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REPORT

OF

THE COUNCIL OF THE

Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion,

For the Year ending November 9th, 1897, PRESENTED TO THE ANNUAL MEETING, HELD ON THURSDAY, 18th OF NOVEMBER, 1897.

In reviewing the history of the Society for the past twelve months the Council cannot but mark with the deepest sorrow and regret the irremediable losses sustained through the removal by death of so many of its distinguished members. Rarely indeed has any Society suffered such grievous misfortunes from this cause as have fallen to the lot of the Cymmrodorion during the last year. From the ranks of its Vice-Presidents no less than five have been called away. A year that sees the removal of such distinguished examples of Welsh learning and Welsh patriotism as the Right Rev. Dr. Basil-Jones, the late Lord Bishop of St. David's, the Very Rev. Dr. Vaughan, the scholarly Dean of Llandaff, the Venerable Archdeacon Griffith of Neath, His Honour Judge Lewis, and the Right Hon. Sir George Osborne Morgan, cannot but be sadly memorable in our annals. From amongst our members we have also lost many who have played no mean a part in the development of the national life of Wales, including Mrs. Thomas, Ysguborwen, Mr. Milo Griffith, a sculptor of high merit, once a member of this Council, the Rev. Llewelyn Thomas, M.A., of Jesus College, Oxford, Dr. Gomer Davies, Mr.

Alderman Hughes, of Liverpool, Mr. Deputy Hughes, of Finsbury Circus, the Rev. John Evans (Eglwysbach), one of the foremost of Welsh preachers, and Mr. Francis T. Palgrave, one of the most delightful of writers, and the author of the deeply-interesting "Memoir of Henry Vaughan", which appeared not so very long ago in the pages of Y Cymmrodor. Through these and other bereavements the Society has sustained wounds which will take very many years to heal.

In the face of such loss and sorrow, it is gratifying to be able to announce that the interest in the Society's work, and the support extended to it by those concerned for the welfare and progress of Welsh Literature, continues unabated. The number of new members added to the Society during the past year was 40. Mr. Egerton Phillimore, in recognition of his most eminent services to Welsh Literature, has been elected an Honorary Member of the Society. During the year the following meetings were held:In London::

1897.

January 14.-Paper on "Music in Wales", by Mr. Joseph Bennett. Chairman, Mr. John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia), Harpist to Her Majesty the Queen.

March 10.-Address on "Domestic and Decorative Art in Wales",
by Mr. Thomas E. Ellis, M.P. Chairman, Dr. Isambard
Ower, M.A., Senior Deputy Chancellor of the University of
Wales.

May 12.-Paper containing "Some Suggestions for the Better
Study of Owen Glyndwr", by "Owen Rhoscomyl ", author
of Battlement and Tower. Chairman, Mr. Hubert Hall,
F.S.A., Hon. Secretary of the Royal Historical Society.
July 17.-GARDEN PARTY given by the President and the
Marchioness of Bute at St. John's Lodge, Regent's Park.

In Wales:-
:-

At the Town Hall, Newport (Mon.), in connection with the National Eisteddfod of Wales, 1897 (Cymmrodorion Section) :

Aug. 2, 1897.-Address on "Recent Developments in Welsh
Education", by the Rev. G. Hartwell Jones, M.A., Rector of

Nutfield. Chairman, the Mayor of Newport (Mr. Alderman
Goldsworthy).

Aug. 4, 1897.-Joint Meeting with the Society for the Utiliza-
tion of the Welsh Language. Paper un "The Place of
Welsh in Education ", by Professor W. Lewis Jones, M.A.,
Bangor.

The arrangements for the coming Session include papers by Dr. Henry Hicks, President of the Royal Geological Society, Madame Mary Owen (Mrs. Ellis Griffith) who will give an Illustrative Paper on "The Evolution of Welsh Music", assisted by Mr. John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia), Mr. Alfred W. Palmer (who will read one of his important contributions to Welsh Local History), Mr. J. H. Davies, M.A., Mr. Ernest Rhys, and Mr. John Ballinger, of the Cardiff Free Library.

It affords the Council special gratification to announce that the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, M.A., the distinguished writer and antiquary, who has recently become a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, and who is now engaged in studying the Hut Circles and Hill Castles, or Caerau, of South Wales, and comparing them with similar structures in Devon and Cornwall, has promised to read a paper before the Society on this most interesting subject in the course of next year.

It is proposed to hold the Annual Dinner of the Society at the Hôtel Métropole on Monday, the 13th of December, and the Council have great pleasure in making known that a distinguished Welshman, the Right Hon. Lord Justice Vaughan-Williams, has accepted an invitation to preside on the occasion.

During the year the volume of Transactions for the Session 1895-96 was issued. It contains the following papers, viz. :- -An Address on

viii

The Historical Importance of the Cymric Tribal System, by Dr. Frederic Seebohm.

The Development of the Agricultural Resources of Wales, by Mr. Tom Parry.

Early Relations between Gael and Brython, by Professor Kuno Meyer.

Cymru Fu: Some Contemporary Statements, by Mr. R. Arthur Roberts, together with a

Transcript of one of the Minister's Accounts preserved in the Public Record Office.

The long-delayed Vol. xii of Y Cymmrodor is, the Council are happy to say, now ready for issue. It contains an important contribution to the History of

The Court of the President and Council of Wales and the Marches, from 1478 to 1575, by the late Judge David Lewis.

Notes on Offa's and Wat's Dykes, by Mr. Alfred Neobard Palmer. A Paper on Celtic Art, with a Suggestion of a Scheme for the

Better Preservation and Freer Study of the Monuments of the Early Christian Church in Wales, by Mr. T. H. Thomas, R.C.A. And an Obituary of the late Judge Lewis, by one of his former Colleagues on the Council.

The Council desire to acknowledge their deep indebtedness to their late Editor, Mr. Phillimore, who edited and annotated all the contents of this volume, and prepared it for the press. All the longer and many of the shorter notes to the late Judge David Lewis' paper were written by Mr. Phillimore, though through inadvertence the word ED. has not been appended to them. He is also the author of the notes signed ED. in Mr. T. H. Thomas' paper.

The Transactions of the Society for the Session 1896-97 are now being printed, and will shortly be published. They contain the whole of the Sessional Papers read at the Meetings recorded in the earlier part of this report. Those who listened with so much interest to Mr. Alfred Nutt's paper on "The Arthur and Mongan Legend" in a previous Session, will be glad to know that it is included in the two valuable Essays contributed by Mr. Nutt to the Edition of

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