Welsh Journals

as might be expected, is particularly good, and contains an excellent summary of the history of the red dragon as a national emblem and of the prince of Wales's feathers. Unfortunately, a few minor errors have been allowed to creep into the book. The Lord Rhys died in 1197 not 1187 (p. 27); the famous relic of the True Cross is more usually known as 'Croes Naid' not 'Croesynad' (p. 32); the Council of the Marches was first established in 1471 not 1473 (p. 82); Henry V died in 1422 not 1454 (p. 103); 'llwyddiannus' is incorrectly spelt (p. 154); and the attribution of the poem to Owain Glyn Dwr by Iolo Goch is of doubtful validity (p. 162). One cannot but think that it would have been helpful if all the Welsh poetry quoted in the text had been translated into English (pp. 162, 170, 175). But these are trivialities, and they do not detract from the very real merit and value of the book. A final word of praise for the author's style: he writes with zest, verve and energy, and has a flair for lively turns of phrase. One remembers gladly the 'princely chameleons of Powys' (p. 26) and the lament for lost glories- Today the Constable of Kidwelly Castle is the Ministry of Works, the Keeper of Penmaenmawr the County Council, the Governor of Milford Haven an oil company, and the Steward of Bardsey is the seagull' (p. 85). What the author applauds in Robert Price as 'true Cambrian vigour and eloquence' (p. 97) might readily be applied to his own gift for expression. GLANMOR WILLIAMS Swansea THE PRINCIPALITY OF WALES, A STUDY IN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. By J. Goronwy Edwards. Caernarvonshire Historical Society, 1969. Pp. 44. 25p. This volume contains the text of an address given by Sir Goronwy Edwards at a meeting of the Caernarvonshire Historical Society held to commemorate the seventh centenary of the treaty of Montgomery. By the treaty of 1267 Henry III formally recognized the right of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd to the style of 'Prince of Wales', and the existence of the 'Principality of Wales' which the prince had brought into being by establishing the obligation of the other Welsh rulers of Wales to do homage and fealty to himself rather than to the king of England. This essay, which traces the constitutional history of the principality from 1267 onward, is in a sense complementary to the masterly study which the author published in 1940 as the introduction to Littere Wallie. It was then that Sir Goronwy set out most fully his exposition of the political structure of independent Wales and of its relationship to the English monarchy. The historic problem of Wales in the medieval period lay in 'the fractionization of political power'. The author was then concerned with the problem in its thirteenth-century context. He subsequently demon- strated its relevance in the Norman period in a notable study of