SECTION III.

The Character, Connexions, and mystical Rites of Kêd, or Ceridwen, the Arkite Goddess of the Druids. Her Identity with the Ceres of Antiquity.

THE detection of those divine honours, which the British sage awarded to the patriarch Noah, under whatever title; the magnificent mention of the ship of Nevydd; and the commemorations of the deluge upon the borders of the lakes of Cambria, encourage me to search for some farther vestiges of that kind of superstition, and of those mystic rites, which Mr. Bryant terms Arkite; which he considers at large in the second volume of his Analysis; and which he finds widely diffused over the Gentile world.

According to this very eminent writer, all the mysteries of the heathen nations seem to have been memorials of the deluge, and of the events which immediately succeeded. He remarks, that those mysteries consisted, for the most part, of a melancholy process, and were celebrated by night with torches, in commemoration of that state of darkness, in which the patriarch and his family had been involved.*

To be more particular; he remarks, that in these mystic

Analysis V. II. p. 331.

rites, the ark of Noah was an object of superstitious veneration, over which a divinity was represented as presiding; and that this character was known by the several names of Sslene, Isis, Ceres, Rhea, Vesta, Cybele, Archia, Niobe, and Melissa, which were the same: these being only titles, by which that female personage was described, who was supposed to be the genius of the ark, and the mother of mankind.*

And as this personage was the genius of the ark, so our author takes notice, that the celebration of her mysteries in the British islands, stands upon ancient record. Having quoted the authority of Artemidorus upon this subject, Mr. Bryant thus declares his own opinion." I make no doubt, "but that this history was true, and that the Arkite rites prevailed in many parts of Britain.Ӡ

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Holding in my hand the clue presented to me in the preceding section of this Essay, and walking in the shade of this giant of erudition, who clears the way before me, I shall now proceed to the Druidical precinct, in search of the British Ceres: and I think I distinguish her character and history in the celebrated goddess Kéd, or Ceridwen, whom I have already remarked in close connection with the Arkite god.

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Mr. Owen, in his Cambrian Biography, describes Ceridwen as "A female personage, in the mythology of the “ Britons, considered as the first of womankind, having "nearly the same attributes with Venus, in whom are per"sonified the generative powers."

* Analysis, V. II. p. 268.

Ibid. p. 473.

In this description, she is evidently acknowledged as the great mother: and Mr. Bryant says of Ceres, that she was named da mater, or the mother, because she was esteemed (as representative of the ark) the common parent, the mother of all mankind.*

In the introductory section of this Essay, I quoted several passages from those Bards who lived under the Welsh princes, in which Ceridwen is mentioned. They uniformly represent this character, as having pertained to the superstition of the primitive Bards, or Druids. They describe her, as having presided over the most hidden mysteries of that ancient superstition; and as a personage, from whom alone the secrets of their fanatical priesthood were to be obtained in purity and perfection. They also intimate, that it was requisite for those who aspired to the chair of presidency, to have tasted the waters of inspiration from her sacred cauldron, or, in other words, to have been initiated into her mysteries.

All this clearly points towards some solemn rites of our remote progenitors: and, for such rites, we can find no parallel amongst the heathen priesthood of other nations, if we except the celebrated mysteries of Ceres, Isis, or Cybele, all which names Mr. Bryant refers to the same history and character.

But it may be asked, if Ceridwen has the attributes of Venus, why should I labour to connect her more particularly with the character of Ceres?

I must observe, in reply, that this station seems to be

Analysis V. II. p. 338.

pointed out for her by the most obvious mythological analogy. The most familiar idea which was entertained of Ceres, presented her as the goddess of corn; as having introduced the art of tillage, and taught mankind to sow the land, and cultivate the various species of grain.

The reader may recollect a passage of Cuhelyn, a Bard of he sixth or eighth century, which I have already quoted, and which delineates the character of Ceridwen by one impressive epithet-she is styled Ogyrven Amhad, the goddess of various seeds. Thus Ceres and Ceridwen unite by a single touch. And our British Ceres, agreeably to Mr. Bryant's observation, was the genius of the ark. Her attribute was a boat, and she was even identified with that vessel, which was formed by the Diluvian patriarch; which carried its store of corn over the grievous waters, and, like the car of Ceres, mounted aloft with its harnessed serpents.

a very

The history and character of Ceridwen are exhibited in curious mythological tale, called Hanes Taliesin, the History of Taliesin. It is prefixed to the works of that Bard, and has been supposed to contain some romantic account of his birth; but, in reality, it has nothing to do with the history of a private individual, or with romance, in the common acceptation of that term. It is a mythological allegory, upon the subject of initiation into the mystical rites of Ceridwen. And though the reader of cultivated taste may be offended at its seeming extravagance, I cannot but esteem it one of the most precious morsels of British antiquity, which is now extant.

Before I exhibit the tale itself, it may be proper to ob

See the conclusion of Sect. II. and the poems there quoted.

viate an objection to the era of the incidents which it recites. Ceridwen is represented as living in the time of Arthur. Hence it may be argued, that she could neither have been the great mother, nor have belonged at all to the ancient superstition of the Druids.

But the Arthur here introduced, is a traditional character, totally distinct from the prince who assumed that name in the beginning of the sixth century.

He is placed, as Mr. Owen remarks, high in the mythological ages, and far beyond the reach of authentic, profane history. The great bear is his representative in the heavens, and the constellation, Lyra, is his harp. He is the son of Uthyr Bendragon, the wonderful supreme leader, and Eigyr, the generative power. His adventures, as related in the mythological tales, had evidently, according to my author, a common origin with those of Hercules, the Argonauts, &c.

Mr. Owen, with some hesitation, refers this character to the history of Nimrod. I rather think that Arthur was one of the titles of the deified patriarch Noah. And with this idea, the account which we have of him in the Bards and the Triads, perfectly accord.

He is represented as having had three wives, the daughters of mythological personages: each of these wives had the name of Gwenhwyvar,† that is, the lady of the summit of the water. These three wives of Arthur are only so many copies of the same mystical character, the import of which may be perceived in the construction of the name.

* Cam. Biog. V. Arthur.

+ Gwen-wy-var: the H in this word is merely formative.