Welsh Journals

"In faith he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well-read, and profited In strange concealments; valiant as a lion, And wondrous affable; and as bountiful As mines of India." This may or may not be an accurate picture of an historical character. It is at least an attractive picture and those qualities of courage and hon- esty are such as are the common possession of all national heroes. He has however a fault which he shares with many of his countrymen. He obscures the main issue in a cloak of poetical language. He, like many another, cannot simply say "yes" or "no." Glendower's daughter, Lady Mortimer, can be clearly visualised, though, as has been said, she makes no contribution to the speech of the play. If her father is clever and temperamental she is assuredly minute and musical (to use Dr. Renier' epithets once more). Glendower interprets, with his usual poetic utterance, her message to Mortimer "She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down, And rest your gentle head upon her lap, And she will sing the song that pleaseth you And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep. Her singing, if Mortimer be a reliable judge, is beautiful. To Hotspur it does not appear so. He would rather hear his dog howl in Irish than hear the lady sing in Welsh. Again there is the clash of the poetical with the practical. It would almost appear that Shakespeare intended the Welsh to see that their temperamental and imaginative natures are bound to come into conflict with the harder realities of the world. Glendower, athough purely Welsh, is a cul- tured man and does not betray his nationality by his speech. Fluellen, in "Henry V," is also Welsh, but in his case, his English is plentifully decorated with Welsh idiom and is coloured with Welsh pronunciation. He is not of the high rank of Glendower nor is he of the same imaginative nature. But he is as brave and earns the com- mendation of the King himself, who indeed declares that he too is a Welshman Flu I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint David's day. K. Henry I wear it for a memorable honour, For I am Welsh you know, good countryman. Fluellen is a most attractive character. He has a great respect for antiquity and his talk is often of "the true and ancient prerogatives and laws of war." He is generous-minded and ev.»n accepts the braggart words of Pistol until Gower shows him how worthless they really are. H«<= valour and stricr sense of duty do not prevent him from having a delightful sense of humou", made evident, for example, in his description or Bardolph his face is all buckles, and whelks, and knobs, and flames o' fire and his lips flows at his nose and it is like a coal of fire, sometimes blue and sometimes red; but his nose is executed and his fire's out." The quarrel that arises between Fluellen and the soldier William makes evident another aspect of Fluellen's character; kindness of heart and ready generosity. His temper is normal again almost before it is roused so that he says "By this day and this light the fellow has mettle enough in his pelly. Hold, there is twelve pence for you." The most familiar incident connected with Fluellen is, of course, the eating of the leek by Pistol, who has insulted the Welshman­" is come to me, and prings me bread and salt yester- day, look you, and bid me eat my leek." The revenge of Fluellen is complete. So we find Fluellen very truly Welsh in his enthusiasm for a national custom. The words of Gower after his friend had gone are an interesting commentary on the value of a national custom such as that of wearing the leek. He is addressing Pistol: "Will you mock at an ancient tradition, begun upon an honourable aspect, and worn as a memor- able trophy of predeceased valour? Henceforth let a Welsh correction teach you a good English condition." In 'his case at least, the leek has ascendancy over the daffodil. Fluellen's English has the same peculiarities as are evident in the speech of Sir Hugh Evans in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Both use the phrase "look you" and this is presumably the origin of the idea, current among English people that "look you" and "whatever" are expletives indiscriminately used by the Welsh. Strict grammar is a closed book to Fluellen and Sir Hugh, so that their speech is full of errors such as "is make," more better," "I will description the matter," "I will desires." But criticism of this aspect of their speech is pedantry and one is content to enjoy its picturesque quality. Their pronunciation with its exaggerated representation of errors such as there is also another device in my prain, which peradventure prings goot dis- cretions with it," shows that Shakespeare at least knew of the Welsh language for the mistakes made by the Welsh characters are such as would not, inconceivably, be made by a modern Welsh- man with little knowledge of the English language. The character of Sir Hugh Evans is certainly the most important of Shakespeare's Welsh figures and the study is a more careful one. His con- nection with Dr. Caius in the comedy has tended to make him. in the estimation of some critics, a corrupter of words and little else. Actually he is drawn with insight and humour and he remains