Welsh Journals

acres, and at the time the benefice brought in an income of nearly £ 800, with 22 acres of glebe. The church is distant about two miles from the town of Warminster. Here, Thomas Owen lived for thirty-three years. He seems to have spent his time in parochial activities, in translating from the -classics,-both Greek and Latin, works on Agriculture, in visiting famous farming centres, and in inspecting well-timbered districts. Early in his career he became a member of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society, which had been founded in 1777. Apparently he was a member of its executive committee and attended all meetings most regularly, and was always present at the annual dinner of the Society. Last summer it happened that the home of the last descendant in a direct line of Rhiwlas was broken up. It was at another old place in Angle- sey, called Caera in the parish of Llanfairyng- hornwy, was seen the dispersion of books, furni- ture, family-plate and pictures which had mostly come from Rhiwlas. At the time many old land- marks with which were associated many tradi- tions of this old family disappeared. It was one of the last old houses in Anglesey which kept its own harpist, and where it was customary for the whole family and estab- lishment to dine together in the same hall. Among the flotsam and jetsam of the country-side sale were many of the books and belongings of Thomas Owen, and among them was found a part of a diary which had bee:i kept carefully by him. Unfortunately it only covers the period January 1st, 1807, to April 30th, 1811. We are glad to think that this is now safely housed in the Library of the University College, Bangor. When Henry Rowlands (1655-1723), author of Mona Antiqua wrote his introduction to Idea Agriculturoe in 1704, he makes mention of several in the immediate neighbourhood of Rhiwlas, who, in their time and day appear to be well in advance of their age in the improvement and development of the agricultural industry. He refers to Thomas Williams, Rector of Llansadwrn, who lived near Red Wharf Bay, who between 1640 and 1650 first made use in the district, if not in the county, of sea-shells as lime, also to William Jones of Plas- gwyn, and Owen Williams, Ty Fry, of Pentraeth. This book was posthumous, and was not pub- lished till 1764, and was edited and prepared for the press by a son of Henry Rowlands, who resided nearby Rhiwlas. We should be reminded that the latter part of the eighteenth century saw great and important improvements in the methods employed in connection with agriculture, as well as the issue of many books on this vital subject. The fashion had been set by the old farmer George Ill, and Wales, as usual, had not been backward in following the example of England. Arthur Young (i<Hi-lc5Zi) had extended his. activities even into Wales. Hugh Davies (1739-1821) who spent a great deal of his time at Beaumaris, pro-, uuced his "Welsh Botanology" in 1813 (let it not be forgotten that this hand-book, according to its title page was "a systematic catalogue of the native plants of the Isle of Anglesey") Walter Davies (Gwallter Mechain) published his ex- haustive survey of the "State of Agriculture in North Wales," in 1810; Thomas Pennant (1726- 1798), the traveller and naturalist (who by the way had been an undergraduate at Queen's Col- lege) issued his "British Zoology" in 1766, and his travels in North Wales in 1778. Hugh Davies contributed the whole of Thomas Pennant's "Indian Zoology" (1790) with the exception of the chapters on "Insects," and has to his credit at the British Museum to-day an unpublished work entitled "Heroarium." Such an atmosphere might well have stimulated the studies and energy of Thomas Owen in the direction of Agriculture. Though his diary is fragmentary, yet it affords sufficient evidence to show that he devoted much of his means and opportunities to this subject. By the diary we are informed how the work of translating progressed, of his visits to different localities, and of all the social functions which he discharged. Yearly he returned to his old home in Anglesey, and it is in- teresting to notice the itinerary followed to reach distant Pentraeth from Upton Scudamore. He generally took four days for the journey. Some- times he rode, other times he came in a chaise, and occasionally by coach, but invariably the journey finished with breakfast at the Bangor Ferry. He makes mention of visits to Lord Gren- ville. He views the cattle at Lord Somerville's, a plantation of Mr. Hill at Bristol, and the Hano- verian horses kept by Lord Bulkeley at Inglefield. Correspondence passes between him and the Duke of Bedford, the Bishop of Durham, and Mr. Fenton. A visit is paid to Mr. Smith at Stocke to see his sixty pigs and "great supply of poultry and pigeons." He takes a ride to Longbent to present Lady Bath with a copy of his "Geo- ponica. When in Anglesey he attended every fair that was being held at the time in the county. Throughout the diary all Welsh place-names are correctly spelt. He mentions that on one occa- sion when at Queen's College he had dined with « Lightfoot, Grierson, Metcalf, Nelson and Wheat- ley. He frequently visited Oxford, and apparently kept his rooms throughout at Queen's, and paid rounds of calls on his old friends at the Univer- sity. When Welsh friends came to Bath, he always called with them. Diversions were not