Alas, the beloved friend of Owain; an alteration, which will do no great violence to the allusion about the ravens. {82a} Al. “March,” as if addressing the horse of the slain;— O steed, in what spot Was slaughtered, &c. {82b} “Cynhaiawc,” (cyn-taiawg.) Adopting this version for the sake of variety, and under the impression that all the different readings of this poem are not the mere result of orthographical accident, but that the forms of obscure or illegible words were sometimes determined by tradition, we must believe that the _taiogion_, who composed the army of Madog, were simply his own tenants or dependants. {83a} “Diffun,” (di-ffun.) _Ffun_ is any thing united together, and is used at line 803 for a band of men. Some read “diffyn,” (protection or defence) and in that case the sense of the passage would seem to be, He brought protection to women, and mead he distributed. The former reading is preferred, inasmuch as it exhibits in a more natural and consistent manner the twofold character of Madog, as a soldier and a courtier, which appears to be the object of the Bard to delineate. Our inference on this point is moreover supported by more obvious passages of that description, which occur again in the Poem, such as,— “Ragorei veirch racvuan En trin lletvegin gwin o bann.” He surpassed the fleetest steeds In war, but was a tame animal when he poured the wine from the goblet. The epithet “cynhaiawc,” assuming it to be the proper term, would also, by reason of its contrasting effect, considerably enhance the value of our hero’s domestic and social courtesy. {83b} “Twll tal y rodawr.” Dr. Owen Pughe translates this “the front opening of his chariot;” “twll ar ysgwyd,” however, in the lxxxvii stanza, evidently refers to a shield, and this sense is, moreover, supported by “tyllant tal ysgwydawr,” in Taliesin’s Ode on Gwallawg, as well as “rac twll y gylchwy,” used by Cynddelw. The meaning therefore appears to be that wherever the battle raged, there would the chief be found, so boldly and _directly_ fighting as to have the very boss of his shield perforated by the spears of his enemy. {83c} “Brwyn.” From the practice which the Welsh Bards commonly had of adapting their descriptive similes to the names, armorial bearings, or some other peculiarities of their heroes, we may infer that the chieftain, who is celebrated in this stanza, is none other than Madog ab Brwyn. Indeed one copy reads “mab brwyn,” the son of Brwyn, rather than _mal_ brwyn, as above. He is distinguished in the Triads with Ceugant Beilliog and Rhuvon, under the appellation of the “three golden corpses,” because their weight in gold was given by their families to have their bodies delivered up by the enemy. (Myv. Arch. vol. ii. p. 69.) Madog ab Brwyn was the grandson of Cunedda Wledig, lord of Gododin.