on the question, "Is the Enthusiasm connected with Music in Wales conducive to the Mental Development of the Nation?" £5 and a silver medal to Mr. W. R. Owen of Liverpool. For one in the same language, on "The Folklore of Carnarvonshire", £10 and a silver medal to Mr. Evan Williams of Carnarvon; and for a Welsh handbook on “The Chemistry of Common Things", a similar prize to Mr. Richard Morgan of Aberystwith. The £20 prize proposed for an essay on "Education in Wales" was not adjudicated, but half that sum, with a medal, awarded to Mr. M. E. Morris of Minffordd. Mr. W. G. Shrubsoll of Bangor gained the prize of fifteen guineas and a silver medal for a water-colour drawing, Mr. R. Lloyd Jones of Pisgah that for architectural drawing, and Miss Doidge of Aberdyfi that for crayon drawing. In a slate-splitting contest, Mr. J. R. Jones and Mr. R. W. Rowlands, of Llanberis, divided the two first prizes of seven guineas and three guineas. Besides the able speeches delivered by the presidents in opening each day's proceedings, an interesting address on the triple harp was given by Mr. John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia); Mr. Lewis Morris spoke briefly on the merits of the Eisteddfod; and the indefatigable Professor Rhys, on the legends and mythology of Carnarvonshire, was no less instructive and suggestive than in the Pavilion at Swansea. Pererin, Alltud Eifion, and the Rev. Rowland Williams (Hwfa Môn) also delivered addresses. In the course of the first day's proceedings, a handsome enamelled slate table, the work and gift of Mr. Owen of Carnarvon, was presented by Mr. Love Jones Parry, in the name of the committee, to Captain Moger, of H.M. training ship Clio. A concert was held, as usual, each evening. In that on the 26th, the Swansea Valley Orpheus Society formed the conspicuous feature. Proclamation of Merthyr Tydfil as the place of the Eisteddfod of 1881 was made at the Gorsedd on the concluding day. THE CYMMRODORION SECTION. Under this title a series of meetings were held by the Society of Cymmrodorion in the Guildhall, Carnarvon, in connection with the National Eisteddfod, on the evening of August 23rd, and on the three following days. In the unavoidable absence of Mr. Lewis Morris, the president of the section, the chair was occupied by Mr. Hugh Owen. The following papers were read and discussed: "On the Present and Future of Wales" (President's Inaugural Address). By Mr. Lewis Morris.1 "On Higher and Intermediate Education in Wales." By Mr. Hugh Owen. "On Music in Wales." By Mr. David Jenkins, Mus. Bac. "On Eisteddfod Reform." By Mr. Hugh Owen, and by Mrs. Thomas of Llandegai.2 "On Jesus College and the Meyrick Fund." By Mr. Owen Owen of Oswestry. "On Temperance Public-houses in North Wales." By Mr. Henry Lewis. "On Higher Education of Girls." By Mrs. Peters of Bala. "On the Design for the Cymmrodorion Medal." By Mr. Joseph Edwards. 1 This address is printed in an earlier portion of the present number of Y Cymmrodor. 2 Discussion on these papers was taken at great length, and resulted in the appointment of a joint committee of Bards and Cymmrodorion, and ultimately in the formation of the "National Eisteddfod Association". 150 Reviews of Books. Y MABINOGION CYMREIG SEF CHWEDLAU RHAMANTUS YR HEN Liverpool: Cyhoeddwyd gan ISAAC FOULKES, 18, Bruns- WE have here to call the attention of our readers to what we have long earnestly desired to see-an edition of the Mabinogion specially adapted for the Welsh “general reader". Mr. Foulkes has already deserved well of his countrymen by his efforts to place within the reach of all the works of some of our best writers. We may instance his cheap, but neat and handy, editions of the works of Goronwy Owen, Alun, Dafydd ab Gwilym, and others. He has not been a prolific publisher, but in everything that he has issued he has supplied a want. The present is his most ambitious and, we are told, his last venture, and it is to be hoped that his enterprise may be rewarded with the encouragement it deserves. The history of these remarkable tales has been a strange one. Standing apart as the one work in our literature that has powerfully influenced European thought, it might reasonably have been expected that they would have enjoyed a popularity proportionate to their worth, and have been in everybody's hands, studied and prized by all as the rarest treasure in the language. Unhappily their fate has been far different. For many a long year they remained known only to a few scholars, and entrusted to the precarious keeping of a manuscript. Something over fifty years ago Carnhuanawc mournfully expressed his apprehension that they might never see the light, but might at any moment, through some accident, be lost to the world for ever. Fortunately the fears of that distinguished scholar and thorough patriot were not fulfilled. At last-thanks to the taste, learning, and munificence of Lady Guest-they were issued from the Llandovery press in a form that reflected equal credit upon the editor and the publisher, and went far to make amends for centuries of neglect. Further honour awaited them: taken up by Zeuss, they formed a great storehouse of illustration for his work, the Welsh portion of which may be not unaptly described as a Grammar of the Mabinogion. Still the tales remained, with one or two exceptions, inaccessible to the Welsh reader, and a popular edition was urgently needed. The present issue is intended to meet that want. The plan of the work is indicated by the title. We have first a reprint of the text, and then, with a separate pagination, a modernised version accompanied with notes. The first volume contains five of the tales, viz., those bearing the names of Math vab Mathonwy, Peredur ab Efrawc, Iarlles y Ffynnawn, Geraint ab Erbin, and Kulhwch ac Olwen. It is right to say that this edition will not be of much value for critical purposes, as the text is not printed with sufficient accuracy in minor matters. We should also have been glad if a more systematic attempt had been made to explain the language in all its details to the modern reader. Finally, the work is issued in 4to., to which we should have preferred crown 8vo. or 12mo. as more handy; but this is a matter of individual taste of no moment. We are often reminded that the works of a certain English author have been styled the "well of English undefiled"; with much more appropriateness might the Mabinogion be called "the well of undefiled Cymraeg", and as such we would most strongly recommend them to the patient study of all who wish to cultivate a pure and idiomatic Welsh style. CYDYMAITH Y CYMRO: NEU LAWLYFR I'R GYMRAEG. Gan y Parch E. T. DAVIES, B.A., Ficer Eglwys Dewi Sant, Llynlleifiad, etc., etc. THIS little work is intended as a guide to young writers, and the fact that the present is the third edition seems to imply that it has been found useful. It was compiled originally for some Eisteddfod, and the haste with which all compositions for these competitions have to be written, must probably account for that absence of a definite plan in the work, which has rendered necessary the addition of a chapter of Miscellanea, another of Addenda, and two Appendices. But the little book contains a large amount of useful information; the writer's judgment is generally sound; and we should be glad to find the "Cydymaith" extensively used by that not too well-informed class who write to our newspapers and cheaper magazines to the grievous disfigurement of our old language. It would have been better, however, if the author had not undertaken the responsibility of perpetuating the notion that the Welsh eto is derived from Latin etiam. NOTES OF A TOUR IN BRITTANY. By S. PRIDEAUX TREGELLES, LL.D. Edinburgh: Johnstone, Hunter, and Co. THIS unpretending little volume-the scope and character of which are sufficiently indicated by its title-will be read with great pleasure by anyone interested in things Cymric generally, or in Brittany particularly. The author is known to the world at large as a distinguished biblical scholar and editor of the Greek Testament; but to many of our readers he will be further known as a Cornishman, who during a temporary residence in South Wales became an enthusiastic |