Text translated from the 1573 Dutch 1 Add./1573 Dutch, 1573 German 1 Add/1573 German, 1573Latin 1 Add, 1573 Latin (AB), 1574 French 1 Add/1574 French, 1574 Latin, 1575 Latin, 1579 Latin(AB), 1580/1589 German, 1581 French, 1584 Latin, 1587 French, 1588 Spanish, 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1598 French, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1602 Spanish, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612/1641 Spanish and 1609/1612 Latin editions. First we present the scholarly text of all editions except 1573G1Add/1573G, 1573D1Add/1573D, 1574F, 1581F, 1587F, 1598/1610/1613D & 1598F:
21.1. {1573L1Add/1573L(AB){CAMBRIA or WALES
21.2. We have composed the present text of this Cambria on the basis of a certain fragment [of text] of our good friend Humfrey Lhoyd which we asked Birkman to print not long ago for the benefit of those who are studious in geography. This is the third part, he says, of Britain, separated from Lhoegria (or England if you prefer that name) by the rivers Severn and Dee. For the rest, it is on all sides bound by the Irish sea or oceanus Vergivius. It received its name Cambria {1606E only{(in their dreams)}1606E only} from Camber, the third son of Brutus. The Welshmen call it Cymbri, the English Wales, and {1606E only{the Romans}1606E only} Wallia.
21.3. Only this part of the British island still enjoys [the presence of] its most ancient inhabitants, who are indeed the true Britains. They still continue to speak the Britan language, and cannot speak one word of English, which consists of a mixture of Saxon and other {1606 only{ [viz.] Dutch and French}1606E only} languages. They now divide Wales into three provinces, Venedoth, Povisia and Dehenbarth. Venedoth also comprises Mona island {1606E has instead{Anglesey}1606E instead} (of long standing fame, and said to be the ancient seat of the {1580/1589G & 1602G only{wise or spiritual}1580/1589G & 1602G only} Druids).
21.4. The inhabitants in food and fashion follow the English. And because they are a people not fond to work, and bragging much about their noble background, they rather devote themselves to the service of the king and nobility than to apply themselves to manual occupations. This is the reason why you shall find few noblemen throughout England whose greater part of servants (in which the English surpass any other nation whatsoever) are not born as Welshmen.
21.5. Since they are men fed with milk products, they have nimble and able bodies, fit for any kind of service. They are also men of a proud disposition, even in extreme misery and poverty reminding themselves of their noble descent. They delight in wearing beautiful clothes (like Spaniards do) rather than in acquiring goods or pampering their bellies, and they easily acquire court-like behaviour, which is the reason why the English nobility prefer them as servants above the English.
21.6. Yet, lately they have grown used to living in cities, to learn handicrafts, trade as merchants, go to plough the fields, and do any business which is good for the public cause as well as the English do. They even surpass them in this, so that there are no people among them so poor that they will not send their sons to school to learn how to read and write. And those they find to be talented they send to the universities, and cause them mostly to apply their minds to study civil law. This is why the greater part of those who in this kingdom apply themselves to {not in 1580/1589G & 1602G{civil or canonical}not in 1580/1589G & 1602G} law are born Welshmen. You shall also find but very few among the common and uneducated people who cannot read or write their own language, or do not know how to play the Welsh harp in their fashion.
21.7. Now, they also have the Bible and other books for praying, printed in their own tongue, {1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L only{a language, as we said, which was used by their ancestors and entirely different from English}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L only}. In former times, long ago, they were a people (as Tacitus reports) impatient with any kind of wrong doing inflicted upon them. They were always at each other's throats. But now, fearing the law (to which they abide better than any other nation) they will contend with one another as long as they can. These few observations we have obtained from Lhoyd to whom we refer the avid reader}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L continue in §21.8}. {in 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E 1609/1612L, after § 21.19; not in 1608/1612I{His De Mona Insula you will find at the end of this book}in 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E & 1609/1612L after § 21.19. 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E & 1609/1612L continue in the middle of § 21.8; not 1608/1612I}.
21.8. See also about these regions Sylvester Gyraldus, a Welshman who has described Wales in a specific treatise, his Itinerary of Wales. {1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L only{Moreover, William of Newberry in the 5th chapter of his 2nd book describes many things about the nature of this country, and the manners of its people}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L only}. {1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E & 1609/1612L are continued in § 21.17}{1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E & 1609/1612L continue here after §21.7 {See also John Leland's Genethliacon on the birthday of Edward, king of Wales, where you also find something on the isle of Mona. This island, once it was occupied {1580/1589G, 1588S, 1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S only{forcibly}1580/1589G, 1588S, 1602G, 1602S, 1609/1612/1641S only} by the English, began to be called Anglesey, the Isle of the English.
21.9. Polydorus Virgilius, a man of great reading, and of good judgment concerning many matters, has a different opinion. He labours to prove by all means that Mona derives from Mevania. If the name which it still retains, and if the city which is opposite [to it on the mainland], does take its name from there and is called Arvon for Armon, if that very short distance [to the mainland] of which the Roman writers speak, if the promontory Pen-mona, that is, as the word signifies, the head of Mon, if the huge bodies of trees and roots covered with sand which are daily dug out of the shores of Mona, if the fir trees of marvellous length which in the dirty ground are here and there found in the earth of this island, do not sufficiently prove that this island was anciently called Mona which we now call Anglesey, then I do not know what to say more than that I have read this in the 14th book of Cornelius Tacitus' [Annales 14.23], Excisiq; luci sævis superstitionibus sacri, &c.[that is:] {1606E only{Felling the woods consacrated to superstitious services which have been taken out &c.}1606E only}. The same Leland in another place has these verses on this island:
21.10. Insula Romanis Mona non incognita bellis,
21.11. Quondam terra ferax nemorum, nunc indiga silvæ,
21.12. Sed Venetis tantum cereali munere præstans,
21.13. Mater vt à vulgo Cambrorum iure vocetur, &c.}1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I and 1609/1612L end here; 1592L, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S continue in § 8}.
{1602G & 1606E only{[that is:]
21.14. Tyr-mona in former times, (thus witness writers old,)
21.15. was full of stately woods, but now lies bleak and cold:
21.16. The soil is passing good, of corn it yields such store
21.17. That Welshmen's nurse it's called, as we have shown before, &c.}1606E only}.
{1584L, but in 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L only after § 21.8; not in 1602G{More about the nature of this region and its inhabitants can be found in Book 2, Chapter 5 of William Newberry}not in 1602G}. To this may be added what you find in Polydorus Vergilius & those things which Robert Cnalis has written in Perioche 2 of his second book of De Re Gallica.
21.18. This Cambria, or (as the English call it) Wales belongs (if we may here by way of accompanying remark say something about it) by an ancient decree to the king of England's eldest son, {1606E only{or daughter if he [a son] fails,}1606E only} that is to say to the king's heir the following name is given as soon as he is born: the prince of Wales, and that in the same sense as in Spain and Portugal they call the king's heir the Prince, and in France the Dauphin.
21.19. Geoffrey of Monmouth writes that in these parts of Wales, near the river Severn there is a pool which the country people call Linliguna. When the sea flows into this, he says, [the pond] accepts the water like a bottomless pit, and takes up the waves in such a manner that it is never full, nor runs over. But when the sea recedes at ebb tide, the waters which before had been swallowed, will swell like a mountain, which then dashes about and overflows its banks.
21.20. If at that time all the people of that shire should stand near the pool, with their faces towards it, so that the water should dash into their clothes and garments, they would hardly be able to avoid danger, and be drawn into the pool. But if their backs should be turned to it, there is no danger at all, even if they stand at the very edge of it}1573L1Add, 1573L(AB), 1574L, 1575L, 1579L(AB), 1580/1589G, 1584L, 1588S, 1592L, 1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S end here; 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L continue in the last part of § 21.7}.
Now follows the vernacular text, translated from the 1573D1Add/1573D, 1573G1Add/1573G, 1574F, 1581F, 1587F and 1598F editions:
21.21. {1573D1Add/1573D{Cambria or Wales.
21.22. {1573G only{This description of Cambria I have taken from a short treatise written by my friend Humfred, which I ordered to be printed by the Birckmannos a short while ago for the lovers of geography}1573G only}. This land {1573G only{he says}1573G only} is the third part of Britannia, which is separated from Lhoegria or England {not in 1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F{as it is usually called}not in 1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F}, by the rivers Dee and Severn. On all other sides it is surrounded by the {not in 1573G{Vergivian or}not in 1573G} Irish Ocean. It derives its name from Cambrus, the third son of Brutus. The inhabitants are called Cymbri, and the English call it Wallia or Wales. This part of {1573G{the isle of}1573G} Britannia has retained its ancient inhabitants, since they are of course Britans, and they speak the language of their forebears, ignorant as they are about the English language, which is a mixture of Saxon and other languages.
21.23. This Cambria is nowadays distinguished into three areas, namely Venedotia, Povisia and Debenhartia. Venedotia also includes the isle of Mona [Anglesey], which by the ancients was famous and considered to be the abode of the Druids. The inhabitants imitate the English in food and clothing, and since they do not want to perform physical labour, being proud of their own nobility, they prefer to serve the king and noblemen, rather than doing any handicraft. As a result of this, you will hardly find any noblemen in England whose servants (in number in England exceeding those of any other nation) are not mostly born in Cambria. These people, fed on milk and other dairy products, have strong and able bodies, and fit for all kinds of services. {1573G{Since they are proud, but turn to noblemen in great poverty, they exert themselves (like the Spaniards) to adorn their bodies rather than to obtain riches or food. They quickly adopt the manners of court, which is why the English prefer them to their own countrymen}1573G}. They live in cities now, learn trades, trade, cultivate the land and do all kinds of things no less capably than the English.
21.24. They are even better [than the English] in the sense that nobody is so poor that they cannot send their children for some time to school to learn to read and write, and whenever possible, they send them to universities, mostly to study civil law, which is the reason why most lawyers in this kingdom {1573G(well versed in civil or canonical law}1573G} come from Cambria. You will find only few people, also among the commoners, who cannot read and write their own language, or cannot play the lute in a fashion.
21.25. Nowadays, the Holy Script and the church prayers have been printed in this language. And like they could not bear any form of injustice, (as Tacitus tells us), and used to fight and kill each other for this reason, so nowadays (fearing the law which they observe meticulously), they quarrel and argue even if it costs them whatever they possess.
21.26. {1573G only{These few words so far given have been taken from Humfred, to whom we refer the reader who wants more. Also, have a look at the Itinerary of the Welshman Giraldus Cambrensis, and the book of Anniversaries of John Leland, about Edward, prince of Cambria, from which we have taken the following matters concerning the isle of Mona. This island has been taken by the English, who call it Anglesey, that is, the isle of the English.
21.27. Polydorus Vergilius, a well read and in all matters a very keen man, is of a different opinion, because he exerts himself to say that Menavia and Mona are one and the same. But note that it retains this name to the present day. Note also the city which lies just opposite it. As a result, he also has the name Arvone instead of Arnone, which is not such a short crossing as the Roman writers claim. Note also in contrast to what he says that the mountain Penmona, which means as much as the head of Mona. Note also the large woodblocks and roots, covered with sand, which have been found at the banks of the isle of Mona all around.
21.28. Note also the wonderful tall fir trees which are found here everywhere in the marshy fields. If all these things do not prove that ancient Mona is the same island that is now called Anglesey, then, let me refer to Tacitus in his 14th book, where I read Excisiq; luci sævis superstitionibus sacri, &c. [that is: Felling the woods consacrated to superstitious services &c].
21.29. The same Leland elsewhere has about the same island these verses
Insula Romanis Mona non incognita bellis,
Quondam terra ferax nemorum, nunc indiga silvæ,
Sed Venetis tantum cereali munere præstans,
Mater ut à vulgo Cambrorum iure vocetur, &c.}1573G only}.
[that is, as translated in 1606E:]
21.30. The isle of Mona in former times, (thus witness writers old,)
was full of stately woods, but now lies bleak and cold:
The soil is passing good, of corn it yields such store
That Welshmen's nurse it's called, as we have shown before, &c, 1606E translation ends here].
{1573G only{We can add to this that which can be found in Polydorus, and Robert Cnalis in his Perioclie.II. about Gallic matters}1573G only}.
21.31. This Cambria, or Wales as the English call it, {1573G only{to mention this shortly}1573G only} belongs according to an old custom to the first born son of the king of England, when he is to succeed this king, and from the day he is born he is called the Prince of Wales, like they call such a person the Prince in Spain and Portugal, and the Dauphin in France.
21.32. Galfridus Monumenthensis writes that in the area of Wales near the river Severn there is a stagnant water called Linliguna by the people living there, which absorbs the inflowing sea like a precipice, yet, is never filled up to reach its banks. But when the sea receeds, it will eject the water it has absorbed like a mountain, covering and watering its banks in this way. And if the people of that area would be present facing this, and would be sprayed by the waves, it would hardly or not at all be able to get away, but would be devoured by them. But if they would turn their back to them, there would be no need for fear, even if they stood on the banks}15731D/1573D, 15731G/1573G, 1574F, 1581F, 1587F and 1598F end here}.