Some would take the word as strictly denoting division into _four_ parts: "at that time the island was actually divided into four separate governments: for besides those at London and Edinburgh, there were Lords President of the North and of Wales." (Keightley). ~blue-haired deities~. These must be distinct from the tributary gods who wield their little tridents (line 27), otherwise the thought would ill accord with the complimentary nature of lines 30-36. Regarding the epithet 'blue-haired' Masson asks: "Can there be a recollection of blue as the British colour, inherited from the old times of blue-stained Britons who fought with Caesar? Green-haired is the usual epithet for Neptune and his subordinates": in Spenser, for example, the sea-nymphs have long green hair. But Ovid expressly calls the sea-deities _caerulei dii_, and Neptune _caeruleus deus_, thus associating blue with the sea. 30. 'And all this region that looks towards the West (_i.e._ Wales) is entrusted to a noble peer of great integrity and power.' The peer referred to is the Earl of Bridgewater. As Lord President he was entrusted with the civil and military administration of Wales and the four English counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, and Shropshire. That he was a nobleman of high character is shown by the fact that from 1617, when he was nominated one of "his Majestie's Counsellors," he had continued to serve in various important public and private offices. On his monument there is the following: "He was a profound Scholar, an able Statesman, and a good Christian: he was a dutiful Son to his Mother the Church of England in her persecution, as well as in her great splendour; a loyal Subject to his Sovereign in those worst of times, when it was accounted treason not to be a traitor. As he lived 70 years a pattern of virtue, so he died an example of patience and piety." ~falling sun~: Lat. _sol occidens_. Orient and occident (lit. 'rising' and 'falling') are frequently used to denote the East and the West. 31. ~mickle~ (A.S. _micel_) great. From this word comes _much_. 'Mickle' and 'muckle' are current in Scotland in the sense of great. Comp. _Rom. and Jul._ ii. 3. 15, "O, _mickle_ is the powerful grace that lies In herbs," etc. 33. ~An old and haughty nation~. The Welsh are Kelts, an Aryan people who probably first entered Britain about B.C. 500: they are therefore rightly spoken of as an old nation. Compare Ben Jonson's piece _For the Honour of Wales_: "I is not come here to taulk of Brut, From whence the Welse does take his root," etc.