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whelmed. As a Battalion it had for the time-being ceased to exist." The history of a Welsh Regiment with such a noble record must make a special appeal to all Welshmen, and the appearance of the present volume in the admirable Country Life Series of Military Histories is most timely. Mr. H. A. Tipping is an accomplished historian and archaeolo- gist, who has performed the task allotted him with great success. He has a gift of vivid narration, and the aim he has had in view in writing makes the book of equal interest to the general reader and to the student of military history. His object has been to give in a vivid connected narrative the history of the campaigns in which the Royal Welsh has been engaged, and to weave into his nairative the special part taken by the Regiment in these campaigns. In this he has succeeded admirably. With great judgment and a skilful use of his authorities he paints a historical background against which the heroic achievements of the Regiment stand out vividly, yet in correct perspective. The volume is therefore an admirable historical survey of most of the great wars in which the British Army has fought as well as a record of the deeds of the Regiment. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers was first raised by the fourth Lord Herbert of Cherbury in 1689 when the protestant William of Orange had to fight for his throne against James II. in Ireland. Mr. Tipping gives an illuminating explanation of the origin of the term Fusiliers. The fusil was derived from the Italian word for flint, a chip of which replaced the slow match of the musket, and on the trigger being sharply released struck a piece of steel, and the resulting spark ignited the powdei. The flintlock was a comparatively new introduction when the Twenty-third was raised, but it was chosen for them. At that time, although the bayonet was being intro- duced the left flank of the company was usually armed with pikes, while the finest men in the Regi- ment were placed on the right flank, armed with hand bombs and grenades. This bombing party in time came to be detailed for special service apart from the Regiment; hence arose the Grenadiers. Mr. Tipping pays due attention to the peculiar possessions of which the Regiment is so proud the flash worn only by the officers, N.C.O.'s and men of the Regiment, an ornament consisting of five pieces of silk ribbon sewn to the collar of the tunic and hanging down the back, a remnant of the bow with which the eighteenth century pigtail was fas- tened the white buckskin apron and gauntlet worn by a pioneer of the Regiment, a right which no other regiment shares, and the Regimental mascot, the picturesque white goat, which always marches in front of the Regiment. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers was formed in 1689 with only one battalion, 600 men a second battalion was raised in 1804 for the Peninsular War; in November, 1915, the Regiment has no less than twenty Regular, Service and Territorial battalions and two Garrison Battalions approaching in number 25,000 men. A list of the officers seiving in these Battalions at the close of 1915 has been reprinted from the Army List at the end of Mr. Tipping's volume. The book is illustrated by ten plates, excellently reproduced, two in colour, and plans of the famous battles, in which the Regiment took part. Welsh Periodicals Cymru: Caernarfon, Cwmni y Cyhoeddwyr Cymreig. Y Drysorfa and Trysorfa'r Plant Caernarfon, Llyfrfa'r Cyfundeb. The three popular monthlies are fortunate in their editors, Mr. 0. M. Edwards, Alafon, and Anthropos, three of the very few living masters of Welsh prose. Cymru has, of necessity, a wider public than the two denominational Treasuries. The December Cymru contains the fourth of a series of war-tales in epistolary form written by Bretons, and forwarded by Mr. T. E. Matthews, M.A. The last is as charming as it is weird. We thank the editor and Mr. Matthews for abstaining from inartistic correc- tions of the little lapses in Welsh idiom and ortho- graphy which give the epistle tone and truth. Elfyn contributed a character-study with his usual felicity, and Mr. T. Gwynn Jones completes his series of short stories with a couple of very humorous and very touching little tales. The present number also brings to a close 0 Feirion i Filan by the Rev. G. A. Edwards, M.A., an able writer and abler speaker, and Ailin, a clever romance by Mr. D. Owen, M.A., a Brisbane Welshman. Y Fordaith Olaf by Mr. J. Seymour Rees makes very good reading. On the last page-first read by lovers of Cymru- the editor replies to correspondents. It will be superfluous to say that the 1915 volume of Cymru has more than justified the editor's forecast at the close of 1914 Y Drysorfa opens with an appreciation of the life-work of the Rev. John Roberts, Llangwm. Whoever wishes to write strong, not stiff, Welsh let him peruse carefully this article by the Rev. John Williams, of Brynsiencyn. Extremely inter- esting are C.D.s reminiscences of old Arvonian pulpit-orators. Probably the most pathetically sad