Welsh Journals

highly stimulating contribution. Dr Wood's argument is a compelling one, and her methodology could clearly be applied to areas other than that of the horse. The volume as a whole is a splendid example of what the juxtaposition of in-depth studies of specific aspects of a defined subject can bring to light. The editors write of it as a 'pooling of information', and that is precisely what the book does with reference to the topic which it addresses. Although it is unlikely that The Horse in Celtic Literature will join Xenophon's On Horsemanship as required reading for the examinations of the British Horse Society, it deserves careful study by any who wish to find a new, and unusual, window onto the cultural world of medieval Wales. CERI DAVIES Swansea THE Lords OF Cemais. By Dillwyn Miles. Cemais Publications (Hook, Haverfordwest SA62 4LR), 1997. Pp.97. £ 6.95. This is a delightful little book. It recounts the long and fascinating history of the lords of Cemais in north Pembrokeshire, spanning the twelfth to the twentieth century. Over that eight hundred years, the lordship passed through the possession of only four families: the Fitzmartins (twelfth-early- fourteenth centuries), the Audleys (early-fourteenth century-1543), the Owens of Henllys (1543-1710), and the Lloyds (1737-1933). Not one of these families lacked at least one notable representative, who achieved more than local distinction. The Fitzmartins, typical Norman marcher lords, numbered in their midst Nicholas, a celebrated figure of the thirteenth century, and his son, David, an illustrious bishop of St David's (1293-1328), responsible for compiling the Black Book of St David's. Best-known among the Audleys, perhaps, was James Touchet I, Lord Audley, who was killed fighting desperately for the Lancastrian cause at the battle of Blore Heath (1459) during the Wars of the Roses. George Owen (1552-1613), one of Wales's foremost antiquaries and scholars, stands out not only as the most gifted of the Owens but of all the lords of Cemais. The Lloyds were more obscure; none the less, some of the most delightful anecdotes are those connected with the last lord and lady of Cemais, Sir Marteine (1851-1933) and Lady Uoyd. He was six and a half feet tall and spoke to many of his tenants in a distinctive and startling mixture of pidgin Welsh and English. She smoked 'Balkan Sobranie cigarettes, that were of different colour each day, to match her finger nails'! The book is