Welsh Journals

Finally, I must single out two poems for special mention. The first is Sacrificial Lambs which won the "Wales Writers Prize" at the Cardiff Literature Festival 1988. The second, a real tour-de-force, is Floral Tribute Ebbw Vale 1987 a vivid picture of Ebbw Vale then and now: "All the action is up in Ebbw Signing on, marking time and manoeuvring for benefit." Yet despite the irony and the tone of near despair, this powerful poem ends on a note of hope: "Bill Evans stands on his allotment Shakes his head and gets to work, cleaning up unwanted cuttings ties, and remains of young sprouts clinging to old stems. Waits for green shoots." For anyone interested in the history of Gwent and in its people and landscape, past and present, this anthology is not to be missed. The poet is to be congratulated on a very polished volume which never looses touch with its roots. I look forward eagerly to the appearance of Volume Five. Miriam O'Donovan RODERICK, ALAN: The Music of Fair Tongues (Tafodau Teg): The Story of the Welsh Language in Gwent (Hanes y Gymraeg yng Ngwent) 1988 30 pp; illus; £ 1.50 This bilingual summary of the changing fortunes of yr hen iath in Gwent is a welcome contribution to Gwent's Eisteddfod year, and is a publication of the local Eisteddfod committee. The subject is well-researched, the text is eminently readable, and a chronological table identifies some interesting and/or significant events relative to the history of the Welsh language in Monmouthshire. The design of bilingual texts requires care, and this is one aspect of the publication which is less satisfactory: the chosen format for alternate pages of English and Welsh, interspersed by full-page photographs does not make for easy reading, and mars an otherwise stimulating read. A.V.B. J. DAVID ZIENKIEWICZ, The Legionary Fortress Baths at Caerleon. I The Buildings; II The Finds. Vol. I 370 pp., 111 figs., 100 plates. Vol II. 267 pp., 90 figs., 22 plates. National Museum of Wales and Welsh Historic Monuments, 1986. ISBN 0 7200 0307 5, case, £ 48.00 for the pair or £ 29.00 for single volumes.