- The Riches of Myrddin’s Land by T. Gwyn Jones
- Note: this was written decades before the greening of the
- south eastern Welsh valleys and the closing of coal mines.
- The Land of Myrddin is such a romantic countryside. In the
- east of Carmarthenshire alone is the wealth of its coal - in
- the Aman valley and the Gwendraeth valley, the anthracite
- (stone coal) areas. Great change has taken place in these
- valleys during the last half-centurie - a great change in the
- way of life, and a tremendous increase in population, as the
- coal mines were opened. Yet less of the old glory was lost
- from these places than was done in many another similar
- locality, which came under the influence of the Industrial
- Revolution within the same period. We gather that the Aman
- Valley was a wooded fruitful land when there was a hunting
- of the Twrch Trwyth (the famous wild boar of the Mabinogion
- Tales) there long ago; the dear dwelt in the forests of the
- Gwendraeth valley when Gerald the Welshman went on his
- journey that way at the end of the twelfth century, and saw
- sheep and cattle grazing on the coastal plain between
- Kidwelly and the sea. And however much the change in these
- areas by today much of the beauty and romance of the olden
- days still remain.
- If I were asked to say in a word what is the greatest wealth
- of the Land of Myrddin, I would say that it is the endless
- vareity of its scenery. The wildness of ravines, the solitude of
- mountains, the fertility of dales, the magic of the sea-coasts -
- all this belongs to it.
Jones, T. G, (1938), Cymru 'n Galw, Detholiad o Sgyrsiau Radio Cymraeg, 1936-7, in Welsh and translated into English as ‘The Riches of Myrddin's Land’ in Bowen, J. T., Jones, T. J. R. (1960), Welsh, London: Teach Yourself Books, Hodder and Stoughton, 183-191; this extract from the English, 187-188.
Questions on the Land of Myrddin
Multiple Choice
- The main purpose of this article is:
- To persuade you to change your mind
- To argue a case against a contrary case
- To give a personal reflection
- To describe a means of travelling
- The genre of this writing might be described as:
- Horror
- Fiction
- Travel
- Historical
- There is a spelling mistake on line:
- Line 2
- Line 5
- Line 8
- Line 10
- There is another spelling mistake on line:
- Line 12
- Line 16
- Line 19
- Line 21
- There is yet another spelling mistake on line:
- Line 23
- Line 24
- Line 25
- Line 26
- The greatest wealth of the Land of Myrddin (lines 23-24) is claimed to be:
- The magic of the sea-coasts
- The fertility of dales
- The solitude of mountains
- The wildness of ravines
- The endless variety of its scenery
- Deer (line 16) dwelt in the forests of the:
- Twrch Trwyth
- Mabinogion Tales
- Gwendraeth valley
- Land between Kidwelly and the sea
- This piece by T. Gwyn Jones was written:
- Before the Industrial Revolution
- Before the south eastern Welsh valleys were greened
- After the closing of the coal mines
- During the time of Myrddin
- Gerald the Welshman went on his journey in the Gwendraeth valley:
- During the Industrial Revolution
- When the coal mines were opened
- In the nineteenth century
- In the twelfth century
- Anthracite is described as:
- Stone cold
- Coal stored
- Smokeless coal
- Stone coal
- The Aman and Gwendraeth valleys (from line 6):
- Saw the opening of coal mines but did not suffer the effects of the Industrial Revolution
- Did not see the opening of coal mines yet suffered the effects of the Industrial Revolution
- Saw the opening of coal mines and suffered the effects of the Industrial Revolution
- Neither saw the opening of coal mines nor suffered the effects of the Industrial Revolution
- The opening of the coal mines (line 10) was accompanied by:
- A rise in the population but no alteration of the way of life
- No rise in the population but an alteration in the way of life
- A rise in the population and an alteration of the way of life
- Neither a rise in the population nor an alteration in the way of life
- Before the Industrial Revolution the Aman valley was a place with:
- Woods where people were unable to go hunting
- Devoid of trees leaving space for people to go hunting
- Woods where people were able to go hunting
- Devoid of trees yet people went hunting elsewhere
- According to the text shown, the Land of Myrddin is:
- A place at the time of the Mabinogion tales
- A romantic setting
- Where Merlin lived
- Where Gerald the Welshman lived
Questions on the Land of Myrddin
Adrian Worsfold