name: now we are stopped short at the first step, and condemned through all generations to bear as final surnames the accidental prænomina of the generation existing before Henry VIII. enacted fixity of appellation. The Cambrian News gives some amusing instances of the expedients adopted in a well-known Welsh seaport to classify the various Mary Joneses. "The difficulty is often reduced by taking names which are startlingly distinctive. Suppose there are four Mary Joneses. The first may be called Mary Gasworks, the second Mary Jones Steamer, the third Mary Jones Forty-five, and the fourth Mary Ocean Wave (the name of a vessel)." The same difficulty is felt in the border counties of Scotland, as the following extract from Guy Mannering will show. "Ye see, Sir," said an old shepherd, "the folks hereabouts are a' Armstrongs and Elliots and sic like, and so, for distinction's sake, the lairds and farmers have the names of their places that they live at― as, for example, Tam o' Todshaw, Will o' the Flat, Hobbie o' Sorbietrees, and our good master here o' the Charlies-hope. Aweel, Sir, and then the inferior sort o' people, ye'll observe, are kend by sorts o' bynames some o' them, as Glaiket Christie, and the Deuke's Davie, or maybe like this lad Gabriel by his employment, Tod Gabbie or Hunter Gabbie." In a note to this passage Scott adds:-' "The distinction of individuals by nicknames, when they possess no property, is still common on the Border, and indeed necessary from the number of persons having the same name. In the small village of Instruther in Roxburghshire there dwelt in the memory of man four inhabitants called Andrew or Dandie Oliver. They were distinguished as Dandie Easselgate, Dandie Wassailgate, Dandie Thumbie, and Dandie Dumbie. The two first had their names from living eastward and westward in the street of the village, the third from something peculiar in the conformation of his thumb, the fourth from his taciturn habits. It is told as a wellknown jest that a beggar woman, repulsed from door to door as she solicited quarters through a village of Annandale, asked in her despair if there were no Christians in the place. To which the hearers, concluding that she inquired for some persons so surnamed, answered, 'Na, na, there are nae Christians here, we're a' Johnstones and Jardines." This can all be matched in agricultural Glamorganshire. Thomas Thomas of Tydraw would be called, according to the size of his holding, in a descending series: Mr. Tomos, Tydraw; gŵr y Tydraw; Tomos Tydraw; Twmi Tydraw. Never so low as Twm. When a man descends to Twm, he ceases to have a "property qualification." At best he can only figure as Twm y gôf, or Twm yr efal. In the mining districts, Twm y collier or Twm y puddler would be about as good as no name at all. It is there accordingly that nicknames most abound. am aware that nicknames are not confined to the Scottish Border and Wales, but that they are found among the lower classes in England, where there is sufficient variety of surnames. But there is, I think, this difference, that the English nicknames are unnecessary and gratui tous, and probably on that account as a rule offensive. The practical Saxon seizes upon some salient physical feature in his "mate," labels him Bill Ugly Mug or Conky Jem, and thinks he has done abundantly well. But that is not the Welsh style. I may perhaps be allowed to

I

give a few examples,-all authentic. A certain John marries a woman rejoicing in the uncommon but, I believe, Scriptural appellation of Achsah, and for the term of his natural life John is known as Shôn Achsah. The issue of this marriage, a daughter named Margaret, goes by the name of Peggy Shôn Achsah. Peggy Shôn Achsah marries in process of time, and her husband's rather lengthy soubriquet is Twm Peggy Shôn Achsah. A small boy strays away to a hillside some distance from his home, and falls asleep among the furze bushes. By and by he is missed, the neighbours turn out to assist in the search for him, and his father makes the welkin ring with shouts of "Shôni, aped (ateb) Dyta." Poor little Shôni is found very soon, but he goes down to his grave as Shôni aped Dyta, and his daughter after him has no other name than Mari Shôni aped Dyta. Sometimes there is a sly allusion. A laudator temporis acti named John, is styled Shôn Gwelais y Dydd. A certain David who fancies that he has risen somewhat in the social scale, and makes no secret of the fact that he thinks so, is dubbed by his late fellow-workmen, Dai Step yn Uwch. * Another David, whose unsupported testimony is not usually received without hesitation, is appropriately termed Dafydd Gweyd y Gwir. Such are some of the desperate expedients to which a naturally not unkindly people are driven for want of an adequate supply of legitimate surnames.

Of late years an attempt has been made to vary the monotony a little by introducing a middle name. Instead of John Jones,† a child is called John Edward Jones; or perhaps it is left to the young man himself, when he has arrived at years of discretion, especially if he has an eye to the pulpit, to endow himself with a double-barrelled name; and he suddenly bursts forth as J. Ardudwy Jones, or W. Aberdaugleddau Williams. To the first plan, I have only to say that John I like, and Edward I like, but Jones remains; and to the ministerial interpolations,

*Clywsom stori dda am gyfreithiwr parchus o Forganwg ag oedd, mae yn eglur, yn dra chydnabyddus â'r talfyriad Deheuol "Dai" am David, ac o herwydd ei wybodaeth ieithyddol, a osodid nid yn anfynych i gyfieithu rhwng y Cymry uniaith a'u huchafiaid dysgedig, y barnwyr Seisonig, yn y llysoedd barn. Yr oedd Cymro ieuanc deallus, un o feibion yr Ysgol Sabbothol, yn cael ei holi. "And what did he say then?" ebe'r barnwr. "Mae ei honour yn gofyn beth 'wedsoch chi wedin?" "Mi ddwedes na ddwedwn i ddim rhagor wrtho ar y mater ond yn mhresenoldeb dau dyst." "He says, your honour, that he said that he would not say any more to him except in the presence of some fellow he calls Dai Dyst."

Mewn amgylchiad arall yr oedd pob rheswm yn dangos yn amlwg fod carcharor yn euog, er nad oedd prawf cyfreithiol digonol dros ei gondemnio. Dan yr amgylchiadau tybiodd y barnwr yn addas roddi cerydd llym iddo, yr hyn a wnaeth mewn anerchiad difrifol, a gymerodd gryn amser i'w draddodi. "Now translate that," ebai wrth yr un Cymro enwog a ddywedai mor ddoniol am Dai Dyst. "Ac mae'r judge yn dweyd," meddai yntau, "dy fod yn greadur drwg diawledig !" "Have you told him all I said?" "Yes, my Lord." "Then I must say that the Welsh is a very expressive language!"

Mewn amgylchiad arall gofynai y dadleuydd, "How much stock was there on the farm?" "Faint o stock o'dd ar y fferm ?" rhüai yr attwrnai dysgedig oedd yn cyfieithu. "Tair buwch ac aner," atebai y tyst oedd yn cael ei holi. "Three cows and a half," ebai y cyfieithydd. "What!" ebe'r barnwr. "That's what he said, my Lord! I can't make anything else of it."-Gol. y TRAETHODYDD.

+ Rai blynyddoedd yn ol yr oedd offeiriad parchus yn Nghroesoswallt o'r enw Mr. Cuthbert. Un diwrnod cyfarfu fachgenyn ar y ffordd a gofynodd, "What is your name, my boy?" "John, Sir." "John what?" "John Jones, Sir.' "Ah, my poor boy,' ebe yntau, "you may as well be without any name at all!"--Gol. y TRAETHODYDD,

that they are usually outlandish in appearance and sound to English eyes and ears, names such as would make Quintilian stare and gasp worse than even the Irish and Scotch names mentioned by Milton. I would therefore, with great submission, offer this suggestion to the Welsh public. If we are to adopt new names, let us adopt them not in addition to, but instead of the common ones. You will not get people in general to recognise your Aberdaugleddau. They will call you Williams briefly. It is therefore not by inserting middle names that any great reform can be effected, but by changing the final names, throwing over Thomas and Williams and Davies and Evans, and a few more of the commoner Welsh names altogether (please observe that I would not have anyone drop such names as Ellis, Griffith, Howel, Llewelyn, Lloyd, and Rhys-they are not overcrowded), and substituting for them new surnames. By all means select a Welsh name, but choose one that others besides native of Wales can pronounce correctly, or nearly so, on reading them. To that end, you must slightly Anglicize some of them, before will they grow sleek to Saxon mouths. No one will deny to the Scotch the qualities of patriotism and sturdy independence, and what the dour Scot has not thought it derogatory to do, we may surely without loss of dignity do likewise. Take for instance the following Highland names: how they have softened them! The Gregarach have become Macgregors, Gregors, Grigors, and Gregories; and the MacNeachdaill, Macnicols, Nicols, Nicolsons, and Nicholsons. Mach-Klyoda has become Macleod, and Gearaidh na'h Aimnhe (the name of a mountain) has been consolidated into Garra-na-hinna. Balmerinoch is now Balmerino, and Evan Dhu Maccombich, the cattle-lifter and blackmail levier of "The Forty-five," has toned down into Mr. M'Combie, M.P., of Tillyfour, cattle-breeder and prize-medal winner of this generation. These are probably not the best instances that could be found, but only a few that I have happened to come across. Nor are we entirely without specimens of this tendency in Welsh names of persons and places. I have found Angharad, the name of a Welsh lady, transformed in an English History book into Ankaret, and Ednyfed into Ednevet. Other instances will be found below. But I may be asked, Where are these easily pronounced Welsh names to be found? If we escape from the commonplace names of to-day, shall we not find ourselves landed in the midst of the certainly more striking but uncommonly bristling Brochmael Ysgythrogs of the old genealogies? Not at all. There is no sort of necessity for so extreme a measure. The following names are thoroughly Welsh, and still, though too rarely, in use in various parts of Wales: Anwyl, Bengough, Beynon, Blethyn, Breese, Cadwallader, Cradock, Devonald (Dyfnwal), Eynon, Games (claiming descent from Sir David Gam), Gethin, Gough, Glyn, Gronow (Goronwy), Gwillim, Gwyn, Gwyther, Leyshon, Maddock, Meredith, Meyler, Meyrick or Merrick, Mostyn, Pennant, Penrice, Penry, Protheroe and perhaps Petherick (Prydderch), Rotheroe, Trevor, Tudor (or Tydder, as Queen Elizabeth pronounced her surname), Traherne, Treharne, Vaughan (Fychan), and Yorath (Iorwerth). Take again the following names, all genuine Welsh, but now, I believe, exclusively borne by English families-presumably

of Welsh extraction: Bethel, Beevor, Bithel, Cadell,* Cadogan, Conway, Floyd (evidently an attempt to preserve the sound of the Ll in Lloydcompare Fluellen and Llywelyn), Garth, Gwilt, Heylyn, Kemeys (Cemmaes), Kyffyn (readers of Macaulay will remember a London Alderman of that name), Laugharne (the Langhorne of some history books: it was the name of the Royalist commander who was defeated at St. Fagan's), Mervyn, Moyle (descendants apparently of an unusually bald progenitor), Penrhyn, and Sayce or Seys. Other suitable names, now extinct, such as Cadwallon, Dervel, Glendower, Jestyn, Tremerin, might be found in any History of Wales. Then again, what a field there is for judicious coining from names of places and natural objects ? To give two instances, I met with the name Rhyl the other day in a Medical Directory, and the name Trevaldwyn (a very beautiful name in my opinion) in the Clergy List. Why should we not have names beginning with Aber and Llan, or why should we leave to the Bretons and Cornish a monopoly of those beginning with Caer † or Car and Tre and Pen? That Welsh names can be found euphonious enough for peers to wear and be known by in English society is sufficiently proved by such titles as Aberdare, Brecknock, Cadogan, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Carnarvon, Denbigh, Dinorben, Dunraven (Dindryfan), Dynevor (Dinefawr), Emlyn, Glamorgan, Gwydyr, Meredyth, Mostyn, Pembroke, Penrhyn, Powis, Tredegar. Some of these have already been mentioned as being in use as ordinary surnames, and most of them might be so used. I will venture to add to them a few of my own selecting: Alyn, Carvan, Colwyn, Caerleon, Corris, Dinorwick, Duffryn, Elwy or Elwey, Glascombe, Gledwyn, Gwent and Gwyneth (why not as well as Powis ?) Kennarth, Lisworney, Merthyr, Penmayne, Trevelyn, Trevethin, Vardrey, Vaynor, Wenvoe. I submit these names merely as samples. What I said about the specimens of softened Highland names I repeat here. They are not probably the best that could be found, but the best or rather some of the best that I have been able to find. They are at any rate Welsh and easily pronounced.

But how is this reform to be brought about? Are all Welshmen to drop their present honest names for these new-fangled or old-fangled productions? I do not propose anything so revolutionary. I do not

There are no fewer than seven officers of this name in the Army List. The original Cadell appears to have been the grandfather of the above-named Brochmael Ysgythrog. "Brochmael Ysgythrog oedd fab i Cyngen ap Cadell Deyrnllug."

The ollowing advertisement, which I copy from a recent Times, may interest some of your readers: "Whereas from A.D. 1274 until a.d. 1765, the right and legal orthography of my surname was, in all charts, deeds, and legal documents, spelt Caerdoel, and it was only since the latter date that it has been spelt Kerdoel, I intend henceforth to resume the former legal orthography of my surname. Therefore I, Emile Cherubin Buzic de Maurepas Caerdoel, of will from this day's date write in all deeds, documents, and correspondence, and sign my name according to its legal orthography thusCaerdoel.

EMILE CHERUBIN BUZIO DE MAUREPAS CAERDOEL."

Readers of English History will remember the name of the French or rather Bretonne adventuress, who negotiated the Treaty of Dover-Louise de Querouaille, popularly known in England as Madam Carwell. Querouaille itself is only the French form of Kerhoel, that is, Caerhywel. We have then Caerhywel Armoricized or Llydawized into Kerhoel, which is Frenchified into Querouaille, which is Anglicized into Carwell.

wish to destroy the Welsh nomenclature but to diversify it. I would, if I could, blot out none (or very few-I confess to a spite against Thomas) of the existing names; but intersperse them with others. The proposed change would be gradually accomplished, if in every neighbourhood a few young men beginning life, who have no long past to break with, had the courage to adopt new names for themselves, or if a few fathers of families did so for their children. I have several sons, whom I do not mean to send out into the wide world handicapped with the depressing surname of Thomas. For myself, I am too old, and have borne my present name too long to change without inconvenience -real or fancied. I shall therefore, I fear, continue to the end of the chapter to subscribe myself

Т. Т.

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.

The Life of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. By GEORGE BARNETT SMITH. Cassell, Petter, Galpin, & Co. 1879.

Gleanings of Past Years. By the RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P. 7 Vols. John Murray, London. 1879.

Os oes enaid o wirionedd yn nghynghor y doethawr Groegaidd, "Na elwch neb yn ddedwydd cyn ei farwolaeth," yna y mae gwaith y ganrif bresennol yn cyhoeddi hanes bywyd dynion cyn bod y bywyd hwnw wedi gorphen ei waith, ac o ganlyniad ei ddadblygiad, yn beth na ddylid bob amser ei dderbyn gyda ffafr. Y mae bywyd y dynion goreu, ac ni ddylid ysgrifenu hanes neb arall gyda'r manylrwydd sydd yn briodol i fywgraffiaeth,-yn ddadblygiad parhâus o'r cryd i'r bedd; ac nid ydyw wedi gorphen ffurfio ei hun fel dylanwad arosol ar y ddynoliaeth hyd nes bydd yr act ddiweddaf ar ben, a lleni marwolaeth wedi ei guddio o'n golwg. Wedi hyny, yn briodol, y mae yn dyfod yn wrthddrych hanesyddiaeth; ac y mae yr hanes yn gwasanaethu fel cyfrwng i gadw byth mewn coffadwriaeth y dyn sydd bellach wedi ei symud o'n plith. Dyma ydyw yr amcan sydd mewn golwg wrth ysgrifenu Bywgraffiadau dynion; fel y mae y gair yn awgrymu, llun ac argraff ysbryd dyn ydyw mewn papyr ac inc; a champ fawr bywgraffydd ydyw anadlu anadl einioes i fewn i'r llyfr, a'i wneyd yn fyw gan eiriau a phresennoldeb y dyn fu unwaith yn symud yn ein mysg. I'r graddau y mae Bywgraffiaeth yn llwyddiannus i wneyd hyn, mae hi yn dyfod yn un o ganghenau pwysicaf llenyddiaeth cenedloedd.

E