He extols these gloves made of “buck-skin,” as superior to gloves made of “sheep-skin,” and declares he will never trust them in the possession of others, but will keep them on his own fingers. He then proceeds to express his gratitude in a strain of considerable beauty.
May for this the glories all—
That, at Taliesin’s[1] call,
Urien Rheged’s palace bless’d—
On thy mansions ever rest;
On thy hearth-stone and thy board,
In thy halls—by bards ador’d—
With illustrious children graced,
Gallant youths and virgins chaste;
Where, ’mid feasts and banquets gay,
Nobles while their lives away;
Where with constant radiance shine
Ladies of distinguished line,
In magnificent array—
And where hawks, and steeds, and wine,
Words of courtesy divine,
And bright robes of gold combine,
Ivor’s splendour to display.
He concludes by extolling his “gloves” above those worn by the “surly Saxon,”—the epithet with which he generally honours the English nation—and by reiterating the praises of his benefactor.
- ↑ Taliesin addressed many of his poems to Urien Rheged, a prince of Cumberland, to whom he was bard.—Cambro Briton.
