(Photo circa 1920)

The Home
As I have already suggested, I was born at Ty Isa, Rhiw and I came to live at Bryn Golau. when I was six years of age where I have by now spent 67 years. It is not often that you come across anybody who has spent so much time in the same place. It is a small cottage on the mountain side in Rhiw and a very dear home to me. I am very fond of it, having lived here for so many years. It was the father of the late Mr John Griffith, Headmaster of the Dolgellau. County School who built it on a lease from the Nanhoron Estate. When the lease came to an end Mr John Griffith, Bryn Golau, bought the cottage because it was his father who had built it and he thought the world of it. And we still call Mr John Griffith "John Bryn Golau" and when he came here on his holiday he used to call here to see me at the old house, which was also the home of his father and also my home. In other words, the home of the whole family.  And if I may ask can you think of a better word in our language than the word cartref the home. There is no where that is as close to one's heart than as the home. It is a happy home that is the best support for any man midst the storms of life, his security throughout life. 

All the animals and birds, they have their homes the mountains for the goats, the rocks for the rabbits and all creatures must have a home. But man is the only one who can appreciate its worth and can give it its full meaning. It is a great advantage for young people to be able to start in a home with good home influences. Moral discord is more of a hindrance to life than any disease I can think of. All those who live in the same hearth are to be ruled by the same principles and those are love, which again in turn breeds obedience to the parents so that every member of the family contributes to genuine happiness. All actions are then controlled by this quality, and there is no revenge. Who can describe the happiness in a home that is completely under the rules of such principles. All young people should carry these qualities with them into the world where they live, and the family prayers should keep you unscathed in the battles of life. The prodigal son only had the memories of his father's house to think of when he himself was completely lost. You can place no price on those high ideals that you were taught around the hearth at home. All these rules will surround you all the days of your life. These things you should always carry with you in your everyday life and you will very often find that you need them to survive through the difficulties that you will encounter in your everyday living.

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