THE WELSH TRIADS.--The next of the important Celtic remains is called _The Welsh Triads_, an early but progressive work of the Cymbric Celts. Some of the triads are of very early date, and others of a much later period. The work is said to have been compiled in its present form by _Caradoc of Nantgarvan_ and _Jevan Brecha_, in the thirteenth century. It contains a record of "remarkable men and things which have been in the island of Britain, and of the events which befell the race of the Cymri from the age of ages," i.e. from the beginning. It has also numerous moral proverbs. It is arranged in _triads_, or sets of three. As an example, we have one triad giving "The three of the race of the island of Britain: _Hu Gadarn_, (who first brought the race into Britain;) _Prydain_, (who first established regal government,) and _Dynwal Moelmud_, (who made a system of laws.)" Another triad presents "The three benevolent tribes of Britain: the _Cymri_, (who came with Hu Gadarn from Constantinople;) the _Lolegrwys_, (who came from the Loire,) and the _Britons_" Then are mentioned the tribes that came with consent and under protection, viz., the _Caledonians_, the _Gwyddelian race_, and the men of _Galedin_, who came from the continent "when their country was drowned;" the last inhabited the Isle of Wight. Another mentions the three usurping tribes; the _Coranied_, the _Gwydel-Fichti_, (from Denmark,) and the _Saxons_. Although the _compilation_ is so modern, most of the triads date from the sixth century. THE MABINOGION.--Next in order of importance of the Celtic remains must be mentioned the Mabinogion, or _Tales for Youth_, a series of romantic tales, illustrative of early British life, some of which have been translated from the Celtic into English. Among these the most elaborate is the _Tale of Peredur_, a regular Romance of Arthur, entirely Welsh in costume and character. BRITISH BARDS.--A controversy has been fiercely carried on respecting the authenticity of poems ascribed to _Aneurin_, _Taliesin_, _Llywarch Hen_, and _Merdhin_, or _Merlin_, four famous British bards of the fifth and sixth centuries, who give us the original stories respecting Arthur, representing him not as a "miraculous character," as the later histories do, but as a courageous warrior worthy of respect but not of wonder. The burden of the evidence, carefully collected and sifted by Sharon Turner,[5] seems to be in favor of the authenticity of these poems.