Gynhafal_, _Dec._ 13, 1755.

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Dr. Percy, late Bishop Dromore, to the Rev. Evan Evans.

SIR,

By my friend Mr. Williams, rector of Weston, Staffordshire, I have been
informed of the great attention you have bestowed on British Literature,
and the pains you have taken to rescue the productions of your ancient
Bards from oblivion. Though I have not the happiness to understand, yet
I have a great veneration for, the ancient language of this Island, and
have always had a great desire to see some of the most early and most
original productions in it. I could never yet obtain a proper
gratification of this desire; for, to their shame be it spoken, most of
your countrymen, instead of vindicating their ancient and truly venerable
mother tongue from that contempt, which is only the result of ignorance,
rather encourage it by endeavouring to forget it themselves. Besides my
friend Mr. Williams, whose constant residence in England has deprived him
of the means of cultivating his native language so much as he would have
done, I never met with one native of Wales, who could give me any
satisfactory account of the literary productions of his own country, or
seemed to have bestowed any attention on its language and antiquities.
Not so the Scots:--they are everywhere recommending the antiquity of
their own country to public notice, vindicating its history, and setting
off its poetry, and, by dint of constant attention to their grand
national concern, have prevailed so far, as to have the broken jargon
they speak to be considered as the most proper language for our pastoral
poetry. Our most polite ladies affect to lisp out Scottish airs; and in
the Senate itself whatever relates to the Scottish Nation is always
mentioned with peculiar respect. Far from blaming this attention in the
Scotch I think it much to their credit, and am sorry, that a large class
of our fellow-subjects with whom we were united in the most intimate
union for many ages, before Scotland ceased to be our _most_ inveterate
enemy, have not shewn the same respect to the peculiarities of their own
country. But, by their supineness and neglect, have suffered a foolish
and inveterate prejudice to root itself in the minds of their
compatriots, the English,--a prejudice which might have been in a good
measure prevented, had the Welsh gentlemen occasionally given them
specimens of the treasures contained in their native la