Archaic England : $b an essay in deciphering prehistory from megalithic monuments, earthworks, customs, coins, place-names, and faerie superstitionsBayley, Harold
History
Archaic England : $b an essay in deciphering prehistory from megalithic monuments, earthworks, customs, coins, place-names, and faerie superstitions
Bayley, Harold
Archaeology; England -- Antiquities
The President of Celtic poetry and bardic music is said to have been a
being of gigantic height named Bran: it is to Bran the Blessed that
tradition assigns the introduction of the Cross into Britain, and when
Bran died his head is stated to have been deposited under the White
Tower of London, where it acted as a talisman against foreign
aggression. One of the disastrous blunders alleged against King Arthur
was the declaration that he disdained to hold the realm of England,
except in virtue of his own prowess,[391] and Romance affirms that he
disinterred the magic head of the Blessed Bran, thereby bringing untold
woes upon the land. As a parallel to this story may be connoted the
historic fact that when the Romans in 390 B.C. inquired the name of the
barbaric general who had led the Celts victoriously against them, the
Celtic officer replied by giving the name of the God to whom he
attributed the success of his arms, and whom he figured to himself as
seated invisible in a chariot, a javelin in his hand, while he guided
the victorious host over the bodies of its enemies.[392] Now the name of
this invisible chief under whom the Gaulish conquerors of Rome and
Delphi claimed to fight, was Brennos, whom De Jubainville equates with
Brian, the First of the Three divine Sons of Dana, or Brigit, the _Bona
Dea_ of Britain. The highest town in France, and the principal arsenal
and depot of the French Alps is entitled Briancon, and as this place was
known to the Romans as Brigantium, we may connote Briancon with King
Brian. Brigan may probably be equated with the fabulous Bregon of
Hibernia, with Bergion of Iberia, and with St. Brychan of Wales, who is
said to have been the parent of fifty sons and daughters, "all saints".
The Hibernian super-King, entitled Brian Boru, had his seat at Tara,
and from him may be said to have descended all the O'Briens, the
Brownes, and the Byrons. The name Burgoyne is assigned to Burgundy, and
it is probable that inquiry would prove a close connection between the
Burgundii and giant Burgion of Iberia. In the Triads the Welsh prince
Brychan is designated as sprung from one of the three holy families of
Prydain: through Breconshire, or Brecknock, runs the river Bran; and
that Awbrey was a family name in Brecon is implied by the existence in
the priory church of St. John, or Holyrood, of tombs to the Awbreys.
[Illustration: FIG. 210.--Idols of the Bona Dea found at Troy. From
_Ilios_ (Schliemann).]
[Illustration: FIGS. 211 to 213.--From British "chalk drums,"
illustrated in British Museum's _Guide to Antiquities
of Bronze Age_.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 214 to 219.--Mediæval Papermarks from _Les
Filigranes_ (Briquet, C. M.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 220.--From _History of Paganism in Caledonia_
(Wise, T. A.).]
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