Welsh Journals

DICTIONARY OF WELSH BIOGRAPHY R. T. Jenkins' articles in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography The list which follows is intended as a supplement to the excellent bibliography of the late Professor R. T. Jenkins which has appeared in this JOURNAL (July, 1968). No one expects a bibliograpny to include articles in a biographical dictionary. Yet Professor Jenkins' hundreds of entries in the D.W.B. which he edited do in fact make an appreciable addition to his already very considerable output. Many of them are also of importance on their own account indi- vidually. I well remember the help it was to me a generation ago to work systematically through the numerous articles contributed to the D.N.B. by the historian of Dissent, Alexander Gordon (articles conveniently listed by Gordon's biographer, H. McLachlan). I shall be happy if the present list encourages a student of Welsh history and literature to undertake a similar exercise with R. T. Jenkins' articles. The work of compilation was done while Professor Jenkins was alive, and with his knowledge and approval. It must now be offered as a humble tribute to the memory of a great and generous scholar. Dr. Thomas Parry, writing in Y Cymro, says truly that, even when his contribution to historical scholarship is mainly an item in a bibliography, R. T. Jenkins will continue among the immortals for his literary style. Within the limits of a biographical article there is not much room for the expression of personality, for the instruction gyda Haw at which he excelled, or for the characteristic which he himself calls meddwl cromfachaidd. Even so, his charm and whimsicality keep breaking through. In any case, R. T. Jenkins will stand the test of time as a historian. Right to the end of his long life he was concerned to discover, establish and understand the actual facts, in all the oblivion, doubtfulness and mystery of their ramifications, detail and inter- relation. Anyone who is studying developments in thought and behaviour in Wales, especially in the eighteenth century, and wishes to know who did what, when, and where, can hardly do better than work at these articles. They deserve more than occasional reference. They are worth reading. GEOFFREY F. NUTTALL.