Welsh Journals

BOOK REVIEWS MAIR ELVET THOMAS, The Welsh Spirit of Gwent. University of Wales Press 1988 Mair Elvet Thomas begins her book "Gwent has always been part of Wales". Although the industrial revolution brought floods of people from all backgrounds into the county she argues that "Welsh Societies became the order of the day", and indeed the most famous of all these was founded in Abergavenny in 1833. One of the most enthusiastic supporters of Welsh culture was Lady Llanover although apparently she was neither able to speak Welsh at all well nor write it unaided. With her patronage the Cymreigyddion y Fenni became fashionable with people who did not speak Welsh so in 1837 the minutes of the meetings became bilingual. When Ieuan ap Gruffydd took over the secretaryship of the society in 1839 he decided that the minutes at least would henceforth be in Welsh only and insisted that "those who wish to read, and does not understand that language, learnt it". Five National Eisteddfod have been held in Gwent-at Newport (Casnewydd) in 1897 and 1988, at Abergavenny (Y Fenni) in 1913, at Pontypool (Pont-y-pwl) in 1924 and at Ebbw Vale (Glynebwy) in 1958. Following the account of the Eisteddfodau is a section on printers, publishers and authors who championed the Welsh language. Mair Thomas then discusses poets of Gwent. The final part surveys what is happening now in Gwent-the signs are promising. Spoken Welsh is on the increase with greater interest in education through the medium of Welsh beginning with Welsh-speaking Mother and Toddler groups. One mistake made, is the name of the Gwent County Council Residential College in Abergavenny. It is known as 'The Hill' rather than 'Underhill', otherwise the book provides a summary of 'Welsh' activity in the county. A.C.S.T. THOMAS, IRENE E. Remembering in Ebbw Vale. Volume Four. Published by Kerin Publishers £ 2.95. In this, her fourth poetry anthology based on valley life, Irene Thomas has vividly re-created the atmosphere, characters and incidents of the past in the valleys of Gwent. She frequently writes of a lifestyle now gone and manages to re-create it, warts and all, whithout falling into the trap of sentimentality: "The Company, stripping for its annual wash, picked at calloused layers, broke blisters, and whitened the front of the Row, backs left tide-marked with last year's grime." Whitewashing, p. 8