Taffy was a ...... well an Englishman actually

I've blogged rather a lot about that talented young Welsh Grand Prix driver of the early sixties, Jack Lewis. Now a Motor Sport interview with the man himself confirms what some of us have long suspected, Jack isn't Welsh. It seems that a Welsh surname and the promise of sponsorship from a Welsh firm - it never arrived - prompted the Ecurie Gallois renaming of Jack's H&L Motors team. Still, the sight of Jack's red dragon emblazoned BRM will always be a part of Grand Prix history.

Son of the Salt

This rather wonderful cigarette card shows Ab Jenkins' Mormon Meteor record breaker out on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. As well as breaking more world records than any other man in the history of sport David Abbot Jenkins - his father was from Merthyr Tydfil and his mother from Pembrokeshire - was also mayor of Salt Lake City.

Read some more about him here.

Silly Beggars

It seems that the Beguildy Community Council have recently rejected a request from Powys County Council that they should use the correct spelling, Bugeildy. Now this is an old argument. Back in the 1950s a local farmer, a Mr Harris, refused to sell a piece of land for a new school to the Radnorshire Education Committee because the Committee insisted that the new school should be called Bugeildy. Mr Harris was adamant that it should be Beguildy. In the end, the Education Committee backed down and Beguildy the school remains to this day.

Of course Bugeildy - the house of the shepherd - is the correct form and was written down as such as long ago as 1291. Bugeildy was used by Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal in his marvellous description of Bryndraenog and this is the word used in the old rhyme proclaiming the district as the best place in Wales for wool:

O Bont y Clas i Fwlch Bugeildy
Yno mae'r gwlân gorau yng Nghymru.

Of course Beguildy also has its literary associations, in the novel Precious Bane for example by Mary Webb - real name Gladys Mary Meredith.

The best solution would be to let people use whichever form they prefer and if Beguildy Community Council want to carry on using their meaningless spelling mistake, well good luck to them. Radnorian will continue to use Bugeildy.

Radnorshire Bardic Poems, 42

This is a rather over the top praise poem by Lewis Glyn Cothi addressed to Dafydd Goch ap Hywel ab Einion of St Harmon, there are some interesting references to grazing lands in North West Radnorshire though.

No 190, Praise of Dafydd Goch ap Hywel

Good day to the bravest unto Rouen
The stout chieftain of Garmon's land,
Dafydd Goch, perhaps he is better
Than any man, or a hundred times better;
A Beuno of Hywel ab Einion,
Cast on his fair brow and talent;
Hywel's Gradifael of a hundred summers,
The root and great grandson of Adam.

Dafydd is the strongest man,
The richest, most generous stag.
From the thirding of Gwerthrynion,
His third is like the land of Non.
He loves a hundred feasts and to stock
The earth with his young beasts.
His cattle were upon Blaen Marchdeg,
Colouring it with their multitude;
Some on Blaen Gwy, with more to come,
Others upon the soil of Hirddywel;
A thousand colouring the hilltops,
Three thousand about St Harmon.

The cheeriest goodman of the council,
To his world he's like old Bedwyr.
He'll do, he's so gentle,
What Isaac and Esau would do;
Circling the greenwood for the deer,
Loving the staghounds raising the deer,
Charging to fair Nant Hyddgant,
Watching the ford for a chase;
Yonder is Dafydd coming home,
Calling his bard to have his reward;
Settling before me an endless feast,
A whorl of money in the palm of my hand.
In his home Weobley beer is my portion, and venison.
If every man was a suitor for ten lands,
If every mere man was a bard,
From his generosity, he'd have a gift
From the land of Garmon, three times too much.

His feasts, Dafydd had two thousand,
Were greater than the shoots of the forest:
Gentleness, the fairness of the father,
The mildness of his two grandfathers,
The courage of Lancelot and his bravery,
The strength of old Arthur and his height.
He holds, in a southern land,
The power of five giants in every finger,
The power of two great oaks, of twelve,
The power of nine from the land of fair Garmon.
Dafydd has been given Adam's form,
Given a better countenance, given the hand of Nudd,
And a serpent's fist to be turned into a seal,
And the claw of a man of war.

The best of a man is his face,
A man who knows dislike of no-one,
A wealthy, liberal man,
A man whose gold is as much as the river pebbles.
I have the silver of this man,
I share the gold of the same man,
I have the silver coins he wears,
Gold of the same kind upon the grandson of Einion.

Radnorshire Pop

There's currently an exhibition in Cardiff of record covers from Cambrian Recordings Limited, the Pontardawe firm who produced Welsh Language pop in the 60s and early 70s. Seemingly it is kitsch. I wonder if the show includes this 1971 EP from Radnorshire songstress Maralene Powell?

Femmes Pilotes de Courses Auto

Any book which mentions Sterling Moss has to be treated with caution on the factual front and yes this book has more than its fair share of errors.

Rita Don, for example, was not Freddie Dixon's sister, her brother was infact Kaye Don, who the author includes in his list of female racers! At the same time how many books even mention Rita Don and where else are you likely to find a photograph of this 1930s Brooklands girl?

This is not a work of scholarship, perhaps there is too much about the Monte Carlo rally and the Paris-Saint-Raphael-Feminin, and not enough about Le Mans. What the book does have are the glorious photographs and they make the book well worth purchasing.

Pictured are eight Brooklands racers who competed in the Duchess of York race at Brooklands in 1932. The author names from left to right: Eileen Ellison, the Australian Joan Richmond, then three unidentified girls, then Victoria Worsley, Kay Petrie and Bill Wisdom. Anyone care to put a name to the three not named?

New Innes Ireland Book in the Pipeline

I mentioned a couple of posts below that there was a whisper that a collection of Innes Ireland's journalism might be in line for publication. Author Ed McDonough has just confirmed in a guestbook posting on my Innes website that he is currently editing just such a book at the request of Innes's widow Jean. What a wonderful idea, I do hope that this comes to fruition.

One of Our Most Charming Favourites of the Stage

Two things we can say with certainty about Eleanor Bufton (1842-1893) was that she was one of the leading actresses of the Victorian period and that she came from Radnorshire.

The Dictionary of National Biography, she was well enough known to be listed in that august work, has it that she was born in Llanbister in 1842, the illegitimate daughter of an illiterate mother, one Mary Bufton. I'm not so sure. The 1881 census lists her husband Arthur Swanborough, actor-manager of the Strand theatre and his mother-in-law, an Esther Bufton who was born in Knill around 1812. Eleanor was away from home in Liverpool and her birthplace looks for all the world like Evenjobb. The 1871 census confirms that mother and daughter were born in Radnorshire. Eleanor had married Arthur Swanborough, his real name was Smith, in 1860 and the pair are listed under that surname in the 1861 census, again mother Esther is living with her daughter. Miss Bufton's age varies quite widely in these records, in 1861 she was 26, by 1871 she had aged a mere three years and was 29, while by 1881 she was 41, when she died in 1893 her age is given as 58, all of which suggests to me that she was born around 1835.

In 1871 Eleanor Bufton hit the headlines when she was involved in a minor railway accident which left her cut about the head and bruised. She successfully sued the Metropolitan Railway Company, her acting ability perhaps proved by the jury's award of £1600 in damages. In 1880 Miss Bufton was again on the front pages when she was the victim of an outrageous attack while walking home from the theatre. The perpetrator was never found, perhaps it was a shareholder of the Railway Company.

There are some photographs of Eleanor and her daughters Vere and Gussie here.

Book of the Month

There aren't that many books about women racing drivers, Sammy Davis's Atalanta and John Bullock's Fast Women spring to mind, so this French offering - with 450 photographs and new information promised on characters such as Violette Morris and Lucy O'Reilly Schell - is very welcome.

Dorothy Levitt

A couple of weeks back I posted about a 1904 motor sport event that crossed the border into Radnorshire, a time when the car was still a pretty rare sight in Mid Wales, there being just 33 cars registered in the county by January 1905. Anyway it seems that a BBC programme called the One Show recently had a piece about female competitor Dorothy Levitt, it appears that she is something of a mystery and they can't find anything in the public record. Here's a clue, her real name was Elizabeth Levi, daughter of Jacob Levi, a tea dealer and his wife Julia - Jacob later changed his name to John Levitt.

New Edition of Marathon in the Dust

Well this one passed me by. It seems that Mercian Manuals published Innes Ireland's Marathon in the Dust last April, a follow-up to their edition of All Arms and Elbows. I hear a whisper that a collection of Innes's journalism for Road and Track may be in the pipeline.

Anyway here's the publisher's blurb for Marathon:

This is the story of three men in a car; their journey took them from London, England to Sydney, Australia, a distance of some 11,000 miles. But this is no ordinary travelogue, for it was no ordinary journey; the 7,500 miles to Bombay were covered in 7 days and the 3,500 miles across Australia in a further 3 and half days. The three men, Michael Taylor, Andrew Hedges and the author, Innes Ireland, were competitors in the Daily Express London to Sydney Marathon, an event that will go down in the annals of motoring history to rank with the Paris-Madrid and the Peking-Paris races held at the beginning of the century which marked the birth of motoring sport. Written with verve and gusto Marathon in the Dust vividly reflects the adventures of this astonishing journey which include being stoned by political agitators in Pakistan, a breakdown in the Australian desert which left them stranded for a day and a night without food or water, and their personal triumph in winning the Private Entrants award at Bombay. It also reflects the humour, companionship and team spirit that existed between the three men bound by a common adventure. The story moves at a pace in time with the event, but through it all the author manages to impart a remarkable impression of his inner thoughts and conflicts.

Takes the Biscuit

Perhaps the earliest motor sport event to take place in Radnorshire occurred on 4th September 1904, when the Automobile Club's 1000 mile small car trial briefly entered the county from Titley, travelling via Walton back to Kington. The week long event centred on Hereford attracted the leading motor manufacturers of the day, with three gold stars being awarded to the Wolseley, Siddeley and Swift Motor Companies.

A noteworthy competitor was the only female entrant, 24 year old Dorothy Levitt, driving for De Dion Bouton. Mechanical problems on the final day did not prevent the De Dion company from being awarded a silver medal. Miss Levitt was accompanied by her rather ill-tempered black Pomeranian dog throughout her fine drive, the topic of much cruel humour on the part of her fellow drivers. Dorothy had the last laugh however, for although as a woman she was NOT invited to any of the evening functions, she did ensure that one such event was interrupted for the presentation of a small gift from Miss Levitt to each of her fellow competitors ....... a bag of dog biscuits.

As well as De Dion Bouton, silver medals were also won by Humber and Allday & Onions. Bronze medals went to Speedwell, Brown Brothers, Star, Jarrott & Letts, Holland Park and Garner & Co.

Good Old Radnor Days

A newspaper report from 1879

Welsh on the March

Which was the last county in England to have indigenous native speakers of a Celtic language? I guess most people would say Cornwall but infact Herefordshire and Shropshire are more certain candidates.

The last speaker of Herefordshire Welsh is said to have died in the parish of Clodock in 1883, although Ffransis Payne maintains that five or six native speakers lived on into the twentieth century in the Golden Valley. In 1878 the statistician E G Ravenstein found that the Shropshire parish of Sychtyn was overwhelmingly Welsh speaking, as was the western half of Llanyblodwel, with substantial numbers also found in Selattyn. Looking at the 1901 Census for the neighbouring Denbighshire parish of Llansilin it is apparent that the great majority of those born in the Shropshire parishes noted above and also in Oswestry itself are listed as Welsh speakers. The Welsh language must have survived well into the twentieth century in these "English" districts.

What I find interesting about this is the complete lack of interest in this survival of the Welsh language in Shropshire and Herefordshire. The topic does not seem to excite those interested in the history of either county. Why on earth is it that such an important part of each county's heritage is ignored? Do local historians in the two counties perhaps have some psychological hang-up about the subject?

Radnorshire Bardic Poems, 41

This ode by Lewis Glyn Cothi is addressed to Morgan ap Hywel of Croescynon, Llanbister.

No 160 Praise to Morgan ap Hywel

To you talisman of Llanbister through the three quarters
Of the world, be good health and a long life;
Your land which shall be tripartite,
will come to you in part.

Morgan, a man who shares, with a crested iron helmet,
The son of Hywel son of Philip,
Morgan the unbesmirched vineyard,
Who buys Burgundy wine by the pipe.

Tuns, pipes, with every finger
The soldier of Brwynllys gives;
A Tristan over part of the dominion,
A shield from Elystan's court.

Your gold, from the fair court, the bards' berries,
Son of the Wrist of Cymaron;
You gave the goods of this earth,
To minstrels as numerous as green trunks.

As the squirrel heads for the green trunks,
So we, the ten grades, to your hall, where there is praise;
By Mary and Egwad! I'll come to you,
Like the trout to the fishing line.

You bought from me a cywydd deuair,
Just as you would buy cattle at the market of St Mary's feast;
The man from the north who sells two heifers,
He knows the road to the fair.

Here I have a road to your house for my convenience,
A by-way is bad to a great fair;
A main road, a straight road is made to your hall,
Every course of worked stone fills my hand.

Twice as wide as the circulation of every groat,
The circulation of your chaired song;
Two courts, two lands were one word, for your father,
You'll rule two townships, two lands, three!

Morgan, your face will never be slandered,
Your spear, your breastplate, have been praised,
Your drove horses are fed on oats, in warfare
Your arms shine like dishes.

Your men wear steel, they are like haymakers,
Your stallions wear steel, your honour demands it,
And steel you've worn for your praise in Wales,
Your steel you'll wear down to the legs.

You turn above the perjures,
The turn of a wheel on a cart in springtime;
The turn of the harvest moon across the stars,
Like an eagle turning above the hens.

A just spear and sword,
That strike in battle to bring order;
Place a collar or two on petty squabbles,
Be a fetter upon the war host.

he'll not go for long without my laughter,
Morgan, I am nothing without you to praise;
By Christ, I'll not let you, by the relics,
be forgotten, not even one word from ten.

Anglesey, Man and Lundy will talk
Of your generosity and of your praise;
My tongue spills praise, a measured mass,
To you the apostle Paul of Llanbister.

Bogged Down?

Back in the big freeze of 1963 Innes Ireland imported a VW engined Swedish Snow-Trac, which he proceeded to use taking supplies to remote farms in the Scottish borders. Ireland was so impressed - he called it the world's greatest sporting machine, despite it having a top speed of only 16mph - that he became the vehicle's UK agent. The picture shows Innes demonstrating the Snow-Trac to an American journalist.

Down the Hatch

The past, they say, is a different country and the contrast between today's binge drinking culture and the Wales of the November 1961 vote on Sunday opening of the pubs surely bears that out.

The vote in favour of opening in Radnorshire came as a surprise to the mainly chapel led opposition to Sunday drinking - the county had been expected to vote against. On a turnout of 55% the 4205 "for" votes won the day with 58% of the ballots cast. Breconshire, too, fell to the pro-drink lobby 53% to 47% with a similar breakdown of the vote but this time in favour of the antis seeing Montgomeryshire continue as a "dry" county for another seven years.

In hindsight the continuing strength of the traditional chapel vote throughout Wales is remarkable. The vote was seen as being about the "Welshness" associated with nineteenth century non-conformity - the cosmopolitan cities of the south showing least interest, while in the Welsh-speaking heartland of Merioneth less than a quarter of the voters supported modernity and the "wets". At the same time it is wrong to think that all those supporting Sunday closing did so for the same reasons. Clubs were in any case unaffected by the ban and no doubt some of their members feared the loss of revenue which would result from the pubs being allowed to compete. Another group against Sunday opening, although they had to be careful not to do so openly, were those tenant landlords and their families who resented the fact that they were to lose their only day of rest during the week.

Howey Man's Story of Zulu King's Capture

Click to enlarge

Victorian Radnorshire

Victorian Radnorshire, Chartists, Rebecca Rioters, evictions, lawlessness associated with the fisheries, the workhouse, the emigrations in the wake of agricultural depression, the links with the coalfield - none of this gets much of a look-in with Llandrindod's somewhat middle-class, somewhat English Victorian festival. Here's a glimpse of that other Radnorshire from the 1891 census, just click on the image to enlarge.

Book of the Month

With hundreds of photographs and illustrations of Radnorshire pubs, past and present, this 358 page book from Logaston Press is good value for money at £12.95. A must buy for students of Radnorshire history, family history researchers will also almost certainly find something of interest here. For example one familiar photograph shows a rather cheerful gentleman who happens to have been my paternal grandfather, another photograph shows the long forgotten Clywedog Arms in Gwystre, home of my maternal great grandfather. I'm sure that most with Radnorshire connections will find similar items of interest in the pages of this excellent and fact filled book.