Story, Volume I

by Dai Smith

  Roland Mathias

  Roland Mathias was born in 1915 in Talybont-on-Usk, Breconshire, and read modern history at Jesus College, Oxford. He taught in schools until 1969, when he resigned from his job as a headmaster and settled in Brecon in order to write full-time. His contribution to the study of Welsh writing in English, as editor, critic, anthologist, historian, poet and short-story writer, is substantial. He helped to found Dock Leaves, later the Anglo-Welsh Review, which he edited from 1961 to 1976. He published one collection of short stories and nine volumes of poetry. The majority of his writing has to do with the history, people and topography of Wales, especially the Border areas. He died in 2007.

  Siân James

  Sîan James was born in 1932 in Llandysul, Carmarthenshire. After attending the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, she has gone on to on to write and publish a number of acclaimed novels and short-story collections, several of which have won awards, including the Wales Book of the Year Award in 1997 for Not Singing Exactly and the Yorkshire Post Fiction Prize twice. Her third novel, A Small Country (1979) was adapted for film as Calon Gaeth (2006) by Stan Barstow and Diana Griffiths, winning a BAFTA Cymru award in the process.

  Dilys Rowe

  Dilys Rowe was born in Swansea in 1927. She started writing at an early age, and had a story published before she began studying for an English literature degree at the University of Wales, Swansea. Upon graduating she worked as a freelance journalist in order to fund her writing, and moved to London. There, she worked for the Guardian and the Times, and during the late 1950s and early 1960s edited the Observer’s women’s page. She married American writer David Dorrance, and went to live in the south of France.

  Ron Berry

  Ron Berry was born in 1920 in Blaenycwm in the Rhondda Valley. The son of a coal miner, he worked in mining until the outbreak of war saw him serving in both the British Army and the Merchant Navy. He studied at the adult education college Coleg Harlech in the 1950s but had further spells in mining and as a carpenter as his writing was never entirely successful enough to sustain him. His fictional output, which included works such as the novels Flame and Slag (1968) and So Long, Hector Bebb (1970), depicted a hard but positive view of the industrial Welsh valleys, entirely bereft of sentimentality and the hype which he scornfully left to others. He died in 1997.

  EDITOR BIOGRAPHY

  Dai Smith was born in 1945 in the Rhondda. He was educated in South Wales before reading modern history at Balliol College, Oxford and comparative literature at Columbia University, New York. He has been a lecturer at the Universities of Lancaster, Swansea and Cardiff, where he was awarded a Personal Chair in 1986, and was subsequently a Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Glamorgan. In addition to his academic career, he has also been a constant broadcaster on radio and television since the 1970s, and he became Head of Programmes (English language) in the 1990s at BBC Wales where he commissioned, presented and scripted a number of award-winning documentary programmes and other series. His many publications, which span books, articles and journalism, have centred on the dynamics – culture and society, politics and literature – of his native South Wales, and most recently have expanded into the form of biography (Raymond Williams: A Warrior’s Tale, 2008), memoir (In The Frame: Memory in Society, 2010) and the novel (Dream On, 2013).

  Dai Smith was the founding Editor of the Library of Wales Series. He has led Arts Council Wales as its Chair since 2006. He holds a part-time Research Chair in the Cultural History of Wales at Swansea University. He is now writing more fiction.

  PUBLISHED LIST

  ‘The Gift of Tongues’ – published in T.P.’s and Cassell’s Weekly, issue dated Dec 3, 1927

  ‘The Coffin’ – published in The Illustrated Review, issue dated Jul, 1923

  ‘The Dark World’ – published in A Finger in Every Pie (Heinemann, 1942)

  ‘A Father in Sion’ – published in My People (Andrew Melrose, 1915)

  ‘The Black Rat’ – published in Old Soldiers Never Die (Naval & Military Press, 1933)

  ‘The Grouser’ – published in With the Welsh (Western Mail, 1917)

  ‘Be This Her Memorial’ – published in My People (Andrew Melrose, 1915)

  ‘A Bed of Feathers’ – published in A Bed of Feathers (The Mandrake Press, 1929)

  ‘The Conquered’ – published in Rhapsody (Wishart, 1927)

  ‘The Last Voyage’ – published in The Last Voyage (William Jackson, 1931)

  ‘An Afternoon at Ewa Shad’s’ – published in The Water-Music and Other Stories (George Routledge & Sons, 1944)

  ‘Shacki Thomas’ – published in The Buttercup Field, and Other Stories (Penmark Press, 1946)

  ‘The Lost Land’ – published in The Welsh Review, Vol. 1, No. 3, Apr, 1939

  ‘Wat Pantathro’ – published in The Water-Music and Other Stories (George Routledge & Sons, 1944)

  ‘Revelation’ – published in A Pig in a Poke (Joiner & Steele, 1931)

  ‘The Shearing’ – published in The Welsh Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, Jun, 1944

  ‘Let Dogs Delight’ – published in Welsh Short Stories, ed. by Gwyn Jones (Penguin, 1941)

  ‘Twenty Tons of Coal’ – published in New Writing (new series), No. 3, Christmas 1939

  ‘Gamblers’ – published in The Girl from Cardigan: Sixteen Stories (Seren, 1988)

  ‘On the Tip’ – published in The Things Men Do (Heinemann, 1936)

  ‘Extraordinary Little Cough’ – published in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog (J. M. Dent, 1940)

  ‘And a Spoonful of Grief to Taste’ – published in Where Did I Put My Pity? Folk Tales from the Modern Welsh (Progress Publishing Co., 1946)

  ‘Just Like Little Dogs’ – published in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog (J. M. Dent, 1940)

  ‘Thy Need’ – published in The Welsh Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, Summer 1948

  ‘Acting Captain’ – published in The Last Inspection and Other Stories (George Allen & Unwin, 1942)

  ‘The Lost Fisherman’ – published in The Welsh Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, Mar, 1946

  ‘The Pits are on the Top’ – published in A Finger in Every Pie (William Heinemann, 1942)

  ‘They Came’ – published in The Last Inspection and Other Stories (George Allen & Unwin, 1942)

  ‘Boys of Gold’ – published in Boys of Gold (Parthian, 2000)

  ‘Ward ‘O’ 3 (b)’ – published in In the Green Tree (Allen & Unwin, 1948)

  ‘Mrs Armitage’ – published in Welsh Short Stories, ed. by George Ewart Evans (Faber and Faber, 1959)

  ‘One Life’ – published in Dai Country (Michael Joseph, 1973)

  ‘The Return’ – published in Life and Letters, Vol. 54, No. 121, Sept, 1947

  ‘Homecoming’ – published in Celtic Story, No. 1, ed. by Aled Vaughan (Pendulum Publications, 1946)

  ‘A White Birthday’ – published in The Still Waters and Other Stories (Peter Davies, 1948)

  ‘The Medal’ – published in Welsh Short Stories, ed. by George Ewart Evans (Faber and Faber, 1959)

  ‘A Story’ – published in A Prospect of the Sea and Other Stories and Prose Writings (J. M. Dent, 1955)

  ‘Match’ – published in The Eleven Men of Eppynt and Other Stories (Dock Leaves Press, 1956)

  ‘Hester and Louise’ – published in Outside Paradise (Parthian, 2003)

  ‘A View Across the Valley’ – published in Pick of Today’s Short Stories, No. 6 (Putnam, 1955)

  ‘Time Spent’ – published in Pieces of Eight, ed. by Robert Nisbet (Gomer, 1982)

  ‘Boy with a Trumpet’ – published in Boy with a Trumpet (Heinemann, 1949)

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  PUBLISHER'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Parthian would like to thank all the writers, estate holders and publishers for their cooperation in the preparation of this volume. We would also like to thank the editor, Dai Smith, for his energy and engagement with the world of the Welsh short story.

  Although every effort has be
en to secure permissions prior to publication this has not always been possible. The publisher apologies for any errors or omissions and will if contacted rectify these at the earliest opportunity.

  FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  The publishers would like to thank Mick Felton of Seren Books for assistance in the preparation of this volume. We would also like to thank the estate of Dylan Thomas, David Higham Associates and Liam Hanley for permission to publish the stories of Dylan Thomas and James Hanley. Ravinda Jasser for the estate of Brenda Chamberlain. Meic Stephens for copyright assistance with the estates of Rhys Davies and Leslie Norris. Merryn Hemp for the estate of Raymond Williams. Dr Lesley Coburn for the estate of Ron Berry. Geoffrey Robinson for the estate of Gwyn Thomas. Helen Richards for the estate of Alun Richards. Myfanwy Lumsden for the estate of Geraint Goodwin. Matthew Evans for the estate of George Ewart Evans. Glyn Mathias for the estate of Roland Mathias. Viv Davies for the estate of B.L. Coombes.

  EDITOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First and foremost, as now over a lifetime, to Norette for allowing me (again) to sequester myself away for months on end with other people’s lives. And their stories. To particular friends and advisers, especially Meic Stephens; and to Sam Adams, Peter Finch, Tony Brown and Daniel Williams. To the various editors and selectors who stepped out onto these highways and byways before me, and, of course, to the odd (sometimes very odd!) tipster who nudged me into unexpected diversions. All at Parthian have proved as exemplary in the arduous production of these two volumes as they have been since the inception of the Library of Wales Series in 2006. But, here, I need to single out the principal editorial assistance of the indefatigable Robert Harries who, like me, has now read all the words all of the time, and more than once.

  LIBRARY OF WALES

  The Library of Wales is a Welsh Government project designed to ensure that all of the rich and extensive literature of Wales which has been written in English will now be made available to readers in and beyond Wales. Sustaining this wider literary heritage is understood by the Welsh Government to be a key component in creating and disseminating an ongoing sense of modern Welsh culture and history for the future Wales which is now emerging from contemporary society. Through these texts, until now unavailable or out-of-print or merely forgotten, the Library of Wales will bring back into play the voices and actions of the human experience that has made us, in all our complexity, a Welsh people.

  The Library of Wales will include prose as well as poetry, essays as well as fiction, anthologies as well as memoirs, drama as well as journalism. It will complement the names and texts that are already in the public domain and seek to include the best of Welsh writing in English, as well as to showcase what has been unjustly neglected. No boundaries will limit the ambition of the Library of Wales to open up the borders that have denied some of our best writers a presence in a future Wales. The Library of Wales has been created with that Wales in mind: a young country not afraid to remember what it might yet become.

  Dai Smith

  LIBRARY OF WALES

  Funded by

  SERIES EDITOR: DAI SMITH

  1   So Long, Hector Bebb Ron Berry

  2   Border Country Raymond Williams

  3   The Dark Philosophers Gwyn Thomas

  4   Cwmardy & We Live Lewis Jones

  5   Country Dance Margiad Evans

  6   A Man’s Estate Emyr Humphreys

  7   Home to an Empty House Alun Richards

  8   In the Green Tree Alun Lewis

  9   Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve  Dannie Abse

  10 Poetry 1900–2000 Ed. Meic Stephens

  11 Sport Ed. Gareth Williams

  12 The Withered Root Rhys Davies

  13 Rhapsody Dorothy Edwards

  14 Jampot Smith Jeremy Brooks

  15 The Voices of the Children George Ewart Evans

  16 I Sent a Letter to My Love Bernice Rubens

  17 Congratulate the Devil Howell Davies

  18 The Heyday in the Blood Geraint Goodwin

  19 The Alone to the Alone Gwyn Thomas

  20 The Caves of Alienation Stuart Evans

  21 A Rope of Vines Brenda Chamberlain

  22  Black Parade Jack Jones

  23 Dai Country Alun Richards

  24 The Valley, the City, the Village Glyn Jones

  25 The Great God Pan Arthur Machen

  26 The Hill of Dreams Arthur Machen

  27 The Battle to the Weak Hilda Vaughan

  28 Turf or Stone Margiad Evans

  29 Make Room for the Jester Stead Jones

  30 Goodbye, Twentieth Century  Dannie Abse

  31 All Things Betray Thee Gwyn Thomas

  32 The Volunteers Raymond Williams

  33 Flame and Slag Ron Berry

  34 The Water-castle Brenda Chamberlain

  35 A Kingdom James Hanley

  36 The Autobiography of a Super-tramp W H Davies

  37  Story I  Edited by Dai Smith

  38 Story II  Edited by Dai Smith

  WWW.THELIBRARYOFWALES.COM

  Parthian

  The Old Surgery

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  www.parthianbooks.com

  The Library of Wales is a Welsh Government initiative which highlights and celebrates Wales’ literary heritage in the English language.

  Published with the financial support of the Welsh Books Council.

  www.thelibraryofwales.com

  Series Editor: Dai Smith

  Story I first published in 2014

  © The authors and/or their estates

  Introduction © Dai Smith 2014

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN epub: 978-1-909844-18-6

  ISBN mobi: 978-1-909844-19-3

  Cover Image: Penrhys Ernest Zobole, ©1951. Oil, 810 x 595

  Cover Design by Marc Jennings

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