Welsh Journals

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diligently at a difficult task. It is a remarkable achievement. Once again we are greatly indebted to the author for having accomplished so very much. D. ELLIS EVANS Swansea WELSH ADMINISTRATIVE AND TERRITORIAL UNITS, MEDIEVAL AND MODERN. By Melville Richards. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1969. Pp. xviii, 324. £ 3 15. In this volume Professor Melville Richards provides a reference work of considerable value. It is a list of the units of civil administration in the medieval and modern periods, accompanied by more than a hundred maps. The list gives an accepted orthographical form for the place-names, and it will in this way be of service to many besides scholars. It sets out, for the medieval period, both the names of larger units, such as lordships and commotes, and of smaller administrative areas, such as the trefi and the gwestfdu. Nothing on this scale has been attempted before. This volume is a result of the preparatory work for a historical dictionary of Welsh place-names upon which the author is engaged, and the numerous papers which he has already published have established his authority in this field of study. The work which he now publishes is itself a substantial contribution. Even in the case of some of the commotes (as in an area such as Gower which was subject to far-reaching change in the Norman period) it was not easy to resolve, within the space of a brief entry, problems of historical development which could be afforded lengthy annotation. The problems attending the identification and location of the smaller areas are manifold. This list resolves innumerable questions and the arrangement of the work makes it possible for a person to pursue his inquiries further and, if need be, to compile lists to meet his particular needs. This volume will be received with gratitude by all concerned with Welsh historical studies. They will, too, share the hope that the University of Wales will be able to afford Professor Richards every possible aid in bringing a definitive work on Welsh place-names to completion at the earliest opportunity. J. BEVERLEY SMITH Aberystwyth THE PRINCES AND PRINCIPALITY OF WALES. By Francis Jones. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1969. Pp. 204. E3 -15. Among the miscellany of publications designed to celebrate the investiture of the prince of Wales in 1969, this is the most substantial and valuable. It is dedicated, very fittingly, to Prince Charles, and was written, most appropriately, by the Welsh Herald Extraordinary. Elegant in format and appearance, the book is beautifully printed on excellent paper