Notes and Queries, Number 04, November 24, 1849 | Page 8

My minde was whole to searche the ocean seas.
"These verses I received of my learned friend M. William Camden." _Richard Hakluyt_, 1589.
[The eulogy of Meredydd ab Rhys is very indefinite, but deserves notice on account of its early date. He "flourished," says W. Owen, "between A.D. 1430 and 1460."]
"This land must needs be some part of that countrie of which the Spaniardes affirme themselves to be the first finders sith Hannos time; ... Whereupon it is manifest, that that countrie was long before by Brytaines discouered, afore either Columbus or Americus Vespatius lead anie Spaniardes thither. Of the viage and returne of this Madoc there be _manie fables fained_, as the common people doo use in distance of place {57} and length of time rather to augment than to diminish: but sure it is, that there he was."--HUMFREY LHOYD, _Additions to the Historie of Cambria_, p. 228.
[Lhoyd, who translated the history of Caradoc, and made considerable additions to it, died in 1568. He mentions the second voyage of Madoc, but cites no authority.]
"This Madoc arriving in that westerne countrie, unto the which he came, in the year 1170, left most of his people there: and returning backe for more of his owne nation, acquaintance and freends, to inhabite that faire and large countrie: went thither againe with ten sailes, as I find noted by Gutyn Owen. I am of opinion that the land, wherevnto he came, was some part of Mexico:" etc.--David Powel, S.T.P., note in _The historie of Cambria_, 1584. 4°. p. 229.
[The learned Powel relies on the authority of the poet Gutyn Owen. "He wrote," says W. Owen, "between A.D. 1460 and 1490"--three centuries after the event in question!]
_Ethnographic evidence._
"They came [anno 1536] to part of the West Indies about Cape Breton, shaping their course thence north-eastwards, vntill they camme to the Island of Penguin," etc.--The voyage of master Hore, in _The principall navigations_, etc. 1589. Fol.
[Antiquaries consider the mention of Cape Breton and Penguin Island as evidence. It cannot prove much, as the particulars were not committed to writing till about half-a-century after the voyage.]
"There is also another kinde of foule in that countrey [between the Gulf of Mexico and Cape Breton] ... they have white heads, and therefore the country men call them penguins (which seemeth to be a Welsh nanme). And _they have also in use divers other Welsh words, a matter worthy the noting_."--The relation of David Ingram, 1568. in _The principall navigations_, etc. 1589. Fol.
[This narrative was compiled from answers to certain _queries_--perhaps twenty years after the events related.]
"Afterwards [anno 1669] they [The Doeg Indians] carried us to their town, and entertained us civilly for four months; and I did converse with them of many things in the British tongue, and _did preach to them three times a week in the British tongue_," etc. Rev. Morgan Jones, 1686.--_British Remains_, 1777. 8°.
[The editor omits to state how he procured the manuscript. The paper whence the above is extracted is either decisive of the question at issue, or a forgery.]
The student may infer, even from these imperfect hints, that I consider the subject which he proposes to himself as one which deserves a strict investigation--provided the collections hereafter described have ceased to be in existence.
"With respect to this extraordinary occurence in the history of Wales, I have collected a multitude of evidences, in conjunction with Edward Williams, the bard, to prove that Madog must have reached the American continent; for the descendants of him and his followers exist there as a nation to this day; and the present position of which is on the southern branches of the Missouri river, under the appellations of Padoucas, White Indians, Civilized Indians, and Welsh Indians."--_William Owen_, F.A.S. 1803.
The title prefixed to this paper would be a misnomer, if I did not add a list of books which it may be desirable to consult:--
_On the Scandinavian discoveries._--Mémoires de la société royale des antiquaires du Nord. 1836-1839. _Copenhague._ 8°. p. 27.--Historia Vinlandi? Antiqu?, seu partis Americ? septentrionalis--per Thormodum Terf?um. _Havini?_, 1705. 8°. 1715. 8°--Antiquitates American?, sive scriptores septentrionales rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America. _Hafni?_, 1837. 4°.
_On the Welsh discoveries._--The historie of Cambria, now called Wales--continued by David Powel. _London_, 1584. 4°. The Myvyrian archaiology of Wales, _London_, 1801-7. 8°. 3 vol. British remains, by the Rev. N. Owen, A.M. _London_, 1777. 8°. The Cambrian biography, by William Owen, F.A.S. _London_, 1803. 8°. Biblithèque Américaine, par H. Ternaux. _Paris_, 1837. 8°. The principall navigations, voiages and discoveries of the English nation--by Richard Hakluyt, M.A. _London_, 1589. fol.
BOLTON CORNEY.
* * * * *
MADOC--HIS EXPEDITION TO AMERICA.
Dr. Plott, in his account, and Lord Monboddo, _Origin and Progress of Language_, refer to the Travels of Herbert (17th century), lib. iii. cap. ult., for a full history of this supposed discovery. They derived it from Meredyth