Welsh Journals

such as those of Hafod, Mostyn and Minera, that are a fund of detail about head-gear designs, and water-wheels abound in many extractive scenes. The early copper, lead and textile traditions are served by some excellent reproductions of engravings, often drawn from the works of Pennant. These, in fact, are often topographically more interesting than the photographs since they depict a wider panorama and one can feel, as it were, the intrusion of Prometheus into Arcadia. By far the most colourful illustrations are those revealing Clwyd's brewing tradition, and the brightly coloured advertisements for the Wrexham breweries remind one of the value of such sources as these and billheads for views of industry. One ought not overlook either that these industries were peopled by skilled and honourable men (and women too). There are many portraits of work forces, such as the excellent one of 1860 at Brymbo, or the mixed force at Oakenholt paper mill c. 1900, or the men and boys at Llangollen woollen mill c. 1880. A few of the dominating figures of Clwyd business are also revealed, John Wilkinson, of course, and R. F. Graesser whose introduction of chemical production went some way to providing Clwyd with a more variegated industrial base that provided marginally better security against the inter-war depression. War, indeed, has played no little part in nurturing or reviving the Clwyd economy through its demands, but this volume is also testimony to how well the Clwyd region, better than most in Wales probably, has itself succeeded over the past three centuries in exploiting its natural resources and geographical location, and the work concludes by indicating that, happily, this process is far from ended. Bangor W. P. GRIFFITH HELEN RAMAGE, Portraits of an Island: Eighteenth Century Anglesey, Anglesey Antiquarian Society and Field Club, 1987. Illustr., 351 pp. The county of Anglesey and the Anglesey Antiquarian Society owes a deep debt of gratitude to Mrs Helen Ramage, who has had a leading hand in publishing Studies in Anglesey History, the first volume of which appeared in 1966. As Honorary Editor of the series, Mrs Ramage has spent laborious days in supervising the publication of each volume, but her infectious enthusiasm has transformed every endeavour into a labour of love. Mrs Ramage has an enviable knowledge of Anglesey through the ages, particularly of its social history during the eighteenth century, and it was most fitting that she should have written this seventh volume, Portraits of an Island. The subject is a challenging one and it is fair to be reminded of the author's disarming observation that she has not attempted to write a narrative history and that she has eschewed interpretation and analysis. Her object, indeed the aim of all the Studies, is to present source material for those who wish to pursue specialist interests, and this purpose has been admirably fulfilled. Thus, the