Welsh Journals

existence of an ecclesiastical boundary between Ardudwy and Eifionydd and the role of Maelgwn of Gwynedd in promoting the separatist attitude of the Welsh church, notably with regard to the date of Easter. In short, Dr. Miller should have seen her work farther advanced and should have been in a position to present at least one finished study arising from her method before publishing a book which, as it stands, inspires a feeling of despondency about the value of studying medieval saints. The subject deserves better treatment than this. D. W. ROLLASON Durham THE CORNISH ORDINALIA: A CRITICAL STUDY. By J. A. Bakere. University of Wales Press, 1980. Pp. 191. £ 12.95. The manuscripts which perpetuate the religious drama of medieval Cornwall are better known today than the Celtic dialect (akin to Welsh and Breton) in which they are written. Since 1859, when Edwin Norris appended a Cornish grammar to his parallel-text version of the three great plays, 'Creation', 'Passion' and 'Resurrection', few translators have entered this field; scholars have nonetheless examined the source- material, themes, structure and doctrinal content of the 'gwary miracles', as Carew called them in 1602. Theatre historians have, moreover, deduced the original conditions of performance from the Latin stage-directions and circular ground-plans found in the manuscripts, and from those grassy amphitheatres of disputed origin once linked with Arthurian legend as Tables Round. Still in translation, some of the plays have even been performed. Most of this activity is now reviewed and furthered by Jane Bakere; but her higgledy-piggledy bibliography omits at least two important references. The late Neville Denny, who directed the 1969 Piran Round revival, wrote about it in Stratford-upon-Avon Studies, 16 (1973), and Richard Southern provided lengthy discussions and comment in the second edition (1975) of Medieval Theatre in the Round. Among primary materials, the Digby plays should have been cited, and the Macro plays should be in the bibliography. The merit of Jane Bakere's study lies in her understanding of Middle Cornish and her application of topographical knowledge to the texts. Despite the omissions, and the irritating use of 'Ordinalia' as a singular noun, her book is worth reading. MARION JONES Swansea THE THREE EDWARDS. WAR AND STATE IN ENGLAND, 1272-1377. By Michael Prestwich. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980. Pp. 336. £ 10.95. 'The idea for this book', so Dr. Prestwich announces disarmingly in his preface, 'was not mine.' His disclaimer, one surmises, is not without significance for an understanding of the nature of the book itself. His publishers clearly felt that there was room on the market for another