The London Welshman

DIWYGIAD v. REVIVAL." An amateur of words has been inquiring with scientific nicety into the precise meaning of the Welsh term Diwygiad," and its unequal corres- pondence to the English equivalent "Revival." He offers (writes Mr. Ernest Rhys) for the better rendering in English several words which would do to translate this household word "Diwygiad," and among them reform (the Reform Bill of 1832 was called "Ysgrif y Diwygiad" in Wales), reformation, correction, revision, amendment, cultivation, and expiation. The sixteenth century Reformation is called "Y Diwygiad," and Gwallter Mechain spoke of .91 the great reformer of that day, John Wicliff, as Seren ddydd y Diwygiad "—that is, the Morning Star of the Reformation. In the Welsh laws, as promulgated by Howel Dda, it is used in the sense of making amends for a crime. In another and very common use it is a slip off the word diwyg," which means dress or garb, or the habit or fashion of a man's dress, or his plight or bearing. Mewn diwyg da" stands for the familiar English idiom in good plight." And if we were to use in Welsh he common expression—borrowed, no doubt, Ifrom the highly compact slang vocabulary of Newmarket—"in good form," the same words precisely would be the nearest rendering for it. In fact, Diwygiad is a word of many colours and meanings, and boasting a great literary history, although it is in mere phonic effect by no means among the most euphonious.

GORONWY OWEN AND NORTHOLT. Everything connected with Goronwy Owen must excite the interest of all lovers of the literature of Wales. A correspondent has sent to the Welsh edition of the Manchester Guardian an account of a visit which he paid to Northolt, where poor Goronwy lived just a hundred and fifty years ago. His life had been full of bitter disappointments and troubles at Oswestry, Don- nington, and Walton, and he went to Northolt in the hope of finding peace on a stipend of £ 50 a year. The circumstances of his going are thus described :— The Cymmrodorion Society had been founded in 1751, and in its list of 1754 the Rev. Gronow Owen, curate of Walton, Lancashire, figures as a corresponding member. William Vaughan, of Corsygedol (" lie hiliwyd Ilu o haelion sang the poet) was chief president, and Richard Morris, of the Navy Office, was president. Lewis Morris and William Morris were among the members, and Goronwy was bard of the Society. In the early days of the Society Lewis Morris wrote its statutes, Goronwy translated them into vigorous Welsh Lewis Morris com- posed the song which was sung at the election of members, and Goronwy wrote the Society's dedicatory poem in the four and twenty measures." Mae Llundain yn rhedeg yn ei ben," wrote William Morris of the poet about this time, and shortly afterwards Goronwy, writing to the Rev. Hugh Williams from Walton (dated April 15, 1775) said "Ond am hynny mi fedraf ddywedyd ichwi 'rwan pie byddaf pan elwyf yno yn gyntaf, sef, at Mr. Andrew Jones's, in Bread-street Hill, near Cheapside, London." But he had ever been a man of disappointments the project for a Welsh Church fell through for the time being, probably for want of funds. So it happened that he found himself in the direst penury in his garret in Bread-street Hill, where he wrote the "Arwyrain y Nenawr," in which with a note of resigned humour he alludes to the "elevation" of the priest. From this new distress he was rescued by Dr. Nicolls, at the instance of the Morrises, it is sometimes thought, and May of the year 1755 found him settled at Northolt. From his own description of Northolt, the place must then have looked very like modern Northolt. It must have seemed like a haven of peace to Goronwy after the troubles that had beset him at Walton. Recently I had heard of a suggestion that a tablet might be put up to the memory of Goronwy in Northolt, and I walked out to the village for the purpose of re- constructing, as the French say, the life he led there. The Rev. Robert Jones, vicar of All Saints', Rotherhithe, his biographer and editor, had done so in 1878 for much the same purpose, and I am the more surprised that he should have failed to record an interesting link in the chain of circumstances which led Goronwy to Northolt. The present incumbent, the Rev. George Edmundson, kindly allowed me to look at the ancient parish registers. Both he and the lord of the manor take a deep in- terest in the history of the parish, so we found our way to Goronwy's period without difficulty. The entries in his bold, plain handwriting were numerous, but the following one was par- ticularly interesting :— 1755.—Andrew Jones, of the parish of St. Nicholas Olave, London, widower, and Margaret Rice, of this parish, spinster, were married in this church by licence this 25th day of September, 1755, by me, Gronow Owen. This marriage was solemnised between us, Andw. Jones and Margaret Rice, in the presence of Nathanol Nichols and Elinor Owen. The last-named is of course the-poet's wife, who writes in a somewhat faltering hand. Into the identities of Margaret Rice and Nathanol Nichols I have not been able to go, but their names suggest that Goronwy and his friend Owen Williams (the gardener whom he nick- named Adam) were not the only representatives of the Principality in the village. But the point of main interest lies in "Andrew Jones, of the parish of St. Nicholas Olave, Lon- don." The church of St. Nicholas Olave for- merly stood in Bread Street Hill. It was destroyed in the Great Fire, and was not rebuilt, but the burial ground is there to-day. The inference I draw is that Andrew Jones, mentioned in Goronwy's letter to the Rev. Hugh Williams, was the Andrew Jones who married Margaret Rice. It seems not un- reasonable to suppose that Goronwy's appoint- ment to Northolt may have been primarily due to information of the vacancy being con- veyed to him by Andrew Jones, then courting Margaret Rice at Northolt. I followed in Goronwy's steps to the winding Brent where he fished for trout, to the church where, as he says, his labours consisted of one sermon on Sundays and service only on about eight or nine feast days. I looked on the giant mulberry tree, in the shade of which he sat and wrote, and took tea in the village inn, where I think he lodged. At every step I was reminded by a phrase of the little black-haired, black bearded man," as tradition describes him, beset on all sides by care and temptation. I was reminded of the appeal to Mr. Parry, Deputy Comptroller of the Royal Mint, in the Cywydd y Gwahawdd," in which he says :— Dithau ni fynni deithiaw, 0 dref hyd yn Northol draw. There is too the Cywydd y Crefion Byd," in which he tells of the dire poverty which beset him at Northolt; and there are the letters which brought about a rupture between him and Richard Morris, ending with one from Goronwy opening with "Sir" and accompanying some borrowed books and the gift of a pair of pigeons, which (unlucky bard !) went bad and spoilt the books. The last glimpse I had of him was that afforded by a final glance at the register, where, under the heading of "Baptisms," I found the following :— 1757, January 30. Owen, son of the Rev. Mr. Gronow Owen, and Ellin, his wife. Soon after this date his connection with Northolt ceased, and he left for America with borrowed money ahd a contribution from the Cymmrodorion. Some seven of his poems were composed at Northolt.

of the sixth century, took refuge in it to escape the ravages of a plague that raged throughout the country. But the yellow pestilence found THE HAPPY VALLEY. him out in his refuge, as had been foretold by Taliesin in the following words :— 'E ddaw pry rhyfedd 0 forfa Rhianedd I ddial anwiredd At Faelgwn Gwynedd A'i flew a'i ddannedd A'i lygaid yn euredd A hyn wna ddiwedd Ar Faelgwn Gwynedd. According to the story, Maelgwn looked through the keyhole, saw a yellow beast at the door, and died forthwith. We have no space to dwell upon the almost innumerable places of interest that may be reached from Llandudno in a very short time by either coach or rail. The tourist who desires sylvan beauty can go up the Vale of Conway as far as Trefriw and Bettws-y-Coed; he who prefers historical spots can visit Conway Castle and Plasmawr and the mountaineer can climb the slopes of Eryri. To he who prefers an hotel to private apart- ments or boarding houses we can strongly recommend the St. George's Hotel; the pro- prietor is Mr. Thomas P. Davies, whose desire is always to give his guests a truly Welsh welcome.