The London Welshman

Notes from South Wales. (From our Special Correspondent.) Hardly Fair. The note in reference to Mr. Bert Thomas, the clever young Swansea artist, which appeared in this column a fortnight ago, was lifted" into the "Welsh Gossip" column of the South Wales Daily News without acknowledgment. On Saturday, it was copied into the Post Bag Of the Swansea Daily Post, but the writer of the latter paper quoted it as having appeared in the Cardiff journal. In this manner the South Wales Daily News gets credit for an interesting tit-bit of information which it (the Daily News) had itself taken from the LONDON WELSHMAN "Soldiers of the King." r In the last issue of the LONDON WELSHMAN I referred to the public scandal of soldiers who had served their country faithfully and well, having to spend their old age in the Union Workhouse, and I instanced an example of a Crimean veteran who had recently died in Llanelly Workhouse. This week I am told that there was an old soldier going about from house to house in the Vale of Towy selling jaces. He figured in the thick of the fray in both the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. It is a disgrace to the country that the men who uo the hard fighting should be cast aside in this banner, whilst the wealthy financiers and im- perial schemers should wax fat on the fruits of the poor soldier's hard campaigning. "Llewellyn ein Llyw Olaf." Whilst walking down the street of a South Wales town the other afternoon, my attention was drawn to the copy of a song in a bookseller's entitled, "Llewellyn ein Llyw Olaf." his again reminded me of the lamentable fact hat Wales has no public monument to Prince Llewellyn. What a reflection upon our boasted °|e of nationality Is there no Welshman who start a movement with the view of having sUch a monument erected, say at Llanwrtyd, nere thousands of Welsh speaking Welshmen Congregate every summer. I mention Llanwrtyd as a suitable site because of the fact that the gallant Welsh prince fought his last fight in the neighbourhood. ^otor Cars. The great increase in the number of motor cars is transforming some of our beautiful COuntry roads into dusty avenues, and rendering Pedestrianism a very unpleasant experience. e other afternoon I happened to be walking ng a roadway which used to have a great reputation for picturesqueness, but countless °tor cars had cut up the surface, and the tr dust had converted green hedges and so e^Into something that closely resembled the ba^ contents °t a Paddington or Shoreditch I w ^ar(^en- Several motor cars raced by when 0n as 0n the roadway, and for fully ten minutes Se occasion, the atmosphere closely re- link a miniature Sahara. It is difficult to teai?rstand what pleasure motorists obtain in ailf|lng along country roads at the rate of 60 7° miles an hour. Airs. boo]^ otker day I was looking over an old each verses, and under the heading of "-zlch selection was given the name of the air to the • could be sung. Here are a few of Caerphilly March," Y Gofid Glas," £ )(}• Wefus," "Miss Morgans Fawr," "Y Der au Goch," "Difyrwch Meirionydd," "Galon the and Dic Shon Dafydd." I heard hearcj erP^ihy March" once, but I have never reade the others. I wonder how many heard LONDON WELSHMAN have i°nydd Ddimau Goch or Difyrwch Meir- please 0r instance ? And, oh Will someone ike a me w^at Miss Morgans Fawr is n who was the composer ? The Holiday Season. The holiday season practically commences with May, although the "real crush" takes place in July and August. I am told that there is a good sprinkling of visitors at Aberystwyth, Llandrindod, and Tenby already, and a record season is confidently anticipated. It is difficult to understand why July and August should be the popular holiday months. The most beau- tiful months of the year are undoubtedly May and June, particularly the latter. It is in the month of roses that we find nature dressed in her most enchanting garb. And the evenings are longer and the air purer than it is in August. We are continually talking about reform. Why not try and effect a reform in the holiday season and make June the popular month for rest and recreation, by arranging to have all the public schools closed during that month ? By the way, if Mr. Evan Roberts will hold services in a marquee in Anglesey and Carnarvonshire during the next couple of months, as anticipated, there is no doubt that thousands of English, Scotch, and Irish visitors who are anxious to see and hear the young Evangelist will be attracted thereto. Welsh Hymns. The Welsh sailor, like the Welsh collier, loves his Welsh hymns. The other Sunday afternoon I happened to be at one of the docks of a big South Wales port. Moored alongside a quay was a little schooner belonging to a town in Northern Wales. The usual bustle and din of the busy port had ceased, and the peace of a Sabbath calm prevailed everywhere. Suddenly, there issued forth from the cabin bach" the notes of "Yn y dyfroedd mawr a'r tonau." The captain, a good old Methodist, I am sure, was leading, and the mate and cabin boy were joining heartily. Just as their religious faith made Cromwell's Ironsides averse to fear on the field of battle, so does the Welsh sailor find in the Welsh hymns a solace and comfort when facing the storms on the mighty deep. Curates' Grievances. Considerable interest has been aroused in regard to the grievances of curates as illustrated in a series of remarkable letters that have appeared in the columns of the Western Mail under the signature of "Three Curates." There is no doubt that the curates of the Church of England are, generally speaking, underpaid. It is they who really perform the most arduous work connected with their respective churches. Moreover, they have to keep up what is called a respectable appearance." They have to dress well and live in "select neighbourhoods," and when there is a church boys' club formed, or a church boys' football and cricket club organised, the curate is invariably expected to give his half-a-guinea, or more, to the funds. Moreover, there is so much wire pulling and favouritism going on, that promotion is often conferred upon the one who least deserves it. The hardest and most deserving curate is often left on the shelf," simply because he has not the number of friends" to push him on that the less deserving and less gifted curate often has. So long, however, as the Church is State-connected, curates will continue to have their grievances. Disestablishment is the only hope for Church reform, and more equitable treatment amongst the clergy.