Gwen and Gwladys [A novel.] ... Translated from the Welsh by W. Rees Evans

Front matter

GWEN AND G W LADYS. BY WILLIAM REES, D.D. IGWILYM HIRAETHOC.) TRANSLATED FROM THE WELSH BY W. REES EVANS. LONDON : ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1896. UlO ENGLISH-SPEAKING WELSHMEN, WHO ARE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, THESE REMINISCENCES OF VILLAGE LIFE IN THEIR BELOVED HOMELAND, IN THE TIMES OF THEIR FATHERS, ARE Peikateb. NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR. THESE reminiscences, under the title ' The Life of an Old Tailor,' appeared originally in the columns of a Welsh Journal known as The Witness, and were then unusually appreciated. They now appear for the first time in an English dress. The translation is not strictly a literal one, but the original Welsh copies can still be obtained by those who desire the very words of the author. There is an Old English story of a Sir John Cutler, who had a pair of silk stockings, which his housekeeper, Dolly, darned for a long term of years with worsted ; at the end of the time the last gleam of silk had vanished, and Sir John's silk stockings were found to have degenerated into worsted.

The relations in which I stand to the author are much the same as those of Dolly to Sir John; but I hope I have not darned Dr. William Rees' stockings to the same extent as Dolly darned the worthy knight's. I hope that a great deal of the original silk still remains. Note by the Translator VI Dr. William Rees needs no word of praise, for his fame has gone out beyond his own land. This work does but represent the labours of leisure hours — often forced leisure hours — in an unusually busy life. The mingled humour and pathos, the searching character readings, and the delightful moralizings, will assuredly win the favour of English readers, as they have already charmed those who have read the book in their own beloved native tongue. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. MY TOOLS AND I - - - - - I II. THE HIT-OR-MISS TAILOR 6 III.

THE DOOR OF THE LIPS - - - - 12 IV. MIXED SIGN-BOARDS - - - - - 21 V. NINE MEN TO MAKE A TAILOR - - - -9 VI. HELL UPON EARTH - - - - 36 VII. HEAVEN UPON EARTH - - - - 43 VIII. PHILOSOPHY OF POULTRY - - - 52 IX. BETWIXT AND BETWEEN - - - - 62 X. SQUIRE HARRI - - - - 71 XI. THE STRENGTH THAT LOVE CAN GIVE - - 80 XII. UNCOMFORTABLE TALK - - - - 96 XIII. BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, NUMBER TWO - - I09 XIV. THE MINISTRY OF TYPHUS FEVER - - - 122 XV. THE FLIGHT AND THE RETURN - - - 1 27 XVI. BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, NUMBER THREE - - 1 38 XVII. THE HERESY OF TEA-DRINKING - - - 148 XVIII. THE WAVE OF REFORM - - - - 155 XIX. THE POWER OF A KISS ... - 163 XX. BABBLEBOB GETS HIS DESERTS - - 171 XXI. A FLEA IN HIS EAR - - - - - Contents CHAPTER PACE XXII. AN INVITATION TO TEA - - ■ - 1 86 XXIII. OLD ADAM AND NEW - - - - '93 XXIV.

Chapter I. My Tools And

I . I AM an old Welsh tailor, and an old Welsh tailor from a country parish in North Wales. Three score years I have driven the needle, plied the scissors, and wielded the goose ; and all these years I have laboured within and about the confines of my native parish. In the course of this long period I have worked at well-nigh every homestead on the country-side ; and have consequently gained a tolerable insight into the characters and the doings of my fellow-parishioners. Indeed, the country tailor, if he is keen of observation, is generally well informed in such matters. He goes from house to house, performing the duties of his calling ; he sews and snips on the big kitchen-table ; he joins the family at their meals ; and as he is within doors all the day, and in the company of the housewives and the maid-servants, he hears and sees all that is said and done.

It grieves me to think that this good old custom, like many other customs, is passing away. In these days people bring their material to the tailor, and the tailor I Gwen and Gwladys 2 does not go to the material, as in the olden times. In England, I am told, the old custom has quite passed away, and even in my own beloved Wales it survives but in a few of the mountainous districts. Truly, ' the old order changeth, giving place to new.' I have but lately retired from my business, and laid aside the needle, the scissors, and the other imple ments of my craft. The last of anything has always a certain solemnity of its own ; and when I stripped myself of the armour that had shielded me from want and poverty for so many years, my feelings were indescribably sad and mournful. ' Ah ! dear old companions of my life's work,' I said, as I placed them away carefully in an old chest, ' the hour of our parting has arrived.

Through weal and through woe, for sixty long years, we have faced the world together ; but now the time of our active com panionship is ended. It seems but yesterday when I, then a boy of twelve, went to Peter Price, the village tailor, as an apprentice ; but now my life-work is finished, my life-task is completed. How momentary seems the space between the commencement and the conclusion ! Thou, my needle, shalt rest henceforth in thy cushion. Thou art the last of many generations of needles that have passed through my hands — how many between the first and thee, the last, who can tell ? Thou, too, my scissors, art the last of many of thy kind which it has been my lot to handle ; but you, my lap-board and my goose, have clung to me from the very first, and all through ; you have never failed me, and have been faithful to the very end.

Year after year I My Tools and I 3 have borne you from house to house ; but now our last journey has been taken, and our life-long fellowship is closed. I have grown old and feeble, and have become clumsy and slow with my needle ; and the men of the present day run after the smart young tailors, who cut according to the latest styles, and are acquainted with the passing fashions. Well, well, dear old helpmates of the past ! I will keep you carefully by me as long as I live ; take many a peep at you in your resting-places ; and make sure that no new fangled tailor shall ever defile you with his touch. Rest in peace !' Tears were not wanting as I closed the lid of the old chest ; indeed, as I write these recollections many a tear courses down my cheeks. This display of weakness may provoke a smile in some of my readers.

Well, let them laugh; it does not matter to me. I can assure them that the reminiscences of an old tailor cause him many a tear, as well as many a smile, for he dwells with mingled tenderness, and reverence, and pleasure on the varied past of his experiences. Though I have retired from the pursuit of my calling, the reader must not hastily conclude that I have gathered together sufficient of this world's goods to support my wife and myself for the remainder of our earthly pilgrimage. No, no ; a tailor in Wales — let him be ever so industrious — considers himself fortunate if he can make both ends meet, year by year, and gain a comfortable livelihood. I drove the needle, as I have said, for sixty years, and verily believe that I have Given and Gwladys 4 handled as much cloth as would cover the face of the moon, and used sufficient thread, twist, and silk, if it were all rolled together in one immense ball, to form a fair-sized mountain ; but my labour has received only a scanty recompense.

Providence so willed it that I should be blessed with a faithful, hard-working, and economical wife. She has kept — and does so still — a small shop in the village ; and between us we have reared a family of five children, all of whom have left their humble home well prepared to do battle with the world. The world has given us many a rub, but so far we have weathered its storms, and our little shop, with the interest on some money that I have managed to save, makes the outlook of our declining years peaceful and calm. In my old age I sit and brood much over the past. I revive 'lang-syne' memorials. I dwell on some incidents with a feeling of sorrowful remorse, because of sins and short-comings that are recalled to mind ; on others, with a smile of cheerful recollection, and even with a feeling of heart-felt thankfulness.

The act of transcribing these incidents relieves the dull routine of my daily life ; bright pictures pass in panorama across my memory ; the present is peopled with the past ; and then I forget that I am old. I feel grateful to our village schoolmaster, for suggesting to me that the chronicling of these recollections would greatly relieve the monotony of my old age. The schoolmaster seems never to weary in hearkening to my tales of past days, and he vigorously asserts that they ought to be printed. I have no desire to figure in print ; but My Tools and I 5 if I ever do, let the considerate reader remember that it is only an old tailor who writes, and his manner of expressing himself, like his fashion-book, is sure to bear signs of his belonging to times that are gone for ever.

Chapter II. The Hit-or-miss Tailor

PETER PRICE was in the twenty-fifth year of his tailoring career when I went to him as his appren tice, so that he had considerable knowledge and experi ence of the duties and requirements of a country tailor. Peter was neither cleverer, nor wiser, nor better, than the multitude of men are. He had his fair share of common sense ; he was sober, honest, industrious, and, usually, of a quiet and kindly disposition. He had a vast fund of information in connection with the family affairs of the country-side, and his opinion on matters related to these family affairs was generally sound, and worthy of consideration. But he was slow of giving utterance to his thoughts, and, to use his own expression, he knew well how to ' squeeze the ear and spare the tongue.' I do not know who gave him the nickname of ' The Hit-or-Miss Tailor,' but I infer that he was re christened in this way, owing to his unreliability in the matter of fit.

One day, his fit would be as true as that of any leading London tailor; another day, his mis-Ut The Hit-or-Miss Tailor 7 would be so evident that his work would require extensive alterations. All classes of society in those days wore knee-breeches, and Peter was often exceedingly unfortunate in the manufacture of this particular article of attire. He almost invariably made the breeches either too tight or too loose, too short or too long, at the knee; and it was a rare exception when he had not either to widen or contract, to lengthen or to shorten, before properly satisfying his customers. He erred continually in one or the other of these directions. If the knees of one pair were too narrow, he would devote the greatest care to making the knees of the next pair sufficiently wide ; and this care and anxiety generally drove him from one extreme to another, with the result of producing another serious misfit.

These mistakes gained him many a severe scolding, and these scoldings he took much to heart. After receiving one of these reprimands, he would scarcely speak a word to me as, at nightfall, we wended our homeward way. With bowed head and silent tongue, he would walk by my side, breaking the stillness now and again only with a heavy sigh. When, however, he did happen to make a hit, his joy would be unbounded, and he would enliven our home ward journey with 'many a quip and jest.' Poor Peter's misfortune was that the miss occurred much more frequently than the hit. I well remember one interesting occasion. We were working at a farmhouse where there were four sons, ranging from twelve to eighteen years of age. The eldest son came first under Peter's measuring tape ; but when he tried on the breeches, it was found that the knees were much too loose and long.

These defects were remedied, but the breeches looked any thing but right even after these alterations. The second son was next taken in hand, and this youth was the owner of a biting tongue. Of course the knees of this second pair were found to be too tight ; but Peter, after a long and gallant struggle, managed to bring button and button-holes together, remarking, as he perspired over the last stubborn button, that ' the knees would stretch in the wearing.' The youth complained that the pressure around his knees was causing a benumbing sensation in his legs, and went out into a field for the purpose of running and jumping, so as to loosen the grip of the knee-breeches. Alas ! his exertions, added to Peter's previous draggings and pullings, caused the displacement of one of the buttons, and he ran into the house, shouting, ' I was running on the barn-field, when this middle button flew off, and struck a robin redbreast on the head, killing him on the spot.' ' For shame !' exclaimed his mother. ' Where dost thou expect to go to for telling such a lie ?' ' It's not much of a lie,' retorted the youth ; ' if a robin, or any other bird, had come in the way of that button, it would have been killed for a cer tainty.' At this point the goodman entered the kitchen, and said : ' I don't know what to do with that lamb that we are rearing ; there's no hedge or wall that will hold The Hit-or-Miss Tailor 9 him.

He has broken into the garden, and has made a fearful mess there.' ' I'll tell you how to cure him, father,' shouted the youth of the tight breeches. ' Get Peter to make him a pair of breeches, and I warrant they'll so fetter him as to prevent him from walking very far, let alone jumping over hedges and walls.' The boy's words, and the loud laughter of the family, cut Peter to the quick, and he leaped from the table and went outside, where he remained for some time soothing his ruffled feelings. Peter surpassed most country tailors in the art of coat-making, and he prided himself not a little upon his skill in the manufacture of that kind of garment. It was well that his expertness as a coat-maker often served to elevate him from the slough of despond into which he was cast by his unskilfulness as a maker of knee-breeches.

On the first morning of my apprenticeship, Peter delivered a serious charge to me concerning my duties and my conduct as a country tailor. ' Remember not to chatter in the houses that we visit,' he said, ' but simply answer any harmless ques tions put to you. Keep yourself clear of all scandal and gossip, and never be eager to listen to any conversation that passes between the people in whose house you may be engaged. Never carry tales from one house to another. Let all such things in at one ear and out at the other. Always be willing and polite, and be sure not to turn up your nose at any food placed before you. Keep these commandments,' he said, ' in your memory, and act accordingly for your own future good. A country tailor establishes his character in the days of his apprenticeship ; if the apprentice's conduct be circumspect and respectful, he will have the confidence, the esteem, and almost certainly the custom, of his fellow-parishioners in his manhood.' I have always felt very grateful to my old master for this valuable and timely advice, given to me when I crossed the threshold of my working-life.

The country tailor of that period possessed many advantages which are denied to the present generation of the sons of the needle. But these advantages had their attendant disadvantages, for though the constant change of scene and company added to the pleasures of his life, even this sweet had its bitter. The tailor had a vast fund of news ; he knew the opinions of many people in relation to many circumstances, and he could give a pretty accurate guess concerning the monetary standing and position of those who came within the circle of his tailoring peregrinations. Every sensible tailor was discreet in dealing with the knowledge that he had of such things, and he deemed nothing more dishonour able than repeating to others the private conversations of those whose hospitality he enjoyed. Many a bank rupt tailor of that period might have attributed his misfortune to the injudicious use of his tongue.

The tailor's position was surrounded with dangers, and it required constant care, and practised tact, in order to keep clear of well-laid snares and deep-dug pits. If Farmer Williams quarrelled with Farmer Roberts, The Hit-or-Miss Tailor 11 the tailor, when working at the respective homesteads of the disputants, would be besieged by the women folk with questions, and with different versions of the cause of disagreement. The Robertses would expect to hear him abuse the Williamses, and the Williamses would reckon on his support in pouring abuse upon the Robertses. In short, the tailor was one of the most important men in the parish. The peace of the locality may be said to have depended more upon him than upon any other single individual within its boundaries. His opportunities for fanning or for extinguishing the flames of neighbourly contention were such as could not be attained by any other person in any other position.

The customs of this world in its tailoring spheres, as in those of other trades, are fast passing away, and the present generation of tailors may be thankful that they are free from many of the dangers which their brethren of the older time had to face and overcome, though, no doubt, they have perils of their own.

Chapter III. The Door Of The Lips

IN the last chapter I gave a reduced copy of the law and commandments which were delivered to me by Peter Price at the commencement of my tailoring career. I think I may say that I kept his law, without seriously sailing in a single point, all the days of my working-life. Ah ! remembrance tells me that I swerved from the straight path on one occasion, and as the particulars of my downfall may serve as a warning to young tailors of the present day, I give them to those who care to read my recollections. My master was often employed by two families who occupied adjoining farms, which were known as Hill Farm and Holly Farm. In the second year of my apprenticeship these two families had a disagreement, which ended in a violent quarrel. The bitter and inimical feelings that were engendered by this squabble were more apparent, and more intense and prolonged, than was usual in such cases.

The influence of this brawl affected the entire community of the parish. Some persons favoured the one family, and some the other ; and not a few were drawn into the vortex of the strife through the utterance of an incautious word. While yet this contention was at its height, my master received commands to attend both at Hill Farm and at Holly Farm, and dates were fixed which followed closely one upon the other. Peter much dis liked the idea of going to either of the places during this stormy period, as he knew that both parties would claim his sympathy and support ; but the calls had to be obeyed if the customers were to be retained. With many secret misgivings and tremblings, we presented ourselves at Hill Farm on the required day. We had been there but a few hours when the housewife made several allusions to the subject which we wanted to avoid ; but Peter wisely pretended ignorance of her meaning, and diverted the course of conversation into other channels.

At last the housewife appealed directly to him, and said : ' I suppose you have heard of our quarrel with the Holly Farm people, Peter ? But, for that matter, who has not heard of it ?' ' Yes,' replied my master; 'I heard that there had been a slight misunderstanding between you ; but it is none of my business to talk or interfere in such matters.' ' Oh, indeed !' she said sarcastically. ' I must say that you differ greatly from most tailors. They generally love to know the ins and outs of every tale.' ' Perhaps so,' said my master ; ' but you'll never catch me taking part in other people's quarrels, or listening to tale-bearers, who embitter and intensify every little squabble by their clap-trap.' My master by this time was plying the needle with might and main, and this was a sure sign that his temper was ruffled.

The needle's pace was a certain indication of the driver's mood, and its unwonted speed proclaimed the risingof my master's anger. The housewife read the signs correctly, and began to dis course on other matters. But not ten minutes had elapsed before her little son came running into the house, shouting: ' Oh, mother ! mother ! the Holly Farm dog has been chasing our sow, and he has bitten her ear terribly. The poor sow is covered with blood 1' ' Where was the sow ?' asked his mother. ' On the road between here and Holly Farm,' he replied. ' Some of those Holly Farm brutes must have sent the dog after her,' said the housewife wrathfully. ' Of course they did !' exclaimed the boy. ' I heard Bill and Jack' (the two sons of the Holly Farm) ' setting the dog on her.' Great were the discussions, and dire were the uttered threats, in that house after this affray.

The dog and the sow's ear gave a fresh impetus to the conflict, and wordy warfare was waged more fiercely than ever. The following week we went to Holly Farm. If in the frying-pan before, we were in the fire now. The gift of eloquence, in known and unknown tongues, had been bestowed upon the goodwife of Holly Farm. She poured forth a torrent of words from early morn till dewy eve. This woman's tongue and the tailor's needle kept pace together ; if she quickened her speech, master quickened the needle, and accompanied the drawing home of every stitch with a sharp hiss from between his teeth. ' Why do you hiss like a gander whenever I speak to you, Peter?' she asked one day. ' Oh, I do but repeat your tale to the goose,' replied Peter. She laughed heartily at this answer, as she was not quite devoid of humour.

We had not been there long, however, before she broached the question that we feared was coming. ' I understand, Peter,' she said, ' that you were working at Hill Farm last week.' ' Yes,' replied Peter shortly, as he began to ply the needle more vigorously. ' I suppose you heard them abusing us in choice language ?' she queried. ' I never listen to abusive language at any time,' master replied. ' Never listen ! You never listen !' she cried shrilly. ' You could not help hearing their abuse of us, when you were in the midst of the rabble for days. They abuse us to everybody.' ' If I hear neighbours abusing each other, I take no notice,' said master. ' I let all such things in at one ear and out at the other.' This was one of master's favourite sayings. ' Come, come, Peter,' she pleaded, in a wheedling tone, ' do not beat about the bush, but tell me honestly what they said about us.' ' I never repeat at one house what I may have heard at another,' replied Peter ; ' even if I had overheard anything derogatory of you, do you think it would be honourable on my part to report it to you ?' ' Oh, I see,' she said viciously, ' you take their side.' ' No, I do not,' exclaimed Peter angrily ; ' I take no part either with you or with them in the matter.' Peter was stitching and hissing so vigorously that I expected to see sparks glancing from his needle — such was the speed at which it was urged through the cloth.

The housewife persisted in bombarding Peter with annoying questions, until at last, his patience becoming exhausted, he followed his usual custom, when tempted to make use of angry expressions, and leaped from the table, and sought the open air. The irrepressible woman then approached me, and said : 'You tell me, my boy, what those people at Hill Farm were saying about us ? I will give you some thing if you tell me the truth.' The hour of temptation had come at last. ' Really,' I replied, ' I do not remember that they said anything about you.' ' Now, don't tell lies, whatever you do,' she said sharply. ' Tell me the truth.' ' Well,' I replied weakly, ' all I heard them say was, that your dog had bitten their sow's ear.' ' Ah ! and I suppose they also said that we had sent the dog after the sow ?' she asked eagerly. ' I did not say so,' I replied.

At this juncture my master returned. ' Well, Peter,' she said, as he took his place on the table, 'what made you deny that the Hill Farm people were saying hard things of us ? The boy is more straightforward than you, and has confessed the truth.' My master glanced so angrily at me that I fairly trembled. ' What did he say ?' he asked. ' He said that they were continually abusing us,' replied the demon-woman. ' I said nothing of the sort,' I cried excitedly; 'all I said was that they blamed your dog for biting their sow's ear.' ' Well, that amounts to the same thing,' she retorted. ' I would rather they blamed me than blame the poor dog — " love me, love my dog " is a good and true old saying.' ' Is that all ?' exclaimed Peter, in a relieved tone of voice. ' I heard the children saying something about the dog and the sow.

Surely there's not much harm in that ?' 'No harm, indeed!' she cried; 'it appears to me that there's harm enough, if we only knew all they said about us.' She then approached the dog, which was lying across the hearth, and said as she stroked and patted him : ' Poor old fellow, are they abusing thee ? Never mind them, old fellow; thou art much wiser and better Gwen and Gwladys than they. Bite their sow's ear again, old fellow, and their ears as well, if thou gettest half a chance.' This is but a portion of the sympathetic and en couraging address which was delivered to the dozing lover of pork by this unreasonable woman. I dreaded the homeward journey that night, but there was no escape, and I received a severe reprimand from Peter for the infringement of his law. It was useless to argue that what I had said was innocent in itself, as I had but mentioned the sow and the dog. ' You had no right to refer to a dog or a pig or any thing else,' said Peter ; ' if anyone ever tempts you to tell tales again, inform them that I have threatened to turn you away if you repeat a single word of what you have heard in people's houses.

You will get quietness then, maybe, but if you begin to jangle, there's no telling where, or how, it will end. They will lead you from one thing to another, if you give them the least encouragement. There's no telling what that fiend of a woman would have tempted you to say, if I had remained outside a little longer.' When friendship was restored, both of these families reposed greater confidence in Peter than ever; and his policy of non-intervention, in all matters of the kind, secured him the respect and confidence of all in the neighbourhood. As we entered the village, on this same night, we were accosted by young Vaughan of Hendre. He was a tall, broad-shouldered, deep-chested young man, with a handsome face and figure. His kindly disposi tion and winning ways made him a general favourite ; and the maidens for miles around were well pleased if they received a kindly glance of his blue eye.

He had lost both of his parents at an early age, and inherited from them the old hall of Hendre, and a few hundred acres of land. He greatly astonished the foreboders of evil, by displaying as much industry, energy, and acuteness in the management of his affairs as he had previously shown in the pursuit of mischief. In his boyhood he had been the pest of the neighbourhood — ■ he was always in some scrape, or else concocting some mischief; and even yet, though he was approaching his twenty-third year, the spirit of mischief had by no means altogether deserted him. 'Holloa, Peter!' he cried, 'whose cloth have you been spoiling to-day ?' 'Nobody's, I hope, sir,' replied Peter; 'but I have been making good use of some at Holly Farm.' ' Holly Farm !' replied Vaughan, in tones of assumed amazement. ' What under heaven induced you to venture there?