THE WELSH DEE 



that port is regarded as a temperance drink in the 

 robuster circles of the class who are now our masters. 

 But I have since ascertained that this is so. For the 

 liberties of the pledged Evan Evans used to surprise 

 and even pain me a little, though I was weak enough 

 to pander to them. Now that I know better, I have 

 long since regretted my uncharitable thoughts. 



Moreover Evan was a teetotaller practically under 

 compulsion, the committee of the Association having 

 been the determining factor. In former days he had 

 been more than a little addicted to cwrw ^ when on 

 shore, which in his case was for most days of the year, 

 like others who brave stormy waters and have more 

 excuse. Some three or four years previously he had 

 tipped over a member of Parliament in the Pentre 

 pool, and there had been a great to-do, though the 

 passenger with some difficulty got to shore and there- 

 by saved the Government the unpleasantness of a 

 by-election. The indignant politician said Evan had 

 come aboard under the influence of cwrw, Evan 

 stoutly denied it, and told his friends and all his 

 succeeding fares that the statesman had lunched too 

 well on the bank and upset him. It was awkward, 

 as Evan, being a sportsman and much in company with 

 the * shentlemens,' was a stout Tory, and in conse- 

 quence regarded askance by the minister of the chapel 

 that his wife went to in Llangollen ; while the 

 politician was a Radical who lived sumptuously, so 

 altogether it was rather awkward for Evan Evans. 

 Expert coraclists, however, are extremely scarce, so 

 the committee forgave him on the condition of total 



1 Ale. 



53 



