Of their ethical teaching a valuable specimen is preserved in the
Triads of the Welsh Bards, and from this we may gather that their
views of moral rectitude were on the whole just, and that they
held and inculcated many very noble and valuable principles of
conduct. They were also the men of science and learning of their
age and people. Whether they were acquainted with letters or not
has been disputed, though the probability is strong that they
were, to some extent. But it is certain that they committed
nothing of their doctrine, their history, or their poetry to
writing. Their teaching was oral, and their literature (if such a
word may be used in such a case) was preserved solely by
tradition. But the Roman writers admit that "they paid much
attention to the order and laws of nature, and investigated and
taught to the youth under their charge many things concerning the
stars and their motions, the size of the world and the lands, and
concerning the might and power of the immortal gods."
Their history consisted in traditional tales, in which the heroic
deeds of their forefathers were celebrated. These were apparently
in verse, and thus constituted part of the poetry as well as the
history of the Druids. In the poems of Ossian we have, if not the
actual productions of Druidical times, what may be considered
faithful representations of the songs of the Bards.
Pages:
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542