Welsh Journals

SHORT NOTICES For a quarter of a century, the only authoritative account of the history of Wales since 1485 has been David Williams, A History of Modern Wales. Originally published in 1950, it has been frequently reprinted and now appears in second edition (John Murray, 1977, pp. 318, £ 3.00 paper- back, £ 5.25 hardback). The main addition is that the final chapter, on Wales since 1914, has been extended and brought up to date by Professor Ieuan Gwynedd Jones; some recent works have also been added to the bibliography. This book now spans the whole development of Wales from the reign of Henry VII to the Kilbrandon report. It provides further testimony to the scholarly contribution of the greatest living historian of modern Wales, whose achievements were celebrated in a special issue of THE WELSH HISTORY REVIEW in June 1967. The Ceredigion Antiquarian Society published in 1977 Ceredigion VII, Number 3-4 (1974-75). As always, it provides an attractive miscellany. The most solid contribution is probably Mr. Brian Howells's excellent account of social and agrarian change in Cardiganshire between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, essentially a study of the relationship between the population and the land. John A. Thomas writes another fascinating account of the architectural development of Thomas Johnes's house at Hafod, from the fire of 1807 down to the denouement of 1882. Susan Campbell-Jones discusses shipbuilding at New Quay, 1779-1878; Francis Jones chronicles Blaenbylan, a minor gentry house in Teifiside; and Emrys Williams traces the career of the Rev. Isaac Williams, vicar of Ystrad Teilo in the late-eighteenth century. A more recent facet of the cultural life of Cardiganshire is treated in Dr. R. F. Walker's lively account of the college theatre at Aberystwyth, 1884-1918. This journal is obtainable from Dafydd Morris Jones, 26 Alban Square, Aberaeron, Dyfed (free to members of the Society, £ 2.50 to non-members), and is again well worth purchase and study. Anglesey Family Letters (1976; pp. xx, 140; £ 3.00 + postage), edited by Elizabeth Grace Roberts, is a limited edition, available from the editor, 22 Gressingham Road, Liverpool L18 6JT. It consists of a pleasant selection of transatlantic correspondence mainly from William Hughes (1817-1904) of Holyhead to his son, William, who settled in Davenport, Iowa, in 1856, with some return letters from son to father. There are also letters from various brothers, sisters and cousins, and some addenda which continue the story down to the 1930s. The main themes are purely domestic but there are some interesting comments on conditions of agriculture and the land market in the American Mid-West in the middle years of the century. Some pleasant illustrations add to the charm of the book.