The crystal cave - Mary Stewart [201]
My greatest debt is obviously to Geoffrey of Monmouth, master of romance. Among other creditors too numerous to name and impossible to repay, I should like especially to thank Mr. Francis Jones, County Archivist, Carmarthen; Mr. and Mrs. Morris of Bryn Myrddin, Carmarthen; Mr. G. B. Lancashire of The Chase Hotel, Ross-on-Wye; Brigadier R. Waller, of Wyaston Leys, Monmouthshire, on whose land lie Lesser Doward and the Romans' Way; Professor Hermann Bruck, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and Mrs. Bruck; Professor Stuart Piggott of the Department of Archaeology at Edinburgh University; Miss Elizabeth Manners, Headmistress of Felixstowe College; and Mr. Robin Denniston, of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., London.
February 1968 -- February 1970. M.S.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Edwin Muir's poem "Merlin" is reprinted by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd., from the Collected Poems, 1921-58.
The poem on page 241 is a free translation of verses appearing in Barzaz Breiz; Chants Populaires de la Bretagne, by the Vicomte de la Villemarqué (Paris, 1867).
The Legend of Merlin is based on the translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain which was first published in the Everyman's Library, Vol. 577, by J. & M. Dent in 1912.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Stewart, one of the most popular novelists writing today, was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England, but home was wherever her father, a clergyman of the Church of England, was called.
After boarding-school, she received a B.A. with honours in Literature from Durham University and went on for her M.A. At the beginning of World War II, she was asked to return to her Alma Mater as a lecturer, and gave six lectures a week, eked out her small salary by teaching sixth form at a boys' public school, and spent three night-shifts a week in the Royal Observer Corps until hostilities ended.
It was at a dance celebrating V-E Day that she met a young Geology professor named Stewart; within two months they were married. Professor Stewart, F.R.S., is now Head of the Department of Geology in the University of Edinburgh and is on the Council of Scientific Policy. Mrs. Stewart has had a meteoric career of her own, beginning with the publication in 1954 of her first novel, Madam, Will You Talk?, and culminating in this magical story about Merlin, the enchanter: The Crystal Cave. In 1968 she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.