Welsh Journals

COUNTY HISTORY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1959-60 I. SOUTH WALES The revival of local history, both as an academic discipline and as the hobby of lay enthusiasts, has been as marked in South Wales as else- where. This is amply shown by the impressive number and quality of the transactions published by the county local history societies in South Wales in 1959-60. Pembrokeshire issued a journal for the first time, Carmarthen- shire and Glamorgan continued their welcome renaissance, and only Monmouthshire remains unrepresented. The total impression is of a pleasant harmony between voluntary enthusiasm and (in some cases) the enlightenment of local authorities, between the interested layman and the technical historian. As in previous years, Brycheiniog (1959), the journal of the Brecknock Society, provides in quality and in bulk (it contains nearly 200 pages) a tribute to the munificence of the Breconshire County Council. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and tables. Its major contribution is a lengthy analysis of the geomorphology of Breconshire by Trevor M. Thomas, with profuse illustrations. The other major articles commemorate the bicentenary of two notable local historians and antiquarians of the county: T. Rhys Jones outlines the career of Theophilus Jones (1759-1812), author of the celebrated History of Breconshire, while the Reverend D. Parry-Jones discusses the lesser-known H. T. Payne, archdeacon of Carmarthen. The former article has a useful bibliography. The Carmarthen Antiquary, vol. Ill, part 2 (1960), continues its happy resurrection under the editorship of Mr. T. H. Lewis. It includes two articles of considerable general value. Dr. Savory outlines archaeological work on prehistoric Carmarthen carried out since Sir J. E. Lloyd's county history appeared in 1935. William Greenway gives an account of the archdeacons of Carmarthen in the fourteenth century, and examines the administrative function of these unpopular but significant figures. Two more contributions throw light on aspects of the recent economic history of Carmarthenshire, as illustrated respectively from the Welsh Port Books and the Mansel Lewis Papers. The more ephemeral 'notes and news' are also not without historical and entertainment value, while the editor, himself provides a most useful 'Carmarthenshire bibliography' for 1958. Ceredigion, cyf. III, rhif. 4 (1959), the journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, is the most impressive number yet to appear. It is a jubilee volume, to celebrate the foundation of the Society in 1909, and the portraits of some of the 'founding fathers' adorn its handsome pages. Appropriately, a most distinguished team of contributors, mainly from