Outstanding Scholarship

A History of Wales by J. E. Lloyd

With a foreword by Leanne Wood

From evidence of the earliest human habitations of Wales to the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Wales’s last native ruler, in 1282, J. E. Lloyd’s magisterial book covers the full sweep of Welsh history. Lavishly annotated, comprehensively indexed, it covers the well-known names of Welsh history — Llywelyn the Great, Hywel the Good, the Lord Rhys — as well as a host of lesser-known princes, of poets, clergy, courtiers, warriors and lovers, bringing to life and understanding Wales’s laws, its political institutions, its complex internecine conflicts, and its aspirations as a united mediaeval state.

Republished after more than one hundred years, with a new foreword by Leanne Wood reflecting on its relevance to the Wales of our day, this book tells us how, even in defeat, its rulers laid the basis of a Welsh nationhood that is as much alive now as in the golden age of the princes.

Published as part of the Wales in Europe series: celebrating the past and future of Wales as an independent nation.

Welsh Folklore and Folk Custom by T. Gwynn Jones

T. Gwynn Jones was both a distinguished poet, critic and translator, and a scholar of Welsh folklore. With a historical sweep which links the customs and superstitions of the early twentieth century with the gods and heroes of prehistory, he presents a panoply of witches, giants, fairies, ghosts, gods and monsters, traditional medicine, rural magic and calendar festivals in an erudite yet accessible introduction to the rich and fascinating folk heritage of Wales.

Published as part of the Welsh Folklore series: fiction, translation and scholarship inspired by the rich folk heritage of Wales.

Owain Glyndŵr by J. E. Lloyd

On 16th September 1400, Owain Glyndŵr, esquire, lawyer, land-owner, and descendant of the rulers of Wales, proclaimed himself Prince of Wales, thus beginning a period of effective independence and allegiance with France which lasted for more than ten years. This ground-breaking study by J. E. Lloyd, first published in 1930, considers his importance as guerrilla tactician, statesman and diplomat: the ‘father of modern Welsh nationalism’ who inspires Welsh thinkers and nation-builders to this day.

Published as part of the Wales in Europe series: celebrating the past and future of Wales as an independent nation.

A Short History of Wales by O. M. Edwards

O. M. Edwards was a writer and scholar, a leading educationalist, and, alongside J. E. Lloyd, a member of the Cymru Fydd movement, dedicated to achieving home rule for Wales. This brief book, outlining Welsh history from the Stone Age to the start of the 20th century, reflects O. M. Edwards’ hope for the rebirth of Wales as a modern, democratic nation, and is reissued by Cockatrice Books with additional material outlining the history of Wales from its first publication to the present day.

Published as part of the Wales in Europe series: celebrating the past and future of Wales as an independent nation.

Folklore and Folk Stories of Wales by Marie Trevelyan

Born Emma Mary Thomas (1853-1922) in Llantwit Major, Marie Trevelyan, as she was known, was a popular writer of fiction and non-fiction and a populariser of the folklore of Wales.

Beginning with the land itself and its magic, and ending with the life and death of its people, focusing on her native Glamorgan, yet encompassing the whole of Wales, drawing on family records and enriched by her own fieldwork and by her keen interest in the women of Welsh history and tradition, this entertaining and richly imagined volume explores werewolves and vampires, toad-men and frog-women, fairies, ghosts and demons, against a backdrop of the forests and meadows, rivers and lakes, mountains and caverns, the plants, animals and natural forces which make up the country of Wales.

‘the most important collection of the… folklore of the British Isles’

Charlotte S. Burne

Welsh Folklore by Elias Owen

First chosen as winner of the National Eisteddfod in 1887, and subsequently revised for publication in 1896, Elias Owen’s study of Welsh folklore is a rich amalgam of scholarship and personal recollection. Concentrating on the northern districts of Wales, and with a wealth of tales and traditions concerning fairies, ghosts, devils, changelings, birds, beasts, spells, charms and cures, this is both an ideal companion to Wirt Sikes’s British Goblins or T. Gwynn Jones’s Welsh Folklore and Folk Custom, also published by Cockatrice, and a fascinating and accessible introduction to the folk tales and folklore of Wales.

British Goblins by Wirt Sikes

Wirt Sikes was a journalist, poet, diplomat, and a pioneer in the study of the folklore and folk customs of Wales. In this extraordinary book, he presents an array of fairies, giants, ghosts, monsters, devils, changelings, calendar customs, rites of passage and songs — all with the freshness of an American immersed in the rich and fascinating culture of Wales.

‘Through the aid of modern scientific research, those ages which the myths of centuries have peopled with heroic shadows are brought nearer to us, and the tylwyth teg reach back and shake hands with the Olympian gods.’

Wirt Sikes