Welsh Journals

on the general history of the office of sheriff and also up-dates the genea- logical information contained in James Allen's Notes on the Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire, 1541-1899, while the author provides the completely 'new' element by contributing notes on the sheriffs of Pembrokeshire from 1900 to 1974. Mr. Miles also includes a helpful place-index of the sheriffs of Pembrokeshire and (fittingly, as a past holder of the office) a list of the sheriffs of the town and county of Haverfordwest, 1563-1974. This book is of immense value as a work of reference on the past sheriffs and their family background. The landed families provided virtu- ally all the sheriffs down to the commencement of the present century but, reflecting the growth of democracy, the office subsequently came to be held by men drawn from wider walks of life. Part of the fascination of Mr. Miles's carefully-researched notes on the sheriffs since 1900 is to see this change in the family background of those who served. But it is equally important to stress the fact that the landed families continued to play the major role in filling the office right down to the 1970s. DAVID W. HOWELL Swansea Y TESTAMENT NEWYDD CYMRAEG, 1551-1620. Gan Isaac Thomas. Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, Caerdydd, 1976. Tt. 488. £ 6.00. This volume is an authoritative and well-researched piece of work. It is neatly divided into three major sections: the first examines the Greek versions of the scriptures which were available to Welsh translators between 1516 and 1550, describes the early career of William Salesbury, and considers his translation of the scriptural lessons used in the com- munion service (Kynniver llith a ban) in 1551. The second section charts the preparations made by the Welsh translators, considers the 'Epistles and Gospels' of the Prayer Book of 1567, and estimates the contributions of William Salesbury, Richard Davies and Thomas Huet to the translation of the New Testament of 1567. Section three comprises an exhaustive account of the reformed versions-the New Testament of 1588, the 'Epistles and Gospels' of the Prayer book of 1599, and the final version of the New Testament, produced by John Davies and Richard Parry, in 1620. Nine detailed appendices illustrate the author's general points in greater detail, and a full bibliography, a scriptural index and a general index complete a handsome volume. The author has set himself the target of examining the nature and quality of the Welsh translations of the New Testament between 1551 and 1620, the provenance of those versions, and the principles employed by each translator. He makes it clear from the outset that Welsh Protestant reformers were not prepared to rely on the highly suspect Latin Vulgate as their major source. They preferred to return to the unsullied Hebrew and Greek texts, thus ensuring access to (in Salesbury's words) 'the spring before the river'. Spurred on by the Erasmian ideal that 'all the communi- cation of the Christian should be of the Scripture', Salesbury and his successors were determined to ensure that 'Gods own word may remayn sincere and unviolate from generation to generation'. These were fine words indeed, but there remained many practical problems to overcome.