We noticed the preparation of this work at p. 315 of our last volume, and there gave a few anticipatory extracts. The author is Mr. W. Howells, of Tipton, whose good fortune it has been to secure a list of Subscribers to his work, of gratifying length and flattering rank. The origin of the volume is curious enough, and is thus explained in the Preface: "My inducement for presenting to the public these tales of 'by-gone days' was the advertisement of the very Rev. Archdeacon Beynon, which appeared in the Carmarthen Journal, of _May_ 21, 1830, proposing a reward of twenty guineas, with a medal value three guineas, for the _best printed_ English Essay, 8vo. containing 500 pages, on the Superstitions, Ghosts, Legends, &c. of _all parts_ of the principality, to be delivered _before February_ 3, 1831. Now when the limited period proposed for the collection of 500 pages of matter, and the above little adjective _all_ is considered, it must appear obvious that such an Herculean labour is not capable of being accomplished by _one_ individual alone.--Imagining it, therefore, to be a matter of impossibility to perform what the very reverend gentleman requires, I cannot consistently with propriety offer myself as a candidate, but will say--'_Palmam qui meruit ferat_.' "I have had considerable trouble to collect the stories which appear in the work, being also two years from attaining my majority, and having so short a period to collect them, as the book is hastily ushered before a discerning public, I trust they will overlook any imperfections which may appear." The production of the work is creditable to the enthusiasm of, legally speaking, the infant author; and we should be happy to learn that our insertion in the _Mirror_ of some of the pieces in this volume has fostered its growth. We quote an interesting passage on _Fairy Rings._ In the youthful days of an aged friend of mine, the belief in fairies existed in many parts of Wales; and, when a "schoolboy, with his satchel," unwillingly trudging to school, he has often observed, in a meadow near Conwil, Carmarthenshire, three small circles of grass, which appeared to have been weaved round the edges. Wondering much for what purpose they were ordained, he once asked his mother the use of them, when she gave him a severe injunction not to _approach_ on any account, much less _enter_ the rings, for, said she, they belong to the Bendith eu mammau (a species of fairies), and whoever enters them can never get out, it being enchanted ground.