~ . im aon Cee ai en Be y See 4 et i i Gly e eS ne ABERYSTWYTH STUDIES BY ee MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES VoL. XI _ PRICE THREE SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE NETT _ PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES _ PRESS BOARD ON BEHALF OF THE COLLEGE Ba 1929 ~ UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES ; ABERYSTWYTH Vol. XI niversity Gotlege of Wates Hberystwyth. [ES With the Academic Secretary's Compliments. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES ABERYSTWYTH Vol. XI ABERYSTWYTH STUDIES VOL. XI ABERYSTWYTH STUDIES BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES VOL. XI | ‘PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES : PRESS BOARD ON BEHALF OF THE COLLEGE 1929 Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and Londen CONTENTS 3 PAGE: ‘WILLIAM WILSON’? AND THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE. By Grorce H. GREEN, M.A., Ph.D., B.Litt. i, THE CELTIC STRATUM IN THE PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA. By O. K. Scoram, M.A., Ph.D. . 23: DIALECTS AND _ BILINGUALISM. By Professor’ T. Gwynn JONES, M.A. : : ; : : : R 43. AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES. By A. PrNsent, M.A., B.Sc. 5 ‘ . AD CORYDON AND THE CICADAE: A CORRECTION. By Professor H. J. Rost, M.A., and Miss WINSTANLEY, M.A. . 7D MUSEUM | 27 JAN 30 | NATURAL | “WILLIAM WILSON’ AND THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE ‘THE supposition that the book of an author is a thing apart from the author’s self is, I think, ill-founded. The soul is a cipher, in the sense of a cryptograph ; and the shorter a cryptograph is, the more difficulty there is in its comprehension—at a certain point of brevity it would bid defiance to an army of Champollions. And thus he who has written very little, may in that little either conceal his spirit or convey quite an erroneous idea of it—of his acquirements, talents, manner, tenor and depth (or shallowness) of thought—in a word, of his character, of himself. But this is impossible with him who has written much. Of such a person we get, from his books, not merely a just, but the most just representation. . .. What poet, in especial, but must feel at least the better portion of himself more fairly represented in even his commonest sonnet (earnestly written), than in his most elaborate or most intimate personalities ?’ Thus Poe writes in the essay on ‘Sarah Margaret Fuller,’ one of the Literati papers which he contributed to Godey’s Lady’ s Book during the year 1846 ; and what he says is sufficient warrant for the attempt to treat his story ‘ William Wilson’ as a cipher or cryptogram from which we may learn at least as much of the man as we may hope to do from the records of his life which have come down to us. On this particular story, ‘ William Wilson,’ Padraic Colum ! makes an interesting comment. After presenting a list of Poe’s greatest stories with the statement that these are amongst the world’s best examples of this literary form, he adds :—‘ “‘ William Wilson ”’ is perhaps the least impeccable of these tales ; one notices a certain staginess here—a theatricality that flaunts out in the Note.—In this essay the text of ‘ William Wilson’ which has been followed is that of the ‘Everyman’ Edition of the Tales of Mystery and Imagination (London: Messrs. J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.). The page references are to this edition. 1 Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, with an introduction by Padraic Colum (Everyman Library. London: Messrs. J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.), p. xii. 1 2 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE speech of the last encounter.’ The criticism is a just one, and the theatricality detracts from the merit of the story. How comes it that the blemish was not visible to Poe himself ? The obvious reply, that all men are a little blind to their own faults, does not apply here. Poe was unusually aware of weak- nesses in his own work, and constantly revised and altered it. The Philosophy of Composition, though it fails to explain—as it purports to explain—exactly how ‘The Raven’ was written, at least proves that Poe’s examination and criticism of his own work was so thorough that he was able to justify plausibly every element of it. We know, too, from Ingram’s memoir, that Poe revised ‘ William Wilson’ more than once. The theatricality, however, remained. : A certain degree of theatricality appeared in Poe’s behaviour at times when he was emotionally stirred. ‘His conversation was at times almost supra-mortal in its eloquence. His voice was modulated with astonishing skill, and his large and variably expressive eyes looked repose or shot fiery tumult into theirs who listened, while his own face glowed, or was changeless in pallor, as his imagination quickened his blood or drew it back frozen to his heart.’ 2 Griswold’s statement can be amply confirmed by evidence from other sources. Yet, though theatricality came easily to Poe in moments of even mild excitement, he is able, in his most perfect stories, to treat terrible and even horrible themes with an apparent calm which enhances their terror and horror. The theatricality of treatment, that is to say, is refined away till it no longer exists. We may justifiably regard ‘ William Wilson,’ therefore, as a story in which the operation of the creative imagination has come to an end, but one which is as yet un- finished, inasmuch as the final elaborations of literary technique have not been applied to it. And hence those who seek per- fection and finish of craftsmanship will turn to ‘ Ligeia’ (which Poe regarded as his own best tale) to ‘ The Cask of Amontillado ’ or to ‘ The Pit and the Pendulum’; whilst those who are curious 1 Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters and Opinions. By John H. Ingram (London: John Hogg, 1880), Vol. I, p. 15. Re-issued in the Minerva Library (London: Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co., 1891), p. 12. * Rufus Griswold : Memoir of Edgar Allan Poe, prefaced to the Third Volume of the 1849 Edition of the Works of Edgar Allan Poe. THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 3: regarding the operations of the creative imagination will turn in the first instance to ‘ William Wilson.’ ‘William Wilson’ was published in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in August, 1839. In the earlier part of the same year Poe had compiled The Conchologist’s First Book, solely because he had to earn money. In 1839 he also published The Haunted Palace (afterwards introduced into The Fall of the House of Usher), The Man that was used up, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Conversation of Eiros and Charmian. Morella, too, was. published, though it had been written considerably earlier.! ‘William Wilson’ has attracted a great deal of attention from those who emphasise the didactic aspect of literature, since they have considered the tale to be an allegory depicting the struggles of an evil man with his conscience. Obviously the tale is this, and that Poe deliberately intended it to be so is. suggested by the fact that he prefaces the whole with a quotation from Chamberlayne’s Pharronida :— ‘What say of it? What say of CONSCIENCE grim, That spectre in my path ?’ The persons of the story are two in number: the hero, William Wilson, the narrator, and his ‘ double,’ who is a personification or objectivation of conscience. The story deals with the long conflict between the two, from the day when they enter the school at Stoke Newington, to that on which, many years. alter, they meet and fight a duel, and the double is killed. Evidently the story raises a number of problems. There is, for example, the question of why Poe should personify “ con- Science ’ in this particular way, rather than in another. There is the further question of the way in which the creative imagina- tion has operated in order to produce this particular figure : from what materials and by what methods. There is the very important question of the relation of the man’s life to his works, which must always propound itself when those works are so obviously bizarre as those of Poe. Apparently, then, ‘ William Wilson ’ offers itself as a crytograph—to use Poe’s own illustra- tion—which may, if we can discover the way it should be read, help us to answer these questions. If Poe’s own reasoning be 1 Hervey Allen: Israfel: the Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1927), Vol. II, p. 453. \ 4 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE sound, the very bizarre character of the puzzle should make it easier of solution.! It is in the first place remarkable that Poe should head his tale with a quotation in which conscience is personified in a way altogether different from that which is followed in the story. In ‘ William Wilson’ conscience is not a spectre in the path: as will be shown in what follows, the ‘double’ who stands for the narrator’s conscience assumes a number of roles, but none of them corresponds to Chamberlayne’s image. This is, of itself, interesting. Was Poe unaware of the discrepancy between story and quotation ? Or does he realise it, but feel that the story and the quotation, taken together, express more completely what he is trying to say than either of them taken singly can do%... These are questions that cannot be definitely answered, though the study of the story may perhaps make one answer more probable than others. With a view to clearing up some of the issues raised by the fact that Poe personifies conscience in a very definite way, a number of people were asked ‘‘ Has this question any meaning for you— ‘ How would you personify conscience ?’”’ A very few at once said ‘ No,” and the matter was pursued no farther. The general replies received took one of two forms ; those questioned replying that though they no longer personified conscience, they could remember having done so in childhood, or that though they could not remember ever having personified it, their experience of it made personification fairly easy. One woman said that conscience had always seemed to her like a dragon standing between her and everything she wished to do, and this image is fairly close to that of Chamberlayne. A man spoke of his experience of the operations of conscience as being “ as if someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me back from what I was going to do.’”’ A woman said that conscience was like a com- panion, older and more experienced than herself, who held her by the arm and gently forced her out of the direction she was taking of her own accord. Another woman spoke of an old man, with grey hair and beard, who stood before her, appearing to be grieved and disappointed on account of something she had done. A man said that conscience appeared to him as a 1 See Poe’s Introduction to his story, ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue,’ Tales of Mystery and Imagination, ‘Everyman’ Edition, pp. 378-81. THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 5 stern but kindly man who warned him of the consequences of the act he was about to commit, and threatened him with punish- ment if he should persist. In one case only was conscience personified as a ‘double’; and here a man stated that when he was in a state of indecision regarding actions, he sometimes seemed to become aware of himself, sneering and with folded arms, watching himself, with a great deal of amusement, ‘‘ about to make a fool of myself.’ Waguer references were made by some of the subjects to warning voices and watching eyes. Turning to other writers than Poe who have personified conscience in various ways, we find in Gifford’s translation of Juvenal’s satires the following :— ‘Trust me, no tortures which the poets feign, Can match the fierce, the unutterable pain, He feels, who night and day, devoid of rest, Carries his own accuser in his breast.’ This personification recalls the proverb, ‘ It is always term time in conscience court,’ in which conscience is implicitly identified with the figure of a judge. In Publilius it is represented as a man bridling a horse— Frencs imponit linguae conscientia.’ For Wordsworth conscience is God : “Conscience reverenced and obeyed As God’s most intimate presence in the soul.’ } Wolcot (Peter Pindar) represents it less impressively : “Conscience, a terrifying little sprite, That batlike winks by day and wakes by night.’ ? In Grace Abounding Bunyan narrates his experience of hearing a voice from Heaven addressing him, so that he ‘ was, as if I had, with the eyes of my understanding, seen the Lord Jesus looking down upon me, as being very hotly displeased with me, and as if He did severely threaten me with some grievous punishment.’? St. Paul, too, gives accounts of conflicts he experienced, describing these as struggles between the ‘old man’ and the ‘new man.’ Socrates, too, spoke at times of a daemon within him who advised him. Nietzsche’s description of the ‘ bad conscience ’ recalls Poe’s in some respects, though it differs completely from it in others : 1 Wordsworth: The Hxcursion, Book IV. 2 The Lousiad, Canto 2. 3 John Bunyan: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (London : The Religious Tract Society), p. 25. 6 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE ‘It was man, who, lacking external enemies and obstacles, and imprisoned as he was in the oppressive narrowness and monotony of custom, in his own impatience lacerated, persecuted, gnawed, frightened, and ill-treated himself; it was this animal in the hands of the tamer, which beat itself against the bars of its cage; it was this being who, pining and yearning for that desert home of which it had been deprived, was compelled to create out of its own self, an adventure, a torture-chamber, a hazardous and perilous desert.’ 1 Some few years back, before efforts had been made to erect a structure of psychology upon scientific foundations, conscience was regarded as known universally to men through direct experi- ence, and its definition appeared to be a simple matter. The position to-day is different, since it appears that the experiences. which were regarded as manifestations of conscience are ana- lysable and capable of being related to other experiences. McDougall’s attitude towards the problem is probably repre- sentative : ‘I do not maintain that conscience is an emotion, nor that any judg- ments, propositions, categories, ideas, notions, or concepts, are emotions, or can be analysed into emotion. But I maintain that conscience is identical with the whole moral personality, with moral character; that moral character is always a very complex mental structure, slowly built up in the individual under the influence of the moral tradition.’ 2 _ Such a view as this enables us to approach the problems of ‘ William Wilson’ in a different way from that in which they would have been approached some years ago. For if conscience be ‘identical with the whole moral personality,’ then the experi- ence of knowing it as something apart from the rest of the per- sonality—which is obviously the case in those who tend to personify it—implies some degree of ‘ dissociation of person- ality ’: a matter upon which the researches of Dr. Morton Prince especially have thrown a great deal of light.? 1 Friedrich Nietzsche : The Genealogy of Morals. Trans. by Horace B. Samuel. (London: T. N. Foulis, 1910.) 2 William McDougall in The Hibbert Journal, Vol. XIX, No. 2, p. 294. Quoted by W. B. Selbie: The Psychology of Religion (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1924), p. 233. 3 Morton Prince: ‘ Awareness, Consciousness, Co-Consciousness and Animal Intelligence from the Point of View of the Data of Abnormal Psychology,’ Chapter X of Psychologies of 1925 (Worcester, Mass., U.S.A. Clark University Press, 1927). .See also My Life as Dissociated Personality, - by B. C. A., with an Introduction by Morton Prince (Boston : Richard G. Badger, 1909). THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 7 The enquiries referred to in an earlier paragraph, and the references given to the work of other authors, show clearly that Poe is not unique—probably not exceptional even—in experienc- ing mental conflicts in ways which lead him to personify con- science. The problem set us by * William Wilson ’ is the problem of a specific personification and its relation to personal experi- ences. We evade the issue rather than face it when we speak of it in general terms—when we say that ‘ William Wilson’ is merely an instance of the personification of conscience probably resulting from partial dissociation of personality. The problem before us is that of an unusual personification, of a specific dissociation. Enquiries showed that the personifications of conscience already enumerated bore a very definite relation to earlier experi- ences. The figure and face of the man who admonished and threatened one subject proved, on examination, to be derived very largely from a particular schoolmaster; the stern and kindly old man of another subject was in part the superintendent of a Sunday school attended in childhood. The person who plucked another subject from behind appears to be derived from the mother who rescued him from a dangerous situation, in infancy, in this particular manner. ‘The dragon who bars the way to desires is, again, apparently derived from the legend of St. George by a woman who seems, wittingly or unwittingly, to have identified her brother with St. George and her mother with the dragon. In every case, the choice of the representative figure is no matter of chance; but is determined by early experience. Something of this seems to have been suspected by Poe him- self, for in ‘ William Wilson’ he says, speaking of the ‘ double’ : ‘I discovered, or fancied I discovered, in his accent, his air and general appearance, a something which first startled, and then deeply interested me, by bringing to mind dim visions of my earliest infancy —wild, confused, and thronging memories of a time when memory herself was yet unborn. I cannot better describe the sensation which oppressed me than by saying that I could with difficulty shake off the belief of my having been acquainted with the being who stood before me, at some epoch very long ago—some point of the past even infinitely remote.’ } Unfortunately the majority of biographies are all but value- 1 “William Wilson,’ p. 11. 8 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE less for those who seek to discover in the early and formative years of life the beginnings of the achievements of the later years. The significant things in the lives of children are rarely recorded, and the scraps of narrative which appear in many biographies. as incidents of infancy are of dubious veracity, apparently either invented or edited till they are little better than mere inventions. The story of Poe’s childhood is little different from that of other great men—it is blank just where we most need it to be other- wise, and careful criticism has shown that a good deal of the little we have been told is probably untrue. For many years, practic- ally till Woodberry’s work appeared,! Poe’s biographers were content to put together a mass of uncritically considered material for the sake of presenting a particular point of view. Griswold’s ‘Memoir’ was an attempt to obtain revenge for a slight. Ingram and others were moved through indignation at the obviously scurrilous character of Griswold’s work to present a favourable picture of Poe. Baudelaire’s memoir of Poe was intended to present Poe in Baudelaire’s own image to the French public. Of late years, however, the careful sifting of the accumulated matter and the examination of a mass of documents only recently accessible have made possible fairly reliable reconstructions of parts of Poe’s life about which we previously knew little.2 But, even so, of the important early years we know next to nothing. Consequently we are forced to adopt a method which, though it cannot be applied with the precision of the methods of chemical and physical science, may nevertheless be regarded as scientific. Since investigation has shown us that we can trace back the personifications of conscience in men and women to first- or second-hand experience during the early years of life, we appear to be justified in assuming that it is highly probable that the origins of the ‘double’ of ‘ William Wilson’ could be found in the history of the early years of the life of Edgar Allan Poe, had we the complete records: and that, in the absence of such evidence, it is permissible for us to infer it, with considerable probability, from the personification itself. The probability of the correctness of our inferences will be increased, if we are 1 Woodberry: American Men of Letters—Edgar A. Poe (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1885); The Life of Edgar A. Poe, 2 vols. (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1910). — * Particularly Hervey Allen’s Israfel : the Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe (New York: George H. Doran, 1927). THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 9 able to confirm them in part from the scanty records of Poe’s childhood which we may accept with confidence; and from materials found in Poe’s works, other than ‘ William Wilson.’ We may expect that such an investigation will show us some- thing, not merely of the materials which have gone to the com- position of the ‘ double,’ but something also of the way in which they have been used: something, that is to say, of the creative imagination at work. Poe prefaces the story, which is written in the first person, with a number of apparently autobiographical details: all false. They are of a piece with the legend about himself which he utilises in other tales. ‘Hereditary wealth afforded me an education of no common order,’ he says at the beginning of ‘MS. Found in a Bottle,’ 1 the real truth being that his parents lived in extreme poverty and died penniless. In ‘ Berenice’ the legend is more detailed : ‘My baptismal name is Egaeus; that of my family I will not mention. Yet there are no towers in the land more time-honoured than my gloomy, grey, hereditary halls. Our line has been called a race of visionaries; and in many striking particulars—in the character of the family mansion . . . —in the fashion of the library chamber—and, lastly, in the very peculiar nature of the library’s contents, there is more than sufficient evidence to warrant the belief. The recollections of my earliest years are connected with that chamber, and with its volumes—of which latter I will say no more. Here died my mother. Herein I was born.’ 2 Other instances might be cited, showing how industriously Poe endeavours to affirm a particular legend about his birth— a story of distinguished ancestors, of hereditary wealth, of magnificent life and great attainments. Yet he admits memories. which take him back to a period earlier than his ‘ birth ’—“‘ aerial forms—of spiritual and meaning eyes—of sounds, musical yet: sad—a remembrance which will not be excluded ; a memory like a shadow, vague, variable, indefinite, unsteady; and like a shadow, too, in the impossibility of my getting rid of it while the sunlight of my reason shall exist.’ There can be little doubt— and the story of * Ligeia’ is strong confirmatory evidence—that the memories of which he speaks are memories of his own mother, who died before he was three years of age. It may be said without: 1 “MS. Found in a Bottle.’ Tales, ‘Everyman’ Edition, p. 258. 2 “Berenice,’ Ibid., p. 175. 2 MOGih, 10. NAS 10 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE injustice to Poe that he constantly, in his works, pretended erudition and scholarship which he did not possess, and which only an ‘education of an uncommon order’ would have given him. What education he received, in a tiny Scottish grammar- school, an English preparatory school, in the course of brief stays at the University of Virginia and at West Point, as well as in private schools in Richmond, Va., was provided through the bounty of John Allan: by wealth, that is to say, which was in no sense hereditary. Poe is not the only man who has lied about his early years or his education. Shelley lied to Godwin about his school career.! What is important to us, however, is not the fact of lying, but the function of the lie. What purpose does it serve? _ When, later, Poe enlisted in the American Army, he gave an age in excess of his real age, and a false name. Such lying is rational in character, and we can understand it, evenif we do not approve it. But in ‘ William Wilson’ he tells us, speaking of himself and his ‘double’: ‘assuredly if we had been brothers we must have been twins; for, after leaving Dr. Bransby’s, I casually learned that my namesake was born on the nineteenth of January, 1813, and this is a somewhat remarkable coincidence ; for the day is precisely that of my own nativity.’ 2 The date of Poe’s own birth has now been ascertained with certainty : it was the nineteenth of January, 1809, four years earlier, that is to say, than the date given in the story. In 1813 Poe was comfortably established in the Allans’ house in Richmond. His mother had been dead for a little more than a ~ year, his father, almost certainly, for a longer time. His elder brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, was living in Baltimore with relatives, and his baby sister, Rosalie, had been adopted by Scotch people of the name of Mackenzie and was living in Richmond. Poe makes his life begin, in ‘ William Wilson,’ at a time when he was completely cut off from the poverty-stricken family in which he originated. The falsification of the birth- date is, therefore, equally with the assumption of rich and titled ancestors, a repudiation of that family. To make Poe’s relation to the members of this family clear 1 The letter to Godwin is followed by the account of the real facts in Hogg’s Life of Shelley. Quoted by Arthur Ransome: Edgar Allan Poe: a Critical Study (London: Methuen & Co., 1915). 2 “William Wilson,’ Tales, p. 8. oe 0 = THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 1] a few dates are necessary.1 The elder brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, was born at some time in the summer or the early winter of 1807—most probably the latter—and was left in the care of his paternal grandparents at Baltimore. fPoe’s father, David Poe, disappeared in July, 1810, when Poe himself was about eighteen months old; it is extremely likely that he died shortly after, though on this point nothing is known with any certainty. On December 20, 1810, Mrs. Poe gave birth to a daughter, Rosalie ; and on December 8, 1811, died at Richmond. Apparently, then, Edgar Allan Poe never met his brother until, in 1825, William Henry Poe paid a visit to Richmond ; though between 1820 and 1825 the two boys had corresponded. But they knew of the existence of each other earlier than this, for in a letter written by Poe’s aunt in Baltimore the passage occurs : ‘Henry frequently speaks of his little brother and expresses a ereat desire to see him, tell him he sends his best love tohim. . . .”? We know, as a result of the work of Freud and his followers and collaborators, the important role played by the family situa- tion of the earliest years in determining the course of sub- sequent development.*? Studies have been made, too, which show that any great divergences from the normal family situation result in differences of development.* Certainly the early family situation of Poe was an unusual one, and we cannot doubt that it contributed much to his undoubtedly abnormal develop- ment. The early part of the story of ‘ William Wilson ’ is the narrative of Poe’s own schooldays at Stoke Newington. A great part of this account we know to be literally true. Poe describes the head- master under his own name, though he speaks of him as Dr. Bransby, instead of as the Reverend Mr. Bransby. It is there that the narrator meets his “ double,’ a boy who, born on the same day and bearing the same name and physical appearance, enters 1 These dates are taken from Hervey Allen’s work, Israfel : the Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe. 2 Hervey Allen, op. cit. Appendix IV, Poe’s Brother, p. 874. 3 See particularly Flugel: The Psycho-Analytic Study of the Family (London, Vienna, New York, The International Psycho-Analytical Press, 1921). 4 Malinowski, in Sex and Repression in Savage Society (London : Kegan Paul, 1927), has studied the differences produced by the matriarchal family organisation. But cases of abnormal development resulting from unusual family situations abound in psycho-analytic literature. A.S.—VOL. XI. B 12 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE the school on the same day. Then begins the conflict which endures till the ‘double’ is killed in a duel. The extraordinary resemblance of the two is vividly described in the final episode : * The brief moment in which I averted my eyes had been sufficient to produce, apparently, a material change in the arrangements at the upper or farther end of the room. A large mirror—so at first it seemed to me in my confusion—now stood where none had been perceptible before ; and, as I stepped up to it in extremity of terror, mine own image, but with features all pale and dabbled in blood, advanced to meet me with a feeble and tottering gait. Thus it appeared, I say, but was not. It was my antagonist—it was Wilson, who then stood before me in the agonies of his dissolution... . Not a thread in all his raiment—not a line in all the marked and singular lineaments of his face which was not, even in the most absolute identity, mine own!’ } Poe’s essay, ‘ The Philosophy of Furniture,’ deals in part with the décor of an ideal room. ‘There we read—‘* But one mirror— and this not a very large one—is visible. In shape it is nearly circular—and it is hung so that a reflection of the person can be obtained from tt im none of the ordinary sitting-places of the room.’ 2 Here is a very definite expression of Poe’s reluctance of seeing his own reflection in a mirror. In another place he makes objections to the fashion of his day of partly covering the walls of rooms with large mirrors—with mirrors, that is to say, in which full-length or nearly full-length images might be seen—and endeavours to make out a case against them on esthetic grounds. And in The Island of the Fay and The Fall of the House of Usher, both published within a few months of the appearance of ‘ William Wilson,’ Poe deals with the idea of disaster to an object owing to the action of water upon its reflection. Instances might be given from his works, too, showing an almost superstitious atti- tude towards shadows. ‘These fears of reflections and of shadows. remind us strongly of similar attitudes held by barbaric peoples. towards portraits, images, shadows, reflections—towards all repre- sentations, that is to say, of living men and women. 1 ‘William Wilson,’ p. 21. 2 Edgar Allan Poe: The Philosophy of Furniture. First published. in Burton’s Magazine, May, 1840, 1.e. about seven months after publication of ‘Wiliam Wilson.’ (Italics not in original.) 3 Poe has dealt with the case of a woman who fades away as her portrait is developing towards completion, and dies as it is finished. See ‘The Oval Portrait,’ Tales, p. 187. | THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 13: The difference between Poe and the member of a barbaric group is that whilst the latter definitely holds and confesses to a. superstitious belief, the former defends his objection to mirrors. on esthetic grounds. The net result of the two attitudes is the same : it leads to conduct which prevents the appearance of the disturbing reflection, and enables the subject to avoid the dreaded. consequences of the formation of his own image. Precisely what. circumstances of early childhood led Poe to form this superstitious. attitude towards mirrors we do not know, but it must be remem- bered that he was brought up in a Virginian household, surrounded. by superstitious negro slaves. Certainly, repression developed in Poe’s later life, since when he is writing against mirrors, he believes apparently that his objection to them is to the ‘ glitter ’ they introduce into decorative schemes. We are forced to believe: that he is himself unaware of the motive underlying his objection, which we discover as an inference from what he says.} In ‘ William Wilson ’ Poe dwells upon the singular resemblance. which exists between the narrator and his ‘ double,’ a resemblance: which is extended from physical appearance to actions by the ‘double’s ’ deliberate imitation. ‘ His cue, which was to perfect an imitation of myself, lay both in words and in actions; and most admirably did he play his part. My dress it was an easy matter to copy ; my gait and general manner were, without difficulty, appropriated ; in spite of his constitutional defect, even my voice did not escape him. My louder tones were, 1 Another interesting instance of Poe’s attitude towards superstitious. beliefs is given in a paragraph of a letter of Graham to W. F. Gill, one of Poe’s early biographers, under the date May 1, 1877: ‘He disliked the dark, and was rarely out at night when I knew him. On one occasion he said to me, “I believe that demons take advantage of the night to. mislead the unwary ’—“ although, you know,” he added, “I don’t believe in them.”’ ” Poe has used the theme of the mirror reflection in one of his minor stories, ‘ Mystification ’ (originally published in the American Monthly Magazine of June, 1837, under the title of ‘Von Jung: the Mystifier ’). Here a student who has been insulted explains that he is about to take an unusual course. He requests his adversary to ‘ consider, for an instant,, the reflection of your person in yonder mirror as the living Mynheer Hermann himself. This being done, there will be no difficulty whatever. I shall discharge this decanter of wine at your image in yonder mirror, and thus fulfil all the spirit, if not the exact letter, of resentment for your insult, while the necessity of physical violence to your real person. will be obviated.’ 14. THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE of course, unattempted, but then the key, it was identical; and his singular whisper, it grew the very echo of my own.’ 4 A glance through the contents of Poe’s * Pinakidia ’ is sufficient to reveal the tremendous interest Poe felt in the discovery that one writer is apparently imitating or borrowing from another. In these paragraphs, and frequently in the course of his reviews, he makes the charge of plagiarism: the matter obviously becomes with him an obsession. He speaks of HKmerson : ‘When I consider the true talent—the real force of Mr. Emerson —I am lost in amazement at finding in him little more than a respect- ful imitation of Mr. Carlyle. Is it possible that Mr. E. has ever seen a copy of Seneca ? Scarcely—or he would long ago have abandoned his model in utter confusion at the parallel between his own worship of the author of Sartor Resartus and the aping of Sallust by Aruntius.’ 2 Of Longfellow he writes: ‘Much as we admire the genius of Mr. Longfellow, we are fully sensible of his many errors of affecta- tion and imitation.’ ? Poe claimed and believed that Longfellow had plagiarised his own poem ‘The Haunted Palace’ in The Beleaguered City ; and went on, later, to charge Longfellow with wholesale borrowings from other American poets. In the course of a bitter review which appeared in the Hvening Mirror of January 14, 1846, he wrote: ‘ These men Mr. Longfellow can continuously imitate (1s that the word ?) and yet never even incidentally commend.’ lLongfellow’s friends replied, though he himself was silent, and their protests led to Poe’s savage article, ‘ Longfellow and other Plagiarists.’ Poe’s grievances were largely imaginary ; and, in the case of Longfellow, wholly so. Longfellow said later, with characteristic benevolence mingled with priggishness, that he attributed Poe’s attacks to bitterness brought about by misfortune and poverty and a sense of wrong. That there is something of the truth in this statement may be admitted; but it nevertheless fails to explain the particular character of the charges, and their direction. On the other hand, Poe had a very real grievance against another man, which he appears never to have expressed. In 1827, aiter a quarrel with his guardian, Poe ran away from Richmond to Boston, where he published anonymously his first 1 ‘William Wilson,’ p. 10. 2 Poems and Essays of Edgar Allan Poe, ‘ eee Edition, p. 317. S Toid., p. 269. THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 15 volume of poems.! He apparently sent a copy to his brother, then still living in Baltimore. William Henry Poe sent selections. from the volume to the Baltimore North American, where they were published under his own initials. He published, too, under his own initials, a version of Edgar’s poem ‘ Dreams.’ It seems certain that, through the publication of his brother’s work and imitations of it, he gained a considerable reputation as a poet: amongst those who knew him; and the tradition has survived. Writing in 1923, Robertson said: ‘Several of his poems have been published, and, apparently, they compared favourably with Edgar’s productions of the same period.’ 2 Stoddard, in a sketch of Poe’s life, says that William Henry Leonard Poe ‘is described by those who knew him as possessing great personal beauty, and. as much genius as Edgar.’ And Poe’s cousin wrote of William : ‘He was a man of taste and genius, and wrote many fugitive verses, which have been lost, but which are said to have exhibited poetical power of a high order.’ He appears, too, to have expanded his brother’s early love story, communicated to him in a letter, into a romantic tale, published as The Pirate. The question immediately arises—Was Poe, in his quarrels with Longfellow’s friends and his charges against a firmly established poet, in reality expressing against a metaphorical elder brother the resentment he felt against one who was in reality his elder brother ? There is a certain amount of evidence to show that Poe identified himself with his elder brother. When he ran away to Boston in 1827, he assumed the fictitious name of Henri le Rennet. Henri is obviously a form of the name by which his. brother was generally known, but ‘le Rennet’ is puzzling: the word is certainly not French. Henry was living at the time with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm (the woman who subsequently became Poe’s ‘more than mother ’) in Milk Street, Baltimore. There is an obvious connection between ‘ milk’ and ‘ rennet,’ and no one 1 Tamerlane and Other Poems, by a Bostonian. Calvin F. 8. Thomas, .. . Printer, 1827. ‘A book which is now one of the most sought- after and most costly in the English language.’—Hervey Allen, op. cit., p. 201. 2 Robertson: Hdgar A. Poe: a Psychopathic Study (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1923), p. 15. 3 J. H. Ingram: Life and Letters of Edgar A. Poe (London: Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co., 1891), p. 441. 16 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE who is familiar with Poe’s work—-with the stories in which he strives to be humorous—will find preposterous the conjecture that Poe arrived at his pseudonym by word-play of this kind.? Other material evidence of identification with the brother, who was for some years in either the mercantile marine or the navy, is to be found in the fictitious accounts of his voyages which Poe uses in his stories and which he occasionally communicated in conversation ; narrating his brother’s travels and adventures as his own. Exactly how far, in this instance, Poe’s identification with his brother was conscious, we do not know; but we know that Poe had experienced the phenomenon, and had employed to describe it the term which is now generally used—‘ idenizfica- tion—that dominion by volition exercised over imagination which enables the mind to lose its own, in a fictitious, individuality.’ ? His analysis goes no farther. ‘To-day we should speak of iden- tification as the process by which men experience the emotions proper to the activities of others; apart from the performance of those activities by themselves. Poe, that is to say, enjoys his brother’s adventures without sharing them. It is impossible to enter here into the full consideration of all the possible motives which led to this identification. It had taken place, almost certainly, many years before, and the follow- ing years—up to 1827—-had probably merely contributed ele- ments which served to make the identification more complete in detail. It is possible to understand the way in which the brother, whom he had not seen, made it possible for him to think of someone, very like himself. William’s entry into the literary field introduced an element which was new: and the figure of the ‘double’ becomes a rival—one whose voice, owing to natural defects, cannot attain the loudness of Poe’s own, but which is, nevertheless, its echo ! Some consideration of the rdle of the ‘ double’ in the story becomes necessary. A great part of ‘ William Wilson’ is taken up with the story of the conflict between the rivals at school, and the narrative is, in part at least, a fairly faithful account of the years spent at the preparatory school at Stoke Newington in which Poe was educated from his fifth to his tenth year. The later versions of the story differ from the earlier, in that Poe 1 The story The Man that was used up is one amongst many instances. King Pest is another. 2 Poe: Marginalia (under heading ‘ Defoe ’). THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 7 enlarges the ‘old, irregular and cottage-built ’’ dwelling into a ‘large, rambling, Elizabethan house.’ ! But the story of the education of William Wilson, when he has left Stoke Newington, is pure fiction. After a ‘lapse of some months, spent at home in mere idleness,’ he goes on to Eton. Oxford follows, ‘ the uncal- culating vanity of my parents furnishing me with an outfit and annual establishment which would enabie me to indulge at will in the luxury already so dear to my heart—to vie in profuse- ness of expenditure with the haughtiest heirs of the wealthiest earldoms in Great Britain.’ 2 The facts were very different. In May, 1820, Poe was suddenly withdrawn from the school at Stoke Newington, and taken back to Richmond by his guardian, on account of financial difficulties. There followed some years at private schools in Richmond. Then, somewhere between February 1 and February 14, 1826, he matriculated in the University of Virginia, where he remained till the beginning of the Christmas vacation of the same year. Hervey Allan has carefully collated all the available evidence relating to Poe’s university career.? It is clear that, so far from Poe receiving the money for a luxurious establishment, he was not given sufficient money to pay his entrance dues. The story of the Eton and Oxford career is obviously all of a piece with the legend of noble birth, exceptional education and profound erudition. At Oxford William Wilson is successful at cards ; owing his success to his “ acquaintance with the vilest arts of the gambler by profession.’ 4 There is no record that Poe ever played other than fairly, but it seems highly probable that he resorted to play in the hope of winning the money he needed to take part in the ordinary activities of the undergraduates of his day; and in thus playing to win he violated the code of a Virginian gentleman.® Actually, Poe lost; not large sums, but nevertheless sums of money which he could not pay. His guardian refused to meet these ‘debts of honour,’ and hence, though Poe was neither tye El Imgram, op: cit, p- 12. 2 Poe: ‘ William Waleo nye Tales, p. 15. 3 Hervey Allen: op. cit. See Vol. I, chapter entitled ‘Israfel in ‘Cap and Gown.’ ' 4 * William Wilson,’ p. 14. ® Hervey Allen, himself a Virginian, endeavouring to interpret Poe through an understanding of his environment, has made this point very clear. Loc. cit. 18 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE expelled from the University nor threatened with expulsion, he found it impossible to return. His charges against himselfi— charges of extravagance and profligacy—are almost certainly reproductions of the accusations of his guardian, repeated ad nauseam during the dreary months that intervened between his return from the University and his flight to Boston. The under- standing of this introduces a second element into the construction of the figure of the ‘ double.’ | The rival of the Stoke Newington days does not accompany William Wilson to Eton or Oxford. He appears at Eton after a carousal, swiftly admonishes, and departs. At Oxford he enters the chambers just as William Wilson has, by skilful cheating, completely ruined Glendinning. ‘ Please to examine, at your leisure,’ he says, ‘ the inner linings of the cuff of his left sleeve, and the several little packages which may be found in the some- what capacious pockets of his embroidered morning wrapper.’ ! This careful exposure of the way in which a trick is performed is entirely in the manner of Dupin, the hero of ‘ The Murders in the Rue Morgue ’ 2 and of ‘ The Purloined Letter ’*: of Legrand, in ‘The Gold Bug’4: of Poe himself, in his exposure of ‘ Maelzel’s Chess-Player,’ > his investigation of ‘ Cryptography,’ ® his alleged account of how ‘The Raven’ was written’ and his prediction of the development of the plot of Barnaby Rudge after seeing a first instalment of the work,’ then appearing in serial form. | The Oxford episode in ‘ William Wilson ’ is the confrontation of the Poe of the legend with the Poe of the detective stories and the ‘ Tales of Ratiocination.’ That Poe was conscious of a duality within himself cannot be doubted. He had experienced it early in life, and had experimented with it. Ingram quotes 1 “William Wilson,’ p. 17. 2 Poe: Tales, ‘Everyman’ Edition, p. 378. 3 Ibid., p. 454. 4 Ibid., p. 69. ° Edgar Allan Poe: Works, 12 vols. (New York and London: Harper Brothers), Vol. X, p. 83. 6 Ibid., Vol. VIL, p. 230. “7 E. A. Poe: ‘The Philosophy of Composition,’ Poems and Essays of Hdgar Allan Poe, ‘Everyman’ Edition, p. 163. 8 In Graham’s Magazine for February, 1841. The article led to corre- spondence between Poe and Dickens ; referred to in the opening paragraph of ‘The Philosophy of Composition.’ It is not to be confused with the review of Barnaby Rudge written later, when the complete work was published. THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 19 the evidence of a former class-mate of Poe’s in the University of Virginia : ‘Mr. Bolling remembers that when he was talking to his eccentric associate, Poe continued to scratch away with his pencil as if writing, and when his visitor jestingly remarked on his want of politeness, he answered that he had been all attention, and proved that he had by suitable comment, giving as a reason for his apparent want of courtesy that he was trying to divide his mind—carry on a conver- sation, and at the same time write sense on a totally different subject ! Several times did Mr. Bolling detect him engaged in these attempts. at mental division; and he says the verses handed to him as the part results of these dual labours certainly rhymed pretty well.’ + It is possible that already Poe, as a member of John Allan’s. household, had discovered the necessity of attending to advice and admonitions which had no relation to the poems he was trying to write ; since Allan had other plans than a poet’s career for his ward. Poe certainly suffered, as children brought up in a divided family always suffer, from the necessity of adapting himself, now to one, now to the other, of two people whose interests and outlooks were irreconcilable. It is not without significance that the dual tasks which Mr. Bolling noticed were the writing of poetry, on the one hand, and. rational discourse on the other. They are exemplified later on, when, after writing ‘The Raven,’ Poe attempted to prove in ‘The Philosophy of Composition’ that the performance was. entirely rational. Poe harmonised the two aspects of himself, as completely as he was able, in ‘ Eureka,’ which he regarded as. the greatest work of his life—a great prose poem in which science as a means of investigation is transcended. After the Oxford episode, ‘ William Wilson’ becomes a summary statement of the frustrations of the narrator by the * double.’ * Could he, for an instant, have supposed that, in my admonisher at HKton—in the destroyer of my honour at Oxford—in him who thwarted my ambition at Rome, my revenge at Paris, my passionate love at Naples, or what he falsely termed my avarice in Egypt— that in this, my arch-enemy and evil genius, I could fail to recognise the William Wilson of my school-boy days—the namesake, the com- panion, the rival—the hated and dreaded rival at Dr. Bransby’s ? ’ ? 1 Ingram: Hdgar Allan Poe : His Life, Letters and Opinions (London : John Hogg, 1880), p. 48. * ©William Wilson,’ p. 19. 20 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE We can only speculate regarding the events of Poe’s life which are referred to here. Poe’s ambitions were certainly thwarted by Allan, and Poe blamed Allan, amongst others, for the unfor- tunate ending to his love affair with Elmira Royster! It is practically certain that the affair would have gone differently had Allan assured the girl’s parents that Edgar would be his heir.2 Allan stinted Poe of necessary expenses, and then accused him of greed and extravagance. Almost certainly these frustra- tions were the incitors of extravagant day-dreams which were afterwards shaped into the tales: tales of passionate love (as Poe conceived it), such as ‘ Ligeia,’ ‘ Eleonora,’ ‘ Morella’ and ‘The Assignation’; tales of revenge, such as ‘ Hop-Frog’ and ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’ and one tale of the discovery of wealth, ‘ The Gold-Bug.’ There appear, then, to be at least three persons who have entered into the composition of the “ double ’—the personification of the conscience of Edgar Allan Poe: William Henry Leonard Poe, John Allan, and one aspect of Poe himself. Together they make up a figure which competes with Poe, the hero of his own legend, for mastery ; which seeks to divert him from his plans ; which frustrates him. Itis a figure which is hated and dreaded— and in some way, about which we can only speculate, this figure seems to be related to some early experience with mirrors, which it is hopeless to attempt to reconstruct. If William Henry Poe is one element of the figure, we are at least able to frame a reasonable hypothesis as to why he should have been feared and dreaded. We know something of Poe’s frantic endeavours to get his poems published. His brother— whether he was publishing his brother’s work or his own imita- tions of it—seems to have had no such difficulty. There was the possibility of his brother outstripping him in fame, and he must have resented in silence what he afterwards outspokenly expressed when his rival was Longfellow. Later, after Poe’s army days, when he went to live in Baltimore with his relatives, he wrote of 1 See Hervey Allen, op. cit., pp. 132 et seq. 2 It seems probable to me that the name ‘ Wilson ’ is itself a play upon words (Wilson—Son of the Will, i.e. Allan’s will). The evidence an support of this is too long and involved to give here. But, if this be the case, the name William Wilson condenses a great mass of wish- formations—the wish to be the eldest son (i.e. the heir) of a wealthy man. Similar word-play, though obviously intentional, occurs in the Sonnets of Shakespeare. THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 21 his brother : ‘ Henry (is) entirely given over to drink and unable to help himself, much less me.’ There was no longer anything to be feared or dreaded from him. John Allan was feared and dreaded as a stern father, who did not hesitate on occasion to use the rod, would naturally be dreaded. He was not always un- kind, but he was often a bully, and he did not fail to threaten or to fulfil his threats. The natural reaction towards what is feared and dreaded is hatred in the sphere of feeling, and killing in the sphere of action. In actual life Poe was the most gentle of men, but it is impossible to overlook the fact that violence is a favourite theme of his tales. His stories of murder are not merely tales about killing, but accounts of murders carefully planned in their minutest details ; the work, obviously, of a man who thought much and often about murder. This is in conformity with the hypothesis of an un- conscious ‘ death-wish’ directed against a father or father-sub- stitutes, of whom Allan was one, and perhaps, for reasons less obvious, William Henry Poe another. In the duel in which the “double ’ is killed, not merely are the feared and dreaded father- substitutes slain together in a single encounter, but Poe himself, as an element in the formation of the ‘ double,’ is also killed. Poe dealt with the theme of suicide in one of his earlier stories, ‘The Assignation ’ ; towards the end of his life, when he was in an unbalanced state, he spoke of suicide; and at other times he achieved the stilling of a part of himself by the use of alcohol and of opium. Then, unrestrained, he might indulge his imagina- tion freely in daydreams and visions of grandeur, power and luxury ; such as those at which he hints in ‘ Berenice.’ The fear and hatred! which led to the climax of ‘ William Wilson’ are freely spoken of in the story, and it is easy to trace parallels between some of their occasions and the events of Poe’s lite— From his inscrutable tyranny did I at length flee, as from a pestilence ; and to the very ends of the earth, J fled in vain.’ ? Poe fled from Allan to Boston, hiding his identity by means of a pseudonym ; and then, under another name, enlisted in the United States Army. For all practical purposes, he had as com- pletely removed himself from Allan as if he had fled to Europe. '1 An interesting discussion of the relation between fear and hatred is to be found in TT. Kenrick Slade’s book, Our Phantastic Emotions (London: Kegan Paul, 1923), p. 36. 2 © William Wilson,’ p. 20. 22 THE CONSCIENCE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE And Poe partly understood, at least, that his lapses into intoxica- tion and his resort to drugs were due to his desire to escape from himself. The fear and hatred give unity to the composition. They result in the fusion of three disparate elements into a single figure in virtue of the fact that these elements agree in possess- ing the power to evoke a single emotional reaction. They agree ~ in that—whether they assume the role of imitator, admonisher or frustrator—they challenge supremacy and uniqueness. In the ‘Philosophy of Furniture,’ the proprietor of the ideal room les asleep, alone, on his sofa. In ‘ Ligeia,’ ‘ Berenice,’ ‘ Morella ’ and ‘ Leonora,’ no rival enters—the dream-worlds of Poe are worlds in which he alone reigns—like Roderick Usher in his library. In the early years of his life, his uniqueness was chal- lenged by the existence of his brother. Later, it was challenged by John Allan. It was challenged, too, by the clear-headed Poe, who understood too well the dreamer and man of illusions : who could explain him so well to others, but could not always com- pletely delude himself. From such considerations we can arrive at some understand- ing of what it was that ‘ conscience’ meant to Poe. It is that aspect of himself which challenges his extravagant phantasies of supremacy and uniqueness, which led him at times, as is clearly implied in ‘ Eureka,’ to identify himself with God. It could be conquered, at times, apparently, with a single glass of wine, under whose influence Poe became theatrical, egotistic and boast- ful. It could be stilled with opium, so that Poe might revel unchecked in a world of grandiose imaginings. In the man’s ordinary life, the two selves strove—now the one, now the other, dominant. Sometimes a compromise was achieved, the rational self shaping and disciplining the other, giving order to riot—and thus, out of the conflict of the two, the ‘ Tales’ were born. GEORGE H. GREEN. Fy ee ee ee THE CELTIC STRATUM IN THE PLACE- NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA CHIEF ABBREVIATIONS Beds : Bedfordshire BM : Index to Charters and Bk : Buckinghamshire Rolls in the British C : Cambridgeshire Museum Ch 3 Cheshire Ch : Calendar of Charter Rolls Ess : Essex Cl : Calendar of Close Rolls Gl : Gloucestershire Cur : Curia Regis Rolls Ha : Hampshire DB : Domesday Book He : Herefordshire EHR : English Historical Review Hu : Huntingdonshire FA : Feudal Aids i. isent Fees : Book of Fees L : Lincolnshire he een of, Hones La : Lancashire ICC : Inqusitio Comitatus Can- Lei : Leicestershire tabrigiensis Nb: Northumberland TE : Inquisitio Hliensis iINt = Norfolk Ipm : Inquisitiones Post Mortem Nth : Northamptonshire . IPN: Introd. to Survey of Engl. Sa : Shropshire JAA, INS. Diegueey utolk KCD : Kemble, Codex Diuplo- St: Staffordshire maticus Aivi Saxonicr Wao VWalltshire OET : Sweet, Oldest English Texts Wo _ : Worcestershire Pat : Calendar of Patent Rolls Y ; Yorkshire. PN(s) : Place-name(s) AC : Ancient Charters(Pipe Roll PR : Pipe Rolls Soc.) RH =: Rotult Hundredorum AD : Catalogue of Ancient Deeds Saints: Liebermann, Die Heiligen in the Public Record Office Englands ASC : Anglo-Saxon Chronicle T : Thorpe, Diplomatarium Ass : Assize Rolls Angliicum Alvi Saxonict BCS : Birch, Cartulartum Saxon- VCH : Victoria County History acum THE material available for a detailed study of the Celtic stratum in the place-names of East Anglia is very small in bulk and very varied in value. As the systematic survey of the nomenclature of this part of eastern England proceeds, it is becoming more and more obvious that the percentage of place-names and place- name elements that can safely be regarded as ultimately Celtic 23 24 PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA in origin, or as due to the presence at an earlier period of a Celtic element in the population, is a very minor one. The question is rendered no less difficult by the fact that but little documentary evidence is available for the study of the early history of the area. There can be no doubt that already in the Romano-British period many parts of Hast Anglia were fairly densely populated. A number of settlements must have had distinctive Celtic names. But few of these have survived, in however corrupt a form, to the present day. Along this eastern seaboard of England the Anglo-Saxon colonisation must have been exceedingly thorough. A consideration of such names as have survived the English invasions acquires therefore all the more interest. East Anglia was the home of the [cen or Ecent, the [kenor of Ptolemy and Caesar’s Cenimagni, who, as Dr. Wheeler has recently put it,4 may be said to have no history. They have left behind them few traces of their former occupation. Their only known town Venta Icenorwm, at Caister near Norwich,? is of a very average size; the total area occupied by the settle- ment does not amount to more than some thirty-four acres. The site is about to be excavated for the first time since it was aban- doned and may ultimately teil us a little more of the stage of civilisation at which its occupants had arrived at the beginning of the fifth century. The Iceni are perhaps best remembered from the association of their name with that of the Icknield Way. This appears in OE charters of the tenth century as I[cenhylte (903 BCS 603), Iccenhilde weg (903 BCS 601). The terminal in the name is still unexplained. Perhaps *Jcenhylt is for earler *Tcenhint ( < Celt. *sento-, OW. hint, W. hynt ‘ way’, found in some English place-names, e.g. Hints, Staffs., on the Watling Street). The change -hint) -hylt may have been occasioned by (i) a dis- similatory process n—n > n—I; (ii) confusion during the pre- historic OE period with the OE place-name element /velde, hylde ‘slope’, not uncommon in place-name formations. There is a further reference to the Jceni in the name /cinos (Iter V) of the Antonine Itinerary. This place was probably somewhere 1 Antiquity, June, 1928, p. 184. 2 A case has been made out by Crawford for Ad Taum (Tab. Peuting.) as an alternative name for Venta Icenorum. Caister is near the r. Tas. Ad Taum may thus contain the Romano-British form of the river-name. (Ch Journ. Kom. Stud.; xiv. V37 fs) a ee A ——— Ls PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA 25 in Suffolk, but its exact location is a matter of great difficulty ; it occurs in Iter V between Villa Faustint and Camboritum, dis- cussed below. No modern place-name will ‘fit’, either from linguistic or topographical evidence. Beyond these names no. other traces of the name of the /cenz appear to have survived.! From the period of the Roman occupation of East Anglia dates a small group of place-names recorded in contemporary or somewhat later documents. To these names we may safely ascribe a pre-English origin, although they need not all be Celtic. Some are clearly due to the Romans themselves. The names. of the Roman guard-stations along the east and south coasts. of Britain from the Wash to Southampton Water are recorded in the fifth century Notitia Dignitatum ; these are not likely to have been English, even if the term Lituws Saxonicum be given a different meaning from that now almost generally ascribed to it. Moreover, the majority of them admit of interpretation from Celtic sources. To these are to be added the further East. Anglian references, beside those already quoted, from the An- tonine Itinerary, the Tabula Peutingeriana and the anonymous geographer of Ravenna. The fortress of Branodunum (Notit. Dign.), on the north coast of Norfolk, was at Wrack Hill, Bran- caster. The latter preserves the first part of the Romano- British name. branodunum is explained as Brit. *Brano-dinon ‘crow fort ’—‘ la ville au corbeau’, from Brit. *brana-, W., Ir., Bret. bran ‘raven’ and the common terminal -dunon ‘ town ’, later ‘fortress, stronghold’ (Stokes, Urkelt. Sprachsch. 182 ;. Loth, Chresthomathie bret. 33; Dottin, Langue gaul. 86 ; Zeitsch. f. celt. Phil. xiii. 164).2, Rooks and crows are still common along this part of the coast. The Rookery occurs no less than eight 1 A recent suggestion by Ekwall (Hngl. River-Ns. 218) is worthy of note. He would connect the Iceni with Iken(Sf), a village on the r.. Alde, which perhaps retains the old name of the Alde, and with the r. Itchen(Ha). Jcinos cannot, however, have been anywhere near the Alde. The origin of Jcenz is still problematic. A base *itcen ‘ corner, angle’ has been suggested. An impossible theory is that of Wadstein (Origin of the English, Uppsala, 1928, p. 39), who connects Jcenzt with the OK Hngle and regards the latter as a Teutonic translation of Iceni: ‘ the dwellers in the corner that extends into the sea between the Wash and the Thames’; this is a view that can only have been formed by looking at a small-scale map of England. 2 The first element may equally well be a personal name, *Branos (W. Bran), as suggested by Holder (Alicelt. Sprachsch. 512). 26 PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA times as a name for farms and woods in the neighbouring parishes ; further to the east along the coast is Cromer ( < crow-mere). There was probably another guard-post at, or near, Happisburgh, to the south of Cromer, but its name is not extant. At the con- fluence of the rivers Yare and Waveney, south-west of Yarmouth, stood the fortress of Gariannonum (Notit. Dign.), now Burgh Castle, Suffolk ; this gives us the pre-English form for the name of the Yare and confirms Ptolemy’s spelling Gariennos. Along the Suffolk coast there was a military station at Walton Castle, near the estuary of the Stour, but its Romano-British name is not recorded. Further south was the fortress of Othona, now St. Peter’s on the Wall (Ess), a name that at least survived the English invasions. It was known to Bede in the eighth century as Ythancestir (Hist. Eccl. iii. 22). Henry of Huntingdon, writing in the twelfth century with Bede’s text before him, calls it [tham- cestre.* In Suffolk, away from the coast, there was a settlement, probably of a non-military character, at Combretonium (Iter 1X), now Burgh near Woodbridge, representing a Brit. *Combretonion, the meaning of which is unknown. The Norfolk Ad Taum has a parallel in Suffolk in Ad Ansam (Iter LX and Tab. Peut.), now Stratford St. Mary, on the Lower Stour, near its estuary. Unlike Ad Taum the latter name seems to be purely Latin in origin: ‘ at the bay ’ (cf. McClure, Brit. PNs. in their hist. setting, 110, n.3).. Somewhere in Suffolk also was the town of Sitomagus (Iter IX) or Sinomagus (Sinomagi Tab. Peuting.). It has been suggested that this was at or near Dunwich (q.v. infra) or, alternatively, at Thetford on the Norfolk boundary. The older antiquaries, in particular Camden and Stukeley, favoured the latter and sought to identify the first syllable of Thetford with Sito-. Thetford is well evidenced from OE sources and repre- sents a purely English formation Jéod-ford ‘the national ford ’ or ‘the ford on the highway’. It is impossible to connect it with Sitomagus on linguistic grounds. ‘There is reason to believe 1 In the Evesham (D) version of the OE Chronicle, s.a. 952, we are told that king Eadred imprisoned archbishop Wulfstan in the fortress of Iudanbyrig (in Iudanbyrig on fam fexstenne). The older view that this place is Jedburgh is now generally abandoned. But the identifica- tion with Othona must still be regarded as doubtful, although if Florence of Worcester’s spelling, Juthanbirig, is of any value the equation may possibly be right. PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA 27 that Villa Faustina (Iter V) was the Roman name of Thetford (cf. VCH. Sf. i. 298). Sittomagus has been explained as ‘ corn- plain ’ (McClure, loc. cit.). If we take into account the alternative form Sinomagi, it is possible that the name is ultimately for Celt. *Sento-magos, from *sento- ‘way’ (u.s.) and *magos ‘ plain’ (W. ma ‘place’, Ir. magh ‘ field’), as in the neighbouring Caesaro- magus (Iter IX), now Chelmsford (Ess).1_ One other name be- longs to Hast Anglia, but its location cannot be definitely settled. This is Camboritum (Iter V), which is frequently identified with Castle Hill, at Cambridge. Whatever its modern site, the name is a good Celtic formation, composed of the elements *cambo- ‘crooked, curved’ (W. cam) and *ritu- ‘ford’ (OBret. rit, W. rhyd, Old Corn. rid). There is more than one ‘ crooked ford ’ in East Anglia, although only one place-name implying such is to be traced at the present day. This is Cringleford, to the south of Norwich (earlier Kringelforda 1086 DB, Cringkelford 1228 FF), an Anglo-Scand. hybrid composed of ON kringla ‘ circle’ and OE ford. There is no reason to believe that Camboritum was anywhere near Cringleford, but one curious circumstance in connection with the latter may be noted. The modern village is a little to the west of the line of the supposed Roman road that ran from Caister by way of Stratton Strawless (Stratuna 1086 DB) and Burgh by Aylsham almost due north to the coast near Cromer. A few miscellaneous finds are, however, all the evidence we have for a Romano-British settlement of any importance at Cringleford. This small group of Celtic names dating from the Roman period. can be supplemented with a few more that are only recorded in OE and post-Conquest sources.2. In the interpreta- 1 Sitomagus occurs in Iter IX between Combretonium and Venta (sc. Icenorum). The distance from Combretonium to Sitomagus is given as 22 Roman miles. This would place Sitomagus in the neighbourhood of either Thetford or Dunwich. From Sitomagus the road ran for another 32 miles to Venta. A Roman road from near Thetford to Caister has never been definitely made out. On the other hand, there are distinct traces of a road linking Dunwich with Caister. It crossed the Waveney near Bungay, where the Stone Street (mentioned in DB as Stanestrada at this point) survives to the present day. In Norfolk it is less easy to trace. If it went by Bergh Apton, we can point to Street Farm in that parish as evidence; the street here is no longer recognisable as such, but in late OE times it is referred to as kinges strete (KCD 921). 2 The famous list of the twenty-eight cities of Britain given in the tenth-century MS. of the Historia Brittonum ascribed to Nennius contains A.S.— VOL. XI. C 28 PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA tion of these names, some of them extremely doubtful examples, one is treading much more dangerous ground than with the earlier recorded place-names. A name difficult to explain from English material is the old name of the parish of St. Osyth (Hss) : Cicc c. 1000 Saints, Cice 1086 DB, Cice 1123 ASC(E), Chiche 1303 FA. This may be the pre-English name of the place. A parallel to it occurs in Kent, in the parish of Hackington : Chicche al. Chyche 1541 BM. Anappreciable number of what are now names of places have been shown by Ekwall (Hngl. River-Ns. lxxxv) to be the old names of the rivers on which the places are situated. ‘To the examples he has quoted it is tempt- ing to add yet another from Suifolk; this is Candlets Farm, in the parish of Trimley, near the confluence of the rivers Orwell and Stour. Early forms (Candelente 1086 DB, Candelond (sic) 1807 Ipm, Candelent 1564 BM) suggest this was originally a river-name, containing an element allied to W. lliant ‘ flood, stream ’, found elsewhere in the river Lent (cf. Ekwall, op. cut. 249). . The evidence for pre-English origin is clearer in the case of Dunwich. The thoroughly English appearance of this name is belied by the earliest spellings : Domnoc c. 730 Bede (Hist. Kecl.. il. 15), Dammucae (civitas) 803 OET 441, Dommocceastre c. 1000 OEBede, Domnoc 636, 653 ASC(F), on Domuce 798 ASC(F), Dommuc, Domuc twelfth cent. Will. Malmesb. i. 7, Dammucensis (adj.) ib. 11. 74; which represent Brit. *Dumndcon <*dumno-s (*dubno-s) ‘deep’ (W. dwfn), the base of Dumnonu, Damnonii, the tribe who inhabited Devon (‘named from the deep valleys characteristic of the regions they inhabited,’ Bradley, Coll. Papers: 77), and the terminal -dcon, commonly used in names of towns. The reference may be, as Skeat (PWs. of Sf. 115) has suggested, to the port of Dunwich with its deep-water approach. The curious corruption of the name can be paralleled in the case of York (Hburdcon>>OEK Hoforwic) and perhaps also in the Norfolk villages of Hast and West Winch to the south of King’s Lynn. A purely English origin for Winch is not impossible. One might. only one name for the East of England. This is Cair Granth, the modern Grantchester near Cambridge. Lincoln does not occur in the list until the twelfth century. It is then equated by Henry of Huntingdon with the old name for Wall near Lichfield (St), i.e. Letoceton : Kair Loitchoitt, id est Lincolnia ; the same mistake is made by Ralph Higden who follows. him in his Polychronicon : Caerludcoit, id est Lincolnia sive Lindecolium. Se PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA 29) postulate an unrecorded OE *winc, of which OE wincel ‘ nook, corner’, a common place-name element (OHG winkil, Du. winkel) would be a derivative. OK *winc would probably have: much the same meaning as OE wincel. Such an interpretation for Winch would also fit the topography. On the other hand, the numerous dissyllabic forms for this name which are among the earliest spellings found for either East or West Winch parishes. (Wenic, Winic 1086 DB, Wenich 1222 FF, Weniz 1199 FF, 1242-3. Fees, 1254 Pat, Winez 1203 Cur, Wenyz 1323 Pat) suggest that there was a second vowel in the name originally and that this is not. a mere svarabhakti sound due to Norman influence. One must. postulate an OE *Wvinic, with a terminal that suggests pre- English origin. We may compare OW. Guinnic (Lib. Landav. 252), a tributary of the r. Pill at Pengelli, Monm. Celtic river- names with a -é suffix are fairly common in England; from W. sources may also be instanced Gulich Lib. Landav. 157, Ratec ib. 124, 126; cf. further Ekwall, op. cot. xxviii. The first element. is difficult to identify. It can hardly be *vindo- ‘ white’ (W. gwyn), a common place-name component ; cf. the Romano-Brit. Vindobala (Rudchester), Vindogladia (Woodyates), Vindolanda (Chesterholm), and the frequent *Vindo-magos, W. Gwynfe, -fa, Ir. Findmagh ; the base also of Guinnic above. If Winch con- tained this element we should expect the -d- to have been pre- served in the east of England, as in the case of Lincoln (OE Landcylnex<*Lindocolina ; Rom. Brit. Lindum<*lend- ‘ pool’). Against Celtic origin also tells the fact that in western Norfolk and in the fenlands Celtic names are very rare. The name of King’s Lynn here has often been held to be pre-English. Iden- tification of Lynn with W. llyn ‘ pool, lake, mere’ is as difficult. to justify as the presence of *vindo- in Winch. The earliest. forms never show any trace of a base *Lind- (Lena, Luna 1086 DB, Lynna 1121-35 Norw. Cath. Reg. I. 54b. (MS. c. 1300), Lanna c. 1180 IK, 1200 Cur, Lenna 1160, 1181 PR, Len(n) 1198. FF, 1199 Cur, 1225 Pat, 1232-3 Fees, 1233 Cl; also on Lynware hundred eleventh century EHR, xliii. 381). Rather they point: to a pre-Conquest *Lyn(n) perhaps to be identified with OE hlynn ; this word usually has the meaning ‘ torrent, waterfall ’, which is hardly applicable for Lynn; but a meaning ‘ pool’ is. also recorded and may well be implied here. A final Norfolk example is Denver on the Great Ouse. Here too a Celtic origin must be regarded as at best very doubtful. 30 PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA The evidence is as follows: Danefella, Danefaela (sic) 1086 DB, Deneuere c. 1180 Cambr. Univ. Lib. MS. Add. E. 6006, fo. 51, Denever 1201 FF, 1275 RH, 1302 FA, Denneuere 1209 Ass, Denevere 1242-3 Fees, 1268 FF, 1275 RH, 1316 FA, Denver 1346 FA, etc. From English sources might be adduced the elements denu ‘ valley’, a word otherwise rare in Kast Anglian place-names, and a terminal fer ‘passage, path through a wood’, found in Hollinfare (La), Laver, Walkfare (Ess). Or we may compare Kinver (St.) OW. *cater (Olr. cathair), W. cader ‘hill fort’, likewise the first element of Catterton (Y): ‘Cadretone 1086 DB; and of Chatterton (La); cf. Smith, PNs. PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA 31. of N. Rid. Yorks. 242-3, Ekwall, Hngl. River-Ns. Ixxii.n.1. An interpretation ‘hill fort’ is more applicable to Catterick than to Chatteris, but, as in the case of Denver, the ‘ hill’ at Chatteris may be merely the higher ground which rises here on this fen- land island above the neighbouring country. Unlike Catterick, too, Chatteris is not connected with any known Roman road system in the fens, although it may well have been a Roman military post of some kind which commanded the valley of the lower Nene. Considering the extent of the area over which these Celtic or supposedly Celtic place-names are scattered to-day, it would appear as if the Celtic settlements in East Anglia were almost. completely destroyed by the English. This raises the vexed question of what became of the inhabitants. The evidence to be derived from a further group of place-names suggests that an appreciable proportion of the native population was absorbed by the new-comers. A certain number of Celtic terms seems to have been adopted by the English and used as place-name elements in English formations. These terms are mostly des- criptive of natural features, such as hills, woods, marshes and streams. In Hast Anglia, as elsewhere in England, many of the rivers bear old Celtic names. Professor Ekwall’s recent study shows that names like Yare, Ouse, Stour, Nene, Granta, Kennet are recognisable Celtic formations. In the west and south-west of England the Celtic element in the local nomenclature is a well-known fact. That certain terms of Celtic origin were also preserved in East Anglia is perhaps less apparent, but the material now available indicates fairly clearly the extent to which such terms were known and used by the English in forming place- names of English origin. Names for hills here are the most prominent. A common element in hill names in various parts of England is OW. cruc, W. crug ‘hill, barrow’. The wide distribution of this word has recently been demonstrated by Professor Mawer (PNs. of Wo. 106 ff.), who shows that it frequently occurs in early sources as Cric-. No certain example of it has been noted in East Anglia. In a charter of the time of Henry II we have mention of a piece of land at Frieston (L) situated between a place called Hareholm and a place called Cric- (ad Cricam, Danelaw Charters, ed. Stenton 105). As there are no hills in the parish of Frieston, which is within reach of the sea, it is more likely that we 32 PLACE-NOMENCLATURE OF EAST ANGLIA have here a reference to a ‘creek’ rather than to a ‘hill’ or * barrow ’.} A word possibly allied to OW. cruc is MW. creic, W. craig ‘rock’. Thisis also a common term for a hill in English names. It occurs in Crayke (Y): earlier Creic (Smith, op. cit. 27) and Crick (Nth): Crec 1247 Ipm, Creyk 1322 Ch. In East Anglia it is found in the parishes of North and South Creake in Norfolk : Creic, Kreic(h) 1086 DB, Creic 1189-99 Fees, 1199 FF, 1230 Cl, Crec 1189 PR, 1196 FF, 1201 Cur, Creyke 1302 FA, etc. To these may be added the as yet undocumented Creak Hill, in Stow-cum-Quy (C) and Creak Hill, in Shelley (Sf); ef. further for traces of this word Ekwall, JPN 25, River-Ns. 102, s. n. Crake. Brit. *brigd-, OW. bre ‘ hill’, which may lie behind Denver, is also a prolific place-name component. It occurs outside East Anglia in Brill (Bk), Bredon (Wo), and Breedon (Lei) among others (Mawer and Stenton, PNs. of Bk. 118, [PN 25). Perhaps a Suffolk instance is found in Brewude (c. 1180 Cambr. Univ. Lib. MS. Add. E. 6006, fo. 121), the name of a wood near Bricett, which itself seems to be derived from this word (Brieseta 1086 DB, Brisete 1235 FF, Bresete 1236 Fees, eae, et. Zevischn. fs Orisnamenforsch. ili. 208 f.). - Distinct from OW. bre, though no doubt nee allied to it in origin and meaning, is mod. W. brig ‘ top, summit’? (-d-, -d- in early Welsh. The change has been dated c. 550 ; this, if right, renders it improbable that Brit. *monzo- should have survived in its unchanged form in East Anglia in some names of hills of English formation, unless we may assume that in this easternmost corner of Britain the term was adopted by the English at a sufficiently early date for the change to have been prevented. This could hardly be later than the beginning of the sixth century. The curious compound Mona Hill is the name of a prehistoric barrow in the parish of Necton (Nf); unfortunately no early spellings are available. It seems to belong with Money Hill, in Hasling- field (C) and Moneybury Hill, in Aldbury (Herts), called Money Barr Hill in 1672. At none of these places has any money ever been found or unearthed and the reappearance of the same type of name in different counties in eastern England at least gives some support to the suggestion that here Brit. *monijo- was actually borrowed before the change to OW. *minid, muned took place. But even if Money in these names does not represent the older Celtic term, the medial element in Money Barr Hill probably represents Brit. *barro- ‘top, summit’ (W. bar), as found in Barr (St.): #t Bearre 957 BCS 987; and Barrow-on- Soar (Lei): Barhow 1086 DB (with a terminal -hou —¥Jf (—~)] — — 1 —- — Totals . . [95 | 178 | 121 | 394] (408) | 85 25 24 | 26 17 German, Economics, Biology, Geology—Nil. ‘Lhe most noteworthy points about this table are : (a) The comparative absence of Physics specialists, and the preponderance of specialists in Music, Physical Training, and Drawing, in girls’ schools. (6) Mathematics, English, and Geography occur far more frequently in combination with one or more accessory subjects than do the other academic subjects. (c) The preponderance of English, History, Chemistry special- SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 55 ists in Welsh schools and of French, Music, Drawing, and Physical Training specialists in the English schools. (d) The increased importance of the accessory subjects in the Central schools. More than half the specialists listed are taking an accessory subject. In connection with (c) above, one may note in passing that a few of the returns contained a complaint that there seemed to be too many English and History specialists at the present time. The table also shows clearly the relative preponderance of specialists in the girls’ schools. Table IV shows the distribution of subjects amongst teachers taking two subjects. In the case of the academic subjects, returns have been included to show the frequency with which two academic subjects were taken in combination with one accessory. TABLE IV Secondary. Central. Two academic subjects : ; . 261 ll One academic subject and one HRCaETSy : 85 26 Two accessory subjects : ‘ : ‘ 41 JIL TOTALS : . : Sam GU 48 Alone Access. Subjects. 8. C. (E.) 8. | C. Maths. and Physics . MD) |) ==) (2S) Suing English and History Se L342) eta | English and French . 17 | I | (25) 4) 1 Latin and Greek . : 17 | — f (18) 3 | — Physics and Chemistry . 16} 3 | (14) 1 | — English and Latin 15 | — } (26) 3) — Welsh and History 1l|—] — 2 | — Botany and Biology 1 | || @) pe French and German . 110 | —¥ (17) f—]| 1 Welsh and English On ele |e YD Welsh and Latin 9;—]}] — 4) — Latin and French . 9};—Ff (2) }— |) — History and Geography 9/17 (14.7, 4); — Maths. and Chemistry 8 | — 7 (13) 3 | — Welsh and Geography 7|— Ff — eae! English and Geography . 7 | —q (11) bien Latin and History 7) G3) f= | — French and History . Cate cL) ee Maths. and Botany . i | i | 1 4}—}y — BN es Welsh and Maths. 56 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN Subjects. (E.) Latin and Maths. English and Maths. . Economics and History . Geography and Maths. French and Maths. Latin and Geography Chemistry and Botany . History and Maths. . : Geography and Chemistry . English and Economics . Welsh and Botany English and Botany Greek and French Greek and Maths. French and Geography . Geography and Botany . History and Botany Chemistry and Rural Science History and Chemistry . Biology and General Science Geography and Physics Geography and Biology Chemistry and Biology . French and Economics . German and Geography German and Maths. . Maths. and Rural Science Botany and Geology French and Biology . Welsh and French Maths. and General Science | os ees been |] ae Cet bisa eco || TABLE IV (continued) COMBINATIONS OF Two AccEssoRY SUBJECTS 8. Domestic Science and Needlework . : 14 Drawing and Woodwork . Woodwork and Metalwork Domestic Science and Physical Training Domestic Science and Scripture Drawing and Commercial Subjects Woodwork and Physical Training Drawing and Metalwork Drawing and Physical Training Domestic Science and Drawing : Commercial Subjects and Music 5 pie | F bo & G9 & OL OL i=) SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 57 TABLE IV (continued) COMBINATIONS OF Two ACCESSORY SUBJECTS Drawing and Needlework Physical Training and Needlework Drawing and Handcraft Domestic Science and Music Music and Scripture Physical Training and Hoe ienel Rees Bi a | ke TABLE IV (continued) COMBINATIONS OF ONE ACADEMIC AND ONE ACCESSORY SUBJECT ‘Subjects. 3 5 2 Bs 25 : 3 = R A ys Sea) eye as Seu lCs Sas (as ie S. | C.| S.| C.| S.| C.| 8.’ C.] S.) C.) Total. English and . Bi) Qi) sy ob Sener ato) hr ES oye ae Maths. and —|2); 5;1;—— 4/2]/2\-—2/2;1—\/——/14| 7 Geography and . 4 2—| 4 a 2 |\—|_—— 3 Same 12) 3 French and . ~ 2. | 2 BE] 1 — J} 1s 1 je 1h — —— —| 8) 1 SiS BAC. sg gg Be et ee ee, ee ec History and . 2|—) 1 | 1) 1); —|-—— — 1 —-——|} 1/1] 6) 2 Economics and . 1 |—| — —- —| 5 — = 6 | — Latin and Bo eG 1j— 4/;—— | Soothe —| 5|— Chemmmyand = . .|——|1)/—|—| 3 1 1 —=| 5 ll Physics and . I Lipp ee 1 SS SB 2 Botany and . —| — + — | 1) — |---| ——|- ——}— + — | 1 Totals . |19|6/19/1/16/5/10|5/9|0/7/7/4/0/]1 | 2) 85 | 26 The combinations of three subjects are made up as follows :—. Secondary. Central. Three academic subjects . : ‘ : 81 12 Two academic and one accessory } : a3 21 One academic and two accessory : : 25 17 Three accessory subjects . ; : : 23 3 TOTALS ‘ : : 6) AUS) 53 Only the combinations of academic subjects are shown in Table V. The details for two and one academic subjects. are shown previously in Table IV, page 55, and Table III, page 54. 58 English Maths. English English English English English English ‘Welsh Welsh Latin Latin Latin Maths. Physics ‘Chemistry French Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Welsh Latin Physics French History Geogr. Latin Latin History Latin English Geogr. Greek History Biology Chem. Botany German Latin French English English English Latin French Maths. History Geoer. English French Maths. Latin Welsh Welsh Welsh Physics Physics English TABLE V SECONDARY SCHOOLS History Chemistry Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics French Mathematics Geography History History History French Mathematics Botany Biology Rural Science Spanish Greek History Economics French Latin Botany Geography Physics Geography Rural Science 6 6 + 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 I ] I 1 1 ] 1 I 1 1 CENTRAL SCHOOLS History Chemistry 2 2 Mathematics 1 French Mathematics French English History 1 1 ] CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN English French Economics English Physics Chemistry Latin Greek Mathematics Latin Greek History Latin Greek Mythology Latin French German Latin French History Latin Geogr. Botany Latin. History German French History Mathematics French History Geography History Geogr. Mathematics Geography . Physics Chemistry Geography Botany Chemistry Geography Botany Biology Physics Chem. Botany Maths. Chem. Metallurgy Maths. Physics Biology Maths. Chem. Botany Maths. Geogr. Gen. Science Chemistry Botany Biology Chemistry Rural Science Biology Botany | Biology Rural Science Toran Welsh Geography Geology Maths. Botany Biology Maths. Chemistry Botany Geogr. Botany Biology ToTaL fe fee ee eee ee eet et et et [eo ee lis || ft feet feet fa The most frequent combinations of three academic subjects reported in the English survey are :— : French Maths. English English Geography Chemistry English Physies History History Chemistry Physics History 13 Chemistry 13 Geography 12 Latin 6 Physics 6 Botany 5) English English French English Maths. History Maths. English Maths. Maths. Chemistry Latin Physics Chemistry Geography oO PR RR Finally the frequencies with which the various subjects are listed irrespective of the combinations in which they occur are given in Table VI. SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 83 SECONDARY SCHOOLS 230 to 250 times Mathematics English 100 to 160 tumes History French Latin Geography Welsh ft aeeicies Physics ee Training 50 to 90 times - Drawing Music Scripture Needlework Domestic Science Botany 30 to 50 tumes Woodwork Greek Biology 10 to 20 times German ( Economics | Commercial Subjects Rural Science Metalwork Less than 5 times (General Science | Geotos Spanish 22 CENTRAL SCHOOLS 80 to 90 tumes Physical Training English 60 to 80 tumes Mathematics Scripture 40 to 50 twmes Geography History Needlework Drawing Welsh 20 to 40 times Music Physics 10 to 20 times Chemistry ae Domestic Science eee Botany 5 to 10 times Metalwork ee Latin Rural Science Biology Commercial Subjects Less than 5 times General Science Geology German B. Most FREQUENTLY OccURRING SUBJECTS AND COMBINATIONS OF SUBJECTS 59 It is now possible to say what are the most frequently occur- ring subjects and combinations and therefore to indicate what are likely to be the most profitable courses from the point of view of usefulness to the intending teacher. The most frequently occurring single subjects are :— A AS) -—VOL. XI ° 60 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN Alone. eee) Subject. Sala Se tac: Mathematicsmsertis iene 1G 2. ee See Oe eee 19 | ll Einigdishoe ar ater erm eC. ns rc Renter ee ene 30 | 12 French ENN Aes CAN e GI Mate Acne eee ne rw ars anaarcnee ry (day le s> Byes) 8 2 Chemistry) 0. eet cupete ee SG eh oats es ee oom ie 6 iL MAIS TORY 6) lee hy ence cead tetera Ae la neh se rae a Ome le 8 5 Geosrapliyei tee ec, ULI I ea Sa OP ete 16 3 Welsh Mi am WPA eet ca wall Deg eae y hegre ete at 0 icc MO ee 8 6: PIR /SUC Sasa eee eee tee ep oe wel | Ree ce eM eee aS Lg 3 2 Music 3 STUN ieee eae aes hie) onto ad cane ee OEM ates —_— | — Physical Training ai aot pu MeN eagnies eau Mrccemmis c=) [i abobe db’ | — | — Rawal ye oe. ee eet cape ea Nt een edison hog — | — Latin : ewe ata PO Me, (Pree Oh Wi aise reese ale oe ral 5 | — Domestic Scienee MB eae eee eek hoe tae omen Neen 8 | — | — It is worth noting that 16 of the 19 music specialists in the above list are teaching in girls’ schools. The most frequently occurring combinations of two academic: subjects are as follows :— With Access. Subjects. S. SiC Mathematicsand@ Physics) me en ee ee bP Sed ‘Huglishvandvelstorya: sy) ene ee aS Eide Emelishvandobrenchic casero et ome eee ae ea ras ed eel Tatimiand?. Greeks veo te - eit ene genset: Meee ret Shela 1 3) — Enelishvand Waiting) a ae in eer ate reg cane) 3° |, — iPhysiestand: Chemistry neces 1) ao ee ee eel 1 | — Welsh-and History << ote ee eo ee 2 | — Botany and Biology ee eer CAN ira Sa enim) gery |) Ltt ;— | — FrenchrandiG.ermians site yale ei ee eee eet, ;— | l Welsh and Latin j 9 f 4 | -— History and Geography 9 (4 Latin and French , 9 | == | — Welsh and English 9 BS Sicily Mathematics and Cnanaiatogr 8 | 3) — Latin and History ; 7 a English and Geography . Rare gals eae 7 fe Welshiand: Geograplny era iai een 7 Po 1S French and History . 6 pany © Welsh and Mathematics 4 2) — Mathematics and Geography 3 ¥— | 4 English and Mathematics 3 ) 4) — SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 61 The most frequently occurring combinations of three academic: subjects in the Welsh and English Schools are as follows :— WELsH SECONDARY SCHOOLS English History Geography 12 English Latin History 6 English ae EUISCONy & Maths. Physics. Chemistry 6 Paige EUS Geozraphy, e English French Mathematics 4 | Phy Sey eae re ; : English History Mathematics 4 English OLY peo maUCS English Geogr. Mathematics 3 English Chemistry Mathematics 4. English Lati F h 3 aa Be peeg WELSH CENTRAL SCHOOLS ENGLISH SECONDARY SCHOOLS English French History ay English French History 13 | Mathematics Physics Chemistry Maths. Physics Chemistry 13 C. COMBINATIONS OF SUBJECTS RECOMMENDED BY HEADS OF SCHOOLS (a) Secondary Schools We may now consider the answers to question 2 on the blank. ... ‘ What combinations of subjects would you recom- mend as being most advantageous for your present and (probable), future requirements ?’ The replies to this may be summarised. as follows :— Welsh with English, Classics, French, History (both English and: Welsh). English with Classics, Modern Languages, History, Maths. Latin with Greek, English, French, Welsh, History, Maths. French and German with English, History, Latin, Maths. History with Geography, Latin, French, German, Maths. Geography with Biology, Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Maths..,. and an accessory subject. Maths. with Physics, Chemistry, and possibly Geography or Botany. Physics with Pure and Applied Maths. and Chemistry. Chemistry with Botany, Biology, Rural Science, Physics, Maths.. Botany with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Maths. Biology with Chemistry, Botany, Physics, Geography, Maths. In addition to specific suggestions for combinations of courses,. some general suggestions were made, which are interesting from the practical point of view. The opinion was expressed that. English should be included in most if not all Arts degree schemes, and Mathematics in Science schemes. Further, in view of the wide distribution of these subjects, all Arts students should have. _ some preparation in the pedagogy of elementary English and. all Science students in that of elementary Mathematics. It was. 62 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN further pointed out that some Arts subjects, notably English and History, involve a great deal of written work, particularly in the case of pupils preparing for examinations. This work is difficult to correct and needs more time in correction than written work in Mathematics, Science, and the grammar of a language. It is policy therefore to avoid taking English and History as the two main teaching subjects from the practical point of view, although otherwise the combination is sound. English and Latin are suggested as a good combination both from the practical and pedagogical aspects of the work. ‘The difficulty of correc- tion is eased, and in addition there is the very great advantage of having the grammar teaching in both languages vested in the same teacher. This secures a greater co-ordination between the subjects with a corresponding saving of time and increase in efficiency. In too many cases Latin appears to be taken without Greek, and there was strong support for the suggestion that all students taking Latin as a main subject should be able to offer Greek to a subsidiary stage. Summing up, one may say that the prospective secondary school teacher should select his degree scheme from the following range of academic subjects :— Arts— English, French (with German), History, Latin (with Greek), Welsh, Geography, Maths. Science— Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Biology, Geo- graphy. There seems to be very little combination of Arts with Science © subjects—Botany with some language, ancient or modern, for girls’ schools being most frequent. Geography in combination with History, a language, Maths., Physics, Chemistry, or a bio- logical science appears with more frequency. This combination appears 32 times in a total of 261 combinations of two academic subjects. In the schools covered by the English survey Geo- graphy combined with one of the above occurs no fewer than 55 times in a total of 285 combinations of two academic subjects. Certain academic subjects at present have very little vogue in the secondary schools and a word of caution is necessary with regard to these. The list of subjects was taken from a report SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 63: of the Central Welsh Board, and contains therefore the subjects. which are recognised for teaching purposes in the secondary schools. From Table III, page 54, it appears that out of a total. of 394 cases of teachers in charge of a single subject, Rural _ Science and Botany appear three times each, Greek twice, German, Economics, Biology, and Geology nil. In combinations of two academic subjects Botany and Biology occur together eleven times, mainly in girls’ schools. If we include the cases in Table IV taking one accessory along with two academic subjects, Botany occurs 15 times out of a total of 338. Combining the results of Tables I and II, we find that Greek occurs 17 times with Latin, and German 10 times with French. For the rest, Economics occurs 9 times with Commercial Subjects such as. book-keeping, typing, and business methods, and 5 times in other combinations. Greek appears 4 times, German twice, Biology 3 times, Geology once, and Rural Science 4 times. It. would appear, therefore, that it is unwise for the prospective secondary school teacher to take Greek, Economics, German, Biology, Rural Science, and Geology, unless these courses. are strengthened very considerably by others more in demand in the schools. A student with any one of these courses in his. degree scheme should include at least two other subjects to. Final standard. This proviso raises an interesting point. It may be argued that these subjects are all valuable to a student from the point of view of his own personal culture, and that: intending teachers should be at liberty to study them if they are so inclined. It must be remembered however that the teacher’s. chance of employment depends largely upon his having the qualifications the schools demand. At present there is very little. demand for these subjects except as accessories to other academic pursuits, and those responsible for the supervision of intending teachers cannot ignore this fact. What applies to the secondary schools applies with as much force to the central schools. There is little room at present for specialists in any of these subjects. in either type of school. (6) Central Schools For teachers intending to take up service in Central schools. Classics loses its importance, and modern languages have only a secondary value at present. For Arts graduates some combina- ' tion of the following is probably most useful :— 64 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN Welsh, English, History (both English and Welsh), Geography, Maths. and French. For the Science graduate one may suggest some combination of Maths., Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Rural Science and General Science. Some specific combinations suggested by Heads as useful are :— Maths., Physics, Mechanics. Maths., Chemistry, Rural or General Science. Botany, Geology, Gardening. History, Geography, English. English, History. The intending Central school teacher should keep his attention on the more practical applications of his subjects, particularly in science, and should in every case be able to offer at least one accessory subject such as Drawing and Handwork with Physics and Chemistry ; Gardening with Botany and Biology; Music, Drawing, Needlework, Decorative Handwork (in the case of women students more particularly) ; and Physical Training with any of the academic subjects. D. ANALYSIS OF THE OPINIONS OF HEADS CONCERNING SPECIALISATION We may turn now to the answers to question 3... . ‘ What is your opinion concerning the degree of specialisation most advantageous to graduate students from the point of view of teaching efficiency and general suitability for school work. Are the present-day graduates over-specialised or not sufficiently specialised ? ’ There was some difference of opinion in the replies sent in, and much diffidence in making a definite statement. The answer — obviously depends upon the size and type of school. In the smaller schools Heads who would prefer highly specialised teachers are forced to give their teachers two or three or even more subjects in order to run the school economically. However, some definite points were yielded by the answers. Of the Heads who gave a specific answer to this question there was a clear majority who considered that the present-day graduate shows a tendency to be over-specialised. Very few indeed thought they were not sufficiently specialised. The replies show clearly that two factors are involved, the degree of specialisation necessary for Higher Certificate and Scholarship standards, and the effect of the SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 65 effort to obtain this specialised knowledge on the personal culture and consequent breadth of outlook and sympathy of the teacher. ‘ Present-day graduates are over-specialised, particularly those who come from the Elementary schools via the Secondary Schools, and have taken the Higher Certificate. College Entrance Exams. tend to increase this specialisation.’ ‘There is a strong tendency to over-specialisation. They are afraid to tackle anything but their own special subject.’ ‘ Present-day graduates are less adaptable than those of an earlier generation. A high degree of specialised knowledge is required for Higher Certificate classes, and in order to obtain this, breadth of interest is often sacrificed. Young teachers are afraid to venture out of narrowly defined paths.’ ‘ Science eraduates are over-specialised. The teachers of Chemistry and Physics rarely know anything about Botany or Rural Science. A broader foundation for the science course seems desirable.’ ‘Science and Maths. teachers lack a humanistic background and a romantic imagination. All graduates should be able to teach at least two subjects well. Present-day graduates cannot turn their hands to subjects outside their main degree subjects.’ ‘Teachers of Botany and Biology are often weak in general elemen- tary science such as physics and chemistry.’ Apart from the disinclination of the highly specialised student to attempt any but his special subject, it would seem that the young teacher is showing a tendency to sacrifice his general development and lose breadth of vision and sympathy in con- sequence. ‘ Present-day graduates are so highly specialised that they have little sympathy or patience with their middle or lower form work. They must realise their responsibility for all grades of their subject.’ ‘A man who cannot teach outside his one subject is an incon- venient member of a staff. He cannot fill a gap in the time-table. He is also less effective in his own subject through lack of the extended. vision which comes from teaching something else quite different, and he is apt to under-estimate the difficulties of other members of the staff.’ ‘The Welsh degree is altogether too specialised in scope, and the lecture system of tuition terribly over-done. There is a lack of the cultured type of graduate turned out by the older British and some. foreign Universities.’ ‘There is a lack of general culture. Specialists are far too fre- quently ignorant of other subjects.’ 66 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN ‘Better qualifications in English are needed by specialists im most subjects.’ ‘Present-day graduates are not over-specialised, but with rare exceptions there is a lack of general culture.’ The general tenor of the replies is epitomised in the following reply :— ‘T am inclined to think that the present-day honours graduate is over-specialised and the graduate not sufficiently specialised. That is, the graduate does not go far enough in her subjects to take the responsibility of the work in the higher forms of a Secondary school and the honours graduate is sometimes somewhat narrow in outlook, believing that his or her subject is the only really vital subject in education. Wider vistas and broader channels for the “ Graduate ’” courses, and more compulsory complementary subjects for the ‘‘ Honours ”’ courses are desirable I think from the point of view of the students themselves, and also from the point of view of the co-operation of different members of the Staff and of the correlation of subjects in the schools. Would it be possible to have a compre- hensive and more advanced degree course ranking equal with a. specialised Honours course ? Would not that meet a need especially in the smaller schools where economy of staffing will not allow of many specialists, and yet where higher work is essential 2’ Scope of the Degree Courses Some definite suggestions were made about the scope of the degree courses in relation to the present-day needs of the schools. ‘The students entering the schools now do not seem to be so generally useful as the experienced teachers they replace. The advancement of the work in the Universities does not seem to have proceeded pari passu with the advancement of the work in the schools. ~ There should be an end to the controversy over the recognition of the Higher Certificate as qualifying for the Intermediate, and students. with Higher Certificates should be allowed to proceed to degree work and be encouraged to take Double Honours Degrees. This is the need of the school to-day. ‘For example, double honours degrees in Latin and Greek, Welsh and Latin, Welsh and French, Physics and Mathematics and other combinations of the sciences including Geography, History and Economics, or Geography and Economics. Where this is impractic- able one honours plus two finals would be desirable. ‘ There are too many history specialists. The old London system of three finals was preferable, e.g. Chemistry, Physics and Maths. ; or English History and Geography.’ 2 SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 67 It is interesting to find that a number of Heads strongly deplore the tendency of the older type of general form master to disappear from the secondary schools. ‘The pass graduate with two or three finals should be used more in general form work.’ ‘The old-fashioned form master who could take lower forms in two or three subjects was a source of strength in a school. The modern inspector is too keen on specialised teaching.’ ‘ There is a real need for general form masters in the lower forms. Most candidates are either not sufficiently specialised to take good scholarship work, or not qualified to take a form in say four subjects. Good specialists and good form masters are needed.’ ‘ Both kinds of graduates are needed. There is always room for two or three men well qualified to take three or four subjects in the middle school.’ ‘ One mistress at least is needed (in a school of 160) to teach several subjects in junior and middle forms. There is a need for graduate mistresses with qualifications to teach four or five subjects to middle school standard and who can tackle the middle school dullform. The younger teachers do not know their subsidiary subjects well enough.’ ‘T would put in a plea for broader courses. The old form master type is being missed. In the lower forms I am veering back to the man who can take three or four subjects. At present I find a tendency in young honours graduates to plead for one subject only.’ ‘ More exact knowledge of the more elementary stages is needed. There are too many pupils of limited intellect dabbling at so-called Higher and Honours courses who would be better employed thoroughly learning the elementary work. They cannot eventually do the special subject well, and they claim exemption from all other subjects on account of their higher work.’ There is some difference of opinion as to the proportion of pass to honours graduates. The estimates vary from the pro- portion of one to one, through the proportion ‘ one mistress to take two or three subjects to two specialists in a school of three hundred’, to ‘an honours degree in one subject for the greater number and a pass degree in two or three subjects for the few’. There seems no doubt about the desire of a number of Heads for the graduate capable of teaching well three or four subjects to middle school standard. One may venture to suppose that if and when the satisfactory education of the average and non- academically minded child is accorded the importance it deserves the desire for the general form master or mistress who can teach 68 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN will become still stronger. The emphasis on teaching capacity is not lacking in these returns, e.g. ‘ Present-day graduates tend to put too much emphasis on aca- demic qualification, and too little on first-class teaching ability. More stress is put on scholarship for higher work than on the effective teaching of the backward boy.’ The Heads of the Central Schools are generally agreed that there is a tendency to over-specialisation from the point of view of their special needs. Moreover, the honours graduates tend to be too academic in their outlook, while their subject matter is not sufficiently connected with the out-of-school experience of the pupils. They tend to be ‘lecturers rather than teachers’. In particular the science graduate is ‘too much confined to Chemistry and Physics of the type taught in secondary schools. Students should be taught to see science everywhere.’ ‘ Speciali- sation begins too soon. It is a mistake for the science student to drop the Humanities at the matriculation stage.’ There is not sufficient Geography, French, and accessory subjects, and too much specialisation in English and History. Another Head complains that there are too many specialists in English, adding that graduates in Economics and Education are not very useful. It was suggested that all graduates should be able to teach either elementary English or Mathematics, or both of these subjects. All the returns from the Central schools emphasise the importance ot the accessory subjects in combination with academic. EK. THe Position oF THE ACCESSORY SUBJECTS By accessory subjects is meant for the purposes of this survey Domestic Science, Woodwork, Metalwork, Commercial Subjects ; Drawing, Music, Scripture, and Physical Training. The replies in connection with this part of the survey show that these sub- jects are considered in two distinct classes. This distinction is explicitly made by several of the Heads of Central schools and is implied in the replies from some Secondary schools, particularly for girls. Oneclassincludes Domestic Sciences, Commercial Sub- jects, Music in girls’ schools, Woodwork and Metalwork in Central schools. These subjects often have a direct vocational significance and are more readily influenced by principles inde- pendent of pedagogy. In all of these subjects there is a large element of special skill which is controlled by standards of per- formance and methods of execution depending on utilitarian or SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 69 artistic rather than on educational principles. Many hold the opinion that if these subjects are to be taught well they must be taught with due regard to the external standards and methods. On this account, there is often a desire to have ‘ workshop experience ’ and a correlative distrust of the academically trained teacher owing to the fear that the ‘ practical’ value of the activities would be lost. Some replies from Heads of Central schools will illustrate this tendency. To the question ‘ would you prefer to have these subjects taught by graduate members of the staff, etc.?’ they reply :— ‘No. Workshop experience is desirable, and though a good standard of general education is indispensable I don’t think a degree is essential.’ ‘It is essential that persons taking these subjects should be good teachers and efficient in their crafts. It is not at all necessary for them to be graduates.’ ‘No, if the practical side is to be sacrificed. Yes, otherwise. One of the needs of the Central schools is the training of craftsmen of ability, in English, Mathematics, and Art.’ A tendency, similar if not so explicit, is to be noticed in the replies of some of the Heads of girls’ schools in connection with Music, and to a less extent Art. Music in girls’ schools often includes instrumental training on piano and violin, and here the external standards become important. One finds that the Heads of the very large Secondary schools in the main prefer to have these accessory subjects taught by specialists in these particular activities. This is true also of Physical Training in the girls’ schools where good specialists can be obtained from the physical training institutes. The Heads of several Central schools are able to send the pupils to a special centre for Domestic Science, Woodwork and Metalwork, where specialist teachers are employed. ‘These conditions are out of the scope of this survey. What one hoped to establish is the need for graduate students, in both Secondary and Central schools, who can offer the ordinary academic subjects and who at the same time can undertake the teaching of Physical Training, Vocal Music, Woodwork, Decora- tive Handwork and Needlework (in the case of women). These subjects may be considered to form a secondary class of acces- sory subjects whose main value is educational. We may now consider the replies first in connection with the 70 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN work of visiting teachers, and secondly in connection with the demand for suitably qualified graduates on the staff. The following analysis is interesting :— No. of Heads employing visiting teachers who would prefer graduates on the staff 5 ; é : : . 5 6 6 5 . 42 No. of Heads not employing visiting teachers who express a definite prefer- ence for graduates on the staff : 6 No. of Heads who prefer specialists on the staff . No. of Heads who prefer not to have graduates .. No. not giving definite reply TOTAL : | | IOUS With regard to the visiting teacher :— ‘It is time to do away with all visiting teachers. They cannot. deal so effectively with the children as the regular staff members. Practical subjects are allowed to be taught ineffectively by visiting teachers. This relegation to unqualified visiting teachers is the main weakness of the C.W.B. system.’ ‘As far as possible visiting teachers are discouraged. Hence: the necessity of adding such training as Physical Exercises to Wood- work, and Domestic Subjects.’ ‘ Visiting teachers are unsatisfactory in every way, hard to get,. poor discipline, no interest in the school.’ ‘ A full-time teacher is part of the school, has a greater hold upon the pupils, and usually a much deeper interest in the school and its individual pupils.’ The opinions of the Heads about the question of adding accessory qualifications to the preparation of the graduate, are fairly represented by the following replies: ‘Most certainly Yes!’ ‘ Emphatically Yes !’ ‘Yes, with the exception of Domestic Subjects.’ ‘Most desirable that every teacher should be a full-time member of the staff. Hence qualifications in these subjects in combination with a special subject are always looked for. Visiting teachers are not as a rule as efficient, or at any rate they cannot teach the children so effectively.’ ‘I have the strongest possible objection to visiting masters. They have no grip on the school. Art, Handicraft, and Music teachers. should be educated to the pass degree standard in ordinary academic subjects.’ ‘[ infinitely prefer members of my own stafi. But few graduates. seem to have any training in, or inclination to Physical Training, SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 71 Woodwork or Drawing. One of the most useful combinations for a woman is Drawing and Physical Training, and for a man Physical ‘Training, Handwork, and Games. Every graduate should be com- pelled to have these subjects.’ ‘It would be a great advantage to students in the Training Depts. if they followed a compulsory course of training in Drawing, Wood- work, and Physical Training during their last year at College, and produced a certificate of proficiency in these subjects: There is some difficulty in getting men who can take these subsidiary subjects.’ ‘It is difficult to get graduates with interest in Music, Gardening, Decorative Handwork, and Girl Guides. They are apt to be too exclusively interested in their own academic subjects. ‘The secondary teacher’s training year should include more training in artistic leisure pursuits.’ ‘Travelling part-time teachers are far from satisfactory. They have no real interest in the school. The subsidiary subjects are the greatest problem in the ordinary-sized school (160 to 250), as it is difficult to obtain mistresses with a degree and good qualifications in subjects like Drawing, Needlework, Gymnastics, Music, Singing, etc. A graduate with a year’s training in Physical Exercises and Games is greatly needed in the ordinary-sized schools.’ The returns show that out of a total of 914 teachers taking academic subjects, 232 combine accessory subjects with them in the secondary schools. In the Central schools, out of 182 teachers taking academic subjects no fewer than 147 take in addition some accessory subject. This is equal to about 80 per cent. It would seem almost a necessity for teachers intending to enter Central schools to be able to teach one or more of the accessory subjects. There seems therefore a very clear case for the graduate, particularly the honours graduate, to qualify in one or more of these accessory subjects. The chances of employ- ment are considerably increased, the field of opportunity for service is widened, and in addition the activity of the accessory subject, calling as it does upon different physical and mental resources, will provide that welcome change in the routine of school work which is ‘as good as a rest’. FE, ANALYSIS OF THE DEGREE SCHEMES OF 592 STUDENTS IN THE TRAINING DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, ABERYSTWYTH In view of the opinions expressed by several Heads concern- ing the scope of the degree, the courses of 592 students of this WZ CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN Training Department who have passed through the professional training since 1922 have been analysed. It will be remembered that it was stated that the minimum requirement of the secondary schools at the present time is an honours in one subject plus at least one final and one subsidiary in some different subjects, or alternatively three finals. In the analysis given here account has been taken only of those subjects which the student has passed at the final stage or above. The distribution of honours and finals is as follows :— Double Hons. and | final : : : : : : 2 Double Hons. ; : : 3 : : : : 8 Hons. in 1 subject plus 2 other finals. : : : 18 Hons. in | subject plus 1 other final ; : . . 169 Hons. in 1 subject only. : : ; ; : So LAG Double degree (B.A., B.Mus.) . : ; : : : 1 Pass degree with 4 finals : ; 5 : : : 1 Pass degree with 3 finals ; : : : ; Skee 28 Pass degree with 2 finals é 3 : é : 5 LA Courses not completed . 5 ; : : ‘ ee, TOTAL a. ; ; : OO 2 Of the Honours graduates there were in Economics 12, in Philo- sophy 3, in Education 2, in Geology 1, in Zoology 1, in German 3. That is, 22 of the Hons. students had as their main subject one for which there is little or no demand in the schools. If account is taken of students having degrees which come within the scope of the suggested minimum requirement, and then eliminate those whose courses include an honours or a final in one or more of the subjects Economics, Education, Philosophy, and Geology, we get the following results :— Eliminate Eliminate 1 Subject. 2 Subjects. Double Hons. ; : : : 5 ; 10 25 — Hons. plus 2 finals : : ; : : 18 7 ] Hons. plus 1 final 5 : : , . 169 40 == Pass with 4 finals i , , ; ; 1 — — Pass with 3 finals : ; : : ; 28 wt I. Double degrees . ‘ : ; : : 1 — — TOTALS : Be part 64 2 This process of elimination leaves within the scope of the sug- gested degree a total of 168 students. This represents a per- centage of approximately 30, of all the students passing through the Department. This would indicate that an average of 28 SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 73 students per year since 1922 have completed courses up to the criterion proposed. The following table gives the most frequent subjects taken to the Honours stage, Classes I, Ha, Ilb, and III included :— English . : : , - 68) Brench, =: 3 : ; Ser th Geography : : : . 45 | Botany . : : : sk S History . : é ; Oley SICcs =; : : : ts, IG: Welsh ; ‘ 5 ‘ . 29 | Mathematics . ‘ : Sri ig Chemistry : ‘ = 48) |) Ibeyana : : : ; shed Comparing these figures with the results given in Table ITI, page 54, it would appear that Maths. and French occupy a position much lower than they occupy in the frequencies occurring in the schools, Geography and Botany being relatively higher. Of the combinations of two subjects taken to final standard or beyond, the following are the most frequent :— English and French . : . 9389 | Geography and History 5 2 af English and History . : . 23 | Geography and Economics . eA History and Economics : . 18 | Physics and Chemistry : . 45 English and Philosophy . . 12 | Botany and Geography : eral English and Welsh . 3 . 10 | Geography and Geology . . 1d Welsh and Economics 5 3 9 | Physics and Mathematics . eG: English and Economics 5 eS Of the combinations of three subjects taken to final stage or beyond, the following are the most frequent :— Physics Pure and Applied Maths. 6 | English French Education 2 English History Economics 5 | Botany Geography Geology 2 English History Philosophy 2 | Geogr. Geology Mathematics 2° Welsh History Economics 2 SUMMARY OF MatIn PoINts (a) Specialisation i. Approximately three-fifths of the teachers in secondary schools, and eight-ninths of the teachers in Central schools represented in the returns, are responsible for teaching two or more subjects. ii. There is a tendency to greatest specialisation in the girls’ schools and least in the mixed schools. ii. The trend of opinion is toward the conclusion that the present-day graduate shows a tendency to over-speciali-. sation. It is agreed that for the Higher certificate and scholarship work which is becoming increasingly general. 74 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN a high degree of specialised knowledge is necessary. At the same time the younger generation of teachers shows a narrower outlook and sympathy, a lack of adapt- ability, a disinclination for adventure in teaching beyond the limits of the main subject. This seems mainly due to the practice of pursuing one subject to the Honours stage and leaving all the other subjects in the scheme at the subsidiary stage. iv. The minimum qualifications for the secondary school should be one Honours subject plus one final and a subsidiary in some other subjects, or alternatively a pass degree with three finals. The student who pur- sues only one subject to the Honours stage, leaving the others at the subsidiary stage, tends to fall between two stools. He is not sufficiently qualified for higher certificate work in a smaller school where two subjects to the higher stage are desirable, nor is his course wide enough for him to undertake the work of form master in the lower and middle school. v. Several Heads express a strong opinion in favour of the old-fashioned type of general form master. It would appear that there is still a definite place for the student who can teach, and who has three finals in a pass degree, in the secondary schools. In the Central schools the graduate who can teach three or four subjects is probably more useful than the specialist. wi. The science graduate appears to be too highly specialised in the direction of Chemistry and Physics. Every science student should be able to take at least elementary Maths. There is an increasing tendency to desire ele- ments of biological science along with the traditional Maths., Physics and Chemistry. At the same time the returns show that this tendency to widen the scope of science, particularly in the boys’ schools, has not yet proceeded far, and any student wishing to teach one of the biological sciences and desiring a reasonable chance of employment should strengthen his biological science with a good course in one or more of Chemistry, Physics, and Maths. SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 75 (6) Importance of the Accessory Subjects i. On the whole, specialist teachers with technical training are preferred in both types of schools for Domestic Science, Woodwork, Metalwork, Commercial Subjects, and in the case of girls’ schools, Music. ii. The balance of opinion is very strongly in favour of the accessory subjects such as Physical Training, Drawing, Music (Vocal), Handwork (Woodwork for boys and Decorative Craftwork for girls), and Needlework being taught by graduate members of the staff. In the Central schools graduates will find this condition almost a necessity for employment, and in the secondary schools an increasingly important factor. (c) Central and Secondary Schools compared i. The specialisation in Central schools is at present more marked in the accessory than the academic subjects. ii. The degree of specialisation is at present very much less in the Central than the secondary schools. Twenty-six per cent. of the teachers in the Welsh secondary schools represented in the survey take three or more subjects. In the Central schools 65 per cent. take three or more subjects, 40 per cent. four or more, and 25 per cent. five or more. iii. The subjects most in demand in the Central schools, apart from Classics and Modern Languages, are about the same as in the secondary schools. The accessory subjects occupy a much more prominent place in the Central school returns, and every graduate intending to seek service therein should be able to offer at least one, preferably two of the subjects, Handwork, Physical Training, Drawing, Needlework and Decorative Hand- work, Vocal Music, in addition to his academic qualifi- cations. A.S.—VOL. XI, Fr 76 CONDITIONS OF SUBJECT TEACHING IN Form To INDICATE THE COMBINATIONS OF SUBJECTS ACTUALLY BEING TAUGHT IN YOUR SCHOOL AT THE PRESENT TIME Please put a cross under the number of each teacher, indicating the subjects for which he or she is now responsible. TEACHER. F | publ ect: 112/3/4/5|/61|71/8 {9 |10\11 12 13 |14 |15 |16 117 |18 [19/20 [21 Welsh English Latin Greek French German Spanish Economics History Geography Mathematics Physics including Mechanics ~ Chemistry Botany Biology : Geologya yar) aie | Agriculture or Rural | Science : Domestic Science : Cookery Laundrywork Music ; | Drawing 40 A ae | | Woodwork Metal Work . Needlework . : Physical Training . | Scripture Knowledge | — SS SS ee | { 2. What combinations of subjects would you recommend as being most advan- tageous for your present and (probable) future conditions and requirements ? 3. What is your opinion concerning the degree of specialisation most advan- tageous to graduate students, both from the point of view of teaching efficiency, and general suitability for school work ? over-specialised ? H.g.: Are the present-day graduates | °° é culiicicat ly: gneetanicenat 4. Do you employ visiting teachers for Drawing Handwork :— Woodwork Metal work, etc. SECONDARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS IN WALES 77 Domestic Science :— Cookery Laundry work Physical Training ? Would you prefer to have these subjects taught by graduate members of the staff, if teachers with the necessary qualifications could be obtained ? 5, General remarks, A. PINSENT, ‘be ea iis © Asse ae CORYDON AND THE CICADA: A CORRECTION (See Aberystwyth Studies, Vol. 1X, p. 8.) Proressor D’Arcy WentwortH THompeson, of the University of St. Andrews, has pointed out an error in the natural history of the above passage. The reference to the grasshoppers which haunt Alpine meadows, while perfectly correct in itself, is not in point; for Corydon says (Kel. ii. 13)— sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis. Now the cicada is not a grasshopper, nor is it to be found at high levels. It does not bite the herbage on which it lives, but pricks it with its sharp proboscis, and sucks up the juice through a tiny orifice ; the ancient idea that it lives on dew is probably a false deduction from the correctly observed fact that its suction produces a drop of moisture on the surface of the plant. Corydon then has wandered down from his mountain pastures to a lower level, that of the olive-groves where cicade are to be found. At that lesser height it is no great wonder that he finds the noonday intolerably hot, and fancies that even the lizards must be in want of shade. H. J. ROSE. L. WINSTANLEY. 79 aaa | SRIiisH | t f ia ft 27 JAN 30 | SSE EL TEREST 5, NATURAL | HISTORY. J q Porc: CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES—Continued. VoLuME V The Government of Nicolas de Ovando in Espanola (1501-1509), by Cecil » Jane, M.A. Arx Capitolina, by the late Professor G. A. T. Davies and Professor H. J. Rose. James Howell again, by Professor E. Bensly. | The Cauldron in Ritual and Myth, by J. J. Jones, M.A. Conduct and the Experience of Value, Part II, by L. A. Reid, M.A. Sir Henry Jones and the Cross Commission, by J. Hughes, M.A. Notes on the History of Cardiganshire Lead-mines, by Miss K. Carpenter, M.Sc. VotumeE VI. MHKO*® and XPONO2D: The ‘‘ Unity of Time” in Ancient Drama, by Professor H. J. Rose. James Howell once more, by Professor E. Bensly. Hamlet and the Essex Conspiracy (Part I), by Lilian Winstanley, M.A. Croce’s Doctrine of Intuition compared with Bradley’s Doctrine of Feeling, by Valmai Burdwood Evans, M.A. Votume VII. The Peacipics of Quaternions, by the late Assistant Professor W. J. Johnston. The descriptive use of Dactyls, by A. Woodward, M.A. Hamlet and the Hssex Conspiracy (Part II), by L. Winstanley, M.A. Sainte-Beuve and the English Pre-Romantics, by Eva M. Phillips, M.A. The General Theories of Unemployment, by J. Morgan Rees, M.A. The Intention of Peele’s *“ Old Wives’ Tale,’’ by Gwenan Jones, M.A., Ph.D. Votume VIII. The Tragedy of the Conventional Woman: Deianeira, by Professor H. J. Rose, Two Fragments of Samian Pottery, in the Museum. of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, by P. K. Baillie Reynolds, M.A. Additional Notes of the Familiar Letters of James Howell, by Edward Bensly, M.A. Some Arthurian Material in Keltic, by Professor T. Gwynn Jo ones. The Keltic God with the Hammer, by J. J. Jones, M.A. Votume IX. Scenery of Vergil’s Eclogues, by Professor H. J. Rose and Miss Winstanley, M.A. More Gleanings in James Howell’s Letters, by Edward Bensly M.A. St. Cadvan’s Stone, Towyn, by Timothy Lewis, M.A. The Influence of Valencia and its Surroundings on the Later Life of Luis Vives as a Philo- sopher and a Teacher, by Professor Foster Watson. The Philosophy of Giovanni Gentile, by Miss Valmai Burdwood Evans,.M.A,. The Problems of Psychological Meaning, by George H. Green, M.A., Ph.D., B.Sc., B.Litt. Th ® VOLUME X. THE HYWEL DDA MILLENARY VOLUME. Facsimiles of MSS. Hywel Dda: the Historical Setting, by Professor J. E. Lloyd, D.Litt. M.A. The Laws of Hywel Dda in the light of Roman and Early English Law, by Professor T. A. Levi, M.A. The Land in Ancient Welsh Law, by T. P. Ellis, M.A., F.R.Hist.S. Social Life as reflected in the Laws of Hywel Dda, by Professor T.GwynnJones,M.A. The Language of the Laws of Hywel Dda, by Professor T. H. Parry-Williams, M.A. A Bibliography of the Laws of Hywel Dda, by Timothy Lewis, M.A. Norr.—Vols. I-III, price 3/- each, Vol. IV, price 6/-, and Vols. V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI, price 3/6 each, may be obtained from the General _ Secretary, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, or from Humphrey Milford, Oxford. University Press Warehouse, London. 2 eat SFAARS CYA f ; | NATURAL 4 Whe ISTORT,. WT PES STE, CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES Votume I. The Anglo-Saxon Riddles, by G. A. Wood, M.A. An Analysis of the female characters of Grillparzer’s Dramas contrasted with those of Goethe’s and Schiller’s, by Miss Amy Burgess, M.A. Norman Earthworks near Aberystwyth, by F. S. Wright. A List of Research Publications by Members of the eee Staff for the Session 1910-11. Votume II. The Anglo-Saxon Riddles (continued), by G. A. Wood, M.A. Some Ancient. _ Defensive Earthworks near Aberystwyth, by F. 8. ae Whitman v; Verhaeren, by P. M. Jones, B.A. : Votume III... The Greek Agones, by Professor H. J. Rose. A few Notes on the Familiar Letters of James Howell, by Professor E. Bensly. Fable Literature in Welsh, by Professor T. Gwynn Jones. Trajano Boccalini’s Influence upon. English Literature, by Richard Thomas, M.A. — VOLUME IV. Pagan Revivalism under the Roman Empire, by Sir Wilham M. Ramsay, F.B.A. The Bronze Age in Wales, by Harold Peake, F.8.A. Dionysiaca, by Professor H. J. Rose. The Clausule of Aischines, by R. A. Pope, M.A. Further Notes on the Familiar Letters of James Howell, by Professor Edward Bensly. Further Notes on ‘“‘the Owl and the Nightingale,” by Professor J. W. H. Atkins. The Arthurian Empire in the Elizabethan Poets, by Miss L. Winstanley, M.A. A Note on a passage in ‘‘ Beowulf,’’ by G. N. Garmonsway, B.A. Welsh Words from Pembrokeshire, by Professor T. Stanley Roberts. An English Flexional ending in Welsh, by Professor T. H. Parry-Williams. A ‘‘ Court of Love’’ poem in Welsh, by Professor T. Gwynn Jones. The Evolution of the Welsh Home, by Timothy Lewis, M.A. A Washer at the Ford, by Miss Gwenan Jones, M.A. An Outline History of our Neighbourhood, by Professor H. &. Fleure. Some Notes on the Industrial Revolution in South Wales, by J. Morgan Rees, M.A. Industrial Training in South Wales, by W. King,. M.A. Conduct and the Experience of Value, by L. A. Reid, M.A. Some sources of the English Trial, by Professor T. A. Levi. A Renascence Pioneer of Women’s Education, by Professor Foster Watson. Instruction in: Religion, by Professor C. R. Chapple. A new document bearing on the Welsh Education Commission of 1846—7,; by F. Smith, M.A. On Stokes’s Formula and the Maxwell-Lorentz Equations, by Professor W. H. Young. Recent Investigations of the scattering of X- and y-Rays, by Professor. G. A. Schott. The Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylenic Acids, by the late D. Emrys Williams, B.Sc., and Professor T. C.. James. The Action of - Reducing Agents on some Polynitrodiphenylamines, by N. M. Cullinane, - M.Sc. .Some Reactions of Tetranitroaniline, by C. W. Davies, B.Se, The Origin of the Seed-Plants (Spermophyta), by D. H. Scott, LL.D. Investigations into the Fauna of the Sea Floor of Cardigan Bay, by Professor R. Douglas Laurie. The Fauna of the Clarach Stream (Cardi- ganshire) and its Tributaries, by Miss K. Carpenter, B.Sc. Additions to the Marine Fauna of Aberystwyth and District, by Miss E. Horsman, — M.Se. The Bryophyta of Arctic-Alpine eigen Mice: in Wales, by C. V. B. Marquand, M.A. (Continued on page 3 of Cover.) BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES VoL. XII - PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS BOARD ON BEHALF OF THE COLLEGE eG 5 pgag | as v * 3 % ® % ' s ne Se ides uta Ye UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES ABERYSTW YTH Vol. XII ABERYSTWYTH STUDIES VOL. XII \BERYSTWYTH STUDIES | BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES | VOL. XII PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS BOARD ON BEHALF OF THE COLLEGE 1932 ot <\ SH MU By, DN Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London CONTENTS THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’. By GrorcE H. Green, MA Ph.D., B:.Se., B.Litt. . ; : ‘ MARCH AP MEIRCHION: A STUDY IN CELTIC FOLK- LORE. By J. J. Jonss, M.A. THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER. By VALMAI BuRDWOOD Evans, M.A., B.Litt. : ; : A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL. By WaLtTeR Foae, M.A. PAGE 47 BRITISH | Carte as Wee ee TS MUSEUM | THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ Pot has himself pointed out to us, in his tales of ratiocination, that the situation which presents a number of bizarre characters to us is really more simple of solution than another which has no outstanding characters. If the statement be true, as within limits it undoubtedly is, the esthetic problems presented by Poe’s writings should be more easy of solution than those which are offered by the work of Longfellow or Tennyson. Indeed, a certain obvious character of the writings of these two last ensures that the majority of their readers, at least, will never realise that any essential esthetic problem is presented. Confronted by such stories as ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ ‘ The Black Cat,’ ‘ Berenice’ or ‘ Ligeia,’ most readers, whether literary critics or not, will find themselves considering the problem —Why should any man choose to write about such subjects as these? They understand, or believe they understand, why poets should write of brooks and belfries, flowers and trees, and pleasant romances with happy endings ; not realising that ‘ The Brook ’ and ‘ A Psalm of Life ’ present precisely the same problem as “ Berenice ’ or ‘ The Purloined Letter.’ The bizarre subjects of Poe, that is to say, have served to make us realise a problem whose existence we overlook in the case of more ‘ ordinary ’ work. It is important to be quite clear as to what the problem really is. Professor Livingston Lowes has recently traced, with the aid of Coleridge’s notebooks, the origin of practically every allusion in ‘The Ancient Mariner,’ and has shown ! that the poem consists of a mass of materials gathered from varied sources, unified by what we must be content to speak of as ‘ The Creative Spirit.’ Just here arise the problems already mentioned. Why, of all the available material, is some chosen and other rejected ? 1 John Livingston Lowes: The Road to Xanadu. The material of this work was the subject of a series of lectures, delivered by Professor Livingston Lowes at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, in January 1926. 1 2 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ Why is the material which is chosen fashioned into one particular form, and not another? The solution is not arrived at by speaking vaguely of the poet’s ‘ purpose ’: if Coleridge’s purpose is to tell a story of sin and penitence, we can only say that the same thing has been done by other men in other ways. Explanations—not only those of critics, but those of the poets themselves—have served in the main merely to obscure the issue. Poe lays down as an esthetic canon that the purpose of the writer is to produce a vivid single effect; and indeed it may be true that he always kept this aim consciously in mind. He held, too, that every other consideration should be sacrificed to this end. Nevertheless, the problem remains. Poe aimed constantly at a particular kind of effect, and generally by the use of material of a particular kind, worked out in ways peculiarly his own. If any one of the many aspects of Poe’s work has been selected for discussion rather than others, it is this deliberate choice of subjects which to the majority of people are repellent. Poe might have chosen differently, but refused to do so: this is the general view of critics, which Stoddard has expressed in the couplet :— ‘He might have soared in the morning light, But he built his nest with the birds of night ! ’ Poe took pains to prove to his public—though more, as Hervey Allen surmises, to prove to himself—that his choice is not merely deliberate, but is also right; determined upon only after long consideration of alternatives. But, Poe being what he was, it would be clear to anyone who knew him sufficiently well that in the end his choice would be what it actually was, and that the meditation was nothing more than a means of justifying his choice to himself. For Poe, the highest beauty must present bizarre elements, and he seized with eagerness upon a statement of Bacon’s, quoting it over and over again, because he found in it a definition of beauty which was merely one to which he was already committed. Krutch has realised, with a sreat deal of insight, that Poe’s preoccupation with topics which are repellent to normal men and women must be correlated with the fact that the protagonists of his ideas are inhuman or non- human. ‘To Poe’s own contemporaries, there seemed something wrong and perverse about his work; something which led them to regard it, for reasons by no means clear to any of them, as THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 3 wmmoral. Hence the legend, for which there was never any foundation of fact, that he was a past master in the arts of vice, was eagerly seized upon, since it seemed to explain much that could not be understood. To such men as Griswold Poe’s conversations and writing appeared Satanic, and we must believe that the biographer, malignant and unscrupulous as he is in many ways, is not the mere cur in the cemetery that Baudelaire considered him. Griswold is not perverting his facts from sheer malice and envy, but because he believes that he knows things truer of Poe than the facts themselves can be. The moral of Griswold’s memoir, and of other writings about Poe, is that biography cannot safely be entrusted either to the worshippers of a shrine which the new prophet violates or to beloved disciples. Mrs. Whitman’s angel is Mr. Griswold’s devil. The zsthetic problem forces itself upon us in connection with the work of Poe even more strongly on account of his own apparent attempts to solve it. He wrote an essay on ‘ The Poetic Principle ’ in which he attempts to show us the ways in which he achieves the effects after which he strives, and another, ‘ The Philosophy of Composition, in which, more specifically, he professes to detail the whole process of the composition of ‘The Raven.’ But, when he wrote these essays, he had already earned a well- deserved reputation through his capacity for hoaxing the public. ‘The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym’ had already been accepted for a time, in England at least, as a true account of an extraordinary adventure. ‘The Murder in the Rue Morgue’ earried with it such an appearance of fact that one writer thought it necessary to go to great pains to prove that there was no such street in Paris as the ‘Rue Morgue.’ ‘Hans Pfaal’ and ‘The Great Balloon Hoax’ imposed upon the credulity of the public, and there can be little doubt that Poe was pleased by the fact. Indeed, the whole question of Poe’s love of hoaxing and mystification is a fit subject for detailed consideration, im- possible here. What is relevant is that Poe’s notorious talents in this field have led a great many people to suppose that his - accounts of his aims and methods are merely further attempts to impose upon his readers, and to enjoy a laugh at their gullibility. The greater number of critics, since Gill, appear to have accepted this view, with the result that Poe’s account of how he wrote ‘ The Raven’ has been generally discredited. But the larger and more important question is that of why Poe feels it necessary to explain 4 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ how ‘The Raven’ came to be written, and why he chooses to explain its composition in any particular way. Gill, who is one of Poe’s earliest biographers, puts forward a suggestion which deserves attention, not merely for its futility, but because it is a particularly naive instance of the kind of ‘explanation ’ so often given in similar cases. Gill says that he feels certain that Poe was merely exercising once more, in ‘The Philosophy of Composition,’ his capacity for gulling the public, and goes on to give his own ‘theory. This is nothing more than a statement of the circumstances in which he imagines that the poem was written; mistaking, as is so frequently the case, the occasion for the cause. Whether Poe wrote sincerely or not when he penned his account of the writing of ‘The Raven,’ it is clear that he came to the poem as his hero Dupin came to the murder of Marie Roget or to the crime in the Rue Morgue. He saw something which had been effected by a series of events following each other, and was compelled to infer these events from their final result. But in working at the one as Dupin worked at the other, Poe makes an assumption which begs the whole question at issue. The detective story is, as Poe realised, written backwards. The writer begins with a series of events, and passes on logically to a conclusion. ‘This conclusion is, for the reader, the beginning of the story. The narrator passes back, step by step, from conclusion to premises. Apart from satisfactory treatment of narrative, all that the reader demands of the author is that there shall be a strict logical connection between the series of connected events. If we deal with a poem as the detective of fiction deals with a crime, we are making the assumption that the events which link the genesis of a poem—whatever that may be—and the poem itself are logically connected. Indeed, Poe found himself compelled, in the course of ‘The Philosophy of Composition,’ to assert that this was the case, and that artistic composition was, in essence, mathematical in character. The poem, Poe assumed and asserted, was wrought deliberately throughout, with an end in view. Jf we may believe this, and assume that ‘The Raven’ is throughout the result of a process of deliberation, then ‘The Philosophy of Composition’ is a credible account of the steps by which such deliberation might proceed. If, on the other hand, the assumption is wrong, then THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 5 the essay becomes a mere exercise in logic, valuable for the light it throws on the workings of Poe’s mind, but worthless as an account of the composition of ‘ The Raven.’ Ingram, in his biography of Poe, quotes from a letter written by the poet :— ‘Your objection to the tenkling of the footfalls is far more pointed, and in the course of the composition occurred so forcibly to myself that I hesitated to use the term. I finally used it, because I saw that it had, in its first conception, been suggested to my mind by the sense of the supernatural with which it was, at the moment, filled. No human or physical foot could tinkle on a soft carpet, therefore the tinkling of feet would vividly convey the supernatural impression.’ Nowhere in ‘ The Philosophy of Composition ’ is any ‘ sense of the supernatural ’ hinted at; nor the spontaneous occurrence to mind of appropriate epithets. The student, working at a problem in mathematics, or the Chevalier Dupin, accurately inferring the inevitable sequence of thoughts in the mind of his companion, is not ‘filled with a sense of the supernatural ’ ; and the mind of each is working, not freely and spontaneously, but under the restraints imposed by the demands of logical thought. The admissions contained in the letter quoted by Ingram are sufficient evidence of the worthlessness of ‘ The Philosophy of Composition’ as an account of the composition of ‘The Raven,’ though not necessarily of the accuracy of the opinion that the essay is a deliberate hoax on the part of Poe. Two sources of material used by Poe in the composition of “The Raven’ can be stated with certainty, though neither of them is referred to in ‘ The Philosophy of Composition.’ Poe had, some time before the poem was written, reviewed both Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge and Elizabeth Barrett’s Lady Geraldine’s Courtship. It is remarkable, to say the least, that though the opening paragraph of ‘ The Philosophy of Composi- tion’ mentions Charles Dickens and Barnaby Rudge, there is throughout the essay no reference to the raven which was Barnaby’s pet. Yet we know, from Poe’s own review of the novel, that the introduction of the raven into the story had impressed him a great deal, and that he considered Dickens had failed to make effective use of the bird. ‘The raven, too,’ he writes, ‘ intensely amusing as it is, might have been made, more than we now see it, a portion of the conception of the fantastic Barnaby. Its croakings might have been prophetically heard in the course of 6 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ the drama. Its character might have performed, in regard to the idiot, much the same part as does, in music, the accompani- ment in respect to the air.’ In ‘ The Philosophy of Composition ’ Poe writes: ‘The lover, startled from his original nonchalance by the melancholy character of the word itself, by its frequent repetition, and by a consideration of the ominous reputation of the fowl that uttered it, is at length excited to superstition, and wildly propounds queries of a far different character— queries whose solution he has passionately at heart—propounds them half in superstition and half in that species of despair that delights in self-torture—propounds them not altogether because he believes in the prophetic or demoniac character of the bird (which reason assures him is merely repeating a lesson learned by rote), but because he experiences a frenzied pleasure in so modelling his questions as to receive from the expected “‘ Never- more ”’ the most delicious because the most intolerable of sorrow.’ In ‘ The Raven’ we have the bird performing, in respect to the musings of the bereaved lover, much the same part as does, in music, the accompaniment in respect to the air. But this was, for Poe, precisely the role the raven should take in a drama : Poe saw the raven performing this particular part years before a line of ‘The Raven’ was written. Some reference might here be made, once more, to Gill’s theory of the origin of “ The Raven,’ which Graham had no doubt was ‘in the main correct.’1 Gill points out that, just before the appearance of the poem, Virginia Poe was prostrated by a serious illness, in the course of which animation was apparently entirely suspended, and she lay ‘ cold and breathless, apparently dead.’ He suggests that Poe, overcome by sorrow and remorse, picturing his wife as dead, felt that he had no hope of meeting her in the distant Aidenn of the future. Apart from the many assumptions, for which there is little or no evidence, necessitated by this hypothesis, we must realise that we have here, not an explanation of the composition of ‘The Raven,’ but merely an account of the circumstances in which it might have been com- posed. Already, as we have seen, the raven and the part it must play in any drama is in Poe’s mind. Again, Poe’s conception of the poem is very different from Gill’s, for he asserts in the course of a controversy with ‘ Outis ’ (published under the title 1Gill: Life of Edgar A. Poe (London: Chatto & Windus, 1878), p. 140. THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 7 of ‘ Mr. Longfellow and other Plagiarists ’) that * the lover lives triumphantly in the expectation of meeting his Lenore in Aidenn,’ and goes on to state that the raven is merely the allegorical emblem of Mournful Remembrance, out of whose shadow the poet is ‘lifted nevermore. We must not, however, rely too much on what Poe wrote in the course of controversy for the rebuttal of what Gill says, since ‘Mr. Longfellow and other Plagiarists ’ is a piece of special pleading, and since, like ‘ The Philosophy of Composition,’ it was written some time after the poem ; being merely another attempt to give a rational account of the stages of a process which was possibly, in the first instance, non-rational in character. The actual rebuttal of Gill must be made out from the poem itself, which is perhaps the only authentic document we possess from which we may learn anything of the actual facts of its composition. Before passing to the account of the composition of ‘ The Raven’ which Poe gives in the body of the poem itself, some reference should be made to Poe’s review of Lady Geraldine’s Courtship, by Elizabeth Barrett, who is referred to as the author of The Seraphim and other poems. Ingram mentions that Buchanan Read, in conversation with Robert Browning, asserted that Poe had told him that the suggestion of ‘ The Raven ’ arose from a line of Miss Barrett’s poem :— ‘With a murmurous stir uncertain, in the air the purple curtain .. . and certainly there is a close resemblance between this line and the first portion of the third stanza of ‘The Raven ’ :— “And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before ’ —and this resemblance is something more than a mere similarity of form. Poe had already pictured heavily curtained rooms, and had dealt with curtains in ways which showed clearly that they had for him some deep significance. In ‘ Ligeia,’ for instance, the bridal chamber is hung with heavy figured curtains, which move slowly to and fro as currents of air strike them. In ‘ The Conqueror Worm’ the heavy curtain, which falls as the cosmic drama ends, is a ‘ funeral pall.’ In‘ The Philosophy of Furniture ’ Poe pays great attention to the curtains which he regards as an important part of the decoration of the ideal room: they are to be of crimson velvet, and the details of their suspension and 8 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ looping are given at some length. More instances might be given, but there is little point in over-elaborating the proof that Poe had already found curtains significant, and had used them in order to achieve the effects at which he aimed, long before he read Lady Geraldine’s Courtship. He had realised that for him the raven possessed peculiar significance before he came to write “The Raven ’—perhaps, though there is apparently no evidence of this, before he read a word of Barnaby Rudge. Before he wrote ‘The Philosophy of Furniture’ he had written * The Assignation,’ ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ and The Fall of the House of Usher, in all of which he details bizarre rooms in which his heroes, strange projections of himself, appropriately live and meditate. In ‘The Raven,’ then, he brings together into a new synthesis things which already possess significance —a raven, a room, and curtains. Indeed, he does much more than this—but this at least he does. The effecting of this new synthesis is the creative act, or, perhaps more correctly, a stage of the creative act. Is it possible to describe it in greater detail ? Poe has made attempts, sincere or otherwise, to explain the genesis of ‘The Raven.’ One, at least, of his critics has made an attempt to give a different account. But there is, in addition to these, a further statement by Poe himself in the body of ‘The Raven.’ The first part of the twelfth stanza runs :— ‘Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore— What this grim, ungainly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking “ Nevermore.” ’ ‘Linking fancy unto fancy, thinking . . .’ would be difficult to better as a description of reverie, day-dreaming, or ‘* un- directed thinking.’ We know that Poe was given to reveries, and there is reason to believe that in passive mental processes his stories and poems were incubated, however much they may have been worked over subsequently. However, though Poe tells us explicitly, in ‘The Raven,’ the reveries played a part in the poem’s composition, we are not justified in immediately accepting this statement to the exclusion of the accounts he gives us elsewhere. In some way or other the matter must be put to the only test we are able to apply—Which of all the contrasting theories of the composition of ‘The Raven’ can be supported by the evidence of the poem itself ? THE COMPOSITION OF *‘THE RAVEN’ 9 Poe reaches the end of the first half of ‘ The Philosophy of Composition ’ before he has arrived at the conclusion that the topic of the poem he proposes to write shall be the death of a beautiful woman—‘ the death, then, of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is 1t beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.’ It is astonishing, to say the least, that the man who had already written ‘The Sleeper,’ ! ‘ The Assignation,’ ‘ Berenice,’ “ Morella,’ ‘ Eleonora,’ ‘ Ligeia,’ and ‘The Oval Portrait,’ had nevertheless to assure himself by a long process of dialectics that ‘ the death of a beautiful woman ’ is the most suitable topic for his proposed poem. In truth the topic was already chosen, and Poe’s argument, apparently so rigorously logical, is nothing more than a circuitous route to a goal decided upon in advance. Poe follows, indeed, though perhaps all unwittingly, that method of Godwin’s to which he refers in the opening paragraph of ‘ The Philosophy of Composi- tion — he first involved his hero in a web of difficulties, forming the second volume, and then, for the first, cast about him for some mode of accounting for what had been done.’ Paraphrasing this somewhat, we may say that Poe, finding himself involved in a web of preoccupations about beautiful dead women, cast about him for some means of accounting for the ways in which he had arrived at them. The preoccupation had to be esthetic- ally and logically justified. The * beautiful, dead woman’ is mentioned for the first time in ‘ The Raven,’ in the second stanza, when Poe speaks of * sorrow for the lost Lenore.’ In the fifth stanza, too, he describes him- self as whispering the word ‘ Lenore’ and hearing it repeated as an echo in the silent room. But in these five stanzas, as in others which follow, there is no hint of the process described as ‘linking fancy unto fancy.’ Rather, this section of the poem is the careful and deliberate, detailed description of the stage upon which the drama will presently unfold itself . . . and this _ drama is the confrontation of the poet with the raven. ‘The first eleven stanzas deal with the setting of the stage: the drama proper begins with the twelfth. Before the twelfth stanza, that is to say, everything is prologue, a necessary introduction for the uninformed reader, and in all probability this prologue was not written till the greater part of the remainder had at least 1 First published as ‘ Irene.’ 10 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ been drafted. Poe’s own assertion is that the fifteenth stanza was the first he actually penned, and, though we cannot alto- gether trust his accounts of his life and work, it is nevertheless remarkable that his own assertion should agree so nearly with a conclusion reached by a train of argument entirely different from that. presented in ‘ The Philosophy of Composition.’ The situation with which Poe deals is one which is not unfamiliar to readers of his work. Roderick Usher ! spends his days in a room which is similar in essentials to the room in which Poe’s heroes meditate ; interesting himself in the rituals of forgotten churches and in books whose names are incantations, but held all the time by a nameless fear. Aigeus,? too, abandons himself to reveries in a room of the same kind, haunted by mental states which he endeavours to analyse and understand. And in each case, seen—as a vision rather than a living person —in the background, is the beautiful woman who is to die: Madeline or Berenice. ; What distinguished ‘ The Raven’ from The Fall of the House of Usher and ‘ Berenice’ is precisely—the Raven. The fear in the one instance and the vague horror of the other have in the poem given way to an actual concrete object—the ominous bird. And thus we see why it was that Barnaby Rudge appealed so strongly and immediately to Poe, why it was that the idiot boy’s bird held his attention from the start. It visibly embodied something he had known and felt—making sharp and clear what had hitherto been vague. Yet it missed something: it should have been, Poe felt, more fearful, prophesying the inevi- table. Its croakings should through repetition have become more and more convincing, their meaning more and more definite —as the white hairs on the breast of the black cat * shaped them- selves into the form of a gallows. The raven, too, as a feeder — on carrion, is naturally associated with death, and this association is far more satisfactory than that which Poe has to establish in the story between the dead woman and the cat, by means of an event which strains a reader’s credulity. Poe, indeed, as has already been noted, stated in the course of controversy that the bird symbolised for him ‘ Mournful Remembrance.’ ... It is far more likely that though he appreciated its real significance, in so far as he was profoundly thrilled and moved by it, he did 1See The Fall of the House of Usher. 2 See ‘ Berenice.’ 3) the Black Cate THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 1 not know what moved him or why he was stirred: had he known, and had he been able to express his knowledge in any other way, he would have been under no compulsion to write ‘ The Raven. Part, at least, of the problem of the poem’s genesis lies in the question of the real significance of the raven for Edgar Allan Poe. The drama really begins in the twelfth stanza of ‘ The Raven.’ The bird has entered the room, and perched himself on the bust of Pallas over the door. The lover has ‘ wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door,’ and sits, whilst the fiery eyes of the bird burn in his * bosom’s core “—trying to divine the riddle of the bird itself and its enigmatic utterance. ‘This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion’s velvet lining, that the lamplight gloated o’er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o’er, She shall press, ah, nevermore ! ’ The collocation of ‘ violet’ and ‘ velvet’ is not peculiar to ‘The Raven.’ It should be noted here that for Poe colours appear to have a great deal of meaning: evidence of this is to be found scattered through all his work, though especially in “The Philosophy of Furniture’ and ‘The Masque of the Red Death.’ In the latter story ‘violet’ and ‘ velvet’ have been brought together with some effect. The violet room is the last but one of the series of fantastic halls in which Prince Prospero entertained his guests, and serves as the sole entrance to the room—the black room—in which the final catastrophe occurs. Poe dwells upon the bizarre décor of the black room, hung with black velvet: he speaks of its sable tapestries, its booming clock of ebony. Once he refers to it as ‘ the hall of the velvet.’ In the climax of ‘ The Masque of the Red Death’ he speaks of the hurried passage of the two, the guest and the prince, from the ‘violet’ to the ‘velvet’ apartment ...to the room in which Death, brought to bay, kills Prospero. There is mention of the colour ‘ violet ’ in another connection in some of Poe’s earlier work. In a preface to ‘ Al Araaf,’ pub- lished in 1831, but omitted from later editions, the lines occur :— . 6 . . . dreamy gardens, where do lie Dreamy maidens, all the day ; While the silver winds of Circassy On violet couches faint away.’ -A.S—=VOL. XII. B 12 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ The invocation to Ligeia, in the maiden’s song in ‘ Al Araaf,’ contains the lines :-— ‘ Arise! from your dreaming In violet bowers, To duty beseeming These star-litten hours.’ Thus, in poems written fourteen or more years earlier than the composition of “The Raven,’ Poe had given to ‘ violet ’ a signifi- eance which linked the colour to maidens reclining—to women, to sleep, and to dreaming. In the twelfth stanza of ‘ The Raven,’ then, the sudden transition from the ‘ velvet violet ’ to thoughts of the dead Lenore is not so abrupt as it may seem in the first instance. The ‘fancy unto fancy linking’ is but the revival of trains of associated thoughts, linked together through past experience. The poem ‘ Lenore’ was published in 1844—earlier, that is to say, than ‘The Raven.’ In it appear the lines, describing the appearance of a dead woman :— ‘,.. her, the fair and débonnaire, that now so lowly lies, The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes— The life still there, upon her hair—the death upon her eyes.’ The collocation of ‘ debonair’ with ‘fair’ appears in Milton’s ‘L’Allegro.’ Though there appears to be no specific mention of this poem in any of Poe’s essays, we know that Poe had read Milton closely and carefully, and much preferred the shorter works to the great epics: he suggests somewhere that Milton himself probably thought more of ‘Comus’ than of ‘ Paradise Lost.’ It is in the highest degree unlikely that he did not know ‘L’Allegro’ well, or that he was not familiar with the well- known lines :— 2 ‘Zephyr, with Aurora playing, As he met her once a-maying ; There, on beds of violets blue, And fresh-blown roses washed with dew, Filled her with thee, a daughter fair, So buxom, blithe and debonair.’ In this single passage are linked together, not merely ‘ debonair ’ and ‘ fair ’—epithets which, for Poe, stand for the ‘ lost Lenore ’ —but ‘ violets ’ also. We have already, then, it seems, found a starting-point— THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 13 conjectural but reasonably probable—from which the linking of fancies might proceed. We can indicate ways in which Poe’s thought may have proceeded, and establish the probability that it really did proceed in this way by showing that it had formerly traversed such paths. If the chains of thought took their origin in Poe’s musings over the raven, the principal links in the chain would be :— Black—velvet—violet—the dead Lenore’ ...a sequence which is not likely to surprise anyone who has familiar- ised himself with the general character of the trains of thought which go to make up undirected thinking.! The mention of * black—velvet—violet ’ together suggests at once in the strongest possible manner the most usual association of velvet with these sombre colourings—that is to say, in funeral trappings. Let us remember that Poe has already given evidence of his interest in curtains, that in ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ he has already made much of black velvet curtains, and that in ‘ The Conqueror Worm ’ the great curtain that hangs in front of the stage proves at the end to be a funeral pall. This itself is a striking association, and at once prompts the question as to what type of experience may lead a man to link together objects so apparently different—curtains and palls—so that these two may be thought of together. True, a link may be found in the fact that the two are made of similar material. But in the case of Poe, something further existed. He was, as is fairly well known, the second child of his parents, who were travelling actors. The first child was sent, soon after his birth, to relatives at Baltimore, where he remained, so that Edgar Allan Poe never saw his brother till the two were youths. But Mrs. Poe declined to part with the second child, and it seems certain that he was taken to the theatre with her, and left in the care of someone whilst she was actually on the stage. The vague, colossal images of ‘The Conqueror Worm’ are entirely in agreement with the view that as a tiny child, a mere baby, Poe was familiar with the appearance of a stage as seen from the wings. There he saw the ‘vast forms that moved the scenery to and fro,’ and was impressed by the manner in which the curtain fell ‘ with the rush of a storm.’ The death of his 1 The character of undirected thinking has been discussed in a number of places by Jung. An extremely detailed account of the ‘ chains’ and their relation to his own reveries is given by Varendonck in The Psychology of the Daydream. 14 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ mother, too, occurred when he was still a tiny child: not long before his third birthday—and this occasion was, in all proba- bility, his first contact with palls. The pall and the curtain, then, are two immediate and close associations, forged in early infancy, with the dead actress, his mother. Some of the infant’s impressions and memories go to the making up of the picture of ‘ Ligeia ’“—whose image, in all probability, led to his approval of Bacon’s dictum, ‘ There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion.’ 4 In ‘ The Raven ’ the mention of the ‘ Lost Lenore ’ is followed by a transition, astonishingly abrupt, to other imagery so extraordinary in its character that, as we have already seen, at least one correspondent challenged the fitness of the language. It does not, on the surface, seem to grow out of what has preceded it, nor indeed to be related to it in any way whatsoever. “Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.’ It is possible to trace out the associations to the majority of the allusions here in other works of Poe. Perhaps, however, in order not to make the argument wearisome, it will be sufficient to deal with the significance of a few only. Already, as we have seen, the previous stanza has forced on our attention the links existing in Poe’s mind between curtains and the colour violet. Poe had already admitted to a friend that some part of the genesis of ‘ The Raven ’ was due to a line in Lady Geraldine’s Courtship, a work which he had reviewed shortly before as a work by ‘ Elizabeth Barrett, author of The Seraphim and other Poems. He had written, years earlier, of the beauty of Eleonora —the beauty of the seraphim: the image was one with which he was familiar, the seraphim standing, that is to say, for the ‘beautiful dead woman.’ What is equally important for our purpose is that Lady Geraldine’s Courtship contains a reference to ‘ Bells and Pomegranates,’ published a little earlier by Robert Browning. Poe thought highly of the Brownings, and Gill quotes a visitor to the Poes’ home as noticing that their work 1 Quoted by Poe in ‘ Ligeia,’ as well as in other places. An examination of the portrait of Mrs. Poe makes it evident that the ‘ strangeness in the proportion ’ which Poe attributes to ‘ Ligeia’ was to be found also in his mother. THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 15 was given a place of honour on a small pedestal, whilst the works of other poets were grouped together on the bookshelves. Bells and pomegranates were the ornaments of the robe of the priest of Israel, which he wore when he went into the Holy of Holies, in which was the mercy-seat over which the seraphim hovered. ‘A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister ; and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not.’ ! The poem, now generally known as ‘To One in Paradise,’ which was first published in 1835 as part of the tale * The Visionary ’ (later re-titled ‘ The Assignation ’) and again repub- lished separately as ‘To Ianthe in Heaven,’ opens thus :— ‘Thou wert that all to me, love, For which my soul did pine: A green isle in the sea, love, A fountain and a shrine’ and the use of this word (not italicised in the original) recalls at once the passage in ‘ Ligeia’: ‘ When Ligeia’s beauty passed into my spirit, there dwelling as in a shrine, I derived from many existences in the material world, a sentiment such as I always felt around, within me, by her large and luminous orbs. Something of this feeling Poe perhaps owed to the fact that he did reproduce in himself, to some extent, the ° strange propor- tion ’ of his mother’s features—the lofty forehead and the large and brilliant eyes. But there is something of significance in the early title of this poem. Walter Savage Landor, regarding the name ‘ Jane’ as hardly suited to romantic poetry, had borrowed from Ovid the name ‘ Ianthe’ as a substitute, being the first English poet to use it, and had expressed considerable annoy- ance when Byron borrowed it from him. Poe had perhaps borrowed the name from Byron, or even directly from Landor, with whose work we may suppose him to have been acquainted. We know that Poe, disliking Mrs. Stanard’s name, Jane, had preferred to write of her as ‘ Helen’: in Landor’s or Byron’s _ work he found another substitute ready to hand. And thus we have the idea of the shrine—the Holy of Holies—the sanctuary —linked to Ligeia, his mother, and also to Mrs. Stanard, the 1 Exodus xxviii. vv. 34-35 (A.V.). 16 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ beautiful woman who was the mother-substitute and romantic love of his adolescence, whose tragic sudden death was so great a blow to him: who was his ‘ Helen’ and his ‘ Irene.’ There emerges thus a mass of material which gives significance and meaning to Poe’s verse. The room in which he confronts the raven assumes at once the character of the place in which the poet lives, and of a shrine as well. It becomes a holy of holies. And if rooms, in which a poet is to live and muse, are sanctuaries of the dead, we can understand something at least of the significance Poe attached to furnishings, since these must possess, not merely the meaning they have for ordinary people, but a symbolical one as well. The room of the visionary ? is one from which daylight is excluded: it is illumined by flaming censers, and its principal object is the heavily curtained portrait of the Marchesa Aphrodite. Roderick Usher’s room is one in which he may read the services for the dead from the altar-books of a forgotten church. The room described in ‘ The Philosophy of Furniture’ contains ‘a tall candelabrum, bearing a small antique lamp with highly perfumed oil. The ‘tufted floor’ of the room of ‘The Raven’ is foreshadowed by ‘ the carpet— of Saxony material—quite half an inch thick.’ For pictures for such a room Poe suggests ‘ chiefly landscapes of an imaginative cast—such as the fairy grottoes of Stanfield or the Lake of the Dismal Swamp of Chapman. There are, nevertheless, three or four female heads, of an ethereal beauty—portraits in the manner of Sully.’ In this picture is irresistibly suggested the linking of ‘Psyche’ with the ‘region of Weir’ in ‘ Ulalume,’ the poem which Krutch surmises contains the whole secret of Poe ! The passage from the ‘ violet velvet ’ to the * unseen censer, swung by seraphim ’ might seem at first to imply the transition from the place where the woman reclines and lives to the place where she lives in death—to the world, that is to say, beyond death. The study of this hidden world Poe termed * metaphysics.’ Poe’s intense absorption in this world directed many of his activities and his thoughts. It explains the inspiration for ‘ The Assignation ’ which he found in the lines he twice quotes from Henry King’s ‘ Exequy ’; and the fascination for him of stories of those who recover from death-like trances or come living from tombs, since these have lived through experiences he passionately wishes to understand. It explains, too, something 1 The Assignation.’ THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ ig of the underlying motive of those detective stories in which Dupin sets out to learn through ratiocination what has happened to dead women ; of the romances of hypnotism in which men, already dead, are interrogated ; or the dialogues in which shades, meeting in the underworld, speak of their experiences of dying and entombment. For all that dealt with death and the dead Poe had an intense and absorbing interest, shrinking from no detail: and some of his stories are, in part at least, an attempt to reconcile his intense love of beauty with interests which appear repellent to normal men and women. Yet, though Poe is so strongly attracted by the experiences of the dead, there is no record of any attempt at self-destruction. On one occasion, indeed, towards the very end of his life, a friend expressed the fear that Poe meditated suicide, at a time when he was undoubtedly temporarily insane. But, in imagina- tion, he died and was reunited with the dead. Death—like darkness—had very real terrors for Poe; and it may plausibly be argued that his intense desire to know every detail connected with it is an indication of the fact that it meant much more for him than for the majority of men and women. Yet, on occasion, he braved his very real terrors and spent some of the hours of darkness at the graves of Mrs. Stanard and Virginia. Towards the very end of his life, when he was happy in the mothering companionship of Annie Richmond, he was able to write of his own death without any feelings of terror or horror :— ‘Thank Heaven! the crisis— The danger is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last— And the fever called “ Living ” Is conquered at last.’ 1 We return to the word * tinkling,’ which seemed so inappro- priate to Poe’s correspondent, but to the poet—for reasons which, as he states them, seem inadequate—peculiarly fitting. The high priest of Israel passed into the Holy of Holies, the perilous place into which no other man might enter without meeting death: even the high priest himself could enter only on certain specified occasions and after proper precautionary ritual preparation. His emergence from the sanctuary, as a sign that the offerings had been accepted, was awaited eagerly 1*To Annie.’ 18 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ by the crowd without, who had no other assurance that the priest was living and offering the sacrifice, except the tunkling sound of the bells wpon his garment. In this fact is to be found the reason why, for Poe, the word ‘ tinkling ’ was so satisfactory. The ground of its peculiar fitness is not to be found in esthetic or rational considerations . . . but in the fact that it implies his reunion with the dead woman whilst he lives. It is not possible, in a single paper of this kind, to establish securely the fact that the ‘ beautiful dead woman,’ whose beauty was marked by ‘ strangeness in the proportion ’ was not Virginia Poe—as Gill surmised. Nor is the ‘ Lost Lenore’ either Mary Devereux, as Mordell insists, or Elmira Royster, as certain evidence goes to suggest. There are two women, who are con- trasted with each other in ‘ Ligeia,’ who are the archetypes of all the women of whom Poe writes: and, if his creations do not live, it is largely because these women never lived in his adult experience. His knowledge of them belongs to a body of infant memories, so that they are moving and speaking shapes, rather than persons; and his preoccupation with them is the expression of a mental set, wholly or partly unconscious, which may conveniently be termed ‘a wish for a return to the past.’ It is possible to regard this as a wish for a rebirth, as a desire for a return to infancy. In this connection it is interesting that Poe locates the reunion with the dead woman in ‘ Aidenn,’ rather than in Heaven or Paradise. It is a comparatively easy matter to show that a great deal of Poe’s life followed this pattern. It is very difficult to believe that a man so gifted had not the intellectual capacity to take ‘care of his own affairs, or the very limited measure of ability which is needed for a moderately successful conduct of practical life—but the fact remains that he did not look after such matters. His career in the army, his success for brief periods as an editor, appear to be proof that he could and did conduct life with success —but it must be remembered that in the one case the institution removed from him a burden of responsibility and initiative which the civilian has to shoulder for himself, and in the other case, Mrs. Clemm, his wife’s mother, did exactly the same thing for him. Further evidence is to be found in the letters of appeal for assistance, and in the stories of his extraordinary ‘love’ affairs. It is very clear, from the letters which survive, and from the narratives of the women themselves, that the relation THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ 19 which Poe sought to establish was never a ‘romantic’ one, except in that extraordinary sense in which the relation between Ligeia and her lover was romantic. The circumstances of Poe’s life made harder for him than for most men any sort of successful adaptation to the life of his time. He had not been prepared by his early training to fight his way in the world, nor to be content with the kind of success that results from application to a profession or to business. “The desire for a return to infancy’ expresses the dislike for routine and application and struggle: it is a strategical retreat, which is very well symbolised by the retirement of the hero to a room which is a world out of the world. At the same time, we have his own admission that he wishes to stand at the highest pinnacle of the world’s opinion. The writing of poetry was, in his case, a compromise, enabling him to live within a world of his own creation and to make a bid for fame. The genesis of ‘ The Raven ’ is, then, to be discovered in the probably unwitting desire to return to infancy. The room itself, which is depicted in the poem, is at the same time the retreat from the world of the present, and also the womb and tomb sanctuary, the unknown world of ‘ metaphysics ’ whose gates are life and death. But to enter this world by either gate is to surrender the ego. Towards death or rebirth, then, there is the ambivalent attitude: it is desired, as the consummation of the reunion with the ‘ beautiful dead woman,’ and dreaded, since it means the surrender of the highly-valued ego. Con- comitant with the conflict of motives, with desire and dread, is the emotional state which Poe variously describes as terror, horror, or fear. The compromise between the desire for reunion with the beautiful dead woman and for ego-preservation found expression in other poems. One example may be quoted :— ‘And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea.’ The cry of the bird ‘ Nevermore ! ’ is thus seen as an assurance of the preservation of the ego. The raven sits over the door, on the bust of Pallas Athene,! symbolically barring egress from 11t is worth noting, in passing, how many of the attributes of Ligeia are those of Pallas Athene, rather than of Aphrodite ! 20 THE COMPOSITION OF ‘THE RAVEN’ the room. The impression gained on reading the poem is that the bird’s utterance is final, nevertheless, Poe himself declared, in the essay entitled ‘Mr. Longfellow and other Plagiarists,’ that the lover lives trruamphantly on, assured of his reunion with the beloved Lenore in Aidenn. Im all probability, then, Poe really did, through writing ‘ The Raven,’ obtain some satisfaction, even if only a passing one, in the resolution of a mental conflict. A brief essay of this kind, it is evident, can deal with only a few of the principal considerations which arise out of the poem’s genesis. It can show, in the case of a few elements only, some part of the evidence which makes us believe that every element of a poem is rigorously determined; that nothing is haphazard, but is as it is because it could not be otherwise. It can deal with a small part only of the evidence which leads us to believe that the work of art is a particular type of compromise, arising from the effort to reconcile by means of a single synthesis the apparently. incompatible elements of an inner conflict : perhaps, too, that the artist is a particular type of man. GEORGE H. GREEN. MARCH AP MEIRCHION A STUDY IN CELTIC FOLK-LORE Ir is intended in this short study to bring together the facts concerning the Celtic parallels to the familiar Midas-legend, and examine what relation they may have to primitive Celtic religion. In the study of primitive religion generally very great help has been obtained by the examination of folk-lore survivals. This line of approach to the problems of early beliefs has often served to correct the frequently fanciful conclusions of the solar mythologists, especially in the case of the primitive religion of the Indo-European family of peoples. This mythological theorising did a good deal of solid pioneer work in describing and comparing the great gods and goddesses of the various branches of the family. But it was a method that was too facile, and, largely based as it was on the often premature results of comparative philology, it concerned itself too much with verbal analogies. It was often remote from any consideration of facts of cult and belief. The sun-myth, with its various derivatives, seems to have had its main motive in the interpretation of the theology of the Vedic hymns. But all the religious conceptions found in these hymns are by no means primitive. They have all the appear- ance of priestly elaboration, whether by way of allegory or of a deliberate and almost poetic personification of the powers of nature. Here and there can be seen vestiges of cruder beliefs, and not all the Vedas have the same lofty conceptions as the Rigveda. Clearly, the same methods of interpretation will not apply to all tales told about the gods of other Indo-Europeans, even though the divine names appear to be philologically related. Besides, mythology is seldom handed down to us in its pristine purity. It tends to become mixed with legend or quasi-history. In this process gods and goddesses become more human, especially among certain European peoples. It thus often becomes difficult to know whether we are dealing with humanised gods or with 21 22 MARCH AP MEIRCHION the romantic exaggerations of the characters of men. The motive is no longer a hymn of praise or explanation of belief and cult. It is the desire to glorify traditional history by legend, or even to satisfy the story-loving nature of man. The mytho- peice faculty of man is devious and obscure in its workings. ‘To regard every hero in early legends, therefore, as a vague power of light, and every villain, whether human or monster, as a representative of the powers of darkness, is to lose sight of the complexity of the strands which go into the making of their fabric. It was the theory of the brothers Grimm and others that.. the class of folk-tales defined by the expressive German term Médrchen was directly derived from mythology. This theory is now no longer generally accepted. Mdrchen are held to be of independent origin, in many instances as old as the myths. themselves. Where, as often happens, plots or episodes char- acteristic of JM/drchen are found in mythology, that is due to a later mixing up of elements from two types of tales originally distinct. But this does not prevent the elements from being: isolated by analysis, and the mythological element is all the more apparent where it can be correlated with traces of a one- time religious belief surviving in folk-lore. Motifs borrowed from Mdrchen have in some episodes influ- enced the legend of Midas. But this influence is very faint, and obvious analogies to stock incidents of other tales are not easy to find. The story of how Midas came by his ass’s ears is Greek mythology. Other versions of the story, including the Celtic, are not concerned with this. There is a faint resemblance to the barber unable to keep a secret in Grimm’s story Die Gén- semagd.2 The mistress who has been forced by the faithless maid to swear not to reveal a secret, tells it to a stove, while the king listens at the stove-pipe. Elsewhere a stone is made the repository of a secret.2 The ‘ golden touch’ of Midas is, perhaps, a motif similar to that of such ‘ wishing-stories’ as those of Der Arme und der Reiche* and Hans Dumm.® Finally, 1 Bolte und Polivka, Anmerkungen zu den Kinder-u. Hausmdrchen der Briider Grimm, IV, p. 166. 2 Grimm, No. 89; Bolte und Polivka, op. cit., II, p. 274; H. J. Rose, Greek Mythology, p. 292. 3 Bolte und Polivka, II, p. 276. 4 Grimm, No. 87 ; Bolte und Polivka, II, p. 213; Rose, op. cit., p. 299. ° Grimm, No. 54.4; Bolte und Polivka, II, p- 212; cf. Benfey, Pan- catantra, I, p. 497, and Bédier, Les Fabliaux (1895), pp. 212-28. MARCH AP MEIRCHION 28 Grimm’s story, Der Hisenhans, is a good parallel to the story of Midas catching Seilenos by mixing wine with the water of the spring from which that prophetic being used to drink, and so intoxicating him into a helpless condition. But the main characteristic of Midas, his having the ears of an ass, is prior to and independent of these Mdrchen motifs. Such a figure must be considered as more than human, and the explanation of it must be sought by way of mythology or primi- tive religion. Stories similar to that of Midas are widespread. Parallel versions are found in Celtic lands, in modern Greece, in India, and as far as Mongolia, while in Armenia a similar story seems to have attached itself to the legend of Alexander the Great, who in the Nearer Hast became traditionally known as Dhul Qarnain, ‘ He of the Two Horns.’ ? The Welsh version * is located at Castellmarch in the Lleyn peninsula. March ap Meirchion, the lord of the castle, and one of Arthur’s knights, according to a tradition maintained up to quite recent times had the ears of a horse. To prevent this fact from becoming known he used to have all the barbers who shaved him put to death. Over their burial-place reeds sprang up. Some of these were used by a shepherd to make a pipe, which, when played upon, sang out the secret of the king’s ears. A similar tale concerning the Cornish King Mark is suggested by Malory’s reference to ‘ the lay that sire Dynadan made Kynge Marke | the whiche was the werste lay that ever harper sange with harpe or with any other Instrumentys.’4 The earliest reference to Mark is in the ninth-century life of St. Paul of Léon in Brittany, where there is a story of Mark’s conversion by the saint.” The place-names in this part of the life are Welsh and Cornish, while the alternative name for Mark, Quonomorius, recalls the Cunomorus of a sixth-century Cornish inscription— cee ie (act «Cunomor(y) jlous. It Drus is for 1Grimm, No. 136; Bolte und Polivka, III, p. 106; Rose, op. cit., p. 290. 2 Revue de Vhistoire de religion, xliii, p. 346. 3For the Welsh version, see Sir John Rhys, Y Cymmrodor, VI, pp. 181—3, quoting the Brython (1860), p. 4381; Penarth MS., 134, p. 131 (National Library of Wales), where the story is appended to the genealogy of larddur ap Egri ap Morien ap Mynaec ap March ap Meirchion. 4 Morte d’ Arthur, x, 27. >The Vita Sancti Pauli is published by C. Cuissard in Revue Celtique, V, pp. 413ff. 6 Hiibner, Inscriptiones Britanniae Christianae, pp. 7-8. Rhys, Lec- tures on Welsh Philology p. 403. 24 MARCH AP MEIRCHION Drusitagnos, i.e. Tristan, the inscription would bear out a triad 4 in which Tristan is the son and not the nephew of Mark.2 It is Lot’s opinion that Mark was a mythological being super- imposed on an historical personage of the name of Quonomorius.® In Brittany there was a legend current at the end of the eighteenth century about a King of Portzmare’h. This king had horse’s ears, and he killed all his barbers in order to safe- guard his secret. A friend of his, discovering the fact and not being able to keep it to himself, whispered it at the banks of a stream. In time reeds grew up there, and these were made by some bards into a musical instrument, and, as usual, the king’s secret was revealed.+ Another Breton version is located on a small island named Karn, near Portzall, where there dwelt a chieftain all by himself. Barbers were periodically taken out from the mainland to shave him, but none ever returned. A bold young man determined to go and find out why. While shaving the king he made the startling discovery that he had horse’s ears, and immediately, therefore, comprehended the reason of his predecessors’ dis- appearance. ‘l’o save himself from a like fate he took the earliest opportunity of cutting off the chieftain’s head.? In the museum at Quimper there is a stone bearing a bas-relief of a human head with horse’s ears, and the people call it the head of King March.® There is an interesting story about the Breton March, which, although it only very doubtfully refers to his equine character in the explanation of his name as due to the fact that he was as strong as a horse, may well be given here. The story is supposed to explain the origin of a cairn called Ar Bern Mein situated between the two chief summits of Ménez-Hom. March, owing to his sins, would have been damned on his death but for the intervention of his patron Sainte Marie du Ménez-Hom. Even so, his soul was doomed to dwell in the grave with his body, until the tomb was so high that from its top the belfry of the church of Sainte Marie could be seen. ‘The saintess, in 1 Myvyrian Archaiology, p. 393, 89. 2F. Lot, Romania, 25 (1896), pp. 19-21. 3 Ibid. 4Cambry, Voyage dans le Finistére en 1794-5, II, p. 287; Sébillot, Folk-lore de la France, III, p. 527; cf. cbid., p. 527, the story of King Gwiware’h, of whom a bag-pipe sang—Ar roue Gwiwarc’h | En deuz diou scouarn merch, i.e. King Gwiware’h has two horse’s ears. 5 Revue des Traditions Populares, I, pp. 327-8. O01d.. VL os 306% MARCH AP MEIRCHION 25 return for alms, prevailed on a beggar to place a stone on the grave whenever he passed that way, and also to persuade all passers-by to do the same. Thus, in time, the tomb acquired the necessary height.1 In the Yellow Book of Lecan there is a story told of an Irish king named Labhraidh Lore, who had horse’s ears?. To keep the fact secret, Lore used to kill all those who shaved him. At last it became the turn of a widow’s son to do the task. In response to his mother’s entreaties, however, the young man’s life was spared on condition that he would not divulge the secret about Lore’s ears. But the youth suffered grievous physical discomfort as a result of the secret within him. He was then advised by a Druid to go to a cross-roads, turn round sunwise, and breathe his secret to the first object that met his gaze. This happened to be a willow, which was afterwards used by the harpist Craiftine to make a new harp. And so the secret became public property. In Keating’s History * the same story is told of Lore under his other name of Labhraidh Loingseach, and the saying, Ta dha chluais capaill ar Labhra Ua Loinsigh, * Labhra O’ Lynch has two horse’s ears,’ is still current in Irish-speaking districts.‘ According to one account ® Labhraidh Loingseach came as an invader from France at the head of the Gailidin *, A similar blend of mythology and legend is found in the stories concern- ing More, whose name betrays his equine character. It has been suggested,’ indeed, that Morc, otherwise called Margg, was another name for Labhraidh Lore or Loingseach, Labhraidh’s invasion being merely another version of Morc’s arrival with a fleet from Africa to aid the Fomori in Tory Island.8 Whatever historical value these Irish stories of invasion may have, the supernatural traits assigned to some of the invaders can only be due to traditional Irish forms of belief. The Fomori, for instance, have been said to be from Scandinavia and to bear a 1A. le Braz, La Légende de la Mort chez les Bretons Armoricains, 5th ed., 1928, Vol. II, pp. 56-60. 2 See Whitley Stokes, Revue Celtique, II, p. 197. 31, 30 = Vol. II, pp. 172-4, of Irish Texts Society edition. +P. S. Dineen, Keating, Vol. IV, p. 340. > O’Curry, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, I, pp. 256-7. 6 Cf. Keating, I, 29 = Vol. II, pp. 165 ff. ? Rhys, Hibbert Lectures on Celtic Heathendom, pp. 590, 593. 8 Book of Leinster, 160 4; Keating, I, 7, = Vol. I, pp. 178-82. 26 MARCH AP MEIRCHION name of Scandinavian origin,! just as according to the Book of Leinster ? the Dubh-guill or Black Strangers came with Labhraidh Loingseach from Denmark. But the Fomori are grouped in the Book of the Dun Cow ? along with such evident mythological and monstrous figures as the Luchorpain and the Goborchinn. They are there said to be the accursed offspring of Ham, who was so punished for having made fun of his naked and drunken father, Noah, conid huad ro genatar luchrupain & fomoraig. & goborchind & cech ecosc dodelba archena fil for doinib, ‘so that of him were born Luchurpain and Fomoraig and Goborchinn and every unshapely appearance moreover that is on human beings.’ 4 Granting, therefore, an historical basis to these legends, there is also a heavy superposition of mythology due to the persistence of primitive religious beliefs. The story about the Luchorpain, modern Leprechaun, in the Senchas Mar ° uses abac, ‘dwarf,’ as an equivalent term several times, and so bears out Stokes’s etymology of Luchorpain as being from lu, laghu, é-Aay?, and corpdn, diminutive of corp, ‘ body.’ As for the Goborchinn, the name has been variously interpreted. Cormac’s Glossary ® explains that gabur was a goat, and gobur, a horse. The former sense brings to mind the horned god of Gallic archeology.’ Trish tradition, however, would seem to make the second mean- ing more likely, though mythological fancy did not confine itself to equine monstrosities only. Witness Cairbre Chinn Cait, Cairbre Cat-Head, thus described by Keating *§—Da chlumis chait um a cheann cain, | Fionnfadh cait tré n-a chluarsaibh, ‘Two cat’s ears on his fair head, | cat’s fur over his ears.’ But the horse-form is met again in Kocha Eachcheann, EKocha Horse-head, © King of the Fomori.® The possibility must not be lost sight of that all these Celtic tales are etiological, being the efforts of folk-etymology to explain the equine denotation of the names of these chieftains. 1 Timothy Lewis, Mabinogi, pp. 72-7. , Ch 18550) A 32a. P.5 of the ed. by R. I. Best and O. Bergin, 1929. 4 See Stokes, Revue Celtique, I, p. 257. 5J, 70, 71. See Stokes, ibid., pp. 256-7. 6 Hd. Stokes and O-Donovan, p. 83. * Arbois de Jubainville, Cours de la Littérature Celtique, II, p. 95; Dottin, Manuel d’Archéologie Celtique, pp. 206-7. Sa 38) Vol. iy ips ass. 9 Annals of the Four Masters, a.m. 3520, vol. I, p. 5 of O’Donovan’s ed.; Rhys, Hibbert Lectures, etc., p. 593. MARCH AP MEIRCHION 27 This possibility would be strengthened did we have only the Celtic versions. But the similar tales in other countries seem quite free of the suspicion of being due to etiology. However this may be, the various tales referred to prove that there was at one time a belief in the existence of supernatural beings who had the ears of a horse. There is nothing strange in this to students of folk-lore. Far stranger things are to be found in plenty in popular belief, and contemporarily even with a high stage of civilisation. Indeed, it would seem that the cruder elements of primitive religion are more likely to be found sur- viving in folk-lore. The higher elements are capable of being assimilated with the march of culture. Even so, gods and goddesses of more grotesque forms than those under discussion were the actual objects of living cults in the heyday of the great civilisations of the past. No one should, therefore, be unwilling to allow the strange fancies of popular belief a place in the early legends of their country, even though these legends are enshrined in a highly perfected form of literature. Even if, as some would have it, the great figures of early Celtic legend are not mythological at all, but real historical figures, the fact that supernatural elements could become attached to them, only proves the strength and the persistence of primitive ideas. But almost all those who have studied this strange figure of a human being with the ears of an animal agree in seeking an explanation in some sort of religious belief. De Gubernatis 1 identifies Midas with the ass, explaining the ‘ golden touch,’ of course, by his theory that the ass was the solar animal suffusing and fructifying all things with its golden rays. ‘To Benfey ? the tale was the only one known which had a Western rather than an Indian origin. In the modern Greek version the ass’s ears are replaced by a goat’s horns, and Benfey considers this to be the more primitive account. The goat’s horns are, accord- ing to him, reminiscent of the worship of the Phrygian Dionysos, with whose cult Midas was closely associated. In Folk-lore ? W. Crooke has made a detailed study of this class of tales, and he arrives independently at the same con- clusions already reached by A. B. Cook in his study on ‘ Animal Worship in the Mycenzan Age.’* Cook collects a large mass 1 Zoological Mythology, 1, pp. 358 ft. 2 Pancatantra, p. xxii, note. 3 Vol. XXII (1911), pp. 184 ff. 4 Journal of Hellenic Studies, XIV (1894), pp. 81 ff. AS. VOL. XII. c 28 MARCH AP MEIRCHION of archeological evidence proving the existence of zoolatry and its attendant theriomorphic cults in the Mycenean Age, and persisting more or less sporadically on to the historic age of Greece. Especially interesting is the fresco at Mycenze with figures bearing the heads of asses,1 probably, as Crooke suggests,? representing incidents in a primitive ritual. A lenticular carnelian shows a figure clothed in the skin of an ass, bearing a pole on his shoulder,? a still clearer illustration of some ritual scene. A gem from Phigaleia in Elis shows two upright figures dressed in the skins and heads of horses.4 At Phigaleia, according to Pausanias,°® there had been in old times two successive statues of Demeter with the head of a horse. The cult had become neglected and the first statue lost. Then in a time of famine the Delphic oracle ordered the cult to be re-established, and a new statue was built. But this, too, had been lost before Pau- sanias time. Finally, a Phigaleian coin shows a horse’s head wrought as an ornament at the end of Demeter’s necklace. °® The figures on the gem referred to probably represent wor- shippers masquerading in the form of the animal incarnation of the deity. The explanation of the legends, therefore, about men like Midas and March bearing animal attributes is, according to Crooke, that they are based on ritual in which the priest, generally in primitive times the chief or king, assumed the skin, wholly or in part, of the animal in whose form the divinity worshipped was conceived. That the Celts at one time worshipped gods and goddesses in equine form must be regarded as an undisputed fact. Sir John Rhys, in Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx,’ suggested that the key to the riddle of such sagas as those of March and Lab- hraidh Lorc is to be sought in the Celtic belief in supernatural beings with horse’s ears. It is no objection that, in the period when the legends or folk-tales were fashioned in the form we know them, these divinities may have degenerated into demons or monsters. Turning to the archeological monuments of Celtic antiquity in France we find what would appear to be definite evidence of zoolatry. And among the ‘divine’ animals is the horse. A 1 Journal of Hellenic Studies, XIV (1894), p. 84. lay 10, 1S, 3 Cook, ibid. “Cook, op. cit., p. 188: . * VIII, 42, 2, 5-6. 6 See Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, II, p. 57. * Pp. 432-5; cf. id., Arthurian Legend, p. 70; Celtic Heathendom, p- 590. MARCH AP MEIRCHION 29 bronze image of a horse has been found at Neuvy-en-Sullias, between Orleans and Gien, dedicated to a divinity named Rudiobus.! The name teaches us nothing about his character, being derived from that of a locality.2 Reinach * considers Rudiobus to be a horse-god, but Toutain 4 argues that at the same spot were found votive offerings in the forms of bulls, cows and stags, animals difficult to associate with a horse-divinity. Against Toutain’s argument is the fact that the name Rudiobus is inscribed on one face of the bronze socket on which the image of the horse stands. Near Nuits, in the Cote-d’Or, an image of an ass was found dedicated to Segomo.® Reinach ® takes this to prove the existence in Gaul of a cult of the ass. Segomo is elsewhere an epithet of Mars, who himself is several times described as Mars Mullo.’ In the museum of Cluny in Paris there is a Gallic inscription, which Mowat, who first published it,* reads as follows : Bratronos Nantonic(nos) Hpadatextorigy Leucullo svovrebe locitor.. Leaving the last two words unexplained, Mowat interprets the inscription to indicate a dedication to Epadatextorix Leucullus, a god, that is, who had among his functions ‘ la protection des chevaux de transport et celle du personnel des équipages de guerre.’ For the epithet Leucullus is etymologically related to Loucetius (from the same root as Latin lux), an epithet of Mars,® who meets us again exercising the same function as Epadatextorix under the name of Mars Mullo.1° The name Epadatextorix clearly contains a stem equivalent to that of Welsh eb-ol, Irish ech and Latin equ-us, and we can at least assume that he was a divinity associated with horses, and conceived either theriomorphically or only as an anthropomorphic divine protector of horses and horsemen." Mars Mullo may have been such a patron god of muleteers,!? but Rudiobus would seem to be conceived in the form of a horse. 1 Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs, etc., Tome IV., No. 2978. 2 Holder, Altceltischer Sprachshatz, s.v. 3 Cultes, Mythes et Religions, I, p. 64. 4 Les Cultes Paiens dans VEmpire Romain, III, p. 390. °> Reinach, Répertoire de la Statuaire, II, p. 745. 6 Cultes, etc., I, p. 64. * Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, XIII, Nos. 3101, 3148, 3149. 8 Revue Archéologique, 1878 (1), pp. 94 ff. 9 Holder, s.v. 10 See above. 11 Kor a full translation of this inscription, see Stokes, Revue Celtique, V, pp. 116-19. 12 Toutain, op. cit., p. 215, and Holder, s.v. 30 MARCH AP MEIRCHION So far it has been a question of male divinities. Equally, if not more, important are the Gallic monuments attesting the cult of a female counterpart.1. These monuments are of two kinds. The great majority are bas-reliefs showing a goddess riding a mare, which is sometimes accompanied by a foal. Unfortunately, these figures have no inscriptions to proclaim their identity. The second group, much fewer in number, con- sists of figures of a goddess standing or seated between two horses. Now two of these bear inscriptions showing that they are dedicated to Epona. Not all are agreed that the riding goddess is also Kpona, but it should be noted that the attributes of both are the same. These are, generally, a horn of plenty in the left hand, a dish in the right, and fruits, sometimes in a basket at her feet, sometimes disposed in the folds of her robe. Such a female divinity, who, judging from her attributes, was a dispenser of the earth’s riches, and was, besides, a horse-goddess, or at least somehow associated with horses, reminds us of the Greek Demeter. In addition to the monuments referred to above as attesting the theriomorphic cult of this goddess, there is the well-known myth in which Demeter and Poseidon, both in equine form, are the parents of the horse Areion. In Celtic mythology, however, especially as handed down to us in the Mabinogion, it is never easy to disentangle the themes of a one- time religious belief from those of quasi-history or legend. The Mabinogion, indeed, provide good examples of the intermingling of mythic story and terrestrial topography, an intermingling made easier by the fact that the leading figures, in so far as they are mythological, may be survivals of divinities with a strictly local sphere of dominion. But here and there glimmerings can be discerned of what at one time was undiluted mythology, the expression of a living religious belief. And we can detect at one point a myth, very much faded, it is true, that is exactly parallel to the Greek myth just cited. For there are very good reasons for the sup- position that Rhiannon in the Mabinogi of Pwyll and of Mana- wydan was originally a horse-goddess.2. The story of the find- ing of Gwri Wallt Euryn by Teyrnon in the former Mabinogi 1 See Reinach, Revue Archéologique, 1895 (1), pp. 163 ff., pp. 309 ff. ; 1898 (11), pp. 187 ff. 2T. Gwynn Jones, Welsh Folk-lore and Folk Custom, p. 17; W. J. Gruffydd, Y Cymmrodor, XLII, p. 147. MARCH AP MEIRCHION 31 is a bit confused, much as though the cyfarwydd was not quite sure of how to combine the supernatural and human elements in the story. Teyrnon’s mare used to foal on the eve of every May-Day, but was on each occasion mysteriously robbed of her colt. At last Teyrnon determined to watch when the mare foaled next, and on that night, after the colt was born, he saw an arm, with a claw for hand, stretched in through the window of his house, whither he had brought the mare for safety. With his sword he cut off the claw, which had already seized the foal by the mane. Then there was a great uproar outside, and Teyrnon went out to see what the cause might be. He saw nothing, but on returning found an infant in swaddling-clothes lying at the door. This infant was adopted as her own by Teyrnon’s wife and named Gwri Wallt Euryn. According to the story Gwri was afterwards found to be the lost Pryderi, son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, for whose alleged destruction his mother was at that time doing penance. If this tale was romance pure and simple there clearly should be no need for such a tortuous account. There is more than romance here. There is mythology, a tale of supernatural events. Romance has accounted for the finding of Pryderi, but it has neither understood nor totally forgotten his supernatural birth. Rhiannon, his mother, during the time he was at Teyrnon’s house, was standing by the horse-block in her own courtyard, offering to carry every visitor on her back up to the palace. This must be a faint reminiscence of the original horse-form of Rhiannon. When Pwyll had first seen her from his throne in Arberth she was a fairy riding on horseback, for the riding was not the riding of a mere mortal. Pwyll himself is made to feel the ystyr hud, the magic sense, of it. Perhaps we may recall here the riding goddess of the Gallic bas-reliefs. Again, in the Mabinogi of Manawydan, when the great spell of desolation laid on the land by Llwyd uab Cilcoed was removed it was found that Rhiannon in her bondage a uydei a mwereu yr essyn wedy bydynt yn kywein gweir am y mynwgyl hitheu,? ‘ Rhiannon had the collars of the asses after they have been carrying hay about her neck.’ ‘The story-teller goes on to say that this episode was ealled Mabinogi Mynweir a Mynord. Whether Mynweir contains 1Cf. Gruffydd, Revue Celtique, XX XIII, p. 452; Id., Transactions of the Hon. Soc. of Cymmrodorion, 1912-13, p. 52. * Red Book Mabinogion, ed. Rhys & Evans, p. 58. 32 MARCH AP MEIRCHION any allusion to the place Minwear, near Narberth, or whether the name of the lost tale was suggested by the strange nature of the imprisonment undergone by Rhiannon and Pryderi,? it is at least likely that in this lost tale an interesting item of Celtic mythology is for ever lost. Anyhow, it seems safe to regard the two penances suffered by Rhiannon as mythologically befitting her original equine character, for it is not easy to explain them by folk-tale motifs, in which usually, the punishment befits the crime. ? In any case, the intrusion of the birth of a foal into the story of the discovery of her son, becomes intelligible if it was due to the story-teller’s knowledge of a myth in which Rhiannon, like the Greek Demeter, had given birth to a foal. But the human, romantic element in the story prevents Gwri appearing in a horse-form, as Areion did in the Greek myth. He is needed to replace the missing Pryderi. Perhaps the story in its final form intended to imply that it was the cravanc who had stolen Pryderi and brought him to Teyrnon’s house to exchange with the foal. Ifso, the connection of Rhiannon with the foal becomes clear enough. for then the whole story is a rationalistic, matter- of-fact account of how the foal came to be, or, as the romance has it, would be but for Teyrnon’s intervention, and as it actually was in the original myth, mothered on Rhiannon.+ That, and not the accusation of having destroyed Pryderi, may have been the reason why Rhiannon appears as the * Calumniated Wife.’ ° The confusion of the story is, perhaps, helped by the fact that two local versions were being amalgamated, that of Gwent and that of Dyfed. Rhiannon, the great queen (Rigantona), would from her name be a fitting consort to Teyrnon, the great king (Tigernonos).6 In the Gwent version, the father of Pryderi, or, as the myth would seem to indicate, of him who is inter- changeable with the foal, would be Teyrnon. In fact the real Pryderi would seem not to belong to this section of Celtic myth- ology. As son of Pwyll and Rhiannon he belongs to the myth 1 Anwyl, Zeitschrift fiir Celtische Philologie, III, p. 126. | 2Ivor Williams, Pedeir Keinc, p. 248. For another explanation of Mynweir and Mynord see Gruffydd, Revue Celtique, XX XIII, p. 452. 3 See Gruffydd, Math uab Mathonwy, p. 51. 4W. J. Gruffydd, Math uab Mathonwy, p. 51 n. 5 Ibid., p. 326. 6 Anwyl, Zeitschrift fiir Celtische Philologie, 1, pp. 288-9; III, p. 126; W. J. Gruffydd, Revue Celtique, XX XIII, pp. 450 ff. MARCH AP MEIRCHION 33 of the Wonder-child, the son of a mortal mother by an immortal father, as the Irish Mongdn was the son of Manannan mac Lir by the wife of the mortal Fiachna.1. Two myths are therefore merged in this part of the Mabinogion. One is the birth of Pryderi as a Wonder-child. The other is the birth of a son in the same form as herself to the horse-goddess Rhiannon. ‘The question whether the name of the mother, Rhiannon, belongs to the first or to the second myth is a matter of little importance here. This seems a long way off from the story of March ap Meirchion. But it should be clear now that a king or chieftain with the ears of a horse was possible in Celtic folk-lore, just because there was in primitive Celtic religion a belief in a horse-divinity. Rudiobus and Epadatextorix in Gaul suggest a male divinity. The myth of Rhiannon and the cult monuments of Epona, on the other hand, suggest a female. Both of course are possible. The male and female divinities could be consorts and associated in cult, or, equally possible, the sex could vary with the locality. March and his compeers, of course, as has been suggested, need not themselves have been faded divinities. They may have been due to traditions of priest-kings ritually masquerading in the guise of the divinity in whose service they were. J. J. JONES. 1W. J. Gruffydd, Transactions, etc., pp. 72-4, quoting Nutt, Voyage of Bran, I, pp. 42-5, 72-7. sD) ea Ey 11M he Weary AEE ay Vk sa ne viata tesa Eat 1 is fe Payee) y THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER CARDINAL MERCIER 1 was undoubtedly a great man, and a great priest in the Church. Was he also a great philosopher? Can his philosophic influence persist ? These are the questions to which I try to suggest an answer in this essay, by means of a brief account of his philosophy. The young abbé Mercier at the University of Louvain received no dogmatic philosophical teaching. ‘The University was recover- ing from the shock of the papal condemnation of traditionalism and ontologism: it had not yet discovered another philosophy compatible with the Catholic faith and with nineteenth-century science. Mercier’s aim was to show that the philosophy required was that of St. Thomas Aquinas. In his task he furthered the ideal of Pope Leo XIII, who had determined upon the revival of Thomist studies, and in spite of various difficulties in his early days Mercier did on the whole receive support from Rome.? Mercier’s task was heavy, because the philosophy of St. Thomas was unknown to or misunderstood by the young genera- tion whom he wished to influence. It was considered to be hope- lessly out of touch with modern thought, whether philosophic or scientific. He had to interpret St. Thomas in the light of con- temporary thought, and vice versa. By means of his persistent teaching and writing, his courses on philosophy, his articles in the Revue Néo-scolastique of which he was the director, Mercier was successful. His pupils at Louvain developed along various lines 1Félicien Francois Joseph Désiré Mercier was born in Belgium at Braine-l’Alleud on November 21, 1851. He became a priest in 1874. In 1877 he was professor of philosophy at the seminary of Malines; in 1880 he occupied a chair of philosophy at the University of Louvain where he was professor in 1882. In 1894 he presided over the new Institut Supérieur de Philosophie at Louvain, where he remained until 1906—7 when he was made a cardinal. He died in 1926, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Malines, Primate of Belgium. 2 The great Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII known as Aiterni Patris urges the study of St. Thomas. It wasissuedin 1879. Cf. Revue Néo-scolastique, HSO97 p. 9: 395 36 THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER under his inspiration, so that the ‘School of Louvain’ has to be reckoned with in contemporary philosophy. Mercier had first to make it clear that no worship of the letter of St. Thomas was to be imposed upon his disciples, as the Pope in his Eneyclical had already stated. It is the spirit of the scho- lastic philosophy which makes ‘ neo-scholasticism.’1 Mercier is convinced that in the philosophy of St. Thomas, this Christian reconstruction of the philosophy of Aristotle, of Plato, and of the Church Fathers, are to be found the principles of a true philos- ophy, which will provide answers to the problems of the present and of the future as they arise. ‘ The point of view which we take is that of the philosophy of Aristotle and of the masters of Scholas- ticism. But, being penetrated with the true peripatetic spirit, we want to keep in permanent relation with the science and thought of our contemporaries.’ ? What are the characteristics of the scholastic philosophy ? From the point of view of Mercier, scholasticism is a doctrine taught by some, but not all, of the great medizval philosophers. * It reached its highest point in the thirteenth century in the teaching of St. Thomas. ‘ Fundamentally, writes Mercier, * the philosophy of St. Thomas offers these distinctive traits: (1) it faithfully respects the teachings of revelation ; (2) it prudently combines personal research with respect for tradition; (3) it harmoniously unites observation and rational speculation, analysis and synthesis.’ 4 Let us consider these points. The first is likely to prove a stumbling-block to many modern thinkers, who will hastily sup- pose that St. Thomas sets out from certain ecclesiastical dogmas, and builds a philosophy—an arbitrary construction—upon these foundations. This is not the case. St. Thomas’ assumption, to be sure, is that there 7s a revelation of God, the Christian revela- tion, and that this is the truth; but he also makes another assumption which is the basis of his philosophy—that the natural reason gives real knowledge, that, therefore, since the truth must be one (self-contradiction is the very meaning of error) the con- Cf. Revue Néo-scolastique, 1894, La philosophie néo-scolastique, by Mercier, p.2 10: 2 Origines de la psychologie contemporaine, Introd., p. vii, by Mercier. 3 Some distinguished historians, e.g. M. Etienne Gilson, do not approve of this conception of scholasticism. 4 Logique, Introd., p. 53, by Mercier. THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER © 37 sidered conclusions of our reason and the assertions of faith must be compatible. In an article written in 1900, Mercier distinguished two currents of thought which are almost directly opposed—the one is an attempt to emancipate reason ; the other, convinced of the weakness of reason, seeks a refuge in faith. Neither was accept- able to Catholicism, for which both reason and revelation are the gifts of God, natural and supernatural. The Catholic attitude is that of St. Thomas. The philosophy of St. Thomas ‘ prudently combines personal research with respect for tradition.’ St. Thomas said that the argument from authority is in philosophy the weakest of all arguments. Nevertheless it has, even in philosophy, some weight. Authorities often provide conflicting evidence. Reason weighs the evidence. ‘To despise tradition is to break with history, to refuse to learn from the past. This mistake is not so general in the twentieth century as it was in the positivist nineteenth, which had not felt the influence of the new, philosophic history then in the process of being conceived. At a period when more than one distinguished philosopher identifies philosophy with history, the importance of tradition is indeed in danger of being over-emphasised. Such philosophy then goes to swell the anti- intellectualist current of Bergsonism and pragmatism, which from _ a different source runs into the same sea of irrationalism. From this, St. Thomas. and those disciples who retain his spirit are saved by their confidence in human reason. They refuse to accept any of that ‘help’ to religion which is due to attacking reason ; they insist that the Christian faith is a reasonable faith —that it goes beyond reason but does not contradict it. Scholasticism ‘harmoniously unites observation and rational speculation, analysis and synthesis.. We might call observation its tribute to common sense, and speculation its tribute to philos- ophy. Observation alone yields merely description of facts, the raw material of science. In order to become science, the facts must be sorted according to principles and submit to the trial of hypotheses. Imagination and reason must play their part. Therefore, both observation and speculation are required in philosophy, which is a science . . . a rational consideration and interpretation of the order of the universe. Analysis is the work characteristic of the human intellect, namely, abstraction. When we reflect upon the individual things 38 THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER ~ presented to us by means of our senses, we separate character- istics and qualities of these things which thereby become * univer- sals,’ the proper objects of the intellect. Nevertheless, these universals in order to take a place in science must be reunited to: individual subjects by means of a scheme. Thus a science is not merely analytic but also synthetic. All knowledge, all experience, combines the work of both intelligence and sense. A fortiori, this is true of philosophy.! Mercier wished to present the scholastic philosophy in modern dress. He planned to write a Course of Philosophy founded upon his oral teaching. The Logic, Metaphysic or Ontology, Psychology, and Criteriology were published, but the T’heodicy which should have crowned them did not appear, and the Cosmology of the series was written by his pupil Nys.? ‘The aim of logic,’ says Mercier, ‘is to assure the mind’s possession of the truth.’? It is a study of science which is itself a science. ‘A science,—physics, mathematics, metaphysics,— is formed as a relational whole, it realises a rational order. The science of this order is called rational or logical science, in a word, Logic.’ 4 Logic is concerned with reality so far as reality is the object of mind, and therefore with the nature of truth in general. ‘ Kverything real is intelligible : nothing exists or is possible which cannot be made the object of thought.’ ° We recognise that faith in the power of reason to which I have referred above. Elsewhere, Mercier quotes the dictum, ‘ Il faut . aller a la philosophie avec toute son ame,’ but he adds“. . .- it is essential and inevitable that, in this concurrence of all the faculties upon the philosophic quest, reason must have the last word . . . in this sense, philosophy is and must be intellec- tualist.’ § The scholastic metaphysics is a rational refinement of the conclusions of common sense. It is common sense criticised by itself. “ Metaphysics,’ Mercier writes, ‘ has for its principal object the substance of individual things offered us by experience.’7 It considers nature ‘in all its generality, then it considers the i Psychologie, p. 6. Ci. p. 54. 2 See Bibliography. 2 Logique,lntrod...ps) 63-0 Cf. p. Go: + Toid., Intred.,p. 31. ° Ibid., pp. 69-70. 6 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1900, p. 257, review, Léon Ollé-Laprune, by M. Blondel; criticism by Mercier. ? Métaphysique, Introd., p. 12. THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER _ 39 principles which are immediately disengaged from the contempla- tion of being in general and upon which depend the demonstra- tions of science. 1 ‘ The deepest possible study of real being will therefore be that of substantial being.’ 2 The notion of substance plays an important role in the scholastic philosophy. Since the Middle Ages it has undergone attacks which have not, however, banished it from common usage. Yet must we not in philosophy always be suspicious of a ‘ mani- festly,’ and ‘evidently’? ‘ Manitestly,’ Mercier affirms, ‘ among the realities to which we apply the transcendental * notion of being, there are some which exist only dependently upon another reality which is presupposed : such are the acts of walking, sitting, thinking, willing, etc. . . . the reality of these various acts does not exist and cannot be conceived except in dependence upon a presupposed being; inevitably we attribute them to some- thing or to someone who walks, sits, feels, thinks, wills..4 That which exists only in a subject is known as an accident. It should be pointed out that the scholastic notion of substance is not that useless ‘something, I know not what’ criticised by Locke and by later idealists. It has a function: together with the correlative notion of accident, the notion of substance stands for an aspect of the organisation of the universe—if the scholastics are right. They also make a distinction, familiar to those who have reflected upon the ‘ ontological’ argument for the existence of God, between ‘essence’ and ‘existence.’ In Mercier’s words, ‘the essence or real being is then, as compared to existence or actual being, id quod as compared to id quo, the indeterminate, incomplete, imperfect subject as compared to the act which determines, completes it, gives it its final perfection.’ ° The correlative conceptions of matter and form are attained upon the reflection that substances can be analysed. ‘If natural bodies were simple, the first substances would be annihilated, a@ new substance created. There would be no substantial change. Admitting that there is not a creation, we must conclude that 1 Métaphysique, Part I, p. 16. 2ibide bartels py aie 3A ‘transcendental ’ notion is one applicable to reality as such, and therefore common to all reality or all being. 4 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1901, Le phénoménisme et Vancienne méta- physique, by Mercier, p. 31. Cf. Métaphysique, pp. 278-9. ° Métaphysique, Part I, p. 29. 40 THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER corporal substance is composed of two constitutive parts: one which remains, matter, one which succeeds to another, form .. . } ‘The principle of individualisation is matter, the foundation of quantity. That which changes is, from another point of view, called potential being; the perfecting principle, actual being.? The modern philosopher may ask whether, in the world of actual beings, there are only substances and accidents. Are relations, for example, real or unreal ? According to the neo-scholastics, they are real, with a reality which is not that of substance or accident. ‘In order that the relation should be real,’ Mercier asserts, ‘it is not enough to affirm the reality of its bases. ... But although it is not an absolute reality, the real relation is none the less something.’ * ‘. . . It consists only in that which one of the correlatives 7s for the other.’ ® ‘The real relation has a foundation in nature, for example, the same extension common to two quantities...’ and, besides, ‘the real relation exists before any operation of the intelligence ; the intelligence perceives it in nature, it does not put it there.’ ° The remaining volumes of Mercier’s Course of Philosophy are the Psychology and the Criteriology. Criteriology or treatise on knowledge is a part of psychology which has become so important in modern philosophy that, according to Mercier, it has won itself an independent place. The scholastics occupy a position between the extreme sub- jectivism of the group of psychologists who employ only intro- spective method, and the extreme objectivism of the continually increasing group who employ only the method of external observation—the ‘ behaviourists.’ Mercier explains that ‘for the greater number of modern psychologists, the method proper to psychology is that of intro- spection, of inner observation exclusively. Now this opposition, of Cartesian origin, between the ‘ psychical ’ and the ‘ physical ’ is inspired by an anti-scientific prejudice: Descartes and those who follow him suppose it given that there is in us a soul really distinct from the body. . . . Now, what do we know of this ? 1 Métaphysique, Part I, p. 65. 2 Tbe... p.. 82. ‘Ch parades Sai bids. WeAVe.p. 30". 4 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1926, Mercier, by Balthasar, p. 170. 5 Métaphysique, III, p. 367. Sloid... p. 30a. THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER 41 The immediate datum of consciousness is that the man thinks... . Only .. . reflection . . . allows us to conclude that there is in the human complex ... both psychical and physical.’! He continues: ‘ Reflection will make us understand, besides, that a man cannot be divided into a body in submission to mechanical laws and a thinking soul other than the organism. He is a single being who lives, feels, thinks.’ ? The neo-scholastic insistence on the unity of body-mind in man, its return to an Aristotelian conception, is a most valu- able contribution to contemporary philosophy. It suggests the rational way of dealing with ethical and sociological problems, as well as with purely psychological ones. In theory of knowledge, the neo-scholastics are all realists, in the sense that they hold that human beings really know, and therefore know reality,—not some creation of the mind, but reality at least in part independent of mind (other than the mind of God, which is God). They are also at one in declaring that knowledge is in some sense direct, even immediate or intuitive; but that there is a mechanism of knowing. It takes place by means of a mental instrument, but this instrument is not the object of knowledge, and therefore is not a screen or block between mind and subject. To it is given the name species. Those who emphasise the im- portance of the means in the act of knowing are accused of leaning toward subjectivism or idealism—among them Cardinal Mercier ; those who insist on the ‘immediacy’ of knowledge (though they do not deny that knowledge is by means of a species) are accused of a dangerous intuitionism for which human error becomes inexplicable.° Assuming, to begin with, that knowledge exists, as common sense would maintain, the scholastics analyse the given into a subject, an act and an object or reality: in the case of true knowledge, the object coincides with the reality, which is (in whole or in part) independent of the knowing mind. Mercier affirms that ‘Sensation does not occur without the reception by the senses of an impression from the external object which awakes its activity and gives it a special direction.’ 4 1 Psychologie, Vol. I, p. 8. 2 Tbid., pp. 6-7. 3 Cf. Léon Noél in the Revue Néo-scolastique, 1923. Cf. also his report in the Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress of Philosophy, 1926. | 4 Psychologie, Vol. 1, p. 159. 42 THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER Knowledge is an immanent union of knower and thing known. ‘Cognitum est 7 cognoscente.’ ‘Thus,’ Mercier continues, ‘ it is not the sense which externalises itself in order to project itself upon the outer object ; it is this object which, by becoming internal, unites itself to the subject.’ 4 The object is assimilated by the subject, not as a material thing, but by means of an image. ‘ Omnis cognitio fit secundum sumilitudinem cogniti in cognoscente.’ ‘This image or species seems to make knowledge mediate, to make the final term of knowledge not the object itself, but a feeling state of the subject. But ‘ The scholastics had foreseen the objection. The “‘ inten- tional species,” they replied, is not the direct object of perception, it is the means by which the sense is made able to perceive the object: it is a means which is not objective, a sort of inter- mediary object which has to be grasped first in order to pass at once to the outside thing—a subjective means . . . not 2d quod percipitur, but.2zd quo percipitur objectum.’ ? : The modern philosopher will recognise in the species a notion which has had various adventures as the ‘idea.’ It is clear that for the neo-scholastics the species is not the crude copy of reality which it became in the work of Descartes and Locke. It is more nearly that functional idea familiar from the philosophy of Spinoza. It is a means of knowing. It is neither mental nor physical substance—the question what kind of substance it is does not arise, because it is not a substance but an activity. The solidification of the species as the ‘idea’ of Descartes was due to his forgetting a great thesis of scholasticism— Man is not an assemblage of two substances of which one would be the thinking mind and the other an extended body; it forms a single composite substance.’ ? The separation between them led, according to Mercier, to the ‘exclusive spiritualism’ and “mechanism ’ of Descartes.* The nature of subject and of species has been discussed. What is the nature of the object ? In the first place, why do we suppose that we know an external world 2? Some neo-scho- lastics consider that we have an intuitive, immediate knowledge of this world, and that therefore this question is without meaning ; 1 Revue Néo-scolastique, I, p. 160. 2 Tbid. leap. ele 3 Ibid., 1896. La psychologie de Descartes et Vanthropologie scolastique. Mercier, p. 241. *Tord., 1897... Op. cit., p. 386.— Ci. 1898, pp- 194-5. THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER 43 but others, among them Mercier, hold that our knowledge of the external world as such is reflective. We are immediately acquainted with it in sense perception, but we know that it is independent of us or ‘external’ only by the application of the principle of causality to the impressions which the self feels.1 Can we say that the act of feeling necessarily implies an impression caused by an outside thing—could it not be some unconscious projection of our own minds? It is a scholastic assumption that the cause must be at least adequate to its effect ; if, for the sake of argument, we grant this, is the adequate cause of a sensation an external object ? The existence of optical illusions seems to show that this is not the case. The neo-scholastics themselves hesitate with regard to the objectivity or rather independence of certain data—e.g. colours. It is a problem of epistemology or ‘ criteriology ’; and Cardinal Mercier was the first neo-scholastic to insist upon its importance. He does not ask the large question, Do we know anything or nothing ? but the more restrained one, What is the ground of our certainty that we know something ? ? The critique of knowledge implies a philosophic doubt. It is a methodic doubt; the philosopher does not become really uncertain of the truths of science, for example. It is not a universal doubt, such as that which Descartes attempted, because to doubt universally as a means to the investigation of knowledge is, Mercier explains, self-contradictory. ‘If the faculties them- selves are untrustworthy, how rely upon a single one of their acts ?’ 3 This reason for rejecting universal doubt goes deeper than that which affirms merely its conflict with common sense, which is not the ultimate court of appeal.4 Mercier asserts that our intellectual knowledge is of two kinds, spontaneous, and reflective, the data of the problem, and that which controls the data.° Philosophy is reflective knowledge. It looks for the motives of judgments, and when satisfied with these is certain. ‘If I 1 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1900. La notion de la vérité. Mercier, pp. 195-7. Cf. Logique, Introd., p. 70. 2 Critériologie, Introd., p. 1. Cf. p. 72. 3 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1897, Pourquoi le doute méthodique ne peut étre universel, Mercier, p. 197. 4 Critériologie, II, p. 76. 5 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1895, Théorie des trois vérités primitives, Mercier, p. 7. AS: — VOL. XIt. D 44 'THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER can be aware that | have rational certainties, knowledge provided with the characteristics of objective evidence, I shall then have the right to affirm, through having seen it working, through having recognised it in a fact, in its act, my aptitude to know the truth.’ 4 The motives of judgment are found in the existence of some judgments so certain, so “immediate ’ (not merely ‘ spontaneous ’) that they cannot be doubted.2 Mercier offers as an example ‘the proposition that the whole is equal to the sum of its parts,’ and remarks that there is an indefinite number of similar proposi- tions.2 Among them is to be found the affirmation of the existence of the self.4 Certitude, therefore, is rather of the intelligence than of the senses in spite of the forcefulness of the external world. The existence of immediate ideal principles is vital for an appreciation of the problem of knowledge,*® of which the first part deals with the objectivity of ideal relations, and the second part with the value of their terms. °® Truth, Mercier maintains, should realise some kind of con- formity between knowledge and the reality known. ‘ Veritas est conformitas rei et intellectus..7 But knowledge would be impossible, he affirms, if it required the presence of the ‘ thing as it is in itself’ in the judgment. This assertion has made some neo-scholastics reproach Mercier with subjectivism. He explains, however, that ‘to want to know the reality thus, i.e. to want to represent things “ a them- selves’ and without any assimilation of the thing to be known by the knower, is to want a thing doubly impossible.’& ‘In fact, to want to know a thing, is to will that there should be, beside the physical entity supposed natural, something other than this physical entity, that is, its representation by the mind ; but to will that the thing represented should be so in its absolute state, is to will that the representation should not be other than the physical entity.’ ° | Truth therefore is not a ‘conformity’ between knowledge 1 Critériologie, p. 108. Cf. Revue Néo-scolastique, 1895, op. cit., p. 21. 2 Critériologie, II, p. 119. 3 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1895, op. cit., p. 14. 4 fod pe lie 5 Critériologie, I, p. 41. 6 Tbid., pp. 48-9. ? Ibid., pp. 16-17. Cf. pp. 18-19. 8 [bid., p. 42, 9 Ibid., IV, p. 405. THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER 45 and a thing in itself, but a relation among the terms or concepts of a judgment. The ‘res’ is the thing already apprehended. If a predicate evidently belongs to a subject, the intelligence irresistibly affirms the connection. This state of the intelligence is certainty.2, A few words of Mercier wittily resume the situa- tion—‘ Consequently,’ he says, ‘the intelligible object is not other than the reality of experience apprehended by the mind, or =) “the thing in itself, n-us.”” 3 The neo-scholastic theory of error can receive only a brief mention. It is clear that the element of difference between the object before the mind and the thing in itself or material thing makes error possible ; but it is the abnormal state of a thinking person.* Mercier concludes that in the Critériologie *. . . we have shown that the intelligence certainly possesses an inner, objective, and immediate criterion of truth ; we have been able to conclude that immediate ideal knowledge is objectively evident, and that, therefore, within these limits, certainty is motivated. . . . There remained the question of the objective reality of our con- cepts. Judgment applies to a subject, sooner or later to an individual, sensible subject, a predicate. . . . Sense experience grasps reality. Now, it finds the object of the predicate identical, it recognises it in the sensible forms of experience. Thus it is assured of the conformity of its ideas with objective reality. ... The human mind knows reflectively that it knows the truth.’ * An essay on Mercier’s philosophy can hardly be considered complete without some account of its orientation towards God ; it must suffice to point out that the motive for confidence in the existence of God and reliance upon His nature is found in the rational order of the world, which it seems to Mercier cannot have arisen by chance—finality implies intelligence. The im- portance of this concept is such that probably the reader will detect it throughout—perhaps it may seem to him that it plays too great a part in this philosophy. However this may be, I think that Mercier’s position among philosophers and his influence 1 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1899, La notion de la vérité, by Mercier, p. 379. 2 Logique, I, p. 171. 3 Revue Néo-scolastique, 1900, op. cit., p. 198. Cf. pp. 194-5. 4 Ibid., p. 201. Cf. Critériologie, I, p. 35. ° Critériologie, IV, p. 413. 6 Métaphysique, IV. pp. 436-56. 46 THE PHILOSOPHY OF CARDINAL MERCIER upon many students are worthy of more attention from non- Catholic philosophers than most of them have been willing to give. VALMAI BURDWOOD EVANS. SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY. Logique. First printed 1897. Edition quoted 4th, 1905. Métaphysique. ,, a 1894. Bi 4 4th, 1905. Psychologie. 3 he 1892. me ae Ith, 1905. Critériologie. a Bh 1899. re a 5th, 1906. Articles in Revue Neéo-scolastique 1894-1926. I have made my translations from the French editions, the English version not being available. V. Bk. A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL From the mouth of the Lekkous to that of the Bou Regreg, there is a narrow ribbon of mournful sand dunes, spreading, in monotonous undulations, between sea and lagoon in the north and sea and forest in the south. Itis broken only where the Merja Zerga, half-lake half-gulf, maintains, through its old river-worn channel, intermittent tidal connection with the Atlantic, and where the majestically sweeping Sebou forces a bar-obstructed exit from the marshy plains of its lower basin. From break to break, the inhospitable coast is boulder-strewn and cliff-faced, while offshore, rocky platform shallows, insufficient anchor-hold,? treacherous Atlantic swell, angry surf, and dangerous summer fog banks, intensify its forbidding character, and well earn for it the ominous name of ‘iron coast’. In the past, the more unscrupulous dwellers in the dune belt, have turned these adverse conditions to profit by lighting night beacon-fires, to lure stricken vessels to the rocks, for easy plunder. At the present time, there is a very striking lack of maritime activity along this coast. A few lightermen ply from the ports of Rabat-Sallee and Larache, to vessels which the coastal condi- tions compel to anchor distantly in the roadstead. But there are no true sailors among them.? Their calling is one that has been thrust upon them by the sailors of other peoples, who, standing knocking for trade at their dangerous doors, have been unable to cross the threshold. In the waters of the cool Canaries current which wash this shore, there is one of the richer of the world’s edible fish homes, and this must have been known for long in Morocco, for as early 1 Pobeguin, E.: Sur la céte ouest du Maroc. Rabat, 1907. 2 Michaux-Bellaire, E., and Salmon, G.: Les Tribus Arabes de la vallée du Lekkous, Archives Marocaines (Publication de la Mission Scientifique du Maroc). Vol. VI. Paris, 1906. 3 Montagne, R.: Les Marins Indigénes de la zone frangaise du Maroc. Hespéris (formerly ‘ Archives Berbéres’). Tome III. Paris, 1924. ce Ae = 48 A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL as the sixteenth century Leo Africanus! drew attention to this teeming marine life. Yet sea-fish is in no sense a preferred food along this coast, and all the fishermen can be counted on one’s fingers.2 Further, even these few sea-goers are merely oarsmen, netting a small catch about the mouths of the Lekkous and Bou Regreg, and never venture much beyond the bars at the mouths of these rivers. Innate inaptitude for the life of the sea seems to have con- tributed to this insignificance of maritime activity, for the dazzling maritime past of this coast, which the exploits of the Sallee Rovers call to mind, merely strengthens this conviction when examined. These long-feared pirates, with their lair behind the bar of the Bou Regreg, were not Moroccan natives. They were partly expelled Andalusians, and partly renegade Kuropeans, who already had familiarity with the sea before reaching Morocco : it is well known that most of the ‘ Reis ’ or pirate captains were of Christian origin,? and the sixteenth-century pirates of Mehedya, who sheltered behind the Sebou bar, were Europeans, commanded by an Englishman named Mainwaring.* Certainly, there can never have been any permanent urge impelling these people to seek sea-food to supplement the food yielded by the land, for Morocco is a land of plenty : sheep and goats almost everywhere in both hills and plains; cattle in parts of the lowlands ; olives in the hills; wheat and barley in the plains; and however rigorous the flail of drought, locust Swarm, or sirocco, none of these have created permanent shortage. This lack of food-seeking urge, therefore, may also have con- tributed to the paucity of coastal maritime activity. But it is the unrelenting hostility of the ‘iron coast ’ which has mattered most: for men fear such a coast, and, fearing it, without the urge of necessity, venture little on the sea which lashes it. Moreover, no distant land horizons were there to entice them, perhaps through curiosity, to brave the dangers in 1 Leo Africanus, Johannes: The History and Description of Africa, and of the Notable Things therein contained. Done into English, 1600, by John Pory, and now edited by R. Brown. Publication by Hakluyt Society. London, 1896. * Boucau, H.: ‘La Vie maritime indigéne sur la cOte Atlantique du Maroc,’ La Géographie. Tome XLII. Paris, 1925. 3 Rabat et Sa Région (publication de la Mission Scientifique du Maroc), Tome I, pp. 129-40. Paris, 1918. 4 Rabat et Sa Région, op. cit., p. 274. ire bet ie te ooo: Oo 0007 - CoO! OS0€ - C002 ooce an0gv SauLaw Ss * RVR SRNL x es RRR RE SSN S 68 ce 5000.8, RARER SOROS. ROLY POOR <> <> SERRE osze -0 o0$9 -osze oS26- c0S9 oS26 JA0RY e Qouddy) L335 SS > ‘SAWVN-SOV 1d JOVNIVEd * Jae OQDOUYOW A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL 49 spite of their fear. For, seaward, on even the clearest of days, there is visible nothing but the boundless plain of heaving waters, billowing out to the dome of the skies. Whatever overseas contacts this coast has had, have been maintained by peoples who were strangers to it, and who had acquired their sea skill elsewhere. Down the centuries, Pheenicians, Romans, medieval citizens of Venice and Genoa, Portuguese, Spaniards, and, during the nineteenth century, Europeans of all nations, especially British and French, have followed in each other’s wake. Further, with the exception of one, Mogador, every port on the Atlantic seaboard of Morocco, from the Straits of Gibraltar to where the High Atlas push their rugged knuckles into the sea, has been founded by people coming from overseas,! either to trade or to conquer. Repelled on the Mediterranean Coast by conditions equally in- hospitable, although for different reasons, and with the additional deterrent of a high mountain hinterland to cross, before reaching the richer parts of Morocco which they sought, they were driven to use the Atlantic seaboard in spite of its forbidding coast. Hence, although it is so repellent, with the exception of Tangier and Melilla, all the ports of Morocco have been on the Atlantic coast, and, as there are practically no shelter points away from the river mouths, most of them have been at the breaks cut by the rivers. On the south bank of the Bou Regreg, Chella, a Phoenician calling port, preceded Sala Colonia, its Roman counterpart on the north bank, the Moorish Rabat on its own side, and Sallee on the opposite bank. At the mouth of the Lekkous, the Roman Lixus preceded the present Larache (El Araish) and, at the mouth of the Sebou, the Phoenician Thymiateria preceded the Moorish Mamora, later, called Mehedya. When the Zerga channel has been passable at high tide, it, too, has sheltered some shipping. This concentration of past sea activity at the coastal breaks, has had a significant effect on present-day land activities in the dune belt. Related to the final expulsion of the Moors from Spain in 1610, and to the constant attacks on the Moroccan Atlantic seaboard by the Portuguese during the sixteenth century, the deepest of anti-Christendom feeling permeated Morocco. One expression of this was the rise of the Sallee Rovers in the seventeenth century. 1 Goulven, J.: Le Maroc, p. 23, and Maroc (Guides Bleus), Paris, 1921. 50 A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL Numerous reprisals against the Rovers were undertaken by different powers of Western Christendom, and these were almost _ all directed to Sallee itself, or to near vantage points from which the pirates might be checked. To counteract these attacks, many Moslems were incited to oppose the infidel, under the impulsion of a flame of religious fervour, fanned by puritan Shareefs through the media of their confraternities and monas- teries.t The fighters for the crescent, the Moujahidin, camped in large numbers along the western coast generally, but especially at the river breaks, which afforded the only possible landing places for the enemy, the ‘ iron coast ’ being sufficient protection between these points. Larache, at the Lekkous break, succumbed to the Spanish in 1610, and was held by them for nearly a century. Rabat- Sallee never fell, but, guarded only by the small Moorish Kasba of Mamoura, the Sebou mouth became Spanish for most of the seventeenth century. The only other break in the ‘ iron coast ’ between the Bou Regreg and Lekkous, was the Zerga Channel, which, poor though it was, could sometimes afford a landing place. This break had attracted no permanent settlement in later history, due to its physical unsuitability for shipping activity, and was thus without the defences which such a settlement might have had. It was a vulnerable point therefore, and, as such, attracted large numbers of the Moujahidin. So too did the Sebou mouth. Almost of necessity, it was near the breaks in the coast that the majority of the combats took place, and that the majority of the slain fell. For the more notable of the slain, Koubbas (tomb houses) were frequently erected, and to-day, much of the west coastal region is still dotted with them, all being objects of veneration. Around the Zerga channel and Sebou mouth | they are particularly numerous, and some of them have acquired a special significance in the religious and commercial life of the country. In particular, that of Moulay Bou Selham near the Zerga channel, and that of Sidi Ahmed near the Sebou mouth, have given rise to vast annual pilgrimages and fairs, which have persisted to the present day. Thus, for a few brief days, parts of the coastal dune belt, which, for the rest of the year, are mournfully devoid of human activity, are athrob with the movement of some twenty thou- 1 Rabat et Sa Région, op. cit. Si K KENITRA ESS water MARSH NATIVE TRACK E-=] METALLED ROAD EF] LIGHT RAILWAY ES main RAILWAY LARACHE ty 7 © ® 6 @ ° ® 2 ® -=\@ e ® PUD, ee Mt APPROX, SCALE IN MILES § _—_rr A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL 51 sand people and their pack animals,! the dunes being littered for miles with tents and baggage. In the latter part of the twelfth century (A.D.) a part of the dune belt between the Sebou and the Bou Regreg, had acquired a special significance due to its proximity to Rabat. This town was the Rbat-el-Fath (Camp of Victory) of the powerful Yacoub el Mansouri, and the principal port of embarkation of his troops on the way to Spain.? Hence, neighbouring parts of the coastal dune belt, well-drained, where men and animals could move freely, and with ample space of unutilised land for the accom- modation of a host, became a vast mobilisation centre and military camping ground. Centuries later, as we have seen already, the period of the attacks and invasions by Christendom again saw considerable numbers of men, and presumably, their families, dwelling in the dune belt. But, for the peaceful tenor of man’s way, these wastes, with only brackish surface water, scanty pasture, poor soils, and no tree growth, offered little to attract men to establish their homes there. Hence, as to-day, it is probable that the dune belt has been always one of the most sparsely settled parts of Morocco. Yet, these undulating barrens are suited to sheep- and goat-raising and, in parts, to cultivation of inferior barley and millet, and Malet * cites olive, carob, almond and fig cul- tivation, also, as possible exploitations in a hypothetical future when pressure on the land may be much greater than now. But, in the past, as at present, the principal form of utilisation of the dunes has been nothing but poor pasturing of sheep and goats. The dune belt, therefore, has had no function as an economic ‘foyer d’appel ’. It has had one significant economic role, however, and that is aS a passage way. In this, there has been always an essential difference between the part north of the Sebou mouth, and that to the south of it. To the south of the Sebou mouth the dune belt is a narrow strip of open land between the Mamora Forest and the Atlantic. During the Roman occupation, this was followed by part of the 1 Michaux-Bellaire, E., and Salmon, G.: Archives Marocaines, op. cit. *See Rabat et Sa Région, op. cit. 3 Malet, F.: Mission d’études économiques au Maroc Rapport. Afrique Francaise (Bulletin). Paris, 1912. 52 A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL main track! between Sala Colonia, at the mouth of the Bou Regreg, and Tingis, on the Straits of Gibraltar, the chief port of Mauretania Tingitania. Later, the same track was almost always used by most Sultans when travelling between Rabat- Sallee on the one hand, and Meknes or Fez on the other, for the direct watershed route south of the Mamora Forest and between the tributaries of the lower Sebou and the lower Bou Regreg, was not often under the control of any Sultan. This track also formed part of the customary royal route between Fez and Mar- rakesh, the northern and southern capitals of Morocco, since the direct Tadla route across the Middle Atlas Foreland, was open only under Sultans of the calibre of Moulay Ismail? Similarly, for centuries, all commerce between Fez or Meknes, and Rabat- Sallee or the south, passed along this dune belt route to avoid the brigands of the Mamora Forest, and the politically uncertain lands at present occupied by the Zemmour and Guerouan tribes. In 1911, for much the same reasons, the Colonne Moinier used this route in its famous march on Fez.? Further, after the estab- lishment of the French Protectorate, with the creation and rapid rise of Kenitra as a port and town of importance, the light railway connecting Rabat-Sallee with Meknes and Fez, instead of taking the more direct watershed route, which was by then in pacified territory, was drawn north along the dune belt to serve Kenitra on the way.? Thus, this narrow strip of open land between forest and sea, has had a commanding role in the movements of people from the beginnings of recorded time. ‘Trim, helmeted Roman legion- aries in serried ranks; turbaned Sultans of Magreb el Aksa * with their motley trains; and sprightly gold-braided marshals with the disciplined army of the French republic, have passed along the same immemorial way, just as the swiftly moving © automobiles and railway trains of to-day race over the age- 1See Besnier, H.: La Géographie Ancienne du Maroc, Archives Maro- caines, op. cit.. Tome I; and Harris, W. B.: *The Roman Roads of Morocco,’ Geographical Journal, Vol. X. London, 1897. 2See Odinet: ‘La Grande Route Directe de Fez a Marrakesh’ au XVI¢e siecle.” Bulletin de la Société de Géographie du Maroc, Casablanca, 1921. 3 See Rabat et Sa Région, op. cit., Tome III, p. 109. 4See appropriate sheets of Carte de Reconnaissance du Maroc au 200,0008. > Farthest West Sunset Land. A PART OF THE WEST MOROCCAN LITTORAL 53 worn tracks trodden out by the slow-moving asses and camels of ancient trade. The dune belt north of the Sebou, has also had its role as a passage way, although a much less important one. A narrow strip of high dry land between ocean and lagoon, it is also along the straight line between Rabat-Sallee and Larache. Hence this route was frequently used by pressed or belated travellers and caravans, but as it passed through few settlements on the way, it was never a main track of commerce. With the penetration of Morocco by Europeans, however, long before the French and Spanish protectorates were estab- lished in 1912, the mails from the outer world were landed at Tangier, and swift-footed native runners, the ‘rekkas’, dis- tributed them throughout Morocco, those making for Rabat- Sallee and the south, using the direct and shorter coastal dune belt route, to save time.! Thus, even the more isolated northern section of the dune belt has had its own peculiar economic role. Dunes, forest, lagoons ; cliffs, swell, surf; these have formed Nature’s challenge, along the West Moroccan shore. But the men brought hither, and hurried hence, in the relentless procession of time, unable to batter down their sinister affront, have yet imbued the dune belt with poignant human interest and glamorous romance, for the magnetical geographical position of this dreary ribbon of dunes has transcended the repellent power of its for- bidding physical detail. 1See Mauran: La Société Marocaine. Paris, 1906. W. FOGG. CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES—Continued. Votume VI. - MHEOS and XPONOS: The “ Unity of Time” in Ancient Drama, by Professor H. J. Rose. James Howell once more, by Professor E. Bensly. Hamlet and the Essex Conspiracy (Part I), by Lilian Winstanley, M.A. Croce’s Doctrine of Intuition compared with Bradley’s Doctrine of Feeling, by Valmai Burdwood Evans, M.A. Voutume VII. The Prinsiplee of Quaternions, by the late Assistant Professor W. J. Johnston. The descriptive use of Dactyls, by A. Woodward, M.A. Hamlet and the Essex Conspiracy (Part II), by L. Winstanley, M.A. Sainte-Beuve and the English Pre-Romantics, by Eva M. Phillips, M.A. The General Theories ef Unemployment, by J. Morgan Rees, M.A. The Intention of Peele’s “ Old Wives’ Tale,” by Gwenan Jones, M.A., Ph.D. VoLuME Vill, The rbedpedss of the Conventional Woman: Deianeira, by Professor H. J. Rose, Two Fragments of Samian Pottery, in the Museum of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, by P. K. Baillie Reynolds,M.A. Additional Notes of the Familiar Letters of James Howell, by Edward Bensly, M.A. Some Arthurian Material in Keltic, by Professor T. Gwynn Jones. The Keltic God with the Hammer, by J. J. Jones, M.A. Vortume IX, | The Scenery of Vergil’s Eclogues, by Professor H. J. Rose and Miss Winstanley, _ M.A. More Gleanings in James Howell’s Letters, by Edward Bensly, M.A. St. Cadvan’s Stone, Towyn, by Timothy Lewis, M.A. The Influence of Valencia and its Surroundings on the Later Life of Luis Vives as a Philo- sopher and a Teacher, by Professor Foster Watson. The Philosophy of _ Giovanni Gentile, by Miss Valmai Burdwood Evans, M.A. The Problems _ of Psychological Meaning, by George H. Green, M.A., Ph.D., B.Sc., B.Litt, VoLUME X. THE HYWEL DDA MILLENABY VOLUME. z - Pocsimiles of MSS. Hywel Dda: the Historical Setting, by Professor J. E. — Lioyd, D.Litt. M.A. The Laws of Hywel Dda in the light of Roman and _.. Early English Law, by Professor T. A. Levi, M.A. The Land in Ancient _ Welsh Law, by T. P. Ellis, M.A., F.R.Hist.S. Social Life as reflected in ‘the Laws of Hywel Dda, by Professor T. Gwynn Jones,M.A. The Language of the Lawe of Hywel Dda, by Professor T. H. Parry-Williams, M.A. Chron. Maj. V. p. 703. 6 ibid. * Chron. Maj. V. p. 710. 28 WILLIAM DE VALENCE intended to exercise very wide powers of discretion in acting as receivers for the aliens, and so long as the Council was a reality it never relaxed its hold on this reserve.” One can obtain an idea how useful this money was to the barons from the care which they took that none of it should slip through their hands. The money of the Poitevins had been deposited very largely in the New Temple and the abbeys of the south-east England. So on July 5, 1258, the Council sent out various envoys to these abbeys to forbid the taking away of any money from these funds without the Council’s command.” Later, too, when rumours arose that the Poitevins had taken large sums with them, the barons appointed the Karl of Gloucester and Nicholas of Haulo to see if there was any truth in the rumours.? The Council itself, however, soon took 3,900 marks from William de Valence’s deposits at Waltham.* There is one somewhat amusing use of the Poitevins’ money which has to be recounted. One of the fears of the barons was that the Pope would take a hand in affairs, especially since Aymer was the Bishop-Elect of Winchester. So various letters were sent to Alexander IV. by the barons fearing that Aymer would bribe the Pope.® Matthew Paris includes three such letters. The first letter which described the crimes of Aymer and William de Valence was carried to Rome by four knights.° Apparently the envoys themselves added much by word of mouth to the evidence contained in the letter.” Yet the expenses of the embassy were paid out of Aymer’s own money.® Much of the money was used for allowances to the Poitevins, but this was not always the case. For instance, 900 marks were taken from the money left by Warin de Montchesny, which was in the keeping of William de Valence, and the Poitevins did not receive this sum.? The investigation of grievances by the judicial officers of the Council, and especially Hugh Bigod, proceeded in 1258 and 1259. The Rolls of the 1258-1259 enquiry show many cases where the Poitevins, owing to their consanguinity to the King, had been 1 Professor R. F. Treharne: The Baronial Plan of Reform, p. 126. 2 ibid. : 3 O.P.R. (1247-1258), p. 651. 4 ibid. p. 634. 5 Rishanger, p. 6. 6 ibid. ? Chron. Maj. VI. p. 403, 405-6. 8 Baronial Plan, p. 127. °C.P.R. 1247-1258, p. 643. WILLIAM DE VALENCE : 29 able to hinder the true course of justice.1_ The extension of pro- cedure by querelae proved a boon to people who had been op- pressed for so long, and this procedure was especially used against the Poitevins. William de Valence was the cause of many such querelae. For instance in April, 1259, Gilbert of Elsfield, at Reading, used a querela ‘in respect of disseisin committed “vi et armis’ by a bailiff of William de Valence.’ One of the best examples of seigniorial oppression was a complaint of wrong- ful distraint brought against Roger de Leyburn, where the plaintiff alleged that he could not get justice done owing to the favour in which Roger stood with William de Valence to whose household he belonged.? The methods of assize of novel disseisin and writ of inquisition were employed in other cases against the Poitevins. The Assize Rolls 1187 and 1188 give an indication of how many acts of law- lessness must have been perpetrated by William de Valence from 1247 to 1258. The trial of two men in particular, which occurred at this time, are of importance to our subject. First, Walter de Scotenay, a steward of the Earl of Gloucester, was tried and executed for poisoning Richard and William de Clare. The latter died, but Richard, Earl of Gloucester, recovered from the effects of the poison.* At the trial of Walter de Scotenay, it was alleged that William de Valence had given money to him to poison the Clare brothers.®° This allegation was, however, not proved. Secondly, in 1259, we see the end of William de Valence’s eruel steward, William de Bussay. It is indeed probable that much of the hatred of William de Valence was caused by the evil deeds of this man. In January, 1259, he was put on trial. He tried to plead benefit of clergy, but was prevented from doing so. After his crimes had been recounted, he was put back in the Tower, and this is the last that we read about him.® Despite the discovery by Hugh Bigod of so many of William’s evil deeds, praiseworthy justice was shown to his wife, Joan de Mentchesny. She approached the Justiciar and the barons for 1 Baronial Plan, p. 49 n. (e.g. A.R. 1187 m.7 in the abduction of Joan of Badlesmere). _ * Baronial Plan, p. 151. 3 E. F. Jacob, Studies, p. 61. 4 Chron. Maj. V. p. 705. 5 ibid. V. p. 747. 6 ibid. pp. 726. 738. 30 WILLIAM DE VALENCE her dower, and they immediately gave her a part of it.1_ Then she received an annual grant of £400 from William’s money also.’ But apparently she loved her husband very much, for disdaining all this money she crossed to France to rejoin him and is said to have smuggled in wool packs as much money as she could carry for him.® In the administration of William’s lands and money the Council showed great fairness.4 The sums were checked by sheriffs appointed by the Council and by William’s bailiff jointly. Where William had been harsh, the Council showed clemency, William was still receiving the debts due to the Crown from Peter de Bruce and Walter de Lindsay as heirs of the Earl of Lancaster, and these sums amounted to 720 marks a year. On the complaint of Peter and Walter to the Council, the amount was reduced to 100 marks a year each.° The barons did not want the Poitevins to return despite the care that was taken of their lands. Henry III. was forced to write to Alexander IV. asking that Aymer should never return to Winchester.® But all the scheming of the barons was of no avail for Alexander took the side of Aymer, and Velascus was sent over to England to restore him to Winchester. Fortunately for the barons, Aymer died at Paris on December 4th, 1260, and ‘England praised God for his goodness ””” The death of Aymer was advantageous to William de Valence, too, because it accelerated his return to England. Henry III. managed to reconcile William and Simon temporarily, and now that Aymer was dead the nobles were not so afraid of William’s return. In 1260 they had done their utmost to keep the Poitevins away from the country. In April, 1260, when it was rumoured . that the Poitevins, supported by the Viscount of Limoges, were going to descend on Cornwall, Henry was forced to write to Louis IX., and Richard of Cornwall to prevent their landing.® Henry III. was helped by the indult issued by Alexander IV. quashing the Provisions of Oxford and Westminster. His position 1 Chron. Maj. V. p. 721. 2 O.P.R. (1258-1266), p. 4. 3 Chron. Maj. V. pp. 730-1. 4 Baronial Plan, pp. 128-130. 5 ibid. p. 129. 6 Royal Letters, I1. pp. 150-2. * Osney, p. 125. Flor. Hist. II. p. 460. See also Baronial Plan, p. 250. 8 Foed. p. 396. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 31 thus strengthened, Henry recalled his brother to England. So about Easter, 1261, William de Valence returned to England, together with the Prince Edward and Joan of Brittany. But the barons had known William’s lawlessness so well that they de- termined to put some check on him in the future. He was re- quired to obey the Provisions and answer charges against him— ““ qui tunc ingressum vix optinuit ita tamen ut praestito in ingressu sacramento baronum provisioni in omnibus obediret et singulis contra eum depositis querelis et deponendis, si neccesse fuerit, responderet.”* William may have had some intention of re- forming his ways in the future for he replied “ very humbly ” to the demands of the barons. Henry must have restored William to all his lands almost immediately on his arrival in England.* For the next two years William seems to have lived fairly quietly, perhaps in fulfilment of his promise. He went to France with Henry III. on July 14, 1262.2 William remained in France for a month oniy, but during this time he arranged a meeting between Gilbert, the young Karl of Gloucester (Richard having died recently) and Henry III.* This was supposed to be a meeting of reconciliation, but Henry treated the Karl with such coldness that he made an immediate enemy of him.’ William left France in August, 1262, and he was lucky to escape a dreadful epidemic which swept Henry’s court carrying off numbers of the King’s friends.® In October, 1262, Henry urged Basset and Merton to take counsel with William de Valence, Henry of Almain, and others as to how they should resist Simon de Montiort on his return to England in that month. ' William does not appear to have played a very great part in the events of 1263. He was an ambassador to Louis IX. in February, 1263.° It is doubtful whether William was a member of the military force which operated in the Thames Valley against the barons (June, 1263). We know that Henry was allowed to make gifts to William de Valence and Geoffrey de Lusignan in 1 ib. de Antiquis Legibus, p. 49. * Rishanger, p. 9. 3 bid. 4 0.P.R. (1258-1266), p. 33. > Foed. p. 422. 6 Gervase of Canterbury, II. p. 216. 7 Baronial Plan, pp. 285-286. 8 ¢bid. p. 288. 9 Roy. Lett. II. 239. 32 WILLIAM DE VALENCE 1263.1 Again we know that William was one of those who re- mained with the King after the October Parliament of this year.’ It is in the year 1264 that William again emerges from com- parative obscurity. He was among those who advised the arbitration of Louis I[X., and after the rejection of the Mise of Amiens, William was one of the first to join Edward in arms. But an account of William’s part in the Baron’s War belongs to another chapter. V.—WILLIAM DE VALENCE DuRING THE BARONS’ WAR. The Mise of Amiens pronounced by Louis IX. on January 23rd, 1264, made war the only solution to the questions at issue between Henry and Simon. Both armies were put into the field without delay. Simon announced a general meeting of the barons at Northampton, whilst Edward rapidly gathered a force together and suddenly attacked Northampton (April 5). William joined with Edward in this attack, and they were entirely successful.? Young Simon was taken prisoner as was also Peter de Montfort, many other adherents of Simon among the barons, and a number of Oxford students. Northampton was then completely sacked, great cruelty being shown by the royalists. William, however, suffered retribution for his attack on Northampton, for there followed almost immediately a general plunder of the property of William and other aliens by the citizens of London. London was in close alliance with Simon de Montfort, and in no part of the country were the Poitevins hated more. Apparently even William’s deposits of money at the Temple were robbed.’ Edward in the meantime continued his military successes in which he was assisted by William. Rochester and Tonbridge were quickly taken. At Tonbridge, William’s own niece Alice, whose marriage with Gilbert of Gloucester he had arranged, was taken prisoner. But Henry, who was with the royal army, soon released her. Edward thereupon applied to the Cinque Ports for assistance, but no help was forthcoming, and he continued his march to Lewes where he pitched his camp. Simon de Montfort raised an army in London and marched in search of the Royalists, coming within sight of them at Lewes. Before giving battle, Simon tried negotiations, protesting that he fought not against Henry, but against his evil counsellors. If Henry had submitted 1 Baronial Plan, p. 213. 2 O.P.R. (1258-1266), p. 291. 3 Henry Knighton: Chronicon, p. 241. 4Blaauw: Barons’ War, p. 130. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 33 now, William de Valence would have found himself in desperate straits, for on a previous occasion (July 22, 1258), Simon at a meeting with the citizens of London in the Guildhall had threatened William with death.1_ Henry, however, was loyal to his half- brothers and sent back a scornful reply to Simon.? Soon on May 14th, 1264, the two sides joined in battle. The Royalists were drawn up in an array of three squadrons. The one on the right was led by Prince Edward, and with him were William de Valence and the Earl of Warenne.* The result of the battle is well known; it was won like Nasby by “ prayer, psalm-singing and cold steel.” It was the very part of the royal army to which William belonged that lost the battle for the King. Simon massed round his banner the untrained, but enthusiastic Londoners. Edward fell into the trap of attacking these. Filled with panic they fled in confusion, and Edward pursued them for four miles, delighted to avenge the insults which the Londoners had shown to his mother. When Edward returned, Simon had already gained the victory. The next day the Mise of Lewes was drawn up, and the King, who had been captured, was forced to agree that Edward and Henry of Almain were to be given up as hostages for the good behaviour of the Earls Marcher. On May 16th, Edward surrendered. Thus Henry and Edward were both in baronial hands. William de Valence was more fortunate, for together with John Warenne, Hugh Bigod, Geoffrey of Lusignan and others, he fled to his neighbouring stronghold of Pevensey Castle.* Realising the extreme danger of his position in England, William, after leaving a strong garrison at Pevensey,® again crossed to France with the fugitive Royalists. It does not seem that the chronicler’s suggestion of Henry’s desertion by William can be considered seriously. If William had remained in England he could have done nothing to assist Henry, for the royal fortunes were at their lowest ebb. By fleeing to safety in France, William yet retained the opportunity of striking a blow for Henry again, if matters should become brighter. That William did not intend to desert Henry may be proved by his return to Pembrokeshire as soon as possible. For almost a year exactly William remained in France. His 1 Bérront : Simon de Montfort, p. 172. *Rymer, p. 440. Lib. de Ant. Leg. p. 62. 3 Henry Knighton, Chronicon, p. 241. 4 Nicholas Trivet, p. 260. Gervase of Canterbury, II. 237, etc. °> Bémont : Simon de Montfort, p. 221. 34 WILLIAM DE VALENCE possessions in England were, of course, sequestered. In June, 1264, the Earl of Gloucester obtained possession of Pembroke Castle.1 The government of the country was placed in the hands of Simon de Montfort, and a series of acts of a radical nature followed. The King was placed under the tutelage of a Council of nine persons. The Provisions were confirmed and re-issued. Then came the famous Parliament of February, 1265, to which representatives of the shires and towns were summoned. Simon de Montfort turned increasingly in this period to his ally Llewelyn, and Gloucester noted this overture with disapproval. His possession of Pembroke had made him lord of the whole of South Wales, and he did not like, therefore, the augmented power of the Welsh Prince. “ It is certain that the ambition of Simon to divide Wales with Llewelyn determined Gloucester to break with him.’ In the dissensions between Simon and Gloucester, the dis- cerning William de Valence saw his chance. In May, 1265, William, together with John Warenne, his brother-in-law, landed in Pembroke with 120 men.? Gloucester’s bailiffs put no obstacle in the way of the men of Pembroke when they showed welcome to their ancient lord,* and all South Wales was soon arrayed against Simon. Meanwhile Warenne and William de Valence turned to the border where they could meet Gloucester. At this juncture came Edward’s remarkable escape when he out-distanced his guards at Hereford by skilful horsemanship. As a result, Edward, William de Valence, Roger Mortimer, Warenne, and Gloucester were all able to join together. The forces of the Marchers now had a unity of purpose and direction. Simon forthwith marched to Hereford. He ordered his sup- porters to assemble at Worcester, but the Marchers prevented their meeting. The assembly was then called for Gloucester, but Edward, with William accompanying him, hastened to the siege of Gloucester and soon took the town and castle. Following this, Edward and his uncle marched across the country towards 1 Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1258-1266, p. 35. 2 Tout: Wales and the March, p. 109. 3 Flores Historiarum III. p. 264. On his arrival William boldly asked through the Prior of Monmouth for the restoration of his lands. He was summoned to Parliament but dared not appear and took to arms. Bémont. p. 233. 4 Wales and the March, p. 111. 5 ibid. 6 Lib. de Ant. Leg. p. 73. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 35 Kenilworth, receiving an account of the younger Simon’s un- guarded position from a woman named Margoth, who had been acting asa spy in male attire. [Kdward entered the town by night, and the first sign the barons obtained of the attack were the cries of the Royalists in the streets. William took part in the easy capture of the town.? Simon was confined on the Welsh side of the Severn for a time, but later he crossed the river to Evesham, where he fought his last battle (Aug. 4, 1265). Llewelyn’s Welsh proved to be useless in a definite fight, and the baronial army was crushed. But Llewelyn alone of Simon’s supporters gained from the Barons’ War. William de Valence assisted in the victory of Henry over Simon and the Welsh at Evesham. For two years, Edward was occupied in putting out the embers of the wars, namely, at Winchelsea, Alton, Ely, Chesterfield, and Kenilworth. William was at least present at Kenilworth for he witnessed a charter granted during the siege of Kenilworth, restoring Hugh de Nevill to favour.* After Evesham, too, many of the defeated rebels had fled to Bury St. Edmunds. So, in 1266, we read of William de Valence and Warenne marching to Bury St. Edmunds and charging the abbot and townsmen with sheltering the King’s enemies.* As is evident from the rolls of the time, William was well rewarded for his loyalty in the Barons’ War. Without entering into a discussion as to whether the cause of the King or that of the barons was the more justifiable, one can state definitely that William deserved all the favours he received at the close of the war for his unshaken adherence to the side of his brother. The part he had played in the overthrow of the barons was not a small one. In fact, one is tempted to regard William’s landing in Pem- broke in May, 1265, as the turning-point of the royalist fortunes. FRANK R. LEWIS. 1 Blauaw, p. 268. 2 Tab. de Ant. Leg. p. 74. 3 ¢dbid. Pref. pp. LXI.-XLXVI. William was not one of those who _ devised the Dictum de Kenilworth. (Dunst. p. 242-243). 4 Chron. Flor. Wyg. II. p. 197. A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG.”! [This essay is entitled ‘A Note,’’ since, though in a sense complete in itself, it is obviously no more than an introduction to a deeper study. It breaks off at the point where a psycho- analytical study of motives might properly begin. The deeper investigation would, however, call for the survey of so great a mass of material that there seemed no possible compromise between such an essay as is presented here and a book of several hundreds of pages]. In a letter to “ Annie”’ (Mrs. Richmond), Poe writes :—‘“* The five prose pages I finished yesterday are called—what do you think ?—I am sure you will never guess—* Hop-Frog!’ Only think of your Eddy writing a story with such a name as ‘ Hop- Frog!’ You would never guess the subject (which is a terrible one) from the title, I am sure. It will be published in a weekly paper, of Boston .. . . not a very respectable journal, perhaps, in a literary point of view, but one that pays as high prices as most of the magazines.’” This is apparently the first reference in Poe’s writings to the story, “ Hop-Frog,” published in “‘ The Flag of Our Union,” in 1849. In a subsequent letter to Mrs. Richmond, bearing the date March 23rd, 1849, Poe asks :—“‘ By the way, did you get ‘Hop-Frog’? I sent it to you by mail, not knowing whether you ever see the paper.” The outline of the story may be briefly given here, before proceeding to a discussion of its sources and construction. Hop- Frog, a crippled dwarf, and another dwarf, a graceful little dancer, have been carried off from their respective homes by a victorious general and sent as presents to the monarch in whose court they are living. The king is planning a masquerade, and seeks the help of Hop-Frog, who is always ready with suggestions on such occasions. 1 The text of ‘“‘ Hop-Frog’”’ referred to throughout is that used in the Everyman Edition of Tales of Mystery and Imagination (London : Messrs. Dent & Co: Everyman Library, No. 336). . . pp. 234 ff. 2Letter dated ‘‘ Thursday, 8th.’’: apparently February 8th, 1849. Ingram, John H., Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters & Opinions (London: Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co.—1891). p. 403. 37 38 A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” But he cannot, even when asking assistance, forego the pleasure of tormenting the dwarf. He forces him to drink, though aware that a single glass of wine upsets him badly. The dancer makes a protest against the baiting of the little jester, and the king throws the glass of wine in her face. The suggestion Hop-Frog makes for the masquerade is that the king and his seven ministers shall disguise themselves as ourang-outangs. They are to enter the dance-hall, chained together, as if they were captive apes who had escaped from their keeper. They are to rush about with wild cries and terrify the gorgeously-dressed dancers. The scheme commended itself immediately to the king. Hop- Frog equipped the eight men with tight-fitting drawers and shirts of stockinette, coated with tar to which flax was made to adhere. The dance was held in a large room, circular and lighted by a single central window at the top during the daytime; and at night by a large chandelier suspended from the centre of the skylight. On the night of the ball the chandelier had been removed, and the hall was lighted by candles in sconces, and by torches, sixty or seventy altogether, placed in the right hands of the caryatides standing against the wall. The eight masqueraders burst in upon the assembled dancers at midnight. The confusion was great: so great that the dwarf was able to hook a chain which had been lowered through the skylight to the chain which bound together the king and his ministers. He whistled, and the chain, to which he himself was clinging, torch in hand, was drawn up above the heads of the crowd. Holding the torch down to the disguised men, he pretended to examine them while he addressed the crowd: then he deliberately held the flame to the flax and tar of their clothing. He clambered to the ceiling and disappeared through the sky- light. Neither he nor the little dancer, Trippetta, was seen again by anyone in the room. The story is by no means Poe’s best, although it must be admitted that the characters live more than is usual in-his narra- tives. Its interest for the student lies in the fact that it is possible to ascribe with certainty a source for the greater portion of the plot ; and thus to see with greater clearness than usual exactly what has been done by the writer to work up borrowed material into a story of his own. The undoubted source of the episode is a story in Froissart’s “‘ Chronicles.” In Berners’ translation this is entitled—‘ Of the A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” 39 adventure of a daunce that was made at Parys in lykenesse of wodehowses, wherin the Frenche kynge was in parell of dethe?”’. In Johnes’ translation the chapter heading runs—‘‘ The King of France in great danger of his life at a masked dance of men dressed like savages.’”? For convenience of reference, the versions of Johnes and Berners are reproduced below ; that of Berners being printed in Italics. There was in the king’s household, a Norman squire, called And there was a squyer of Normandy, called Hogreyman of -Hugonin de Gensay, a near relation of the bridegroom, who Gensay, thought of the following piece of pleasantry to amuse the king he advysed to make some pastyme. and ladies. This marriage was on a Tuesday before Candlemas- The daye of the maryage, which was on a Tuesday before Candle- day, and he had in the evening provided six coats of linen covered mas, he provyded for a mummery agaynst nyght. He devysed with fine flax, the colour of hair. He dressed the king in one siz cotes made of lynen clothe, covered with pytche, and thereon of them, the count de Joigny, a young and gallant knight, in flaxe lyke heare, and had them redy in a chambre. The kynge another, which became him well; sir Charles de Poitiers, son put on one of them, and therle of Jouy, a yonge lusty knyght, another of the count de Valentinois, had the third; sir Evan de Foix and syr Charles of Poicters the thyrde, who was sonne to the earle of the fourth ; the son of the lord de Nantouillet, a young knight, Valentenoys, and syr Yvan of Foiz another, and the sonne of the lorde had the fifth, and Hugonin dressed himself in the sixth. When Nanthorillet had on the fyfte, and the squyer hymselfe had on the 1 The Chronicie of Froissart: Translated out of French by Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berners, Annis 1523-25. With an Introduction by William Paton Kerr. Volume VI. (London: David Nutt: 1903) ae pao ff. 2 Chronicles of England, France Spain and the adjoining countries from the latter part of the reign of Edward II. to the Coronation of Henry IV. By Sir John Froissart. Translated from the French Editions with variations and additions from many celebrated MSS. In two volumes. (London: William Smith, 113, Fleet Street ; MDCCCXXXTIX). Vol. II. pp. 550 ff. 40 A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” they were all thus dressed, by having the coats served round syxte. And when they were thus arayed in these sayd cotes, and them, they appeared like savages, for they were covered with hair sowed fast in them, they seemed lyke wyld wodehouses, full of heare from head to foot. This masquerade pleased the king greatly, fro the toppe of the heed to the sole of the fote. This devyse pleased and he expressed his pleasure to his squire. It was so secretly well the French kynge, and was well content with the squyer for it. contrived that no one knew anything of the matter but the They were aparelled in these cotes secretely in a chambre that no man servants, who had attended on them. Sir Evan de Foix, who knew thereof but such as holpe them. When syr Yvan of Foiz had seemed to have more foresight of what was to happen, said to the well advysed these cotes, he sayd to the kynge: Syr, commaud stray- king, ‘Sire, command strictly that no one come near us with tely that no man aproche nere us with any torches or fyre, for of the torches ; for, if a spark fall on the coats we are dressed in, the fyre fastened within any of these cotes, we shall all be brent without flax will instantly take fire, and we must inevitably be burnt ; remedy. The kynge aunswered and sayd: Yvan, ye speke well and take care, therefore, of what I say.’ “‘ Evan,” replied the king, wysely ; it shall be doone as ye have devysed ; and incontynent sent for “ you speak well and wisely, and your advice shall be attended to.” an ussher of his chambre, commandyng him to go into the chambre He then forbade his serjeants to follow, and, sending for one where the ladyes daunsed, and to commaunde all the varlettes holdinge — of the serjeants at arms that waited at the doors of the apart- torches to stande up by the walles, and none of them to aproche nere ments, said to him—‘“ Go to the room where the ladies are, and commande, in the king’s name, that all the torches be placed on one side of it, and that no person come near six savage men who are about to enter. | to the wodehouses that should come thyder to daunce. The serjeant did as he had been ordered by the king, and The ussher dyd the kynge’s commaundement, whiche was ful- the torch-bearers withdrew on one side and no one approached fylled. A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” eo ay the dancers, so long as the savages staid in the room. The apartment was now clear of all but ladies, damsels, and knights and squires, who were dancing with them. Soon after the Sone after, the duke of Orlyance entred into the hall, accompanyd duke of Orleans entered, attended by four knights, and six with four knyghtes and syxe torches, and knewe nothynge of the torches, ignorant of the. orders that had been given, and of the kynges commaundement for the torches, nor of the mummery that entrance of the savages. He first looked at the dancing, and then was commynge thyder, but thought to beholde the daunsynge, and took part himself, just as the king of France made his appearance, began hymselfe to daunce. Therwith the kynge with the fyve other with five others dressed like savages, and covered with flax, came in; they were do dysguysed in flaxe that no man knewe them. to represent hair, from head to foot. Not one person in the com- Fyve of them were fastened one to another; the kynge was lose, pany knew them ; and they were all fastened together, while the and went before and led the devyse. Whan they entred into the hall king led them dancing. On their entrance, everyone was so every man toke so great hede to them that they forgate the torches ; occupied in examining them, that the orders about the torches the kynge departed fro his company and went to the ladyes to sport were forgotten. The king, who was the leader, fortunately for with them, as youth requyred, and so passed by the quene and came him, quitted them to show himself to the ladies, as was natural to to the duchesse of Berrey who toke and helde hym by the arme to know his youth, and passing by the queen, placed himself near the what he was, but the kyng wolde nat shewe his name. Then the duchess of Berry, who though his aunt, was the youngest of the company. ‘The duchess amused herself in talking with him, and endeavouring to find out who he was; but the king, rising up from his seat, would not discover himself. The duchess said, “You shall not escape thus, for I will know your name.” duchess sayd: Ye shall nat escape me tyll I knowe your name. At this moment, a most unfortunate accident befel the In this meane season great myschyfe fell on the other, and by others, through the youthful gaiety of the Duke of Orleans, who, reason of the duke of Orlaynce; howbeit, it was by ignorance, and 42 A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” if he had foreseen the mischief he was about to cause, it is to agaynst his wyll, for if he had consydred before, the myschefe that be presumed would not, for any consideration, have so acted. He fell, he wolde nat have done as he dyd for all the good in the worlde. was very inquisitive in examining them, to find out who they But he was do desyrous to knowe what personages the fyve were were ; and, as the five were dancing, he took one of the torches that daunced, he put one of the torches that his servauntes helde so from his servants, and, holding it too near their dresses, nere, that the heate of the fyre entred into the flaxe, wherein if fyre set them on fire. Flax, you know, is instantly in a blaze, and the take there 1s no remedy, and sodaynly was on a bright flame, and so pitch, with which the cloth had been covered to fasten the flax, eche of them set fyre on other; the pytche was so fastened to the added to the impossibility of extinguishing it. They were likewise lynen clothe, and their shyrtes so dry and fyne, and so jo0ynynge to chained together, and their cries were dreadful ; for, the fire was their flesshe, that they began to brenne and to crye for helpe. None so strong, scarcely any dared approach. Some knights indeed did durste come nere theym ; they that dyd, brente their handes, by reason their utmost to disengage them, but the pitch burnt their hands of the heate of the pytche. very severely ; and they suffered a long time afterwards from it. Nothing apparently would be gained by quoting further from the two translations. In the sequel Froissart tells that the king hurried off, and, at the advice of the duchess of Berry, changed his clothes and showed himself to his mother to reassure her; since the queen had learned that her son was one of the maskers, but had not known which of the group was he. One of the five, Nantouillet, saved himself by breaking the chain, running into the buttery, and throwing himself into the great tub of water kept there for washing dishes. Of the remaining four, two died on the spot; the other two, the bastard of Foix and the count de Joigny, were carried to their lodgings, where they died in great agony a day or two after. Excited rumours of an attempt on the life of the king circulated in Paris, but the populace was soon calmed. The duke of Orleans took all the blame for what had occurred upon himself, but was pardoned by the king. A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” 43 There can be no doubt whatever that the episode in Froissart is the main source of Poe’s tale. Ingram recognises this, and comments :—* The poet appears to have derived his knowledge of the incident from Lord Berner’s (sic) quaint old English version of the chronicler’s story.” Ingram gives no evidence of any kind for his suggestion that Poe made use of Berners’ translation. The probability is that Johnes’ version was used. Thomas Johnes (1748-1816) was a Cardiganshire landowner, who was successively member of Parlia- ment for the borough of Cardigan, the county of Radnorshire, and the County of Cardigan. He was lord-lieutenant of Cardigan- shire, colonel of the Cardiganshire militia, auditor for life of the land revenue of Wales, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1800. He came to live at Hafod, about twelve miles from Aberystwyth, in 1783; and here his activities in beautifying the estate and carrying out schemes of rebuilding, and his simul- taneous occupation with literary interests, compel comparison with William Beckford’s life at Fonthill Abbey. But to describe Thomas Johnes as a “ Welsh Beckford ”’ would be to lose sight of much that was different and of real importance in Johnes, who appears never to have lost sight of the fact that his abilities and fortune involved social responsibility. He rehoused the peasantry on his estate, and set them to planting trees. Between 1796 and 1801 over two millions of trees were planted, and from then on something like a further 200,000 were planted annually. He set up the Hafod Press, from which came, in 1800, his own work “A Cardiganshire Landlord’s Advice to his Tenants,” a book often praised for its vision and foresight. In 1801 he issued from the Hafod Press his own translation of Sainte-Palaye’s “Life of Froissart ’’’, and between 1803 and 1805 the successive volumes of his translation of Froissart’s chronicles. This last work was so popular, that another edition was called for in 1805, and further editions were published in 1808, 1839, 1847 and 1848. The Hafod Press edition was reviewed in No. 10 of the Edinburgh Review, dated January, 1805. In the course of this review, Sir Walter Scott says :—“ We ought to view, with indulgent gratitude, the exertion of an in- dividual, who has drawn from obscurity the most fascinating of this venerable band ”’. (i.e. the works of the early British chroniclers and historians) ... “ Froissart, the most enter- taining, and perhaps the most valuable, historian of the middle 1 Inpram—op. cit.—p. 408. 4A A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” ages. ‘Till now, his Chronicles have only existed in three black letter editions printed at Paris, all we believe very rare; in that which was published by Denys Sauvage about 1560, and re- printed in 1574; and finally, in an English translation by Bourchier Lord Berners, which we believe sells for about twenty guineas, and 1s hardly ever to be met with.’ It is, therefore, far more likely that Poe took the materials of his story from Johnes’, rather than from Berners’ translation of Froissart. The date of “Hop-Frog” is very near to three successive editions of Johnes’ translation, those of 1839, 1847 and 1848, and the fact that the final edition appeared within a year of its predecessor is proof enough of its popularity. Unfortunately, there is practically no evidence in the material content of the two translations which would justify dogmatism. Berners speaks of men dressed as “ wodehowses,’’ that is to say, satyrs; Johnes of “wild men.” The latter is obviously a great deal nearer to Poe’s “ ourang-outangs ’—the “ wild men ”’ of Borneo. Poe had already written earlier, in ‘‘ The Murders in the Rue Morgue” of “a very large, tawny Ourang-Outang of the Bornese species.” 2 Beyond this evidence there seems nothing in the two translations which can be adduced to prove that Poe made use of one rather than the other. Such as it is, however, it seems to be in favour of Johnes’ version. We are fortunate in being able to trace to a single source so much of the material used in the construction of a story, since we are able to see the precise use made of the borrowed matter ; and at the same time to observe the changes introduced by the author, and also the material which he finds it necessary, for his own purposes, to add. What is borrowed is the raw material, the clay ready to the modeller’s hand, the matter to which the creative process is to be applied. The modifications and additions inform us of the nature of the creative process, and enable us to make inferences of its intention. Hervey Allan regards “ Hop-Frog”’ as a® « little understood allegory”’; in which “sovereign Reality makes the cripple of Imagination, whom he keeps as a jester, hop as directed ”’ and 1 Italics not in original. *The Murders in the Rue Morgue—pp. 404 of the Everyman Edition of Tales of Mystery and Imagination. (London—Dent— Everyman‘s Library—No. 336.) 3 Hervey Allen—lIsrafel (New York—George H. Doran Company— 1927). p. 806, . A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” | 45 Imagination finally “escapes with Fancy.” 1! MHop-Frog will certainly bear such an interpretation ; but, even so, we are still left with the problem of its invention, with the question as to why the allegory is presented with the aid of such material rather than other, by means of such treatment rather than an alternative. From what experiences, from what contacts with actual people, does Poe arrive at the abstract representation of Reality, Imagination and Fancy—if indeed he consciously arrives at them ? A clue of some importance is furnished by other work which Poe produced at about the same date. On March 23rd, 1849, he sent to Mrs. Richmond, with a letter, the verses “‘ For Annie’”’ ; referring to them as “ much the best I have ever written.” ? The poem begins :— Thank Heaven! the crisis— The danger is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last— And the fever called “ Living ”’ Is conquered at last. Indeed, the whole poem is written from the point of the view of a dead man, lying in a tomb, grateful at last to be resting . . . For.man never slept In a different bed And, to sleep, you must slumber In just such a bed. The whole process of dying is represented, however, as the falling asleep of a child upon its mother’s breast; ‘Annie’ (Mrs. Richmond) taking in the poem the place of the poet’s mother. She tenderly kissed me, And fondly caressed, And then I fell gently To sleep on her breast— Deeply to sleep From the heaven of her breast. When the light was extinguished She covered me warm, And she prayed to the angels To keep me from harm— To the queen of the angels To shield me from harm. This is, obviously, a picture of a young child being put to bed by a mother, and the whole poem can be taken as evidence (even if 1 Ibid. p. 641. *Ingram ... op. cit. pp 407-8. 46 A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” no other existed) that some at least of Poe’s thinking about Mrs. Richmond represented her relation to Poe himself as that of a mother to her young child. We may, without going farther into the matter, look upon the poem as an expression of a demand for affection and loving attention. This it clearly is. It must be remembered, however, that Poe was forty years of age ; and that, though a grown man may without abnormality picture himself as an infant when his relation to supernatural powers or divine beings is in question, he does not so consider himself in relation to young women. He may demand affection, but not maternal affection. Again, early in January of the same year, 1849, Mrs. Clemm, writing to “ Annie,” says that Poe has written a story and sent it to a publisher.! Her references show that the work referred to is “‘ Landor’s Cottage,’’ which was not, however, published until after Poe’s death. It is an account of a journey which leads the pedestrian to a country house, the residence of Mr. Landor. Accidentally or intentionally, it appears to represent Poe’s situation at about this time in allegorical fashion. The pedes- trian has been touring in the neighbourhood of New York, and finds himself, “as the day declined, somewhat embarrassed about the path” he is pursuing. Throughout the day the sun has scarcely shone, though the day has been unpleasantly warm. ““A smoky mist, resembling that of the Indian summer’’ has enveloped everything. ? The house is enclosed in a deep valley, inaccessible except through a single narrow pass closed by a gate. The door is opened by a woman of about twenty-eight years of age, who is described at length. The description contains a passage which recalls at once “ Ligeia,” a picture undoubtedly based on Poe’s recollections of the mother who had died just before his third birthday, preserved to some extent in the medallion she had bequeathed to him—“ So intense an expression of romance, perhaps I should call it, or of unworldliness, as that which gleamed from her deep-set eyes, had never so sunk into my heart of hearts before. I know not how it is, but this peculiar expression of the eye, wreathing itself occasionally into the lips, is the most power- ful, if not absolutely the sole spell, which rivets my interest in 1Ingram ... op.cit. p. 400. 2 See ‘“‘ Landor’s Cottage : a Pendant to The Domain of Arnheem— Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Everyman Edition) pp. 45 ff. Italics not in original, A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” 47 woman.” ‘There can be no doubt whatever that “ Ligeia” is Poe’s own mother.’ But “ Annie” is addressed by Poe, in his letters to her, as “ My Sweet Friend and Sister’ ®, and this term recalls at once Poe’s own sister, Rosalie, from whom he was separated on the occasion of his mother’s death, just before he was three years of age. It was then that Rosalie was taken to the home of the Mackenzies, and himself to that of the Allans. There is the possibility, therefore, that John Allan himself is the person represented in ‘‘ Hop-Frog’”’ in the person of the King. It is in respect of this King that Poe has materially altered the narrative of Froissart. In the chronicle the king (Charles VI. of France) escapes, but it is clear in “‘ Hop Frog” that the whole motif of the story is the destruction of the king as a revenge for his treatment of the little jester. The seven ministers are _ mere servile echoes of the king. They are punished too, but as accomplices only : the death of the king is the essential element. Another alteration of the Froissart material, apparently trifling, is yet probably of considerable importance. The King of France and his courtiers were dressed in “‘coats of linen covered with fine flax, the colour of hair.” Poe’s king and his ministers are, on the other hand, “ first encased in tight-fitting stockinette shirts and drawers’’; in other words, in the theatrical tights of Poe’s day. Now Poe, whilst his mother was alive, was constantly taken by her to the theatre. His mother’s parts necessitated the wearing of tights; and he probably, as an infant, was present in the dressing-rooms where the players were changing into their stage costumes. He is thus, as the little dwarf supervising the “dressing up’ of the gross king and his ministers, repeating the infantile experience of the small child in the dressing room. It is possible, too, that some part of the fire episode in “ Hop Frog” is derived from memories of those early days, to which is added matter only learned when Poe grew older. For on December 11th, about a fortnight after Poe had been taken to the Allan home, the Richmond theatre caught fire, and was totally 1Landor’s Cottage—Tales—Ed. cit.—pp. 54. The relevant passages in Ligeia ”’ are on pp. 157—8. 27 worked this point out in detail some few years back, but have not yet published the material. It has been developed also by Princess Marie Bonaparte, in her Edgar Poe: Htude Psychanalytique. (Paris Denoel et Steele—1933). See especially pp. 290 ff. G.H.G. 3 Ingram—op. cit. p.404. Italics not in original. 48 A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” destroyed. Seventy-three persons were burned to death, in- cluding the Governor of Virginia. The theatre was one in which Poe’s mother had often acted. On at least one occasion later, Poe appears to have alleged, in explaining Allan’s standing in respect to himself, that his parents had perished in this fire.t Further, the cause of the conflagration was the stage chandelier. The Allans were out of Richmond at the time of the catastrophe, but many of their friends and acquaintances perished. There can be little doubt that the fire and frequent discussion about it, as well as his mother’s association with the theatre itself, developed in Poe a disposition which made the narrative in Froissart, when he first read it, interesting and significant. The figure of the little creature, Trippetta, “of exquisite proportions, and a marvellous dancer ’’ who is Hop-Frog’s fellow- captive at the court, calls for some comment. His mother was a dancer and singer rather than a player, though she possessed the versatility essential to a member of a touring company. The name, Trippetta, suggests at once “trip” and “ pet ’’—and it is by no means as trifling as it might seem to consider the possibility that the name was manufactured of these elements, when we consider the artifices of the period in which Poe lived and his own personal predilection for word-play and punning. We are reminded, too, of the preposterous name of Ligeia’s successor, the Lady Rowena Trevanion of Tremaine, with its emphatic repetition of “ tre’, which like “ tri,’ may have the significance of ‘‘ three,’ and so refer to the third member of the household which was broken up by the death of Mrs. Poe—Rosalie. Poe, may, too, have found the name ready to his hand in Garrick’s farce “‘The Lying Valet,’ in which Beau Trippet and Mrs. Trippet appear. We are here dealing, in all probability, with a case of “ over-determination ’’: there is the likelihood that the name was invented or discovered without conscious intention or realisation of its implications, but that it immediately appeared psychologically satisfying because its unwitting associations made it perfectly suited to the naming of a figure who brought together memories of the mother and little sister of the years of infancy. The whole story appears to have as its psychological motive the desire to return again to the period of infancy, and the making possible of this by a destruction of all that lies between. Poe had 1See Colonel House’s letter of March 30th, 1829, reproduced in Israfel, pp. 237 ff. A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” 49 idealised this period as the “ valley of many-coloured grass’’ in “EHleanora”’’; the happy place in which he dwelt apart with Eleanora and her mother. But in ‘“ Hop-Frog”’ little is said of the destination ; the emphasis being on the destruction of the period between the golden past and the drab present. For this return there may be many reasons. But the reason commonly present in consciousness is that of “reculer pour sauter mieux.” If one could but return to the years of childhood and live again, what goals could not be reached! Poe had began to realise, in all probability, that he could not hope to realise the aspirations which he had confided, not long before the writing of ‘‘Landor’s Cottage,” ‘“‘ Hop-Frog” and “For Annie,” to Mrs. Helen Whitman. He had spoken to her of founding an intellectual aristocracy in America and leading it..... ‘* All this I can do, Helen, and will—if you bid me—and aid me.”’ } He was writing to Mrs. Richmond in a milder strain, but perhaps with the same meaning:—‘‘I am resolved: to get rich—to triumph”? Such extravagance itself speaks eloquently of doubt, of loss of hope. It was at this time, too, that scandals about Poe were being circulated to his detriment. He was poor and harassed. He had, from time to time, taken drink and narcotics, which, because of bodily weakness and perhaps under- nourishment, took greater effect upon him than they would have done upon another. All these things, and perhaps others which we can never hope to know in detail, went to the making of the current situation which presented itself to him as a problem, only to be solved by running away from it; by leaping over the intervening years which lay between him and seemingly golden infancy. This could be done only by obliterating every step of the sequence which began with the entrance into the Allan home and ended with the writing of ‘“ Hop-Frog.”’ In effect, then, “ Hop-Frog” is Poe’s indictment of Allan _for the failure of his life. It was in Allan’s house that the boy first tasted wine ; forced upon him, Poe alleges, by one who knew that single glass of wine excited him to madness. ‘This is the way in which an episode, whose details we know, presented itself to the consciousness of a mature man who knew that the single glass of wine had so often betrayed him, and that his reputation had suffered in consequence. Griswold’s malicious and untruthful 1Caroline Ticknor—Poe’s Helen. (London—John Lane—1917). p. iil. ?Ingram—op. cit.—p. 400. 50 A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” memoir, in all probability, merely committed to print much that was already gossip regarding Poe’s habits. Poe, apologising for intemperance, had blamed on one occasion “ the temptation held out by the spirit of Southern conviviality”’ 1, and on another, insanity resulting from worry about the imminent death of his wife.? There is, nevertheless, the story that when he lived with the Allans he was sometimes placed on the table to toast the assembled company in a glass of sweetened wine and water. “Much,” says Hervey Allen, “has been made of this fact, which in all conscience seems harmless and trivial enough’. The point to be made here, however, is not that this circumstance was to blame for Poe’s drinking, but that it was one upon which he could fix should he at any time wish to satisfy himself as to how a craving for drink originated in him, and to place the fault on other shoulders than his own. Hervey Allen has summarised a much relevant material in his account of Poe’s early childhood. ‘Sometimes he would be called upon to amuse the company by standing upon a high-backed chair to recite jungles. Tradition has it that the company was both delighted and amused. Even John Allan was not insensible to his juvenile talents, and we have a picture of the young Poe, mounted shoeless upon the long, shining, dining-room table, after the dessert and cloth had been cleared away, to dance ; or standing between the doors of the drawing room at the Fourteenth Street house reciting to a large company, and with a boyish fervour, The Lay of the Last Minstrel.”* Here is clearly material for reminiscences which could later, in moods of resentment, present themselves in forms suggesting that the child had, for Allan and his friends, fulfilled the role of jester. The relish of Allan, or at least that of his friends, for practical joking is suggested by the popularity in the household of Edward Valentine, Mrs. Allan’s cousin, who taught Edgar Poe a number of his tricks. > And, if we want to understand the king’s insult to Trippetta, we have only to bear in mind that Allan, on occasion, used to fling in Poe’s face the profession of his parents: and did not scruple, in writing to Poe’s brother, to throw doubts on Mrs. Poe’s fidelity to her husband. 2 1 Robertson—Edgar A. Poe: a Psychopathic Study (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons : 1923) .. p. 37. 2 Ingram—op. cit... p. 174. 3 Hervey Allen—Israfel—p. 53. 4 Hervey Allen . . Op. cit... p. 52. SIbid.... p. 54. A NOTE ON “ HOP-FROG ” 51 Tt was possible, then, even if not rational, for Poe, under the infiuence of strong hatred for all that separated him from the fantasied golden kingdom of childhood, to see in Allan and those resembling him tyrants who were to blame for all the misery and privation of the intervening years and the desperation of the current situation. He turns them into actors, like the people they despised : into the beasts he considers them. He ponders, whilst he is preparing them for the fate he had planned, whether he should not tar and feather them, as social outcasts were treated in the rural communities of the Southern states. But no—this would be merely punishment, meted out to people who merit nothing less than utter destruction ! In the figure of “ Hop-Frog,”’ Poe probably makes an estimate of himself—with what degree of deliberate intention we cannot tell. He moves painfully and awkwardly over the earth:! an admission, perhaps, of the superiority of Allan and his fellow merchants in the spheres of business and adminstration. What he claims for himself is wit, nimbleness and ease of motion in those regions which he considered above the heads of tradesmen. It was because of these qualities that he found his escape from such men—in aerial regions of fancy and poesy where they could not hope to follow him. But the picture of the return to infancy must not be inter- preted symbolically only. It had literal significance also. For it was only a few months after, in the same year, that Poe de- termined to travel to Richmond to renew old literary associations and to see the friends of his boyhood. What might have resulted from this experience we do not know, since he died on his way back from Richmond to New York. GEORGE H. GREEN, -1 Mary Newton Stannard in The Dreamer: a Romantic Tendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe.” (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott Company: 1925) says that at Stoke Newington Poe easily excelled all his fellows at leap -frog. No evidence is given for this statement ...Vide pp. 39-40. There is, however, evidence that he was extremely vain of his prowess in leaping. the 5 nig ey y oe ie ie ea te alee SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS Ameédée Pichot (1825); James Aytoun and J. B. Mesnard (1826) Philaréte Chasles (1827); Léon de Wailly (1843); Louis Demouceaux (1865); Richard de la Madelaine (1874); Auguste Angellier (1893). It is not proposed in this article to deal exhaustively with all the attempts made in France during the XIXth century to trans- late the poetry of Burns, but rather to select from the surprisingly long list of such attempts the most interesting and the most significant, beginning with that of Amédée Pichot, the infatigable translator of so many masterpieces of English and Scottish literature, and culminating in the remarkable achievement of Auguste Angellier, than whom Burns will probably never have a more sympathetic interpreter on the continent. Pichot devotes to Burns a chapter of his Voyage historique et littéraire en Angleterre et en Ecosse, published in 1825. This chapter contains a prose rendering of The cottar’s Saturday might, To a mountain daisy, Highland Mary, To Mary in heaven. In the following year there appeared in Paris a little volume entitled Morceaux choisis de Burns, the work of a Frenchman, J. B. Mesnard, in collaboration with a Scott from Ayrshire, James Aytoun. Hight poems are translated, among them The cottar’s Saturday night, To Mary in heaven, Tam o’Shanter and Scots wha hae . . . The authors announce their intention of publishing shortly a complete translation of the works of Burns, but they do not appear ever to have put this plan into execution. In 1827 the Revue Britannique published an article on Burns which con- tained a prose translation of six of the poems, The cottar’s Saturday night, To a mountain daisy, Mary Morrison, two of the shorter poems and a ballad, O open the door to me. These renderings were the work of Philaréte Chasles, who was already beginning to be recognised as an authority on the literature of the British Isles. The editor of the review adds a note to the effect that Chasles has completed a translation of the works of Burns which will, he hopes, be published in the near future; but here again ex- haustive researches have failed to reveal any trace of such a 53 54 SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS publication. In 1843 Léon de Wailly published the first (and we believe, the only) complete translation which has appeared in France. A few of the poems, notably Tam o’Shanter are rendered in verse, but for the most part, De Wailly has employed the method which was later to be that of Angellier, that is, he has translated and printed each line as a unit :— Oh! pales, pales sont maintenant ces lévres de rose Que j‘ai souvent baisées si passionnément ! Et fermé pour toujours est le regard étincelant Qui s’arrétait si bienveillant sur moi ! Et maintenant tombe en poussiére silencieuse Ce coeur qui m’aimait si tendrement ! Mais toujours au fond de mon sein Vivra ma montagnarde Marie ! In 1865 Louis Demouceaux published a little volume of Poésies imitées de Burns. 1874 saw the appearance of yet another volume of prose translations, that of Richard de la Madelaine. The poems included in the collection are The cotiar’s Saturday night, Highland Mary, To Mary in heaven, To a mouse, Scots wha hae... In 1893 Auguste Angellier gave to the public his masterly study of Burns in which the numerous poems translated, chosen to represent all the different aspects of the genius of the poet, are accompanied and completed by commentary and appreciation. Though the translators whom we have so far mentioned have made no attempt to preserve the peculiar charm which the poetry of Burns owes to the dialect in which most of it is written, yet one of them, Philarete Chasles, has made the suggestion that interesting results might be obtained if the medium employed | were not modern French, but French of the time of Marot. He gives as an example of such translation ‘une gente, accorte et douce fillette’ (a bonnie, sweet, sonsie lass). Unfortunately, no one followed up his ingenious idea. It would however have been astonishing if no one had attempted to translate Burns into some dialect of French. . The following passages are taken from the spirited renderings of Auld lang syne by George Métivier and Judge Langlois which are to be found in Patois poems of the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Guille-Allés Library, no date). Oubllieron-ju nos vier accoints, Not coin d’faeu, nos parens ? Oubllieron-ju nos vier accoints, Not bouan vier tems ? SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS 55 Au bouan vier tems, allon, Au bouan vier tems, Un p’tit fortificat, buvon, Au bouan vier tems ! (G. Métivier—Guernsey dialect). Oubllierait-nou ses viers accoints, Ses anmins, ses parens ? Oubilierait-nou ses viers accoints, Les jours du vier temps ? Pour amour du vier temps, allons, Pour lV’amour du vier temps, J *bérons ensemblle ocouo, j ’bérons, Pour | ’amour du vier temps. (Judge Langlois—Jersey dialect). George Métivier has also translated John Barleycorn. It is possible to deduce from the frequency with which they appear in translation, the relative popularity of the poems of Burns. The cottar’s Saturday night is the only one which is to be found in all the volumes and articles we have mentioned, and it is especially by this poem, which was often compared with Cowper’s work, that Burns appears to have been known in France before 1843.1 For this reason we have taken it as our point of departure when comparing the achievement of the different translators. As representative of the other aspects of Burns we have considered passages from Tam o’Shanter, Mary Morrison, Highland Mary, To a daisy, To a mouse, Scots wha hae . . To judge of the relative merits of these different translations we shall look at them from four points of view, namely, the choice of method, the exact understanding of the original, the tone of the rendering (choice of words, etc), rhythm and melody. All the translators we have mentioned, with the exception of Chasles, have the same conception of the art of translation ; their chief concern is to depart as little as possible from the original. The extreme simplicity of the poet’s language lends itself to this almost literal translation. One may nevertheless point to passages where the freer method used by Chasles has given better results. For example, in Mary Morrison, Chasles is nearer to the meaning of Burns when he writes: ‘ Assis je ne vis, je n’entendis rien ; . elles passaient toutes sans se faire apercevoir, et je répetais tristement, “Non, non, vous n’étes pas Marie, la belle Mary Morrison,” than De Wailly and the others who render this passage : I See Pichot, Chasles, Sainte-Beuve. 56 SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS “< J’étais assis, mais je n’entendais ni ne voyais . . . Je soupirai et dis au milieu d’elles toutes, “Vous n’étes pas Mary Morrison.” But such comparatively successful passages are rare in Chasles’ translation, not because the method is bad but because Chasles uses it badly. He had later, as a matter of fact, extremely sound ideas about this subject which he set forth in the introduction to his translation of Romeo and Juliet, published in 1836, but, at the time when he was occupied with Burns, he had not yet obtained that mastery of the art which he was later to display. Moreover, he was at that time engaged on the composition of an oriental poem imitated from Moore’s Lallah Roohk, and something of the artificial style of La fiancée de Bénares would seem to have overflowed into his rendering of the simple melodies of Burns. Chasles’ translation is open to another criticism; over-anxious to give to his rendering a form really French, he has paraphrased or adapted rather than translated. Not only does he make cuts, but he even permits himself to make additions which are not at all in keeping with the tone of the original. An example of his complete failure to catch the spirit of Burns is to be found in the following passage from The cotiar’s Saturday night :— Mais on a frappé ; la porte de la chaumiere a retenti sous le coup léger d’une main timide. Jenny se hate d ’apprendre a sa famille comment un jeune voisin |’a rencontrée et comment, malgré le mauvais temps, il 1’a galamment reconduite. Jenny! Jenny! une flamme subite s ’est échappée de tes yeux ; ta joues’ est colorée ; ta mére connait les artifices de ton sexe. On ne trompe pas une mére ! 6 Jenny tu es devinée, etc. We have put in italics the expressions which are flagrantly out of tone with the original, but the whole rendering is a travesty of Burns. Louis Demouceaux, the only other among those we have mentioned who departs from the literal method of translation, disarms our criticism, his claim being only to imitate Burns. His imitations in verse are of unequal merit. In A une souris he has preserved something of the rapid movement of the original, though he has sacrificed its exquisite simplicity :— _ Petite béte lisse et vive : Quelle panique dans ton sein ! Ne crains pas que je te poursuive D ’un noir dessein, Et que je devienne, chétive, Ton assassin. In Le samedi soir de la chaumiere, where he uses the alexandrine, SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS 57 he fails at once to reproduce the tone and the movement of the original :— La mere voit briller la flamme accusatrice Au front de sa Jenny, son ame est au supplice ; Mais elle est satisfaite en apprenant son nom, Car d’un sujet indigne il n ’a pas le renom. All these translators of Burns seems to have made a serious effort to master the difficulties of the Ayrshire dialect, and on the whole their renderings are commendably accurate as far as the actual meaning of the words is concerned. The most accurate of all is, as was to be expected, Angellier, the least accurate, Chasles, whose knowledge of the Scotch idiom is not equal to his knowledge of English. In Mary Morrison, for example, he trans- lates fair and braw (jolie and bien attiffée) as blonde and brune. None of the translators of Burns are entirely free from such mistakes; even the Scott Aytoun seems occasionally to have misread the original, as for example when in J’'am o’Shanter he translates slaps (sautoirs) as “ces bréches pratiquées dans les vieilles masures, which may be one of the meanings of the word in Ayrshire, but which is probably not what Burns meant in this passage. Pichot is more reliable than his contemporary Chasles, but we find occasional departures from strict accuracy, what one might call “a peu pres”’ rather than misreadings, for example rives couvertes de bruyeres for ye banks and braes. De Wailly misreads patile as curoiwr, birk as bouton, chapman as chaland. Even Angellier is not always strictly accurate. He writes il a fallu que jet écrase for I maun crush, je n’y perdrai rien for And never miss’t. In preserving the tone of the original, De Wailly, R. de la Madelaine, Mesnard and Angellier are as we have seen far superior to the others. Their comparative success is due to the fact that they have realised that the essential character of Burns is extreme simplicity and directness of thought and expression. Pichot and Chasles have given a too literary tone to their renderings. An example of this is to be found in the following extract from Marie des montagnes :— O rives couvertes de bruyéres ; flots qui entourez le chateau de Montgomery, que vos bocages verdissent & jamais, que vos fleurs soient toujours fraiches, et vos ondes limpides. Here the character of the original would have been more faithfully reproduced if Pichot had translated streams, woods, waters, by 58 SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS ruisseaux, bois and eaux, instead of using the more literary ex- pressions flots, bocages, ondes. 'The same is true of Chasles, but he, not content with translating the simple expression by the more pretentious one, sometimes inserts a literary epithet where Burns has used no epithet at all. In A une souris the plough has become the charrue wmprudente ; in Le samedi soir du métayer the young man who sees Jenny home does it galamment; the lighted ha’ of Mary Morrison is la salle éclairee de mille flambeaux, the weary slave is a misérable et vile esclave, and Burns has become singularly reminiscent of the Abbé Delille. One must however do Chasles this justice, that he is sometimes happily inspired, and finds the mot juste ; la corde frémissante for example seems to us to be a better translation of the trembling cord, than the more literal corde tremblante which the others adopt. The later translators of Burns have all attempted to pre- serve the simplicity and directness of his poetry and have avoided the literary pretentiousness which mars the renderings of Chasles and Pichot, and which was of course, no longer in the taste of their time. But none of them have found any means of reproducing the charm of the Scotch idiom, so rich in picturesque terms and in diminutives, which give to it an incomparable grace and naivete. Their failure in this respect was inevitable ; the French language has no equivalents of wee, beastie, breastie, bonnie, sonsie, etc. Neither is it surprising that no translator has arisen to render in French the rhythm and the melody of the poetry of Burns. “Burns,” says Angellier, “se sert de mots tels que rose, mai, etc . . de facon a leur donner l’air d ’étre neufs . . .il trouve . . des comparaisons charmantes ot. il marie inconsciemment le rythme et les ondulations de lV’allure a la musique, donnant ainsi la formule de la danse...” This, no translation can hope to - reproduce, and no one is more aware than Angellier himself of the inadequacy of such a translation as the following, faithful as it is in tone and meaning :— Mon amour est comme une rouge, rouge rose, Qui est nouvellement éclose en juin ; Mon amour est comme la mélodie Qui est doucement jouée en mesure. It is true that one can find in the translations of Burns by Angellier passages of beauty, but the rhythm is no longer that of the original :— * Sous | ’aubépine blanche comme le lait, ou se parfume la brise du soir.’ SOME FRENCH TRANSLATORS OF BURNS 59 We conclude then that Burns, faithfully served as he has been by his French translators, must nevertheless remain unknown save to those who can read him in his native idiom. For the Burns of these translations is not the real Burns. Even Angellier, with all his extraordinary sympathy with his subject and his great poetic talent, has failed to reproduce the essential magic of this poetry, its music. Again we are led to ask ourselves whether it is worth while trying the impossible task of translating a poet, and we are inclined to reply in this case that Angellier would have been better inspired to leave his quotations in the original, and that his ingenious comparisons with the masterpieces of French verse and his perspicacious comments would have had more force _had they been used to illustrate the real Burns instead of forming the accompaniment to a pale imitation. K. M. PHILLIPS. THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL THE great achievements of pre-historic archeology during the present century have made it possible to outline with reasonable accuracy the main cultural movements in the West for at least two millenia before Christ. It is fitting that some attempt should be made to re-examine the cultural material of proto- historic times in the light of our vastly extended eno nledee of the pre-historic pericd. A recent survey of the pre-historic and later periods has emphazised the importance of the division of Britain into two physiographical and cultural provinces. These are the Lowlands of the south and east and the Highlands of the north and west. The Lowland zone has received its cultures from the continent by way of the Narrow Seas, while the Highlands have been in contact by way of the Atlantic route which linked the promontories and islands of the west. The Lowland zone has been one of cul- tural replacement—a land of invasions ; the Highland zone one of cultural fusion—a land of the continuity of tradition! It should not be assumed, however, that the rdle of the west has been a passive one. Ireland, particularly, has been a centre of active creative life, adapting and re-moulding cultural elements that have reached her from Britain, or directly from the continent. along the Atlantic route. Her activity invigorated in turn the opposite shores of the Irish Sea, and ultimately most of Highland Britain. Sometimes the cultural transmission from Ireland was more particularly by way of the Isle of Man, Strathclyde and Cumbria, as is indicated by the distribution of the Food Vessel in the early and middle Bronze Age. At other times, Irish influence spread rather to south Wales and Cornwall, as is shown, for example, by the distribution of Ogham-inscribed stones in the fifth century a.p. At rare periods, however, the entire shore- lands of the western seas were affected by a single cultural stimulus. Such a period existed from about 2500 to 2000 8.c. when the funerary ritual of the megalith builders was implanted through- out the region.2. It would appear that at such eminent periods i Fox, C. The Personality of Britain. 1932. *Fox,C. Op.cit. p. 35. ; 61 62 THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL in the life of the west, Ireland was linked not only with Highland Britain, but also with Brittany and Western France. The period from the sixth to the eighth centuries A.D. which has become known as the Age of the Saints was, undoubtedly, a similar epoch. Ireland, Highland Britain and Western Gaul shared the general culture of Celtic Christianity, whose achieve- ments at this time stand out in marked contrast to the Saxon Heathendom of the Lowland south and east. Although it is important to emphasize that the wanderings of the Saints embraced the entire Celtic Fringe, nevertheless, a more detailed investigation reveals beneath the general impression, the survival from earlier times of the subdivision of these western seas into a northern and southern sphere. One group of Saints journeyed from northern Ireland to south-western Scotland, Cum- bria and the Isle of Man, while another group operated in southern Treland, south Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. North Wales, apparently, belonged sometimes to one, and sometimes to the other sphere but seldom in the life work of individual saints do we hear of these provinces overlapping. St. Columba journeyed from northern Ireland to establish his monastery at Iona, whence his successors spread all over the northern area. Perhaps, we have the last echo of the peculiar individuality of this region in the territorial limits of the bishopric of Sodor and Man in the eleventh century. St. Samson, the subject of the present study, belongs equally clearly to the southern sphere. His activities embraced south Wales, southern Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany. In St. Samson’s sphere of influence therefore we have a reflection of the major cultural groupings in the west which had remained virtually unchanged for over two thousand years before his time. St. Samson’s Life dates from the beginning of the seventh century and thus is almost contemporary with the events it describes. It is the work of an anonymous writer who states that his sources were a Life of the saint written by the deacon Henoc, a nephew of St. Samson and handed on to an old monk of the monastery of Dol, and also additional facts told to him by this aged man and by the monks of Llantwit. The most ancient extant manuscripts of the Life are, however, not older than the eleventh century, but internal textual evidence agrees in ascribing the original composition to the seventh century.! The information afforded by the Life of St. Samson therefore is especially valuable for a study of this kind as the Lives of almost all the other saints, 1 Taylor, T. The Life of St. Samson. 1925. Introduction p. xlv. THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL 63 though representing] ancient traditions are the products of later ages and much coloured by medieval monkish imaginations.! Briefly St. Samson’s story was as follows. A native of south Wales, he became a pupil of the great St. Iltud at Llantwit. After ordination he entered the monastery of Piro (usually thought to be on Ynys Pyr or Caldy Island, off Tenby). After a visit to his parents he returned to find the abbot dead and was appointed to succeed him. Shortly afterwards the monastery was visited by Irish monks on their way home from a visit to Rome. He proceeded with them to Ireland and after a short stay he returned to Ynys Pyr taking with him an Irish “chariot” that he thought might be useful to him in his future wanderings. On arrival at the monastery he refused to resume his rule over the community there and retired toa “ very desolate wilderness ’’ near the banks of the Severn. His retreat was discovered and he was brought back to the monastic life and consecrated bishop. Soon after- wards in response to a “ vision’”’ urging him to travel “‘ beyond the sea’”’ he sailed towards Cornwall. On his way he visited his family and friends presumably in south Wales. He arrived in Cornwall at or near the monastery of Docco, the modern St. Kew. His name was remembered in the neighbourhood as there formerly stood a chapel in Padstow parish dedicated to St. Samson and St. Cadoc. After a brief stay in this neighbourhood “he arranged his journey so as to completely traverse the country,” travelling overland to the estuary of the Fowey river on the south coast of Cornwall. Nearby, again, is a church and parish which bear the saint’s name. How long Samson remained in Cornwall is not known, but from the Fowey estuary he passed over to Brittany, landing in the estuary of the Guioult. Henceforth, Dol was the centre of his activities, though he is known to have visited Paris on a political mission. He achieved great fame as the founder of the monastic bishopric of Dol. After his lifetime his followers continued to spread his fame, while his sarcophagus at Dol was the object of many pilgrimages from Cornwall and Britain in ages to come.? The importance of sea traffic at this time is clearly demon- strated in the outline of Samson’s wanderings recorded above. 1 Williams, H. Christianity in Harly Britain. 1912. pp. 297-8. 2This account is based on the Life printed in Taylor (Op. cit.) together with the translator’s introductory statement, and also on Baring Gould and J. Fisher The Lives of the British Saints. Vol. IV. 1913. pp. 130-170. 64 THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL Dr. Cyril Fox has pointed out to me that although the Lvfe of St. Samson is full of miraculous elements and divine interventions, nevertheless, in the accounts of his sea passages there is never any reference to events of a supernatural nature, although it is here that one might have most expected it. Samson’s first voyage to Ireland with the Irish visitors to Ynys Pyr is not even mentioned in the text. ‘“‘ Now it came to pass that certain dis- tinguished Irishmen on their way from Rome arrived at his dwelling and ... he determined to accompany them to their own land. And there he stayed a short while, and by God’s help practised many virtues.” On the return voyage we hear of Samson waiting in the citadel at Acre Etri (which is thought to be on the promontory of Howth at the extremity of Dublin Bay) for ‘‘ fair weather for his return to Britain.” A slight hitch occurs in the arrangements but “ when night was over, at day- break, with a fair wind they proceeded on a prosperous voyage with God as their helmsman and on the second day they reached that island in which he had previously dwelt.’ ? Crossing from Wales to Cornwall was uneventful ; “ freely bestowing the power of his benediction upon them all, with a favourable wind after a happy passage he arrives . . . at a monastery which is called Docco.’”® The voyage from Cornwall to Brittany is described in similar terms. “... with God for his guide he directed his course towards this side of the sea * in accordance with his promise . after a favourable voyage they reached their desired port in Kurope’.' We may conclude that the crossing of stormy seas in open boats, without compass, or even the assurance of the stars by night was something quite usual at this time and called for — no special comment. We have reason to believe from the archeological record that movement by sea from headland to headland and peninsula to peninsula had been the normal method of communication in these lands since megalithic times. In St. Samson’s time it was too commonplace to need comment. The distribution of certain pre-historic finds on these western peninsulas is seen to form definite transpeninsular patterns. This suggests that in early times it was usual to transport goods across the peninsulas rather than risk the dangers of a sea passage around ‘1 Taylor, T. Op.cit. Translation. p. 39. 2Taylor, T. Op.cit. Translation. pp. 40-41. 3 Tbid. p. 47. 4 From the point of view of the Breton monk writing the narrative. 5 Taylor, T. Op.cit. Translation. p. 52. THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL 65 the stormy headlands. Long distance movement was part by land and part by sea. Cornwall, naturally, had many such transpeninsular routes. Crawford suggested some twenty years ago that finds of gold lunule of Irish origin in Cornwall indicated an “isthmus ”’ road from St. Ives Bay to Mounts Bay.! More recently, Fox has demonstrated from a composite map of Bronze Age finds the existence of similar routes across our western peninsulas. In Cornwall he shows the importance of the route from Padstow to the Fowey at this time.2 Hencken also has shown the significance of this route in the Bronze and Iron Ages and he points out also its relation to the pre-historic tin trade and its continued importance in the Dark and Middle Ages. Thus, when St. Samson journeyed this way he was following a route _ that had been well trodden for nearly two thousand years and was to remain important for centuries to come. St. Samson also was well aware of the time honoured scheme of travelling in western lands. When leaving south Wales en route for Brittany he took with him in the boat his Irish ‘ chariot’ for the journey across Cornwall. When he was safely landed on that peninsula, his biographer proceeds, ‘‘ sending away his ship at the same place he arranged for a cart to convey his holy vessels and books, and harnessed two horses to his chariot which he had brought with him from Ireland.’”4 It is convenient at this point to return to consider St. Samson’s previous journey from Ynys Pyr to Ireland. Unfortunately, we do not possess direct evidence from the text that he utilized the transpeninsular routes across south-west Wales on this occasion. ‘That such routes existed in pre-historic and proto- historic times there is no doubt® and when we consider the circumstantial evidence from the text it seems very probable that St. Samson actually did travel across the peninsula. On the outward journey the fact that the Irish travellers called at Caldy en route from Rome to Ireland is in itself suggestive, while the return journey, after leaving Ireland early one morning 1Crawford, O. G. 8S. The Distribution of Early Bronze Age Setilements in Britain. Geogr. Journ. Vol. XL. 1912. p. 196. * Fox, C. The Personality of Britain. p. 60. 3 Hencken, H. O’N. The Archeology of Cornwall and Scilly. The County Archzxologies. 1932. pp. 181-2. 4Taylor, T. Op. cit. Translation. p. 49. 5 Fox, C. Op. cit. p.60. See also map of Ogham-inscribed stones. p. 36. 66 THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL and reaching “that island in which he had previously dwelt” ‘“‘on the second day ’’, suggests too short a time with the craft at his disposal to have come from Dublin Bay right around - St. David’s Head and St. Gowan’s Head to Caldy. The time would suggest rather an arrival on the coast of south Cardigan- shire or north Pembrokeshire and thence by the overland route to Caldy. Furthermore, we know that St. Samson had secured a ‘ chariot’ while in Ireland and had it with him in the boat, so that he was prepared to undertake part of the journey by land. There is evidence also of the cult of St. Samson in south-west Wales, and it appears from the map that the cult of the saint is closely associated with the routes along which he is supposed to have travelled. It would be incorrect to think of these routes traversed at this period only by solitary wandering saints. St. Samson did not travel alone. He arrived in Cornwall “ attended by the before mentioned three and many others’”’ and in Brittany “ with very many monks.” It is thought that the migration of St. Samson and other Welsh Saints to Brittany represents but one aspect of a general folk movement from Britain to northern Brittany during the fifth and sixth centuries. The newcomers seem to have been made up mainly of the Dumnonii of south-western England and the Cornovii from eastern Wales. By the sixth century the name, language and customs of north Brittany had been changed. The reasons for this migration are harder to find, but continued pressure from the North due to raids by the Picts and Scots and perhaps the arrival of the sons of Cunedda in Wales? and the ravages of successive plagues’ are often quoted in this respect. Whatever the reasons may have been, it is the close association between Wales, Cornwall and Brittany at this time that is the point to be observed in this context. The adventures of St. Samson while travelling on land in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and northern France are in the main of greater interest to the hagiographer than to the archaeologist. Such happenings usually involve demonstrations of miraculous powers in healing, the ejection of serpents and the casting out of evil spirits, but one incident recorded on the way across Cornwall is worthy of note. St. Samson and his followers passed by a hill called Tricurtus (possibly connected with the more modern 1 Loth, J. L’ Emigration Bretonne. p. 93. 2 Hencken, H.O’N. Op.cit. p. 220. 3 Baring Gould and Fisher. Op.cit. p. 161. THE CULT OF SAINT SAMSON EACH DOT INDICATES A VILLAGE,CHURCH, WELL SHRINE, MEGALITH ETC. BEARING THE NAME OF THE SAINT | (AFTER F.QUINE ‘SAINT SAMSON’ RENNES, 1909, WITH ADDITIONS) |= es PROBABLE ROUTES FOLLOWED BY S™SAMSONE — ST DAVID'S H® PADSTO gens KEW @ Y OrsR ue PARIS ° STATUTE MILES 10 20 40 THE TRAVELS OF ST. SAMSON OF DOL 67 Trigg! a district comprising the north-westerly flank of Bodmin Moor). Here they saw some people worshipping “ an abominable image.” St. Samson advanced and denounced them and by performing a miracle persuaded them to be baptized. To mark this achievement he cut a cross upon a menhir which appeared to be associated with the pagan rites. The writer of his Life tells us: “‘on this hill I myself have been and have adored, and with my hands have traced the sign of the cross which St. Samson with his own hand carved by means of an iron instrument on a standing stone.”? Here then is interesting evidence of the attempt to convert megalithic remains around which pagan ceremonial had gathered to Christian uses. St. Samson’s name is, moreover, still closely associated with megalithic remains in Wales and Brittany. Carreg Samson occurs at least five times as the local name of a megalith in west Wales? while the menhir de S. Samson near Dinan is well known in Brittany. Whether it was St. Samson himself or one of his monks or later devotees of his cult who actually visited the sites of these megaliths is not known, but the association of the name of the Saint with the stones clearly indicates that the traditions of the Celtic West were for cultural assimilation rather than for cultural replace- ment. Our increasing knowledge of the pre-history of Western Europe is helping in no small measure to re-interpret the Dark Ages. The life of the Celtic Fringe lived on alongside of Imperial Rome and when that power waned in the East we see that the main currents of life in the West were still flowing in the same channels as they had done for nearly three thousand years before. EK. G. BOWEN. 1? Hencken, H.O’N. Op. citi. p. 214. 2Taylor, T. Op. cit. Translation. p. 49. 3 Baring Gould and Fisher. Op. cit. pp.150-170; Sansbury, A.R. Unpublished MSS ; Roy. Comm. Anc. Mon. Pembrokeshire. 4Duine, F. Saint Samson. Rennes. 1909. p. 21. Xe Saag eer! ty aa iach ie ie WAZZAN : A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO WazZAN, a town of some twenty thousand people which has played an important part in the religious, political and commercial life of the state of Morocco, is remarkable as being the only urban agglomeration on the whole of the well-populated southern slopes of the vast mountain arc which fringes the Mediterranean coast of that country. It is built at an altitude of some one thousand feet on the lower northern slopes of Jebel Ait Sokha, a rather isolated mountain, over two thousand feet high which is part of the divide between the rivers Lekkous and Sebou. Until the second quarter of the seventeenth century A.D., Wazzan appears to have been in no way different from any other small Berber village of the Jebala region. But, when in 1627(?) Moulay Abdallah esh-Shareef made this village his abode, its destiny was completely changed from that of an obscure moun- tain settlement, known only locally, to that of a foyer of religion for Western Islam, and, a centre of pilgrimage whose powers of attraction extended not merely over the whole of Morocco, but throughout Barbary, across the Sahara as far as the Western Sudan, into the Nearer East, and even as far as India.* Irs Strz. Apart from the spacious terrace which is suitable for the gathering of a large number of men and _ beasts, and which is now used for the large weekly suq,! there appears to be nothing particularly advantageous in the site of Wazzan,? as compared with that of other villages within a radius of a few miles, which might be considered as having led to its original selection in preference to them. Neither does history, as opposed to legend,®? contribute any- thing which might be so considered. Consequently, it seems as *Watson, R.S. A Visit to Wazzan, p. 22. (London, 1880). 1A kind of market. see Michaux-Bellaire, E. ‘ Le Gharb’ Archives Marocaines, tome XX, ch. VIII. (Paris, 1907); Fogg, W. ‘The Suq: a Study in the Human Geography of Morocco’ Geography Vol. 17, (Manchester, 1932). *Even the water supply is poor, see ‘ Rabat et Sa Région’ in Villes et Tribus du Maroc, tome IV., p. 223. (Paris, 1918). 3 The following is narrated :— * According to tradition, when he (Moulay Abdallah esh-Shareef) was in Guezrouf, by way of earning his living he taught the Koran 69 70 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO if the choice by Moulay Abdallah, of Wazzan for his abode, in preference to any of the neighbouring villages, must be ascribed to chance. Irs GEOGRAPHICAL Postrion. On the contrary, the selection of the geographical position of this site has the appearance of having been deliberate. For, Jebel Ait Sokha is approxi- mately midway between the high crest of the Riffan mountain arc and the plain which bounds this to the South-West. In the latter direction from Wazzan, hills and vales succeed each other in increasingly open arrangement and decreasing altitudes, until the vast plain of the lower Sebou, only slightly above sea’ level, is reached, at some twenty miles distance. In the opposite direction, deep, narrow valleys, and rugged, broken mountains, increasing in altitude and difficulty of access, culminate at some twenty miles distance, in the main crest of the Jebala-Riff chain, which has a general summit altitude of some seven thousand feet. Moreover, this physical difference is emphasised by the marked difference between the human occupants* to South-West and North-East respectively, for the low plains and open vales have been occupied for long by Arab tribes,1 semi-nomadic and primarily pastoralists,? whereas the rugged hills and mountains have been held against all invaders within historic time, by Berber tribes,2 sedentary and primarily cultivators.* (See Plate I). | to the children, as a fegih or school master. Out of his savings he bought a cow which the people of the village killed for an ouza (purchase in common, by the whole of a village, of a cow for killing, each villager taking his share of the meat and paying his share of the price) and which he brought back to life. The same thing happened at the village of Miqal. As he complained about it, the villagers replied ‘ Take the Bou-H’lal from us’ meaning that he would obtain absolutely nothing from them. But he took them at their word, and called the adoul (lawyers) who drew up a document by which the people of Migal gave to Moulay Abdallah in exchange for his cow, the Jebel Bou-H’lal with all its territory as far as the Wad Zaz, i.e. a piece of land some four miles long and over half a mile wide. It is thus that the Wazzan shareefs became owners of this land.’ Rabat et Sa Région, op. cit. pp. 241-2. 1 at present, Beni Malek, Sofyan and see ‘Carte des Tribus du Khlot tribes. Maroc’ 1 : 500,000, Service 2 at present, Rhouna, Ghezaoua, Beni ) Géographique du Maroc, Mestara, Beni Ahmed and Beni Mesguilda { Rabat, 1923. 3 Nouvel, S. Nomades et Sédentaires au Maroc, Chaps. III and V. (Paris, 1919). * see note on p. 83. — a — —— — — Si a ‘ecol ‘Feqeal “OPD sotataS “Q00‘00G : | ‘2040p, np SNQIAT, Sap ayawa WoyiuIsA0y ueyooreyS oy} Fo syz0de1 poystqndug — °976I ‘streg ‘oval 4a for IL ‘ON ‘20mmpr mp INQny JuaumUsiasuT 1 ap wuyayng ‘O26 ‘Sled ‘SNQUL say ‘IIT wll} $816] ‘sued ‘O€61 “Feqey ‘Qapyy) AT ‘AT 910} ! Uowd—gy VS 1a WaT IA “1OA °9900‘000‘| ne olfeyou ‘ooze up onbrydeis09y ‘1Z6l] ‘sued ‘auoz Q0IAIOS of aed ooarqnd jo os9ssoIp oj1eg : 9040 VS ja AASUDI “TIA ‘OA ‘20ADT NP SNQUAT 2 SazqrA : M —: moll UaYyDT, —: morf pajyrduoy ‘ADVNIVUC GNV ATITAY *SOTTUL OF 0% I "SdnOuy CINHLY AO NOILNAaIaLsig = oe ae » AA 8 ° a jm ¢ 33 of | £3 ee 20%8 é (2M SEE oe Serine ee it = ee e = VODA 5 ete ° =e e 2°60, ee e 2S Qa! S eae ial x s e ——— ae a BYUVHD : we ee Oy Pe, ao s 6 e os %e, ata az by =e p ed © S000 000088 One ©) VAT W3S ~ 0069 000°Z eee ‘OCOOOUOW LSAM-HETON ‘| ALW1d mole sz | , F-SAMVONNOE IWweldL : “ GH; Y, : JLVWIXOYddY | ~ $291 00s Gy Yj f dal 3] > /, & ¥ osze m 000°! a Lf AILNUNIWoaaud VU, lor co) Cfifelis WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 71 Politically, too, the difference is sharp, for, since the rise of the state of Morocco, the plain and vale country to the South- West, has usually been under the close control of the central power, whereas the rugged and inaccessible country to the North East has almost always remained unsubjected to it. Hence, Jebel Ait Sokha has always been in the border zone between Blad el-Makhzen—tribal lands in tribute to the Sultan—and Blad es-Siba—tribal lands not under the Sultan’s control. The strategic value of this border zone for a centre of politico-religious influence is clear, therefore, and it seems safe to assume that Moulay Abdallah, himself a native of the Jebala, and a disciple of Sidi Ali ben Ahmed, whose zawia! was in the Jebel Sarsar, only a few miles from Wazzan, was well aware of the advantages which would accrue from the establishment of a zawia somewhere in this zone, and therefore, unlike its site, the geographical position of Wazzan has the appearance of having been selected for its particular advantages although in this case also, history affords no confirmation. COMBINED EFFECTS OF GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF WAZZAN AND OF RELIGIOUS PRESTIGE OF SHAREEFS. Due to this geo- graphical position, and to their very great religious prestige, the shareefs? of Wazzan were able to exercise a powerful political 1* The town or village round the shrine of some great saint, is often called his zawia’ and in this sense the town of Wazzan is the zawia of the Wazzan shareefs. The term is ‘ further applied to a house close to the tomb of a certain saint in which his followers are accommodated when they come there; as also to a house erected by them for congregational purposes, in another place than that where he has his shrine. There they assemble on Fridays, on the seventh day of the ereat religious feasts, on the day when the saint has his mousem, and whenever his descendants visit the place ; and there also his followers are lodged when they are travelling.’ The term may also be * applied to a house where a saint is living, or in which a departed saint used to live and which is now inhabited by his descendants, who there show hospitality on a large scale to his followers and poor people, and in return receive gifts from the followers.’ Westermarck, E. Ritual and Belief in Morocco. Vol. 1. p. 65. (London, 1926). 2° A shareef (feminine shareefa) is a descendant in the male line of Fatima, the daughter of the prophet Muhammed. As a result, he is possessed of baraka.’ ‘The Arabic word baraka means ‘* blessing.’ In Morocco it is used to denote a mysterious wonder-working force which is looked upon as a blessing from God, a ‘ blessed virtue.’ It ‘may conveniently be translated into English by the word ‘ holiness.’ No man has possessed more baraka than the prophet himself, but this 72 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO influence over the neighbouring tribes, and, as the Makhzen} clearly saw, according to the inclination of the heads of the con- fraternity, this influence could be exercised either in co-operation with the central power, to extend its authority, and make for peace, or against the central power, to the extent, perhaps of establishing an independent state, with Wazzan as its capital. For these reasons, the Makhzen found it politic to adopt a policy of attracting the Wazzan shareefs to the throne, by making it greatly to their personal economic advantage to be amenable. This was effected by granting valuable azibs? in rich plain and was transmitted to his descendants. Every shareef and shareefa is thus born with more or less baraka, but only comparatively few have so much of it that they are actually regarded as saints ; and it is much diluted in the children of a shareef and a woman who is not a shareefa.’ (Westermarck, op. cit. pp. 35-6). ‘The number of shareefs in Morocco is immense. They are particularly numerous in towns, and among the Arabic-speaking mountaineers of Northern Morocco, but many shareefs are found even in Berber-speaking tribes. These may be descendants of immigrants belonging to the religious nobility of the Arab invaders, who settled down there and married into Berber families, with the result that their descendants forgot the language of their fore- fathers, adopting that of the race among which they lived, and took their wives from the tribes-people of their mothers. Or they may belong to genuine Berber families whose claims to have descended from the Prophet are the sheerest fiction. Among the Arabic-speaking population of Morocco fictions of this kind are extremely common. By simply moving from his native place to another district and there pretending to belong to a family of shareefs, a person may, both for himself and his descendants, gain a title to which he has no claim whatever.’ bid. p. 37. 1° The word Makhzen taken in its wider meaning, signifies the Moroccan government, but it is more frequently used in Morocco itself - to indicate the central power ; the sultan, his viziers and his military establishment. As its name indicates, the makhzen (storehouse, reserve) is at one and the same time the place where is concentrated the power, and where are collected the resources which serve to enforce it. What is called Dar el-Makhzen, the government house, is materially, the whole of the buildings which contain the Sultan’s palace, i.e. his own apartments and those in which live a large number of members of his family, his stables, his private treasure, and above all the Bit-el- mal-el-meslemin, the musulmans ‘ war treasure.’ Bernard, A. Le Maroc’ pp. 240-1. (Paris, 1921). 2° An azibis ... a village, the inhabitants of which, from father to son, are conceded by the Sultan to a shareef and his descendants. These collect from its inhabitants, the legal alms and all dues of sovereignty.’ ‘In a word the shareef is substituted for the Sultan with regard to the inhabitants of the azib,’ Rabat et sa Région tome iv. p. 221. WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 73 valley areas which would provide an abundance of the cereals, and the cattle, with which the mountain lands were not well provided, and the products and revenues from which, therefore, the shareefs would be most unwilling to lose. But so as to be able to exercise pressure when necessary, these azibs were located in the heart of the Blad el-Makhzen, and, moreover, were made revocable. Hence the Makhzen could, both in law and in fact, eut them off at will. Thus the shareefs with their zawia on the confines of the mountains and on the borders of the Blad es- Siba, were given a vital economic interest in the plain lands of the Blad el-Makhzen, so that indirectly, they might be led to exert their political influence among the mountain tribes of the Blad es-Siba towards maintaining peace with the Makhzen. The azibs were so rich that they formed one of the most important sources of revenue! to the shareefs, and, largely con- tributed to that wealth which permitted the latter still further to extend their influence by means of liberal material support of pilgrims. The sultans contemporary with the earlier Wazzan shareefs were further influenced by the position of Wazzan, as related to _ that of other religious centres of potential political importance. Tazerout in Beni Arous territory, and El-Haraig in Ghezaoua territory, both exercised considerable influence at that time, and, located in the very heart of the Blad es-Siba, were relatively in- accessible, and both were of sufficient strength to become potential capitals of small independent states. Therefore the accessibility of Wazzan on the one hand, and its position relative to the Blad es-Siba of North Morocco as a whole, along with the relative inaccessibility of these other centres of religious influence within the Blad es-Siba of North Morocco, on the other hand, made it still more politic on the part of the Makhzen, discreetly to foster the influence of the Wazzan shareefs so as to diminish that of Tazerout and El-Haraig, over which they could exercise no control, and which, if not checkmated, might become dangerous. All these manceuvrings have been of great importance indirectly, in the growth of the town. 1 Among other sources of revenue were (a) property in and around Wazzan, (b) the ziyara, offerings to a saint by the faithful, those by natives of the Touat oasis in mid-Sahara being among the most valuable and reliable. Westermarck (op. cit.) p. 170, and Rabat et sa Région tome iv. p. 230. 74 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO RELIGIOUS dle AND ITs EXPLANATION. Wazzan has had several important functions, but as religion is its raison d’étre it will be logical to discuss its religious réle first. Before this can adequately be appreciated, however, it will be necessary to indicate the reasons for the deep veneration in which the Wazzan shareefs are held. Throughout Islam, all the descendants of the Prophet, although by now very numerous, enjoy deep respect and veneration, due to their lineage, however poor they may be. In Morocco, how- ever, it is especially the descendants of Fatima and Ali (daughter and son-in-law of the Prophet) through the line of Idris I., founder of the holy city of Moulay Idris in the Zarhoun massif, and of his son Idris II., founder of Fez, who are most deeply revered. Moulay Abdallah esh-Shareef, founder of the zawia of Wazzan, was of direct descent from this line.* Further, he was directly descended from the brother of Moulay Abd es-Salam ben Mechich, who had been recognised as the ‘ Qotb + of Western Islam, and who had been very deeply revered in Morocco generally, but even more deeply in the Jebala, where he was styled the Sultan el- Jebala. Moulay Abdallah, therefore, enjoyed throughout the Islamic world, the general respect which followers of the Prophet have for his descendants, while, in Morocco, he enjoyed the special veneration given to direct descendants of Idris I. and, further, in the Jebala, he enjoyed the special local reverence which the Jebalians had for the descendants of the family of Moulay Abd ~es-Salam ben Mechich. : He travelled widely as a poor tolba? and studied in some of the famous Islamic universities of his day, and in 1626 A.D. went into retreat at Guezrouf, two and a half miles North-West of Wazzan, — seeing nobody but his servant, for fourteen months. On his emergence, people flocked to him from all parts of the Western Islamic world, as, not merely was he deeply venerated for his lineage, for his learning, and for his saintly life in retreat, but also because, towards the close of his period of retreat, the * see Généalogie des Chorfa d’Ouezzane in Rabat et sa Région, tome iv. 1 The Qotb is ‘ The sole being in the whole world and in all time upon whom God casts His glance.’ Originally, the Qotb was only to be found in the East, but due to the schisms in Islam, there arose the — belief in a Qotb in Western Islam, also. see Rabat et sa Région, tome iv., p. 240. and Westermarck op. cit. footnote to p. 39. 2 Student. if WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 75 Prophet had appeared to him in a dream, and had promised immunity for all those who should come to Moulay Abdallah and, because, thereby, the Qotb of Western Islam had become estab- lished in the person of Moulay Abdallah. As soon as he emerged from retreat, Moulay Abdallah began his teachings. At the same time he ensured that all those who should come to him would receive material upkeep, and sometimes, as many as twenty-four thousand disciples were being supported, himself leading a simple and austere life of poverty withal. In view of the foregoing, therefore, and, as it is considered that the Qotb of Western Islam is still to be found in the direct line of the Wazzan shareefs, there is no difficulty in understanding not only the religious importance of Moulay Abdallah himself, but also the continued religious prestige of his family, and par- ticularly that of the direct line possessing the baraka.* As A Foyer oF ReEticion. As a result of this prestige, Wazzan, the home of these shareefs, habitual residence, and burial place of most of them, is, in itself, a living centre of religion. ‘The faithful of Wazzan do not seek elsewhere the ideal necessary to their religious faith, they live in the very * see footnote 20n page 71. ‘ When the shareef of Wazzan is amongst his devotees, the latter almost crush each other to death in their effort to touch the edge of his burnous, they kiss the ground he has walked over, they revere every object he has touched ; for him to take a mouthful of food prepared for him, is an inestimable favour ; and they beseech him to spit on food, which they eat immediately after. When the crowd is too big, those who cannot reach the shareef with their hand touch him with their stick or their gun, or even pick up a stone, which they mark and then throw at the shareef and try to find again. Their fanaticism goes even further ; it is related that Moulay Abd es-Salam, shareef of Wazzan, only just missed being killed by the Beni Mguild tribesmen ; they wanted to bury him in their territory so that the tomb of the great saint would sanctify their tribe.’ Bernard, op. cit. p. 198. ‘ The acting head of the Wazzan house and depository of its baraka is in some parts of the country more influential than the Sultan. On coming to the throne the latter seeks the ratification and blessing of the great shareef of Wazzan, and in times of difficulty has not in- frequently appealed to him for assistance. There is a saying that, although no Wazzan shareef can rule as sultan, no sultan can rule with- out the support of the great shareef of Wazzan. ... . and when one of the late bearers of the name made the journey to Mecca, he was even there the object of marked veneration, the worshippers actually leaving the Ka’bah to prostrate themselves before him.’ Westermarck, op.cit. pp. 37-8. 76 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO foyer of that ideal. The objects of their veneration, and almost of their cult, are around and among them, and their whole life is, so to speak, impregnated with this saintly emanation.’4 Being, therefore, in itself, at once a generating and disseminat- ing centre of religion, not merely for Morocco, but for Western Islam, in general, it is easy to understand that the influence of Wazzan should have extended far beyond the limits of Morocco itself. To-day there are in Algeria alone, between fifteen thousand and twenty thousand? fougaha,? and, in Morocco, there is at least one zawia of the house of Wazzan in every town. As A CENTRE OF PILGRIMAGE. In view of these facts, there- fore, it is not surprising that the town should have become an important centre of pilgrimage. As such, Wazzan is visited by very large numbers, especially at the Mouloud and Achour festivals. The pilgrims come, not merely out of devotion to the living members of the Wazzan line, but also equally, out of venera- tion for the memory of the ancestors of this line, enshrined in their tombs, which are either within or on the confines of the town. ‘That of the founder, in the main mosque, is of outstanding influence, and, the carefully preserved small thatch-covered dwelling in which the founder lived, is a further object of pil- grimage and deep veneration. Arising from the religious importance and consequent power of the shareefs, and the geographical position of Wazzan, along with the general political conditions, and the conditions of inter- nal administration prevailing in Morocco as a whole, Wazzan had two other closely related réles. | SANCTUARY dle. (a) Political In that all the land on which the town itself was built, as well as a considerable area in the immediate surroundings, belonged outright to the shareefs, as well as most of the property thereon, and, further, in that the local power of the shareefs was such that the Makhzen could not enforce any countermand to it, even if it were impolitic enough to issue such, the town could act as a political sanctuary from a Makhzen, which was in general, corrupt and grasping. Much was made of this potentiality, the major part of the cards and notables of tribes in the immediate surroundings, in the Gharb, and in the mountains proper, maintaining houses in Wazzan, in which they could take refuge in case of need, and 1 Rabat et sa Région. tome iv., p. 236. Ibid. p. 253. 3 teacher-disciples. WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 17 whither they could remove from the exactions of the Makhzen. and the uncertainties of the tribal lands, any valuables they might have. In this way, Wazzan became a political sanctuary for a large region. (b) In tribal feud and private quarrel. Moreover, its sanc- tuary réle was not limited to the sheltering of notables, in political affairs, but extended, also, to the humblest members of surround- ing tribes in their private quarrels and tribal feuds. Any tribes- man who fled his tribe for any reason, could either rent a humble dwelling in Wazzan, or, under certain conditions, build one there, and be sure of protection for his person and property. The importance of the sanctuary rdle of the town in pre-protectorate days,? therefore, can hardly be over-estimated. As ReaionaL Soorat Capitan. In addition, by virtue of this réle, the town became a sort of regional social capital for the Jebala and neighbouring lands, and a sort of ‘safe’ or ‘repository for valuables ’ for the same regions. As MANUFACTURING CENTRE. The town early developed some industrial activity, the main industry being wool manufacture, a natural one in a sheep-rearing region, where every household has manufactured wool for centuries, and, among a primitive population whose main clothing is of wool. But 1 The following are specific examples of the use of Wazzan by refugees, within relatively recent years. ‘Some time after 1900, Sidi El Hosein succeeded his father as the caid of the Raouga fraction of the Sofyan tribe (established in the Rdat valley near Jebel Aouf.) A little later, the government of the Raouga was bought from the Makhzen, over the head of Sidi El Hosein, by another Sheikh. Without any other justification than the foregoing, the arrest of Sidi El Hosein was decided upon, and Makhzen horsemen were sent to take possession of him, his household and his property. But Sidi El Hosein who was very brave, an excellent shot, and a good horseman, rode out in the _ night, with his brothers and a few horsemen surrounding the women- folk, also mounted. The small family troop charged through the Makhzen horsemen, killing some of them, and rode rapidly to Wazzan, where they found a sure refuge.’ Michaux-Bellaire op. cit. pp. 37-38. ‘Some time about 1900, on the death of Sidi Idris, governor of the Beni Malek, his son Sidi Ahmed succeeded him for a short time. Very soon, however, the Makhzen decided to arrest him because another Shevkh who could pay well, wanted to buy the governorship of the Beni Malek tribe. Sidi Ahmed was therefore obliged to flee to Wazzan.’ idem. pp. 39-40. 2i.e. before 1912. 78 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO there seem to be no particular historical reasons for the develop- ment of the manufacture of the special kinds of cloth which are peculiar to Wazzan. Perhaps merely a long-established regional preference in the Jebala was simply further developed and refined under town conditions of skill-inheritance by the descendants of Jebala tribesmen with established manufacturing traditions, who had settled around the zawia. Whatever the reasons, Wazzan is famed throughout Morocco for two kinds of wool cloth which are peculiar to itself. They are, Bou Hobba, a fairly thick white fabric studded with tiny lumps, and, Wharbla, a thick and exceed- ingly wet-resisting brown fabric manufactured from wool of natural colour. The major part of the women of Wazzan, includ- ing the wives of the shareefs, wash, comb, and spin wool, and the spun wool is then woven in the town, by numerous weavers, who are usually men. A further industry of much importance is that of soft-soap manufacture, again a natural industry in this hill and mountain region where the olive is grown around almost every hamlet, and where the smallest village has its oil-press. The olives for this industry are obtained mainly from the rich olive groves which surround the town, the several pressing establishments being located in the groves themselves, and the soap, although manu- factured by rather primitive processes from olive oil and the ash of green lentisk wood, is of excellent quality. Wazzan snuff, manufactured from locally-grown tobacco, has a widespread reputation. Formerly, also, there was an important gun-powder manufacturing industry,! the sulphur and saltpetre for this being the object of a contraband trade via the Riff and Larache. This industry, however, has completely disappeared, as powder of native manufacture is no longer used, in view of the now almost universal use of European arms by the tribesmen, and with the complete disappearance under the protectorate of the armed guard of the shareef-baraka. There are also tanners, shoemakers, and manufacturers of sabre blades and daggers, as well as gunsmiths, and numerous blacksmiths. Further, due to the marked skill of one family, 1 This industry owed its origin to Sidi Ali ben Ahmed (1780-1811) the first shareef-baraka to have an armed guard. His successors followed his example and developed the industry still further, so that a few years before the protectorate “the Wazzan shareefs ... had a veritable small army, and a whole arsenal.’ Rabat et sa Région, tome iv., p. 246. WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 79 which has acquired a widespread reputation, there is a consider- able production of copper and brass boiling-pots, coffee-pots, and platters, which are much sought after. ComMMERCIAL Réle. But even before Wazzan had developed into a centre of industry, in view of the large population which very early gathered around the founder of the zawia, it must have developed a considerable trade, if only to supply the wants of those gathered at the feet of the saint, and, with the development of the town in its permanent form, this branch of its activities was confirmed, as an essential part of its life. Now, the Sug el-Khemis of Wazzan, held just without the town walls, is the most important weekly sug in the Jebala, and is the principal means of general supply, and of disposal of surplus for the neighbouring tribes, although, as should be indicated, this sug is much less important than some of the larger ones held in the plains to the South-West. For, although it attracts large numbers of mountain tribesmen, these are, in the main, poor, and to a large extent self-supporting, and therefore, neither sell a great deal nor buy a great deal. Yet, the sug is of very great importance as the principal supply centre of goods from the plains, and of imported foreign goods, for all the tribal groups between Wazzan and the main summit ridge of the Riffan arc to the North-East. The products brought to the suq by these mountain tribesmen include excellent grapes and figs, fresh or dry according to season ; fresh apples, pears, plums and apricots; almonds; olive oil and soap; honey; goat and sheep skins; charcoal and firewood. Their purchases are, in the main, restricted to a few objects of prime necessity, such as the indispensable green tea, sugar loaves, candles, matches, cotton goods and muslins of low quality. A considerable exchange takes place, also, of pack animals (mules, asses, and a few horses), together with a few cattle, some sheep and goats. Further, Wazzan is an important market centre for the tobacco and hemp! which are grown in the gardens of the mountain tribes and for soap and olive oil, much of the latter finding its way to the suqs of the Gharb and Beni Ahsen plains to the West, where the olive is cultivated to a much less extent. Conversely, much wheat and barley, and also numbers of cattle from these plain lands are sold in the Wazzan suq to the tribesmen from the mountains where these commodities are more scarce. Hence 1for manufacture of Kif, an opiate much indulged in, clan- destinely, in Morocco. 80 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO through the medium of this large swq in the border lands, there is much exchange of typical products of the plains against typical products of the mountains. A further feature of the commerce of Wazzan is the luxury trade which has arisen due to the presence of the shareefs. For, although the earlier shareefs-baraka led austere and simple lives, the later ones beginning with Sidi Ali ben Ahmed (shareef-baraka from 1780 to 1811) have all maintained a certain pomp, as already mentioned. Such commodities as silks, fine muslins, finely-chased silver tea-urns, delicate porcelain tea-cups, and also Fez goods such as silk-embroidered women’s slippers, satchels and belts, silk head-kerchiefs and waist-cords, as well as jewels, are sold. This trade however takes place mainly in the bazaars of the town proper, rather than in the weekly suq, and is carried on by local traders, as opposed to the travelling merchants of the weekly sugs. As ‘Hus’ or Communication Lines. As a centre of pilgrimage of wide appeal, and as the principal exchange centre for a considerable area of the Jebala, Wazzan has been, since its foundation, an important centre of track conver- gence. First, there are the minor local native tracks, all of which, for a radius of some five miles, necessarily have Wazzan as their main objective. Then, there are the more important native tracks which now, have been slightly improved by the French to take wheeled vehicles under necessity, i.e., the pistes carrossables which converge from the major compass points upon the town. From the North there is the main track from Sheshuan via the upper Lekkous valley and the pass of Bab el-Klel. From the West there are the two tracks, via the middle Mda valley, one from El Ksar el-Kbir, and the other from Sug el-Arbaa du Gharb, the latter of which has now been made into a metalled road, connecting Wazzan with the Gharb, and with the Tangier-Rabat road. From the South-West there is the main track from Suq el-Had Kourt and Mechra bel-Ksiri, and, lastly, from the South and South-East there is the former main track from Fez via Ain Defali, and the more direct metalled road built by the French, which has superseded this since 1927. Further, because after its occupation by the French in 1920, Wazzan was selected as the site of a very important military camp, native tracks to the East and North-East were made carrossable in a number of instances, to give easier communica- tion between the main military base of this part of the front dissident and its outposts, i.e., blockhouses and forts. Again, PLATE Il. 60886 MAIN et ae TANGIER — ammnas MAIN ape oxomemses SUBSIDIARY | —f f§% ® e @ PORT— LYAUTEY NORTH WEST MOROCCO, Towns, RAILWAYS, AND ROADS. Taken from Maroc: Carte dressée et publiée par le Service Géographique du Maroc, Echelle au 1,000,000e, Rabat, 1930. WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 81 after the outbreak of the very critical ‘ Riff War’ in 1925,1 with Wazzan at once the main French military base and the main object of attack by the revolted tribes, in this part of the Jebala, there arose the most urgent necessity for Wazzan to be connected by rail with the rest of the protectorate. Thus, a narrow-gauge line was very rapidly built, to connect Wazzan, via the Biod and Upper Rdat valleys, Ain Defali and Mechra bel-Ksiri, with the Tangier-Fez railway line. Hence Wazzan is now directly acces- sible by rail from Port Lyautey, its port, and Rabat, the capital of the French protectorate, as well as from Tangier. Finally, after the establishment of peace, and the subjection of the dissi- dent tribes to the East, and South-East of Wazzan, the French built an entirely new metalled road from Fez. Now, therefore, Wazzan is on a through road between Fez and Tangier. Hence the town has an important regional and extra-regional réle as a convergence point of communication lines. (See Plate II). Réle IN FRENCH PROTECTORATE. From the earliest days of the French occupation in 1920, in view of the large agglomeration of none-too-friendly population on the spot, and especially in view of the definitely hostile and unsubjected tribes everywhere to the East and North-East, in country almost unknown to the French and of very difficult access from Wazzan, and from which raids on the town could easily be effected, Wazzan necessarily became an important military post, as already men- tioned, with a large military camp to the North-East of the town. Further, because of the fact that it is the only urban agglomeration - in this borderland region, Wazzan became the military staff headquarters of the French part of the Jebala. Moreover, with the organisation of French Morocco into administrative units, as, by the nature of the country and of its inhabitants, the region to the North-East of Wazzan, was necessarily designated ‘military territory,’ i.e. territory governed by the military authority, as opposed to the ‘ civil territory ’ of the open plains, which, on account of its accessibility and long-accustomed subjec- tion to the Makhzen, was peaceful and secure enough to be governed by civil authority, Wazzan became the administrative centre of the Territoire d’Ouezzane in the military Région de Fez. Even under the protectorate, therefore, although its political sanctuary rdéle has ceased with the establishment of la sécurité 1 see the articles by Thierry, R. ‘ L‘Agression des Rifains contre Le Maroc Frangais’ in L’ Afrique Francaise (Bull. et Rens. Col.) 1925, 82 WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO francaise, Wazzan still derives much political importance from its geographical position, although of a different kind from that which it had in pre-protectorate days. PopuLaTIon. Excluding the military group of the large camp to the North-East the resident population of the town and of its suburb Kachrine, is, with the exception of a very small number of European traders, gathered since 1920, and, the small Jewish colony,! introduced at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Sidi Ali ben Ahmed, for the purpose of — developing the commerce of the town, composed almost entirely of shareefs, and, former tribesmen from all the surrounding tribes. Its population is predominantly Berber, therefore, since the former tribesmen are the more numerous group. | APPEARANCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. In conclusion, it remains to discuss the present aspect of the town. This is a compound of the consequences of its site, of its shareefian population, of its population of Jebala tribesmen become townsmen, and of its important. religious, sanctuary, and social réles, which have endowed it with a number of houses and other buildings of considerable dignity, and also many gardens. The town rises in tiers up the lower slopes of Jebel bou Hlal,? and has the appearance of an amphitheatre. In the centre is the zawia, with its scintillating green-tiled roofs, surrounded by the rather large lime-washed, and _ flat-roofed, houses of the shareef-baraka and of the more wealthy residents, all of which are typical Moorish town houses as seen in Fez, Rabat, or Tetouan. Around these, and grouped in several quarters, are large numbers of small, thatched-roof dwellings, typical of the Jebalian villages, the slovenly, dark brown thatch of which contrasts strongly with the neat white terraces of the foregoing. There are seven mosques in Wazzan, and the stately minaret of the grand mosque, forms the culminating feature in any view of the town. Gardens, where the shareef-baraka enter- tains pilgrims, and also gardens of other residents, with olive, almond, and fig trees, as well as a few orange trees, are inter- spersed through the cascade of Jebalian dwellings, Moorish houses, and mosques, and much of the immediate surround of the town is covered with rich olive groves. 1 This is the only Jewish colony in the Jebala, as the Jebalians will not permit the settlement of Jews in their villages. 2 part of Jebel Ait Sokha. WAZZAN: A HOLY CITY OF MOROCCO 83 The aspect of Wazzan itself, therefore, is very pleasing, and, if the hill and mountain panorama which embellishes the town with a superb background in all directions be added, it will easily be understood that the scenic ensemble of Wazzan has considerable charm. In the past, this scenic charm cannot fail to have been a contributory factor in the attraction to Wazzan of its constant stream of pilgrims, and, under the present political conditions, with the rapid development of Morocco as a pays de grand tourisme, it seems to be playing a similar supplementary part in the attraction of European tourists, many of whom visit the town primarily, as the scene of much of the poignant story of an English lady of some distinction, who, for a time, was the Shareefa of Wazzan.* W. FOGG. *see Emily, Shareefa of Wazzan, My Life Story. (London, 1911). Notre CONCERNING ‘ ARABS’ AND ‘ BERBERS.’ Historically the Berbers are the earliest known inhabitants of Morocco. Large numbers resemble the inhabitants of Spain, Italy, and Southern France, and belong to the short, dark, Mediterranean race, but also many are tall and blond. They are a linguistic group rather than a race, but, even when strongly Arabised in culture, they are physically distinct from the Arabs. The Arabs are Semitic invaders from the Arabian peninsula who reached Morocco entirely after 700 a.p. The first invasions took place in the early 8th century, but these were insignificant numerically, and it was only with the Hilalian invasions of the llth century that considerable numbers arrived. In later years, the Arabs became, relatively, a still more important element in the population of Morocco, due to the continued exodus of Berbers to Spain, and to the custom of successive Sultans, in relying on certain Arab tribes for the main- tenance of their power, of transplanting these, in whole or in part, from the Sahara, and from the part of North Africa now known as Algeria, in Morocco. Arab tribes are never found in the mountains of Morocco, although Berber tribes frequently occupy the low-altitude plains and plateaux. Further, Arab tribes are never more than slightly Berberised, whereas often, Berber tribes are profoundly Arabised both in language and in culture : for example, all the tribes of the Jebala, although very pure Berber racially, are completely Arabised linguistically, and profoundly Arabised culturally. To the North East of Wazzan, beyond the main water-parting, however, the Berber tribes have retained intact, both their Berber language and their Berber culture. See :—Bernard, A. et Moussard, P. ‘ Arabophones et Berbéro- phones au Maroc,” Annales de Géographie, Paris, 1924. THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY I Historica records show that the trade in livestock between Wales and England has been important for many centuries. It is difficult to trace the origins of the trade, but it is difficult not to believe that it has existed from the early days of a settled husbandry in this country. The topography of this island with high mountain ranges, and expansive foothills in North and West, opening on to the Central English plain, provides the general basis of the direction of the trade in livestock. The broken country in West Wales can only be used effectively for livestock and the poor quality of much of the land has limited production to store animals, to be finished on better land in the valleys to the East or more often in the fertile plains of England. _ The slopes of the mountain ranges provide keep for thousands of sheep, while the narrow valleys and the lower foothills carry the horned stock. These areas have been for centuries used for breed- ing and rearing cattle and sheep to be drafted Kastwards for finishing before slaughter or to be used for breeding purposes. Again, Wales has been a country of scattered homesteads, with very few industries until quite recently and few busy centres of population to consume the surplus products of the farming dis- tricts. Livestock provided at one time the principal export of the Principality and the value of the trade to the peasants of Wales cannot be overestimated. Another feature which con- tributed to the success and the growth of the trade were the number of natural routes leading from the fastnesses of the West to the broad acres of the East. It is even at present more difficult to travel from North to South within the Principality than to enter England from almost any corner of Wales. The natural valleys lead from West to East, and these have contributed greatly to the growth of the livestock trade along the centuries. This natural course eastwards has been perpetuated by the rail- ways, and while the iron road has undoubtedly failed to connect the Principality into one unit it has succeeded in establishing 85 86 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES the course of trade across the border which has benefited both peoples from the early days. The topographical layout of this island ; the poor land of Wales suitable only for purposes of live- stock rearing ; the sparse peasantry of Wales; the rising popula- tion of England; and the natural water courses facilitating transport East across the border, are all important factors which have contributed to the lasting growth of the livestock trade between the two countries. There are no doubt some records of this trade available which varry back to the early centuries. Tales of hearsay of the personnel of the trade in many districts have survived right into modern times. History has added a certain glamour and a touch of romance to the story of the drovers, and the human aspect of the business still remains to be adequately described. The story of the drovers is closely linked with the history of the fairs in most districts, and with the taverns and the turnpike gates, an excellent background to one of the most interesting pages in Welsh history. | The materials of this study may provide some guidance to the writer of the true history of the livestock trade between the two countries from the earliest times. In that history there will have to be reference to the trend in values from period to period, as well as to the gradual evolution of the present situation in the trade. The data of this study has been analysed wholly from the original books of account belonging to a family of prominent dealers in Cardiganshire. These have only become available quite recently, and although they by no means give a com- prehensive picture of the trade in all its aspects over the period, the record of economic facts is valuable, and some deductions can be made from this faithful record of this trade in West Wales in the nineteenth century. This family of dealers lived circa 1840, near Dihewid, and the first records refer to the year 1839. The volume of trade increased considerably towards 1850 and reached a peak about 1860. The business was conducted by the dealer personally until about 1875, when his sons took over and handled the business with some success until about 1905. The account books are all clearly entered in neat handwriting with all the details of purchases in individual lots, numbers and prices being carefully recorded. Unfortunately, several account books have been lost so that there are gaps of a number of years each in the complete series 1839-1880. ‘The trade included cattle, sheep and pigs up THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 87 to about 1860, when trading in pigs was discontinued. The three classes of trade will be treated separately in this study. The nature of the trade in each class of stock was entirely different, there was a special district or districts for purchase of cattle, sheep or pigs, and special destinations where each class of live- stock was sold, and special routes from district of purchase to district of sale. Practically all stock were purchased in the three counties Merioneth, Cardigan and Pembroke, with occasional excursions into Montgomery, Carmarthen and Brecon. The records are so full of interesting material that it has been difficult to decide what to exclude, but the emphasis has been laid through- out on the economic aspects of the trade. Muchof the more colourful story could undoubtedly be built up from the material in the books of account, but that phase has been left to the writer of the greater story to be fitted into the complete picture along with the other materials available for other periods and other districts. The analysis of the documents has been done as accurately as possible, but all incomplete material has been discarded. Records of total expenses incurred in handling the trade for example are often incompletely summarised, containing some items which are obviously accurate while others may be part entries and some missing altogether. But the examples of each feature occur so frequently in the records over this long period that the abstractor could afford to discard and use only the best material. At some periods important records are missing, but no attempt has been made to reconstruct by interpolation. It was felt that the materials available were adequate for accurate historical record, and selec- tion and presentation have been arranged with this purpose in view. The documents have now been lodged at the National Library of Wales, where they may be referred to for much informa- tion that obviously cannot be included in this brief extract. THE CATTLE TRADE 1839-1882. It may be assumed for all practical purposes that the cattle trade between Wales and the English counties at the date of these first records consisted mainly of drafts of strong store cattle. These were mainly Welsh ‘‘blacks,’’ generally three or more years old, commonly called ‘runts’ in the English grazing districts. There were no doubt some younger cattle included in the droves from some districts, and some barren cows, and calving heifers at special seasons, but the generality of the trade were the hardy 88 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES black runts of the Western counties. Towards the close of the century cattle at a younger age were preferred in some English districts and Welsh farmers in many districts deserted the native breed and introduced shorthorns for quick growth and early maturity to meet the demand. But throughout our period the Welsh Blacks were predominant, and the runts were in great demand both in the grazing areas of the Midlands and the yard feeding districts of the Eastern counties. At special seasons, mainly in the spring and autumn, these surplus cattle from the Welsh farms were driven to the local fairs, where the dealer would buy possibly a hundred or more beasts of a, certain type to meet the needs of his customers. This batch would be assembled at the close of the fair and driven to meet other lots of cattle purchased at other fairs to form one batch in preparation for the long tramp across the border into England. For the first twenty years of these records it is shown that the cattle were driven regularly from special assembling centres in West Wales to Leicester, Northampton or Rugby, in the spring and early summer, and into Chelmsford, Colchester and market towns around London in the autumn months. The train services extended first to Salop, thence to Welshpool, Machynlleth and Aberystwyth in the sixties, and the dealers were quick to take advantage of rail facilities. The conditions of purchase and of sale remained much the same after the railways came, but instead of a variety of items in the records of expenses of drovers at taverns and toll gates and costs of shoeing cattle, there was substituted one single entry of the rail charge for beasts, and the process was transformed almost to simplicity. In the books of account of the dealer each batch of cattle purchased at a fair is separately enumerated, with the name of the seller, number of beasts, and purchase price carefully recorded. Up to about 1865, the principal centres of operation were at Machynlleth, where there was a favourite tavern called the “White Lion,’ and at Llanbadarn Fawr with headquarters at a tavern under the proprietorship of a Mr. Killin. Purchases of cattle during that period were especially important around these two centres, but with regular visits to fairs in other districts situated in all directions. ‘Towards 1870 and later, the sons of the original dealer were in charge, and the focus of operations moved South into Pembrokeshire with only occasional visits North to Aber- ystwyth and Machynlleth. Mid-Cardigan, quite naturally was throughout the period a fruitful field of operations, and all the THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 89 cattle fairs in this district were visited regularly. The following is a digest of two accounting years illustrating the scope of the business, area of operations, and the chronicle of dates of the old fairs as recorded in the diaries. CHRONICLE OF PURCHASES, 1851. Date | Place or District. | Number beasts purchased. March 5 Machynlleth. | 37 sc Llanbrynmatr. 26 eae Machynlleth. | 38 April = 7 | Machynlleth. | 38 ae 12 Dinas Mawddwy. 35 mee AG Llanbrynmair. | 50 ee | Dolgelley. | 59 May 9 | Llandalis (Dihewid). 40 aoe Aberystwyth. | 55 June 2 Dinas Mawddwy. 32 October 7 Llechryd. 46 ee LO Llanfynydd. | 67 Bae ok Talybont. 59 eae 20 Capel Cynon. | 55 Bs 28 | Abergwili. 104 se 28 Talsarn. 16 Nov 8 | Llanbadarn Fawr. | 83 This shows clearly the importance of Machynlleth as a centre of operations, and also gives some idea of the distances travelled by the dealers on horseback from fair to fair. The above list includes Abergwili in South Carmarthen and Dolgelley in the heart of Merioneth. The dealer did not visit each centre personally, but he had agents, possibly his best drovers, buying on his behalf if dates of two important fairs clashed. 90 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES CHRONICLE OF PURCHASES, 1878. ee pede Number beasts “Date. + — »- Plaée or District. purchased. Jan. 7 Aberystwyth. * 17 March 5 and | 11 ‘ About the County’ (Cardigan) 169 a A | Henllan. e 84 ao. 19 | Haverfordwest. 43 ee Oe | Newcastle Emlyn. 128 eo. 26 “bout te County. | 56 April 1 Aberystwyth. 40 AG 8 Eglwyswrw. | 136 se LO Aberayron. 25 eo Carmarthen. | ay is 30 Eglwyswrw. 111 May 10 Newcastle Emlyn. : 182 ee: Haverfordwest. 82 Paonia 4 ; Eglwyswrw. 122 Sot e289 Llanarth. 74 June 11 Haverfordwest. 158 Pe 17 Llanarth. 16 July 10 Lampeter. 29 August 19 Cilgerran. 189 Sept. 2 Aberystwyth. 32 Be aA) Newcastle Emlyn. 132 Be HOE. Henfeddau. 52 Oct... 16. . Erefdraeth. __. eI 95 oss 22 |..Haverfordwest. _—_.. 50 30 _._| Henfeddau. : : 23 Nov.© °1° ° | | .“Llanybyther. ‘12 met ery peso TE Pielsarm: =. 10. Frequent references are made. to purchases ‘About the County’ at this period, referring mainly to the district around Aberystwyth and Aberayron. As far as can be gathered from the records, purchases were confined almost entirely to the fairs until about 1870. Prices improved considerably in the next decade and it is quite probable that the practice of buying on farms was directly connected with the rising tendency in the markets. The phenomenon is quite common even at the present time, and most knowing farmers recognise the subtle warning given when dealers eagerly scour the countryside. CATTLE ROUTES AND DESTINATIONS. In the period 1840-50 before the railways extended across England and long before the main lines connected the two THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 91 countries, the cattle were driven regularly on foot from the West coast to the East. There is frequent reference in the histories of this and other periods to the practice of shoeing cattle before commencing the journey and once or twice subsequently on the road. ‘The records here show the usual charge for throwing and shoeing to have been from ninepence to a shilling per head. There are frequent reminders of this practice to be found in the “Cae Pedoli’ frequently found on the outskirts of villages where fairs were held in the old days. The records show that the cattle business was divided into two well defined sections. During spring and early summer the great part of the droves of beasts were sold in the district around Northampton and Leicester. This is the heart of the rich grazing districts of the English plain, and the Welsh ‘runts’ were long favoured on the strong growing pastures around Market Harborough. The scope of this dealer’s business in cattle was inconsiderable until about 1845, but by 1855 he was moving more than 2,000 beasts a year into England. From about 1846, the village of Spratton in Northamptonshire is mentioned fre- quently in the records as the distributing centre of the beasts into the surrounding markets. In later years, towards 1865, _ the dealer rented a whole farm of more than 200 acres at Spratton paying a rental of over £400 annually. Here the beasts were rested on arrival from Wales, and they could be drafted into the markets as opportunity offered to be marketed under the best conditions. But this was in the period after the dealer had established the business, and collected capital sufficient to manage both the buying and selling to the best advantage. In the earlier period, 1840-60, grass and hay had to be purchased as occasion demanded around the various market centres, and sale had to be effected on a poor market for lack of keep and capital reserves to carry the beasts forward to a more favourable time at the market, or on to a new market centre. The markets of this district most frequently mentioned in the records are Rugby, Northampton, Leicester, Market Harborough, Uppingham and Daventry. A considerable proportion of the beasts in the later period were ‘purchased on the order of a grazier, or were sold directly off the pastures at Spratton to customers in the area. But in the first ten years or so the cattle were pitched at the regular markets or occasional fairs in the towns around. The dealér.and:his drover would then return, sometimes by coach, along the main routes to Shrewsbury or more frequently on their 92 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES ponies to purchase more cattle and repeat the process. As far as can be gathered from the records, the journey with the beasts from the Welsh coast into Northamptonshire took from fifteen to twenty days. There were frequent resting and feeding periods and the utmost care was taken of the beasts so that condition was not impaired before they were sold, and the transaction completed. The drovers were generally mounted on ponies, and generally two of them accompanied a drove. The dealer occasionally moved with the cattle, but more generally he followed by coach and took charge of the selling when the beasts arrived. At other times the dealer entrusted the selling process to a trusted head drover, and this dealer, when the business had developed, arranged for a brother, and later a son to be permanently stationed at the receiving end to take charge of all selling. The cattle were moved into the grazing districts in the spring and summer, but during autumn and early winter the demand moved to the Eastern counties, where the beasts were needed in the yards to trample straw and make the manure for the arable fields of the Essex and Suffolk farms. This journey was much longer, but the route was practically a continuation of the way to the grazing Midlands and very often cattle which could not be sold in Northampton were moved forward to the markets in the Eastern counties. The names of Chelmsford, Colchester, Brain- tree, Romford, Brentwood, Hertford, Bedford appear often in the schedule of fairs and markets where the cattle were sold in those districts. The journey over to these centres occupied from. twenty-five to thirty days, and the return journey, including some days engaged in selling, invariably took more than a com- plete month for the drovers. | The actual course of the drovers’ route to the Midlands varied according to the district where the beasts were purchased. In the busy months of spring lots up to fifty beasts were purchased at four or five fairs in South Cardigan and Pembroke, and the final assembly was generally made at Llanddewi Brefi or Tregaron. Purchases in Aberystwyth were driven through Figure Four, and Lledrod into Tregaron. Lots from Haverfordwest, Narberth would be walked through Newcastle Emlyn up to Rhydowen, Abercerdinen, Nantygelly into Lampeter and thence to Llanddewi Brefi and Tregaron. Cattle even from Abergwili would come through Carmarthen, Alltwalis, Lampeter, Llanddewi to Tregaron, the general point of assembly. The process of assembly from the different districts at Tregaron, preparatory to the great THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 93 tramp, is shown in the Appendix Diagram I. From _ the point of assembly at Tregaron, the route was directed over the mountain track to the North, through Cwmberwyn, past Nanty- stalwyn to Abergwesyn, thence through Cwm Dulas into the Wye Valley at Newbridge-on-Wye. Mention is made of Llandrindod, Radnor and Kington and then over the border through Pembridge, Leominster, Bromyard, Worcester, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Daventry to Northampton. The main route is shown clearly on the map Diagram I. with the various stopping places for rest, grass and ale identified as far as possible from the records. Cattle going further to the markets of the Eastern counties, generally followed the same route to Northampton, and thence through Bedford to Chelmsford, Ongar, Brentwood or Romford. Occa- sionally these cattle followed the sheep route east from Worcester and Straftord through Banbury, Buckingham and Aylesbury. The general practice with cattle purchased in North Cardigan or Merioneth was to assemble lots at Machynlleth and proceed with the droves through Cemmaes, Mallwyd, Cann Office, Llanfair Caereinion, Welshpool to Shrewsbury, and then follow the Watling Street through to Lutterworth, Rugby, and the familiar Northampton district. There are only one or two examples of droves of cattle going from the assembly point at Llanbrynmair, to Carno, Newtown, Welshpool and Shrewsbury. In the dealer’s account of the expenses of each lot, the place names are mentioned where some expense was incurred either for grass or hay for the beasts, toll at the turnpike gates, or tavern expenses for lodging and food, and this gives a complete picture of places en route, and the customary stopping places. The following example of a list of expenses incurred illustrates the nature of the journey from the point of assembly to the final destination. This is reproduced here exactly as entered by the dealer in the record with some spelling corrections. OCTOBER 14th, 1841. ACCOUNT EXPENSE 58 BEASTS FROM TREGARON. x Sac dd. Cwmdulas House .. Gigs fe e ate ae 5 0 Abergwesyn tavern Ea a cies = te 15 0 Boy drive the beasts si wt se Ls ee mG) Newbridge on Wye tavern* ale .. acs BS ae 0 6 Llandrindod Wells grass Ay a a ie 13 6 Smith, tavernt ae see ee a hs ane 6 0O *Ale apparently cost threepence a pint. TSmith was probably the proprietor of a favourite inn between Llandrindod and New Radnor, possibly in the latter. 94 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES : Y Ditto, grass s Maesyfed (Radner) Bake me ous fe ane Pay John (at Radnor) for shoeing ea as ij igh Kington gate 5 : Ditto grass ‘ Half the Road ’ ane Two more gates—2/6d. each Westinton grass Bo ie sie a Sa Ditto gate Bromyard gate Bontwillt gate Ditto tavern Worcester tavern Whilbercastle tavern Ditto gate Stratford grass Ditto tavern Ditto gate Warwick tavern Southam tavern Warwick gate Windmill tavern Ditto gate Daventry grass Ditto tavern Ditto gates bo face! — DWE D WOTWNWwWaA TWO WRF =I fom a 4 = = ke Or & HH bo C& bY CO CO Northampton tavern 18 Ditto gates : oe uh os aa os 2 Wellington gate .. Bud ~ Re Ete ) a , . nee \ ' ve - 5 = ( f i 2 { tat S = % S } : wy » 3 SNPs : z = 2 ‘ ‘ af) af f y = { Oe Yi Z : Rese , = a = i 5 oe \ Wee "3 Be FN fe Z Ss ‘3 Z t i A 2 ee Sit ay Nateest< ri a = Sees r a See ‘ie x - S NY ABERYSTWYTH STUDIES BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES VoL. XIV PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS BOARD ON BEHALF OF THE COLLEGE 1936 Printed in Great Britain by the Cambrian News (Aberystwyth), Ltd. CONTENTS POE'S NOTES TO AL AARAAF. By Grorer H. GREEN, M.A., Ph.D., B.Sc., B.Litt. THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF THE POETRY OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM—PENIARTH MS. 48. By Trmotuy Lewis, M.A. THE PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AS A SOURCE OF ROGER DE WENDOVER’S FLORES HISTORIARUM AND OF RANULPH HIGDEN’S POLYCH RONICON. By Tuomas JONES, M.A. ; ‘ ; WILLIAM DE VALENCE (c. 1230-1296). (Continued). By Frank R. Lewis, M.A. THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. (Continued). By J. Luzretys Daviess, M.Sc. ‘ : PAGE 30 53 69 93 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” Any attempt at an exposition of the creative process must necessarily be preceded by exhaustive investigations of the works which have been produced by it. It is not sufficient to posit entities, such as the “creative imagination,’ and to explain a mysterious creation through the evocation of something no less obscure: the positing of entities must be postponed until hypo- theses have been outlined, and these again must wait until a survey of facts has made apparent exactly what has to be ex- plained. The pioneer work of Professor Livingston Lowes is an indication of the standard it is possible to attain in this field. Guided by Coleridge’s own notebooks, he has been able to track down to its source in Coleridge’s extensive reading every borrowed element used in the making of “ Kubla Khan” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Not until we have ascertained the nature and extent of the borrowing are we able to begin to investigate the second stage of the creative process, the shaping of this varied material into something new and original. Without such in- vestigation of sources, we cannot begin to estimate what part has been played by the material, and what by the creator, in the shaping of the final product. To understand nest-building we must take into account both the nature of twigs and the form of the nest. Or, to employ a fresh analogy, we cannot appreciate the different design of chairs made of bent wood, of steel tubing or of cane unless we know something of the purpose a chair is intended to serve and the peculiar properties of the varied materials which may be used for its construction. Poe’s “ Al Aaraaf”’ was written at a time when many people were engaged in the creation of artificial paradises. Seventy years earlier, Johnson had written “ Rasselas,’’ with its de- scription of the Happy Valley. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre had written an idyllic account of simple life on a tropical island. Beckford, with whose work Poe was acquainted, had squandered 1 2 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” the greater part of his patrimony in building Fonthill Abbey as a retreat from ordinary existence, and had given bizarre expression to his capacity for creation in “‘Vathek.” Coleridge had created a palace of pleasure in “ Kubla Khan,” and James Thomson a “Castle of Indolence.”’ Tennyson’s “ Palace of Art’ was yet to appear. Moore, Shelley, Byron and Scott had all, in their different ways, created worlds which offered the greatest possible contrast to that in which they and their readers alike were compelled to live and work. “Al Aaraaf” is, too, a paradise—a retreat from ordinary mundane existence. It differs, however, from the retreats Poe was to describe later in “‘ The Fall of the House of Usher.” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Philosophy of Furni- ture,’ “‘ The Masque of the Red Death,” ‘“ The Assignation,”’ ‘“* Landor’s Cottage ”’ and “ The Domain of Arnheim,” in that it is not deliberately designed. Its beauty and charm are mainly natural, the loveliness of sunshine and moonbeams, of sky and clouds, of trees and flowers and streams. ‘The title of the poem is an indication that Poe had fallen under the spell of the Kast, as it was presented in the literature of his day. Galland’s free rendering of the collection of the oriental tales known as “‘ The Arabian Nights Entertainments ” had been drawn upon exten- sively by translators and imitators; MHeron’s translation (in 1792) being followed by that of Beloe (in 1795). D’Herbelot’s ‘ Bibliotheque Orientale,”’ first published in 1697, had been augmented and re-issued in four large volumes in 1777, and was available as a source-book and work of reference for authors who wished to give their work an authentic eastern background. In 1734 George Sale, who had assisted in the correction of the Arabic New Testament published by the Society for the Pro- motion of Christian Knowledge, made a translation of the Koran, to which he prefaced a Preliminary Discourse. Many volumes of travel in the Near East, in India, Persia, and other countries had appeared, and the collected works of the distinguished jurist and orientalist, Sir William Jones (1746-1794) were edited and published by Lord Teignmouth in 1799. From a wide variety of sources Thomas Moore was able to collect the material he used in the composition of “Lalla Rookh,”’ which appeared in 1817. Perhaps some part of the great impression Moore made upon POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 3 Poe, and the influence he exerted upon his work, was due to the great standing of Moore in the eyes of Americans in general, and the people of Richmond in particular. Moore visited Richmond in the course of his American and Canadian tour. He left Bermuda in the Boston, about the beginning of June, 1804, and was pre- sented at Washington to President Jefferson. After this, he sailed for Norfolk, Va., “‘ from whence,” he wrote, “‘ I proceeded on my tour to the northward, through Wiliamsburgh, Richmond, etc. At Richmond there are a few men of considerable talents. Mr. Wickham, one of their most celebrated legal characters, is a gentleman whose manners and mode of life would do honour to the most cultivated societies. Judge Marshall, the author of Washington’s Ivfe, is another very distinguished ornament of Richmond.’ Poe came into close contact with Judge Marshall and with Mr. Wickham and his family later on. It is significant, however, that in spite of all that Moore has to say regarding the American lack of culture and refinement, he has to admit that “the title of ‘Poet —however unworthily in that instance bestowed—bespoke a kind and distinguishing welcome for its wearer: and that the Captain who commanded the packet in which I crossed Lake Ontario, in addition to other marks of courtesy, begged, on parting with me, to be allowed to decline payment for my passage.’ + A somewhat amusing instance of the lasting character of the impression which Moore made upon Americans is recorded by Jim Tully, ? who tells of an American safe-breaker, named Langdon W. Moore, who operated directly after the civil war. This man was reputed to have studied for the priesthood in Ireland, and he would, when in his cups, boast of an alleged kinship with Tom Moore, to impress his fellow safe-breakers. There are reasons, to be presently discussed, for believing that Poe was influenced, when writing “ Al Aaraaf,”’ probably at some time in 1828, by Moore’s “‘ The Loves of the Angels,” published in 1823. Moore was preparing a poem whose subject was the episode described in Genesis, VI. 1, 2 :—‘“‘ Andit came to pass .. . that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were 1'These citations are from Moore’s Epistles, Odes and other Poems. '2In Yeggs, an article published in the American Mercury, Vol. AXVIII., No. 112—April 1933—pp. 395. 4 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” By a remarkable coincidence, Byron published, on January Ist, 1823, a “mystery” dealing with the same theme. Moore realised that it was wiser to prepare his own work for the press, rather than to continue with it in the leisurely fashion he had contem- plated. Consequently, ‘‘The Loves of the Angels” and “Heaven and Earth” appeared during the same year, within a very short time of each other. Now Poe’s poem deals with the loves of angels, but he has located it, not in heaven or earth, but in a place between, in the Mahommedan purgatory. Poe may have obtained his notion of this intermediate bourne either from D’Herbelot or from Sale’s translation of the Koran. D’Herbelot, quoting the surah of the Koran entitled ‘* Al Araf,”’ writes :—‘‘ Entre les bien-heureux et les damnez il y a un voile ou separation ; et sur l’Araf il y a des hommes ou des Anges en forme d’hommes qui connoissent chacun de ceux qui sont en ce lieu-la par les signes qu ils portent.”’ He goes on to say, however, that there are great differences of opinion between Mohammedan commentators both as to the nature of Al Araf and its occupants. According to some, it is a limbo; and, according to others, a purgatory in which are con- fined those whose good and bad deeds are in such proportions that they merit neither hell nor heaven. From Ai Araf they may behold the happiness of the blessed ; and this distant prospect of happiness is all that they may hope to enjoy, since their strong desire for happiness holds them where they are. Poe’s note upon the title of his poem is as follows :— Al Aaraaf. A star was discovered by Tycho Brahe which appeared suddenly in the heavens—attained, in a few days, a brillianey surpassing that of Jupiter—then as suddenly dis- appeared, and has never been seen since. — The precise meaning of this note I do not know. It may be, as most commentators upon the poem appear to take for granted, an indication that Al Aaraaf and Tycho Brahe’s star are identical. It may equally be intended only as a defence against those who might ridicule this creation of a youth’s imagination, asking where this fantastic world can possibly be located: asserting that its very existence is impossible. There is nothing at all impossible in the conception, Poe insists, even before the reader has read a POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 5 line of his poem. A world swam into man’s ken once, for a few days. Its existence was guaranteed by one of the greatest of astronomers. Its brilliance assured observers that it was of the order of importance of a major planet. Yet no-one has seen it since. What point, then, is there in denying the existence of Al Aaraaf, merely on the ground that it cannot be located by as- tronomers ? This suggestion is altogether in line with much of Poe’s later work. However fantastic may be the suggestions he asks his readers to accept, he takes the trouble to make them appear plausible. He explains, for example, in terms of chemical changes, the phenomena which might cause the enlarged image of a black cat to be imprinted on the wall of a house damaged by fire.1 He recounts the successful voyage of a party of balloonists from England to Virginia in such a way that the American public is able to accept it as authentic news.? He gives a character of verisimilitude to his account of a mesmerist who kept a man in a state of trance for weeks after death and the story is seriously regarded in England as a contribution to science ; * and his de- tective stories had so much the appearance of fact that a reader felt it incumbent upon him to point out that there was no Rue Morgue in Paris. The point is important, since Poe developed, later on, interesting theories about the purpose of imaginative writing in producing an effect upon the reader. ‘To what extent he had consciously outlined a theory at the time he wrote “ Al Aaraaf’’ it is difficult to say, but we apparently find him anxious that no conviction of impossibility shall stand in the way of the reader’s acceptance of the illusion he is invited to share as he reads the poem. ‘There is nothing inherently impossible in the notion of a world we cannot see, and it may well be like this ! Hervey Allen reasonably conjectures that “Al Aaraaf”’ took shape at the time that Poe was serving with the First United States Artillery at Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan’s Island. This 1The Black Cat—Tales of Mystery and Imagination. 2 The Great Balloon Hoax. 3 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar and Mesmeric Revelation. 4The Murders in the Rue Morgue. For comments upon it in France by its first translator and by Baudelaire, see Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe, by J. H. Ingram (London: Ward, Lock, Bowden and Co. : 1891) pp. 151. 6 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” is possible, for one at least of his notes to the poem suggests that it was written at a time when he was away from the books to which he might be supposed to have ready access. But it is not so easy to agree with Allen when he suggests that the “‘story- plot and general architecture are negligible, although the con- ception is poetic.’! The story must have importance, since it presents the ideal persons who people the imagined paradise in their ideal relations to one another. Woodberry 7 summarises the poem in these words :—“ Its obscurity is largely due to Poe’s attempting, not only to tell a story, but also to express in an allegoric form some truth which he had arrived at amid the un- eventful leisure of the barracks. In the rapid growth of his intelligence, beauty, which had been merely a source of emotion, became an object of thought,—an idea as well as an inspiration. It was the first of the great moulding ideas of life that he appre- hended. Naturally his juvenile fancy at once personified it as a maiden, Nesace, and, seeking a realm for her to preside over, found it in Al Aaraaf,—not the narrow wall between heaven and hell which in Moslem mythology is the place of the dead who are neither good nor bad, but the burning star observed by Tycho Brahe, which the poet imagines to be the abode of those spirits, angelic or human, who choose, instead of that tranquillity which makes the highest bliss, the sharper delights of love, wine, and pleasing melancholy, at the price of annihilation m the moment of their extremest joy. At this point the allegory becomes cum- brous, and the handling of it more awkward, because Poe tries to imitate Milton and Moore, at the same time. By the use of incongruous poetic machinery, however, he contrives to say that beauty is the direct revelation of the divine to mankind, and the protection of the soul against sin... 7” | Why “naturally ”’ his juvenile fancy should personify the idea of Beauty as a maiden, Nesace, is not altogether clear. ‘““ Nesace ’ has nothing “natural” about it, even if we admit that the personification of ‘‘ Beauty ” is exactly what we should expect from a young man who had read a great deal of poetry. 1 Hervey Allen—IJsrafel (New York: George H. Doran Company : 1927), Volk pp. 222. 2 George E. Woodberry—EHdgar Allan Poe (Boston and New York— American Men of Letters. Series—Houghton Mifflin Company: 1885 and 1913) pp. 48-9. POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” 7 If the name is of Poe’s own invention, we have to discover the elements he has utilised and explain why he has assembled them as he has, rather than in another fashion. If the name is taken from some other source, the grounds of its choice have to be ascertained. It is surprising that Marie Bonaparte, who has studied Edgar Allan Poe and his work from the psychoanalytic standpoint has not, in any one of her five references to ‘““Nesace,”’ referred to this important problem, whose significance is obvious to anyone acquainted with Freud’s “ Psychopathology of Every- day Life.” } Two possible sources immediately suggest themselves. The closing lines of “Tamerlane” recall Milton’s reference, in “ Lycidas,” to the “tangles of Neera’s hair.” “ Ligeia,’ who is referred to a little later in “ Al Aaraaf,’’ is also mentioned in Milton’s “Comus.” But in the fourth book of the Georgics, Virgil names a number of nereids :— Ryne oad Around her sate the Nymphs, Spinning fine fleeces, full-hued, glassy-green, Drymo, Ligea and Phyllodoce, And Xantho, whose bright tresses as a stream Fell o’er their glistering necks: Nesza too, Spio, Thala and Cymodoce....... Mae ‘““Nesea’’ is remarkably close to ‘“ Nesace,” as “‘ Xantho ”’ is to “Ianthe,’ also introduced into ‘Al Aaraaf.’” The picture which Virgil gives of Cyrene, “ chambered deep beneath the watery dome,” with her attendant nereids about her, has something in common with the description which Milton puts into the mouth of Comus, “my mother Circe and the sirens three *’: Ligeia is the traditional name of one of the sirens. These points may be borne in mind, whilst we attempt to pursue another line of enquiry. Hervey Allen and Professor Woodberry concur in believing it likely that “Al Aaraaf” was composed during Poe’s stay in barracks. The date of his enlistment, as given by Hervey Allen from the War Department records, is May 26th., 1827, and the date of his discharge is April 15th., 1829. It was during this period of service, on February 28th., 1829, that 1 Marie Bonaparte—Hdgar Poe: Htude Psychanalytique (Paris: Les Editions Denoél et Steele: 1933) pp. 52, 71, 74, 104 and 464. 2 Virgil’s Hclogues and Georgics, translated by T. F. Royds (London : J. M. Dent and Sons: Everyman Edition) pp. 169-170. 8 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” Frances Keeling Allan, who had given Poe all but legal adoption, died—“ the sweetest and truest friend that a certain poet ever knew.” 1 Apparently she had realised that she was dying, and had done all that she could to prevail on her husband to summon Poe to her bedside. When at last the message was sent, it was too late, so that her burial was actually taking place while Poe was making the journey from Fort Monroe to Richmond. Poe visited the grave on the day after, and was overcome: “the servants remembered helping him into the carriage which bore him away.” ? It is difficult not to believe that “‘ Al Aaraaf’’ is Poe’s monu- ment to the woman he loved intensely, and that the paradise he creates and fills with flowers and the loveliness of the dead past is intended for her and for himself. Later, in the ‘Philosophy of Furniture,’ he was to speak of the “ female heads, of an ethereal beauty—portraits in the manner of Sully.” Frances Keeling Allan’s portrait was perhaps the first of these he knew.* He was to write later, in ‘‘ Eleonora,” a love-scene which was certainly inspired by memories of the story of Paolo and Francesca, and the closing quatrain of “ Al Aaraaf” is also reminiscent of Dante’s unfortunate lovers. ** Thus, in discourse, the lovers whiled away The night that waned and waned and brought no day. They fell : for Heaven to them no hope imparts Who hear not for the beating of their hearts.”’ Mrs. Allan had a place in that succession of women whom Poe loved, and who died, so that already in 1831 he could write :— ‘“ I could not love except where Death Was mingling his with Beauty’s breath— Or Hymen, Time and Destiny Were stalking between her and me.’’ The death of Mrs. Allan was an event which brought Poe sharply face to face with realities. While she lived he knew that someone was trying constantly to influence John Allan favourably on his behalf. No breach between the two men was altogether irreconcilable, whilst she was able to plead. 1 Hervey Allen—op. cit.—Vol. I., pp. 231. 2 Hervey Allen—op. cit.—Vol. I., pp. 223. $ Hervey Allen—op. cit. The portrait of Frances Keeling Allan, in half-tone reproduction, faces pp. 20. Vol. I. POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 9 There was always a possibility that, even if he were not made Allan’s sole heir, something would be done for him. Disillusion followed sharply on her death. What Poe says, in the “‘ Sonnet —to Science’ which appears with “ Al Aaraaf,’’ might have been said with equal propriety of this event . . ‘* Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood, The Elfin from the green grass, and from me The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree? ”’ A point of some importance, to which sufficient attention has never yet been given, is Poe’s play with words. Often enough, this appears to be nothing more than the fatuous punning which so often passed for humour in his day. But the matter some- times goes very much farther, and the word-play possesses signi- ficance. Mrs. Helen Whitman, discussing the origin of ‘‘ Lenore,” a name which Poe used more than once, one which (he alleges in “ The Philosophy of Composition ’’) satisfied his ear, says :— “In the earlier versions . . the verses are addressed not to Lenore but to Helen, from which Lenore is, as Poe once told me, in some sense, a derivation. You will see—Helen, Ellen, Ellenore, Lenore. Poe liked to trace these subtle relations in words and things...” 1! A little word-play of this kind, no greater in extent than that which Poe has used on other occasions, with the name “ Frances Keeling” gives us the essentials of the puazimoe name ~“Nesace~ ... . FR/ANCES KEE/LING and when these elements are re-assembled on the lines of the patterns of Nezra and Nesza, Nesace emerges. This can, of course, be speculative only, and cannot in the nature of things be proved. But there is much material in the poem itself which is entirely consonant with the theory that “ Al Aaraaf’’ is a monument, not only to Poe’s dreams, but to the memory of Mrs. Allan. ‘* Now happiest, loveliest in yon lovely Earth, Whence sprang the ‘ Idea of Beauty ’ into birth, (Falling in wreaths thro’ many a startled star, Like woman’s hair ‘ mid pearls, until, afar, It lit on hills Achaian, and there dwelt) She looked into Infinity—and knelt. 1 Poe’s Helen, by Caroline Ticknor (London: John Lane: 1917) pp. 189. Italics not in original. 10 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” In the summer of 1815 John Allan, accompanied by his wife and Edgar Poe, then six-and-a-half years of age, came to Liver- pool. They first went to Irvine, and later came to London. Edgar returned to Irvine, where he attended a school for a time : early in 1816 he came to London again, and was sent to a boarding- school in Chelsea. In the summer of 1817, the family moved to 83, Southampton Row, and Edgar was sent to the Rev. John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington. He used to return home for holidays. The British Museum was just round the corner from 83, Southampton Row, and it would be straining credulity to believe that Edgar was not taken by Mrs. Allan to see the exhibits there. There were collections of Italian and Egyptian antiquities, and passages in Poe’s stories suggest the strength of the impression made upon the boy by the sight of mummies and sarcophagi. But there were also the Elgin marbles, purchased by the British Government, and exhibited in the Museum in 1817. At some time, then, in 1817 or 1818, when Poe was eight or nine years of age, he saw, for the first time, the incomparable friezes of the Parthenon. He might well, looking back upon that visit, remember it as the occasion on which the ‘ Idea of Beauty,’ for him at least, had its birth. The device of creating a paradise in memory of a woman, or in honour of one, was one to which Poe resorted more than once. “The Domain of Arnheim ”’ is in all probability in essentials a memorial to his mother, Elizabeth Arnold, for whose name ° Arnold’ Arn-heim is an obvious substitute. “ Landor’s Cottage’ is definitely mentioned by Poe as being “ something for Annie ’—Mrs. Richmond: a friend of his last years. In Moore’s “‘ Lalla Rookh,” in the prose passage which immediately precedes “* Paradise and the Peri,’ Poe had certainly read :— ‘““In an evening or two after, they came to the small Valley of Gardens, which had been planted by order of the Emperor for his favourite sister Rochinara, during their progress to Cashmere, some years before and never was there a more sparkling as- semblage of sweets, since the Gulzar-e-Irem, or Rose-Bower of Irem. Every precious flower was there to be found, that poetry, or love, or religion has ever consecrated ; from the dark hyacinth, to which Hafez compares his mistress’s hair, to the Camalata, POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 1] by whose rosy blossoms the heaven of India is scented.’ Poe has taken the hint, and “ Al Aaraaf’’ contains a wealth of flowers, the loveliest and most interesting which Poe had dis- covered in his reading up to this time. Those who have drawn pictures of deliberate reading for the purpose of decorating the poem, or have imagined the youth poring over learned and obscure works, are mistaken in part, if not altogether. Others, misled by the fact that Poe borrowed from the library of the University of Virginia, during his brief stay there, Dufief’s “Nature Displayed ” think it a source of picturesque informa- tion, and are totally mistaken. Hervey Allan has fallen into error, when he speaks of Poe gathering up “ those honeyed fancies that cloy the too sweet lines of Al Aaraaf,’ and goes on to describe Poe’s discovery of the Sephalica “from the pages of Nature Displayed flung at random on the table.” ! Never was title more deceptive than that of this book. The student of Poe who buys or borrows it, expecting to find there plates and descriptions of exotic flowers, will realise his error when he reads the title-page :— NATURE DISPLAYED IN HER MODE OF Teaching Language to Man; METHOD OF ACQUIRING LANGUAGES WIMEIsh (UINIE AIR AUB IC ISILIS ID) SCAU EBITD NA DEDUCED FROM THE ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN MIND, AND CONSEQUENTLY SUITED TO EVERY CAPACITY: AVIDIAIPIEIEID) IQ) Tes IBN Ola! BY N. G. DUFIEF, Author of The Pbilosopby of DZanguage; and The New Umiversal Pronouncing Dictionary of the French and Enghsh Languages. Poe’s knowledge of rare plants was certainly not derived from Dufief ! The notes, so liberally appended to the poem, tell us clearly how few sources of material were really accessible to Poe at this 1 Hervey Allen—op. cit—pp. 173. 12 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” time ; showing clearly that he depended upon a few books, and upon his memory. Woodberry says :—*‘ In the annotations to ‘Al Aaraaf,’ it must be noticed, Poe began the evil practice, which he continued through life, of making a specious show of learning by mentioning obscure names and quoting learned authorities at second hand.’ ! There is a good deal of truth in what Woodberry says, but it must be remembered in Poe’s favour that he was very seldom, throughout his life, in a position to have access to books. He was not, like Lowell and Longfellow, a member of a university: not could he ever afford a private library of his own. He was generally far too hard-worked to have time to make much use of the public libraries in the towns in which he lived. Further, Poe trusted to his memory, which was by no means as reliable as he believed it to be. It led him into queer errors at times. More than once he misquotes Bacon as saying :—‘‘ There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the pro- portion.” What Bacon said was:—-“‘ There is no _ ezcellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.”’ ? An error of this kind occurs in the fifth section of the first part of “Al Aaraaf” . . ‘* All hurriedly she knelt upon a bed Of flowers: of lilies such as rear’d the head On the fair Capo Deucato, and sprang So eagerly around about to hang Upon the flying footsteps of—deep pride— Of her who loved a mortal—and so died.”’ To this the note is appended :— 1. 44. On the fair Capo Deucato. On Santa Maura—olim Deucadia. b) In “ Evenings in Greece’’ Moore speaks of a maiden of Zia who has visited the cliffs from which Sappho leapt to her death, and speaks of the “scented lilies . . . Still blooming on that fearful place.’ The name is, however, Leucadia and not Deucadia. The latter name indicates Poe’s lapse of memory, and the “Capo Deucato”’ suggests with what confidence he could invent. Moore’s note on “ Leucadia ’”’ is :—-‘‘ Now Santa Maura,—the island from one of whose cliffs Sappho leaped into the sea.”’ 1 Woodberry—op. cit., pp. 51. * Bacon—LHssays, No. XLIIT. Of Beauty. POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 13 Byron, too, had spoken of ‘“ Leucadia’s cape’”’ in the Second Canto of “ Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” ! and told the story of Sappho’s suicide in the following stanza. His own note is :— “Leucadia, now Santa Maura. From the promontory (the Lover’s Leap) Sappho is said to have thrown herself.”’ It is impossible. apparently, to decide whether Poe’s note has been taken from Byron or from Moore. Nor is it possible to give an explanation of why he should distort Leucadia into Deucadia. The mistake is not a printer’s error. since it runs uncorrected through all the editions. We cannot doubt, in view of Freud’s work on the “ psychopathology of everyday life ”’ that the unwitting slip has significance, even though we cannot say precisely what it is. But that the mention of Sappho should follow the reference to the Parthenon so closely in the early part of “ Al Aaraaf”’ is perhaps important—the woman who “loved a mortal—and so died.”’” The circumstances of Frances Allan’s death whilst Poe was away in the United States Army, her frustrated desire to see him before she died, permitted the thought that she might have died because she could not have her beloved adopted son with her. There seemed to be grounds for thinking of the poetess, no longer young, who destroyed herself because Phao ? was cold and indifferent, with the woman who died in the ab- sence of the youthful Poe who, in place of enduring for her sake the sneers and taunts of her dour husband, had deserted her. That Poe’s reference is to the Greek poetess is made clear by his note :— 1. 47. Of her who loved a mortal—and so died. Sappho. The following six notes refer to the flowers Poe mentions in the poem :— 1. 50. And gemmy flower, of Trebizond misnamed. This flower is much noticed by Lewenhoeck and Tournefort. The bee, feeding upon its blossom, becomes intoxicated. 1 Stanza XL. 2 Poe may have gathered his knowledge of Sappho from (with other sources) Lempriére’s Classical Dictionary. If so, he would probably have used the American edition, which differed from the contemporary British editions in that Professor Charles Anthon had made more ‘than three thousand additions to it. The article on ‘‘Sappho”’ includes four interpolations added by him. 14 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” In Moore’s ‘‘ The Fire-Worshippers ’’ (“‘ Lalla Rookh ’’) there iS a passage :— ‘* Kv’n as those bees of TREBIZOND, Which, from the sunniest flowers that glad With their pure smile the gardens round Draw venom forth that drives men mad.” to which is appended the note :— “There is a kind of Rhododendros about Trebizond, whose flowers the bee feeds upon, and the honey thence drives people mad—TouRNEFORT.”’ Poe’s mention of Trebizond “ misnamed’’ may refer to one of Anthon’s additions to Lempricre’s dictionary. “ Its ancient name” (viz. Trapézus) writes Anthon, “ was derived from the square form, in which the city was laid out, resembling a table.” It may have occurred to Poe that a square city ought not to be called by a name suggesting “trapezium ”’ or “trapezoid.” The text of “Al Aaraaf”’ :— Biome aR Ae oleae a ie its honied dew The fabled nectar that the heathen knew) Deliriously sweet, was dropped from Heaven.” may stand related to a foot-note of Moore’s to “Paradise and the Peri’ (“ Lalla Rookh’’), which is as follows—‘‘ The Nucta, or Miraculous Drop, which falls in Egypt precisely on St. John’s Day, in June, and is supposed to have the effect of stopping the plague.’’ Moore’s text, of course, compares this miraculous drop to the “ precious tears of repentance ” which serve to admit the Peri to Paradise. Could Poe have confused “nectar ’”’ and ‘““nucta,’’ misled by the similarity of sound? It may seem un- likely to those who speak forms of English in which “r’s”’ are strongly sounded : Poe was brought up in Virginia and in London. Some of the notes which directly follow are obviously taken from Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. Poe had probably read a great deal of Saint-Pierre in the original. Thus, some years later, he introduces his “‘ Marginalia ’’? with a French citation :— ‘This making of notes, however, is by no means the making of mere memoranda—a custom which has its disadvantages, beyond doubt. “Ce que je mets sur papier,’ says Bernardin de St. Pierre, ‘ge remets de ma memoire, et par consequence je Voublie ;’ and, in fact, if you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.” Apparently Poe quotes Saint- POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” 15 Pierre with approval, because he found the advice so much to his own mind. He believed he could remember perfectly, with- out the help of notes and reminders. Some of the people who knew him testify to the fact that he could repeat long passages of prose and verse without difficulty or hesitation, from memory and perfectly ; though there are no records of the tests they applied. Certainly, unless they knew the passages perfectly themselves, or had the books open before them, they could not accurately check their statements. Either alternative is un- likely. The fact would appear to be that they were misled by the facility with which Poe could invent a credible substitute of the word or phrase which eluded him. Because the thing sounded right, for them it was right. To resume discussions of the notes themselves :— 1. 68. And Clytia, pondering between many a sun. Clytia—the Chrysanthemum Peruvianum, or to employ a better known term, the turnsol—which turns continually towards the sun, covers itself, like Peru, the country from which it comes, with dewy clouds, which cool and refresh its flowers during the most violent heat of the day.—B. DE St. PIERRE. This is a fairly close translation of the following passage :— *““Le chrysanthemum peruvianum, ou, pour parler plus simple- ment, le tournesol, qui se tourne sans cesse vers le soleil, se couvre, comme le Pérot d’ou il est venu, de nuages de rosée qui refraichissent ses fleurs pendant la plus grande ardeur du qour.’” 1 1. 70. And that aspiring flower that sprang on Earth. There is cultivated in the king’s garden at Paris, a species of serpen- tine aloes without prickles, whose large and _ beautiful flower exhales a strong odour of the vanilla, during the time of its expansion, which is very short. It does not blow till towards the month of July—you then perceive it gradually open its petals—expand them—fade and die.—StT. PIERRE. Saint-Pierre writes :—‘‘ On cultive au Jardin du Roi une espéce d ’aloés serpentin sans épines, dont la fleur, grande et belle, exhale une forte odeur de vanille dans le temps de son épanouissement, qui est fort court. Elle ne s’ceuvre que vers le mois de juillet, sur les cing heures du soir: on la voit alors entr’- ouvrir peu & peu ses pétales, les étendre, s’épanouir et mourir.”’ Poe’s note is a close translation, but there are omissions of the ‘ Bernardin de Saint-Pierre—Collected Works, Vol. IV., pp. 252. 16 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” kind we should expect if he were writing from memory. Saint- Pierre says that the flower opens at five o’clock of the afternoon, and goes on to say (the further passage is not cited here) that it has totally withered by ten at night. ? 1. 74. And Vieleanerian lotus, thither flown. There is found, in the Rhone, a beautiful lily of the Valisnerian kind. Its stem will stretch to the length of three or four feet—thus preserving its head above water in the swellings of the river. Poe has not acknowledged the source of this note. But in Saint-Pierre’s works there may be found :—”’ La Vallisneria, qui croit dans les eaux de Rhone, et qui porte sa fleur sur une tige en spirale, qu’elle allonge a proportion de la rapidité des crues subites de ce fleuve ... ’ 2 In a note attached to the final edition of his work, Saint-Pierre says that the story of the mechanism lifting the plant with the rising waters is an error, since the device is merely intended to ensure fertilisation ; the plant being dioecious. The mistake found its way into print in a work written by an Englishman in 1750. Poe may have found the statement there, or in an earlier edition of Saint-Pierre’s work, in which there was no amending foot-note. If the latter, the translation is less close than that of the other passages cited. Poe has not troubled to append explanatory notes to the lines in which he mentions :— The Sephalca, budding with young bees, or Nyctanthes, too, as sacred as the light She fears to perfume, perfuming the night. The first of these is apparently borrowed from Moore’s lines in “The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan ”’ (“‘ Lalla Rookh ’’) :— SOUT cee Utcaucaiac | eet ated uae ans uae neces the still sound Of falling waters, lulling as the song Of Indian bees at sunset, when they throng Around the fragrant Nilica, and deep In its blue blossoms hum themselves to sleep.” lines which Moore has annotated :— ‘“ My pundits assure me that the plant before us (the Nilica) is their Sephalica, thus named because the bees are supposed to sleep on its blossoms.”—Sir W. JONES. 1 Ibid. pp. 251. 2 Bernardin de Saint-Pierre—op. cit.—Vol. IV., pp. 363. POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” 17 And the reference to Nyctanthes is apparently taken also from the same poem, where Moore describes how Zelica ‘Sat in her sorrow like the sweet night-flower, When darkness brings its weeping glories out, And spreads its sighs like frankincense about.”’ Moore’s footnote is :— ‘“'The sorrowful Nyctanthes, which begins to spread its rich odour after sunset.” Poe’s next note to “Al Aaraaf” is as follows :— 1. 76. And thy most lovely purple perfume, Zante. The Hyacinth. The source of this becomes clearer when the line is read in its context :— “ And thy most lovely purple perfume, Zante ! Isola d’oro. Fior di Levante !”’ Zante is referred to by Chateaubriand in his “ Itinéraire de Paris a Jérusalem,’ where he writes :—“ . . je souscris! @ ses noms d’Jlsola d@Oro, de Fior di Levante. Ce nom de fleur me rapelle que Vhyacinthe étoit originaire de | ‘ile de Zante, et que cette ile recut son nom de la plante qu’elle avoit portée.’’? The list of flowers terminates with mention of MRD Cec Oh = Fs the Nelumbo bud that floats for ever With Indian Cupid down the holy river.” y) Poe’s own note on these two lines is :—“‘ It is a fiction of the Indians, that Cupid was first seen floating in one of these down the river Ganges—and that he still loves the cradle of his child- hood.’ Moore, in “The Light of the Haram” (“‘ Lalla Rookh’’) speaking of “ young Love,” writes :— mre stirs 8 Nah = He how well the boy Can float upon a goblet’s streams, Lighting them with his smile of joy :— As bards have seen him, in their dreams, Down the blue Ganges laughing glide Upon a rosy lotus wreath.” _ And Moore gives as a foot-note :— ‘“ The Indians feign that Cupid was first seen floating down the Ganges on the Nymphaea Nelumbo.’’—See PENNANT. 1 Not ‘Je souriais’ as printed on page 195 of the Oxford Edition of the Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe. '2 QEUVRES COMPLETES DE CHATEAUBRIAND (Paris: Librairie Garnier Freres.) Tome V. Itinéraire de Paris a Jerusalem. pp. 117. 18 POE’S NOTES TO * AL AARAAF” Poe’s next note calls for no comment. It is simply a verse taken from the Revelation of St. John. 1. 81. To bear the Goddess’ song, im odours, up to Heaven. And golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. That which follows is, however, one of the longest, and, more than those already cited, gives the impressions of wide reading and unusual erudition. With the exception of a note to be cited later, it is perhaps the best instance of the failing which Wood- berry was so strongly to condemn. “ Al Aaraaf” contains the lines :— Tho’ the beings whom thy Nesace, Thy messenger hath known Have dream’d for thy Infinity A model of their own— Thy will is done, O God! Poe’s note is :— 1. 105. A model of their own. The Humanitarians held that God was to be understood as having really a human form. Vide CLARKE’S Sermons, vol. i, p. 26, fol. edit. The drift of Milton’s argument leads him to employ lan- guage which would appear, at first sight, to verge upon their doctrine ; but it would be seen immediately, that he guards himself against the charge of having adopted one of the most ignorant errors of the dark ages of the church.—Dr. SuMNER’S Notes on Mailton’s Christian Doctrine. This opinion, in spite of many testimonies to the con- trary, could never have been very general. Andeus, a Syrian of Mesopotamia, was condemned for the opinion as heretical. He lived in the beginning of the fourth century. His disciples were called Anthropomorphites. —Vide Dv PIN. Among Milton’s minor poems are these lines : ‘ Dicite sacrorum presides nemorum Deae, &e. Quis ille primus cujus ex imagine Nature solers finxit humanum_ genus ? Eternus, incorruptus, aequaevus polo, Unusque et universus, exemplar Dei.’ | And afterwards— * Non cui profundum Caecitas lumen dedit Dircaeus augur vidit hune alto sinu, Se. The first part of this note, including the reference to Clarke’s Sermons, is taken verbatim from a footnote of Dr. Sumner’s to the translation he had prepared of the MS. treatise in Latin, “ De POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 19 Doctrina Christiana” of John Milton, discovered by Robert Lemon in the state paper office in 1823. It was published in two volumes: one the original Latin text, edited by Sumner, and the other the English translation by him.! Sumner’s own note is longer, but Poe omits the latter part of it. The reference certainly conveys the impression that Poe knew Clarke’s “‘ Sermons,” as he possibly may have done, but the interpretation of Clarke’s argument is Sumner’s and not his own. ‘The reference to Du Pin is probably to the English translation, but contains an error, which Poe apparently never corrected, presumably not recognising it as such. The name of the Anthropomorphite heretic was Audeus, not Andeus: Chateaubriand refers to him as Audeée. 2 The Latin poem is taken from Milton’s “Silvarum Liber ’— “De Idea Platonica quemadmodum Aristoteles intellexit.’’ It would be interesting to know whether Poe quotes the lines from Milton from memory or with the text before him. The “ &e” is the prelude to an omission of five lines, of which three at least are relevant to the point he is trying to illustrate in his note. ‘The omitted passage reads :— Tuque, O noveni perbeata numinis Memoria mater, quaeque in immenso_ procul Antro recumbis, otiosa Aeternitas, Monumento servans, et ratas leges Jovis, Coelique fastos, atque ephemeridas Detm. Warton’s comment on these lines, and those cited by Poe, is :— “This is a sublime personification of Eternity. And there is great reach of imagination in one of the conceptions which follows, that the original archetype of Man may be a huge giant, stalking in some remote unknown region of the earth, and lifting his head so high as to be dreaded by the gods.” ? The “ &e.” may be taken as implying that Poe was relying on his memory, which failed him at this particular point, or it may mean nothing 1 A / TREATISE / on / CHRIsTIAN DocTRINE / compiled from the Holy Scriptures alone / by / JoHNn Mitton. / Translated from the Original / by / Charles R. Sumner, M.A. / Librarian and Historio- grapher to His Majesty, / and Prebendary of Canterbury. / Printed at the Cambridge University Press by J. Smith, Printer to:the Univer- sity. 1825. * Hdn. cit. Tome IX., pp. 392. 3 Warton. Quoted by Todd—The Poetical Works of John Maulton, Vol. VI. (London: MDCCCI.) pp. 329. 20 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” of the kind. The only other suggestion that he had not the text before him is the use of the capital “‘C ” in “ caecitas ’?: T know of no edition of Milton in which the capital letter is used. _ The rest of the notes to the first part of “ Al Aaraaf”’ call for little comment. There is a citation from Goethe’s poem, “ Meine Gottin,’ in which the positive is used in place of the super- lative form of the adjective, “seltsamen” for “ seltsamsten.”’ The note runs :— 1.114. By winged Fantasy. Fantasy. Seltsamen Tochter Jovis Seinem Schosskinde, Der Phantasie.—GOETHE. After a brief note quoting Legge as a justification for the use of “sightless ’ as the equivalent of “ too small to be seen,” there follows one which exemplifies Poe’s close observation of living creatures, so often utilised in his subsequent work. 1. 145. Apart—tlike fire-fles in Sicilian night. I have often noticed a peculiar movement of the fire-fliles; —they will collect in a body, and fly off, from a common centre, into innumerable radii. But though this note probably embodies, as Poe claims, his own observations, Moore was sufficiently impressed, during his American visit, with the “idea of enchantment” which fire- flies gave him by “ the lively and varying illumination’ with which they lit up the woods at night, to write a short “‘ Ode to the Fire-Fly’’ included in the “ Epistles, Odes and Other Poems.’ But neither Poe’s observations nor Moore’s poem explain the introduction of the “ Sicilian night.” | 1. 158. Her way, but left not yet her Theraseaean reign. Therasaea, or Therasea, the island mentioned by Seneca, which, in a moment, arose from the sea to the eyes of astonished mariners. The American edition of Lempriere, already referred to, con- tains an article on this island, contributed by Professor Anthon, which does not appear in the contemporary British editions. Anthon, however, does not use either of the alternatives given by Poe in his note, but writes Therasia—as do both Seneca and Pliny.1 Seneca’s mention of Therasia may be translated :— 1 Seneca—Nat. Quaest. Lib. VI. 21, 1-2. C. Plinii Secundi—Nat. Hist. I1. 87 (89). Nat. Hist. 1V. 23. POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” Ml ““Can anyone possibly doubt that There and Therasia, as well as the island which in our own day. and under our very eyes arose from the A‘gean sea, were borne up to the light by the force of air?”’ There is no mention, apparently, by either Pliny or Seneca, of the “eyes of astonished mariners?” Pliny merely records :—* Ex ea avolsa postea Therasia, atque inter duas enata mox Automate, eadem Hiera, et in nostro aevo Thia iuxta easdem enata.”’ Poe is apparently quoting from memory, and adding details which have originated with himself. His modi- fication of the island’s name has, however, at least served him usefully, furnishing him with an adjective which makes his verse scan. “‘ Therasaean’’ serves his purpose: “ Therasian’’ would not have done so. Poe’s first note to the second part of “‘ Al Aaraaf’’ comments upon the matter of two of his lines by reference to the opening of the seventh stanza of Milton’s Ode “ On the Death of a Fair Infant dying of a Cough.”’ 11. 174-5. Of molten stars their pavement, such as fall Thro’ the ebon avr. Some star, which from the. ruin’d roof Of shaked Olympus, by mischance, did fall.— —MILTON. Here the punctuation appears to be Poe’s own, for the commas in the second line do not appear in any edition | know. Further, Milton wrote “ did’st’’ and not “ did.” The second note is as follows :— 1. 194. Friezes from Tadmor and Persepolis. Voltaire, in speaking of Persepolis, says, * Je connois bien V’admira- tion quinspirent ces ruines—mais un palais érigé au pied dune chaine de rochers stériles—peut-il etre un chef-doeuvre des arts ? Poe is quoting from the ‘‘ Essai sur les Moeurs,” Chapitre V. He has omitted a great deal, and his citation has errors which suggest very strongly—even prove—that he was depending upon his memory. The original is as follows :— “Si quelque reste des arts asiatiques mérite un peu notre curiosité, ce sont les ruines de Persépolis décrites, dans plusiers livres, et copiées dans plusiers estampes. Je sais quelle admira- tion inspirent ces masures échappées aux flambeaux dont Alexandre et la courtisane Thais mirent Persépolis en cendre. 22 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” Mais était-ce un chef-d’oeuvre d’art, qu'un palais bati au pied d’une chaine de rochers arides ?”’ The long note which follows is one of those which led Wood- berry to point out Poe’s tendency to use material gathered at second hand for the purpose of making a specious parade of erudition. 1. 196. Of beautiful Gomorrah! O, the wave. Ula Deguisi is the Turkish appellation ; but, on its own shores, it is called Bahar Loth, or Almotanah. There were undoubtedly more than two cities engulfed in the *‘ Dead Sea.’ In the valley of Siddim were five—Adrah, Zeboin, Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah. Stephen of Byzantium mentions eight, and Strabo thirteen (engulfed)—but the last is out of all reason. It is said (Tacitus, Strabo, Josephus, Daniel of St. Saba, Nau, Maundrell, Troilo, D’Arvieux) that after an excessive drought, the vestiges of columns, walls, etce., are seen above the surface. At any season, such remains may be discovered by looking down into the transparent lake, and at such distances as would argue the existence of many settlements in the space now usurped by the * Asphaltites.’ The source of all this material is Chateaubriand’s “‘Itinéraire de Paris a Jerusalem.” The relevant passages are as follows :— ‘““ Le lac fameux qui occupe | emplacement de Sodome et de Gomorrhe est nommé mer Morte ou mer Salée dans I’ Kcriture, Asphaltite par les Grecs et les Latins, Almontanah et Bahar-Loth par les Arabes, Ula-Degnist par les Turcs! . . . .Strabon parle de treize villes englouties dans le lac Asphaltite; Etienne de Byzance en compte huit ; la Genése en place cing in valle silvestri : Sodome, Gomorrhe, Adam, Seboim et Bala ou Segor, mais elle ne marque que les deux premieres comme détruites par la colere de Dieu; le Deutéronome en cite quatre : Sodome, Gomorrhe, Adam et Seboim ; la Sagesse en compte cing sans les désigner : Descendente igne in Pentapolin . .. Plusiers voyageurs, entre autres Troilo et D’ Arvieux, disent avoir remarqué des débris de murailles et de palais dans les eaux de la mer Morte. Ce rapport semble confirmé par Maundrell et par le pére Nau. Les anciens sont plus positifs a ce sujet : Josephe, qui se sert d’une expression poétique, dit qu’on apercevoit au bord du lac les ombres des cités détruites. Strabon donne soixante stades de tour aux ruines de 1 Note that Poe has substituted “ Deguis:’’ for “* Degnisv.”’ POE’S NOTES TO * AL AARAAF ” 23 Sodome; Tacite parle de ces débris: je ne sais s’ils existent encore, je ne les ai point vus; mais comme le lac s’éleve ou se retire selon les saisons, il peut cacher ou découvrir tour a tour les squelettes des villes reprouvees.”’ 4 The same work of Chateaubriand is borrowed from once more for the material of the note 1. 373. Was a proud temple call’d the Parthenon. It was entire in 1687—the most elevated spot in Athens. 'This note is made up of two passages viz :—‘ Le Parthénon subsista dans son entier jusqu’en 1687.’’? and “ Enfin, sur le point le plus éminent de LTAcropolis s’éleve le temple de Minerve.”’ 3 In his note to 1. 200. That stole upon the ear, in EHyraco. Eryaco—Chaldea. Poe is evidently making use of a word derived from a form of the Arabic “Al Iraq,” the name of the country which corresponds to the Biblical Mesopotamia. It is the subject of an article by Anthon (under the heading “ Mesopotamia ’’) which does not appear in the contemporary British editions of Lempriere. Anthon states, at the end, “the lower part of Mesopotamia is now Irak Arabi.” D’Herbelot * has a long article under the heading “ Erac et Irac,’”’ and mentions that some writers speak of “ Erac Babeli”’ or ‘‘1’Iraque Babylonienne ”’ to establish a distinction from the Persian Iraq; thus linking up “ Iraq’”’ with “Babylon ” and so with the land in which astrology originated —the science of the “ wild star-gazer ’’ mentioned in line 201 of “ Al Aaraaf.” ‘There is, however, a passage in the Preliminary Discourse of Sale to his translation of the Koran which reads :— “The other kingdom was that of Hira, which was founded by Malek of the descendants of Cahlan in Chaldea or Irak.” It seems clear enough that Poe’s “ Eyraco” is derived from Iraq, and that it probably originated with Poe himself. I have not been able to discover that another author has used the word. Iraq or Irak would be pronounced by most English-speaking 1 Chateaubriand—LHdn. cit.—Tome V.—pp. 256-6. 2 Chateaubriand—Itinéraire de. Paris a Jerusalem.—Edn. cit., pp- 191. mewlood. op. 187. 4 D’Herbelot—op. cit. 24 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” ¢ people, ignorant of Arabic, as “ eye-rack”’ ... and the termina- tion “‘-o” is a likely addition, at some time after the word has been seen or heard, should occasion arise for including it in a poem where it should rhyme with “a-go.” I feel, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that Poe coined the word himself, using as the basis of his invention the word “ Iraq”; though whether he derived this originally from D’ Herbelot, Anthon or Sale, I cannot say. Poe’s note :— 1. 205. Is not ws form—its voice—most palpable and loud? I have often thought I could distinctly hear the sound of the darkness as it stole over the horizon. takes the form of a personal confession, interesting in view of much of Poe’s later work. The darkness Poe speaks of is dissi- pated in the poem by the return of Nesace and her attendants, and the scene changes to something which has the character of a midsummer night’s dream ; to something which, at all events, calls up a reminiscence of the fairy scene with which the comedy of ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor” terminates. The note on this part of the poem is :— 1. 218. Young flowers were whispering in: melody. Fairies use flowers for their charactery.—Merry Wives of Windsor. The next note includes a scriptural text, whose wording, as given by Poe, differs from that of the Authorised version of Psalm CX XI, verse 6 . . “ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night’’ Poe uses the word “ harm ”’ in place of ‘“ smite.” His complete note runs: 1. 229. The moonbeam away. In Scripture is this passage— ‘The sun shall not harm’ thee by day, nor the moon by night.’ It is perhaps not generally known that the moon, in Egypt, has the effect of producing blindness to those who sleep with the face exposed to its rays, to which circumstance the passage evidently alludes. The close association between the scriptural text and the alleged power of the moon to produce blindness, which evidently exists in Poe’s mind, suggests that it is possible that he obtained this “not generally known ” information from an annotated Bible or a biblical commentary. The older commentaries such as those Le NGt Vie SCs ay POE’S NOTES TO * AL AARAAF ” 25 of Calvin and Matthew Henry, link nocturnal danger with the “night air,” rather than with the moon itself.1 Later editions of Matthew Henry’s commentary, with additions by Scott, insert an account of the alleged actual effect of the moon in inducing blind- ness, attributed to Carne. John Carne, in “ Letters from the Kast ” (1826) writes :—‘ The effect of the moonlight on the eyes in this country is singularly injurious . . The moon here really strikes and affects the sight, when you sleep exposed to it, much more than the sun, a fact of which I had a very unpleasant proof one night, and took care to guard against it afterwards; indeed, the sight of a person who should sleep with his face exposed at night would soon be utterly impaired or destroyed.’ For the matter of his next note, viz., 1. 265. Like the lone albatross. The albatross is said to sleep on the wing. Poe has returned to Moore, who appends to his lines :-— A ruin’d temple tower’d, so high That oft the sleeping albatross Struck the wid ruins with her wing, And from her cloud-rock’d slumbering Stanbeduyr wh. Le % the footnote—" These birds sleep in the air. They are most common about the Cape of Good Hope.” ? I have not been able to trace the source of the belief to which Poe refers in his next note :— 1. 299. Have slept with the bee. The wild bee will not sleep in the shade if there be moonlight. The rhyme in this verse, as in one about sixty lines before, has an appearance of affectation. It is, however, imitated ' from Sir W. Scott, or rather from Claude Halcro—in whose mouth I admired its effect: Oi 2. . the moon, the governess of floods, Pale in her anger, washes all the air, That rheumatic diseases do abound.”’ Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II., Se. 1. 2 Carne—“ Letters from the Hast.” Carne left England with the - intention of travelling to the Holy Land in March, 1821. He visited Constantinople, Greece, the Levant and Palestine. He sent accounts of his travels to the New Montly Magazine for serial publication. Afterwards they were republished (1826) in a volume dedicated to Sir Walter Scott. Poe may have seen the account of moonlight in Egypt either in the New Monthly Magazine or in this volume. 3 Moore—Lalla Rookh—The fFure-Worshippers. 26 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” ‘“Oh! were there an island Though ever so wild, Where woman might smile, and No man be beguiled,’ ete. Scott consistently spells the name of the hero of “ The Pirate” as Claud, and not as Claude. Poe has taken his extract from the song in the twelfth chapter of the novel; and the second half of the final stanza (which Poe omits) has a very close bearing on the subject matter of “ Al Aaraaf.” Too tempting a snare To poor mortals were given, And the hope would . fix there, That should anchor on heaven. Poe’s next note seems to be largely his own composition, based on the accounts of “ Al Aaraaf”’. or “ Al Araf”’ given by Sale. But he has included in it a fragment of a poem by Luis Ponce de Leon. 1. 331. Apart from Heaven's Hternity—and yet how far from Heli ! With the Arabians there is a medium between Heaven and Hell, where men suffer no punishment, but yet do not attain that tranquil and even happiness which they suppose to be characteristic of heavenly enjoyment. Un no rompido sueno— Un dia puro—allegre—hbre— Quiero :— Libre de amor—de zelo— De odio—de esperanza—de rezelo.—— Luis PoncE DE LEON. Sorrow is not excluded from ‘ Al Aaraf,’ but it is that sorrow which the living love to cherish for the dead, and which, in some minds, resembles the dehrium of opium. The passionate excitement of Love and the buoyancy of spirit attendant upon intoxication are its less holy pleasures— the price of which, to those souls who make choice of ‘ Al Aaraaf’ as their residence after life, is final death and annihilation. Poe’s equation of the ‘delirium of opium’ with the ‘ sorrow which the living love to cherish for the dead ’ is interesting, and is probably of importance for the study of his theory of poetry, and his belief in the relation of beauty and melancholy. Curiously enough, he gives no indication in his notes that he is aware of a special class of persons, in like case with himself, who were ad- mitted to the Muslim purgatory, viz., those who had gone to war without the consent of their parents: denied Heaven because of POE’S NOTES TO “AL AARAAF ” 27 their disobedience, they could not be condemned to Hell because they were martyrs! It is true that Poe did not actually go to war, yet he had nevertheless enlisted in the army, and would certainly have been liable for active service had war broken out at the time, and he had enlisted without the knowledge or consent of his foster-parents. It is very likely that he knew all this very well and his failure to mention it is part of his sup- pression of the fact that he had ever served as a private soldier and a non-commissioned officer. The passage from De Leon is very badly misquoted. An entire group of lines has been omitted. Words are mis-spelt. The lines are badly broken up and punctuated incorrectly. The extent to which Poe’s memory has played tricks on him will be seen by comparing the citation with the original :— Un no rompido sueno, Un dia puro, alegre y libre quiero: No quiero ver el ceno Vanamente severo De a quien la sangre ensalza 6 el dinero Despiertenme las aves Con su cantar suave no aprendido, No los cuidados graves De que es siempre seguido Quien al ageno arbitrio esta atenido. Vivir quiero conmigo, Gozar quiero del bien que debo al cielo, A solas sin testigo, Libre de amor, de celo, De odio, de esperanza, de recelo.! This poem is itself based on Horace’s Ode—* Beatus alle qua procul negotws,’ possibly well known to Poe in the Latin original. Milton’s “‘ Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester ” gives Poe the matter for his note :— 1. 339. Unguided Love hath fallen—’mid ‘tears of perfect moan.’ There be tears of perfect moan Wept for thee in Helicon.—MILTON.? Milton, however, wrote ‘ here’ and not ‘ there.’ 1 Luis Ponce de Leén—Oda en alabanza de la vida rustica. 2 Milton—LHpitaph on the Marchioness of Wvrnchester, 11. 55-6. 28 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” For the note :— 1. 375. Than ev’n thy glowing bosom beats withal. Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows Than have the white breasts of the Queen of Love.— Martow.! Poe has borrowed from Valdes’ speech to Faustus describing the spirits of the elements who are to be at the service of the three friends through success in the practice of magic. The final note on ‘ Al Araaf”’ is merely an explanation of a single word in one of the lines :— 1. 390. Fail’d, as my wpennon’d spirit leapt aloft. Pennon— for pinion.—MILTON. the reference being to a note by Newton, reprinted in Todd’s edition of Milton’s Works, on the lines :— RANGA tia age ePN EMCEE ct All unawares Fluttering his pennons vain, plumb down he drops Ten thousand fathom deep..... 2 Newton’s note reads :— Ver. 933.—pennons. This word is vulgarly spent pinions, and so Dr. Bentley has printed it; but the author spells it pennons, after the Latin penna.® The examination of the sources of the notes to “ Al Aaraaf”’ therefore proves no such wide and intensive reading as has been attributed to Poe by many of those who have written about him. ~The notes tell us that Poe read not only the works of his favourite poets, such as Moore, but that he read their annota- tions carefully. They give us evidence, through slips and errors, that Poe trusted to his memory a great deal more than he should have done, unless, indeed, he found himself compelled to do so because books were not accessible to him. There is one note, however, which adheres too accurately to the original text to allow us to believe that Poe relied upon his memory alone in relation to it. This is the reproduction of the passage from Sumner’s translation of Milton’s Christian Doctrine. This work was published in London in 1825. The circumstances — of its discovery were romantic enough to create an unusual interest in the work on the part of the general public; and the 1 Marlowe—The Tragic History of Dr. Faustus. 2 Milton—Paradise Lost, Bk. II., ll. 932-4. 3 The Poetical Works of John Milton—Henry John Todd—in Six Volumes (London: 1801). Vol. II., p. 162. POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” 29 great Puritan’s exposition of Christian Doctrine, based on the Holy Scriptures and on no other authority, would be eagerly examined and discussed by a great many people in the United States. When and where had Poe an opportunity, at the time when we may suppose him to have been writing “ Al Aaraaf,” for an examination of this work? An answer should be possible. Chateaubriand’s “Itinéraire” and SBernardin de Saint- Pierre’s “‘ Etude de la Nature ’”’ were very likely read by Poe in the original, either whilst he was working at the University of Virginia or before he entered. It is possible that he made transla- tions of them as school exercises. Perhaps the same thing is true of his highly inaccurate citation of Voltaire, which was not taken from the one work of that author which we know was borrowed from the university library. There is at least the suggestion that he remembered something of Seneca through studying him asa school author ; and it is possible that either he was set to translate the Latin verses of Milton, or was sufficiently interested at attempt to discover their meaning for himself. Una Pope-Hennessey has recently pointed out the similarity of passages of “ Al Aaraaf’’ which are “reminiscent of Paradise Lost’’.1 Poe had mastered not only the matter of Milton and the foot-notes of his commentators but had caught something of his music as well. It is interesting to attempt to discover exactly the range of Poe’s interest at the time when these notes were compiled. He remembers the scene of Sappho’s suicide, as described in a note of Moore’s: he has remembered lines from two of Milton’s odes upon dead persons. He has recalled lines written by Goethe to “his goddess—Fantasy. He has carried in his mind details of antique loveliness, the labours of the “heathen ”’ which have been visited by decay or sudden destruction. He has mentally noted, sometimes with meticulous care, the rare and curious flowers which his authors have mentioned in their works; and these have interested him more than bizarre costumes or strange manners—Kashmir is forgotten and Nyctanthes remembered. He might have made this paradise of “ Al Aaraaf” in the fashion of the city which spread itself before the eyes of Lalla - 1 Una Pope-Hennessey—EHdgar Allan Poe: a Critical Biography (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd. 1934). p. 92. 30 POE’S NOTES TO * AL AARAAF ” Rookh when she reached her journey’s end, as, indeed, he did some years after, when he wrote “The Domain of Arnheim.” Instead he makes use of “ Parian marble,’ ‘Greek columns,” ‘“ Achaian statues,” “‘friezes from Tadmor and Persepolis” ; planting the “ glory that was Greece’ in the midst of a garden of exotics. Men and women interest him hardly at all. He con- fesses to Ianthe, speaking in his role of Angelo, that the Parthenon seems to him more beautiful than she; and his flight through space shows him the garden of the globe and the tenantless cities of the desert. | Hervey Allen has commented upon the careful observation of the insects near Fort Moultrie which enabled Poe at a later period to fuse together two beetles into the scarab whose part in “ The Gold Bug’’ is so important. There is evidence in the notes to “Al Aaraaf”’ of the extraordinary interest in the behaviour of bees, the flight of fireflies, and the habits of the albatross—all of extreme importance when considered in relation to the apparent indifference to men and women. He is interested in the power of moonbeams to produce blindness—much more, to all seeming, than in the people who live beneath the Egyptian moon. Religious speculation was obviously interesting to Poe, as to most young men. ‘The poem itself suggests that he had speculated a good deal about heaven, hell and purgatory, and his repudiation - of heaven in favour of a purgatory opens up a whole range of probable reasons for his choice. He may have considered that the heaven described by the church he attended did not accord with his desires, or he may have particularly wished to avoid the company of people who were assured that this heaven was their certain destination—John Allan, amongst others. Since, too, this paradise of his was to be created for two lovers, he may have felt that the Christian exclusion of marrying and giving in marriage from heaven made necessary a domain whose interests were less abstract and spiritual. It is at least interesting to dis- cover that Poe was reading, as far as opportunity allowed him, about other religions than Christianity. Later, in a story which makes use of the knowledge of the country about Charlottesville 1 which Poe gained whilst an undergraduate of the University of Virginia, he was to dabble with the theme of metempsychosis, tie. A Tale of the Ragged Mountains. POE’S NOTES TO “AL AARAAF ” 31 which is the subject of a chapter in Voltaire’s “‘ Histoires Parti- culieres ’—a book which we know him to have borrowed from the university library. He was interested, too, in Islam, though how much he took directly from Sale’s translation of the Koran we do not know.! A point which is worth mentioning, particularly in connection with a man so given to word-play as we know Poe to have been, is the name he assumed for purposes of enlistment. It is common with people who change their names for some reason or other (Coleridge is an instance) to select an alias whose initials are the same as those of their true name. Edgar A. Poe became Edgar A. Perry. Obviously “ Perry’ was but one of a multitude of names which might have been used; and we are compelled, if we accept psychic determinism, to assume that there were reasons (even if not known to the consciousness of Poe) which made Perry more appropriate than any alternative. We know that Poe was familiar with ‘‘ Lalla Rookh”’ ; and we think of the “ peri’ who vainly sought to enter Paradise, from which she was excluded till she could bring to “ the Eternal gate the Gift that is most dear to Heaven.” She brings in vain the last drop of blood shed by a youthful patriot soldier, and the sigh of a maiden who expires on the body of her dead lover. Paradise opens to her when she brings the tear of a repentant sinner. To what extent has Poe, wittingly or unwittingly, identified himself with the “peri ?”’ Clinical analyses have made us familiar with such mechanisms in a very great number of cases. We can prove nothing: but we can entertain the possibility. The ‘“ paradise’ at Richmond, the home of John Allan, from which Poe was excluded—until, as he believed, he should be willing to become properly humble and repentant—had played a very important part in his earlier life. He had been admitted to it as a sequel to the death of a woman, his mother. This death is a pattern which was to be repeated over and over again in the course of his life. Mrs. David Poe, Mrs. Stannard, Mrs. Frances Keeling Allan, and Virginia Poe make up a sequence of beautiful women whose deaths deprived him of something necessary to 1 As Woodberry has pointed out, the epigraph to “ Israfel”’ was taken, not from the Koran, but from a footnote of Moore’s to “‘ Lalla Rookh.” Moore borrowed it from Sale’s “ Preliminary Discourse,”’ and Poe fused his recollection with a line from Beranger’s “ Le Refus.”’ 32 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” him. But, if the death of Mrs. David Poe removed him from miserable rooms in the upper premises of a Richmond shop to the comparative luxury of John Allan’s home, the death of Mrs. Allan cut him off from all likelihood of returning to that home. Further, situations had developed which made the Allan home very different to the Edgar Poe of 1829 from what it had been to the little orphan of 1811. The ratio of the child of under three to the young man, inexpressible by mere numbers, is nevertheless expressed in the ratio of Allan’s Richmond house to the star-world of “ Al Aaraaf.’’ We have the “ current situation,’ of great emotional significance, and the comparable “infantile situation,’ in which a comparable problem was solved—-the conditions, in brief, of dreaming. The materials for this dream; as I believe we may consider “‘ Al Aaraaf” to be, are memories recalled in connection with the settings of the event, or recalled in connection with it. It must be remembered that the news of Mrs. Allan’s death came to him with a suddenness which is in strong contrast with the lingering death of Poe’s wife, nearly twenty years later. Again and again, over a period of years, Poe had reason to believe that he was sharing his wife’s last moments. In the case of Mrs. Allan, however, Poe knew nothing during a separation of two years until the moment at which he received the urgent summons to her death-bed. He obtained leave from his duties at Fortress Monroe, hastened home by the stage from Norfolk, only to reach Richmond on the evening of the day on which the woman who had been more than mother to him was buried. This appears to have been the crisis in which “Al Aaraaf”’ had its birth. The poem deals with a situation in very much the same way as a dream deals with lesser situations in the case of men who are not poets. If it be confused, it is because Poe was not able to meet adequately so oyery Holmning a blow. Its lack of unity is due to the fact of the man’s own bewilderment. Again, it is not by chance that the young lover in Al Aaron bears the name of “ Angelo.” It is necessary only to read The Assignation (entitled in the first instance T7'he Visionary) to realise how deeply Poe had been impressed, probably when study- ing Italian in the University of Virginia, with the Orfeo of Angelo Poliziano (or Politian). Later, he was to attempt a poetic drama POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF” 33 bearing the title Polituan, and there is general agreement that the principal figure is himself. Be this as it may, the narrator of the story of Orpheus, attempting to bring the dead Eurydice back from Hades by the charm of his music, made a powerful impression upon Poe. He speaks, in The Assignation, of a passage of the tragedy which “‘no man shall read without a thrill of novel emotion, no woman without a sigh.” John Adding- ton Symonds, in the comments he appends to his criticism of ‘“ Orfeo’ speaks less highly of the work, and indeed it would appear that the appeal of the poem to Poe depends upon his own personal reaction to it—a reaction determined by purely personal experiences. His own aspirations to become a lyrical poet, his own loss of a beloved woman through the death of Frances Allan, explain the intensity of meaning which Poliziano’s poem assumed for him. Poe had suffered as Orpheus has suffered: he would tell the story of the tragedy as the first Italian writer of tragedies had told it. So he assumes the name of Angelo in Al Aaraaf. The study of the notes to “ Al Aaraaf”’ is merely the investi- gation of the means which Poe had at his disposal for writing the poem, and no more explains the work than the discovery of the quarries from which the marbles were taken explains a cathedral. It has, however, its place and its importance. It is an essential preliminary to any attempt to understand fully the poem and the poet. The poem itself has been neglected and ignored, though, as more than one commentator has emphasised, it contains lovely lines—some of them perhaps the most lovely written up to Poe’s time by any American poet. Yet, if the thesis maintained here be a correct one, there is a stronger reason for a detailed in- vestigation of “ Al Aaraaf”’ than the charm of any of its lines— it is the inner document of a crisis in Poe’s development. It sharply separates the man of “ Helen” and “Tamerlane” from the man of the “ Tales.” It looks back: it looks forward. Meanwhile, it is possible to see in it a lovely memorial to the woman who, through pity for an orphan, reared a poet; taking him from a Richmond garret and giving him to the world. In Allan’s family grave at Shockoe Hill Cemetery a stone bears this 1 John Addington Symonds—WSkeiches and Studies in Italy and _ Greece—Second Series—New Edition (London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1898). pp. 345 et seg. 34 POE’S NOTES TO “ AL AARAAF ” inscription :— Sacred to the Memory of FRANCES KEELING ALLAN how departed this transitory life on the Morning of the 28th of February, 1829. This Monument is erected by JOHN ALLAN, her Husband, in testimony of his gratitude for her unabated affection to him, her zeal to discharge her domestic duties, and the fervour she manifested, both by precept and example, in persuading all to trust in the promises of the Gospel. This was all that the Richmond merchant could do. It was left for the young sergeant-major, posting back to the detested barracks, to build, from recollections of the dead woman and the throngs of apparently irrelevant memories that crowded his brain, her imperishable cenotaph. GEORGE H. GREEN. THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF THE POETRY OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM—PENIARTH MS. 48. On reviewing what has been written on the poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym since the issue of the first printed edition of 1789, it is clear that even the modest plan of the editors of that edition has not yet been fulfilled. Owen Jones, in his Welsh preface (p. xli) tells us that it was the editors’ original plan to publish all the variant readings found in the MSS of Dafydd’s poetry, but that when they saw how numerous the variants were, they had to modify that ideal, and rest content with choosing what seemed to them to be the best reading and drop all the variants, though they were conscious all the while that they had probably fallen into frequent errors. That is the editors’ description of how the printed text was compiled. If the student compares No. IV. below with No. CLIX in the edition of 1789 he will realise what that may mean. But, even so, they tell us that their edition contained little more than half the poems attributed to the Poet, though Mr. G. J. Williams (Lolo Morgannwg p.1.) calls it a ‘“ complete collection.”’ Since then, however, the Guild of Graduates and the Board of Celtic Studies of the University of Wales have between them published the text of four or five MSS., each of which contains some poems by our Poet, but it is only the bare text in every case. Professor [for Williams also published a text of sixty-four of his poems with a few variant readings in his Cywyddau D. ap Gwilym ai Gyfoeswyr in 1914, reprinted in his Detholion o Gywyddau Dafydd ap Gwilym in 1921. Since Dr. Williams says, or implies, in his Doctorate Thesis (Trans. Cymmrod, 1913-14., pp. 84, 174 note) as well as in his Cywyddau and Detholion, that the text he provides there had been compared with, and corrected from the oldest MSS., students have come to assume that this text of sixty-four poems can be used for critical purposes. Dr. Williams, however, tells us that that text has been written in modern orthography as far as he could do that without doing violence to the original, or what appeared to be the original, 35 36 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM rhyme and assonance. That of itself should have put the student on his guard and it really emphasizes the need of constant reference to the original MSS. In addition, this oldest MS. contains I think six poems not found in Dr. Williams’ collection. Dafydd ap Gwilym’s Cywyddau are said to be the earliest known poems in the Cywydd metre as employed by him ; and before one can be sure that no wrong has been done to this metre in modern- ising the text, one must first of all have as basis a text as reliable as an exhaustive study of all the available MS. sources can make it. I am aware that Sir J. Morris-Jones has dealt at length with this Cywydd metre in his Cerdd Dafod (pp. 143 sqq.), but as is clear, and as Sir John himself says on p. vil. he depended to a large extent for his basic material on this modernised text of Dr. Williams. He himself made no effort to provide a true text from which to evolve his metrical rules, and thus one can only accept the Cywydd rules in Cerdd Dafod as of doubtful validity. Many of the grammatical and orthographical rules evolved from Dafydd’s poetry are based upon still flimsier grounds. The late Sir Ed. Anwyl wrote a series of articles on the rules or standards of D. ap Gwilym (Safonau D. ap Gwilym; Geninen, 1907, pp. 15-19; 129-132; 207-9; 282-6), but he not only made no attempt to provide a sound text, but, as he says on p. 15, he reduced the text of the old printed edition into modern ortho- graphy. He even justifies this by saying that though the ortho- graphy of the poet varied widely from that of modern Welsh, nevertheless the sounds had, on the whole, the same value as the letters of our time. It stands to reason, however, that until a text has been provided, such metrical or orthographical rules can not be accepted with any confidence. | Prof. W. J. Gruffydd says (Encycl. Brit. § Welsh Literature p. 507) that Dafydd’s most important advance was in poetic diction, that he had discarded altogether the conventional and archaic language of earlier Welsh poetry and wrote in the ordinary language of educated Welshmen of his time. Dafydd’s vocabulary, however, has never been studied as a whole as far as I am aware, yet far-reaching conclusions have been drawn from isolated words found in some texts which were in some instances only copies of modern copies of modern manuscripts. Professor [for Williams (Cywyddau D. ap Gwilym p. 83) reports THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM 37 that there is in Bangor a copy in Owain Myfyr’s hand [i.e., one of the editors of the 1789 edition] “ of all the works of Dafydd ap Gwilym found in the MSS of Lewis Morris and William Morris, together with additions from several other old books copied in London in the year 1768.” He adds that in that Bangor MS. there is not a copy of asingle poem published in the “Appendix ”’ of the 1789 edition. This statement is reprinted verbatim in Detholion p. {lu) XXXIV, and important conclusions are based upon this. Sir J. Morris-Jones (Cerdd Dafod p. 250 note 1) makes im- portant use of this note and says that this paragraph of Dr. Williams’ was the first uncovering of the perfidy of Iolo Morgannwg in the matter of the poems printed in the “ Appendix”’ to the 1789 edition. He accepts Dr. Williams’ statement as a true basis for the imputation and employs it vigorously. If the student turns to the Report on British Museum Add. MS. 14,870 (No. 53) and reads Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans’ report on it on p. 1144, he will find that, according to Dr. Evans, this Brit. Mus. MS. formed apparently the basis of the published edition of 1789. On the title-page of this MS. is written : “ This collection was made by me Lewis Morris about the year 1748 ”’ 1.e. it is twenty years older than the Bangor MS. Mr. G. J. Williams in Jolo Morgannwg p. 1. says that the basis of the 1789 edition was B. Mus. MS. 14,932 but that is immaterial to our argument here. Dr. Evans thought that only a small part of the B. Mus. MS. 14,870 was written in Lewis Morris’ hand, and Dr. Ifor Williams does not explain whether the Bangor MS. is a copy of the 6. Mus. MS. or not. If it is a true copy, then the above statement about the “ Appendix ’”’ poems should be modified, for the 6. Mus. MS. does contain at least one poem found in the “ Appendix.” If it is not a true copy, then it appears misleading to use it as a criterion by which to judge the ‘““ Appendix ”’ poems insomuch as the older Lewis Morris MS. is definitely against this. In any case the Bangor MS. appears to be only a copy made in 1768 of a copy made about 1748, and that should have been made clear. Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans’ report on MS. 14,870 does not specify - which of the poems of that MS. are written in Lewis Morris’ hand, but Dr. H. I. Bell, the keeper of the MSS. in the B. Museum, 38 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM tells me that the “ Appendix” poem “ Y Bilain a fabolaeth in that MS. is in Lewis Morris’ hand. Dr. Ifor Williams Dethohon D. ap Gwilym p.[L|XXXIV refers to B. Mus. MS. 53 as containing one of the “Appendix” poems, but assumes, presumably, that it is not in the hand of Lewis or William Morris, otherwise it destroys his argument. Unfortunately one cannot well avoid drawing attention to the above statements, for I find my own students using them as well established facts, and as a standard by which to judge the work of others. I have not referred above to Dr. Sterne’s important article on D. ap Gwilym’s poetry in ZfcP. Vol. vii, for he deals in general with the substance of the poetry, and he depends upon the printed text. Likewise Dr. Chotzen in his study of the poet, he also depends upon printed texts, though he was within easy reach of the oldest and best MSS. The need for a sound text as a basis for a better knowledge of the matter, metre, and diction of the poet is self-evident, and it has often been pointed out. Mr. J. D. Lester, of Wellington College, Wokingham, who had learnt Welsh in order to under- stand D. ap Gwilym’s poetry, wrote to Mr. Wynne, Peniarth, on May 3, 1874: “I am profoundly interested in all that concerns Datydd ab Gwilym’ 73-2... A correct and well-known text of his polite lyrics would probably do more to elevate the tone of the literature of the Principality than anything else.” The concluding paragraph of Prof. E. B. Cowell in his pioneer lecture on the poetry of Dafydd, before the London Society of Cymmrodorion on May 29, 1878 will carry more conviction. He said : “It is surely incumbent on them [the Scholars of Wales] to prepare a critical.edition of Ab Gwilym’s works. The two editions which we have are not edited with any critical care; and a scholarly edition of the text, with the various readings of the oldest MSS. would be indeed prized by all who are interested in medizval Welsh literature. Ab Gwilym abounds with hard passages and obscure allusions ; but the best of all commentaries is a carefully edited text ; for every student knows, to his cost, what it is to spend his strength uselessly in attempting to solve some enigma which at last turns out to be no dark saying of the THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM 39 _ poet, but some dull blunder of a scribe!’ Dr. Idris Bell supports Dr. Cowell’s plea in Library 1909. p. 44. Cowell, a great friend and helper of Edward Fitzgerald and the teacher of Strachan—whose scholarship according to Strachan was only equalled by his modesty—had clearly a high opinion of Ap Gwilym’s poetry, and he leads one to think that he considered Dafydd a greater poet than any of the Troubadours. When Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans sent out about 1887 the original circular letter soliciting subscribers to the “ Old Welsh Texts edited and revised by John Rhys, M.A.” D. ap Gwilym is not included in that projected series; but when Dr. Evans sent out his own programme of “ Welsh Classics for the People”’ in 1888 to be edited by himself, the complete works of D. ap Gwilym are included. Dr. Evans transcribed the poems of Dafydd from time to time, copying what appeared to him at the time the best texts, and filling in the variant readings systematically in prepared wide margins. We know that he had transcribed Peniarth MSS. 48 and 49 in 1888, 1890, and we find him busy transcribing Dafydd’s poetry in 1893-7. As he told me a short while before he passed away, he thought he had lent his transcript of Pen. MS. 48 to Sir J. Morris-Jones, but he did not feel disposed at that time to ask for its return. He handed all his other transcripts of Dafydd’s works over to me, to add to those that I myself had been making as opportunity occurred, and he advised me to write for his transcript of MS. 48 if I survived him. [I have, however, not been able to trace that transcript, but I can find no evidence in Sir John’s writings that he had made any use of it. As parts of MS. 48 are somewhat difficult to read, I realise keen- ly the loss of that transcript, for Dr. Evans had copied it when his eyesight was at its best. Jam afraid that students infer from the preface to Llawysgrif Hendregadredd p. xiii that Dr. Evans’ latter work “‘ was not nearly so careful and trustworthy as his customary work.” It should be explained in justice to Dr. Evans that that statement appears to imply two misconceptions : (a) that Sir J. Morris-Jones’ text is correct and diplomatically reproduced (5) that Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans attempted to publish a similar text of the same MS. When the student notices the 40 THE OLEEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM peculiar 7 and w of the MS. reproduced in Sir John’s printed text, he probably assumes that Sir John had done here what Dr. Evans had done in his earlier work ; but if Sir John’s printed text is compared with the MS. it will be seen that the peculiarities of the original are reproduced only in a very haphazard way, for no notice is made of the hgatured J or the old dotted y, and the hyphen and points as well as the » and w are edited in a way even the trained student finds difficult to follow, while some conjec- tured letters are printed as if they were in the MS with nothing to warn the student of that. Dr. Evans announced his volume as already edited in 1910 before the Hendregadredd MS. was available, and it is clear from his Prefaratory note to Poetry Vol. II. that he had edited his published text from the Hendregadredd MS. as well as from Dr. John Davies’ copy of it which he had used for the edition announced in 1910. The Peniarth MS. 48 which is printed below appears to be the oldest known MS of the poetry of D. ap Gwilym, and, as far as I am aware, it has never been published. According to a note by Mr. Wynne of Peniarth which is attached to the MS. this MS. was long supposed to have been written by Dafydd himself. One of the reasons given for this was that the poems here bear the subscription D dd., or Ddd ap G., and it was assumed that if these poems had been copied by a scribe, the poet’s name would have been given in full. They had not noticed probably that on p. 17 the form Ddd ap Gwilym occurs and thus, that argument is robbed of any force it might have had. Further, in a note dated Feb. 27, 1863 Mr. Wynne says: “ This day I was told by Mr. Burtt at the Public Record Office that the earliest part of this MS. is about the date 1360”. Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans, however, in a letter (attached to the MS.) to Mr. Wynne dated Nov. 12. 89 says: “‘ MS. 450 [the Old © Hengwrt No. of the MS.] was sent off this morning........ I think the oldest part of the MS. cannot be earlier than the second quarter of the XV century...... Your father, trusting too much in the opinion of the Record Office was inclined to think the oldest part was in the autograph of D. ap Gwilym himself; but the orthography is conclusive against the inference.”’ : In the Report on this MS. Dr. Evans says “ It is doubtful if the oldest part can be earlier than 1450.” THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM 41 Though it appears to be the oldest known MS of the poet, that does not imply that it is the best text, but it stands to reason that until this MS. is published and studied carefully all metrical and orthographical rules evolved from later copies can only be accepted with caution and as provisional. Only the poems written in the older hand are published here, and no attempt has been made to reproduce the peculiarities of the writing—that could be of use only to the experienced paleographer who would in any case prefer to look at the original MS. The MS. has two symbols for d and two for dd at the end of a word : final d is written something like a Greek 6 and final dd is written as this final d with a tail added. In the printed text they are printed with their modern equivalents and no distinction is made between medial and final. Many letters in the text are obscure or boggled. I have tried to read these with the aid of the ultra-violet lamp and photographs, but in II. 3-4, 17-18 where the lines are partly written over I cannot guarantee that I have disentangled the older from the later. IL. 49 o charat may possibly be read o cham, and in VII. 38 the last d of dyddydn may possibly be crossed out. For the student of Dafydd’s language and poetry | hope this text can be treated with reasonable confidence in all things essential. A vocabulary had been prepared also, but as the MS. is only a fragment, the vocabulary is merged in a more comprehensive one which I hope to publish some day. 20. ij. 36. TIMOTHY LEWIS. POEMS BY DAFYDD AP GWILYM FROM PENIARTH MS. 48. Index to first lines. iKereolaier mah vamevoGce sty. se 45. .,c es - No. viij. Dai livoiwyd-dvill iownwedd ............ No. vij. Wom pericl yi idolei ee pe ee. No. vj. Dov wmoyddwn diovyrreddyliy. | 250.5... No. v. Hawddamawr ddevlawr ddilyth .......... No. i. lend kas im hivadeygiceisiwiys 9. oa No. iij. Morvydd weddaidd anghywir ........... No. iv. Tost oydd ddwyn trais gynhwynawl ...... No. ij. 42 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM I [p. 3] Hawddamawr ddevlawr ddilyth [p. 4] hayddai vawl i heddiw vyth yn rragorol dwyol daith rrac doy ne echdoy nychdaith nidoyd debic ffrengic ffriw Dyhvddiant doy i heddiw Nid vnwawd nevd anwadal heddiw a doy hoywdda dal Je dduw dad a ddaw dydd vniliw a heddiw hoywddydd heddiw i kefais hoywddawn her i ddoy hwyr yw i ddawn kevais werth gwnayth ym chwerthin kanswllt a mork kwnsallt min kvsan vvn kyson wyf i kain lvned kann olevni kylenic lerw ddierwin klyw ir mair klo ar y min keidw ynof serch y verch vad koyl mawr gvr kwlym ai gariad kof a ddaw ynof yw ddwyn kiried mawr kariad morwyn koron am ganon genav kayr vyrddin kylch y min mav kain baks min diorwak serch kwlm hardd rrwng meinvardd a merch kynx eddf hwn neb niw kenyw kynadl dav anadl da yw kevais ac wi or kyvoyth karodyn min dyn mwyn doyth kryf wyf oi gayl yn ayl nod krair min disglair mwyn dwysglod kriaf i wawd ddidlawd ddadl krynais gan y kroyw anadl kwlm kariad mewn tabliad twhl kwmpasgayr min kampvsgwbl kyd kefais ddidrais ddwydrin heiniar mawl hwnn ar y min THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD APGWILYM 43 Trysor ym yw trisawr mel teiroch ym os kaiff tvrel ac os kaiff hevyd bryd brav mvrsen vyth mowrson vwythav ni bv ddrwe i gwe a gaf lai no dwrn lvned arnaf Jnseiliodd a hayddodd hi Mvl oyddwn vy maw! iddi Na ddaw om tavawd wadair Mwy ir merch berw serch a bair Kithr a ddel vthr wedd wylan Ar vyngtred i lvned lan EKiddyn anad1 kariadloys A dduw mwy a ddaw im oys y rrvw ddydd havl wenddydd wiw Am hoywddyn yma heddiw D dd ai kant II. Tost oydd ddwyn trais gynhwynawl tlws on mysc taliesin mawl Tristeaist nid trais diarw Trwm oer val y trywr marw [p. 5] dros vyngran ledchwolan lif trideigr am wr tra digrif Grvffydd hvowdl i odlef Gryc ddoyth myn y groc oydd ef Oys dic am i osdecion Ysgwir mawl eos gwyr mon Ilvniad pob dyall vnion A llyfr kyvraith yr iaith iown y gwyddor y rai gwiwddoyth A ffynon kerdd a ffen koyth Ai chweirgorn ddiorn dda ai chyweirdant och wyrda Pwy a gan ar i lan lyfr Prydydd golevddydd lywddytr Parodd 01 ben awengerdd Primas ac vrddas y gerdd 44 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM Ni chair son gair o gariad Ni chan neb gwn ochain nad ir pan ayth alayth olvd Ydan vedd i dewi n vvd Ni chwardd vdvardd 0 advyd Ni bv ddigrivwch na byd [p. 6] Ni bv edn glan a ganai Nid balch keilioc mwyalch mai Ni chynydd mewn serch anoc Ni chan nac eos na choc Na bronvraith ddwbl iaith ddiblye Ni bydd gwedi Gruffudd gryc Na chywydd dolydd a dail Na cherddi yn iach ir ddail Tost o chwedl gan vvn edlays Roi nhor llawn vynor llan vays gemin dior gem an deiryd o gerdd ac a royd i gyd Royd serchowgrwydd y gwyddor ymewn kist y min y kor o gerddi swllt agwrdd sal Ni chaid vn gistiaid gysdal O gerdd evraid gerddwriayth doy rym i gyd yn derm gayth llywiwr iowngamp llariangerdd Ilyna gist yn Hawn o gerdd Och hayl grair dduw vchelgrist Na bai a y gorai y gist O charai ddyn wych eirian gan dant glywed moliant glan [p.7] gweddw i barnaf gerdd davawd Ac weithiain gwan ydiwn gwawd edn glwys i baradwyslef ederyn oydd o dir nef o nef i doyth goyth gethlydd i brydv gwawd i bryd gwydd Awenvardd awen winvayth J nef gwiw oydd ef i ddayth. D dd ab G. THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM [p. 8] [p. 9] IIT. hoyd kas ir hyd y keisiwyf hvdol serch yhvdlas wyf herwydd maint yr awydd mav hely diol havl y deav hardd yw yn gayn ar vayn vaink hoyw ddvayl hi a ddiaink Ni chaf i hi oi hanvodd A bvn nim kymer oi bodd Ni thawaf odaf heb dal mwy noc eos mewn gwial - Mair a duw a mordeyrn A rrai a wyl vy chwyl chwyrn A wnel hynn ywr rryvelnwyf imi y naill am vynwyf Ai byan varw heb oir Ai kayl bvn hayl a byw n hir Rydebic medd rrai dibwyll na wn panid hwn yw twyll prydv gair pryd a garwyf eithr ir vn athro oyr wyf o ganmol bvn hvn heirddryw O gerdd dda a garwydd yw Ni roy rvw borthmon Ilonn Ilwyd ir vgeinpvnt a ganpwyd Ni royd ym nowrad owmal gwerth hynn ond gware a thal Mul anrrec oydd mal vnrryw O bai wr a bwa yw Yn saythv lle sathr angor gwylan gayr marian y mor heb goyl bvdd heb gayl y byllt nar edn ewinwedn wenwyllt gwydn wy n bwrw gwawd yn ov*x al gwayth bwrw a sayth y ser pe prytwn gwn gan henglyn ir duw a bryais ir dyn hawdd i gwnai yrof o hawl vyw 0 varw vwyaf eiriawl 45 46 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM Ni wnai hi yrofi vaint Y mymryn gwenddyn gwynddaint Gwell gan vvn ninn gad hvn hawdd i hensail klyd ai hansawdd No bod yn rrith gayr gwlith gwedd gwirvawl gain gwevrvyl gwynedd Ni newidie ne wowdair lle may a bod garllaw mair Ni aned merch dreiglserch draidd velenwallt mo vileiniaidd O gwrthyd liw eiry gorthir Y vav wawd honn a vv wir [p. 10] gwrthodiad y myrchnadoydd gwrthodiaith vanwyl wyl oydd klwyf pa glwyf gloywa veinwenn plwm a ffals pla am i ffenn Ddd ai kant. IV. Morvydd weddaidd anghywir govwy gwawd gwayvi al gwir Kto n wyf iti vynyn diovrydv dy vrowdyn yr hwn ni wn i eni nith eigr dec nith ddigar di A gadayl i gayl galar oth gof y trvan ath gar nawir tyngaf ni weryd ni bv am brydv om bryd Myn y gwr mewn kyvlwr kawdd ddavydd a ddioddevawdd Mwy karwn ol mewn dol goyd di brvdd drin dy ebrwydd droyd nom godlawd wr priawd prvdd ne a ddeirid yw ddevrudd ef a ddaw byd bryd brydv i wr doth wedi eiry dv [p. 11] Dvgost lid a gwrid im grvdd Dyn vowr valch da iewn vorvydd THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM 47 Nirygeisiwn ar gyswr Na chydvydd ithydd ath wr Na ffar i eiddic ddic ddv lin hwyad lawen hav Ni chaffwyf dda gan dduw vry O chai modd o chymyddy D dd ai kant. V. Doy yroyddwn dioyr eddyl Dann y gwydd gwayr dyn niw gwyl Gorsevyll dan gyrs vvydd ac aros gwenn goris gwydd Gwnayth ari hwyl ym wylaw Gwelwn pann edrychwn draw Ilvn gwrab lle ni garwn Iwynoc koch ni char len kwn yn eisde val dinasdwrch gayr i ffav ar gwr i ffwrch ynylais rrwng vynwylaw vwa yw drvd a vv draw Ar vedr val gwr arvodvs Ar ayl y rriw arial rrvs arf i redec ar vrodir i vwrw a sayth ovras hir [p. 12] Tynais i evrgais ergyd heb y gern heibio i gyd Mav och ayth vy mwa i Yn drichnap anawn drychni llidiais nid arswydais hynn Arth ovidvs wrth vadyn gwr yw ef a garai iar a choyc edn a chic adar gwr ni ddilyd gyrn ddolef garw 1 lais ai garol ef gwridoc yw ymlayn grodir gwedd ab ymlith y gwydd ir Ilvman brain gar llaw min bryn llamw erw lliw marorvn 48 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM Drych nod drain a ffiod ffair Draic vnwedd dyroganiair kynwr vryn knowr iar vras knv diareb knawd eirias Taradr dayargadr dewrgav tanllestr ar gwrr ffenestr ffav bwa latwm didrwm drayd gevel vnwedd gelvinwayd Nid hawdd i mi ddilyd hwn ai dy anedd hyd anwn [p. 13] dev gwayr talwrn i digwydd delw ki yny dolwg gwydd Rodiwr koch rrydayr y kaid Redai mlayn rrawd ymlyniaid llym irvthr llamwr eithin llewpart a dart yni din. D dd ai kant VI. Doy ym pericl y kiglef ynglyn avr angel o nef Ac adrodd pynkie godrist Ac adail gron ac owd grist Disgibl mab duw am dysgawdd Val hynn i dyvod vawl hawdd Ddd o beth diveddw bwyll dygymar gerdd da gymwyll dod ar awen dy enav Nawdd duw ac na ddywaid av Nid oys o goyd tri oyd trwch Na dail ond anwadalwch Paid a bod gan rianedd Kais ir mair kysavr medd Ni thale flayn gwyrddvlayn gwy« Na thavarn eithr iaith ddovydd [p. 14] Myn y gwr bie heddiw May gwayw im penn am wenn wiw Ac im tal may govalnwyf Am aur o ddyn a marw ddwyf D dd ai kant. THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM [p. 15] [p. 16] VIL. Da i Ilvniwyd dvll iownwedd Dwy vron y mab duw vry an medd Royd yn llew mewn tabl newydd Ar lvn walch ar loywon wydd Da Ilvniwyd iesu lwyd ion O ddysc abl ai ddisgyblon Tyviad agwrdd twf d gabl Tri ar ddec pantec y tabl Duw ior glan yny kanawl delw vwyn da i dyly vawl Ar devddec lawendec lu a iaswd yng hylch iesu chech o rann ar bob haner devwn oll ynghylch duw ner Ar yr haner mvner mwyn deav iddo duw addwyn I may pedr da gwyr edrych A ievan wiw awen wych a ffylib orevwib ras gwyndroyd yw a gwiw andras Iago hayl wiw gv hylwydd A sain simon rroddion rrwydd Lle aur ar y llaw arall Ir arglwydd kyvarwydd kall Y may pawl weddawl wiw ddoyth A thomas gyweithas goyth Martha ni wnayth ymwrthod Mevvs glayr weddvs i glod Mwythvs liw mathevs lan A iago rrai diogan sain svd y mewn sens hoywdec Llyna ntwy Ilynynaid tec llawn o rad ynd bellynd bwyll lle doded mewn lliw didwyll ystr doyth ysdoria dec Dydd a gavos y devddec kerdded y byd gyd ac ef kain dyddyd n kyn dioddef 49 50 THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM [p. 17] [p. 18] Gwedir loys ar groys y groc A gavas krist ai gyvoc Ai varw ni bu overedd Hevyd ac or byd ir bedd Pan gyvdes duw iesu Yn iowngar or ddyar ddv Dve yni blaid llygaid Ilvs Y devddec an rrydeddvs Gwir vab mair gair o gariad Goresgyn tyddyn y tad Gair lles yw dywedvd iesu Gore vn gair gan vair vv Gair kariad yw or gadair Or mab rrad a gad or gair Duw ywr gair diwyr g «« Ar gair yw duw ar gwirx« Duw von porth an kymhorthwy Amen nid addvnwn mwy D dd ap Gwilym. VITl. kredaf i naf y nevoydd kredo gwych kyredic oydd Dor am keidw rrac direidchayn Dawn y blid a duw ny blayn Rodded ym vaith berffaith bor Rac angen y rrvw gyngor J volanv ngv gywair Tesu a molianv mair Jewn 1 bawb enw heb awbrim Molianv duw ym layn dim Da vv iesu ddewisiad A da oydd i vam ai dad Gore tad llathr di athrist o dadav kred vv dad krist Gwerin nef an kartrevo Gore mam oydd i vam vo Gwarant vydd i bob gwirair Gore vn mab yw mab mair THE OLDEST KNOWN MS. OF DAFYDD AP GWILYM 51 Gore merch:dan aur goron tekaf a haylaf yw hon Da oydd ddwyn deddf ddayoni Gwr o nef yn gar ini Hwnn vv ddewis yr israyl Hen vv a iyuank a hayl Ganed oi vodd ir goddef Yn ddyn aur ac yn dduw nef Gwnayth iesu ner 01 gerant Swrn yn ebysdl a sant Gwnayth bader ac efferen Gwnayth oriav a llyvrav llen Roys gred ir bobl gyffrx« Roys yw plyth gwenith«x Roys i gorff heb ddim fforffed «r bren kroys i brynv kred (end lost) TIMOTHY LEWIS. Bieta ae PR Fi i Lene ete = Se THE PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AS A SOURCE OF ROGER DE WENDOVER’S FLORES HISTORIARUM AND OF RANULPH HIGDEN’S POLYCH RONICON. Investigations that were recently conducted to determine the original Latin text of a Mediaeval Welsh tract known as Y Beibyl Ynghymraec led to a comparison between the Welsh text and certain portions of Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon and the well- known series of chronicles that are closely associated with the Abbey of St. Alban’s. This brought into relief a number of passages in the Polychronicon and the other chronicles, that correspond to a certain extent. ‘These passages had hitherto escaped notice, but they throw a new light on the sources of the earlier parts of the compilations in question. In short, they combine to discredit the belief, hitherto unchallenged, that the earlier portions of the St. Alban’s chronicles are derived directly from Peter Comestor’s Historia Scholastica, and to nullify the main argument (based on the “ fact ’’ that the Historia Scholastica was the true source), that has been brought forward to date Roger de Wendover’s Flores. ‘They also enable us to show that Higden is not always ingenuous when he refers to Comestor or the Bible as immediate authorities for certain passages in his Polychronicon. To avoid misunderstanding and repetition it is best to outline the inter-relationship that exists between “the St. Alban’s chronicles ’’ referred to above. Towards the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the thir- teenth century there seems to have been extant at St. Alban’s a historical compilation of some sort. We have, however, but few references to this original text and they are utterly inadequate to form any definite opinion as to its characteristics.! The 1 There is no real basis for the description given by Claude Jenkins in The Monastic Chronicler (S.P.C.K., London, 1922), pp. 31-3—only the assumption that Walter’s compilation was identical in plan with that of Wendover. 53 54 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE authorship is sometimes attributed to a certain Walter who wrote in the time of John de Cella, the twenty-first Abbot of St. Alban’s. 1 About the year 1230-1? Roger de Wendover became semi- official historiographer, as it were, at St. Alban’s and he appears to have used Walter’s compilation when he composed his Flores Historiarum.*? He was succeeded in 1236 by Mathew Paris who in turn, made use of Wendover’s work in compiling his Chronica Maiora. Lastly, there also exists a still later text called Flores Historiarum attributed to one “ Mathew of Westminster.” It has been shown, however, that there was no such person as “Mathew of Westminster ” 4 and that the work ascribed to him is but a further redaction of the chronicles of Wendover and Paris. ° As one would naturally expect from the fact that each com- piler made extensive use of the work of his predecessor, these three texts are similar in plan. Each contains an abridged history of the world from the creation down to the year in which the respective compilers wrote, and each is divided into two parts or books, the first extending from the creation to the birth of Christ, the second from the Nativity onwards. Moreover, the first part is further subdivided according to the traditional “five ages.” It is with this first part—which is very much the same in all three texts—that we are concerned. The whole of Paris’ Chronica Maora has been published in the Rolls’ Series ;* so too the Flores Historiarum attributed to ‘‘ Mathew of Westminster.” But the first part of Wendover’s Flores still remains in manu- script form.’ For our purpose it would be well if we could quote 1 Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of MSS. relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1862—), III. pref. xxxix. Cf. p. 59 below. 2 Hardy, wbid. *Cf. ‘“‘ There is some evidence that after the year 1180, Walter, a monk of St. Alban’s, wrote a chronicle of English affairs, entitled “‘ Anglicarum Rerum Chronica” . . . This compilation of Walter, Roger of Wendover found prepared to his hand when he became historiographer of his abbey. and dealt with it according to his own fashion.’ (Hardy, op. cit. III, xxxvi). 4 Flores Historiarum (Rolls) I.p. xi-ii. °7d. pp. xxxix-xlv. ¢ Matthaei Parisiensis . .. . Chronica Majora .:.. 2 vols. London, 1872—. 7 In 1841-4 H. O. Coxe edited the whole of the second part (in 5 vols.) for the English Historical Society : the only part published in the Rolls’ Series in 1886 (ed. H. G. Hewlett) is that dealing with the period from 1154. PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 55 from Wendover’s work rather than the Chronica Maiora, be- cause it is said to be slightly fuller, in its first part, than the latter compilation.! In the circumstances, however, we have no alternative but to quote from the Chronica Maiora, and to em- phasise the point that everything quoted is also to be found in Wendover’s Flores. Excessive quotation will be avoided by considering at the out- set the import of the similarity between the following passages taken respectively from Higden’s Polychronicon ? and the Chronica Mora : (a) “‘ Genesis. Inde Thare, non (6) Iste Nachor genuit Thare, qui valens ferre injurias sibi illatas non valens ferre injurias sibi ill- de adorando igne, in Chaldea, atas de adorando igne in Chal- ubi et Aram _ primogenitum daea, ubi et filium suum primo- suum extinxerant, peregrin- genitum Aram extinxerunt, per- atus est cum Abram, et Nachor, egrinatus est cum Abraham, et familia Aram usque ad Char- et Nachor, et familia Aram in ram Mesopotamiae, ubi com- Carram Mesopotamiae, ubi com- pletis ducentis quinque annis pletis ducentis quinque annis, mortuus est.’’ (Polychron. Lib. mortuus est’’ (Chronica Majora. II. Cap. X.—-Vol. II. 286). 1L5 @p)) The two passages are seen to be almost verbally identical and in some way or other they must be closely related. A possibility that suggests itself at once is, that Higden appropriated the passage from the Chronica Maiora or from Wendover’s Flores Historiarum. ‘There is no chronological objection to such a supposition, for it was in 1363 ° that Higden died, whereas the Flores was compiled before 1236, the date of Wendover’s death, and the Chronica Maiora a few years later. Fortunately, how- ever, Higden prefaced his work with a list of the sources 4 which he used in compiling it, and in addition, throughout the work, 1Cf. Chronica Majora, I. p. xii: “‘ Under the name of Roger of Wendover, and with his name at the end, there exist two MSS...... The first of these begins. . . after a prologue chiefly copied from Rohert de Monte (to which, however, it adds an additional paragraph) _ with the Creation, and goes through all the early Scripture and Roman history much in the same way (sc. ‘as the Chronica Majora’), except that it is usually fuller.”’ 2 Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis . . . London, 1865—. (Rolls). . 8 Polychron. I. xi. 472d. I. Cap. 2: “ Recitantur hic auctorum nomina de quibus haec potissime abstracta est Chronica.”’ 56 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE made more or less detailed references to his authorities for various passages.1 But neither in the formal bibliography at the be- ginning, nor in the sources quoted in the course of the work, does he refer to Roger of Wendover, Mathew Paris or any anonymous chronicle that could represent the work believed to have been composed under the supervision of John de Cella, the twenty- first Abbot of St. Alban’s, that is, between 1195 and 1214.? Further, it will be noticed that Higden quotes Genesis as the source of the above passage. Unfortunately not one of the St. Alban’s compilers refers to his authorities. Moreover, the passage in the Polychronicon is not a strict quotation from Genesis, but a synopsis of certain parts of that book; and the corresponding _ passage in the Chronica Maiora proves that this same synopsis was to be found as early as 1236, that is, in Wendover’s Flores Historiarum. From this one naturally concludes that Higden’s immediate source was not Genesis as such. As it is impossible to believe that he happened to summarise certain passages of Genesis in the very same words as those that already occurred in the St. Alban’s chronicles, there are only two alternatives : (1) Higden may have quoted the passage from Wendover or Paris (or from the shadowy Walter, the former’s pre- decessor) without acknowledgment r oe (2) both passages may have been derived independently from a common original text that is not referred to in either com- pilation. Since Higden makes no reference to the St. Alban’s historians and there is no reason, apart from the above passage, to believe that he appropriated anything from their works without ack- nowledgment, the first alternative is hardly tenable. The second possibility remains to be examined more closely. The question, therefore, is whether we can still trace some text 1Cf. id. J. Cap. 1.(—Vol. I. 18-20): Quamobrem in hac assertione historica periculum veri statuendi per omnia mihi non facio, sed quae apud diversos auctores legi sine invidia communico..... Et quamvis alienum sit quod assumo, meum tamen facio quod meis aliquando verbis antiquorum saepe sententias profero, adeo ut quos auctores in capite libri praescripsero, illis utar pro clypeo contra sugillantes. Quum vero compilator loquitur sub hac figuratione (R.) littera praescrib- itur. ?So Sir Frederick Madden in Historia Anglorum (Rolls), I. xi. ; Hardy’s date is “‘ after 1180 ” (op. cit. IIT. xxxvi) PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 57 which may have been the common source of the two passages. Now an author to whom Higden repeatedly refers in the first two books of the Polychronicon, as an authority especially for passages containing Biblical history, is a certain “ Petrus” ; and reference is usually made to particular chapters of a work that is left un- named, e.g. “Petrus, capitulo xxvj®. Tubalcayn invenit artem ferrarium et sculpturam,” etc. (Polychron. Il. Cap. v: Vol. II. 226). Numerous such references will be found throughout the first two books. But who is the “‘ Petrus’ referred to, and what work of his is meant ? The explanation is found in Higden’s formal list of sources, where the fuller reference occurs: ‘“‘ Petrus Comestor, in Historia Scholastica ’’ (op. cit. I. Cap. 2: Vol. I. 22). Here, suffice it to state that this Petrus Comestor (or Manducator) was the Chancellor of the Church of Paris (“‘ Beatae Mariae Paris- iensis ’’) from about 1169 to 1178,1 and the author of the Historia Scholastica, the most famous of the various “ History- Bibles ” (Historienbibeln) that constituted one of the “ popular’’ substitutes for the Bible itself in the Middle Ages.?- This Historia is a huge compilation and fills six hundred and forty-eight closely- printed columns in Migne’s Patrologia (CXCVIII, coll. 1055-1722). It is a summary of the historical books of the Bible and gives a condensed “ history’ of the world from the creation to the martyrdom of Peter and Paul. In addition to the Bible itself, Comestor appears to have made use of Latin versions of Josephus’ Antiquitates and Bellum Judaicum, the various explanatory glosses on the Bible, (pseudo-) Methodius’ Revelationes and St. Jerome’s Latin adaptation of Eusebius’ Xpovixoi xavoves. It may be noted here that there is definite evidence that the work was written before 1176.8 It was stated above that the St. Alban’s compilers make no references to the sources of the earlier parts of their chronicles. 1 Very little is known of his life: but see Patrologia CXCVIII. coll. 145-8; Biographie Générale, s.n. Comestor (Pierre): The Journa of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record, VIII., 90-1; Materialien zur Bibelgeschichie und religidsen Volkskunde des Mittelalters (Vier Bande) . . von Prof. D. Hans Vollmer (Berlin, 1912-29), II., I., xiv-v. *See Moses Gaster, Ilchester Lectures on Greeko-Slavonic Interature... . (London, 1887), Appendix A., pp. 147-208: ‘‘ The Bible Historiale.”’ * The Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record, VIII. 91. 58 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE The editor of the Chronica Maiora (Rolls’ Series) undertook to trace its various paragraphs (even single sentences here and there) to their sources, and confidently embodied his conclusions as marginal references to the supposed authorities. An examina- tion of these references shows that he was of the opinion that great portions of the first half of Paris’ chronicle were derived from the Historia Scholastica, the very work of which Higden, as we have seen, professedly made extensive use. Even as early as 1841 H. O. Coxe referred to Petrus Comestor as one of the authors used by Roger de Wendover : ‘‘'The whole of this (se. ‘ the first part of the Flores Historiarum, extending from the Creation to the birth of the Saviour’)... contains merely an abridged history of the Old Testament, ae the Jews, of the Persians under Cyrus and his successors, and Egypt under the Ptolemies, compiled from Petrus Comestor, 1 Josephus, Methodius, Jerome, and other well-known auth- 29 oritres.”” ? Since this notice first appeared, every scholar who has touched upon one or more of the chronicles that issued from the St. Alban’s scriptorium, has endorsed the statement that Petrus Comestor was the chief source of the first half of the Flores Historiarum and, of course, the Chronica Maiora. Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy and Sir Frederick Madden went beyond this and used this ‘fact’? as an argument to determine the date of composition of the Flores. This point must be referred to some- what in detail, as it will be shown that the argument has only a negative value. It is recorded ? that a copy of the Historia Scholastica was made for St. Alban’s in the time of John de Cella, the twenty- first Abbot. (We know that John de-.Cella was Abbot from 1195 to 12144). From this and the implication contained in the record that this was the first copy of the book that was seen at 1The italics are mine: but the fact that ‘‘ Petrus Comestor’”’ is given the first place in the list suggests that Coxe regarded him as Wendover’s chief source. "Coxe: Op. Cit. ls 1x. 3“* Praenominati insuper Domini Reymundi (i.e. the Prior under John de Cella) industria et licita adquisitione libri nobiles et perutiles seripti sunt et huic ecclesiae collati praecipue Historia Scholastica cum Alegoriis, liber elegantissimus.” (Gesta Abbatum St. Albani (Rolls). I. 233-4). 4Madden, Historia Anglorum, I. xii. PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 59 St. Alban’s, scholars have inferred that Walter, Wendover’s predecessor, cannot have used the Avstoria at all, and that it was later than 1214 that the Flores Historiarum was compiled : ‘‘ Tt is clear from the additions and alterations made by him (sc. Roger de Wendover) that he had access to materials which were unknown to or disregarded by his predecessor. J must eall especial attention to one instance in proof of this remark ee viz. Peter Comestor, whose style is peculiar. His ‘* Historia Scholastica ’’ though frequently used by Wendover, must have been an unexplored source of information to all writers in the Abbey of St. Alban’s before his time. Neither to Walter of St. Alban’s nor to any other compiler there before 1214, could Peter of Comestor’s work have been known, as it was first introduced into the Abbey of St. Alban’s in that year. I mention this fact, as a proof that the “ Flores Historiarum ” was written after that date at St. Alban’s. All this is accepted by the editors of Paris’ Historia Anglorum 2 (Rolls) and Chronica Maiora.2 We quote the following words as they will be shown to be more significant than their author intended them to be: *“‘ As to the compilaticn itself (sc. the Chronica Maiora), it is evident that the compiler followed no fixed law in the way he culled his “flores” ; in most cases, especially in the earlier portion, he follows his authorities word for word; sometimes, however, especially in the case of Comestor, he gives merely an abridgment . .’*4 One naturally asks the question why the compiler chose to give an abridgment of certain parts of the Historia Scholastica rather than make quotations from it as he did from his other sources. The answer to this question will become evident in the remarks that follow. Are we, then, to assume that the Historia Scholastica is the common original text to which we are to trace the passages quoted from the Polychronicon and the Chronica Maiora ? There is no difficulty in proving that this explanation is inadequate. The corresponding passage in the Historia (Lib. Genes. Cap. XLI—II.) is much fuller, and even if we suggest that it was this that Higden summarised, rather than the pertinent parts of the first book of the Bible, as he professes, we are still faced with the question why it should have happened that his synopsis is almost - 1 Hardy, op. cét. III., pref. xliii. Cf. also pref. xxxv. ?* I. xii. 81. xxxi. *Chronica Majora, 1. xli. The italics are mine. 60 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE absolutely identical with the abridgment of the same passage that we find in the Chronica Maiora. The only possible ex- planation is that there must be some text intermediate between the Histcria Scholastica’ and the Chronica Marra (and, of course, the Flores Historiarum). In fact, the St. Alban’s com- pilers appear to have made no direct. use of Comestor’s work. Rather, they made extensive quotations from a widely-circulated mediaeval Latin text which is mainly ! a summary of the Historia Scholastica. It is beyond the scope of this article to deal exhaustively with the text referred to. Only the minimum number of points will be noted here. It was composed by Petrus Pictaviensis (or Pictavinus), Comestor’s successor as Chancellor of the Church of Paris. Manuscript versions of the work, several of which date from the early thirteenth century, have various titles. ? The title we shall use is Promptuarium Bibliae,? as being the most useful and suggestive. This Promptuarium is one amongst a series of texts which contain a summary, in much more con- densed form than that of the various History-Bibles, of the historical books of the Bible from the Creation to the Nativity or a few years later—the Promptuarium, for example, extends as far as the martyrdom of Peter and Paul—and which are known by the general term of Bibliae Pauperum. Arranged in syn- - chronistic and genealogical form it was obviously designed, in the first place, for a roll manuscript although many of the earliest versions that are still extant, are found in codices. Some of these ‘* Bibles of the Poor,” for example, Aurora (Maor), Aurora Minor, Roseum or Rosarivum Bibliae and Index Bibliae, are in metre, while others, such as the Promptuarium Bibhiae and the Biblia Picta are in prose. Those in metre may be described as mnemonic 1The exceptions are a few passages based on the Bible itself, and one other passage which is a strict quotation from Hugo de Sancto Victore’s Ercerptiones, Lib. V.: Patrologia CLX XVII. col. 225. 2 e.g. Arbor geneseos ab Adam usque ad Christum ; Biblia Abbreviata ; Compendium hisioriarum sacre scripture; Haxucerptum Biblie; Geneal- ogia Christi ab Adam; Summa hystorica Biblie. * The Mediaeval Welsh tract mentioned on p. 53 is a translation (with additions) of this. French, German and English versions ave extant. The German text alone has been edited: by Prof. D. Hans Vollmer in Deutsche Buibelau- zuge des Mittelalters zum Stammbaum Christi mit thren lateinischen Vorbildern und Vorlagen (—Bibel und deutsche Kultur I), Potsdam, 1931. pp. 127-88. PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 61 keys to the historical books of the Bible. The majority of these texts, however, both prose and verse, are summaries of the Historia Scholastica, the History-Bible, rather than of the Bible itself. They were all designed primarily for the use of the im- pecunious Mediaeval “ clerk” : “Toutes ces Bibliae pauperum ont pour caractére commun d’étre des résumés mnemoniques et des ouvrages & bon marché, destinés 4 tenir lieu d’une Bible compléte pour les personnes peu fortunés, pauperes, qui n’avaient pas de quoi s’en acheter Tnbale\g Acs Be Résumés de la Bible, concordances et généalogies bibliques, toutes ces Bubliae pauperum devaient étre destinées a des cleres: les pauperes dont i] s’agit sont les pauvres cletcs, qui n’avaient pas de quoi se constituer une ‘librarie’.’’ } Phone are two printed versions of the Promptuarium Bibliae. The first was edited, along with a collection of Sermons, by Huldreich Zwingli in 1592: M. Petri Pictaviensis Gali GHN EALOGIA ET CHRONOLOGIA Sanctorum Patrum, antehac typis non excusa: Quae a Tulio Caesare, usque ad nostra tempora continuata est ab Hulderico Zwinglio Iuniore, Novi Testamenti in Schola Tigurina Pro- WICSSONC Janes ale. Basileae, Per Leonhardum Ostenium, Anno 1592. _ This edition was based on a text transcribed by D. M. Vincentius Prallus from a manuscript written in 1460 (op. cit. p.1.), and which, it is stated, was difficult to read in parts. This edition, however, is of no value as it was based on a late, incomplete and corrupt text. A better version is that edited by Prof. D. Hans Vollmer on pp. 127-87 of his Deutsche Bibelauziige des Mittelalters.2 This text is taken mainly from a manuscript written towards the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century (op. cit. p. 33), though two other MSS. were also consulted (zd. pp. 31-2). ‘This edition too leaves much to be desired: the text is comparatively late and is interpolated by passages from the Historia Scholastica.® 1 Speculum Humanae Salvationis (Texte critique, Traduction inédite de Jean Mielot...... ed. J Lutz et P. Perdrizet. 2 Tomes. Mulhouse, 1907), I. p. 277. Cf. also the words in which Albericus de Tribus Fontibus (d. 1241) refers to Petrus Pictauinus, the author of the Promptuartum: “...... qui pauperibus consulens clericis, excogitavit arbores Historiarum Veteris Testamenti in pellibus depingere.” (Patrologia CCXI. col. 779 sqq). 2 Cf. p. 60 note *. *% The reference in Histoire Inttéraire de la France. . . (Paris, 1733-93) XVI., 487-8 to an edition of the Promptuarium by Dom Bernhard Pez (1683-1735) is apparently incorrect. 62 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE Because of the defects in the printed versions of the Promp- tuarrum such quotations as are made from it below, are taken from the text found in B.M. Royal MS. 8C ix, a manuscript written in the thirteenth century. The references are to the folios of that MS., and in each case the quotations have been punctuated according to modern usage. Now a comparison of the passages quoted at the beginning from the Polychronicon and the Chronica Maiora shows that they are both identical with the corresponding passage in the Promp- tuarvum : ‘* Iste Thare non ualens ferre iniurias s7bz illatas de adorando igne in Caldea, ubi et filium suum primogenitum Aran extinxerant, peregrinatus est cum Abraham et Nachor et familia Aran in Carram Mesopotamiae ubi completis CCV annis mortuus est.”’ (fol. 4a). ; Higden, therefore, did not summarise Genesis, as he professes to have done; neither did the St. Alban’s compiler make a synopsis of certain parts of the Historia Scholastica, as numerous editors have averred. Rather, both historiographers appropriated the passage from the Promptuarium, and Higden concealed his true source with the reference to Genesis. Nor is this the only place where Higden has misled the reader with a wrong reference. Another example is found in the following passage : Petrus, Senecharib, qui et Salmanazar, rex Chaldzorum, devicit Oses (al. Osee, Ozee) regem Israel, Samariamque tribus annis obsessam cepit ; decem quoque tribus, id est septem residuas tribus, captivas transtult in montes Medorum juxta fluvium Gosan (al. Gozan) Giraldus, id est ultra montes Caspios, ubi magnus Alexander inclusit duas immundas gentes, Gog et Magog, quas Antichristus cum venerit, liberabit et educet ; hunc etiam Judaei expectant et Messiam credunt.” (Polychron. Ino. II. Cap. XXXIV: Vol. III. 68-70). Here it is seen that Higden professes that his sources are Berar (Comestor) and Giraldus. The editors of the Polychronicon, however, regard the reference to Giraldus as incorrect.2,_ Never- theless, the very words montes Caspios occur in a similar context in Giraldus Cambrensis’ [tinerarium Kambriae (Rolls’ Ed.) IT. Cap. XVI. (—p. 199) : 1 Sir George F. Warner and Julius P. Gibson, Catalogue of Western MSS. in the Old Royal and King’s Collections (4 Vols. London, British Museum, 1921), I. 236 ff. 2 Polychron. II, 68. PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 63 “Item Alexander Macedo, gentilis, montes Caspios transtulit, et decem tribus intra eorundem promontoria, ubi usque in hodier- num resident, et usque in adventum Heliae et Enoch residebunt, miraculose concludit.”’ It will be agreed, however, that this can hardly have been Hig- den’s true source for the latter part of the passage quoted above. Here again he appears to have made use of the following passage in the Promptuarvum : Hee sunt nomina regum qui post Salomonem regnauerunt super Israel, id est super X tribus, usque ad Salmanasar regem Assir- iorum, qui posuit eas ultra fluuium Gozam ultra montes Medorwum et Persarum, id est ultra Caspios montes. Legitur in Historia Alexandri Macedonis quod in eodem loco duas gentes immundas inclusit Alexander ne tota terra ab eis contaminaretur. Hos autem Antichristus liberabit et inde educet et hunc Judei expectant et credunt esse Messyam.” (fol. 7b). Likewise Higden’s account of Daniel’s fourth and fifth vision suggests direct borrowing from the same text. In this case we will quote only the Prompiuarvum versions : Quartam uisionem uidit sub Baltasar de i1°T uentis, id est angelis, i1° bestiis, leone, urso, pardo, apro, id est iiii° regnis, et x cornibus, id est x regnis, de i114 bestia procedentibus a modico cornu, id est Antichristo, subiciendis, positis in aduentu Christi bestiis interfectis. Quintam uidit visionem sub eodem de ariete habente cornua imparia, id est regno Medorum et Persarum, et hirco, id est Alexandro, in eum etferato ; cui succrescebanét 1111 cornua, id est successores, de quorwm uno modicum cornu, id est Antiocus Epiphanes processit.’’ (fol. 10a). The corresponding passages by Higden will be found in the Polychronicon Inb. III. Cap. I.: Vol. III., pp. 122, 126-8. In spite of this evidence that he borrowed certain passages from the Promptuarium Bibliae, neither in his formal list of sources nor in the course of his work does he make the slightest reference to that text. Indeed, it may be suggested that these echoes of the Promptuarvum that are heard in the Polychronicon, do not necessarily imply that Higden had a copy of it before him when he was writing. We know that he was a monk of Chester, and as such he may very well have made his first acquaintance with the contents of the Bible through the medium of this Bibha Pauperum. We may well believe that he had committed parts of it to memory, so that when he came to condense certain passages of the Historza Scholastica in compiling his Polychronicon, 64 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE it is quite conceivable that, consciously or unconsciously, he wrote down portions of the compendium which he had already stored in his memory. ‘This view is supported by the fact that the echoes of the Prompiuarium in the Polychronicon are not frequent. In addition to those already cited we may refer to the following passages, as being in origin quotations from the same source, though in some of them Higden has added a few phrases of his own: (a) Abram mortuo patre....... dicens Sarai fore sororem ' guam. (Lib. II. Cap. X.: Vol. IT. 286). (b) Roboas...... adherendo juvenibus. (Lib. II. Cap. XXX: Vol. III. 16.) (c) Athalia, mater Azariae..... in pastophoriis. (Lb. If. Cap. XXX.: Vol. III. 26). 7 (d) Osyas, qui et Azarias..... regales hortos oppressit. (Lib. IT. Cap. XXXI.: Vol. III. 30-2). (e) Manasses, filius Ezechiae...... vitam suam correxit. (L7b. II. Cap. XXXV.: Vol. III. 74-6). It would be impracticable to quote all the passages in the Chronica Maiora that have been taken directly and, generally, without the slightest change, from the Promptuarium Bibliae. All the passages that have hitherto been regarded as the compiler’s abridgment of certain parts of Comestor, are really derived from the compendium which lay ready to hand in the form of Petrus Pictaviensis’ Biblia Pawperum. A list of such passages is here appended and since the lines of the Chronica Maiora (Rolls) are unnumbered, we quote the first and last words of each passage. The references are to the pages of the first volume : pp. 1-202) Adam. 0.032 sunt ejecti. Si Adan 2.7. ae maledictus. 3-4: GeneratioCayn ... . perpendit. 5 : De. primis ..: \conresnavit; Inde Vhare. mortuus est (quoted on p. 55). 7.2 liste Nachor’: . HKhud *Buzites; dramas. scilicet Aram fratris sui; Iste Abram..... suffocato Aram .. .suscepit; Abram habuit ... . . . Nabaioth et Cedar. 7-8 : Ex Sara genuit ... ignarus benedixit Jacob. 8 : Esau hispidus . . . pacifice occurrit ; Jacob . . . domum purgavit. PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 65 9 10 12 13 14 22 23 25 27 28 29 30 39 4] 42 77 =e) ) 79 De Job .. . prophetauit ; Ex Rachel ....a sorte hereditatis ; Ex Bala . . . Gad et Aser. DerSuday ie. 3: se liberauit. De quadraginta . . . . Campestria Moab. De Josue . . . in volumine scripsit. Post mortem Josue... . et Jayr xxii annis ; Jeplite ip A eee Sanson xx annis. Datan ... . absorpti; Amram genuit . . . . Boezi; supradictus chore . . . igne diuino. Boezi . . . fractis ceruicibus expirauit ; peperit Samuelem .. . per phitonissam ; fuit autem Be Me aes peperit Samuelem ; Descendit ... rex Saul; Iste Saul . . . Merob et Micol. De genealogia Salvatoris .. . Jericho; Salmon Aetna ee sav, vielolesse) -Delresono David... 3): sibi accivit. Defuncto David . . . maculavit. De regibus Israel . . . a Baasa; Nam ad suasionem Rp ai. audiens, expiravit; regnavit .. sino- dochice. De Regno . . Iste Roboam . . substituit ; leroboam successit . . .dimidiae tribus. Roboam .. . Abia tribus annis; Quo. . Juda. Post praefatum ... Ozias lii annis; et post eum Joathan . . . ab aliis Turris gregis. In eodem Sedechia . . . sunt annotati. De Sacerdotibus . . . . Seraias, Josedec. Abiud, cujus ... oe induxit ; Linea Salvatoris . . . . Melchisedech. Et notandum quod . . . matrem Domini. In Nadition to the passages noted above, numerous sentences and disconnected phrases are really derived from the same source. We pass them by, however, as there would be no real purpose in referring to them. ‘To sum up, it may be said that almost all the Biblical history in the Chronica Maiora and, therefore, ‘the Flores Historiarum was taken with hardly a change from Petrus Pictaviensis’ compendium of the Historia Scholastica. Many passages in Chronica Maiora I which the Rolls’ editor 66 PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 4 regarded as “ additions of the compiler,” are not such in reality. It is said, for example, that “the Linea Salvatoris is the com- piler’s own ” because that element is not found, as such, in the Historia Scholastica, but in the Promptuarium the Linea Christi is the centre genealogical line to which all the other lineae are really subordinate. Lastly, it may be noted that the passages quoted from the Promptuarvum have been divested of their original genealogical garb although some traces of it are still visible. ; It remains to’be considered whether the fact that the Promptu- arium, and not the Historia Scholastica, is the main source of the Biblical passages in Flores Historvarum I., in any way affects the argument that has been brought forward to date the composition of that work. In the first place, it may be noted that since the Promptuaritum is a compendium of Comestor’s Historia, both texts are often found next to each other in the same manuscript. They accompany each other, for example, in Corp. Chr. Coll. Camb. MS. 29,1 Edin. Univ. Libr. MS. 18,2 Bodl. Laud. Misc. MSS. 151 and 270,°, Koénigl. Bibl. Berl. Lat. MSS. 863 and 864.4. If, therefore, one could show that the copy of the Historia Scholastica which came to St. Alban’s when John de Cella was Abbot,®> was accompanied by a version of the Promptuarium, the argument would still be valid. Fortunately that very manu- script is still extant: it is B.M. Royal MS 4D. vii,® and it does not contain a version of the text which formed the chief source of the first book of the Llores. We know that Petrus Pictaviensis died in 1205,* and all we can say is that the Promptuarium is anterior to that date. We have no real evidence to prove when it became known in England, 1M. R. James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the MSS. in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (2 vols. Cambridge, 1912) I. p. 60. 2 Catherine R. Borland, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Western Mediaeval MSS. in the Hdinburgh University Inbrary (Edinburgh, 1916) pp. 23-4. 3 Coxe, Catalogus Codicum MSS. Laudianorum...... 1858. 4Valentin Rose, Verzeichnis der lateinischen Handschriften der kénigl- ichen Bibliothek zu Berlin. Band II. (1901-5), Pt. 3, pp. 1016, 1018-20. ° Cf p. 58. 6 Sir G. F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson, op. cit. I. p. 90. Cf. Chronica Majora, I. p. xxxiv, note! ; Historia Anglorum , I. p. xii, note. 7 Migne, Patrologia, CCXI., col. 779 sqq. PROMPTUARIUM BIBLIAE AND ITS INFLUENCE 67 b) although versions dated “ early xuith century ”’ are extant in the British Museum, Oxford and Cambridge. The Promptuarium, however, was so much more “ popular” than the Historia Schol- astica, and so much more limited in compass, that the former work may have become known to Wendover earlier than the latter. It must at the same time be remembered that its date of composition is later. Indeed, Wendover may well have seen copies of it before his arrival at St. Alban’s in 1230, and until we obtain more information than we possess at present concerning the nature of the compilation attributed to Walter, it may be suggested that he may have begun his Flores Historiarum before that date at Belvoir. At any rate, the arrival of a copy of the Historia Scholastica at St. Alban’s in the time of John de Cella has no bearing whatever on the date of composition of the Flores, as it has been shown above that, contrary to the view hitherto accepted, Wendover made no direct use of Comestor’s work. THOMAS JONES. WILLIAM DE VALENCE.* VI. WILLIAM DE VALENCE AND THE HKARLDOM OF PEMBROKE. In the study of William de Valence one cannot neglect the interesting question whether he was ever formally created Earl of Pembroke or not. So much doubt exists in the matter, and so many rash statements have been made, especially by com- pilers of lists of the English Baronage, that it is profitable to collect the various views which have been expressed, and after examining the evidence judicially, to express a guarded opinion. The question is undoubtedly the most difficult of those raised by the life of William de Valence. Doyle in his “ Official Baronage”’ says boldly, quoting the Treasury Roll, that William was created Earl of Pembroke “before 29 September, 1251.1 Dugdale, relying on Matthew Paris, says that at the battle of Lewes “this William” was “then called Karl of Pembroke and not before for aught I have seen.’’? Nicolas states that “in 1258 when banished by the Parliament of Oxford he was certainly not possessed of the Earldom which was probably conferrred on him between 1262 and 1264.’% This view apparently rests merely on the fact that while Matthew Paris, whose chronicle ends in 1259, calls him William de Valence only, the continuation of the chronicle calls him Earl of Pembroke at the battle of Lewes. Clark merely calls him William de Valence up to 1285, and after that Earl of Pembroke.* G. W. Watson is more guarded and acknow- ledges the difficulty of solving the problem. He says “I have wholly failed to satisfy myself as to the date when William de Valence obtained the title of the Earl of Pembroke.’’> The first 1 Doyle: Official Baronage iii. p. 9. 2 Dugdale: Baronage, i. p. 775. 8 Nicolas : Historic Peerage, p. 376. 4 Arch. Camb. ill. vi. pp. 266 seq. 5G. W. Watson, quoted in Cokayne, Complete Peerage, vi. p. 206. *The first Part of this Article appeared in Volume XIII. of Aber- ystwyth Studies. 69 70 WILLIAM DE VALENCE authentic document in which Mr. Watson finds the title occurring is in a charter of Edward I. first Parliament (1275) in which as Earl of Pembroke, William agreed to the grant of the custom of wool. But from 1276 to 1287 in Parliamentary writs the title is again dropped. It is this diversity of title which makes the problem difficult. If we take various examples haphazardly the difficulty can be seen more clearly. In the Fine Roll of 1292, he is called merely William de Valence.1 In writs of inquisition of 1268 and 1272, he is called Sir William de Valence.2. In the Gascon Rolls of Edward I. he is invariably referred to as “ dilectus patruus, Willelmus de Valencia’’.2 From the chroniclers William hardly ever receives the title of Earl of Pembroke. The continuator of Florence of Worcester writing of the year 1266 calls William’s brother-in-law, Earl Warenne, but refers to William himself as plain William de Valence.* Matthew Paris does not use the title. The Annales Monastici call him Willelmus de Valencia to the day of his death. One curious point must be noted. After William’s death, the instructions to the English escheators refer to the owner of the lands as William de Valence, but to the escheator in Ireland he is called Karl of Pembroke. This may, however, be the result of official uncertainty. We cannot do better than to find out what William de Valence called himself. There are three well-known letters written by him. In the first sent to his wife at Winchester in 1267, written in French, William signs himself “seignur de Penbroc.”? A second letter written about 1272 to the Chancellor, Richard of — Middleton, is in Latin, and William calls himself ‘‘ Dominus Penbrochiae.”® In the third, which is in French again and written from Aberystwyth, William uses the same title as in the first letter, namely, “seignur de Penbroc.”® If we add to these the fact that the Inquisitions concerning William’s lands 1 Calendar of Fine Rolls (1292) p. 314, ete. 2 Calendar of Inquisitions. Post Mortem, i. pp. 719, 862. 3’ Roles Gascons, ii. p. 348, ete. 4Chronicon Florentir Wigorniensis, sub anno. 5 Annals of Dunstable, iii. p. 452, ete. ® Calendar of Inquisitions. Post Mortem. iii. p. 220. * Royal Letters, ii. p. 311. 8 English Historical Review, XIV. pp. 506-507. ®° Royal Letters, ii. p. 345. WILLIAM DE VALENCE ah after his death do not mention the Pembrokeshire lands, although taking into account William’s other possessions, the way seems a little clearer.1 It seems probable from William’s letters that he never regarded himself as “ Earl.” He is ‘“ dominus,” or “seignur”’ or “lord” of the lands in virtue of his wife’s ownership, but since she owned them as Countess in her own right, he was never created Earl. We know that Joan was a strong and capable woman, and perfectly competent to occupy the position of Countess by right. This point of view seems to be confirmed also by a similar diversity of style with regard to William’s son, Aymer, who succeeded him. Although in Parliamentary writs he is some- times included among the counts and at other times among the barons, he is never given the title of Earl of Pembroke until 1307, but after this date he always receives the title. Since his mother, Joan de Montchesny died in 1307, it would appear that whilst she was alive neither William de Valence nor his son Aymer was really allowed the title. Other evidence points to this view as being probably correct.. Until her death, Joan held the lands of Pembroke, Goderich and Wexford, besides other lands in Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Cam- bridgeshire.2 And on her death these lands passed to her son, Aymer, together with the title of Earl of Pembroke. L. O. Pike affords further confirmation of the fact that the descent of the Karldom depended on possession of the lands of Pembroke. He remarks that Pembroke, an Earldom Palatine, like Chester, descended on a different system of inheritance. “It is evident’ he says, “ that the descent of the earldom was associated according to the prevalent ideas with the inheritance of the lands. The inheritance of Aymer de Valence, Palatine Earl of Pembroke, devolved upon his sisters to be divided be- tween them and their heirs in due proportion:’ Aymer died in 1323 and for a time the earldom was vacant.* Pike continues : ‘““ Nothing appears to have been done with regard to the earldom immediately, but Lawrence de Hastings who continued to part of the inheritance as descendant of the eldest sister was held 1 Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem ii. p. 220. * Dugdale, Baronage, i. 776. ~3L. O. Pike: Constitutional History of the House of Lords, pp. 66 seq. 4Nicolas: Historic Peerage, p. 376. 72 WILLIAM DE VALENCE by the lawyers to be entitled to the ‘ prerogative and honour of Earl Palatine in the lands which he holds of the inheritance of the said Aymer, as fully and in the same manner as Aymer had and held them at the time of his decease’. It was clearly in virtue of this part of the inheritance that his claim to the earldom was recognised”. We note here that Lawrence de Hastings, unlike William de Valence, appears to have held the lands in his own right and not through his wife. Again in the reign of Henry V. and Henry VI. we find the Harldom of Pembroke still associated with the possession of the lands of the county.! It can probably be asserted, therefore, with some degree of certainty that William de Valence was never formally created Earl of Pembroke. It is indeed possible that Henry III. deemed it wiser not to give William the title, or he may have made an agreement with Warin de Montchesny to refrain from doing so. While royal grants of manors and sums of money might be forgotten, the title of earl conferred on a young foreigner would rankle in the minds of the native baronage. The Earldom Palatine of Pembroke was far more important than the Earldom of Warwick. Henry may have profited, too, by the opposition to Aymer as Bishop-elect of Winchester. William, however, by virtue of the position of importance which he held in the kingdom would naturally be called ‘“ Earl ” by many people either as a courtesy title or to gratify the King’s uncle. The chroniclers who write of the years before 1258, and who, one and all, hate William de Valence, obviously will not give him the title. But in the reign of Edward I., when William had become a valued agent of the Crown, and his loyalty to England was no longer in question, he was increasingly called Earl of Pembroke from courtesy. The fact that William de Valence was the King’s uncle, however, probably militated against the general acceptance of the title, for Edward was content to call him by the more affectionate style “ dilectus patruus.” If William had merely been a great councillor and not a relative of the King, Edward might have used the courtesy title, Earl of Pembroke, and others would have followed his example. 1 Pike: Constitutional History of the House of Lords, p. 79. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 73 Vil. WILLIAM DE VALENCE AND THE SUBJUGATION OF WALES. It has been shown that Llewelyn alone of the allies of Simon gained anything from the Barons’ Wars. Although it is pro- bable that Edward could have crushed Llewelyn after the Battle of Evesham', the King perhaps fearing an alliance between Llewelyn and Gloucester, preferred to sign the Treaty of Shrews- bury and leave the Welsh Prince in possession of vastly increased lands. A map of Wales in the thirteenth century reveals how much Llewelyn gained. Briefly, by the Treaty of Shrewsbury, Llewelyn obtained the lands of Brecon and Gwrthennion, Whittington, Kerry, Kedeivein, the four Cantreds of Perfedd- wlad and possibly Abergavenny. But above all he was re- cognised as Prince of Wales and overlord of all the Welsh magnates except Maredudd of Rhys. On his side, Llewelyn promised to pay Henry 25,000 marks. If Edward thought that a paper sanction could bring peace to Wales and the March, he was soon to be disillusioned. Llewelyn had obtained a taste of power, and ever ambitious, he determined to extend his sway further, whilst the wild Marchers had no intention of settling down to peace under the conditions of the Treaty of Shrewsbury. They had fought with the ultimate aim of increasing their territories and not of losing some of their lands to their enemy, Llewelyn. Moreover in many details the peace provided a very inadequate solution of pressing pro- blems. Both Llewelyn and the Marchers were guilty of acts of injustice. The records of the time reveal many cases of the Marchers’ continuing to rule over lands which now had been ceded to Llewelyn. Indeed Llewelyn himself was so elated by his success “ that he did not realise the limitations of his power and embarked on that career of ambition which in ten years was to bring him to ruin.’ Llewelyn forthwith started on his progressive career of “vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.””. In 1272, he decided 1Tout: Wales and the March, p. 123. Most of the material for this chapter has been worked out in four books. There is a brief account in Tout: Political History of England, 1216-1377. More detailed accounts are: J. E. Morris: The Welsh Wars of Edward I. J. E. Lloyd: A History of Wales, Vol. ii. ; and T. F. Tout: Wales and the March during the Barons’ Wars in Owens College Historical Essays, pp. 76-136. * Tout: Wales and the March, pp. 133-4. 74 WILLIAM DE VALENCE that he would pay no more of the money which he owed to Henry III. He next proceeded to claim the hand of Simon de Montfort’s daughter. Finally he refused to appear at Shrews- bury or Chester to do homage to Edward I. These acts were naturally regarded by Edward as a casus belli, and in 1277 war broke out. But Llewelyn could no longer claim the loyalty of all Wales as he had during the Barons’ War, and he was unable to prolong his resistance as formerly. Only the Four Cantreds were really loyal to Llewelyn. In the war of 1277, the English forces were concentrated in two armies. First Edward himself made the main attack from the Palatine Earldom of Chester. Then there was a second army under Edmund and William de Valence operating from the other Palatine Earldom of Pembroke. Llewelyn was forced backward and confined in the Snowdon country where, his exits having been blocked, he was forced to submit (November 9, 1277). Previous to Llewelyn’s submission, however, William de Valence and Edmund marched northward with very little opposition, proceeded through the valley of the Aeron and occupied Aberystwyth (July 25, 1277). The foundations of the “noble” castle of Aberystwyth were immediately laid. It has often been stated! that Edmund, the King’s brother, built this castle, but according to the ‘ Brut y Tywysogion”’ Edmund came to Llanbadarn on the feast of St. James the Apostle and left on the eve of St. Matthew for England.2 This represents a period of under two months. The castle was to be stoutly built in contrast to the previous flimsy structure on the spot,3 for it was intended to be the new base of English ascendancy beyond the Aeron.* It is impossible that much more than the foundations of such a castle could be laid in less than two months. After Edmund left, Roger Myles had charge of building opera- tions for a time.’ He was soon replaced by the Earl of Lincoln,® but the latter did not retain superintendence for long, and le.g. T. O. Morgan: Aberystwyth Castle. 2 Brut y Tywysogion, p. 369. 3 Professor EK. A. Lewis: The Castle of Aberystwyth. 4J.E. Morris: Welsh Wars of Edward I., p. 146. 5 Brut y Tywysogion, p. 369. 6 Pipe Roll, 6 Ed. I. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 75 William de Valence took charge.t It is highly probable that William de Valence brought the building of the castle to com- pletion. A letter written by William to Henry de Bray at Abergavenny makes this supposition feasible. William urgently demands money lest the masons should depart before the castle ‘is completed.* The letter reveals the part taken by William de Valence in the building of the castle of Aberystwyth, and it also gives some indication of the position of importance held by William de Valence in Wales during these years. In 1282 this castle was partly destroyed by Gruffydd of Meredudd and Rhys of Maelgwyn, but William sent the latter to Edward I. as a prisoner. He was pardoned and later helped Edward in the war.? Edward I. caused Aberystwyth castle to be repaired, and it remained in royal hands until the time of Owen Glyndwr. William did not play a great part in the defeat of Llewelyn in 1277, but his connexion with the castle of Aberystwyth is ex- tremely interesting. Though William played no part in the fighting against Llewelyn himself, it was the very fact that Edward had a strong ally in the south-west that caused Llewelyn to be hemmed in. Llewelyn could not march southward and Snowdonia was the only refuge left to him. The double advance of English arms westward and northward made the rebellion of 1277 a matter of months instead of years. If we hypothetically interchange the alliance, it is easy to infer what would have occurred if William had been an ally of Llewelyn. West Wales would have presented a solid front against Edward’s advance, and the great Prince, therefore, could not have massed his army and turn the enemy on a narrow front. The Marchers had foreseen before 1258 the danger even to themselves if Edward had advanced from Chester and William from Pembroke. Even more precarious was the position of Llewelyn, for the King and his uncle could march as if along two sides of a triangle to their point of convergence in the Snowdon country. From now until 1290, William de Valence, together with Robert de ‘Tibotot, 1J. EK. Morris: Welsh Wars of Edward I. 29. E. Morris: Welsh Wars of Edward I. ® Hnglish Historical Review, XIV. pp. 506-7, 76 WILLIAM DE VALENCE was the most conspicuous figure of the English ascendancy in South Wales.? By the Treaty of Aberconway signed in 1277, Llewelyn was reduced to his former position of a mere chieftain in North Wales. The Welsh in the ceded districts, however, found the next five years of English rule irksome, and Edward’s bailiffs and agents were often oppressive. Llewelyn and David, too, were still ambitious of recovering their old position, and they planned a rebellion in great secrecy. In 1282, David took Hawarden castle whilst Llewelyn attacked Flint and Rhuddlan. David then marched south and was immediately jomed by the local lords in Cardigan and the Vale of Towy. He soon captured the castles of the Upper Towy and then marched into Cardigan- shire and took Aberystwyth. 3 Earl Richard of Gloucester was, therefore, commissioned by the King to undertake the reconquest of the Vale of Towy. But Richard allowed himself to be attacked unexpectedly by the Welsh at Llandilo (1282),—where William le Jeune, son of William de Valence was slain,—and withdrew to Caermarthen. Edward I. would not tolerate the weakness of Richard, and William who had seen considerable military service in South Wales, and who knew the district far better, was appointed as commander of the English forces. He immediately brought success to the English arms. William’s clever generalship and his excellent co-operation with Robert de Tibotot, the justiciar, made this success certain. Robert’s financing and organisation of the forces under William represent a masterpiece of efficiency. Tibotot supplied and paid the soldiers, and William used them to the best military advantage. Further, the loss of his son inflamed William de Valence with a desire to avenge his son’s death, by crushing the Welsh. So William marched north to Aberystwyth after having forcibly pacified Cardiganshire. He does not appear to have remained in Aberystwyth but returned to Cardigan. At the beginning of 1283, however, there was a new rising in Cardiganshire, so William raised another force and crushed this second revolt with ease. He then marched along the coast t¢bid. p. 137. See ibid. pp. 149-204 for the events recounted in the rest of this chapter. WILLIAM DE VALENCE Ha to Aberystwyth and took command of the castle which had been partly destroyed. By this time Cardiganshire was thoroughly subdued by William, for there was no further fighting south of Merionethshire. After leaving Roger de Mortimer in charge of Aberystwyth castle, William raised an army of about 1,000 foot in Llanbadarn, and marched further north in search of David, who was still at large. David temporarily made his headquarters at the castle of Bere in Merionethshire. Roger L’Estrange was the first to move towards Bere, but he was soon joined by William de Valence who took command of the siege operations. So successful was he that the castle submitted after a siege of ten days, but David had already escaped. Now that his last stronghold was gone, the end was near for David, and two months later he was captured, soon to be executed as a traitor. In the meantime Llewelyn had been killed, and Wales, left without a leader, was forced to submit completely to Edward I. It has been necessary to describe the conquest of Wales in some detail because, otherwise, it would be difficult to evaluate exactly the part played by William de Valence in crushing the two Welsh rebellions. It is curious that although William did not fight against Llewelyn, he probably did more than any man except Edward I. to effect the conquest of Wales. Edward now began the settlement of Wales and his systematic policy of castle-building. The Statute of Wales was passed in 1284, and in the same year Edward began a royal progress through Wales, starting from Flint. William de Valence ac- companied him, no doubt with considerable pride in his share of the military campaign which had enabled his royal nephew to conquer the country. First, he had given his unswerving © loyalty to Edward. There was no repetition of the policy of Gloucester and Leicester before 1258, when Llewelyn had been allowed to have his own way, Secondly, William’s county of Pembroke had provided the English arms with a most valuable base in West Wales. Thirdly, William had given the benefit of his military skill to Edward. For a proof of this skill, one has only to compare him as a commander with Richard of ‘Gloucester and study the admirable co-operation of William with Robert de Tibotot. Fourthly, William in the years of 78 WILLIAM DE VALENCE peace had established his power, both inside the border of his own county and outside its borders, so he was easily able to crush the rebellions in Cardiganshire and prevent their spreading. And finally in the brief period of ten days he took the castle of Bere and left David without a stronghold, to enjoy but two months more of precarious liberty. One last fact concerning William and Wales remains to be noted. In the last Welsh rising of 1294, William was again in command of the English forces with the Earl of Norfolk. Few details of the fighting are known, but the rising soon collapsed. VIII. THe Later History or WILLIAM DE VALENCE. (1266-1296). The later years of William de Valence do not arouse the same interest as his earlier years when he was in the centre of the struggle between the King and the barons. He had now settled down to be a good Englishman, and like Charles II. he seemed resolved not to go on his travels again. ‘There are few evil deeds to record of William. He was still unscrupulous and ready even ‘to make a bastard of his own niece to obtain her lands; but he was not the old lawless William. In the words of the chronicler, after 1265 he was ‘satis fidelis regno Angliae.” 1 ; The earlier years of the reign of Edward I. are years of unpre- eedented legislative activity. Despite the fact that he was a member of the King’s Council, William de Valence was not a statesman. William undoubtedly did good work for his nephew in Wales and elsewhere, but since the main interest of the time ~ lies in the innovations caused by Edward’s legislation, the account of William’s life after 1266 becomes less interesting than the account of that exciting decade from 1256 to 1266 when he was one of those who were proscribed by the barons. After the battle of Evesham, William received back all his lands, and also some additional grants of territory to reward him for his services to the King. For instance he immediately received the lands of his brother-in-law, William de Montchesny, who had been a prominent rebel. We read of Montchesny appear- ing at the Chancery and “recognising ”’ that he was bound to pay two thousand marks to William de Valence to receive back 1 Annales Monastict ili. p.452. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 08 his lands.1 Apparently Montchesny paid the money, for in February, 1267, he was pardoned by the King? and later re- ceived back his lands.?. William de Valence, however, received permanent grants of land in Northumberland, in Essex, and half the lands in Ixninge, Suffolk, and Claydon, Kent.* In March, 1268, he also received the manors of Cherdesle, Policot, Passewyk, and Reydon.® In 1269, William with John de Warenne and Henry of Almain went surety for the Earl of Derby who had rebelled twice against Henry III. Derby promised £50,000 to Edmund in redemption of his lands, but he was unable to pay this sum, and William and the other bailsmen handed the lands over to Edmund. ° In 1268, Edward had taken the Crusader’s oath.’ William who had taken the oath previously in 1250 now renewed his vows, and sailed to the Holy Land with Edward on the 20th August, 1270.8 Little is known of William’s activities in the Holy Land, and it has even been suggested that William never accompanied his nephew, but this statement is unsubstantiated. William re- turned to London on the 11th January, 1273, a little earlier than Edward ° and brought with him various relics which were later given to Westminister Abbey. 1° William, during the reign of Edward I. attempted to strengthen his power in Pembroke and to gain some sort of supremacy over the other Marchers."' Various royal grants and a fortunate marriage helped him in his plans. The castle and land of Cil- gerran had passed on the death of Anselm in 1245 to Eva, wife 1H. F. Jacob: Studies in the Period of Baronial Reform and Rebellion, p. 188 n. 2 Calendar of Patent Rolls (1266-1272), p. 161. 3 ibid. p. 181. 4 Calendar of Charter Rolls (1275-1300), p. 84. 5 abid. p 92. 6 Jacob : Studies in the Period of Baronial Reform and Rebellion, pp. 217-218. * Annals of Winchester, p. 109. 8 Shirley : Royal Letters, ii. p. 345. ® Liber de Antiquis Legibus, p. 156. 109 Testamenta Vetusta, 1. 100. 11 The old lordship of Haverford was favoured by the crown as a check on the power of the Earls of Pembroke, a power which was much ‘increased by William de Valence ; Owen: Old Pembrokeshire Families, p. 40. 80 WILLIAM DE VALENCE of William de Braose, and then to George de Cantilupe. On the death of George de Cantilupe, however, in 1272 the castle and lands passed to the King who first appointed Henry de Bray as constable, then transferred the castle to Nicholas, son of Martin of Kemes, and finally, in 1275, gave the castle to William de Valence, together with the lands of St. Clears which were to be held by the King in capite.! William’s attempt to extend his power was not relished by the other lords. As he himself was of a litigious temperament, and the neighbouring Marchers resorted to law to put a check on William’s increasing power, the records of the time are full of various cases concerned with possession of land and jurisdiction.? These long and tiresome cases reveal nothing but an attempt at the seizure of small portions of land by all the parties concerned. William’s chief opponents in these cases are Isabel Marshall, William Martin of Kemes, and Queen Eleanor. In particular, one question at issue between William and Eleanor dragged out until after the Queen’s death. ? In this case, however, William de Valence was probably in the right. The Queen, who owned the barony of Haverford, appointed as her agent the notorious Hugh de Cressingham, who was universally hated. He later fell in battle against the Scots, and to celebrate his death, Robert Bruce had a belt made from his skin. Hugh exceeded his powers as steward, and quickly came into conflict with William de Valence. So various commissions were sent to Haverford to restrain Hugh, and to ensure that the men of Haverford should do suit of court in Pembroke. 4 William de Valence was also very interested in any minors with whom he might claim relationship. Throughout his life of fifty years in England, a very large number of young men were under William’s custody at various times. At this time, John de Hastings, the great great-grandson of Eva de Braose, one of the co-heiresses of Joan, was a minor. He was also lord of Aber- gavenny, and William cast longing eyes on the rich lands of that area, now named Monmouthshire. So in 1275, William went to 1 Rot. Orig. Curia Scacce. 3. Ed. I. Rot. 14 see J. R. Phillips, A History of Cilgerran. 2e.9. Rotult Parliamentorum. i 16-17, 30, 35, 38, 69, 84. 3 Calendar of Patent Rolls. (1292-1301), p. 114. 4 ibid. (1281-1292), pp. 330-331, etc. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 81 the length of obtaining a Papal Dispensation for the marriage of the young John de Hastings who was only thirteen at this time, with his own daughter, Isabel.1 William seems to have been very successful with the Popes of the time. Gregory X. gave him this dispensation, and later, Nicholas III. took William’s side in the case of Dionysia. After the marriage of John and Isabel, William held the lands of Abergavenny at farm, and in 1282, for the last year of John’s minority, he received the custody of Abergavenny.” In these years William received many other grants of a similar kind. One of the most noteworthy was the grant in November, 1295, of the marriage of the heirs of Philip Burnel, tenant-in-chief,? which grant William apparently sold later to Hugh le Despenser.*. So many of William’s acts of lawlessness have to be recounted, that it is pleasing to find some definitely good work done by him. William appears to have taken a special interest in the town of Tenby. He and his wife gave to Tenby a charter which is cited in Queen Elizabeth’s confirmation, and by which the burgesses of the town were exempted from stallage, toll, lastage, murage, and portage. Again, some time after 1280, William and Joan founded a hospitium for the poor, both laity and clerks in the town.® Apparently this hospitium was endowed with a con- siderable amount of lands, for by an inquisition of the reign of Henry IV. we find that the burgesses, jealous of the extent of lands belonging to the hospitium, had taken part of them for their own benefit “to show the heavens more just.’’® It has also been stated that William enclosed the towns of Pembroke and Tenby with walls.7 ‘This argument rests on the similarity between the walls of Carnarvon and Tenby. Carnarvon was enclosed in the fourth year of Edward I. and at this time Tenby was part of the lands of William de Valence. Both, too, are Bastides. ® William did not show the same consideration to- 1 Calendar of Papal Letters (1198-1304), p. 450. 2 Calendar of Patent Rolls (1281-1292), p. 30. 3abid. (1292-1301), p. 167. 4 ibid. p. 179. 5 Calendar of Papal Letters (1198-1304), p. 503. 6 Quoted in Edmund Laws: ILtile England beyond Wales. 7 Mr. Hartshorne: Cambrian Journal, 1860. 8 See Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Vol. iv. pp. 26-57. I am indebted to Mr. E. G. Bowen, M.A., for information on this subject. 82 WILLIAM DE VALENCE wards Haverfordwest, for at a later date he despoiled the town and kept it so until 1284. 1 William de Valence was able to render great assistance to Edward in France for, as we know, William was a soldier of no mean repute. In 1273, the citizens of Limoges rose against Marguerite, the Viscountess of the surrounding lands who, they claimed, oppressed them unfairly. The matter was discussed on appeal, but “le Parlement rendit ... .un arret par lequel il accordait la justice de la ville a la vicomtesse quoique les bour- geois eussent déclaré quils n’étaient pas ses hommes mais ceux du roi.2 The King of France influenced by Giraut de Maumont enraged the burgesses further by demanding that they should give up all their prisoners, but said nothing of the prisoners taken by Marguerite. So the citizens sought an English alliance, and William de Valence arrived with letters from Edward. At a magnificent ceremony in the Abbey of Saint-Martial, the in- habitants of Limoges swore fealty to William as representative of the English King.* As a result of William’s coming, Philip III. took a more generous view of the matter. But the old causes of friction soon revived, and in 1274, William again came to the protection of the citizens of Limoges. He was helped by two hundred English knights and they immediately besieged the castle of Aixe which belonged to the Viscountess Marguerite. It appeared that war was going to break out,- “ C’était une guerre Anglaise qui commengait lorsqu’un courrier du roi de France apporta Vordre de suspendre toute violence, assignant les partis a comparaitre au parlement prochain pour y voir terminer leur proces (24 Juillet).”’ 4 William was again conspicuous in 1279 when he was sent as a plenipotentiary to Philip III. concerning the negotiation of the Treaty of Amiens. ° At this Treaty, which was the complement of the Treaty of Paris signed twenty years earlier, Phillip III. ceded to Edward I. the Agenais, whilst Eleanor of Castile was allowed to take possession of Abbeville and Ponthieu which she had recently inherited. ®° The commissioners of the French King 1 Annales Cambriae, p. 108. 2Ch-V. Langlois: Philippe le Hardi, p. 74. 8 ¢bid. 4Langlois: Philippe le Hardt, p. 88. 5 Réles Gascons li. 314, 315. 6 Lavisse: Histoire de France, i. 2. p. 109. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 83 actually handed over the Agenais to William as representative of Edward I. in June, 1279.1; and William remained in France for a time as Seneschal of the Agenais. Both English and French now had new boundaries to fortify, and “de 1279 a la fin du XIilieme siecle Anglais et Francais construisirent le long des nouvelles limites établies par le traité d’Amiens, un reseau de pistes fortifies, tres solides, de construction uniforme dont beau- coup existent encore.’ * Since one of these new bastides was called Valence d’Agen, we are justified in thinking that William played a part in inaugurating the work described by Lavisse. William, however, did not remain in the Agenais the whole time, for in the same year, 1279, he was sent to bring pressure to bear on Alfonso of Castile to sign peace with France. The quarrel between Alfonso of Castile and Philip III. of France had arisen in connection with the succession to the throne of Castile. The Cortes of Castile had declared Sancho, Alfonso’s second son, as heir on the death of his elder brother, Ferdinand. Edward I. was always interested in the affairs of Spain, first because his wife, Eleanor, was a Castilian, and secondly because Jeanne of Castile had been betrothed to his son Henry who died in 1274. 3 Mr. Cecil Jane has even suggested that Edward I. was influenced by the model of the Castilian Cortes in summoning his own English Parliament. So now in 1279, he sent William de Valence to negotiate between Alfonso who supported the claim of Sancho, and Philip Ill. who favoured his own nephews, the Infantas of the Cerda. William was successful in his mission for Alfonso consented to sign a truce under his pressure (26 November, 1279).* The French King obtained nothing from the affair. For his expenses incurred in Gascony, William received various grants of money from Edward I. In 1279, William de Valence had been a very active man; the number of letters which pass between Edward, Philip and William reveal this, and the char- acter of the letters shows what a trusted agent of the Crown William was. So in June, 1279, William was given £1,000, > in November, 1279, 200 marks, ® whilst in July, 1280, the constable 1 Langlois, Philippe le Hardi, p. 219, Foedera i. p. 574. * Lavisse: Histoire de France, iii. 2. p. 109. 3 J. H. Ramsay: Dawn of the Constitution, p. 353. 4 Foedera 1. 375-6. 5 Réles Gascons, ii. 348. 6 4bid.. 11. 252 84 WILLIAM DE VALENCE of Bordeaux was ordered to give him £500.1 William also still received his annual sum of £500 from the Exchequer which had first been granted to him by Henry III. In these years, however, it had not been paid regularly, and in 1283, Edward had to make up arrears amounting to £1,125 6s 14d.? William’s wealth was as useful to Edward as it had been to Henry, and he frequently lent money to the King. In 1291, William granted to the King a fifteenth of the movables of his men and tenants in Ireland, but care was taken that this should not become a precedent. 4 In 1282 William lost his son and heir; William, known as ‘le jeune’ was entrapped by the Welsh in “angusta via ”’ and slain. ® The next heir was Aymer who eventually succeeded William. On June 4th, 1285, William de Valence was appointed Regent of England whilst Edward was away in France. It has been stated ® that William occupied this position until 1287 when Edward returned, but it would appear that William was in France in 1286 and 1287.7 Whether William remained in England or not, however, the fact that William was able to exercise authority for two years during the King’s absence is no less a testimony to the truth that the old hatred and jealousy of William had vanished, than to the settled state of the country which the wise rule of Edward had produced. In these later times it is not William who invades the lands of his neighbour, but we find men detained in prison for trespassing on William’s lands. ° One of the most interesting events connected with William’s later life is the case of Dionysia. In itself it is merely a rather sordid attempt on the part of William and his Countess Joan to bastardise their niece in order to seize her lands, and the whole matter reflects great discredit on their grasping methods. This ease, too, raises interesting questions with regard to the re- spective jurisdictions of the law of England and the Canon Law 1 ibid. ii. 392. 7% Calendar of Close Rolls, p. 247. 3 e.g. Close Roll, 16th December, 1283. Printed in Cymrodorion. Record Serves, VII. 4 Calendar of Patent Rolls (1281-1292), p. 447. 5 Annales Cestrienses, p. 108. 6 Arch. Camb. ii. vi. p. 270. ? Calendar of Patent Rolls (1281-1292). 8 e.g. Calendar of Fine Rolls 1292. pp. 314-315. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 85 of the Church. Briefly the case is as follows. The death oc- curred in 1289 of William de Montchesny, the brother of Joan. William and his wife petitioned Parhament in 1290 that they had received a bull from the Pope concerning the Montchesny lands. They, therefore, asked that the King should commit the tuition of Dionysia into the hands of some person who might appear before the Archbishop and such other judges named in the bull. It was answered in Parliament that such cases of hereditary succession should only be determined in the King’s courts, and that they should first commence by virtue of the King’s special writ, and then, if need required it, be transferred to the ecclesiastical courts. ““ Wherefore for as much as it did appear that the aim of this William and Joane, his wife, was to invalidate the sentence of the Bishop of Worcester !_ which. had declared the said Dionysia to be legitimate, and that their desire was to make her a bastard to the end that they might enjoy the estate they were inhibited to prosecute their appeal any further.” ? Nothing dismayed at this, William renewed his claim in the same Parliament, still pretending that Dionysia was illegitimate. The matter was thoroughly discussed and finally it was decided that since William de Montchesny had always admitted his daughter to be legitimate, and since the Bishop of Worcester in whose diocese she was born had pronounced sentence to this effect, she was allowed to enjoy her lands. It has been suggested that Dionysia was not illegitimate, but was feeble- minded, and this fact prompted William to push forward his suit. 4 Sir Paul Vinogradoff has pointed out the interesting features of the case, and remarks how insistent Ralph of Hengham and the other magnates were on the rights of the Crown. > William de Valence was treading on dangerous ground in the whole matter for Edward resisted the encroachments of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction with all his power. William, however, does not appear to have lost any of the royal favour by his persistence. 1 Sir Paul Vinogradoff has ‘“* Winchester ”’ erroneously. 2 Dugdale: Baronage i. p. 776. 3 Rotoli Parliamentorum i. 16, 38. 4 Arch. Camb. iii. vi. p. 267. 5 In Hssays presented to T. F. Tout, (ed. Little, A. G. and Powicke, F. M.), pp. 192-193. 86 WILLIAM DE VALENCE In 1289, William de Valence was helping Edward in con- nexion with Scottish affairs. After the unexpected death of Alexander III. of Scotland in 1286, Edward began to be in- terested in Scottish affairs. The only direct descendant was a erand-daughter, Margaret, the child of Eric, King of Norway. Kdward planned to unite the kingdoms of England and Scot- land by a marriage between the Maid of Norway and his own son Edward, Prince of Wales. Envoys were sent from Norway and Scotland, for the latter country, John Comyn of Badenoch, Robert Bruce the elder and two others. These met the English envoys, Geoffrey Giffard, Bishop of Worcester, Anthony Beck, Bishop of Durham, William de Valence, and the Harl of Surrey. The marriage was successfully arranged by the Treaty of Salis- bury. : Unfortunately the Maid of Norway died and the succession was left open. The Scottish barons asked Edward to act as umpire between the rival claimants, and Edward accepted and the case was opened at Berwick (3rd August, 1291) before a court of Scottish and English barons. Among those on the English side was William de Valence. Nothing was settled at Berwick for, on the 12th August, Edward returned to London for the burial of his mother. He then proceeded to the March to hear a case of trespass which had arisen between the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford. Wiliam was one of the jury at this case too, and the two barons were sentenced to gaol, but the sentence was not carried out. ? After this there was a return to Norham where the award was made in favour of John Balliol. William de Valence himself expressed the opinion that the succession should be decided according to English law, and such being the case, Balliol had the best claim.? The choice, however, was unfortunate. About this time William was named as an overseer of tourna- ments in the Statute of Arms, but we are now drawing near to the end of his life. Hdward’s fortunes in Gascony at this time were desperate. He could not spare enough men for a war, and a small expedition under John of Brittany and John "Ramsay : Dawn of the Constitution, p. 376. ? Calendar of Patent Rolls. (1281-1292), p. 452. 3 Rishanger : Chronica et Annales. p. 255. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 87 of St. John, sent in 1294, was entirely unsuccessful. Next Edward tried diplomacy. He spent money in building up a coalition, and then on Ist January, 1296, he sent William de Valence, the Duke of Brabant, the Counts of Savoy, and Holland and Hugh le Despenser to treat for peace with the French at Cambrai.! The conference was barren of results. William de Valence did not return to England but remained in France until his death at Bayonne (June 13th, 1296). He had become a man of such importance that he was not buried in Gascony or even taken to his native Poitou, but his remains were transported to England and he lies buried in Westminster Abbey. The manner of his death is obscure. Some annalists state that he was killed by the French in a skirmish. The Annals of Dunstaple merely say “obit’.2 According to his epitaph, ° 1304 of his men were killed, and William himself suffered death in battle. It is curious, however, that of those men who were granted letters of safe-conduct to France with William in 1295 4 none seems to have died at the same time as William, according to the Inquisitions Post Mortem. The problem of William’s death is probably impossible of solution. TX. THE CHARACTER OF WILLIAM DE VALENCE. The final task is to place, as it were, the separate parts into the mosaic of a character, and from the scanty materials at one’s disposal, it is somewhat difficult to form an exact estimate of the character of William de Valence. To fill in the gaps by in- ferences or hypotheses would be a violation of the canons of bio- graphy. A strong case, of course, can be made out even from the comparatively little knowledge which we have of him, to prove that he was not a mere “ base adventurer’ ® as he is so often described. _ In seeking to understand William’s character, one is impressed by the manifest change in his habits of life which occurs about 1265. Before this date he had done little of value in England ; he had taken all from his adopted country and shown the utmost 1J.H. Ramsay: Dawn of the Constitution. p. 422. 2 Annals of Dunstable. p. 452. : Sainfra. 4 Calendar of Patent Rolls (1292-1301) pp. 177-9. 5e.g. Treharne: Baronial Plan of Reform. 88 WILLIAM DE VALENCE ingratitude for the gifts. But after 1265, William became far more lawful in his ways, and in later years served Edward I. and England faithfully at home, in Wales, and in France. Thus it could be said at his death : “Anglia tota doles moritur quia regia proles Qua florere soles, quem continet infirma moles Guhelmus nomen insigne Valentia prebet.” Let us now re-consider the various types of charges which are laid against William before 1258. First, the chroniclers recount his escapades such as the “ invasion ”’ of the Bishop of Ely’s lands, and Simon de Montfort’s lands. The querelae reveal other crimes such as the kidnapping of Joan of Badlesmere. Thirdly, he rendered himself odious to the barons by accumulating ward- ships, escheats, etc., to procure for himself a place in the nobility. Finally, he encouraged his servants in their crimes by affording them protection from the arm of justice. First, with the chroniclers of the times, we may condemn William whole-heartedly. On the contrary we may remember that these chroniclers are not always strictly accurate, that they often colour their narrative for their own purposes, and that there is clearly distinguishable in their writings, despite the close connexion of France and England in the thirteenth century, the beginnings of the traditional English attitude towards foreigners. Even in the thirteenth century the Welsh and Scots are traitors and the French lawless ruffians, whilst there is a wholesome dis- like of the Italians and the Papal agents. Much of the trouble seems to be that the English did not understand the Poitevins, and the Poitevins made no attempt at once to understand the English, their language, laws, customs. Even the chroniclers admit this.1 William’s two periods of exile apparently did him considerable good, for after 1265 he seems to have lived on far more amicable terms with the other nobles. After this date William makes no more “invasions ”’ ; we find men in prison for trespassing on his lands. There are extenuating circumstances which force us, after an unbiassed consideration of the materials, to adopt a more kindly view of the character of William de Valence. There is a story in te.g. ““Opus Chronicarum’” pp. 4-5, in Johannis de Trokelowe Chronica et Annales et Anonymorum WILLIAM DE VALENCE 89 Professor Tout’s Edward I. which throws some light on the standards of conduct and mode of living of these times. The young Prince Edward was one day passing through a wood. A peasant happened to cross his path, and Edward from sheer malicious humour ordered his servants to put out the young man’s eyes.! The chroniclers seem to regard such examples of grim humour as the prerogative of a King, but if a foreigner, whom they hate, does much less, his deeds are magnified. No deed equalling this in cruelty is attributed to William de Valence, yet. we do not call Edward I. a base adventurer. Moreover, it was a lawless age, which we must not judge by modern standards. When Simon de Montfort was killed at Evesham, a certain Marcher sent one of Simon’s hands to his wife.? We have stated previously that William had no example of lawful dealing among the fierce Marchers, but on the contrary the crude and effective methods of Prince Llewelyn. Simon de Montfort and the Earl of Gloucester and other of the older barons showed exceptional temperance and moderation in 1258 and the follow- ing years. The younger members of our “nobility” have, however, never been the most law-abiding of citizens, and William de Valence was no worse than the young Bohuns or the young Bigods. 3 Many of William’s misdeeds can be attributed to the rashness of youth. We know that one of William’s chief characteristics was his hot temper. He had inherited Isabella of Angouléme’s imperious ways, and his easily aroused anger was never better shown than in the two scenes with Simon de Montfort in Parlia- ment. With the impatience of youth, and the prejudice of a foreigner, he would never examine the facts to see whether his servants were in the right or not in their constant quarrels with the English, but always believed his servants’ side of the story. The royal favours which Henry III. showered upon him at first changed William’s imperiousness into arrogance. Afterwards his two periods of exile and the determined nature of the opposi- tion with which he had to contend, tempered his first wildness 1 Tout: Hdward I. p. 8. 2 Chronica de Mailros, p. 202. '§“ Sweet reasonableness was a quality hardly to be assumed in a young feudal baron.” Treharne: Baronal Plan of Reform, p. 285. 90 WILLIAM DE VALENCE and arrogance and moderated him to a wiser man. This seems the only feasible explanation of the great change in William’s ways after 1265, which left him henceforth a faithful servant of Edward and England.! He may have been Anglicized ; perhaps the fiery times of his earlier life had purged the dross of his char- acter ; or he had gained wisdom in the school of experience. Thus the first characteristics we can attribute to William de Valence are his rashness, his arrogance, and his hot temper. Secondly, William throughout his life showed a great desire to obtain land and riches. In his early days his habit of accumulat- ing wardships, marriages, and King’s debts might be attributed to a youthful ambition after position and wealth. But in later years this turned to a kind of grasping. William was always on the outlook to obtain a piece of land here and a wardship there, and frequently entered into litigation to obtain quite small parcels of territory. His unscrupulousness cannot be denied. The most discreditable affair connected with William’s life was probably the case of Dionysia when he was willing to make a bastard of his own niece in order to obtain her lands. His grasping ways are the worst of all William’s characteristics. Despite his avarice, William seems to have inherited some of the personal charm of his father, that gay troubadour, Hugh X. of Lusignan, whose shiftiness was well remembered by Simon de Montfort. 2 William may have inherited some of his father’s finesse too. The most suave and charming men are often the most deceitful, and the definition of an ambassador as one who is sent to lie abroad for his country is well known. William, who definitely infatuated Henry III. and the Prince Edward * seems to have been an ideal diplomatist for he was employed again and again in this role by both Henry II]. and Edward I. One cannot fail to be impressed by the unswerving loyalty of William to his brother and his nephew. He was a member of the King’s Council, and his influence was considerable. Never for an instant did he waver from their side, and he was a potent force in securing the ultimate triumph of the royal arms in the Barons’ Wars and in the war against Llewelyn. More- 1 Annales Monastici, iv. p. 452. 2 Matthew Paris: Chronica Majora, v. p. 677. 3 ibid. vi. p. 403. WILLIAM DE VALENCE 91 over, perhaps, as a result of his constant practice in tournaments, William was an excellent soldier and a born general, and _ his military qualities were of great service to Edward I., for he proved his value on many a field of battle. He was not only a good general but a courageous fighter himself. He was known for his personal bravery and on one occasion offered to fight a duel on behalf of Edward I. 1 William seems to have shown the same loyalty to his wife. Throughout a long married life, they co-operated together in fair weather as well as foul, oftentimes in rather unscrupulous work. When William was exiled to France, Joan’s first thought was to rejoin her husband, and she perhaps smuggled some money over to him at great risk to herself. Not many positive good deeds are recounted of William, but he founded a hospital for the sick and poor at Tenby and en- dowed it munificently. He appears to have shown considerable interest in the inhabitants of his adopted county of Pembroke, and even encouraged commerce among them. William also seems to have been a man of great persistence. Whether he was helping the King in war or in furthering a lawsuit in the courts, he was never satisfied until the matter at issue had been seen through to the bitter end. A temporary set-back stimulated him to a fresh endeavour. This persistence was the greatest asset on one occasion to Henry III., for William by coming back to Pembroke in 1265, after being twice exiled, started the revival of the royal cause. Of William’s countess, Joan, little is known. She reciprocated William’s loyalty to her. She seems to have been a strong and capable woman, and after bearing nine children to William lived to an advanced age. She was courageous enough to take com- mand of Winchester Castle, and give orders to a knight acting under her.? But she seems to have been more unscrupulous and grasping than her husband, and certainly did not inherit the noble character of her father, Warin de Montchesny.? 1 See Gavrilovitch: Htude sur le Traite de Paris, p. 93. * Royal Letters iu. 311. 3 See also D. L. Uffelmann: A great lady and her travels in the XIiith century. Church Quarterly Review, Vol. xcix, pp. 218-230. This is a year in the life of Joan de Montchesny from three unpub- lished Household Accounts. 92 WILLIAM DE VALENCE At his death, about sixty-six years of age, William de Valence was buried in St. Edmund’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey,—an evidence of the position of importance and trust which he occupied in the kingdom. He has a large altar tomb adorned with four shields, two of Valence and two of England. ‘On a wainscot chest above lies the wooden figure covered with gilt copper in a round helmet with a studded fillet and complete mail, the surcoat sprinkled with six small metal enamelled shields . . . all charged with the arms of Valence . . The helmet had a flowered fillet set with stones now pickt out. The belt is finely enamelled with the coat of arms. A lion lies at his feet.””! William’s arms are given as “ Burelle d’argent et d’azure de 10 pieces oile de martlets gules.” Finally, a word must be said of William’s issue, though they provide no commentary on his character. He and Joan had nine children. Their sons were John who died young, William ‘le jeune,’ who was slain by the Welsh at Llandilo in 1280, and Aymer who became Harl of Pembroke and died in 1323, leaving nosons.? Of their daughters Yves died young, and also Margaret. Ann or Agnes, their sixth child, married first Maurice Fitzgerald and secondly Hugh de Baliol. Isabel, the seventh married John de Hastings, thus uniting the Pembroke and Braose lands, and became the ancestress of the Hastings, Earls of Pembroke. The other two children were Joan de Valence, who married John Comyn of Badenoch, and Elizabeth de Valence who died young. 1Gough: Sepulchral monuments, pp. 75 seq. 2 On account of his great height and paleness Piers Gaveston nick- named him “Joseph the Jew.’ Dugdale: Baronage, 1. 777. m. ugh X. m. Isabella K. John. | 7 Ce gee aaa pffrey. Aymer. d. d. d. a.| JES Ee — | OE rabeth. William (°). L -awrence de Hastings. b) 1 of the table. William ‘‘Ié Jeune ’ Henry Richard Joan. Eleanor m. of Cornwall. Simon de Montfort. was the eldest son actually. FRANK R. LEWIS. THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES* THE TRADE IN Pias, 1839-1862. The first activities of the dealer, were in connection with the pig trade, and for some years, the cattle and sheep business was subsidiary to it. The trade connection in pigs had been handed down to the dealer from his father, and it was natural in the early years for him to specialise in this line, while building up the business in sheep and cattle. Records of the trade in pigs are available in fairly complete form until about 1862, and it is probable that he gave up this line about that time, owing to the development of the cattle and sheep side of the business and the extension of railway facilities in South Wales enabling supplies of pigs to be transported easily and quickly into centres of demand. There is not much specific evidence which describes the pig enterprise on Cardiganshire farms in the forties of last century. But the published material indicates and the data of these records confirm the view that pigs were bred and reared on mixed farms very much as they are now. Farmers kept one or more breeding sows regularly, and sold some weaner pigs mainly to cottagers in the surrounding district, and reared other pigs in preparation for fattening for the bacon markets. The con- suming market in South Wales had developed considerably by 1840, and provided a market for the surplus produce of farms in Cardiganshire. The business of this dealer was confined throughout this period to the purchase of pigs in the autumn and winter months for sale in the South Wales valleys. Presumably, the production of baconers was the principal feature of pigs on mixed farms, and the considerable arable cultivation for both cereals and potatoes facilitated the enterprise. There is no evidence in the records of the ages at which pigs were sold, but .*The First Part of this Article appeared in Volume XIII of Aber- ystwyth Studies. 93 94 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES the data on weight of the animals suggest that they would not be less than 12 to 15 months old when ready for slaughter. Pigs were probably allowed free run in the summer to attain the requisite size of carcase for intensive fattening in the autumn months. It is clear from the records, which show a large number of entries for one or two pigs purchased, that the cottagers and small holders took a prominent part in this pro- duction of pigs for both bacon and pork. Generally, the pigs were purchased at the fairs in the dis- trict and driven to an assembling centre prior to the final journey to slaughter. Operations were confined mainly to districts Mid and North Cardiganshire, but in some seasons, especially in the earlier years, Towyn and Newcastle Emlyn were also important centres of purchase. After assembly at a convenient centre, sometimes at the dealer’s farm, but more often at Llanddewi Brefi or Lampeter, the pigs would be driven slowly across the Teify and into Llandovery, through Trecastle into Glanrafon, and finally to Tredegar in Monmouthshire. The process there was for the pigs to be slaughtered by arrange- ment with the owner of the slaughterhouse, and the carcases sold to butchers and other traders in the district. The business was old established, and the dealer had a valuable trade con- nection in the district, so that a system which would outwardly appear to be cumbersome to handle, was undertaken easily and without undue loss of time. There is no evidence that purchases were made on a commission basis, and the dealer took the risk of both purchase and sale. The business, however, was so well established that very frequently the series of trans- actions were conducted by his trusted head drover, while the dealer personally handled the cattle or sheep. Numbers of pigs in each separate lot handled varied from about thirty to over a hundred, with an average of fifty or sixty, and these were moved almost invariably over the same main route, but with slight variations according to need of assembly of individual lots at one centre. Pigs purchased at Aberystwyth were driven through Llanrhystyd Road, via Lledrod to Tre- garon and thence to Llanddewi Brefi. Similarly pigs purchased at Towyn were brought to Aberdovey, and they there crossed the estuary at low water and thence to Aberystwyth. Purchases THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES _ 95 in Newcastle Emlyn were driven up the valley to Lampeter to _ join other lots going south. Details of the routes taken may be seen in the lists of expenses compiled by the dealer in his trans- actions ; one of these may be quoted for illustration. Hzpenses Pigs purchased at Towyn, Dec. 6th, 1843. n Dara FENMNNOCKR TORE NWF KO: Towyn tavern 2 Drovers at Towyn Towyn gate Cross the river (Dovey) Carry the pigs Ditto. Foelynys tavern Rhydypennau tavern Drive the pigs Aberystwyth gate Llanbadarn tavern Figure four ie Lledrod Drive the pigs Ko ihlenedent Carry the pigs ot Lampeter tavern .. Drivers Carry the pigs fom leaieapetes Carry the pigs fs Caio tavern Llandovery tavern Carry the pigs from ici, Trecastle gate aA j Trecastle tavern Hill gate a Pontstikill tavern Capelnant tavern .. Rhymney gate -Troedyrhiw tavern Tredegar tavern = jal a Selo e Gro OoOoeaoeGcerPooeeeoooeoocecoqeo — SCONDDOCOROCHRCCH GAB CCAOADtD OMDB BM DOCOOFS ks = SS eS NOoreNMONANRP RP ONMWF OC a The actual routes taken naturally varied according to cir- cumstances. If there were two sub-lots arranged one from the North, and the other from the South to join at Lampeter, then the main route would be taken from Llanddewi Brefi to Lampeter and thence through Pumpsaint. But if there were no assembling at Lampeter, the pigs would move over the mountain from Llanddewi out to Cilyewm and Caio for Llan- 96 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES dovery. Again a short cut was regularly taken from between Trecastle and Sennybridge over the Moors into Penderyn, and on to Troedyrhiw and Tredegar. ‘Towards 1860 conditions changed greatly and pigs were moved from South Cardigan, through Llandyssul, Alltwalis and Carmarthen where they were railed as far as Merthyr and driven again to the centre of slaughter. The process of driving pigs over long distances was naturally more difficult than driving either cattle or sheep. Progress was slower, and with the perversity characteristic of the pig, there were many forced halts and individual pigs had to be conveyed in carts for considerable distances to the next resting place, when they would again decide to walk in the morning. There are continual references to “ carry’ the pigs in the notes of expenses incurred, and these refer to the normal procedure of hiring local carriers to follow the drove and pick up the stragglers. WEIGHT AND SIZE OF PIGS. One of the main weaknesses of these records of a dealer’s activities is that purchase and sale was generally made per head with no actual information provided of the weight and size of the animals. That system of valuation by observation only, has been retained up to modern times with store stock in Wales, although in many districts all fat stock is weighed whether sold through the auction or privately. It is however fortunate that in these records of dealing in pigs there is some data of weights of live pigs and of carcases given in the dealer’s accounts which add considerably to the value of the in- formation of prices. In general, pigs were purchased on a per head basis at the local fairs, without accurate knowledge of live weight. But for some reason the weights in pounds, of pigs purchased in Towyn, were always recorded. It has not been possible to follow the Towyn pigs through to final slaughter, and to compare carcase weights with liveweights of pigs, because they were generally merged into other lots from other districts and slaughtered together. But following the details of carcase weights, there is some evidence that the pigs from Towyn were appreciably heavier than pigs generally purchased | in Cardiganshire, so that it is not possible to compare the average of all carcase weights with liveweights of Towyn pigs. The data THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 97 from Towyn are limited to the decade 1840-1850, and purchases in the later period were more confined to Mid-Cardigan. Inveweight of pigs purchased at Towyn, 1840-1850. Average Number | live- live- price price per Year. of | weight. weight. per score | pigs. Ibs. lbs. pig. liveweight. | £)Usid Ss; di. 1841 36 323 244403 | 48> O 5 6 1842 . 50 339 299—392 ZW ae 3.5 1843 54 364 208 436410 3. 3 a 38 1845 128 340 | 282—399 412 0 5 5 1846 53 330 272—404 4 6 0 5 3 1849 | 140 348 | 263424 0) oe 40 1850 92 370 285—462 3.14 4 4 0 Average 1841-50 | 345 277—417 3716.) 6) 4 6 The figures in the table give some idea of the size of pigs purchased at Towyn, ranging in some years from fourteen to over twenty-three score, with an average liveweight over the period of about seventeen score. The price per score was very low even when compared with prices ruling in recent depressions of the pigs market. In the two years 1842 and 1843, the price paid to the producer was only very slightly more than two- pence per pound liveweight. Over the period, the average price was only 4s. 6d. per score or less than 2?d. per pound. The animals were driven a distance up to a hundred miles from Towyn to Tredegar, and there must have been con- siderable wastage and loss of weight between purchase and slaughter. The schedule of expenses show that the journey was made as quickly as possible with only occasional feeds of potatoes and tavern scraps to the pigs. As far as can be as- certained from the records the carcase weight of the Towyn pigs varied from about eleven to thirteen score deadweight, or an average of twelve score. Comparing this with the normal liveweight of seventeen score, the carcase weighed equivalent to about 70 per cent. of the live pig. Fully grown pigs of mature age would not normally show a 30 per cent. loss in 98 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES slaughter, so that there was an appreciable net loss of live- weight in the journey to the centre of slaughter. This com- plicated the dealer’s calculation of the purchase price in relation to the market value of the carcase. The margin per score be- tween purchase price of pigs and the sale price of meat show clearly that allowance was made for the loss in weight in transit, and the not inconsiderable risk of losses in this long distance movement of pigs. Normally the pigs were sold on carcase weight. and all details of weights and cash received are faithfully entered in the records. The mass of material, available for each season is very uniform and selections have been made to bring out the main features of sales over the period. Sales of Pig Carcases in South Wales. Sample Average Average | Price Number carcase sale Index Year. of weight | price 1840-45= pigs. per pig. | per score. 100. | Score. Lbs. Samad: es 1840 47 10 10 tr, 112 184] 134 10 9 7 6 109 1842 217 11 4. 6 0 88 1843 393 11 1 6 0O 88 1845 94 10 5 he 103 1852 391 9 18 7 6 109 1853 268 9 a fone 125 god 2 9 0 131 1861 188 ee | 9 8 141 1862 ! 229 | 9 12 9 5 137 Average | 193 [ae SLORY (3 | Si a2 119 The sale price per score is seen to have risen only slightly in the twenty years 1840-60. There were variations from season to season and for individual lots within each season, but prices on the whole remained reasonably stable. The data is ob- viously insufficient to bear testimony to the existence or other- THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 99 wise of the now familiar cycle in pig prices. But there may be some trace of a cycle to be seen in the table where the years seem to pair off naturally with high and low price figures. It has not been possible to compare live and dead weight prices over this period, but the comparison between the dead weight prices in period 1840-45 in this Table and the liveweight pur- chase price of Towyn pigs in the previous table is very interest- ing. The average sale price of carcases was about 6s. 10d. per score, against 4s. 6d. per score liveweight purchase price; almost exactly two-thirds of the sale price. If the actual expenses of handling the pigs were about 2s. 6d. per head or threepence per score and these are added to the purchase price, then the ratio is almost exactly 100: 70 between sale and purchase price. This coincides with the estimate of 70 per cent. carcase weight sug- gested above, but without allowing a margin of profit to the dealer, so that this estimate should be modified somewhat up- wards between 72 - 75 per cent. Using this latter figure for carcase percentage of liveweight the average liveweight of Mid-Cardigan pigs would appear to have been around fourteen score, compared with seventeen for the Towyn pigs. PURCHASE AND SALE Prices PER HEAD. It has been mentioned above that pigs were purchased normally on a per head basis, and price figures on this basis established the trends of the market over this period. They ean be used in conjunction with the information of live and dead weights in the preceding section in order to give some guidance to economic conditions on Welsh farms at that time. Purchases were restricted almost entirely to the months from November to February, so that it is impossible to examine the data for seasonal movements in prices. But prices varied from centre to centre, and to some extent these variations reflected differences in the quality and weight of pigs or they may have been partly due to changes in market prices. However the variations in most seasons were only slight, and the range was very close about the average. Two examples of the range of prices during the season will illustrate the normal fluctuation. Hach price figure represents the purchase of a number of pigs at a fair or market centre or in some cases on the farms about the county. 100 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES | | Average | price Number per head Market or Fair. Date. purchased. | shillings. Aberystwyth .. ..| January ord... 49 83.4 Lampeter | s llth .. 55 | 102.5 Llanarth | (eed eenae 29 107.2 Aeaicagh | gen | 90 $8.9 de a us x“ Deel 58 | 83.2 MidCardigan(onFarms)| February 7th .. | 42 | 86.2 i. - November 8th .. | 28 93.9 Aberystwyth .. ee | November 2lIst .. 42 88.5 53 55 December 19th ..| 48 83.2 Talybont bes. Beihai 82.4 (b) 1843. Aberystwyth | January 2nd 46 58.0 Lampeter 30 ita: 88 58.8 Llanarth sp 12th . 27 60.0 Aberystwyth a Lith”. 4] 56.4 Taly bont : ue ., 25th .. 68 61.7 Capel Sansilin i | February 7th .. 99 62.5 Neweastle Emlyn 5 Otho: 33 64.3 Aberystwyth .. | PAIS eee 59 55.7 Mid Cardigan : 95 30th .. 93 58.8 Aberystwyth | March Cia 3% 37 53.9 Tregaron 50 Wala 3 5 | 51 50.5 Mid Cardigan .. oe | October 4th ..| 28 BOO Capel Cynon .. a i 19th .. 39 56.7 Llanybyther .. ..| November Ist .. 35 56.6 Aberystwyth .. ae os Oth. 55 60.2 Mid Cardigan .. “tbe ss 21sth ce. 26 55.3 Newcastle Emlyn Alp a MSVRO Ng B 38 61.6 Towyn .. be -. |) December) 6th). 54 68.5 Llanwnen ie a - Oth 2.3) On 57.0 Mid Cardigan .. oe 3 26th .. 93 56.0 es ee ne The variation in price at different centres is shown to have been very small, but with a tendency for the price to be slightly higher in Mid-Cardigan than at Aberystwyth. The example of the pigs from Towyn is brought out clearly in the example above for 1843. While the average price of pigs at all centres was about 58s. the average price at Towyn was over 68s. per head. The difference of ten shillmgs per pig at the price of THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 101 3s. 9d. per score of the Towyn pigs in that year confirms the statement that they were on the average more than two scores heavier than pigs normally in Cardiganshire. The best statement of average purchase prices of pigs on analysis of all the data is set out in the Table below. Average Purchase Prices of Pigs 1839-1862. Wear Average price | Year. Average price | shillings per head. | shillings per head. 1839 | 71.3 1850 69.5 1840 67.6 1852 71.5 1841 75.9 1853 77.3 1842 68.3 1854 88.0 1843 58.4 1858 78.3 1844 61.5 1859 C62 1845 72.4 1860 376 1846 78.1 1861 81.0 1849 | 66.9 | 1862 | 82.7 The data for 1842 for example shows that prices moved around 80 shillings in the early part of that year, while in November and December they dropped as low as 55s. per head. This was not a normal seasonal movement, as can be seen in the examples of prices over the season given above p. 100. Prices remained low from November 1842 till the close of 1844 when they rose gradually to 70 and 80 shillings per head at the close of 1845 and remained only very slightly higher in 1846. Prices were considerably lower in 1849 when the records are again available, and they rose very gradually to 1854. The evidence is ob- viously insufficient to establish the cycle, but the familiar phenomenon of rapid changes in prices over a short period can be detected. If the conditions of the modern cycle can be traced, the period of the complete cycle was definitely longer ; probably nearer six than four years. The next step in the analysis is an attempt to measure the dealer’s margin of profit in the pig trade, and for this purpose selections of records of complete transactions have had to be used in each year. The figures of purchase prices will there- 102 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES fore differ slightly but not materially from those above, which were obtained from the total turnover of business. Purchase and Sale prices; and Profit Margins. | Number of Average Average Gross Margin Year. | Pigs in the Purchase Sale Price of Profit sample. Price per per head. per head. head. ! £8. 4d. £ isscd Ss Cle 1842 191 Py o2 826 3G 6 0 1843 449 2 19 10 3) O46 5 8 1852 437 3 11 6 314° 3 2-9 1853 425 317 3 4 2 0 4 9 1854 551 4 8 0 4 9 6 1 6 1858 261 3.16 7 | 4 3 0 6 5 1859 424 B72 | A 2% 0 4 10 1860 195 | Di ao DPS 2a 1861 276 £1 Oa Pa) 6 10 1862 360 4929 4 eG 4 9 Only those years have been included in this Table for which a sufficient number of complete and accurate records were available to justify putting forward representative averages. The detailed schedules of expenses incurred in handling the pigs from purchase to slaughter are available for a few in- dividual lots in some years and for a considerable number in others, but the data does not correspond exactly with that used for the above Table. Some reference has already been made above to the incidence of expenses, and the following figures of average expenses per head summarise the position as far as the material allows : Average Expenses. Year. per pig. s. d 1842 2°29 1843 2 25 1844 2 0 1853 2a 1854 2 7 1859 29 1861 3 0 1862 3° 3 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 103 It is very probable that some of these are on the low side, and a figure of about three shillings per head would appear to represent the normal current expenses, in assembling, driving, feeding, carrying the pigs to the point of slaughter. Taking into account the difficulty of keeping an accurate detailed ac- count of these items the small range shown in the figures above from year to year is very satisfactory. It is uncertain what arrangement existed with regard to offals, but there is no reference to them in the accounts with the exception of two isolated items shown of lard sold at 25s. and 15s. But if it is assumed that the costs of slaughter were met out of the realisa- tion value of the offals, then the gross margin of profit was greater than the direct expenses in seven out of the ten years given in the Table above. The average gross profit over the period was 4s. 6d. giving a net profit of about 1s 6d. per head. On a turnover of a thousand pigs per season, which was about the normal turnover there would be a net profit of about £75. THE TRADE IN SHEEP 1839-1870. The dealer’s business in sheep developed after 1839, but it was never as important as the trade in pigs in the early period or the cattle business in the later years. In general, the trade in sheep was developed to occupy the summer months, when trade in pigs and cattle was almost at a standstill. But from small beginnings, with only one or two lots in May or June, the turnover of sheep grew year by year, and the buying season extended in some seasons from early June to late September. In the first years of the period, the records show that the dealer operated, only around his home district in Mid-Cardigan, buy- ing sheep on commission for dealers at Tregaron, in the local fairs. This only lasted for two or three years, and there followed another short period, when the sheep were moved to Brecon or Builth and sold there to dealers or farmers, at the fairs. Before 1845, however, the dealer was moving sheep across into England as far as Worcester and later into Bucking- ham and Aylesbury. But the sheep business became thoroughly established only when the dealer built trade connections in the Eastern Counties, and more especially in the district ‘around London. From about 1847, the records show that 104 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES almost invariably the sheep were moved to Harrow-on-the-Hill —now a London suburb, and the dealer’s headquarters were the house of a Mr. Hodson, who was a farmer on a large scale. This gentleman and members of his family purchased regularly large numbers of sheep, and this trade connection between the Welsh dealer and the English gentleman farmer can be followed in these records up to 1870. The details of disposal of some lots of sheep show that small batches were sold on the way up to Harrow, sometimes at markets en route, and other times by private arrangement, or definite orders by English farmers, but almost invariably the final destination was Harrow-on-the-Hill where most of the sheep were transferred to their English buyers. There is no evidence to show that the Welsh dealer bought sheep on a definite commission basis for the English buyers, but there may have been some under- standing of this nature between the dealer and Mr. Hodson, who was the chief buyer. The Welsh dealer purchased mixed lots, and made the selections from these to suit his English customers. On the whole it would appear that the sheep branch of the business was less difficult than either cattle or pigs, and this may be partly due to the valuable trade connection of the dealer around Harrow. There is no record to show difficulty in selling sheep, or holding over of the animals for a more favourable market as was the case quite often with cattle and this suggests that purchases were made more or less on definite orders, probably through Mr. Hodson at Harrow. In the early part of the period, from 1839-1845, when sheep | were purchased on commission for Tregaron dealers, or moved for re-sale at Brecon or Builth, purchases were made mainly in Mid and South Cardigan, and these were finally assembled at Tregaron. The route to Brecon from Tregaron was the familiar one outlined in the study of cattle, through Cwmberwyn to Abergwesyn. But as soon as the connection was established with English buyers, and sheep moved across England to Harrow, the assembling centre moved to Machynlleth. Pur- chases of sheep were discontinued in Mid-Cardigan, and activity was concentrated around Machynlleth, Towyn, Dolgelley and Llanbrynmair, and the lots were generally assembled and moved from Machynlleth. The explanation for this can only be that THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 105 the demand for customers favoured the mountain sheep, and Machynlleth was a natural centre for assembly of supplies from the hills of Merioneth. Occasionally sheep were bought around Aberystwyth, particularly at Talybont, and these were driven over Plynlymon to Llangurig and Rhayader thence to Cross Gates, Penybont, to join the other droves near the English border. Sheep bought on the hills around Tregaron, at Pont- rhydygroes, and Pontrhydfendigaid were driven, through Cwm- ystwyth and to Rhayader, forward to join the main flock before entering into England. Driving sheep across country was a highly skilled task for experienced drovers, and trained sheep dogs. The routes cut across hills and valleys, avoiding toll gates, and providing as much free grazing as possible for the animals in transit. A very interesting example of a cross- country route was the one generally used from Machynlleth to the English border. The main stopping places, and taverns are mentioned in the records, and the route can be drawn fairly accurately from this material. The mountain track was followed from Machynlleth to Dylife (there is still a mountain road here but it is seldom used) and Staylittle and then bearing east to Trefeglwys. The next place mentioned is Llanbadarn- fynydd, and the route probably lay across the Severn between Llandinam and Lianidloes and over the mountain to Llan- badarn, then past Bryn Golfa, and Llangoch to Knighton. Then they crossed to Lingen, and Orleton near the border, and across country to Worcester. The toll gates are first mentioned at Worcester, and presumably the turnpike roads were followed across the Midlands, through Broadway, Moreton in the Marsh, Buckingham or Aylesbury into Harrow-on-the-Hill. Places, fre- quently mentioned on the English section of the route were Kingsland, Orleton, Five Bridges, Worcester, Africa Tavern, Mickleton, Littlehampton and Icknam. The sheep had to be driven slowly across country by the drovers on ponies, and the trip took from 20 to 25 days. The dealer himself generally jomed the sheep en route or travelled by coach to London, to take charge of the selling and returned again by coach to a convenient centre in Wales where his pony waited to continue the round of more purchases in the local markets. In general, two drovers accompanied the sheep for 106 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES the whole journey, and these men were paid at the rate of from three to four shillings per day with an allowance of about ten shillings each for the return journey. There were other men employed at the assembling centre, and sometimes four or more men attended the sheep until they were clear of the Welsh mountains, and the track made driving easier. These men stayed the nights with the sheep at farms, or in the out- buildings of taverns, and there is no record of the dealer paying tavern expenses of his drovers. Presumably they had to meet their own expenses for food, drink and lodging from the daily wage of four shillings provided. In the early part of the period there is an interesting record o: the expenses of the dealer at taverns on the way when the cost of a night’s lodging was generally around ninepence. ‘There is also record of the fare from London by coach which varied from about £1 15s Od. to £2 6s Od along the years. The following list of expenses recorded in 1864 for a lot of nearly 1,500 sheep taken from Machynlleth to Harrow-on-the Hill illustrates the main n points of the journey from West to Hast. Account Hxpenses of Sheep. th of) About the County (buying) 2 gates to Machynlleth Machynlleth Tavern 3 gates at Machynlleth Cawilldin farm—grass Driver ; Llanbadarn Parga SERS Farm at Knighton—grass 3 Gates at Worcester Ale for men at Brickstock My expenses to Brentwood : Ws Drovers’ Wages: Charles Jones 25 days John PRD oss John Charles 24 ,, Daniel Jones 23 ,, John Williams 30 ,, Expenses of sheep on the road .. st S eae Expenses of buying sheep Personal Expenses at Harrow-on-the- Hill Personal Expenses coming home Hee GS © =I — — OSCE WON AaAS FH KP OC} RF WL! Sere TOOT AP OOOOH KH OF Onweo?e ovale. SM og: oe - te Oks uot LO THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 107 This total cost is equivalent approximately to a shilling per head, and this can be taken as a modal figure over the period. The itemised schedules are not given in such detail as with cattle, and the cost of sundry toll gates, grass, and tavern expenses on the journey through England are included in the item “‘ Expenses of sheep on the road.” These expenses were met by the head drover as they occurred, and he was repaid by the dealer in a lump sum at the destination. It was common for more than two thousand sheep to be driven in one lot, and it is only natural that losses by death and ex- haustion occurred on the way, while some sheep escaped to the mountain. In the record of some lots, losses up to fifty head were recorded, and the normal loss through death would not be less than a score. An example of a record of sheep losses or partial losses in transit is as follows. Lot No. 3. October 9th, 1862. 2 dead at Ponterwyd 1 sold Machynlleth—3/- 5 lost Machynlleth 1 dead Abergarog. 2 left at Caeitha. 3 sold Staylittle. 1 dead Cawilldin. 3 lost on mountain. 1 dead Trefeglwys 1 dead Llwyncelyn. 1 dead Postgwyn. 1 dead on the road—6d. 1 dead Hayfield. 1 dead Uxbridge. 1 dead Harrow—4/-. 2 sold ‘*‘ Shoulder of Mutton,” tavern 2/6d. _ Occasionally some part of the value of sheep lost on the road was recovered, but in general there was a dead loss of between twenty and fifty sheep on each journey. PURCHASE AND SALE PRICES OF SHEEP. Considerable difficulty arises in the interpretation of the records of prices of sheep. The trade was confined mainly to the four months June to September, but in June and duly the trade was mainly in wethers; while in August both wethers and draft ewes were handled, and in September the 108 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES trade was confined to ewes. It is uncertain whether lambs were handled in some years; no mention is made in the records of this trade and it is very unlikely that lambs would be moved these long distances. The final destination of all classes of sheep centred around MHarrow-on-the-Hill with minor sales in Berkshire and Buckingham. Presumably the trade in wethers towards late summer was connected with light land farms in these districts where the sheep were fattened on the roots. The trade in draft ewes between the Welsh mountain areas and these English districts, still exists to some extent ; the ewes being used for breeding for one or more seasons, and fattened off the turnips. There is no data in the records which describes the class of sheep handled, but the districts where supplies were purchased give some clue. The wethers were generally sold in the second or third season off the Merioneth or the Tregaron hills and the ewes were the normal two or three crop ewes drafted from the flocks. It can be assumed that the sheep purchased in these hilly areas were the Welsh moun- tain ewes and wethers, but other sheep bought in the lowlands of Mid and South Cardigan, probably included cross-breds of various descriptions and slightly bigger in size than the upland sheep. It would be misleading to present merely the simple average of all prices of sheep given in the records for each year, and in the table below the average prices in two periods are given, together with the average prices for the season. Prices in May, June, July are clearly prices of wether sheep, while prices in August, September (and occasionally in October) represent mainly prices of draft ewes, although numbers of wethers were generally included in the lots purchased, even at this period. In most of the records the wethers purchased in this latter part of the season are specifically mentioned so that it has been possible to extract the range of purchase prices for wethers and for ewes separately in August and September. This complica- tion of the table of purchase prices has been necessary in order to provide as much information as possible of prices of different categories of sheep as well as giving some idea in the general average of prices of the normal returns to Welsh farmers for the sheep out-turn of their farms. THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 109 Purchase prices of Sheep per head 1839-1869. | Ewes and Ewes | Wethers Seasonal Year. Wethers,; Wethers. August and | August and | Average MayJune! August and| September | September | prices all July. | September range. range. sheep. s. d Sd Se dy LOM Sme Gly cSPo gi! Ol, (Sonex Ole, San ae 1839 iat © om tbs Mngt ae ae ll 9 1840 lee) 4 a cree egy ns PO Ne ni a 1841 Hila guy GOs OMG te POM 91110 1842 10 9 = Da ie Se iGO 1843 iss 5 5 SiO 4 Ol GeO On 6 en 6 1844 ee cor eee Ole si ae OG) cos co iea5, aie oe Oh ess SB Ks 6 sol) ha to Average | 1839-45 il 3 6 9 | ay eel ae | Fee QAO ers |" 8. 11G 1849 | 9 6 SS ae eee hones 9 6 1850 9 7 bel Srl Ga Ole s. 10=—. 9). 3 7 10 1851 | ae be 3 A 028 “Se Pee Soi 1852 NIG 8 0 : Gen OU EGO 1622 119 9 2 Average |! | | 1849-52 | 10 5 eel Ae een) WA 9 Oi S) 8 9 1856 125 o & | 7 O-10 OMI 0-18 TO ay i 1857 14 0 9 9 7 0-310 3 12 11 | 10 9 1858 12 9 Q. 5 Oe le ONO. 0==1 6H Ol. 10n 0 Average | 1856-58 a Oy 1 S10 Be Ge 0, 10 3 1862 12 9 GeO ars 0 0lls o-1s ol 9 9 1863 id B | 10 6 1 0-12 Bi BIA Geet 1864 16 0 10 10 5 G22) OU Ca Os a 1865 1a 12 4 S Gol4 O16 e229 Bae 1866 me Var 4 (oO Ol 19 02293. 31 17" 4 1867 as a ies Ti G==NO OI 13 G14 6) > 1s 7 1868 is 3 ie) ee O==NOUE Gl) 6-12 0.01 98. 12 1869 1D: 8 : 7 4 10== 9) 6110 0-12 0 9 2 Average 1862-69 | 14 7 | 10) Opes oie 3 9-15 9| il 6 The table sets out the information available as clearly as possible, without covering up the prices of different classes of sheep in a general average price for the season. The data is 110 THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES insufficient for this detailed analysis in some periods, and the use of the general average of prices only at these points might be misleading. For example the sheep purchased in 1839 and 1840 consisted entirely of wethers, while in 1843 to 1845, all the records refer to purchases of ewes. The general average shows the price to be halved during the period 1839-45 because of this difference in the class of sheep handled in the opening and the closing years of the period. The information on the other hand for the three later periods is fairly regular and com- plete, giving a fair idea of the prices of wethers and ewes in each year, while the average of the season gives an indication of the trend of prices as a whole. Speaking of the period generally, it may be said that sheep did not show the same degree of sharp rise in prices as cattle after 1855. There were more fluctuations in the sheep market over short periods, but with a gradual rising tendency. A regular feature of the information is that prices of wethers were higher than prices of ewes, the margin bringing from three to seven shillings per head more for wethers according to the season. The records are not sufficiently complete to enable a sum- mary to be made of the margins between sales and purchases, with statements of expenses for all transactions in each season. But a number of the records of transactions are complete in each year, and these have been summarised below to give an indication of the dealer’s margin in trading. THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 111 Average Prices of Sheep and Gross Profit Margins. | | | | Average Average Average Wear: Number | purchase | Sale price gross profit purchased. price per per head. margin | head.* per head. | | cy s. d | Sh Gls 1839 Ge =e aah 9 19 8 D6 1840 658 | elena 128 011 1841 1,200 2 12 0 0 10 1842 793 | 10 9 ll 0 0 3 1844 941 i oY 13 1 6 1845 1,927 le te2, oes 2 6 1849 894 Ya | 11 11 M4 1850 1,436. 7102 | OB Le 1851 3,997 8 6 10 0 | 17 6 1852 3,615 | 9 2 ll 9 Zhen 1856 3,082 10 1 eG Iss) 1857 2,871 10 12 1 10 1858 3,418 10 0 a 7 ah ee ed a7 1862 4,607 Bo DY it 22 1863 4,659 ll 0 4 7 Le yl 1864 3,709 12 0 13 42 ae 2 1865 SOLO 71) b=! 1 8 16 3 gg 1866 3,130 7. 3 1G) 2s 1867 1,970 ae od 13 8 2 1 1868 1,957 8 2 10 5 2 3 *These tigures may differ slightly from those in the previous table because selections of transactions have been made in some years for this table. The margins of gross profit varied from threepence per head to over three shillings, giving an average over the whole period of about 1/9d. per head to meet all expenses, and to provide WEST WALES THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN 112 an income to the dealer after allowing some interest on capital. Information on expenses incurred lacks completeness in most seasons, but accurate data is available for the years 1862-64 which is helpful to illustrate. 9 ZL 29 |9 © TLT|O SI FEz|9 IT 1973 |9 81 902%‘% | 6OL‘E [e10.L 1 6 F |1l 81 42 |0 8-28 |9 €1 788 |9 9 JZo8 FIP‘ 9% gdeg Z Zi LL 101 0 (£9 10 €1 OF1TIO: SI S16. 10S SLE ESF‘ Ig ‘sny @ 6 Sf 16 0-08 10 sl IE 0 0. 199 10:78 6r9 Z18 oz Aine ‘POST Z 6 69LIF 8 £0219 LI ZLE|9 OL ZF6‘°S 10 GL 699‘% | 6S9‘F [e10.L oo 9s Ile f 66019. 8 COL lO. 0 86h E19 11 ae 9F6‘T Zz ydeg Z 9 £6 IP O F8 |9 OL OLII9 F F6RTI10 8 LITT | LETs 9% ‘Sny 6-9-6 16 G 2o-19 oi ze 0 of OSh 19 GE LIP 9LG gt Aine E981 8 OL PZE\— IT LOT/O 3 Z6r 16 OT 8ELi2|6 8 92'S | LOOF RON 0’ 81 ZLI1|6 LI GL 16 ST 8rZ| GST 98I‘T F 0 8&6 FIO‘S 6L ‘ydeg HL Sly 009) 6 ue 0) 896-6 fl c6L C8L‘T IZ ‘sny 6 OL 9€ E €l Ig |0 #F 89 |O S&T €s¢ ° Il SIg 088 91 Ane | 3 | ‘ZO8T *SSO'T LO sosued xq ‘ULB IC IL *PoATOVOY | pred poseyoInd “37ep ZU01Id YON SSOI‘) Yysey | Ysey | TQ UT NT pue IC9 A. a i "F9-ZOSL sHnsey buiposy, Aaoys The expenses over these three seasons remained fairly con- stant at rather less than a shilling per sheep handled. But the net profit varied considerably with individual lots within a An actual net loss only season and from season to season. appears once in the series, but it is extremely likely that there were some other expenses incurred which were not recorded as THE LIVESTOCK TRADE IN WEST WALES 113 cash payments and which would convert small apparent profits into real losses on a small scale. Examples of these items would be the grass provided on the dealers’ own farms for sheep col- lected for assembly and for despatch at a later date, various personal expenses, and the unpaid work of members of the family in connection with the business. The net profits, how- ever, shown for both 1862 and 1863 must be considered satis- factory on the comparatively small turnover of little more than two thousand pounds in the short period of about four months. The losses incurred through death and other causes on the journey to the English destinations are not allowed specifically in the expenses, but they affected the total cash receipts from sales, and therefore reduced the gross margin of profit available to provide for expenses, and to leave a residue of net profit. J. Lurretys DaAviss. CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES—Continued. VOLUME XI. ‘William Wilson’ and the Conscience of Edgar Allan Poe, by George H. Green, M.A., Ph.D., B.Litt. The Celtic Stratum in the Place-Nomenclature of East Anglia, by O. K. Schram, M.A., Ph.D. Dialects and Bilingualism, by Professor T. Gwynn Jones, M.A. An Enquiry into the Conditions of Subject Teaching in Secondary and Central Schools in Wales, by A. Pinsent, M.A., B.Sc. Corydon and the Cicadae: A Correction, by Professor H. J. Rose, M.A., and Miss Winstanley, M.A. VOLUME XII. The Composition of ‘ The Raven,’ by George H. Green, M.A., Ph.D., B.Sc., B.Litt. March ap Meirchion : a study in Celtic Folk-lore, by J. J. Jones, M.A. The Philosophy of Cardinal Mercier, by Valmai Burdwood Evans, M.A., B.Litt. A Part of the West Moroccan Littoral, by Walter Fogg, M.A. VOLUME XIII. Alliteration:, Welsh and Scandinavian, by Professor IT. Gwynn Jones, M.A. William de Valence (c. 1230-1296), by Frank R. Lewis, M.A.. A Note on , Hop-Frog,’ by, George Hi. ‘Green, MCAS PhD Scab aeite Some French Translators of Burns, by Eva Margaret Phillips, M.A., Docteur de 1’ Université de Paris. The Travels of St. Samson of Dol, by E.G. Bowen, M.A. Wazzan: a Holy City of Morocco, by Walter Fogg,M.A. The Livestock Trade in West Wales in the Nineteenth Century, by J. Llefelys Davies, M.Sc. Note.—Vols. I-III, out of print; Vol. IV, price 6/-; and Vols. V. VI. VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII and XIII, price 3/6 each, may be obtained from the Registrar, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. H.J.R Sse, es Howell again, qe Peaiesn £. Ul “The ‘CAuuldeée a uy Ritual and Myth, by J. J. Jones, M.A. Comduct and the Experience of | Va vn ah by L. A. Reid, M.A. Sir Henry. Jones and the Cross Com- — a by ip. ‘Hughes, M. A. Notes on the inal of matinee Lead- We bey , by Miss 1 K, ane MSc.) Hah TH Hen ieneduiia| +f Ae Laps Essex Conspiracy (Part D, by ‘Lilian Winseintere M. A (ee Shei i _ F Doctrine of Intuition Amie ‘ihe availed Ss Be atlas of sch cing uy Valmai i gee i | Vouume. vi. i ciples « x ‘Quaternions, ue he late Assivtane Professor Wi ne TanBey A) a. eee use of Side a A, Woodward, M. AL Hamlet and the te Poster ¥ Wea FT the Philosophy ‘of Giovanni. artes Burdwood | Evans, M.A. The Problems of — a Maat HL. Green, M. A, ies me B. Se., ce Litt, "ator by Professor i 2 a ie eae hvala I. us The: eee te Riddles tone ee by G. A, “Wood, ML A, Some : Defensive Earthworks near ere by F. Ss. Weert Ww Verhaeren, a dP: bleed B. ot ir ri eee un he oe ane "The Greek Agones, by Profesor H 1: Rose. A pee Noles on of James Howell, by Professor. E. ies “Fable | Professor T. Gwynn Jones. - : _ Literature, 7, Richard ‘Thomas, M, AL ; : ee Iv. 3 eke | Pagan Revival ‘euner the bores Empire, by Sir Willian M. _ The Bronze Age in Wales, by Harold Peake, PS.AL Cee Hi. J. Rose. The Clausulae of Aischines, by R. of Rope | N otes on the F. amiliar Letters of James Howell, by Professor cs Pulthes Notes on ‘‘ the Owl and the Nightingale,” by tof Atkins. The Arthurian Empire in the Elizabethan Poets, b’ stanley, M.A. A Note on. a passage in “ Beowulf,”’ by GN. BA. Welsh Words irom Pembrokeshire, by. Professo (Sta An English Flexional ending in Welsh, by Professor T i, A ** Court of Love’? poem in ‘Welsh by Professor T. Gwyn Evolution of the Welsh. Home, by ‘Timothy Lewis, M.A. J ay va Ford, by Miss Gwenan Jones, M.A. An Outline ‘History of our } 7 hood, by Professor H. J. Fleure. Some Notes: on the Ind istrial Re ye n South Wales, by J. Morgan Rees, M.A. Industrial Train ng in So by W. King, M.A. Conduct and the Experience of Value, t , by. : Some sources of the caus ‘Trial, ee Professor a V M. re and the Maxwell- Hecate queens fe Professor Ww. ae Investigations of the ‘scattering: of X- and y-Rays, by] ‘The Addition of Hydrogen to Acetylenic Acids, by the late: | _ BSe., and Professor T. C. Ja ames. The Action of Reduce 1g Age _ Polynitrodiphenylamines, by N. M Cullinan BBR 5 R ‘Tetranitroaniline, by GC. WwW. Davies, EB.S6i _ (Spermophyta) » by D. H. Scott, fbb) Iny Sea Floor of. Cardigan Bay, by Professor R. _ the Clarach Stream (Cardiganshire) and its T: By jhe’ a8 Additions to fee Morne: Fauna of A idee, Paine M. Se. i) ah wey) ee ia de Sod oe SSP: : Df tw Uae; As eg te ea, Crete . es lh" he Nach ae a