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A Book of Wales

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Edited by D M & E M Lloyd  

First published 1953, reprinted 1965

**My copy of this book was deposited with Glamorgan FHS in April 2022 (Gareth Hicks)

This is a real treasure chest of a little book [384 pages], here is a listing of the Contents and Illustrations pages .

CONTENTS

  • INTRODUCTION ---D. M. and E. M. Lloyd   [see short extract]
  • PROLOGUE ---Islwyn [WilliamThomas)

PLACES

  • Tintern Abbey ---William Wordsworth
  • Piercefield--- William Coxe
  • An Enchanted Land--- Arthur Machen
  • The Eagles Depart ---Saunders Lewis
  • Arthur's Feast at Caerleon--- Dingestow Chronicle
  • A Market Scene ---William Coxe
  • Abergavenny Tombs--- Thomas Churchyard
  • The Swan on Syfaddon Lake--- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • Oh, Aberedw, Aberedw ---Francis Kilvert
  • The Places of my Boyhood ---Idris Davies
  • Rhymney--- Idris Davies
  • Sylvan Rhondda--- Benjamin Heath Malkin
  • In Gardens in the Rhondda--- Idris Davies
  • Swansea Bay--- Julia Ann Kemble(Ann of Swansea)
  • Grongar Hill--- John Dyer
  • St Govan--- A. G. Prys- Jones
  • Maenor Pyrr ---Giraldus Cambrensis
  • The Fishing Lass of Hakin--- Lewis Morris
  • Tregaron Bog ---Sir Owen M. Edwards
  • Devil's Bridge--- George Borrow
  • The Poet's Petition--- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • Llanuwchllyn Old Chapel--- Sir Owen M. Edwards
  • To the River Clegyr ---Iorwerth C. Peate
  • The Red Bandits of Mawddwy--- Thomas Pennant
  • Penmaen Pool--- G. Manley Hopkins
  • The Squire of Cwmbychan ---Thomas Pennant
  • Merioneth--- Prince Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd
  • The Cuckoo's Song in Merion --- Lewis Morri's
  • Arennig Vawr --- George Borrow
  • A Royal Scene at Harlech --- The Mabinogion
  • Snowdon Twice Visited--- Thomas Pennant
  • On Snowdon --- George Borrow
  • Snowdon-A Moonlit Scene--- William Wordsworth
  • Nant Gwynant --- William Wordsworth
  • Near Llanberis--- William Wordsworth
  • The Owls --- R. Williams Parry
  • Helen of Segontium--- The Mabinogion
  • Caernarvon --- D. Lloyd George
  • Bardsey of the Saints --- Meilyr
  • On Holyhead---  George Borrow
  • Llandudno--- Matthew Arnold
  • The Vale of Clwyd--- Michael Drayton
  • In the Valley of the Elwy--- G. Manley Hopkins
  • Sycharth--- Iolo Goch
  • Castle Caereinion ---Robert Roberts
  • In Praise of Oswestry--- Guto'r Glyn

HISTORY-LITERARY AND GENERAL

  • Celtic Magic --- Matthew Arnold
  • Mabinogi and Edda--- Gwyn Jones
  • An Early Eisteddfod--- The Chronicle of the Princes
  • How to praise each thing ---Welsh Poetic Art
  • The Bardic Functions
  • Style and the Celts--- Matthew Arnold
  • Welsh and English Poetry--- Goronwy Owen
  • The Essence of Welsh Poetry--- Saunders Lewis
  • A Prince prepares for Death ---Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan
  • Death of a Young Prince ---The Chronicle of the Princes
  • Powys bereft of her Princes--- Cynddelw
  • The Berwyn Invasion--- The Chronicle of thePrinces
  • "According to Plan" The Chronicle of the Princes
  • "Dominion Status"---The Welsh Assize Roll, 1277-1284
  • The Fall of Llywelyn--- Bleddyn Fardd
  • Yvan of Wales--- Jean Froissart
  • A Welsh Policy --- Owain Glyn Dwr (Glendower)
  • Owen Glendower--- William Shakespeare
  • Owain Glyn Dwr--- Sir Owen M. Edwards
  • "My Hope is on what is to come"--- Sion Cent
  • A Wasp's Nest--- Sir John Wynne
  • A Turbulent Age---  Sir John Wynne
  • A Call to Arms---  King Henry VII
  • Old and New Times--- George Owen, of Henllys
  • The Act of Union
  • On the Act of Union--- A. O. H. Jarman
  • The Reformation --- Sion Brwynog
  • The Ballad of the Welsh Buccaneers--- Lieut. William Peilyn
  • Henry Morgan's March on Panama --- A. G. Prys-Jones
  • "An Old and Haughty Nation"---  John Milton

PASTORAL AND INDUSTRIAL

  • Wales through Exiles' Eyes--- Dr. Gruffudd Robert, of Milan
  • A Peasant --- R. S. Thomas
  • In Praise of the Labourer---  Iolo Goch
  • The Little Old Cottages --- Hugh Evans
  • Knitting --- Hugh Evans
  • Hill-Farms of Gwent--- William Coxe
  • A Country Home---  Sir Henry Jones
  • A Merry Evening at the Hafod--- Glasynys (O. W. Jones)
  • A Farmhouse Sunday School---  Robert Roberts
  • Gwladys Rhys--- W J. Gruffydd
  • Country Churchyards--- Daniel Owen
  • The Country Doctor--- D. Lloyd George
  • The White Fleet-Footed Steed
  • The King-Tree--- Gwallter Mechain(Walter Davies)
  • Pembrokeshire Coal --- George Owen, of Henllys
  • A Bad System--- Robert Owen
  • 'The Kingdoms of the Earth' ---Jack Jones
  • Grinding Poverty--- T. Rowland Hughes
  • A Good and Steady Trade --- Daniel Owen
  • The Court Cupboard--- D. J. Williams
  • Dowlais-Two Generations--- Jack Jones
  • Mrs. Evans Fach --- Idris Davies

PEOPLE, GREAT AND SMALL

  • Death of St David--- The Anchorite of Llanddewibrefi
  • "Praiseworthy was he"--- Aneirin
  • The Lady of Wales --- The Chronicles of the Princes
  • Yvan asserts his claims--- Jean Froissart
  • A Contrast --- W. Bower
  • Catherine of Berain--- Thomas Pennant
  • A Welsh Engineer--- Thomas Pennant
  • At the Grave of Henry Vaughan--- Siegfried Sassoon
  • A Poet's Mother--- Goronwy Owen
  • A Portrait of a Poet---  Lewis Morris
  • William Edwards, Bridgebuilder--- Benjamin Heath Malkin
  • A 'Cambro-Briton'--- Tobias Smollett
  • A Formidable Guest ---Samuel Johnson
  • Margaret Uch Evan--- Thomas Pennant
  • Gruffydd Jones of Llanddowror --- R. T. Jenkins
  • Owain Myfyr---  R. T. Jenkins
  • Advice to a Son--- Sir Walter Scott
  • Evans, a Cambro-Briton --- Charles Lamb
  • On Leaving London for Wales--- Percy Bysshe Shelley
  • A Methodist 'Exhorter'--- Edward Matthews, of Ewenny
  • Flummery and Character---  Robert Owen
  • A Methodist Wife--- Robert Roberts
  • Margaret Williams---Myfyr Wyn (William Williams)
  • A Hermit and his haunts--- Francis Kilvert
  • The Lady of Llwyn Madoc --- Herbert M. Vaughan
  • An Old Quarryman --- T, Rowland Hughes
  • A Backwoodsman --- D. Lloyd George
  • Lloyd George--- Dr. Thomas Jones
  • A Daughter of the Sea---  Eluned Morgan
  • The Chairing of the Bard --- R. Williams Parry
  • War Epitaph --- R. Williams Parry
  • Old Age ---  Kate Roberts
  • Sisters --- Kate Roberts
  • Quite Early One Morning---  Dylan Thomas

HUMOUR, ROMANCE, AND SENTIMENT

  • Seithenyn --- Thomas Love Peacock
  • An Early Sabbatarian--- Thomas Love Peacock
  • Professional Jealousy --- Giraldus Cambrensis
  • My Purse, Gramercy for this! --- Sir Phylip Emlyn
  • Pistol Eats the Leek--- WilliamShakespeare
  • Fluellen and Gower --- William Shakespeare
  • Mr. Morgan on Captain Whiffle--- Tobias Smollett
  • A Knight-Errant in Wales --- Edmund Burke
  • Twm Shon Catti--- George Borrow
  • Sermon on Potatoes --- Robert Roberts
  • Will Bryan and the Clock---  Daniel Owen
  • Beti Jones's Supper --- Hugh Evans
  • Antichrist, or the Reunion of Christendom--- G. K. Chesterton
  • Pride of Lineage --- Sir John Wynne
  • Perthir and Werndee--- William Coxe
  • A Braggadochio Welshman --- Sir Thomas Overbury
  • The Noble Head --- The Mabinogion
  • Birds of Rhiannon---  D. Gwenallt Jones
  • Blodeuwedd--- The Mabinogion
  • Prince Madoc's Farewell---  Mrs. Felicia D. Hemans
  • " I hate it"---  Giraldus Cambrensis
  • Good Will---  Rowland Vaughan
  • Epigrams --- John Owen (the Epigrammatist)
  • Carpe Diem--- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • Capel Hebron--- Idris Davies
  • King Brutus---  John Owen (the Epigrammatist)
  • A Patriot's Vision--- Gwallter Mechain (Walter Davies)
  • To My Motherland--- Sir Lewis Morris
  • The Soul of a Nation --- Sir Owen M Edwards
  • Avallon --- T. Gwynn Jones
  • Wales---  E. Prosser Rhys
  • A Vineyard placed in my care--- Saunders Lewis
  • I'r Hen Iaith a'i Chaneuon--- Walter Dowding
  • Wales --- D. Gwenallt Jones
  • Affinity--- T. H. Parry- Williams
  • Lame Ants--- D. Lloyd George

CUSTOMS, BELIEFS, AND REFLECTIONS ON LIFE

  • Life--- The Red Book of Hergest
  • Appointment of a Judge--- Welsh Laws
  • Advice for the Welsh --- Giraldus Cambrensis
  • Penillion Singing --- Thomas Love Peacock
  • Penillion
  • A Welsh Harper --- William Wordsworth
  • At the Eisteddfod --- Sir Lewis Morris
  • A Hunting Scene--- The Mabinogion
  • The Game of Knappan--- George Owen, of Henllys
  • Graveyard Flowers---  Benjamin Heath Malkin
  • By the Sea
  • Lime-washed Cottages--- Benjamin Heath Malkin
  • Hospitality and Refinement--- Gwallter Mechain (WalterDavies)
  • Local Manners--- Benjamin Heath Malkin
  • A Domestic Scene--- Sir Henry Jones
  • Thomas Bartley on Domestic Economy--- Daniel Owen
  • 'Knockers' in Mines --- Lewis Morris
  • The Fairies in Wales --- Edmund Jones
  • The Kyhirraeth --- Edmund Jones
  • Methodism and Superstition --- Robert Roberts
  • At the Gate---  Ellis Wynne
  • Arrant Thieves--- Ellis Wynne
  • First Principle of Society --- Robert Owen
  • A Sense of Values---  Daniel Owen
  • Puritanism and Rural Wales--- Thomas E. Ellis
  • Sunday--- George Herbert
  • Seeming Piety--- Ellis Wynne
  • Sabbath Labour--- Daniel Owen
  • Will Bryan on the 'Fellowship' --- Daniel Owen

POEMS, SONGS, BALLADS

  • Dinogad's Smock --- The Book of Aneirin
  • The ' Englynion of the Graves'--- The Black Book of Carmarthen
  • Love and War--- Gwalchmai
  • My Choice --- Prince Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd
  • The Hirlas Poem --- Prince Owain Cyfeiliog
  • A Lament --- Dafydd Benfras
  • Winter-Time--- Bleddyn Fardd
  • The Mist --- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • The Grove of Broom --- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • The Poet and the Friar --- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • To the Gull--- Dafydd ap Gwilym
  • Epigrams ---John Owen (the Epigrammatist)
  • Elegy over a Tomb---  Lord Herbert of Cherbury
  • The World--- George Herbert
  • Peace --- Henry Vaughan (the Silurist)
  • In Praise of a Girl---  Huw Morus
  • The Miner's Ballad---  Lewis Morris
  • The Bard --- Thomas Gray
  • The War-Song of Dinas Vawr--- Thomas Love Peacock
  • The Lady of Shallott--- Alfred Lord Tennyson
  • A Love Song--- Eifion Wyn (Eliseus Williams)
  • Days that have been---  W. H Davies
  • The Return --- T. H Parry- Williams
  • Snowdrops --- Cynan (A. E. Jones)
  • Fern Hill--- Dylan Thomas
  • Remembrance --- Waldo Williams

RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL

  • The First Word I will say--- The Black Book of Carmarthen
  • A Pious Poem---  Elaeth
  • On Christians, Mercy will fall--- The Black Book of Carmarthen
  • Epigrams---  John Owen (the Epigrammatist)
  • Love---  George Herbert
  • Discipline---  George Herbert
  • The Pulley ---George Herbert
  • Where is Christ?--- Morgan Llwyd
  • They are all gone into the World of Light--- Henry Vaughan (the Silurist)
  • The Retreate---  Henry Vaughan (the Silurist)
  • The World--- Henry Vaughan (the Silurist)
  • The Best Education---  Dr. Richard Prire
  • An Honest Mind---  Dr. Richard Price
  • I gaze across the distant hills--- William Williams, of Pantycelyn
  • Lo, between the myrtles standing--- Ann Griffiths
  • Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah--- William Williams, of Pantycelyn
  • A Missionary Hymn--- William Williams, of Pantycelyn
  • Riches and Poverty--- Twm o'r Nant (Thomas Edwards)
  • A Welsh Sermon---  Robert Roberts
  • A Christian Woman---  Daniel Owen
  • Jerusalem --- Ceiriog (F Ceiriog Hughes)
  • Intimations---  Islwyn (William Thomas)
  • Church-Membership--- Sir Henry Jones
  • The True and the Good ---Sir Henry Jones
  • A Friendly Universe---  Sir Henry  Jones
  • Epilogue--- Ceiriog (F Ceiriog Hughes)

NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION OF WELSH

DATES IN WELSH HISTORY

FIRST LINES OF POEMS

LIST OF AUTHORS

LIST OF TRANSLATORS

ILLUSTRATIONS

  • Snowdon
  • Conway Castle
  • Harlech Castle
  • Chepstow Castle
  • Tintern Abbey
  • Roman Amphitheatre at Caerleon
  • Caernarvon Castle
  • National Library of Wales
  • University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
  • In Cathays Park, Cardiff
  • Plas Newydd, Llangollen
  • Market Hall, Llanidloes
  • The Guildhall, Swansea
  • Yr Wybrnant, home of Bishop Morgan
  • Y Garreg Wen, near Borth-y-Gest
  • St. David's Cathedral, the Nave
  • Cwm, Llangernyw
  • Pantycelyn
  • The Welsh Folk Museum-St. Fagans Castle
  • Cwmparc, Rhondda Valley
  • Rural Serenity, Carmarthenshire
  • The Monmow Gate, Monmouth
  • The Central Buttress, Tryfan
  • Tryfan
  • Aberffraw
  • Fishguard
  • North Beach, Tenby
  • Aberystwyth from the air
  • Near Tal-y-1lyn
  • Coracle Fishing by Cenarth Bridge
  • The Devil's Bridge
  • The Menai Straits
  • Mawddach Estuary and Cader Idris
  • Aberglaslyn Pass
  • Nantgwynant
  • Bala Lake
  • In Henry Vaughan's Country
  • South Stack Lighthouse, Holyhead
  • The Green "Bridge," Pembrokeshire
  • River Wye, near Rhayader
  • Pont-ar-Elan, near Plynlimon
  • Nant-y-Stalwyn farmstead and Towy Stream
  • Swallow Falls, Betws-y-Coed
  • Llyn Idwal
  • Moel Siabod and River Llugwy
  • Telford's Highway, now "A5"

Introduction

Here is a partial extract from the book's introduction which I feel gives the reader a taste of the material in the book;

"................................Included in this book is a translation of one of the most widely known passages by the best loved of modern Welsh writers, the late Sir Owen M Edwardes [ 1858-1920].[The Soul of a Nation]

He knew well enough what he meant when he said that Wales had a soul.

He was not worried by metaphysical niceties, and neither was he thinking in terms of racial purity.

On racialism we can do no better than quote Sir Ifor Williams, doyen of Welsh scholarship today, who once remarked that

................... 'the people of England and of Wales are formed of the same racial ingredients, although not necessarily in the same proportions, but that the same is true of Christmas cake and plum pudding, only that one has been baked and the other boiled ' !

The varying racial proportions probably have some bearing on national temperament, modes of feeling and artistic gifts, but in the main our distinctive national characteristics are the fruits of age-long common experiences, the results of having inhabited the same corner of the earth, the incalculable effects of the natural scene and the affinities born of it, of having spoken a common tongue, created our own institutions, shared the same responsibilities, felt the same community sense, and borne the effects of the same national development.

We can still recognise ourselves in the people of Giraldus's Wales of the twelfth century--our faults and our good qualities, though much has changed.

The Wales of Giraldus and that of Jack Jones are peopled by the same warm-hearted impulsive folk, often contentious, susceptible to the appeal of oratory, relishers of the finely-turned and bold phrase, and passionately attached to the local community and surroundings.

They realise themselves in the interplay of personal relations within the neighbourhood and country to which they feel they belong, and have a deep distrust of any impersonal officialdom, privilege, or remote control. A shrewdness and distrust of vague sentiment are combined with a verse, prose, or in pulpit or platform speech.

Here is no 'Celtic twilight', but a love of clarity, brilliance, distinct colours and striking antithesis.

These are our prevailing modes."