designation 'Wälsch' was applied in its primitive sense by the Saxons to the Britons. 'Wilisc' is often met with in the Anglo-Saxon laws, and denotes the Welsh. Might not the Druid blacksmith be designated by the ancient Germans, as the foreign or strange-land smith—Welsch-lant-Schmid? The slight change in the pronunciation might readily occur in a short period.
It may be mentioned, however, that Langley Mortier[1]concludes that the name 'Gallia' was derived from Wal, happy, and Land, country: 'Walland' being the designation given to their territory by the Gauls.
This mysterious smith, it would appear, was no other than the traditionary armourer and farrier of the Celts and Gauls, as well as of the German and Northern nations. 'The sacred blacksmith, such as Wayland,' remarks M. Castan, 'not only fashioned the weapons, but he also shod the horses of the heroes.'[2]
At Winchester, or Silchester, we are told in the 'Morte d'Arthur,' was a large stone, and 'in the myddes therof was lyk an anvyld of steel a ffote of hyght, and therein stake a fayre sword,' which only the heir to the sovereignty of Britain could draw; a feat performed by Arthur.[3] This romance-invested prince was King of the Silures, an ancient British tribe inhabiting the modern counties of Hereford, Radnor, Brecknock, and Glamorgan, and fought most heroically against the Saxons, Scots, and Picts, after the departure of the Romans. The
- ↑ Etymologies Gauloises.
- ↑ Les Tombelles Celtiques d'Alaise.
- ↑ With the Mongols, the anvil of Genghis Khan is still preserved on Mount Darkan. It is made of a particular metal called 'Bouryn,' says the tradition, which has the properties of iron and copper, being at once hard and flexible.—Timkowski. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 173.
