Part I. (Breconshire) is from the pen of the Rev. James Rhys Jones (Kilsby.) Part II. (Radnorshire, &c.,) has been compiled by the Publisher. The two chapters on the Medicinal Properties of the Waters are from the pen of R. Richardson, Esq., L.F.P.S.G., Fellow of the Obstetrical Society of London, Surgeon, Rhayader.
Opinions of the Press.
“This is a very interesting little book; in a very small compass, it contains a great deal of useful and interesting information relative to the Welsh mineral springs, coupled with a variety of legendary and antiquarian lore; descriptions of scenery, and the various other adjuncts necessary to make up a good guide book. Every one who purposes visiting the springs should procure a copy, and even those who do not intend visiting the localities described, will find a variety of entertaining matter in this very agreeable and pleasant little book. We ought to mention that a portion of the work has been compiled by the Rev J. R. Jones, (late of Kilsby,) and that it contains a valuable chapter on the medicinal properties of the various springs, from the pen of R. Richardson, Esq., Surgeon, of Rhayader.”—Shropshire Conservative
“The caprice of fashion has rendered famous many old corners of the earth, while others more deserving the notice of the great world lie hidden in unmerited obscurity, or at the most have obtained but a mere local celebrity. The spas of Germany are frequented by quite as many of the votaries of dissipation, and Rouge et Noir, as of the seekers after the blessings of health; but there are secluded valleys in our own country which are to the full as deserving of the visits of the lover of the beautiful, and the tired out workman in the world’s great treadmill, while to the invalid they offer medicaments of nature’s own composition, and scenes untainted by the follies of the frivolous, or the vices of the designing, who throng the gilded saloons of Hamburg and Baden to prey upon the gay and gilded butterflies of fashion. To such the little book whose title we quote above will prove a faithful, and we believe a welcome guide—for its unpretending pages contain not merely a great amount of information, but also a considerable fund of recreative reading. Almost every line of the chapters comprising the first part betrays the writer’s well-know hand. Unlike as Charles Lamb and Carlyle are to each other, and unlike as he is to either, there is much in his style that reminds us of both; there is much of the genial quaint humour of the one, and much, very much, of the eccentricity of the other. There is no mistaking the pen, whether it is employed in graphically sketching with a few rapid touches the picturesque scenery of woodland glen, or wide expanse of solitary moor, or glorious mountain side grand with precipice, and beautiful with heather bloom—or whether it is rendering homage to the memory of some worthy of other days, who first saw light among those hills—or whether it is with the frolic humour of a Cerfantes giving a vivid word-picture of an exploring expedition, mounted on a batch of Abergwessin ponies—it is still original, and will be recognised all over Wales as wielded by no other hand than that of “Kilsby,” by which designation the Rev. James Rhys Jones is by common consent distinguished from the ten thousand and one of his compatriots who rejoice in the same surname. We can scarcely conceive the possibility of his doing anything and not doing it earnestly, but this has evidently been a labour of love, for is it not a description of that Valley of the Irvon which he thus apostrophises?—
“‘Thou birth-place and resting place of my humble forefathers, wisely and not too well have I loved thee; when I sojourned in the land of the noble and generous Saxon thou wert my thought by day and my dream by night; it was my uppermost wish to close my life in thy bosom; I have loved thee with a love second only to that of woman, and a passion which sober men pronounce madness: it matters not, for I can pray with the Westmoreland Bard, “Thou valley embrace me, and ye mountains shut me in.”’
“The remaining portion of the book is chiefly a compilation, but one that has been well and judiciously performed. Mr. Pryse has succeeded in getting from a variety of sources pretty nearly every thing that can possibly interest, inform, or amuse, in connection not only with the mineral springs, but also with the beautiful district in which they are situated. For the invalid he has brought together the various analyses of the waters, made from time to time, with the opinions of medical men as to the best rules for their administration; for the scientific he has produced the opinions of geologists as to the causes of the impregnation of the waters, with their health-giving constituents; for the antiquarian he has collected all that remains of the annals of the ruined abbeys and castles within a wide circuit, especially all that is known of the history of the last hours of the gallant Llewellyn, last native Prince of Wales, whose sad fate has given such melancholy interest to the vicinity of Builth; and for the poet and the lover of the marvellous he has recorded the wondrous legends, which in days gone by, were supposed to account for the healing powers of the springs without resorting to the philosophic theories of the Murchisons or Richardsons of those times. In short, he has produced a “Handbook,” the possession of which will doubly enhance the pleasure of a summer ramble amid the scenes which it describes.”—The Monmouthshire Merlin.
This Handbook is got up in various styles, so as to suit the pockets of every visitor. In stiff paper covers the price is 1s. 6d.; bound in strong cloth boards the price is 2s.; bound in extra cloth, gilt edges, and lettered on the side, the price is 2s. 6d. All post free for value in stamps.
PUBLISHED & SOLD BY JOHN PRYSE, BOOKSELLER, LLANIDLOES, MONTGOMERY.
A List of Books Published or Sold by John Pryse, Bookseller, &c., Llanidloes, Montgomery. All post free for their value in stamps; when not to be had from a Bookseller, please send to the Publisher.
THE CAMBRIAN MINSTREL, by John Thomas, (Ieuan Ddu.) Small 4to, (Merthyr Tydfil, 1845,) in 13 Parts, paper covers, price 6s. 6d. “The Work is equally interesting to Welsh readers, as nearly all the matter contained is inserted in both languages.”