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Cantre'r Gwaelod
The Drowning of the Bottom Hundred

From the Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin (Black Book of Carmarthen)
attributed to Prince Gwyddneu Gwyddno

The four ancient books of Wales:
containing the Cymric poems attributed to the bards of the sixth century,
William Forbes Skene (1868) Vol 1 (containing Part 1 & 2)

(Welsh Text, vol. ii. p. 59. Notes, voL ii. p. 352)


NLW Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin 53V & 54R

Seithenhin, stand thou forth,

And behold the billowy rows;

The sea has covered the plain of Gwydneu.


Accursed be the damsel,

Who, after the wailing,

Let loose the Fountain of Venus, the raging deep.


Accursed be the maiden.

Who, after the conflict, let loose

The fountain of Venus, the desolating sea.


A great cry from the roaring sea arises above the summit of the rampart.

To-day even to God does the supplication come!

Common after excess there ensues restraint.


A cry from the roaring sea overpowers me this night,

And it is not easy to relieve me;

Common after excess succeeds adversity.


A cry from the roaring sea comes upon the winds;

The mighty and beneficent God has caused it!

Common after excess is want.


A cry from the roaring sea

Impels me from my resting-place this night;

Common after excess is far-extending destruction.


The grave of Seithenhin the weak-minded

Between Caer Cenedir and the shore

Of the great sea and Cinran,


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