New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-06-03
WALES.
THE COUNTRY. ITS PEOPLE AND ITS
GREATEST MAN.

CIV GLE II FOR WELSH 4 4HDEPENDENCE. With
Brief Sketch Of Welsh History. CHe ed ESQ OF
the Nations Seriesl BY Arthur Granville brad
ley. 12mo. PIP. xvii, $50. G. p Putnam's Sons.
The bloody path Of Welsh history" is traced
in these two volumes; in the first as a whole,
in the second in part-one Of the most stirring
and picturesque parts, the last Welsh struggle
for Independence under Glendower. 1t is an
intricate path. and il has not been trodden be-
fore by the writer of a popular history, such
Mr. Edwards's is The of details is great.
but the course of development, he expounds
it is simple; it is the rise and fall of princely
caste followed by the rise of self-educated'
self-governing peasantry. 1t is the story of
the conflicts OF a crowd Of petty chiefs and
princes with each other and with their English
neighpors
The Romans protected Wales from further
migrations into the territory already occupied
by Iberians and Celts-the former being, though
a conquered people, the prevailing element, and
stin remaining So The Roman influence and
civilization persisted long in the country after
the imperial power broken Then came
six hundred years of struggles against a king
who regarded himself the champion Of the
unity of the BritOns wearing the crown OF
Arthur and the princes who were descended
from the tribal kinglets'; the Welsh against the
Saxon kings. Danes and Angles poured over the
land and in Wales. as elsewhere it might seem
that the end of the tenth century was 10 be
the END of the world. All this stopped by
the Norman conquest Of England; the compile
ton Of that conquest marked the beginning Of
Williams operations against Wales, continued
by the Red King and Henry 1. 1t is a record Of
varying successes and defeats. in which the
name Of Griffith ap Conan is the great central
figure in Wales conducting a stubborn border
warfare against the English kings, crowned at
last Just before his death with success that
left his followers a kingdom destined TO last
century and a half. In all this welter We get
little sight of what the people really were MI
Edwards gives this glimpse:
The proficiency of the Welsh in the twelfth
century in music is enthusiastically described
by Gerald The three instruments OF music were
the harp, the crwth and the pipe. There was
harp in every house, and it was the chief feat
ure in the entertainment of the guests. 1t was
played delightfully."- most of the airs being in the
minor key. Some of the most ancient OF the
Years Eve'O and Hob Y Deri" and Clan
Meddwdod Mwyn' C'The Sweet Verge OF
Drunkenness) not at all plaintive There
was a national passion for singing; the children
being taught to sing from their infancy The
Geralds glowing description Of the perfection OF
the bardic art, show that in poetry as we'll as In
music the competition at the Lord Recess great
EisteddVod must have been very keen
And we have the following description of
Welsh home in the same period:
The great hall among the cOWSneOS ana
sheepfolds. Its hospitable door was always open
No one OF this naticn ever begs'; the way
farer LAYS his down at the door and enters
honored guest Water is offered II ne
allows his feet 10 be washed he means to stay
over night: if he refuses, he wishes 10 partake
Of meal only In each family the harp
played and this the chief means of enter
tanning guests. The principal meal was pre-
pared at sunset The guests and members Of the
family sat down in messes of three and partook
of thin oaten cakes broth and chopped meat
from wooden bow Is and trenchers. The host
and hostess ATTENDED the wants of every one
r and themselves partook last IoWard evening
the hall laid out for sleeping The beds
We're arranged around the walls-rushes COW
cred with the coarse cloth manufactured in the
country. In the middle Of the hall the peat or
wood fire burned night and day-continuous
. like the life of the family itself Barefoot and
81 thinly clad the Welsh were a hardy and healthy
III race. Men and women alike wore their hair
~ fairly short; the men shaved all but a mus
tache
Almost all the first half Of the thirteenth cen
fury in Wales is filled with the figure of Llywel-
lyn the Great the most important in its
medieval period. He took no little part in Eng
lish history: he watched the struggle of the
barons with King John. and three clauses in
Magma Charta describe his privileges and recog-
nize the independence of the law he admins
tered. The end of his work a treaty Of
peace with the English king, placing Wales in
feudal dependence upon him, by which the
Welsh king hoped to gain uninterrupted peace
Welsh independence 10 retain the reality of it,
1t was however, an ideal that disappeared with
his death. Llywelyn APP Griffith the last native
prince Of Wales was defeated by Edward L
after years of fighting. in 1882. Wales became
Totally and in its entirety English domin-
ion, and the first English Prince of Wales was
created in 1901 The period one Of change
in social as well as political life. The serf was
emerging from servitude; wages advanced
hot
CURED at the same time took the form Of
struggle between the bards representing the
rising national life, and the friars.
All these things united TO bring about the re-
volt of owen Glendower, the last struggle of
Wales for freedom. 1t failed. and with the &C
cession of a Welsh Tudor to the English throne
this whole period OF Welsh history ends. The
Wales of the princes disappears Mr. Ed
wards puts il "and the Wales of the peasant
begins TO take shape" The Welsh ceased TO be
rebels and entered heartily into the life of
the period. from its literature to its piracy
All the courses OF my life do show
/ am not in the roll Of common men.
Such are the words that Shakespeare puts into
the mouth of his Glendower in king Henry
W" and, whether rightly wrongly, he holds
the first place among Welsh warrior patriots in
the affections of his countrymen Yet not
unanimously as Mr.. Bradley tells US and TO
many educated welshmen the fact is not
ceptable But his fame has been made secure,
whether it is partly due not TO his appear
ance in Shakespeares play, and seems to grow
no DINNER with the lapse Of time Yet, strange
" enough, Mr.. Bradleys account of the Welsh
hero is the first attempt at collecting in con-
rected narrative ali that is known of him. 1t
is an interesting account and gives the detail
Of he he