Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

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CAMBRIAN GOSSIP. ------./"'.../'-

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

CAMBRIAN GOSSIP. Some fifty years ago the parish church of St Asaph used to possess a barrel organ and a simple orchestra, which supported the choir. ooo The monument erected at Llanarmon in memory of Mr. John Parry, a prominent and tithe agitator, will be unveiled by one of the Welsh members on Easter Monday. 000 The staffs of Trefecca and Bala Colleges are favourable to the proposed amalgama- tion of the two institutions. The question will be discussed at the next associations in North and South Wales. 000 Ehedydd lal, the author of the Welsh hymn, 'Er nad yw'm cnawd ond gwellt,' a small volume of whose poetry was published last year, under the title of Blodau lal,' died last week in his 85th year. 000 An effort is being made by the Carmar- thenshire monthly meeting to raise funds for the purpose of erecting a monument to the Rev. Peter Williams, the Welsh expositor and publisher of several editions of the Welsh Bible. 000 In reference to the recent incidents at Carnarvon Assize, it is pointed out that even the jury were mostly monoglots. After hearing the addresses of counsel and Judge they discussed the evidence among them- selves in Welsh! 000 A young apprentice in Neath, who had kept irregular hours, was asked one day last week by his master,' How long, sir, will you serve the devil V to w ich the youngster coolly replied, You best know, sir my in- dentures will be up in the course of three months.' 000 Some of the public houses in Wales bear curious names. One up North is called Labour in Vain '—a motto represented by a picture of a negro being vigorously washed. Another is called 'Pass By,' an insincere title, which has a more straightforward neighbour in Slip In.' 000 Real Scotch Cock-a leekie on St. David's Day (observes the Globe), is almost like a wedding of national aspirations. Moreover, it is one of the best cures for a cold, as well as a valuable means of preventing one. For which cause, if for no other, Cock a- leekie should just now be in demand. 000 A choir from the fastnesses of Carnar- vonshire, which, as reported a day or two ago, won the prize at the London Eistedd- vod. Referring to their singing, the Lon- don Daily News remarks It is rare indeed that better, more refined, or more finished singing has been heard of late years in London.' 000 Welsh graduates after they obtain their degrees do not always forget the debt they owe to their alma mater, the Sunday School. For instance, it is worthy of record in con- nection with the March number of the Llad merydd, a Welsh Sunday School monthly, that every article it contains has been writ- tin by a graduate. 000 At the Cardiff celebration of St. David's Day, it was left to an Englishman to deplore the attitude of Justice Darling towards Welsh witnesses; and he did it, too, in pure Cymraeg! That man was Mr. Hobson Matthews, the Corporation archivist, whose editing of 'Cardiff Records' has enriched Welsh history enormously. 000 In these days of incandescent gas and the electric light, this is interesting reading. Proceedings were taken the other day by the Festiniog Railway Company against certain persons who refus d to produce their tickets when requested to do so. The defendants, in defence, said they refused to produce their tickets because proper lights were not provided in the train. Lamps were formerly used, but as they were being con- tinually broken, candles were substituted, and very often the candles disappeared. I 000 Sir Hubert Parry considers that the two most musical divisions in Great Britain are (1) the western portion of Yorkshire, and (2) Wales and the border counties, especially Gloustershire and Worcestershire. Sir Hubert^ ranks Wales as higher even than Yorkshire. The Welsh,' he says, are a very imaginative and spiritual people- visionary and poetic to a high degree. In some respects, they are exclusive and very fond of their own particular compositions and choral exercises, but their taste is un- doubtedly good and refined.' 000 In an interesting handbook of the borough of Flint, which has been compiled by Mr. Henry Taylor, a well-known student of Welsh archaeology, it is claimed that Flint is 'the birthplace of municipal life in Wales.' There on the 8th day of Septem- ber, 1284, the first Royal municipal charters were granted to towns in Wales by Edward I. Those favoured towns were Flint, Rhuddlan, Conway, and Carnarvon. Each of these charters is dated at Fflynt' on that date, and they all appear to have been drafted by the great law reformer of that time, Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells. On the passing of the Muncipal Corporations Reform Act in 1835 Flint, with the then existing boroughs in Wales, was included in the schedule to the Act. 000 It didn't matter to the late Rev. Joseph Thomas, Carno, who was in the train he always entered the compartment nearest at hand when the train stopped. He once met the late Dr. Hughes, of Liverpool, on Shrewsbury platform. Both were going to Cardiff, and Mr. Thomas at once found a seat among a number of working men smokers. Dr. Hughes went ahead, and, finding an empty compartment, left his luggage and went to look for his brother divine. He found him lighting his pipe. Come,' he said,' 1 have found a carriage all to ourselves.' Mr. Thomas wouldn't budge. All right here,' he said, striking a match. Well,' said Dr. Hughes,' I'll be in Cardiff before you. What shall I say to our friends?' 'Say,' was the reply, 'Behold, a greater than I cometh after me.' 000 The library of the late Rev. Owen Jones, B.A., contains some exceptionally valuable Welsh books, and it is hoped that the whole collection will ultimately find its home in one of the public libraries. It contains thirteen books, dating between 1551 and 1595, and they include 'Kynniver Llith a Ban (1551), William Salisbury's Welsh Testament (1567), Dr. Morgan's Bible (1588), and D. Rhys's Grammar (1592). Of the Welsh books published between 1603 and 1698 the library contains 162 volumes, in- cluding the metrical translation of the Psalms by Gwilym Canoldref, many diffe- rent editions of 'CanwylI y Cymry,' Llyfrl y Resolutions,' and Llyfr Gweddi Cyffred in.' There are also 989 books printed be- tween 1700 and 1799, and a very large number of subsequent dates. 000 Time was when the Welsh pulpit cherished a blind and obstinate aversion to the Eis- teddvod. The old festival has long ago lived down that opposition, and the Welsh pulpit's present attitude is one of avowed sympathy. Mr. Sam Smith, M.P., in his presidential remarks at last week's London Eisteddvcd, observed that the national festival was always associated with hal- lowed memories-memories of one's youth and the work of God amid the hills and valleys of one's native country-and in a vast Metropolis like London, with its infi- nite variety of interests and temptations to the young Welshman, he knew of nothing more worthy of encouragement. It behoved the churches and chapels in London to bind the young together, by some such medium as the competitions and simple, harmless amusements which were the life and soul of the people of Wales. 000 Welshmen who have bcen wont to re- gard the St. David's Eve service at St. Paul's as a national' celebration of the anniversa- ryof the patron saint, will beshocked to learn that one of the ulterior objects of this and other such celebrations in English churches in English towns, is to bolster up the State Church Establishment in Wales. The cat has beeij let out of the bag by the Rev. G. Hartwell Jones, who, in a iong letter to a Liverpool paper pleading for Welsh church services in England, innocently remarks:- 'Yet another reason. Welsh churches in English towns are an important instrument of Church Defence, and the annual festivals held on St. David's Eve contribute to this end. It is a singular circumstance that the first and most brilliant of these Welsh gatherings should have been initiated, not in a Welsh cathedral, but thanks to the patriotic spirit of Sir John Puleston and others, in the Saxon Metropolis. It is certain, as I know from conversing with Englishmen, that such events, testifying as they do to the vigorous vitality and increas ing influence of the Welsh Church, wield a powerful effect on the English mind.'

WOMEN'S CHAT.

THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES.

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TIE5 PEACE CRUSADE, i

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