Читать книгу The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 579, December 8, 1832 - Various - Страница 2

EARLY INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN

(To the Editor.)

In your Correspondent Selim's laudable endeavour to vindicate the ancient inhabitants of this island from the character of barbarians given them by Cæsar, he has made some errors, which, with your permission, I will attempt to rectify. First, I beg leave to dissent from the derivation of the word Druid, "Druidh," a wise man, as such a word is not to be found in the Welsh language. In one of your early volumes5 there is a letter from a Correspondent, deriving the word (in the above language it is written Derwydd) from Dar and Gwydd, signifying chief in the presence, as the religious ceremonies of the Druids were considered to be performed in the presence of the Deity. This may seem far fetched; but, according to the genius of the language, any word commencing with g, and having another word prefixed, the sound of the g is always dropped: therefore, those words would be written Dar-wydd, only a difference of one letter from the proper word.

With regard to the statement of the Druids being "ever foremost in the battle strife," as your Correspondent has quoted Cæsar, I am surprised that he has overlooked this passage: "The Druids were exempt from all military payment, and excused from serving in the wars;" indeed, one of the main objects of Bardism was to maintain peace, and the use of arms was therefore prohibited to its members; though in later times it was one of the duties of the king's domestic bard, on the day of battle, to sing in front of the army the national song of "Unbennaeth Prydain" (the Monarchy of Britain,) for the purpose of animating the soldiers.

It is not possible that a people possessing the three orders of Druid, Bard, and Ovate, who, (leaving their poetry out of the question for the present,) were able to raise the immense piles of Abury and Stonehenge, could be the barbarians they are thought to be; and those who could raise such immense blocks of stone deserve at least credit for ingenuity. Now, it does not appear to me to require a great stretch of fancy to believe that the requisite knowledge was obtained of the architects of the Pyramids, Temples, and cities of Egypt and the east: and this is not improbable; as, according to the Triads, the Cymmry (or Welsh) came from the Gwlad yr Haf,6 (the summer country) the present Taurida; and further, Herodotus says, that a nation called Cimmerians, (very much like their own name,) dwelt in that part of Europe and the neighbouring parts of Asia. Other historians are of similar opinion, and considering the numerous emigrations from Egypt, caused by religious persecutions and conquests, it is very likely that some of their priests or learned men were among those exiles, and that they communicated their knowledge to the same description of persons belonging to the nations with whom they sojourned. The founders of Athens and Thebes were exiles; and the Philistines, noted for their constant wars with the Jews, were originally expelled from Egypt. I have been informed that there has been found in the southern part of the United States, the remains of a building similar in its appearance to Stonehenge. Did a remnant of those Druids or Priests erect this and the Temples of Mexico, and leave behind them those implements of war and industry that have been found in the soil and in the mines of America? and to equal the manufacture of which, all the resources of modern art have proved inadequate. It appears that there existed at a most remote period, a sort of Freemasonry of priests, bards, and architects, who, and their successors extended themselves over the whole world; for, to whom else can be ascribed those stupendous structures, the ruins of which at the present day excite our admiration and wonder, and may be traced over Asia, Egypt, along the shores of the Mediterranean, in Britain and America. That the ancients knew of America is not improbable, when we recollect the extent of the voyages of the Phœnicians and Carthaginians, and what has been said of the great Island of Atlantis; it is not likely that Prince Madog would have sailed in search of a distant land if he had not heard something of its existence. In the fifth century, a chieftain named Gafran ab Aeddan, went in search of some islands called Gwerddonau Lliou, (Green Isles of the Floods,) supposed to be the Canaries; but whether he succeeded in reaching them is not known, as he was never heard of after he left Britain. This is a proof that the Welsh at least, had heard of distant lands in the Atlantic Ocean: another curious fact is, that the worship of the sun was prevalent in all the countries in which those remains have been found. In conclusion, I beg leave to say that the people could not be very barbarous, who were in the habit of hearing such precepts as "the three ultimate objects of bardism—to reform manners and customs, to secure peace, and to extol every thing that is good."

Llundain.

CYMMRO.

BATHING—ANCIENT AND MODERN BATHS

Perhaps neither of the exercises that are indispensable to the health and comfort of man has so kept pace with his progressive improvement as bathing; and though of late years this effectual promoter of cleanliness has not in some parts of the world been sufficiently attended to, yet the custom is by no means on the decrease; nor can any fear be entertained, with propriety, that so excellent and so natural an expedient should ever be suffered to decline, from want of consideration of its benefits and advantages. But it must be owned, that while bathing in many countries is resorted to as a matter-of-course affair among all classes, in England it is in a great measure disregarded by most of the middle classes, and almost entirely so by those in the lower station of life, who perhaps require this exercise more than their richer neighbours.

A medical writer of the present day observes, with some grounds for complaint, that while "in almost all countries, both in ancient and modern times, whether rude or civilized, bathing was a part of the necessary and everyday business of life, in this country alone, with all its refinements in the arts which contribute to the happiness or comfort of man, and with all its improvements in medical science and jurisprudence, this salutary and luxurious practice is almost entirely neglected."7 But in many countries, particularly in the east, bathing is as much resorted to as ever; and its really powerful effects in invigorating the frame and promoting the porous secretions, (without which life itself cannot be long continued,) require only to be once known to be persevered in.

Among the ancients, bathing was far more generally practised than at the present day. In the city of Alexandria, there were 4,000 public baths; and the height of refinement in this luxury among the Romans is almost incredible. In addition to the private baths, with which almost every house was supplied, public baths were built, sometimes at the public cost, and often at the expense of private individuals, who nobly conceived their wealth to be laudably expended in giving each of their fellow-citizens the means of procuring, free of expense, bodily cleanliness and comfort. These baths were generally very extensive, and fitted up with every possible convenience;—the passages and apartments were paved with marbles of every hue, and the tesselated floors were adorned with representations of gladiatorial engagements, hunting, racing, and a variety of subjects from the mythology. In the Thermæ at Rome, ingenuity and magnificence seem exhausted; and the elegance of the architecture, and the vast range of rooms and porticos, create in the beholder surprise and admiration, mingled with feelings of regret for their neglected state. A quadrans (about a farthing) admitted any one; for the funds bequeathed by the emperors and others were amply sufficient to provide for the expensive establishments requisite, without taxing the people beyond their means. Agrippa gave his baths and gardens to the public, and even assigned estates for their maintenance. Some of the Thermæ were also provided with a variety of perfumed ointments and oils gratuitously. The chief Thermæ8 were those of Agrippa, Nero, Titus, Domitian, Caracalla, and Diocletian. Their main building consisted of rooms for swimming and bathing, in either hot or cold water; others for conversation; and some devoted to various exercises and athletic amusements. In some assembled large bodies to hear the lectures of philosophers, or perhaps a composition of some favourite poet; while the walls were surrounded with statues, paintings, and literary productions, to suit the diversified taste of the company.

Eustace describes these Thermæ at some length:—"Repassing the Aventine Hill, we came to the baths of Antoninus Caracalla, that occupy part of its declivity, and a considerable portion of the plain between it and Mons Cæliolus and Mons Cælius. The length of the Thermæ was 1,840 feet; breadth, 1,476. At each end were two temples, one to Apollo and another to Esculapius, as the tutelary deities of a place sacred to the improvement of the mind, and the health of the body. In the principal building were, in the first place, a grand circular vestibule, with four halls on each side, for cold, tepid, warm, and steam baths;9 in the centre was an immense square for exercise, when the weather was unfavourable to it in the open air; beyond it a great hall, where one thousand six hundred seats of marble were placed for the convenience of the bathers; at each end of this hall were libraries. The stucco and paintings, though faintly indeed, are yet in many places perceptible. Pillars have been dug up, and some still remain amidst the ruins; while the Farnesian Bull and the famous Hercules, found in one of these halls announce the multiplicity and beauty of the statues which once adorned the Thermae of Caracalla."

Before they commenced bathing in the Thermæ, the Romans anointed themselves with oil, in a room especially appropriated to the purpose; and oil was again applied, with the addition of perfumes, on quitting the bath. In a painting which has been engraved from one of the walls in the baths of Titus, the room is represented filled with a number of vases, and somewhat resembles an apothecary's shop. These vases contained a variety of balsamic and oleaceous compositions for the anointment, which, when ultimately performed, prepared the bathers for the sphæristerium, in which various amusements and exercises were enjoyed. The subsequent operation of scraping the body with the strigil has given way to a mode of freeing the body from perspiration and all extraneous matter, by a sort of bag or glove of camel's hair, which is used in Turkey; while flannel and brushes are substituted in other parts.

The vapour-baths now used in Russia resemble very much those among the ancient Romans. These are generally rudely built of wood, over an oven, and the bathers receive the vapour at the requisite heat, reclining on wooden benches,—while, more powerfully to excite perspiration, they whip their bodies with birch boughs, and also use powerful friction. They then wash themselves; and, as these vapour-baths are often constructed on the banks of a river, throw themselves from the land into the water; or sometimes, by way of variety, plunge into snow, and roll themselves therein. This violent exercise and sudden transition of temperature is almost overpowering to persons unhabituated to the custom, and will oftentimes produce fainting,—though the patient, on recovering, finds himself refreshed, and experiences a delightful sense of mental, as well as bodily, vigour and energy. The enervating effects of the extreme luxury and refinement practised in the Greek and Roman baths are obviated in the Russian mode: to which may partly be ascribed the power which the latter people have in undergoing fatigue and the various hardships of their rigorous climate. Tooke says that without doubt the Russians owe their longevity, robust health, their little disposition to fatal complaints, and, above all, their happy and cheerful temper, mostly to these vapour-baths. Lewis and Clarke, in their voyage up the Missouri, have noticed the use of the vapour-bath in a somewhat similar contrivance to the Russians among the savage tribes of America;—so it appears that this effectual promoter of cleanliness is one of the most simple, original, and natural, that can be employed for that paramount duty.

5

Vol. iv. p. 10 and 50.

6

Welsh name of Somersetshire.

7

Culverwell on Bathing.

8

θερμὰι—hot springs.

9

These baths, impregnated with medicinal herbs, and other preparations, are at the present day gaining great repute for the cure of cutaneous diseases, and other complaints.