scenic, and sublime. The castle of the ancient baron—the magnificence of ecclesiastical edifices—the splendour of the tournament—the solemnity of religious worship, yet unstripped of any of its decorations—the troops of monks and friars devoted to the things of an invisible world—these were the objects that met the eye on every side. The mind of man was not yet broken down into a dull monotony.”
No doubt exists that all these, the more splendid characteristics of the age of chivalry, were daily before the eyes of the Welsh bard. The county of Glamorgan, in which he spent the greatest part of his life, was in his time studded with proud feudal castles, and superb ecclesiastical edifices in the finest style of architecture, many of which still excite admiration even in their ruins. In the hospitable mansion of his patron he appears to have enjoyed all the peculiar amusements of that festive period. In one of the earlier poems in this volume[1] he thus describes his occupations at Ivor’s court:—
Honors great for me are stored,
(If I live) from Ivor’s hand;
Hound and huntsman at command,
Daily banquet at his board,
(Princely baron!) at the game
With his piercing shafts to aim;
And to let his falcons fly
On the breezes of the sky.
The influence of the external splendours of the Roman Catholic church is not more apparent in the
- ↑ See page 4.
