The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-08
GLIMPSES OF WELSH MINING LIFE.
Tomos Cwmtwrch ON Welsh Names.

stone wall. How are We to cross?
said |. Then out came Davies with this
| line:
MI rof her i'r wal gerrig.
! Il will challenge the stone wall)
! But Mr.. Davies, like the modest. sem
sible fellow he Is. has kept his rhyming
subordinate to his great work of preach
ing the gospel. Listen to what lslwyn
says on the matter. Islwyn was good
preacher. though a Methodist. but he
/ was greater poet:
Err uched WV Y bardd. er pured WV
Cenadaeth Awen, o sancteiddiol ryw.
| Ymgolla yn swydd oruchel hon
Eel seren yn dydd, fel defnyn yn don.
(Though high the bard Of pure aim and
Though holy be the mission o fthe Muse.
Sunk In the preacher bold the bard must
a star In day. raindrop in the sea)
1t was while at college that Mr.. Da-
vies found 1t necessary to adopt that
middle name. say necessary, for
there were three David Davies at col
lege the same time. The professors
cracked jokes about 1t when the names
were called out, and the postman made
some awful blunders. So our Mr.. Da-
vies assumed his middle name In self
defense. The Americans are very cute
in this matter-nearly every man has
middle name there. After John
Jones moved from here there. he signed
himself In his second letter, John $.
Jones. Some thought II foppish OF
| John at the time, but he knew what he
was about. John was not the kind OF
a man to lose himself among the $4,000
Jones over there. And Mr.. Davies Is
perfectly right In saving himself from
| the nobodies called David Davies and
nothing more.
In ancient times, every man had a
name of his own which could not
fit anyone else. Savages have such
names today. There's the name of
sitting Bull" the Indian chief we
| hear so much about from America.
But We. civilized people, have names
given US that mean nothing at all to us.
Saints and scoundrels wear the same
names. We. Welsh. were the last to
stand against this new style. Have
| you seen the Welsh names in the story
of Kilhwch and Olwen? 1t Is like a book
| OF the Bible, every name has meaning
-Gwythyr, Greidiawl, Flewddur Flam.
Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, Gwawrddur
Cyrfach, and that old fellow who could
clear three hundred acres at one bound
-Gilla Goes Hydd. CIs that fact?'
exclaimed Shoni RacheD. There you
get q picture Of the man in his name.
| And when we come down to later times,
fancy people calling Dafydd alb Gwi-
lynn. David Williams, and Hywel Dda,
Howell Hughes, and 1for Hael. flor
| Jones! tell you II Is too bad that our
promising young men should be OBJ
| liged to bury their talents under a
mountain Of Joneses and Davieses. l.
| am glad to find them kicking against
1t. 1t Is a part of the "Cymru Fydd"
| movement i godir hen wlad yn ei hol.'
Now. there IL a hill close by Mr..
Davies home which is called Rams
Head, and the name Of the farm where
| the crag behind 1t forms a horn on the
| Rams Head. Mr.. Davies began to
! use the name in the local eisteddvodau.
| and when in college he most fittingly
put 1t In his name. ! say most fitting
| ly, for what better name a preacher
could adopt than Rams Head? The
| preacher is a priest, and you remem-
Jericho with rams horns"
''Ar fencos (by my life), never
| thought OF that before" observed
Shoni Rachel, while Tomos stopped
| to trim his lamp. Shoni now confined
himself to the mild form of swearing
permitted in polite society. a great i'm
provement on oh the creeping epithets
vi Nhs hduiieI udyS ononl was lmprOV-
| ing all round.
Again" continued Tomos, now as
| sured that he was making a good i'm
| preston on his hearers. take the case
OF any one Of our great preachers Most
of them had earned their fame and
were we'll known by their bardic
names before they started to preach.
Hut did they abandon their bardic
names? Not a bit of 1t. Who is
| nrpachinp at vn,fr hu nal ,,avt c,,.l.
'Clogwynfab. That's the style. There's
| no mistaking the man. You never hear
| their proper names except at associa-
| tions. and never see them except in the
newspapers And when they are called
| to the big churches Of London. do they
leave their bardic names behind? Not
| they, but you hear only of Rev. Will
lam Cwmseadan Hughes. Wellington
Park chapel. chairman of the Congre-
gational union, and Rev. John Rhyd-
| lawen Lewis. Montserrat Square
chapel, preaching the annual sermon
before the London Missionary society.
See how loyal they are to their native
land. wearing the names of the humble
hamlets Of their birth like Jewels on
their finger rings.
Again, take the name of that first rate
preacher who takes the best in every
Cymanva-Cyvrinvard When he re-
ceived his d. d. from the University Of
Gushgosh or some such name in Amer
lea. did he abandon his bardic name as
unfit company for the D. D.? Does he
hate to hear 1t as q man hates to hear
| of the errors of his youth? Not a bit
of 1t. He Is Cyvrinvardd still See his
name in the diary. His bardic name
occupies the place of honor between
his Christian and his surname. the ID. d.
bringing up the tail-end-Rev John
Cyvrinvardd Jones, D. D.
Yes. William Jones. and l am not
afraid to say It, I am proud of my
youngster preacher and Of his name"
said Tomos as he stood up on his feet
as a signal that 1t was time to begin
work. "and hope to live long enough
to hear the name Of Cornyrhwrdd spok-
en- with affection and reverence at
Cwmcoed."
well, l never" exclaimed Shoni Ra-
chel. as the company dispersed for the
distant stalls. each man pondering how
his name in the latest style would look
in print--Tnomos Cwmtwrch Davies.
William Cardi Mawr Jones and John
ShOni Rachel Thomas.
RHYS WYNNE.