Cylchgronau Cymru

Design for its own sake is anathema to him, and so are all the principles of classicism. The critic of "The Studio" once spoke of "near genius" and compared him with Blake. And one cannot apply to Blake any of the ordinary tests. One has to say he is a mystic and leave it at that. One may say-as one can-that Blake's draw- ing was demonstrably weak but Blake triumphs so easily over his limitations that he might well have exhorted his followers to consider first the spirit and all else would be added. Griffiths is a mystic; the keynote of his work is a wonderful spontaneity, almost a frenzy so that the merest trifle has the appearance of being larded with emotion. Much of his work consists of mining studies, haggard, woebegone, almost fearful and yet irradiated with a wonderful light. Sir William Rothenstein, his old principal at the Royal College of Art wrote of him some time ago Griffiths coming to the college, soon showed unusual powers of drawing, but what PARSON, Fellow and Agriculturist-in few words he may be described as such. Still, Mr. Pollard, in his notice of Thomas Owen in the "Dictionary of National Biography," ap- pears to hesitate in doubt with regards to him, for he adds, in a quasi postscript, some account of Thomas Ellis Owen (1764-1814), as if uncer- tain as to the identity and independence of the two men. Both were Anglesey born and bred, and contemporaries. The latter mentioned was the author of "Methodism Unmasked" (1802), which caused at the time no little fluttering in various dove-cotes. Further, in the list of autho- rities quoted for references to the two men, they are intermingled promiscuously. Thomas Owen was the eldest son of Rhiwlas, an old well-established house in the parish of Pen- traeth. Here he was born in 1749. His home is beautifully situate on the western slope of Mynydd Llwydiarth, and overlooks the wonderful sweep of the extensive red sands of Red Wharf Bay on the northern shore of Anglesey. The whole neigh- bourhood is redolent with the legends and remains of ancient Mona. Within walking distance is what is described as King Arthur's Seat. In front is the tiny meandering Ceint, singing its way from Royal Penmynydd to the sea at Pen- traeth, and discovering wonderful nooks and appeared most striking was a passionate element of sincerity in his compositions. Again and again he tried to express in these, in a peculiar imagin- ative way, a moving sympathy with toiling and sweating workers underground. The subjects showed an intimate knowledge of the miner's life; but objective though they were in treatment, one was always aware of an inner mystical spirit, which raised his designs far above mere illustra- tion, however informative and interesting. As his grasp of constructive form developed, so did his imaginative insight grow. Finally Griffiths achieved work which combined a curios- ity for form with a powerful imaginative vision, a combination which has distinguished some of the rarest spirits in the history of the arts Gifts of great dramatic and lyrical promise, rare gifts these. It is to be hoped that Wales will not let such inspiring gifts go unused." It would be lamentable, Sir William adds, if such gifts were wasted. It would indeed. THOMAS OWEN by the Archdeacon of Bangor. glens which mark its short course, and prove to the uninitiated that there are spots in Anglesey which the travellers by Telford and the coastal roads pass by unnoticed and unexplored. In the village of Pentraeth, this small river is spanned by a stone bridge which serves the double purpose of crossing the brook as well as for a viaduct over the ravine at its estuary. Here is the end of what locally is still called Yard Pentraeth, answering to the twin bay on the southern coast of Anglesey, called Yard Malltraeth. Below this bridge Thomas Owen, even when a Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, used to lower his net for a catch of 'fish. In all probability Owen attended Beaumaris Grammar School, which is about six or seven miles distant from Rhiwlas. He entered Jesus College, Oxford, in March, 1767, and took his degree in 1770. In that year, on the 29th of March, he was elected Michel scholar of Queen's College, and in consequence migrated to that college. After proceeding to his M.A. in 1775, he became a Fellow on the same foundation. (All these scholarships and fellowships of John Michel have by now been merged in those of Eglesfeild). In 1779 he was appointed, on the death of Richard Barry, by the Visitors of the Michel Foundation, to the Rectory of Upton Scudamore or Escudamor in Wiltshire. The parish consists of 2,523