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(as our own chroniclers) draw it from Corineus, cousin to Brute, the first conqueror of this island: who wrestling at Plymouth(as they say) with a mighty giant, called Gogmagog, threw him over Cliff, prake his neck, and received the gift of that country, in reward for his prowess: some as Cerealis(no less mistaken perhaps in this, than in his measures), from Cornu Galliae, a horn or corner of France, where against nature hath placed it: and some from Cornu Walliae, which(in my conjecture) carrieth greatest likelihood of truth.“(Zu der Etymologie sind die Bemerkungen von Tonkin, ib. p. 2 zu vergl.) Weiterhin(p. 4) über dieselbe Sage:„I am not ignorant how sorely the whole story of Brute is shaken by some of our late writers, and how stiffly supported by other some: as also, that this wrestling pull between Corineus and Gogmagog is reported to have befallen at Dover.... The place Where Brute is said to have first landed was Totness in Cornwall, and therefore this wrestling likely to have chanced there(i. e. at Plymouth), sooner than elsewhere. The province bestowed on(orineus for this exploit was Cornwall. It may then be presumed, that he received in reward the place where he made proof of his worth, and whose prince(so with others I take Gogmagog to have been) he had conquered.... Again the activity of Devon and Cornishmen, in this faculty of wrestling, beyond those of other shires, doth seem to derive them a special pedigree from that grand wrestler Corineus. Moreover, upon the Hawe at Plymouth, there is cut out in the ground the portraiture of two men, the one bigger, the other lesser, with clubs in their hands,(whom they term Gog-Magog), and(as I have learned) it is renewed by order of the townsmen, when cause requireth, which should infer the same to be a monument of some moment. And lastly, the place, having a steep cliff adjoining, affordeth an opportunity to the fact.“ Die Note von Tonkin(p. 5), die aus dem Anfange des 18. Jahrhunderts stammt(1710—33), sagt dazu:„The citadel of Plymouth being, just after the restoration, built on that spot of ground on which these representations were, the very remembrance of them is now blotted out of the minds of the inhabitants, who have been much to blame for not preserving some such monument on some acdjoining part of the Hawe: for I cannot but be of Mr. C(arew's opinion, that the same, upon what account soever first cut there, was to perpetuate the memory of some considerable action. I know that the story of Corineus, and Brute himself, is exploded by most of the learned, and Geoffry of Monmouth accused as the forger of it. I shall not pretend to justify his whole history; yet that it was a orgery of his, though he might add a great deal of the embroidery, I presume few will believe..
Eine kurze Bemerkung aus der englischen Übersetzung von Cambden's ritannia durch Gibson:„That rock from which(he) is reported to have been thrust is now called the hau, a hill between the town and the sea“ ist alles, was Le Roux(I. p. 57) beibringt, und San-Marte (Gottfried von Monmouth p. 207) nach ihm. Wir haben es hier offenbar mit einer lange hart- näckig festgehaltenen Lokalsage zu thun, die namentlich auch die Naamen Gog-Magog giebt, aus ähnlichen Gründen festgehalten, wie dies in London geschah, die gestärkt war durch den Über- gang der Berichte Gottfrieds in die Litteratur und selbst in die eigentliche Geschichtsschreibung.
Bei Nennius kommt die Sage noch nicht vor(s. Le Roux); zuerst hat sie Gottfried von Monmouth, und von ihm geht sie in seine zahlreichen Nachfolger über(s. Le Roux, Analyse du Roman de Brut, Grässe, die grofsen Sagenkreise des Mittelalters. I. p. 103 sq. und San-Marte, Gottfried's von Monmouth Hist. Reg. Brit. Halle 1854. p. XXI. sq., wo die zahl-
reichen französischen, englischen und lateinischen Umdichtungen und Bearbeitungen aufgezählt 3 ⅔


