The Mysteries of Britain: Secret Rites and Traditions of Ancient Britain

A prolific writer, Lewis Spence (1874-1955) was dedicated to the 'Celtic Revival' of the late 19th/early 20th c. 'The Mysteries of Britain' was his crowning work in this respect, containing a wealth of material - which, in one form or another, has seen reprints, with minor changes of title, ever since its first appearance (1929). This Bracken Books/Studio Edition reprint comes complete with a facsimile of the illustrations Wendy Wood produced for the Ist ed. Some would say that 'Celtic revivals' are problematic, and 'Neo-Celtic' fads even more so. Peter Berresford Ellis - a contemporary authority on Celtic culture, has asked how we can re-invent an unknown past, without substituting fantasy for reality? How far can the 'Celtic' tag can be stretched, before it becomes meaningless. It cannot be coined with intrinsic meaning, if simply a hook for frustrated urbanites to hang their 'pagan' wish fulfilments upon. Still, regressive questioning of this kind can go too far. Even the 'serious' revivalists of the late 19th c. have been viewed with suspicion. Without being naive, Lewis Spence was confident with his sources. Keen to savour Celtic culture in all its forms, be it that of his native Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Mann, Cornwall etc., Spence felt that the Druidic/Bardic tradition had been preserved - at its best, in Welsh sources. Thus, he esteemed the work of Iolo Morganwg/J. Williams ab Ithel/Llwelyn Sion - e.g. the Welsh triads, the Barddas etc. - as genuine, even though this had been viewed with suspicion by some of his peers, and remains controversial to this day. Spence regarded such material as genuine, adducing his reasons in chapter III - the 'Mystery of Celtic Philosophy,' and chapter IV,titled 'Barddas.' This is but one aspect of Spence's book - but, given the seminal importance of the Barddas in the Celtic revival , and the often careless remarks heaped upon it by detractors, it is pleasant to hear the book appraised in positive terms. For his own part, Spence claimed that he had seen transcripts of material - attributed to Llywelyn Sion, which pre-dated Iolo's sources, thus demolishing the notion that Iolo had fabricated the material. Some of this material was in Raglan Castle. The manuscript of Llywelyn Sion, transcribed by Edward Davydd, was still extant in the Library of Llan Haran, Glamorganshire. Hence, - 'What' Spence asks, 'is there improbable in all this? He goes on to note that much of the mytho-poeic imagery involved, mythical cycles etc., also appear in the Mabinogion and other such sources, which are beyond dispute. Hence, Spence says: 'It seems to me, indeed, highly improbable that (Llywelyn) Sion 'invented' this mystical progression . . . I have singled this material out, and Spence's remarks about it, because texts like the Barddas have, in effect, served as handbooks to sustain the 'Celtic revival.' So far as Spence was concerned, its 'triads' etc., preserve the 'mysteries of Britain' - understood as an inn

I greatly enjoyed this book. What I liked most about it is that the things that Spence talks about here, connecting ancient Britain to North African religious practices and migrations seem to be supported by modern genetic analysis(see http://www.oxfordancestors.com ).Spence had a rather interesting career and was also the founder of the Scottish Nationalist Party.