the work, and the patient untiring investigation he has made of the materials within his reach, demand our grateful acknowledgments. The lucidity which pervades the work, will render it a text-book to the philological student; every lover of our Cymric tongue, as he reads its pages, will find himself possessed of a nobler language and a wealthier relic of antiquity than his fondest dreams ever led him to anticipate.

WYNNSTAY AND THE WYNNS. A volume of varieties put

together by the author of "The Gossiping Guide to Wales." Oswestry: Woodhall and Venables. 1876. THIS beautiful little volume is alike creditable to author and publishers. We trace throughout the compilation-for the author scarcely pretends to more-the same free, open, chatty style which has given so distinctive a character to the Gossiping Guide to Wales."

We do not hesitate to say that the author has supplied a real want. The Wynns of Wynnstay stand so prominently forward, both in our ancient and modern historic annals-are so intertwined, we had almost said, with the daily life of the Cymry, as to make it more than ordinarily desirable that their history, pedigree, and homes, should be familiarised throughout the Principality. Wynnstay is photographed not only by the artist, but by the author; while Llangedwyn, "Standing embosomed in a happy valley",

unfolds its antique treasures of architecture in gables and dormer windows, amidst quaintly laid out gardens and luxuriant shrubberies. We do not wonder that Sir Watkin and Lady Williams Wynn should spend so much of their time at Llangedwyn.

The illustrations also are to the purpose. They make us acquainted with the old homes and with the very form and features of their former and present possessors.

GWAITH Y PARCHEDIG EVAN EVANS (JEUAN BRYDYDD HIR) gan D. SILVAN EVANS, B.D. Caernarfon: H. Humphreys. 1876.

THE REV. D. Silvan Evans deserves our best thanks for editing the works of Ieuan Brydydd Hir. The poet's name had become almost a household word; but his works in their entirety were comparatively unknown. We are of opinion that his "Englynion ar Lys Ifor Hael o Faesaleg", with their beauty of expression and richness of pathos, have given the bard an adventitious fame. A careful reading of the whole of his works disappoints us. in them to compare with the Englynion we mention.

Most certainly there is nothing

Each a master in our Cymric tongue, we could almost wish that Mr. Silvan Evans had confined himself and his author to the Welsh language. It is impossible to say anything in favour of the English and Latin poems. The former would scarcely be deemed worthy of the "poet's corner" in a country newspaper of the present day; while the Latin poem is nothing but a selection of phrases from the classic writers, so badly put together, that one of the lines will not even

scan.

Mr. Silvan Evans has, however, done his best with the materials he had in hand. If he has erred-and we will not say he has-in publishing every composition of his author, it must be ascribed to his love and veneration of the man, who, a century ago, saved so much of our literature from the hands of the spoiler.

Bearing in mind its price, the work is very creditable to the publisher; and we are not sure that Mr. Humphreys has not conferred a greater boon on the Principality by putting it within the reach of every class of his countrymen, than if he had brought it out in a more elaborate, beautiful, but expensive form.

An author says,—

'O that mine enemy would write a book';

we say, "O that our friend, the Rector of Llanwrin, would write one"-and that book a Welsh-English Lexicon. He would crown himself with bays, and render his country a service unparalleled in its literature.

Y GWYDDONIADUR CYMREIG. RHAN 105. Dinbych: Thomas Gee. 1876. Erthygl-" Telyn" (Harp).

THE "Gwyddoniadur" is becoming a valuable book of reference. Encyclopædic in its aims, and treating of almost every subject, it is not surprising that many of the articles should be wanting in breadth and detail. It would be impossible to say everything even on the most elementary subjects. The editor has, however, given a more extended space for the article on "Y Delyn", than he is wont to give to most subjects-gratifying thereby our national taste and pride. The writer of the article gives the history of harps from the earliest times down to the present century; and it is an able condensation. Nor must we say less of his artistic description of the several instruments, both of the past and the present. The article too is well illustrated with engravings, which aid materially by presenting to the eye the true form of the several harps he introduces. We have risen from its perusal not only pleased, but feeling that we have gained a knowledge of what was previously mysterious and unknown to us. We believe that we can trace the master hand of Pencerdd Gwalia in this concise and wellwritten article; for who, but one well acquainted with its internal organisation, could have so admirably described the complicated machinery invented by Erard.

CYFANSODDIADAU BUDDUGOL EISTEDDFOD FREINIOL, GENEDLAETHOL. Pwllheli. 1875.

NOT only was the Eisteddfod at Pwllheli a national one in the real sense of the word, but it was as admirably conducted as it was successful. Blots there may have been; and blots, notwithstanding all our care, there will be; but taken altogether, it was one of the most perfect we have witnessed. The little volume now before us perpetuates its memory and gives us some of the best of its productions. It is very neatly got up, and tells well for the ability and care both of secretary and publisher. May it meet with the success it deserves. It is appropriately dedicated to T. Picton Jones, Esq., whose untiring and praiseworthy exertions, coupled with a generous liberality, conduced to the ensuring of the success of the Eisteddfod.

Notices of forthcoming Books.

THE writer of the Songs of Two Worlds is gaining a popularity of which the Principality may well be proud. The success Mr. Lewis Morris achieves is by dint of thorough conscientious work; and we may be assured, therefore, that his fame will be the more lasting. The flashing of a meteor is soon extinguished, while the clear, steady light of a brilliant star shines on and on, and is neither wasted by the fires it emits, nor dimmed by time and distance.

Bearing a venerated name,--the great grandson of one who made a deeper mark on Welsh literature than philologist or antiquary had ever done before, and who sang as sweetly as poet ever sang in his country's strains, we have been somewhat disappointed that Mr. Morris's verse has not dealt more largely with Cymric themes. His love for the old land is unquestionable. His poetry is replete with images drawn from her mountains, vales, and streams, and tinctured with

the rich colouring of her crimson western skies; all that is wanting is the daring spirit to grapple with Cymric subjects. But, if we mistake not, the concluding poem of one of his later volumes seems to denote a fulfilment of all that we have deemed him wanting in :—

"Dear motherland, forgive me, if too long

I hold the halting tribute of my song;

Letting my wayward fancy idly roam
Far, far from thee, my early home."

That all Mr. Morris's sympathies lie in this direction, we are assured, when, singing of Mona, he says:

:

"... From whose fresh wind-swept pastures came
My grandsire, bard and patriot, like in name,

Whose verse his countrymen still love to sing
At bidding feast or rustic junketing."

But it may be for the best. Mr. Morris is, perhaps, keeping the strength and manhood of his Muse-its noblest flights and richest thoughts for the "mountain land".

The Athenæum of September 23rd informs us that his "Epic of Hades, which had the drawback of being framed on a scale somewhat disproportioned to the title, will shortly be re-issued, with such additions as will render the poem more complete and also more in keeping with the scope of the title".

Bishop Morgan and the Bible.-A memoir of this patriotic prelate, the translator of the Bible into the Welsh language, is on the eve of publication. The author is Mr. Thomas W. Hancock, of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant. The Latin preface to the Bible will be given in English and Welsh; the former by no less a scholar than the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, the late Premier, and the latter as prepared by Ieuan Brydydd Hir. We are sure, from what we know of Mr. Hancock, that the volume will be a credit to the Principality. The price to subscribers is not expected to exceed ten shillings. We shall duly notice the work as soon as it is published. It is to be dedicated to the Lord Bishop of St. Asaph.