Cylchgronau Cymru

Welsh Calendar Customs Committee On Welsh Calendar Customs Pwyllgor Arferion Cymreig Y Calendr Introduction In several European countries important investigations of traditional culture are being carried out on a national scale, and there is much work going on in America. International conferences take place from time to time with the aim of encouraging scholars in the various countries to co- operate as fully as possible, and to publish the results of their work to facilitate this co-operation. In Great Britain the Folk-Lore Society has is- sued three volumes on the calendar customs of England, three on those of Scotland, one on the customs of the Orkneys and Shetlands, and one on the Isle of Man. Hitherto nothing of the kind has been done for Wales, and it was with the intention of filling this serious gap that the Committee on Welsh Calendar Customs came into existence, and circulated the two ques- tionnaires which are re-printed on the following pages. When the answers have been received, it is intended to publish the information they contain in a series of volumes, which it is hoped will be worthy of the respect we bear for the generations that have passed. There has been an important departure from the methods previously f Ilowed. Mr. Wright Lones, helped by friends, was responsible for the three English volumes, and Mrs. McCleod Banks was similarly responsible for the volumes dealing with Scotland and the northern isles. The Welsh committee feels, however, that no one could be familiar with the varying traditions of all parts of Wales, and that, if we are not to miss rich veins of popular lore and custom, the work must be carried out by a close network of observers and correspondents all over the country. Moreover, a large proportion of the information which we want to collect must be sought for in manuscripts, old newspapers, journals, almanacks, and books of many different kinds. In the present writer's opinion our task will take several years, and it will need the wholehearted co-operation of friends in all walks of life and in every district. In a pioneer work like this, there has been some unavoidable and unforeseen delay, and, in the early stages, per-