IV. Crossing into Wales we find, in the Mabinogion, the evident
counterpart of the Celtic portion of the continental romance, mixed
up, indeed, with various reflex additions from beyond the border, but
still containing ample internal evidence of a Welsh original.

V. Looking at the connexion between divers of the more ancient
Mabinogion, and the topographical nomenclature of part of the
country, we find evidence of the great, though indefinite, antiquity
of these tales, and of an origin, which, if not indigenous, is
certainly derived from no European nation.

It was with a general belief in some of these conclusions, that I
commenced my labours, and I end them with my impressions strongly
confirmed. The subject is one not unworthy of the talents of a Llwyd
or a Prichard. It might, I think, be shown, by pursuing the inquiry,
that the Cymric nation is not only, as Dr. Prichard has proved it to
be, an early offshoot of the Indo-European family, and a people of
unmixed descent, but that when driven out of their conquests by the
later nations, the names and exploits of their heroes, and the
compositions of their bards, spread far and wide among the invaders,
and affected intimately their tastes and literature for many
centuries, and that it has strong claims to be considered the cradle
of European Romance.

C. E. G.
DOWLAIS, August 29th, 1848.