WELSH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 



WELSH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 



878 



by the former was published at Llandovery in 1831, under the name 

 of ' Gwinllan y Bardd," ' The Poet's Vineyard.' The productions of the 

 other have not yet, that we are aware, been collected, though the 

 death of Tegid took place some years ago, and his poems are such as 

 his countrymen would not willingly let die. The rRev. Walter 

 Davies, called Gwallter Hecliain, from his birthplace, Llanvechain, 

 in Montgomeryshire, was born in 1761, and died in 1849, in his eighty- 

 ninth year, still an active contributor to Welsh periodicals, for which he 

 had then been in the habit of writing for more than half a century. 

 As a Welsh poet he was more remarkable than his friend lolo Morganwg, 

 and his influence at the Eisteddvod of 1819 was strong against Cyngha- 

 nedd. The Rev. James Hughes, born in 1779, at first a peasant in Car- 

 diganshire, then a workman inDeptford dockyard from his twenty-first to 

 his forty-fifth year, became, in 1810, a Calvinistic Methodist preacher, was 

 for many years minister in Jewin Crescent Chapel, and died in 184(5. 

 His Welsh commentary on the New Testament is in high esteem, and 

 he was also considered a good poet and critic. Among his productions 

 is a translation of Gray's ' Bard.' Some Welsh verses are inscribed on 

 his tombstone in Bunhill Fields buryiug-grouud, in full view of the 

 i -(era along the busy City Road, whose eye they often catch. The 

 '> illiaui Kees, of Liverpool (Gwilym Hiraethog), is a poet of high 

 reputation , who generally exercises his pen on serious subjects, and the 

 chief production in whose volume of poems is a paraphrase on the 

 Book of Job. The Rev. William Williams, of Caernarvon (Gwilym 

 Caledfryn), author of ' Grawn Awen ' (' The Treasure of the Muse '), 

 and other volumes of poetry, has been for the last forty years one of 

 the leaders of the poetical choir. It is somewhat remarkable that we 

 hear of no " tenth Muse," no poetess whatever in the Welsh Parnassus, 

 though of late even female preachers and female lecturers have been 

 numerous in the country, and its history and literature owe permanent 

 obligations to the Englishwoman Mrs. Hemans and the Scotchwoman 

 Lady Charlotte Guest. A poem entitled ' Wales,' which has appeared 

 in America, is a tribute to her native country by Miss Maria James, 

 who, when she left the Old World at the age of eight, was acquainted 

 with no language but Welsh, and whose first lesson in English was to 

 learu on board the vessel the meaning of " Get out of the way." But 

 :i her tribute to Wales she adopted the English language. One 

 good effect of the prizes proposed by the Welsh societies has been that 

 of late some versified narrative has been introduced to give a little more 

 variety to Welsh poetry. It is singular to observe with what unite 

 vUting constancy the national min<t lias run fur centuries in the track 

 of funeral elegies and eulogies, so that, even in modern times, scarcely 

 any respectable clergyman is lost to his congregation without being 

 celebrated in verse. The poet whose Bardic name is Talhaiarn, but 



whose real name is Jones, seems to offer an exception in many 



respects to the general course of his countrymen. He writes poetry 

 in English as well as Welsh ; he appears to appreciate and enjoy 

 English literature; and his productions are of a lighter and more 

 amusing kind than usual. A long residence abroad, not only in 

 England, but in France, in pursuit of his profession as an architect, 

 appears to have emancipated him from many of the narrow ideas 

 which are still found in the glens of Wales. 



The cultivation of Welsh prose has lately token a much wider range 

 than formerly, owing to the great spread of periodical publications. 

 Of separate works there are few, except of a purely theological cast, 

 and these are generally commentaries on the Scriptures, in which the 

 matter is taken from English commentators, and only arranged in a 

 new manner. The Rev. Thomas Price's ' Hanes Cymru,' a history of 

 Wales which has been already noticed, is almost the only volume of 

 original research. A volume entitled ' Brutusiana sef Casgliad 

 Detholedig o'i Cyfansoddiadau ' (' Brutusiana, or a Select Collection 

 of his Compositions'), by David Owen, who writes under the signature 

 <>f Jlrutus, is considered to contain some of the best specimens of 

 a Welsh prose, which are chiefly reprinted from the periodical 

 entitled ' Yr Haul,' of which Mr. Owen was editor. The subjects are 

 mostly religious. Mr. Hugh Williams, known under the bardic name 

 of Cadvan, and formerly editor of the ' Cyniro," a newspaper published 

 at Bangor, is also celebrated as a writer of elegant and idiomatic Welsh 

 prose, and was presented with a testimonial on that account by his 

 countrymen in London, in May, 1860. Mr. Williams is one of the 

 translators into Welsh of ' Uncle Tom's Cabin.' 



The spread of Methodism in Wales, has been referred to as one of the 

 causes of the revival and extension of its literature, and the proof is 

 at hand in the fact, that no other literature whatever is so emi- 

 nently sectarian. Methodism in Wales, as elsewhere, has found its 

 chief acceptance among the lower classes. In England the Methodists 

 have a literature of their own, but it is couched in the common lan- 

 guage of the country ; in Wales that literature is in the peculiar 

 language of the peasantry. The peasantry are delighted beyond 

 measure to hear themselves addressed from the pulpit in their native 

 tongue. The two popular preachers of Anglesey, Christmas Evans 

 (1766-1838) and John Klias (1774-1841), produced wonderful effects on 

 their Welsh congregations. Christmas Evans, so baptised because he was 

 born on C'hristtntw-day, was noted for his fine voice and his theatrical 

 action. John Elias, who paid a visit to London every three years, and 

 also took tours through England, preaching in Welsh in towns nhere 

 no othur Welsh sermon had ever been heard, was a sort of apostle to 

 hi countrymen. The great body of modern Welsh literature is thus 



of a theological and sectarian cast, and it is supported by many to 

 whom nationality and national traditions are a matter of comparative 

 indifference. There are also many, to whom theological disputes 

 are matters of less interest, but who are enthusiastic for their 

 nationality and their language. Between the two are all shades of 

 combinations of the two feelings theological and national ; and 

 the progress of both is more faithfully delineated than anywhere else 

 in the Welsh periooiical press. In almost every country the periodical 

 portion of its literature has now assumed an importance unknown 

 to previous stages of its history, but in no country is it so predominant 

 as in Wales. 



The first Welsh periodical of any kind appeared about 1770 : its title 

 was ' Yr Eurgrawu Cymraeg,' or the ' Welsh Treasure,' and it was 

 edited by the Rev. Peter Williams, of Caermarthen, and Evan Thomas, 

 a Welsh poet, from Montgomeryshire, then resident in that town. 

 Allusion has already been made to ' Y Greal,' or ' The Miscellany," 

 which was set on foot by Owen Jones, under the editorship of Oweir 

 Pughe, in 1805, and did not proceed further than one volume. The 

 ' Seren Gomer,' or ' Star of Gomer,' was the first periodical that 

 achieved a decided success in Wales. There are three different stages 

 of its career, as a weekly newspaper, a monthly magazine, und a 

 quarterly miscellany. The first number of it appeared at Swansea, on 

 Saturday, the 1st of January, 1814, and was. the first Welsh newspaper 

 ever printed. Its object was stated by the editor, in his opening 

 address, to be to arrest or prevent the extinction of the language, 

 which it appears was then expected by many not to survive that gene- 

 ration. The editor, the Rev. Joseph Harris, a Baptist minister of 

 Swansea, was a self-taught man, who carried his admiration of his 

 native language to a fanatical extent. The ' Seren Gomer ' newspaper 

 was at first very successful, but its supporters soon began to cool and 

 fall off, and it came to a close with No. 85, in 1815, the proprietors, 

 six in number, suffering it is said a loss of 10001. by the enterprise. 

 In 1818, it was resumed as a monthly magazine at Caermarthen, mulcr 

 the same title and with the same editor ; but this time it had more 

 of a sectarian character, and it struck deep root. Even the loss of its 

 editor, Harris, did not check its success : he died in 1825, of a broken 

 heart at the loss of his only son, who had died the year before at the" 

 age of twenty-one, and was already known, under the name of Jeuan 

 Glau Tawy, as a poet of merit. The ' Sereu Gomer ' continued to be 

 for many years the most popular magazine in Wales, though its success 

 gave birth to several rivals. Its general character was that of the 

 English magazines of the early part of the 19th century, the contents 

 consisting mainly of articles from chance contributors, and every num- 

 ber comprising a digest of foreign and domestic news, with the state of 

 the markets, so as to give the reader the advantage of a monthly 

 newspaper. Questions of theology and church government took how- 

 ever such a prominence in its columns, as would have caused it to be 

 classed in England among the religious magazines, such as the ' Evan- 

 gelical,' or the ' Baptist.' Its price as a monthly magazine was. sixpence ; 

 it is now raised to a shilling, and the 'Sereu Gomer' of 1861 is a 

 quarterly publication. 



Several of the other periodicals which arose in consequence of its 

 success were connected with religious bodies. ' Y Drysorfa,' or ' Tho 

 Treasury," edited by John Parry, and commenced in 1831, was under 

 the superintendence of the Calvinisfs. ' Y Diwygiwr.' or ' The 

 Reformer/ commenced at Llanelly in 1830, was conducted by a com- 

 mittee of the Independents; and ' Y Dysgedydd," or 'The Teacher," 

 published for the last thirty years at Dolgelly, is edited by six or seven 

 Congregational ministers. Most of the other magazines nre organs of 

 Wesleyans, Independents, Baptists, or Universalists. The ' Cylch- 

 grawn," or 'Circulator,' consisting principally of translations from 

 the publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 

 in particular the ' Penny Magazine," and ' Penny Cyclopedia,' had 

 a very short career, in consequence of the distaste of the Welsh 

 public for all but religious publications. It was commenced 

 in 1834, and discontinued in 1835. Its editor was the Rev. John 

 Blackwell, of Mold, in Flintshire, who had raised himself from 

 the position of a shoemaker to that of rector of Meinordeifi, in 

 Cardiganshire, and had some poetical reputation. Other publications 

 were more successful, which, though not excluding sectarian matter, 

 had a strong tincture of literature. ' Y Gwladgarwr,' or ' The Patriot,' 

 published at Chester and Liverpool from 1833 to 1841, under the 

 editorship originally of the Rev. Evan Evans (Jeunn Glan Geiiionydd), 

 contains amusing and instructive biographical articles. ' Yr Haul,' or 

 ' The Sun," published by Rees of Llandovery, though espousing the 

 interests of the Established Church, was edited by a layman, David 

 Owen, and contained some valuable and noil-ecclesiastical matter. 

 But the leading literary organ of Wales for some years has been a 

 quarterly periodical entitled ' Y Traethodydd,' or ' The Essayist," com- 

 menced in 1845 at Denbigh. This is a production of a class answering 

 to the English quarterly reviews, the articles in it being all of a 

 superior character, and supplied by paid contributors. It takes a 

 wider and freer range than its predecessors, and is the only Welsh 

 periodical which contains, for instance, an"essay" on Goethe's ' Faust,' 

 and another on Kant's ' Philosophy.' Many of its articles well merit 

 translation : we may cite, as an instance, a curious account of the 

 French invasion at Kishguard, much fuller, we believe, than any 

 that hag yet appeared in English. Since 1 859 a companion has arisen 



