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March, and Owain Glyndwr, together with leading ecclesiastics, among them two bishops, a dean and an archdeacon of St. Asaph, the latter his kinsman and chief patron, Ithel ap Robert of Coedymynydd. Other poems extend the social range depicted: vituperative satires addressed to Grey Friars and fellow poets, and, most notably, a poem unique in medieval Welsh literature lauding the humble ploughman. In the introduction to his volume Dr. Johnston emphasizes the conservative nature of lolo's social ideals. Whilst this is superficially true, I feel, however, that it may not be quite the whole story. Iolo was certainly no wild revolutionary, yet there are 'subversive' nuances in some of his poems-arising from the political and social tensions of late fourteenth-century Wales-which suggest an ambiguity of stance which will be of interest to historians. As a translator Dr. Johnston's strategy is to provide a literal rendering which generally attempts a line-for-line correspondence between text and translation. This method is true to the poetic texture of the original and is mostly successful, although one cannot help wondering what the reader with no Welsh might make of such fragmented offerings as 'good are teeth in front of the tongue, a day will come, in the recess of a clumsy mouth' (8.87 8)! Such occasional clumsiness notwithstanding, in terms of accuracy the translations generally display exemplary scholarship. A rare blunder of consequence is the rendering of the phrase 'nad oedd unrhyw' in 7.42 ('Elegy for Sir Rhys ap Gruffudd') as 'there was none like him' ('[when] he was otherwise' would be better). Here the mistranslation obscures the underlying structure of the poem which is based on the poignant contrast between the potency of the warrior Sir Rhys in life and his quiescence in death, laid out for burial at Carmarthen, with its implicit comment on the transience of earthly power. In terms of typography and design this volume maintains the high standards established by the Gomer Press in previous volumes of 'The Welsh Classics' series. There are occasionally, however, signs of hasty proof-reading. One sentence in the 'Text and Translation' section in the Introduction (p. xxii) makes no sense; on p. xvi 'transience' is printed as 'transcience'; in 5.65 the Welsh text should be corrected to 'a'i rysyfwr'; 'of Goedymynydd' appears instead of 'of Coedymynydd' in the heading to the English version of Poem 12, and the numbering of the last poem (recte = 39) has been omitted. But these are very minor blemishes on an accomplished volume which will usefully serve non-specialist readers, among them historians, and, hopefully, extend the reputation of lolo Goch. GRUFFYDD ALED WILLIAMS Bangor BLODEUGERDD BARDDAS O'R AIL GANRIF AR BYMTHEG (CYFROL 1). Golygwyd gan Nesta Lloyd. Cyhoeddiadau Barddas, 1993. Tt. xxvi, 454. £ 14.95. Pigion awen hanner cyntaf oes y Stiwartiaid yng Nghymru a geir yn y flodeugerdd ddymunol hon a gyhoeddwyd yng Nghyfres y Canrifoedd gan Gyhoeddiadau Barddas, sef y cyntaf o ddau ddetholiad gan Nesta Lloyd. Mae'n gyfrol swmpus a hardd: am lai