I advise the _student_, as a preliminary step to the inquiry, to attempt
a collection of all the accessible evidence, historical and
ethnographic, and to place the materials which pertain to each class in
the order of time. The historical evidence exists, I believe
exclusively, in the works of the chroniclers and bards of Wales; and the
ethnographic evidence in the narratives of travellers in America. The
opinions of modern writers, the gifted author of _Madoc_ not excepted,
he is at liberty to consider as _hors-d'oeuere_--to be passed on, or
tasted, _a plaisir_. As an exemplification of this plan, I submit some
short extracts, with critical remarks:--
"Madoc another of Owen Gwyneth his sonnes left the land
[North-Wales] in contention betwixt his brethren, and prepared
certaine ships with men and munition, and sought adventures by
seas, sailing west, and leaving the coast of Ireland so far
north, that he came to a land unknowen, where he saw manie
strange things."--CARADOC OF LLANCARVAN, _continued--The
historie of Cambria_, 1584. 4?. p. 227.
[The history of Caradoc ends with A.D. 1156. The continuation,
to the year 1270, is ascribed by Powel, the editor of the
volume, to the monks of Conway and Stratflur.]
Carmina Meredith filii Rhesi [Meredydd ab Rhys] mentionem
facientia de Madoco filio Oweni Gwynedd, et de sua navigatione
in terras incognitas.
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