Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-29
MEETS WEIGH NAMES
Mr.. Curtis Overcome by Their
Length and Simplicity.
MANY MEN OF SAME NAME
But the Guide Book Bravely Gets in
Overtime.
PEOPLE SPEAK TWO LANGUAGES
They Are Ambitious to Be Educated
and Are Proud of Their
University.
MANY MEN OF SAME NAME
PEOPLE SPEAK TWO LANGUAGES
EY WILLIAM y. CURTIS.

Fly WILLIAM r. CURTIS
SpecisI Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
BANGOR, Wales, October no 1908.
l suppose Bangor might he called the
metropolis of northern Wales without
giving offense to other towns. 1t is the
headquarters of the slate industry, which
is the source of great wealth to Wales,
and has the largest quarries in the world.
1t is also the seat of an ecclesiastical see.
and has the smallest and the ugliest ca
thedraI In the kingdom. There is nothing
> interesting about 1t except its age. st.
Deiniol founded II in the sixth century.
and was the first bishop of this diocese.
Owen Gwynedd lies buried within its
walls. To write the history of the ca
thedral would be to write the history of
Wales. Bangor is also the seat of one
of the three colleges that form the Uni
, versity of Wales. and has several other
claims to distinction
1t IS a quaint old town with narrow
and crooked streets. small shops and
large residences. and from the testimony
of the signboards most of the tradesmen
bear the honored names of Jones and
Thomas.
shy on Names IN w aleS.
name is a serious thing in Wales,
and one feels very much at home when
ne escapes from the double Us and
double lis and VS. and finds himself in
company with the plain Evanses and Da-
vises and Williamses that he is familiar
with. But there seems to have been
either scarcity of names or very large
families in these parts, judging from the
directory
Looking through the catalogue of Ban
gor College this morning, l found that of
the 312 students. 204 bore only nine diff
ferent names; and they were classified as
follows:
Jones .............. g. Williams. ........... 26
Davis. .............. Il Roberts. .......... %
Hughes. ............ II Lewis. .............. 16
-! a.dns- ---.---..... 10 owens. ...........-- ID
Thomas.
The list of the alumni of Bangor Col
lege is book of twenty-four pages with
two columns to the page and fifty names
to the column, or total of , 40O names.
There are four pages filled with the
names of members of the Jones family,
about 400 in all. or one-sixth of the en-
tire alumni Two pages and a half were
devoted to the Williams family, about
2a5 in number: There were an equal
number of graduates of the name of Da-
vies, $50 of the name of Evans. 1JO of
the name of Roberts, 125 of the name
of Hughes and 10 of the name of
Thomas-thus 80 more than One-half of
the students who have attended Bangor
College belonged to seven clans.
But you must not think that everything
bears such simple names as Jones and
Evans. If you were to look through the
railway guide you would have different
idea of Welsh nomenclature, for it is
filled with the names of places that no
body but a Welshman can either pro-
nounce or spell.
Some Simple Geographical Names.
/ wanted to visit several picturesque re-
sorts. but have been prevented from doing
so because / couldn't tell the man in the
ticket Office the name of the station. And
many a motoring party has wandered
helplessly around Wales because they
couldn't pronounce the name of the place
they were seeking. For example, how
would anybody inquire the way to
Bwlchygyfgyng. or II you wanted to so
To Cwmcwecwydd how would you make
it known? Bryncaemlleillirllsar isn't SO
bad; one might learn that between rail-
way stations. because there are few
yowels in it. but Cwmmr is absolutely
hopeless. No American can go there be-
cause he couldn't ask the way, any more
than he could IL he were seeking fppytty-
cynyfyn. An irreverent young American
says lie has TO take off his collar to pro-
nounce that name.
Several other places need an interpreter.
There is lovely town named CwwmcWdd.
What would a poor American reporter do
If he had TO go there. or to Ystymgynnyn
or to Trwslletwlyn? The latter is in
Montgomery county and has railway
station of the same name.
The only way l have been able to get
about at all is to write down the name on
z piece of paper and shove 1t at the ticket
seller as if ! were deaf and Gumb; and
even then one has to be perfectly sober
and have all his wits about him to make
a written request for ticket to Lamar
neutrality-suspicious. or to I.lan-fhangell-
gennerglynn. The latter place is in plain
sight of nffihangelbachellaeth, and
seems to be some relation.
Suppose man were stopping at Lamar
manmynyddmawn and lost his way, how
would he ever be able to get home? And
when he is in great hurry and hasn't
time to write the inquiry. how would ne
pronounce Mrrllthdban? 1t is as be-
wldering as the Russian alphabet.
The champion town in Wales is Liam
"a ir W llgwyngyligogerchwyrn
siliogogogogh. and it lies on the Island of
Anglesey Immediately across the Menai
straits from Bangor. | haven't been there
yet and don't intend 10 go without an es-
cort. although | am told they call IT
PwlgyngwngylI for short. When pointed
out the name in the guide book to police
man and asked him how / could get there.
he never cracked smile. He looked as
serious as an Irish undertaken and said:
Take the train re- the other end of the
bridge"
The inhabitants of the town, with true
Welsh enterprise, have had the name
printed in full postcard and sell 1t
for penny. II is one of the most Talua-
BILE assets of the place.
He Missed the Point.
But as | have said before. the Welsh
do not realize the extent OF the strain
they put on the alphabet. The easy way
the consonants roll off their tongues is
amazing When | suggested to one of the
professors at Bangor College that the
subject OF simplited spelling had recently
attracted a good deal of attention in the
United States. and that our modest and
shrinking President had saved a good
deal of public money by shortening the
words commonly put into type at the
government printing Office, he didn't
manifest much enthusiasm So L fired
snot directly into his intellect.
why don't you take up simplified spell
ing over here? / asked. 1T seems to me
that ii would be practical study"
I'VE have no department of phlology. =
he replied, perfectly serious. I'VE are a
Young institution and while are grow
ing and extending our work we haven't
got so far yet. We are going in more
for agriculture, engineering and the APP
piled sciences and are giving good deal
of attention to the education of teachers