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Notes from South Wales.
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Notes from South Wales. (From our Special Correspondent.) Welsh Society for Newport. Cardiff has already a strong Welsh Society- the Cymmrodorion. The Welshmen of New- port have now woke up and started what pro- mises to be a vigorous Cymric Society. It is another sign of the growth of Celtic enthusiasm in South Wales. Swansea is also moving. Monmouthshire a Welsh County. Some people maintain that Monmouthshire is not a Welsh county. Such a contention is absurd, nay, it is, as the editor of the Cardiff Weekly Mail observed in a recent article, a sign of ignorance. The county of Monmouth is generally Welsh in sentiment, the place names are Welsh, there are scores of chapels in which the services are conducted in Welsh, and Welsh is still spoken by thousands of its inhabitants. As late as 90 years ago Welsh was the pre- dominant language in even cosmopolitan New- port, and according to a chronicler of the period whose works I read the other day, the old Welsh costume was worn by a large number of the inhabitants of the Uskside town. Cutting. Mr. Lloyd George, in one of his recent public speeches in South Wales, fittingly de- scribed the Cardiff Stipendiary's impertinent attitude towards the local Passive Resisters when he said, It was undignified insolence not worthy of the dignity of even a police court." The sarcasm of the last portion of the sentence is particularly cutting and very appropriate. Something like Potatoes. According to a local weekly journal, Mr. Ernest Ince Allen, of Clarbeston Grange, Pem- brokeshire, has dug up from two potatoes which were given to him, no less than 93 potatoes, of which three only were bad. Seventy of the potatoes weighed 24 lbs. Mr. Allen, it is added, does not know what variety of potato it is. Latin Translation. I understand that Professor J. Young Evans, of Trevecca College, has translated the beautiful old Welsh hymn, "Bydd myrdd o Ryfeddodau," into Latin. The translation is considered by experts to be a remarkably good one. The translation originally appeared in the Aberyst- wyth College Magazine. Sunday Night Concerts. I understand that sacred concerts are being arranged for on Sunday nights at one of the Swansea theatres. As they are to be held after the termination of the usual services in the churches, they ought to be supported by the townspeople generally. There are thousands of people thronging the public thoroughfares on Sunday nights, and it would be much better to see them assembled in a public building, enjoying elevating music in preference to jostling one another about the pavements. Old Welsh Ballads. I spent an hour the. other evening in looking over a collection of Welsh ballads. One on "Plant Die Shon Dafydd" was particularly interesting. I have a vague recollection of hearing it sung at one of the fairs in Cardigan- shire many years ago. Here is the first verse Chwi hoff feibion Gomer, gwrandewch bob yr un, Agorwch eich llygaid, a gwelwch eich llun; Mae'n hiaith yn ymgymysg, o dyna i chwi gam, Nes ydym bron colli yn llwyr iaith ein mam. Then came the chorus as follows Truenus y gwaith, truenus y gwaith, Fod achos i Gymro i wadu ei iaith Then follow several specimens of English- Welsh," and although some critics may describe them as "silly," they contain a good deal of truth, and are still specially adapted for a certain class of Welshmen, particularly in some of the fashionable Welsh seaside resorts :— Y teiliwr eisteddai gan yfed ei gin, A broliai ei Saesneg yn debyg i hyn I been out in trampo, how far I can't tell, I been out in Bristol and London am spell. I see great rhyfeddod in London one day. A something like lion was running away The people was frightened, and I was run fath, The same as llygoden afraid of a cath. Truenus y gwaith, &c." Welsh Bands at the Palace. It was expected in Welsh musical circles that Welsh bands would give a good account of themselves at the Crystal Palace competitions on Saturday, but the results were not very gratifying from the Cymric standpoint. In the competition for the 1,000 guinea challenge cup the Aberaman band was 9th and Ferndale loth, out of 25 competitors. Ferndale has done so well in Welsh and provincial band competitions this year that a much better result than tenth place out of twenty-five competitors had been anticipated. Epigram on the Peacock. Here is a Welsh epigram on the peacock :— Pen neidr, Cerddediad lleidr, Golwg angel, a llais y cythraul." Freely translated it would be The model of a serpent's head he shows, And like a thief with wary steps he goes; He has an angel's form, but sad to tell, His cries are echoes from the depths of hell. Et Tu, Brute! Readers of the LONDON WELSHMAN well remember how Welsh Nonconformists supported the Irish Home Rule Bill of the late Mr. Glad- stone. I could name many Nonconformist ministers in Cardiganshire, for example, who sacrificed many personal friendships and suffered financially in order to support the Irish cause. And how do many Irish Home Rulers recipro- cate ? On Sunday last, for example, there was a mass meeting of Irish Home Rulers in Cardiff, and one of the prominent speakers referred to the Cardiff Nonconformist Passive Resisters as Holy Joes." The remark was vigorously applauded. Talk about base ingratitude Base is not the word for it. Brutal would be the proper expression. Cheap Sneers. One can understand why supporters of eccle- siastical autocracy sneer at the Nonconformist Conscience," but that any working man-and the Irish meeting just alluded to was principally attended by working men-should do so is unpardonable. Why, it is to the "Noncon- formist conscience that the working men of to-day owe every liberty they possess. As Mr. Lloyd-George, M.P., remarked at the World's Baptist Conference in London last summer, if there had been no Nonconformists, there would have been no House of Commons. It was the Nonconformists that opened the way for civil and religious liberties, and had there been no Nonconformists, we should to-day be governed in precisely the same way as Russia is governed. Every man who values liberty, be he Anglican, Roman Catholic, or Jew ought to speak well of the Nonconformist Conscience." And par- ticularly in Wales.
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The Agents for The London Welshman in North and South Wales are— Messrs. DAWSON & SONS, Ltd., and Messrs. W. H. SMITH & SONS. Copies can be obtained at any railway bookstall if a standing Order is given to the Clerk in charge.
TAITH DRWY OHIO.
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TAITH DRWY OHIO. Gan Ellenor Williams, Castle Street. Nos Iau aethum i gyfeillach yr Annibynwyr- Tybiwn fod ysbryd y diweddar Dr. George Lewis, Llanuwchllyn, wedi disgyn arnom. Ni chlywais gymaint o dduwinyddiaeth er's llawer dydd mewn cyfeillach. Yn y cwrdd hwnnw cefais y fraint o gwrdd a'r Parch. Abraham Jones, Vaughansville. Treuliais y Sul olaf o Orphenaf rhwng Hubbard a Sharon. Cwrdd Cymraeg oedd y bore, a Seisnig y prydnawn, pan oedd yr eglwysi yn uno; a rhaid i mi ddweyd fod hwnnw yn un o'r cyrddau hynotaf y bum ynddo. Digwyddodd fod yn y cwrdd deuluoedd oedd wedi bod yn byw mewn afrad- lonedd a phechodau cyhoeddus, ond wedi cael troedigaeth hollol, ac yr oedd eu clywed yn diolch am y "Gwaed "a dylanwad y "Groes" sydd yn codi dynion o lwch y llawr yn un or pethau mwyaf effeithiol a glywais erioed. Yr oedd y bobl hynny yn gyfoethogion yr ardal, ond yn cyfrif yr oil yn ddim er mwyn Crist. Darfu y Parch. Tracey, gweinidog y Bedyddwyr Seisnig, ein cynorthwyo. Drwg genym fod amryw o'r hen Gymry yn wael eu hiechyd-Henry Bevis, William Jones ac eraill. Gwelais yr hen frawd J. Probert yno wrth ei faglau. Yn South Sharon, yn lie y Parch. Owen Thomas, yr oeddwn y nos, a dyna barchus ydyw Mr. Thomas yn yr hen ardaloedd lie y magwyd ef. Mrs. Thomas hefyd sydd Gymraes o Red Oak. Mae rhag- olygon y bydd gan y Cymry eglwys gref yn South Sharon. Mae yr ysgol Sul yn rhifo tros ddau gant a haner, a'r neuadd fawr yn llawn nos Sul. Nid yw y melinau yn myned yn fywiog, felly bydd yn gryn faich i adeiladu y capel hardd sydd ar droed, ond diau y daw Cymry America fel arfer i roddi help llaw. Mae dyfodol i South Sharon. Fy nghartref yn Sharon oedd gyda Mr. a Mrs. John Devereux. Cyn gadael Ohio yr oedd genyf i anerch nos Lun yn Weathersfield, gyda'r Trefnyddion Calfin- aidd Cludwyd a chartrefwyd fi gan deulu hoff William Jones. Mawr y clod deilynga yr ychydig deuluoedd Cymreig sydd yn aros yn y lie am ddal i gario Arch Duw. Seisnig oedd y cwrdd, ond yr oedd yno ddegau a bobl ieuainc wedi dod i'r oedfa. Onid yw yn well i ddal y bobl ieuainc gyda chrefydd yn hytrach nag ymrafaelio ar gwestiwn yr iaith, a chau y capelau a gadael y bobl ieuainc i fyned yn ysglyfaeth i chwareuon gwag yr oes. Nos Fercher yr oeddwn yn gorphen fy nghenadaeth yn Niles. Cwrdd hyfryd iawn oedd hwnw-y capel yn llawn. Y Parch. David Evans ydyw gweinidog y Bedyddwyr yn y lie. Siaradwyd gan lawer yn yr ail gwrdd, yn eu plith yr hen frawd Cadwaladr Richards o Church Hill, un o feibion dewr Llanuwchllyn un o hen deulu Bryn Gwyn gynt, a'i briod yn ferch i David a Mary Jones y Penrhyn. Bu C. Richards yn byw yn hir yn Utica, N.Y. Arweiniwyd y canu yn Niles gan James Thomas, Ysw. Yn y cwrdd yr oedd Mr. a Miss Thomas mam a chwaer yr Anrh. W. Aubrey Thomas, Seneddwr o Dalaeth Ohio. Gofynodd y teulu i mi fyned adref gyda hwy, ond yr oeddwn eisoes wedi addaw myned i aros at Mrs. Evans, Mill street, ond cyn gadael Niles telais ymweliad a Bryn Hyfryd, cartref y Cymro sydd wedi dringo i safle mor urddasol. Gobeith- iai Mr. Thomas fod i fewn i lunch, ond galwyd am dano gan foneddwr. Dyna groesaw gefais yn y palas-Mrs. Thomas fel brenines yn siarad Cymraeg glan, a Miss Thomas yn dweyd y gallai ddarllen y Beibl yn Gymraeg. Dyna lie terfyn- odd fy nghenadaeth yn Ohio. Gadewais Youngstown am Johnstown, ond cyn gadael cefais anwyd. Teimlais anhawsder mawr i deithio, da oedd cael dod adref i orphwys. Nis anghofiaf garedigrwydd Mrs. Frank Edwards a Mrs. William Jones, Punxutawney, Pa., yn myned gyda mi yr holl ffordd i'r station y boreu y gadewais Youngstown. Yn Johnstown, Pa., a Pittsburg yr wyf i fod ar hyd mis Medi.