ae, and a
close connection and affinity may be traced between their language not
with the ancient Celtic only but also with the Greek; and, it is at the
same time very evident, that their dialect differed materially from that
of the aboriginal inhabitants of this island, and whom on that account
they denominated _Gaillt_ and _Gwyddyl_. The British language retains to
this day many words purely Greek, such as _Haul_, [Greek text], the sun,
_Dwfr_, [Greek text], water, and many others, which have been pointed out
some time by the learned _Pezron_. But, that the Britons had other words
of the same import purely Celtic may be proved from the works of the
ancient bards; for _huan_ is made use of by Iorwerth Vychan, and many
other bards, to signify the _sun_,--

Llewyrch ebyr myr, morfeydd dylan;
Pan lewych _huan_ ar fann fynydd.

_Iorwerth Vychan_.

Coruscatio portuum aquarum, et paludum marinarum;
Cum sol splendet ab excelso monte.

And the old bard, _Avan Verddig_, in his elegy on the death of Cadwallon,
the son of Cadvan, makes use of _ber_ for water, instead of _dwr_ or
_dwfr_.

"Goluchav glew, hael, hilig Nav Ner,
Aded gynt, ettiynt, hyd yn _irfer_ hallt."

_Avan Verddig_.

Exorabo potentem et liberalem Dominum Creatorem,
Iverunt ad madidam aquam salsam.

And from hence it is manifest, that _huan_ and _ber_ are two ancient
Celtic words; but, if any one were to consult an Irish lexicon in hopes
of finding the expressions, he would be disappointed; yet he may discover
_bir_ among the obsolete words in that language. The names of moors,
meadows, and rivers, in different parts of Wales, may also be produced as
an additional evidence that _ber_ and _mer_ originally signified
water,--for instance, _Bereu Derwenydd_, near Snowdon, _Castell y Berau_,
in Llanfihangel y Pennant, in Merionethshire, where many mountain
torrents meet. _Aber_, a confluence, seems also to justify this opinion,
and _inver_, in the Erse dialect.

A TRANSLATION OF
CYWYDD MARWNAD LLEUCU LLWYD,
BY LLEWELYN GOCH AT MEIRIG HEN. (A BARD OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.)

* * * * *

AN ELEGY,
TO THE MEMORY OF LLEUCU LLWYD, THE FAIR NYMPH OF PENNAL.

_Lleucu Llwyd_, _a great beauty_, _was a native of Pennal_, _in Comit.
Meirion_; _she was greatly beloved b