Cambrian Tales and other selected writings

Cambrian Tales appeared in serialised form in Ainsworth's Magazine from March 1849 to March 1850 and has not previously been published as a novel.Like the political pamphlet Artegall, also included in this volume, it constitutes part of Jane Williams' attempts to defend Wales against the notorious 'Blue Books', the 1847 government report which damned the Welsh as ignorant, immoral, and barbaric.A comedy of manners, set in and around a Welsh country house, it features characters clearly modelled on Ysgafell's patron, Lady Llanover, and her social circle.Also included are two representative poems, one from Celtic Fables (1862), a feminist reworking of ancient legend, and the previously unpublished 'A Petition' in which a night-cap maker protests against her dire exploitation.Ysgafell's social conscience, her patriotism, and her sardonic humour are evident throughout the volume.

Born in Chelsea in 1806, Jane Williams' first publication, Miscellaneous Poems, appeared in 1824 when she was only eighteen. At the time, her family was in dire financial straits, and she was compelled to find employment as a lady's companion. In the 1840s, however, she became the protégée of Lady Llanover, and with her financial help and free access to the Llanover library, she published ten further innovative volumes before her death in 1885.