Cylchgronau Cymru

Sept. 27,1899. BYE-GONES. 211 The spinning-wheel is blessed when it is put away for the night; the cow before she is milked ; the horses when put to any new work ; the cattle when they are shut up in the byre; the fire when the peats are covered up at bed¬ time ; the door is signed with the cross when closed for the night; and the joiner's tools when he leaves them in his workshop, otherwise he is likely to be disturbed by hear¬ ing them used by unseen hands. For the same reason the women take the band off the spinning-wheel, for when a death is about to occur tools and wheel are likely to be put to use. The boats are always blessed at the beginning of the fishing season, and holy water is carried in them. When one leaves the shore, " Let us go in the name of God," says the skipper; "In the name of God let us go," replies the next in command. The sea is much more blessed than the land. A man will not be afraid to stay all night in a boat a few yards from shore, but he would not stay an hour alone in the dark on land. Miss A. Werner gives a new version of the Tar- Baby Story; and Mr W. G. Aston's paper on Japanese Myths, read by the President at the meeting of the Society on March 15, is printed. It is full of interest, though, as the writer says, it may be questioned whether the ancient myths of Japan, which seem to have had their birthplace at the Court of the Mikado, are in the strict sense of the word folk-lore. The rest of the Part is taken up with Reviews, Correspondence, Miscellanea, and Bibliography. THE COLLECTIONS OP THE LATE MR NICHOLAS BENNETT. "Cadrawd," writing to the "South Wales Daily News," says: — Those who were privileged with the friendship of the late Master of Plas-y-morwynion (the original name of Glan-yr-afon) cannot help feelmg that in his death they have been deprived of a real friend ; and those who knew how wide his knowledge v»'as in matters pertaining to Welsh literature, and in particular Welsh music, and how ready he was at all times to give any assstance to those who asked him for it, must feel that by his death there is left in their lives a vacancy which it will be difficult to fill. He was a bosom friend of tie late bards Ceiriog and Mynyddog, and less than two years ago I had the pleasure of spending a few days with him at Glan-yr-afon, and' among other things he showed me a very largo collection of Ceiriog'-s manuscripts, which I understood had been g'ven him by Ceiriog's widow. His home was a store house of Welsh manuscripts, books, and curiosi¬ ties, being the fruit of an industrious life spent in bringing them together, in addition to what he had inherited from his family, who sad lived there for over tJhree hundred years. He was an excel¬ lent lyric poet, and some of his compositions may be seen in "Oeinion Llenyddiaeth" ; but I should think that most of his poetic compositions are still in manuscript. I remember his showing me one entitled "Y Ferch Anffodus," which he had sent to Ceiriog to or'ticise, and had the following re¬ marks uipom it returned to him:—"I don"t know what to say about, the thing. When I am bad it is good, and when I am good it- is bad." Ceiriog thought some of his songs superior to anything he had composed1 himself. I do not believe he ever competed at any Eisteddfod, but he offered many a prize for competition at local eisteddfodau. 1 saw a very good1 collection of "sheep marks!' wirtsh him in manuscript, the result of a competi¬ tion in >t!b.e neighbourhood of Llanidloes, for which he had given the prize. I may here remark that the effort made in th's direction in the county of Montgomery has resulted in a curious little volume being published at Machynlleth, containing over two thousand sheep marks, collected in thirty- three parishes, the author and compiler bsing Mr Lewis Jones, Bwlch, Dinas Mawddwy, and in the preface of this interesting little work to farmers the author acknowledges the assistance given him by Mr Bennett. An old friend and neighbour of Mr Bennett, writing to the "Cymro" August 24-, says that it w7as as the patron of .the bard and bardism, the harp, harpists, and singers wifch the harp he was best known. It was an article of faith with him that— " Y dyn a garo grwth a thelyn, Sain cynghanedd can ac englyn, A gar y pethau mwya' tirion Sy'n y nef yn mhli'th aogylion." I noticed him when he happened to go near his own harp, which occupied a prominent corner in his library; he was in the habit of touching the strings, and sometimes he would exclaim "Iaith enaid a*r ei thannau." Perhaps there is not a better collection of Welsh ballads to be found to-day in the Principality than there is at Glan-yr-afon, towards which I have had the pleasure of assisting a little. . . . His library is a most valuable one, containing com¬ plete sets of the Welsh periodicals published in his own time. He seems to have been a subscriber to every Welsh periodical and magazine,and took par¬ ticular care to have them bound and arranged on his shelves up to date. His collection of Welsh music is by far the best I have ever seen. He spared no expense until his death in adding to it in order to make it as complete as opportunity served him. It was at Glan-yr-afon I saw the cnly copy I have ever seen of John Parry's {Ruabon) first volume of Welsh airs, which is printed on one side of the paper only. He was a personal friend of Thomas Williams (Hafrenydd), author _ of "Ceinion Cerddoriaeth," "Y Cerddor Eglwysig," and Otiher valuable works; also of the MiTJs's of Llanidloes. These together were the pioneers of Welsh musical publishers in the Principality. The books published at Llanidloes by tj' e above-named gentlemen were the means of giving a start to Ohoral singing in Wales, over half a century ago. Mr Bennett was exceedingly fond of the chase, and kept a pack of hounds. He also was a good shot and loved fislhing. He was also not a mean artist, and he showed me his paintings of some of the largest salmon he had caught as well as of birds he had shot. His evenings he was fond of spending in playing Welsh airs upon the "crwth." He devoted some of his time to bees, the cultiva¬ tion of Which he seemed to understand thoroughly. He was also an exquisite turner in wood, and had some very beautiful specimens of his workmanship done in his leisure hours. ^he Date John ^pobastoit, dEsq. We regret to announce the death of Mr John Dovaston of The Nursery, West Felton, which took place, after a brief illness, on Monday even¬ ing, Sept. 18. Mr Dovaston, who enjoyed robust and vigorous health, was taken ill only three weeks ago, and though hopes were entertained of his