Page:Speeches and addresses by the late Thomas E Ellis M P.pdf/125

 SOCIAL LIFE IN RURAL WALES.

I CANNOT hope, within the limits of a short address, to deal, except in the most cursory manner, with the multitudinous aspects of social life in rural Wales. Its roots strike deep into an immemorial past. The chequered history and diversified scenery of Wales have left an infinite variety of racial, local and social peculiarities and customs. It is, therefore, with considerable trepidation that I ever venture to generalise upon Welsh social. life. This trepidation is accentuated by the contemplation of dogmatic views expressed by those who have only touched the fringe of the inner life of our people. We have often been regaled with the cocksure estimate of our character given by Anglicised squires, by county court judges, and by Times correspondents. The whole English estimate of Wales and Welshmen is still very largely coloured by the infamous report of three young barristers who formed the Welsh Education Commission of 1847. With these