Note * — Chapter XI · HYMNS OF WALES.
Reading edition
Those who read his biography will call him the “Seraphic John Elias.”
His name was John Jones when he was admitted a member of the presbytery. What followed is a commentary on the embarrassing frequency of a common name, nowhere realized so universally as it is in Wales.
“What is his father's name?” asked the moderator when John Jones was announced.
“Elias Jones,” was the answer.
“Then call the young man John Elias,” said the speaker, “otherwise we shall by and by have nobody but John Joneses.”
And “John Elias” it remained.