of such a treasure house of ancient literature
as is possessed by the Irish and Welsh.

Ireland has its bardic songs and historical legends older than the
ninth century, at which time appeared the "Psalter of Cashel," which
has come down to the present day.

There are also prose chronicles, said to be the outcome of others of a
still earlier period, and which give a contemporary history of the
country in the Gaelic language of the fifth century. There is no other
modern nation in Europe that can point to such a literary past. The
Scotch Celts had early metrical verse, of which the Ossian, wherein is
related the heroic deeds of Fingal, was supposed to have been sung by
all the ancient Celtic bards. In the eighteenth century, Macpherson, a
Scotchman, found some of these poems sung in the Highlands of Scotland;
and, making a careful study of them, he translated all he could find
from the Gaelic into English, and gave them to the world. At the time
of publication, in 1762, their authenticity was questioned, and even at
the present day scholars are divided in their opinion as to their
genuineness. The literature of the Cymric Celts, the early inhabitants
of Britain, has given us the glorious legends of King Arthur and the
Knights of the Round Table. All the bardic songs refer to this mighty
prince, who resisted the Saxon invaders, and whose deeds were sung by
all the Welsh Britons. Some of these people took refuge in France, and
gradually the fame of their legends spread all over Europe, and were
eagerly seized upon and rendered into song, by the chivalric poets of
all countries. From these tales Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth
century compiled a Latin historical work of Britain, while in later
times Tennyson in England, and Richard Wagner in Germany, have made the
deeds of Arthur and his Knights the theme of some of their most
magnificent creations.

Other ancient Welsh writings are still extant, among them the Triads,
which is a work that has come down from primitive times. It comprises a
collection of historical and mythological maxims, traditions,
theological doctrines, and rules for constructing verse.

The Mabinogi, or "Tales of Youth," are old Welsh romances similar to
the Norse Sagas, which are supposed by critics to date from a very rude
and early age.

The Anglo-Saxon is very different from these ancient literatures. It
has no legends or romances, no national themes, and its early prose and
verse were wri