MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR 3 



and in 1891 was put in charge of the sub- 

 office at Llandyssul, Cardiganshire. This is the 

 village of which he wrote so much and so 

 lovingly ; the beautiful country surrounding it 

 forms the background of most of his nature 

 studies ; here he found the human types, which 

 he developed and idealised in '' lanto " and 

 " Philip " ; and here, while yet a stripling, he 

 married. His two children are the " Myfanwy 

 and Morgan " to whom his second book was 

 dedicated. Llandyssul, for weal and woe, had a 

 decisive influence on his life. It opened up to 

 him many new interests ; unfortunately these 

 came to engross a disproportionate amount of his 

 energy, and his bank work grew increasingly 

 distasteful. 



The River Teifi has excellent trout and 

 salmon fishing, and was at that date much less 

 closely preserved than at present. Rees threw 

 himself, heart and soul, into the sport of angling ; 

 and he added to the practical and traditional 

 lore, taught him by '' lanto," all that he could 

 glean from books, and all the suggestions of his 

 own thought and close observation. In autumn 

 and winter he turned to shooting with the 

 same intense ardour. Here his quickness of 

 sight and movement stood him in good stead, 

 and he became one of the best shots in the 

 district at birds and rabbits, as also in clay- 



