1.2. Of Samothes, Magus, Sarron, Druis, and Bardus,
fiue kings suc|ceeding each other
in regiment ouer the Celts and Samotheans, and how
manie hundred yeeres the Celts inhabited this Iland.
The second Chapter.
Of Samothes, Magus, Sarron, Druis, and Bardus,
fiue kings suc|ceeding each other
in regiment ouer the Celts and Samotheans, and how
manie hundred yeeres the Celts inhabited this Iland.
The second Chapter.
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1 _SAmothes the first begot|ten
sonne of Iaphet called by Moses Mesech,Gen. 2. Dis,De migr. gen. by others receiued for his
portion (according to the report of Wolfgangus
Lazius) all the countrie lieng betwéene the
riuer of Rhene and the Py|renian mountains, where he
founded the kingdome of Celtica ouer his people called
Celtae. Which name
Bale affirmeth to haue bene indifferent to
the inha|bitants both of the countrie of Gallia,Cent. 1. and the Ile of
Britaine, & that he planted colonies of men
(brought foorth of the east parts) in either of them,
first in the maine land, and after in the Iland.Anti. lib. 1. He is reported by
Berosus to haue excelled all men of that
age in lear|ning and knowledge:Bale
script. Brit. cent. 1. and also is thought by
Bale to haue imparted the same among his
people; name|lie, the vnderstanding of the sundrie
courses of the starres,Caesar
commen [...]. lib. 8. the order of
inferiour things, with manie o|ther
matters incident to the morall and politike
go|uernment of mans life: and to haue deliuered the
same in the Phenician letters: out of which the
Gréekes (according to the opinion of
Achilochus) deuised & deriued the
Gréeke characters,In epithes. temp.
De aequiuocis contra Appio|nem. insomuch that
Xenophon and Iosephus doo
constantlie report (although Diogenes
Laertius be against it) that both the Gréekes and
other nations receiued their letters and learning
first from these countries.Lib. de
Magic. success. lib. 22. Of this king and his
learning arose a sect of philosophers (saith
An|nius) first in
Britaine, and after in Gallia, the which of his name
were called Samothei. They (as
Aristo|tle and Secion write) were
passing skilfull both in the law of God and man: and
for that cause excéeding|lie giuen to religion,Script. Brit. cent. 1. De ant. Cant.
cent. lib. 1. especiallie the inhabitants of
this Ile of Britaine, insomuch that the whole nation
did not onelie take the name of them, but the Iland it
selfe (as Bale and doctor Caius
agree) came to be called Samothea,
This Ile cal|led Samo|thes.
which was the first peculiar name that euer it had,
and by the which it was especiallie knowne before the
arriuall of Albion.
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1 MAgus the sonne of Samothes,Magus
the son of Samothes Lib. 9. after the death
of his father, was the second king of Celtica; by
whome (as Berosus writeth) there were manie
townes builded among the Celts, which by the wit|nesse
of Annius did beare the addition of their
foun|der Magus:Annius in co [...]
men. super [...]|dem. Geogr. of which townes
diuers are to be found in Ptolomie: And
Antoninus a painfull surueior of the world
and searcher of cities, maketh mention of foure of
them here in Britaine, Sitomagus, Neo|magus, Niomagus,
and Nouiomagus. Neomagus sir Thomas Eliot
writeth to haue stood where the ci|tie of Chester now
standeth; Niomagus, George Lillie placeth
where the towne of Buckingham is now remaining. Beside
this, Bale dooth so highlie commend the
foresaid Magus for his learning re|nowned ouer all the
world, that he would haue the Persians, and other
nations of the south and west parts, to deriue the
name of their diuines called Ma|gi from him.
In déed Rauisius Textor, and sir Iohn
Prise affirme, that in the daies of
Plinie, the Britons were so expert in art
magike, that they might be thought to haue first
deliuered the same to the Per|sians. What the name of
Magus importeth, and of what profession the
Magi were, Tullie declareth at
large,De diui. lib. 1. DE fastis
li. 5. and Mantuan in briefe, after
this maner:
Ille penes Persas Magus est, qui sidera norit,
Qui sciat herbarum vires cultumú deorum,
Persepoli facit ista magos prudentia triplex.
The Persians terme him Magus, that
the course of starres dooth knowe,
The power of herbs, and worship due
to God that man dooth owe,H.
F.
By threefold knowledge thus the name
of Magus then dooth growe.
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1 SArron the third king of the Celts succéeded his
father Magus in gouernement of the contrie of
Gallia,Sarron the sonne of Magus.
De ant. Cant. lib. 1. Bale script. Brit. cent.
1.
and the Ile Samothea, wherein as
(D. Caius writeth) he founded certaine
publike places for them that professed learning, with
Berosus affirmeth to be done, to the
internt to restraine the wilfull outrage of men, being
as then but raw and void of all ciui|litie. Also it is
thought by Annius, that he was the first
author of those kind of philosophers, which were
called Sarronides, of whom Diodorus
Siculus wri|teth in this sort:Lib. 6.
There are (saith he)
among the Celts certaine diuines and philosophers
called Sarronides, whom aboue all other
they haue in great estimation. For it is the manner
among them, not without a philosopher to make anie
sacrifice: sith they are of be|léefe, that
sacrifices ought onelie to be made by such as are
skilfull in the diuine mysteries, as of those who
are néerest vnto God, by whose intercession they
thinke all good things are to be required of God,
and whose aduise they vse and follow, as well in
warre as in peace.
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 DRuis, whom Seneca calleth Dryus,Druis the son of Sarron. being
the sonne of Sarron,De morte
Claud was after his father establi|shed the
fourth king of Celtica, indifferentlie reig|ning as
wel ouer the Celts as Britons, or rather (as the
inhabitants of this Ile were then called) Samo|theans.
This prince is commended by Berosus to be so
plentifullie indued with wisedome and lear|ning, that
Annius taketh him to be the vndoubted
author of the beginning and name of the philosophers
called Druides, whome Caesar and all
other ancient Gréeke and Latine writers doo affirme to
haue had their begining in Britaine, and to haue bin
brought from thence into Gallia, insomuch that when
there arose any doubt in that countrie touching any
point of their discipline, they did repaire to be
resolued therein into Britaine, where, speciallie in
the Ile of Anglesey (as Humfrey L [...]oyd witnesseth) they made their principall
abode.Anti. lib. 5. Annius super
eu [...]ndem. De bello Gal|lico. lib. 9. De
belio Gal|lico. 6; Touching their vsages many
things are written by Aristotle, Socion, Plinie,
La|ertius, Bodinus, and others: which I will
gather in briefe, and set downe as followeth. They had
(as Cae|sar saith) the charge of common
& priuate sacrifices, EEBO page image 3
the discussing of points of religion, the bringing vp
of youth, the determining of matters in variance, with
full power to interdict so manie from the sacri|fice
of their gods and the companie of men, as diso|beied
their award.Hist. an. lib. 1.
Polydore affirmeth, how they taught, that
mens soules could not die, but departed from one bodie
to another, and that to the intent to make men valiant
and dreadlesse of death. Tullie writeth,De diui. lib. 1. that partlie by
tokens, and partlie by surmi|ses, they would foretell
things to come. And by the report
of Hector Boetius,
Hi [...]t.
S [...]oti, li. 2. some of them were
not ig|norant of the immortalitie of the one and
euerla|sting God.Demigr. gen. [...]
2. All these things they had written in the
Greeke toong, insomuch that Wolf Lazius (vpon
the report of Marcellinus
Marcellinus.) declareth how the Gréeke
let|ters were first brought to Athens by Timagenes
from the Druides. And herevpon it commeth also to
passe, that the British toong hath in it remaining at
this day some smacke of the Gréeke. Among other abuses
of the Druides, they had (according to
Dio|dorus) one custome
to kill men, and by the falling, bleeding, and
dismembring of the, to diuine of things to come: for
the which and other wicked prac|tises, their sect was
first condemned for abhomina|ble (as some haue
written) and dissolued in Gallia (as
Auentinus witnesseth) by Tiberius and Cladius
the emperours;Anna. B oiorum. lib.
22. and lastlie abolished here in Bri|taine
(by the report of Caius) when the gospell of
Christ by the preaching of Fugatius and Damianus was
receiued among the Britaines,De
ant. Caut. vnder Lucius
king of Britaine, about the yeare of our sauior, 179.
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1
2
3
4 BArdus the sonne of Druis succéeded his father in the
kingdome of Celtica,Bardus the
sonne of Druis. Berosus ani. lib. 2. Annius in
com| [...]en super eur [...]|dem. and
was the fift king ouer the Celtes and Samotheans,
amongst whom he was highlie renoumed (as appeareth by
Be|rosus) for inuention of dities and
musicke, wherein Annius of Viterbo
writeth, that he trained his peo|ple: and of such as
excelled in this knowledge, he made an order of
philosophicall poets or heraulds,
calling them by his owne name Bardi. And it
should séeme by doctor Caius and master
Bale,
Ant. Cant. li. 1.
script. Britain. cent. 1, that
Caesar found some of them here at his
arriuall in this Ile, and reported that they had also
their first begining in the same. The profession and
vsages of these Bardi, Nonnius, Strabo, Diodorus,
Stephanus, Bale,
Nonnius
Marcel. Strabo. Diodor. Sicul. lib. 6. [...]arol. Stepha. [...]n dict. hist. Bale.
Iohn Prise. and sir Iohn Prise, are
in effect reported after this sort. They did vse to
record the noble exploits of the ancient capteins, and
to drawe the pedegrées and genealo|gies of such as
were liuing. They would frame plea|sant dities and songs, learne the same by heart,
and sing them to instruments at solemne feasts and
as|semblies of noble men and gentlemen. Wherefore they
were had in so high estimation, that if two hosts had
beene readie ranged to ioine in battell, and that any
of them had fortuned to enter among them, both the
hosts (as well the enimies as the friends) would haue
holden their hands, giuen eare vnto them, and ceassed
from fight, vntill these Bards had gone out of the
battell. Of these Bards Lucane
saith,
Vos quo qui fortes animas belló peremptas,Lucan. lib. 1.
Laudius in longum vates dimittitis aeuum,
Plurima securi fudistis carmina Bardi:
And you ô poet Bards from dan|ger void that
dities sound,
Of soules of dreadlesse men,H.
F. whom rage of battell would confound,
And make their lasting praise to time of later
age rebound.
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1 Because the names of these poets were neither
discrepant from the ciuilitie of the Romans, nor
re|pugnant to the religion of the Christians, they (of
all the other sects before specified) were suffered
onlie to continue vnabolished in all ages, insomuch
that there flourished of them among the Britains
(accor|ding to Bale) before the birth of
Christ,Iohn Bale script Britan.
cent. 2. Iohn Prise defen hist. Brit. Caius de ant.
Cant lib. 1. Iohn Leland syllab. ant. dict. Hum.
Lloyd de Mona insula. Plenidus and Oronius:
after Christ (as Prise recounteth)
Thale|stine, and the two Merlins, Melkin, Elaskirion,
and others: and of late daies among the Welshmen,
Dauid Daie, Iollo Gough, Dauid ap William, with an
infinite number more. And in Wales there are sundrie
of them (as Caius reporteth) remaining vn|to
this day, where they are in their language called (as
Leland writeth) Barthes. Also by the witnes
of Humfrey Llhoyd, there is an Iland néere
vnto Wales, called Insula Bardorum, and
Bardsey, whereof the one name in Latine, and the other
in Saxon or old English, signifieth the Iland of the
Bardes or Barthes.
Thus farre the gouernement of
the Celts in this Ile.
1.2.1. An appendix to the former chapter.
An appendix to the former chapter.
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1 AFter Bardus,Bale. the
Celts (as Bale saith) loathing the streict
ordinances of their ancient kings, and b [...]aking themselues to pleasure and idlenesse, were
in short time, and with small labour brought vnder
the subiection of the giant Albion, the sonne of
Neptune, who altering the state of things in this
Iland, streicted the name of Celtica and the Celts
within the bounds of Gallia, from whence they came
first to inhabit this land vnder the conduct of
Sa|mothes, as before ye haue heard, accordinglie as
Annius hath gathered out of
Berosus the Chaldean,Annius. who therein agréeth also with the
scripture, the sai|eng of Theophilus the
doctor,Theophilus. and
the generall con|sent of all writers, which fullie
consent, that the first inhabitants of this Ile came
out of the parties of Gallia, although some of them
dissent about the time and maner of their comming.
Sir Brian Tuke thin|keth it to be ment of
the arriuall of Brute,Sir Brian
Tuke when he came out of those countries
into this Ile. Caesar and Tacitus
séeme to be of opinion,Caesar.
Tacitus. Bodinus. that those Celts which
first inhabited here, came ouer to view the countrie
for trade of merchandize. Bodinus would
haue them to come in (a Gods name) from Languedoc,
and so to name this land Albion, of a citie in
Languadoc named Albie. Beda,
Beda. Polydor. and likewise
Polydore (who fol|loweth him) affirme
that they came from the coasts of Armorica, which is
now called little Britaine.
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1 But that the authorities afore recited are
suffi|cient to proue the time that this Iland was
first in|habited by the Celts, the old possessors of
Gallia; not onelie the néernesse of the regions, but
the congru|ence of languages, two great arguments of
origi|nals doo fullie confirme the same.
Bodinus writeth vpon report,Bodinus. that the British and
Celtike language was all one. But whether that be
true or not, I am not able to affirme, bicause the
Celtike toong is long sithens growne wholie out of
vse. Howbeit some such Celtike words as remaine in
the writings of old authours may be perceiued to
agrée with the Welsh toong, being the voncorrupted
spéech of the an|cient Britains. In déed
Pausanias the Grecian ma|keth mention how
the Celts in their language cal|led a horsse
Marc:
Pausanias.
and by that name doo the Welsh|men call a horsse to
this day: and the word Trimarc in
Pausanias, signifieth in the Celtike
toong, thrée horsses.
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1 Thus it appeareth by the authoritie of writers, by
situation of place, and by affinitie of language,
that this Iland was first found and inhabited by the
Celts, that there name from Samothes to Albion
continued here the space of 310 yeares or there
a|bouts. And finallie it is likelie,Iohn Bale. that aswell the
proge|nie as the spéech of them is partlie remaining
in this Ile among the inhabitants, and speciallie
the Bri|tish, euen vnto this day.