attack of the enemy, the native chieftains of Prydyn, aided by many of their relatives and friends from Gwynedd and Cernyw, entered into a mutual alliance in behalf of their common country. [6a] In one place the daughter of Eudav [6b] is joined with Mynyddawg, as one upon whose errand the expedition was undertaken, but whether she was his wife, or ruled over a territory adjacent to, or equally threatened with his own, does not appear. The troops under their respective leaders arrived at Eiddin, where they were sumptuously entertained by Mynyddawg, [6c] and where they established their head quarters. The generals named in the Poem amount in number to about ninety, but this was not the third part of the whole, which consisted of “three hundred and sixty three chieftains wearing the golden torques.” [6d] The aggregate number of men that followed these illustrious leaders is not told, but if an average may be formed from what we know respecting a few cases, it will appear to have been immense. Mynyddawg’s retinue consisted of “three hundred;” [6e] there were “five battalions of five hundred men each,” “three levies of three hundred each;” “three bold knights” had each “three hundred of equal quality;” [6f] thus averaging about four hundred for each commander, which, multiplied by three hundred and sixty three, would exhibit an overwhelming army of a hundred and forty five thousand, and two hundred men! Yet the Poet describes the numerical advantages possessed by the enemy as greatly superior.

These forces, being all placed on the western side of the dyke, would approach the land of their enemies as they marched to the field of battle, hence the reason why Aneurin uses the expressions “Gwyr a aeth Gattraeth,” and “Gwyr a aeth Gododin,” as synonymous.

The enemies, as before observed, were the Saxons, aided on this occasion by many of the Lloegrians, namely, such of the natives as had submitted to their sway in the provinces they had already conquered. They concentrated their forces in Gododin, and marched westward in the direction of the great fence, where the Britons were awaiting them. Aneurin has not thought fit to record the names of any of their generals, with the single exception of Dyvnwal Vrych, [7a] who, to entitle him to that distinction, must have figured prominently on the field of battle.

The engagement commenced on a Tuesday, and continued for a whole week, the last four days being the most bloody. [7b] For some time both parties fought gallantly, and with almost equal success; fortune perhaps upon the whole appearing to favour the Cymry, who not only slew a vast number of their adversaries, but partially succeeded in recovering their lost dominions. [7c] At this critical juncture a dwarfish herald arrived at the fence, proposing on the part of the Saxons a truce or compact, which, however, was indignantly rejected by the natives, and the action renewed. [7d] The scales now rapidly turned. In one part of the field such a terrible carnage ensued, that there was but one man left to scare away the birds of prey, which hovered over the carcases of the slain. [7e] In another, where our Bard was stationed, a portion of the allied army, owing to the absence of its general, became panic stricken. [7f] Aneurin was taken prisoner, hurried off to a cave or dungeon, and loaded with chains. [7g] At length a conference was submitted to, which was held at a place called Llanveithin, at which Aneurin, who had been forcibly liberated by one of the sons of Llywarch Hen, insisted upon the restoration of part of Gododin, or the alternative of continuing the fight. The Saxon herald met the proposal by killing the British Bard Owain, who was of course unarmed. [7h] Such a violation of privilege excited then the whole energies of the Cymry, who rose as one man, and gave the entire scene a more bloody character than it had yet presented.

Victory, however, at length proclaimed in favour of the usurpers, and so decisively, that out of the three hundred and sixty three chieftains that went to the field of Cattraeth, three only returned alive, Cynon, and Cadreith, and Cadlew of Cadnant, besides Aneurin himself. [7i] The number of common soldiers that fell must be conjectured.

We have said that the battle commenced on a Tuesday; it would appear from two passages, namely, where the meeting of reapers in the hall of Eiddin, [7j] and the employment of Gwynwydd in protecting the corn on the highlands, [8a] are spoken of, that the time of year in which it occurred was the harvest.

It is not, however, so easy to determine the exact year when all this happened. Neither Arthur nor Urien are mentioned as being present, and though the stanzas containing their names may have been lost, it must be admitted that in the case of such distinguished warriors reason will not warrant the supposition: the fair inference would be that they were dead at the time. This view is, moreover, supported by readings of the Gododin, where certain heroes are compared to the said chiefs respectively, “of Arthur,” “un Urien,” which would hardly have been done had these latter been alive. The death of Arthur is placed in the year 542; Owain, who died at Cattraeth, slew Ida, A.D. 560, and Urien is said to have been assassinated about 567; the battle under consideration must have happened subsequently, probably about the year usually assigned it, viz., 570. This was in the reign of Rhun, a descendant in the 4th degree of Cunedda Wledig, King of Gododin!

The vulgar opinion is that the Britons lost the battle in consequence of having marched to the field in a state of intoxication; and it must be admitted that there are many passages in the Poem, which, simply considered, would seem to favour that view. Nevertheless, granting that the 363 chieftains had indulged too freely in their favourite beverage, it is hardly credible that the bulk of the army, on which mainly depended the destiny of the battle, had the same opportunity of rendering themselves equally incapacitated, or, if we suppose that all had become so, that they did not recover their sobriety in seven days! The fact appears to be, that Aneurin in the instances alluded to, intends merely to contrast the social and festive habits of his countrymen at home with their lives of toil and privation in war, after a practise common to the Bards, not only of that age, but subsequently. Or it may be that the banquet, at which the British leaders were undoubtedly entertained in the hall of Eiddin, was looked upon as the sure prelude to war, and that in that sense the mead and wine were to them as poison.