Welsh Journals

gaeth'; others are metrical experiments in 'cyn- ghanedd.' Everywhere the author shows a thorough command of the language, and a wonderful insight into the genius of Welsh in the matter of alliteration. That he has not been at all times equally successful in hi6 experiments with new forms is only to be ex- pected. Probably his least successful venture from the point of view of technique is his poem MADOG. While the long lines of this poem with their elaborate alliteration are very effective in the description of natural scenery, their backward and forward move- ment renders them unsuitable for the expression of action and dialogue. And in spite of the author's skill in varying the pause in the line the metre be- comes tediously monotonous long before the end of the poem is reached. On the other hand in the short poems of "Ymachlyd Haul" and "Gwanwyn," where we have pure description or description blended with meditation, the use of the long line with its slow movement has a pleasing effect, and the short- ness of these poems does not allow monotony. The marvellous skill of the author as an artificer in language is well-known, but in spite of it all one cannot help feeling that even he-and how much more less gifted writers?-is often constrained to modify, if not to distort, his thought and to adjust his expression to the cramping exigencies of the 'cynghanedd.' It is only necessary to read some of the beautiful short poems in free metre which are included in the volume to see how much of the per- sonality of the poet is lost when he is trammelled with the intricate rules of cynghanedd. It is to such poems as "Y Gynneddf Goll," "Y Trydydd lien o Honynt," and "Y Gennad," that we must go if we wish to get into intimate touch with the poet's per- sonality; and this after all is the test of true poetry. The poems written in the cynghanedd gaeth raise a .question of vital importance to Welsh poetry. The author has introduced many obsolete words and ex- pressions, not only because of the demands of the verse, but also of malice aforethought. May one venture to contend that this practice is adverse to the natural development of the language? Does it not lay the writer open to the charge that he "writ no language?" A language is a living organism, and it will adopt new words or revive old words only when it needs them for the expression of new ideas; obsolete words and expressions cannot be injected into the language merely to humour any particular rules of versification, or because they are regarded by scholars as more in harmony with the genius of the language than certain modern words and ex- pressions. If Welsh poetry is to be a living force in our national life it must be written in a language understood of the people. The Welsh language is certainly at the moment in a precarious condition, owing to the cleavage that is taking place between the spoken tongue and the literary language; and any movement that tends to widen this gap can only render the position of the language still more critical. The greatest service that our poets and scholars can render to the language at the present moment is to cultivate it as a living tongue and to abstain from any attempt to reconstruct it. Elements of Mathematics. (For Students of Economics and Statistics). D. Caradog Jones, M.A., and G. W. Daniels, M.A., M.Com. (Hodder and Stoughton). 8s. 6d. This serviceable little volume fully attains the purpose in the minds of the authors, which is to supply the essential mathematical requirements of students of economics and statistics, including those whose principal concern is with administration, public and commercial, as well as those whose main interest lies in the realm of economic theory. As a propaedeutic to the serious study of economic, social, and political problems some such work is E.D.J. almost essential. Plato laid it down that students of philosophy should first undergo a course of train- ing in geometrical reasoning. With the complexity of modern conditions it is still more important that those who have to do with administrative problems should have been trained to think quantitatively as well as qualitatively, and to express themselves with the maximum of mathematical precision compatible with the nature of the subject-matter with which they are dealing. The pioneer work done by Mr. Caradog Jones will, it is hoped, direct the attention of other brilliant young Welshmen to similar fields where exact scientific thought can be harnessed to great human- istic purposes. The supreme power of lucid generalisation undoubtedly characteristic of the French mind at its best is probably shared by many typical young Welshmen now being trained by our schools and universities. Even in poetry the metrical element in the case of Welsh is so complex, and in a sense mathematical, that a recent great work by Sir John Morris Jones has often been playfully accused of being an algebraical treatise In collating the results of study in apparently unconnected fields, and humanising the most abstract of subjects, much work remains to be done in this age of intense special- isation, and it is confidently hoped that Welshmen will play a great part in such developments. The work under review consists of four parts, the first three of which consists mainly of mathematical theory, especially as applied to Statistics, and the fourth to applications to some of the fundamental problems of economics. In addition to the general statistical applications students of natural science will find use for the clear explanations given in connection with such subjects as averages, probability, normal curve of error, etc. In the important study of Intelligence Tests, and in the control of examinations of all types, at least the amount of mathematical theory here given is essential. In the study of economics at the universities the subject has frequently been approached from the historical side without adequate mathematical pre- paration, with the result that much of the modern literature of the subject has been beyond the com- prehension of many students. The very clear ex- position here given, based on the mathematics pre- viously elaborated, of such fundamental ideas as those of marginal utility, supply and demand, rent, etc., should prove invaluable. It is hoped, however, that this little book will make its way into many circles of readers beyond the relatively few whose main concern is with economic theory. Within its own limitations it can be confidently recommended, and it should provide a trustworthy foundation for those who may have the opportunity of going more deeply into the very important and interesting studies with which it is directly or indirectly concerned. D.V.J. Welsh Indeoendent Grammar Schools to 1600. By L. Stanley Knight. Newtown, Welsh Outlook Press. 5s. Gd. cloth; 4s. paper. This book is the first attempt that has been made to gather together the little information that exists about the Grammar Schools founded in Wales before 1600. These schools are an important link in the evolution of education, for their purpose was to carry scholastic training a step further than the standard attained by previously existing schools. In the earlier schools little was done beyond teaching the pupils to read and write, but this elementary know- ledge was required by the Grammar School before a boy could be admitted. The first Grammar School was at Oswestry-indeed, this was the first of the independent type to be established in England or