The works of the sixth century AD Brittonic poet and bard, Taliesin, survive in a fourteenth century Welsh manuscript of the Llyuyr Taliessin, The Book of Taliesin. Taliesin is one of the most important figures in Welsh literature, one of the Five British Poets of Renown listed in the ninth century Historia Brittonum. Taliesin himself may have served at the courts of several kings and, although the book ascribed to him contains poems from others and from later ages, at least some of the poems are likely to be original. Others see the earliest poems as being from the ninth century (and so none are original). Several of the poems, however, describe reigns and battles which took place in sixth century Britain and shed light on what is usually regarded as a particularly dark age. Dur: 22mins File: .mp3

On 5 March, 1804, a group of 233 convict rebels revolted against their incarceration in the British colony of New South Wales (corresponding to modern Sydney, Australia). They were met by the local garrison, consisting of only 28-30 regulars and a few loyalist militia, at a place some 40km north-west of Sydney soon dubbed Vinegar Hill. Dur: 29mins File: .mp3