America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.Bowen, Benjamin Franklin
History
America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.
Bowen, Benjamin Franklin
America -- Discovery and exploration -- Welsh
"From hence he [Hakluyt] concludes that Madoc, with his Cambrians,
discovered a part of North America. A cursory attention to the figure of
the earth must convince every one that on this direction he must have
landed on that continent; for beyond Ireland no land can be found except
Bermuda to this day [1650] uncultivated but the extensive continent of
America. As Madoc directed his course westward, it cannot be doubted but
that he fell in with Virginia or New England, and there settled.
"Nor is this contradicted by its being said that the country was
uninhabited and uncultivated; for that country is very extensive, and in
our times, after six centuries, is but thinly peopled. Besides, that
tract on which Madoc landed might be desert, and yet other places in the
interior parts, possessed by the barbarous Chichimecas, might be
populous, with whom the Cambrians mingled, and, the communication being
dropped between them and their mother-country, they adopted the language
and manners of the country. The traditions prevailing among the natives
strongly confirm me in this opinion; for the Virginians and
Guahutemallians, from ancient times, worshipped one Madoc as a hero.
Concerning the Virginians, see Martyr, decade vii. chap. 3; concerning
the Guahutemallians, decade viii. chap. 5. Among them we have Matec
Zungam and Mat Ingam; and why this should not be Madoc the Cambrian,
whom the monuments in the country prove to have been in those parts, no
reason can be given. As to antiquity, five centuries are sufficient,
beyond which American traditions do not ascend."
In another part he says, "For when it is demonstrated that Madoc, a
prince of Cambria, with some of his nation, discovered and inhabited
some lands in the West, and that his name and memory are still retained
among them, scarcely any doubt remains."
Peter Martyr, alluded to in the above extract, lived in the court of
Ferdinand, King of Spain. He was the author of several works, among them
the "Decades," which contain the references to Matec Zungam, or Madoc
the Cambrian. He was at court when Columbus returned from his first
voyage, and is considered good authority with respect to what he wrote
about in those times. He distinctly affirms that some nations in America
honored the memory of one Madoc when Columbus landed on that coast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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