Welsh Journals

denied him by most modern historians (v) its detailed description of the day to day life in the St. David's monastery in the sixth century. As one would have expected, Professor Bowen has been lavish with his illustrations. There are twelve of them, apart from the reproduction of a painting of the Cathedral by Ethel R. Payne and a photograph of the Metropolitans and the Patriarchs of the Eastern Church who visited St. David's in 192o, a photograph which does not seem to justify its inclusion. Some of us owe to Professor Bowen himself our ability to appreciate the use of maps to investigate some problems and to solve others, and the eight maps here included certainly repay the closest study. One is amazed, as I have already suggested, by Professor Bowen's success in compressing so much information and so many insights and ideas into the limits of a lecture which, even after including the illustrations, does not extend to more than about 34 pages. Unfortunately in condensing his study of St. David so drastically, he has, inevitably perhaps, blurred some of the details. e.g., the Welsh Life of St. David was copied, not written, by the anchorite of Llanddewi Brefi in 1346 it is basically an abridged translation of the Latin Life and there is no reason to believe that it was produced by the anchorite. The Professor's pen has slipped once or twice, e.g., Giraldus Cambrensis travelled to Rome to argue the independence of St. David's from the See of Canterbury not from the See of Rome. But these are minor details. Like everything else which comes from Professor Bowen's pen, this lecture impresses us with the scope and depth of the scholarship which it exhibits. It draws on the resources of modern research to present a portrait of St. David who is not only a person of flesh and blood but also a historical character who was influenced by the important currents of events in his time and who in his turn influenced them so strongly and so beneficently that we have every reason to remember him gratefully. Those for whom this lecture will be their first introduction to Professor Bowen's books, will, I am sure, be induced to read the others. Those who like myself can claim to be fairly well acquainted with his many books, will hope that he will increase our debt to him by writing another, an expanded form of this study with full references and a complete bibliography. It may sound ungracious, but my final word is melys, J. E. CAERWYN WILLIAMS A HISTORY OF CROSVILLE MOTOR SERVICES by R. C. Anderson. David and Charles, 1981. ISBN o 7153 8088 5. Pages 192 Illustrated. £ 7.95. On 23 June 1909, the first County gathering was held at Strata Florida and this led to the formation of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society. On the same day, Ernest Crosland Taylor became Chairman of the Crosville Motor Company, which was formed, primarily to build motor cars, three years earlier by his father following his business contact with the Frenchman, George Ville. From its beginnings in Cheshire, the Company extended its bus service to North Wales and as far south as the River Teify, and over the last 70 years, the Crosville has been a familiar feature of our countryside. It has provided a service to the com- munity and has contributed to the economy of the area. Naturally, we may regret the demise of smaller businesses who were taken over by the expanding Crosville Motor Services Limited e.g. D. M. Jenkins (Aberaeron), Hooker (Aberaeron), Jones Brothers (Aberystwyth) Primrose Motors (Aberystwyth) and many readers will remember the Great Western Railway Bus Services from Aberystwyth to Aberaeron and New Quay and to Borth.