Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/139

Rt. Hon. Sir John Rhys. By means of it he disentangled many a ravelled skein of tale and custom on both sides of St. George's Channel. The first results of his field-work were recorded in the early volumes of the Cymrurodor. He subsequently entered on similar enquiries in the Isle of Man, in connection with other work. These labours in the field formed the foundation of the book on Celtic Folklore, published in 1901, which may be regarded as his final, though by no means his only, contribution to the science of Folklore. His philological, archaeological, and historical works do not concern us here; but they will always be among the chief pillars of his fame.

For many years Sir John Rhys was a Vice-President of this Society. In 1891 he presided over the section of Myth, Ritual, and Magic at the International Folklore Congress of London. In 1900 he was President of the Anthropological section of the British Association. In 1907 he received the honour of Knighthood, and in 1911 the higher honour of being appointed a member of the Privy Council, in recognition of his many distinguished services to the state. His wit, his geniality, his innate kindness and simplicity of heart endeared him to all who knew him; and they included a distinguished company of scholars in this country and elsewhere. He was happy in his marriage. Lady Rhys shared his interests, and was for many years a companion and helpmate who contributed much to her husband's success, though latterly she had been laid aside by ill-health. Her loss was a blow from which he never seemed to have wholly recovered. The two daughters who survive him are the centre of a wide circle of sorrowing friends for whom he will be an enduring and inspiring memory.

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SIR GEORGE LAURENCE GOMME.

1853-1916.

friendship with Sir Laurence Gomme dates from 1878, the year of the foundation of the Folk-Lore Society. For myself, the happy result was association with one of kindred tastes, cemented