SELECTIONS from the POETICAL WORKS & CORRESPONDENCE of the REV. EVAN EVANS, (IEUAN PRYDYDD HIR.) (continued 2)
Reading edition
Llewyrch ebyr myr, morfeydd dylan; Pan lewych huan ar fann fynydd.
Iorwerth Vychan.
Coruscatio portuum aquarum, et paludum marinarum; Cum sol splendet ab excelso monte.
And the old bard, Avan Verddig, in his elegy on the death of Cadwallon, the son of Cadvan, makes use of bêr for water, instead of dwr or dwfr.
“Goluchav glew, hael, hilig Nâv Nêr, Aded gynt, ettiynt, hyd yn irfer hallt.”
Avan Verddig.
Exorabo potentem et liberalem Dominum Creatorem, Iverunt ad madidam aquam salsam.
And from hence it is manifest, that huan and bêr are two ancient Celtic words; but, if any one were to consult an Irish lexicon in hopes of finding the expressions, he would be disappointed; yet he may discover bir among the obsolete words in that language. The names of moors, meadows, and rivers, in different parts of Wales, may also be produced as an additional evidence that ber and mer originally signified water,—for instance, Bereu Derwenydd, near Snowdon, Castell y Berau, in Llanfihangel y Pennant, in Merionethshire, where many mountain torrents meet. Aber, a confluence, seems also to justify this opinion, and inver, in the Erse dialect.