Collecta

25. He was Archdeacon of Monmouth; & in the year 1152 made Bishop of S' Asaph. he began his translation soon after the death of Henry the first in 1135, w”* he dedicates to that Prince's Son, Robert, Earl of Glocester. in an Epistle of Henry of Huntingdon, w* S' H: Savil says, he had seen in various Mss; annex’d to that Writer’s History, he tells us, that on his way to Rome, whither he attended Theobald, Archb:of Canterbury, in 1139, at the Abbey of Bec in Normandy he was first shew’d this Latin translation of Geffrey by Robert de Thorigny, who (it is observable) being afterwards Abbot of Mont-St Michel in the same Province, & thence call’ d Robert de Monte, wrote a Continuation of Sigebertus Gemblacensis from the year 1100 to 1150, in w* (tho’ with some diffidence) he has copied verbatim Geffrey's History. this supplement has been mistaken for the work of Sigebertus himself, & made an argument to confirm the truth of what Geffrey has written. from what has been said, it appears that the translation was not publick, till about 1138; & that Huntingdon borrow'd his account of British Antiquities from Nennius, not haveing then met with Geffrey’s history. (Carte’s Preface. p:6. Wharton's Anglia

Sacra.)

but it is now certain, that tho’ he has embellish'd his translation with some descriptions of battles, & a few Letters & Speeches ‘of his own invention, yet the principal facts & series of his narration, are really a Version from the Welch, of w° one Manuscript is preserved in the Library of Jesus- College, Oxford; & another (in the hand (as it is affirmed) of Gyttyn Owen,” the last eminent Poet & Antiquary among the British Bards,) belongs to M' Davies of Llanerk in Denbigh- : shire, & is entitled Brut-y-Brenhined, i:e: the History of the Kings of Britain, ascribed (tho’ falsely) to Tyssillio, Son of Brockmael Yscythroc, Prince of Powis. it appears plainly from internal evidence to be of no higher antiquity, than the 11% Century, & probably was not written till a few years before it fell into Geffrey’s hands. the mention of the twelve Peers of France, summon’d to the Coronation of Arthur at Caerleon, makes it probable, that the Author, whoever he was, had read the Romance of Archbishop Turpin, w”* was certainly not composed till after the year 1066.’ add to this the title of Legate of the apostolic See given to Dubricius, as Primate of Britain; the description of a Tournament; & the passage, where Hengist is said to be buried after the manner of the Soldans, w”* Geffrey has soften’d in his translation into after the manner of the Pagans: & we must judge, that it could not be written, till after the first Crusade; when the Nations in this part of the world grew acquainted first with the Oriental customs. Geffrey had it from Walter Mapes, Arch-Deacon of Oxford, who brought it (he says) out of Bretagne, where, or in Cornwall, it was probably composed, being evidently calculated to do honour particularly to these two Provinces, & shew the mighty figure, they made in ancient times. it is observable, that Gulielmus Neubrigensis (in Proœmio, p. 7) & Giraldus Cambrensis, both Cotemporaries of our Geffrey, who wrote not many years after his death, speak of his work with great contempt.®* this D' Dav: Powel*” (in his Dedication of Ponticus Virunnius) attributes to a personal Enmity in William, who, asking for the Bishoprick of St Asaph's on Geffrey's death, was refused, and very ill-treated by David ap Owen, then Prince of the Country, & therefore entertain’d a particular resentment against the whole Welch Nation. this cannot be true, for it is certain, that Theobald, Arch: of Canterbury, consecrated successively Richard (who succeeded Geffrey) & after him Godfrey, Bishops of that Diocese; and that the Arch-Bishop himself died in 161; at w°” time William Neubrig: was not yet 25 years old, & consequently could not be Candidate for that

26. Gyttyn lived in the end of the 15th Century, in the reign of K: Edward the 4th. (See Wynne Pref: to the Histy: of Wales: & Carte’s Hist: V: 1. p. 638.)

27. See the Abbé Lebeuf's Dissertation on the age of this romance, Mem: de l’Acad: des Inscription’s, &c: Vol: 21. p: 140.

It has been thought, that Alured of Beverley, whose Annais finish in 1129, had copied his account from the same Welch history, w® Geffrey translated; & that he died about the year, to w°” he has brought down his Work. but it is plain, that he did not even begin to write it, till after the year 1148; & that his Deflorationes Galfridi are justly so entitled, being collected from Geffrey’s Book. this is demonstrable from that Passage (p: 63. ed: T: Hearne). Præter hos non remansit Princeps alicujus pretii citra Hispaniam, qui ad id edictum non venerit, w® is an addition of Geffrey’s own, & not to be found in the Welch Mss. (Carte’s Pref: p: 9, 10. D' W: Clarke's Preface to D' Wotton’'s Leges Wallicæ. p: 4.)