A review by John Ferriar in the October 1805 Monthly Review argued, "It has fallen to the lot of this writer to puzzle our critical discernment more than once [...] He has now contrived to manufacture a large quarto, which he has styled a poem, but of what description it is no easy matter to decide [...] The poem of Madoc is not didactic, nor elegiac, nor classical, in any respect [...] Respecting the manners, Mr. Southey appears to have been more successful than in his choice of the story. He has adhered to history where he could discover any facts adapted to his purpose; and when history failed him, he has had recourse to probability."Madden 1972 qtd pp. 102–103 Ferriar continued with an attack on the Welsh names that appear within the poem: "we own that the nomenclature of his heroes has shocked what Mr. S. would call our prejudices. Goervyl and Ririd and Rodri and Llaian may have charms for Cambrian ears, but who can feel an interest in Tezozomoc, Tlalala, or Ocelopan [...] how could we swallow Yuhidthiton, Coanocotzin, and, above all, the yawning jaw-dislocating Ayayaca?—These torturing words, particularly the latter, remind us so strongly of the odious cacophony of the Nurse and Child, that they really are not to be tolerated."Madden 1972 qtd p. 103
