Cavall was Arthur's "favourite dog", and during a stag hunt, he was customarily the last dog to be let loose to chase after the game (Gereint Son of Erbin).[3]
Linked to the Welsh literature regarding Arthur's dog Cafall is the mention Arthur's dog Cabal's pawprint, preserved in rock, in the Latin tract ofHistoria Brittonum (9th century). The print was preserved in rock while the dog was pursuing the boar Troynt. The lore is preserved in theWonders of Britain (De Mirabilibus Britanniae orMirabilia in shorthand) appended to theHistoria Brittonum.[4] The wondrous nature of thiscairn of stones was that even if someone removed that foot-printed stone to another spot, it would be back at its original heap the next day.[5][6][7][a]
Sketch of a footprint stone from Carn Cavall, Lady Guest'sMabinogion (1849)
There is another marvel in the region which is called Buelt (≈Buellt[9]). There is a mound of stones there and one stone placed above the pile with the pawprint of a dog in it. When Cabal, who was the dog of Arthur the soldier, was hunting the boar Troynt (recté Troit[10]), he impressed his print in the stone, and afterwards Arthur assembled a stone mound under the stone with the print of his dog, and it is called the Carn Cabal (i.e., a cairn[11]). And men come and remove the stone in their hands for the length of a day and a night; and on the next day it is found on top of its mound.
Lady Charlotte Guest was aware of the local lore that placed the monument at a mountain situated in the "district of Builth", the name by which that area was still being remembered from what was the ancient Buelltcantref of medieval Wales.[8] Nowadays, this mountain is known asCarn Gafallt,[11] but this identification is uncertain according toGeoffrey Ashe.[14] The "Buelt" name is also preserved in present-dayBuilth Wells (in historic county ofBrecknockshire) now part of countyPowys.[14][15]
Unlike the simple primitive lore, the late Welsh romanceCulhwch and Olwen weaves a much more intricate tale, naming many dogs besides Cavall in the hunting party, and thequarry is no longer just the boarTwrch Trwyth itself, its seven offspring (with names), and yet another boar namedYskithyrwyn besides.
Yskithyrwyn Penbaedd (orYsgithyrwyn Chief Boar) was yet another boar to be hunted by Arthur's band; its tusk, which needed to be extracted while still alive, being another of the "impossible tasks" (anoeth; pl.anoethiau) prescribed byYsbaddaden Chief-Giant. This tusk was the tool necessary for shaving the giant to groom him up, him being the father of the bride Olwen.
InCulhwch and Olwen, Arthur's dog Cavall is specifically credited with the slaying of Yskithyrwin (or at least with cornering the beast to its doom). Caw of Prydain who rides Arthur's mareLlamrei cleaves Yskithyrwyn's head with a hatchet.
Afterwards, "Bedwyr leading Cavall, Arthur's own dog",[16] joins the other hunters and dogs to pursue the great boarTwrch Trwyth and its piglets. But the specific role played by Cavall is not told.
Glas, Glesig, and Gleisad are referred to as dogs, and Call, Cuall, and Cafall as horses, and so on down the line, in the list of belongings of sons of Cleddyf, or, at least they are nowadays in modern translations.[34] However, in the first English translation by Lady Guest, Glas, etc. were construed as sword names and Call, Cuall, Cavall as dogs, respectively.
Ifor Williams has made a study of occurrences of Cafall in old Welsh poetry.[35]
A number of scholars have commented upon the similarity of the dog's name to the Latin wordcaballus for "horse". In an article from 1936, R. J. Thomas said that "the name Cabal is from Latincaballus 'horse', which he considers a quite natural metaphor since the dog was strong and swift, and he compares the horse of Conall Cernach which had a dog's head".[36] Furthermore, the formcabal existed inOld Welsh.[37]
Bromwich further remarks, "Sincecarn means both 'hoof' and 'cairn' it seems more probable thatCabal/Cafall originally designated Arthur horse.. rather than his hound".[38]
^Guest's notes also provides a sketch of the footprint (shown right) as well as facsimile of the Latin text from Harley 3859.
^However, Lady Guest parsed the text so that these were the three "grinding gashers", i.e., sword names.[27][28] Translator Gantz(2003) agreed with the possibility they are sword names.[29]
^Ashe, Geoffrey. "Nennius", in: Lacy, Norris J., et al., edd.,The Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1986, pp. 404–406: "The appendix ofMirabilia ("Marvels") may be a little later than the rest of the book, but not much" (p. 406).
^abGuest ed., tr. (1849), p. 359 writes: "a mountain in the district of Builth, to the South ofRhayader Gwy[i.e., on theRiver Wye], and within sight of that town", then on p. 360, quotes the correspondence from her informant that: "Carn Cavall..generally pronounced Corn Cavall, is a lofty and rugged mountain, in the upper part of the district anciently called Buellt, now written Builth, in Breconshire".
^Bromwich & Evans (1992),Culhwch, pp. 100, 146n: "Gwydrut a Gwyden Astrus" make this identification. The family of wolves reverts to human form by grace of God, but it is rather a mystery how Culhwch's bridal quest was helped by this.
^Besides Bromwich's edition, several modern translations interpret these as dogs' name, e.g. Jones & Jones: "Glas, Glesig Gleisad, their three dogs"[24] or Davis: "Glas [Grey], Glesig, Gleisad [Salmon]--their three dogs. Call [Clever], Cuall [Quick], Cafall [Steed]--their three horses",[25] etc.
^Guest ed., tr. (1849), Welsh, pp. 211, 227; translation pp. 267, 291: "three grinding gashers, Glas, Glessic, and Clersag. Their three dogs, Call, Cuall, and Cavall. Their three horses, Hwyrdydwg, and Drwgdydwg, and Llwyrdydwg"
^Such as Gwyn & Thomas Jones', 1949 and Jeffrey Gantz's, 1976.
^Bromwich & Evans (1992), p. 153, notes that Ifor Williams has studied "..instances of cafall < Lat. caballus..in theHengerdd(old poetry) CA 1203; CLlH vii, 22a; PT 38n. oncaffon. (Ifor Williams, CA=Canu Aneirin, 1938; CLlH=Canu Llywarch Hen, 1935; PT=Poems of Taliesin)
^Ford, Patrick K. (1982),"On the Significance of some Arthurian Names in Welsh",Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies,30: 268, summarizing from R. J. Thomas, "Cysylltiad Arthur gogledd Ceredigion",Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies8 (2): 124–125.
Fletcher, Robert Huntington, ed. (1906).The Arthurian material in the chronicles. Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature 10. Modern Language Departments of Harvard University/Ginn & Co. pp. 32–4. Archived fromthe original on 2008-03-11.
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