Page:Poems - Sayers (1792).djvu/121

Although it was principally my intention in writing these pieces (as I have observed in the preface) to attempt a poetical delineation of the Gothic mythology, yet I could not, consistently with the characters in Moina, avoid making some allusions to the religion of the Celts. The superstitions of both nations prevailed at the same period, and have frequently, though erroneously, been confounded: I have been induced therefore, in the following poem, the scene of which is laid in Britain, to confine myſelf as much as possible to Celtic mythology: this religion indeed by no means rivals the Gothic in magnificence, and some of its institutions and ceremonies have already been displayed in the admirable tragedy ofCaractacus;