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IWELSH ECHOES FROM : LONDON.…

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I WELSH ECHOES FROM LONDON. ■*V— — By Our Special Correspondent. LITERARY. XV WALES AT THR FOLK-I.ORK COXGKKSS. Wales had a fairly good show at the Folk-lore °°ngress. Two of the presidents of the sections contributed largely to the study of the science ? folk-lore in connection with the Principality— r,sfer to Mr E. Sidney Hartland, formerly of ^vansea, and to Professor John Rhys, of xtord. Mr Hartland, who now occupies the Ðost of Registrar of the County-court at Glou- ter, is the son of a. Welsh Nonconformist ninister. He takes immense interest in folk- e, and probably knows as much about the t e]sh -tilde of it as any Welshman living, Pro- es-or Rhys alone excepted. Not very long- ago e contvibntcd an admirable paper to the Qymmrodor on the "Physicians of Myddfai," he is the author of an excellent work the scientific aspect of folk lore. 8 opening address as president of the Folk-Tale ectlon, was altogether admirable, and his point IIf View is, to my mind, thoroughly worthy. He trlade candid confession that his interest in the j*lence of folk-lore would come to nought unless he believed that the traditions, alike of our fathers nd of the other nations of the world, contained, 4tld flight be made to yield up to the diligent "nquirer, information of the utmost value concern- rig. the primitive beliefs and practices of mankind. )f as the Athenceum points out, is a confession faItu that can be understood and appreciated, 'd Mr Hartland's clear enunciation of the prin- lples upon which it was founded cannot be "ndervalued. Professor Rhys, who presided the mythological, discussed brilliantly nd happily the history of mythology nJ its relation to language and race. The pro- esSOr s address was brimful of information and fruitful in suggestion. Wales again figured the conversazione which the members of the ngress held at the hall of the Mercers' Com- Pany iu Cheapside. We had neither mumming P ays nor feasten cakes to produce, but we put in appearance with harp and melody. Miss j*wenllian Williams piesided at the former Mr dward Owen and Miss Katie Thomas (winner the two soprano prizes at the Swansea isteddvod, who has recently joined the Royal cademy of Music) interpreted the latter. CELTIC TALKS. h But although we thus made a fairly good. s ow at the Congress, Wales does not take Very high position in the world of folk- Joseph Jacobs, the editor of l' Folk-Lore," to whose English Fairy ales" I referred last year, has just rven us a collection of Celtic Tales (D. Nutt). n the preface he points out that Ireland began to Collect hor folk-tales almost as early as any \1ntry in Europe, and Croker (her first collector) *3 found a whole school of successors in Carleton, ^nffin, Kennedy, Curtin, and Douglas Jtlyde. °°tland had the great name of Campbell, and still efficient followers in MacDougall, Jaclnnes, Carmichael, Macleod, and Campbell of Tiree. Gal la nt little Wales, he adds, has no atne to rank alongside these, and he suggests at the Eisteddvod might remove the inferiority y offering prizes for the collection of Welsh ° k-tales. (As a matter of fact it may be stated ftt the Eisteddvod has already done as much, though not with any very substantial result.) a his notes and references Mr Jacobs takes careto JjJention Professor Rhys's collection of Welsh Fairy In the early volume3of "YCymmrodor,"and ll't Sikes' garnering in "British Goblins," ether with the scattered anecdotes, fables, and tales that may be found in the t Mabinogion, tha Tolo MSS., the "Greal," and he "Cambrian Quarterly (1830-31) but on the he is not at all satisfied with his" find tI in d' e Welsh field. He has, however, made one I,very which Welshmen will regard with 1J(ed feelings. He believes that ho has settled the origin of the legend of Beddgelert, and alas "ds that in its present form it is not yet quite a hntury old There was a man who killed a ound (y (jut a kiddodd ei vilgi) at some remote J>eriod, but it was Edward Jones (Bardd y renhill) who applied (in a note in the second edition of his "Musical Relicks") the general legend to the dog Cylart, and located it at Bedd- Relert. The truth must be told though the heavens fall still it saddens one when telling in- volves, as in this instance, a destroyal. Jacobs'tale of "Both is a para- phrase on the well-known poem of the Hon. W. Spencer, "Beth Gelert, or the Grave of the greyhound," first printed privately as a broad- sheet in 1800. The other Welsh tales in the book Delude the "Shepherd of Myddfai," "The Brewery of Egg- 8talls." The author dedicates his book to his fr'ieiid, "Alfred Nutt," to whose wide knowledge 111 all branches of Celtic Folk-Lore he acknow- ledges his indebtedness. It seems strange, but it ) none the less true. that the study of Celtic literature is attracting to itself some of the brightest minds of England and the Continent. ould that there were a corresponding desire to faster its intricacies, and to possess its charm *Daontrst the people of our own country. JOTTINGS. Mr Ellis J. Griffith, who went on a tour to Persia last July, has boen suffering at Teheran from a severe attack of fever. Fortunately he a.s carefully and tenderly nursed at the American legation, and is now happily recovering. The Jrnag-inatin correspondent who not long ago ap- ])ûÎllte(( h Griffith "legal adviser to the Shah (If Persia at a comfortable salary," has recently been settling the legal adviser's" matrimonial affairs. There is an elasticity of imagination this correspondent's paragraphing that *>mply charms the unsophisticated. It is probable that Mr Griffith will return to England before tnl1,ny months are over, and notwithstanding the attractions of Teheran, resume his place and at least, I learn on very good authority that the Liberals of Everton have not Siven up the expectation that he will 1iht their battle at the coming election. It will be remembered that some months ago Professor Rhys delivered a series of lectures in Scotland on the Early Ethnology of the British Isles." They were published in the "Scottish Review," a somewhat inaccessible periodical which only occasionally finds its way down South. I am informed that a few copies of the lectures have been struck off in pamphlet form. If so, there should be a run on them. I hear that the Marquess of Bute, who, with the Marchioness, will attend the Mayor's ball a.t the Mansion House on Thursday night, is giving dinner earlier in the evening, at which the Lord Mayor-elect (Air Alderman Evans) is Principal guest.

RIGHT OF WAY AT NEWPORT.

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