2 Wild Life in Wales 



there even the children may not be able to understand 

 English, and, maybe, have never been inside a school in 

 their lives. I met with one such instance on the way 

 between Lake Vyrnwy and Dinas Mawddwy. The father, 

 a small farmer, had, perforce, been to market occasionally 

 and knew a little English, but neither the mother, nor her 

 two sons, could speak a word of it. The younger of the 

 boys was about fifteen ; but though neither had ever been to 

 school, they could both play violin and concertina (the only 

 musical instruments they had ever seen), by ear, remarkably 

 well, and entertained us with a number of Welsh airs, while 

 the good lady of the house very kindly gave us tea. 



Celtic hospitality is proverbial, and is as pronounced 

 here as elsewhere. " Lipton " is the universal beverage 

 of these mountain folks, and, as such, is freely placed at 

 the disposal of the wayfarer by the dame who greets him 

 at the door with the kindly inquiry, " A cup of tea ? " 

 often her only English. The only alternative is delight- 

 fully cold water from the adjoining spring, or " bitter-milk," 

 a kind of whey, not very palatable to an unaccustomed 

 taste, but greatly appreciated locally, and, maybe, quite 

 as wholesome as the milk artificially soured by the lacto- 

 bacilli preparations so much in vogue in other countries. 

 Poultry are kept everywhere, and fresh eggs are plentiful, 

 and their price, summer and winter alike, one half-penny 

 each. Oatcakes, made from home-grown corn, sometimes 

 home-ground too, 1 form a substantial part of every meal ; 

 and at "high tea," for specially honoured guests, "fat- 

 pancakes " are frequently the piece de resistance. I don't 

 know exactly how these are made, but should imagine 

 they floated in dripping. Before being served they are 

 liberally buttered, so that they exude fat at every pore, 

 and, to my uneducated taste, constitute about the most 

 unappetising food it has ever been my fate to tackle. 

 On one occasion, whilst we were enjoying tea with boiled 



1 Bulleyne says : " Otes is a good grain e in the common wealth, for men, 

 horse, and foules : as thei haue little other bread in many places of Wales, 

 and Darbie shire. In Northumberlande, horse haue as greate plentie to eat 

 of theim, as menne haue in moste places of this realme, Wheate or Rie, for 

 their owne foode." Book of Simples ', folio xxx. 



