Welsh Journals

Reviews. An Eoonomio Survey of a Rural Parish. By J. Pryse- Howell. Price, 1/ Oxford University Press. In an introductory note, Mr. C. S. Orwin, M.A., of the School of Rural Economy, Oxford, states that this little book is one more contribution to the young but growing study of rural social economics. Never was a book so true to its title. It is an inten- sive but unpretentious study directed to the elucidation of such elementary facts as the style of farming, the distribution of holdings, the intensity of labour and of production, the standard of farm equipment, and the value of property." It is a pity that the writer keeps us in the dark regard- ing the location of his raw material. However, we shrewdly guess that the parish belongs to his native county. What would be of greater interest would be to know why this particular parish was taken. If it was selected as representative of a larger community, then, indeed, its contents are ot pressing importance, and demand immediate attention and further investigation. There is no preaching in this little book. The facts are presented simply and unadorned, and left to point out their own significance. The appendix is a very complete parochial census, and is almost as valuable and informa- tive as the text itself. This monogram can be recommended to all interested in rural social problems, while it provides an invaluable corrective to that large class of people who seem to cherish such fabulous ideas of the unalloyed joys of rural life. E.T. A Century of Welsh Music. By John Graham. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., and J. Curwen and Sons. 2/6. This is a readable, valuable, and well-balanced sketch, written with fulness of knowledge of the development, in all its branches, of music in Wales during the last century. There are few Englishmen or Welshmen who can write with such an intimate knowledge of this development as Mr. John Graham, who for 38 years has attended the National Eisteddfod (and other gatherings) as the special correspondent of the Musical Herald." During this period he has been in close touch with Welsh musicians, and he has kept a careful record of much that has been written in the press (from which he gives many apt excerpts) on the musical life of Wales. He is insistent that choralism (a favourite word of his) in Wales is a chili of the last century. He traces minutely its rise, and it may be confidently averred that Mr Graham could give off-hand the name of the victorious choir from Wales and, indeed, from England) in every important choral contest during the last forty or fifty years. But Mr. Graham does not confine himself to choralism or to the Eisteddfod. He writes sympa- theticallv. but with a critic's keen eye, on the growth (very remarkable of late) of instrumental music in Wales; on harp-tunes and folk-songs and penillion singing (nil of which he thinks should become more and more popular as national characteristics) on modern ten- dencies in musical composition: and on the constructive work in music which is being at the Colleges at Aber- ystwyth. Bangor. and Cardiff. (Swansea he rightlv dis- misses as having great potentialities," which have so far been wholly neglected). He pays a tribute to the Cymanfa Ganu as havin~ nlaced Welsh congrega- tional singing, from 1860 onwards, on a plane such as has been probablv unequalled anywhere, at least in popular vogue. On the cult of nationalism in music in Wales he writes Guardedly, and evidently he fears that it may be carried to excess. The book is remark- ably accurate in its facts. But two slips may be noted The Aberystwyth National Eisteddfod was held in 1916. not 1918 (n. 36). and the Arvonic Choir hailed from Carnarvonshire not Carmarthenshire (p. 58). An index to the book (which, b" the way. is dedicated to Mr. Hopkin Evans, Mus. Bac.) would be a boon, and so would a fist of National Eisteddfodau from about 1884 onwards. (Such a list the present reviewer compiled for his own guidance and recollection as he read Mr. Graham's interesting pages). L.J.R. Llawlyfr Gramadeg Gymraeg, gyda Gwersi. Gan Richard Williams, M.A. Hughes a'i Fab, Cyhoeddwyr, Wrecsam. 1923. Pris, 2/6. This handbook is an attempt to teach Welsh grammar through the medium of the Welsh language, and it is intended for pupils who prepare for the Central Welsh Board and for matriculation. There can be no objection to the method: educationalists readily agree that it is desirable, but they are not equally ready to advance beyond the pious hope stage and give us reliable guide-books The author's purpose is therefore worthy of all praise, but unfortunately his book his marked by many errors. In his preface the author refers to his t\yentv-five years' teaching experience, and acknowledges his debt to others; yet after reading the book there remains a feeling of disappointment. There is in his work a certain inaccuracy in detail wholly inconsistent with an extensive record of teaching experience and intensive reading in Welsh grammar. There are blemi'shes that should not have gone beyond the proof- reading stage, e.g.. 'rhif-enwau p v). and 'rhifenwau' (p. 151 for 'rhif enwau'; 'gaeedig' and 'gaeedig' (p. 11): 'unai' (p. 20) for 'un ai'; and unnecessary change in the size and arrangement ot type (cf. exercise headings on pp. 23 and 30). We find inaccurate forms, e.g., 'edyn' (p. 17) 'cymeryd' (p. 28) 'peidio cymysgu' (i. 46) for 'peidio a chymysgu' and the un- idiomatic phrase 'cymrvd lie' (P. 13) also incon- sistencies, e.g., 'enghraifft' (p. 45) but pi. 'engreiffiau' all through the book: and incomplete and misleading statements, e.g., p. 12 8 6 (3) and p. 13 § 6 (4) e. But there are more glaring mistakes, e.g., the inclusion of 'bryniau,' 'bysedd,' etc., under plurals formed by adding a syllable to the singular (p. 15). when this is clearly an example of adding a syllable plus change of internal vowel; 'dannedd, dant,' as an example of vowel reversion (p. 19) should be dannedd, daint'; 'holion' is given as the pi. form of the verb-noun 'holi' (p. 57"* and 'syrthiodd, syrthiodd, Babilon fawr honno' (p. 74) as an example of the stressed word at the beginning of a sentence (in the example, 'syrthiodd' occupies the normal position of the vecb in Welsh, the emphasis is due to the repetition 'svrthiodd. svrthiodd,' and not to the position of the word). The treatment is in the main simple and straight- forward; some of the sections, e.g., on Number of Nouns could be better arranged. The exercises given at the end of each chapter should prove interesting and helpful. The list of grammatical terms is good. In a first edition perhaps perfection was not possible, but many of the errors we have instanced-and the list is by no means exhaustive-could have been avoided. Should a second edition be called for we hope it will be submitted to an expert for revision: that this was not done before publication is to be regretted. As it is the book may be useful to a teacher who can scent the pitfalls, but we would hesitate to recommend a class to buy it. The production leaves nothing to be desired, and is worthy of the high standard we expect from the Principality Press. Wrexham. T.H.J. The Montgomeryshire Express AND RADNOR TIMES. ESTABLISHED I860, The best Advertizing Organ which circulates in the rich upper valleys of the Severn and Wye. Tariff and specimen copy on application to :— Manager, Express" Office, Newtown, Ment,