"
"But how did you learn Welsh?" said the old man.
"I learned it by the grammar," said I, "a long time ago."
"Ah, you learnt it by the grammar," said the old man; "that
accounts for your Welsh being different from ours. We did not
learn our Welsh by the grammar - your Welsh is different from ours,
and of course better, being the Welsh of the grammar. Ah, it is a
fine thing to be a grammarian."
"Yes, it is a fine thing to be a grammarian," cried the rest of the
company, and I observed that everybody now regarded me with a kind
of respect.
A jug of ale which the hostess had brought me had been standing
before me some time. I now tasted it and found it very good.
Whilst despatching it, I asked various questions about the old
Danes, the reason why the place was called the port of the
Norwegian, and about its trade. The good folks knew nothing about
the old Danes, and as little as to the reason of its being called
the port of the Norwegian - but they said that besides that name it
bore that of Melin Heli, or the mill of the salt pool, and that
slates were exported from thence, which came from quarries close
by.
Having finished my ale, I bade the company adieu and quitted Port
Dyn Norwig, one of the most thoroughly Welsh places I had seen, for
during the whole time I was in it, I heard no words of English
uttered, except the two or three spoken by myself.
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