Welsh Journals

(p. 13), a different emphasis seems to be reflected in the opening statement that 'An investigation into the lives and works of the Welsh (and Celtic) saints takes us back to what may justifiably be described as the most exciting and momentous period in the history of our peoples within the Christian era' (p. 1), by which he means the fifth and sixth centuries. A certain ambivalence of approach seems to persist here. In the matter of dedications or commemorations, however, Mr. Simon Evans clearly allows for a broader chronological span. With reference to dedications, he comments: 'This does not, of course, necessarily mean that the saints themselves all travelled these parts or that they settled in them. What it does demonstrate is the direction in which their cultus spread, whether this happened during their lifetime or later' (p. 52). This is the approach which Professor E. G. Bowen has now adopted and it is certainly a suitably cautious note on which to conclude. It is perhaps advisable for all working in this field at the moment to keep discussion of extant saints' Lives entirely separate from discussions of dedication patterns until, on the one hand, the former have been systematically edited and analysed as literary documents, purely and simply, and, on the other, the key to the complete interpretation of the complex of dedications has been uncovered and the door which has closed on the history of the Church in Wales during the early-middle ages unlocked. In this context, the future study of the documents in the Book of Llandajf and related dedication patterns could be of unique significance. Meanwhile, it might be profitable to re-examine in detail the dedication to the least-known saints, for such obscure cults are most likely to reflect a primitive pattern. By bringing Doble's Lives of the Welsh saints together in a single volume, and by his wide-ranging introduction, Mr. Simon Evans has reminded us of the fascinating challenge which all this material still presents. D. P. KIRBY Aberystwyth THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE ECONOMY, 1066-86. By R. Welldon Finn, Longman, 1971. Pp. xiv, 322. £ 5.95. In 1898 F. H. Baring published a paper called 'The Conqueror's Footprints in Domesday'. Comparing the value of manors in south-east England in the time of King Edward and when their Norman lords acquired them, he found in many instances that there was a fall in value of over 20 per cent. He plotted 217 of these manors and from the pattern which emerged he was able to suggest that the loss in value was due to the depredations of the Conqueror's army and to indicate the route taken by sections of that army as it moved from the south coast towards London. His technique was taken up by later scholars, notably by Lt. Col. Lemmon, who applied ingenious refinements until he could trace